Chapter 2 Young Business Man, 1764–1774

How did the inexperienced businessman Stephen Girard learn about extending credit?

Girard trusted a young Dutchman who owed him money and promised to pay him at once. Then Girard saw this man boarding a ship for the West Indies. Girard called the police and had the Dutchman arrested. Again Girard agreed to let the man out of jail and get on a ship for Holland where he would get the money to send to Girard. The man wrote a mocking letter to Girard which taught him a valuable lesson about granting credit.

Why did Girard take a cargo to New York in 1774?

During July, 1774, Girard sailed for New York, taking with him sugar and coffee purchased with the proceeds of the sale of his Bordeaux goods. In New York he probably sought employment by some merchant who traded with San Domingo.

Did Thomas Randall have full confidence in his young apprentice?

It is not to be supposed that Captain Randall would esteem him so highly without being careful to instruct him in the nautical knowledge of the day. A genius like Girard would learn quickly and well.¹

What is a pilotin?

The position of a pilotin is that of an apprentice merchant sailor. In most cases the pioltin reported to the captain. When Girard’s father sailed with a small crew, he served as both owner and captain and Girard reported to his father. The pilotin had to learn how to sail the vessel. He had to learn the rudiments of buying and selling cargoes. He had to be prepared for any emergency aboard ship. He had to know all the functions of the sailors and at the same time know the responsibilities of the officers.

What did Girard learn about San Domingo in 1764?

It was an area a little more than ten thousand square miles. There were seven hundred thousand African slaves overseen by fewer that thirty-eight thousand French slave owners. He saw it as a difficult situation to say the least, seething with unrest.

What were the principal products for export by these West Indies islands?

Sugar and coffee were the most important.

How long did it generally take to sail from Bordeaux to the West Indies?

Girard noted in his journal that it would typically take between 57 and 65 days each way, depending on good sailing weather.

What was the attraction for merchants to go to San Domingo?

Of all the West Indian colonies, the fairest, the richest, and the most prosperous was French San Domingo (La Partie Francaise de Saint-Domingue). It comprised the western end of the island Columbus had called “Hispaniola,” and was divided into three provinces—the North, the West, and the South.²

What were the locations important to maritime merchants?

In the North Province were the towns of Cape Francais, commonly called Le Cap, Fort Dauphin, Port de Paix, and Cap Saint Nicholas. Le Cap, with a population of twenty thousand, lay at the foot of a high mountain called Le Morne du Cap. To the east, stretching away for fifty miles was a great plain devoted solely to cultivation of sugar. Port-au-Prince in the Western Province, the metropolis of the French Colony, numbered some six hundred houses. In the Southern Province were no safe harbors, and but three towns of importance, Jeremie, Les Cayes and Jacmel.

Is there any truth to the story that Girard cheated Toussaint L’Ouverture?

There has been some controversy concerning the origin of certain funds Girard attained in San Domingo. It has been claimed that Toussaint L’Ouverture gave money to Girard to purchase arms. These arms were to be used against the slave owners during the slave uprisings in 1789–1802. A myth persists that the foundation of Girard's wealth involved two million dollars he supposedly swindled from Toussaint L'Ouverture.

The originator of the myth, perpetuated by people claiming that Girard was

a racist said that Toussaint gave Girard the money which became the foundation of Girard's wealth. Although Le Cap, the major port in San Domingo was among Girard's frequent trading ports, the swindle story is totally without fact and logically impossible.³

How was this claim disproved?

It was shown that Girard had never met Toussaint much less made a pact with him. It was also shown that Girard had ceased travel to the West Indies before this agreement was to have been made.

Did Girard ever have the occasion to buy back a vessel that had been captured from him?

The brig Kitty had been captured from him in 1793. Girard learned that it was on the market and despite the fact that it needed repairs; he bought it back and returned it to service.

How did Girard focus his trading interests after the 1791 uprising in San Domingo?

Girard turned his efforts toward Europe in 1793, just when France became a Republic and waged war on Great Britain and brought on the great war of 1793–1815. Girard suffered, as did other American merchants, from the plundering French Decrees and British Orders in Council. One after another his ships and his cargoes were seized by the French, by the British, by the Swedes and the Danes.  During this period of loss, Girard redoubled his boldness and courage.⁴

How did his agents show their gratitude for the business Girard provided them?

So pleased were the agents with the profits they were making that they began sending Girard delicacies as presents with his cargoes. One letter to Girard in 1792 ended with this postscript: "I will try to send you pineapples and oranges, but scarce since slave insurrection. I have ordered some turtles for you as Mr. Heraud says you are fond of them."⁵

After the trouble had run its course in San Domingo, why did John not want to return?

John told Stephen that he hated “the criminal and low class of mulattoes who occupy a social position on a level or above that of my own.”⁶

Did Stephen and John enter into a formal partnership that John had been requesting?

The brothers entered into a formal partnership in 1789.

What were some of the points of contention between Stephen and John that led to their business breakup?

There were many points of friction. Stephen said that John was pigheaded and careless with funds, that John’s wife Eleanor urged him to take money out of the business for her household expenses. John accused his brother of being money mad, never satisfied with profits, of being too intense. Stephen disapproved of John’s wife Eleanor. He blamed her illogically for the death of John’s first two children. Ingram treats the relationship of the brothers more positively. “Their friendship forms the brightest thread in the whole fabric of the elder brother’s life.”

After the breakup of the two brothers, how did John hope to get even with Stephen?

John hoped to get their father to change his will and name him administrator and sole heir of Pierre’s interests. John even managed to have his father advance him 10,000 livres to purchase slaves and horses.⁷

Were John’s attempts to become friends with everyone in Pierre’s second family transparent?

Yes. He was awkward in his dealings and was considered a “fortune-hunting swindler.” John’s remarks to Stephen on the matter were: “These Bordeaux people are not worth the devil.”

Although Girard did not permit portraits made of him during his lifetime, subsequent paintings show one eye to be oddly different from the other. How was this deformity to affect Girard's life?

Girard's early life was difficult. Whether or not he was born without vision in his right eye is unknown. What is certain is that the eye was not only sightless, but it became a repulsive-looking abnormality that brought young Girard ridicule and, later, unwarranted social isolation. His eye bulged out and looked grotesque.  The children called him “fish eye.” The cruelty of those with whom Girard associated in business and in casual social activity as they observed his affliction with obvious distaste, forced him into seclusion at times, and brought with it a stigma that labeled him as shy and withdrawn.⁸

How is it that a portrait of Stephen Girard exists, if he did not want to allow such a portrait to be made in his lifetime?

The portrait painter Bass Otis painted the face of the dead Girard and completed the portrait in one week.

Did Girard ever comment publicly about his sightless eye?

Biographers have noted several occasions. When Girard was nearly eighty years old, he wrote to an oculist in Paris. “I do not remember when I lost sight in that eye, indeed if it is since I was born and I must have been very young.”

Did Girard ever consider wearing a patch to cover his eye?

We have found nothing in the literature to indicate that Girard wore or contemplated wearing a patch, but this is not surprising. His whole philosophy was to face the world openly and honestly and this he did without hiding behind a patch.

What was Stephen’s first partnership?

On recommendation of his friend Mr. Robert Ramsey, Girard was introduced to Isaac Hazelhurst who took Girard into a partnership in 1771 for commerce to San Domingo. Girard took two brigs but unfortunately the brigs were captured and the partnership was dissolved. Girard probably learned more from this experience than he did with his father. ⁹

Did Stephen Girard ever become licensed in his own right?

Yes. He became a licensed captain at the age of twenty-three in 1773.

When did Girard begin to earn his living as a trading merchant?

With the help of a New York associate, he began sailing to New Orleans and Port au Prince in 1775.

When did Girard become half owner of La Jeune Bébé?

By the middle of April, 1776, Girard was at Cap Francais and a month later sailed from St. Pierre, Miquelon, as master and half owner of the bateau La Jeune Bébé.¹⁰

How did Girard handle the problem of the lack of drinking water on his voyage to New York in 1776?

Knowing that his crew would not survive with only one hogshead of water, Girard turned the ship into the port of Philadelphia. He was perhaps naïve and certainly still inexperienced to think complete strangers would drop everything and come to his aid. Girard put into the port with little money and less ability to communicate in English. He was determined to get water for his men.

Chapter 2 Notes 

1. Simpson, Biography of Stephen Girard, 19.
2. McMaster, Life and Times, 122.
3. Ingram, Life and Character, 27.
4. McMaster Life and Times, vi.
5. Letter to Stephen Girard, 1792. Girard, Stephen. The Papers of Stephen Girard. 
6. Wildes, Lonely Midas, 115.
7. Ibid., 80.
8. DiMeo, “Stephen Girard: Merchant, Mariner.”
9. Simpson, Biography, 7.
10. McMaster, Life and Times, 6.

 


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