Stephen Girard

• Born: May 20, 1750
• Birthplace: Bordeaux, France
• Died: December 26, 1831
• Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

American banker and merchant

Girard, one of the nation’s earliest bankers, was the richest American of his time, and he used his wealth to establish a school for orphans.

Sources of wealth: Banking; trade; real estate

Bequeathal of wealth: Educational institution

Early Life

Stephen Girard (zhuh-RAHRD) was born in France in 1750. He was blind in one eye and affected by people’s reaction to his condition. His father was a merchant who taught him about business and sparked his love of the sea. After his father’s death, Girard decided to go to sea. He started as a cabin boy on a ship and worked his way up. Girard eventually became a part owner of a vessel that sailed near the British colonies, which would soon become the United States. He was visiting the colonies at about the time that the United States declared independence from Great Britain. Unable to leave during the Revolutionary War, Girard settled in Philadelphia and eventually became an American citizen.

First Ventures

Girard resumed his trade business soon after the end of the revolution. He was quite successful in his efforts and gained a large fortune. In 1776, Girard met and married Mary Lum. About ten years into the marriage, Mary began to suffer from mental illness. Girard had his wife institutionalized in 1790, and Mary died in the institution in 1815. Girard never remarried. He continued his international trading in the 1780’s and early 1790’s, and around 1790 he started to build ships.

In 1793, Girard was instrumental in fighting a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Unlike many other wealthy residents who left the city, Girard remained in Philadelphia, and he paid to convert a private home into a hospital. His efforts during the epidemic were quite successful and led to his becoming one of the most well-respected men in Philadelphia.

Mature Wealth

After the yellow fever epidemic, Girard resumed his trading activities and built numerous ships, maintaining a fleet of no more than nine vessels. He also chartered additional ships from others. Among the items he traded were coffee, tea, wine, and tobacco. Girard’s business was often affected by the events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. For example, his ships were seized by Barbary pirates during the Napoleonic Wars, but he also profited during the conflict by selling his goods at higher prices. Much of his trade was conducted in the East Indies.

Girard’s personal fortune and reputation grew. He began corresponding with some of the leading figures of the time, including Thomas Jefferson. By 1795 he was worth about $250,000; this figure doubled five years later, and by 1810 his fortune was valued at $2 million, making him one of America’s first millionaires. He continued to prosper financially during the War of 1812, increasing his wealth to $4 million in 1819.

In the early 1800’s, as tension increased between the United States and Great Britain, Girard anticipated a war, so he moved a portion of his assets from the shipping industry into banks. He invested some of his funds in the First Bank of the United States, which was located in Philadelphia. After the bank’s charter expired in 1811, he bought its building, obtained its assets, retained many of its employees, and opened a private bank. Girard was the sole owner of his bank, which enabled him to avoid the restrictive laws that pertained to unincorporated banks with multiple owners.

Girard purchased other properties. In 1807, he bought an entire city block in downtown Philadelphia, initially intending to build an educational institution for orphans. However, he later decided to build this school on another property he purchased in 1831, and he changed his will to reflect this decision. A very private man, Girard delighted in writing his will in secret and did not allow anyone to know its contents. He was also a very particular man, writing detailed specifications of the size and shape of the school’s buildings and the height and length of a wall to be constructed on the site. Besides his large number of properties in Philadelphia, he also purchased real estate in other parts of Pennsylvania, as well as in Kentucky and Louisiana.

Girard’s bank was the principal financier of America’s military effort during the War of 1812, generating the money the country needed in its conflict with Great Britain. His bank extended credit to the government to support its war loans. After the government chartered the Second Bank of the United States in 1816, Girard bought stock in the bank and became one of its directors.

During the latter years of his life, he contributed widely to charitable causes, including the orphans asylum and the Pennsylvania Hospital, where his wife had been committed. Although he was not a churchgoer, he made donations to many different churches. Girard died in 1831. His will bequeathed most of his wealth to various charities, including what would later become Girard College.

Legacy

Girard left two legacies to future generations. He helped establish the American banking system, setting it on a stable footing after the Revolutionary War. He also founded the school that bears his name and continues to operate in the twenty-first century, serving the needs of poor children. The money he left to create Girard College was the largest private charitable donation up to that time in American history.

Bibliography

Adams, Donald R. Finance and Enterprise in Early America: A Study of Stephen Girard’s Bank, 1812-1831. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978. Focuses on the bank and on the second half of Girard’s life. Includes an index.

Bodenhorn, Howard N. A History of Banking in Antebellum America: Financial Markets and Economic Development in an Era of Nation Building. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Discusses Girard’s bank. Includes an appendix that enables readers to calculate real income and a bibliography.

Wilson, George. Stephen Girard: America’s First Tycoon. Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined Books, 1995. One of the first accounts of Girard’s life to make use of his own correspondence and papers. Includes some photographs.

Wright, Robert E., and David Jack Cowen. Financial Founding Fathers: The Men Who Made America Rich. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Describes several financial figures of the early period, including Girard. Includes a concordance of names and dates.

Zeil, William Francis. A Catalogue of the Personal Library of Stephen Girard, 1750-1831. Philadelphia: Girard College and the American Philosophical Society, 1990. While not of interest to many nonhistorians, this catalog does reveal the materials that wealthy people of Girard’s time might purchase for their private libraries.