Stephen Girard (born Étienne Girard, May 20, 1750 – December 26, 1831) was a French-born American banker, philanthropist and slave owner. Born in Bordeaux, Girard subsequently immigrated to the United States where he established himself in the American banking industry. During the War of 1812, Girard single-handedly saved the federal government of the United States from bankruptcy by personally financing the American war effort.
Eventually accumulating a large estate which included a slave plantation in Louisiana, he became the first multimillionaire in U.S. history. A 2007 article in Fortune Magazine estimated that he was the fourth-richest American in history. Having no children, Girard devoted much of his fortune to philanthropy, in particular the education and welfare of orphans, and his estate continues to fund philanthropic endeavors in the present day.
Early life
Girard was born in Bordeaux, France on May 20, 1750, the son of a sea captain. He lost the sight in his right eye at the age of eight and had little education. In 1760, he travelled to the colony of New York as a cabin boy and stayed there, working in the coastal trader system along the east coast and as far south as the Caribbean. He was licensed as a captain in 1773, visited New York in 1774, and with the assistance of a New York merchant began to trade to and from New Orleans and Port au Prince. In May 1776, after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Girard sailed into the port of Philadelphia to avoid a group of Royal Navy warships and settled there, running a grocery and liquor shop. In 1783, Stephen's brother John Girard left him with a slave, a woman in her twenties named Hannah, during a visit from Saint-Domingue.:89-91 Pennsylvania's 1780 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery had many loopholes and although it was amended throughout Girard's life, Hannah remained his slave until his death in 1831. An 1828 listing of taxable inhabitants reported that she was the only enslaved person in Philadelphia at that time.
By 1790, Girard had a fortune of $6,000 and a small fleet of trading vessels. In 1791, his merchantmen in the former colony of Saint-Domingue were involved in salvaging goods owned by French planters during the Haitian Revolution. He was left with $10,000 of goods stowed on his ships, the owners of which were likely massacred. Because the owners of the goods were not found, Girard added the goods to his possessions. He also participated in the Old China Trade, financing voyages to Canton. These voyages profited Girard through the sale of legitimate goods as well as opium, which was smuggled into China. Girard's business ventures in China ended in 1824 following an incident between one of his ships, the Terranova, and Chinese authorities.
Marriage
In 1776, Girard met Mary Lum, a Philadelphia native nine years his junior. They married soon afterwards, and Girard purchased a home at 211 Mill Street in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey. Mary was the daughter of John Lum, a shipbuilder who died three months before the marriage. In 1778 Girard became a resident of Pennsylvania. By 1785 Mary had begun succumbing to sudden, erratic emotional outbursts. Mental instability and violent rages ensued, leading to a diagnosis of incurable mental instability. Though Girard was initially devastated, by 1787 he took a mistress, Sally Bickham. In August 1790 Girard committed his wife to the Pennsylvania Hospital (today part of the University of Pennsylvania) as an incurable lunatic, providing her every luxury for comfort. During this time she gave birth to a girl whose sire is not entirely certain. The child, baptized with the name Mary, died a few months later while under the care of Mrs. John Hatcher, who had been hired by Girard as a nurse. Girard spent the remainder of his life with mistresses.
Yellow fever
In 1793, there was an outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia. Although many other well-to-do citizens chose to leave the city, Girard stayed to care for the sick and dying. He supervised the conversion of a mansion outside the city limits into a hospital and recruited volunteers to nurse victims, and personally cared for patients. For his efforts, Girard was feted as a hero after the outbreak subsided. Again during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798 he took the lead in relieving the poor and caring for the sick.