Simon Forrester

Simon Forrester (born May 10, 1748 in County Cork , Ireland , † July 4, 1817 in Salem , Massachusetts ) was a captain , merchant and shipowner .

Origin and early years

Simon Forrester was born in South East Ireland in 1748 to a wealthy Irish-Scottish farmer. He attended Cloyne College in County Cork and returned to his father's farm after completing his education. A short time later he went to England and hired on the schooner Salisbury under the command of Daniel Hathornes, the grandfather of the author Nathaniel Hawthorne .

First years in Salem and the War of Independence

Captain Daniel Hathorne offered the Irishman an apartment in his house on Union Street in Salem. He sailed on various merchant ships from 1767 to 1776, in the end as one of the youngest captains of Salem. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775 , Forrester was given command of the sloop Rover . In the summer of 1776 this was very successful, four British merchant ships were raised and the prizes won in this way auctioned for almost 3,000 pounds sterling . With the captain earning half of the profits, Forrester had sufficient funds to raise a family.

In December 1776 he married Rachel Hathorne, the daughter of his sponsor, with whom he would have seven daughters and four sons. For several years he did not go to sea, together with Joshua Ward he bought the Black Snake - a sloop with 60 GRT , which, as a privateer under the command of Captain William Carlton, landed at least one British ship and freed an American ship that had been confiscated by the British . In 1780, as the commander of the Centurion (300 GRT) , he commanded pirate voyages from Boston , then commanded the patty - owned by Elias Hasket Derby - and the Exchange , jointly owned by Derby and Nathaniel Silsbees. This ship was seized by three British warships in Delaware Bay in 1782 , but an early prisoner exchange meant that Forrester was able to return to his home soon afterwards.

Development of the trading empire

With the end of the war and independence in 1783, the Good Hope was launched - a 163 GRT brigantine on which the owner and captain would spend a large part of the next six years. The ship was mainly in the triangular trade between the West Indies , North America and Europe.

In 1790 Forrester added the Bark Good Intent (171 GRT) and the Vigilant (194 GRT) to its one-ship fleet , while at the same time acquiring what is now known as Central Wharf (see Salem Maritime National Historic Site ) and one of Samuel McIntire designed house on the east end of Derby Street in Salem.

The following years saw rapid growth in activities, in particular Asian trade and Forrester's early trading with Russia , brought rapid growth to the company. However, there were also setbacks, the Good Intent was applied and confiscated by the British in 1794 , and the Perseverance was lost in a storm off Cape Cod in 1805 .

At his death on July 4, 1817, he was the richest merchant in Salem, he left behind an estimated fortune of 1.5 million US dollars .

Web links

• Kurzbiographie (English)
• Simon Forrester in the database of Find a Grave (English)