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| Nathaniel Wheelwright [CFT #9064] Born: 1721 Died: 1765 |
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| b Boston, Massachusetts, USA d Boston, Massachusetts, USA Nathaniel Wheelwright was one of Boston's leading businessmen in the early 1760s; a merchant, wharf owner, supplier of specie to the British army, and backer of financial notes for people of all classes. He had married into the wealthy Apthorp family, and was the father of three young sons. (We only show one). Then, in January 1765, Wheelwright suddenly stopped honoring his debts. There is no clue about what exactly prompted this decision, but its consequences were staggering. Governor Francis Bernard reported to London: 'This was like an earthquake to the town; numbers of people were creditors, some for their all. Every one dreaded the consequences; lesser merchants began to fail; a stop to all credit was expected and a general bankruptcy was apprehended for a time.' (Did the writer mean 'anticipated'?) Eventually this financial crisis caught up several men who might be familiar to Boston readers: William Molineux, John Scollay, John Rowe, and especially Dr. Joseph Warren, whom Thomas Hutchinson as probate judge assigned to administer Wheelwright's tangled estate. It is argued that the repercussions of that crisis helped to increase Bostonians' anxieties about the Stamp Act later in 1765. |
1: 1758 Charles Apthorpe Wheelwrightc W/C | |||||||
| 1 Child | ||||||||
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