John Leamy (merchant)
Irish-American merchant
John Leamy (1757 – December 4, 1839) was an Irish-born American merchant who pioneered Philadelphia's trade with the Spanish colonies in the Americas. He was a founder of the Insurance Company of North America and the Hibernian Society. As an active Roman Catholic, he helped fund the construction of St. Augustine Church, was a trustee at St. Mary's and there participated in the Hogan schism.
Early life
Leamy was born in Ireland in 1757 but educated in Spain, where he lived for several years; by 1781 he had moved to Philadelphia in the United States. He had established a business by October 27, 1785, when "John Leamy and Co., Merchants" appeared in the first Philadelphia City Directory.
Business
Leamy became wealthy by venturing into the difficult trade with Spain when most merchants would not. When he lost his especially competitive position, trade stagnated, and he focused on domestic business thereafter.
Methods
In a time when Spanish mercantilist policy was the primary obstacle to trade, Leamy established relationships with Spanish officials to gain preferred access to trade licenses.
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This entry incorporates text from “John Leamy (merchant)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.