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Samuel Blodget, 1757-1814
In may ways, Samuel Blodget symbolized the new, protean American: at different times he was a merchant, economist, entrepreneur, and amateur architect. Blodget served in the New Hampshire militia during the American Revolution and then became a merchant in Boston. In 1789 he relocated to Philadelphia and founded the Insurance Company of North America. Later, moving to the nations new capital in Washington, he successfully lobbied for the position of superintendent of buildings, despite George Washington's reservations. He also founded the city's first bank. Blodget's only successful architectural design was the Bank of the United States (1795) in Philadelphia, which still stands. He wrote Economica: A Statistical Manual for the United States, considered the first American book on economics. In 1802, he was placed in debtor's prison, and died insolvent in a Baltimore hospital. John Trumball painted Blodget, posed in an elegant morning gown, when both men were in London.
John Trumball, c 1784 |