Archibald Gracie (1755-1829)

He was born in Dumfries and came to Liverpool in 1776 finding employment as a clerk with a shipping firm based in London. In 1784, he sailed to New York with a cargo of his own goods that he then sold to finance his own company. He lived in Virginia for a few years, exporting tobacco to Britain. In 1793, he moved back to New York and established the firm of Archibald Gracie & Sons, East India Merchants. He became a member of the Tontine Association which supervised the trading of stocks and soon expanded into banking and insurance. He was a director of the United States Bank, the Bank of America, and the New York Bank for Savings. He was co-founder of the Eagle Fire Insurance Company and Vice President of the New York Insurance Company. He and his friends Alexander Hamilton and John Jay co-founded the New York Post. He was Vice-President of the New York Chamber of Commerce (1800 to 1825) and the 18th President of the St. Andrew's Society of New York. He married Esther, the sister of Moses Rogers, of the historic 7 State Street, New York, and they were the parents of six children.