Hugh Auchincloss (1780-1855)

He was born at Paisley, just to the west of Glasgow in Scotland where his father was a dry goods merchant. In 1803, he set up in New York where he imported and then sold dry goods and cotton thread. He married Ann Stuart, the daughter of a Philadelphia merchant. They lived at 14 Gold Street before settling in a house on the northeast corner of Pearl and Pine Street in New York. Being British, during the War of 1812 he was ordered to go, "forty miles from tidewater so that (he) may not be able to render aid or give comfort to the enemy". To get around the order to continue his business, he took wagon and horses and became a travelling merchant, apparently returning to New York richer than when he had started off. In later life he served as President of the American Wholesale Dry Goods Association and his business was continued by his sons Hugh Jr. and John when it became known as Auchincloss Brothers.