James Bowdoin (1676-1747)
Merchant & Member of the Governor's Council of Boston, Massachusetts
He was born at La Rochelle in France to a Hugeunot family whose estate was confiscated during the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In 1686, the family arrived in Maine via Ireland and eventually settled at Boston in 1690. He started his career as a mariner and quickly became one of the most influential merchants in Boston. For many years he served on the Governor's Council and when he died he left one of the greatest estates ever possessed by any one person in Massachusetts, estimated to have been between £50,000 to £100,000. He was married three times and had ten children of whom five (listed) survived infancy. His grandson, James, established Bowdoin College.
