John Samuel de Montmollin (1765-1810)
Merchant & Slave Trader, of 120 Oglethorpe Avenue West, Savannah, Georgia
He was born in London to Swiss-Huguenot parents. He came with his father to Quebec in 1768 where he began his career as a "trader" before briefly serving as an officer with the British Army at Jamaica. Having spent most of his time in business in the United States, he became an American citizen in 1798 and established himself as a shipping agent at Savannah, Georgia. He went into business with Peter Catonet and offered wharfage and other services to shipowners, as well as serving as the Captain of the Chatham Rangers in the Georgia Militia. As a merchant he traded in every conceivable commodity but he became particularly interested in importing slaves from Africa and it was during one such voyage that he met his death off the coast of Angola.
He married Maria Edwards, daughter the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, who had been disowned by her family for her previous marriage to a cruel Englishman, Charles Rupert Dennis, from whom she was later divorced. Despite being estranged from the Edwards' family, she and John received her famous first cousin, U.S. Vice-President Aaron Burr, who lodged with them at 120 Oglethorpe West, Savannah, in 1807. He was survived by his son and one illegitimate daughter by an unknown woman in Vermont who he left in Montreal.
He married Maria Edwards, daughter the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, who had been disowned by her family for her previous marriage to a cruel Englishman, Charles Rupert Dennis, from whom she was later divorced. Despite being estranged from the Edwards' family, she and John received her famous first cousin, U.S. Vice-President Aaron Burr, who lodged with them at 120 Oglethorpe West, Savannah, in 1807. He was survived by his son and one illegitimate daughter by an unknown woman in Vermont who he left in Montreal.
