Robert Bowne (1744-1818)
Founder of Bowne & Co., Stationers and Financial Printers, New York City
He was the founder in 1775 of Bowne & Co. (see images) at 211 Water Street, New York City, which until 2010 was the oldest publicly traded company in the United States. He was a co-founder of the American Chamber of Commerce; a founding director of the Bank of New York (1785); a founding director of New York City's first fire insurance company, the Mutual Assurance Company (1787); and, in 1791 he helped organize an inland navigation company that paved the way for the Erie Canal. He was an active abolitionist. In 1785, he co-founded The Manumission Society of New York which went on to form the African Free School. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Hartshorne (1721-1805), and had nine children, seven of whom (listed) survived infancy.
