Thomas Fisher (1741-1810)

He and his brothers went into partnership with their father as Joshua Fisher & Sons, shipping merchants. During the French & Indian War, he was captured at sea and taken to Spain, and after his release he visited England. During the Revolution, Thomas, his father, and two brothers (Miers and Samuel) were arrested having been deemed inimical to the cause of America and thry were transported to Winchester, Virginia, for the winter of 1777-78. After the war, Thomas also became a partner in the lumber business of Hough, Bickham & Co., and in 1800 he became Leonard Snowden's partner in his brewery at Burlington, New Jersey. He owned two-fifths of 25-30,000-acres in what was Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, and half of 10,000-acres in Chemung township, New York. He lived at his townhouse at 142 South 2nd Street in Philadelphia and in 1798 he built his country home "Wakefield" on Fisher's Lane, which later became the northeast corner of Ogontz and Lindley Avenues in Philadelphia. Wakefield was owned by four generations of the Fisher family up until 1918 when ownership was transferred to the City of Philadelphia. It was destroyed by fire in 1985.