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America’s First Millionaire

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, on August 16, 1739, Elias Haskett Derby became America’s first millionaire.

His father, Richard Derby (born 1712) built a modest fortune as a ship captain. At the age of 24 he captained his first ship—the sloop Ranger—taking it to Cadiz and Malaga. Richard captained numerous ships after that until 1757 when he no longer went to sea. From that time on he conducted his shipping business from Salem.

Son Elias, during most of his father’s maritime years at sea, had served as the de facto accountant for his business, keeping his books, records and handling much of the  correspondence.  From about 1760, he was given control of his father’s business, including the ships, wharves, and accounts.  Elias soon expanded the business in a major way, and without ever going to sea.

As America entered the Revolution, Elias Haskett Derby owned at least seven merchant vessels plying the trade between New England and the West Indies. Many of the wealthy men of New England sided with England as the war started, but not the Derbys. Elias Haskett Derby helped fit out more than 150 vessels for service as privateers. The sole purpose of these privateers was to raid British warships and merchant vessels. Between these 150 ships, Derby and others distributed more than 2,000 cannon manned by seamen from Salem, Marblehead and Beverly. The American navy at that time had only 31 ships in toto, so privateers were indispensable. Salem privateers supported by Derby and others captured 445 British vessels. John Derby, the brother of Elias, brought the news of the Battle of Lexington to England before the British command in Boston was able to report their version of the battle. As a result, perception of the battle by many in England tended to lean more favorably toward the Colonies. 

During the war Derby’s business suffered greatly, but when the war ended his maritime trade did better than ever, expanding first to Europe and then to Asia. His fleet had grown significantly, as many of the former privateer vessels were now put into commercial service. Because of their fleetness at sea, they were often able to out-sail merchant ships from other countries. Derby’s ship Grand Turk was the first vessel from New England to travel to Canton, China. Soon, numerous ships owned by Derby and other Salem merchants sailed to China and other Asian destinations. From the late 1770s until about 1810 great fortunes were made plying the trade between Salem and Asia on such goods as silks, chinaware, tea, cotton, molasses, sugar and curios. Derby’s ships almost exclusively developed the pepper trade between Sumatra and America. Vessels from Salem became so common in Far Eastern ports that some Asians thought Salem was a country.