Horace Brigham Claflin (December 18, 1811 – November 14, 1885) was an American

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

Early life and education

Born in

Milford, Massachusetts Milford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 30,379 according to the 2020 census. First settled in 1662 and incorporated in 1780, Milford became a booming industrial and quarrying community in the 19th c ...

on December 18, 1811, Horace Brigham Claflin was educated at the

Milford Academy Milford Academy is a post-secondary school founded in 1916 as Yale Preparatory School. It has been located in New Berlin, New York since 2004. Although founded as a preparatory school, its current focus is as a school for athletes who have th ...

. He is a member of the

Claflin family The Claflin family are a Scottish American family of 17th century New England origins. The descendants of Robert Maclachlan of Wenham, Massachusetts, a Scottish soldier and prisoner of war from the Battle of Dunbar (1650) assumed to have belonged to ...

Career

After school he became a clerk in his father's store in Milford, and in 1831, with his brother Aaron and his brother-in-law Samuel Daniels, succeeded to his father's business. In 1832 the firm opened a branch store in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, and in 1833 Claflin and Daniels secured the sole control of this establishment and restricted their dealing to

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...

. In 1843 Claflin moved to New York City. Claflin became a member of the firm of Bulkley & Claflin, wholesale dry goods merchants. In 1851 and in 1864 the firm was reorganized, being designated in these respective years as Claflin, Mellin & Company and H.B. Claflin & Company. Under Claflin's management the business increased so rapidly that the sales for a time after 1865 probably exceeded those of any other mercantile house in the world. The firm was temporarily embarrassed at the beginning of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, on account of its large business interests in the South. The reputation of Claflin increased because of his promptness in paying off debts during the financial

panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...

. Along with Jacob H. Schiff,

Marcellus Hartley Marcellus Hartley (1827 – January 8, 1902) was an American arms dealer and merchant. He was appointed as an agent by the Union Army to purchase guns from Europe during the American Civil War. He later manufactured cartridges for breech-loading ...

, Robert L. Cutting, and

Joseph Seligman Joseph Seligman (November 22, 1819 – April 25, 1880) was an American banker and businessman who founded J. & W. Seligman & Co. He was the patriarch of what became known as the Seligman family in USA and was subsequently related to the wealthy ...

, he was a founder of the

Continental Bank of New York The Continental Bank and Trust Company of New York was a financial institution based in New York City, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 as the German-American Bank, which became the Continental Bank of New York. Originally in th ...

in August 1870.

Personal life

He died at

Fordham, New York Fordham is a neighborhood located in the western Bronx, New York City. Fordham is roughly bordered by East 196th Street to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, Burnside Avenue to the south, and Jerome Avenue to the west. The neighborhood's prima ...

, on 14 November 1885.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Claflin, Horace Brigham 1811 births 1885 deaths

Horace Brigham Claflin Horace Brigham Claflin (December 18, 1811 – November 14, 1885) was an American merchant. Early life and education Born in Milford, Massachusetts on December 18, 1811, Horace Brigham Claflin was educated at the Milford Academy. He is a membe ...

People from Milford, Massachusetts American merchants Businesspeople from Massachusetts Milford Academy alumni 19th-century American businesspeople