Jonathan Sturges: Merchant of Old New York

Jonathan Sturges: Merchant of Old New York is a fascinating story of a pioneering American merchant, art patron, banker, railroad entrepreneur, philanthropist and civic activist, who took part in many of the transformational political and business events of the mid-nineteenth century.

Striking out from his home in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1822, Sturges obtained a clerk position in a merchant firm in New York City and rose to become the lead partner of the largest coffee and tea trading house in New York. For five decades he rode the American wave of growth and ingenuity from the opening of the Erie Canal, through the Civil War, to the dawning of the Gilded Age–when robber barons such as his son-in-law, J.P. Morgan, were taking main stage. His intimate circle of friends and associates were a who’s who of national politicians, generals, business and the arts. This meticulously researched book is a quintessential American success story. Open the book and you’ll open the door into the extraordinary life and times of Jonathan Sturges.