James DeWolf (1764 - 1837)

Born 18 Mar 1764 in Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 21 Dec 1837 at age 73 in New York City, New York County, New York, United States

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Preceded by William Hunter

James DeWolf US Senator (Class 1) from Rhode Island 1821—1825

Succeeded by Asher Robbins

• Privateers in the War of 1812

Biography

James DeWolf is Notable.

James DeWolf (March 18, 1764 – December 21, 1837), was a slave trader and a privateer during the War of 1812, and a state and national politician.

Over fifty years and three generations, from 1769 to 1820, James DeWolf and his extended family brought approximately 12,000 enslaved Africans across the Middle Passage, making the DeWolf family one of the United States' most successful slave-trading family. DeWolf slave ships brought the enslaved from the west coast of Africa to auction blocks in Charleston, South Carolina and other southern U.S. ports; to Havana, Cuba and to other ports in the Caribbean; to their own sugar plantations in Cuba; and into their own homes. James DeWolf owned a rum distillery, and he and his family started both a bank and an insurance company, all to profit even further from the slave trade. They even sent a family member to establish an auction house in Charleston, S.C., where many of their slaving voyages ended up.

In the 1790s and early 1800s, DeWolf and his brothers virtually built the economy of Bristol, Rhode Island: many of the buildings they funded still stand, and the stained glass windows at St. Michael's Episcopal Church bear DeWolf names to this day. Across the generations, their family has included state legislators, philanthropists, writers, scholars, and Episcopal bishops and priests.

James DeWolf gained notoriety in 1791 when indicted for murdering a female slave said to have smallpox, whom he said threatened the lives of all of the other slaves and crew because of the disease. The case was ultimately dismissed and was considered justifiable under contemporary law. During his lifetime, his name was usually written 'James D'Wolf'.

The DeWolf family continued in the slave trade despite state and federal laws prohibiting many of their activities in the late 1700s. Their efforts to circumvent those laws eventually lead them to arrange a political favor with President Thomas Jefferson, who agreed to split the federal customs district based in Newport, R.I. This maneuver permitted the appointment of a customs inspector just for Bristol, and the choice was Charles Collins, the brother-in-law of James DeWolf, who conveniently ignored the slave ships moving in and out of harbor.

James DeWolf served as a long-time state legislator for several periods, for a total of nearly 25 years, and in the 1820s as a United States senator from Rhode Island for much of a term. Together with the slave trade, DeWolf invested in sugar and coffee plantations in Cuba and became the wealthiest man in his state; by the end of his life, he was said to be the second-richest person in the entire United States. ^[1]

In addition to the vast fortune made in the slave trade, James DeWolf also realized large profits from the textile industry and from privateering. His 120 foot long brigantine, Yankee, originally built in 1808 for the slave trade, became the most successful American privateer in the War of 1812. In three years this swift vessel made six cruises and captured 41 prizes worth over three million dollars, a considerable fortune at the time. On its fifth cruise, the Yankee captured a British vessel, San Jose Indiano, worth over $379,000. On this cruise. Jack Jibsheet, a Black cabin boy who received the smallest share of the prizes, was given $1121.88. This becomes more impressive when we compare it to the annual salary of $720 which was the pay that Oliver H. Perry, the great hero of Lake Erie, received during the War of 1812. It is no wonder that when the war ended in 1815, Captain Jim DeWolf, at age fifty-one, was considered one of the richest men in America, second only to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland.^[2]

After the War of 1812 ended, DeWolf entered politics as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, rising to become the Speaker of the House from 1819 to 1821. He eventually ran for the U.S. Senate and served from 1821 to 1825, when he resigned and returned to Rhode Island and their state legislature.^[3][4]

James DeWolf was buried in the DeWolf family cemetery, aka Mark Anthony DeWolf Lot, also known as Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Bristol #5, Woodlawn Avenue, Bristol, Bristol County, Rhode Island,

Private James DeWolf served with Rhode Island Militia during the American Revolution.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia [1]
2. ↑ Warwick, Rhode Island, Digital History Project, James DeWolf, pg 2 [2]
3. ↑ Guide to the James DeWolf papers, 1796-1832 [3]
4. ↑ DeWolf Papers [4]
5. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 9 Oct 2021), "Record of DE WOLF, JAMES", Ancestor # A032531.

• Johnson, Cynthia Mestad. "DeWolf, James (18 March 1764–21 December 1837)." American National Biography. October, 2015. Oxford University Press.
• Find A Grave Memorial# 7187923
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Book: Sketches of Old Bristol,,by Charles O.F. Thompson
• James De Wolf's Will found in Franklin, Ohio Probates
• Cynthia Mestad Johnson, James DeWolf and the Rhode Island Slave Trade (Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2014)
• Jay Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island and the African Slave Trade, 1700-1807 (Philadelphia: Temple Press, 1981)
• David Eltis, Stephen D. Behrendt, David Richardson, and Herbert S. Klein, eds., The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM (Cambridge, 1999)
• George Howe, Mount Hope: A New England Chronicle (New York: Viking Press, 1959); M.A. DeWolfe Howe, Bristol, Rhode Island: A Town Biography (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1930)
• Gazette of the United States, 9 Jul 1791, Vol III # 21 pe 2 col 2. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030483/1791-07-09/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1771&index=0&rows=20&words=De+Wolf&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1800&proxtext=DeWolf&y=11&x=22&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Marie Chantigny for creating DeWolf-196 on 18 Oct 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Marie and others.