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Benedict Arnold, Business Man
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Business New Haven
5/1/1994
By:
Priscilla Searles
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Every school child knows about Benedict Arnold: American patriot turned traitor. The less well-known Arnold was an ambitious New Haven business man with a great desire to acquire wealth.
Arnold had come to New Haven from Norwich because, although it had a population of only 8,000, New Haven was the fastest growing seaport on Long Island Sound and the third largest town in Connecticut.
In 1762, at age 21, Arnold sailed to England to buy stock for his apothecary shop, using his charm to buy on credit. He rented a store on Chapel Street between the Green and the waterfront and hung out a sign which read, "B. Arnold Druggist Bookseller &c. From London Sibi Totique." The Latin motto translated, "For Himself and for Everybody" (the sign can be seen at the New Haven Colony Historical Society). The store was the only one of its kind in New Haven, carrying a variety of goods that made it more like a department store than a simple apothecary. Arnold stocked herbs and medicines as well as a such luxuries such as jewelry, cosmetics, prints and maps. Yale students could purchase books, doctors had a local source for surgical instruments.
Called an "interloper" by the old guard, who resented the invasion of New Haven by men anxious to make their fortunes, it didn't take Arnold long to become a success. Indeed, soon he needed larger quarters. He moved his store to Church Street then to Water Street on the harbor. But it was the lure of the sea that drew Arnold to the waterfront. His love of the sea, to say nothing of the fact that there was a lot more money in international trade, made him long to buy a sloop and sail to the West Indies and Canada.
Arnold bought a forty-ton sloop, the Fortune and set sail for the Caribbean. Each year from early spring until late fall he sailed the seas, soon gaining enough expertise to command the ships he sailed. In Quebec he traded linen and homespun for furs, timber and cheese, in the West Indies cattle was traded for slaves and molasses. By 1766, at age twenty-five, Arnold owned three ships.
But all did not go well for Arnold. The English had piled up a large debt fighting a war with the French. It was time the Americans paid their fair-share. England began to enforce the no trade law between New England and the French West Indies. This trade was the lively hood for many New Haveners. With new trade taxes imposed by England, Arnold, like other New England shippers, turned to smuggling. He was in good company, since many family fortunes were made by evasion of the trade laws, reportedly including the Hancocks of Boston. In 1765 Arnold managed to slip by British custom cutters in Long Island Sound and unloaded enough cargo to keep his business going for another season.
The problems with England and increasing taxation meant that many people could not pay their debts to merchants such as Arnold; hence the merchants could not pay their debts in London. America was broke. In 1766, Arnold's ships and cargoes were seized in lieu of payment for back-debts. With the help of his friend Jarod Ingersoll, Arnold made a deal which allowed him to go on sailing while working off his debt.
Free to seek new fortunes, Arnold expanded his business, importing Honduras mahogany for the New York furniture and paneling trade. By 1772 he had added another wharf for his shipping business and had built a new house overlooking the harbor.
But Arnold's good fortune was about to end. The stage was set for war. One month after becoming a member of the Governor's Second Company of Foot Guards, on April 22, 1775 Captain Arnold paraded his troops on the New Haven Green, demanded the keys to the Powderhouse and when the keys were handed over, marched off to war with his Foot Guards. The rest, as they say, is history.
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