William Duer (1747–1799) merchant and speculator

Born in Devonshire, England, to a prominent family with landed interests in the West Indies, Duer was educated at Eton College and commissioned as an ensign in the British army. After serving in India and visiting the family holdings in the Caribbean, he visited New York in 1768 and purchased land in northern New York. He immigrated to America permanently in 1773.

Sympathetic to the colonists’ grievances against Britain, he remained in the United States and became influential in New York City. He became a member of the Continental Congress from New York and a judge and was a signer of the Articles of Confederation. He resigned from Congress in 1779 to attend to his commercial interests. He was also instrumental in establishing the BANK OF NEW YORK along with Alexander HAMILTON.

His influence increased in the 1780s, when he became secretary to the Board of the Treasury in 1786 and assistant secretary of the Treasury under Alexander Hamilton between 1789 and 1790. In 1787, he became involved in the Scioto land speculation and was later charged by the Treasury for using his government posts inappropriately. In order to finance his land speculations, he borrowed heavily from the existing New York banks and then was unable to repay. He also speculated heavily in stock of the first BANK OF THE UNITED STATES and the Bank of New York using borrowed money.

Duer’s default reverberated through the New York stock market, which was conducted out-ofdoors at the time. News of the BANKRUPTCY caused the market to drop precipitously. His total losses were reputed to be worth more than the total value of New York City real estate at the time. As a result, the outdoor traders banded together and signed the Buttonwood Agreement that became the first organized foundation for the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, founded two decades later.

Duer was convicted and sent to debtors’ prison. The harsh sentence imposed on him reflected in part anti-British feeling in New York during the 1790s. His friend Alexander Hamilton intervened on his behalf, and he was freed for a time in 1797 but was finally returned to prison, where he died in 1799. His death also prompted bankruptcy laws to be written by Congress. He retains the distinction of being the first fallen financier after Independence to create a panic in the stock market.

Further reading

• Jones, Robert F. The King of the Alley: William Duer, Politician, Entrepreneur, & Speculator. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1992. 
• Mason, Bernard. “Entrepreneurial Activity in New York During the Revolution.” Business History Review (summer 1966): 180–212.