David Curtis De Forest was an American merchant and Argentine consul. His generosity was almost unlimited, while in business and diplomacy he was enterprising to the point of temerity.
Background
David Curtis De Forest was born on January 10, 1774 at Huntington, Connecticut, United states. Hre was the eldest son of Benjamin and Mehitable (Curtis) De Forest. His father, a prosperous farmer, came of a Walloon Protestant family, whose founder in this country, Isaac, emigrated from Amsterdam to New York in 1636.
Career
David was a robust and adventurous boy who ran away from home and followed the sea until 1795, when he invested his small patrimony in business at Bridgeport. In the following year his store was robbed and the firm failed.
From March 1799 to June 1800 he was a lieutenant in the army which the United States raised when war with France impended. He then returned to the sea as officer on a vessel which he quitted on the coast of Patagonia late in 1801. Thence he went to Brazil, and by land back to the La Plata River, studying carefully commercial possibilities and languages.
Settling at Buenos Aires, he established there the first permanent American commercial house. Despite British attacks and generally unsettled political conditions, his business so prospered that by 1809 he was wealthy.
A change of viceroys in that year drove him into an exile which he improved by returning to Huntington and marrying.
Permitted in 1812 to return to Buenos Aires, he had hardly reopened his establishment when the war with England forced him to close it again.
By the autumn of 1814 he was once more extremely active in commerce. Dispensing open-handed hospitality, he played the part of merchant prince and through a friend who was secretary of the treasury he obtained much government business.
When Buenos Aires revolted against Spain in 1815, he received letters of marque for privateers from the revolutionary authorities. These he gave to American shipowners in return for a commission on prizes and cleared over one hundred thousand dollars.
In April 1817 he sent his family home and a year later followed them, after presenting his large ranch to the new republic. With him he brought a fortune and a commission as consul general to the United States from the nascent Argentine Republic. Building a large mansion at New Haven, he lived on a generous scale and devoted his time to the interests of his adopted country.
On May 7, 1818, he interviewed Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, asking for an exequatur as consul general. This was refused, as it implied official recognition of Argentine independence at a time when Adams was negotiating with Spain for the cession of Florida. Undismayed by the secretary’s frigid attitude, De Forest continued to importune both Adams and President Monroe for recognition, presenting “cunning and deceptive” notes which provided Henry Clay with ammunition against the administration when referred to Congress in January 1819. His activities in Washington earned him a reputation as “one of the most troublesome of the South American agents”, while his lavish annual celebration in New Haven of the Argentine Independence Day kept his mission well advertised.
Though the recognition of the new South American nations was decided in March 1822, he was refused an exequatur a month later on the ground that a new commission was necessary, while his claim to be received as diplomatic representative was denied because he was an American citizen. But his task was over, and he resigned his official position.
In 1823 he endowed at Yale College the De Forest scholarships and a prize in English. During the following year he was much annoyed by suits for damages arising out of the illegal activities of privateers which had operated under his guarantee, but he died before the cases were decided.
Achievements
Personality
David Curtis DeForest was a man of swarthy complexion, powerful physique, and haughty manner.
Connections
On October 6, 1811, David Curtis DeForest married Julia Wooster, a blonde beauty less than sixteen years of age.