Background
James was born in 1733 probably in New York City, New York, United States, the youngest child of John and Catherine (Pintard) Searle.
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James Searle
Edit ProfileEducation
His fluent literary style and frequent use of Latin phrases in correspondence suggest that James Searle had received considerable schooling.
Career
Searle joined his brother John in Madeira, where first as employee and later as a member of John Searle & Company he remained sixteen years. He removed soon afterward to Philadelphia, where he acted as agent for his brother while engaging in commercial ventures of his own which brought him prosperity and standing among the merchants of that city.
Returning in November 1775 from a visit to England, he took part in the war preparations, becoming a lieutenant-colonel of Pennsylvania militia, one of the managers of the United States lottery, and, in 1778, a member of the Naval Board. He was constantly a supporter of the attempts of the Continental Congress to raise funds and his wife was a leader among the patriotic ladies of Philadelphia.
In November 1778, Searle was elected to the Continental Congress. He was an active member, serving on many committees, including those on the marine and on commerce and the special committee to investigate foreign affairs and the conduct of the American commissioners abroad. The radicals, trusting him, nominated him for secretary to the embassy to Spain, September 1779, but his name was withdrawn.
When Pennsylvania voted to send a special envoy abroad, Searle was appointed, July 1780, as its agent.
He returned to France, consulted with the Farmers General and the Company of Lyons, but could secure aid only on terms he was unable to meet. Discouraged, he wrote to Joseph Reed that the possibility of borrowing money for a state was even less than for the Continental Congress and that certain men, primarily Deane and Edward Bancroft, were doing everything possible to prevent European aid to America. After one more futile journey into Holland, he gladly accepted notice that Pennsylvania had ordered his recall, no discredit for his failure being attached.
John Searle & Company, with thousands of pounds in uncollectable American debts, was badly crippled and Searle's difficulties were increased through his inability to secure full payment from Pennsylvania for his services abroad. In 1787 he expected bankruptcy, but he received in 1788 an appointment as agent for a Madeira firm with a fixed salary and additional commissions, reestablished himself in Philadelphia, and spent his remaining years in comfort, if not in the wealth of his pre-Revolutionary days.
He died on August 7, 1797, in Philadelphia.
Achievements
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During sixteen years James Searle was successfully engaged in John Searle & Company with his brother John and in the result became the most prosperous merchants in Madeira city. He also participated in signing the 1765 Non-Importation Agreement, whereby merchants pledged not to buy goods from England, in protest of the Stamp Act. Representing Pennsylvania as a delegate to the Continental Congress, he was a commissioner for a national lottery that partially funded the Revolutionary War.
Politics
Searle was actively patriotic, signing the Philadelphia non-importation agreement of 1765 and participating in all later mercantile protests.
In the faction-ridden Congress he allied himself with the radical Lee-Adams group, seconding James Lovell and Richard Henry Lee in their hostility to Silas Deane and Beaumarchais.
Connections
Searle married in 1762 Ann (or Nancy) Smith of Waterford, England. His wife died in 1781. He was married a second time, in 1785, to Isabella West of Monmouth County, New Jersey, and by this marriage had several children.
References
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Born
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Died
August 7, 1797 (aged 64) -
Resting place
St. Peter's Churchyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States -
Nationality
American