Draft:Samuel Blodget Jr.

Samuel Blodget Jr., Portrait by John Trumbull, c. 1784. Courtesy the National Portrait Gallery, NPG.2013.29.

Samuel Blodget Jr. (August 28, 1757 – April 11, 1814) was an American financier, economist, and amateur architect who played a significant role in early U.S. banking, insurance, and urban development. He founded innovative financial schemes including the Boston Tontine Association and the Universal Tontine in Philadelphia, which led to the creation of the Union Bank (a predecessor of State Street Corporation) and the Insurance Company of North America (INA), later part of CIGNA and now owned by Chubb.

Blodget was also appointed Superintendent of Buildings in Washington, D.C., where he organized a lottery to finance construction of federal buildings. Blodget's 1806 publication Economica is credited by some as the first attempt to quantify the U.S. economy, leading to his informal title as the "father of GDP."

Despite his wide-ranging ventures and vision, Blodget's later years were marred by financial difficulties – including bankruptcy and imprisonment for debt – and he died in relative obscurity, even as several of the enterprises he helped launch continued to prosper.

Early Life

Samuel Blodget Jr. was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire, on August 28, 1757. His father, Samuel Blodget Sr. (1724–1807), was a prominent New England merchant and industrialist, noted for projects like canal construction, which likely exposed the younger Blodget to large-scale business ventures at an early age. During the American Revolution, Samuel Jr. served as a captain in the New Hampshire militia and saw action (he was present at the Battle of Princeton in 1777) before resigning his commission later that year. After the war, Blodget turned to commerce. By the 1780s he had moved to Boston and made a substantial fortune in the East India trade.

Boston Tontine and Union Bank

In 1791, Blodget founded the Boston Tontine Association, a pooled investment and annuity scheme. It offered annual payments to investors with increasing benefits for survivors, culminating in a final payout to the last living investor. When public interest waned, the Association's assets were transferred to form the Union Bank of Boston in 1792, one of the earliest American banks. This institution eventually evolved into State Street Corporation.

Philadelphia Tontine and INA

After relocating to Philadelphia, Blodget co-founded the Universal Tontine Association in 1792 with former Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard. Like the Boston model, it struggled to attract investment and was repurposed as the Insurance Company of North America (INA) later that year. INA became the nation's first stock insurance company, issuing marine and fire insurance policies. Blodget served as a founding director. INA remained a major insurer for two centuries, eventually merging into CIGNA and later Chubb.

Role in Washington, D.C. Development

Blodget was an early real estate investor in Washington, D.C., acquiring hundreds of acres before official sales began. In 1793, he was appointed Superintendent of Buildings for the new capital. That year he organized a public lottery to raise funds for construction, offering as a prize a grand hotel designed by James Hoban. Though the hotel remained incomplete, its shell was eventually purchased by the government to house the Patent Office. It later served as the temporary U.S. Capitol after the British invasion in 1814. Blodget also helped found the Bank of Columbia, the first bank in the federal district.

Architectural Contributions

Blodget was an amateur architect and submitted a design for the U.S. Capitol in 1792. He is traditionally credited with designing the First Bank of the United States building in Philadelphia, completed in 1795. The structure, featuring a marble portico, still stands as a historic site.

Economic Thought and Economica

In 1806, Blodget published Economica: A Statistical Manual for the United States of America, the first U.S. book attempting to compile national economic data. The work included tables of trade, production, and population, and advocated national development through infrastructure and education. Some historians have dubbed him the "father of GDP" due to his early efforts to measure national output.

Personal Life and Death

Blodget married Rebecca Smith of Philadelphia, daughter of Rev. William Smith. Their marriage was reportedly troubled. After financial reversals from his Washington ventures and the failed lottery, Blodget spent time in debtor's prison. He died penniless in Philadelphia in 1814. Despite his financial ruin, his widow later sought congressional reimbursement for his services.

Legacy

Blodget's ventures seeded several enduring institutions in American finance and governance. State Street Corporation, Chubb Limited (via INA), and the Patent Office building all trace roots to projects he initiated. Though largely forgotten, his contributions to early American statistics, finance, and architecture are increasingly recognized by historians.