American agent for the Continental Congress in Martinique.

Attended the College of Philadelphia, purchased ships, and established European commercial connections all before the age of twenty-two.

Appointed secretary of the Committee of Secret Correspondence (1775), which sent him on a mission to the West Indies. From Martinique, he supplied Franklin and the other commissioners with commercial and military news.

Returned to Europe (1784-85), where he used his connections strengthen the American commercial rights being negotiated by Franklin and John Adams.

Born in Philadelphia. Married in 1780 to Anne Willing in Philadelphia.