Bohlen, John

Born in Schiffdorf (near Bremerhafen), John Bohlen became one of Philadelphia's most prominent merchants at the turn of the nineteenth century, running a profitable concern in partnership with his brother Bohl (1754-1836) importing commodities from their native Holland. Thanks to an insatiable American thirst for gin, Bohlen amassed an immense fortune that enabled him to travel in the same social circles as Stephen Girard and others among the mercantile elite and to win a spot in 1816 as one of the Directors of the Bank of the United States. By the time of his death, he was one of only eleven Philadelphians whose personal estates exceeded one million dollars in value.

From the guide to the John Bohlen Collection, 1889-1912, (American Philosophical Society)