Samuel Breck, Jr., was born on July 17, 1771, the son of Samuel Breck and Hannah Andrews. He lived in Boston until December 1782, when he went to study in Toulouse, France. After his return to the United States in 1787, he worked in a Boston counting house. In 1791, he went into business for himself; he permanently relocated to Philadelphia in 1792, where he continued his mercantile career. Breck served in the Pennsylvania State Senate and the United States House of Representatives and was a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Jane Ross, married in 1795. Samuel Breck died on August 31, 1862.
The firm Swift & Breck was located in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the early 19th century and operated a cotton mill on the Lehigh Canal. In 1844, the mill was sold to McKeen and Raphael.
From the guide to the Samuel Breck collection, Breck, Samuel collection, 1833-1877, 1835, 1837-1839, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
