Thomas Clifford (277)

Thomas Clifford (8 April 1722–1 November 1793) was a merchant, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Clifford apprenticed under a cooper but abandoned the craft to pursue commerce. He built his mercantile business up through the triangle trade, trading in rum and sugar fortified by an impressive amount of iron goods such as frying pans, locks and hinges, and nails. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Clifford refused to traffic in  human cargo. Nevertheless, his profits increased and on the eve of the American Revolution he had ten vessels under his name. In 1760 Clifford bought a country estate, Rocky Point, on the Delaware River where he and his wife Anna enjoyed visits from their nine children. Clifford’s ramblings on the grounds turned up arrowheads and stone carvings that he donated to APS Member Pierre Eugene du Simitiere’s museum. While the American Revolution made for difficult times for many merchants, Clifford was able to revive his business after the conflict before eventually turning much of it over to his sons with whom he had partnered long before. Always interested in humanitarian efforts close to home, Clifford spent decades of his life helping the indigent of Philadelphia. He was a frequent contributor to Pennsylvania Hospital, served as Overseer of the Poor, and was the manager of the Society for Inoculation the Poor. Also a life-long learner, he attended lectures in his later years, joined the Union Library Company, and was an active member at APS before and after the war years. When Yellow Fever gripped Philadelphia in 1793, Clifford fled to his son’s country home where he escaped the fever but succumbed to complications related to gout. A lifelong Friend and loved by many, people mourned his passing from their carriages, parked as they were at the cemetarie’s gates, still fearful of catching the sickness. (PI)