Peter Chardon Brooks

Peter Chardon Brooks lived in the era when seafaring was quite a dangerous occupation, especially if these were trade caravans, but he managed to extract the maximum profit from it. Thanks to the insurance business, which was opened in 1789 and whose business was very successful, Brooks became New England by the age of 36. Peter Brooks started his journey without starting capital. Brooks' father - Edward was a poor priest in Yarmouth (Maine). The theological point of view of Brooks the elder was too radical for this parish, as a result of which the family was forced to leave and move to the family farm in Medford, Massachusetts - Peter was barely 2 years old at the time. Previously, the family could at least somehow make ends meet, but after the death of his father was left completely without cash. At the age of 14, Peter became an assistant to a Boston merchant, and when he grew up he took up insurance. For the US sea trade, one of the most favorable periods was the last decade of the 18th century. In connection with the military situation in Europe, merchants paid more attention to developing America. This was an incentive for the growth of the insurance industry. According to Brooks, he earned so much money that all the attention of the public was aimed at him. Brooks retired at the age of 36, concentrating on rest and building a chic mansion on his estate. However, serenity and measured life he quickly tired. On the advice of friends, in 1806 he took up a new direction in the industry - insurance of merchant ships, becoming president of the Maritime Insurance Company. Thanks to the support of his friends in 1806, he was elected state senator and stayed at this place for 8 years, after which he was a United States senator from 1819 to 1823. The most important thing that Brooks remembered in this honorary post was, perhaps, an effective campaign against the lottery in 1821. Peter Brooks preferred scarce but reliable sources of income, avoiding all sorts of risks and speculation. He said that he prefers shallow water because he can accurately measure the depth, and not at all because he can not swim. From time to time he engaged in usury, lending money to large organizations and influential people. Brooks never engaged in speculation in land and very negatively related to this activity. However, he had a large estate near Cleveland, in the city, after the name of Chardon - in his honor. For Brooks, it was also fundamentally not to take large interest for loans (more than 6%). He believed that charging a higher interest from the debtor was a real robbery, consisting in life at the expense of someone else's skill and enthusiasm. Brooks was also a very generous philanthropist and gave loans on very attractive terms. Never having borrowed money, he happily gave them on credit. At a time when many were involved in risky investments, Brooks lived a serene and measured life. According to an American writer, the moderation of Peter Brooks was even more evident due to the fact that at that time it was an extreme rarity. A huge state gave him self-confidence and a sense of independence, but he was not his slave and was not afraid of his loss. By the end of his life, Brooks's aggregate fortune was one million three hundred thousand dollars. The authors of notes about the rich from New York called him the richest person of New England.