Editing Stephen Girard (section)

== Maritime Beginnings ==

Stephen Girard was born on May 20, 1750, in Bordeaux, France, leaving home at age fourteen to pursue maritime trade that would eventually bring him to Philadelphia. His arrival in 1776, during the American Revolution, coincided with the nation's birth that his commercial activities would help finance. His maritime trading, initially in the West Indies and eventually extending worldwide, accumulated the capital that his subsequent banking career would multiply. His Port Richmond estate and his extensive Philadelphia real estate holdings demonstrated wealth that few Americans of any era have matched.<ref name="mcmaster">{{cite book |last=McMaster |first=John Bach |title=The Life and Times of Stephen Girard |year=1918 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

His personal life, marked by his wife's mental illness and eventual institutional confinement, remained private despite his public prominence. His blindness in one eye, which he never disguised, became part of the public image that his portrait preserves. His French origins and accent, which he retained throughout his American decades, marked him as immigrant whose success demonstrated what America could offer to those with talent and determination.<ref name="adams"/>

His service during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, when he personally nursed the sick at Bush Hill hospital rather than fleeing as many wealthy Philadelphians did, demonstrated character that commercial success alone cannot reveal. His willingness to risk his own health in service to the stricken, regardless of their ability to compensate him, suggested values that his business dealings sometimes obscured. Philadelphia's gratitude for this service contributed to the affection that his later philanthropy would reinforce.<ref name="mcmaster"/>