John M. Whitall - Back Home in Philadelphia

Back Home in Philadelphia

With his savings from his life at sea, in 1829 Whitall entered into the dry goods business in downtown Philadelphia. Whitall had courted Mary Tatum during the interludes in Philadelphia between ship voyages and he proposed in 1829. She was the daughter of John and Hannah Tatum, of Woodbury, NJ, and was a friend of Whitall's family from his childhood. They were married at Woodbury Friends Meeting on November 5, 1830, and lived with his parents in downtown Philadelphia, but soon after found another residence nearby. He went into partnership for 5 years but found the dry goods business meager for his needs because he was accustomed to dealing with men on board ship and a little more excitement.

Being relatively uneducated and naive to the business world, Whitall attempted to deal in business honestly, but found that some of his business clients had taken unfair advantage of him. The business did not go well, and instead of attempting to secure further loans, Whitall in 1837 chose to sell out and settle with his creditors. He found that he could only settle his accounts at 75 cents per dollar, and paid this off in a period of 12 months. He promised to pay the remaining 25% with interest, and was successful by 1850.