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.
Read more about this topic: John M. Whitall
Famous quotes containing the words home and/or philadelphia:
“When they are not at war they do a little hunting, but spend most of their time in idleness, sleeping and eating. The strongest and most warlike do nothing. They vegetate, while the care of hearth and home and fields is left to the women, the old and the weak. Strange inconsistency of temperament, which makes the same men lovers of sloth and haters of tranquility.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)
“All the oxygen of the world was in them.
All the feet of the babies of the world were in them.
All the crotches of the angels of the world were in them.
All the morning kisses of Philadelphia were in them.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)