Boorman, James

Born: 1783-XX-XX England, United Kingdom

Died: 1866-01-24 New York, New York

Born in Kent, England, James Boorman was a merchant, business executive, and Presbyterian. He relocated to the United States with his parents at age twelve. After an apprenticeship with Divie Bethune of New York, he became Bethune's partner in 1805. After this partnership dissolved in 1813, he partnered with John Johnston and formed the firm Boorman & Johnston, which dealt in iron and tobacco. He served as vice president of the New York Chamber of Commerce from 1839 to 1841, was one of the founders of the Bank of Commerce in 1839, and was president of the Hudson River Railroad. He was also active in organizations such as the Southern Aid Society, the Union Theological Seminary, and the American Colonization Society. He retired a wealthy man in 1855.

James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., "Boorman, James," Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton, 1887), 1:316; The Charter and By-Laws, with a History of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York (New York: New York Chamber of Commerce, 1855), 16; Victor B. Howard, “The Southern Aid Society and the Slavery Controversy,” Church History 41 (June 1972), 218; The New-York Times (New York), 26 January 1866, 2:3.