Sea captain Edmund Fanning and financier Willet…
1807 CE
The firm has existed from 1798, owning several large mercantile vessels.
Sailing from New York City to South America and later the Pacific Ocean, the American vessels gather and purchase seal skins throughout southern Atlantic and Pacific.
These valuable pelts include hides from the South American fur seal.
After a successful voyage around Cape Horn and enough animal furs are gathered, the vessels from Fanning & Coles then typically sail for the Qing Dynasty port of Guangzhou, China.
Here valuable Chinese manufactured goods are purchased, which include nankeens and porcelain, in addition to stockpiles of tea commonly valued and sold for forty thousand dollars in profits annually.
On the 1798 voyage of the Betsey they caught one hundred thousand seals, which were sold in China.
On several voyages they have discovered new uncharted islands such as Fanning Island and Palmyra Atoll.
Coles and Fanning have secured permission President James Madison for an expedition to the Fiji Island to buy rare woods for trade with China.
People
Groups
Commodities
Regions
Northern North America
View →Subregions
