Dictionary.net

(1734-1806), the financier of the Revolution, was born in Liverpool. Having settled in Philadelphia he built up a flourishing business there. He opposed the Stamp Act, and signed the Declaration of Independence. In Congress he gave valuable services to the Committee of Ways and Means, and in February, 1781, he was elected Superintendent of Finance. Among his acts was the organization of the Bank of North America at the end of 1781. In 1784 he retired, but served in the Pennsylvania Legislature, as delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and U.S. Senator 1789-1795. He had previously declined the office of Secretary of the Treasury. In his later years he was unsuccessful in business, and was at one time imprisoned for debt. There is a biography by Gould and one by W.G. Sumner.