Pierre Abraham Lorillard

Pierre Abraham Lorillard (1742 – 1776) was a tobacconist of New York City. He founded the business which developed into the Lorillard Tobacco Company, which claims to be the oldest tobacco firm in the United States and in the world. [Ackerman, Ruthie. [http://www.forbes.com/markets/commodities/2007/12/17/loews-spinoff-closer-markets-equity-cx_ra_1217markets39.html "Loews Lets Lorillard Go"] , "Forbes", December 17, 2007. Accessed July 21, 2001. Accessed July 21, 2008. "Lorillard claims to be the oldest American tobacco company, with a history stretching back to 1760."] His name is also sometimes given as Peter Abraham LorillardRoss, Harold, [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1934/09/22/1934_09_22_018_TNY_CARDS_000238736 "American Snuff" (abstract)] , from 'The Talk of the Town', in "The New Yorker" dated September 22, 1934, p. 18] , Peter Lorillard and Pierre Lorillard I.

Life

The son of Jean Lorillard (born 1707) [http://www.thepeerage.com/p17526.htm#i175253 Jean Lorillard] at ThePeerage.com, accessed 21 July 2008] and his wife Anne Catherine Rossel, Lorillard set out in business in about 1760 with a snuff-grinding factory in a rented house on Chatham Street, now Park Row, in Lower Manhattan. [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=6253 BELMONT PLAYGROUND] , New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, accessed July 21, 2008.] [http://tobaccodocuments.org/lor/91708377-8444.html Lorillard and Tobacco 200th Anniversary P. Lorillard Company 1760-1960] at tobaccodocuments.org: "In 1885, the Lorillards brought a suit in the U. S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois for infringement of their 'Defiance Plug' Lorillard tin tags, used on plug tobacco, deposing that 'They are now, and for many years have been extensively engaged in the production and sale of manufactured tobacco; that their business was established upward of a century ago, to wit, about the year 1760, in the city of New York, and that from said date until the present time the business so established has been successfully carried on without interruption or substantial change, and is now a source of great profit."] He was the first man to make snuff in North America. According to Maxwell Fox's "The Lorillard Story" (1947), Lorillard adopted the trademark of a native American smoking a pipe, standing beside a hogshead of tobacco, which "later became the best known trademark in the world".Fox, Maxwell, " [http://tobaccodocuments.org/lor/91087566-7632.html The Lorillard Story] " (1947), online at tobaccodocuments.org, accessed 21 July 2008]

The naturalization recorded in New York on April 21, 1762, of 'Peter Louillard', a stocking weaver and French Protestant, is probably that of Lorillard. [Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt, "Denizations and Naturalizations in the British Colonies in America, 1607-1775" (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2005, ISBN 0-8063175-4-X) p. 186: "Louillard Peter. He was naturalized in New York 21 April 1762. He was a stocking weaver from New York City and a French Protestant. [He was probably Peter Lorillard] "]

Lorillard died in 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, killed by Hessian mercenaries of the British during the British occupation of New York City, [http://www.thepeerage.com/p17526.htm#i175252 Pierre Abraham Lorillard] at ThePeerage.com, accessed 21 July 2008] but after his death his business was carried on by his descendants and grew into the Lorillard Tobacco Company. In 1960, the company issued a 'Bicentennial Report' in which it was able to boast proudly that "P. Lorillard Company is older than the United States, taking its origin in the Colonial days of 1760 when British kings ruled the land... Lorillard is the oldest tobacco company in the world".

Lorillard had five brothers, Jean George, George David, Charles Christophe, Jean Abraham, and Leopold Frederick, and a sister, Anne Marguerite.

Wife and children

Lorillard married Catherine Moore, and they lived at Hackensack, New Jersey. They had at least five children:
*Peter, or Pierre Lorillard II, (born September 7, 1764, [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p17525.htm#i175242 Pierre Lorillard II] at ThePeerage.com, accessed 21 July 2008] according to another source b. July 11, 1768)
*J. George Lorillard (b. December 25, 1766) [http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.lorillard/5/mb.ashx Lorillard notes] at ancestry.com, accessed 21 July 2008]
*Blasius (or Blazi) Lorillard (b. June 7, 1769)
*Johann Jacob Lorillard (b. January 19, 1772
*Jacob Lorillard (b. May 22, 1774)

Peter Lorillard and Catherine Moore (sister of Blazius Moore) obtained a marriage license on August 19th, 1763, when another marriage license was granted to John Lorillard and Hannah Moore, suggesting that Hannah and Catherine may have been sisters.

The register of the French church of New York City gives the date of Lorillard's marriage, as well as that of Jean (John) and Anne Moore: "August 23, 1763 married by license Pierre l'Oreillard and Catherine Moore in presence of the families l'Aureillard and Moore. The same day married by license in the house of M. Parptre in the Bowery rented by Sieur Moore Jean l'Aurellard and Anne Moore in the presence of the families l'Aurellard and Moore.

After Lorillard's death, his widow married as her second husband a man named John Holsman [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p17527.htm#i175261 Catherine Moore] at ThePeerage.com, accessed 21 July 2008] or Daniel Holtzman. Lorillard's sons George and Peter (or Pierre) took over his business in 1792, while his son Jacob became a banker and philanthropist in New York City. [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p17527.htm#i175268 Jacob Lorillard] at ThePeerage.com, accessed 21 July 2008] According to Rex Burns, "Jacob Lorillard was justified in his wealth, first because he rose from being an obscure tobacconist's apprentice by his own integrity, industry, perseverence, and love of books, and secondly, because when he was a millionaire, his moral pursuit of wealth led him to exhibit benevolence and generosity." [Burns, Rex, "Success in America: The Yeoman Dream and the Industrial Revolution" (Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1976, ISBN 087023207X) p. 59]

References

Notes