Fanning & Coles

Fanning & Coles engaged in the China trade from 1798 to 1815. The firm owned large sailing ships and acted as commission merchants importing $40,000 of Tea per year to New York from Canton, China. The firm also traded seal skins gathered from South America and the Pacific ocean while sailing to China. On the 1798 voyage of the Betsey they caught 100,000 seals which were sold in China. On several voyages they discovered new uncharted islands such as Fanning Island and Palmyra Atoll. The firm built the 290 ton Tonquin. The firm sold the Tonquin to John Jacob Astor's Northwest Trading Company for $37,000 in 1810. The Tonquin was sent to the Northwest to trade furs. The Indians burned the ship and killed the crew.Fact|date=November 2007