James Swan (financier)

James Swan (1754 – 31 July 1830) was a colorful personality based in Boston in the 18th and 19th centuries. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty and participated in the Boston Tea Party. Swan was twice wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill, he next became secretary of the Massachusetts Board of War and the legislature. During the time he held that office, he drew heavily on his private funds to aid the Continental Army, which was then in dire need of funds to arm and equip the soldiers who were arriving in Boston from all parts of New England. After the American Revolution Swan privately assumed the entire United States French debts at a slightly higher interest rate. Swan then resold these debts at a profit on domestic U.S. markets. The United States no longer owed money to foreign governments, although it continued to owe money to private investors both in the United States and in Europe. This allowed the young United States to place itself on a sound financial footing. On principles of loyalty, he spent 22 years—more than a quarter of his life—in a Paris prison.

Swan emigrated from Fife, Scotland to Massachusetts in 1765. He worked at Thaxter & Son in Boston, as an apprentice where he became friends with Benjamin Thompson, later knighted Count Rumford to the King of Bavaria, and Henry Knox, a lifelong friend later a general in the Continental Army. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty, participated in the Boston Tea Party, and served in the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Friends and associates included Perez Morton, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, James Otis, Jr., George Washington, James Monroe, Paul Dudley Sargent, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Jackson, James Sullivan, Charles Bulfinch, and Thomas Jefferson, The Library of Congress has several items by James Swan including those in Thomas Jefferson's collection.

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