Joseph Barrell (merchant)

Joseph Barrell (1739-1804) was a merchant in Boston, Massachusetts in the 18th century. During the American Revolution he owned ships commissioned as privateers, such as the Vengeance, ca.1779. In 1792 Barrell was "elected to the board" of Massachusetts branch of the newly established Bank of the United States, along with "George Cabot, Jonathan Mason Jr., ... and Fisher Ames."

As a merchant Barrell imported goods from overseas. For instance, the Hannah, commanded by William Haydon, sailed in May 1780, probably from Amsterdam, loaded with cargo for Barrell in Boston: "German steel, ... china ware, earthen pots, house brushes, spices, linens, velvets, writing paper, children's toys (among the rest a furnished kitchen valued at over six florins), wafers, flat-irons, tea and tea-kettles and window-glass." Barrell's notable wealth also derived from his activities as "contractor to the French fleet."

Around 1787, "a group of merchants led by Bostonian Joseph Barrell, having read the account of Captain Cook's third voyage, believed that great profits could be made by trading sea-otter furs, highly prized in China, for tea and other wares. They financed and arranged the venture of the ship Columbia Rediviva, commanded by John Kendrick, and the sloop Lady Washington, under Robert Gray, to sail around the Horn to the American northwest coast and trade for sea-otter furs, thence to Canton to trade the furs for tea and other wares, then homeward around the Cape of Good Hope and back to Boston. The Columbia thus became the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe, leaving Boston on September 30, 1787, and returning on August 9, 1790. While this voyage was not profitable, the Columbia immediately set out on a second, more successful voyage under Gray which lasted until 1793. The voyages of the Columbia established the trade pattern for the Boston-northwest coast-China-Boston trade, spearheaded by Boston merchants."

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