Oliver Pollock

Oliver Pollock (1737, Bready, County Tyrone, Ireland – December 17, 1823, Pinckneyville, Mississippi) was a merchant and financier of the American Revolutionary War, of which he has long been considered a historically undervalued figure. He is often attributed with the creation of the U.S. Dollar sign in 1778.

Pollock sailed to North America at the age of 23 in 1760 with his father from his native Ireland to Philadelphia. He settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Two years later, he began his career as a merchant, trading from port-to-port with the Spaniards in the West Indies, and was headquartered in Havana, Cuba. It was here that he became close with the Governor-General Alejandro O'Reilly. O'Reilly was later made the Governor of Louisiana by the King of Spain.

Pollock began working as a merchant in New Orleans and, through his relationship with O'Reilly, was favorably received by Spanish Louisiana's officials, who granted him free trade within the city. He became the most successful businessman in the city as a result of the scarcity of provisions at the time, bringing in a desperately needed shipment of flour. However instead of taking advantage of the colonists, Pollock sold the flour for half the going price. In 1770 he married Margaret O'Brien of New Orleans, with whom he had eight children before her death in 1799.

By the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Pollock had become very wealthy and had significant political influence. Pollock stayed in New Orleans for eight years and also worked as a plantation owner and selling land in Baton Rouge.

In 1777 he was appointed "commercial agent of the United States at New Orleans", making him the representative of the colonies in the city. He used his fortune to finance American operations in the west, and the successful campaign of General George Rogers Clark in Illinois 1778 occurred with his financial support. In the same year he borrowed $70,000 from Spanish Louisiana's Governor Bernardo de Gálvez, but the financial needs of the country at the time left him in a loss. Pollock served as Gálvez's aide-de-camp during the Spanish campaign against the British that began with the Spanish declaration of war in June 1779. Gálvez and the Spanish troops swept through the future states of Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida, defeating the British with the capture of Fort Bute and campaigning through the victorious siege of Pensacola in 1781. Pollock's diplomacy assisted in the surrender of Fort Panmure (future Natchez, Mississippi).

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