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Talk:Thomas Willing

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This article is almost a direct copy of the Biographical Information of the United States Congress, and the page on Willing is the source of the erroneous date of 1811 that Willing resigned from the Bank of the United States, when it was actually in November, 1807. The charter of the bank expired in 1811. I have written to the website about the error, and cited the Konkle book.--DThomsen8 (talk) 19:11, 11 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Charles Willson Peale - Portrait of Thomas Willing.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on March 28, 2020. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2020-03-28. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:08, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thomas Willing
Thomas Willing (1731–1821) was an American merchant, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, and the first president of the First Bank of the United States. After studying abroad in England, he returned to Philadelphia in 1749, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, in partnership with Robert Morris. They established the firm Willing, Morris and Company in 1757. This exported flour, lumber and tobacco to Europe while importing sugar, rum, molasses, and slaves from the West Indies and Africa; their partnership continued until 1793. Despite voting against the Declaration of Independence as a member of the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776, he later contributed £5,000 to the revolutionary cause.

This picture is a 1782 oil-on-canvas portrait of Willing by American artist Charles Willson Peale. He is depicted here in front of shipping on the Atlantic Ocean, the source of his wealth and status. He holds in his hand a snuff box, an emblem of his business interests and patriotism; it bears a profile of his close friend George Washington and contains powdered tobacco, one of his most profitable exports. The painting is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.Painting credit: Charles Willson Peale