Pollock, Oliver

Pollock, Oliver, 1737–1823, American merchant, b. Ireland. He arrived in America at the age of 23 and became a successful merchant. After moving to New Orleans, Pollock speculated advantageously in land and in the slave trade and gained the confidence of the Spanish government. He contributed generously to the cause of the colonies in the American Revolution, obtained supplies from the Spanish, and helped finance George Rogers Clark's conquest of the Northwest. After the war the American government met its debts to him, but repayment was tardy and incomplete.

Bibliography

See biography by J. A. James (1937, repr. 1970).