John S. Montmollin
John Samuel de Montmollin II | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1808 |
| Died | June 9, 1859 (aged 50–51) Savannah River, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Slave trader, banker, plantation proprietor |
| Known for | Slave trade, president of Mechanics' Savings Bank of Savannah, involvement with the Wanderer slave ship |
John Samuel de Montmollin II (1808 – June 9, 1859) was a prominent figure from Savannah, Georgia, known as a slave trader, banker, and plantation proprietor. Family accounts indicate his significant role in orchestrating the illicit slave transport Wanderer. Montmollin perished in a steamboat boiler explosion on the Savannah River in 1859.
Biography
Montmollin's maternal grandfather was Jonathan Edwards the younger, which made him a first cousin once removed of Aaron Burr, who visited the Montmollin residence in 1802. In 1842, he wed Harriet M. Rossignol in Savannah. By 1848, he had become a city marshal and was the owner of a plantation in Savannah.
He held the position of president at the Mechanics' Savings Bank of Savannah, established in 1854, which had amassed capital of by 1857. In 1856, he funded the erection of the three-story brick John Montmollin Warehouse. The building's uppermost floor functioned as a slave pen; following Union forces' occupation of Savannah during the American Civil War, this space was converted into a school for African-American children who had previously been denied education. In December 1858, Montmollin pursued acquiring "one or two gangs of rice field Negros." An interview with his daughter-in-law in 1931 revealed his intention to revive the transatlantic slave trade and that he coordinated the illegal trafficking voyage of the Wanderer in 1858.
On June 9, 1859, Montmollin was one of roughly eleven individuals killed when a boiler detonated aboard the Savannah River steamboat John G. Lawton. His remains were discovered head-first approximately seventy to eighty yards from the blast site, suggesting he had been thrown high into the air. Notably, a handkerchief was still firmly clutched in his hand.
His death occurred near the island on the Savannah River where captives from his Wanderer had been confined.
Following his passing, his widow uncovered debts exceeding $30,000 and petitioned in 1863 for authorization to sell slaves inherited from his estate. Approval was granted, and she proceeded to sell 81 enslaved individuals in Savannah that April for .
See also
- List of Georgia slave traders
- Timeline of Savannah, Georgia
- Georgia in the American Civil War
- Nelson C. Trowbridge, slave trader associated with the Wanderer