John Myers

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, John Myers was the first child of Moses and Eliza Judah Myers. His father was a business and civic leader in Norfolk, and John began working with his father at age thirteen. By twenty-one he had become a partner and the next year he left for Europe, a trip that was to be part business, part grand tour. This trip, however, was cut short when his brother Samuel charged with manslaughter in the shooting of Richard Bowden.

Even after Samuel’s acquitted, John did not return to Europe, as his brother Myer would for extensive travels, and instead he remained in Norfolk, engaging himself in civic life. He sat on the Board of Inspectors, served as consul to Sweden and Colombia, was a member of the Franklin Fire Company and a major in the militia. During the War of 1812 he served as aide-de-camp to General Robert Taylor, defending Norfolk in the Battle of Craney Island.

After the war, John established an office of Moses Myers & Sons in Baltimore, but his vast speculations in commodities such as sugar and several business ventures in Panama and Norway did not pan out. The Crash of 1812 hit the family company hard, and John spent several months in 1820 in debtors prison. Upon his release, he intended to move to New Orleans, but the deaths of his brothers Abram and Hyam and his mother’s subsequent devastation brought him home. He became ssistant Collector of Customs for Norfolk and Portsmouth in 1827 , and died three years later, never having married.

John Myers

1808