Panton, Leslie & Company

rdf:langString Panton, Leslie & Company

rdf:langString Panton, Leslie & Company was a company of Scottish merchants active in trading in the Bahamas and with the Native Americans of what is now the Southeastern United States during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The origins of Panton, Leslie & Company are in the firm Moore and Panton, in Savannah, Georgia, of which William Panton became partner in 1774. In 1775, the British, whose colony Florida then was, chose him to do their trading with the Creeks. He then joined with John Forbes to create Panton and Forbes. Politically, Panton was a loyalist; he was not in favor of American independence. When Britain in 1783 accepted American independence, he had to leave the country, and his property in the United States was confiscated. As a new base for trading with the Native Americans he chose Florida, which was just completing 20 years as a British colony. Its capital, St. Augustine, was not far from Savannah. Panton, Leslie, & Company was formed there in 1783 by the loyalists William Panton, John Leslie, John Forbes, Charles McLatchy, and William Alexander, for the purpose of trading with the Indians of Florida and adjacent territories claimed by Spain. Having already established themselves in Florida and the Bahamas, the company was able to continue operating in Florida after the colony's return to Spain in 1783 because there were no Spanish traders interested in doing business with the region's Natives. Panton, Leslie & Company were granted a monopoly on this trade in East Florida, and eventually also dominated the Indian trade in West Florida. A different source says that in 1783 the Spanish gave the company a monopoly on trade with Natives throughout its colonies. For many years Panton, Leslie & Company dominated trade with the Creeks and Seminoles. They eventually captured much of the trade with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and were important in the trade with the Cherokees. The partners harbored a great antipathy to the United States and used their influence with the Native Americans to advance Spanish territorial claims against the US, as well as to encourage the Indians to resist white settlers and the United States' attempts to acquire land from the tribes. Panton, Leslie & Company also operated as merchants in the Bahamas, organizing shipping of cotton and other local products, and acting as agents for merchants in Britain. After the death of William Panton in 1801 and that of John Leslie in 1803, the company was reorganized in 1804 as John Forbes & Company.