Image: Receipt for a Library Company share, 1733.

We continue our monthly “Shareholder Spotlight” series by taking a closer look at Share #629 and its first owner, Stephen Girard (1750-1831).

Shareholders have always been the backbone of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Starting with the first group of fifty tradesmen who formed the library in 1731, shareholders have provided crucial financial support each year for our mission to “pour forth benefits for the common good.”

We keep careful track of who has owned each historic share, and our list of 9,800+ shareholders includes signers of the Declaration and Constitution, merchants, doctors, soldiers, scientists, artists, philanthropists, politicians, and much more.

Share #629

This share was first issued to Stephen Girard (1750-1831) on August 9, 1790. About a year earlier, the Directors of the Library Company had gotten approval from its members to sell as many new shares as possible to help raise funds for their planned building at 5th and Chestnut Streets. Girard is the 126th name on the list of those new shareholders, and the new building opened roughly five months later on New Year’s Day in 1791.[i]

However, the Library Company’s Directors minutes tell a slightly more complex story of how Girard came to be a shareholder.

Image: Frontispiece from Stephen Simpson, Biography of Stephen Girard (Philadelphia, 1832).

The minutes from August 5, 1790 note that “…on account of the purchase of French books made of C. P. Raguet, shares were granted to Dr. Benjamin S. Barton & Stephen Girard.” In fact, the full list of books purchased from Raguet survives, and on the reverse, twelve men are named as being owed shares – seemingly because of their contributions toward this purchase.

Image: Library Company records include a list of French books purchased in 1790 from C. Raguet; on the back side, Stephen Girard and eleven other men are listed as being owed shares. List of books purchased from Raguet (7440.F.15), 1790, Library Company of Philadelphia records (MSS00270).

The French language of the books is not a surprise; Girard was born and raised in France.

By the time he acquired this Library Company share, he had been living in Philadelphia for more than a decade. He was a very successful merchant, involved in trade across the Atlantic world.[i]

He maintained his Library Company share for the rest of his life – more than forty years – during which time he accrued an incredible amount of wealth from his work as a merchant and banker, and from other business and real estate investments. His bank, Girard’s Bank, was a primary financier of U.S. involvement in the War of 1812, and by the time of his death in 1831, Girard was known as the richest man in the United States. He was also an enslaver, and his will listed at least thirty enslaved people at his Louisiana plantation.[ii]

Girard dictated that most of his wealth should be used to support causes in Philadelphia and New Orleans, including founding Girard College.[iii]

As for his Library Company share, his executor John A. Barclay sold the share to himself in 1833. The share has been owned by seven people total in its history.

Not yet a shareholder?

Share #629 is currently available. We work hard to match potential shareholders with historic shares that match their interests, and we would love to match you with Stephen Girard’s share or another option.

You can become a Library Company shareholder with an initial gift of $500. To learn more, visit our website or reach out to our Development Office at [email protected].

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[i] Amira Rose Schroeder, “Girard, Stephen,” Civil Rights in a Northern City: Philadelphia, Temple University Libraries, https://exhibits.temple.edu/s/civil-rights-in-a-northern-cit/page/girard–stephen (accessed January 28, 2026).

[ii] Shroeder, “Girard, Stephen.” The Will of the Late Stephen Girard, Esq., Procured from the Office for the Probate of Wills, with a Short Biography of His Life (Philadelphia, 1848).

[iii] Brenna O’Rourke Holland, “Girard’s Bequest,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/girards-bequest/ (accessed January 28, 2026).