SEVEN GENERATIONS OF MERCHANTS

Born in Humboldt County, Northern California to Gail Crosby and William Crosby, Pierce has always been facinated with financial markets. Growing up during the GFC, Pierce traded the Facebook IPO from his lecture hall at University of California, Santa Cruz. 

After graduating college, Pierce joined Reuters, reporting on the inner circles of of some of the largest financial institutions in the world. With a focus on hedge funds, he eventually discovered StockTwits, where he spent half a decade trying to democratize information for everyday investors.

He joined TradingView in 2019 and led enterprise GTM, focused on building the utilities and technology that empowered the boom in retail investing worldwide in 2020. 

Pierce also launched Merchant Seven in 2019 as a vehicle to invest for early-stage investing technology.

Today, he drives Merchant Seven as a multi-purpose vehicle. Merchant Seven Consulting, Merchant Seven Fund, and Merchant Seven Advisors. He sits on several boards, advises two SPACs, as well as one DAT company. 

His intention remains to support the overall development of the industry as a whole. His advisory work centers on companies he believes will have the largest outsized impact on how the world thinks about investing and financial freedom.

Born in Upper Chichester Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Crosby is a descendant of John Morton, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Crosby was appointed midshipman in June 1838. He reached the rank of Lieutenant in September 1853 after a decade and a half in ships of the Home and Mediterranean Squadrons, plus coast survey duty. He served in the sloop-of-war Decatur and the schooner Petrel in the Mexican–American War, and had shore assignments in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

During 1861, as the Civil War ran through its first half year, Crosby served in the sloop of war Cumberland and briefly commanded the new gunboat Pembina. He went to the Gulf of Mexico as Commanding Officer of the gunboat Pinola at the beginning of 1862. In Pinola, assisted by Itasca, he broke the chain barrier across the Mississippi to make possible the passage upriver of Flag Officer David Farragut's squadron, and the capture of New Orleans.  He finished the war in the Gulf, commanding the gunboat Metacomet, and took part in clearing mines from Mobile Bay.

He finished his active career as a Rear Admiral, commanding the South Atlantic Squadron in 1882–1883 and the Asiatic Squadron later in 1883. Soon after, Admiral Crosby was elected to serve as the Assistant Secretary of State in Washington, D.C. He continued his efforts of development in Lexington and Washington, D.C. until his passing in 1899. 

Benjamin, born at Philadelphia in 1792, was the last of twelve children born to Michael and Miriam. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Gratz interrupted his studies to enlist in the militia under General Thomas Cadwalader when war broke out with Britain in 1812. He would transfer to the Pennsylvania Volunteers as a Second Lieutenant under command of Capt. John Smith the following year. At the end of the war, he resumed his studies at Penn and was awarded an M. A. in 1815. Two years later, he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, making him one of just a handful of Jewish lawyers in the United States. He also joined a Federalist organization called the Washington Association of Philadelphia, and served as president of the organization. 

On November 24, 1819, Gratz married Maria Cecil Gist, the niece of Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, at Lexington, Kentucky. Gratz manufactured hemp, and soon became one of the leading businessmen in the growing town. His election as trustee of Transylvania University was a clear sign of his growing prominence. He would reside in Kentucky for the remainder of his life, and remained a trustee of the university for 60 years. Gratz and Maria Gist had six children – five sons who grew to adulthood and another child who died in infancy. His legacy in Lexington lives on in Gratz Park, a historic district in Lexington. Mount Hope, the home that Gratz purchased for his family in 1824, still stands in this neighborhood, at 231 North Mill Street, facing the park.

Born in the Prussian town of Langendorf (Poland), Michael and his five siblings were orphaned when their father, Solomon Gratz, died. Michael and his brother, Barnard, lived in the household of their oldest brother, Hayim, until they were of age to leave home. Michael had gone first to Berlin to try to make it in business, but when that attempt failed, he found himself in Amsterdam, and then London. He next sailed for the English trading posts in India but returned again without having met success. All of this took place by the time he had turned 18.

Barnard invited Michael to join him in Philadelphia in 1758. Michael, 18, quickly accepted. Less than a year later, Michael began small ventures in trade both with Barnard and independently. The firm of B. & M. Gratz was born, and together the brothers engaged in a variety of trading activities, from Indian trade and land speculation to the coastal trade with the Caribbean. Among their more important business connections was Joseph Simon, an Indian trader established in Lancaster, PA. Simon, a devoutly observant Jew, was on the lookout for potential husbands for his six daughters who met both his exacting religious standards and his need for business partners. Although at first he disliked Michael, Simon was eventually won over. His eldest daughter, Miriam, then 20, wed the 29-year-old Gratz in 1769.

Michael and Miriam would have twelve children, of whom only one died young, sparking the predominance of the Gratz family in Philadelphia circles. Michael’s business instincts were successful over the course of many years, and his family enjoyed the benefits that wealth and standing brought. Among their children were Frances, Rebecca, Benjamin, Rachel, Hyman, and Joseph. 

Morton was born in Chester County, present-day Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 1725. Among other accomplishments as a statesman, John Morton was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, who provided the crucial swing vote that allowed his state to vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence. His decision on July 1, 1776, broke a 2-2 tie within the Pennsylvania delegation and tipped the balance in favor of independence.

Morton was elected to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775. He cautiously helped move Pennsylvania towards independence, though he opposed the radical Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. When in June 1776 Congress began the debate on a resolution of independence, the Pennsylvania delegation was split, with Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson in favor of declaring independence, and John Dickinson, Robert Morris, Charles Humphreys and Thomas Willing opposed. Morton was uncommitted until July 1, when he sided with Franklin and Wilson. When the final vote was taken on July 2, Dickinson and Morris absented themselves, allowing the Pennsylvania delegation to support the resolution of independence. Morton signed the Declaration on August 2 with most of the other delegates.

Morton was chairman of the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation, although he died,  before the Articles were ratified. He was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence (and writer of the Articles of Confederation) to die, barely nine months after the Declaration's signing on July 4, 1776.