By 1790, he had a fortune of $6000 plus a small fleet of trading vessels. In 1791, his merchantmen in the French colony of Saint-Domingue were involved in salvaging goods owned by French planters during the Haitian Revolution. It was claimed that he was left with $10,000 of goods stowed on his ships, the owners of which were massacred, He said he could not trace any owners for the goods and so they were conveniently added to his own possessions.