The younger William had visited important counting houses in Europe in 1788, was a friend of Filippo Filicchi (a renowned merchant in Leghorn, Italy, with whom his firm traded), and brought the first Stradivarius violin to America.
William muda pernah mengunjungi gedung-gedung pembukuan penting di Eropa pada tahun 1788, adalah teman dari Filippo Filicchi (seorang pedagang terkenal di Livorno, Italia, yang menjalin hubungan dagang dengan perusahaannya), dan membawa biola Stradivarius pertama ke Amerika Serikat.