author
Sampson Vryling Stoddard Wilder
1780–1865
A self-made merchant from Massachusetts, he built a successful transatlantic trading business and later became known for his deep religious commitments and charitable work. His life links early American commerce with the evangelical and reform movements of the 19th century.
1 Audiobook
The Village in the Mountains; Conversion of Peter Bayssière; and History of a Bible
by Sampson Vryling Stoddard Wilder
About the author
Born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1780, Sampson Vryling Stoddard Wilder went to work young and rose to prominence as a merchant in Boston. He was active in trade with France in the early 1800s and became wealthy enough to be remembered as a notable benefactor as well as a businessman.
Later in life, he was increasingly known for religious and philanthropic work. Wilder supported evangelical causes, wrote about his life and family, and was associated with the kind of moral and charitable reform that shaped much of Protestant public life in his era.
He died in 1865, leaving behind both a business reputation and a record of personal faith. Today he is remembered less as a public celebrity than as one of those energetic 19th-century figures whose life touched commerce, charity, and family history all at once.