Herman LeRoy (January 16, 1758 – March 31, 1841) was an American merchant, shipowner and banker.
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Early life
He was born on January 16, 1758, in New York City in what was then the Province of New York, a part of British America. He was the son of Jacob LeRoy (1727–1793) and Cornelia (née Rutgers) LeRoy (1736–1765). Among his siblings were Mary Ann LeRoy (who married John Livingston), Jacob Leroy (who married Martha Banyer), Robert Leroy (who married Catherine Cuyler) and Elizabeth (who married Julian McEvers). His father, who was born in Rotterdam, was a merchant and alderman of New York City.
His paternal grandparents were Daniel Leroy and Ingenatia (née van den Bergh) Le Roy. His maternal grandparents were Hermanus Rutgers III and Elizabeth (née Benson) Rutgers. His mother was a first cousin of New York State Assemblyman Henry Rutgers and Samuel Provoost, the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, among others.
Career
In 1786, he was consul-general for Holland. In 1788, he went into business with his wife's brother-in-law, William Bayard Jr., and founded LeRoy, Bayard & Co. which later became LeRoy, Bayard & McEvers when he introduced his brother-in-law, Julian McEvers. It again became LeRoy, Bayard & Co. after McEver's death. The firm was one the largest commercial house in New York City, shipping goods and trading product throughout the world. By 1792, LeRoy and Bayard represented the Holland Land Company, which owned roughly 3 million acres of land in Western New York, and between the two of them, they owned 300,000-acres. In 1813, he founded the town of LeRoy in Genesee County which was incorporated in 1834.