American merchant, born at New Rochelle, NY, in 1700; died in Boston, MA, on the 3rd of March 1743. He belonged to a family of French Huguenots. In 1742 he built, at his own cost, as a gift to Boston, MA, a public market-house. This building was destroyed by fire in 1761, but was rebuilt by the city in 1763, and in 1775 was used as a theater. During the Revolutionary period it was the meeting-place of the patriots, the “Sons of Liberty,” and gained the name of “the Cradle of American Liberty.” Faneuil Hall was enlarged in 1805, being made forty feet wider and one story higher. The main hall is eighty feet square, its walls being hung with the portraits of distinguished Americans.
