Derby, Elias Hasket (1739–1799)

American merchant-ship owner. He expanded his father's merchant business and his skippers were among the first Americans to reach the Baltic, India, the East Indies, and China. Known for choosing his captains wisely, he only ever lost one vessel.

He was born in Salem, Massachusetts. He used the vessels he inherited from his father as privateers during the American Revolution. He became very wealthy and, after the Revolution, expanded his business to the farthest ends of the globe, but he never went to sea himself. He remains famous for the fine homes and furniture he and his family commissioned from the leading architects and cabinetmakers of their day.