Alexander Zuntz

Alexander Zuntz, native of Westphalia, Germany, came to America as civilian commissary and adjutant to the Hessian forces employed by England during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Soon after he arrived in New York in 1779 he became active in Congregation Shearith Israel, and was a leader of the Jewish community during and after the British occupation of the city. Zuntz was among the founders of two great financial U.S. institutions; in 1784 he was one of the founders of the New York Bank, and in 1792 he was one of the 24 brokers who signed the Buttonwood Agreement at 68 Wall Street that led to the formation of the New York Stock Exchange.