Long before it became the United States of America (U.S.A.), our city had made its connections. Elihu Yale was after all born in America, and later, it was goods purchased from his ill-gotten wealth while Governor here that funded the Yale University there. It was during his tenure that the Madras Corporation came into existence in 1688, and the first Mayor, and later Yale’s successor as Governor was another American — Nathaniel Higginson.
Yet another Mayor, this time a citizen of the U.S.A., was William Abbott. He was appointed consular agent for Madras in November 1794, by Benjamin Joy, who was the first American consul to India, appointed by George Washington no less. Joy was himself on shaky footing in Calcutta, and so, we don’t know how Abbott was received here, but he stuck around and became Mayor! Consular agents in Madras came to be regularly appointed from 1867 onwards, and they wrote back detailed accounts of business opportunities in the city and the Presidency.
