“Stevens came to him and made him an offer of $3,000 for the whole lot but it was not more than two-thirds its worth and Mr Smith refused saying he would rather ship it himself than accept the offer...” — Lucy Mack Smith1
The Smith family often struggled financially and moved frequently.2 Around 1802, Joseph Sr. started a ginseng export business. He refused to sell his first batch to a merchant named Mr. Stevens, expecting to make more than the offered $3,000 from sales in China. Instead, Joseph Sr. arranged for a captain in New York to ship the ginseng to China, sell it, and return with the profits.3
Unbeknownst to Joseph Sr., Mr. Stevens arranged for this same captain to ship Mr. Stevens's ginseng, accompanied by his son. When the ship returned, the young Stevens lied to Joseph Sr., telling him the venture was a failure and passing on a small chest of tea as the only item for him from China.3
Shortly after this, young Stevens started his own ginseng crystallizing business, hiring a team for the operation. Major Mack, Lucy Mack's brother, visited Stevens and found him drunk. Major, pretending to be indifferent, asked him about the profit from Joseph Sr.'s shipment. The intoxicated Stevens showed Mack a trunk full of silver and gold—and told him that these were the proceeds of Joseph Sr.'s ginseng. After chatting with Steven for a while more, Mack left to inform his brother-in-law of the theft.3
Realizing his mistake when sober, Stevens hastily closed his business and fled to Canada with the money. Joseph Sr. tried to pursue Stevens but eventually gave up, disheartened by the loss and betrayal.3 The Smith family had to sell their farm and use Lucy Mack's dowry to pay the resulting debt.2
