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                John Bertram  1795-1882

               See photo 1:  Bertram was a self-made shipping merchant.  Bertram served as a cabin boy during the War of 1812 and was

               captured by the British. At the end of the war he returned to Salem with no money and no shoes. He soon returned to the sea

               and proved to have natural business instincts. In his early thirties he bought his first ship. By the time he was in his early forties

               he owned a fleet of ships. Bertram was a major philanthropist. He was the primary organizer of Salem Hospital.