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How Timothy Dexter Turned Ridiculous Ventures Into Riches

Khalid Elhassan November 22, 2024 13 min

Dexter - Timothy Dexter — Timothy Dexter. New England Legends

7. Selling Cats in the Caribbean

Timothy Dexter somehow managed to make money selling stray cats. Spruce Pets

Another example was when Newburyport was plagued with stray cats, and a proposal to destroy them all was put to a local vote. It failed, and somebody convinced Dexter that the cats could be sold in the Caribbean. It was a ludicrously dumb idea, but Dexter bit. He advertised in local newspapers that he would pay for stray cats, and promised to treat them well. He shipped them to the Caribbean, where a recent infestation of mice plagued plantations and warehouses. The cats were sold at a premium to eager buyers, and Dexter earned another fortune from a seemingly bonkers idea that nonetheless panned out.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.