 Born in 1794 , Acors Barns was the son a mariner and lived in Westerly , Rhode Island before moving to Stonington , Connecticut . Barns moved to New London , Connecticut and formed a whaling company with William Williams Jr. in 1827 . The company prospered and became one of the largest firms in the city , but Barns avoided the 1849 decline of the whaling industry by investing elsewhere . Barns invested in the Willimantic and Palmer Railroad before establishing the Bank of Commerce in 1852 . Barns died in 1862 , but his sons would continue the successful Bank of Commerce . 
