James F. Purvis | |
|---|---|
 Manifest listing people shipped by Purvis on the brig Porpoise, departing Baltimore Dec. 11, 1841, arriving New Orleans Jan. 7, 1842 | |
| Born | c. 1808 Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 1880 Maryland, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Slave trader, landowner, banker |
James Franklin Purvis (c. 1808 – April 23, 1880) was an American slave trader, broker, and banker who worked primarily in Baltimore. He was a nephew of Isaac Franklin of Franklin & Armfield, and traded in Maryland, Louisiana, and Mississippi in the 1830s and early 1840s. In 1842 he became a devout Methodist, quit the slave trade, and transitioned into real estate, banking, and stock brokering. After his bank failed in 1868, he retired to Carroll County, Maryland, where he died of a heart attack in 1880 at age 72.