Dr. Isaac Bronson (March 10, 1760 in Middlebury, CT – May 19, 1838 in Greenfield Hill) was a surgeon during the American Revolutionary War.

[4] Bronson made a personal appeal to George Washington to have his mates treated fairly and awarded pensions like the other officers.

[4] After the War, Isaac Bronson became interested in foreign commerce and traveled as far as China, returning with valuable cargo which he sold at a profit.

He invested in the new American government's debt, assisted by many friends from former officers, including Alexander Hamilton, who had become the first Secretary of the Treasury in Washington's first cabinet.

He then resold it to farmers, granting five-year mortgages at 6 percent to those whose financial standing his agents and scrutinized and certified.

His enterprise was so solid that conservative bankers like Prime, Ward & King invested substantial sums with him.

[5][9] Utilizing capital from the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, among other banks, they purchased nearly one-third of a million acres of land across eight states, including North Carolina,[2] Indiana, Chicago (which had a population of only 500 at the time) and other parts of Illinois, and the Michigan Territory[8] Bronson was competing against John Jacob Astor, who also acquired a vast real estate portfolio.

[19][20] Their daughter, Emily Burrall Hoffman (1861–1942),[21] married Maj. Gen. Villiers Hatton, CB (1852–1914), the Commander of British Troops in South China, in 1897.