Condy Raguet was born in Philadelphia on 28 January 1784. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania, he abandoned study of the law to work in business. Perhaps best known as a co-founder of the first savings bank in the United States, Raguet was also a Pennsylvania state legislator, officer in the War of 1812, chargé d'affaires to Brazil, journal editor, and free-trade advocate. Admitted to the bar following his military service, he published books on banking, economics, and U.S. currency. Baguet and his wife Catharine Simmons (1788–1877, m. 1807) had one daughter.