Renowned for his eccentricity and widely regarded as a buffoon , he was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by rival merchants plotting to ruin him .
Timothy Dexter , an American entrepreneur , succeeded in defying the idiom in the eighteenth century .
Renowned for Timothy Dexter 's eccentricity and widely regarded as a buffoon , Timothy Dexter was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by rival merchants plotting to ruin him .
Timothy Dexter , an American entrepreneur , succeeded in defying the idiom in the eighteenth century .