Farsightedness of Stephen Girard Made His Bequests the Most Valuable in
the Country.
The death of Russell Sage and the problem of the distribution of his
millions were the subject of much comment, some of which led naturally
to editorial reminiscence. The Saint Louis _Globe-Democrat_ reverts to
the case of Stephen Girard, who, proportionately to the amount of his
possessions, was probably his country’s greatest benefactor in the way
of public bequests.
When Stephen Girard died in Philadelphia, in 1831, he was easily the
richest man in the United States, the estate he disposed of amounting
to seven million dollars. By will, he gave one hundred and forty
thousand dollars to relatives (he was a childless widower), a number
of bequests to employees, ninety-six thousand dollars to organized
charities, three hundred thousand dollars to the State of Pennsylvania
for internal improvements, and certain property in Louisiana to the
city of New Orleans for public improvements.
The residue, amounting to over six million dollars, was bestowed on
the city of Philadelphia, chiefly for the erection and maintenance of
a college to accommodate not fewer than three hundred white male
orphans, and the courts have construed a fatherless boy to be an
orphan.
Put City in Charge of Work.
Mr. Girard put the city in charge of this work, and since 1869 it has
been managed by a board of trustees appointed by the courts. Under its
care the value of the Girard estate has increased to thirty-two
million five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, three-fourths of
which is productive real estate, with the remainder in choice cash
assets.
Girard College, with its seventeen buildings, occupies forty acres.
Its pupils at present number one thousand four hundred and
eighty-three, and up to the present time it has fed, clothed, and
educated seven thousand seven hundred boys, fitting them to step at
once into active pursuits. This work will go on through the centuries
with increasing resources.
Girard had a striking version of what wealth is for. He was a natural
money-maker from his first commercial venture. He enjoyed the shaping
of business and making it pay. He was no easy mark, but, giving others
their due, exacted his own. His public spirit was highly developed, an
inborn trait.
As a banker in the period of the second war with England, Girard
personally saved the credit of the national credit more than once. He
served Philadelphia many years in various official capacities,
including that of councilman. Large internal improvements appealed to
him strongly, and he was among the foremost in advocating and
subscribing to them.
Set No Value on Wealth.
Girard set no value upon wealth, except as a means to accomplish
worthy ends, and these were more to him than his money, or even his
life.
In the year 1793, when Philadelphia lost a sixth of its population by
yellow fever, and most of its citizens had fled, Girard personally
took the inside management of a pest-house, ignoring all other
business for two months. In one hundred days of that autumn the
burials in the city exceeded four thousand.
At forty years of age Girard had only a competence, and wrote to a
friend: “I do not value fortune. The love of labor is my highest
ambition. I observe with pleasure that you have a numerous family and
that you are in possession of an honest fortune. This is all a wise
man has a right to wish for.”
Yet in the next forty years, largely through the fluctuations of
values caused by war, he honestly and usefully accumulated seven
million dollars, and devoted it to an everlasting mission of
beneficence to his fellow men. He wrote that “Labor is the price of
life, its happiness, its everything. To rest is to rust.”
Long-Headed In His Views.
He was long-headed in his views. More than a century ago his advice
for a large city was: “Build high, as there is only one ground rent.”
He would have none but solid construction.
A farm near the city was his place of recreation. On his journeys
there his lunch was under the seat, and on his return the space was
occupied with milk and butter for his domestic use. But he spent a
great deal of money on the introduction of rare plants and fine
cattle. He steadily declared that no man should be an idler on his
money, and he kept his word.
It is well said of him that “The spirit of work made him active; the
spirit of justice made him exact; the spirit of trade made him rich;
the spirit of duty made him brave; the spirit of patriotism made him
generous; and the spirit of love made him great.”
As a credit mark on the side of a vast fortune Girard is conspicuous,
and he fully succeeded in not dying rich, for he gave all to his
fellow citizens, making sure that it would be safeguarded for that
purpose forever.
Girard was a strange character. Penurious about small things,
disagreeable in his personality, he was generous, beneficent, and
public-spirited in a large way.