CHAPTER I.

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GREAT FORTUNES, AND HOW THEY WERE MADE

Or, The Struggles and Triumphs of Our Self-Made Men

by

JAMES D. MCCABE, JR.,

Author of _Planting the Wilderness_, etc., etc.

Numerous Illustrations from Original Designs by G. F. & E. B. Bensell

[Illustration: CONSTERNATION AT THE SIGHT OF FULTON'S MONSTER.]

"MAN, it is not thy works, which are mortal, infinitely little, and the

greatest no greater than the least, but only the _spirit thou workest

in_, that can have worth or continuance."--CARLYLE.

George Maclean,

Philadelphia, New York and Boston

Electrotyped at the Franklin Type Foundry, Cincinnati

1871

"The physical industries of this world have two relations in them: one

to the actor, and one to the public. Honest business is more really a

contribution to the public than it is to the manager of the business

himself. Although it seems to the man, and generally to the community,

that the active business man is a self-seeker, and although his motive

may be self-aggrandizement, yet, in point of fact, no man ever manages a

legitimate business in this life, that he is not doing a thousand-fold

more for other men than he is trying to do even for himself. For, in the

economy of God's providence, every right and well organized business is

a beneficence and not a selfishness. And not less is it so because the

merchant, the mechanic, the publisher, the artist, think merely of their

profit. They are in fact working more for others than they are for

themselves."

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

PREFACE.

The chief glory of America is, that it is the country in which genius

and industry find their speediest and surest reward. Fame and fortune

are here open to all who are willing to work for them. Neither class

distinctions nor social prejudices, neither differences of birth,

religion, nor ideas, can prevent the man of true merit from winning the

just reward of his labors in this favored land. We are emphatically a

nation of self-made men, and it is to the labors of this worthy class

that our marvelous national prosperity is due.

This being the case, it is but natural that there should be manifested

by our people a very decided desire to know the history of those who

have risen to the front rank of their respective callings. Men are

naturally cheered and encouraged by the success of others, and those who

are worthy of a similar reward will not fail to learn valuable lessons

from the examples of the men who have preceded them.

With the hope of gratifying this laudable desire for information, and

encouraging those who are still struggling in the lists of fame and

fortune, I offer this book to the reader. I have sought to tell simply

and truthfully the story of the trials and triumphs of our self-made

men, to show how they overcame where others failed, and to offer the

record of their lives as models worthy of the imitation of the young men

of our country. No one can hope to succeed in life merely by the force

of his own genius, any more than he can hope to live without exerting

some degree of influence for good or evil upon the community in which

his lot is cast. Success in life is not the effect of accident or of

chance: it is the result of the intelligent application of certain fixed

principles to the affairs of every day. Each man must make this

application according to the circumstances by which he is surrounded,

and he can derive no greater assistance or encouragement in this

undertaking than by informing himself how other men of acknowledged

merit have succeeded in the same departments of the world's industry.

That this is true is shown by the fact that many of the most eminent men

attribute their great achievements to the encouragement with which the

perusal of the biographies of others inspired them at critical periods

of their careers. It is believed that the narrations embraced in these

pages afford ample instruction and entertainment to the young, as well

as food for earnest reflection on the part of those who are safely

advanced upon their pathway to success, and that they will prove

interesting to all classes of intelligent readers.

Some explanation is due to the reader respecting the title that has been

chosen for the work. The term "Great Fortunes" is not used here to

designate pecuniary success exclusively. A few of the men whose lives

are herein recorded never amassed great wealth. Yet they achieved the

highest success in their vocations, and their lives are so full of

interest and instruction that this work must have been incomplete and

unsatisfactory had they been passed over in silence. The aim of the

writer has been to present the histories of those who have won the

highest fame and achieved the greatest good in their respective

callings, whether that success has brought them riches or not, and above

all, of those whose labors have not only opened the way to fortune for

themselves, but also for others, and have thus conferred lasting

benefits upon their country.

In short, I have sought to make this work the story of the _Genius of

America_, believing as I do that he whose achievements have contributed

to the increase of the national wealth, the development of the national

resources, and the elevation of the national character, though he

himself be poor in purse, has indeed won a great fortune, of which no

reverse can ever deprive him.

J.D. McC., JR.

NEW YORK, _24th October, 1870_.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

CONSTERNATION AT SIGHT OF FULTON'S MONSTER (Frontispiece)

GIRARD COLLEGE

GIRARD'S HEROISM

ASTOR'S FIRST TRIP FOR FURS

"MY MEN SHALL NOT SUFFER"

PORTRAIT OF GEORGE PEABODY

PEABODY PAYING FOR A NIGHT'S LODGING

PORTRAIT OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT

VANDERBILT EARNING HIS FIRST HUNDRED DOLLARS

VANDERBILT CARRYING OFF THE SHERIFF

FOUNDING A GREAT FORTUNE

PORTRAIT OF ROBERT FULTON

AN AMAZING REVELATION

"THE MADHOUSE IS THE PROPER PLACE FOR HIM"

WHITNEY WATCHING THE FIRST COTTON-GIN

PORTRAIT OF ELIAS HOWE, JR.

HOWE'S FIRST IDEA OF THE SEWING-MACHINE

THE BOY COLT INVENTING THE REVOLVER

PORTRAIT OF SAMUEL F.B. MORSE

HOW THE NEW YORK HERALD BEGAN

MARSHALL'S DEFENCE OF CHRISTIANITY

PORTRAIT OF JAMES T. BRADY

"THEY ARE GOING TO HANG MY BROTHER; YOU CAN SAVE HIM!"

THE TRUANT'S SECRET DISCOVERED

PORTRAIT OF HIRAM POWERS

POWERS' DISTRUST OF THE HUNTERS

FILIAL DEVOTION SHAPES A GREAT CAREER

CARTWRIGHT CALLING UP THE DEVIL

PORTRAIT OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

JEFFERSON, AS RIP VAN WINKLE

PRESCRIBING AT THE BREAKFAST-TABLE

"PRESIDENT LINCOLN HAS BEEN MURDERED!"

CONTENTS.

I. MERCHANTS.

CHAPTER I.

STEPHEN GIRARD.

The fog in the Delaware--News of the war--Alarm of the French skipper--A

narrow escape from capture--Arrival of Girard in Philadelphia--Early

history of Stephen Girard--An unhappy childhood--Goes to sea--Is

licensed to command--Becomes a trader in Philadelphia--Marries Mary

Lum--Unfortunate issue of the marriage--Capture of Philadelphia by the

British--Early commercial life of Stephen Girard--How he earned his

first money, and the use he made of it--Aid from St. Domingo--His rigid

attention to business--Thoroughness of his knowledge--One of his letters

of instructions--His subordinates required to obey orders though they

ruin him--Anecdote of Girard and one of his captains--His promptness and

fidelity in business--He never breaks his word--How he lost five hundred

dollars--Buys the old Bank of the United States and becomes a

banker--Cuts down the salaries of his clerks--Refuses his watchman an

overcoat--Indifference to his employés--Contrast between his personal

and business habits--His liberality in financial operations--He

subscribes for the entire Government loan in 1814, and enables the

United States to carry on the war--His generosity toward the

Government--The suspension of specie payments--Financial troubles--How

Girard saved his own notes--His public spirit--How he made half a

million of dollars on a captured ship--Personal characteristics--Why he

valued money--His ambition--His infidelity--Causes of the defects of his

character--A favorable view--Heroic conduct of Stephen Girard during

the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia--The Good

Samaritan--He practices medicine, and congratulates himself that he has

killed none of his patients--His industry--Visit of Mr. Baring to Mr.

Girard--A curious reception--Failing health and death of Stephen

Girard--His will--His noble bequests--Establishment of Girard College.

CHAPTER II.

JOHN JACOB ASTOR.

Legitimate business the field of success--Reasons for claiming Astor as

an American--Birth and early life--Religious training--The village of

Waldorf--Poverty--The jolly butcher--Young Astor's repugnance to his

father's trade--Unhappy at home--Loses his mother--His desire to

emigrate to the "New Land"--Leaves home--His voyage down the

Rhine--Reaches London and enters the service of his brother--His efforts

to prepare for emigration--Learns to speak English--Peace between the

United States and Great Britain--The road to the "New Land" open--Astor

sets out for America--His first ventures in commerce--The voyage--How he

proposed to save his Sunday clothes--Arrival in the Chesapeake--The

ice-blockade--Astor makes a friend--The fur trader's story--Astor sees

the way to fortune--Reaches New York--His first situation--Learning the

business--His method of proceeding--An example to young men--His capacity

for business operations--He is promoted--His journeys to Canada, and

their results--Sets up in business for himself--The fur trade of North

America--A survey of the field of Astor's operations--His capital--His

tramps into the wilderness in search of furs--Predictions as to the

future settlement of the country--His first consignment to England--His

marriage--A good wife--Improvement in his prospects--Buys his first

ship--The secret of his success--Close attention to business--His

economical habits--His indorsement disputed by a bank clerk--Statements

of the profits on furs--He engages in the Chinese trade--How the

Government aided the early China traders--Amount made by Astor in his

legitimate business--His real estate operations--His foresight and

courage--How eight thousand dollars yielded eighty thousand--His real

estate in the City of New York--Purchases the half of Putnam County--The

Roger and Mary Morris estate controversy--Astor wins his suit, and makes

half a million of dollars--Astor's scheme of colonization--A grand

enterprise--Settlement of Astoria--Betrayed by his agents, and the

scheme brought to failure--Astor withdraws from active business--His

boyhood's vow and its fulfillment--Builds the Astor House--His voyage to

Europe--The return--The troubles of a millionaire--The great man

seasick--A curious draft--The last years of his life--His fondness for

literary men--His death and burial--His will--Opposite views of his

character--How his refusal to buy a chronometer cost him seventy

thousand dollars--He remembers an old friend--His gift of a lease--His

humor--"William has a rich father."

CHAPTER III.

ALEXANDER T. STEWART.

Birth and early life--Becomes his grandfather's ward--Designed for the

ministry--A change in his plans--Comes to America--Teaches school in New

York--Becomes a dry goods merchant--Receives a legacy--His first

importation--How he began business--An energetic trader--His sample lots

and their history--Success of his enterprise--He begins by encouraging

honesty in trade--Wins a name for reliability--The system of selling at

one price--Inaugurates the "selling off at cost" feature--His courage in

business--How he raised the money to meet his note--Improvement in his

business--He enlarges his store--As an inducement to the ladies, employs

for clerks handsome young men--The crisis of 1837--Stewart comes out of

it a rich man--How he did so--Builds his lower store--Predictions of

failure--The result--Compels the Government to purchase goods from

him--His foresight and liberality--Charged with superstition--Lucky and

unlucky persons--Story of the old apple woman--Remarks at the opening of

the St. Nicholas Hotel--Reasons of Stewart's success--A hard worker--How

he receives visitors--Running the gauntlet--How he gets rid of

troublesome persons--Estimate of Mr. Stewart's real estate in New

York--His new residence--His benevolence--Aid for Ireland, and free

passages to America--Home for women--Political sentiments--Mr. Stewart's

appointment as Secretary of the Treasury--Feeling of the country--The

retail store of A.T. Stewart & Co.--A palace of glass and iron--Internal

arrangements--The managers and salesmen--List of sales--Wages

given--Visitors--The principal salesroom--The parcel department--The

wagons and stables--Extravagant purchases--Mr. Stewart's supervision of

the upper store--The system of buying--The foreign agencies--Statement

of the duties paid each day--Personal appearance of Mr. Stewart.

CHAPTER IV.

AMOS LAWRENCE.

The Lawrence family--A poor boy--Early education--Delicate

health--Obtains a situation at Dunstable--Returns to Groton--Becomes Mr.

Brazer's apprentice--The variety store--An amateur doctor--Importance of

Groton in "old times"--Responsibility of young Lawrence--Is put in

charge of the business--High character--Drunkenness the curse of New

England--Lawrence resolves to abstain from liquors and tobacco--His

self-command--Completes his apprenticeship--Visits Boston--An unexpected

offer--Enters into business in Boston--Is offered a partnership, but

declines it--His sagacity justified--Begins business for

himself--Commercial importance of Boston--Aid from his father--A narrow

escape--lesson for life--Amos Lawrence's method of doing business---An

example for young men--His business habits--He leaves nothing unfinished

over Sunday--Avoids speculation--His views upon the subject--Introduces

double entry in book-keeping into Boston--His liberality to his

debtors--Does not allow his business to master him--Property gained by

some kinds of sacrifices not worth having--Forms a partnership with his

brother Abbott--Business of the firm--They engage in manufactures--Safe

business principles--A noble letter--Political opinions--His

charities--Statement of his donations--Requests that no public

acknowledgment of his gifts be made--Character as a merchant and a

man--Advice to his son--His religious character--Loss of his health--His

patience and resignation--The model American merchant.

CHAPTER V.

ANDREW V. STOUT.

Early struggles--Acquires an education--Undertakes the support of his

family--The boy teacher--Hard work--Is made instructor of Latin--A

trying position--How he conquered his difficulties--Is made principal of

a public school--His first business ventures--Engages in the building of

houses--His platform of integrity--His success--A great mistake--He

indorses a note--The consequence of a false step--Liberal action of the

bank--Mr. Stout resolves to accept no accommodation--Pays the notes, and

loses twenty-three thousand dollars--Establishes himself as a wholesale

boot and shoe dealer--Enters the dry goods trade--Close attention to

business--His system and its success--Organization of the Shoe and

Leather Bank of New York--Mr. Stout is made Vice President, and

subsequently President--Character as a citizen--Is made City

Chamberlain--Generosity to the police force--Interest in church

affairs--Kindness to the poor--Encouragement which his career affords

others.

CHAPTER VI.

JONAS CHICKERING.

The largest building in the United States--The Chickering piano

factory--Birth of Jonas Chickering--Early love of music--Is apprenticed

to a cabinet-maker--Is employed to repair a piano--Succeeds in the

undertaking--Consequence of this success--Becomes a piano-maker--Removes

to Boston--Is employed as a journeyman--The labor of his life--His

patience and skill--Is known as the best workman in the

establishment--History of the piano--Chickering's first discovery--His

hope of success based on intelligence--Becomes a master of the theory of

sound--His studies and their result--Makes an improvement in the framing

of pianos--Invents the circular scale for square pianos--Generously

makes his invention free--A noble gift to the world--His business

operations--Increase in the demand for his instruments--Death of Captain

Mackay--Mr. Chickering undertakes the sole charge of his affairs--Fears

of his friends--Magnitude of the business--The lawyer's question

answered--The mortgages paid--Rapid success of Mr. Chickering--His

varied duties--Sharp competition--A bogus Chickering--How a Boston bank

lost his custom--His independence in business--His character as a

merchant--Trains his sons to succeed him in business--The result of his

efforts--The present house of Chickering & Sons--Destruction of the

factory--Offers of aid--Mr. Chickering's kindness to his workmen--Sets

to work to re-establish his business--The new factory begun--Sudden

death of Mr. Chickering.

CHAPTER VII.

NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.

The grape interest of the United States--Growing demand for American

wines--Instrumentality of Mr. Longworth in producing this success--Early

life of Mr. Longworth--Apprenticed to a shoemaker--Removes to South

Carolina--Returns to Newark and studies law--Removes to

Cincinnati--Admitted to the bar--His first case--Is paid in whisky

stills, and trades them for lands which make his fortune--Rapid growth

of Cincinnati--The oldest native inhabitant of Chicago--Longworth's

investments in real estate--Immense profits realized by him--His

experiments in wine growing--History of the Catawba grape--Longworth

decides to cultivate it entirely--His efforts to promote the grape

culture in the Ohio Valley--Offers a market for all the grape juice that

can be brought to him--The result of his labors seen in the Ohio

vineyards of to-day--His wine cellars--Amount of wine made annually by

him--The process used--How "Sparkling Catawba" is made--Longworth's

experiments with strawberries--His liberality--Gift of land to the

Observatory--His challenge to a grumbler--Estimate of his character--His

eccentricities--His generosity to his tenants--How he made money by

helping others to grow rich--His politics--How he subscribed one hundred

dollars to elect Clay--His hatred of vagabondage--His stone quarry--How

he provided it with laborers--His system of helping the poor--Is charged

with stinginess--The "devil's poor"--Personal appearance--The

"Hard-times" overcoat--Charity to a millionaire--Death of Mr. Longworth.

CHAPTER VIII.

GEORGE PEABODY.

Birth and parentage--Early education--His first lessons in business--An

apprentice in a country store--Youthful ambition--A desire for

change--The visit to Post Mills--Removal to Newburyport--Reasons for his

attachment to that place--His first patron--Peabody goes south--A

soldier in the War of 1812-15--A young merchant--A change of

prospects--A partner in the house of Riggs & Peabody--Peabody's business

capacity--An irregular banker--His reputation as a business

man--Promising opening of a brilliant career--Retirement of Mr.

Riggs--Growth of the business--A branch house in London--Mr. Peabody

saves the credit of the State of Maryland--Tribute from Edward

Everett--Success in London--A model American merchant--Establishment of

the house of George Peabody & Co.--The Fourth of July dinner--The

exhibition of 1851--Patriotism of Mr. Peabody--How he saved the United

States from humiliation--Admission of the "London Times"--Mr. Peabody's

business habits--His economy--Adventure with a conductor--Finds a

conscientious hackman--Personal simplicity--Visits to the United

States--His munificent donations--His last visit--Returns to London and

dies--Honors paid to his memory--The funeral ceremonies--His burial at

Peabody--Statement of his donations and bequests--His example

encouraging to the young.

II. CAPITALISTS.

CHAPTER IX.

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.

Staten Island seventy-six years ago--The establishment of the Staten

Island ferry--Birth of Cornelius Vanderbilt--His boyhood--Defective

education--A famous rider--His early reputation for

firmness--Superintends the removal of a ship's cargo at the age of

twelve--How he pawned a horse--Becomes a boatman--How he bought his

boat--A disastrous voyage--His life as a boatman--His economy and

industry--Earns three thousand dollars--The alarm at Fort

Richmond--Vanderbilt's perilous voyage for aid for the forts--His

marriage--His first contract--How he supplied the harbor

defenses--Builds his first schooner--His winter voyages--Becomes a

steamboat captain--His foresight--Leases the hotel at New Brunswick--The

dangers of navigating the New York waters--The steamboat war--How

Captain Vanderbilt eluded the sheriff--Becomes manager of the steamboat

line--Declines an increase of salary--Only wants to carry his

point--Refuses to buy Mr. Gibbons's interest in the steamboat company,

and builds his own boat--Narrow escape from ruin--Final

triumph--Systematic management of his vessels--How he ruined the

"Collins Line"--The "North Star"--Becomes a railroad director--How he

foiled a plan to ruin him--dishonest legislature--Vanderbilt's

triumph--His gift to the Government--His office in New York--Vanderbilt

in business hours--Personal characteristics--Love for horses--His

family.

CHAPTER X.

DANIEL DREW.

Birth-place--Birth and parentage--A farmer's boy--Goes to New York to

seek his fortune--Becomes a cattle drover--Leases the Bull's Head

Tavern--His energy and success in his business--Brings the first western

cattle to New York--Helps a friend to build a steamboat--The fight with

Vanderbilt--Drew buys out his friend, and becomes a steamboat

owner--Vanderbilt endeavors to discourage him--He perseveres--His

success--Formation of the "People's Line" on the Hudson River--The

floating palaces--Forms a partnership with George Law, and establishes

the Stonington line--Opening of the Hudson River Railway--Drew's

foresight--Room enough for the locomotive and the steamboat--Buys out

the Champlain Company--Causes of his success as a steamboat

manager--Becomes a banker--His success in Wall Street--Indorses the

acceptances of the Erie Railway Company--His courage and calmness in the

panic of 1857--He saves "Erie" from ruin--Elected a director of the Erie

Road--Is made Treasurer--His interest in the road--His operations in

Wall Street--His farm in Putnam County--Joins the Methodist Church--His

liberality--Builds a church in New York--Founds the Drew Theological

Seminary--Estimate of his wealth--His family--Personal appearance.

CHAPTER XI.

JAMES B. EADS.

Birth--Childhood--Fondness for machinery--Early mechanical

skill--Constructs a steam engine at the age of nine years--His

work-shop--Death of his father--Works his way to St. Louis--Sells apples

on the streets--Finds employment and a friend--Efforts to

improve--Becomes a clerk on a Mississippi steamer--Undertakes the

recovery of wrecked steamboats--Success of his undertaking--Offers to

remove the obstacles to the navigation of the Mississippi--Failure of

his health--Retires from business--Breaking out of the war--Summoned to

Washington--His plan for the defense of the western rivers--Associated

with Captain Rodgers in the purchase of gunboats--His first contract

with the Government--Undertakes to build seven ironclads in sixty-five

days--Magnitude of the undertaking--His promptness--Builds other

gunboats during the war--The gunboat fleet at Forts Henry and Donelson

the private property of Mr. Eads--Excellence of the vessels built by

him--A model contractor--Residence in St. Louis.

CHAPTER XII.

CYRUS W. FIELD.

Birth--Parentage--Early education--Goes to New York in search of

employment--Obtains a clerkship in a city house, and in a few years

becomes a partner--A rich man at thirty-four--Retires from

business--Travels in South America--Meets Mr. Gisborne--Plan of the

Newfoundland Telegraph Company--Mr. Field declines to embark in

it--Conceives the idea of a telegraph across the Atlantic

Ocean--Correspondence with Lieut. Maury and Prof. Morse--The scheme

pronounced practicable--Mr. Field secures the co-operation of four New

York capitalists--Organization of the New York, Newfoundland, and London

Telegraph Company--Building of the line from New York to St. John's--A

herculean task--The Governmental ocean surveys of the United States and

England--Efforts to secure aid in England--Liberal action of the

Government--Organization of the Atlantic Telegraph Company--A hard-won

success in America--Passage of the bill by Congress--The first attempt

to lay the cable--The expedition of 1857--The telegraph fleet--Scenes on

board--Loss of the cable--Failure of the expedition--Difficulties

remedied--The new "paying-out" machinery--The expedition of 1858--The

second attempt to lay the cable--Dangerous storm--Failures--Loss of the

cable--The third attempt--The cable laid successfully--Messages across

the Atlantic--Celebrations in England and the United States--The signals

cease--The cable a failure--Discouraging state of affairs--Courage of

Mr. Field--Generous offer of the British Government--Fresh

soundings--Investigations of the Telegraph Board--Efforts of Mr. Field

to raise new capital--Purchase of the Great Eastern--The fourth attempt

to lay the cable--Expedition of 1865--Voyage of the Great Eastern--Loss

of the cable--Efforts to recover it unsuccessful--What the expedition

demonstrated--Efforts to raise more capital--They are pronounced

illegal--The new company--The fifth attempt to lay the cable--Voyage of

the Great Eastern--The cable laid at last--Fishing up and splicing the

cable of 1865--The final triumph--Credit due to Mr. Field.

III. INVENTORS.

CHAPTER XIII.

ROBERT FULTON.

Trinity churchyard--The Livingston vault--An interesting place--Fulton's

tomb--Birth of Robert Fulton--Boyhood--Early mechanical skill--Robert

astonishes his tutor--Robert's fireworks--"Nothing is

impossible"--"Quicksilver Bob"--The fishing excursion--The first

paddle-wheel boat--Fulton's success as an artist--His gift to his

mother--His removal to England--Intimacy with Benjamin West--Goes to

Devonshire--Acquaintance with the Duke of Bridgewater--His interest in

canal navigation--His first inventions--Goes to Paris--Residence with

Mr. Barlow--Studies in engineering--Invents the diving boat--The

infernal machine--His patriotic reply to the British ministry--His

marriage--Returns to America--The General Government declines to

purchase his torpedo--Brief history of the first experiments in steam

navigation--Fulton's connection with Livingston--The trial boat on the

Seine--Determines to build a boat on the Hudson--Fulton and Livingston

are given the sole right to navigate the waters of New York by

steam--Popular ridicule--Disbelief of scientific men--Launch of the

"Clermont"--The trial trip--The first voyage up the Hudson--Fulton's

triumph--Scenes along the river--Efforts to sink the

steamer--Establishment of steam navigation on the Hudson River--The

first New York ferry-boats--The floating docks--Boats for the West--New

York threatened by the British fleet in 1814--Fulton's plan for a steam

frigate--The "Fulton the First"--The steamboat war--Illness of

Fulton--His death and burial--His last will--True character of his

invention.

CHAPTER XIV.

CHARLES GOODYEAR.

Discovery of India-rubber--Mode of collecting it--Preparation and use by

the natives--Its introduction into the United States--Mr. E.M. Chaffee's

process--The India-rubber fever--Brief success of the India-rubber

companies--Their sudden failure--Visit of Mr. Goodyear to New York--He

invents an improvement in the life preserver--Early history of Charles

Goodyear--His failure as a merchant--Offers his invention to the Roxbury

Company--The agent's disclosures--Mr. Goodyear finds his mission--His

first efforts--A failure--Discouraging state of his affairs--Renews his

efforts--Experiments in India-rubber--Coldness of his friends--His

courage and perseverance--Goes to New York--Accidental discovery of the

aqua fortis process--Partial success--Ruined--Life on Staten

Island--Removes to Boston--Delusive prosperity--The mail bag

contract--His friends urge him to abandon his efforts--He refuses--On

the verge of success--Discovers the usefulness of sulphur--The

inventor's hope--The revelation--Discovers the secret of

vulcanization--Down in the depths--Kept back by poverty--A beggar--A

test of his honesty--Starvation at hand--The timely loan--Removal to New

York--Difficulties in the way--Death of his youngest child--Finds

friends in New York--His experiments in vulcanization--Final

success--His heart in his work--Fails to secure patents in Europe--His

losses from dishonest rivals--Declaration of the Commissioner of

Patents--Death of Mr. Goodyear--Congress refuses to extend his

patent--His true reward.

CHAPTER XV.

ELI WHITNEY.

The home of General Greene in Georgia--The soldier's widow--An arrival

from New England--The young schoolmaster--A mechanical genius--Early

history of Whitney--Mrs. Greene's invitation--Visit of the

planters--State of the cotton culture in 1792--A despondent

planter--Mrs. Greene advises them to try Whitney--Origin of the cotton

gin--Whitney's first efforts--His workshop--The secret labors--How he

provided himself with materials--Finds a partner--Betrayal of his

secret--He is robbed of his model--He recovers it and completes it--The

first cotton gin--Statement of the revolution produced by the invention

in the cotton culture of the South--Opinion of Judge Johnson--The story

of an inventor's wrongs--Whitney is cheated and robbed of his

rights--The worthlessness of a patent--A long and disheartening

struggle--Honorable action of North Carolina--Congress refuses to extend

the patent--Whitney abandons the cotton gin--Engages in the manufacture

of firearms--His improvements in them--Establishes an armory in

Connecticut, and makes a fortune--Death.

CHAPTER XVI.

CHAUNCEY JEROME.

The old-fashioned clocks--Their expensiveness--Condition of the clock

trade of Connecticut sixty years ago--Early history of Chauncey

Jerome--A hard life--Death of his father--Becomes a farmer's boy--Is

anxious to become a clock-maker--An over-wise guardian--Hardships of an

apprentice--How Jerome became a carpenter--Hires his winters from his

master--Becomes a dial-maker--The clock-making expedition--Jerome's

first savings--Takes a wife--A master carpenter--Poor pay and hard

work--Buys a house--A dull winter--Enters Mr. Terry's factory--The

wooden clock business--Sets up in business for himself--Industry and

energy rewarded--His first order--Sends his clocks South--Enlarges his

business--Improvements in his clocks--Losses on southern shipments from

dampness--Depression of business--Jerome's anxiety--A wakeful

night--Invention of the brass--A new era in the clock trade--Beneficial

effects of Jerome's invention--Magnitude of the Connecticut clock trade

at present--Growth of Jerome's business--Makes a fortune--Organization

of the "Jerome Clock-making Company"--Practical withdrawal of Mr.

Jerome--Difficulties of the company--Jerome a ruined man--Honest

independence--Finds employment--Becomes the manager of the Chicago

Company.

CHAPTER XVII.

ELIAS HOWE, JR.

The first sewing-machine--Birth of Elias Howe--A poor man's son--Raised

to hard work--His first employment--The little mill-boy--Delicate

health--Goes to Lowell to seek his fortune--Thrown out of

employment--Removes to Cambridge--Works in a machine shop with N.P.

Banks--Marries--A rash step--Growing troubles--A hard lot--Conceives the

idea of a sewing-machine--His first experiments unsuccessful--Invents

the lock stitch and perfects the sewing-machine--Hindered by his

poverty--A hard struggle--Finds a partner--His winter's task--His attic

work-shop--Completion of the model--Perfection of Howe's

invention--Efforts to dispose of the invention--Disappointed

hopes--Popular incredulity--Becomes an engine driver--Amasa Howe goes to

England with the sewing-machine--Bargain with the London

merchant--Elias removes to London--Loses his situation--The rigors of

poverty--Returns to America--Death of his wife--Fate's last blow--The

sewing-machine becomes better known--Adoption by the public--A tardy

recognition--Elias Howe sets up in business for himself--Buys out his

partner's interest--The sewing-machine war--Rapid growth of the

sewing-machine interest--Earnings of the inventor--A royal

income--Honors conferred upon him--Enlists in the United States Army--A

liberal private--Last illness and death.

CHAPTER XVIII.

RICHARD M. HOE.

Growth of the art of printing--Birth of Richard M. Hoe--Sketch of the

career of Robert Hoe--He comes to America--His marriage--Founds the

house of "Robert Hoe & Co."--The first steam printing presses--He

retires from business--Richard M. Hoe is brought up in the business--The

mechanical genius of the house--The new firm--Richard Hoe's first

invention--Obtains a patent for it--Visits England--Invents the

double-cylinder press--Demand for increased facilities for printing--Mr.

Hoe's experiments with his press--His failures--How the "Lightning

Press" was invented--A good night's work--Patents his invention--The

first "Lightning Press"--Demand for it--Rapid growth of the business of

the firm--Statement of the operations of the house--Personal

characteristics of Richard M. Hoe--The "Lightning Press" at work.

CHAPTER XIX.

SAMUEL COLT.

Birth and parentage--A restless boy--Dislikes school--Early fondness for

mechanical inventions--Is sent to boarding-school--Runs away to sea--The

story of a boy's invention, and what came of it--Origin of the

revolver--Returns home--His chemical studies--Dr. Coult--The lecturing

tour--His success--Completes his design for the revolver--Patents his

invention--Visits England--Discovery at the Tower of London--Returns

home--Formation of the "Patent Arms Company"--Objections of the

officers of the army and navy to the revolver--The Florida War--It is

decided by the revolver--Triumph of Col. Colt--Cessation of the demand

for arms--Failure of the company--Beginning of the Mexican War--Action

of General Taylor--No revolvers to be had--A strange dilemma for an

inventor--The new model--Contracts with the Government--Success of the

revolver in Mexico--The demand from the frontier--Emigration to

California and Australia--Permanent establishment of Col. Colt's

business--The improved weapon--Builds a new armory--Description of his

works at Hartford--A liberal employer--Other inventions of Col.

Colt--His submarine telegraph--His fortune--His marriage--Visits to

Europe--Attentions from European dignitaries--Witnesses the coronation

of the Emperor of Russia--His last illness and death.

CHAPTER XX.

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE.

Birth--Parentage--Early education--Graduates at Yale College--Becomes an

artist--His masters--Visits England--His first attempt--"The Dying

Hercules"--Opinion of Benjamin West--Wins the medal of the Adelphi

Society of Arts--Ambition as an artist--His cold reception by the

Americans--Mr. Tuckerman's comments--Organizes the National Academy of

Design--Visits Europe the second time--The homeward voyage in the

"Sully"--News of the experiments at Paris with the electro-magnet--How

the electric telegraph was invented--Morse is made a professor in the

University of New York--Completion of his model--An imperfect

telegraph--His first experiments--The duplicate finished--First

exhibition of the telegraph--Morse applies for a patent--Visits Europe

to introduce his invention--His failure--Seeks aid from Congress--A

disheartening effort--A long struggle--Independence of Morse--Despondent

at last--A sudden lifting of the cloud--The experimental line--The

trial--A curious Cabinet Minister--Success of the

telegraph--Establishment of companies in the United States--Professor

Morse wins fame and fortune--The telegraph in Europe--Honors at home and

abroad--A list of his rewards--Morse originates submarine telegraphy,

and predicts the laying of an Atlantic telegraph--Personal characteristics.

IV. PUBLISHERS.

CHAPTER XXI.

JAMES HARPER.

The Brothers Harper--Birth and parentage of James Harper--The Long

Island home--James Harper goes to New York--Becomes a "devil"--Winning

his way--How he gave his card to a stranger--Arrival of "Brother

John"---Good habits--Sets up for himself--"J. & J. Harper,

Printers"--How they started in business--Integrity rewarded--First

job--Their first effort at stereotyping--The Harpers become publishers

on their own account--Their early ventures--Feeling their way to

success--Their publications--Character of their books--How they drove

the "yellow covers" out of the market--Their prosperity--Admission of

new partners--The great fire--Destruction of the establishment of Harper

& Brothers--Energy of the firm--Re-establishment of their

business--Their new premises--Description of the buildings--Personal

characteristics of Mr. James Harper--Religious life--Liberality of

sentiment--His industry--Elected Mayor of New York--Kindness to his

operatives--Physical Vigor--"The Lord knows best"--Accident to Mr.

Harper and his daughter--His death.

CHAPTER XXII.

JAMES T. FIELDS.

The old "Corner Book-store" in Boston and its associations--Carter &

Bendee employ a new clerk--Birth and early life of James T. Fields--His

literary talent--Governor Woodbury's advice--Enters mercantile

life--Determined to rise--His studies--The result--Associated with

Edward Everett at the age of eighteen--His business talent--Steady

promotion--Becomes head clerk with Allen & Ticknor--Establishment of the

firm of Ticknor & Fields--Success as a publisher--High character of his

house--Relations toward authors--Publications of Ticknor &

Fields--Removal--Organization of the firm of Fields, Osgood & Co.--The

new book-store--An elegant establishment--Mr. Field's literary

success--Statement of a friend--"Common Sense"--His contributions to the

periodicals of the firm--Travels in Europe--Personal appearance.

V. EDITORS.

CHAPTER XXIII.

JAMES GORDON BENNETT.

Birth--Intended for the Romish priesthood--How he was induced to come to

America--Arrival in Halifax--Comes to the United States--What came of a

shilling--Employment in Boston--Reaches New York--Attempts to establish

a school--Becomes connected with the press--Success of his Washington

letters--Services on the "Courier and Inquirer"--Leaves that

journal--Removes to Philadelphia--Establishes "The

Pennsylvanian"--Ingratitude of his political associates--Returns to New

York--Establishment of "The New York Herald"--Early difficulties of that

paper, and how Bennett surmounted them--The first "Herald" office--A

determined effort to succeed--First numbers of "The Herald"--How one man

carried on a newspaper--A lucky hit--The first "money article"--The

office burned down--The great fire--Bennett's reports of the

disaster--Success of "The Herald"--His first advertising

contract--Increasing prosperity--The journal of to-day--How it is

conducted--The new "Herald" office--Bennett's pride in his

paper--Personal characteristics--His independence.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ROBERT BONNER.

Birth and parentage--Emigration to America--Becomes a printer--A

first-class compositor--Engaged upon the "Evening Mirror"--The

"Merchant's Ledger"--Bonner purchases the paper, and changes its name to

the "New York Ledger"--The new literary journal--Predictions of

failure--Bonner confident of success--Engages Fanny Fern to write for

him--A handsome price for a story--Wonderful success of the

"Ledger"--Skillful advertising--Popularity of the paper--How Bonner

silenced the critics--"Edward Everett writes for the 'Ledger'"--How

Bonner treats his contributors--"Henry Ward Beecher writes for the

'Ledger'"--Immense circulation of the paper--The new "Ledger"

building--Private residence of Mr. Bonner--His stable--His love for

horses.

VI. LAWYERS.

CHAPTER XXV.

JOHN MARSHALL.

The model American lawyer--Birth and early life of John Marshall--A

devoted father--Early education--The young patriot--Troubles with

England--Marshall becomes a soldier--The "Culpepper Minute

Men"--Marshall's popularity in the army--Finishes his law studies--His

journey from Williamsburg to Philadelphia--Commences the practice of the

law--Elected to the Legislature--Establishes himself in Richmond--The

power of a powdered wig and velvet coat--Marshall's services in the

Virginia Convention of 1798--Becomes the champion of Washington's

Administration--Refuses public honors--Is made Minister to France

--Public reception in New York--Elected Member of Congress--His

memorable speech--Enters the Cabinet of President Adams as Secretary of

State--Is made Chief Justice of the United States--His record--His "Life

of Washington"--Personal characteristics--His generosity--William

Wirt's pen and ink sketch of him--His courtesy and kindness--Fondness

for manly sports--The quoit club--How he carried a proud man's turkey

home--The supper party--The Chief Justice loses the wager--Mode of

traveling on his circuit--The scene at Maguire's Hotel in Winchester,

Virginia--The unknown champion of Christianity--A brilliant

defense--Last illness and death of Judge Marshall.

CHAPTER XXVI.

JAMES T. BRADY.

Birth and early life--His "big head"--His kindliness of

disposition--Enters his father's office to study law--Merry nature--How

he studied law--A model for ambitious youths--His father's opinion of

him--Admitted to the bar--His first case--The newsboy case--sudden rise

in popularity--Practices in the Supreme Court--The India-rubber suit--A

compliment from Daniel Webster--Brady's integrity--Professional success

and generosity--His readiness in managing his cases--Conduct toward

witnesses--His fearlessness--A bold declaration in Tammany Hall--His

profound knowledge of his profession--His industry--His disinterested

kindness--His humor--Meets his match--Political life--Personal

appearance--A genial old bachelor--Literary tastes and labors--His

generosity to the poor--Devotion to his relatives--Last appearance in

public--Forebodings--Death.

VII. ARTISTS.

CHAPTER XXVII.

BENJAMIN WEST.

A native of Pennsylvania--Circumstances attending his birth--The child

of promise--First indications of genius--The baby's portrait--Lessons

from the Indians--The box of colors--The truant pupil--The mother's

discovery---West's opinion of his first picture--The little portrait

painter--The first attempt at historical painting--"The Death of

Socrates"--Choosing a profession--Dedicated to his work--A fighting

Quaker--Establishes himself in New York--Visits Europe--Arrival at Rome,

and reception there--Visit to the Apollo Belvidere--West's

criticism--Travels and labors on the continent--Visits England--His

reception there--Urged to stay--Decides to make England his home--Sends

for his bride--Marriage--"Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of

Germanicus"--Success of the picture--The king becomes his friend--The

most famous works of Benjamin West--"The Death of Wolfe"--Reception of

the picture by the public--West triumphs over the critics, and

inaugurates a new era of historical painting--Death of the king--West is

elected President of the National Academy--His resignation and

re-election--Closing years of a great career--Personal appearance--Leigh

Hunt's description of him--Death--Burial in St. Paul's Cathedral.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

JOHN ROGERS.

Birth--Early years--Begins life as a clerk in a dry goods

store--Artistic talent--Opposition of his parents--A change in his

plans--Becomes an engineer--Failure of his eyes--Voyage to Spain--Return

home--Becomes a machinist--Promoted--Learns to model in clay--Commences

his studies in art--A hard life, and a noble perseverance--A change for

the better--A sudden reverse--Out of work--Visits Europe to study his

art--Returns home in despair--Enters the service of the surveyor of the

city of Chicago--His first statuettes--Their success--A new field opened

to him--Visits New York, and learns the new method of casting

figures--Establishes himself in New York--His first studio--Immediate

popularity of his works--Description of them--Removes to a new

studio--His later works--Process by which they are made-Originality of

the artist rewarded by the public--Personal characteristics.

CHAPTER XXIX.

HIRAM POWERS.

Birth--Juvenile mechanical skill--The life of a Vermont boy--Hard

times--Removal of the Powers family to the West--The new

farm--Misfortunes never come singly--Breaking up of the

household--Hiram's first employment--The reading-room scheme--Hiram

becomes a collector of bad debts--Reminiscences of the young

West--Powers becomes a mechanic--Story of the brass plates--Rapid

promotion--The silver watch--How Hiram purchased it--The Cincinnati

Museum--The artist's first lessons in modeling--His first sitter--The

trial of skill--The king of the Cannibal Islands--The man-eater--Hiram

becomes interested in the museum--How he played the devil in

Cincinnati--A dishonest employer--Mr. Longworth's offer--Powers goes to

Washington--His success there--Visit to "Old Hickory"--The first

critic--Kindness of Senator Preston--Powers goes to Italy--Arrival in

Florence--His first works in Italy--Visit to Thorwaldsen--Works of

Powers--His rapid success--His life in Italy--Views of Mr. Powers

respecting an artist life--Personal characteristics--Popularity with

artists.

CHAPTER XXX.

EMMANUEL LEUTZE.

An American by adoption--Early life and education--How he learned to

draw--Becomes an artist--His first picture--The evils of too much

haste--His first professional engagement--Despondency--A ramble through

the Virginia woods, and what came of it--A friend in need--Greater

success--Friendship of Mr. Carey--Leutze goes to Europe--Studies at

Dusseldorf-His reception there--Becomes Lessing's pupil--His first

picture finds a purchaser--Travels and studies in Europe--Returns to

Dusseldorf, marries, and makes his home in that place--His

paintings--Returns to New York--Success in America--The Government

commission--Journey to the Rocky Mountains--The great fresco in the

Capitol--"Westward the Star of Empire takes it Way"--Revisits

Dusseldorf--Reception by the artists--Returns to the United

States--Further commissions from the Government--His sudden death--His

unfinished works--Mr. Tuckerman's remarks.

VIII. DIVINES.

CHAPTER XXXI.

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

A Connecticut boy--The minister's family--A gloomy childhood--Ma'arm

Kilbourn's school--The loss of his curls--The dull boy--A bad voice for

an orator--His first religious impressions--Aunt Esther--The Sunday

catechism--Sent to boarding school--Love of nature--Enters his sister's

school--The hopeless case--An inveterate joker and an indifferent

scholar--Removal to Boston--Gets through the Latin school--The sea-going

project--Dr. Beecher's ruse--Life at Mount Pleasant--Conquers

mathematics--Embraces religion at a revival--Resolves to become a

minister--Removal to Cincinnati--Course at the Lane Seminary--How he

learned to preach--Marries--His first charge--Life at

Lawrenceburg--Removal to Indianapolis--Life in the West--His

popularity--His theory of preaching and its success--Conversion of his

brother--Mr. Beecher accepts a call to Plymouth Church in

Brooklyn--Political record--Literary labors--Pastoral work--A large

audience--Government of Plymouth Church--Description of the edifice--The

congregation--The services--Mr. Beecher as a preacher--Sympathy between

the pastor and his hearers--His ideas of religion--How he prepares his

sermons--His prayers unstudied--The social receptions--The Friday

evening meeting--A characteristic scene--Labors during the war--Visit to

Europe--An unpopular sermon in a good cause--Personal characteristics.

CHAPTER XXXII.

PETER CARTWRIGHT.

Birth--Removal to Kentucky--"Rogue's harbor"--Condition of the country

and the people--Frontier life--Early life of a preacher--Becomes a

Christian--His account of his conversion--Is made an exhorter in the

Methodist Church--Removal to Lewiston County--Begins

preaching--Qualifications of a backwoods preacher--His energy--The

jerks--How Peter frightened a bully--A brimstone angel--Enters the

ministry--Appointed to the Marietta Circuit--A good school--Hard

times--Marries--Quiet heroism--How the old-time people married--His

devotion to the Methodist Church--Troubles with other denominations--How

he argued with a Universalist--How he met a wrathful dame--Encounter

with a Baptist preacher--Adventure with Father Teel--Taming a

shrew--Removal to Illinois--His reasons for taking that step--Death of

his daughter--Arrival at his new home--Life on the frontier--A large

district--The Methodist circuit riders of sixty years ago--Perils of

frontier traveling--Success of Cartwright's ministry--How he was

superannuated--His courage--How he cleared a camp of rowdies--Encounter

on a ferry-boat--Frightens a bully--Advocates temperance--A practical

joke--Is elected to the Legislature--His opinion of politics--How he

raised the devil--"Another sinner down"--Missionaries from the

East--Indignation of the backwoods preacher--The proposed mission to New

England--Cartwright declines it--He visits Boston--His reception--How he

preached for Father Taylor--Summing up--Sixty-seven years of a

preacher's life.

IX. AUTHORS.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.

Birth and early life--The old house by the sea--College life--Early

literary productions--Becomes a professor in Bowdoin College--Travels in

Europe--Marriage--Literary labors--"Outre Mer"--Is made a professor in

Harvard College--His second visit to Europe--Death of his wife--Goes to

live in the Craigie House--Historical associations--Washington's

headquarters--A congenial home--Literary labors--"Hyperion"--Great

popularity of the book--"Voices of the Night"--"The Spanish

Student"--Mr. Longfellow buys the Craigie House--Summary of his

works--The "Song of Hiawatha"--Death of Mrs. Longfellow--Mr. Longfellow

again visits Europe--His popularity with the English-speaking

race--Cause of his popularity--"Resignation"--Scene from "The Golden

Legend"--The poet's home.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

The Hawthornes of Salem--A sea-going race--Birth of Nathaniel

Hawthorne--A sad home--Early life--His college days--Longfellow's

recollection of him--Returns home--The young recluse--Literary

efforts--"Twice-Told Tales"--"The most unknown author in

America"--Enters the Boston Custom House--His duties--Popularity with

the sailors--Loses his office--Becomes a member of the Brook Farm

Community--Marries and goes to live at Concord--"The Old Manse"--Life at

Concord--Curiosity of the village people--"Mosses from an Old

Manse"--Hawthorne's visitors--Hawthorne and his friends--George William

Curtis' recollections--Removes to Salem--Is made surveyor of that

port--"The Scarlet Letter"--Removal to the Berkshire Hills--"The House

of the Seven Gables"--Returns to Concord--"Life of Franklin Pierce"--Is

made Consul to Liverpool---Life abroad--Depressed by the war--Moncure D.

Conway's recollections--Juvenile works--Death of Mr. Ticknor--Effect

upon Hawthorne--Goes traveling with Ex-President Pierce--Sudden death of

Hawthorne--Burial at Concord.

X. ACTORS.

CHAPTER XXXV.

EDWIN BOOTH.

The elder Booth--His success as an actor--His sons--Birth of Edwin

Booth--Early life--Brought up on the stage--Admiration for his

father--Travels with him--First appearance--Appears frequently with his

father--Plays Richard III. in New York--A bold venture--Learns the

details of his profession--Visits Australia and the Sandwich

Islands--Re-appearance in New York in 1857--Recollections of him at that

time--His labors in his profession--Successful tours throughout the

country--Visits England--Appears at the Haymarket Theater in

London--Studies on the continent--Appearance at the Winter Garden--The

Shakespearian revivals--Destruction of the Winter Garden by fire--Loss

of Mr. Booth's theatrical wardrobe--Popular sympathy--The new

theater--Opening of the building--Description of Booth's Theater--A

magnificent establishment--A splendid stage--Novel mode of setting the

scenes--Magnificent mounting of the plays produced there--Mr. Booth's

performances--Personal--Genius as an actor--Beneficial influence upon

the drama.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

JOSEPH JEFFERSON.

The Jefferson family--A race of actors--Jefferson the first--"Old

Jefferson"--Jefferson the third--Birth of Joseph

Jefferson--Childhood--Brought up on the stage--Olive Logan's

reminiscence--First appearance in public--Early training--Career as a

stock actor--Becomes a "star"--His success--Visits Australia, the

player's El Dorado--Pecuniary success of Jefferson in Australia--His

merits as an actor--Visits England--First appearance at the Adelphi

Theater--"Our American Cousin"--Production of Rip Van Winkle--Makes the

part his specialty--Description of his performance of Rip Van

Winkle--Personal characteristics--Devotion to his profession--Love of

art--A capital sportsman--Buys a panorama--A visit to John Sefton--"The

Golden Farmer"--Private life.

XI. PHYSICIANS.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

BENJAMIN RUSH.

Birth and early life--Adopts medicine as a profession--Studies in

Europe--Returns home, and is made a professor in the Philadelphia

Medical College--Political career--Elected to the Provincial Conference

of Pennsylvania--Action with respect to the independence of the

colonies--Elected to the Continental Congress--Signs the Declaration of

Independence--Marriage--Is made Surgeon-General of the army--Becomes

Physician-General--Troubles--Resigns his commission--Letters to the

people of Pennsylvania--Services in the State conventions--Resumes his

practice in Philadelphia--Plans the Philadelphia Dispensary--Resumes his

professor's chair--The yellow fever in Philadelphia--A scene of

terror--"The Hundred Days"--Dr. Rush's treatment of the

disease--Opposition of the Faculty--Success of Rush's

treatment--Testimony of Dr. Ramsay--Suit for damages--Dr. Rush's

services during the fever--Reminiscences--Honors from European

sovereigns--Is made Treasurer of the United States Mint--Literary

labors--Zeal in behalf of Christianity--His connection with the Bible

Society--Death.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

VALENTINE MOTT.

Birth--Early life--Enters Columbia College--His medical

studies--Continues his studies in Europe--Great surgical genius--His

early success as an operator--Returns home--Is made Professor of Surgery

in Columbia College--His career and success as a teacher--Introduces the

system of clinical instruction--Difficulty of procuring "subjects" for

dissection--Desperate expedients--midnight adventure--A ready

rebuke--Success and skill as a surgeon--Tribute from Sir Astley

Cooper--A wonderful operation--Sketch of his original operations--His

mode of operating--Careful preparation--Success as a physician--A

progressive mind--Professional honors--Visits Europe--Reception

abroad--Operates upon the Sultan of Turkey--A cool

proposition--Personal--His last illness and death--"President Lincoln

murdered."

[Illustration: GIRARD COLLEGE]

I.

MERCHANTS.

CHAPTER I.

STEPHEN GIRARD.

One May morning, in the year 1776, the mouth of the Delaware Bay was

shrouded in a dense fog, which cleared away toward noon, and revealed

several vessels just off the capes. From one of these, a sloop, floated

the flag of France and a signal of distress. An American ship ran

alongside the stranger, in answer to her signal, and found that the

French captain had lost his reckoning in a fog, and was in total

ignorance of his whereabouts. His vessel, he said, was bound from New

Orleans to a Canadian port, and he was anxious to proceed on his voyage.

The American skipper informed him of his locality, and also apprised him

of the fact that war had broken out between the colonies and Great

Britain, and that the American coast was so well lined with British

cruisers that he would never reach port but as a prize. "What shall I

do?" cried the Frenchman, in great alarm. "Enter the bay, and make a

push for Philadelphia," was the reply. "It is your only chance."

The Frenchman protested that he did not know the way, and had no pilot.

The American captain, pitying his distress, found him a pilot, and even

loaned him five dollars, which the pilot demanded in advance. The sloop

got under weigh again, and passed into the Delaware, beyond the defenses

which had been erected for its protection, just in time to avoid capture

by a British war vessel which now made its appearance at the mouth of

the bay. Philadelphia was reached in due time, and, as the war bade fair

to put an end to his voyages, the captain sold the sloop and her cargo,

of which he was part owner, and, entering a small store in Water Street,

began the business of a grocer and wine-bottler. His capital was small,

his business trifling in extent, and he himself labored under the

disadvantage of being almost unable to speak the English language. In

person he was short and stout, with a dull, repulsive countenance, which

his bushy eyebrows and solitary eye (being blind in the other) made

almost hideous. He was cold and reserved in manner, and was disliked by

his neighbors, the most of whom were afraid of him.

This man was Stephen Girard, who was afterward destined to play so

important a part in the history of the city to which the mere chances of

war sent him a stranger.

He was born at Bordeaux, in France, on the 21st of May, 1750, and was

the eldest of the five children of Captain Pierre Girard, a mariner of

that city. His life at home was a hard one. At the age of eight years,

he discovered that he was blind in one eye, and the mortification and

grief which this discovery caused him appear to have soured his entire

life. He afterward declared that his father treated him with

considerable neglect, and that, while his younger brothers were sent to

college, he was made to content himself with the barest rudiments of an

education, with merely a knowledge of reading and writing. When he was

quite young, his mother died, and, as his father soon married again,

the severity of a step-mother was added to his other troubles. When

about thirteen years of age, he left home, with his father's consent,

and began, as a cabin-boy, the life of a mariner. For nine years he

sailed between Bordeaux and the French West Indies, rising steadily from

his position of cabin-boy to that of mate. He improved his leisure time

at sea, until he was not only master of the art of navigation, but

generally well informed for a man in his station. His father possessed

sufficient influence to procure him the command of a vessel, in spite of

the law of France which required that no man should be made master of a

ship unless he had sailed two cruises in the royal navy and was

twenty-five years old. Gradually Girard was enabled to amass a small sum

of money, which he invested in cargoes easily disposed of in the ports

to which he sailed. Three years after he was licensed to command, he

made his first appearance in the port of Philadelphia. He was then

twenty-six years old.

From the time of his arrival in Philadelphia he devoted himself to

business with an energy and industry which never failed. He despised no

labor, and was willing to undertake any honest means of increasing his

subsistence. He bought and sold any thing, from groceries to old "junk."

His chief profit, however, was in his wine and cider, which he bottled

and sold readily. His business prospered, and he was regarded as a

thriving man from the start.

In July, 1777, he married Mary Lum, a servant girl of great beauty, and

something of a virago as well. The union was an unhappy one, as the

husband and wife were utterly unsuited to each other. Seven years after

her marriage, Mrs. Girard showed symptoms of insanity, which became so

decided that her husband was compelled to place her in the State Asylum

for the Insane. He appears to have done every thing in his power to

restore her to reason. Being pronounced cured, she returned to her

home, but in 1790 He was compelled to place her permanently in the

Pennsylvania Hospital, where, nine months after, she gave birth to a

female child, which happily died. Mrs. Girard never recovered her

reason, but died in 1815, and was buried in the hospital grounds.

Girard fled from Philadelphia, with his wife, in September, 1777, at the

approach of the British, and purchased a house at Mount Holly, near

Burlington, New Jersey, where he carried on his bottling business. His

claret commanded a ready sale among the British in Philadelphia, and his

profits were large. In June, 1778, the city was evacuated by Lord Howe,

and he was allowed to return to his former home.

Though he traded with the British, Girard considered himself a true

patriot, as indeed he was. On the 27th of October, 1778, he took the

oath of allegiance required by the State of Pennsylvania, and renewed it

the year following. The war almost annihilated the commerce of the

country, which was slow in recovering its former prosperity; but, in

spite of this discouraging circumstance, Girard worked on steadily,

scorning no employment, however humble, that would yield a profit.

Already he had formed the plans which led to his immense wealth, and he

was now patiently carrying out the most trying and disheartening

preliminaries. Whatever he undertook prospered, and though his gains

were small, they were carefully husbanded, and at the proper time

invested in such a manner as to produce a still greater yield. Stephen

Girard knew the value of little things, and he knew how to take

advantage of the most trifling circumstance. His career teaches what may

be done with these little things, and shows how even a few dollars,

properly managed, may be made to produce as many thousands.

In 1780, Mr. Girard again entered upon the New Orleans and St. Domingo

trade, in which he was engaged at the breaking out of the Revolution. He

was very successful in his ventures, and was enabled in a year or two to

greatly enlarge his operations. In 1782, he took a lease of ten years on

a range of frame buildings in Water Street, one of which he occupied

himself, with the privilege of a renewal for a similar period. Rents

were very low at that time, as business was prostrated and people were

despondent; but Girard, looking far beyond the present, saw a prosperous

future. He was satisfied that it would require but a short time to

restore to Philadelphia its old commercial importance, and he was

satisfied that his leases would be the best investment he had ever made.

The result proved the correctness of his views. His profits on these

leases were enormous.

About this time he entered into partnership with his brother, Captain

John Girard, in the West India trade. But the brothers could not conduct

their affairs harmoniously, and in 1790 the firm was dissolved by mutual

consent. Stephen Girard's share of the profits at the dissolution

amounted to thirty thousand dollars. His wealth was greatly increased by

a terrible tragedy which happened soon afterward.

At the outbreak of the great insurrection in St. Domingo, Girard had two

vessels lying in one of the ports of that island. At the first signal of

danger, a number of planters sent their valuables on board of these

ships for safe-keeping, and went back to their estates for the purpose

of securing more. They never returned, doubtless falling victims to the

fury of the brutal negroes, and when the vessels were ready to sail

there was no one to claim the property they contained. It was taken to

Philadelphia, and was most liberally advertised by Mr. Girard, but as no

owner ever appeared to demand it, it was sold, and the proceeds--about

fifty thousand dollars--turned into the merchant's own coffers. This was

a great assistance to him, and the next year he began the building of

those splendid ships which enabled him to engage so actively in the

Chinese and East India trades.

His course was now onward and upward to wealth. At first his ships

merely sailed between Philadelphia and the port to which they were

originally destined; but at length he was enabled to do more than this.

Loading one of his ships with grain, he would send it to Bordeaux, where

the proceeds of her cargo would be invested in wine and fruit. These she

would take to St. Petersburg and exchange for hemp and iron, which were

sold at Amsterdam for coin. From Amsterdam she would proceed to China

and India, and, purchasing a cargo of silks and teas, sail for

Philadelphia, where the final purchase was sold by the owner for cash or

negotiable paper. His success was uniform, and was attributed by his

brother merchants to _luck_.

Stephen Girard had no faith in luck. He never trusted any thing to

chance. He was a thorough navigator, and was perfect master of the

knowledge required in directing long voyages. He understood every

department of his business so well that he was always prepared to survey

the field of commerce from a high stand-point. He was familiar with the

ports with which he dealt, and was always able to obtain such

information concerning them as he desired, in advance of his

competitors. He trusted nothing of importance to others. His

instructions to the commanders of his ships were always full and

precise. These documents afford the best evidence of the statements I

have made concerning his system, as the following will show:

_Copy of Stephen Girard's Letter to Mr. ----, Commander and

Supercargo of the ship ----, bound to Batavia._

PHILADELPHIA, ----.

SIR--I confirm my letters to you of the ---- ult., and the ----

inst. Having recently heard of the decease of Mr. ----, merchant at

Batavia, also of the probable dissolution of his house, under the

firm of Messrs. ----, I have judged it prudent to request my

Liverpool correspondents to consign the ship ----, cargo, and

specie on board, to Mr. ----, merchant at Batavia, subject to your

control, and have requested said Liverpool friends to make a

separate invoice and bill of lading for the specie, which they will

ship on my account, on board of the ship ----, and similar

documents for the merchandise, which they will ship in the same

manner; therefore, I request that you will sign in conformity.

I am personally acquainted with Mr. ----, but not with Mr. ----,

but I am on very friendly terms with some particular friends of the

latter gentleman, and consequently I give him the preference. I am

sorry to observe, however, that he is alone in a country where a

partner appears to me indispensable to a commercial house, as well

for the safety of his own capital as for the security of the

interests of those who may confide to them property, and reside in

distant parts of the globe.

The foregoing reflections, together with the detention of my ship

V----, at Batavia, from June last, epoch of her arrival at that

port, until the 15th of September, ----, when she had on board only

nineteen hundred peculs of coffee, are the motives which have

compelled me to request of my Liverpool friends to consign the

specie and goods, which they will ship on my account, on board of

the ship ----, under your command, to said Mr. ----, subject to

your control.

Therefore, relying upon your activity, perseverance, correctness,

zeal, and attention for my interest, I proceed in pointing out to

you the plan of conduct which I wish you to pursue on your arrival

at Batavia, and during your stay at that or any port of that

island, until your departure for Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, to

await my subsequent orders.

First. On your arrival at Batavia, you are to go on shore and

ascertain Mr. ----'s residence, and, if you have reason to believe

that he is still considered at that place as a man of good credit,

and merits full confidence, you are to deliver to him my Liverpool

consignees' letters to his address, and also the goods which you

have on board, in such proportion as he may request, except the

specie, which is to continue on board, as mentioned in the next

article.

Second. The specie funds of the ship ----, which will consist of

old Carolus dollars, you are to retain on board untouched, and in

the said boxes or packages as they were in when shipped from

Liverpool, well secured, and locked up in your powder magazine, in

the after run of the said ship under the cabin floor.

The bulkhead and floor of said magazine, scuttle, iron bar,

staples, etc., must be made sufficiently strong, if not already so,

while you are at Liverpool, where you are to procure a strong

padlock and key, for the purpose of securing said specie in the

most complete and safest manner; and when you have the certainty

that it is wanted to pay for the coffee purchased on account of the

ship ----, then you are to receive the said coffee, and pay or

deliver to your consignee Spanish dollars to the amount of said

purchase, and no more, having due regard to the premium or advance

allowed at Batavia on old Spanish dollars; and in that way you are

to continue paying or delivering dollars as fast as you receive

coffee, which is not to exceed the quantity which can be

conveniently stowed on board said ship ----, observing to take a

receipt for each payment, and to see that the net proceeds of the

goods, which will have been shipped at Liverpool, must be invested

in coffee, as far as the sales will permit, and shipped on board of

said ship.

Should it happen that on your arrival at Batavia you should find

that death, absence, etc., should deprive you of the services of

Mr. ----, or that, owing to some causes before mentioned, it would

be prudent to confide my interests elsewhere, in either case you

are to apply to Messrs. ----, merchants of that place, to

communicate your instructions relative to the disposal of the

Liverpool cargo, on board of the ship ----, the loading of that

ship with good merchantable coffee, giving the preference to the

first quality whenever it can be purchased on reasonable terms for

cash, or received in payment for the sales of the said Liverpool

cargo, or for a part thereof, observing that I wished said coffee

to be purchased at Samarang, or any other out-port, if practicable;

and in all cases it must be attentively examined when delivered,

and put up in double gunny bags.

If the purchase of said cargo is made at an out-port, the ship

----must proceed there to take it in.

On the subject of purchasing coffee at government sales, I have no

doubt that it is an easy way to obtain a cargo, but I am of opinion

that it is a very dear one, particularly as the fair purchaser, who

has no other object in view but to invest his money, does not stay

on the footing of competitors, who make their payments with

Netherland bills of exchange, or wish to raise the prices of their

coffee which they may have on hand for sale.

Under these impressions, I desire that all the purchases of coffee

on my account be made from individuals, as far as practicable, and

if the whole quantity necessary to load the ship can not be

obtained at private sale, recourse must then be had to government

sales.

In many instances I have experienced that whenever I had a vessel

at Batavia, the prices of coffee at the government sales have risen

from five to ten per cent., and sometimes higher.

On the subject of coffee I would remark that, owing to the increase

of the culture of that bean, together with the immense imports of

tea into the several ports of Europe, the price of that leaf has

been lowered to such a degree as to induce the people of those

countries, principally of the north, to use the latter article in

preference to the first.

That circumstance has, for these past three years, created a

gradual deduction from the consumption of coffee, which has

augmented the stock on hand throughout every commercial city of the

northern part of the globe, so as to present a future unfavorable

prospect to the importers of that article. Indeed, I am convinced

that, within a few months from this date, coffee will be ten per

cent. cheaper in the United States than what it has been at Batavia

for these two years past; nevertheless, being desirous to employ my

ships as advantageously as circumstances will permit, and

calculating also that the price at Java and other places of its

growth will fall considerably, I have no objection to adventure.

Therefore, you must use every means in your power to facilitate

the success of the voyage.

Should the invoice-cost of the entire cargo of coffee shipped at

Java, on board of the ship ----, together with the disbursements of

that ship (which must be conducted with the greatest economy), not

amount to the specie funds and net proceeds of her Liverpool cargo,

in that event you are to deliver the surplus to your consignee, who

will give you a receipt for the same, with a duplicate, expressing

that it is on my account, for the purpose of being invested on the

most advantageous terms, in good dry coffee, to be kept at my order

and disposal.

Then you will retain the original in your possession, and forward

to me the duplicate by first good vessel to the United States, or

via Europe, to care of my correspondents at Liverpool, London,

Antwerp, or Amsterdam, the names of whom you are familiar with.

If you should judge it imprudent, however, to leave that money at

Batavia, you are to bring it back in Spanish dollars, which you

will retain on board for that purpose.

Although I wish you to make a short voyage, and with as quick

dispatch at Java as practicable, yet I desire you not to leave that

island unless your consignee has finally closed the sales of the

Liverpool cargo, so that you may be the bearer of all the

documents, and account-current, relative to the final transactions

of the consignment of the ship ---- and cargo. Duplicate and

triplicate of said documents to be forwarded to me by your

consignees, by the two first safe conveyances for the ports of the

United States.

Being in the habit of dispatching my ships for Batavia from this

port, Liverpool, or Amsterdam, as circumstances render it

convenient, it is interesting to me to be from time to time

informed of the several articles of produce and manufactures from

each of those places which are the most in demand and quickest of

sale at Java. Also of the quantity of each, size of package, and

the probable price which they may sell for, cash, adding the

Batavia duty, charges for selling, etc. Please to communicate this

to your Batavia consignee.

The rates of commission I will allow for transacting the business

relative to the ship and cargo at Java are two and a half per cent,

for selling, and two and a half per cent, for purchasing and

shipping coffee and other articles.

The consignees engaging to place on board of each prow one or two

men of confidence, to see that the goods are safely delivered on

board of the ship, to prevent pilfering, which is often practiced

by those who conduct the lighter.

I am informed that the expenses for two men are trifling,

comparatively, to the plunder which has been committed on board of

the prows which deliver coffee on board of the ships.

No commissions whatever are to be allowed in the disbursements of

my ships, whenever ship and cargo belong to me, and are consigned

to some house.

While you remain at Batavia, I recommend you to stay on board of

your ship, and not to go on shore except when the business of your

ship and cargo may render it necessary.

Inclosed is an introductory letter to ----, which I request you to

deliver, after you have made the necessary arrangements with Mr.

----for the consignment of the ship and cargo, or after the

circumstance aforementioned has compelled you to look elsewhere for

a consignee. Then you are to call upon said Messrs. ----, deliver

them the aforesaid letter and the consignment of the ship ---- and

cargo, after having agreed with them in writing, which they will

sign and deliver to you, that they engage to transact the business

of the ship and cargo on the terms and conditions herein stated;

and when that business is well understood and finally closed, you

are to press them in a polite manner, so that they many give you a

quick dispatch, without giving too great a price for the coffee,

particularly at this present moment, when its price is declining

throughout those countries where it is consumed.

Indeed, on the subject of purchasing coffee for the ship ----, the

greatest caution and prudence should be exercised. Therefore, I

request that you will follow the plan of conduct laid down for you

throughout. Also, to keep to yourself the intention of the voyage,

and the amount of specie you have on board; and in view to satisfy

the curious, tell them that it is probable that the ship will take

in molasses, rice, and sugar, if the price of that produce is very

low, adding that the whole will depend on the success in selling

the small Liverpool cargo. The consignees of said cargo should

follow the same line of conduct, and if properly attended to by

yourself and them, I am convinced that the cargo of coffee can be

purchased ten per cent. cheaper than it would be if it is publicly

known there is a quantity of Spanish dollars on board, besides a

valuable cargo of British goods intended to be invested in coffee

for Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia.

During my long commercial experience, I have noticed that no

advantage results from telling one's business to others, except to

create jealousy or competitors when we are fortunate, and to

gratify our enemies when otherwise.

If my remarks are correct, I have no doubt they will show you the

necessity of being silent, and to attend with activity,

perseverance, and modesty, to the interests of your employer.

As my letters of instruction embrace several interesting objects, I

request you to peruse them in rotation, when at sea in fine

climates, during your voyage to Batavia, and to take correct

extracts, so as to render yourself master of the most essential

parts. I conclude by directing your attention to your health and

that of your crew.

I am yours, respectfully,

STEPHEN GIRARD.

Mr. Girard was not only rigidly precise in his instructions, but he

permitted no departure from them. He regarded it as dangerous to allow

discretion to any one in the execution of _his_ plans. Where a deviation

from his instructions might cause success in one case, it would cause

loss in ninety-nine others. It was understood among all his employés

that a rigid obedience to orders, in even the most trifling particulars,

was expected, and would be exacted. If loss came under such

circumstances, the merchant assumed the entire responsibility for it.

Upon one occasion one of his best captains was instructed to purchase

his cargo of teas at a certain port. Upon reaching home he was summoned

by the merchant to his presence.

"Captain ----," said Mr. Girard, sternly, "your instructions required

you to purchase your cargo at ----."

"That is true, Mr. Girard," replied the Captain, "but upon reaching that

port I found I could do so much better at ----, that I felt justified in

proceeding to the latter place."

"You should have obeyed your orders, sir," was the stern retort.

"I was influenced by a desire to serve your interests, sir. The result

ought to justify me in my act, since it puts many thousands more into

your pocket than if I had bought where I was instructed."

"Captain ----," said Girard, "I take care of my own interests. You

should have obeyed your orders if you had broken me. Nothing can excuse

your disobedience. You will hand in your accounts, sir, and consider

yourself discharged from my service."

He was as good as his word, and, though the captain's disobedience had

vastly increased the profit of the voyage, he dismissed him, nor would

he ever receive him into his service again.

To his knowledge of his business Mr. Girard joined an unusual capacity

for such ventures. He was, it must be said, hard and illiberal in his

bargains, and remorseless in exacting the last cent due him. He was

prompt and faithful in the execution of every contract, never departed

in the slightest from his plighted word, and never engaged in any

venture which he was not perfectly able to undertake. He was prudent and

cautious in the fullest sense of those terms, but his ventures were

always made with a boldness which was the sure forerunner of success.

His fidelity to his word is well shown by a circumstance which had

occurred long after he was one of the "money kings" of the land. He was

once engaged with his cashier in a discussion as to the length of time a

man would consume in counting a million of dollars, telling out each

dollar separately. The dispute became animated, and the cashier declared

that he could make a million of dots with ink in a few hours.

"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Girard, who was thoroughly vexed by

the opposition of the other, "I'll wager five hundred dollars that I can

ride in my gig from here to my farm, spend two hours there, and return

before you can make your million of dots with ink."

The cashier, after a moment's reflection, accepted the wager, and Mr.

Girard departed to his farm. He returned in a few hours, confident that

he had won. The cashier met him with a smile.

"Where is my money?" asked Girard, triumphantly.

"The money is mine," replied the cashier. "Come and see."

He led the merchant to an unused room of the bank, and there, to his

dismay, Girard saw the walls and ceiling covered with spots of ink,

which the cashier had dashed on them with a brush.

"Do you mean to say there are a million of dots here?" he cried,

angrily.

"Count them, and see," replied his subordinate, laughing. "You know the

wager was a million of dots with ink."

"But I expected you would make them with the pen."

"I did not undertake any thing of the kind."

The joke was too good, and the merchant not only paid the amount of the

wager, but the cost of cleaning the walls.

In 1810 the question of renewing the charter of the old Bank of the

United States was actively discussed. Girard was a warm friend of that

institution, which he believed had been the cause of a very great part

of the prosperity of the country, and was firmly convinced that Congress

would renew the charter. In this belief he ordered the Barings, of

London, to invest all his funds in their hands in shares of the Bank of

the United States, which was done, during the following year, to the

amount of half a million of dollars. When the charter expired, he was

the principal creditor of that institution, which Congress refused to

renew. Discovering that he could purchase the old Bank and the cashier's

house for one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, he at once secured

them, and on the 12th of May, 1812, opened the Girard Bank, with a

capital of one million two hundred thousand dollars, which he increased

the next year by one hundred thousand dollars more. He retained all the

old officers of the Bank of the United States, especially the cashier,

Mr. Simpson, to whose skill and experience he was greatly indebted for

his subsequent success.

Finding that the salaries which had been paid by the Government were

higher than those paid elsewhere, he cut them down to the rate given by

the other banks. The watchman had always received from the old Bank the

gift of an overcoat at Christmas, but Girard put a stop to this. He gave

no gratuities to any of his employés, but confined them to the

compensation for which they had bargained; yet he contrived to get out

of them service more devoted than was received by other men who paid

higher wages and made presents. Appeals to him for aid were unanswered.

No poor man ever came full-handed from his presence. He turned a deaf

ear to the entreaties of failing merchants to help them on their feet

again. He was neither generous nor charitable. When his faithful cashier

died, after long years spent in his service, he manifested the most

hardened indifference to the bereavement of the family of that

gentleman, and left them to struggle along as best they could.

Yet from the first he was liberal and sometimes magnificent in the

management of his bank. He would discount none but good paper, but it

was his policy to grant accommodations to small traders, and thus

encourage beginners, usually giving the preference to small notes, by

this system doing very much to avert the evils that would of necessity

have sprung from the suspension of the old Bank of the United States.

The Government credit was almost destroyed, and money was needed to

carry on the war. He made repeated advances to the treasury, unsolicited

by the authorities, and on more than one occasion kept the Government

supplied with the sinews of war. In 1814, when our prospects, both

military and financial, were at their lowest ebb, when the British

forces had burned Washington and the New England States were threatening

to withdraw from the Union, the Government asked for a loan of five

millions of dollars, with the most liberal inducements to subscribers.

Only twenty thousand dollars could be obtained, and the project seemed

doomed to failure, when it was announced that Stephen Girard had

subscribed for the whole amount. This announcement at once restored the

public confidence, and Mr. Girard was beset with requests from persons

anxious to take a part of the loan, even at an advanced rate. They were

allowed to do so upon the original terms. When the Government could not,

for want of funds, pay the interest on its debt to him, he wrote to the

Secretary of the Treasury:

"I am of opinion that those who have any claim for interest on public

stock, etc., should patiently wait for a more favorable moment, or at

least receive in payment treasury notes. Should you be under the

necessity of resorting to either of these plans, as one of the public

creditors, I shall not murmur."

"A circumstance soon occurred, however, which was a source of no little

discomfiture to the financial arrangements of his individual

institution. This fact was the suspension of specie payments by the

State banks, resulting from the non-intercourse act, the suspension of

the old bank, and the combined causes tending to produce a derangement

of the currency of the country. It was then a matter of great doubt with

him how he should preserve the integrity of his own institution, while

the other banks were suspending their payments; but the credit of his

own bank was effectually secured by the suggestion of his cashier, Mr.

Simpson, who advised the recalling of his own notes by redeeming them

with specie, and by paying out the notes of the State banks. In this

mode not a single note of his own was suffered to be depreciated, and he

was thus enabled, in 1817, to contribute effectually to the restoration

of specie payments."

He was instrumental in securing the establishment of the new Bank of the

United States, and was its largest stockholder and one of its directors.

He even offered to unite his own institution with it upon certain

liberal conditions, which were refused. Yet he was always a firm friend

to it.

"One of the characteristics of Mr. Girard was his public spirit. At one

time he freely subscribed one hundred and ten thousand dollars for the

navigation of the Schuylkill; at another time he loaned the company two

hundred and sixty-five thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars. When

the credit of the State of Pennsylvania was prostrated by what was

believed to have been an injudicious system of internal improvement, and

it was found expedient for the Governor to resort to its metropolis in

order to replenish its coffers, he made a voluntary loan to Governor

Shultz of one hundred thousand dollars. So far was his disposition to

promote the fiscal prosperity of the country manifested, that, as late

as 1831, when the country was placed in extreme embarrassment from the

scarcity of money, he perceived the cause in the fact that the balance

of trade was against us to a considerable extent, and he accordingly

drew upon the house of Baring Brothers & Co. for bills of exchange to

the amount of twelve thousand pounds sterling, which he disposed of to

the Bank of the United States at an advance of ten per cent., which

draft was followed up by another for ten thousand, which was disposed of

in like manner to other institutions. This act tended to reduce the

value of bills, and the rate of exchange suddenly fell. The same spirit

which he manifested toward the national currency he exhibited to the

corporation of Philadelphia, by erecting new blocks of buildings, and

beautifying and adorning its streets; less, apparently, from a desire of

profit than from a wish to improve the place which was his adopted home,

and where he had reaped his fortunes. His subscription of two hundred

thousand dollars to the Danville and Pottsville Railroad, in 1831, was

an action in keeping with the whole tenor of his life; and his

subscription of ten thousand dollars toward the erection of an exchange

looked to the same result."

The war of 1812, which brought financial ruin to so many others, simply

increased Girard's wealth. He never lost a ship, and as war prices

prevailed, his profits were in accordance with them. One of his ships

was taken by a British cruiser at the mouth of the Delaware, in the

spring of 1813. Fearing that his prize would be recaptured by an

American ship of war if he attempted to send her into port, the English

admiral dispatched a flag of truce to Mr. Girard, and proposed to him to

ransom the vessel for one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in coin.

Girard consented, paid the money, and the ship was allowed to come up to

the city. Her cargo consisted of silks, nankeens, and teas, and afforded

her owner a profit of half a million of dollars.

Yet in the midst of all his wealth, which in 1828 was estimated at ten

millions of dollars, he was a solitary old man.

He lived in a dingy little house in Water Street. His wife had died in

an insane asylum, and he was childless. He was repulsive in person. He

was feared by his subordinates--by all who had dealings with him--and

liked by none. He was mean and close in his personal habits, living on

less, perhaps, than any of his clerks, and deriving little or no benefit

from his vast wealth, so far as his individual comfort was concerned. He

gave nothing in charity. Lazarus would have lain at his doors a

life-time without being noticed by him. He was solitary, soured, cold,

with a heart of stone, and fully conscious of his personal unpopularity.

Yet he valued wealth--valued it for the power it gave him over men.

Under that cold, hardened exterior reigned an ambition as profound as

that which moved Napoleon. He was ambitious of regulating the financial

operations of the land, and proud of his power in this respect, and it

should be remembered in his favor that he did not abuse that power after

it had passed into his hands.

He had no vices, no dissipations; his whole soul was in his business. He

was conscious that his only hope of distinction above his fellow-men was

in his wealth, and he was resolved that nothing should make him swerve

from his endeavor to accumulate a fortune which should make him all

powerful in life and remembered in death. He sought no friends, and was

reticent as to his career, saying to those who questioned him about it,

"Wait till I am dead; my deeds will show what I was."

Religion had no place in his heart. He was an avowed unbeliever, making

a boast of his disbelief. He always worked on Sunday, in order that he

might show his disapproval of the observance of it as a day of rest.

Rest, he said, made a man rusty, and attendance upon the worship of God

he denounced as worse than folly. His favorite books were the works of

Voltaire, and he named his best ships after the most celebrated French

infidels.

Yet this man, so unloved, so undeserving of love, is said to have once

had a warm heart. His early troubles and his domestic griefs are said to

have soured and estranged him from mankind.

"No one who has had access to his private papers can fail to be

impressed with the belief that these early disappointments furnish the

key to his entire character. Originally of warm and generous impulses,

the belief in childhood that he had not been given his share of the love

and kindness which were extended to others, changed the natural current

of his feelings, and, acting on a warm and passionate temperament,

alienated him from his home, his parents, and his friends. And when in

after time there were superadded years of bitter anguish, resulting from

his unfortunate and ill-adapted marriage, rendered even more poignant by

the necessity of concealment, and the consequent injustice of public

sentiment, marring all his cherished expectations, it may be readily

understood why constant occupation became a necessity and labor a

pleasure."

This is the testimony of Mr. Henry W. Arey, the distinguished secretary

of Girard College, in whose keeping are the papers of the subject of

this memoir, and it must be confessed that his view of Girard's

character is sustained by the following incidents, the narration of

which I have passed over until now, in order that the history of his

commercial career might not be interrupted:

In the summer of 1793 the yellow fever broke out with fearful violence

in Philadelphia. The citizens fled in dismay, leaving the plague-smitten

city to its fate. Houses were left tenantless, and the streets were

deserted. It was a season of horror and dread. Those who could not get

away avoided each other, and the sufferers were left to languish and

die. Money could not buy nurses in sufficient numbers, and often the

victims lay unburied for days in the places where they had died. So

terrible was the panic that it seemed that nothing could stay it.

On the 10th of September the _Federal Gazette_, the only paper which had

not suspended its publication, contained an anonymous card, stating that

of the visitors of the poor all but three had succumbed to the disease

or fled from the city, and begging assistance from such benevolent

citizens as would consent to render their aid. On the 12th and 14th,

meetings were held at the City Hall, at the last of which a volunteer

committee was appointed to superintend the measures to be taken for

checking the pestilence. Twenty-seven men volunteered to serve, but only

twelve had the courage to fulfill their promise. They set to work

promptly. The hospital at Bush Hill was reported by the physician to be

in a deplorable state--without order, dirty and foul, and in need of

nurses. The last, he stated, could not be had for any price. Two of the

committee now stepped forward and nobly offered themselves as managers

of the hospital. They were Stephen Girard and Peter Helm.

Girard was now a man of wealth and influence, and with a brilliant

commercial career opening before him. Above all, he was a foreigner, and

unpopular in the city. Yet he did not hesitate to take the post from

which others shrank. He and Helm were regarded as doomed men, but they

did not falter from their self-imposed task. They went to work at once.

Girard chose the post of honor, which was the post of danger--the

management of the interior of the hospital. His decisive character was

at once felt. Order began to appear, medicines and nurses were procured,

and the very next day the committee were informed that the hospital had

been cleaned and reorganized, and was prepared to receive patients.

Girard opened his purse liberally, and spared no expense where money

would avail. But this was not all. Besides personally superintending the

interior of the hospital, he went about through the city seeking the

sick and conveying them to the hospital.

"In the great scarcity of help, he used frequently to receive the sick

and dying at the gate, assist in carrying them to their beds, nurse

them, receive their last messages, watch for their last breath, and

then, wrapping them in the sheet on which they had died, carry them out

to the burial ground and place them in the trench. He had a vivid

recollection of the difficulty of finding any kind of fabric in which to

wrap the dead, when the vast number of interments had exhausted the

supply of sheets. 'I would put them,' he would say, 'in any old rag I

could find.'"

[Illustration: GIRARD'S HEROISM.]

"If he ever left the hospital, it was to visit the infected districts,

and assist in removing the sick from the houses in which they were dying

without help. One scene of this kind, witnessed by a merchant who was

hurrying past with camphored handkerchief pressed to his mouth, affords

us a vivid glimpse of this heroic man engaged in his sublime vocation. A

carriage, rapidly driven by a black man, broke the silence of the

deserted and grass-grown street. It stopped before a frame house, and

the driver, first having bound a handkerchief over his mouth, opened the

door of the carriage, and quickly remounted to the box. A short,

thick-set man stepped from the coach and entered the house. In a minute

or two the observer, who stood at a safe distance watching the

proceedings, heard a shuffling noise in the entry, and soon saw the

stout little man supporting with extreme difficulty a tall, gaunt,

yellow-visaged victim of the pestilence. Girard held round the waist the

sick man, whose yellow face rested against his own; his long, damp,

tangled hair mingled with Girard's; his feet dragging helpless upon the

pavement. Thus he drew him to the carriage door, the driver averting his

face from the spectacle, far from offering to assist. Partly dragging,

partly lifting, Girard succeeded, after long and severe exertion, in

getting him into the vehicle. He then entered it himself, closed the

door, and the carriage drove away toward the hospital."[A]

For sixty days Mr. Girard continued to discharge his duties, never

absenting himself from his post, being nobly sustained by Peter Helm.

Again, in 1797 and 1798, when the city was scourged a second and a third

time with the fever, he volunteered his services, and more than earned

the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. In the absence of physicians, he

took upon himself the office of prescribing for the sick, and as his

treatment involved careful nursing and the use of simple remedies only,

he was very successful. In 1799 he wrote to his friend Devize, then in

France, but who had been the physician at the Bush Hill Hospital in

1793:

"During all this frightful time I have constantly remained in the city,

and, without neglecting any public duties, I have played a part which

will make you smile. Would you believe it, my friend, that I have

visited as many as fifteen sick people in a day, and what will surprise

you still more, I have lost only one patient, an Irishman, who would

drink a little. I do not flatter myself that I have cured one single

person, but you will think with me that in my quality of Philadelphia

physician I have been very moderate, and that not one of my confreres

have killed fewer than myself."

[Footnote A: James Parton.]

Such acts as these should go far in his favor in estimating his

character, for they are the very height of true heroism.

Mr. Girard was never idle. Work, as has before been said, was a

necessity with him. Nothing would draw him from his labors. His only

recreation was to drive to his little farm, which lay a few miles out of

the city, and engage with his own hands in the work of tilling it. He

was very proud of the vegetables and fruits he raised himself, and took

great interest in improving their growth. During the visit of the

present head of the house of Baring Bros, (then a young man) to this

country, that gentleman supposed he would give Mr. Girard pleasure by

informing him of the safe arrival of one of his ships, the Voltaire,

from India. Engaging a carriage, he drove to the banker's farm, and

inquired for Mr. Girard.

"He is in the hay-loft," was the answer.

"Inform him that I wish to see him," said Mr. Baring; but almost before

the words had left his lips Girard was before him.

"I came to inform you," he said, addressing the banker, "that your ship,

the Voltaire, has arrived safely."

"I knew that she would reach port safely," said Girard; "my ships always

arrive safe. She is a good ship. Mr. Baring, you must excuse me; I am

much engaged in my hay." And so saying, he ascended to the loft again.

To the last he was active. In 1830, having reached the age of eighty, he

began to lose the sight of his eye; yet he would have no assistance. In

attempting to cross a crowded street, he was knocked down by a passing

wagon and injured severely. His ear was cut off, his face bruised, and

his sight entirely destroyed. His health now declined rapidly, and on

the 26th of December, 1831, he died, in the back room of his plain

little house in Water Street.

His immense wealth was carefully divided by his will. He gave to his

surviving brother and eleven of his nieces sums ranging from five to

twenty thousand dollars, and to his remaining niece, who was the mother

of a very large family, he gave sixty thousand dollars. He gave to each

of the captains then in his employ who had made two voyages in his

service, and who should bring his ship safely into port, fifteen hundred

dollars. To each of his apprentices he gave five hundred dollars. To his

old servants he gave annuities, ranging from three to five hundred

dollars each.

He gave thirty thousand dollars to the Pennsylvania Hospital, in which

his wife had been cared for; twenty thousand to the Deaf and Dumb

Asylum; ten thousand to the Orphan Asylum; ten thousand to the Lancaster

schools; ten thousand for the purpose of providing the poor in

Philadelphia with free fuel; ten thousand to the Society for the Relief

of Distressed Sea-Captains and their Families; twenty thousand to the

Masonic Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, for the relief of poor members; six

thousand for the establishment of a free school in Passyunk, near

Philadelphia; five hundred thousand dollars to the Corporation of

Philadelphia for certain improvements in the city; three hundred

thousand to the State of Pennsylvania for her canals; and a portion of

his valuable estates in Louisiana to the Corporation of New Orleans, for

the improvement of that city.

The remainder of his property, worth then about six millions of dollars,

he left to trustees for the erection and endowment of the noble College

for Orphans, in Philadelphia, which bears his name.

Thus it will be seen that this man, who seemed steeled to resist appeals

for private charity in life, in death devoted all the results of his

unusual genius in his calling to the noblest of purposes, and to

enterprises of the most benignant character, which will gratefully hand

his name down to the remotest ages of posterity.