On October 25th, 1806, in a an humble farmer's home, was born a boy;
that boy was George Law. For eighteen summers he lived contentedly on
his father's farm, but a stray volume, containing a story of a certain
farmer boy who left home to seek his fortune, and after years of
struggle returned rich, caught his eye, and young Law determined to go
and do likewise. His education was meager, but he had mastered Daboll's
Arithmetic.
Having decided that he could not follow the occupation of his father, he
set at work to raise the amount he deemed necessary to carry him to
success. By exercising great frugality in his already simple mode of
living, he managed to save forty dollars, and at the age of eighteen he
set out on foot for Troy, New York, thirty-six miles distant. Putting up
at the cheapest hotel he could find, he immediately went out in search
of employment, which he soon found, beginning as a hod-carrier. He next
obtained employment as a helper, laying brick and 'picking up points,'
soon obtained employment as a mason at $1.75 per day.
But George Law did not mean to always be a day-laborer, he observed
everything closely, and books were freely bought that would help him to
a better understanding of his business. Seven long years of
day-laboring, then he became a sub-contractor, then a contractor. His
first efforts in this capacity was building bridges in various parts of
Pennsylvania and although it has been said that he could not spell
correctly any word in the English language, of three syllables, yet, so
carefully were his plans laid that on every contract that he took he
cleared money. He put in a bid for three sections of the Croton
Aqueduct, and succeeded in obtaining the work on two of them. High
Bridge was afterwards awarded to him, among a host of competitors, and
was completed in ten years' time from its beginning. These two contracts
alone had made him a millionaire, but his active mind could not rest.
He first turned his attention to bank stocks. Next he became interested
in the horse railway system of New York city. He bought the Staten
Island Ferry, ran it five years, and sold out. He was also much
interested in steam ships. Nearly all these ventures proved profitable,
and at his death his estate amounted to about $15,000,000. He was a
giant in size, being over six feet tall, and his mind compared favorably
with his stature. His whole energies were concentrated on money-getting
and, of course, he succeeded. It has been said that he walked until he
could ride, and lived humbly until his wealth would more than warrant
his living on Fifth Avenue. He carried the hod until he found better
work, and never left one position until he had found a better one, no
matter what his real or supposed provocation might be. He lived to
return home, as did the boy of whom he early read, and established his
father comfortably on a farm which he had bought for him.