I GET BACK INTO THE BUSINESS WORLD.
During the first month of our stay there, I visited the business part of
town occasionally and made a few purchases at the house of Boyd, Frazer
& Parks, a firm composed of John A. Boyd, who thought he was a merchant;
Dr. Frazer, a practicing physician, who tried to be the bookkeeper, and
M. M. Parks, who was a farmer, living out in the country, who furnished
the money for the business. Boyd knew nothing about keeping or showing
off his stock. In appearance it was one of the most conglomerated
mixtures of merchandise I ever saw, but they were very popular men,
particularly with the farmers in the country, and did a large business,
considering their limited territory.
I soon got tired of lying around, doing nothing, but I felt that Rusk
was about the safest place I could find anywhere, as the entire
community, in sentiment, were true to the Lost Cause, with only one
doubtful character, which was Judge M. D. Priest and he was really not a
bad man at heart. When we confided my secret to him, telling him my life
was in his hands, he appreciated fully the confidence reposed and
declared that he never would betray us, which promise he fully kept and
of which he afterwards expressed himself as being very proud.
Happening in to Boyd, Frazer & Parks one day, disgusted with the
appearance of his stock of goods as kept, although it was none of my
business, I concluded this would be a good place to get acquainted, on
my knowledge of the business. I proposed to Mr. Boyd, who was the active
member, running the business, that with his permission I would rearrange
and straighten out his stock, without charge, as I had to remain over
for a few weeks, had nothing to do and thought I could improve the
appearance of things considerably. He readily consented, so I pulled off
my coat and went to work, which proved a great treat to me. In a few
days I had made such a change in the appearance of the stock, that
customers seemed surprised and asked, “John A., have you been getting in
a new stock of goods?” About the third evening, the partners got
together, had a consultation and I was asked if I was able to keep
books. I told them that I had kept books for a very large business in
Southern Texas before the war, when they made me a proposition to go to
work for them, keep their books and attend the sales department on a
salary of $75.00 per month, which I accepted and soon felt here was the
place to keep hid out from the powers that were, as there was no
military nearer than Tyler, Jefferson and Shreveport and no one knew of
my secret, except Judge Wilson and Judge Priest, whose families were not
made acquainted with it.
After considerable time, spent pleasantly at the home of Judge Priest,
we decided to move into town for better convenience on account of its
being nearer my business. We rented an humble home and went to
housekeeping. I soon had an extensive acquaintance through the county,
but always in the name of Jones, yet gradually imparting my secret to
the most reliable friends I made in the town, notably the Bonner
brothers, Judge R. H. Guinn, Judge James E. Dillard and others. After
nearly a year in the service of Boyd, Frazer & Parks, I met an old
gentleman by the name of T. L. Philleo, who had done an extensive
business in general merchandise before the war. Mr. Philleo had a fine
storehouse on the north side of the square, empty, except as to some
castings, and had owing him perhaps as much as fifty thousand dollars in
notes and accounts, acquired before the war. He was unable to collect
much of it and conceived the idea that to make a success of this
collecting, he ought to go into business again, which he was unable to
do, on account of his age. I having established a reputation of being
the best merchant in the town, Philleo made a proposition to me to go
into copartnership with him. While he had no money he had a most
excellent credit in New Orleans and suggested that I could go down there
and buy for his account such stock as I needed to enable us to enter
into competition with the balance of the town. Canvassing the subject
thoroughly, I decided that I could make more money with my half interest
in the profits of the concern, than to work on salary. He was willing
and anxious to give me the full management and control of the business.
Considering my condition then, I decided best to accept, which I did,
and soon proceeded to New Orleans, armed with a letter in the name of R.
F. Jones, to Speak & Buckner, his old commission merchants, and other
leading houses in the different lines of merchandise that we had to buy.
Arriving at New Orleans, I put up at the Southern Hotel, then the
headquarters of nearly all Texas merchants, within one block of the
custom house, where General Sheridan had his headquarters, and went to
work, buying a general stock of merchandise for account of T. L. Philleo
& Company; “R. F. Jones being the company,” so Capt. Buckner stated in
introducing me. Speak & Buckner also accepted several thousand dollars
on cash purchases, such as groceries and staple hardware, nails, etc.,
for which he asked us to send him cotton in the fall. I now returned
home with my purchases and began to feel that I had a new life before me
and some prospect of making a good living.
I arranged my stock very attractively, for which the house was well
suited, though I had some trouble inducing farmers to come over on my
side of the square. It was the only business house over there, the
center of business being located on the east and south side. By close
application and hard work I gradually succeeded in building up a fair
business.
After some months, I found the unpleasant condition of Mr. Philleo’s
state of mind, worrying over his old matters and trying to collect,
which seemed a complete failure, seemed to bear heavily on his mind and
I noticed it was giving way under the pressure. He had a most excellent
family, wife and two daughters, who had been raised in wealth and
affluence and were somewhat extravagantly inclined, and the thought of
perhaps losing all of his outstanding accounts and old age creeping on
him very fast, made him very despondent and unhappy. He would go to the
store every night after supper, open his safe, take out all of his notes
and accounts, scatter them around on his table and a double bed, used by
a young man clerk in the store, who reported his actions to me, and
would study and look at them, occupying hours, sometimes until one
o’clock at night, then replace them in the safe. Many of the makers of
the notes and accounts had been killed or died during the war and their
estates were not able to pay anything. I was satisfied if this condition
continued his mind would finally break down and it kept me in a state of
uneasiness. I, therefore concluded that I would wind up this first
year’s business and quit, which I finally did, after settling up all
bills and the entire business, satisfactorily to all concerned. The
year’s business showed us each a net profit of about eighteen hundred
dollars; outside of this I had demonstrated the fact that I was able to
do a nice, clean business, safely.
Just as I feared, poor Mr. Philleo, some two or three years after,
committed suicide in the back room of his store, at night, with his
notes and papers laying all around him, stabbing himself with his
pocketknife through the heart.
Mr. Philleo was one of the most kind-hearted, benevolent and charitable
of men, and was known as such all over the country and he left many
friends, but his family was poorly provided for.
After winding up the business of T. L. Philleo & Company, I was offered
a position with R. B. Martin, an old merchant of the place, who at one
time had done a large business. His stock had been run down for the want
of means to keep it up, the result of poor management. Martin had a
wealthy brother at Shreveport, of the firm of Gregg & Martin, cotton
commission merchants. They had agreed to back him for ten thousand
dollars, so he represented to me, with which he expected to buy a
fifteen thousand dollar new stock in New Orleans. Martin agreed to pay
me a hundred dollars a month to begin with and increase my salary as
business justified it. I then proceeded to New Orleans, to buy this
stock of goods, stopping over at Shreveport to obtain letters from Gregg
& Martin, authorizing me to draw on them for ten thousand dollars.
Mr. Dave Martin denied having promised his brother this acceptance, but
told me to go on to New Orleans, that Bob’s credit was good and he could
buy all the goods he wanted, without their acceptance. I then proceeded
to New Orleans. Calling on his old houses, I found he was owing a great
deal of money and having promised through traveling men, who had called
on him, that he would furnish Gregg & Martin’s acceptance for ten
thousand dollars and then not being able to do so, his credit was so
greatly impaired that they refused to sell him any more goods. I then
wired Dave Martin again for authority to draw, reporting that Bob was
unable to buy goods without his backing. I laid over, awaiting an
answer, several days, and in the meantime, called on Speak & Buckner,
who were glad to see me. I told them of the failure of my trip, unless I
heard favorably from Gregg & Martin.
In the course of conversation, Captain Buckner said, “Jones, you’ve got
no business working on salary; why don’t you go into business for
yourself?” I said, “Captain Buckner, that is simply out of the question.
I have neither name nor money.” He said, “Go and ascertain how much
money you will need to buy such stock as you would be willing to start
with.” Already acquainted with the custom on terms, I stated that with
five thousand dollars in cash I could buy a fifteen-thousand-dollar
stock of goods, on four and six months. Captain Buckner said, “Go ahead,
and get to work buying and draw on us for five thousand dollars on the
same arrangement that I had with T. L. Philleo & Company.” That was to
send him cotton next fall. I said, “Captain Buckner, you don’t know who
you are talking to, as I have told you I have neither name nor money and
you cannot afford to take this risk.” He says, “You go and do what I
tell you; I know all about you and don’t want to know anything more.”
This gave me to understand that he was acquainted with my trouble and
that I was under an assumed name and not having any other prospects of
business in Rusk (which I could not afford to leave on account of the
great security this place offered), I decided to accept and told Buckner
that I would do business in the name of S. A. Wilson & Company, S. A.
Wilson, being a lawyer and a great friend of mine. He was well known and
a man of great influence. Buckner said to arrange that to suit myself.
He was already slightly acquainted with Wilson and well posted on his
character as a man. I immediately went to work, buying goods for a stock
of general merchandise, which consumed about a week, and when ready to
close up matters, Captain Buckner suggested that instead of drawing
drafts on them, he give me the money to pay cash, in order to lead the
merchants to think that I was paying my own money, thereby establishing
a better credit. This was done.
Winding up my affairs in New Orleans, I took the first boat for
Shreveport, with my stock of goods aboard, and arrived in Rusk in due
time, followed by the stock. When I communicated my actions to Judge
Wilson, he seemed greatly surprised, but stated it was perfectly
satisfactory. I was at liberty to use him he said, whenever it was
necessary. The best storehouse in the place, though isolated from the
center of business, was vacant, and I rented this at a nominal figure.
When the goods arrived I soon had it the most attractive place in the
town.
Bob Martin, of course, was disappointed and made me the scapegoat of his
disappointment, blaming me for not buying his stock of goods. I
gradually built up a desirable business; went to New Orleans twice a
year and bought goods under the very shadow of Sheridan’s headquarters.
When, after several years, the infamous reconstruction era was
terminated, the military withdrawn and civil government restored, though
in the hands of negroes and Radicals, I decided to assume my identity
and proceeded to New Orleans to settle up my bills.
After doing so, I would tell the managers, from this time on, the firm
is no longer S. A. Wilson & Company, but simply H. W. Graber. “Why, Mr.
Jones, have you sold out?” “No, sir; I have not sold out, but simply
correcting a fictitious name.” “Well, who is H. W. Graber?” “This is the
man,” which of course created surprise and when asked for explanation,
would tell them that I had been forced to hide out for nearly four
years, to keep General Sheridan from having me shot down, which he had
ordered his Texas garrisons to do, without the benefit of a court
martial, therefore I was forced to resort to hiding my identity. I then
suggested, as these people were all Northern houses, that, “You don’t
want to sell me any more goods?” when they said, “Mr. Graber, go ahead
and buy all the goods you want; your credit is not the least impaired; a
man that can pass through such an ordeal, as you have done, unscathed,
is entitled to more credit than he needs.”
While, of course, this created a sensation in New Orleans business
circles, the most astonished man of them all was Captain R. T. Buckner,
who, it seems, didn’t know as much as he thought he did, when he handed
me his money.
Soon after my arrival at Rusk, I was made a Mason and also joined the
Odd Fellows Lodge. I joined these institutions in my own name, satisfied
that my secret would be safe with the membership. During a great revival
of the union of all churches, wife and I joined the Presbyterian Church
and I was ordained a deacon in the church, in due time.