The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1859-02-23
srlrrtra 5tmq.
From the New York Mercury.
p A Y "A L L.
A TALE OF THE FINANCIAL CRISE J
OF 1897 AND 1857.
NJ n RRY II A RTL 4 Nd.

Perhaps some Of my reaAe-s may re.
ynemher the firm of w ynall Il Elinands,'
: '"bankers who conducted one OF the largest
houses on W-s,reet, previous to the cri
y SIS Of 81 I; also the Importing and job
bing dry goods establishment Of 'E'well
IL Bro II so, TREY will esily bring to
MUD the fact that they were both swept
away in the Aforementioned crisis.
WNua!l, the senior banker, was What
world he called ~ SET made man :; that
Is, he commenced his career as oilirerboy.
and ased To sweep nut. dust down, build
the fires. and run errauds and hal wur.
kel his way mp from tha, position To the
head of tn. house OF WyuaI anil FL
maniS. lie was AN nIius hons. l,"> . and
his parents were never discovered go him
Daring his h"yhood DAYS, pennies were
scaIcileS To him; he early Learned that
Cent was the hun lredth par, It dol
lar: and he never parted with one unless
hc Received an rqnva'uut. He WAS con
s'dered n very shrswd man, in fact. it WAS
in"ma,ed thar he was NOR. shrewl than
honest. He WAS bachelor; lived in
Tor rather hab'ed) cheap l"'iging- &C
c"pied every Invitation to lIuc which he
received-whrch were numerous. on ac.
count OF his position 'om 'ChangG"-ate
his hosts meats with good appetite.
and drank h'S wines with great gnS,o {;
bat he never gave n dinner IL retun.-
IN fact, El"ard WynnlI was misery
Edman'Is, his partner, MAS "a simple,
honest f""t, who had acquired n frruu"
hv hrminy-hnd rruhb-d his ,"!.ar>
Som the soil and hming blessed, or raih
-r cursed, with u wifi. who apel at fash
sDn, he was inIuce,l by hey and their
friend Mr.. Wvnall 10 dispose Of the f,r,u.
place his thunsaajS uud-r The care II IL.
latter. aud thus become money klur.
and live m Lrs ense. So Mr.. T. lrnaInl,
became banker. aud sp"ut two hours
"v--y d,v upn w Al! r'rc,t, lrTrrs:uy :"
the c"nN'r .a'iUn q! brokers, upon stocks.
""n>oIs, Dividends. rer cents. etc all "r
which he understood as we!S rs il it had
i""m high Dutch.
Tnnnas. TIA. elder + wei, was II mar
ried man, with an on!v child, son. who
WAS named Henry. after his uncle, the
junior men'Ny "f Ewe'l & Bro, who
was u bachelor. Til. hr"lber> were do
ing an excellent business A.: 'hrv in,l the
respect and confidence "f the mercantile
community. aud Al unlimited credit. --
They had invested their suI plus funds to -
large extent with Wvnali d EdmanLs
This was The state of affairs previous to
81.
But soon the iasncial crash came one
house after another fell, mcrchan: looked
blue, brokers wore long faces, aud ban
krrs shook their heads Tie crisis was at
its height, when it was aunnuliccI on
Change, that WynaIl had abscon,led
With aW the avail .hle fumls. either lie.
longing 10 lEe'hrm or l-ft will it IN lie
post. In vain the world asked Eimands
IN regard TO the Whereabouts Of his part.
ner; he knew not why, where, or when
.he had gone. So the world cursed him,
the largest loser, the greatest victim. 1t
was severe blow tn the homes, EdmAnds
and full rs severe, IN another sense. 10
his aristocrs,ic wife. lie mournrd the
Prr'.iitv Of his partner, and the loss to
his creditors: she, their loss Of caste in
the lashiousils world. Ber grief must
have been The strongest, as she survived
the failure but aDvut two months. Soon
after, Edmsnds, with his only chill u
daughter, were lost to the world of New
York. They LET, the great city, but where
they went, 20 one knew doub, much
II any one cared.
ElwelI Il Bro. were the principal losers
by the Ascending Of WynalI. which was
The cause Of their early suspension. The
heavy house fell. II WAS u sad shock to
The elder Elwell, from which he never
rallied (; he made several pitiful attempts
10 recover, aud work himself into res
pectahle aud remuuera,ive business, but
each attempt WAS signai failure. IL
vain he accepted the agency of the kla
more Coal Co, he soon resigned it--hav.
Ing received the appointment Of Secreia.
sy oS the Maynard Marble Works, then
threw that up for n third position and
thus he constantly changed, each change
involving him deeper In debt, until death
relieved him OF his cares and his debts.
Al the dea,h of his father, young lien.
ry WAS left mn orphan under the guardian.
ship Of his uncle; by him he WAS PLACID
IN public school in New York. where he
was d,te'i for college, through which he
worked his own way, humble, but hard
working and noble sluden,. Ia the md.
die ages, he would have been n knigbily
irobadour; in the present. he was the
,unvalued, unappreciated creature OF the
world that knew him not. His years as
student were over, and be. must now
choose some means Of support; be had
set bis hesrt upon u profession, bat he had
not the means requisite TO enable him TO
devote the necessary time to its stud y and,
bv the sdviee Of his uncle. he dismissed
the idea. Soon after, he Joined com.
pany OF engineers and survevoTs, and ac-
companied them on professional tour to
the new territories, in The employ Of The
government.
Meanwhile, honest John Rdmands had