Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1872-01-18
Obituary of James Fisk, 3r.


JaHes Fisk Jr., was born early ia the
year Of 1882 in the historic tewn Of Ben
siaxtoa, Vt. HIS father was . tsaEsGng
pe,ilkes, ~ho carried his goods ia wagon
Geau p,iat to p-,t~s, ard was vel known (
.asesssest tkAt sesti.a Of the ssuatry. 8
Ix.aes sesaas to hA<e ksl but ifstIe education s
IL his elstl.It.stl, sssl while Of tesdsr age his
father removed froa Bennington acress the
Green Mote ANS TO the little town Of Brat 4
tetsso, on the Css.ae..ieat River. At the
ii..riet sel,s4 Of Bast,el,sro James rseeived
the Htsle edaestiea he could be iudaaed to-
take, isiag wild ksy. Ia time bis father
b.iilt k.,sci at brattLsboro, asd James, jf., &
was waiter 1T the pabe table.
Bat tke restless nature Of the RAN begaa /
to betray Itself before he was cut Of his
teens, and James lett hoGe and entered the
employ of the E0a- tanner, Van Anburgh, in
assstan; door keeper. Seven or sfght years
ef the world, when he retursea to Vermont
aad TOOK up his father $ Old business OF
,.sI.liiug. He was a sharp bSrgsiner, .
uAsiye vat that eaA.,..,l HIM to dispose Of
i.uu.cu ;e arl...,;i.iss Of gaals. lis prospsri-
ty oaly aLicd to his presumption, and the (
lor;,.er efo.t. 4 s,s.Akisg feur-hOrss team,
sprn Idly t..sst waxsa and sapsrb plated
harness Was his d,S.sat, asd be went 70 fAt'
as ~ ewp!0y eich to ASSIST hlm Evee
now the o.,sas.y pea,1e Of Massachusetts,,
Co..41ci!Xat aiIi Fezai s4st fet-ewber klsk Is
pe.ii a4ad i.e es;aD,.si.c>. = reputation IN
tie bu .i,ie,s that lsIs hover beea since
et.s...I. His custosa grss to slseA "a ex-
te.,t th..t the b.H..,. s-t~ ef Js.1on, Marsh
Co., ti.-.a sta.t,,.. i---e ba alaeSs, considered
il to their i...c.e,s 10 purchase his business
aud c.nlrOy i,i,A a. = sA4,..Iaa. flsk &c
1ptei the oAer, lat sosa fuuad that o
clrrkShip was Not " his taste. 30 d.rsatis-
lied dit he be,,oa.e With tho Ne, that be was
Oh tLe point OF resigl;ag aal beginning has
o.I life, when the outbreak Of the war
changed the current of Disks career, Tor his
speculative spirit al once saw An opsnsag tor
the exercise OF his talents. A lot OF old
blankets in the store OF his employers sug-
scsted an idea. He proceeded to Washing.
| ton, kept open house for few days, aud
| sold the blankets at q high price, also Sc
| curing contract for an immense quantity.
The firm made round profit, and Fisk be-
came partner
One Of the first acts of Fisk as partner
was his ordering the purchase Of mill at
GaysviIIe, VT, which was the only one Of
its kind in the country. Scarcely had the
sale been effected than it was found that the
mill goods were in urgent demand A
| corner was the result. the firm cleared
| over $2OO.OOo in two years, and then resold
the mill to it's former owner. Fisk also
dabbled in Confederate cotton, and cleared
large sums for the house, his conscience not
troubling him about the dishonesty or dis
| loyalty involved in the ttansactions. SO
that it paid was all that Fisk considered
necessary.
All this time Fisk lived in an ostcntatious
style, and made all the noise msthe world ne
could. In 1865 he became too9mart for his
partners, and they paid him a large sum to
withdraw He at once started IN business
on his own account, locating himself at the
corner of Summer and Chauncey streets,
Boston, but the ebb of the commercial tide
had already set in, and In few months
James Fisk, Jr., was almost as poor man
as when he took up peddling for llyeli,
hood. He then came to New-1ork and
| opened DrOkcraSt OuCe III oiodu-o1io0..
But he was unsuccessful, and it was not until
he made the acquaintance of Daniel Drew
that any change in his fortunes was perceptl-
bic. Drew gave the sale of the Bristol line
of steamers into Fisk's hands, and the firm
of Fisk, .Belden & Co., was established IN
Wall-strect, their operations being so success
full that Fisk possessed $l,000,OOO bank
account The Erie directors quarreled with
Drew, and both Fisk and Jay Gould became
members of the Board. From the start
these two men determined to gain possession
of the road, and their schemes ultimately
proved successful In February, 1868, the
famous over-issue of Erie stock was COM
pleted, by which the capital of the road was
nominally increased from $l9,0OO,00O to
S34,0OO,0O0. This operation led Fisk and
Gould to imagine that they could secure
colossal fortunes by operations in the stock.
Commodore Vanderbilt held $lO,W0,0OO OF
the stock, and they persuaded the Board TO
purchase $5,O0O,0O0 Of Vanderbilt's stock
at seventy per cent, at the same time
making private arrangement with the
Commodore to have the 'calp' of the. re-
naming $6.OOO,OOO for six months, they
paving him 81 900, 900 cash for the privilege,
Fisk and Gould then sold the $40, 100000