The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-02-20
A Millionaire Fancier.

MR.. ALDEN Is. STOCKwELL, the Presi-
dent OF the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany,. over whose affairs rumor has been
very busy in the money mart and club
houses during the past few days or since
the company's stock began to depreciate,
Is one of the most prominent speculatbrs
In wall street. Although comparatively
unknown outside of financial circles, he Is
central figure among the millionaires on
'Change.. Within the short space of three
years he has presented an example Of pc
cunlary success far exceeding the expec-
tations of the most sanguine worshipers
of Mammon. From ordinary circum-
stances he has risen to be the possessor OF
fabulous wealth, and to share with Jay
Gould and Henry N. Smith the reputa-
ton of being the most wealthy among the
active operators on the street. His deeds
of monetary daring have been numerous
and noteworthy, and have been conducted
on scale of greater magnitude than
the veterans on the stock market, like
| Commodore Vanderbilt and Uncle Daniel
Drew, ever dreamed of undertaking.
Mr.. Stockwell is of humble parentage,
his father being at one time in the livery
stable business in Cleveland, Ohio, where
the great steamship manager was born.
he Is about thirty-tive years of age. The
turning point in his career, which had
previously been quiet and uneventful, oc-
Cured in 1865, while he was acting as
purser on one of the Potomac river boats.
On one of the vessels trips down the
river from Washington the late Elias
Howe, of Connecticut, the distinguished
| inventor of the sewing machine, was a
passenger, with his eldest daughter in his
company. Young Stockwell was very at
tentive and considerate of the comfort of
MIR. and Miss Howe, and extended more
than the customary courtesies to them.
The acquaintance which was then formed
between the purser and the Howes was
renewed in the following year in Paris,
where the father and daughter went for
their health. The future millionaire was
quick to journey after them to the French
capital, after collecting all the money at
his command to enable him to travel in
style. On his arrival there he laid siege
to the affections of the young lady, and
was not long in obtaining her consent to
their marriage. Mr.. Howe's sanction
was secured, and they were welded with
much ectat. They tarried amid the gave
ties of Paris for short time after their
nuptials, and then returned to this coun-
try.
subsequently, Mr.. Howe's second
daughter was introduced to Mr.. Stock
Wells brother, Col. Levi B. Stockwell.
and before many months new match had
been formed. Mr.. Howe died in 1869, and
left all his vast property to his two
daughters. Soon after this event, Mr..
Stockwell threw himself into the arena of
the bulls and bears.
AT first he confined himself to small in
vestments, but gradually launched into
heavier and more colossal operations.
Pacific Mail was his favorite stock. and
under his manipulation it commenced adj
vancing rapidly in value. He purchased
share after share, and made it an active
stock. His ambition had led him to be-
come director in the company. After
getting himself elected director he as
pired to the presidency ofthe corporation,
to which he also got himself chosen.
Once in the coveted seat, he began to con-
without being obliged to carry the stock
of the company. A solution was pre-
sented in the Panama Railway.
The stock of this road was selling very
low, and Mr.. Stockwell seized on it as the
instrument which was to keep him in con-
troll of Pacific Mail. He knew that the
steamship company was powerless with
out the railway by which its passengers
and freight were carried across the 18TH
mus. and that the possession of it's stock
would enable him to unload himself of
Pacific Mail, and at the same time prevent
his removal from the Presidency. He
therefore sold short of Pacific Mail, which
Henry n. Smith began buying in, in the
hope OF creating corner. The stock |
dropped several per cent, and after
Smith had secured the most of it he con-
tracted with Mr.. Stockwell to sell it back
at 80 in three months. Before the con-
tract could be fulfilled the Northwestern
gale swept over Wall street and uneXpect-
edly stranded Smith, who was just as
as he was previously anxious to carry it. |
Spectators say that he besought Stock
well with tears in his eyes to take it back,
and that it cost him bonus of $500 900 |
before he could be released from the con-
tract.
The fortune which Mr.. Stockwell has
from his different speculations
has been variously estimated at from eight
to ten million dollars. How much of this
he has lost in the recent fluctuations in
Pacific Mail is yet unknown.
In personal appearance Mr.. Stockwell
s medium sized, and possesses penetra-
ting blue eye. He wears a moustache
and flowing English side whiskers of red
color. He is very quick and decided in
MS manner. His house on Madison ave-
nue, corner of Thirty-ninth street, is one
Of the most elegant and costly in the city.
1t is furnished in style of the greatest
grandeur. Even the tenders around the
crates in the drawing room are of gold.
Mr.. Stockwell lost his wife about a year
igo, and it is now reported in fashionable
quarters that he is engaged to we'll
Known New York belle.-N. Y. Sun.