Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1879-09-30
STORIES OF A MILLIONAIRE.



\ Daniel Drew. Substitute, CattIe-Drlver
/ Stock Specuiator and Bankrupt.
The following anecdotes of the late
Daniel Drew, who at one time was worth
between fifteen and thirty million dol
| lars, are taken from various New York
papers: For forty years Daniel Drew
was the most grotesque figure in Wall
street. He was in middle life when he
| gave the boys" his first ''pints " on
"sheers." When a raw country lad he
| began to drive cattle from his native
village to the New York market, and
| subsequently opened a stock-yard, kept a
| tavern and made fortune in the steam
| boat business. Then he went into Wall
| street, made an immense fortune in stock
speculations and wound up by becoming
bankrupt.
He was in his seventeenth year-the
same age at which Cornelius Vanderbilt
borrowed 500 of his mother, bought a
boat and began to ferry marketmen from
Staten Island to the Battery. Daniel
Drew did not borrow his small capital,
he earned it by enlisting as substitute
in the State militia, which had been
called into service. The regiment was
called to Fort Gansevoort, on the Hud-
son river, opposite New York. About
three months after his enlistment hostili-
ties ceased between the United States
and Great Britain, and the regiment was
mustered out.
II want my substitute money, mother, -
said he, one morning after his return to
the farm. am going to buy cattle and
sell them in New York"
"Are you sure you will not lose money
by itPn Mrs. Drew was as sagacious
! Il.
modore Vanderbilt delighted to honor
all his life long.
81 am sure shall make money"
He did make money from the start,
but he had to work terribly hard for it.
He was in the saddle day and night,
purchasing cattle in Putnam and Dutch
ess counties and driving them to the
city after nightfan. He was an excel
lent judge of cattle and shrewd buyer
When his competitors began to multi
ply and to cut down his profits he en-
larged his field of operations by making
Ohio base of supply. He needed cap
ital and he had no securities to offer for
loans. He went to Henry Astor, John
Jacob Astor's brother, the Fulton
Market butcher, who had recently re-
tired from business. "I'll take the
risk" said the capitalist, after the plan
had been unfolded. 1t seemed to be a
foolhardy, crack-brained scheme. 1t
took nearly sixty days to drive cattle
from Ohio across the Allegheny noun
tains to New York. Out of a drove OF
800 head 200 or 300 would frequently be
lost on the way in the forests and noun
tain Businesses Cattle, however, were
exceedingly cheap in the Ohio valley,
and Drew's profits were so large that he
was able in few years to repay the
borrowed money, and to extend his op-
erations to Kentucky and Illinois. He
is said to have been the first man to
drive cattle over the Allegheny noun
tains.
A newspaper correspondent who visi-
ted him soon after the bankruptcy pro-
ceedings were announced found him ex-
ceedingly communicative. 81 had been
wonderfully blessed in money making. =
he remarked. GO got to be million
naire afore I know'd it, hardly. I was
always pretty lucky till lately, and |
didn't think I could ever lose very ex-
tensively. / was ambitious to make a
great fortune like Vanderbilt and [ tried
every way / knew, but got caught at
last. Besides that, / liked the excite
ment of making money and giving it
away. / have given a good deal of
money away and am glad of it. So
much has been saved, anyhow. Wall
street was great place for making
money and | couldn't give up the bust
ness when ought to have done so. Now
see very clearly what ought to have
done. l ought to have left the street
eight or ten years ago and paid up what
owed. When / gave 100000 to this
institution and that | ought to have paid
the money. And l ought to have pro-
vided for my children by giving them
enough to make 'em rich for life. In
stead of that I gave my notes and only
paid the interest on 'em, thinking I
could 60 better with the principal my
self. One of She hardest things I've had
to bear has been the fact that couldn't
continue to pay the interest on the notes
| gave to the schools and churches.
During the last year or two Mr.. Drew
spent considerable part of his time in
the city. Mr.. Drew was, perhaps, the
Oldest looking man in Wall street. His
eyes never lost their fire, but his face
was scanned and scraggy- Some of the
veterans say that he used to drive down
to his office in a one-horse chaise, look
ing for all the world like country min
lister. He dressed plainly, if not shah
billy. His wardrobe is valued in the
bankruptcy schedule at 800, exclusive
of great sealskin overcoat worth $50.
His dry, sedate manner seldom varied
Stock speculators were "the boysn and
the man who came to him for "pints on
some sheers was my son."