Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-10-03
STORIES or 1 MlLLl0NAlRE.
DAME, Drew, Substitute. Cattle Driver.
Stock SpecnlatCr, Methodist and
Bankrupt.
New York rapv,<

Bankrupt
New York Papers
For forty wears Daniel Drew WAS the
mos, grotesQue figure III Wall street,
lie MAS i'll middle lic when he gave
:" the boys his first "piutS on
" Sheers. When raw country lad he
began IL drive cattle from his native
village to the New York market, and
SubSt Queutly opeued stock-yard, kept
tavern and made u fortune IN the
steamboat business. SNrewd ana ilhi.
crate, reckless and umid, good natured
and INSCRIPTIONS, he made from five
t. fifteen millions out ot friend and foe,
only to lose them MI and die a bank
rupt, Ii Hogath could have lived in
Wall street during these forty wears,
Uncle nanl,' with scanned face and
twinkling eyes, with the S,ealthy tread
az II cat and the band air OF a country
deacon, would have been the central
figure III his cartoons.
He was IN his seventeenth NeM the
same age IT which Cornelius Wander,
bilt borrowed SlO0 OF his mother, bought
a boat and began to ferry markot-men
from Staten Island To the Battery.
Daniel Drew did not borrow his small
capital, he earned il 10y euliStlng rs \
substitute i'll the state militia, which
had been called into service. The regi.
ment was called To- Fort GanSevoNrt, on
the Hudson river, opposite New York.
About three months after his enlist
ment hoSUlitieS ceased between the
United States and Great Britain, and
the regiment was mustered out.
II want my substitute money. moth.
er, said he, one morning after his re-
turn to the farm " ann going To- buy
cattle and sell them in New York"
Are YOU sure you will not lose
money by it ~ Mrs. Drew was MS sa-
gacious and cautious ~ the mother
whom Commodore Vanderbilt delighted
to honor his life long.
ann sure | shall make money!
He did make money from the start,
hut I've had to work terribly hard for it.
He was i'll the saddle day aud night,
purchasing cattle in Putnam and Ouch
ess counties and driving them To the
city after nighttall. He was an excel.
ent 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 u basis ol supply. He needed
capital aud he had no securities 10 offer
for loans. He went to Henry Astor,
| John Jacob Astor's brother, the Fulton
Market butcher, who had recently retir-
ed rom business. "l'll take the risk, "
said the capitalist, after the plan had
been unfolded. 1t seemed to be fool.
hardy, crack-brained scheme. Ii took
nearly sixty days to drive cattle from
Ohio across the Allegheny Mountains
to New York Out OF II drove OF 500
head 200 or 500 would frequently be
lost on the way i'll the forests and noun
tain fastnessos. Cattle, however, were
exceedingly cheap in the Ohio valley,
and Drew's profits were SO large that he
was able a 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 10
drive cattle over the Allegheny Noun
tains.
A newspaper correspondent who Wis
tied him soon after the bankruptcy pro-
ceedings We're announced, found him
exceedingly communicative. had
been wonderfully blessed in money
making he remarked. III got to be II
millionaire afore know'd it, hardly. ]
was always pretty lucky till lately and
| didn't think could ever lose very ex-
tensivelv. | was ambitious to make II
great fortune like Vanderbilt and
tried every way knew, but got caught
at iast. Besides that, liked the excite
ment of making money and giving II
away. ] have given u good deal OF
money away and am glad Of il. 81
much has been saved anyhow. Wall
street was a great place for making
money, and | couldn't give up the
business when | ought to have done SO.
Now | see very clearly what | ought TO
have done. ! ought 20 have lett 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 ] ought 10
have provided for my children by CIV.
ing Them enough to MAKE em rich for
life. Instead Of that ! gave my notes
and only paid the interest on EN-, think
ing ! could do better with the principal
myself. One Of the hardest things I've
had to bear is 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 portion of his time
in the city. Mr.. Drew was, perhaps,
the oldestlooking 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 20 drive
down to his office in A one.horse chase,
looking for all the world Ike Il country
minister. He dressed plainly, If not
shabbily. His wardrobe is valued ii
the bankruptcy schedule at 500, cxclu-
sive Of great sealskin overcoat, valued
al $3.50. Even AZ a millionaire be had
the tastes and habits Of n dreyer. His
dry, sedate manner seldom varied.
Stock spectators were the boys and
the victim who came TO him for piuts
on some sheers' was "my SON" He
talked with a nasal twang, like a coun-
tryman Stop speckerlatin'; don't
tech Erie with no margin, was the con-