Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-20
JASON GOULD.
His Partners Version of His First
Business Venture.
The Story Told EseGore the senate
Committee Arr;pIiGed - say
GOu:d's fearful Ways
The 0dcrne5er.
t8IarlF rrough Letter in N. Z. Tines.l

and the ragae of Mr. Jay Gould was fire.
qUentlv mentioned. One Of the marty after
awhile inquired: CIR. Tillson, are you the
man tLs5 Jay Gould said before the senate
lahor committee had cheated him out of his
pa and board money while nc was surveying
map OF Ulster countF." The gentleman so
addressed IS the president of the Frlit-grow-
ers association, the membership Of which is
composed Of leading peach, grape and berry
growers IN The principal fruit-grCTilg towns
i'll User county ard along the west bank OF
the Hudson river generally, between Corn
wall oi-tAeHUds5r and Roodout. In reply
TO tie rather pointed question M Oliver J.
Tllso. said: 81 don't know how many copies
Of marlrod papers have received since Gould
gave his testimony but it is evident that c.
good many people think Could was hitting at
me. GoUh and I made the most Of the Ulster
county nap, but 1 am not the man that told
him to hang up his board bills at taverus.
''V-ere not you and Gould partners in the
map Lusness." was then asked. Mr.. Tillson
said such was the case, and being urged to
''tell the story" did so as follows: ''When l
first knew Jason Gould-now known as Jay
Gould-be had not attained his majority. 1t
was il the year 1852 l was then about 20
years of age, and l was living with my
father, T. F. Tillson, on his farm in the south
ern portion of the town of ROsendale, Ulster
county. / met Jason Gould for The first time
on fine summer morning, on the towpath
of the Hudson & Delaware canal, between
Rosendale village-where ODonovan Rosa,
the dynamite apostle, lectured and collected
500 one night this week-and my fathers
house. | was walking along leisurely when
Jason introduced himself, and, after learning
my name, be told me was just the young
fellow he had tramped a good many
miles along the tow-path that Sunday
morning to see. There were tears,
real tears in his eyes as he told me the story
of his wife. He was then only 10, and rs far
as / can recolect, what he said tailed pretty
well with the story he related to Senator
Blair's committee about his failure in the
map business. He said he had heard that
had some knowledge of surveying and civil
engineering, and lie had come to see whether
he and | could form partnership. He told
ME, as the tears started out Of his eyes, that
he was in debt, and entirely without ready
money. His story of the map venture as /
remember, was this: In 1851 John j. Snyder,
of the town of Rochester, conceived the idea
that tolerably good-siZed map of Ulster
county would sell rapidly. At that time only
one map had been published, and it was a
small, unreliable affair. Snyder didn't have
any more money than he knew what to do
with, and Gould being what Snyder called
" n likely young fellow" Snyder hired
Jason to make a survey. Gould had
then been working for Snyder for sew
eral months, and the story of his experience
in trying to obtain board on Snyder's
credit, and the rebuffs he met with was told
me nearly in the same way Though he cried
when he was talking to mel as he told il to
the senate labor committee. When John J.
Snyder hired Gould he also engaged Peter
II. Brink then a Saugerties young man, to
help with the work. Gould was assigned the
Back -Wawarsiug Olive, and Roch-
eSter-Gnd Briul, partly did the river towns,
including Esopus and Lloyd. BY the time
Gould had told me all that as we walked
slowly along the tov-path, we had got to
my fathers house, and l asked him to come
in. Finally l made up my mind that l
would GO into partnership with Gould and
Brink which business arrangement was con-
summaJaa four days after l met Gould on
the tow-Tath Not one of us had mitch
money, brit finally we raised the wind'-at
least my father did-to buy two odometers,
one Tor Brink and one for myself. Gould had
his own oGometer. More correctly speaking,
be had John J. Snyder's for Gould, after he
concluded Snyder was no good kept the
odomc,er and all the surveys and books be-
sides Gould aud Brink and myself went to
work with a vim. We took different routes.
and l OF least, had great expectations when
l stan sci out with the odometer trundling it
wheelbarrow fashion over the rough country
roads We agreed that we would meet every
Saturday night at my fathers housa. in
Roseudale where on that day and ON Sun
days, we fixed things up as Jason used to
call it, and compared notes Gould boarded
at my fathers. We got all through Dec. q,
1852 The map of Ulster county was then
completed except the engraving, and Gould
said lac would like tosell out and go back up
to his horne in Delaware county. We held a
sort OF an auction among ourselves and l
brought in all the books and papers and orig
inal surveys and Brink and 1 together
bought out Gould'S right and title to the map.
All the papers and the original map now
have in my house ut Highland. forgot TO
state before this that when Gould, Brink and
| formed a copartnership, John j. Snyder
sued us in the supreme court We gave our
case to 7. f. WeStbrook, who is now Judge
Westbrook The case was dismissed, with
costs to the plaintiff
Mr.. Tnlson here left the train, but, at the
request of the writer, he kindly continued
the story ut his residence. He then hunted
up the books, map, and original surveys, and
the receipt Mr.. Gould gave when Mr.. Tillson
and Mr.. Brink bought him out The follow
ing Is = verbatim copy of the receipt:
DECEMBER 9th, 1852
Recvd Of Oliver J. Tillson & Peter II.
Brink Ninety Dollars & Wheel in full of all
debts and demands & dues against them &
the Ulster county Map.
JASON GOULD
For
JOHN r GOULD.
Mr. Tillson next showed eight little pass
books which Mr.. Gould purchased OF George
II. Bell, No. 15S Nassau street, New York. a.
the little tags pasted in the covers indicate.
for making notes of survey. -Four
of the books were written first in pencil in a
very fine hand. and subsequently with ink
over the penCil-narks by Mr. Gould The
other paSs-books were written up by
MeSsrS Tillson and Brink You will 90
serve" said Mr.. Goald's former partner in