Omaha daily bee., 1883-07-30
G0UlD'S BOYHOOD.
How the Spectator Began and How
He Rose,
His Success ms n Chore Boy, stud.
cnt, Clerk, Timer, Surveyor,
Tanner and Banker
Before He Rose
&c Fortune.

Cleveland Leader.
81 knew Jay Gould when he was a boy
and have always regarded him as a per-
sonal friend, said a well known Cleveland
broker. "He was born and passed his
boyhood days on a farm about n mile
from Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y,
at which place | was engaged in business
before / came West. | was well acquain-
ted with the whole family, and they were
very nice people. Mr. Gould was small
in stature, like his son, aud lame. He
was a Democrat, and took a great interest
in local politics, attending every town
meeting and electioneering with the
greatest earnestness. The male members
of the Gould family were remarkable for
their precocity. They came into manhood
much earlier than most boys, and at
fifteen Jay was as sharp as most young
men at twenty-five. jays mother and
sisters were all intelligent, refined
women.
Young Jay had a desire to attend the
village school, so he offered to work for
me for his board, and l kept him all
winter. He was an excellent boy. His
habits Were all good, and he devoted
most of his evenings to study. He was
always the first one up in the morninr,
and he had the fire burning and the tea
kettle boiling by the time my wife was
ready to prepare breakfast. The mex
spring / moved to the farm and Jays
father took possession of my house in
town. L was running a tin shop, and, as
| could not very well attend to that and
run the farm, Jay bought me out, and
for a year turued his attention to selling
pans and milk pals and doing jobs of
tinkering. The business did not suit
suit his tastes, however, and he disposed
of the shop. He was a tinA penman and
a tirst-class accountant, and he soon Sc.
cured a position as confidential clerk to q
merchant, who combined the real estate
business with his mercantile pursuits
quite extensively.
1t was in this position that Jay frs
gave evidence of the shrewdness whic.,
is a part of his nature. Abortion of an
estate, which had been the subject of lit
igation for years, was about to be sold,
and jays employer had %endeavored to
purchase it. There was some disagree
ment about the price. The executor
asked 81, 800 but the man for whom
young Gould wa working was not will.
ing to give more than $4,000. Jay, OF
course, read all and wrote part of the
letters that passed between the two, and
it occurred to him that he might make Q
strike. He discovered that the property
was worth $4,000 in the market, and un-
derstood that there was a chance to spec
ulate. Accordingly without his employ.
er's knowledge, he borrowed $4,000 from
his father and went down to Kingston,
where the executor of the estate resided.
He said that he had come to purchase the
land, and laid down the money. The
bargain was soon closed. the deed being
made in his fathers name, and inside OF
two weeks Jay sold the land for $4,000,
clearing $1,000 by the transaction. This
breach of faith caused a separation OF
Gould and his employer, and also burst {
little matrimonial bubble in which the
former and a female relation of the latter
were central figures.
Sat this time, when Gould was be
tween nineteen and twenty years of age
he was considered a good surveyor, ant
his services we're in great demand. 4
short distance from Roxbury lived Col
Pratt, who had been sent to congress il
that district. He was an ignorant man
but, being worth about $1OO, 900, wa
considered the most important person il
that section. He felt his own Importance
and delighted to see his name painted OIL
the fences and printed on large bills. HI
was a farmer, tanner and sheep-raiser
and he usually placed all the titles afte
his name when he wrote it. He had
great desire to make his the model farm
and add fresh laurels to his wealth of re
nown. Accordingly he sent for young
Gould to come and make a survey of tn
place and arrange it in a tasty manner
Gould saw that the old man was suscep
tible to fiattery, and when he had con
cluded his work and was about to leave
he said:
"'Colonel, you are a statesman, farmer
tanner and sheep-grower. You ought t.
make yourself more famous still by build
ing the largest tannery in the world
"'By George! | would said the Colo
mel, if i knew where / could get plent,
of bark
''That was enough for Gould. He wen
down into Lackawanna county, Pa, ant
near where Goldsborough now stands
found thousands of acres of hemlock tim
Der uncut. He asked the people livin,
about there if they would give him lane
on which to build the largest tannery il
the world. They readily agreed to giv'
him all the land he desired, and he ther
made contracts in his own name for bark
at twenty-five cents per cord, sufficient t.
run the tannery for twenty-five years
He returned to Colonel Pratt, who wa
astonished at his success, and who tolt
him to go on and build the tannery, AM
he would furnish the money.
In the course of time the mammoth es
Enlistment was in full blast, under tn,
firm name of Pratt d Gould. Such
great firm must have banking facilities
so Gould organized a wildcat bank a
Gouldsborough, and, as he was not @
age, he induced his relatives to take
large portion of the stock and appoin
him their proxy. He was elected direct
or of the bank, and everything went o.
swimmingly. All the notes issued b.
the bank bore a picture of the tannery o
some partof it,and the t%annery controlle
everything in Gouldsborogh. Colone
Pratt offered to sell to Mr.. Gould 70
$40, 900, or pay to him $4,000 to leav
the business. Gould was given ten day
to consider the matter, and at the end {
that time he surprised the colonel, VIII
had supposed him without read
funds, by agreeing to purchase the tai
merry.
He gave Leupp & Lee, of New York
as security. and Colonel Pratt was soti,
fed to get out. Charles Leupp the