St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-27
ARIsToCRACY OF NEW YORK.
Origin of the Wealth of the AS
tors, the Vanderbilts and the
IOpiJIards

Origin of the Wealth OF the AS.
tors, the Vanderbilts and the
LoriIlards.
New York Times.
John Jacob Astor had his store in
Fesey street. in the store in which DIR.
Halleck lived. Fitz Greene Hal
leek, the doctors son., was one
of Astor's clerks. Old Astor got his
start in life by hiring out to a furrier to
beat furs, keeping the moths out OF
them-at a dollar a day. He was
economical and saving, and presently
began to buy cat furs and muskrat furs,
and when he had accumulated q lot of
them, he took them to England and
sold them at a large profit. Then he es-
tablished his own business here, and
extended his connections westward and
nOrthward until he became the largest
dealer in the country.
Commodore Vanderbilt was at this
time running a ''p~erry-auger" (periagus
"a small ferrybOat, carrying two masts
and a sleebOard) between quarantine
station and the city, and vas becoming
popular with boatmen and others who
were thrown in his way. Fulton &
Livingston owned an exclusive charter
to run steamboats, between New
York and Albany,and the monopoly was
paying immensely. Two old Jersey
men then started an opposition line, but
as they could not u direct between
New York and Albany they got around
the difficulty by going from New York
to Jersey City, and making that the
starting point for Albany. They en-.
countered all sorts of difficulties, how.
ever, the monopolists going so far as to
wllfully run their boats down and other.
wise crippling them, and they were
threatened with bankruptcy.
One of the proprietorS was at New
Dorp one day, when he asked Mr.. GuiOu
if he knew of a nan who was competent
to take hold of their line and make
success of it. Eyes," said Guion, 81
know such a man. His name is Cornell
Vanderbilt. He'll take your boats to
the mouth of hell if you want him
to-" ''Fhat's just the man 1 WANT
was the response, and in a little while
the bargain was concluded, and Cor.
nelius Vanderbilt took charge of the
line. The monopolists tried every pos
sible e to prevent the line from
doing business in New York, and at
last put a sheriff on board with in
structIons to arrest Vanderbilt if he
should attempt to move the steamer
from the wharf. Vanderbilt got
all ready to go, and then
stood by with an axe, and when the
wheels had begun to revolve and there
was a good strain on the hawSer he up
with his axe and cut the hawser and
steamed away to Albany with the sher-
iii or board. A continuation of his Wig
orous policy finally broke up the Fulton
u Livingston monopoly and established
the opposition line on a profitable basis.
Vanderbilt's daughters were a wild
kind of girls. They were perfectly at
home everywhere on Staten Island, and
were popular. [ used to see them in a
grocery over there sitting on the coun-
ter and swinging their feet and talking
to the young fellows who were chatting
them.
The Lorillards had a snuff and tobac-
co business, and they made a good deal
of money out of it. There were three
brothers of them-Jacob, Peter and
George. Jacob had a butcher shop up
near the Bowery theater. Peter-that
was the Dutch of it; it came
to be Pierre after it had been
transplanted into French soil a
few months-Peter and George
were the sunff and tobacco dealers.
After they got wealthy nothing would
do but old Lorillard must have a ear
riage and coat-of-arms upon it. He
chose for his coat-of-arms: "Who'd
thought it-snuff brought it," This
made the people laugh, and so he
changed it after a while, putting on In
place, ''Quid rides" which means,
"Why do you laugh?" His tobacco store
was in Chatham street.