The record-union., 1892-12-03

tor, said death was perfectly peaceful;
that Gould was perfectly conscious to
within few minutes OF his death.
Howard Gould said his father retained
CONSCIOUSNESS to the last. He knew he
was about To die and just before the end
sa d he wished TO have all the family
present. de appeared satisfied with all
being there and passed away quietly.
Or. Mum says he became speechless
through weakness Just before death. and
recognized members of the family by
nodding his head. Gould will be buried
III Woodlawn Cemetery, beside his wife.
The funeral will take place Monday.
The hour has not yet been fixed, and Will
be held at the house and be conducted by
DR.. Paxton, assisted by Chancellor Nc
Cracken OF the University OF New York
and Rev. Roderick Terry.
Jay Gould, the great railroad magnate
and financier, was born in kox bury, Del
aware County, \. y, May y, 1896. His
early years were spent on his fathers
farm, and at the age of ii he entered Ho-
bart Academy, New York, paying for
his tuition out of money earned by keep
ing the books of village blacksmith.
lie acquired a taste for mathematics and
surveying, and on leaving school found
employment in making the survey for
map of Ulster County. The accuracy of
this work attracted the attention of the
late John Delatield, who applied to the
Legislature for aid in the completion OF a
typographical survey of the entire State
by Mr.. Gould. MIR. Delafield died before
any material progress was made, and Mr..
Gould undertook TO make the survey of
Albany County and other portions of the
State
From these surveys he accumulated S5,-
900, with which he published a History
of Delaware County" While projecting
other surveys he was prostrated with ty-
phoid fever.
ON his recovery he became acquainted
with Zadock Pratt, who sent him to the
western part of the State to select site
for tannery. He chose fine hemlock
growth, erected a sawmin and black
smith shop, and with Mr.. Pratt was soon
doing large numbering business. Sub
sequently he bought out Mr.. Pratt's in
terest and conducted the business alone
till just before the panic of 1851, when he
sold out his entire plant. Thinking he
saw great opportunities for investment in
New ork he went there and opened an
Office. Shortly after his arrival in the
metropolis he married the daughter of
wholesale leather merchant. His father
in-law owned shares i'll railroad in
Western New York which was heavily
involved. He sent Gould to sell out, but
ne, instead of doing so, saw a grand Op-
portunity and bought enough shares TO
control the road. He made fortune on
this venture.
His success led him to abandon every
other interest and he put all his money
into railroad securities. For long time
he was President, Treasurer and General
uperintendent OF his own company.
He brought about a consolidation of the
RENSSELAER, and Saratoga road and with
the proceeds established himself as a
broker and invested heavily in Erie rail-
way stock. He entered the directory of
that company and aiterward became
President, holding the Office till the reor-
ganization of the directory in 1872. He
next made large purchases OF the stocks
of the Union Pacific, the Wabash the
Texas Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas
and Texas Railroad Companies, taking
the latter out of the hands of its receiver
He also invested deeply in the stock Of
the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Com
pany, and on its consolidation with the
Western Union he organized the Ameri-
can Union, which was merged into the
Western Union in 1881.
In December, 1850, official records show
that Mr.. Gould was in control of 10000
miles of railroad. Early in 1881 he be-
came interested in the elevated railroad
system of New York City. In March.
1887, Mr.. Gould purchased a controlling
interest in the st. Louis and San Fran
cisco Railroad Company, which has an
aggregate mileage of nearly 900 miles,
and is a joint owner with the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company,
of the Atlantic and Pacific and the west
ern portion of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company's road. These, with pro-
jected links, gave him control of an ad-
ditional 5000 miles of rail.
At the time of his death Mr.. Gould's
wealth was estimated to be at least S75,-
0O0,000, some opinions placing it as high
as 5l00,000,000