People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-12-09
OF HIS CAREER.

condition known.
SKETCH OF HIS CAREER.
The history Of Jay Gould from bare-footed
boy who wandered over the rough hills Of Della
ware county to the railroad king whose wealth
was estimated at $3.50 100000 is one OF the most
remarkable among Americas self-made men.
Leaving home when but boy practically pen
niless and on foot, he rose 10 the acknowledged
position Of the wealthiest and most powerful
railroad magnate in the world.
Jay Gould was born In West Settlement, a
backwoods village Of Roxbury, Delaware coun.
ty, New York, In May, 1894 He was the son OF
J. b. Gould, a farmer, who was fairly well to
do and who had been deputy sheriff in the
| famous ant-rent war in the early '3Os. Young
Gould was also a cousin OF Alfred Gould, the
| inventor Of the chain well pump and was close
/ " connected with the Mores, q prominent
Scotch family and others well known in this
county His mother died when he was an in
FAINT He left home with 50 cents in
his pocket and studied at Hobart acad-
envy in a neighbOring town Here he
earned an extra penny by keeping the books of
! the village blacksmith, eventually enjoying a
/ brief partnership in the business He was fond
Of mathematics and on leaving found employ.
ment in making surveys Of Ulster county At
salary Of go month The correctness Of the
work attracted the attention Of John Delaheld,
who applied to the legislature 10 authorize q
map Of the state TO be made. The work failed,
owing TO the death Of the promoter, and Mr
Gould, having gained $1,000 or 1900 through
his previous maps and surveys wrote a His.
tory Of Delaware County"
After an unsuccessful attempt 10 push the
sale Of patent mouse trap which he had in.
vented, Mr. Gould entered into partnership
with Zadoc Pratt in the tanneTy business in
/ Pennsylvania, at place known as GOulds.
| borough In 1856 the patent was sold and Mr..
Gould came 10 New York with good addition
| 10 hi. fortune. BE entered into business with
Charles Leuther leather merchant In 1857,
in the panic, Leuther's capital was wrecked,
but Gould managed TO pull through without a
severe loss
Gould's fatheriI-lsw Mr. Mitchell, initiated
the young hnancier into the railroad business
and sold him a number OF shares In the Rutland
& Washington railroad at 10 cents on the dol
lar Gould showed so much interest that he
was soon elected president and general man
ager OF the road, and finally consolidated II
with the Rensselaer, s Saratoga railroad.
When the stock went up he sold out al a hand.
some profit
In 1859 Jay Gould entered Wall street as
roker. He established a small private ONCE
and made money fast The following year he
en- tered the firm Of Smith & Martin and became
an expert in the handling Of railroad securities.
During the civil war Erie railway stock went
down TO bed rock and Gould bought II for
song. He allied himself with Daniel Drew and
prevented Commodore Vanderbilt from corner
! Ing the Erie interest Gould rapidly became
the leading spirit Of the Erie Railroad
Co. In July, 1857, Gould was made president Of
the road He also purchased controlling in
terest in the Tenth National bank. Eric share
holders brought suit 10 restrain the directors
from issuing any more stock. The complain
ants asked for the appointment OF receiver.
This request was granted by the appointment
| Of Jay Gould himself. With the consent
Of Judge Barnard Gould bought and can.
celed 100000 shares A corner was en-
gineered In Erie stock about this time
and in one day its price rose from
% to- panic was averted by the action OF
the secretary Of the treasury, who released
enough money from the sub-treasury 10 relieve
the strain. Erie Immediately fell from 90 TO ~,
and Il was thought Gould was ruined. But he
was able 10 weather this storm Continued ef-
forts we're made by Gould's opponents TO Gust
him and his faction from Erie control and he
was deposed from the presidency and John A.
| Dix elected in his stead Gould still remained
one OF the directors.
! An attempt was made by Gould in 1869 10
caner all the gold in the country. Fifty mil
lions of dollars was the price aimed at The
price OF gold in March Of that year was u.3Ol4,
| the lowest in three years Gould bought 5000
900 worth at Il. % and put up the price to N.io
A few days later gold rose 10 sLA On Septem-
Der "a, the famous "Blsck Friday" Gould I'M
loaded his holdings and sold large part Of his
gold at N6J.
/ little before noon an order came from
Washington TO sell 100000 Of the gold from
the sub-treasury. The corner collapsed and
hundreds of business men and spectators were
ruined.
Mr.. Gould commenced buying Pacific railway
stocks in 1873 and soon acquired controlling
interest and assumed the management In 1876
he bought the Kansas Pacific, Texas Pacific,
| Wabash and other stocks He also invested
/ largely in the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Co,
and finally acquired control Of the Western
Union Telegraph Co A few years ago he re-
tired from Wall street. and has since only sp-
peared there when he considered il necessary
/ TO protect his interests"