The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-12-09
JAY GOULD.

Mt Ola a m The dire0t cause OF mis-
death was pulmonary consumption.
The news of Mr.. Gould's death spread
quickly and almost every person VINO
passed up or down Fifth avenue stopped
and look up at the house. Messenger
boys began to go and come thick and
fast.
Jay Gould was born in ROXbury, Della
ware County, May 9th, 1886. His early
years were spent on his father farm,
and at the age of IA he entered Hobart
academy. On leaving school he found
employment in making surveys for map
of Ulster County. During the summer
of 1858 he completed a survey of Albany
County, and surveyed and mapped the
village of CohOes. From his different
surveys he accumulated $1,000. Hepub-
lished in 1856 History of Delaware
County," For short while he conduct
ed tannery in the western part Of the
State, but sold out just before the panic
of 1857. In that year he became a
director in the StroudsbuTg, Pa, bank
and bought the bonds of the Rutland and
and Washington railroad at ten cents on
the dollar. For long time he was presi-
dent, treasurer and general supeunten-
dent of this company. lie brought about
a consolidation of the Rensselaer, and
Saratoga railroad, and with the proceeds
removed to New York City, in 1889, es-
tablishing himself as q broker, and III
vested heavily in Erie railway stock. lie
became president of the company, held
the office until the reorganization IN 1877.
He next made large purchases OF the
stocks of the Union Pacific, the wabash,
the Texas Pacific, the st. Louis and
Northern, the Missouri Pacific, and the
Missouri Kansas and Texas Railroad
Companies. He also invested deeply IN
the stock of the Atlantic and Pacihc
Telegraph Company, and on its conSQH-
dation in 1879 with the Western Union
he organized the American Union, which
was merged into the Western Union IN
1881.
In 1880 Mr.. Gould was in control of 49,
600 miles of railroad, or more than one
tenth of the entire mileage OF the coun-
trv. In 1882, doubt having been cast
upon his financial standing he summon
ed several gentlemen to his private Office
and spread before them for examination
certificates of stocks having face value
of Sj4, OOO0, 900, all in his own name, and
offered to produce $20,000,0O0 more if de
sired. In 1887 Mr.. Gould purchased a
controlling interest in the st. Louis and
San Francisco Railroad Company, which
has an aggregate mileage of nearly 800
miles, and became joint owner with the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
Company of the Atlantic and Pacific and
the Western portion of the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company.
Mr.. Gould was man of small stature.
His health has not been of the best for
the past four years. His life for the past
few months has been constant battle
against the inevitable and all means that
medical skill and the interest of friends
and relatives could suggest were employ
ed to prolong the tinancier'S life. lie
was taken about in luxurious private
cars to places where milder air and the
absence of business excitement might be
expected to work recupcratiOn OF his
energies. Frequent reports during the
past few weeks as to his feeble condition
were received, but were either deprecat-
ed or denied by those near him.
No two estimates agree as to the
amount of Mr.. GOuld'S fortune. The
most conservative figures place it about
SG0,000,0OO, while some people in Wall
street who think they know something
about his Accommodations, figure that he
must have gotten togetherfully 100000,
600. His known holdings of securities
are about as follows: Twenty-Five mil
lions par value of Western Union Tele-
graph, which at to-days prices would
fetch about SIS, 7OO0,0O0; Sl0,000,O00 par
value of Missouri Pacific, which is now
worth in the market S5,j0O,000. He is
supposed to hold in the neighborhoOd OF
S9,0O0,O00, probably more, of Manhattan
railway stock, worth S10,400,000. His
holdings of all these stocks have been
larger than this, but he sold them to
either invest the money in new issues of
bonds of the Missouri Pacific and Man
haitian companies, or to finance these
companies until bonds could be issued.
Excellent infOrmatian is that he holds
about one-third of the bonds issued on
the Missouri Pacific system, which would
be about $30,000,0O0 His estate holds
over $4,000 of Wabash railway stock,
which shows loss of between $4,000
900 and $1,000, 600. AS long ago as 1884,
Mr.. Gould was known to hold about 3d.
OOO,O OF first class railway mortgage
bonds upon roads other than those con-
trolled or managed by him. Besides
these items he had large investments in
great number of properties concerning
which the general public knows little or
nothing. His holdings in Union Pacific
and Kansas Pacific bonds must be large,
but il is not believed that he owned of
late years much, if any, Union Pacific
stock. From the foregoing figures, which
are approximately correct, it is easy to
figure up in the neighbOrhood of So,
100000. OF late years his fortune has in
creased rapidly, owing to his enormous
income from his holdings of Western
Union and Mathattan stock, to say moth
ing of his investments in bonds. His in
come from these three sources alone can
not have fallen under 100000 year
and has probably exceeded that amount.