The morning call., 1893-11-24
THE LATE WILLIAM T. COLEMAN.

The name of William 7. Coleman is so
Inevitably linked with the story Of the
Vigilance Committee that no other portion
of mis- career attracts attention. His whole
life, however, was interesting.
The record is being Overgrown by tales
which are not we'll authenticated. Some
who knew him well doubt whether he ever
went to college or practiced law. The first
reliable information they remember about
him is that be was born in Kentucky. that
be lived in st. Louis and that at % years
of age he turned up in this State, being a
forty iner and one of the first workers at
the diggiDgs on the American River.
With his savings Coleman opened store
and sold -four and bacon to the miners.
Some time in 1850 Coleman removed to this
city and opened a store as a merchant.
His connection with the Vigilance Com
mittee soon advertised him throughout
the East and he received cOnsignments on
which his commissions were enormous.
A year or two before the war be decided
to remove to a larger field of operations
and he settled in New York. Here he
formed partnership with one of the m ost
remarkable merchants OF these late days,
Edward Mott Robinson of New Bedford.
father of Hetty Green. the forty-fold mil
lonairess. Robinson was then worth some
fifteen millions. but his love for money WAS
SO strong that he worked ten hours a day
at his desk. The firm was considered to
be prosperous, but after three or four
years it was dissolved and Coleman re-
turned here to take charge Of the San
Francisco house.
The firm for many years was very pros
porous. 1t had the pick or the Eastern
cOnsignments, aud the commissions were
large. If Mr.. Coleman had been content
to receive the merchandise which was sent
him for sale at the risk of the owners he
would have become one of the very rich
men of the city and would probably have
been alive to-day. But in his blood there
was a speculative strain, and he bent to 1t.
He could not resist the temptation to ope-
rate on his own account in land. in fruit,
in wine. in borax, and what not. Again,
in his good nature. he allowed consignees
to draw upon him, in many cases, for more
than the consignments were worth. and
thus he became involuntarily the owner Of
the property. This line of policy COM
PEELED him 30 become a larger borrower
than the nature of his business required.
and finally his paper, in steadily increasing
amounts. was seen floating round in New
York and Boston. The end. then. was a
mere matter of time.
The fact was Mr.. Coleman was an able
man In the wrong place. He was born to
be soldier, not merchant. He was not
imbued with the appetite for money get
ting. When an applicant sought loan on
unstable property he looked upon the
application from the point of view of the
development Of the State rather than the
safety of the operation. On the other
hand, the reader of his remarkable papers
published in the Century on the Vigilance
Committees is equally struck with the
breadth and the vigor Of his mind which
they reveal. They are written with mod
esty. But 1t is easy to see that the man
whose deeds they relate was fit to COM
mand an army or to shape the policy of
State. BY contrast. the general who
marched through Georgia, and who like
wise told the story OF the revolutions of
1851 and 1856. does not appear to advan-
tage. The San Francisco merchant dis
cerned that extraordinary emergencies re-
quire extraordinary remedies; the West
Pointer was lost when he went beyond the
rules of war. If it had been the fate of
Coleman to go into the War of the Rebel
lion. ard he might have done so, for be
belonged to the Thomas school Of Keu-
tuckians, he would probably have come out
of it with a national reputation.