St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-09


held other offices. He gained prom
inence through his suits against Hill
and Kittson. OF st. Paul, for several
million dollars as his share of the sale
of the Great Northern railroad.
Jesse P. Farley was one of the unique
figures of the Northwest. He was dis
tinctiveiy man of affairs. Born Of
parents Of only moderate circum-
stances. he made himself millionaire,
failed in the panic of 1857. sold his
homestead and all his other worldly
possessions with it, began over again
without dollar In the world, and in a
few years amassed fortune many
times larger than the one he lost.
1T is not definitely known among Mr..
Farley's acquaintances in ST. Paul that
he was born at Galena, ILL.,, but they
know that he lived at that place with
his parents when he was very young.
He was less than twenty years old when
his parents moved with him to Du-
buque, 10.
The youth soon developed a remarka-
bic talent for money-msking He en-
gagged in few small speculatiOns on
his own hook. and made them all win.
LII 1850 he established wholesale GRO
cery store in Dubuque. This proved
profitable venture, and the
young man soon had money enough
to branch out still further; so he es-
tablished also a wholesale hardware
store. a year or SO later he established
line of packets to ply between ST.
Paul, Dubuque and GaIena. This was
another profitable ven .ure. He grew
10 be recognized as the richest man
man west of Chicago.
Then the crash of 1857 came and
wiped his possessions out Of existence.
He was many thousands of dollars
worse off than nothing. But he dis
posed of all his property, including his
homestead. compromised with his cred
itors, and made new start in life.
His first new venture of Importance
was the building of the Dubuque 81
Pacific railroad, this. extending from
Dubuque to Sioux City. 1t was eventli-.
ally leased by the Illinois Central, and
is now the main line across Iowa of that
SOmP Pou1s aAtCi
of this line, Mr.. Farley built the Du-
buque & Southwestern. line running
from Farley to Cedar Rapids. 1t is now
owned by the Milwaukee railway COM
pany. Then he built the Cedar Falls &
Minnesota railroad, now belonging to
the Iowa Central system.
In 1878 Judge Dillon. of the United
States circuit court. appointed Nr. Far
ley receiver of the st. Paul & Pacific
the most noted part of the gen.
tleman's life. The railway of which
he was receiver consisted of
line from st. Cloud to Melrose,
distance of thlrty-fve miles. and line
from Barnesville north 104 miles. Not
long after his appointment he CON-
pleted the line from Melrose to Barnes.
vile and extended the line to ST. Vim.
cent. This work was all done under
the order of the court and upon the
issuance of receivers debentureS.
In 1876 the trustees of the bondhoders
of the first division of the st. Paul q
st. Paul to st. Cloud, and line from
st. Anthony to Breckinridge. appointed
him general manager. The first di.
vision OF the St. Paul & Pacific be-
lOnged to separate company from that
of the divisions beyond st. Cloud. Mr..
Farley was thus general manager of the
first division, and receiver of the lines
beyond st. Cloud. He remained in this
capacity until the well-remembered
foreclosure sales OF 1879.
The bonds of these lines were owned
t,, h,fa tfotI tI.f.. ,,F \
These capitalists had agreed to put up
enough money to complete the entire
system of the st. Paul IL Pacific, in or
der to hold the immense land grants
that had been made to the two cOmpa-
uies. The Northern Pa3itic was waging
war against the ST. Paul Il Pacific in
order to prevent ii completing its Sys-
TEN, so that the Northern Pacific might
cover the territory itself. From some
cause or other. when it came TO a show
down the Dutch bondholders ueclined
to put up the money.
Mr.. Farley exhausted every argu-
ment with the Dutch capitalists, and
finally gave them up. Then he went to
Commodore Kittson aud J. j. Hill and
presented the situation. Something
had to be done without delay, or the
land grants would be declared forfeited,
From Mr.. Kittson's long connection
with the Hudson Bay Fur company he
had high standing with Montreal cap
italsts. One of Commodore Kilt
sons warmest friends was Sir
Donald Smith. Sir Donald Smith
is cousin of Lord Mount.
stephen, president of the Bank OF Mont.
real. Sir Donald Smith interested
Lord Stephen in the matter, ana the
latter went to England to get the money
to buy the Dutch bonds. He didn't
succeed in getting the money, so he
proceeded to Amsterdam and induced
the Dutchmen to exchange the old
bonds for new ones at a great shave on
the face of the instruments. Then
Lord Stephen advanced enough ready
cash to complete the system of the st.
Paul &, Pacific.
Mr.. Farley alleged that there was an
understanding with Messrs. Kittson
and Hill that he was to have divy in
the profits of the deal and that the gen.
tlemen had not kept the agreement, so
he began suit for accounting against
them in the Ramsey county district
court. The case went to the supreme
court. MIR. Farley was beaten. but was
permitted to dismiss without prejudice.
He then began new suit in the
United States circuit court. This suit
went to the supreme court of the United
States twice, the final decision being
handed down last summer. This was