Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-06-25
NOTES FROM THE HUB.


Miss Perkins has a mind as well as
money All the rich people in America
are not residents of New York. and prior
to the Nanderhilts, the Goulds and some
other rich families Of today. there were
in Boston couple of generations ago the
largest fortunes in the country. These
large fortunes were mostly made in
foreign trade. when Boston was the great
shipping center for East and West In
dia goods, and for the spices. teas and
silks of the Orient. That was before the
Civil War and the firm of which Miss
Isabelle Perkins grandfather William
+. Weld, Sr.. was the head. had at one
time A sailing vessels mostly clipper
ships, and 10 steam vessels. engaged
largely in the East Indian trade. and
the Boston firm for years did the largest
business of any firm i'm he world in the
Oriental port of Singapore, which was
and is the Liverpool of the east. The
war wiped out all that immense bust
ness and the old office down on Central
wharf which was at that time the head
center of this vast business. is now a
relic of the past, in which occasional
goods are stored. Tho offices were about
in the center of that row of old three
story brick buildings on Central wharf.
about the only buildings of this old type
ia existence along the water front today.
1T was in these old, dingy- looking build
inSs that the great merchants of the pa
transacted their business. and in their
dusty and mill-deN ed old rooms the men
who founded many of Boston's great
fprtiinag tbilaI !
ing until night. and from one years end
tn another. 1t was in one of these old
rooms, not too well lit, and not too well
ventilated, at A. Central wharf that
William f. Weld Sr. worked and toiled
for years, between the 40s and the COS.
ana laid the foundations of the vast
business which was subsequently
brought tn the fun flower of it's perfcc-
tion through the efforts of Richard
Baker who entered the employ of the
firm as clerk, and gradually rose to
the top, and steercd the course of the
firm to its greatest prosperity. Ask any
of the old-timers along the water front
today about the firm of William f.
Weld Il CO.. and all viii agree that
Baker was great man. broad and lib
eraL hut William F Weld Here they
Will pause and look askance at you, and
shake their heaIS and say: well, he
vas successful" And when YOU begin
to get down to the real meaning of all
this You viii find that William +. Weld
was successful but that he had very
few friends. He was hard, stern un-
yielding, and economical to the point Of
IRinu npnnTibllG "A
broad in his conception of doing husi-
ness and making money. He was a
quiet, unostentatious man. and nobody
realized for a long time that he was ac-
cumulating such a vast fortune He
had very few Confidants He had many
of the peculiar traits that distinguished
some Of the uid-timcrs, and not a few
Of the new-timc merchants. NO man
over had occasion to say that he did not
do as he agreed. and he held others uu
to tb" strict letter Of their agreements.
but he never hesitated to take full ad-
vantage of the opportunities which his
wealth afforded him in business. 1t was
in 1862 that William f. Weld Withdrew
from active association with the shin
ping business. although his two sons.
William G, Weld and Dr Charles G.
Weld. entered the. firm about this time.
Then and prior to this the senior Weld
had turned his attention Ia western
railroads, and he made a great deal of
money, as did number of other Bos-
tOnians at the time through the pur-
chase of the bonds Of many If these
roads al time when they were A
drug on the market and holding them
for the rise which inevitably came.
William +. Weld was twice married.
BY his first wife he had three children,
a son, William G. Weld, and two daugh-
ters. Mrs. George l.. Pratt and the other
the wife of Commodore George II. Perk-
ins, mother of Miss Isabelle Perkins. who
has just married Mr.. LarZ Anderson.
1t was about 20 years ago that William
f. Weld, Sr., got very mad with the Bos-
ton city government He claimed that
he was excessively taxed by the as
SCISSORS and he became so indignant
that he decided to leave the city for
good and all, and so he went to phila-
delphia, where he lived until his death,
about eight years ago. He got rather
the worst of the move however. for at
MS utdln lIt estate was very NCaNlly
taxed under the laws of PENNSYLVANIA.
This tax amounted to over $500. 600 He
left his property which was said to
amount to $3O0OO.OOO at his death. in
such a way that the bulk of it should
remain intact until the grandchildren
grew up. Miss Isabelle Perkins share
of the estate in her own name will prob
ably amount to so, 200, 900 when she is p
years of age, five years hence. The
Perkinscs homes include a cottage at
Newport, a city house at 123 Common
wealth avenue, country house and
large stables at Milton, and stock farm
in New Hampshire.
= <
The great and general court Of 1897 is
Il thing of the past 1t has done some