Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-04-03
Jay GOULD'S BEGINNING.
Operations at Sixteen Of a Financierin!
Genius.

Light was thrown on the early life, in
genuity. and mental tendencies of Jay
Gould by the filing yesterday in the SUI
preme court of evidence and letters in be-
half of the defence in the action brought
by Sarah Ann Angel to recover dover in
the houses l East Forty-seventh street.
which had belonged to the Gould estate.
and $40 Fifth avenue, owned by Edwin
and Helen NJ. Gould. The evidence filed
was taken by the defence for use at the
trial because the witness. John w. Cham
pin, formerly chief justice of the ST.
Ipreme court OF Michigan, is residing here
only temporarily. and at the time of the
trial may be at his home at Grand Rap
ids.
1t was sought to prove by Judge Cham
pin the improbability of the story of
Sarah Ann Angel that on April IT, 1853.
when she was 10 years and Gould was
about a month under H. she had married
him lin the state of New York. She
was Sarah Ann Brown and lived at TIL
time with her parents at Rouse's Point
on the Canadian side of Lake Champlain.
She contends that her father tore up the
certificate of marriage and that after
ward she married Angel, believing that
Gould was dead. She was a domestic at
the time she married Angel.
Judge Champlin was close friend of
young Gould from 1852 to 1854. and he had
known Gould from 1850 He is &C years
old. From 1881 to 1854 he resided at Har
,persfield, Delaware county. this state Il
was twelve miles away by road from
Roxbury, nine miles over the mountains.
where the father of Jay Gould conducted
! a tinware and hardware store as John
B. Gould & Co. Jay, whose right name
was Jason. but who. the witness said.
was called Jay even while boy, Worke |
at first with his father but branched off
| as a surveyor. In part of 1882 and 1888 the
witness taught school at RoXbury, where
h,.af har !, brnt Of TuU h~l, ~,
Gould, attended. The witness also knew
three sisters of Gould-Polly, Anna, and
Betty. One married Mr. Palen and an
| other a Mr.. Northrup, and the witness
saw them both five or six years ago. The
other sister married a Mr.. Hough. and
up to three or four years ago was living
at Los Angeles.
While not teaching school or WORKING
on his fathers farm young Champlin wa
| taking a hand at surveying and did work
in this line for Jay Gould after refusing
! a partnership scheme.
q Young Gould hit on a scheme in the lat
: ter part of 1852. when he was IS years old,
to map the different counties of the state
and work a bill through the Legislature
to get the state to put the maps in Ii
brarieS and in the county seats. Goul /
/ first mapped out Albany county, leaving
Roxbury about February. 1853 1t does
not appear whether any of the mapping
| had been done previously, but in April,
| 1853. he wrote to Champlin from Albany
about trying to get the bill through and
proposing the mapping of other countle5.
| He wrote on letter paper. at the top of
which was printed Map of Albany
county from actual surveys by Jay Gould
and j. 3. Moore" None of these letters
! all of which were written to Champlin at
Roxbury from Albany and which run
along in the very month of the alleged
marriage speaks of any marriage on the
, Of M thew that
Gould was then devoting attention to any
woman or girl. He seems. however, in
tent on making a dicker with Champlln
to map their own county of Delaware
after he got through with his Albany
county venture He also suggested that
if Champlin did not want to go into the
enterprise as partner he would hire
Champlin. He made this propositions:
/ Or if you think you would rather
! commence as | did and hire out first un-
| til you see how you like the business l
' will give you $l20 for six months and al
low YOU $50 for expenses for the six
| months, which is much more than 1t
! cost me for the same time last summer.
The expense money | will advance as you
require it, pay you half of the wages
when due and the other half with inter-
| est. when the map is made. and give you
! 30 certs for every subscriber you get that
| is good, provided | get the copyright.
This proposition of the siXteen-year-old
! Gould was not accepted by School Teach
/ er Champlin, but Champlin agreed to
work for Gould finally on the Delaware
| county map for $40 a month and found.
| They started to work in August. 1858, and
: finished up toward the close of November
! on the beginning of December. But be-
! fore beginning the work there was Il
| hustling for tools. Gould wrote:
II have three compasses; two OF them
we will use here and the other you could
| take | have an odometer in VIEW
| The witness explained that an odometer
f, was like a miniature wheelbarrow with
staff for a compass to sit upon. ~
would take distances not straight as by
a compass, but according to the roll OF
the land. Gould succeeded in borrowing
| the odometer he had in view. which ne
| let the witness have. but the compass he
gave the witness had no needle and they
were in q Quandary. They were FAR from
where compasses could be had. so:
! Gould undertook to irnprovise needle
out of tin and polariZe 1t with the tonga
that stood in the jamb of the fireplace for
a long time. When / started the survey
with that needle it would settle. 1t had
some polarity to it. but If l joggled the
instrument it would Immediately vibrate
and settle in lother place. lie told me
he would get another compass by going
to Kingston. a distance of fifty or sixty
miles if | would wake him ND about