Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1901-10-24

jay CCcke not only HVSd lOnS
enough to retrieve his private for
tunes, 80 far as mere money could re-
establish him in the estimation OF the
world, but he lived to see the judg-
nent of his earlier years justified in
the final success of the ventures that
had proved disastrous TO him. He in
his last years has the respect of those
who in the distress of the commercial
disaster that overwhelmed the nation
and involved the world had execrated
him as the one man more than all
others responsible for the 1873 panic
In the fury Of the ruin which swept
the country In the fall Of 1873 people
forgot the services Of Jay Cooke in the
days when the nation found in him
the only man capable OF furnishing
and willing to furnish the money with
which to fight the rebellion. The men
who were carried down in the crash Of
the banking house of Jay Cook & Co,
forgot that the man of whom General
Grant had said on the eve of the sur
render of Lee, ct is TO his labo:s
more than 10 those Of any other man
that the people of this country owe tue
continued life Of the nation" was this
same Jay Cooke to whose speculative
ventures the financial panic was
charged.
II is not given to many men to sue
eessfully stand as the almost sole
financial prop of a great nation in time
Of distress and then In few years sec
the millions accumulated by life
time OF labor and brilliant ventures
swept away Ia a day. Still fewer have
been the meu who, left without fortune
and for the time being almost without
friends, could enter again upon n
battle with the world and become a
second time multi-milllonaire.
These have been some Of the achieve.
ments Of Jay Cooke. and there, when
his long life Is viewed with backward
glance from the close is given the
key to the success which attended the
audacious conceptions and brilliant
achievements OF this financial giant.
He has said that his success depended
upon the calm, even temperament
which he had inherited from his
parents and which he had preserved
through good and bad fortune
Faith in His Country.
But there was another thing that
now seems the prominent charac-
teristic OF the man and his plan Of
life that appeals to the patriotism Ct
his fellow citizens. and that was his
unbounded faith in the wealth-produc-
ing power OF this country under proper
development. His undertaking of the
construction of the Northern Pacific
was based on this faith in the north
west country, his bouyant confidence
during the time of war in the patriot.
ism and the ability of the masses Of
the people to furnish the money neea-
ed by the government was the basis
OF his great operations of handling
the bonds Of the United States when
other bankers had declared that nc
more money could be raised on IN
credit of the nation.
Jay Cooke was born at Sandusky
o.. On Aug. 10, 1921. his father having
moved to that section when a youns
man The family on the fathers sid
descended from tho original member
who came over In the Mayflower. and
his mothers ancestors came from tn
north OF Ireland The father OF jay
Cooke was distinguished lawyer oi
that section and was a member OF con
gress. He labored under the handicap
Of the unusual name of Eleuthero, AM
Of the father was responsible for the
tradition has II that the unusual nam
simple name OF the son. IL came
about that at certain election tn.
opponent of the elder Cooke took al
vantage of the fact that the most OF
the voters could be deceived and >,
the subtle arts OF the election day
worker around the pools induced then
TO believe that Cookies name was
Luther. In this way enough of them
wrote Il that way on their tickets L
defeat Cooke and elect the other man
by a small margin. The father deter
mined that his two sons. who were
then very young. should not be PLACED
at a like disadvantage should they
ever become candidates for Office and
that they should have names SO simple
and plain that nobody could be d.
celved about them. He called the old
est Pitt and the youngest Jay. and as
ia, This boy grew to be known the
woi "a over.
Attends School But Little.
Young Jay up TO the time he was %
years old had attended the local
schools but little and at the time
stated he quit them altogether. He
had an acquaintance and friend in a
young Indian, ogoutz, who afterwarl
became a chieftain of his tribe. aud
with him Jay preferred TO roam over
the hills and through the woods OF the
neighborhood. alternating hunting
with fishing The attachment between
the white boy and the Indian was Of
the strongest kind and when jaw
Cooke became one OF the richest men
of his country and OF his time he built
a palatial residence costing him
81 600, 900, and named IL after this