The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1904-05-21
FROM LOWLY SOURCE
Humble Occupations Of Some Rich
New Yorkers' Forbears.
interesting Light Thrown ON the
Foundetions of Large HRrtunes
of Present AFistocrats by
an Old City directory.

of Present AFistocrats by
an Old City directory.
Death as leveler is not in the
same class with an old directory.
The wonder is if on the shelves OF
the mighty of Manhattan island
there is copy of little book
which has just found its way to Chi
cago. In these days when those in
high places seek the assistance of
the librarian of congress to get a
tight and exclusive grip on their
names, it would seem to the humber
persons that a perusal of the pages
of this little directory of New York
of the year 1922 should teach a
priceslcss lesson of humility, says
the Chicago Evening Post.
1t was in an old book shop in New
York that John C. King, of Chicago,
brought to light the volume in which
are found the names and the occu-
pations of the dwellers in the me-
tropolis before the last century had
turned its first quarter. What an
opportunity is here given for those
who wish to look back to the rock
whence they were hewn and the pit
from whence they were digged.
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the eld-
er, has invoked the aid of the law
to make her Mrs. Vanderbilt. She
will have none of the Cornelius end
of it. The shade of the original
Cornelius doubtless will look disap-
provingly on this action of its great
granddaughter-in-law. The original
Cornelius was proud of his name
both ends of it. He asked permis-
sion of the city of New York to
paint it in full and in large letters
SO that his fellow-citizens might
read it. Permission was granted,
and the father of all the Wander
bilts proudly wrote on each side of
his wagon this legend:
Cornelius Vanderbilt, licensed cart
man.
Cornelius has a place with his
brother and cousin vanderbilts on
page 452 of this old-time register
of Manhattan citizens. Like Cor
nelius, the cartman, the three Ja-
cobs and the three Johns of the
Vanderbilt family found no good
reason for hiding their names and
their professions from an inquiring
world. As good craftsmen should,
they believed in hanging their signs
on the outer walls, and thus they re-
spectively appeared: Blacksmith,
painter, shoemaker, carpenter, sex
ton. grocer.
Wild animal life was abundant in tn e
United States in 1922. There was no
necessity then for the existance of pro-
tective societies for four-footed game.
The members of the Astor family
should adopt some furred forest crea-
ture as their crest. for glance at the
ancient volume in hand shows that
three Astors of that year were en-
gagged in skin sales. or, to put it more
elegantly, the sale of skins in New
York city.
Mr.. Longworth, who compiled the
directory of the city of New York 50
years ago. is to be complimented on the
general appearance of the letter press
| He apparently. however. allowed one
| typographical error to creep into his
work. Everybody who keeps in touch
with the throbbingly interesting do
| ing Of the New Yorkers of this date
| knuws that the favorite Christian
/, na'~'" of the Lorillard family is Pierre
| Tha; name is the pride of the Loril-
larsis. 1t is said that the directory
man allowed the original Lorillard to
| gel INTO the book as plain Peter. The
business sagacity of the Lorillards
never has been questioned. They al
ways have been. as it were, ''up tc
| snuff" "Tobacconist. A Chatham
street." appears after the name OF
| Peter Lorillard in this record of four
score years ago.
But there are other names in this
book of the olden time. Good old
Peter Cooper is set down as mason
living in Bedford street. Aaron Burr
| counselor, had an office at Al Nassau
street. which is still a lawyers loca
| tion and his house was at % Reet
street. Not far from Burr was situa
ted the Office of the son of Alexande,
Hamilton, whom Burr had killed a.
Weehawken 10 years before. The
| Roosevelts. the Goelets, the DePey
sters, the Stuyvesants. the Kermits
the Kips and the Schuylers have place.
on the directory pages, but, curiously
enough, there is only one vanrens
| selaer.