Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-03-31
A Pioneer Captain.

In these days of great captains Of in
dustry the adventures of their predeces-
sors in the new fields of American BUSH
ness are interesting. One of these pioneer
captains, Ebenezer Breed of Lynn, Mass
achusetts, had a remarkable career, ris-
ing from humble Quaker lad to be a
most influential business leader, a guest
of kings and a man of wealth. But from
this success he speedily fell to poverty,
blindness and the almshouse Neverthe-
less, he accomplished much good for the
nation.
Breed began his career at an early age.
He left Lynn when twenty-one years old,
established himself in the shoe business
in Philadelphia, which was then the
Capital of the nation, and took a great
interest in the national affairs of the
young country.
American workmen were then struggling
for existence against the intense competi-
ton of foreigners, and to aid the workers
in his own trade, that of shoes. Breed
undertook some great projects. First he
gave a splendid banquet, to which he in
Vited Jefferson, Madison and other noted
political leaders and members of Con-
gress, and Dolly Payne, afterward the
famous Dolly Madison, and other leaders
in society. He had entrance to the best
society in Philadelphia, having come from
a wellto-do Lynn family of Friends
At this banquet the need of a protec-
tive tariff on boots and shoes was dis
cussed to such effect that Congress
speedily placed a tariff on European
made footwear that practically prohibited
its Importation. There is a tradition that
this tariff bill was drawn in the same
room in which Jefferson is said to have
written the Declaration of Independence
Next, Breed made a trip to Europe to
gather the best Industrial ideas there for
the purpose of introducing them into
Charlotte gave him a reception and Ben
jamin West presented to him a waiter
upon which he had painted his picture.
He was in Paris during the stormiest
days of the French Revolution-when
Louis XVI. was seized, the Tuileries
stormed and the Swiss guard massacred.
In fear Of the mob, Breed at one time
hid in a cellar.
But Notwithstanding such experiences,
some of which might have cost him his
life, he was able to induce a number of
skilled shoemakers to join him, who came
to this country and taught American
shoemakers their best methods. He also
induced William Rose, a tanner of Black
fairs Bridge, London, to come and estab-
fish the industry of morocco leather max
ing, which is today productive of millions
of dollars a year.
Breed returned to this country and
toured it's principle cities, where he was
pie considering him a national benefac-
tor, for the industries which he was aid
ing were thriving, and the workers were
all prospecting.
But in the height of his prosperity ad-
versity suddenly seized him, and he lost
his fortune, became blind, and for want
of a better home entered the Lynn aims
house. There the Quaker faith of his
childhood consoled him, and he became
such a kind and genial old man that
everybody called him "Uncle Eben, "
and the children guided him about and
brought him presents He used to make
fine shoes, despite his blindness, and
sent them to friends of his prosperity.
Many returned gifts to him, especially
the brilliant Dolly Madison.
Uncle Eben" peacefully passed from
the world two days before Christmas,
1889, aged seventy-three years. Quakers
laid him in white robes in a white casket,
and so many friends gathered at the SIM
pie services that is was necessary to prop
up the floors beneath the house.
Breeds work lived after him, for the
shoe and leather industry, which he help
ed to put on it's feet in its early days,
is to-day the third largest industry OF
the nation, and it's annual product is
valued at more than three hundred mil
lion dollars.-[New York Tribune.