Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1909-09-10
Greatest Railroad Organizer Meets the Only
Lasting Defeat Of His Career
MEMBERS OF FAMILY ALL AT BEDSIDE
When the End Came at 3.33 I thursday Afternoon-Mr
hartman Retained Almost to the Last His rQiant
Mnd-From Errand Boy and Brokers Clerk TO a
Commanding Figure in financial Activity.

Tne matter of dividends was alloNeu
to wait upon their perfection. This
policy has been continued toward all
the Hartman lines, and to it has been
added a close study of the territories
adjacent to the properties which con-
triDuted or could be made to con-
tribute 70 their welfare.
His Most Spectacular Performances.
jHarrimans most spectacular per-
formance, one which made his name
| familiar to all the reading public, was
in May, 1901, when he struggled with
the Morgan and Hill interests for con-
troll of the Northern Pacific. On May
of that year the historic Northern
Pacific corner resulted in the stock of
the company going to $1,000. OF the
SHOW down. Hartman produced
$7S,OO0,000 in stock out of a total of
$155. 000,0
However, the Hill Morgan interests
held the whip hand through bylaw
of the company which permitted the
retirement of preferred stock at any
time. OF his holdings $41, 100000 was
preferred, but Hartman secured a
compromise and he and some of his
associates were elected to the North
ern Pacific directorate.
Debut as a Railroad Man.
Harriman's success was not without
cdlly SIIQ56lCS. lIC Aio 0COQb do
a railroad man in 1883 when he was
made a director of the Illinois Gen.
tral railroad. He was then worth a
million dollars He established close
relations with James Stillman and
became a member of the banking firm
of Loew, Hartman & Co. He also
formed a business alliance with Jacob
H. Schiff, and his influence in Wall
street grew rapidly.
Tn, az AT cd n a.
tion of the Erie railroad and became
involved in a fight with the ]. P.
Morgan interests. In this struggle
Hartman was soundly whipped. Un-
daunted, he set about to learn the
railroad business in way to make
him Il master. and thus equipped him
self for the successful undertaking
with the Union Pacific three years
later.
Came from Family in Humble circum-
stances.
Mr. Hartman was born in Hemp
stead, l.. l.. February 25, IS4S, the
third son of Rev. Orlando Hartman,
Jr., rector of St. Georges Episcopal
church at Hampstead. His mother
came from an old and aristocratic
family of New Brunswick, n. j. The
family was in humble circumstances
and the youth who was TO become q
multi-millionaire knew no luxuries
and worked hard for the little educa-
tion he received. At sixteen he found
employment as an errand boy in a
brokers' Office in Wall street. He de-
veloped into an astute lad, always
looking for chance to better him
SELF and before he was 23 years old
had bought a seat on the New York
stock exchange and paid for it With
$4,000 that he had made in specula
ton. During the years he had been
an errand boy and a brokers' clerk he
had never forgotten what his early
years of privation had taught him
that each dollar represented one hum
dred cents, each with a purchasing
power.
First Schooling in Finance.
He learned his elementary lesson
in finance in the school of Jim Fisk,
Jay Gould and old Commodore Van
derbilt and emerged a broker on his
own account devoid of sentiment in
business, as was shown later when he
fought and ousted from the presidency
Of the Illinois Central railroad, Stuy-
vesant Fish, a man who had proba-
bly, done as much to help young Har-
riman on his career as any other man
now living, and who had years before
made him vice president OF the road.
When the insurance scandals of 1905
came to light, Hartman was a direc-
tor of the Equitable Life Assurance
company, of which his friend, James
Hazen Hyde, owned the controlling
stock. Hartman was Hydes closest
adviser in the fight made to displace
young Hyde, and many have said the
result might have had at least a diff
ferent phase had not Hyde at the last
moment turned 'soon Hartman and
charged him with being an enemy IN
the guise OF a friend seeking to take,
Hyde's place in the Equitable. When
Thomas F. Ryan turned up a couple
of months later as the owner of the
Equitable, Hartman said he was dis-i
appointed aand admitted before the
Armstrong investigation committee
that he had expected to buy it for.
himself.
His Marriage a Most Happy One.
Mr. Harriman's wife was Miss Mary
Averill of Rocheste~. n. Y, whose fa-
ther, w. J. Averill, a banker, was
largely interested in the Rome. Am
sterdam & Ogdensburg railroad and
had large means. The marriage proved
a most happy one. Five children were
born-three girls and two boys. The
eldest daughter is the wife of Robert
L. Gerrv son of Commodore E. r.
Gerry. The second daughter is Mary
and the third Carol. The eldest son,
Walter Averill. is just out Of college
and is learning the railroad business.
The youngest, Roland is IA years old
and still in school.