The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-03-31
ago say that the resemblance Of
Jack" to that man is fairly startling.
Family Homo Since 1889.

known through the New England
states since 1886, when Miles Nor
gan settled in MASSACHUSETTS,. ]. P.
Morgan conspicuously resembled his
his grandfather. John P1erpont. The
n was a careful, conservative. yet
Sonor above ai nrG things. He He wa vs.q in,
tensely patriotic. He vas content to
make haste slowly. The other was a
flaming evangelist-poet. preachers.
and reformer. He was turned out Of
tell h truth to SNUG Pharisees. He
fought against 'meanness and crime
In high places" Because he valued
all things more highly than money he
died as an i'll paid clerk in the gov
eminent employ. But no mans
memory is held more highly among
the descendants Of the Puritans than
John Pierpont's. His grandson owed
to him certain well-marked traits of
tharacter-his whitening anger when
aroused, the tremendous force he
could concentrate upon an object in
which he was interested, his contempt
for the mean. small things Of life.
Born in Hartford.
j. p. Morgan was born in Hartford,
Conn.,. where he spent the first four
teen years Of his life. His father was
the agent and partner of George Pea
body, the great London banker and
philanthropist. At fifteen or there
abouts his health began to suffer, and
although he attended school in Bos-
ton. he was not the rugged. chunky
ton he visited the Azores, and then
went abroad to complete his educa-
ton. His father gave him a clerk
ship in his London banking house. At
this time Pierpont was a source of
paternal anxiety.
Il don't know what I'll do with
P%ierpont." Is a remark he is quoted
as making. Pierpont's manners were
abrupt and harsh, his determination
granite like. But as time went on his
father began to reply upon his judg-
ment. Once 1t. is related that he
bought an entire shipload of coffee as
a speculation. 1t was a tremendous
deal for those days. The members Of
the Peabody firm were shocked.
my, my, Mr.. Morgan" said
Where will you get this great sum
of money"
Morgan stared at him sourly for a
moment. Then he turned on his heel
and entered his fathers office. In u
moment he returned, with a draft for
the entire amount in his hand. Tic
slapped it down before his questioner.
There! said he.
Tested in Panic Of 1887.
He was tested in the panic Of 1857,
and as a direct result Of it started in
business for himself with c. Hill Dab
ney. In 1857 he married Miss Amelia
Sturges, who was even then dying of
consumption. He dropped business
completely, and for several months
travelled all over the world with her.
On tho hilnt nf hoo1fh P,it che lived
only a few months after their we'd
ding. He helped in furnishing the
government with the gold it sorely
needed to keep afloat during the war
of the rebellion. Few know to what
extent this country Is indebted to his
patriotism. Great Britain had been
warned by Charles Francis Adams.
init the sailing Of the privateers
which were building for the confed-
eracy in the Clyde yards. Great
Britain sought to evade Adams's de-
mand by insisting that million
pounds be turned owe to it as securi-
ty against possible suits for damages.
Adams was helpless. Morgan in Sc
cret secured the money for him.
Great Britain. most reluctantly. was
compelled to place an embargo on the
suspected privateers.
Prominent in Road Building.
Morgan took an active part in the
financial operations which made pos
sible the railroad building activities Of
the early seventies. In 1871 he form
ed the present firm Of Drexel, Morgan
& Co.-though it is nov all Morgan.
save in Philadelphia, where the name
of Drexel Is retained as a concession
to local liking-and in the same year
participated in his first underwriting
syndicate, the device of which he
made such wide use later. He estab-
lished a lasting market for the gov
eminent bonds, and put governmental
national viewpoint. when in 1873, one
year before the resumption Of specie
payments, in the hard times follow
ing the war. he floated the major por-
ton of the new American loan. The
Belmont and the Rothschilds were
associated with him on ven terms,
but 1t was Morgan who managed the
affair.
American railroads were being
ruined by bushwhacking operations in
the early eighties. The footing Of the
Erie. managed by the late Jay Gould.
is an example that will occur to every
mind. Ruinous rate wars grew out
the stock jobbing. Those roads
which were not already bankrupt
OdQ0 1alr 10 soon become SO. IN $780,
Morgan returned from a visit t. Eur
ope. informed himself upon the situa-
ton. and began by making peace be-
tween the New York Central road and
the Pennsylvania road-each Of
which had we'll grounded cause for
grudge. In thirteen years 423 rail-
roads, with a total mileage Of $4,000
odd miles. representing more than
two and a half billions in capitalize
ton, had gone to ruin. Morgan fore
ed the managers to listen to him. He
called a meeting at his Office in New
York. The managers came-an de-
fled him.
I'VE will not let a banker dictate to
u.s." they said.
"Then we will break you ALL" was
Morgan's grim reply, land get new
men to run the new roads,"
Peace and Prosperity Follow.
An era of consolidation and peace
and prosperity followed. He reor-
ganized the Philadelphia and Reading
road-and having done SO. turned 1t
over to its stockholders. They elect
ed officers. who promptly made a
mess of things. Morgan recognized
it again-and this time put i'll opera
ton another new device. the voting
trust" From that day on he never
permitted the control Of a company
for which he had once made himself
responsible to go out Of his hands.