The Washington herald., 1914-11-22

Some men are born great, some
achieve greatness, while others have
greatness thrust upon them" Whether
Samuel W. Woodward, sometimes known
as the merchant prince Of Washington.
who first saw the light Of day In the OBJ
scure town Of Damariscotta, Lincoln
County, Me-, comes under the first cate
CORY IL neither here nor there, but the
fact remains that after years Of hustling
and busting in the business world, he
did achieve greatness.
Maybe IL he had been content to remain
in Damariscotta. nestled in its forests
primeval, for a long and natural exist
ence this story of a successful mans ca
reer would never have been written.
But another fact remains-the young man
who spent several years Of his ambitious
life behind the counter in a Damariscotta
dry goods store, finding his ambitions
warped by the none too enterprising en-
vironments Of the little Maine village,
simply took up his bed and walked.
From Damariscotta to Boston is a long
leap, iguratively as well as mentally. but
from the early morning that young
Woodward found himself, in 1865, thrust
into the business metropolis Of the Massa-
chusetts capital he wrote a new chapter
in his career.
Laid Business Foundation.
Perhaps it was his pluck and determine
ton to fight for himself which led him
10 give up the quiet, simple life of Dam
ariscotta to plunge into the vortex Of
Boston's commercial life that made the
young country boy bound to succeed from
the start.
And in another way, this move to Bos-
ton was a wise step, because it brought
10 him the lifelong friendship and asso-
citation with the late Alvin NJ. Lothrop,
with whom in later years he established
the firm of Woodward e. Lothrop, which
sprang into prominence in Washington as
the Boston Store.
Fewer men have reached as high a
plane in the estimation of his fellow
citizens as Samuel W. Woodward, and
fewer men have been so deserving Of the
success which he has achieved. Since the
establishment of the first Boston House
in Washington, in February, 1880. Mr..
Woodward has been a factor in the busi-
ness and public life Of the National Capt.
tai
OF medium height, slow OF speech, but
with the quick, decisive manner of the
alert business man, Mr.. Woodward's per-
sonality has won him friends who stick.
With a faculty of irstilling confidence in
the minds of all with whom he has dealt,
it was not many months after his advent
into Washington that his success was as
sured-
Decide on Partnership.
To Mr.. woodward and his partner Mr..
LOthrop is due the recognition of F street
as the retail center of Washington, but
it was not until their keen insight had
penetrated the possibilities that awaited
large department store in F street that
this dream was given any more than a
passing thought.
But TO go back to Boston town. In 1865
VIC find young Woodward clerking in a
large department store, with ambitions
newly aroused and with such good results
that a couple of years later found him
a. better berth in a rival store. 1t was
during these brief years of clerking that
lie fell into comradeship with Alvin n.
Lothrop, a youth filled with the same
high ideals and ambitions.
Working for some one else may be all
light for some, but these TWO ambitious
,rJnI clerks chaffed 1t the idea Of being
always the under dog AID ait upon the
ludacious scheme of starting out for
themselves. The schNme was audacious
for they were not moneyed men. But
what they lacked in money they made UP
in enthusiasm
In 1873 they opened a modest dry goods
store in Chelsea, a suburb of Boston.