Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made, byJames D. McCabe, Jr., Illustrated by G. F. and E. B. BensellThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away orre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.netTitle: Great Fortunes, and How They Were MadeAuthor: James D. McCabe, Jr.Release Date: February 24, 2005 [eBook #15161]Language: englishCharacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT FORTUNES, AND HOW THEY WEREMADE***E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Dave Macfarlane, and the ProjectGutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading TeamNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of thisfile which includes the original illustrations.See 15161-h.htm or 15161-h.zip:(http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/5/1/6/15161/15161-h/15161-h.htm)or(http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/5/1/6/15161/15161-h.zip)GREAT FORTUNES, AND HOW THEY WERE MADEOr, The Struggles and Triumphs of Our Self-Made MenbyJAMES D. MCCABE, JR.,Author of _Planting the Wilderness_, etc., etc.Numerous Illustrations from Original Designs by G. F. & E. B. Bensell

[Illustration: CONSTERNATION AT THE SIGHT OF FULTON'S MONSTER.]"MAN, it is not thy works, which are mortal, infinitely little, and thegreatest no greater than the least, but only the _spirit thou workestin_, that can have worth or continuance."--CARLYLE.George Maclean,Philadelphia, New York and BostonElectrotyped at the Franklin Type Foundry, Cincinnati1871"The physical industries of this world have two relations in them: oneto the actor, and one to the public. Honest business is more really acontribution to the public than it is to the manager of the businesshimself. Although it seems to the man, and generally to the community,that the active business man is a self-seeker, and although his motivemay be self-aggrandizement, yet, in point of fact, no man ever manages alegitimate business in this life, that he is not doing a thousand-foldmore for other men than he is trying to do even for himself. For, in theeconomy of God's providence, every right and well organized business isa beneficence and not a selfishness. And not less is it so because themerchant, the mechanic, the publisher, the artist, think merely of theirprofit. They are in fact working more for others than they are forthemselves."HENRY WARD BEECHER.PREFACE.The chief glory of America is, that it is the country in which geniusand industry find their speediest and surest reward. Fame and fortuneare here open to all who are willing to work for them. Neither classdistinctions nor social prejudices, neither differences of birth,religion, nor ideas, can prevent the man of true merit from winning thejust reward of his labors in this favored land. We are emphatically anation of self-made men, and it is to the labors of this worthy classthat our marvelous national prosperity is due.This being the case, it is but natural that there should be manifestedby our people a very decided desire to know the history of those whohave risen to the front rank of their respective callings. Men arenaturally cheered and encouraged by the success of others, and those whoare worthy of a similar reward will not fail to learn valuable lessonsfrom the examples of the men who have preceded them.

With the hope of gratifying this laudable desire for information, andencouraging those who are still struggling in the lists of fame andfortune, I offer this book to the reader. I have sought to tell simplyand truthfully the story of the trials and triumphs of our self-mademen, to show how they overcame where others failed, and to offer therecord of their lives as models worthy of the imitation of the young menof our country. No one can hope to succeed in life merely by the forceof his own genius, any more than he can hope to live without exertingsome degree of influence for good or evil upon the community in whichhis lot is cast. Success in life is not the effect of accident or ofchance: it is the result of the intelligent application of certain fixedprinciples to the affairs of every day. Each man must make thisapplication according to the circumstances by which he is surrounded,and he can derive no greater assistance or encouragement in thisundertaking than by informing himself how other men of acknowledgedmerit have succeeded in the same departments of the world's industry.That this is true is shown by the fact that many of the most eminent menattribute their great achievements to the encouragement with which theperusal of the biographies of others inspired them at critical periodsof their careers. It is believed that the narrations embraced in thesepages afford ample instruction and entertainment to the young, as wellas food for earnest reflection on the part of those who are safelyadvanced upon their pathway to success, and that they will proveinteresting to all classes of intelligent readers.Some explanation is due to the reader respecting the title that has beenchosen for the work. The term "Great Fortunes" is not used here todesignate pecuniary success exclusively. A few of the men whose livesare herein recorded never amassed great wealth. Yet they achieved thehighest success in their vocations, and their lives are so full ofinterest and instruction that this work must have been incomplete andunsatisfactory had they been passed over in silence. The aim of thewriter has been to present the histories of those who have won thehighest fame and achieved the greatest good in their respectivecallings, whether that success has brought them riches or not, and aboveall, of those whose labors have not only opened the way to fortune forthemselves, but also for others, and have thus conferred lastingbenefits upon their country.In short, I have sought to make this work the story of the _Genius ofAmerica_, believing as I do that he whose achievements have contributedto the increase of the national wealth, the development of the nationalresources, and the elevation of the national character, though hehimself be poor in purse, has indeed won a great fortune, of which noreverse can ever deprive him.J.D. McC., JR.NEW YORK, _24th October, 1870_.LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.CONSTERNATION AT SIGHT OF FULTON'S MONSTER (Frontispiece)GIRARD COLLEGEGIRARD'S HEROISMASTOR'S FIRST TRIP FOR FURS"MY MEN SHALL NOT SUFFER"PORTRAIT OF GEORGE PEABODY

PEABODY PAYING FOR A NIGHT'S LODGINGPORTRAIT OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILTVANDERBILT EARNING HIS FIRST HUNDRED DOLLARSVANDERBILT CARRYING OFF THE SHERIFFFOUNDING A GREAT FORTUNEPORTRAIT OF ROBERT FULTONAN AMAZING REVELATION"THE MADHOUSE IS THE PROPER PLACE FOR HIM"WHITNEY WATCHING THE FIRST COTTON-GINPORTRAIT OF ELIAS HOWE, JR.HOWE'S FIRST IDEA OF THE SEWING-MACHINETHE BOY COLT INVENTING THE REVOLVERPORTRAIT OF SAMUEL F.B. MORSEHOW THE NEW YORK HERALD BEGANMARSHALL'S DEFENCE OF CHRISTIANITYPORTRAIT OF JAMES T. BRADY"THEY ARE GOING TO HANG MY BROTHER; YOU CAN SAVE HIM!"THE TRUANT'S SECRET DISCOVEREDPORTRAIT OF HIRAM POWERSPOWERS' DISTRUST OF THE HUNTERSFILIAL DEVOTION SHAPES A GREAT CAREERCARTWRIGHT CALLING UP THE DEVILPORTRAIT OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNEJEFFERSON, AS RIP VAN WINKLEPRESCRIBING AT THE BREAKFAST-TABLE"PRESIDENT LINCOLN HAS BEEN MURDERED!"CONTENTS.I. MERCHANTS.CHAPTER I.STEPHEN GIRARD.The fog in the Delaware--News of the war--Alarm of the French skipper--Anarrow escape from capture--Arrival of Girard in Philadelphia--Earlyhistory of Stephen Girard--An unhappy childhood--Goes to sea--Islicensed to command--Becomes a trader in Philadelphia--Marries MaryLum--Unfortunate issue of the marriage--Capture of Philadelphia by theBritish--Early commercial life of Stephen Girard--How he earned hisfirst money, and the use he made of it--Aid from St. Domingo--His rigidattention to business--Thoroughness of his knowledge--One of his lettersof instructions--His subordinates required to obey orders though theyruin him--Anecdote of Girard and one of his captains--His promptness andfidelity in business--He never breaks his word--How he lost five hundreddollars--Buys the old Bank of the United States and becomes abanker--Cuts down the salaries of his clerks--Refuses his watchman anovercoat--Indifference to his employés--Contrast between his personaland business habits--His liberality in financial operations--Hesubscribes for the entire Government loan in 1814, and enables theUnited States to carry on the war--His generosity toward theGovernment--The suspension of specie payments--Financial troubles--HowGirard saved his own notes--His public spirit--How he made half amillion of dollars on a captured ship--Personal characteristics--Why hevalued money--His ambition--His infidelity--Causes of the defects of hischaracter--A favorable view--Heroic conduct of Stephen Girard duringthe prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia--The Good

Samaritan--He practices medicine, and congratulates himself that he haskilled none of his patients--His industry--Visit of Mr. Baring to Mr.Girard--A curious reception--Failing health and death of StephenGirard--His will--His noble bequests--Establishment of Girard College.CHAPTER II.JOHN JACOB ASTOR.Legitimate business the field of success--Reasons for claiming Astor asan American--Birth and early life--Religious training--The village ofWaldorf--Poverty--The jolly butcher--Young Astor's repugnance to hisfather's trade--Unhappy at home--Loses his mother--His desire toemigrate to the "New Land"--Leaves home--His voyage down theRhine--Reaches London and enters the service of his brother--His effortsto prepare for emigration--Learns to speak English--Peace between theUnited States and Great Britain--The road to the "New Land" open--Astorsets out for America--His first ventures in commerce--The voyage--How heproposed to save his Sunday clothes--Arrival in the Chesapeake--Theice-blockade--Astor makes a friend--The fur trader's story--Astor seesthe way to fortune--Reaches New York--His first situation--Learning thebusiness--His method of proceeding--An example to young men--His capacityfor business operations--He is promoted--His journeys to Canada, andtheir results--Sets up in business for himself--The fur trade of NorthAmerica--A survey of the field of Astor's operations--His capital--Histramps into the wilderness in search of furs--Predictions as to thefuture settlement of the country--His first consignment to England--Hismarriage--A good wife--Improvement in his prospects--Buys his firstship--The secret of his success--Close attention to business--Hiseconomical habits--His indorsement disputed by a bank clerk--Statementsof the profits on furs--He engages in the Chinese trade--How theGovernment aided the early China traders--Amount made by Astor in hislegitimate business--His real estate operations--His foresight andcourage--How eight thousand dollars yielded eighty thousand--His realestate in the City of New York--Purchases the half of Putnam County--TheRoger and Mary Morris estate controversy--Astor wins his suit, and makeshalf a million of dollars--Astor's scheme of colonization--A grandenterprise--Settlement of Astoria--Betrayed by his agents, and thescheme brought to failure--Astor withdraws from active business--Hisboyhood's vow and its fulfillment--Builds the Astor House--His voyage toEurope--The return--The troubles of a millionaire--The great manseasick--A curious draft--The last years of his life--His fondness forliterary men--His death and burial--His will--Opposite views of hischaracter--How his refusal to buy a chronometer cost him seventythousand dollars--He remembers an old friend--His gift of a lease--Hishumor--"William has a rich father."CHAPTER III.ALEXANDER T. STEWART.Birth and early life--Becomes his grandfather's ward--Designed for theministry--A change in his plans--Comes to America--Teaches school in NewYork--Becomes a dry goods merchant--Receives a legacy--His firstimportation--How he began business--An energetic trader--His sample lotsand their history--Success of his enterprise--He begins by encouraginghonesty in trade--Wins a name for reliability--The system of selling at

one price--Inaugurates the "selling off at cost" feature--His courage inbusiness--How he raised the money to meet his note--Improvement in hisbusiness--He enlarges his store--As an inducement to the ladies, employsfor clerks handsome young men--The crisis of 1837--Stewart comes out ofit a rich man--How he did so--Builds his lower store--Predictions offailure--The result--Compels the Government to purchase goods fromhim--His foresight and liberality--Charged with superstition--Lucky andunlucky persons--Story of the old apple woman--Remarks at the opening ofthe St. Nicholas Hotel--Reasons of Stewart's success--A hard worker--Howhe receives visitors--Running the gauntlet--How he gets rid oftroublesome persons--Estimate of Mr. Stewart's real estate in NewYork--His new residence--His benevolence--Aid for Ireland, and freepassages to America--Home for women--Political sentiments--Mr. Stewart'sappointment as Secretary of the Treasury--Feeling of the country--Theretail store of A.T. Stewart & Co.--A palace of glass and iron--Internalarrangements--The managers and salesmen--List of sales--Wagesgiven--Visitors--The principal salesroom--The parcel department--Thewagons and stables--Extravagant purchases--Mr. Stewart's supervision ofthe upper store--The system of buying--The foreign agencies--Statementof the duties paid each day--Personal appearance of Mr. Stewart.CHAPTER IV.AMOS LAWRENCE.The Lawrence family--A poor boy--Early education--Delicatehealth--Obtains a situation at Dunstable--Returns to Groton--Becomes Mr.Brazer's apprentice--The variety store--An amateur doctor--Importance ofGroton in "old times"--Responsibility of young Lawrence--Is put incharge of the business--High character--Drunkenness the curse of NewEngland--Lawrence resolves to abstain from liquors and tobacco--Hisself-command--Completes his apprenticeship--Visits Boston--An unexpectedoffer--Enters into business in Boston--Is offered a partnership, butdeclines it--His sagacity justified--Begins business forhimself--Commercial importance of Boston--Aid from his father--A narrowescape--lesson for life--Amos Lawrence's method of doing business---Anexample for young men--His business habits--He leaves nothing unfinishedover Sunday--Avoids speculation--His views upon the subject--Introducesdouble entry in book-keeping into Boston--His liberality to hisdebtors--Does not allow his business to master him--Property gained bysome kinds of sacrifices not worth having--Forms a partnership with hisbrother Abbott--Business of the firm--They engage in manufactures--Safebusiness principles--A noble letter--Political opinions--Hischarities--Statement of his donations--Requests that no publicacknowledgment of his gifts be made--Character as a merchant and aman--Advice to his son--His religious character--Loss of his health--Hispatience and resignation--The model American merchant.CHAPTER V.ANDREW V. STOUT.Early struggles--Acquires an education--Undertakes the support of hisfamily--The boy teacher--Hard work--Is made instructor of Latin--Atrying position--How he conquered his difficulties--Is made principal ofa public school--His first business ventures--Engages in the building ofhouses--His platform of integrity--His success--A great mistake--Heindorses a note--The consequence of a false step--Liberal action of the

trial of skill--The king of the Cannibal Islands--The man-eater--Hirambecomes interested in the museum--How he played the devil inCincinnati--A dishonest employer--Mr. Longworth's offer--Powers goes toWashington--His success there--Visit to "Old Hickory"--The firstcritic--Kindness of Senator Preston--Powers goes to Italy--Arrival inFlorence--His first works in Italy--Visit to Thorwaldsen--Works ofPowers--His rapid success--His life in Italy--Views of Mr. Powersrespecting an artist life--Personal characteristics--Popularity withartists.CHAPTER XXX.EMMANUEL LEUTZE.An American by adoption--Early life and education--How he learned todraw--Becomes an artist--His first picture--The evils of too muchhaste--His first professional engagement--Despondency--A ramble throughthe Virginia woods, and what came of it--A friend in need--Greater

Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made

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