USA > New Mexico > Men of our day; or, biographical sketches of patriots, orators, statemen, generals, reformers, financiers and merchants, now on the stage of action > Part 41
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Meanwhile the price of gold was constantly increasing, or rather the gold value of the currency was rapidly decreasing. The national banking system which he had inaugurated, and in which Mr. Cooke had rendered him most essential aid, was as
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yet an experiment, and for the want of some additional pro- visions, subsequently made by Congress, the State banks and many of the large public and private bankers of the great cities were fighting the national banks with great ferocity. This system was destined ere long to become a magnificent success, and to displace all the State organizations with a rapidity which reminded the observer of the transformation of the genii of Persian story ; but for the present affairs looked gloomy.
The great fighting was going on from the Rapidan to the James (for it was the early part of the great battle summer of 1864), and every department of the Government was calling for more men and more money, and as yet no great victories had presaged the coming overthrow of the rebellion. Sick at heart, worn down with excessive labor, and feeling that his great efforts had not been fully appreciated, Mr. Chase suddenly re- signed, in June, 1864, and Mr. Fessenden, an able financier, though of less sunny temper, succeeded him.
The rapid depreciation of the currency which ensued on the announcement of this change, is one of the cardinal points in the memory of the bulls and bears of our generation. In fifteen days, gold rose from 88 per cent. premium to 185 per cent., and there was a fierce outcry against the Government, for all men feared impending bankruptcy.
In this emergency, Mr. Fessenden applied to Jay Cooke, whose abilities he well knew, to put his strong shoulder again to the wheel, and lift the Government out of the slough of despond, in which it was fast settling. The appeal was not in vain. Again the army of sub-agents was organized ; again the loyal papers of every state teemed with advertisements, this time of seven-thirty bonds; again the pens of ready writers were in demand to write up the advantages of Government securities, and Mr. Cooke himself essayed the defence of the
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financial paradox, "a national Debt, a national Blessing." Again were the mails burdened with orders, and men and women, old and young, of all stations in life, hastened to secure the Government's promises to pay. Mr. Cooke and the houses with which he was in correspondence, had, meantime, opened the way for large transactions, at rapidly increasing prices, in our bonds, in Europe; had diffused information, especially in Germany, Switzerland, and Holland in regard to them, till, early in 1865, nearly two hundred millions of United States Govern- ment bonds had been placed in Europe. This amount was subse- quently still farther increased to between four and five hundred millions, and those bonds are to-day as regularly called at the boards of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfort, and Berlin, as at those of our American cities.
The success of the three series of seven-thirty loans, was as great as that of the five-twenties had been; greater if we take into account the larger amount, the already great indebtedness of the Government, and the depressing circumstances under which they were first put upon the market. In less than a year eight hundred and thirty millions of these bonds were sold. During this period, a part of the time, the Government expendi- ture exceeded three millions of dollars a day, but soon, under the heavy blows of great armies well fed and clothed, and abun- dantly supplied with money and all the munitions of war, one stronghold of the enemy after another fell into our hands, vic- tory resounded from one end of the country to the other, and the great rebellion was crushed.
Since the war, the house of Jay Cooke & Co., now having its branches in Washington and New York, has confined itself to the negotiation of loans for great corporate enterprises, dealing in Government securities, etc., etc., and still, in the vastness of its enterprises, the integrity and honor of its dealings, and the
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consummate financial ability which has marked all its operations, retains and is ever increasing its past prestige.
Mr. Cooke still works hard, but he enjoys life, and whether at his city residence, or in that magnificent palace which his princely fortune has enabled him to rear in the vicinity of Phila- delphia, or, in the summer months, at that beautiful country- seat on Gibraltar island in Lake Erie, where, as in boyhood, he enjoys trolling for the scaly denizens of the lake, he is the same sunny-faced, genial, whole-hearted man, as when years ago he managed the affairs of E. W. Clark & Co. With all his hard work and great enterprises, the spirit of the boy has not died out of him. Mr. Cooke's liberality is as princely as his fortune. Throughout the war, he was lavish in his gifts to the Sanitary Commission, to the hospitals, to sick and wounded soldiers, to the Christian Commission, and to all good enterprises. Since the war, the recording angel alone can tell how many of our crippled veterans he has helped to attain a competency, how many soldiers, widows, and orphans he has aided and blessed, how many homes, made desolate by the war, he has cheered and brightened. To Kenyon college, Ohio, he has given twenty-five thousand dollars, and to a theological seminary of his own church (the Protestant Episcopal) a still larger sum. In the vicinity of his home on Chelton Hills, near Philadelphia, he has built several country churches.
On one of the beautiful islands of Lake Erie, near Sandusky, he has erected a charming country-seat, and has built a neat chapel for the residents of the island, which is, we believe, entirely his own property. Here he spends his summer resting time, and plays as hard as he works the rest of the year. But he is not content to take his play-spell alone, and for some weeks before his annual visit there, his leisure moments are em- ployed in sending missives, usually with check enclosed, to hard
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worked country clergymen, inviting them to spend their sum- mer vacation with him on the island. Many a country parson, in a poor parish, with a scattered and illiterate population, when just ready to yield to discouragement, has found his heart cheered, his faith strengthened, and his capacity for efficient labor greatly increased, by a visit to the hospitable home of the Philadelphia banker.
Wealth hoarded with miserly greed, withheld from all good and wise charities, or bestowed only on the gratification of pride, appetite, or lust, is a curse ; but wealth held in recognition of man's stewardship to the God who has given it, and scattered so wisely as to comfort and cheer the unfortunate, the helpless, and the needy, and to rear the institutions of religion, is a bless- ing for which the world has cause to be grateful.
HON. HUGH McCULLOCH,
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.
HIS gentleman, is, we believe, a native of Indiana. Ile was at all events a citizen of that State for many years, and as President of the State Bank, attained a high reputation for integrity, firmness, and financial ability. His tact and skill in relieving the State from its embarrassed financial position, some years since, attracted Secretary Chase's attention to him, and, in 1862, he was made Comptroller of the Currency, a position of great difficulty and responsibility at that time. He acquitted himself so well there, that when Mr. Fessenden signified his intention of retiring from the office of Secretary of the Treasury, in March, 1865, President Lincoln nominated Mr. McCulloch to succeed him. He was confirmed, and has managed the treasury department with great ability. He has been desirous of a more speedy return to specie payments than Congress thought advisable, but while held in check by their action, he has endeavored so to shape matters and to keep the finances so completely within the control of the department, as to facilitate that desirable object whenever a return to it shall be possible.
In his political views, Mr. McCulloch is understood to sym- pathize with Mr. Johnson, but he has never made his sentiments, on other topics than finance, prominent.
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GEORGE PEABODY.
T is much to say, but it is the simple truth, that amid the vast wealth and the immense resources of emperors, kings, princes, nobles, and bankers in Europe, and the undoubted benevolence of some of these classes, an untitled American merchant and banker, the architect of his own fortune, and one who had struggled in his youth with adversity, should have outdone all the men of ancient or modern times, in the extent of his benefactions, and the compre- hensiveness of his views of the claims which the ignorant, the poor, and the young have upon men of wealth. It is greatly to Mr. Peabody's honor, that he has not sought to hoard his wealth till he could no longer use it, and then leave what was worthless to him to benevolent purposes, to be fought over per- haps, till it was frittered away, by grasping heirs or ravenous lawyers. He has preferred to distribute his wealth to purpo- ses of benevolence with his own hands, to be hns own executor, and see for himself that his noble gifts were not misappro- priated.
GEORGE PEABODY was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, February 18, 1795. His parents were in very humble circum- stances, and his childhood was passed amid poverty, and his early education acquired in the district schools of the town, which were then of very moderate merit. At the age of eleven
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years, he was taken as a clerk, by a grocer in his native town, but left him, when he reached his fifteenth year, and after spending a year with his grandfather at Thetford, Vermont, he went to Newburyport, Massachusetts, to be a clerk for his elder brother, who had opened a dry goods store there. The store was consumed by fire, and he next went with an uncle to Georgetown, District of Columbia, where, for the two years following, the business was conducted in his name, though he was still a minor. The business was not remarkably prosper- ous, and young Peabody finding himself in danger, if he re- mained in it, of being held responsible for debts he had not contracted, withdrew in 1814 from the business, and entered into partnership with Mr. Elisha Riggs, in the wholesale dry goods trade, Mr. Riggs furnishing the capital, and entrusting the management of the business to Mr. Peabody. Such was the confidence felt by shrewd business men and capitalists, in the capacity and integrity of this young man, who had not yet passed his nineteenth year. The next year (1815) the house was removed to Baltimore, and there soon attracted a large business, and as early as 1822, branch houses were established in New York and Philadelphia. The mercantile instincts were strong in this man, and the general confidence felt in his integrity and judgment, helped to build up his trade. In 1827, Mr. Peabody first visited Europe, to buy goods. In 1829, after fifteen years of partnership, Mr. Riggs retired, and Mr. Peabody became the actual, as he had long been, the virtual head of the house, and its senior partner. He now made almost annual vis- its to Europe, and was often entrusted by the State of Maryland with important financial negotiations, which were always con- ducted with success.
Early in 1837, he took up his residence in England, but for the next six years continued to be a partner, and the European
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representative of the house of Peabody, Riggs & Co., there. In 1843, he withdrew from the firm, and established himself in London, as a merchant and banker. The time seemed inauspi- cious for commencing in the business to which he proposed devoting himself, the dealing in American securities; the finan- cial whirlwind of 1837 had swept over America, prostrating its credit, and involving its State loans and bonds in a common ruin. This was undeserved in the case of many of the States, but the repudiation of some had thrown disgrace upon all. But Mr. Peabody, by his integrity of character, his reputation for just and honorable dealing, and his solicitude for the honor of his country, and the already large wealth which he staked in this enterprise, commanded the confidence of all who dealt with him, and soon inspired trust in the securities in which he dealt. By this course he soon built up a large business, and was able to save the credit of Maryland, which was more than once endan- gered, but rescued by his advances. His services to the State were gratefully acknowledged, and compensation tendered for them, but always refused.
Mr. Peabody also rendered important services to Americans in London, treating them with great cordiality and liberality, making his London house their headquarters, and rendering them every attention which courtesy or kindness could demand during the whole period of his continuance in business.
In 1851, at the time of the International Crystal Palace exhibition, when the commissioners of other nations had been appointed with authority and ample means to maintain the reputation of their respective countries, the commissioners from the United States alone arrived in London friendless, without Government appropriations, and some of them penni- Jess. The English press began to ridicule the sorry appearance Brother Jonathan was likely to make, and the exhibitors
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from the United States and their friends were becoming much disheartened.
At this juncture, Mr. Peabody stepped forward, and by liberal advances, to the amount of many thousands of dollars, the American department was fitted up, and the credit of the inventors of the United States saved. In the end it was found that the articles of greatest value, though not perhaps those of the most ornamental character in the exhibition, were found in the American department.
But these were but the preludes to the liberality so vast as to excite the admiration of all Christendom. In 1852 the bi-cen- tennial anniversary of the founding of his native town of Danvers was to be held, and he was invited by a committee of the citizens to be present. He was not able to comply with the invitation, but sent a letter enclosing a sealed envelope, which he said contained a toast for the occasion, and which he requested should not be opened until the time of the anniver- sary. His wishes were obeyed, and on opening the envelope, there was found this toast : " Education-a debt from the present to future generations," and by way of paying his portion of that debt, he had enclosed a check for twenty thousand dollars for the founding of an institute, lyceum and library in South Danvers, the parish in which he had been born and spent his childhood. This amount he increased by subsequent gifts to $60,000, and added $10,000 to establish a branch institute in North Danvers.
To the first Grinnell Arctic expedition he gave $10,000 to aid in the outfit of the Advance, Dr. Kane's exploring vessel, and his liberality was commemorated by the doctor in the name of Peabody Bay.
In February, 1857, Mr. Peabody, in fulfilment of a long cherished plan, conveyed to trustees in the city of Baltimore
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the sum of $300,000, to found an Institute for that city, with a library, course of lectures, prizes, an Academy of Music, a Gallery of Art, and accommodations for the Maryland Historical Society. This amount he subsequently increased to $500,000, and in 1866, at the instance and representation of some of his Baltimore friends, added $500,000 more, making the whole amount one million dollars.
During the war, Mr. Peabody remained in London, and, aside from his usual and many extraordinary instances of liberality to Americans abroad, devoted his more especial attention to the erection of homes for the poor in London. The problem of the best method of accomplishing so desirable an object in the wisest manner was a difficult one, and Mr. Peabody entered into it with great zeal, and greater success than has followed the efforts of any previous philanthropists in this work. He has already expended in these buildings, and conveyed to trustees, property which cost him $1,237,000. The Queen, in testimony of her appreciation of his great liberality (manifested as it had been in many other ways, also, to the people of England), had her portrait painted on ivory and framed in gold and gems, especially for him. This portrait he has deposited with the Peabody Institute at Danvers. The sum of three thousand pounds sterling has also been subscribed for a statue of him, in one of the public parks of London, by admiring Englishmen.
But his strongest affection was still that for his native land, and, in 1866, he again revisited the United States. While in this country, (and his stay was nearly a year,) he bestowed, as we have already mentioned, $500,000 more on the Baltimore Institute; selected a board of trustees, consisting of eminent men North and South, and placed in their hands funds and securities, to the amount of $2,100,000, the interest and part of the principal of which was to be applied to the assistance of
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schools, and the promotion of education without distinction of race or color, in the Southern States; one of the n blest, and we believe, the noblest benefaction ever made to education by a single individual; and one which, in the condition and under the circumstances of the Southern States at the present time, cannot fail to accomplish an incalculable amount of good.
Besides this, he conveyed the sum of $150,000 to trustees for the founding of professorships of archaeology and physical science in Harvard university; and the same sum to other trustees for the establishment of professorships of art and physi- cal science in Yale college; made a further endowment of the Danvers Peabody institute; erected a memorial church to his mother's memory in South Danvers, built another church in Vermont, and made numerous lesser donations to other charit- able purposes.
Thus has this man, from the avails of his own industry and enterprise, bestowed on the communities of England and America, for charitable purposes, within the last sixteen years, and mainly within the last eleven years, the sum of five millions of dollars. It is said that his fortune is still ample, and his bounties in Europe still large. He has tasted the luxury of liberal giving, and he will hardly be likely to cease his acts of benevolence till life closes. We know no grander record than his, in all the history of human beneficence.
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HORACE GREELEY.
ORACE GREELEY was born at Amherst, New Hamp shire, on the 3d of February, 1811, being the third of seven children, two of whom had died before his birth. His father, Zaccheus (a name borne, also, by his grandfather and great-grandfather), was a native of Lon- dondery (now Hudson), New Hampshire, and was of the Massachusetts clan, " mainly farmers, but part blacksmiths," who traced their ancestry to one of three brothers who emigrated to this country, about 1650, from Nottingham- shire, England. All the Greeleys are said to have possessed marked and peculiar characters-distinguished for tenacity of vitality, opinions, preferences, memory, and purpose. Few of them have ever been rich, but all, as far as known, have been of respectable social condition, industrious, honest, and loyal. Mary Woodburn, the wife of Zaccheus, and the mother of Horace Greeley, was also of Londondery, New Hampshire, of that fine old Scotch-Irish stock which settled that town-Irish in their vivacity, generosity, and daring; Scotch in their frugality, industry, and resolution-a race in whom Nature seems, for once, to have kindly blended the qualities which render men interesting with those which render them prosper- ous. The Greeley and Woodburn farm adjoined, and so it
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THEODORE
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came about that Zaccheus Greeley found favor in the eyes of Mary Woodburn, and was married to her in the year 1807, he being then twenty-five years of age and she nineteen. Ile inherited nothing from his father, and she had no property except the usual household portion from hers-so the young couple settled down at old Mr. Greeley's-supporting, for a while, the old folks and their still numerous minor children ; but this did not last long. Young married people crave inde- pendence, and, ere long, Zaccheus Greeley managed to pur- chase, partly with his earnings and partly "on trust," a small and not over fertile farm at Amherst, where, as we have seen, Horace first saw the light. In New England, farmer's sons learn to make themselves useful almost as soon as they can walk. Feeding the chickens, driving the cows, carrying wood and water, and all the light offices which are denominated " chores," fall to their lot; and Horace (as the eldest son of a poor and hard working farmer struggling hard with the sterile soil to pay off the debt he had incurred in its purchase, and to support his increasing family) was by no means exempt from his share of daily toil and responsibilities. Grubbing in the corn hills, " riding the horse to plow," burning charcoal in the neighbor- ing woods, and " picking stones," were among the occupations which the boy carried on-and that right faithfully, too, although his heart rejoiced not in them. The last named labor he seemed to have disrelished exceedingly. "Picking stones," says he, in his autobiography, " is a never-ending labor on one of those New England farms. Pick as closely as you may, the next plowing turns up a fresh eruption of boulders and pebbles, from the size of a hickory nut to that of a tea-kettle, and as this work is mainly to be done in March or. April, when the earth is saturated with ice-cold water, if not also whitened with falling snow, youngsters soon learn to regard it with detesta-
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tion. I filially love the 'Granite State,' but could well excuse the absence of sundry subdivisions of her granite." The fact seems to have been that, however faithful and careful in the performance of these farm duties, repulsive as they were to him, Horace's mind, from early infancy, craved knowledge. As a very young child, he took to learning with the same prompt instinctive and irrepressible love with which a duck is said to take to the water. Like many other distinguished men, he found his first and best instructor in his mother-who possessed a strong mind, a retentive memory, a perpetual over- flow of good spirits, a great fondness for reading, and an exhaustless fund of songs, ballads, and stories-to which latter, the boy listened greedily, sitting on the floor at her feet, while she spun and talked with equal energy. "They served," says Mr. Greeley, " to awaken in me a thirst for knowledge, and a lively interest in learning and history." At the maternal knee -and ever with the hum of the spinning wheel as an accom- paniment-the boy learned, also, to read, before he had learned to talk; that is, before he could pronounce the longer words ; and from the fact that the book lay in her lap, he soon acquired a facility of reading from it sidewise, or upside down, as readily as in the usual fashion-which knack became "a subject of neighborhood wonder and fabulous exaggeration." At three years of age he could read easily and correctly any of the books prepared for children, and, by the time he was four years old, any book whatever. His third winter was spent at the house of his grandfather Woodburn, at Londondery, where he at- tended the district school, as he continued to do most of the winters and some of the summer months during the next three years. At this school he soon attained remarkable distinction by his cleverness at spelling, which was his passion. In this he was unrivalled-no word could ever puzzle him-he spelt in
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school and out of it-at work or at play-and, for hours at a time, he would lie upon the floor of his grandfather's house spelling all the hard words which he could find in the Bible and the few other books within reach. Of course, he was the great hero of the " spelling match"-that favorite diversion of New England district schools-and there are some still living who love to recount how Horace, then a little " white, tow- headed boy," would sometimes fall asleep (for these " matches " were generally held in the evening) and when it came his turn, his neighbors would give him an anxious nudge, and he would wake instantly, spell off his word, and drop asleep again in a moment. Frequently carried to school when the snow was too deep for him to wade through, on his aunt's shoulder, the eager little fellow stoutly maintained his place among larger and older scholars, and manfully mastered the slender information which he could glean from the pages of Webster's Spelling Book (then displacing Dilworth's), Bingham's Grammar, called "The Ladies' Accidence" and " The Columbian Orator." This latter, the first book he ever owned, had been given him by an uncle, while he lay sick with the measles, in his fourth year, at his grandfather's. It was his prized text book for years, and he learned all its dialogues, speeches, extracts of poetry, by heart, among others that well-known oration, so familiar to our boyish memories, commencing,
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