USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families > Part 44
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The mother of Andrew Peirce was Betsey Wentworth, born in 1791, and his maternal grandfather was Col. John Wentworth (a descendant of Elder Wm. Wentworth from near Alford, England, and one of the thirty-five signers at Exeter, N. H., for a combination government, July 4, 1637), an officer in the Revolutionary army, serving at one period under Washington. He was a member of the New Hampshire State Legislature three years, and colonel of the Second Regiment in 1789.
At the early age of twelve years Andrew Peirce was employed as a clerk in a Dover store, where he remained about two years, after which he attended a short time at the Strafford Academy. Another short period of clerkship followed, and also a second period at the academy. When he had reached the age of sixteen years he was imbued with an ardent desire to become a man of business, and to begin his career at once. At this youthful age he was taken by his father to Boston on
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one of his vessels, and against the prevalent predictions of neighbors and well intentioned friends, purchased a small stock of goods on four months' credit, and became responsible for the payment.
If the father had any misgivings as to the results of what he had done, the fact is not known, and his confidence in his young son was not mis- placed. He promptly exhibited business ability of an unusual order, while his manly and winning qualities gained him friends and a large trade. The business dated from April 22, 1831, and four years later when he had reached the age of twenty, his establishment had greatly increased, while his credit was thoroughly established wherever he had become known. His trade had taken on a wholesale character, which extended into several adjoining States.
On the IIth of April, 1834, Mr. Peirce married Rebecca W. Dun- naway, of Gloucester, Mass. Up to this time the business had been conducted in the name of his father, but now it was taken under his own name after his turning over to his father one-half of the profits al- ready made. The business was at once still further extended and in 1837 he built a brick store. In the next year his father was taken by him as a partner, but withdrew two years later and his place was taken by a brother, Thomas W. Peirce. This connection con- tinued two years. Another brother and two other men were at times associated in the business, none of whom paid in any money and all of whom drew profits from it. During his business career in Dover he also joined with his father in a considerable shipping busi- ness, vessels being sent to Thomaston, Me., to New York and Philadel- phia, and later to southern ports. In the latter direction they were pio- neers in shipping to Texas, before that Territory became a State. They also furnished the iron for the first railroad there. Several vessels were built for them especially for this industry, one of which (a brig) was under charter to the United States government during the Mexican War and was wrecked near Vera Cruz. As his capital increased he acquired an interest in the steam mill at Dover ; built several houses, and pur- chased, repaired and enlarged the Rogers wharf and buildings on Co- checo River, which were used for landing and storing their goods.
We have already said that the early business life of Mr. Peirce indi- cated and developed his principal characteristics, and the foregoing 61
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must not only verify that statement, but also show the trend of his na- tive qualifications, the ambition which prompted him, and the personal attributes which enabled him thus early in life to extend his business re- lations far beyond the confines of his native town. He was not and never would be content with small things in the practical affairs of life, and we shall show in the course of this sketch that while he was thus driven onward by his ambition and by the genius which led him im- peratively to the consideration and active prosecution of large undertak- ings, the factor of personal gain, in and for itself, was one of the least in his thoughts. It never entered into the range of possibilities with him that any honorable and permanent business success could be achieved, that was not founded upon the staunchest integrity. No man can be so great or so sure of his personal powers that he can carry on any under- taking of magnitude standing wholly alone; he must in many ways lean upon and be associated with others. Without the unbounded con- fidence of all such, progress is impossible except of a transient charac- ter. Mr. Peirce, long before he became extensively known in the business world at large, had inspired just that confidence which enables one to command men rather than resign to the command of others. His word in any transaction was as good as his bond. As he became bet- ter known to the public his political influence was sought and he became prominent and active in the councils of his party-the Democratic. He was repeatedly sent as delegate to county and State conventions, and once was chosen delegate to the Democratic National Convention, held in Baltimore. Still he had little inclination for the often devious ways of politics, while his manifold cares of a business character prevented him from accepting proffered office.
In 1843 Mr. Peirce succeeded by active effort and through the sub- scription by himself and his father to about one-fifth of its capital stock in successfully organizing the Dover Bank, under the individual liabil- ity act, to succeed one whose charter was about to expire. A few years later, the banking facilities of the place still being inadequate, he pro- cured a charter and organized the Langdon Bank, of which he was elected president. He was also largely instrumental in organizing a five cent savings bank. In these financial institutions he was conspic- uous as a manager and director. He was one of the stockholders and
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active managers of the Cocheco Railroad Company, and aided greatly by his means and otherwise in the construction of the road. After its completion he had entire charge of its operating department for several years, and finally figured prominently in the arrangements for leasing it to the Boston and Maine Company.
At the beginning of the year 1851 Mr. Peirce determined to enlarge the scope of his business operations and to this end removed to Boston and entered the firm of Peirce & Bacon, in which his brother Thomas W. and George Bacon were interested. Beginning as extensive whole- sale grocers and commission merchants with large southern connections, particularly in Texas, they soon gave up the trade in groceries and con- fined themselves wholly to commission operations. For several years it is probable that they handled as much or more cotton than any other northern firm. They purchased and built ten or twelve vessels which plied between New York and Galveston, and at times chartered many others and owned large interests in two ships for foreign trade in con- nection with their export business. The breaking out of the war in 1861 paralyzed their vast interests and caused the firm heavy losses, but not sufficient to seriously cripple them. On June 6, 1861, he married Mary Frances Gilman, of Nashua, N. H. At the close of the war their business was resumed, but after about a year the firm was dissolved.
It will be readily understood that in the business world of Boston Mr. Peirce now occupied a conspicuous position. He was known to the leading men of that city as well as to many others in various parts of the country, as a broad-minded and practically successful man of affairs, with a character upon which there was not a shadow ; a man of action rather than of speech, for he was noted for ability to express himself upon any subject with which he was at all familiar in few words that were always fraught with his meaning ; a man whose aggressiveness and energy were such as to carry him to the consummation of any un- dertaking to which he turned his hand. It was, therefore, a natural consequence that when the Boston and Maine Railroad, in 1856-7, seemed to be suffering through more or less weakness in its management, Mr. Peirce was called upon by a number of the leading men who were interested in the company and asked to take the presidency. He had already been elected a reform director, in which office his efforts for the
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more efficient and successful management of the affairs of the company had resulted to the entire satisfaction of the managers. Although the salary attached to the presidency was a very large one, they offered to increase it to equal his business profits, but he declined.
Mr. Peirce had become largely interested as a bondholder in the South- ern Pacific Railroad, with a few other prominent Boston men (together commonly known as the Boston Party). After the failure of General Fremont and others in the construction of this road, Mr. Peirce went to St. Louis in 1868, representing the Boston Party as general manager of the road and of its further construction. They were to control the At- lantic and Pacific charter should the railway be extended to Springfield within a specified time, which was accomplished. Under his manage- ment it was built from Arlington, Mo., to Vinita, Indian Territory, a distance of 237 miles. This was a part of what became known as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway. When locating the road he went on horseback or walked every mile of the way many times. The con- struction of the road from Rolla to Springfield was an Herculean task ; the country through which it passed was broken and very rough, and under the most economic managements parts of the line cost $65,000 per mile. The Missouri Pacific road was leased to the Boston Party in 1870 or 1871, Mr. Peirce remaining at the head and holding the office of president, which placed about nine hundred miles of road under the one management-the most extensive at that time of any railroad com- bination in the country. Under Mr. Peirce's administration more than a million dollars were expended on the track of the Missouri Pacific, thus placing it in first-class condition. The time came when it was de- termined to separate these roads, and Mr. Peirce turned the Missouri Pacific over to Commodore Cornelius K. Garrison, by whom it was trans- ferred to Jay Gould. Mr. Peirce organized the St. Louis and San Fran- cisco corporation as before stated, and under his successful management it became a profitable property. In 1872 the company had an office in New York and he removed there. He retired from the presidency in 1877. In this direct connection it is proper to quote from a western paper the following comments upon the valuable services of Mr. Peirce : " How much did he do for Missouri ? No one can estimate the value of his ser- vices. Directly after the Civil War the country was poor. There was little
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money to be found to be put into railroad construction. Since then it has been easier to procure money to build twenty miles of railroad than one mile then. When others had failed Mr. Peirce succeeded. He made of the Missouri Pacific a first-class railroad. He made of the South Pacific (now the St. Louis and San Francisco) a first-class rail- road and thereby enhanced the value of property in Southwest Missouri millions of dollars. By his work, indefatigably and zealously pursued, he made it possible for new towns and cities to be built all over the Southwest. As evidence of this witness Rolla, Lebanon, Marshfield, Springfield, Billings, Aurora, Verona, Peirce City, Ritchie, Seneca and Vinita. All these cities and towns, now the centers of wealth, of thriv- ing and intelligent communities, are monuments to his great energy, skill and unfaltering perseverance. Whether in St. Louis or Wall street, his advice was sought by business men who were engaged in large en- terprises. They all recognized in him a man of clear principles, large experience and unerring judgment. He furnished largely the means that enabled his brother, the late Thomas W. Peirce, to continue the con- struction of the Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad in Texas, at times when he was embarrassed, now constituting a part of the Southern Pacific system. The results of his labor were beneficial not only to Missouri, but to Texas and the whole Southwest. He was in every sense a self- made man. He was a superb type of the New England character very rare in this day."
In February, 1877, Mr. Peirce took his family to Clifton Springs, N. Y., for the benefit of his wife's health. His own health being somewhat impaired, the following summer he resigned his office and intended to make that place a temporary abode or home. Here his health was re- stored, as also was that of his wife in the course of time. When he arrived at the Sanitarium that institution was not enjoying the great prosperity that now attends it, and the physical features surrounding it were such as to arouse in the practical mind of Mr. Peirce an ardent desire to see them placed in a more beautiful and better sanitary condition. His natural generous impulses led him to enter with deep sympathy into the plan of Dr. Foster for the relief of afflicted humanity and he prompt- ly brought to bear his large practical experience in business affairs and his still indomitable energy for the improvement of the institution which
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he was making his temporary home. The somewhat dilapidated sur- roundings of the springs in front of the Sanitarium building were trans- formed into a scene of beauty, as it stands to day, by the erection of a beautiful pavilion at a cost of between six and seven thousand dollars ; and this was followed by the expenditure of some nine thousand dollars more in filling up unsightly and low grounds, making roadways, and filling up about twenty-five acres of land, making walks, setting trees, building the present masonry in the bed of a part of the stream, and in many other ways that need not be detailed, bringing about the present beauti- ful landscape presented when one approaches the place. In this task Mr. Peirce simply continued his native propensity for securing the best results by taking the helm in his own hands, and day after day he arose at early hours, and personally directed the work he had taken in hand, which occupied him for about two years. He was made a trustee of the institution and chairman of the executive committee, and by his wise counsel endeared himself to his associate officers. His benevolence and desire to do good also found other channels for exercise at Clifton Springs, and the Peirce Library, connected with the Young Men's Christain As- sociation, was largely due to gifts from him. He also took a practical interest in local institutions in the village. Through his influence the Central R. R. Co. built a new station. The following resolution was adopted as giving expression to the appreciation of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium Company for the work of Mr. Peirce in connection with the institution :
" The trustees of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium Company desire to put on record their high appreciation of the very valuable services ren- dered to the Sanitarium by Mr. Andrew Peirce during the last two years, by his generous donation of upwards of fifteen thousand dollars, and by his careful supervision, good taste and strict economy in expend- iture for repairs and improvements in and on the buildings and grounds of the institution."
While Mr. Peirce never made a public profession of religion, his faith in an All-wise Creator was strong and abiding and governed the course of his life.
It seems proper in every sense to close this brief sketch of the life and character of Mr. Peirce with the following extracts from a paper which was read at the conclusion of the funeral services .
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" He was a man of remarkable characteristics, cool and clear-headed, full of nerve, with rare business tact, with indomitable energy, and a persistent will, with the courage of his convictions and with confidence in his own judgments, he was fitted to lead in great business enter- prises and to master herculean difficulties. He was high-minded, high- spirited, just, truthful, honorable. There was nothing mean or craven in his nature. From the testimony of those who knew him before he came to Clifton Springs, I feel prepared to say that wherever he has lived his name has been synonymous with incorruptible integrity. Mr. Peirce was very kind hearted and sympathetic. The misfortunes and sorrows of others enlisted his ready sympathy and generosity. His quiet, unostentatious acts of kindness were numerous. His large hope- fulness led him to take a cheerful view of life. He was never disheart- ened by the dark things of God's providence, but thought that God ruled and whatever might come would be for the best. In business affairs he was often trustful to a fault, which in his later years involved him in some unfortunate business complications. In the last months of his life he frequently conversed very calmly and trustfully about dying, arranged every detail, and feeling prepared to go whenever the Lord might call upon him."
Mr. Peirce's death took place December 19, 1891, at his home in Clifton Springs.
HENRY B. GIBSON.
This distinguished early citizen of Canandaigua was born in Reading, Penn., April 13, 1783. His father was John Gibson, of Irish ancestry, who removed to Saratoga, N. Y., when Henry B. was nine years of age. The son's education was principally obtained in Saratoga, a career at the bar having been designed for him by his parents ; but his studies developed an unusual natural aptitude for mathematics and an inclina- tion towards commercial life which finally determined his occupations for life. He accordingly left home at sixteen years of age for Coopers- town, where he entered the employ of the leading merchant of the place, Judge Cooper, father of James Fenimore Cooper, the famous novelist, who was Mr. Gibson's lifelong friend. After a period in the capacity of clerk,
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he sought a broader field by removal to Utica about 1808 with Mr. Hugh Cunningham, one of the early merchants of that village. This connection continued only a short time, when Mr. Gibson accepted em- ployment in the county clerk's office under Francis A. Bloodgood, un- til 1812, when he was appointed teller in the Bank of Utica. This position he soon resigned, owing to some minor disagreement with the cashier, Washington Hunt. Mr. Gibson had already and thus early in his life set his mind fully and with characteristic determination upon becoming a successful man of business, and he clearly saw the road that must inevitably be traveled to that goal. His passing years were noted for unflagging industry, exceeding frugality for one at his time of life, and those personal habits of temperance in all things which he practiced to the end of his life. His small savings he early made to contribute to his earnings by loaning them in small amounts, evincing in such trans- actions the germs of the great business sagacity he afterwards dis- played.
In the year 1802 Watts Sherman, who afterwards became Mr. Gib- son's partner in law, formed a partnership in mercantile business in Utica with Arnold Wells (as we learn from a history of that city lately edited by Dr. M. M. Bagg). Mr. Sherman was one of the pioneers of Utica, locating there in 1795, and for a time working as a cabinet-maker, but afterwards becoming a merchant. He was from Newport, R. I., and descended from an old and prominent family. Mr. Sherman was more ambitious for advancement than his partner and they soon sepa- rated, Mr. Sherman largely extending his operations. He was one of the most prominent men in founding the first glass works there, with the factory at Vernon and was one of the directors of the company. Under date of May, 1813, he informed the public that he had taken in- to partnership Henry B. Gibson and Alexander Seymour, under the firm name of Sherman, Gibson & Co The junior member of this firm remained and carried on the business in Utica, while Mr. Sherman and Mr. Gibson went to New York city and established a wholesale house. Meanwhile and on December 9, 1812, only a few months prior to the formation of the business partnership just described, Mr. Gibson formed a still more intimate relation with the family of his partner by marrying his daughter, Miss Sarah. Mr. Gibson's business operations in New
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York continued until 1819, and with remarkable success for that period. At the end of that time he found himself the possessor of about $30,000, a considerable fortune in those early years when the millionaires of the country were very few in number. In the year 1813 the Ontario Bank was founded in Canandaigua, with many of the leading men of that section included in its direction. It had started under apparently favor- able auspices ; had erected in 1813 a large and imposing bank building, still standing on Main street, and entered into competition for the bank- ing business of what is now Western New York. But its affairs did not prosper as had been anticipated and it was determined to change to some extent the management. Mr. Gibson's reputation as a skillful and pru- dent financier had preceded him to Ontario county, and indeed was more or less known through his New York commercial connections throughout the State. The result was that he was invited to accept the cashiership of this bank, which he did and entered upon his duties in 1820. It is more than probable that his acceptance of this office in a bank located in a rural community, where the actual payment for his services could not possibly approach in amount what he might reason- ably hope to gain in business in the metropolis, was prompted to a large extent by his predilection for that highest of all commercial occu- pation, the conduct of a bank and the possibilities thereby opened for the exhibition of financial skill and large financial transactions. Mr. Gibson attacked the task before him of placing the affairs of the Ontario Bank upon a foundation that would commend it to the business com- munity and secure the confidence of depositors, with the utmost vigor and all of his accustomed industry. That he was from the first and during all of his long connection with the institution eminently success- ful, is only another evidence of his thorough fitness for such a post and luis consummate ability as a financier ; while his personal characteristics were such as to win for him in all business circles the utmost confidence. This unbounded confidence was of such a character that in the minds of many he came to be considered a special favorite of fortune, and it was a common expression that every operation in which he took an in- terest could not fail. The calmer judgment of later years defined the elements of his success more clearly and it was seen that success followed his undertakings wholly because he had the judgment, foresight and
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sagacity to see from the beginning the sure results of following certain well known business methods ; that he was successful because he de- served to be on account of his industry, shrewdness, integrity and rigid adherence to the principles of temperance, the latter being always kept in view by him. His bank became one of the best known and niost successful in the interior of the State, while through it and his other extensive operations he amassed one of the largest fortunes of the time outside of the great business centers of the country.
It was written of Mr. Gibson at the time of his death by one who knew him intimately, that " his character was so strongly marked as to impress his individuality upon all who knew him. His great aim was to succeed in business by an honorable course. His fortune was won by those qualities which bring success in any avocation. His manage- ment of the Ontario Bank was uniformly prosperous, and it was his boast that it was so because he devoted himself solely to banking and not to outside speculation. He was not a cold and crafty man in any sense, but was ardent in his temperament, inpulsive in his kindness as well as in his displeasure, artless and open in his intercourse and was never betrayed into ostentation or arrogance. He was singularly quick in his perceptions and leaped to conclusions. He was rigid in temper- ance and regular in all of his habits, and his commercial integrity was beyond suspicion."
Mr. Gibson's benevolence was of a practical character and his respect for and belief in the beneficence of all religious organizations led him to ready contribution to their support. With politics, excepting as they influenced the prosperity of the community, he seldom interfered, and never wished for nor accepted purely political preferment. He held the office of county clerk from 1843 to 1849. He felt a deep interest in the early railroads and gave them practical aid ; was president of the Auburn and Rochester Road and after the consolidation which brought into existence the New York Central he held the office of director. He was a man who in many ways left a marked impress upon the commu- nity and inspired in many instances which can never be definitely speci- fied an example to the young that could not fail to be salutary. It was well said of Mr. Gibson by one who knew him intimately " That in his management of the bank he was never seduced to receive hazardous
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