Gould and fisk first recruited grants brotherinlaw, a financier named abel corbin. As the gouldfisk ring increased its stake, golds value climbed to dizzying heights. In todays day and age, the concept of what money actually represents has faded somewhat from public consciousness. April 1, 1835 january 7, 1872 known variously as big jim, diamond jim, and jubilee jim was an american stockbroker and corporate executive who has been referred to as one of the robber barons of the gilded age. Grant was considered a great general but a terrible president. This blog post is about jay gould and james fisk jr. In 1869, a group of speculators, headed by james fisk and jay gould, sought to profit off this by cornering the gold market. The black friday gold panic of september 24, 1869 was caused by a conspiracy between two investors, jay gould and his partner james fisk, and abel corbin, a small time speculator who had married virginia grant, the younger sister of president grant. The increased demand for gold led two new york speculators, jay gould and jim fisk, to try to corner the gold market.
He set out to control the railroad and to push its lines westward as far as. Gould earned his reputation as a rogue partly because he was a financier, meaning that he made money by buying and selling the inventions and property of others, not an inventor himself. Jay gould and jim fisk were partners in a variety of money making operations that they excelled in creating. The erie railroad war came to a bizarre close when gould and fisk gained ultimate control of the railroad, pushing drew to. Mar 31, 2017 stephen jay gould was an american paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. Fisk, however, saw the flaw to this alternative approach, fearing that pushing the price of. This book gives a fantastic account of the manipulations of jay gould and jim fisk who began as small time operators working for the erie railroad in its war with cornelius vanderbilt, and who managed to escape jail and ended up befriending boss tweed of tamminy hall fame. Sep 01, 2015 representative james garfield of ohio, a future president, mollified an outraged public by hauling gould and fisk before congress in january of 1870. Their conspiracy included the wholesale bribery of legislatures, the buying of judges and seeking to influence the president. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. But charles darwin must have been the most genial of geniuses.
In march of 2000, he took part in the annual meeting of the american institute of biological sciences, themed challenges for the new millennium, at the smithsonian museum of natural history in washington, d. Labor after learning that railroad baron jay goulds goons had shot into a crowd of strikers in east st. Jay gould an american financier that was partnered with james fisk in tampering with the railroad stocks for personal profit he, like other railroad kings, controlled the lives of the people more than the president did and pushed the way to cooperation among the kings where they developed techniques such as pooling. Full text of life and achievements of jay gould, the wizard. How they hatched a plot which nearly trashed the entire us economy is more adventure than detective story. On black friday, september 24, 1869, the two bought a large amount of gold, planning to sell it for a profit. Several years later fisk was murdered by a disgruntled business associate. Darwinian fundamentalism by stephen jay gould the new. Horizontal integration combining competing firm into one. Full text of life and achievements of jay gould, the. If any pair of investors had the financial clout and lack of scruples required to engineer the bedlam of black friday, it was jay gould and jim fisk. On black friday, september 24, 1869, the two bought a.
He consistently ranks near the bottom of the historians poll. Jim fisk all grin and girth, a ruddyfaced gladhander in check trousers and an orange or red vest, fingers studded with rings, punning and chortling to chorus girls, clerks, and reporters, the observed of all observers about whom gossip gushed. His early work history is quite colorful and includes a stint in the circus. As president and vice president of the erie railroad, the duo had won a reputation as two of wall streets most ruthless financial masterminds. Jim fisk, jay gould, and black friday, 1869 as want to read. Jim fisk, jay gould, and black friday, 1869 by kenneth d. Jay gould, original name jason gould, born may 27, 1836, roxbury, new york, u. The gold purchase created a financial crisis in the stock market. These men, names like james hill, jay and george gould, cornelius vanderbilt, edward harriman, and collis p. Grant in an attempt to use the presidents good name in a scheme to corner the gold market in new york city. Railroad titans macfarlane transportation collection guide. Vertical integration controlling all aspects of production. Louisa may alcott, good wives little women ii stowe, oldtown folks.
Morgan invented the american supereconomy charles r. April 1, 1835 january 7, 1872 known variously as big jim, diamond jim. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation. Meanwhile, two wealthy men, jay gould 18361892 and jim fisk 18341872, bought large amounts of gold, making the precious metal even more valuable and making greenbacks even less valuable. Today is the 140 year anniversary of black friday 1869 and.
Jubilee jim fisk and jay gould devised a plot to drastically raise the price of the gold market in 1869. Today is the 140 year anniversary of the original black friday on september 24 th, 1869. Though fisk was admired by the working class of new york and the erie railroad, he achieved much illfame for his role in black friday in 1869, where. The black friday gold panic of september 24, 1869 was caused by a conspiracy between two investors, jay gould and his partner james fisk.
Together, they controlled the erie railroad, were part of the tammany hall set, and wrangled with j. Full text of life and achievements of jay gould, the wizard of wall street microform. Though fisk was admired by the working class of new york and the erie railroad, he achieved much illfame for his role in black friday in 1869, where he and his partner jay gould befriended the unsuspecting president ulysses s. James fisk, flamboyant american financier, known as the barnum of wall street, who joined jay gould in securities manipulations and railroad raiding. Gould wants to corner the gold market in new york, but he must make sure that washington the treasury will not sold government gold to support the market. The young speculators, whose duel with cornelius vanderbilt for control of the erie railroad in 1868 netted them. Representative james garfield of ohio, a future president, mollified an outraged public by hauling gould and fisk before congress in january of 1870. Money that was based on gold or silver used to have intrinsic value due to its precious metal content. Jim fisk, jay gould, and black friday, 1869 for full.
Gould earned his reputation as a rogue partly because he was a financier, meaning that he made money by buying and selling the inventions and property of. They formed the gold ring to corner the gold market and force up the price of that metal on the new york gold exchange. Harvards stephen jay gould september 10, 1941may 20, 2002 was a man of uncommon genius and arguably our eras greatest science essayist. The reputations of gould and his business partner, jim fisk, for unethical. Together they tampered railroad stocks and controlled lives of people. Tennessee williams and the women of the fog by james grissom, and recently. Huntington are largely responsible for building much of the countrys network. Jay fisk has 653 books on goodreads, and is currently reading follies of god. As a former lawyer for the ftc, he also has the legal and financial mind to unravel this most complicated of financial. Stephen jay gould was an american paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. Harpers weekly the other black plague the first thanksgivingspecific use was to describe workers calling in sick. This resulted in fisk and jay gould becoming members of the erie directorate, and subsequently. Figuring that this would require the government to acquire large quantities of gold, two unscrupulous financiers, james fisk and jay gould, set out to corner the gold market.
Grant, whose policy was to sell treasury gold at weekly intervals to pa. Between 1866 and 1868 he partnered with jay gould and james fisk to prevent. Action by the grant administration foiled their scheme and prevented further economic devastation. In the military he had a reputation for putting the most qualified people in charge, and political reformers believed this would hold true in the white house as well. This daring plot came at a time when wall street finance displayed all the raw emotion, cynicism, and bravado of a wild west shootout. Stephen jay gould, the greatest science essayist of all. Stephen jay gould, the greatest science essayist of all time. Drew was not a successful railroad manager like james hill or edward harriman and. Few books written 22 years ago are more timely than this book by kenneth ackerman which shows the wretched excesses of the unregulated stock market during they heyday of messers jay gould and jim fisk. I was determined it wouldnt happen to chapman and our little community.
Thousands of businessmen were ruined in a wall street panic known as black friday after financiers jay gould and james fisk attempted to corner the gold market. Gould reminded onlookers of a dark, bearded ferret. Vanderbilt wrests control of the erie from daniel drew in 1866. To check vanderbilt, gould issued 100,000 shares of new erie stock by illegally converting debentures and then went to albany, where, with the eries money, he bribed legislators to legalize the conversion. Interstate commerce commission a federal regulatory agency which governs over rules and regulation of railroading industry.
Blue fire in his veins here resumes the saga of jim fisk, robber baron, impresario, pseudo admiral, and prince of flash, who with his partner jay gould ran the debtridden erie railway, whose stock he watered generously, while just as generously raining money and diamonds on miss josephine mansfield, his inamorata. Black friday, as it became known, was the result of an attempt by financiers jay gould and james fisk to corner the gold market. Fisk worked successively as a circus hand, waiter, peddler, drygoods salesman, stockbroker, and corporate official. The history of the great american fortunes gustavus myers. Garfield was linked to the dealings, but his participation was never proven. Jan 12, 2010 in 1869, a group of speculators, headed by james fisk and jay gould, sought to profit off this by cornering the gold market. Jay goulds name has long been at the top of this list, along with his business partner jim fisk 18341872, among others. Shortly after the new year of 1869 arrived, i began preparing for what would be happening in september when jay gould and james fisk would attempt to control the gold market and bring about black friday on september 24, 1869 where people lost fortunes.
Early in grants term, jim fisk and jay gould, two sleazy wall street operators, tried to corner the gold market by giving the impression that they had an in with the white house through grants brotherinlaw, who was on their payroll. He became a partner of the notorious robber baron jay gould in the erie railroad war of 18671868, and he and gould. At the center of this tale sit jay gould and jim fisk, an unlikely team one a stiff, and tightly selfcontrolled, the other a flamboyant highroller who lived openly with his mistress. He was kind to a fault, even to the undeserving, and. Jul 14, 2014 jay gould and jim fisk had plenty of both. Orville elias babcock december 25, 1835 june 2, 1884 was an american engineer and general in the union army during the civil war. Financier and stockbroker jay gould and railroad tycoon james diamond jim fisk, like many of their counterparts in banks today, carried financial buccaneering to extremes. Fisk, ever alert to the main chance, realized that jay gould was really calling the tune. A countrystore clerk and surveyors assistant, he rose to control half the railroad mileage in the southwest, new york citys elevated railroads, and the western union telegraph company. Avalon books sent us a box of the justreleased young j. A few months ago, digging through old diplomatic files at the us national archives while trying to reconstruct the story of how my own grandparents came from poland to america in the 1920s, i happened to come across the original 1926 cable from us diplomats in berlin reporting on the arrests there, and was morethanslightly surprised at seeing the names of the six people arrested for carrying. Earlier in the year, jay gould and jay fisk attempted to drive up the price of gold and corner the market. Sep 17, 2017 in todays day and age, the concept of what money actually represents has faded somewhat from public consciousness.
In september of 1869, two young speculators, jay gould and jim fisk, jr. Aug 29, 2018 as the gouldfisk ring increased its stake, golds value climbed to dizzying heights. There have been many, many such crashes but the one that birthed the term happened on this day 140 years ago. Jul 06, 2018 the future of unions in the wake of janus. With inside knowledge from one of grants brothersinlaw, the two men persuaded the treasury to delay public sales of gold. The american financial speculator james fisk 18341872. Grant during and after the war, he was president grants private secretary at the white house, superintendent of buildings and grounds for washington d.
Railroad tycoons were the early industrial pioneers amassing or overseeing construction of many large railroads through the early 20th century. Hist gould and fisk 1 gould and fisk robber barons the. The scandal took place during the presidency of ulysses s. Mar 26, 2020 cornelius vanderbilt 17941877 was a shipping and railroad tycoon, and a selfmade multimillionaire who became one of the wealthiest americans of the 19th century. Robber barons the names jay gould and james fisk jr. Gould was the behindthescenes strategist using daniel drew and james fisk as his fronts in the erie war with vanderbilt in 1868. He was kind to a fault, even to the undeserving, and he never uttered a harsh wordor. With copious evidence ranging from platos haughtiness to beethovens tirades, we may conclude that the most brilliant people of history tend to be a prickly lot. Jim fisk, jay gould, and black friday book details. Erie steam power await their next assignments, many of which will pull. Together, they gained control of the erie railroad, were part of tammany hall, and engaged in a failed attempt to corner the american gold market, which touched off a national economic depression that lasted for years. The young speculators, whose duel with cornelius vanderbilt for control of the erie railroad in 1868 netted them extensive publicity and millions of. Since then the word black has been used to describe any day that the stock market, currencies or financial markets have crashed. Jay gould an american financier that was partnered with james fisk in tampering with the railroad stocks for personal profit he, like other railroad kings, controlled the lives of the people more than the president did and pushed the way to cooperation among the.