[Illustration: Jay Gould] THE WIZARD OF WALL STREET AND HIS WEALTH, OR THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF JAY GOULD BY TRUMBULL WHITE. JOHN C. YORSTON & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 1893. COPYRIGHT, 1892, By MID-CONTINENT PUBLISHING CO. PREFACE. The history of any man who had been able to distinguish himself by acquiring in his lifetime the greatest amount of wealth ever accumulated by one man, would necessarily be of interest, even if his success had been won by the most ordinary of methods or the most marvelous succession of good fortune. But when that man is one whose career was full of the most dramatic incidents; when he won his wealth by feats of financial daring which astounded the world; when, in short, that man is Jay Gould, “The Wizard of Wall Street,” then, indeed, the interest is most absorbing. Jay Gould has been more prominently before the people of the country for the last few years than has any other man whose prominence depended upon the magnitude of his fortune. In his history is much to be learned, both for imitation and avoidance, by every American. This volume contains, not only a complete account of the life and deeds of Jay Gould for the general reader, but also much for the student of financial affairs and Wall street methods. The particular effort of the author has been to secure its absolute accuracy and to make it entirely reliable. The present absorbing interest in the career of the great financier, and the fact that every source of information concerning him is being sought most eagerly, makes the work particularly timely. TRUMBULL WHITE. CHICAGO, December 15, 1892. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. Jay Gould a Great Man 9 II. Youth and Ancestry of Jay Gould 18 III. Gould as Surveyor and Historian 29 IV. Gould and the Tannery War 37 V. Gould’s Romantic Marriage and First Railroad 49 VI. Gould’s Assault upon Erie 58 VII. Gould’s Victory and Final Defeat in Erie 73 VIII. The Gold Conspiracy 88 IX. Culmination of Conspiracy--Black Friday 106 X. Gould and the Western Railway Systems 132 XI. Gould and the Telegraph Monopoly 151 XII. Gould and the Manhattan Elevated 161 XIII. The Life of a Wall Street King 170 XIV. The King is Dead 181 XV. Jay Gould Laid to Rest 193 XVI. Personal Characteristics of Jay Gould 214