In a treatise on the Harpers, their life and character, the history of James is the history of the firm. This firm consisted of James, John, Joseph, Wesley and Fletcher; James, as the eldest, laying the foundation of that powerful concern, Harper Brothers, which is the largest and wealthiest publishing house in America.
James Harper was born April 11, 1795. Like many other poor boys who have become wealthy he was the son of a farmer. He early determined to become a printer and, in 1810, was apprenticed to Messrs. Paul & Thomas of the city of New York. He left home to assume this position, the prayers of his parents following him. The last words of his mother bade him remember that there was good blood in him. The printer boy in those days was made a sort of lackey to be ordered about by all hands. Among other duties he had to clean the rollers when they became clogged with ink.
The ink would get on his hands and apron, and thence it would reach his face--thus the printer boy with his blackened face earned the sobriquet of 'printer's devil.' James Harper became the 'devil' in this office.
There is little doubt but that he often felt discouraged and disposed to give up, but he regarded this position as only a stepping stone to something higher and pleasanter. It was soon observed that such was the case; that James Harper fully expected to one day rise to be himself proprietor; even the street Arabs recognizing that he aspired to higher things. One day as he was passing along the street an audacious newsboy came up to him and gave him a push, while another sneeringly asked him for his card. Seizing the latter by the shoulder he fairly kicked the astonished ruffian half across the square. "There," said he, "is my card, keep it and when you want work come to me, present that card, and I will give you work." This ended all further molestation from this source.
His brother John came to New York in the course of a little more than a year and entered another office, arranging his apprenticeship so that it might end about the same time as did that of his brother James. In time James became one of the leading pressmen in the city, and John was one of the best compositors and proof readers in the country. All through their long apprenticeship they had worked evenings; the surplus thus acquired and not one cent of their day earnings ever went for drink, as was so common in those days. To be temperate in Harper's day required far more exertion than it would at present, as nearly everyone drank then. So while others spent their evenings in saloons drinking, playing pool and billiards, and 'having fun,' these young Harpers were either hard at work putting in extra time, or at home, thus if they did not earn more they saved what they had already earned.
When their time was out they each had a few hundred dollars, and they began business for themselves under the firm-style of J. & J. Harper.
They felt their way, at first publishing books only for others. They were industrious, no hand in their employ working harder than the proprietors. Not only were they workers, but they were enterprising.
When it was found that the stereotyping consumed much of their profit, they resolved to learn that art and add it to their business. This was no small undertaking; those already in the business were not anxious to set up a rival, as they felt these young men sure to become, but after much trial and vexation the Harpers learned the art, and were therefore better able to carry on their rapidly increasing business. When they had fully become established they ventured out upon a publication of their own. They put out but five hundred for the first edition, taking orders in advance from the booksellers about town. The two other brothers were apprenticed to the firm of J. & J. Harper and, as soon as their time was out, were taken into the firm.
In 1825 the firm-style was changed to Harper & Brothers. One of their business maxims was, "Mutual confidence, industry and application to business." This made the four one man. They ranked as equals in all things, and the history of James Harper is the history of Harper & Brothers. James being the eldest was once asked, "Which is Harper and which the brothers?" He answered, "Either is Harper, the others are the brothers." This was precisely the relation they bore toward each other.
In 1853 a workman threw a lighted paper into a tank of benzine which he mistook for water, and property valued at $1,000,000 was destroyed; as their insurance amounted to only about $250,000 their loss was great.
This was a terrible blow, but the next day they hired temporary quarters, and the debris was hardly cleared away ere they had bought the ground on which to erect the splendid building they have since occupied.
It is a most imposing structure, and is probably the most commodious, and finest building in which to carry on a general book business, in all its branches, in the world; every operation required to produce and publish a book being carried on under one roof. The building is absolutely fire-proof, and is seven stories high. Underneath are long vaults in which their plates are stored.
In 1844 James was elected Mayor of the great city of New York. Mr.
Harper was a man of unusual ability, this was recognized by his friends and towns people, but he was at the head of the largest publishing business in the country, and was loth to leave it, therefore he refused to be a candidate for Governor. He was always full of mirth and running over with good humor, but he was business, morning, noon and night. He remained actively engaged in business until he was nearly seventy-five years of age, in fact he was still in business and enjoying good health when he met an untimely death, caused by his horses running away in Central Park, throwing him to the ground and injuring him so badly that he died within forty-eight hours.
He was a devout Methodist, and a class-leader, but used some of the Episcopal forms. He was a worthy example for our youth to imitate in business or religious matters.
HENRY DISSTON.
In Tewksbury, England, May 24th, 1819, was born a little boy who was destined to become one of the leading manufacturers of the nineteenth century. At fourteen he came to America with his father, who died three days after their arrival here. A poor, homeless orphan, in a strange land--ah! it takes courage to rise from such a beginning. There is little 'luck' in the life of such boys who become wealthy. The poet says:
"The fading flowers of pleasures Spring spontaneous from the soil, But the real harvest's treasure Yields alone to patient toil."
Whether these lines ever caught the eye of Henry Disston or no, we are not able to say; certain it is, however, that he concurred in that belief, for so hard did he work, and so closely did he study the business, that he was made foreman when he was but eighteen.
When his seven long years of apprenticeship was up he arranged with his employer to take his wages in tools. With scarcely any money, he wheeled a barrow load of coal to his cellar where he began to make saws. Saws of American manufacture, were at that time held in poor esteem, and he had a great public prejudice to overcome. But Henry Disston determined to show people that he could compete with foreign goods, and to do this he sometimes sold goods at an advance of only one per cent. He moved to a small room twenty feet square, at the corner of Front and Laurel streets; this was in 1846. In 1849 he was burned out, and before he rebuilt he obtained control of additional land adjoining that which he had occupied, and here built a new factory. Now he began to reap the reward of his early toil and study. He was enterprising, like all successful men, and his inventive genius soon enabled him to get up new designs for teeth to do different kinds of work. He never allowed a poor tool, or an imperfect one, to be shipped from his factory. Consequently a market once gained was easily kept. His enterprise induced him to add a file works to his already large business; in fact, the Keystone Saw Works made a splendid exhibit at the Centennial, showing all kinds of tools made from steel. His works cover hundreds of acres of land, and employ over fifteen hundred hands, while the business extends all over the world.
In March, 1878, this great manufacturer died in Philadelphia. He was a very common man--great wealth did not spoil him, and he could perform with his own hands any part of the work in his immense establishment.
This ability to work thorough mastery of the business, which had taken years of patient thought to develop, brought about his splendid success.
PETER COOPER
Who, indeed, is there who has not heard of Peter Cooper? He was born in the city of New York in 1791. His father was a man who possessed some ability, but was so inconstant that the poor boy received only about six months' schooling, and he received that before he was eight years old.
Reader, think of it; can you make yourself believe that his great riches came through 'good luck'? we will see: His father, being a hatter, little Peter was early employed pulling the hair off the rabbit skins to obtain material with which to make the hats. In the course of time his father moved to Peekskill, and at seventeen Peter resolved to strike out into the world for himself. He returned to his native city and apprenticed himself to the firm of Burtis & Woodward. Here he remained four years where he acquired a thorough mastery of the coach-making trade. In addition to his board he received during his apprenticeship the sum of twenty-five dollars per year with which to clothe himself.
Although he had spent four long years learning the trade of coach-making he, for some reason, determined not to make that his calling for life.
Accordingly he went to Hempstead, Long Island, and there he met a party who was manufacturing a patent shears for shearing cloth. To this man he engaged himself at $1.50 per day, where he remained until the business became unremunerative, a period of three years. He next turned his attention to the business of making and selling cabinet furniture; at the end of a year he sold out this business, and with his family returned to New York city.
He now entered the grocery business and the next year, seeing his opportunity, leased for a period of nineteen years a piece of land containing a few buildings. He now moved his grocery business into one of these buildings, subletting the others at a profit. His eyes were kept open, and he never let an opportunity slip by to turn an honest penny. There was a glue factory situated not far from his present location. True, it had never paid, and that seemed to be reason enough for all others, but Cooper made a study of the glue business. He satisfied himself that he could make it pay; he thought he could see where the trouble was with the present proprietor, and he bought it out, paying two thousand dollars, cash down, for it. By a progressive study of this new business he soon produced a better article than was made by others, and so materially reduced the price as to drive out foreign competition from the American markets. Of course, he made money, and when he saw that we paid Russia four dollars per pound for isinglass, he studied up on the manufacture of the same, and added that article to his business, and soon was enabled to sell it at less than ONE DOLLAR A POUND. It is needless to say that he succeeded in completely monopolizing the isinglass industry for a long time, and his profit on that one article would have made him a very rich man.
Mr. Cooper was an observing man; he saw and realized that our country was rich in mineral resources; especially was his attention drawn toward the iron deposits in Pennsylvania and neighboring States. He felt that there was big money in that business for the man who early entered the field; he felt that there would be money in it for Peter Cooper. These feelings made him an easy victim to two sharpers who one morning entered his premises and succeeded in getting him to invest $150,000 in a large tract of land, in Maryland, of some three thousand acres. He was told that this land was on a 'boom,' as the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, it was rumored, would soon be completed. The steep grades, however, and sharp curves, made it impossible for engines then known to make the road in safety. Indeed, it seemed that his land speculation was destined to prove a 'White Elephant' on his hands, and, with nine out of ten men it would have so proved, as they would have given up right here. Mr. Cooper set about this problem resolved to solve it. He soon saw that the success of the Baltimore and Ohio was the success of his speculation.
The only thing needed to bring this success was an engine that could ascend the grades and turn the curves in safety.
He set to work patiently, and succeeded in inventing an engine that would do what was required of it, he, himself acting as engineer on its trial trip. This and other favorable influences which were brought about through the success of the railroad, 'boomed' his land in dead earnest this time. He next established an iron furnace on the site of his land and burned the wood for charcoal. The land went on up, and when it reached two hundred and thirty dollars per acre he sold out at an immense profit. He still continued in the iron business, and as he was always studying his business, he was the first man to roll out iron beams for fire-proof buildings. His iron industries spread all over Pennsylvania, and the business is to-day carried on by his successors.
As is well-known, he was one of the warm supporters of Cyrus W. Field from first to last, extending his aid and sympathy. When the Bank of Newfoundland refused to honor the Cable Company's paper Peter Cooper advanced the much needed funds. While all this business was on his mind his glue and isinglass industry was not in the least neglected. He had removed the works to Long Island, where it assumed mammoth proportions.
The profits of this giant combination of business poured the money into his pockets in large streams.
One feature of the great success of Peter Cooper was he always paid cash. But the great life-work of Peter Cooper is embellished with one gem that is perpetually bright. We speak of Cooper Union. In 1854 the ground was cleared, the plans made and the work begun. This institution cost Cooper about eight hundred thousand dollars. It is deeded as a trust, with all its rents and profits, to the instruction and profit of the poor working people of New York city. Mr. Cooper himself thus describes his motives: "The great object that I desire to accomplish by the erection of this institution is to open the avenues of scientific knowledge to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume of nature that the youth may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its blessings and learn to love the Author from whom cometh every good and perfect gift." Could any sentiment be more beautiful? Could any motive be more worthy of imitation than this?
He was a Democrat and a member of Tammany Hall, but toward the latter part of his life he became a leader of the Greenback party, being a candidate for President on that ticket. He had good habits and was always occupied with business. Two children are living, Edward, and a daughter who married Mr. A. S. Hewitt. The son and son-in-law have each been mayor of their city. There was great mourning in New York city on April 4th, 1883, when it was learned that Peter Cooper was dead. But man liveth not to himself, his memory and influence will be felt by the countless generations which will follow after his death. Certain it is those who are benefited by the aid of "Cooper Union" will not forget their benefactor.
_"There is a wide difference between men, but truly it lies less in some special gift or opportunity vouchsafed to one and withheld from another,--less in that than in the differing degree in which these common elements of human power are owned and used. Not how much talent have I, but how much will to use the talent that I have, is the main question. Not how much do I know, but how much do I do with what I know?"_
[Illustration: SUCCESSFUL BANKERS AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS.]
GEORGE LAW.
On October 25th, 1806, in a an humble farmer's home, was born a boy; that boy was George Law. For eighteen summers he lived contentedly on his father's farm, but a stray volume, containing a story of a certain farmer boy who left home to seek his fortune, and after years of struggle returned rich, caught his eye, and young Law determined to go and do likewise. His education was meager, but he had mastered Daboll's Arithmetic.
Having decided that he could not follow the occupation of his father, he set at work to raise the amount he deemed necessary to carry him to success. By exercising great frugality in his already simple mode of living, he managed to save forty dollars, and at the age of eighteen he set out on foot for Troy, New York, thirty-six miles distant. Putting up at the cheapest hotel he could find, he immediately went out in search of employment, which he soon found, beginning as a hod-carrier. He next obtained employment as a helper, laying brick and 'picking up points,'
soon obtained employment as a mason at $1.75 per day.
But George Law did not mean to always be a day-laborer, he observed everything closely, and books were freely bought that would help him to a better understanding of his business. Seven long years of day-laboring, then he became a sub-contractor, then a contractor. His first efforts in this capacity was building bridges in various parts of Pennsylvania and although it has been said that he could not spell correctly any word in the English language, of three syllables, yet, so carefully were his plans laid that on every contract that he took he cleared money. He put in a bid for three sections of the Croton Aqueduct, and succeeded in obtaining the work on two of them. High Bridge was afterwards awarded to him, among a host of competitors, and was completed in ten years' time from its beginning. These two contracts alone had made him a millionaire, but his active mind could not rest.
He first turned his attention to bank stocks. Next he became interested in the horse railway system of New York city. He bought the Staten Island Ferry, ran it five years, and sold out. He was also much interested in steam ships. Nearly all these ventures proved profitable, and at his death his estate amounted to about $15,000,000. He was a giant in size, being over six feet tall, and his mind compared favorably with his stature. His whole energies were concentrated on money-getting and, of course, he succeeded. It has been said that he walked until he could ride, and lived humbly until his wealth would more than warrant his living on Fifth Avenue. He carried the hod until he found better work, and never left one position until he had found a better one, no matter what his real or supposed provocation might be. He lived to return home, as did the boy of whom he early read, and established his father comfortably on a farm which he had bought for him.
DARIUS O. MILLS.
In Westchester county, New York, was born one bright September day, in 1825, Darius O. Mills. True, it is, that his parents were somewhat well-to-do people, but Darius O. Mills would have become a wealthy man had he been born in poverty.
If a man determines to succeed and has a perceptive mind to see opportunities, if he relies on no one but himself, and follows this up by hard, persistent work, he will succeed. If he does not he is lacking in some other vital point, but we have never yet read the life of any man who possessed these qualities but that he was a success. What one has done another can do under the same conditions and circumstances. For some time he was casting about to find his calling, and finally determined to become a banker. In this sphere he has proven himself a phenomenon. His talent for money-making was early apparent, and he was appointed cashier of a bank in Buffalo when only twenty-one. Now it must not be imagined that Darius O. Mills was picked up indiscriminately and placed in so responsible a position. Things do not come by chance. It is evident the case under consideration did not happen through 'good luck.'
He was a young man of unusual ability, of which he has always made the most. The bank flourished and at twenty-three he resigned and, taking what money he had, he was soon on his way to California. He did not go there to dig gold. Darius O. Mills knew that gold was the object of nearly every one who went; he also knew that the people must live; he perceived the chance to make a fortune as a merchant. Like any man who will succeed, he acted at once. In 1849 he settled in San Francisco, opening trade with the miners.
In the course of a few years he became immensely rich through very successful trade and, as he was about to retire from active business, the Bank of California was projected. This he materially aided into existence, and as he was recognized as one of the ablest financiers in the city, he was chosen its first President. So well did he manage its affairs that it soon became the leading banking institution in the country, wielding an immense power in the financial world. He remained at its head for nine years when his private fortune had assumed such mammoth proportions that it demanded his immediate attention, he therefore resigned in 1873.
In 1875 his successor, William G. Ralston, was asked to resign and the bank suspended. Mr. Ralston was a splendid man, but had been somewhat unwise in placing the bank's money, and thus the failure was brought about. At a meeting of the directors it was decided to ask for the resignation of the President. Mr. Mills was the person selected to convey the intelligence of the result of the meeting to Mr. Ralston and this he did. Mr. Mills, much against his personal desire, once more assumed the presidency of the bank, and after three years he once more resigned to attend to his private affairs; leaving the bank in a flourishing condition. Possibly no man in America is better capable of handling large sums of money, to bring not only large returns, but to handle the money safely.