■mitl.r$[:Y OF CMJFORNIA SAN DicGO J Central University Library University of California, San Diego Note: This item is subject to recall after two weeks. Date Due ll^f^r^ m ) g. I NI..,^ : ^ N'.rtY 1 3 RtC'U 0139(1/91) UCSDLib. T^ERSON^AL EEMINISCENCES, WHAT FIFTY YEARS HAVE DONE ! BY JAMES W. AUTEN NEW YORK: .\N(; F.I.I,, Printer. 354 Fourth Avenue. 1882. Typographic Library and \ Museum of the American \ Type Founders Company o 8 No. .^A Cabinet NN \ 8 ^lielf _4^- Exfiihit Case \ ■^ 8 Hi PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. WHAT FIFTY YEARS HAVE DONE! Ix the Autumn of 1831, while attending the little District School in my native village of Richmond, Staten Island, 1 made an arraugenient with the proprietors of The Shipfixg and Commercial List, of New Vork, to enter their service. So leaving the o\{\ Homestead on the Island, I landed on Whitehall Dock, October 31, 1831, a poor, friendless boy of seventeen summers, a jierfect stranger in this great, and to me, W(jnderful city. It seemed a remarkable providence that l)rought me here ; a single casual thought being the apparent turning point of all niy future historv. One day after transacting some business at the store of the late Edwin B. Clay ion, I vftiirned to it to in- quire if he was in need of a clerk. Having received a favorable answer, I entered the employ of BiRkirr i\: Ci.AVTON, publishers of the commercial publication re- ferred to above, and took my place in their office as youngest clerk, Monday morning, October 31, 1831 — just fifty years ago — and remained in active service in the same line of business for the full term of forty-five years and five months I With uniform good health, I had in all this time scarcely an interruption, even for a single day, to the ordinary routine of business life. Here I devoted myself with industry and fidelity to my humble employment, keeping good company and reading only good books, thus avoiding the snares and pitfalls always numerous in a large city, giving satisfac- tion to my employers and gathering around me a choice circle of religious and other friends, to whom, to-day, I am indebted for a large share of my success in life. About 1848, both Mr. Burritt and Mr. Clayton having deceased, my brother, John G., and Wni. O. E. Bourne, then fellow clerks; the management of the business passed into our hands, under the firm name of Autens &: Bourne, and so remained until April i, 1877, a period of nearly thirty years, when the firm was dissolved by the death of John G. Auten, and for other causes. The history of these thirty years is replete with most interesting experiences, but they can scarcely be re- hearsed in detail here. Suffice it to .say, the paper, ur.dcr oui' nianagenient rose ra])idly in influence and character, to a height never before attained, and was universally recognized as a power in the commercial community. They were years of hard labor, and consequent suc- cess, each of the managers bringing to his work great industry, due diligence, an intelligent appreciation of the wants of the niercantilt- public, and a resolute de- termination to supply them. The size of the sheet grew rapidly from a mere " sev. en by nine " until it was as large as most of the modern daily newspapers. This, of itself, is a sufficient indication of the intelli- gence and fidelity with which it was conducted. Hav- ing the confidence of the commercial public, it was our pleasure, as well as our duty, to cater to all their reason- able desires and make the Shipping List a standard for correctness and the organ of the commercial classes. The Annual Statements and Reviews of the leading articles of commerce, by their novelty and value, at- tracted much attention, and soon became well known in every quarter of the globe where commerce has a foothold. These articles, first introduced by Mr. Bourne were those of Cotton, Sr(;.\R, Coffek, Tea. Molasses, Petroleum and Na\ai. SroREs. Prepared by one or other of our firm, these statements attained great celebrity, and became standard authority everywhere. The ordinary Market Reports were also very valuable, because impartial and reliable. Wednesday and Saturday were the days of publica- tion, and the days preceding, were indeed "busy days." being closely filled up from noon till dark ; for the in- formation furnished was brought down to the latest pos- sible moment, and not prepared a day or two previous, when conductors and their clerks had plenty of leisure. Never did three men work more faithfully (conscien- tiously faithful) than the members of the well known and popular firm of Autens & Bourne. Early and late, rain or shine, hot or cold, sick or well, they were, as a rule, always and ever, at their post. Clerks might be sick or take recreation, but the mana- gers were almost always on hand, each not only caring for his own department, but often supplying the lack of service of their subordinates. As an evidence of the punctuality and diligence of the members of the firm, one of them stated in Court, where he was called as a witness, that there was never a Tuesday or a Friday (our busy days) in which hvo of the three were not present, during a period of forty consecutive years ! His Honor. Judge Mitchell, com- plimented the members of the firm on their faithfulness, and told the witness he "liked to hear him talk." My brother died in 1876, and Mr. Bourne and my.self. the surviving members of Autens & Bourne, left the old ship April i, 1877, he, after a term of thirty-eight years ; my brother at the end of forty years, and I, after nearly forty-six years. Its Later H' rv. The subsequent history of th ■ ■ """ must be written, if written at all, by another hand than m.ie. o 'riic beauties of "the shades of private life," to those who have always had an active, pubUc one, are not so ap- parent or enchanting as one might suppose, and the phrase, " a green old age," has oftentimes more poetry than reality in it. Impaired health and broken fortunes are poor re- wards for a life of arduous labor, but '' a good name is better than great riches," and this is a good part which cannot be taken away from its possessor. A Visit to thk Old Homestead. After a lapse of fifty years, I again stood on ^Vhite- hall Dock, having paid a flying visit to the home of my childhood. I took a melancholy pleasure in viewing the old, familiar scenes of my youthful days. Thfe house in which I was born, that in which I was brought up, the old playgrounds, the trees and running streams, the vil- lage churches and the old church-yard where, " Each in his narrow cell forever laid. The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." There lie -my father and my mother, three of my children, and very many others, for King Death, like young David, "has slain his tens of thousands." The oldest church edifice, (St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal — built in the reign of Queen Anne,) after having been fr-en-- tc^rn to pieces by strokes of lightning, the ' ' .veral times blown down, and the roof blown off, was finallv totallv destroved bv fire, a 6 few years ago, and is now replaced by a neat wooden structure. I used to worship in old St. Andrew's, Rev. David Moore, Rector, when I was a boy, and it has left with me many pleasant memories. But the point of greatest interest was the dear old District School House I There it stands now, just as it stood fifty years ago, when I first learned to spell and read ; grappled with old " Daboll ;" attacked " Murray's Abridged ; " giving Algebra and Astronomy a wide berth ; but to spell down my classmates, and read the grand old " English Reader" and the " Sequel " to it, was the delight of my young heart. I took my stand where I had stood half a cen- tury previous, and tried to talk to the children there as- sembled. But it was a difficult task. The old scenes and associations rushed before my vision and choked ni}' utterance. The whole scene seemed like reading a book of history, and as though the world was slipping from beneath my feet ! The school is in charge of a competent young lady, who received me very kindly, as did indeed all with whom I came in contact. Hut oh ! how changed ! The village itself has grown old ; and like the sluggard's garden, is ''all grown over with weeds." The friends of my early days are nearly ail gone ; parents and children, old and young, having been alike swept awav l)y the hand of death, and of the whole population living there titty years ayo, 1 found less than half a dozen surviving ; young and old having gone to their long home, and the same proportion holds good as to other connminities. 1 bade a final farewell to the few surviving friends of my childhood, turned by back on the old church-yard and said good-by to the boys and girls who are last growing up to take their [places on the stage ot this world's activities. 1 turned away sadly, knowing that 1 should see their faces no more ! But their faithful teachers will meet them all in "that dav." Their scholars will have passed from under their care ; from the vestibule into the arena, and b\- and-by they will receive the reward of their labor. May it be — "Well done, good and faithful servants." Xfav York as it W.jis, i\ 1830. During the period under review I have seen man\- and wonderful changes in this beautiful city. Its growth within that time has been marvelous. From a goodlv sized town of two hundred thousand inhabitants, it now numbers more than a million and a (.juarter of souls. It has become the metropolis of the New World, and is now only second to London in the extent of its commerce and the magnitude of its financial and com- mercial oi)erations. I have seen it rebuilt in most parts twice, and in manv the third time, and extend its northern border 8 from Canal Street (Stone Bridge) to far beyond the Harlem River. In 1830 we had no Croton Water, little Anthracite- Coal, except Rhode Island Coal, which successfully re- sisted every effort to burn it : little or no Illuminating Gas, the city being mostly lighted, publicly and privately, by oil, etc. ; no Rail Roads, no Express Companies, no Sunlit Pictures, no Friction Matches, no Land Tele- graphs, no Ocean Cables, no Petroleum, and not a Steamship to cross the ocean ; nearly all our Foreign -Mails coming monthly or fortnightly, by the famous old " Black Ball," " Black Star " and other lines of '' Liver- pool Packets." The arrival oi a European mail in that day was a great event in shipping and mercantile circles. The packets were sometimes out thirty to sixty days, or more; and to share in "the first delivery" of letters was the object of every merchant, as none could afford to be much behind his neighbor in the reception of com- mercial news. " Extras " were usually issued, often causing great excitement. Only a few of the present generation remember the grand old merchants of that day, whose boast was that "their word was as good as their bond," that they " never did a dishonorable act, and always paid one hundred cents on the dollar." 1 call to mind, — nearly all personal friends : John Jacob Astor, Peter (Jooper, James Bcjorman. A. \'. Stout, Jonathan (".ooilhue, A. A. Low, Aymar & Co., H. I). Morj^un, Phelps, Dodjj^e cV Co., Wm. E. Dodge, Alex. v. Stewart, Moses Taylor, Foster LlBRAHVtW^'L'T' AA 001123 610 6