Gould, Jay, 1836–92, American speculator, b. Delaware co., N.Y. A country-store clerk and surveyor's assistant, he rose to control half the railroad mileage in the Southwest, New York City's elevated railroads, and the Western Union Telegraph Company. With savings of $5,000 at 21 he became a speculator, particularly in small railroads. After some years he became a director of the Erie RR Erie Railroad, rail transportation line designed to connect the mouth of the Hudson River with the Great Lakes region. The New York and Erie RR Company was enfranchised and incorporated in 1832, and construction was begun in 1835 near Deposit, N.Y.
..... Click the link for more information. . Aided by James Fisk Fisk, James, 1834–72, American financial speculator, b. Pownal, Vt. In his youth he worked for a circus and as a wagon peddler of merchandise. During the Civil War he became wealthy purchasing cotton in occupied areas of the South for Northern firms and selling
..... Click the link for more information. and Daniel Drew Drew, Daniel, 1797–1879, American railroad speculator, b. Carmel, N.Y. He became a cattle dealer in early life and by 1834 was successful enough to engage in the steamboat business on the Hudson, which he developed rapidly. In 1844, Drew entered Wall St.
..... Click the link for more information. , he defeated Cornelius Vanderbilt William Henry Vanderbilt, 1821–85, b. New Brunswick, N.J., succeeded Cornelius Vanderbilt as president of the New York Central RR and augmented the family fortune. He gave liberally to Vanderbilt Univ., to the College of Physicians and Surgeons (now part of Columbia Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. for control of this road and manipulated its stocks in his own interest and that of his group, including "Boss" Tweed Tweed Ring, consisting of Tweed and his henchmen—Peter Sweeny, city chamberlain; Richard B. Connolly, city comptroller; and A. Oakey Hall, mayor—controlled the city without interference.
..... Click the link for more information. . The Gould-Fisk scheme to corner gold in 1869 caused the Black Friday Black Friday, Sept. 24, 1869, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. In 1869 a small group of American financial speculators, including Jay Gould and James Fisk , sought the support of federal officials of the Grant administration in a drive to corner the gold
..... Click the link for more information. panic. Public protest forced the Gould group out of the Erie, ending with Gould's expulsion in 1872. He then bought into the Union Pacific and other western roads. He gained control of four lines that made up the Gould system. For years his name was a symbol of autocratic business practice, and he was widely disliked. After his death his estate and interests were managed by his son, George Jay Gould.

Bibliography

See biographies by M. Klein (1986) and E. J. Renahan, Jr. (2005); C. F. and H. Adams, Chapters of Erie (1871); R. O'Connor, Gould's Millions (1962); E. P. Hoyt, Jr., Goulds (1969).

Gould, Jay

orig. Jason Gould

(born May 27, 1836, Roxbury, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 2, 1892, New York, N.Y.) U.S. railroad executive, speculator, and robber baron. Educated in local schools, he worked as a surveyor and then operated a tannery. By 1859 he was speculating in the stocks of small railways. In 1867 he became a director of the Erie Railroad; in the following year he joined with Daniel Drew and James Fisk to prevent Cornelius Vanderbilt from buying control of the company. To this end he engaged in outrageous financial manipulations, including the issue of fraudulent stock and the payment of lavish bribes to New York state legislators to legalize the stock's sale. He and Fisk then joined forces with William Magear Tweed to profit from further stock manipulations. In 1869 they attempted to corner the gold market, causing the Black Friday panic. In 1872 public outcry forced Gould to cede control of the Erie Railroad. With a fortune of $25 million, he began buying large blocks of stock in Union Pacific Railroad Company and acquired control of that company by 1874. By 1881 he owned 15% of all U.S. rail mileage. Having made large profits by manipulating the company's stock, he pulled out of the company in 1882 and began building a new rail system southwest of St. Louis that by 1890 included half the region's rail mileage. In 1881 he gained control of Western Union Corp., and he owned the New York World newspaper from 1879 to 1883. He remained ruthless, unscrupulous, and friendless to the end.

Gould, (Jason) Jay (1836–92) financier; born in Roxbury, N.Y. A surveyor by training, he wrote History of Delaware County, and Border Wars of New York (1856). He became a tanner and leather dealer in New York (1857–60) and began speculating in small railways on the stock market. He, along with associates James Fisk and Daniel Drew, fought and beat Cornelius Vanderbilt for control of the Erie Railroad (1867–68). Having used bribery to gain control, Gould and his partners did not hesitate to loot the railroad's treasury by stock manipulation. His attempt to corner the gold market caused the Black Friday panic (September 24, 1869). Ejected from his Erie Railroad post in 1872, he gained control of several western railroads and extracted a $10 million profit by threatening the Union Pacific. He also owned the New York World (1879–83) and most of New York City's elevated railroads, and controlled Western Union Telegraph Company. The epitome of the "robber baron," he died "unlamented" but worth over $100 million.