Chapter I

The changes in New York life are very wonderful. In no class of society are those changes so extraordinary as among merchants. Commerce has made New York;—kept it up, and will continue to increase it in wealth and population until our city becomes the greatest in the world. Such is her destiny. Thirty years hence we shall be in advance of London! There is no doubt about it. Let us go back thirty years. In 1830 a New Yorker of no very extended acquaintance could tell the names of all the principal merchants, and where they lived. Very few merchants of note lived above Chambers street thirty years ago.

But now it is impossible to tell where they do not live. Thirty years ago there was a court that ran from Wall street to Pine, next to the Bank of New York on Wall, and next to the old Bank Coffee House kept by Billy Niblo on Pine and William street corner. This court was called Wall street court. It was filled with offices, and they were mainly occupied by lawyers. There was a famous pump in the court, that was used by half Wall and all Pine street. In the building fronting Wall street court on Wall street was the New York Insurance Company, and thirty years ago the venerable Charles McEvers was its President. He was one of the old aristocracy, and his dwelling was in Greenwich street, near the Battery.

The Vice President of this Company was Archibald Gracie, who in his day had been one of the most eminent of New York merchants. He once resided in State street, No. 5, the house with pillars. It was torn down this year. "Valentine's Manual" for 1859 has a picture of it. A few doors below Wall street court entrance in 1830 was a marble building erected by Nathaniel Prime. It had offices in the upper part. The main floor was occupied as the banking rooms of the great banking house of Prime, Ward & King. What a wonderful firm that was thirty years ago ! Originally it was "Nathaniel Prime, Stock and Commission Broker, No. 42 Wall street," in 1796. In 1808, he took in Samuel Ward as a partner, and the firm was then Prime & Ward. In 1816 Joseph Sands was made a partner, and the firm was Prime, Ward & Sands, still doing business at the old stand, No. 42 Wall street, until 1825, when the office was temporarily removed, in order that the present building might be erected. That year James G. King was made a partner, and the firm was Prime, Ward, Sands, King & Co. Joseph Sands, of the above firm, was a son of the celebrated Comfort Sands, who died in 1835. In 1826 Joseph left the above firm, and it again became Prime Ward, King & Co. James Gore King, of the above firm, had previously been engaged in business in Liverpool, England, under the firm of King & Gracie. After he returned to this country, he was taken into the great firm for his financial ability, and the firm changed as above stated.

Old Nat Prime was an extraordinary man—stout, thick, short, and heavy in person, yet he was a wonderfully shrewd calculator. It was stated that the original head of this firm was in early life a coachman to the rich William Gray, an eminent merchant in Boston. Mr. Gray loaned him a small sum of money with which to commence the brokerage business in a very small way. The ex-coachman shaved notes, and got bravely ahead. He was invited to a dinner party, where there were several gentlemen, and one a planter of wealth from Georgia. The conversation turned upon the best mode of investing money. Mr. Prime took a part in this conversation, and after giving his financial views, added: "If I had $5000, I could invest it to-morrow in a manner that would enable me to double the sum inside of a year." "What security can you give me, Mr. Prime, if I lend you the sum named?" asked the Georgian planter. "The word of an honest man," said Mr. Prime. "You shall have the money on that security alone," said the Georgian. He gave Mr. Prime $5000 the next day. The broker did double the sum, and within a year returned the $5000, with interest, to the generous and confiding lender. But there is a sequel to that, not so pleasant to narrate. Some years after the $5000 transaction, the Georgian planter became embarrassed. His plantation and slaves were mortgaged, and he was unable to pay the interest and prevent a foreclosure and sale. He could not raise the money. In this emergency he thought of Mr. Prime, who had meanwhile become the great Wall street banker. He went to him, and recalled himself to the memory of Mr. Prime, and then stated his desperate circumstances. "I need," he added, "about the same amount I once loaned you." "What security can you give?" asked Prime. "The word of an honest man," replied the Georgian. "That will not pass in Wall street," said Prime, and he refused to make the loan, and the planter became a beggar in consequence.

Mr. Prime bought the house on the corner of Broadway and Battery Place, now occupied as the Washington Hotel. He lived there many years, and saw his sons and his daughters intermarrying with the first families in New York. Thirty years ago, Mr. Prime was deemed the third richest man in New York, and yet no one set him down as worth over a million! Thirty years ago there was but one man in this town worth over a million; that one was John Jacob Astor. There were four other rich men—Robert Lenox, John G. Coster, Stephen Whitney, and Nat Prime; the latter was regarded as the most wealthy of the last four names.

Country seats were regarded as a necessary appendage to a wealthy man in those days. Mr. Prime bought a house and one hundred and thirty acres of land on the Island near Hurlgate. It has become a valuable property to his heirs.

In 1832, Mr. Prime retired from the great banking firm, and his place was filled by his son, Edward Prime. All seemed fair in the future for old Mr. Prime. Vast wealth, excellent sons, daughters all well married, he had nothing else to do but live and enjoy himself. Did he do so? No. The strange fancy seized upon his mind, that he was becoming poor—that his destiny was to die in the almshouse. Under this singular monomania, and hallucination of mind, he cut his throat with a razor, and died on the instant.

His partner, Samuel Ward, was a splendid specimen of the old school New Yorker. He stood over six feet, and large in proportion. Fine arts was his forte. He lived on the corner of Fourth street and Broadway; the house is still standing; in its rear is a marble building, without windows on Broadway. Thousands in the past thirty years have made enquiry relative to that curious but windowless building. It was the Painting Gallery of Old Sam Ward, of the firm of Prime, Ward & King. Mr. Samuel Ward was supposed to be immensely rich—he died not worth a copper. His son married one of the Astor girls, and has plenty of money, keeps fast horses, is a sort of diplomat, and a very good fellow. Old Sam Ward was a brother-in-law of the celebrated Doctor Francis.

James G. King was the business man of Prime, Ward & King. He was a son of Rufus King, once U.S. Senator from New York, Ambassador to England, and a great man in this Union in his day. James G. King had several brothers. One was the late Governor of this state, John A. King. Another brother was Charles King, the President of Columbia College, another was Edward King, an extraordinarily talented person, who went to Ohio, attained great distinction, but died early. Another was Doctor Frederick King, who died in this city. James G. King represented a district in Congress for one term. He was a very useful, but never a brilliant member. For twenty years he was the most intimate friend of Daniel Webster. He left the firm of Prime, Ward & King to found the house of James G. King & Son. Not long after the old firmz failed. Mr. King's private residence for a great many years was at Weehawken Heights, New Jersey. He died a few years ago, leaving a large property and a great financial name.