Marcellus Hartley, a brief memoir

Preface

SEVERAL friends of the late Marcellus Hartley, who for the past five and twenty years have been in close business and personal relations with him, believing that a life so useful and patriotic as his should not be allowed to lapse into obscurity, have desired that some memorial of him should be published.

The difficulty of giving interest and color to such a sketch is evident. The life of Mr. Hartley was mainly passed in mercantile pursuits ; aside from his files ot business letters, he kept no journal and preserved no account of one of the most interesting periods of his career — that which he spent in procuring arms and equipment for the troops called into service during the opening months of the Civil War. Then, too, few men were more reticent; rarely could he be induced to talk on this matter, or, indeed, on any other of a business nature. He seemed to think that the silence imposed upon him when acting in the service of the government was still to be observed long after the occasion had passed. It was only after the day's work, at his country

Vlll

PREFACE home with a friend on an autumn evening before a blazing fire, or when away on a vacation with mind in repose, that he would tell of his recollections and in his quiet, easy manner charm his listener for hours with anecdotes and incidents of his eventful life. Enough however, has, it is believed, been gathered together not only to indicate the road along which his success was achieved, but also to give a partial picture of a man of many deeds of charity, most of which will never be known to others than the recipients of his benevolence. Keeping in mind the quiet demeanor of Mr. Hartley, and feeling that anything concerning him beyond a simple narrative of such incidents of his life as might best serve as a stimulus to others and as a source of interest to his personal friends, would be distasteful to him, the writer of this sketch of his life and work has endeavored to tell the story as simply as possible, in the hope that thereby the narrative may be found not only more characteristic of the man, but all the more fitting a tribute to his memory.

The portraits in this volume represent Mr. Hartley at different periods. The frontispiece is from a photograph taken about 1896, usually regarded as his best picture. That opposite page 10, from an old daguerreotype, represents Mr. Hartley as he appeared when a clerk at the age of twenty-one. That at page 56 shows him at about forty-five years. Facing pages 58 and 64, are pictures of his home on Orange Mountain and

PREFACE ix

of himself on horseback. The last photograph ever taken of him is reproduced opposite page 70.

Acknowledgments are due to the several friends of Mr. Hartley who have recalled to the mind of the writer many of the incidents he has recorded, to those who have kindly contributed letters and personal tributes, and to Professor William T. Brewster of Columbia University for the reading of proofs. ^

Gramercy Park, April, 1903.

Contents

Chapter Page

I Birth, Parentage, and Ancestry .... i

II Childhood and Education 6

Appendix

I Personal Tributes from Friends . . . .91

II Resolutions and Minutes of Corporations . no

III Editorial Comment 124

IV Extracts from Mr. Hartley's Correspondence 130

MARCELLUS HARTLEY was the eldest son of Robert Milham Hartley and Catharine Munson of New York. He was born on the twenty-third of September, 1827, and received the baptismal name of Marcellus from a clergyman of the Dutch Church, an old friend and classmate of his father at Fairfield Academy, where the elder Mr. Hartley had received a classical education with a view to entering the ministry.

Both Mr. Hartley and his wife were descended from ancestors of English origin and of distinguished service. Before the beginning of the sixteenth century the Hartleys were a well-known family in Yorkshire and in several of the northern counties of England. The progenitor of the family from which Robert M. Hartley sprang was the Rev. David Hartley, born in 1674, a graduate of Lincoln College, Oxford, Vicar of Armley, in York, and a highly respected clergyman. Among his children was Dr. David Hartley (i 705-1 757), an eminent practitioner, but more famous as a philosopher and metaphysician. He was author of " Observations on Man," and it is from him that Coleridge obtained much philosophical guidance, and for whom he named his eldest son,

Hartley Coleridge. Of his wisdom the poet speaks in "Religious Musings":

He of mortal kind Wisest, he first who marked the ideal tribes Up the fine fibres through the sentient brain.

His son David, a statesman and member of Parliament for Kingston-on-Hull, was author of many works for the betterment of the human race. He was the first to introduce into Parliament a bill for the abolition of the slave-trade, and with Wilberforce followed up the attack until slavery was banished from the British Empire. He was, perhaps, more prominently known as a friend of the American colonies in their struggle for independence, and on the conclusion of the war was appointed by Lord North to sign the definitive treaty of peace by which the colonies became free and independent. Of him Mr. John T. Morse says, in his "Life of Benjamin Franklin," that he was " a man to whose memory Americans ought to erect statues."

Another son of the Rev. David Hartley, father of the philosopher, was James Hartley, from whom descended the subject of the present sketch. Robert, the son of James Hartley, was born in 1736, and removed from his home in Lancashire County to Cockermouth in Cumberland, noted as the birthplace of Wordsworth. Here he married Martha, daughter of Isaac Smithson, a member of the family from which also sprang James

Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. Among other issue of Robert Hartley was Isaac Hartley, a well-known manufacturer of Cockermouth. It is interesting to note that in early life Isaac Hartley was a schoolmate and companion of the poet Wordsworth, and, though not a poet by training, was a man of imaginative mind, deep sympathy, and devoutness and simplicity of life. In 1787 he married Isabella Johnson. Ten years later, wishing to extend his business, he emigrated to America, and in 1 799 sent for his wife and four children. The family settled in Schenectady, New York, and in 1806 Isaac Hartley bought a farm a few miles beyond, at Perth, Fulton County, New York, where he lived till his death, October 6, 185 1.

Among his children was Robert Milham Hartley, born in 1796. After spending his boyhood and youth in the country, he removed, about 1822, to New York City, where, after a few years of commercial life, he began a career of philanthropy extending over fifty years. Of uncommonly religious nature, Robert M. Hartley's sympathy was at an early age aroused by the many forms of vice and suffering which he saw in the city; and in the New York Temperance Society, the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, of which he was a founder and for thirtythree years corresponding secretary, and in several other prominent charities still in active and successful operation, left a worthy name in the records of the history of philanthropy in New York. Perhaps his most important work was his "Essay on Milk," published in 1842, a vigorous and effective protest against the evil conditions under which that important article of food was produced and distributed. On many other topics of importance Mr. Hartley also published interesting and valuable tracts ; among them were inquiries into the labor question, the industrial education of women, the immigration question, and that of the education of children in the public schools. All his pamphlets were written from a common-sense and patriotic point of view; they are filled with plain, practical suggestions for the lessening of misery, and they glow with rational zeal for America as a land to live in. Taken as a whole, they exhibit a growing breadth and interest in the means by which the condition of humanity could, in plain and substantial ways, be improved, and they are the record of an active mind and broadening heart. It has been necessary to dwell for a moment on this aspect ot Mr. Hartley's charities, for the same qualities of growth and expansion and perseverance are, though in a different direction, the most striking facts in the work of his son, Marcellus.

In 1824 Robert M. Hartley married Miss Catharine Munson, the eldest daughter of the Hon. Reuben Munson of New York. The latter was an enterprising, broad-minded, public-spirited man. In 18 13 he was elected alderman, which post he held for ten successive years, and later became a member of the Assembly. He was also among the founders of many institutions, such as the Bowery Savings Bank, the Tradesmen's National Bank, and was a supporter of several charity organizations. The family from which Mr. Munson sprang was of ancient origin; it had, according to "Burke's Peerage," a history extending over five centuries. Reuben Munson was a direct descendant of Thomas Munson, who came from England and settled in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1637.

On both father's and mother's side, then, Marcellus Hartley was descended from ancient, pure, sturdy stock; his ancestors were all men of integrity and ability, and many of them were uncommonly distinguished for intellectual and moral gifts. If, therefore, Darwin's aphorism be true that "that genius which implies a wonderful, complete combination of high faculties tends to be inherited," it is evident that Mr. Hartley was destined to occupy an important place in life.

II ChildJiood a7id Education

DETAILS of Marcellus Hartley's youth, such as usually give color and interest to the narrative of a life and show the early traits and molding influences of a character, are rather few. His boyhood was spent in New York. As a child he was not robust, and suffered greatly from headaches, but as he became older his health improved and he grew up after the manner of boys of his day. He enjoyed athletic sports, and excelled particularly in swimming and ball. In this connection, two or three incidents of his youth are interesting. One morning he went with his uncle to the wharf where some produce was unloading which the latter had shipped from his farm. It happened that the docks were wet and slippery, and Marcellus, in crossing from one boat to another, lost his footing and fell into the river. A minute or two elapsed before he was missed ; then he appeared swimming quietly after his cap, which was floating away from him. He was promptly hauled out, thoroughly wet, but none the worse for his mishap. On another occasion, while at school in Twenty-seventh Street, he went in swimming.

as was the custom of the boys during recess, and had the good fortune, at the peril of his own Hfe, to save a classmate that had ventured too far out in the river, had become exhausted, and was sinking for the last time. Marcellus swam bravely to his rescue, and seizing him by the hair, dragged him safely to shore.

Marcellus Hartley received all his systematic education in the schools of New York City. His longest attendance was at a classical academy occupying the principal floor of Military Hall, 193 Bowery, between Rivington and Delancey streets. Fifty years ago that part of the city was very reputable and was the home of many of our most respected and substantial citizens. The school was under the charge of Rev. Mr. Norton, a cultivated and eminently religious gentleman. Among those who attended the school were Howard Crosby, William E. Dodge, Isaac and Richard Ferris (sons of the old Chancellor of New York University), Peter Naylor, the Porters, Reuben Van Pelt, and two brothers of Marcellus Hartley. Mr. Norton taught them not only the rudimentary branches, but also Latin and Greek preparatory to a college course. He seems to have been an indulgrent master.

After the retirement of Mr. Norton from his school, Marcellus Hartley attended a private grammar-school in the basement of the Methodist Church in Seventh Street, under the charge of Clough and Newman. On the discontinuance of that school, he went to Public

School No. 15, in Twenty-seventh Street, near Second Avenue, then practically in the country ; for neither Second Avenue nor the side streets above Twentyeighth Street were opened, and beyond were green fields and rail fences. This institution stood first among the schools of the old Public School Society, and was under the direction of Anson G. Phelps, Peter Cooper, and James Stokes, one or the other of whom visited it almost daily. The association of these well-known philanthropists, its high reputation, and the respectable character of its scholars induced Mr. Hartley to place his sons there. The principal of the school was William A. Walker, a thorough and painstaking educator and a rigorous disciplinarian. His somewhat nervous temperament found vent in the frequent birching of his pupils. Marcellus Hartley won his regard and was among the few who escaped castigation.

At these various schools Marcellus Hartley was known among teachers and fellow-students alike as an apt scholar. He always stood well in his class and was liked by his superiors. His memory was so good that he rarely forgot anything that he had read, a faculty which stood him in great service in his long business career. In mathematics and handwriting he excelled ; and to his diligence in these studies may be traced the terseness and neatness which in later years distinguished his letters. Few business men wrote a more beautiful hand, an accomplishment which, uncommon as it is, he retained to the end of his days. Fewthings, indeed, annoyed him more than to receive a wordy or a badly written letter. Unfortunately, as is too frequently the case with men afterwards eminent, not many of the letters of his youth are preserved.

Marcellus did not pursue his studies systematically after he left Mr. Walker's school. This was in the year 1844; then, at the age of seventeen, he entered his father's office as a clerk.

Ill

Entry into Business {1844-1854)

MARCELLUS HARTLEY remained in his father's employ for three years, and there he obtained a rudimentary knowledge of business. He was ambitious, however, for a more rapid advancement than the outlook promised. Accordingly he sought and soon obtained a situation as entry clerk and assistant bookkeeper in the importing house of Francis Tomes and Sons, of Maiden Lane, dealers in fancy hardware and sporting goods. He entered upon his duties on February 8, 1847. ^^s industry, quickness, and aptness for business enabled him to forge ahead, and he was transferred to the gun department, more congenial to his taste, a branch of business which in later years became the principal factor in his career. In addition, moreover, to duties in the office, he was sent during times when business was slack to solicit trade in the South and the West. These trips were of great service to him in broadening his views. He made the acquaintance of the firm's customers at their homes, and gained a wide knowledge both of the geography and of the business needs of the country. Traveling was in those days much more difficult than it is now, and many hardships fell to the

AT TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE

MARCELLUS HARTLEY ii

lot of the itinerant tradesman. In one of his expeditions, for example, he had a narrow escape from death by drowning in Lake Erie. In a letter to a fellowclerk, dated December 19, 1851, he gives the following description of his trials on land and water:

I arrived in Buffalo Wednesday evening and left on Monday evening, and such a time as I had you have no idea of. I should not have stayed so long could I have got a good boat ; but, my dear fellow, with all my precaution, and though taking the best boat on the lake, I came nearer going to the bottom than ever before. Enclosed you will find an account of the total loss of the steamer Mayflower, with the list of passengers, who, thanks to a kind Providence, were all saved.

Such a storm as we had beggars description. . . . Suffice it to say, I had given up all hope and was waiting patiently for the boat to founder. To give you an idea of the weather, the thermometer was fifteen degrees below zero, the wind blew a perfect hurricane, the sea went completely over the boat, the spray freezing as it rose in the air and so completely enveloping us that it was impossible to see twenty feet from the steamer. Food I never tasted for twenty-six hours, until we struck the shore, which occurred at eleven o'clock at night. . . . When we struck nobody knew where we were, nor did we much care, for then we never expected to reach land. But when morning came and we saw the shore some two hundred feet from us, — a high bleak coast with a ridge of ice eight feet high all along the shore, the sea running mountains high, — we had hopes of reaching it, and with the assistance of some persons from the shore we eventually sent a line, and once more safely reached terra firma. My baggage was wet and freezing, but that was of little account. We had to walk a mile through snow a foot deep and then ride twelve miles to the nearest staging, where I took passage for the first railroad station,

Painesville. When I tell you that I came near breaking my neck twice you will think I am unlucky. We were upset twice in the stage and went over a bank some six feet high, the last time being about four o'clock in the morning. Cold ! It was awfully cold, . . . We footed it through the snow some half mile to a farmer's house, who kindly gave us shelter and fire until morning. Sleep ! I had none since leaving Buffalo, three evenings before, until last night (Thursday), and but two meals in three days. Such, my dear friend, has been my fortune so far; and through it all I have come out, thanks to a kind Providence, with but a frozen foot, one finger frost-bitten, and with my phrenological bump of veneration raised considerable by the upsetting of the stage.

Here I am in Cleveland with a comfortable, fine bedroom and a parlor, with my feet bound up, which will probably keep me in the hotel for three or four days, with nothing to do but to read and write letters. . . .

The journey before me is a tedious and uncomfortable one, far different from my summer experience. From here it is my intention to go to Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and down to Memphis. I am going as far as Montgomery or New Orleans ; probably I may visit both. It is now nearly twelve o'clock, and I am tired. The writing you will please excuse, as my fingers are somewhat frost-bitten.

The follov^^ing extract from a letter is worthy of insertion, since it gives an idea of the sort of impression made upon Mr. Hartley's wide-awake intelligence by the Western cities and towns which he visited in his

business trips :

Chicago, June 15, 185 1.

My dear Brother :

I arrived in this place this morning, from Detroit. The last I wrote you was a few hurried lines from Buffalo. My journey so far has been very agreeable : the trip through Lake Erie was beautiful. From Buffalo I went direct to Cleveland, where I remained for two days, heard the Reverend John Marsh of New York preach, and Gough make a speech. There is no city in this country that will compare to Cleveland. It would be the place precisely for Uncle Booth. I, however, became somewhat tired of it, having nobody to walk about with me. From Cleveland I went to Sandusky, and then to Toledo. The sail from place to place was beautiful, but the two last-mentioned places were very dull. At the entrance of the Maumee River there is a place called Manhattan, having a church, mill, and some thirty fine houses, three or four large warehouses, canal and wharves, etc., — in fact, the miniature of a young city, — but the population of that place numbers but one family. During the speculations of 1837, the land was in the hands of New York speculators, who laid it out into town lots, and sold them for $1000 to $5000 a lot, built houses, established a bank, extended the canal, intending it should be the city of the West ; but now all that remains of its former activity are its vacant houses and its grass-growing streets, a warning to all land speculators. Toledo, a few miles beyond it, is a thriving place and will eventually become a city of celebrity. All through that portion of Ohio known as the " Reserve lands " there have been towns and cities laid out, and if you will look upon the map you will see Independence, Napoleon, etc., printed in large letters, as if they were places with some thousands of inhabitants, but you might ride through them a dozen times and fail to discover them, for they contain but some half dozen or more houses. On the route from Toledo to Detroit there is another place of that description called Munroe in Michigan. It is some three miles from the lake, on the Raisin River. They went to the enormous expense of making a ship-canal to the lake, have a railroad, etc., but the place now it would trouble you to find. I arrived at Detroit last Thursday night, and remained there until Saturday morning. I was very much pleased with it ; you know it is an old settlement, and the houses, and the appearance of things generally, put one in mind of the Eastern cities. In most of the cities that I have visited West the houses are chiefly frame — that is, wood. Now in Detroit they have commenced the use of brick, so also here in Chicago. You have no idea of the Western country. You might be in Chicago, or any of these Western cities and towns, and think you were in the State of New York. A man with money, or a go-ahead Eastern man, could soon become a millionaire. I find that my time will not allow me to go to Milwaukee and further West, as I intended, but shall go from here through Illinois to St. Louis.

Mr. Hartley's perils were not all of the deep, nor were his experiences confined to his travels. He often related the exciting scene he witnessed at the Astor Place Riots in the spring of 1850, and the danger he was in. When Macready, the English actor, was playing Macbeth in New York, a gang of turbulent fellows known as the " Bowery boys " determined to take vengeance upon him for an alleged insult which the American tragedian, Edwin Eorrest, had received in England the year before. Repelled in an attempt to invade the opera-house, they turned on the police who opposed them, assaulted them with sticks and stones, and seriously wounded many. Getting the better of the police, they next attacked the Seventh Regiment, which had been hastily summoned, and handled it so roughly that the soldiers, as a last resort, were obliged to use their guns. When the street was cleared some twenty rioters and several spectators were killed, fifty were seriously wounded, and a hundred and fifty officers and men were more or less badly hurt. The beginning of the fray Mr. Hartley saw from a lamp-post, but when the firing began dropped to the ground. How he escaped without a scratch was a source of wonder to his friends.

In addition to his business, Mr. Hartley was alive in other ways. When, in 1850, the Hungarian patriot Kossuth visited this country, Mr. Hartley was much interested in him as a man and an orator, and became a deep sympathizer with the wrongs which his country suffered. He also joined a society, the object of which, as given in its ambitious constitution, " was the discussion of literary subjects and the promotion of literature, science, and friendship among its members." The club had a properly fitted room where the members could go at any time, and where every fortnight they held evening sessions for debate on popular subjects of the day. Most of the members afterwards became well-known and highly respected citizens, but of the little coterie of kindred spirits only eight are living. After a lapse of so many years no apology need be made for mentioning their names ; for, should they happen to see this allusion to them, it will recall the old "Philosophian" and awaken a thrill of joy for those happy days of their youth when

Hope grew round me like the twining vine,

And fruits and flowers not my own, seemed mine.

Their names are Edward M. Townsend, David S.

i6 MARCELLUS HARTLEY

Egleston, Abraham R. Lawrence, Henry L. Pierson, Joseph W. Hartley, Hewlet Scudder, Robert Beloni, and George Fuller.

Mr. Hartley, of course, had his days of discouragement. He, however, seems never seriously to have considered any change of occupation, but, in order to work to the best advantage, he left the firm of Francis Tomes and Sons, in 1854, and entered business for himself.

IV The Beginning of a Career {1854-1862)

THOUGH it was a bold undertaking for a young man without means or influential friends to enter business for himself, Mr. Hartley was moved to that act by several reasons. During his service as clerk he had, in upwards of seven years, mastered all the details of the department — that of sporting guns — of which he was in charge. Having obtained all the knowledge of the business that he could, and believing from the conditions which he saw about him that there was no opportunity of his ever becoming a partner, he perceived the uselessness of his remaining longer in his position.

Accordingly, his first step was to find men of similar disposition. These he met in J. Rutsen Schuyler and Malcolm Graham, who were in the firm of Smith, Young and Company, of which Mr. Schuyler was junior partner ; they were engaged in the same line of business as Francis Tomes and Sons. One day the three met at the famous hostelry kept by Clark and Brown in Maiden Lane, near its junction with Liberty Street. Here the young men discussed the feasibility of establishing a new business firm of the same sort as that of their emi8 A MEMOIR OF

ployers, and, concluding that it was possible, immediately entered into the details. Since the three partners were without much money, they were obliged to borrow a large part of their capital. With this, the firm was organized on March i, 1854, under the name of Schuyler, Hartley, and Graham, and took the ground floor of 13 Maiden Lane, nearly opposite the parent firms. Mr. Hartley's part in the business, owing to his long experience in buying and selling goods away from home, consisted chiefly in the purchase of a varied stock in trade, especially sporting guns and small arms abroad, and in trips West for the purpose of creating a market for his wares.

Almost as soon as the firm was fully organized, Mr. Schuyler and Mr. Hartley, fortified with a letter of credit on Brown, Shipley, and Company, of London, started for Europe to purchase a supply of goods for the new store, leaving Mr. Graham to look after their interests at home. They took passage on the fourth of March, 1854, in the steamer Baltic. They visited all the important dealers and manufacturers in their line of business, both in England and on the Continent, bought the newest goods, and made arrangements for future supplies as they might be required. They remained abroad about four months. The goods which they shipped from Europe and brought with them they had no difficulty in selling at a large profit. The success of the firm was assured.

During the winter following, Mr. Hartley made a business trip West, and thereby considerably enlarged the amount of the firm's undertakings. The following year, in April, Mr. Hartley again went to England and the Continent for fresh goods, and his trip was repeated in 1856 and 1857 with unfailing success. He established close relations with the leading firms in Europe, and acquired knowledge about the manufacture and sale of arms which enabled him to render notable service to the United States Government during the Civil War.

On his return from his last trip in the autumn of 1857, Mr. Hartley found the country convulsed by the severest financial panic it had ever experienced. New York, as the business center of the nation, was the first to feel the effects of the storm, which, however, extended rapidly and with devastating force over the whole country. In a calamity which produced no less than nine hundred and eighty-five business failures in the metropolis alone, with liabilities exceeding one hundred and twenty millions, which caused banks to suspend payment, and brought business to a standstill, Mr. Hartley's firm weathered the storm successfully. Indeed, in the following three years of 1858, 1859, and i860, during which Mr. Hartley remained in New York, the business of the firm increased in importance and extent from year to year, and became the largest of its kind in the country. Inasmuch as the increase was owing chiefly to the purchase and sale of arms, Mr. Hartley had to give a great deal of his time to that branch of the business, in which he was the specialist.