He at once marked down all his goods as low as possible, and began to “sell for cost,” originating the system which is now so popular.  The prices were very low, and the goods of the best quality.  Every body complained of the hard times, and all were glad to save money by availing themselves of “Stewart’s bargains.”  In this way he carried on a retail cash trade of five thousand dollars per day in the midst of the most terrible crisis the country has ever seen.  Other merchants were reduced to every possible expedient, and were compelled to send their goods to auction to be sold for what they would bring, so great was their need of ready money.  Stewart attended all these auctions regularly, and purchased the goods thus offered.  These he sold rapidly by means of his “cost system,” realizing an average profit of forty per cent.  It is said that he purchased fifty thousand dollars worth of silks in this way, and sold the whole lot in a few days, making a profit of twenty thousand dollars on the transaction.  Thus he not only passed through the “crisis,” but made a fortune in the midst of it.

From that time to the present day his march to fortune has been uninterrupted.  Nearly a quarter of a century ago he purchased the property which is now the site of his wholesale store, and commenced to erect the splendid marble warehouse which he still occupies.  His friends were surprised at his temerity.  They told him it was too far up town, and on the wrong side of Broadway, but he quietly informed them that a few years would vindicate his wisdom, and see his store the center of the most flourishing business neighborhood of New York.  His predictions have been more than realized.

He moved into his new store in 1846, and continued to expand and enlarge his business every year.  Some years ago he purchased the old Ninth-Street Dutch Church and the lots adjacent to it, comprising the entire block lying between Ninth and Tenth Streets, Broadway and Fourth Avenue.  When he found the retail trade going up town, and deserting its old haunts below Canal Street, he erected a fine iron building at the corner of Broadway and Tenth Street, to which he removed the retail department of his business, continuing his wholesale trade at his old store on Chambers Street.  This new “upper store” has increased with the business.  The building now covers the entire block upon which it is erected, and is the largest, most complete, and magnificent establishment of its kind in the world.

Though he took no active part in politics, he was too much interested in public affairs, by reason of his immense wealth, not to watch them closely.  He was satisfied, some time before our late troubles began, that war must come, and quietly made contracts with nearly all the manufacturers for all their productions for a considerable period of time.  Accordingly, when the war did come, it was found that nearly all the articles of clothing, blankets, etc., needed for the army had been monopolized by him.  His profits on these transactions amounted to many millions of dollars, though it should be remarked that his dealings with the Government were characterized by an unusual degree of liberality.  The gains thus realized by him more than counterbalanced the losses he sustained by the sudden cessation of his Southern trade.