Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 2,934 pages of information about Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals.

Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 2,934 pages of information about Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals.
serious sacrifices, Of course, no person ever lost a cent by him:  he has recently died, leaving an estate of eight million dollars.  During his lifetime, I had opportunities to know him well, and take much pleasure in bearing testimony to his great worth and personal kindness.  On the failure of his bank, he assumed personally all the liabilities, released his partners of all responsibility, and offered to assist me to engage in business, which he supposed was due to me because I had resigned my army commission.  I remained in St. Louis till the 17th of December, 1857, assisting in collecting for the bank, and in controlling all matters which came from the New York and San Francisco branches.  B. R. Nisbet was still in San Francisco, but had married a Miss Thornton, and was coming home.  There still remained in California a good deal of real estate, and notes, valued at about two hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate; so that, at Mr. Lucas’s request, I agreed to go out again, to bring matters, if possible, nearer a final settlement.  I accordingly left St. Louis, reached Lancaster, where my family was, on the 10th, staid there till after Christmas, and then went to New York, where I remained till January 5th, when I embarked on the steamer Moles Taylor (Captain McGowan) for Aspinwall; caught the Golden Gate (Captain Whiting) at Panama, January 15, 1858; and reached San Francisco on the 28th of January.  I found that Nisbet and wife had gone to St. Louis, and that we had passed each other at sea.  He had carried the ledger and books to St. Louis, but left a schedule, notes, etc., in the hands of S. M. Bowman, Esq., who passed them over to me.

On the 30th of January I published a notice of the dissolution of the partnership, and called on all who were still indebted to the firm of Lucas, Turner & Co. to pay up, or the notes would be sold at auction.  I also advertised that all the real property, was for sale.

Business had somewhat changed since 1857.  Parrott & Co.; Garrison, Fritz & Ralston; Wells, Fargo & Co.; Drexel, Sather & Church, and Tallant & Wilde, were the principal bankers.  Property continued almost unsalable, and prices were less than a half of what they had been in 1853-’54.  William Blending, Esq., had rented my house on Harrison Street; so I occupied a room in the bank, No. 11, and boarded at the Meiggs House, corner of Broadway and Montgomery, which we owned.  Having reduced expenses to a minimum, I proceeded, with all possible dispatch, to collect outstanding debts, in some instances making sacrifices and compromises.  I made some few sales, and generally aimed to put matters in such a shape that time would bring the best result.  Some of our heaviest creditors were John M. Rhodes & Co., of Sacramento and Shasta; Langton & Co., of Downieville; and E. M. Stranger of Murphy’s.  In trying to put these debts in course of settlement, I made some arrangement in Downieville with the law-firm

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Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.