1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So Alexander Turney Stewart 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: is known as the creator of the department store. He 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: started his business in New York when he was kind 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: of a small time immigrant merchant in one little storefront, 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: and then he grew this into a massive firm and 8 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: made himself a huge fortune in the process. But in 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: my opinion, the most interesting parts of his life story 10 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: come at the end, and this one has some twists, 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: including one that took place after Alexander died. So Alexander 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,639 Speaker 1: Tourney Stewart was born in Lisbonne, County Antrim, Ireland on 13 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: October twelfth, eighteen oh three. After Irish partition, this became 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: part of Northern Ireland. His parents were Alexander Stuart and 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,919 Speaker 1: Margaret Turney Stuart, and by the time the younger Alexander 16 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: Stewart was born, his father had already died. He grew 17 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: up in Belfast, being raised by his grandfather, John Tourney, 18 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: and that was after his mother remarried and left Ireland 19 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: with her new husband to live in the United States. 20 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: It isn't totally clear like why he lived with his 21 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: grandfather instead of going with his mother, but we do 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: know that his grandfather wanted Alexander to join the clergy. 23 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: I will say, particularly related to these very early years 24 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: of his life, you will read a lot of different 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 1: biographies that very confidently say things that all contradict each other. 26 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,279 Speaker 1: So this is definitely the amalgamation of pattern recognition of like, Okay, 27 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: these things do all seem to crop up in all 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: of them. There are like some versions, for example, to 29 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: say his father died when he was a toddler versus 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: before he was born. Mysteries will abound. Probably Alexander attended 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: Belfast Academical Institute and then moved on to Trinity College, 32 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: and that is where he was studying when his grandfather died, 33 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: and at that point his formal education ended, although he 34 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: had gained a very solid foundation and would value the arts, literature, 35 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: and philosophy for the remainder of his life. He had 36 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: apparently an appointed guardian who was a Quaker and who 37 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,559 Speaker 1: seems to have been receptive to Alexander's non clergy ambitions 38 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: to travel to the US to try to make his 39 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: fortune there. This Guardian is mentioned but not named, in 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: the book Men of Our Day or biographical sketches of patriots, orators, statesman, 41 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: general's reformers, financers and merchants now in the stage of action, 42 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: including those who in military, political, business, and social life 43 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: are the prominent leaders of this time in this country. 44 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: That's all one title. That book was written by LP. 45 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: Brockett and published in eighteen seventy two. Yewort was still 46 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: alive at that time, and it includes a biography of him, 47 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: which does offer more details than are found in other places. 48 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: There's not a lot of sourcing information for those details. 49 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: It did indicate that this nameless Quaker guardian had enough 50 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: connections through the Quakers to get letters of introduction for 51 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: Alexander so that he could present himself to various merchants 52 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: in New York when he arrived there in eighteen eighteen. 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: When Alexander Stewart got to New York City, he started 54 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: looking for career opportunities and in the meantime taught classics 55 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: to make ends meet. He left teaching when he formed 56 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: a partnership with a merchant to learn the trade from, 57 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: but then that fell through and he briefly returned to Ireland. 58 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: This was also in part so he could convert his 59 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: inheritance that his father left him into cash. This was 60 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: something that he inherited on his twenty first birthday. According 61 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: to an account written by Elbert Hubbard in nineteen sixteen, 62 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: Stuart intended to use use some of that money to 63 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: pay for his last two years at Trinity, but when 64 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: he got there, he found that life in New York 65 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: had changed him to a degree that now the school 66 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: felt quaint, his schoolmates seemed much younger. He kind of 67 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: lost his interest in rolling again. Yeah, there's one story 68 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,559 Speaker 1: that other students had just kind of automatically started calling 69 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: him sir as though he were an adult test compared 70 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: to them still being college kids, and he just was like, 71 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: I don't belong here anymore. Instead, he used that money 72 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: from his windfall to purchase fine Irish laces, primarily from Belfast, 73 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: as well as linens and poplins, and several thousand dollars 74 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: worth of it. Stuart then traveled with those goods back 75 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: to New York and started a dry goods business in 76 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty three at two eighty three Broadway. In one 77 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: telling of this story Alexander had first trusted a man 78 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: that he met on the crossing from Ireland back to 79 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 1: New York to sell those goods, and the man did 80 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: make sales, but then he used the money to buy 81 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: himself and his friends a great many drinks. And so 82 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: Stuart realized he really couldn't count on anyone but himself 83 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: to sell his wares, and he started running the shop. 84 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: He was essentially the one employee who was handling bookkeeping, administration, stocking, sales, etc. 85 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: He also placed a notice in the New York Daily 86 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: Advertiser which read, at Stewart just arrived from Belfast offers 87 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: for sale to the ladies of New York a choice 88 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,919 Speaker 1: selection of fresh dry goods at two hundred and eighty 89 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: three Broadway. In the moment he opened that shop, he 90 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,119 Speaker 1: had customers. He was very good with women customers because 91 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: he was polite and respectful, but he was also very friendly. 92 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,039 Speaker 1: He would also throw little extras in with their purchases, 93 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: like a card of buttons, or some thread or a 94 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: little bit of braid trim, and he made friends with 95 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: them essentially and made a very loyal cut customer base. 96 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: He greeted every single customer personally and That was a 97 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: practice that he maintained for more than a decade before 98 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: his business had simply grown too large to continue doing that. 99 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: Soon he had moved to a larger space at two 100 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: sixty two Broadway that had a parlor on the second 101 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: floor with a dressing room, and according to some versions 102 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: of his story, he also had the first full length 103 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: mirrors in the US. For this new, slightly larger shop, 104 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: he also started having regular sales and on occasion, having 105 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: sidewalk sales, where he would open a case of goods 106 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: right on the sidewalk in front of the store and 107 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 1: then sell whatever was in it to the first interested customer. 108 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: This got him in a little bit of trouble. The 109 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: business next door complained and police arrived and told Stuart 110 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: that he had to keep the sidewalk clear. Stuart turned 111 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: this into a sales opportunity, and he advertised that his 112 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: shop had too much stock to fit inside of it 113 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: and they were having a cost sale so that their 114 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: neighbor would not be inconvenienced any longer. That same year 115 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: that he started his business, the twenty year old Alexander 116 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: also got married to a young woman named Cornelia Mitchell Clinch. 117 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: Cornelia's father was a merchant who dealt in supplies for ships. 118 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: The couple had children. The number of children is not known. 119 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: They all sadly died soon after being born. Alexander and 120 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: Cornelia seemed to be genuinely devoted to one another. Yeah, 121 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: that devotion will manifest later on. From the start, it 122 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: seems like Alexander Stewart had very strong feelings about how 123 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: his business should be run. For example, one of his 124 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: salesmen quit the first week because Stuart didn't want him 125 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: making any false claims about their fabrics just to make 126 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: a sale. That salesman told him that everyone did business 127 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: that way, and Stuart was very clear that he did 128 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: not want that to be his reputation. But Stuart was right, 129 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: and he was a really good businessman, intuiting moves in 130 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: the market and capitalizing them. That eighteen seventy two Brocket 131 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: biography includes the following description of his business savvy quote. 132 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: Mister Stewart early began to survey the political field, and 133 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: when he foresaw a storm ahead, there would be a 134 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: silent purchase of all of certain goods in the market, 135 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: which would be sure to rise in a certain contingency 136 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: At other times he was the first to foresee a 137 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,239 Speaker 1: falling market and to put his goods before the public 138 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: with such swiftness and address that he cleared his shelves 139 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: with the least loss, while his slower friends were carried 140 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: under the current. There was a time during the war 141 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: when mister Stewart held more cotton goods than all the 142 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: other dry goods firms put together. There was also a 143 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: time when he was the first to sell at the 144 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: reduced price. He also was said to have just been 145 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: so good at knowing the market values of things and 146 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: memorizing them that even in his later life, he could 147 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: recite what the average prices of various staple items had 148 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: been in each year of the preceding several decades. There 149 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,559 Speaker 1: are a number of big drivers of Stuart's success in 150 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: the dry goods business. One was that from that very 151 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: first purchase of laces in Belfast, he always paid cash 152 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: in full for any of his merchandise. He said to 153 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: have never bought anything on credit, so in times when 154 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: the market had a dip, he wasn't suddenly on the 155 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: hook to pay off stock that was sitting on the 156 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: shelves going unpurchased. He was also said to have never 157 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,839 Speaker 1: speculated with even a penny on the flip side of 158 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: this policy, though he did offer his customer's credit accounts 159 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: for another thing. He had set prices so prior to this, 160 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: the customary business approach to sales involved a lot of haggling. 161 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 1: A customer made inquire about the asking price of an item, 162 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: and then both the seller and the buyer would try 163 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: to get the best deal for their own interests. But 164 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: Stuart thought this was inefficient, and also as someone who 165 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,719 Speaker 1: was running a massive operation over time with so many salespeople, 166 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: it meant that he wasn't able to control every transaction. 167 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: So a set price meant that no time was spent 168 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: negotiating prices, and everyone from the customer on up to 169 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: Stuart himself knew the retail price of any given item. 170 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: He also allowed customers the chance to return or exchange purchases, 171 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: which was not customary at this time, and he understood 172 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: that stock that wasn't moving was bad for business. It 173 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: made the retail space look dated, and so he would 174 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,719 Speaker 1: sell the less popular merchandise below cost just to get 175 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: it out so he wouldn't have this outdated stock sitting around, 176 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: and this worked. He was known to always have fresh items, 177 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: and then that kept customers returning regularly, so at Stuart 178 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: and Company was always profitable. The other way that Stuart 179 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: excelled in business also involved streamlining, but this was not 180 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: great for his employees. He sounds like a hard person 181 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: to work for. He established a set wage for everyone 182 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: who worked for him, which sounds fairly fair at a 183 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,079 Speaker 1: time when a lot of people were working on commission. 184 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: That money was consistent, but it was also kind of 185 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: a low rate of pay, and employees were financially on 186 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: the hook for their performance, meaning that if they underperformed, 187 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: Stuart would find them. He was also said to have 188 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: fired a carpenter for something as small as losing a nail. 189 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,960 Speaker 1: He had this reputation for being really, really miserly when 190 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: it came to dealing with his employees. But there's this 191 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: contradictory thing, which is that he also had employees who 192 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: were with him from early on in his business that 193 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: stayed until the day he died and beyond. We're talking decades, 194 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: so there seems to have been at least some level 195 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: of loyalty to him among his workers, which makes it 196 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: a little harder to parse out whether he was a 197 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: rough boss or a good one. Yeah, I've I've worked 198 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 1: at places that I thought had like really legitimate problems 199 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: that coworkers of mine were there for years and years 200 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: and years, and it was like the things that they 201 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: liked about the job just kind of outweighed the rest 202 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: of it. Coming up, we'll talk about some of the 203 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: big moments of growth for at Stewart and Company, but 204 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: first we will pause for a sponsor break. In eighteen 205 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: forty six, after twenty three years in business, Stewart's enterprise 206 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: was so successful that he built a huge new facility 207 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: to house it. This building was nicknamed the Marble Palace 208 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: because it had a marble facade and it was the 209 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: first purpose built retail space in New York City. Like 210 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: not a building that could be used for retail was 211 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: only intended for retail. Teen fifty he was reportedly selling 212 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars worth of goods a day. The Civil 213 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: War was a lucrative time for Stuart. When this started, 214 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: he became the supplier of the uniforms to the Union troops. 215 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: He was an active supporter of the Union, and his 216 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: work would come back with efforts to honor him later 217 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: on right in the middle of the war in eighteen 218 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: sixty two, he had to expand, so he built another facility, 219 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: this time a huge retail store on Broadway that's believed 220 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: to have been the largest retail store in the world 221 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,319 Speaker 1: at the time. Once this massive space, which was dubbed 222 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: the Iron Palace, was up and running, he was doing 223 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: a reported fifty thousand dollars in sales every day. Yeah, 224 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: we always talk about how it's very hard to like 225 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: make equivalencies of money over time, but one of the 226 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: ones I read was like, this is like one point 227 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: five million dollars a day that his business was doing, 228 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: so trying you like more than ten million dollars or 229 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: around ten million dollars a week, which is a lot. 230 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: With the building of the Iron Palace, Stuart is often 231 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: cited as the inventor of the departments tour because he 232 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: had over time diversified his offerings from things like fabric 233 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: and trim to adding in ready made garments from Europe 234 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: as well as anything a person might need for their home, 235 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: and they were set up in different departments. He had 236 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: also managed to shift the nature of shopping from simply 237 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: being a necessary errand to kind of being a leisure activity. 238 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: From the early days of his small shop, he had 239 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: always focused on the shopper's experience, and that methodology carried 240 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: through to his company's largest iterations. In eighteen sixty eight, 241 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: you'lyss assessed. Grant was elected president, and because of the 242 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: work that Stuart had done with the Union Defense Committee, 243 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: he was offered a position in the new president's cabinet. 244 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: That was as Secretary of the Treasury. It turned out 245 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: though he could not take that role. The seventeen eighty 246 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: nine Act of Congress establishing the Treasury Department, which was 247 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: signed into law by President George Washington, included language that 248 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: specifically excluded someone like Alexander T. Stewart because he was 249 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: a merchant. The specific language is in section eight of 250 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: the Act, and it reads quote that no person appointed 251 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: to any office instituted by the Act shall directly or 252 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: indirectly be concerned or interested in carrying on the business 253 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: of trade or commerce, or be the owner, in whole 254 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: or in part of any sea vessel or purchased by 255 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: himself or another in trust for him, any public lands 256 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: or public property, or be concerned in the purchase or 257 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 1: disposal of any public securities of any State or of 258 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: the United States, or take or apply to his own 259 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: use any emolument or gain for negotiating or transacting any 260 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: business in the said department, other than what shall be 261 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: allowed by law. Grant wanted Stuart to be Secretary of 262 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: the Treasury so badly that he asked Congress to override 263 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: that part of the Act. Congress did not do that, though. 264 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: No there's some political issues that were involved in why 265 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: it got shut down, but it was not going to happen. 266 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: The year after the cabinet position was offered and then retracted, 267 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: Stuart began work on his Manhattan mansion on the corner 268 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: of thirty fourth and Fifth Avenue. This was one of 269 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: the very first such luxury homes on Fifth Avenue. It 270 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 1: was three floors plus an attic, and like his first 271 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: big store, it had a marble facade. Though he was 272 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: incredibly successful and had more money than anyone could likely need, 273 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: Stuart always had an eye on expanding his business and 274 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: his wealth. After years of buying from textile mills to 275 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: resell the stock at retail, he decided to gain a 276 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:57,119 Speaker 1: financial foothold in the manufacturing side himself. He purchased controlling 277 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: interest in several mills to further add who was business. 278 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: Stuart next expanded internationally. Ireland, England, France, Scotland, Germany and 279 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: Switzerland were all homes to Stuart offices. Some of those 280 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: countries also had warehouses where purchased goods were stored before 281 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: being shipped to his US retail operation. The stability of 282 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: Stuart's business and its huge growth led to accusations that 283 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: he was purposely trying to put smaller goods dealers out 284 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: of business, and he made a number of statements on 285 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:31,880 Speaker 1: this matter that are kind of open to interpretation, which 286 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: is how a lot of his life is. He was 287 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 1: adamant that he adhered to his business principles and that 288 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: anyone who didn't was doomed to fail. Things like his 289 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: refusal to buy stock on credit were part of those principles. 290 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 1: That sounds great on paper, but it would of course 291 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: exclude anyone who had not had the good fortune to 292 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,960 Speaker 1: inherit a sum of money to start a business. Additionally, 293 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,360 Speaker 1: he made statements that explain that some of his expansions 294 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: were just necessary to prevent logistical issues, things like one 295 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,160 Speaker 1: building having been too small to put an entire department 296 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: on one floor. So he had to build a new 297 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: space so that he could make that not a big 298 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: train wreck. He also told an interviewer once that he 299 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: had been pressured to start selling specific products in one 300 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,479 Speaker 1: of his stores by customers, but that quote, the moment 301 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: we throw open that department for retail trade, a great 302 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 1: many smaller deals in the vicinity will suffer. The advantages 303 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: we possess are so superior that competition of small dealers 304 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: is out of the question. And the moment they feel 305 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: the pressure, they cry out against monopoly and attribute all 306 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: kinds of vindictiveness to the firm. But he then went 307 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 1: on to say that the public would really benefit from 308 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: his ability to both manufacture and sell because that cut 309 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: down costs. While Stuart was shrewd in business, he could 310 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: also be generous. During the Irish famine, he raised money 311 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: to send to Ireland for aid. When things became particle, 312 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: particularly dire for mill workers, he chartered a ship and 313 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: sent it to the area where he'd grown up that 314 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,400 Speaker 1: was filled with food for the workers there. And there 315 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: was also an offer that came with the ship, which 316 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: was that anyone who wished could board it and return 317 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: with it to the United States. This is often cited 318 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 1: as Stuart's big philanthropic effort as though it was the 319 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: only such grand gesture, but there were actually others. For example, 320 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: in the wake of the Franco German War, he similarly 321 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: sent a boat to France, this time it was loaded 322 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: with flour, but that did not, however, have the same 323 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: offer to take people back to the US. In North America, 324 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: he gave very generously to Chicago to rebuild after the 325 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one fire. All of this falls in line 326 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: with the ideal that he mentioned in a letter to 327 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: Ulyss Assess Grant during his presidency quote, the merchant of 328 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,120 Speaker 1: the future will not only be an economist and an 329 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: industrial leader, he will also be a teacher and a humanitarian. 330 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: Stuart also started buying up real estate in New York, 331 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,400 Speaker 1: which we have talked about many people on the show 332 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: that have done this and that being kind of a 333 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: big keystone to their wealth growth. He acquired two hotels, 334 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,679 Speaker 1: the Metropolitan and the Grand Union, and two theaters, the 335 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: Globe and Niblo's Garden, And then in eighteen sixty nine 336 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: he purchased a twelve mile tract of land on Long 337 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: Island known as the Hempstead Plains. He paid fifty five 338 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: dollars an acre for that plot of land, and then 339 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 1: acquired an additional fifteen hundred acres from the surrounding residents. 340 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,679 Speaker 1: On this vast expanse, he intended to build his own city, 341 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,879 Speaker 1: which he named Garden City. Today, it is recognized as 342 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: one of the first planned communities in the United States. 343 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: He mapped out residential and commercial spaces and even set 344 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,439 Speaker 1: up a brickyard so that construction could be localized as 345 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: much as possible. By eighteen seventy six, Alexander Stewart had 346 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 1: created something true, truly remarkable. There were roads, there was 347 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: green space. There was infrastructure, including a state of the 348 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: art waterworks and a railroad for commuters. There was a hotel, 349 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: the Garden City Hotel, which was adjacent to the railroad station. 350 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: There were these lovely, brand new Victorian houses that people 351 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: could rent for one hundred dollars a month, but there 352 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: weren't many residents yet. And then, with this project still 353 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: not completed, Stuart died on April tenth, eighteen seventy six, 354 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy two. In a moment, we'll 355 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: talk about what happened after his death, including a rather 356 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,680 Speaker 1: surprising turn of events. But first we'll take a quick 357 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: break and hear from the sponsors that keep stuff you 358 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:54,159 Speaker 1: missed in history class going. Stuart was the third richest 359 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: man in New York when he died, and the only 360 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: one in the top three who had not inherited his wealth. 361 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: Estimates of Stuart's net worth at the time of his 362 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: death ranged from forty million to fifty million dollars that 363 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: is not adjusted. Throughout his life as a successful businessman, 364 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,360 Speaker 1: Alexander T. Stewart received a steady stream of letters from 365 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,479 Speaker 1: people claiming to be relatives and asking, of course, for money. 366 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: When he died. This stream continued, now addressed to his 367 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: widow in the hope of gaining some of the fortune 368 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: they claimed they were owed as next of kin, and 369 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: this escalated and dragged out for years. In eighteen seventy eight, 370 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote of the problem, quote, mister 371 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: Stewart died under the impression that his relatives were few 372 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,679 Speaker 1: and quickly enumerated. Upon his death, the number who sprang 373 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,639 Speaker 1: up in all parts of the country claiming kinship and 374 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: rights under the will was astonishing. Suits were begun in 375 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: large numbers by all sorts of people. Stuart had left 376 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,199 Speaker 1: money to a variety of people in varying amounts, but 377 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: as he and Cornelia had not had any children live 378 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: past infancy, he had no primary heir. He also had 379 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: not set aside any kind of charitable trust for the 380 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: bulk of his money, and his is considered to be 381 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: a great fortune lost through a steady trickle to things 382 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: like legal fees and a little bit to ransom. That's 383 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,199 Speaker 1: because on November seventh, eighteen seventy eight, so two and 384 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: a half years after Alexander Stewart died, his remains were 385 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: stolen out of their grave at Saint Mark's Church in 386 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: the Bowery. There was evidence that whoever had taken Stuart's 387 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: body had unceremoniously dragged it out of the churchyard and 388 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: over a fence, although it seemed as though they had 389 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: entered through the padlocked gate using a key. A reward 390 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: was offered in the New York Times by Stuart's right 391 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: hand man and executor, Henry Hilton, but that caused massive 392 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: confusion as people came out of the woodwork with all 393 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: kinds of claims of knowing the location and the body 394 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,640 Speaker 1: of the body. And what had happened, only for those 395 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: claims to run cold. This is unsurprising given what happens 396 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:15,919 Speaker 1: when rewards are offered. Yes, exactly. If you have wondered 397 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,640 Speaker 1: about folks like Burke and Hare and people that were 398 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: known for grave ropping for medical purposes, a lot of 399 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: them were like, yes, I know where it is, and 400 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: then it was like you're not going to get the reward, 401 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,919 Speaker 1: and they were like forget it. Then, well, most of 402 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: the people that were stealing bodies for medical purposes, it 403 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: was not two and a half years later. No, this 404 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: would not have really been a viable body to you. No, 405 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: although those were folks that were known for those crimes, 406 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: were the first to be investigated. No, I think because 407 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: it was like who else Rob's graves? It's weird. The 408 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: strongest lead in the case came in early eighteen seventy nine, 409 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: so just a few a couple of months after he'd vanished, 410 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: when the Postmaster of New York, Paul Henry Jones, was 411 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: contacted by someone named Romayne who said he had the remains, 412 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 1: which did sound like a funny turn of phrase to me, 413 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: and who provided the name plate, which had also been 414 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 1: stolen from the casket as proof. But this whole thing 415 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: only cast suspicion on Jones when he claimed to have 416 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: been contacted with the lead and nothing came of it. 417 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,679 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty one, authorities received a tip that the 418 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: body was in Cypress Hill Cemetery in Brooklyn. That site 419 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: was excavated, but Stuart's remains were not found. Cornelius Stuart, 420 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: undoubtedly frustrated that neither the police nor the private investigators 421 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: that Hilton had hired were making any headway, is said 422 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: to have taken matters into her own hands and started 423 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,440 Speaker 1: communicating with the purported grave robbers. She traded twenty thousand 424 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: dollars for a map to a meeting point and a 425 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,880 Speaker 1: designated time. Her nephew made the trade in a late 426 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 1: night meeting and returned with a bag of bones and 427 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,359 Speaker 1: a piece of the velvet that headlined Stuart's coffin. At 428 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: least that's how things played out, according to the account 429 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 1: of George Washington Walling, who had been chief of the 430 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,639 Speaker 1: NYPD when Stuart's body was stolen. He wrote a book 431 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: titled Recollections of a New York Chief of Police in 432 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,159 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven, in which he included this story. He 433 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: also relayed the detail that the Stuart tomb had been 434 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: broken into a month before the theft, although nothing had 435 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: been taken. His version also indicated that Hilton didn't want 436 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,199 Speaker 1: to give the grave robbers anything on principle, but that 437 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: Cornelia wanted her husband's remains desperately. Whether or not the 438 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,960 Speaker 1: remains that Cornelia got back were Alexander's, that's a matter 439 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,680 Speaker 1: of debate. And then to explain what happened to them next, 440 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: we have to go back to the Garden City project. 441 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: Cornelia Stuart had after her husband's death, really become the 442 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: stewart of Alexander's plan for Garden City, including allocating one 443 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: million dollars for a cathedral to be built in his memory. 444 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,959 Speaker 1: She also managed to get the Diocese of the Episcopal 445 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: Church to move its main offices to Garden City they 446 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: had been in Brooklyn. She also spearheaded the building of 447 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,120 Speaker 1: schools and other key elements to turn Garden City into 448 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,880 Speaker 1: a viable community, and people started to move there. When 449 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 1: Alexander Turney Stuart, or at least what his wife believed 450 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 1: to be him, was buried the second time, it was 451 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: in the Cathedral of Incarnation in Garden City. When she 452 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: died two years later, she was buried by his side, 453 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: And an interesting bit of coincidental timing, when Alexander's body 454 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: was stolen from the grave in Manhattan, it was scheduled 455 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: to be moved just days later to be reinterred in 456 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: Garden City. Yeah, there are a lot of theories that 457 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: that whole thing was like an inside job by somebody 458 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,159 Speaker 1: that knew this plan, and they were like, it's going 459 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: to be moved anyway, it'll be ready. We don't know. 460 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: One of the tragedies of the flailing nature of the 461 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: Stuart Fece fortune was that their house on Fifth Avenue 462 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: was demolished in nineteen oh one, and when the mansion 463 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: was destroyed, so were most of Alexander's in Cornelia's papers, 464 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: so there's little record of their day to day lives. 465 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: Even in his own time, he was seen in contradictory 466 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: terms by some as a miser, by others as a 467 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: generous benefactor, as a moral man in business, and as 468 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: a cutthroat who would crush the little guy. As the 469 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: years have passed, exactly where he falls on any spectrum 470 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,439 Speaker 1: of measure of his character gets blurrier and blurrier and 471 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: more open to interpretation. We do have a quote from 472 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: Stuart given during an interview, which seems to sum up 473 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: his business ideology and to some degree who he was 474 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: as a person. Quote. People come to me and ask 475 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 1: me for my secret of success. Why I have no secret? 476 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: I tell them My business has been a matter of 477 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: principle from the start. That's all there is about it. 478 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: If the Golden rule can be incorporated into purely mercantile affairs, 479 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: it has been done in this establishment. And you must 480 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: have noticed, if you have observed closely, that the customers 481 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: are treated precisely as the seller himself would like to 482 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: be treated were he in their place. That is to say, 483 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: nothing is misrepresented. The price is fixed once and for 484 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: all at the lowest possible figure, and the circumstances of 485 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: the buyer are not suffered to influence the salesman in 486 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: his conduct. In the smallest particular. I think you will 487 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: find the same principle of justice throughout the larger transactions 488 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 1: of the house, and especially in its dealings with employees. 489 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: I do not speak of it as deserving of praise. 490 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 1: We find it absolutely necessary. What we cannot afford is 491 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 1: violation of principle so if nothing else, he was the 492 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: man of principle. That's Alexander T. Stewart, who I find 493 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: to be quite a fascinating gent. Do you have some 494 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: listener mail for us? I do. I'm going to read 495 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: two because there's short ish. Both of them are about 496 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: our William Morgan episodes. She got a good bit of 497 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 1: mail about this. One is from our listener, Shane. Shane, 498 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: get ready to play this for your class, Holly and Dracy. 499 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 1: I am a longtime listener who really enjoyed your two 500 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: part episode on William Morgan. I teach advanced placement US history, 501 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: and my students have always found this incident fascinating. Sidebar, Shane, 502 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: thank you for being an educator. Okay, back to the letter. 503 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: You added much more depth to what I knew and 504 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: will make that lesson even better. The political consequences of 505 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: the Anti Masonic Party is probably more impactful to what 506 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: we are studying. They were the first party to have 507 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: a nominating convention. But I wanted to add a fun fact. 508 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: All three candidates for president in eighteen thirty two, Andrew Jackson, 509 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: Henry Clay, and William Wirt were in fact Mason's This 510 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: is particularly odd since William whort was running as the 511 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: anti Mason candidate, I have read everything from that he 512 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: was a non practicing Mason who grew weary of them, 513 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: to the idea that he was a player in the 514 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: party who just ironically got nominated. Either way, it's an 515 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: interesting twist. You make my commute far more interesting. Two 516 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: mornings each week, I sent you this email from the 517 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: city of Sandusky, one of the few towns in the 518 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: United States laid out upon its founding on the Masonic 519 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: symbols of a square and compass. It helps explain some 520 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: odd five way intersections and sharp turns now. Sandusky is 521 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: much more well known for its amazing theme park, Cedar 522 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: Point roller coaster Capital of the World, and it's beautiful 523 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: revitalized downtown waterfront. Ps. If you happen to mention this 524 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 1: feedback in a future episode, I can use it to 525 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: prove to my students that I am still a history nerd, 526 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:42,480 Speaker 1: which I find to be a compliment. I mean, you 527 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: want your history teacher to nerd out over history. I 528 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: got a shout out in a twenty ten episode and 529 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: unearthed in twenty ten five historical fines and to that effect, 530 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: and I play it in class every single year. Well, Shane, 531 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: now you can do it again. Thank you again for 532 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: listening all this while, and again for being an educator. 533 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: We sure do appreciate it. And then I have one 534 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: more that is a little shorty about the Morgan affair. 535 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 1: This is from our listener Eric, who said I've enjoyed 536 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: your excellent broadcast about freemasonry and the Morgan affair. I'm 537 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: a member of an Albany, New York Lodge, and our 538 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: district Masonic burial plot is in Albany Rural Cemetery. It 539 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: was consecrated on September twenty fifth, eighteen eighty eight, and 540 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 1: is located very near the grave of Thurlow Weed, who 541 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: was laid to rest in eighteen eighty two. Every time 542 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: I visit our plot for a memorial service, I look 543 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: at the classical broken column marking it symbolizing life cut short, 544 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: and can't help but picture it as a rebuke to Weed. 545 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: For my pet tax, I attach a picture of my 546 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: eleven year old boy, Trevor, the best cat ever. Trevor 547 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: is so cute and looks a little like you might 548 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,640 Speaker 1: be trouble in the best way. Thank you, thank you, 549 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: thank you for that Eric Thurlough Weed i s you'll 550 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: recall featured somewhat prominently in that episode. So if you 551 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: would like to write us with you or insights on 552 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: such things, or just to say hi, you don't have 553 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: to have any kind of comment on an episode. If 554 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: you don't want, just like email, you can do that 555 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also 556 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: find us on social media and you can listen to 557 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: the show and subscribe anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. 558 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 559 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 560 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.