JAMES

See also:

• JAMES FISK (1834-1872)
• FISK, WILBUR (1792-1839)

FISK (1834-1872)  , American financier, was born at Bennington, Vermont, on the 1st of April 1834 . After a brief period in school he ran away and joined a circus . Later he became a hotel waiter, and finally adopted the business of his father, a pedlar . He then became a salesman for a Boston dry goods firm, his aptitude and energy eventually winning for him a share in the business . By his shrewd dealing in army contracts during the Civil War, and it is said by engaging in cotton smuggling,he accumulated a considerable capital which he soon lost in speculation . In 1864 he became a stockbroker in New York and was employed by Daniel Drew as a buyer . He aided Drew in his war against Vanderbilt for the control of the Erie railway, and as a result of the compromise that was reached he and Jay Gould became members of the Erie directorate . The association with Gould thus began continued until his death . Subsequently by a well-planned " raid," Fisk and Gould obtained control of the road . They carried financial " buccaneering " to extremes, their programme including open alliance with the Tweed " ring," the wholesale bribery of legislatures and the buying of judges . Their attempt to .corner the gold market culminated in the fateful Black Friday of the 24th of September 1869 . Fisk was shot and killed in New York City by E .

S .

Stokes, a former business associate, on the 6th of January 1872 .