Road, and maintained his connection with and supervision
over it up to the time of his death. His life was a busy
one in these dii-ections. He was a director in the City,
Meirantile and Second National Banks. Of the last two he
was one of the founders. He was a trustee in the Farmers'
Loan and Trust Company, in the United States Trust Com-
j)any, in the Bank for Savings, now located in Bleecker
Street, and in vai'ious other organizations of the kind. Of
1 hr best judgment, of an integrity beyond suspicion, he was
a iiKxltd trustee, and was constantly sought for to act in
liduciary capacities. While largely absorbed in these
businesses, he never neglected the obligations which every
conscientious citizen feels to society, the church and his
country. At the breaking out of the war, the preservation
of tile Union became his chief concern. He aided by
st-rvice on Committees, by generous contributions, and en-
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 203
t]M.sinstir.a]ly supported the Union League Club, whose
of)j<'ff was to make loyalty fashionable.
In the Chanjber of Commerce, the IS'ew-England Society
tlM- Historical Society and all similar institutions he was a
m<*ml)fr.
H'- disliked the roughness of practical politics, but never
faih'd to vote for and to contribute to the party he thoui,dit
in tlM* riglit. He ran for office once only. A contingency
Ke<^med to make it his duty to run for State Senator^on a
Citizens' ticket in the district where he lived. He received
a good votf^, })ut was not elected, nor did he expect to l>e.
lie, retired from business, as we have seen, at an early
age. He resumed it temporarily and nominally for the
pui-pose of adding the strength of his name to one of the
remnants of liis old firm, and for a year or two after the
panic of 1857 the name of Phelps, Bliss & Co. Avas seen
on the front of 'MO Broadway, the great mercantile palace
lie liad built years before on the site of the Tabernacle.
Mr. PiiKM's had worked too hard, and at fifty years of
age his health was broken. He spent the last eigiit years
of his life in travel, in study in the quiet of his libraiy and
in the enjoyment of the society of his friends. Of admii-a-
))le ca])aciry, of stainless honor, enjoying the respect of all
and the allVction of his friends, he waited patiently for his
summons, and died peacefully on the 12th day of May,
ISO'.), in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He was buried
among his ancestors in Simsbury, Conn.
MARSHALL O. ROBERTS.
^L^kshall O. Robekts was one of New- York's most
enter])rising merchants and sliip-owners. lie was born in
this City on March 22d, 1813. His father, Owex Rohkims,
was a physician, and came to this country from AVales in
1708. Before Marshall was eight years old his father and
nu^tlier died. At the age of fourteen he became a clerk in
the ship chandlery of William Spies, at a salary of three-
204 PORTRAIT GALLERY.
liuiulred dollars a year. Three years later Mr. Spies died,
and his successor, iiiiding young Roberts intelligent and
useful to him in liis business, continued him in his employ
and doubled his salary. By extreme frugality Marshall
saved a large part of his income, and at the age of twenty
lie was enabled to start business for himself. His store,
which was also his home, was at Coenties Slip,
The Battery was then the fashionable place for the resi-
dences of the prominent merchants, who used to go at an
early hour to Fulton Market for the family supplies. Pas-
sing young Roberts' store their attention was attracted by
the industrious habits of the enterprising youth, and they
were accustomed to stop and pass a kindly word, until
finally they became so interested in his welfare as to offer
him ])ecuniary aid when he saw an opportunity for a profit-
able investment. Through their assistance he was enabled
to enlarge his business, and by degrees he obtained to a
great extent the control of the Russian hemp market.
By operating in Naval Stores and from his careful study
of the Whale Fishery, he was able to supply the Gov-
ernment with oil at prices which defied competition. His
unceasing vigilance, his acquaintance with the commercial
needs of the country, his energy and fidelity to every
engagement, gave him unbounded credit, and enabled
him 1o undertake those enterj^rises which led to the
accumulation of the large fortune he left at his death.
Fi(im his building of the Hudson River steamer, "Hen-
drik Hudson," a marvel at the time, to the construction
of ihc Texas and Pacific Railway, there was scarcely
a jiroject of steam navigation or railway transit in the
I'nitcd States in which he was not an active participant.
The discovery of gold in (California in 1849 gave full
sco])e to his ability in foreseeing and seizing an opportunity
fdi- abiiost boundless profits from trade with that newly-
acquii-ed teiTifory. He was one of the chief promoters of
the Adaiilic (':i1)l(' cnterpi-ise.
T)ui-ing ihc Civil wai* Mr. Roberts was a firm supporter
of the (TovcniuKMit, and made liberal contributions towards
raising and ('(inijipinu' regiments, and i)roviding for the
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. «J0.")
w(jU]i(1<-(1. The poor always foimcl in him a friend, and lie
.sjx'nt larx«- sums in numerous charities.
In «'arl y life Mr. Roberts took a deep interest in political
affairs, and was known as a Heney Clay Whig. Between
Mr. Clay and Mr. Roberts the most friendly rehitions
existed, and continued until the death of that illustrious
statesnia n. Mr. Roberts was urged to accept several promi-
iieiit ofliccs under the Government, all of wdiich he declined.
Ill is*;.") he consented to stand as the Republican candidate
foi- Mayoi- of tliis City, and was believed by many to have
been ekM'ted, Imt the result was decided in favor of his
<»|»lt<>?ient })y a small majority.
Ml'. Romkhts was an intense lover of art, and in him
artists bdind a liberal and encouraging friend. In his large
collection of i)aintings will be found many master-pieces
of ancient and modern times. The portrait of Mr. Roberts
is fn»ni I his colh-ction, and it becomes peculiarly interesting
at this time, wdien the members of the Chamber are advo-
cating measures for the restoration to its former prestige of
the shipjiing of the country, for it should be remembei-ed
tliat the enterprise and sagacity of Mr. Roberts contributed
in a large degree in making the United States in his day
the lirst among the maritime nations of the w^orld.
Mr. Rohkuts was elected a member of the Chamber of
Commerce .Inly Cth, 1865, and continued his memberslii])
until his death, which occurred in this City September 11th,
1880, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.
RUFUS PRIME.
RuFi's Prime was born at No. 42 (now No. 54) Wall-
street, in the City of New- York, January 28th, 1800, and was
the second son of Nathaniel Prime, of the banking house
of Prime, Ward & King. Rufus Prime entered Yale
College in 1825, but left before graduating and entered mer-
cantile life. Afterwards, with Archibald Gracie, Jr.,
and John C. Jay, he established the firm of Archibald
206 PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Gracie & Co.. which conducted a general commission busi-
ness for many years. At a later period he became a partner
in the bnnking house of Christmas, Livingston, Prime &
Coster, from whicli he retired in 1841. Mr. Prime was one
of the founders of the Union Club of this City. For tifty-
two years he had been connected with the Chamber of Com-
merce, having been elected a member October 1st, 1833.
He died at his country home, at Huntington, L. I., October
lotli, 188.5, leaving four children — a daughter and three
sons. Mr. Prime was a man of genial disposition, and
although he led a somewhat uneventful life, he neverthe-
less took a deep interest in all questions affecting the
general good of the community.
GEORGE T. TRIMBLE.
Gri:oRGE Thomas Trimble, the eldest child of Richard
and Anist (Roberts) Tiumble, was born at Morrisville,
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, August 17ih, 1793.
Hispaienis removed to Newburgh, N. Y.,' in 1800, and
he was educated at the Newburgh Academy, the Friends'
Boarding School at West Town, Pa., and the school of
Dr. John Griscom, in Litlle Green Street, now Liberty
Place, New-York City. Soon after Ipiiving school he en-
tered the counting-house of Buckley & Abbatt, flour
merchants, in Front Street, near Dover, and remained with
tliem until he became of age. In May, 1815, he began
business on his own account as a flour and grain com-
mission merchant at 25 South Street, and in August, 1817,
became a member of the firm of Byrnes, Trimble & Co.,
comi)osed of Thomas S. Byrnes, Silas Wood and himself.
This was some years before the opening of the Erie Canal,
when the chief supplies of breadstuffs for this market came
from Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the firm for several
years was among the largest receivers of flour and grain
from tide-water, Virginia, Mr. Wood residing at Freder-
icksburg to promote that part of the business. They
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 207
berame, also, owners and managers of several merchant
shii>s, and in 1818 established the second or "Star'' Line
of Liverpool packets, the old or " Black Ball" Line having
been started a year or two earlier by Isaac Wiught & Sox
find .Ikuemiah Thompson. Mr. Thimble became deeply
interested in the management of these ships, for which his
regular and punctual habits and somewhat masterful dis-
j)ositi()n well fitted him ; and to the zeal and energy with
which he devoted himself to conducting the packet service
is due no small share of the reputation attained by the old
" Liverpool Linei'8."
In 1821 he paid his first and only visit to England, in
the course of which arrangements were made to transfer
the consignment of the line at Liverpool to William and
Jamks Bhown & Co., with which house his friend, Joseph
Shm'ley, had recently become connected. The relation
then established grew into one of mutual esteem and confi-
dence, and continued in unbroken cordiality as long as
Mr. TiUMHLE remained in business.
Mr. Byrnes died in 182C, but the business was continued
under tlin same name until 1831, when Mr. Wood, having
returned to this City to take an active share in its manage-
ment, the lirm became Wood & Trimble, and so continued
uniil its iinal dissolution, September 11th, 1835, after
ihe sale of their shipping interest to Robert Kep.mit.
Subsecpienily Mr. Trimble became interested with some
of his old captains in several transient ships, which he
managed for a number of years, but retired from business
entirely in 1848.
He was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce
November (Uh, 1827, and took an active part in its airiiirs
for twenty years, serving on its Commitiees, and visiting
Albnny and Washington on special occasions to represent
the vievvs of the Chamber on questions of legislation alJ'ect-
ing the commerce of New- York.
He was, from conviction, a Free Trader, and, as such,
was elected Vice-President May 2d, 1843, but declined to
serve.
No notice of Mr. Trimble, however slight, would be
208 POKTRAIT GALLERY.
complete without reference to his interest in the educa-
tional and charitable institutions of New- York.
In 1818 he became a trustee of the Free School Society,
afterwards the " Public School Society," and for thirty-five
years was unremitting in his devotion to the cause of com-
mon school education. He was Treasurer of the Society
for several years and its last President, serving until its
dissolution in 1853.
From 1823 to 18G0 he was a trustee of the New- York
Dispensary.
In 1846 he was elected a Governor of the New- York
Hospital, and w^as President of the Society from 1858 until
his death in 1872. By virtue of that office he became a
trustee of the Roosevelt Hospital on its organization in
1864, when he was elected its Treasurer, and continued in
charge of its finances for the rest of his life.
The only financial institution with which he was con-
nected was the Bank for Savings, of which he was a trustee
from 1854 to 1872.
He never sought an office, and never held one from
which he received any pecuniary compensation or advan-
tage.
Mr. Trimble was by birthright and education a member
of the Society of Friends, and his ideas of life were founded
on their distinctive principles. He believed in moderation
in all things, and, although "diligent in business," was
not eager for gain, but gave freely of both time and money
to such ])ractical work as he thought conducive to the
welfare of the community.
His uprightness of character and his faithful performance
of every duty he assumed, gave him the respect and confi-
dence of all who knew him. He died at his residence
in this City, May 16th, 1872^ in the seventy-ninth year of
Ids age.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 209
ISAAC SHERMAN.
ALTiioiiGir few are more worthy of a place in the
Cliatiil.er of Commerre, yet, if his wishes could have been
••onsulfed, it is (loiiI)!ful if the subject of this sketch wouhl
havejiHowed his jiortrait to adorn its walls, so great was
his aversion to i)ersonal distinction.
Mr. SiiKijMAN was a merchant of rare ability, and met
wiih a full measure of success. He was born in Peters-
biiri^di, Kcnsselaer County, New- York, January 25th, 1818.
His faniiiy i •■moved to the western part of the State when
Isaac was quite a lad. In April, 1840, he engaged in the
bnsin<*ss of lutnberand staves at Buffalo, and about lb^43
ln' married Miss Elizabeth Wetherell, by whom he
had (wo childi't'n, daughters, one of whom, the youngest,
dif'd al a tender age.
Being a prosperous business man, and having acquired
a local reputation for sagacity and political knowledge, he
was induced by his friends to run for member of Assembly
from Erie County in 1845, and for Mayor in 1846 and 1847,
but was beaten by his Whig competitors. These results
seemed to satisfy his aspirations, as he never afterwards
was a candidate for political office, although he was Presi-
dent of the Young Men's Library Association of Buffalo in
184<J. This corporation, now the Buffalo Library, is the
most prosperous literary institution in Western New- York.
After acquiring a moderate fortune, Mr. Shermax closed
u]) his business, and, with his wife and daughter, visited
Europe.
Coming to New- York in the spring of 1853, he purchased
the stave business of the late William Denxistou.x, and
associated with him Bexjamix F. Romaixe, forming the
house of Sherman & Romaine. Four years later, Joir.v
P. TowNSEND and IIexry Wibirt, clerks of the house,
were admitted to an interest in the business, though the
lirm name remained unchanged.
For nine years this firm carried on the largest business
in the sale of rough staves for exportation that was ever
14
210 PORTEAIT GALLERY.
done in the country. In some years the quantity sold and
exported to nearly every foreign port amounted to
14,000,000, or equal^o 240 full cargoes for vessels, each of
400 tons burden ; but as they were not always loaded by
full cargoes, about a thousand vessels per annum were
supplied with quantities sufficient for storage with other
merchandise and as dunnage throughout the ships.
In 18G2 the house dissolved, Mr. Romatne retiring
temporarily from business. Mr. Townsend founded the
present house of Duttox & Townsend, and Mr. Sherman
established the lirm of Sherman & AYiwrt, which was
continued for four years, when they dissolved, and Mr.
Sjikuman finally retired from active business in 186G.
During Mr. Siikrman's commercial career he was a
leader in his branch of business, and met with uniform
success. His keen insight and unerring sagacity made
him master of every situation, although giving little appa-
rent attention to details.
Besides his commercial ability, he stored his mind with
useful knowledge ; he studied the political and legal history
of his country and the lives of its public men, and becom-
ing a warm admirer of Thomas Jefferson, adopted his
political creed for his own guidance.
He was a free soil Democrat in 1848, and became a Ke-
l>ublican when it was a national party. He procured the
nomination of John C. Fremont for the Presidency, and
managed with ability his political campaign in 1856.
He admired the character of Abraham Lincoln, and
heartily favored him for the Presidency in I860 ; after the
electicm, ]\li-. LixcoLN offered him the portfolio of Secretary
of the Treasury, but he preferivd to be his counsellor with-
out official designation, and it is safe to say there was no
person, outside the City of Washington, who rendered
more intelligent service, or whose opinions were oftener
sought l)y the President.
lb' opposed ihc ))ill offered in Congress, in 1861, to issue
legal lender notes to circulate as money, and suggested
heavy taxation in various forms as the best plan for raising
revenue to carry on the war, and only assented to the law.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 211
nff.T f ho immediate and pressing needs of the Government
Iliad'- it necessary.
Ii<; :ihvays believed that the necessity need not have
arisen, had tlie taxes, which were afterwards levied, been
imi.(.s<.<l ..ailier, and maintained that the war could li;ive
\>*'f'U ("ini<'d to a successful conclusion with currency on a
specie l.asis wifiiout a violation of the Constitution. He
consid.Tcd (he "greenbacks" (legal tender notes) a forced
h»aM \'\<>iu tjie people, and urged their retirement by the
(Government aftei- the close of the war, and that prepaiation
.sli(»uld be made for resumption on a gold basis.
lie joined the I'nion League Club the year of its organ-
i/,:ilioii, in |S(j:{, and continued a member until his death ;
Iheiv Ills lalUs on linancial topics w^ere highly esteemed,
and were listened to with pleasure. His reputation as an
aulli(!iity on the laws of taxation, in October, 1874, in-
<luced (he Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, of
this Stale, to re<piest him to appear before it, Avhen he
made an exhaustive argument, which showed extraordinary
knowiedgt; and research, in which he favored the exclusive
taxation «»f real estate and the franchises of a few specihed
moneyed corporations and gas companies. His fame as a
liolitical economist induced the Trustees of the University
of Rochester, in 18S0, to confer upon him the degree of
])octor of Laws, in which institution, some years before, he
had founded a scholarship of political economy.
Mr. SiiKii.MAX was frank and hearty in his manner, but
liis aversion to notoriety caused him to decline every office
or ]tlac.' on C'ommittees, either in the Chamber of Com-
merce, of which he was for many years a member, or else-
where, but liis advice and connsel were often sought and
freely given ; the powders of his mind were extraordinary ;
capable of grasping almost any subject, and none of im-
portance were indifferent to him ; he was a true patii<jt,
and had a hiijjh idea of public duty.
He died in\his City, January 21st, 1881, leaving a widow
and a married dauii-hter.— Joiix P. TowysEXD.
0]0 PUinKAlT GALLERY.
SIMEON B. CHITTENDEN.
SiMi:cN Baldwin Ciiittknden was born on the 29tli of
M;im1). 1814, ill fli<' little town of Guilford, New-Haven
(â– .,miiv. Ccnnecticul. He was the son of Abel Ciiitten-
DKN and Anna IIaiit Baldwin. His family was founded
in iliis country in 1030, by AVilliam Chittknden, a native
(.f (•nml.r()<»k* County of Kent, England, who was one of
ih.' lirst settlers of Guilford. Mr. Abel Chittenden died
\\hil«- his son was frtill young, and the boy began his busi-
ness lil'.- in his fourteenth year as a clerk in a store in New-
llnvrii, whither he was persuaded to go by his pastor,
und.r whom he was at the time preparing to enter Yale
College. From that time his schooling was confined to such
as lie could give himself in the scants leisure of a life of hard
woik : I'ut it may be said here that this difficult schooling
srrv.'d i<» developmental qualities of a very high order, and
ih:ii loth as a si)eaker and a writer in his maturer years he
was ill.' master of a clear, cogent, and often brilliant style,
that his i-ange of expression, the accuracy of his reasoning,
the logical order of its development and the luminousness
of his ilJMsti-ation were such as a trained scholar might
envv. It in.iv be added, also, that lie showed throughout
his lif«* a keen appreciation of the value of education, and
ihat lliegeiiei-osity of his gifts, when he had gained wealth,
l<» ]ironiote education was only equalled by the intelligence
and foresight with whi<'h they were directed.
After a f.'w years of ))usiness in New-Haven, Mr. CiiiT-
•jkm»i;n esial»lish«^d liiniself in the wholesale dry goods
Irad.-in N'ew-Yoik in LS42, and remained in it until 1874,
wIm'Ii 1i«' r.-iii.(|. sliortly after his election to Congress from
th.- 'I'hird ( IJnx.klyn) District of New-York. During that
line- his career was an lionoiahle and a prosperous one.
Il<' passed unscathed through the commercial and financial
rrises of lb'40, ISf)? and bS?:}, and won a reputation for
hcniiiuloiis observance of his obligations, as well as for
r<mrage, sagacity and activity. He became connected with
a nnriilx-rdf financial institutions, was fornearly thirty-three
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 213
yt'iUfi ;m ncfive mem])er of the Chamber of Commerce, and a
Vir-e-Presirh-nr from 1867 to 186;) ; one of the loundersof the
ContirMMituI Fire Insurance Company and of the Conti-
nental liank ; a Trii.stee of the United States Trust Com-
pany, a J )i rector of the Union Ferry Company, and in
several railway companies, and President of the Nevv-
Ilaven and XfMv London Ilaih"oad Company. Durinf^- the
war for tlir Union he was one of the originators of the
U'nion Defence Coniniittee of New- York, and of the cor-
respondini; organization, the War Fund Committee, of
Brooklyn.
Ill IS7I Mr. CiiiTTEXDEN was elected to Congress for the
Hliort session of t lie 43(1 and the full term of the 44th Congress,
and was siihsecjuently re-elected to the 45th and 46tli Con-
/^resses. I [<' served in all seven years. In politics he was an
IndcjM'iKh'iit KcjiuMican. During this period, his party,
tlKMigli contr<ilIing the Presidency and the Senate, was in
a minority in the House of Ilepresentatives. Mr. Chit-
TKNOKN naturally took an active part in the discussion of
the currency and liscal questions which, from 1S74 to 18S1,
held the attention of Congress and the country. His ser-
vices to the cause of sound finance, not only at this time, l)ut
during the long and troul)led period, from the close of the
civil war t(» the time of his retirement from active life, were
various and valuable. He had been familiar, at an early
stage ill his business career, with the banking s^^stem of
New-England, and i)articularly with the methods of con-
tinuous redemption through the agency of the old Suffolk
Bank, lie had acquired a very clear and comprehensive
concei>tion of the functions of a credit currency, of the
conditions of its safety and usefulness, of the limitations
within which it could properly be employed, and of the
obligations that it involved. His sensitive and vigorous
conscience, which, in his personal affairs, made the sci-u-
pulous fultillment of every contract of the most imperative
impt)rtance, caused him to appreciate more clearly than
most the duty imposed on all institutions claiming the
right to use their notes as money. No one understood
better than he the immense advantages to the community
:il4 iN)r.Tr;AiT gallery.
:U l.-iri^e of fuirency of tin's kind. His keen and quick
infHllf^cf y»erreived lliar it was absolutely essential to any
ade(|Mai • :icci.iiij)lishnient of the work of exchange in com-
luiinitiHsso \ai-ied, so active, so widely scattered as those
«»r iIk- I'liited States. But he perceived with .equal clear-
iiHss till' dangers attending it. His conception of the
piincipirs of sound baidving was the basis of his view of
ili«^ duty and policy of the (fovernment in dealing Avith the
iisf (if its notes as money.
hi .l;i!n;ai-y. 1874, at the Baltimore meeting of the ISTa-
tional lioard of Trade, he outlined his view in the follow-
iiiir n^solntion : " That all iiatitmal banks shall be required
I., provide for the redemption of their notes in legal tenders
:ii ihr ••hicf points of specie imports and exports, and that
ih«* si?npl('st and best method for securing an elastic cur-
riMicy will be found in the removal of all restrictions upon