CHAPTER XXVII
I Get Back Into the Business World.
During the first month of our stay there, I visited the business part of town occasionally and made a few purchases at the house of Boyd, Frazer & Parks, a firm composed of John A. Boyd, who thought he was a merchant; Dr. Frazer, a practicing physician, who tried to be the bookkeeper, and M. M. Parks, who was a farmer, living out in the country, who furnished the money for the business. Boyd knew nothing about keeping or showing off his stock. In appearance it was one of the most conglomerated mixtures of merchandise I ever saw, but they were very popular men, particularly with the farmers in the country, and did a large business, considering their limited territory.
I soon got tired of lying around, doing nothing, but I felt that Rusk was about the safest place I could find anywhere, as the entire community, in sentiment, were true to the Lost Cause, with only one doubtful character, which was Judge M. D. Priest and he was really not a bad man at heart. When we confided my secret to him, telling him my life was in his hands, he appreciated fully the confidence reposed and declared that he never would betray us, which promise he fully kept and of which he afterwards expressed himself as being very proud.
Happening in to Boyd, Frazer & Parks one day, disgusted with the appearance of his stock of goods as kept, although it was none of my business, I concluded this would be a good place to get acquainted, on my knowledge of the business. I proposed to Mr. Boyd, who was the active member, running the business, that with his permission I would rearrange and straighten out his stock, without charge, as I had to remain over for a few weeks, had nothing to do and thought I could improve the appearance of things considerably. He readily consented, so I pulled off my coat and went to work, which proved a great treat to me. In a few days I had made such a change in the appearance of the stock, that customers seemed surprised and asked, “John A., have you been getting in a new stock of goods?” About the third evening, the partners got together, had a consultation and I was asked if I was able to keep books. I told them that I had kept books for a very large business in Southern Texas before the war, when they made me a proposition to go to work for them, keep their books and attend the sales department on a salary of $75.00 per month, which I accepted and soon felt here was the place to keep hid out from the powers that were, as there was no military nearer than Tyler, Jefferson and Shreveport and no one knew of my secret, except Judge Wilson and Judge Priest, whose families were not made acquainted with it.
After considerable time, spent pleasantly at the home of Judge Priest, we decided to move into town for better convenience on account of its being nearer my business. We rented an humble home and went to housekeeping. I soon had an extensive acquaintance through the county, but always in the name of Jones, yet gradually imparting my secret to the most reliable friends I made in the town, notably the Bonner brothers, Judge R. H. Guinn, Judge James E. Dillard and others. After nearly a year in the service of Boyd, Frazer & Parks, I met an old gentleman by the name of T. L. Philleo, who had done an extensive business in general merchandise before the war. Mr. Philleo had a fine storehouse on the north side of the square, empty, except as to some castings, and had owing him perhaps as much as fifty thousand dollars in notes and accounts, acquired before the war. He was unable to collect much of it and conceived the idea that to make a success of this collecting, he ought to go into business again, which he was unable to do, on account of his age. I having established a reputation of being the best merchant in the town, Philleo made a proposition to me to go into copartnership with him. While he had no money he had a most excellent credit in New Orleans and suggested that I could go down there and buy for his account such stock as I needed to enable us to enter into competition with the balance of the town. Canvassing the subject thoroughly, I decided that I could make more money with my half interest in the profits of the concern, than to work on salary. He was willing and anxious to give me the full management and control of the business. Considering my condition then, I decided best to accept, which I did, and soon proceeded to New Orleans, armed with a letter in the name of R. F. Jones, to Speak & Buckner, his old commission merchants, and other leading houses in the different lines of merchandise that we had to buy.
Arriving at New Orleans, I put up at the Southern Hotel, then the headquarters of nearly all Texas merchants, within one block of the custom house, where General Sheridan had his headquarters, and went to work, buying a general stock of merchandise for account of T. L. Philleo & Company; “R. F. Jones being the company,” so Capt. Buckner stated in introducing me. Speak & Buckner also accepted several thousand dollars on cash purchases, such as groceries and staple hardware, nails, etc., for which he asked us to send him cotton in the fall. I now returned home with my purchases and began to feel that I had a new life before me and some prospect of making a good living.
I arranged my stock very attractively, for which the house was well suited, though I had some trouble inducing farmers to come over on my side of the square. It was the only business house over there, the center of business being located on the east and south side. By close application and hard work I gradually succeeded in building up a fair business.
After some months, I found the unpleasant condition of Mr. Philleo’s state of mind, worrying over his old matters and trying to collect, which seemed a complete failure, seemed to bear heavily on his mind and I noticed it was giving way under the pressure. He had a most excellent family, wife and two daughters, who had been raised in wealth and affluence and were somewhat extravagantly inclined, and the thought of perhaps losing all of his outstanding accounts and old age creeping on him very fast, made him very despondent and unhappy. He would go to the store every night after supper, open his safe, take out all of his notes and accounts, scatter them around on his table and a double bed, used by a young man clerk in the store, who reported his actions to me, and would study and look at them, occupying hours, sometimes until one o’clock at night, then replace them in the safe. Many of the makers of the notes and accounts had been killed or died during the war and their estates were not able to pay anything. I was satisfied if this condition continued his mind would finally break down and it kept me in a state of uneasiness. I, therefore concluded that I would wind up this first year’s business and quit, which I finally did, after settling up all bills and the entire business, satisfactorily to all concerned. The year’s business showed us each a net profit of about eighteen hundred dollars; outside of this I had demonstrated the fact that I was able to do a nice, clean business, safely.
Just as I feared, poor Mr. Philleo, some two or three years after, committed suicide in the back room of his store, at night, with his notes and papers laying all around him, stabbing himself with his pocketknife through the heart.
Mr. Philleo was one of the most kind-hearted, benevolent and charitable of men, and was known as such all over the country and he left many friends, but his family was poorly provided for.
After winding up the business of T. L. Philleo & Company, I was offered a position with R. B. Martin, an old merchant of the place, who at one time had done a large business. His stock had been run down for the want of means to keep it up, the result of poor management. Martin had a wealthy brother at Shreveport, of the firm of Gregg & Martin, cotton commission merchants. They had agreed to back him for ten thousand dollars, so he represented to me, with which he expected to buy a fifteen thousand dollar new stock in New Orleans. Martin agreed to pay me a hundred dollars a month to begin with and increase my salary as business justified it. I then proceeded to New Orleans, to buy this stock of goods, stopping over at Shreveport to obtain letters from Gregg & Martin, authorizing me to draw on them for ten thousand dollars.
Mr. Dave Martin denied having promised his brother this acceptance, but told me to go on to New Orleans, that Bob’s credit was good and he could buy all the goods he wanted, without their acceptance. I then proceeded to New Orleans. Calling on his old houses, I found he was owing a great deal of money and having promised through traveling men, who had called on him, that he would furnish Gregg & Martin’s acceptance for ten thousand dollars and then not being able to do so, his credit was so greatly impaired that they refused to sell him any more goods. I then wired Dave Martin again for authority to draw, reporting that Bob was unable to buy goods without his backing. I laid over, awaiting an answer, several days, and in the meantime, called on Speak & Buckner, who were glad to see me. I told them of the failure of my trip, unless I heard favorably from Gregg & Martin.
In the course of conversation, Captain Buckner said, “Jones, you’ve got no business working on salary; why don’t you go into business for yourself?” I said, “Captain Buckner, that is simply out of the question. I have neither name nor money.” He said, “Go and ascertain how much money you will need to buy such stock as you would be willing to start with.” Already acquainted with the custom on terms, I stated that with five thousand dollars in cash I could buy a fifteen-thousand-dollar stock of goods, on four and six months. Captain Buckner said, “Go ahead, and get to work buying and draw on us for five thousand dollars on the same arrangement that I had with T. L. Philleo & Company.” That was to send him cotton next fall. I said, “Captain Buckner, you don’t know who you are talking to, as I have told you I have neither name nor money and you cannot afford to take this risk.” He says, “You go and do what I tell you; I know all about you and don’t want to know anything more.” This gave me to understand that he was acquainted with my trouble and that I was under an assumed name and not having any other prospects of business in Rusk (which I could not afford to leave on account of the great security this place offered), I decided to accept and told Buckner that I would do business in the name of S. A. Wilson & Company, S. A. Wilson, being a lawyer and a great friend of mine. He was well known and a man of great influence. Buckner said to arrange that to suit myself. He was already slightly acquainted with Wilson and well posted on his character as a man. I immediately went to work, buying goods for a stock of general merchandise, which consumed about a week, and when ready to close up matters, Captain Buckner suggested that instead of drawing drafts on them, he give me the money to pay cash, in order to lead the merchants to think that I was paying my own money, thereby establishing a better credit. This was done.
Winding up my affairs in New Orleans, I took the first boat for Shreveport, with my stock of goods aboard, and arrived in Rusk in due time, followed by the stock. When I communicated my actions to Judge Wilson, he seemed greatly surprised, but stated it was perfectly satisfactory. I was at liberty to use him he said, whenever it was necessary. The best storehouse in the place, though isolated from the center of business, was vacant, and I rented this at a nominal figure. When the goods arrived I soon had it the most attractive place in the town.
Bob Martin, of course, was disappointed and made me the scapegoat of his disappointment, blaming me for not buying his stock of goods. I gradually built up a desirable business; went to New Orleans twice a year and bought goods under the very shadow of Sheridan’s headquarters.
When, after several years, the infamous reconstruction era was terminated, the military withdrawn and civil government restored, though in the hands of negroes and Radicals, I decided to assume my identity and proceeded to New Orleans to settle up my bills.
After doing so, I would tell the managers, from this time on, the firm is no longer S. A. Wilson & Company, but simply H. W. Graber. “Why, Mr. Jones, have you sold out?” “No, sir; I have not sold out, but simply correcting a fictitious name.” “Well, who is H. W. Graber?” “This is the man,” which of course created surprise and when asked for explanation, would tell them that I had been forced to hide out for nearly four years, to keep General Sheridan from having me shot down, which he had ordered his Texas garrisons to do, without the benefit of a court martial, therefore I was forced to resort to hiding my identity. I then suggested, as these people were all Northern houses, that, “You don’t want to sell me any more goods?” when they said, “Mr. Graber, go ahead and buy all the goods you want; your credit is not the least impaired; a man that can pass through such an ordeal, as you have done, unscathed, is entitled to more credit than he needs.”
While, of course, this created a sensation in New Orleans business circles, the most astonished man of them all was Captain R. T. Buckner, who, it seems, didn’t know as much as he thought he did, when he handed me his money.
Soon after my arrival at Rusk, I was made a Mason and also joined the Odd Fellows Lodge. I joined these institutions in my own name, satisfied that my secret would be safe with the membership. During a great revival of the union of all churches, wife and I joined the Presbyterian Church and I was ordained a deacon in the church, in due time.