JAY GOULD - STOCK CERTIFICATE SIGNED 04/10/1880 - HFSID 5073

JAY GOULD
The controversial rail baron signs a stock certificate of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company.
Stock Certificate signed: "Jay Gould" as President of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company, 1p, 11¾x7¾. New York City, 1880 April 10. Certificate No. B9383, "Lansdale Boardman is the holder of One Hundred Shares of the Capital Stock of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company...." Each share was valued at $100. The certificate was transferred on April 12, 1880 by Boardman, who has signed on verso. In the year he signed this stock certificate, Gould acquired control of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, resuming the construction on the line that had been halted in 1876, when funds ran out. During this period, JAY GOULD (1836-1892) controlled many railroads in the West and was competing against the Union Pacific for a new transcontinental railroad. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad and The Union Pacific, southern branch, a road chartered in 1865, were the first of several short roads to make up the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, organized in 1870. A line from Junction City, Kansas was built southward to the southern border of Kansas by 1870 and to the Texas line by 1872. Subsequent expansion by the end of the century created a system of 2,600 miles extending from Saint Louis and Kansas City, Missouri to San Antonio and Houston. In 1869, financiers Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market but failed when President Grant released government gold. Their unsuccessful attempt caused September 24, 1869 to become known as "Black Friday". In the popular imagination, Gould personified the unscrupulous "robber baron," although some biographers believe this reputation was exaggerated. A private dinner for Republican Presidential candidate James Blaine in 1884, attended by wealthy New Yorkers including Gould and Commodore Vanderbilt, was billed in the press as "the Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine and the Money Kings". Blaine lost New York State by a mere 1,047 votes, and with it the Presidency. Lightly creased with folds, not at signatures. File holes touch the "Ja" of Jay and the "ld" of Gould, the Secretary's signature and 2 signatures on verso. Lightly stained at margins and on verso. Cancellation stamp touches printed text. Overall, fine condition.