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25-408: (Redirected from Jim Fisk ) James Fisk may refer to: James Fisk (financier) (1835–1872) James Brown Fisk (1910–1981), physicist James Fisk (politician) (1763–1844), U.S. Senator from Vermont James L. Fisk (c. 1845–1902), Union Army officer and leader of four expeditions to Montana [REDACTED] Topics referred to by

50-456: A Boston dry goods firm. A failure as a salesman, he was sent to Washington, D.C. , in 1861 to sell textiles to the government. By his shrewd dealing in army contracts during the Civil War , and, by some accounts, cotton smuggling across enemy lines—in which he enlisted the help of his father—he accumulated considerable wealth, which he soon lost in speculation . At the end of the war, he made

75-553: A bid for money, Mansfield and Stokes tried to extort Fisk by threatening the publication of letters written by Fisk to Mansfield that allegedly proved Fisk's legal wrongdoings. A legal and public relations battle followed, but Fisk refused to pay Mansfield anything. Increasingly frustrated and flirting with bankruptcy, Stokes confronted Fisk in New York City on January 6, 1872, in the Grand Central Hotel and shot him twice, in

100-642: A director of the Erie Railroad. Tweed (who later died in prison for embezzlement and fraud), in return, arranged favorable state legislation in Albany for them, legalizing the newly issued shares. Gustavus Myers , an American historian and muckraker , wrote in his survey of railroad fortunes in the U.S. The year 1868 proved a particularly busy one for Vanderbilt. He was engaged in a desperately-devious struggle with Gould. In vain did his agents and lobbyists pour out stacks of money to buy legislative votes enough to defeat

125-440: A few doors down from the Erie Railroad headquarters on West 23rd Street and had a covered passage built linking the back doors of the headquarters and her apartment building. Fisk's relationship with Mansfield scandalized New York society. Mansfield eventually fell in love with Fisk's business associate Edward Stiles Stokes (1840–1901), a man noted for his good looks. Stokes left his wife and family, and Mansfield left Fisk. In

150-574: A fortune by learning of the end of the Siege of Petersburg which guaranteed Confederate defeat and sending an agent on a fast boat to London to short as many Confederate bonds as possible before the news arrived. In 1864 Fisk became a stockbroker in New York City , and was employed by railroad robber baron Daniel Drew as a buyer. He aided Drew in the Erie War against Cornelius Vanderbilt for control of

175-616: A report in June 1872. The rumor quickly spread to Helsinki, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland at the time, and then to Turku , reaching these cities through newspapers in July 1872. Several people in Finland believed they were Fisk's heirs and began claiming a share of the inheritance. The attempts were apparently unsuccessful and the story of the inheritance gradually faded. However, it resurfaced in

200-572: Is buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Brattleboro, Vermont . Fisk was vilified by high society for his amoral and eccentric ways and by many pundits of the day for his business dealings; but he was loved and mourned by the workingmen of New York and the Erie Railroad. He was known as "Colonel" for being the nominal commander of the 9th New York National Guard Infantry Regiment , although his only experience of military action with this unit

225-463: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages James Fisk (financier) James Fisk Jr. (April 1, 1835 – January 7, 1872), known variously as "Big Jim", "Diamond Jim", and "Jubilee Jim" – was an American stockbroker and corporate executive who has been referred to as one of the " robber barons " of the Gilded Age . Though Fisk was admired by

250-456: The CBS radio program Crime Classics on June 29, 1953, in the episode entitled "The Checkered Life and Sudden Death of Colonel James Fisk". After Fisk's death, rumors began circulating in Finland that he had left part of his enormous inheritance to "relatives living in Finland". These rumors are believed to have originated in the town of Porvoo , where the local newspaper, Borgåbladet , published

275-577: The Erie Railroad . This resulted in Fisk and Jay Gould becoming members of the Erie directorate, and subsequently, a well-planned raid netted Fisk and Gould control of the railroad. The association with Gould continued until Fisk's death. Fisk and Gould carried financial buccaneering to extremes: their program included an open alliance with New York politician Boss Tweed , the wholesale bribery of legislatures , and

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300-530: The working class of New York and the Erie Railroad , he achieved much ill-fame for his role in Black Friday in 1869, where he and his partner Jay Gould befriended the unsuspecting President Ulysses S. Grant in an attempt to use the President's good name in a scheme to corner the gold market in New York City. On January 7, 1872, Fisk was assassinated in New York City, in relation to his business dealings. Fisk

325-428: The Erie Railroad stock price and causing him to lose $ 1.5 million. The Panic of 1873 cost him still more, and by 1876, Drew filed for bankruptcy , with debts exceeding a million dollars and no viable assets. He died in 1879, dependent on his son for support. In September 1869, Fisk and Gould with an accomplice engaged in major manipulation of the gold market, triggering the Black Friday panic of 1869 . After Fisk

350-448: The arm and abdomen. A relatively young man of 36, Fisk died of the abdominal wound the next morning after giving a dying declaration identifying Stokes as the killer. Stokes pleaded self-defense, using a wildly incongruent set of mitigating circumstances . He claimed to have been suffering from emotional turmoil at the time he committed the act. Fisk's death was blamed on medical malpractice by those who treated his mortal wound. Stokes

375-529: The bill legalizing Gould's fraudulent issue of stock. Members of the Legislature impassively took money from both parties. Gould personally appeared at Albany with a satchel containing $ 500,000 in greenbacks, which were rapidly distributed. One Senator, as was disclosed by an investigating committee, accepted $ 75,000 from Vanderbilt and then $ 100,000 from Gould, kept both sums, and voted with the dominant Gould forces. Fisk and Gould betrayed Drew, again manipulating

400-442: The buying of judges. Their attempt to corner the gold market culminated in the fateful Black Friday of September 24, 1869. Though many investors were ruined, Fisk and Gould escaped both punishment and significant financial harm. Fisk married Lucy Moore in 1854, when he was 19 and she was 15. Lucy was an orphan, raised by an uncle from Springfield, Massachusetts . She tolerated Fisk's many extramarital affairs, perhaps because she

425-520: The early 20th century when a family in Suodenniemi hired an agent to collect the supposed inheritance. The Fisk inheritance story is now considered one of the many inheritance myths of the period. Notably, Fisk is not known to have had any close relatives in Finland. Erie War Between 1866 and 1868, Daniel Drew conspired with James Fisk and Jay Gould , whom he brought on the board, to issue spurious Erie Railroad shares, thus " watering down "

450-403: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Fisk&oldid=991467531 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

475-420: The stock, of which unsuspecting Cornelius Vanderbilt bought a large quantity. Vanderbilt lost more than $ 7 million in his attempt to gain control over Erie Railway Company, although Gould later returned most of the money under threat of litigation. As a result, Vanderbilt conceded control of the railroad to the trio. They were involved with the corrupt Tammany Hall political party machine, and made Boss Tweed

500-520: Was an inglorious role in the Orange Riot of July 12, 1871. Fisk's life was broadly fictionalized in the biopic The Toast of New York (1937), starring Edward Arnold as Fisk. The Colt House Revolver is known among collectors as the Jim Fisk model or the Jim Fisk pistol, as it was used by Edward Stiles Stokes (Ned Stokes) in his murder. The circumstances surrounding his murder were dramatized in

525-477: Was born in the hamlet of Pownal, Vermont , in Bennington County in 1835. After a brief period in school, he ran away in 1850 and joined Van Amberg's Mammoth Circus & Menagerie. Later, he became a hotel waiter, and finally adopted the business of his father, a peddler . Fisk applied what he learned in the circus to his peddling and grew his father's business. He then became a salesman for Jordan Marsh ,

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550-486: Was happy living with her “childhood friend and inseparable companion,” Fanny Harrod, in Boston. Regardless, they remained close, with Fisk visiting her every few weeks and spending summers and vacations with her every chance he could. In New York, Fisk had a relationship with Josie Mansfield . Mansfield was considered by some a voluptuous beauty by Victorian standards of female desirability. Fisk housed Mansfield in an apartment

575-530: Was laid out for public view in the Grand Opera House , which he had owned. Some twenty thousand people came to pay their respects, with five times as many more individuals waiting in the streets to gain entrance. The 39 letters Fisk had written to Mansfield were published in the New York Herald one week after his death. The letters were commonplace communications between a man and the woman he loved. Fisk

600-477: Was murdered in 1872, Gould eventually gained the advantage in the conflict, but he had to relinquish control in 1872–73, following his loss of $ 1 million worth of Erie Railroad stock to the British confidence man Lord Gordon-Gordon . Public opinion was also hostile to Gould because of his involvement in the 1869 Black Friday stock market crash . In 1878, after all financial swindles and due to continuing mismanagement,

625-529: Was subsequently tried three times for the Fisk homicide. The first trial where he was charged with first degree murder ended in a hung jury , and rumors of jury members bribed. The second trial found him guilty of first degree murder and he was sentenced to death, a verdict overturned by appeal. The third trial concluded with a conviction for manslaughter , and Stokes served four years of a six-year prison sentence in Sing Sing Penitentiary . Fisk's body

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