James Fisk

James Fisk (1834-1872), American financier, born in Bennington, Vermont. He began as a peddler in New England and worked his way up to a partnership in a Boston dry goods firm. During the American Civil War he made a fortune on government contracts and by running cotton through the blockade. In 1866, with the aid of the American financier Daniel Drew, he founded the brokerage house of Fisk and Belden in New York City. He participated in the successful operation carried out by Drew and the Jay Gould interests to deprive Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder of the Vanderbilt family fortune, of his holdings in the Erie Railroad. At the conclusion of this financial battle, Fisk and Gould were in control of the railroad as vice president and president, respectively. Together they carried out various financial and speculative operations that involved the bribery of government officials on city, state, and national levels. Their projects culminated in the so-called gold conspiracy of 1868 and 1869, in which their success in driving up the price of gold resulted in a countrywide depression. Their attempt to corner the market in gold resulted in the financial panic of the famous Black Friday of September 24, 1869. They failed only because President Ulysses S. Grant released government gold for sale.