George Jay Gould I

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George Jay Gould

Born February 6, 1864(1864-02-06)
Died May 16, 1923 (aged 59)
French Riviera
Spouse Edith Kingdon
Children Helen Vivien Gould
Kingdon Gould
Jay Gould II
Marjorie Gould
George Jay Gould II
Gloria Gould
Parents Jay Gould

George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading both the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad.

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[edit] Railroad management

While in charge of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW) at the turn of the 20th century, he sent DRGW surveyors and engineers through California's Feather River canyon to stake out a route for the DRGW to reach San Francisco, California. Through legal wranglings led by E. H. Harriman, who at the time led both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, Gould was forced to set up third-party companies to manage the surveying and construction to disguise his role. The route that Gould's engineers built became the Western Pacific Railroad's (WP) mainline.

In later years, the DRGW and WP would work together on trains that were passed off to each other in Salt Lake City, Utah, including the prestigious passenger train, the California Zephyr.

[edit] Birth, marriage and children

George was the son of Jay Gould (1836-1892) and Helen Day Miller (1838-1889). Upon his father's death George inherited the Gould fortune and his father's railroad holdings.

He married Edith M. Kingdon (1864-1921), a stage actress, and had the following children:

George Gould also had a mistress, Guinevere Jeanne Sinclair, and had the following children with her:

  • Jane Sinclair Gould
  • George Sinclair Gould
  • Guinevere Gould

These children were given the Gould name at the death of Edith Kingdon Gould in 1921.

Time magazine wrote on March 23, 1925: "Of the seven older children by his first marriage — Kingdon, Jay, George Jay Jr., Marjorie, Vivien, Edith, Gloria — three eloped, one married an English nobleman, and one the daughter of a Hawaiian princess." [1]

[edit] Death and burial

He died of pneumonia on May 16, 1923, on the French Riviera after contracting a fever in Egypt after visiting the tomb of Tutankhamen. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York. His estate was valued at $15,054,627 but after debts were paid it was worth $5,175,590 in 1933 dollars. [2][3]

[edit] Legacy

Gould's estate in Lakewood, New Jersey is now the site of Georgian Court University.

[edit] Timeline

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Goulds Are Going", Time (magazine). Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "George Jay, the eldest son, undertook to complete his father's transcontinental system and "muffed it." He started building the Western Pacific. He fought Harriman, Morgan and Kuhn, Loeb & Co. He bought an entrance into Pittsburgh for the Wabash at a great price. When the panic of 1907 came, several of the roads were in poor condition, went into bankruptcy and George Jay was obliged to go to his enemies for money. He lost control of the Missouri Pacific, of the Western Union Telegraph Co., of the Denver & Rio Grande. He lost the Western Pacific, the Texas Pacific. Meanwhile, his losses had aroused his brothers and sisters, who succeeded in ousting him from control of his father's estate. The fight is still on, although George Jay died nearly two years ago. His brothers and sisters are trying to recover $30,000,000, which they say he lost from the estate by mismanagement, from his ten children by two marriages. Of the seven older children by his first marriage — Kingdon, Jay, George Jay Jr., Marjorie, Vivien, Edith, Gloria — three eloped, one married an English nobleman, and one the daughter of a Hawaiian princess." 
  2. ^ "G.J. Gould Estate is Only $5,175,590. Reduced From $15,054,627 in Settling Suits Over His Father's Fortune.", New York Times, January 7, 1933. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. "An appraisal filed yesterday of the New York estate of George J. Gould, who died May 16, 1923, a resident of New Jersey, showed that the property taxable here was worth only $60,592, consisting of his place at Furlough Lake, in the Catskills, with its contents, and personal effects in New York City." 
  3. ^ "George J. Gould Dies in Villa in France. Leaves $30,000,000. With His Second Wife and Her Children Near, He Yearned for His Sons. Last Malady a Secret. Death Holds Up Litigation With Family Over His Father's Estate. First Became Ill in March. Had Apparently Regained Health When He Suffered a Relapse.", New York Times, May 17, 1923. Retrieved on 2008-05-23. "George Jay Gould died this morning at 3:30 o'clock at the Villa Zoralde, Cap Martin, where he had been living for some months with his wife and her two children. His death, it was stated at the villa, came quietly and was expected, as he had never rallied from the illness from which he had been suffering all Winter."