JAMES FISK
Name: James Fisk
Born: April 1, 1834
Died: January 6, 1872
James Fisk, Jr. (April 1, 1834 - January 6, 1872), known variously as "Big Jim,"
"Diamond Jim," and "Jubilee Jim," was an American financier. Fisk was born in
Bennington, Vermont. 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. He adopted what he
learned in the circus to his peddling and grew his father's business. He then
became a salesman for Jordan Marsh, 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.
Name: James Fisk
Born: April 1, 1834
Died: January 6, 1872
James Fisk, Jr. (April 1, 1834 - January 6, 1872), known variously as "Big Jim,"
"Diamond Jim," and "Jubilee Jim," was an American financier. Fisk was born in
Bennington, Vermont. 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. He adopted what he
learned in the circus to his peddling and grew his father's business. He then
became a salesman for Jordan Marsh, 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.