SOME PROMINENT MERCHANTS
Some of the pioneers in what, in the
best sense of the term, is Trenton's "big business" were such men as
Henderson G. Scudder, Sering P. Dunham, John H. Scudder, Joseph Allen
Southwick, Colonel Eckford Moore, Thomas C. Hill, Captain Lawrence Farrell,
John W. Manning, William J. Convery, William Dolton, John Taylor, Frank J.
Wetzel, James C. Tattersall, John G. Conner, Richard Wilson, the Colemans, the
Vannests, the Thomases, the Richardsons and others, all of whom have left their
mark on the trade of the city. Some of them have been succeeded in business by
their sons and their sons' sons, so that in these later days big mercantile
interests are in the hands of such men as Edward W. Dunham, William V. Coleman,
J. Ferd Convery, John W. Manning, Frederick W. Donnelly, Frederick S. Donnelly,
Horace Mann, Nevius Brothers and others.
Trenton's value as a merchandising
center early impressed itself upon keen minds in other places and has continued
to do so. The result has been the constant opening of new enterprises and the
introduction of new blood into those already established. These newcomers have
included men from nearby towns and farming communities, as well as from the
larger cities. Smith Lamson came here from South Jersey, after a bit of
experience in Bordentown, and soon associated himself with the Dunham concern.
H. M. and E. D. Voorhees came from Hightstown, first to clerk for others and
soon to have a magnificent store of their own. The Dunhams came originally from
Somerville, where the Nevius brothers were also located with one of their
branch stores.
Then, too, came the Goldbergs, the
Wirtschafters, the Hoenigs, the Swerns, the Lissners, the Hiedelmans, the
Urkens, the Cohens, the Kuhns, the Fulds and scores of other Jewish merchants
who have built up great business enterprises, often from such humble beginnings
as to add romance to the always interesting story of buying and selling.
Two especially notable instances of
Jewish success may be mentioned. Isaac Goldberg came to
America as a poor Russian immigrant. He was imbued with the idea of making
enough money to do for children what no one had done for him in the way of
pleasure and recreation. His advent in Trenton was in the nature of a canvasser
from door to door. In a few years he was the owner of a great department store,
with a silk-manufacturing branch in Japan and connections with the great marts
of the world. A few years more he was the president of a bank, established
largely through his own enterprise and initiative. And as soon as he prospered
he began doing something for the children of the poor, so that for years the
Goldberg picnics for boys and girls in humble circumstances have been among the
recognized and appreciated philanthropies of Trenton. Then there is the case
of Henry Wirtschafter. Beaten down in Philadelphia by circumstances
over which he had no control, Mr. Wirtschafter loaded a few belongings on a
small cart and pushed it the thirty miles and more to Trenton. Here, with his
clever wife for a clerk as well as a source of comfort and encouragement, he
established a store so small that it was sometimes jeeringly referred to as a
"hole in the wall." But that was not for long. The business grew
amazingly and in a comparatively few years the little store gave place to a big
one, one of the more prominent department stores of the city.
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