Bag of Bones

by J. North Conway

  Trying to keep the retail empire running, Hilton was forced to borrow money and then was unable to meet his outstanding debts. By 1898, just a year before he died, most of the Stewart fortune was gone. Having accepted the fact that he could not replicate the success of Stewart, Hilton turned the operations of the company over to his sons until finally Albert Hilton was placed in charge. In January 1899 Albert Hilton filed for bankruptcy, claiming he owed more than twelve thousand creditors approximately $2.5 million. Henry Hilton had financed his son’s business venture to the tune of $4 million, it was revealed in court documents.

  All good things and bad must come to an end. Henry Hilton died at Woodlawn Park, his summer home in Saratoga, New York, on August 24, 1899. He was seventy-eight years old.

  For a man upon whom fortune had smiled, Hilton was never able to achieve the success that his benefactor, Alexander T. Stewart, had. From the time Stewart died in 1876 and the subsequent death of his widow, Cornelia, in 1886, Hilton had been plagued by lawsuits over the Stewart will and suffered one humiliating loss after another in his various business ventures.

  HENRY HILTON IS DEAD

  SUFFERED A RELAPSE AND EXPIRED AT

  SARATOGA YESTERDAY

  Once Had Stewart Millions

  Was The Merchant’s Sole Advisor,

  But Could Not Retain The Wealth

  After Stewart’s Death

  SARATOGA, N.Y., Aug. 24—Ex-Judge Henry Hilton of New York died at 5:30 o’clock this afternoon at his Summer home, Woodlawn Park, after a long illness. He suffered a relapse this afternoon. … Funeral services will be held and the remains taken to Greenwood.

  —New York Times

  August 25, 1899

  Hilton’s funeral service was held on August 27 at the Bethesda Episcopal Church, and he was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in New York. It was truly the end of the A. T. Stewart saga.

  Henry Hilton, to all appearances, was only what Stewart and Stewart’s fortune made him. … In this decade, and in the next decade, marked by the failure of Hilton, Hughes & Co., made notable by the rapid dissipation of one of the greatest fortunes ever amassed by trade. … Firm after firm that was heralded as the successor of A.T. Stewart took up portions of the gigantic business enterprise, only to fail, and so aid in the destruction of the treasure hoard. … Money was squandered fast that more had to be borrowed to conduct the immense business now going to wreck. … In 1898 the son of Mr. Hilton confessed in court that he owed his father some $4,250,000—one of the last remnants of the vast Stewart estate.

  —New York Times

  August 25, 1899

  Stewart’s original department store, the Marble Palace, at 280 Broadway, was purchased in 1917 by the New York Sun, which remained there until 1966. It is today primarily referred to as “The Sun Building.” The building was declared a national landmark in 1965.

  John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia-based retail executive, bought Stewart’s Cast Iron Palace in 1896, and he turned it into one of the leading department stores in New York City. Wanamaker’s closed down its operations at that location in 1954, and two years later, Stewart’s Cast Iron Palace burned down during a two-day fire.

  Nothing but crumbs of A. T. Stewart’s vast empire remains. The retail business is gone from the American landscape. Hardly a soul remembers its existence. His once palatial home, the Marble Mansion, was torn down. His vast art collection was sold off. The building that housed what is considered one of the country’s first retail department stores, the Marble Palace, still remains, but not a trace of its retail operations can be found. The great Stewart fortune—gone too.

  The only thing that does endure is Garden City and the Church of the Incarnation, where the remains of Cornelia Stewart are buried. The bones of A. T. Stewart, America’s “Merchant Prince,” also reportedly buried in the Stewart family vault there, have never been positively identified. The identity of the Stewart grave robbers has also never been uncovered. Rumor and speculation still permeates this enduring New York mystery.

  No one knows for certain whose bones are buried in the cathedral vault. Fittingly, one persistent rumor, circulated among inhabitants of Garden City, is that the burlap bag that held Stewart’s bones was purchased at the A. T. Stewart department store.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I wish to thank my agent, Tris Coburn; my editor at Lyons Press, Keith Wallman; Will Staples for his faith in this and all projects associated with it; my wife, Julia Lee; and my boys, Nate and Andrew.

  CHAPTER SOURCES

  CHAPTER 1: COUNTER CULTURE

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  Rich Men of the World, and How They Gained Their Wealth. Jesse Haney & Co., American News Co., 1867.

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  CHAPTER 2: THE CAST IRON PALACE

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  ———. “A. T. Stewart’s Marble Palace—The Cradle of the Department Store.” New York Historical Society Quarterly Vol. 48, Issue 2, 1964.

  ———. “The Decline and Fall of the Commercial Empire of A. T. Stewart.”

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  Smith, Mary Ann. “John Snook and the Design for A. T. Stewart’s Store.” New York Historical Society Quarterly Vol. 58, Issue 1, 1974.

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  Weisman, Winston. “Commercial Palaces of New York: 1845–1875.” Art Bulletin Vol. 36, No. 4, 1954.

  CHAPTER 3: CAVEAT EMPTOR

  “Alexander T. Stewart.” (Editorial). New York Times, April 11, 1876.

  “Alexander T. Stewart. Arrangements for the Funeral.” New York Times, April 13, 1876.

  American Magazine, Vol. 1. Crowell-Collier Pub. Co., 1876.

  “A. T. Stewart’s Funeral. Services at Church and House.” New York Times, April 12, 1876.

  “A. T. Stewart’s Will. Full Text of the Instrument.” New York Times, April 15, 1876.

  Beckert, Sven. The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850–1896. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

  Burrows and Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.

  “The Business to Be Continued. An Important Statement by Judge Hilton.” New York Times, April 15, 1876.

  Calhoun, Charles W. The Gilded Age: Perspectives on the Origins of Modern America. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2006.

  “Career of the Merchant Prince—He Dies at His Residence in Fifth Avenue Surrounded by His Friends.” New York Times, April 11, 1876.

  Cashman, Sean Dennis. America in the Gilded Age. New York: New York University Press, 1993.

  “The Dead Millionaire. Mr. Stewart’s Life and Death.” New York Times, April 12, 1876.

  “Death of A. T. Stewart. Career of the Merchant Prince.” New York Times, April 11, 1876.

  Elias. Alexander T. Stewart.

  Fanebust. The Missing Corpse.

  Herald of Health, Vols. 27–29. M. L. Holbrook, 1876.

  “Incidents of Mr. Stewart’s Life. His Early Mercantile Career.” New York Times, April 12, 1876.

  King, Greg. A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

  “The Merchants’ Tribute. Meeting of Dry Goods Men.” New York Times, April 13, 1876.

  “Monopoly and Competition.” New York Times, April 12, 1876.

  “Mr. Stewart’s Property. The Assessed Valuation of His Personal Property and City Real Estate.” New York Times, April 11, 1876.

  “Preparations for the Funeral. The Arrangements Not Complete.” New York Times, April 12, 1876.

  “Saratoga’s Public Benefactor. Mr. Stewart’s Death Profoundly Lamented at the Springs. New York Times, April 11, 1876.

  Schechter, Harold. The Whole Death Catalog: A Lively Guide to the Bitter End. New York: Random House Digital Inc., 2009.

  “The Stewart Estate.” New York Times, April 17, 1876.

  Trachtenberg, Alan. The Incorporation of America: Culture and Society in the Gilded Age. New York: Hill and Wang, 1982.

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  “The Will Discussed at the Clubs and Hotels.” New York Times, April 12, 1876.

  CHAPTER 4: A PROBLEM WITH HOTELS

  Britten, Evelyn Barrett. Chronicles of Saratoga (radio program), 1959.

  Burrows and Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.

  “Cincinnati Hebrews Indignant: Special Dispatch to the New York Times.” New York Times, December 19, 1878.

  “Common Sense about the Women’s Hotel.” New York Times, June 11, 1878.

  “Description of the Hotel. The Most Complete and Elegant Structure of the Kind in The World …” New York Times, April 3, 1878.

  “The Feeling i
n Chicago. Judge Hilton’s Conduct Pronounced Unprecedented …” New York Times, June 22, 1877.

  “The Hebrew Controversy. Judge Hilton’s Determination Unalterable …” New York Times, July 19, 1877.

  “The Hebrews Excited. Donations by Mrs. Stewart to Jewish Charitable Institutions.” New York Times, December 17, 1878.

  Higham, John. “Anti-Semitism in the Gilded Age: A Reinterpretation.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 43, No. 4, 1957.

  “Hilton vs. Seligman.” New York Times, June 20, 1877.

  “Hotel Discrimination. The Right to Refuse Applicants.” New York Times, June 20, 1877.

  “An Interview with Mr. Hilton. So Urgent Invitations Sent to Hebrews …” New York Times, July 19, 1877.

  “Jewish Clothiers of One Mind. They Will Trade No More with A. T. Stewart & Co …” New York Times, June 22, 1877.

  “Jewish Merchants Combining. They Are Determined to Deal No More with A. T. Stewart & Co …” New York Times, June 20, 1878.

  “The Jewish Question …” New York Times, June 23, 1877.

  “Judge Hilton and the Jews. An Offensive Charge in a Jewish Paper …” New York Times, January 20, 1878.

  “Judge Hilton and the Ladies. A Public Meeting of Women to be Held …” New York Times, June 2, 1878.

  “Judge Hilton’s Course Sustained. Mr. Seligman Has Himself to Thank for the Exclusion …” New York Times, June 21, 1877.

  “Judge Hilton’s Position. The Step He Has Taken Was Forced upon Him.” New York Times, June 20, 1877.

  Marcus, Jacob Rader. United States Jewry, 1776–1985. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989.

  “Mr. Jesse Seligman’s Opinion. He Thinks the Warm Weather Has Affected Hilton’s Brain …” New York Times, June 20, 1877.