Jay Gould and Russell Sage signed Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Co. - "The Katy" - 1880 dated Railroad Autograph Stock Certificate

Stock issued to Russell Sage and signed by Jay Gould on the front and Sage on the back. Rare combination! Great signatures! Portraits and biographies included.

Jay Gould (1836-1892) Railroad magnate; Financier; Stock market manipulator. Gould began his rise by gaining control of a small Vermont railroad in 1860 at the age of 24. Over the next 10-15 years he made a fortune by buying and selling railroads and manipulating their stock. His most famous railroad battle came in the late 1860s when, along with Jim Fisk and Daniel Drew, he struggled for control of the Erie Railroad against "Commodore" Vanderbilt. Gould went on to become "the most hated man in America" when his attempt to corner the gold market caused a panic termed "Black Friday" in September 1869. Turning towards western railroads in the 1870s, he came to own or control numerous roads, including the Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific. It is estimated that he controlled about 10% of the railroad track in the U.S. by 1880. He went on to gain control of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the New York elevated railroad. At his death, his fortune was estimated to be $72 million. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Gould

Russell Sage (1816-1906) Banker; Financier; U.S. Congressman. As the originator of "put and call options", Sage greatly changed the way speculators played the stock market. Among America's most powerful and wealthy bankers, he financed Jay Gould and made a vast fortune on the latter's stock manipulations. "Sage was one of the shrewdest and most conservative of all great financiers." At one time he is said to have had $27,000,000 out on call loans. At the time of his death he left a fortune worth an estimated $70,000,000. Sage was born in the Mohawk Valley and came to Troy to work in his brother’s dry goods store. He became an important figure in Troy, elected to several offices. But he soon expanded beyond Troy. His first wife, Maria, was an Emma Willard graduate but died early and childless. He sought another wife who might be another Emma graduate and whose family would give him proper credentials. His second wife was Margaret Olivia Slocum, who fit all his requirements. They moved to New York City, to a mansion on 5th Avenue, and Russell became allied with Jay Gould. Together they were part of a group which the history books call "robber barons".

The Sage-Gould duo bought railroads all over America, including the famous elevated railroad in NYC. They became big investors in the stock market, where it is said Sage invented "puts" and "calls". Sage died in the early 1900’s as perhaps the "19th wealthiest American ever", according to a Fortune publication of the "100 richest" people ever in the American millennium craze pre-2000. Sage died childless, leaving his widow, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, the wealthiest woman in America. She chose to be buried in Syracuse with her parents, but was noted as a major philanthropist nation-wide. It has been said that she endowed causes and institutions which her husband would have opposed, such as higher education in general and education for females. A major national cartoon from the early 1900’s shows "Uncle Sam" behind a bank teller’s window, collecting the first national income tax payments. First in line is Russell Sage, a well-known miser, having a hard time getting his payment out of his pocket. Behind him is Hetty Green, another famous miser, known as "the Witch of Wall Street". Last in line is Jay Gould, Russell Sage’s colleague. All are very unhappy to be paying the U. S. any money. Sage’s wife, Margaret, buried him in a Greco-Roman mausoleum by himself, without his name on it, and with a Medusa’s head, snakes and all, carved on a small marble bench next to the mausoleum. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Sage

The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railway (reporting mark MKT) is a former Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch, it came to serve an extensive rail network in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. In 1988, it merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad; today, it is part of Union Pacific Railroad. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri%E2%80%93Kansas%E2%80%93Texas_Railroad

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