Foreword - Documented Dates
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Starting back in 1974, Lou Hough
and I have cooperated in piecing together a record of our great
grandfather, 6.Benjamin
Franklin
Massey's experiences as an employee of Joseph and Peter
Powell, a Merchant Trader partnership, headquartered in St. Louis,
Missouri, operating under the name of Powell Brothers. We had only two
documented dates to work with:
21
Jul.1831
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This
is
the
date when B.F. Massey "landed" in St. Louis after a trip by
waterways from Kent County, Maryland.
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14
Apr.1834
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This
is
the
date of the signing of the contract between the Powell Brothers
and James. S. Collier that named B.F. Massey to be co-Leader of the
Powell brothers 1834 Trading Venture to Santa Fe, Mexico.
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Obviously, this gave us a very shaky foundation on which to develop
B.F. Massey's record. But, we felt duty-bound to give this story our
best shot, because it included B.F. Massey's epic trip across Mexico
"on horseback and alone", which B.F. Massey spoke of as the most
satisfying personal adventure of his life. So, we did some in-depth
research for information to build upon our shaky foundation:
As my Massey Appendix LVII is to a lesser degree factual, and to
greater degree very hypothetical, I am calling it a Quasi-Historical
record, reflecting my feeling that I have developed a quite plausible
and believable story of this important sector of B.F. Massey's life
story.
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Early Pre-Missouri Trading
Experiences:
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1828 - B.F. Massey was age
17 and ready for college, but due to the insolvency of his father, no
funds were available, and he went to work for his brother, 23.Ebenezer Thomas Massey, eleven
years his senior, in a county store in Kent County, Maryland.
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B.F. Massey was dissatisfied
with working for his older brother who appears to have been overly
domineering, and went to Philadelphia, seeking employment.
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1828 - B. F. Massey got a
job as a "Store Boy" in a Mercantile House, whose name we do not
know. This Merchant House was a supplier of Trade goods to the
Western Merchant Traders, which included the Powell Brothers of St.
Louis, Missouri. So, B. F. Massey became aware of the success of
the Western Traders and the Powell Brothers in particular, and decided
that he would migrate West and seek his fortune in the Merchant Trader
field.
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1830 - B.F. Massey returned
to Kent County, and again worked for a short time in his brothers small
country store for that time., no doubt to put together sufficient funds
to finance his trip West.
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1831 - He took passage via
river boat from Kent County in mid-summer for St. Louis.
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Year By Year Record of B.F.
Massey's Experiences With the Powells:
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1831 - On the red-letter
day of 21 Jul.1831 in B.F. Massey's career, he "landed" in St. Louis
with "Letters" from his Philadelphia employers addressed to the
Powells. These "Letter" have not survived, but we can confidently
assume that they included a recommendation and an introduction, and
possibly a resume of B.F. Massey's experiences in their employ. It
seems clear that B.F. Massey had progressed a long way up the ladder
from "Store Boy" to a man held in considerable esteem by his bosses.
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Apparently, B.F. Massey was
immediately hired by the Powells and put to work in their organization,
probably as a Trainee, to learn their routine and philosophy, and to
demonstrate his abilities to the Powells.
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It was far too late in the
season for the Powells to be able to groom him for experience in long
distance mission, such as the 6 1/2 months required for a round trip
Santa Fe trading trip, so I feel that Massey worked at the Powells in
St. Louis and got acquainted with their Retail customers in Missouri
and perhaps in adjoining States.
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We do not know much directly
about the Powell Brothers; we have n found no records of their business
history, or of their family history, but we have developed the sort of
impression that by 1831 they had become capable, experienced Merchant
Traders, not only in the Missouri trade, but to a lesser extent in the
Santa Fe Trade, apparently a good, solid, organization to work for.
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B.F. Massey, in turn, had quite
a lot to offer the Powells. He was well acquainted with the woven goods
that was available in New England and Great Britain; he also knew the
manufactured metal items available in the industrialized East. He knew
what items were worth in Philadelphia, and what their higher value
became in Missouri. He had had direct selling experience in his
brothers store, and possibly in the Mercantile House in Philadelphia.
He had the experience of working for a well-managed organization. And,
he was a good speaker, an attractive man, and full of ambition. NO
doubt, he spent the rest of 1831 learning the Powell ropes, putting his
best foot forward and handling any duties that the Powells asked him to
do.
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1832 - B.F. Massey made at
least one trip to Santa Fe before his noteworthy 1834 trip, and it is
possible that he may have made two pre -1834 trips; but I feel that he
made only one.
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He could have made this one
pre-1834 Santa Fe trip as early as 1832, but I feel that he and the
Powells were still in the process of leaning to make Massey a part of
the Powell team, and that the year 1832 was devoted to Massey working
under the eyes of the Powells in St. Louis, throughout the State of
Missouri and possibly into Arkansas and the Indian Territories a little
farther West. I have no direct evidence of this, just my feel for what
the meager records suggest.
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1833 - I believe that the
Powells selected B.F. Massey to join a Trading trip to Santa Fe as an
assistant to a more experienced member of the Powell Brothers staff,
perhaps the Eduard S. Langstroth, a signer as Witness to the 1834
Powell-Collier Contract. He might have acted as Clerk, or
Record-Keeper, or 2nd in Command, our records are silent on this
subject.
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So, I feel that the Powells had
organized a Santa Fe Trading Venture, planned to depart form St. Louis
about May first, so that they could complete the 6 1/2 month round trip
by November 15th, and so not have any winter travel over the Trail on
the return trip East. As Massey's "Recollections" in Massey
Appendix XXIX contain no mention of unusual delays or interfering
problems, I think that we can safely assume that the Venture went
smoothly, and that B.F. Massey did his assignments well in the opinion
of the Venture Leader, who in turn passed these opinions along to the
Powell Brothers.
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The venture which I have
explained in great detail in the following articles:
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1835 - Our meager records
leave us in the dark on the question of how did B.F. Massey make out
financially with his promised share of the Net Profits of the Venture.
We don't know whether the Powells rewarded him for his successful
delivery across dangerous Mexican territories of the specie total of
the total assets of the venture in Santa Fe. Our records are silent. We
do know, however, that B.F. Massey returned to Kent County, Maryland,
for a visit, was stricken with a crippling attack of Rheumatoid
Arthritis and spent 1835 and 1836 helplessly bedridden.
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1837 - When B.F. Massey had
recovered sufficiently to travel, he went by river boat to St. Louis
and rejoined his employer, the Powell Brothers. It is my feeling,
unsupported by any evidence, that the Powells in recognition of B.F.
Massey's devotion to their interests, "above and beyond the call of
duty", in assuming the personal risk to himself in delivering the cash
proceeds in gold from the 1834 Santa Fe Trading Venture, and perhaps
feeling that the crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis attack had been brought
on by the rigors of the 1,500 mile trip on horseback, had kept B.F.
Massey on their payroll during his two year illness in Kent County.
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At any rate, it must have been
obvious both to the Powells and to B.F. Massey, that in his just
returned, frail health, he was in no condition to resume his former
active duties as a Trader for the Powells.
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So the Powells and B.F. Massey
appear to have jointly reached the conclusion that B.F. Massey could
use his knowledge and skills, as the proprietor of a Retail Mercantile
House, where traveling would be a minor factor. So the Powells offered
to furnish B.F. Massey a stock of Merchandise in a location of B.F.
Massey's choice.
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B.F. Massey, now familiar with
trade conditions all over Missouri, chose Fayette, a small town in
Howard County, Missouri, about 20 miles from Boonville, where he would
routinely secure supplies.
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Note that the Powells had helped
B.F. Massey set up his own Retail Store, and that this marks the
termination of B.F. Massey's experience as an employee of the Powell
Brothers, which had commenced on 21 Jul.1831, six years earlier.
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