Various - The Bay State Monthly. Volume 2, No. 6, March, 1885

For a quarter of a century the firm-name of Lee and Shepard has been familiar to the public. During this interval of time it has been printed upon millions of volumes, which have gone forth on their two-fold mission of instruction and entertainment. Few publishing houses in America have achieved a more honorable record, or have more indelibly left their impress of good intentions and of deeds nobly done upon the minds of increasing generations. It is of the individual members of this firm, both of whom have grown gray in the business, that I purpose to speak in this article. First of the senior partner of the house.

Born at the "North End," in Boston, on the seventeenth of April, 1826; early put to school, and taken out of it at the age of eleven, at which time he was left fatherless, the eldest of six children; with a good mother to whisper words of encouragement in his ear, when everything in the world and the future before him looked dark,—such was the start of William Lee in life. Thousands before him, and since, have had the same infelicitous experience; but how few have had the courage to overcome the obstacles which he succeeded in overcoming? While other young men of his age, many of them his playmates, were planning to fit themselves, by a long course of study, for the duties of life, he was at once confronted with the duties and burdens of life, without such advantages as an education affords, and he met them with a manliness and a self-reliance which now seem truly marvelous. I have often heard him tell of these early days; but I will pass by the recollections for fear that the recital of them might discourage many who read these lines.

After leaving school young William was offered a situation in the bookstore of Samuel G. Drake, then located at No. 56 Cornhill. Mr. Drake was himself a famous "book-worm," was familiar with the authorities and the history of Boston, and, in after life, achieved a reputation as an author. He was what one would term now an "old-fashioned bookseller," but what he did not know of the book trade in his day was not worth knowing. William Lee entered his employ for two purposes—to learn the trade and, in a very small way, to help support the family which was, in a large sense, dependent upon him. During the three years of his apprenticeship he showed himself an apt scholar, a patient worker, and gifted with indomitable will and ambition.

The next two years were passed in the country. On returning to Boston he again entered a book store, and, when eighteen years of age, he became a clerk in the then prosperous publishing house of Phillips and Sampson, located on Winter street. His connection with this house afforded him increased advantages; he was no longer an apprentice filling a menial position, but was conscious of occupying a responsible station in the business, where his integrity and intelligence were appreciated at their real value. He enjoyed the fullest confidence of his employers, and was soon looked upon by them as their "best" clerk. Selling by auction, especially in the evenings, was at that time a leading feature of the trade, and William Lee soon became an expert in that way, as well as in the general character of salesman to the country trade. There was scarcely a detail in the book trade with which he did not make himself personally familiar; he sought to post himself upon the character and contents of every book that was kept in stock, in order that he might be able to speak intelligently of them to his customers. This habit of general familiarization is one which, in the lapse of subsequent years, has proved of incalculable service to him; it is one which cannot be too earnestly commended to the attention of all young men who are to-day "working" up in the trade.

At the age of twenty-one William Lee was allowed a share in the business, and three years later he accepted an equal partnership in the house. When it is remembered that at this time the house of Phillips and Sampson stood foremost as publishers in New England, the fact that, at the age of twenty-four, William Lee became an equal partner in this house is certainly striking. It bears but one explanation: William Lee owed his remarkable success to the talent which was born and bred in him, and to the consciousness of self-reliance, with which his employers, first and last, had inspired him. There is nothing in this life which will so readily develop the best qualities of manhood as a sense of responsibility, first to the individual himself and next to those whom he serves. Take away this sense of responsibility, every man becomes a machine; everything that he does is mechanical.

In the firm of Phillips, Sampson and Company Mr. Lee continued as a partner for seven years. To his energy and industry the prosperity of the house was henceforth largely indebted. For twelve, and sometimes fifteen hours a day, he remained faithfully at his round of duties.

In 1857 Mr. Lee's health gave way, and his physician ordered him to relinquish all cares of business. Acting in accordance with this advice, he sold his interest to his partners for sixty-five thousand dollars, taking the notes of the firm for that amount. After a few months of travel in his own country, he sailed for Europe in June, 1858, in company with Willard Small, with the intention of spending five years on the continent. He proved to be a good traveler; his keen observation encompassed everything; his generous heart and the geniality of his nature won to him many friends. Ere many months had elapsed he had traversed England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain.

While he was in Paris, an incident occured, the recollection of which has served to enliven many a social occasion. It was the exciting time succeeding the attempted assassination of Napoleon by Orsini. Mr. Lee always wore a long, sandy beard, and in his travels sported a soft, broad-brimmed hat. One day, while walking about the streets, he was arrested and taken to the Palais de Justice. Explanations and expostulations proved unavailing. The prisoner was declared to be a "red Republican," and, in those days, that was no joke. It was only after the production of a passport and the interference of the United States consul, that the authorities were induced to release their captive.

Mr. Lee was in Paris, and was on the point of making a second journey into Spain, when the United States mail brought him a letter, conveying the tidings of the death of both Mr. Phillips and Mr. Sampson, and the failure of the house.

The panic of 1857 had made sad havoc with the book trade generally, and those firms which weathered the storm were sorely pressed. Phillips and Sampson met with heavy losses, but struggled on in the hope of recovering lost ground. But, in 1859, the death of the senior members of the firm seemed to paralyze its prosperity, and the worst quickly followed.

Mr. Lee had received no warning of the impending calamity, and for the time was much overcome by the announcement. He foresaw what it implied, however, and at once returned to Boston, to find himself a heavy loser by the financial disaster.

Still undaunted, he gathered up what remained of his fortune and, in February, 1860, he became a member of the firm of Crosby, Nichols and Company, which had purchased many of the stereotype plates belonging to the late firm of Phillips, Sampson and Company, and which now took the name of Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company. But the long stagnation of trade, succeeded by losses in the southern states, consequent upon the political troubles of those days, bore heavily upon the new firm; and, in the spring of 1861, Mr. Lee left the business and again trod the streets of Boston without a dollar that he could call his own! Thus, after twenty years of business activity, his fortune was gone, and nothing remained for him to do except to begin life over again.