$200
Oak 19th Century British combination commode and bed steps, top hinged step opening to a vacant interior, middle step pulls out and opens for placement of a chamber pot; measures approximately 26-3/4” high, 26” wide and 31” in depth. Partial paper label to inside top step, dated 1883 Erastus Wiman, President.Label possibly referencing Erastus Wiman (April 21, 1834 – February 9, 1904) was a Canadian journalist and businessman who later moved to the United States. He is best known as a developer on the New York City borough of Staten Island. Wiman's first job was at the North American in Toronto (not to be confused with the Philadelphia-based paper) at age 16, as an apprentice printer for a salary of $1.50 a week. After four years, he worked as a reporter and later the business editor for the Toronto Globe. He moved into business for R.G. Dun and Co., becoming the manager of the company's Ontario branch at age 26. At age 33, he was transferred to New York and would become general manager of the company (at this point known as Dun, Barlow & Co.) The firm would later be called Dun, Wiman & Co. He became president of the Great Northwestern Telegraph Company of Canada in 1881. In the late 1800s, Wiman emerged as a major developer in the New York City borough of Staten Island. As the president of the Staten Island Railway Co. and the St. George Ferry to Manhattan, Wiman pushed to make the borough the center of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's New York operations, and was also in
Auctioneer:
Bremoauctions
Date:
2017-05-20
