BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 9 



(except perhaps German) he followed up more or less un- 

 til the last years of his life; as well-thumbed grammars 

 and dictionaries, and a good selection of Italian and Span- 

 ish books, abundantly prove. 



With this preliminary equipment the boy took his place 

 in the ranks of men by assisting his father at the home 

 establishment for a year, and then — in 1818 — came with 

 him to Canada. His manly qualities must have shown them- 

 selves unmistakably by that time, for the same year his 

 father sent him to New Orleans; mainly, it is understood, 

 with the object of learning the mysteries of cotton-raising, 

 though other business of no great consequence required his 

 presence there. But his stay in Louisiana was short; he 

 did not like the climate, nor were there any present or 

 prospective financial inducements to remain. He was now 

 his own master, and decided to exchange the South for the 

 North and try his fortune in the then small and remote 

 French trading post called St. Louis. Embarking on the 

 " Maid of New Orleans," after a long and tedious voyage 

 the youthful adventurer arrived at his destination May 3, 

 1819. A venerable citizen — Mr. Frederick L. Billon — 

 saw the steamer come to anchor at the foot of what is now 

 Market Street, and was among the first to welcome the 

 stranger. He says; ** Mr. Shaw had come from England 

 with a small stock of cutlery, to make his fortune in the 

 New World. With little means he began business on the 

 second floor of a building which he found for rent, and for a 

 time lived, cooked, and sold his goods in this one room. I 

 have sat with him there many a time, playing chess during 

 the long evenings. He cared little for society, and while he 

 went out to parties and balls occasionally, he seemed to 

 avoid making acquaintances among the girls of that period. 

 The reason of this was [so thinks Mr. Billon] that he had 

 come to make money solely, with the expressed intention 

 of some day returning to his native heath to enjoy the result 

 of his early years of labor. He intended marrying some 

 Eno-lish girl, and for that reason avoided making female 



