In 1868, Jay Gould arrived in Albany carrying a cash-filled suitcase.

He had previously schemed to undermine Cornelius Vanderbilt’s attempt to buy the Erie Railroad by flooding the market with newly-created Erie stock. When Vanderbilt uncovered the plot, a “friendly” judge issued a citation for Gould’s arrest, but he fled to Jersey City.

In Albany, Gould emptied his suitcase of today’s equivalent of about $7 million, getting the legislature to pass a retroactive bill favorable to him and paying off Vanderbilt’s judge for his freedom. By fall of 1868, Gould achieved his goal and had control of the Erie Railroad.

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For a detailed account of this story about Jay Gould see The Tycoons.

See also the original 1871 classic Chapters of Erie by Charles Frances Adams and Henry Adams.