Bill of Exchange Fragments: Lazard Freres

 Reverse side of Lazard Freres bill of exchange:

39 cents in US battsleship stamps to pay the US tax on the currency exchange.  Stamps have L. F. handstamp and LF perfin initials on the 25 cent stamps.

Front side of bill of exchange with Lazard Freres logo

and British tax stamp:

Lazard Freres history, credit to Wikipedia:

On July 12, 1848, three brothers, Alexandre Lazard, Lazare Lazard, and Simon Lazard, founded Lazard Frères & Co. as a dry goods merchant store in New Orleans, Louisiana. By 1851, Simon and two more brothers, Maurice and Elie, had all moved to San Francisco, California, while Alexandre moved to New York. Lazard Frères began to serve miners engaged in the California Gold Rush, and soon expanded into banking and foreign exchange.

In 1854, Alexandre Lazard moved to Paris, France, where he opened an office to complement the U.S. business. The firm began advising the French government on gold buying. In 1870, the firm continued to expand its international operations, opening an office in London as well.

The name "Lazard Freres" means "Lazard Brothers" or "the Brothers Lazard" in French. It refers to associations of the Lazard brothers to form various financial services institutions with world-wide offices and investments.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the firm evolved into three “Houses of Lazard” in the United States, France, and England, separately managed but allied. The Lazard partners advised clients on financial matters and built a cross-border network of high-level relationships in business and government. Noted financial advisor George Blumenthal rose to prominence as the head of the U.S. branch of Lazard Frères and was a partner of Lazard Frères in France.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Park, Son & Company

Park, Son & Company were in the import-export business and did much of their business between the US, U.K. and Jamaica.

Reverse side of document fragment:

PARK, SON & CO.

JAN

8

1901

Front side of document fragment:

Park, Son & Company's principles included James Park, William C. C. Park, and James McFadyen.  McFadyen was UK based and ran the partner office of Park, McFadyen & Company in London.  Henry B. Marion of the firm held membership #1450 on the New York Produce Exchange.

James Park

from New York, The Metropolis, 1902

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Grain Merchants -- Hammond & Snyder of Baltimore

 Bill of Exchange fragment for the firm of Hammond & Snyder:

HAMMOND & SNYDER

JUN

27

1900

BALTIMORE

Hammond & Snyder were grain exporters and receivers.  William R. Hammond and John W. Snyder were the partners.

Available in wikimedia commons, The American Elevator and Grain Trade, with its fabulous title art, is a great resource for sorting through the grain firms of the 1898 tax period.  Hammond & Snyder don't show up much, but they do, and just enough to confirm the nature of their business.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: The Canadian Bank of Commerce

The Canadian Bank of Commerce merged with the Imperial Bank of Canada in 1961 to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), now one of the Big Five Canadian banks.

 Reverse side of document fragment:

THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE

AUG

18

1900

front side of document fragment:

Seal of Canadian Bank of Commerce:

CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE - 1867

While the Canadian Bank of Commerce was in the business of facilitating international trade, in part through the example of the bill of exchange fragment above, the bank also played a significant role in the expansion of businesses to Canada's extensive western prairie regions.  Vestiges of that expansion remain:

Canadian Bank of Commerce National Historic Site of Canada

201 Main Street, Watson, Saskatchewan

General view of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, showing its neo-classical style, evident in its three-bay facade with classical decorative treatment, particularly the pedimented front gable with bulls-eye window and heavy dentilled cornice, fluted pilaster © Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada, 1990.

Heritage Value

The Canadian Bank of Commerce was designated a national historic site in 1976 because of its prefabrication technology and the entrepreneurial imagination of the bank. The heritage value of this site resides in its historical associations with the expansion of eastern banks into the Canadian west as illustrated by the building’s physical characteristics.

The former Canadian Bank of Commerce (CBC) bank at Watson, Saskatchewan is the largest surviving example of the prefabricated bank buildings erected by the CBC in railway towns across the prairies. Designed by Toronto bank architects Darling and Pearson, and prefabricated in Vancouver by British Columbia Mills, Timber and Trading using a patented sectional wall system, the bank structures were shipped by railway to newly established towns and assembled within days. The neo-classical styling of these wood-frame buildings mimicked the stone and brick bank buildings of larger urban centres at a minimum cost, and projected the same air of respectability and confidence. By erecting these buildings quickly and early, the bank hoped to monopolize local trade. The use of three standard designs created by Darling and Pearson allowed the bank to convey a consistent and immediate impression of stability, at a minimum investment. Erected in 1906-07 using the largest of the three designs, the Watson Bank is the most intact example. While other banks also made use of prefab technology, it was the CBC that most fully exploited the potential of the prefab banks and made them enduring features of the western Canadian landscape.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, June 1976.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Bank of Montreal

While I don't have absolute confirmation of the identity of this cancel, I'm pretty certain that these stamps were canceled by the Bank of Montreal:

B. of M.

SEP  27  1901

Note use of R170p

Front side of document fragment:

from The Commercial and Financial Chronicle, July 4, 1903:

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Commission Merchants Frederick Vietor & Achelis

 Reverse of document fragment:

FRED'K VIETOR & ACHELIS

DEC

18

1900

NEW YORK.

Front of document fragment:

Advertisement, Dun's Review, May 1901

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Illinois Trust & Savings Bank and the Story of the Wingfoot Air Express Crash

Back of bill of exchange fragment:

Ill. Tr. & Sav. Bk.

17

JUL

1901

CHICAGO

Front side of bill of exchange fragment:

The Illinois Trust and Savings Bank pioneered the establishment of the trust business in Chicago and the midwest, and became one of America's largest financial institutions in the early 20th century.  They also built a grand main bank building at the corner of Jackson and La Salle in Chicago, pictured on the postcard below:

The building would be severely damaged in 1919 when a Goodyear dirigible doing business as the "Wingfoot Express", crashed into the center of the roof, piercing the skylight of the central atrium and bringing with it the airship that was a ball of burning hydrogen by the time it made impact.  By the time the time the airframe hit the floor of the building, the gas tanks that fueled the airship's engine exploded.

Business hours were over by the time of the crash, limiting the carnage, yet still there were 10 deaths.  The building was seriously damaged.

A more fulsome version of the story can be found at the Chicagology website.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Baring, Magoun & Company

 Reverse side of Baring, Magoun bill of exchange fragment:

BARING, MAGOUN & CO.

SEP

27

1901

NEW YORK

front side of document fragment:

Thomas Baring, known as "Tom", was the tenth child (fifth of second marriage) of Henry Baring of Cromer Hall, and younger full brother of Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke. Like his brother, Baring was involved in the family banking business, beginning his career in the Liverpool office of Barings Bank. He later moved to New York City to join Kidder Peabody. When, in 1890, Kidder Peabody split its dual Boston-New York firm, Baring became a partner in the separated New York firm. He and another Kidder-Peabody alumnus, George C. Magoun, formed Baring, Magoun. Both houses continued as North American agents for Barings.

 

George Francis Crane of Baring, Magoun & Company

from King's Notable New Yorkers, 1899

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Knoop, Frerichs & Company

Knoop, Frerichs were cotton brokers with a membership at the New York Cotton Exchange.  The American arm of the firm was based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Reverse side of document fragment:

K. F. & CO.

JAN

22

1900

NEW YORK

Front of document fragment:

Statue of Baron Ludwig von Knoop in Bremen, Germany

While the Baron would pass away in 1894, he was the founder of the firm that would become Knoop, Frerichs.

Bill of Exchange Fragment and Sight Draft: The American Cereal Company and Quaker Oats

Reverse side of document fragment:

THE AMERICAN CEREAL CO.

OCT

24

1900

CHICAGO.

Front side of document fragment referring to American Cereal Company's leading brand, Quaker Oats Ltd:

The American Cereal Company was founded in 1891. While its corporate offices were eventually located in Chicago, Illinois, the primary manufacturing center for its cereals was in Akron, Ohio. Among the company's founders was Ferdinand Schumacher. During the 1880s, Schumacher operated the F. Schumacher Milling Company in Akron. Hoping to reduce competition, he agreed to merge with several additional companies to create the American Cereal Company. The company's main product was oats used in cereal. American Cereal Company sold the oats with a picture of a Quaker on the packaging. This packaging was first used by Henry Crowell, the owner of a mill in Ravenna, Ohio, in 1877. In 1901, as the American Cereal Company began producing additional products, a parent company was formed, known as Quaker Oats. By the early 1900s, Quaker Oats had become the largest cereal manufacturer in the world.

American Cereal Company sight draft 

THE AMERICAN CEREAL CO.

SEP

8

1898

CHICAGO.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: J. & W. Seligman & Company

Reverse side of document fragment #1:

J. & W. SELIGMAN & CO.

JUL

29

1901

NEW YORK

 

Front side of document fragment #1 with two pounds, ten shillings British tax stamp

Reverse side of document fragment #2:

J. W. SELIGMAN & CO.

AUG

9

1901

NEW YORK.

Front side of document fragment #2 with a British tax stamp for one pound and a second for five shillings:

In the early 20th century, J. & W. Seligman & Company backed the construction of the Panama Canal. In this period, the firm underwrote the securities of a variety of companies, participating in stock and bond issues in the railroad and steel and wire industries, investments in Russia and Peru, the formation of the Standard Oil Company, and shipbuilding, bridges, bicycles, mining, and a variety of other industries. The landmark building at 1 William Street in New York City was constructed for J.& W. Seligman from 1904 to 1905 and became the firm's home office. In 1910, William C. Durant of the fledgling General Motors Corporation gave control of his company's board to the Seligmans and Lee, Higginson & Co. in return for underwriting $15 million worth of corporate notes.

Document Fragment: M. Guggenheim's Sons

Included in a pile of bill of exchange fragments, this M. Guggenheim's Sons fragment is not obviously from a bill of exchange.  It might be a more simple document, like a check, especially since there is only evidence of a 2 cent documentary stamp, and it appears to have been applied to the front of the document.  The piece shows a business linkage between the Guggenheims and the Seligmans, as the piece is backstamped by a pay to note to "Seligman", though we don't have any more detail.

M. GUGGENHEIM'S SONS.

SEP

23

1899

New York.

 

Reverse side of fragment:

Meyer Guggenheim was the patriarch of what became known as the Guggenheim family in the United States, which became one of the world's wealthiest families during the 19th century, and remained so during the 20th.  Their wealth was largely based on mining and metals processing.  

Meyer Guggenheim

Meyer's son Benjamin would die in the sinking of the Titanic.  Benjamin was married to Florette Seligman.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: Lyon & Company

John B. Lyon was member #1976 of the Chicago Board of Trade, and traded, for most of his career, under the firm name Lyon & Company at the head office at 12 Sherman Street in Chicago.  The firm was large enough to have multiple offices in the US and beyond.

Reverse side of document fragment:

LYON & CO.

JAN

26

1900

NEW YORK.

Front side of document fragment:

From The American Elevator & Grain Trade, January 15, 1905:

John B. Lyon, was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade for forty-six years, joining immediately after arriving in Chicago, and had participated in more "deals" in wheat and corn and had handled larger amounts of corn as a shipper than any other grain man in the West. Although of late years poor health had limited his activities, his last trades were closed out only on the day pre- ceding his death. Between 1860 and 1879 the name of J. B. Lyon stood for immense deals in wheat and corn, straightforward honesty and great wealth. In August of 1872, following the short wheat crop of 1871, Mr. Lyon ran a "corner," in the course of which the price soared to $1.62. The Lyon holding was estimated at 25,000,000 bushels, and stocks of wheat in Chicago were only 6,000,000 bushels. The deal failed, however, owing to the rushing of new crop wheat to market and the passing of a large amount of damp wheat as No. 2 spring for delivery. When Mr. Lyon saw what was coming, he sold out and the deal is said to have cost him $800,000. Pre- ceding this deal Mr. Lyon had run several successful corners in corn in the middle '60s, in which he shipped the bulk of the crop to Buffalo for three successive years, and had the making of prices practically his own way. It was his custom to charter all the boats available on the lakes and move corn east so deliveries could not be made. In 1860 he ran a wheat deal for Angus Smith of Milwaukee, in which heavy profits were realized. Mr. Lyon handled so much corn in the '70s that the trade always was watching for a corner. In 1879 he shipped 50,000,000 bushels of corn. Mr. Lyon formed a number of partnerships, but the firm name generally was J. B. Lyon & Co. until he entered business with John Lester, when the style was Lyon & Lester. Earlier he was connected at different times with G. J. Boyne, now with Armour & Co., W. Meddows and J. Swartz. For more than twenty years he conducted, in connection with his grain operations, an immense sugar plantation at Patterson, La. He owned the town of Bellefontain, Miss. At Ocean Springs, Miss., he had at the time of his death fifteen miles of oyster beds, and the entire Hollinger Island, off Mobile. His holdings of pine lands in the South and of real estate in and adjacent to Chicago were also large.

Merry Christmas! Bill of Exchange Fragments: Botany Worsted Mills

Merry Christmas from 1898 Revenues!

Botany Worsted Mills advertisment in Esquire, December 1946

 Reverse side of Botany Worsted Mills document fragment:

B. W. M.

FEB

27

1900

PASSAIC, N. J.

Front of document fragment:

On May 17, 1889, the Botany Worsted Mills was established by German immigrants.   The Botany Worsted Mill was the first integrated woolen plant in the country and became one of the biggest.  The factory employed 6,400 employees. The mill was a huge factor in the growth of the Passaic area.

Bill of Exchange Fragments: American Trading Company, Flint Eddy Company, and Flint, Eddy & American Trading Company

Flint, Eddy & American Trading was a large import-export company, based in New York but with offices located around the world.  At the beginning of the 1898 tax period, Flint Eddy was an independent company from American trading.  In 1900 they would merge, combining Flint Eddy's operations in Latin America and what was then called the east Indies with American Trading's operations in the far east.  A more substantial summary of the companies and the merger is in the New York Times article included below.

The first document fragment comes from the independent Flint Eddy, from 1899:

    F. E. & CO.

SEP  11  1899

    New York.

Front side of Flint, Eddy document fragment:

Advertisment from Dun's Review, May 1901

By 1901, Flint Eddy was using their old documents that had the firm's initials, "F. E. & Co.", overprinted in red with "Flint Eddy & American Trading:

Flint Eddy & American Trading Co.

DEC

31

1901

New York.

Front side of Flint Eddy & American Trading document fragment:

Interestingly, in 1902, American Trading was using documents with gray printed "F. E. & A. T. Co.", but overprinted in red with "American Trading Company."

Reverse side of fragment: 

AMERICAN TRADING COMPANY

FEB

4

1902

NEW YORK.

 Front side of fragment:

The New York Times, July 15, 1900: