New York Stock Brokers: Lehman Brothers

L. BRO'S

DEC  18  1899

NEW YORK

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Sigmund Lehman, member of the NYSE in 1897.

The great investment bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in the financial crisis of 2008 brought on by investments in collateralized debt obligations based on sub-prime mortgages.  The firm was started in Montgomery, Alabama as a dry goods store.  The brothers eventually found themselves dealing in cotton.  The Lehman Brothers interest in cotton would see them opening an office in New York, where the firm would work to set up the New York Cotton Exchange.  By the early 20th century the firm would begin to structure IPO's, and helped launch some of America's greatest companies.  Those companies included Sears, Woolworths, and B. F. Goodrich.

New York Stock Brokers and Cancel for October 14: G. Edward Graff & Co.

G. EDWARD GRAFF

OCT

14

1898

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From The New York Times, May 18, 1901:

GRAFF & CO.'S FAILURE

Recent Stock Market Panic Cause of Firm's Trouble.

Assignee Varnum Hears ex-Fire Chief Nevins is Able to Make Loss good -- Ex-Sheriff Creamer's Claim.

There was gloom in Willoughby Street, Brooklyn, yesterday over the failure of the stock brokerage firm of G. Edward Graff & Co.,  of which ex-Fire Chief Thomas F. Nevins of Brooklyn is a member.  Mr. Nevins is a close friend of Hugh McLaughlin and other Democratic leaders of Kings County, and his firm acted as brokers for the speculating politicians of Willoughby Street.  A number of the local leaders are known to be affected by the failure of the firm, but to what extent none will say.

Among the political friends of Mr. Nevins who are said to have had business relations with him are James Shevlin, Senator McCarren, ex-Senator John McCarty, ex-Congressman Clancy, ex-Sheriff Frank D. Creamer, and Hugh McLaughlin.

In speaking of the failure yesterday, Mr Nevins said:  "The collapse of the stock market last week caused our assignment.  We were carrying stock on 10 and 15 percent margins, and some of the stocks dropped 40 points, wiping out the margins and more besides.  We had to make good the difference and then failed to recover the money we put up.  In round numbers, our liabilities are $300,000 and our assets $166,000.  The assets consist of $56,000 in securities, $32,000 cash in bank, and three sums of $40,000, $29,000, and $9,000 in margins that are good."

Mr Nevins declined to give the names of the principal losers or to say who the men were who caused the assignment.

The Brooklyn office of the firm at 170 Montague Street was closed yesterday morning.  A notice was posted on the door directing callers to go to the office at 66 Broadway, Manhattan, and see the assignee, Robert T. Varnum.

A crowd of anxious speculators filled the Manhattan office of the firm all day.  Each claimant was directed by the assignee to make a written demand for his stock.  Ex-Sheriff Frank D. Creamer of Brooklyn was among thsoe who visited the office.  He was accompanied by his counsel, Charles Hyde.  It was reported that he demanded from the man in charge of the office 1,000 shares of People's Gas stock, claiming the firm held $10,000 of his money as margins on the stock and offering $100,000 cash on the spot in payment for the stock.  The man in charge, it was said, declared he know nothing about the stock and refused to take Mr. Creamer's money.  According to the report, Mr. Creamer then threatened to have the "whole crowd" arrested. 

Mr. Creamer, when seen yesterday afternoon in the Real Estate Exchange, on Montague Street, Brooklyn, denied he had made any threat of arrest a the office of Graff & Co.

"All there is to it," said he, " is that I made a demand for my stock an didn't get it.  I did not make threats in regard to arrest.

Mr. Varnum said that both members of the firm had made indvidual assignments, and he had been informed that Mr. Nevins alone is quite able to make up the difference between assets and liabilities.

As official of the Consolidated Exchange stated yesterday that Graff & Co. had no outstanding contracts on the floor at the time of their assignment.

Cancel for October 13: John. J. Perkins & Company

JNO. J.  PERKINS  &  CO.

OCT   13   1899                  OCT    13    1899

The John J. Perkins & Co. were wholesale bakers, confectioners and dealers in foreign fruits, nuts, fire works and "all Kinds of Fancy Groceries."  They were located at 43 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio.

New York Stock Brokers: George P. Butler & Brother

G. P. BUTLER & BRO.

MAY  6-  1901

NEW YORK.

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George P. Butler and Brother was opened in 1898 by George P. Butler and his brother Arthur W. Butler.  According to the New York Times the firm traded for Gould interests, at least on one occasion in 1903 in the stock of the Wabash Railroad.

New York Stock Brokers: Ransom H. Thomas & Company

R. H. THOMAS & CO.

SEP

5

1899

NEW YORK.

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Mr. Thomas was the VP of the New York Stock Exchange in 1897-98.  He would become the President of the exchange.

From The New York Times, October 20, 1922:

RANSOM H. THOMAS

Ex-President of New York Stock Exchange Dies in Hospital.

Ransom H. Thomas, head of the New York Stock Exchange firm of R. H. Thomas & Son, 100 Broadway, and formerly President of the Stock Exchange, died yesterday of a throat ailment in the Memorial Hospital, this city, following a three weeks' illness.  For the last six years he had been living at the Morristown Inn at Morristown, N. J.

Only recently Mr. Thomas sold his seat as a board member of the Exchange after nearly fifty years of continuous membership, for it was on Nov. 5, 1874, that he was first elected to the privileges of the floor.  Throughout this long period he was identified with the chief committees of the Exchange and at the time of his death was still President of the Stock Exchange Building Company.

New York Stock Brokers: Henry Block

HENRY BLOCK

APR  8- 1899

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Auctions: Scarsdale Collection Part 6, November 3, 2011, Robert Siegel Galleries

The 1898 revenue series consists of a small group of stamps compared to those in use for the civil war.  Yet the series has given revenue collectors some of the field's greatest rarities.  Siegel is conducting part 6 of its sale of the Scarsdale collection, and this sale contains the prime Scott listed rarities of the 1898 series, including the gem, R158B, the Daprix overprint on the 1c Trans-Mississippi postage stamp. 

Scott R158b

I. R.

P. I. D. & Son.

Lot 100 from current Siegel Sale 1015:  Listed for $35,000

In Siegel Sale 915 of Henry Tolman's material a copy of R158b sold for $35,000.

In the more recent Siegel 977 Whitpain sale of a more faulty R158b, the lot sold for $15,500.

From Siegel:  FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE ONE-CENT TRANS-MISSISSIPPI ISSUE WITH THE "I.R./P.I.D. & SON" PROVISIONAL OVERPRINT. ONLY TWO OF THE THREE ARE UNUSED, AND THIS IS THE ONLY EXAMPLE TO RETAIN ANY OF ITS ORIGINAL GUM. ONE OF THE GREATEST RARITIES OF REVENUE COLLECTING.

Scott R158a

I. R.

L. H. C.

AUG 17 1898 handstamp

Listed for $11,500

from Siegel:  VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT CHAPMAN OVERPRINT. ONLY SEVENTEEN COPIES ARE RECORDED IN TOTAL. ONE OF THE GREATEST REVENUE RARITIES.

According to Scott Catalogue, the 1c Trans-Mississippi was overprinted by the Purvis Printing Company with federal government approval. They were ordered by L. H. Chapman of the Chapman Steamboat Line, which operated freight-carrying steamboats along the Erie Canal. Only 250 stamps were produced, additionally, 250 were printed reading "I.R./P.I.D. & Son", for P.I. Daprix & Son, which served different ports along the same waterway.

Scott R156

Siegel Lot 96

Cancelled:

I. R.

handstamp

M. M. L.

I. C.

7/12/98

manusript

listed for $5,750

from Siegel:  A large quantity of 1c and 2c stamps were printed with an "I.R." overprint (Scott R153, R154, R155 and R155A). Additionally, small quantities were produced in the 8c, 10c and 15c denominations. These issues mark the first time that the United States had to resort to surcharging. According to Sloane's Column (Jul. 31, 1948), the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Co. handstamped copies of the 8c, 10c and 15c regular issues over a period of five days in July 1898. Sloane states these provisional revenues were brought to the philatelic market by J. E. Scott, a collector and employee of the company. J. E. Scott reported that the company used 41 copies of the 8c, 66 of the 10c and 28 of the 15c. The Scott Retail values support this relative mix of supply.

Scott R157

Siegel Lot 97

cancelled: 

I. R.

handstamp

M L

7/22

manuscript

listed for $4,500

Scott R158

Siegel Lot 98

cancelled:

I. R.

handstamp

M M

L I Co.

July 11/98

manuscript

listed for $6,750

Spectacular examples of less rare yet still scarce stamps are also up for auction in this sale:

Scott R180

Siegel Lot 102

listed for $1,600

Scott R181

Siegel Lot 103

Listed for $400

Scott R194

Siegel Lot 106

listed for $2,250

Cancel for October 8: T. Bahnsen Piano Manufacturing Company

T. Bahnsen Piano Mfg. Co.

OCT

8

1898

ST. LOUIS.

These photos were found at a rag time sheet music collector's site. T. Bahnsen published some of Scott Joplin's original music.

New York Stock Brokers: Charles Minzesheimer & Company

C. M. MINZESHEIMER

40 EXCHANGE PL.

C. M. MINZESHEIMER & CO.

NEW YORK

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New York Stock Brokers: Maitland, Coppell & Company

MAITLAND, COPPELL & CO.

JUN

21

1901

NEW YORK.

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New York Stock Brokers: Harry L. Horton & Company

H.L.H.&CO.

FEB

0   11   1

1901

< >

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Harry L. Horton & Company

New York Stock Brokers: J. Hugh Peters & Son

J. HUGH PETERS & SON.

JAN

1901

NEW YORK.

with FEB  7  1901 overstamp

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J. Hugh Peters was a member of the New York Stock Exchange. 

Cancel for October 3: Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona Juniata Scales

PENNSYLVANIA  R.  R.

OCT  3  1899

ALTOON JUNIATA SCALES.

Altoona - Juniata, Pennsylvania

Altoona, PA is a town created by the Pennsylvania Railroad for their shops.  Altoona operations included the repair of locomotives and the design and construction of complete locomotives.  Altoona is located close to Bellefonte, PA, the home of the American Philatelic Society.

Note to the File

It is busy season for me with work and travel, so posts will be a bit spartan in the month of October.  Good content contributions are welcome.

Cancel for October 1: New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad

N. Y., N. H., & H. R. R.

OCT

1

1898

XXXXX

Charles P. Clark, President of the NY, NH & H RR in 1897.

New York Stock Brokers and Cancel for September 30: De Coppett & Company

DE'COPPETT & CO.

SEP

30

1898

NEW YORK

Not to be confused with the contemporaneous Wall Street firm DeCoppet & Doremus.

New York Stock Brokers: Van Schaick & Company

New York Tribune classified advertisement

January 1, 1903

VAN SCHAICK & CO.

DEC

17

1900

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Jenkins Van Schaick, member, New York Stock Exchange.

Photo available from King's Views of the New York Stock Exchange.

Mr. Van Schaick died in April 1899.  His firm survived him. 

Mr. Van Schaick was a rather colorful character.  See the article below:

From The New York Times, July 26, 1894:

PUNISHED FOR BAD LANGUAGE

Jenkins Van Schaick  Suspended from the Stock Exchange for Thirty Days.

  Jenkins Van Schaick, whose membership in the Stock Exchange dates back to 1857, and who has been prominent in club life and local politics for many years, has suffered the displeasure of the authorities at the Exchange.  They suspended him yesterday for thirty days.  The offense for which they meted out this punishment occurred last Friday.  On that day, Mr. Van Schaick, as had frequently happened before, displayed great activity in the sugar crowd.  He bought heavily, and seemed to never get enough.  His plans moved well until Joseph A. Blair began to bid against him.  Then Mr. Van Schaick, into whose hands the stock had been falling easily at moderate advances, had to climb to get anything.

  He did not enjoy the new sensation.  The fact that Mr. Blair was the cause of it acted as an irritant upon him.  They had been in conflict before, and their differences had to be settled in court.  Mr. Van Schaick became furious, as he thought that Mr. Blair had taken this way to balance part of the court's verdict, which had been adverse to him.  When he could no longer restrain himself he turned upon Mr. Blair and exclaimed:

  "You are a nice sort to bid against me.  Why, you are no better than a thief.  I stopped you once, when you tried to cheat me out of $7,000.  Now what are you up to?  Do you want to make me pay for beating you?"

  "Whatever I am, I don't try to escape payment of my just taxes," Mr. Blair hotly replied.

  Thee was a great confusion in the crowd at the moment, and although what more was said could not be heard, the two men seemed ready to jump at each other when they were dragged off in different directions.  Mr. Blair went to the Complaint Committee, whose inquiry resulted in Mr. Van Schaick's suspension for "conduct detrimental to the interests of the exchange."

  This affair does not end the bad feelings between the two men.  Mr. Blair said yesterday that he did not hear Mr. Van Schaick say anything about "thief" on the floor.  Mr. Van Schaick had taken care to use that epithet only when out of Mr. Blair's reach.  When this was reported to Mr. Van Schaick he said: "I did say on the floor that he was no better than a thief, and I will repeat to his face whenever it may suit him to hear it.  Suspension is not a pleasant thing for a veteran like myself, but this affair was too much for my good nature.  It has had one compensation, for on Monday Blair sent me a check for $530 to settle an old debt I never expected to collect."

Railroad Presidents: Roswell Miller, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway

Photo of Roswell Miller from King's Views of the New York Stock Exchange, 1897.  He would retire from the Presidency of the Railroad in 1899.

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 1901-cancelled 2 cent documentary battleship from the post-Roswell Miller era.

From the New York Times, September 24, 1899:

NEWS OF THE RAILROADS

Roswell Miller Retires from the Presidency of the St. Paul and Albert J. Earling Succeeds Him.

MILWAUKEE, Wis., Sept. 23.--At the annual meeting of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company, held here today, former Second Vice President Albert J. Earling of Chicago was elected President of the road, vice Roswell Miller, who was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors.  Mr. Miller's Retirement from the Presidency was entirely unexpected outside the inner circles of the company.

While Mr. Miller is still is still the executive head of the road, the change in the organization will relieve him of a large part of his operative duties and confine his duties to the financial affairs of the company.  Mr. Earling will have absolute charge of all matters of operation...

New York Bankers, Banks & Trusts: The National Park Bank

THE N. P. B.

MAY

15

1900

N. Y.

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The National Park Bank was one of New York's and the nation's largest banks in 1900 at the time of this cancel. 

Banks in New York City as of 1897 showing the National Park Bank as the #2 bank in total assets, ahead of banks like Chemical, Chase, Hanover, and the Bank of New York.

From The New York Times, September 11, 1898:

EDWARD E. POOR AND RICHARD DELAFIELD.

As the active heads of the bank does the largest commercial business in the country, President Edward E. Poor and Vice President Richard Delafield of the National Park Bank are two of the interesting men of the New York financial world, and a word as to their personalities follows appropriately the sketches recently give in these columns as to the personnel of some of our city banks...

The home of the bank has been [the same] building since 1867.  Its charter dates from 1856.  In spite of the great growth of the business, its original capital of $2,000,000 has never been enlarged, the measure of its prosperity being represented by a surplus of $3,700,000.  While the city business of the bank is enormous, its out-of-town connections are world-wide.  The deposit of the bank is $50,000,000.   It is the agent and depository of a long list of banks in Canada, Great Britain, and other countries and to the banks in the Southern States it has long been a sort of "father confessor," extending help to them when needed, and thus playing a prominent part in the movement of the great cotton crop.

It is this wide-reaching sphere of influence that has built the business of the National Park Bank up to where it exceeds that of any other in the country and made it one of the notable institutions of the metropolis.   Locally this sphere is soon to be enlarged.  The Directors of the National Park Bank have acquired an influential interest in the Plaza Bank, at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, and the Plaza will be operated hereafter in harmony with the downtown institution. 

In addition to President Poor and Vice President Delafield, the roster of officers of the National Park Bank includes the names of Stuyvesant  Fish [1], as a Vice President...among the Directors are Joseph T. Moore, George S. Hart, Charles Sternbach, Charles Scribner, Edward C. Hoyt, W. Rockhill Potts, August Belmont [2], Francis R. Appleton, John Jacob Astor [3], George Frederick Vietor, and Herman Oelerichs--a list which, to those who know New York, both proclaims and explains the wide fame and high repute of this institution.

1.  Stuyvesant Fish: Fish was the President of the IC RR and a Vice President of The NPB.

2.  August Belmont, Director The NPB and member of the New York Stock Exchange

3.  John Jacob Astor IV:  Astor, an inheritor of a vast fortune, was one of the most famous and certainly the richest man to die in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.