Edward Shearson (August 3, 1864 - October 30, 1950) was a banker, millionaire and founder of Shearson, Hammill & Co., which was among the largest

brokerage A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neith ...

and

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

firms in the United States.Harrison, Mitchell C. ed.
Prominent and progressive Americans: an encyclopædia of Contemporaneous Biography
Vol II. New York Tribune, 1904. (Edward Shearson, p.200)

Biography

Shearson was born in Galt, in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

on August 3, 1864 to William A. and Marion W. Shearson. At the age of 17, he left school to pursue work. Shearson traveled West and took up farming and stock-raising for a brief time. At 19, he was an office boy for the Accounting Department of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Shearson advanced through the company, occupying several positions, until he relocated to Milwaukee in 1887. There, he served as chief clerk of the Accounts Department of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. After a year, he was promoted to Auditor of Disbursements. In 1890, Shearson returned to Chicago, where he eventually retired from railroad service and entered the steel industry in 1898. Before forming Shearson, Hammill & Co. with Caleb Wild Hammill in 1902, Shearson had served as comptroller of U.S. Steel and of Federal Steel Company. Shearson was also an active member of New York society. Shearson, Hammill merged with Hayden, Stone & Co. in 1974 and the combined firm was named Shearson Hayden Stone, retaining Shearson's name, which was widely recognized as a major underwriter and brokerage. The Shearson name was finally abandoned in 1994 following Primerica's acquisition of Shearson from

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

. Although initially Primerica had intended to brand its retail brokerage business as Smith Barney Shearson, the Shearson name was dropped. Shearson married Flora Josephine Shea on November 14, 1903. The couple resided on the Upper East Side of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and kept a house in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

.WEDDINGS OF A DAY.; Shearson--Shea
New York Times, November 15, 1903 He died on October 30, 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearson, Edward Canadian bankers Canadian stockbrokers 1864 births Citigroup people 1950 deaths Canadian company founders

Biography

See also

References