Henry Lehman (born Hayum Lehmann; September 29, 1822 – November 17, 1855) was a German-born American businessman and the founder of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

, which grew from a cotton and fabrics shop during his life to become a large finance firm under his brothers' descendents.

Life and work

Lehman was born under the name of Hayum Lehmann to a

Jewish family Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

, the son of Eva (Rosenheim) and Abraham Lehmann, a cattle merchant in the small

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

n town of

Rimpar Rimpar is a market town in the district of Würzburg in the German state of Bavaria. It is located about 10 km (6 mi) north of the City of Würzburg. The municipality includes the villages of Gramschatz and Maidbronn, incorporated in 19 ...

near

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

. Lehman emigrated to the United States in 1844, where he changed his name to Henry Lehman. He settled in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, and opened a dry goods store named, "H. Lehman".Lehman Brothers.com
/ref> In 1847, following the arrival of his younger brother

Emanuel Lehman Emanuel Lehman (born Mendel Lehmann; February 15, 1827 – January 10, 1907) was a German-born American banker. The younger brother of Henry Lehman, he was a co-founder of Lehman Brothers. Biography Emanuel Lehman was born in Rimpar, Bavaria on ...

, the firm became, "H. Lehman and Bro." With the 1850 arrival of

Mayer Lehman Mayer Lehman (January 9, 1830 – June 21, 1897) was a German-born American businessman, banker, and philanthropist. He was one of the three founding brothers of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Early life Mayer Lehman was born in 1830 to ...

, the youngest brother, the firm became "

". In those years, cotton was the most important crop of the Southern United States. Capitalizing on cotton's extremely high market value around the world, the Lehman brothers became

cotton factor In the antebellum and Reconstruction era South, most cotton planters relied on cotton factors (also known as cotton brokers) to sell their crops for them. Description The cotton factor was usually located in an urban center of commerce, such as ...

s, accepting cotton bales from customers as payment for their merchandise. They eventually began a second business as traders in cotton. Within a few years, this became the major part of their firm. In 1855, Henry Lehman died from

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

while travelling in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Later, his brothers moved the company's headquarters to New York City, eventually building it into an important American investment bank, which was in operation for over 150 years until its September 15, 2008, collapse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Henry 1822 births 1855 deaths American bankers Businesspeople from Alabama Businesspeople from New Orleans Deaths from yellow fever German emigrants to the United States 19th-century German Jews Lehman Brothers people People from Würzburg (district) People from Montgomery, Alabama Lehman family Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) 19th-century American Jews Infectious disease deaths in Louisiana