Shearson, Hammill & Co. was a

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

brokerage and investment banking firm founded in 1902 by Edward Shearson and Caleb Wild Hammill. The firm originally built its business as a stock

broker 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. Neither ...

as well as a broker of various

commodities In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. Th ...

, particularly grain and cotton. The firm was a member of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, the

Chicago Stock Exchange NYSE Chicago, formerly known as the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX), is a stock exchange in Chicago, Illinois, US. The exchange is a national securities exchange and self-regulatory organization, which operates under the oversight of the U.S. Secu ...

and the

Chicago Mercantile Exchange The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) (often called "the Chicago Merc", or "the Merc") is an American derivatives marketplace based in Chicago and located at 20 S. Wacker Drive. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board ...

. The firm was originally headquartered in the Empire Building at 71 Broadway in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and maintained another main office in Chicago.Investment bankers and brokers of America
1922. p.247 Shearson was acquired in 1974 by Hayden Stone & Co. to form Shearson Hayden Stone.

History

Shearson, Hammill & Co. was founded by Edward Shearson and Caleb Wild Hammill in 1902. Before forming the firm, Shearson had served as comptroller of

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

and of Federal Steel Company before that. Shearson, who was raised in

Ontario, Canada Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

began his career as an auditor for the Wisconsin Central Railroad before taking a position in the steel industry in 1898. Shearson was an active member of New York society. Hammill, who was raised in

Albion, Michigan Albion is a city in Calhoun County in the south central region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,700 at the 2020 census. Albion is part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area. The earliest ...

, moved first to Chicago and subsequently to New York in 1890. By the end of World War I, Shearson Hammill had six branch offices and seven correspondents. In the 1960s Shearson, Hammill became well known for its commercials that suggested "If You Want To Know What’s Going On On Wall Street, Ask Shearson Hammill." The firm had 63 offices in the US and internationally supported by a well-regarded securities research department. In the early 1970s, Shearson faced financial difficulties as did many of the venerable Wall Street firms in the midst of the

1973–1974 stock market crash The 1973–1974 stock market crash caused a bear market between January 1973 and December 1974. Affecting all the major stock markets in the world, particularly the United Kingdom, it was one of the worst stock market downturns since the Great D ...

. In response to the crisis, Shearson laid off a large portion of its staff in 1973. Meanwhile, through the 1960s and 1970s, Sanford I. Weill, the chairman of the up-and-coming

Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt, originally Carter, Berlind, Potoma & Weill, was an American investment banking and brokerage firm founded in 1960 and acquired by American Express in 1981. In its two decades as an independent firm, Cogan, Berlind ...

, had been acquiring many of Wall Streets oldest and most venerable investment banking and brokerage firms. By 1973, Weill's firm was known as Hayden Stone, Inc. following the acquisition of Hayden, Stone & Co. Despite its strong retail brokerage business, Shearson's capital reserves were diminished and by 1974, it was clear that Shearson did not have sufficient capital to survive as an independent firm, opting to merge with Weill's better capitalized Hayden Stone, Inc. The combined firm was renamed Shearson Hayden Stone, as Weill retained the Shearson brand, which was widely recognized as a major underwriter and brokerage. Weill's next major target in 1979 was another prominent investment bank, Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & Co., which like Shearson had been suffering financial difficulties and was looking for a potential acquiror. During Mothers Day Weekend 1979, Shearson and Loeb agreed to an $83 million all-stock merger to form

Shearson Loeb Rhoades Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonLoeb Capital Partners timeline
In 1981, Weill sold the combined Shearson Loeb Rhoades to

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 ...

to form

Shearson/American Express Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward Shearsoninvestment 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 ...

and trading firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. The Shearson name was finally abandoned in 1994 following

Primerica Primerica, Inc. is a multi-level marketing company that provides insurance, Investment management, investment and financial services to middle-income families in the United States and Canada. Primerica is the parent company of National Bene ...

's acquisition of Shearson from

. Although initially Primerica had intended to brand its retail brokerage business as Smith Barney Shearson, the Shearson name was dropped.Shearson Name may Disappear
New York Times, November 10, 1993

Acquisition history

The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):"Salomon Smith Barney" from Gambee, Robert.
Wall Street
'. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999. p.73

References

*Harrison, Mitchell C. ed.
Prominent and progressive Americans: an encyclopædia of Contemporaneous Biography
Vol II. New York Tribune, 1904. (Edward Shearson, p. 200) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shearson, Hammill and Co. Defunct financial services companies of the United States American companies established in 1902 Financial services companies established in 1902 Banks established in 1902 Banks disestablished in 1974 Former investment banks of the United States Shearson Lehman/American Express 1902 establishments in New York City

History

Acquisition history

See also

References