Brown Bros. & Co.

Brown Bros. & Co. was an investment bank from 1818 until its merger with Harriman Brothers & Company in 1931 to form Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

History

Brown Brothers, an investment bank and trading company was founded in 1818 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by George and John Brown, sons of former Ulster linen trader Alexander Brown (1764—1834) who had established a firm in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1825, third son James Brown (1791—1877) opened an affiliate in New York City under the name Brown Brothers and another in Boston, Massachusetts in 1845.[1] These firms were later merged under the name. James Brown's son, John Crosby Brown (1838—1909), would be a driving force for growth, making Wall Street in New York the center for operations and seeing the bank become major lenders to the textile, commodities, and transportation industries.

In 1931, the firm merged with Harriman Brothers and Company, another Wall Street firm owned by W. Averell Harriman and E. Roland Harriman to form Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Some historical records of Brown Brothers are housed in the manuscript collections at New-York Historical Society.

See also

References

  1. ^ "An Artistic Addition to Brown Brothers' Wall Street Offices Under Construction. Banking House Will Occupy Hanover Street Block Front from Wall to Beaver Street". New York Times. September 3, 1916. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E13F83F5D17738DDDAA0894D1405B868DF1D3. Retrieved 2011-02-14. "To prepare the site for the new addition to Brown Brothers' banking building on Wall Street, wreckers began last week tearing down three of the oldest landmarks still remaining on Hanover Street. They comprise the ancient structures at 8, 4 and 5 Hanover Street, the latter forming the immediate corner of Beaver Street."