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new New York and New England Railroad Co. issued to Henry Clews and Co. and Signed by J.B. Clews - 1889 dated Stock Certificate

Inv# AG3081   Autograph
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State(s): New York
Years: 1889

Stock issued to Henry Clews & Co. and signed on back by J.B. Clews.

Henry Clews (August 14, 1834 – January 31, 1923) was a British-American financier and author.

Clews was born on August 14, 1834, in Staffordshire, England. He was the youngest of four sons born to Elizabeth "Bessie" (née Kendrick) Clews and James Clews, a prosperous manufacturer of Staffordshire ware.

At age 14, while in training for the Anglican Church, Clews traveled to New York City, where he "began to perceive the possibilities that presented themselves to a young man."

Shortly thereafter, Clews emigrated to the United States in 1853. His first job was at a pottery import business, working as a junior clerk for Wilson G. Hunt & Company. He organized the firm of Stout, Clews & Mason and eventually brought his brother James Clews over from England to help him manage a branch of the brokerage firm. In 1859, he co-founded Livermore, Clews, and Company, what was then the second largest marketer of federal bonds during the United States Civil War.

In 1877, he split away and started Henry Clews & Company, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, which made him enormously wealthy.

In politics, Clews was a Republican and organized the "Committee of 70," which deposed the corrupt ring associated with William M. Tweed in New York City. He was a friend of President Abraham Lincoln and served as an economic consultant to President Ulysses Grant. Clews, in regards to Grant & Ward, Grant's brokerage firm with Ferdinand Ward, was quoted as saying "It is marvelous how the idea of large profits when presented to the mind in a plausible light has the effect of stifling suspicion."

Towards the end of his life he wrote one of the most famous classics about life on Wall Street entitled "Fifty Years in Wall Street". His nephew, James Blanchard Clews (son of John Clews), succeeded as senior member of Henry Clews & Co. after the death of Clews in 1923.

In 1874, Clews was married to Lexington, Kentucky born heiress Lucy Madison Worthington (1851–1945). Lucy, a daughter of William Hord Worthington and Anna (née Tomlinson) Worthington, was a second cousin of U.S. President James Madison and American Revolutionary War brigadier general Andrew Lewis. Together, they were the parents of three children, two of whom lived to adulthood:

Clews died of bronchitis in New York City, New York on January 31, 1923. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His widow died, at the age of 93, at her home, 15 East 69th Street in New York on May 19, 1945.

Through his son Henry, he was the grandfather of Henry Clews III (1903–1983); Louise Hollingsworth Morris Clews (1904–1970), who married Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll and became the Duchess of Argyll; and Mancha Madison Clews (1915–2006), an electrical engineer.

James Blanchard Clews (August 4, 1869 – December 17, 1934) was an American railroad executive and banker.

Clews was born in Dunkirk in Chautauqua County, New York on August 4, 1869. He was a son of John Clews (1826–1862) and Sabina (née Dayman) Clews (1830–1912). His older brother was John Henry Clews, who also became a banker.

His uncle was the prominent financier and author Henry Clews. Among his many cousins were Elsie Clews Parsons (wife of U.S. Representative Herbert Parsons) and artist Henry Clews Jr., who lived at the Château de la Napoule in France. His paternal grandparents were Bessie (née Kendrick) Clews and James Clews, a prosperous manufacturer of Staffordshire ware. He graduated from Chamberlain College in Randolph, New York in 1888.

The Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway (CISL&C) was a railroad in the United States. The CISL&C resulted from the 1880 corporate restructuring of the bankrupt Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad (IC&L). The CISL&C operated a railroad line from Cincinnati via Indianapolis to Lafayette, being the result of an 1867 merger of the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad (I&C), the Lafayette and Indianapolis Railroad (L&I), and the Cincinnati and Indiana Railroad (C&I). The three predecessor companies had been founded in 1850, 1846, and 1861, respectively.
 

The CISL&C controlled and operated numerous subsidiary railway companies operating smaller branch lines. These included:

In 1889, the railway merged with the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway and the Indianapolis and St Louis Railway to form the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known collectively as the Big Four.

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Condition: Excellent
Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.
Price: $50.00