Background

Henry Clews was born on August 14, 1834 in Staffordshire, England. He was one of the seven children of James Clews, a Staffordshire potter.

Education

Henry Clews obtained his education in English public schools.

Career

Clews emigrated to the United States in 1853. He immediatly started to work as a clerk with the firm of Wilson G. Hunt & Company, which at that time was one of the largest firms of woolen importers in New York. The experience proved to be all that he had expected, and he remained engaged in it some eight years; but long before the end of that period, it became obvious that he was more interested in the financial side of the establishment than in its merchandising activities. He acquired a thorough knowledge of credits, discounts and commercial paper and became so well- known in this field that he eventually left the woolen business, and opened an office in Wall Street as a note broker and private banker in a firm organized as Stout, Clews & Mason.

Before the opening of the Civil War he had become well-known both in that business and in ancillary branches of banking and investment, and his reputation had gained some foothold in Europe. Civil War finance offered to Clews, as it did to many other investment bankers of the day, a great opportunity for large turnover and substantial profits. Secretary Chase, the war head of the Treasury Department, gave a substantial part of the public business to the firm, which had become Livermore, Clews & Mason (later Livermore, Clews & Company), located at 32 Wall St. , now the site of the United States Assay Office. By the close of the war, this firm ranked second only to the house of Cooke & Company, in the amount of government bonds taken and disposed of to investors. The prestige obtained in this way, and the new clientele which appeared with the fresh industrial growth after the close of the war, still further enlarged the business of the house of Clews.

In 1877 the firm name became Henry Clews & Company. In 1882 the establishment was transferred to the Mills Building just opposite the Stock Exchange on Broad St. , where it remained for forty-one years. The outstanding characteristic of the firm’s policy was abstention from commitment to new promotions, flotations and the like, the business being steadily conducted along rather limited lines, though on a large scale, as a stock-trading and banking establishment, with emphasis upon the customer’s margin phase of the business.

In furtherance of his position as a student of, and leading dealer in, stocks, Clews published a weekly circular which for years was widely known as an authoritative interpretation and forecast of market conditions. Partly as a result of his youthful education and partly as a matter of business development, Clews early interested himself in public questions, chiefly of a financial nature, and at one time acted as currency adviser to the Government of Japan, later receiving a decoration for his service. His Twenty-eight Years in Wall Street (1887, revised and enlarged as Fifty Years of Wall Street, 1908), is a collection of connected reminiscences, sketches, and discussions on various matters which attracted his attention in the course of his business and his Wall Street Point of Piezo (1900) was an exposition of the financial attitude of New York toward public questions. A volume of Speeches and Essays Financial, Economic and Miscellaneous (1910) was also issued under his name.

Owing to his increasing prominence in the community he was, during the life of President Grant, close to the administration and was offered an appointment in it, and, although he never accepted public office, he continued to play a part behind the scenes in connection with the affairs of the Republican party.

Achievements

• Henry Clews became the leading financier and stockbroker in New York City. He was one of the co-founders of Livermore, Clews, and Company, which became the second largest marketer of federal bonds during the United States Civil War.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Fifty Years In Wall Street Part 2

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Fifty Years In Wall Street Part 1

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Twenty-eight years in Wall Street

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Membership

Clews was associated with numerous charitable and civic societies and was at one time president of the Peace and Arbitration Society.

Personality

Henry Clews was about average height. He possessed a gravity and sobriety of men which gave the impression of membership in the ministerial profession, for which he had been intended, rather than the more mundane occupation of a broker.

Connections

Henry Clews married, during his early years, Lucy Madison Worthington of Kentucky.

Father:

James Clews

potter

Spouse:

Lucy Madison Worthington