I had been looking for a good way to start an occasional series on both the well known and lesser known men and women in American business, when I ran across a great series of articles in Moody’s Magazine from 1909 written by Mark M. Reynolds. Each month’s issue featured one or more profiles. As you can see from the list below, some of the men profiled, such as Alexander Hamilton, are more familiar to modern Americans, but the stories behind men such as Daniel Drew and Jacob Little offer a glimpse into the business world of their day.
January: Robert Morris; Alexander Hamilton
February: Alexander Hamilton; Albert Gallatin; Jacob Little; David Clarkson; John Ward; Daniel Drew
March: brothers Addison G. and Leonard W. Jerome; Walter Wellman Morse
April: Daniel Drew; Henry Keep
May: Cornelius Vanderbilt
June: Jay Gould; James Fisk Jr.
While the writing itself was interesting, I found the connections these men had to each other even more revealing. Keep your eyes open because I will try to feature the above men and others in future posts.