Founded in New York in 1953

Library of Congress

By Susie J . Pak

A native of Belmont , New York , George Keith Weeks ( 1877 – 1953 ) was the son of Rev . George Edgar Weeks ( 1851 – 1896 ), a Baptist minister . Weeks was a graduate of New York University and worked as a financial reporter for The New York Commercial before starting in the brokerage business at N . W . Halsey & Co ., a bond dealer in 1900 . In 1905 , he moved to San Francisco , where he opened an office for the firm . He was one of the organizers of the Pacific Gas & Electric Co . and served as a director for the company from 1905 – 1919 . During World War I , he served as “ executive manager of all the Liberty Loan drives in the 12th Federal Reserve District .”

The former head of National City Bank of New York , Frank A . Vanderlip , was a limited partner in Baker , Winans & Harden .

In 1916 , Weeks joined the National City Co . of California as president . The firm was a subsidiary of the National City Bank of New York . After the war , he moved to London with the National City Company as vice president and became the head of its European operations . In 1930 , Weeks left National City Co . and founded the firm of Baker , Weeks & Harden in 1931 . The predecessor to the firm , Baker , Winans & Harden , was formed in 1929 with partners Frank E . Baker , Walker Harden , Frank F . Winans and William H . Baker . Frank A . Vanderlip , the former head of National City Bank of New York , Albert R . Thayer and H . E . Benedict were limited partners .

Like many private banking partnerships , the family connections that were prevalent throughout the industry were also intertwined with the work and friendship networks of the firm . The partners of Baker , Winans & Harden had both family connections and ties through the National City Co . A native of Toronto , Ontario ,

Frank Forsythe Winans moved to Chicago as a young man and became a clerk in the Northern Trust Co . Before he joined Baker , Winans & Harden , he had been the vice president of National City Co . in Chicago since 1921 .

Born in 1890 , Frank Eugene Baker was a native of Louisville , Illinois . He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1911 and later became a member of Thayer , Baker & Co ., an investment bank in Philadelphia . William H . Baker was a former member of Cassatt & Co . and a member of the New York Stock Exchange . Walker Harden was the son of Edward Walker Harden , a former member of Campbell , Starring & Co . ( f . 1925 , New York ), the successor firm to Baker , Winans & Harden .

E . Walker Harden was born in Dexter , Kansas and , like Weeks , had been a journalist . He was the financial editor for the Chicago Tribune from 1895 – 1898 , a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and New York World during the Spanish

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