Financial History Issue 125 (Spring 2018) | Page 19
Wall Street’s
“Weak Link”
WILLIAM
HEATH
Before business opened on the
Stock Exchange yesterday
morning rumors were rife that a
great failure was imminent. For
reasons that were appreciated
in Wall-Street it was quickly
concluded that the weak firm was
William Heath & Co., of No. 78
Broadway. The anxiety of that
house’s customers was not long in
making itself felt. Demands poured
in on the firm for settlements of
various kinds and for immense
sums. The result was shown in
the prompt announcement of Mr.
Heath in a letter to the Exchange
that his house was unable to meet
its obligations.
The New York Times
October 3, 1885
Scene in the Gold Room during the panic on Friday, September 24, 1869.
By Julia Bricklin
One of Wall Street’s brightest stars
in the mid-19th century was William
Heath, founder of the eponymous Wil-
liam Heath & Co., a brokerage that had
offices in New York and London. In his
early 20s, the Massachusetts native was
better known as the “American Deer.” At
six foot, six inches tall, gaunt and angular
with a drooping moustache, Heath cut
a conspicuous figure on Broad and Wall
Streets. In the early to mid-1860s, he
was a famous “pad-shover,” a messenger
that raced between the Exchange and the
broking houses who carried pads of paper
from place to place upon which were writ-
ten current prices of various securities and
buy and sell offers.
The nickname “American Deer” — or
sometimes “American Reindeer” — fol-
lowed him even as his offices and position
in life became bigger and loftier. But soon,
Heath’s fame for his quick maneuvering,
photographic memory and market astute-
ness would turn into notoriety, as his
increased bear speculation with the likes
of Jay Gould and Jim Fisk would cost him
his business, his wealth and his life.
“In an age without tickers or electric-
ity,” writes E.H. Harriman biographer
Maury Klein, “the brokerage business was
a gigantic paper chase. Being a pad-shover
offered any bright, alert boy the chance
to observe every aspect of the business
from the purely technical nature of how
transactions were made to the psychology
of behavior under stress as revealed by the
men who gave and received orders.”
Still, Heath and the more sophisticated
of his peers lost their jobs in 1867. The
speed of Edward Calahan’s ticker inven-
tion was far faster than notes delivered
by human muscle. Thus, at age 29, Heath
decided to join the Open Board of Bro-
kers, which merged with the New York
Stock Exchange in 1869.
Heath was born in Brookline, Massa-
chusetts, to Charles and Caroline Heath.
His father was a broker, and son quickly
took to the excitement of it. In his mid-
teens, the younger Heath trained with the
banking house of Blake Brothers & Co.
and then began trading with James Mur-
ray Howe & Co., both in Boston. In 1860,
he accepted a position with Nevins & Co.,
as their New York representative, and he
took an office there at 38 Pine Street. It was
there that his athletic price running made
him famous in Lower Manhattan.
In early 1867, Heath formed his own
brokerage firm, with another gentleman
named James Ellis. The pair did quite well,
offering careful yet bold speculative oppor-
tunities to customers who wished to invest
in America’s financial reconstruction
www.MoAF.org | Spring 2018 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 17