was believed to represent the first between a private bank and a national bank . It also tied Blair & Co . to a long history of banking in California and Transamerica Corporation , which had been established in 1928 as a banking holding company by Amadeo Pietro / Peter Giannini and led by his son , Virgil David Giannini .
Born in San Jose , California , A . P . Giannini was the son of Italian immigrants from Genoa , Italy . Capitalizing on the outstanding economic growth of the state of California in the early 20th century , Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in 1904 , which grew into the third-largest American bank by 1927 . In 1928 , Giannini bought the controlling interest in the Bank of America , a descendant of the Second Bank of the United States ( founded in 1812 ). In 1930 , the Bank of Italy was formally merged into the Bank of America . That year , Walker became the chairman of the board of Transamerica and Hunter S . Marston , a Brown University graduate , succeeded Walker as president . Hunter ’ s father , Edgar Lewis Marston , was one of the original partners in Blair & Co . A native of Iowa and a graduate of La Grange College and Washington University Law School , Edgar L . Marston joined Blair & Co . in 1893 and died in 1935 . Hunter was born in St . Louis and joined the firm in 1908 after graduating from Brown University .
During the early years of the Great Depression , the value of Transamerica declined precipitously , and the firm entered a period of turmoil when Walker and Giannini engaged in a proxy war over the direction of the holding company . Walker lost to Giannini in 1932 , and he resigned from the firm as did Hunter Marston . After losing his fight with Giannini , Walker joined the firm Kuhn , Loeb & Co . ( founded in 1867 ). The Associated Press said it was known that Walker would land on his feet , but the announcement of a Kuhn , Loeb partnership “ caused mild surprise .” Kuhn , Loeb , which was founded in 1867 , had not admitted a non-family member until 1912 . It remained largely a family firm , but it was at a time of transition in its history and had lost several key partners in the early 1930s . Walker was seen as bringing “ new blood into the old firm ,” and he created his own
Blair & Co . building , erected in 1903 on the corner of Broad Street and Exchange Place , New York City . family legacy at Kuhn , Loeb . His son , Robert Elisha Walker , became a Kuhn , Loeb partner in 1949 .
Transamerica Corporation did not long stay the owner of the Blair firm . In 1938 , it sold its remaining interest in Bancamerica- Blair Corporation to Ashby Oliver Stewart , the former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco . The son of a grocer , Stewart was a native of a Missouri and the former president of Golden Gate Ferries , Inc . and the Pacific Coast Mortgage Co . A former bank clerk , Stewart made his name in San Francisco real estate before branching out into mines and land banks . He was an associate of A . P . Giannini and sometimes rumored to be a “ Giannini frontman .” Time magazine referred to him as a “ West Coast Napoleon .” He became the chairman of the board of Bancamerica-Blair in 1938 .
Though under the new ownership , Bancamerica-Blair continued to be led by longterm members of the firm and its Salomon predecessor . In 1939 , Bancamerica-Blair stockholders also voted to restore the name of Blair & Co . That year , Hearn W . Streat was named vice chairman and John Rhea Montgomery was made president . Montgomery was a New Jersey native and the son of a lawyer . A graduate of Princeton University , Montgomery worked as a bond salesman at William Salomon & Co . before it merged with Blair & Co . Streat was a New York native . His father was a buildings material manufacturer . Streat joined Blair & Co . in 1899 . He started as a runner and worked his way up through the organization . Streat retired in 1941 and died in 1946 .
In 1950 , Blair & Co ., Inc . changed its name again when it merged with E . H . Rollins & Sons , a banking house founded by Edward Henry Rollins , who had been a US Senator from New Hampshire . The new firm became Blair & Co . -E . H . Rollins , Inc . Blair Holdings Corporation , the holding company that owned Blair & Co . -E . H . Rollins Inc ., also bought The First California Co ., which had been formed in 1945 out of the Bankamerica Co ., “ a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pacific Coast Mortgage Co .,” where A . O . Stewart had been chairman of the board . Virgil D . Dardi , the president of First California , became the chairman of the board and Warren H . Snow , the president of Rollins , became president of the newly-merged company .
In 1954 , Dardi left the firm and Blair & Co . -E . H . Rollins , Inc . again reverted to its original name , but by this time , the firm had begun to shift away from being led by long-time members of the original Blair and Salomon predecessors . In 1963 , Blair & Co ., Inc . merged with Granbery , Marache ( founded in 1948 ), and the leadership and name of the firm changed again . Oliver DeGray Vanderbilt III was named chairman of the board of the new firm called Blair & Co ., Granbery , Marache Inc . A New York native , Vanderbilt III was a St . Paul ’ s School and Princeton University graduate . His father worked for a manufacturer of railway parts and supplies . Vanderbilt III also worked in the railway supply business before becoming a trustee of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co . in 1956 . He had been with Blair & Co ., Inc . since 1957 .
In addition to Vanderbilt III , the new leadership of Blair & Co ., Granbery , Marache Inc . included Herbert W . Marache , who was named president and CEO . A native of Brooklyn , New York , and a graduate of Yale University , Marache was the son of a banker . His father had been a member of Blake Brothers & Co . ( founded in 1858 ). Marache ’ s former partner , E . Carleton Granbery , was a graduate of the Berkeley School ( NYC ) and Yale University . Granbery , who was the son of a broker , founded Granbery , Safford & Co . in 1935 . He merged the firm with Craigmyle , Marache & Co . ( founded in 1934 ) to form Granbery , Marache & Lord in 1937 . The firm was renamed Granbery , Marache & Co . in 1948 .
Before Granbery Marache ’ s merger with Blair & Co ., Granbery had retired in 1959 and become a special partner . He died in 1961 . Both Granbery ’ s and Marache ’ s sons , who were Yale graduates like their fathers , had joined the family firm . Granbery ’ s son , John Granbery , studied at the Hotchkiss School and graduated from Yale University in 1934 . Marache ’ s son , Herbert W . Marache , Jr ., studied at St . Paul ’ s ( NH ) and graduated from Yale University in 1950 . Despite the engagement of the founders ’ families into the second generation , the leadership of the firm eventually passed to William M . Lendman , a New Jersey native , who had been in charge of Granbery ’ s sales department .
The elevation of Lendman to the leadership of the firm appears to be tied to the combined involvement of investors Robert K . Lifton and Jay Pritzker , who along with other associates were approached by Martin Whitman , an investment adviser
www . MoAF . org | Spring 2018 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 33