Extremely Rare WWI Boston Stock Exchange Memorabilia

Extremely Rare WWI Stock Market Memorabilia

Shown in the pictures is an extremely rare piece of stock market memorabilia with particular relationship to the Boston Stock Exchange.  It looks to have been hand carved in mahogany or walnut with a wonderful eagle at the top.  Founded in 1834 as the third oldest exchange in the U.S., the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE) played a vital role as a leading regional exchange within the strongest capital market system in the world.   Up until recently the BSE was executing in excess of 185 million shares of listed and over-the-counter securities.   On October 2, 2007 Nasdaq agreed to acquire BSE for $61 million.

Included on the Roll of Honour are the 21 names:  Bartlett H. Hayes; Charles T. Lovering; John Parkinson, Jr.; Constantine Hutchins;   James A. Burgess;  Horace S. Stevens;  Charles P. Greenough;  S. Prescott Fay;  Horace O. Bright;  George Putnam;  Russell E. Hamlin;  Harold W. Pierce;  Chester W. Brown;  William B. Long;  Charles Jackson;  James T. Bryan;  Francis E. Burke;  John F. Doyle;  Charles Boyden;  Ralph Hornblower;  Charles G. Lund, Jr.

I wondered if perhaps this might be a list of members or their sons who left the exchange to join the armed forces and gave or risked their lives for their country fighting in World War I.    I was unable to find much about most of the names, however I did find that there was an officers training camp at Plattsburg, New York, where several were enrolled.  These names were included in Company 8, 17th Provisional Training Regiment as officer candidate members of the second class of 1917, conducted in August, September, October and November, 1917. 

I have to assume that all names on the Roll of Honor are members of the exchange who left to join various branches of the military to fight for their country during World War I, but except for those listed at Plattsburg I can find no further reference for the others.  I’m sure the families will know and I will appreciate any further background on any one of these names that may be offered.  My guess is that most returned from the wars and remained in areas of banking, finance and business as I found reference to this possibility in diverse areas.  It would be nice to honor in a brief summary the service contributed by each name, and perhaps their subsequent accomplishment.  All legitimate contributions will be so incorporated.

Plattsburg, New York Training Camp, 1917

Note: This information has been abstracted from The Plattsburger, Copyright, 1917, Plattsburg , New York. This was a World War I training camp in upstate New York on the banks of Lake Champlain .

Plattsburg , New York was the site of the National Army's Officer Candidate School in 1917. This camp was established in 1911 and held courses for prospective officers intermittently until the entry of the United States in the war in Europe . The Regular U.S. Army at the time was very small, and totally insufficient for the prospects of fighting in Europe . The National Guard augmented the Regular Army, but still the totals were insufficient. The United States Government decided upon a course of conscription of men for a "National Army." These draftees would need officers to train and lead them, thus the reason for the facility at Plattsburg , New York .

The officer candidates listed in the rosters in this presentation were members of the second class of 1917, conducted in August, September, October and November, 1917.

Listed at Plattsburg:

Constantine Hutchins (Company 8, 17th Provisional Training Regiment)

(in a 1919 NY Times is mention of transfer of an exchange seat from W. Forbes Morgan to )

Charles R. Jackson (5th Battery Field Artillery)

(Jackson & Curtis?)

Chas. P. Greenough (Company 9, 17th Provisional Training Regiment)

Samuel P. Fay (3rd Battery Field Artillery)

(recognized as a friend of France for work with the American Ambulance Field Service)

Charles T. Lovering (3rd Battery Field Artillery)

(active in 1920, sponsoring an exchange membership)

Charles E. Lund (Company 17, 18th Provisional Training Regiment)

Full List of Names:

BARTLETT H. HAYES

(1915 mention in BSE partnership deal)

CHARLES T. LOVERING

JOHN PARKINSON, Jr.

(John Parkinson is listed as a President of the Boston Stock Exchange as early as 1901.  Chances are John Jr. was his son.)

CONSTANTIN HUTCHINS

JAMES A. BURGESS

HORACE S. STEVENS

CHARLES P. GREENOUGH

S. PRESCOTT FAY

HORACE O. BRIGHT

GEORGE PUTNAM

(Putnam Fund ?)

RUSSELL E. HAMLIN

HAROLD W. PIERCE

(Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith ?)

CHESTER W. BROWN

WILLIAM B. LONG

CHARLES JACKSON

JAMES T. BRYAN

FRANCIS E. BURKE

JOHN F. DOYLE

CHARLES BOYDEN

RALPH HORNBLOWER

(Hornblower, Weeks, Hemphill, Noyes & Co. ?)

CHARLES G. LUND, JR.

If you have anything to add, questions, or more photos are desired please do not hesitate to ask or call it to my attention.  If you like the starting price, be one-up on the under-bidder, get things rolling early and add a bit of excitement to the auction.   Bids at the last possible second will also be gratefully accepted.

Thanks for Looking !