Issued and beautifully engraved Stock certificate from the
North American Company. This company was part of
the 12 original Dow Average Companies of 1896. The vignette shows a bald eagle holding the Union Shield
on top and an old train steaming along on the bottom vignette. This item is dated no later than 1893. and is over 117 years old. This item is hand signed by the company's officers. Punch cancelled. Signs of some wear.
The North American Company was a holding company incorporated in New Jersey on June 14, 1890, and controlled by Henry Villard, to succeed to the assets and property of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company. It owned public utilities and public transport companies and was broken up in 1946, largely to comply with the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.
Its headquarters were at 60 Broadway in Manhattan.
By 1940, North American was a US$2.3 billion holding company heading up a pyramid of by then 80 companies. It controlled ten major direct subsidiaries in eight of which it owned at least 79%. Three of the ten were major holding companies:
Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri
Washington Railway and Electric Company
North American Light and Power Company
Four of the ten direct subsidiaries were operating companies:
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company
Pacific Gas and Electric
Detroit Edison Company
Wisconsin Electric Power Company
The remaining three of the ten direct subsidiaries were:
North American Utility Securities Corporation
West Kentucky Coal Company
60 Broadway Building Corporation
At various times during its existence, North American also owned substantial interests in these other companies as well:
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company: Formed in 1896 as a subsidiary of the North American Company. By 1929, it operated within North American Company along with Wisconsin Electric Power Company, which became the consolidated name of the two operating companies in 1938. It now belongs to Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC)
Capital Transit: Formed on December 1, 1933 in Washington, D.C. from merger of Washington Railway, Capital Traction, and Washington Rapid Transit. North American owned it through its holding company subsidiary, Washington Railway and Electric Company, which in turn was the holding company for the merged lines, owning 50% of Capital Transit.
Potomac Electric Power Company
Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company
Union Light, Heat and Power of Covington, Kentucky
Northern Natural Gas Company
Butte Electric and Power Company
Laclede Gas Company[13]
Edison Securities Corporation
Wired Radio, Inc. (Muzak)
North American Edison Company
North American Company was broken up by the Securities and Exchange
Commission, following the United States Supreme Court decision of April 1,
1946.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Oregon and Transcontinental stock owned by Henry VillardNorth American's stock was one of the twelve component stocks of the May 1896 original Dow Jones Industrial Average, but it was replaced later that same year. In 1928, when the number of stocks comprising the DJIA was increased to 30, North American was re-added to the list but was replaced again in 1930. The two periods when it was a component were:
May 26, 1896 – August 26, 1896, replaced by U. S. Cordage
October 1, 1928 – January 29, 1930, replaced by Johns-Manville
History from Wikipedia and
OldCompany.com (old
stock certificate research service)