Financial History Issue 129 (Spring 2019) | Page 34
WHERE ARE
THEY NOW?
Bache & Co.
By Susie J. Pak
Semon Bache & Co. (f. 1847, New York)
Born in Bavaria in 1826, Semon Bache
was the son of Joel Bach. Semon immi-
grated to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1843 and
moved to New York in 1846. The follow-
ing year, he founded the firm of Semon
Bache & Co., which imported goods and
mirrors. (In the United States, Semon
added an “e” to his last name as a way of
Americanizing it). The firm expanded into
the glass trade and dealt in window, plate
and mirror glass. In 1846, his brother-
in-law, Solomon B. Ulmann (sometimes
spelled Ulman), joined the business. A
native of Bavaria, Ulmann immigrated
to the United States at the age of 10. In
1857, Semon’s brother, Siegmund J. Bach,
joined the firm.
Semon Bache married the former Eliza-
beth VanPraag, the daughter of Dr. Aaron
S. VanPraag, in 1849. They had seven
children: “Henrietta, wife of Julius Kay-
ser; Sarah, wife of Adolph Thurmann;
Portrait of Jules S. Bache,
founder of Bache & Co.
Blanche, wife of Charles Neukirch; Jules
Semon Bache; Leonora, wife of Leop-
old Rossbach; Leopold Semon Bache;
and Mamie, wife of Siegmund Politzer.”
Semon’s son Leopold S. Bache, who was
born in New York, joined his father’s
firm and also went into business with his
brother-in-law, Julius Kayser, who was in
the silk glove business. In 1890, the firm
consolidated its business in German mir-
ror plate glass with six other firms and
formed The German Looking Glass Plate
Co. This branch of the firm’s business
was further consolidated in 1893 with two
other firms, Heroy & Marrener and Hol-
brook Bros., and it became The Manhat-
tan Plate Glass Co. When Semon Bache
died in 1891, his partners were Solomon B.
Ulmann, Sigmund J. Bache, Joe S. Ulmann
and Leopold S. Bache.
Leopold Cahn & Co. (f. 1879, New York)
Semon’s son Jules Semon Bache, who
was also born in New York City, was the
founder of the Bache brokerage house.
Educated at the Charlier Institute, Bache
began working as a cashier at the firm of
32 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Spring 2019 | www.MoAF.org
Leopold Cahn & Co. (f. 1879, New York)
in 1880. Leopold Cahn, the firm’s senior
partner, was his uncle. Cahn was born in
Soden, Germany and immigrated to the
United States. He worked at Kuhn, Loeb
& Co. and Speyer & Co. before starting
his firm, and he joined the New York
Stock Exchange in 1869. Jules Bache made
partner in 1883, the year he joined the
New York Stock Exchange. In 1892, when
Jules was made head of the firm, the firm’s
name was changed to J.S. Bache & Co.
J.S. Bache & Co. (f. 1892, New York)
According to journalist Phyllis Furman,
Jules Bache “started out by handling the
accounts of small investors, including
members of New York’s garment indus-
try…” The firm grew and also diversified
into different lines of business. By 1905, J.S.
Bache & Co. had seven offices, including
one in Montreal and another in Liverpool,
and it was trading in stocks and com-
modities. In the 1920s, the firm financed “a
number of major projects, including the
construction of the New York City subway
system. Bache also invested in numerous