Henry Keep signed New York Central Railroad - circa 1870's Unissued Railway Autograph Stock Certificate
Inv# AG1338 Stock
Henry Keep (June 22, 1818 – July 30, 1869) was a prominent American figure in finance, known for his roles as a currency speculator, banker, stock investor, and railroad financier. He made significant investments in several railroads, including the Chicago and North Western Railway, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad, and New York Central Railroad. From 1861 to 1863, he served as the treasurer of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad and held the position of president of the New York Central Railroad for a brief period in 1866. Born on June 22, 1818, in Adams, New York, Henry Keep was the son of Herman Chandler Keep and Dorothy (née Kent). He had two sisters, Mary and Martha, and was a descendant of John Keep, an emigrant from England who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1660 and lost his life during King Philip's War in 1676. Additionally, he was related to William Ezra Keep, a notable builder in Hartford, Connecticut.
Upon his passing, Keep bequeathed his daughter $500,000 in railroad stock, equivalent to approximately $9.7 million in 2020. He allocated two farms valued at $185,000 (around $3.6 million in 2020) to his sister Mary, while his sister Martha received $200,000 in cash (approximately $3.9 million in 2020). Each of his three sisters-in-law was given stock worth $100,000 (about $1.9 million in 2020). The remainder of his estate, which was valued at $1 million at the time (approximately $19.4 million in 2020), and assessed by financial historians at $4.5 million (around $87.5 million in 2020), was inherited by his wife.
The New York Central Railroad, identified by the reporting mark NYC, was a significant railway system that primarily served the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It established vital connections between the greater New York area and Boston in the east, extending to Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, while also linking several key cities such as Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Syracuse. The headquarters of the New York Central was located in the New York Central Building in New York City, situated next to its principal station, Grand Central Terminal.
Founded in 1853 through the consolidation of multiple existing railroads, the New York Central Railroad underwent a major merger in 1968 with its competitor, the Pennsylvania Railroad, resulting in the formation of Penn Central. However, Penn Central faced bankruptcy in 1970 and subsequently merged into Conrail in 1976. In 1998, Conrail was dismantled, and segments of its network were allocated to CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway, with CSX acquiring the majority of the former New York Central tracks.
A stock certificate is issued by businesses, usually companies. A stock is part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his/her money only by selling to another investor. Most stocks, or also called shares, earn dividends, at the business's discretion, depending on how well it has traded. A stockholder or shareholder is a part-owner of the business that issued the stock certificates.
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