1953–54 Volume 78 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

28 THE SCROLL of Phi Delta Theta for September, 1953
Bank, and a Director of the Seattle-First
National Bank, and George P. Hardgrove had
been associated together in St. Louis.
Both partners were connected for a few years
with the Union Trust Company, a mortgage,
loan and trust company, located in the basement
of the Marble Bank Building, and affiliated
with the Old National Bank and other
banks in Spokane. Feeling that there was an
unfilled place in the financial structure of the
Inland Empire and Spokane, they gathered together
a few thousand dollars, their total savings,
and announced their new business with
the following announcement, which appeared
in the Spokesman-Review:
JOEL E. FERRIS AND GEORGE P. HARDGROVE
Announce the Establishment of the
Firm of
FERRIS & HARDGROVE
INVESTMENT BANKERS
Paulsen Building, Spokane
For the purpose of buying and selling conservative
investment securities, including Municipal
and Corporation Bonds and First Mortgages
on city and farm property.
The securities handled by this firm will be such
as we believe to be truly representative of
financial conservatism; security, validity and
convertibility being essential.
We solicit the business and inquiries of investors
seeking safe securities in large or small
amount, as well as the inquiries of individuals,
firms or corporations requiring loans and
financial accommodations, when based on absolute
security and subject to rigid investigation.
At that time, most of the bonds issued by
municipalities and school districts, counties and
States in the Pacific Northwest were sold to
Eastern dealers, and the partners both experienced
in analyzing and handling such securities,
arranged to buy municipal bonds and other
issues and re-sell them to local investors, banks
and savings societies, and, at first, in large part
to insurance companies and fraternal orders in
the middle West and East.
Joel Ferris, in reminiscing over the early
days of their firms, says, "I think the first issue
of bonds we handled was a small one of Water
Improvement bonds of Cheney, Wash., amounting
to 110,000. We soon found the bond dealers
and banks with departments in Chicago,
Minneapolis, and St. Paul, rather felt we were
interlopers for our activities in Washington,
Oregon, Montana, and Idaho. The old established
San Francisco firms felt they had a prior
claim on Oregon securities, and Seattle dealers
felt Washington belonged to them. In due
course we handled the bonds of practically every
county in the four Northwest States. In Idaho
we bought the bonds to complete the State
Capitol Building at Boise. In a few years we
extended our activities to the underwriting of
western corporate issues, including many issues
of Washington Water Power bonds, stocks and
notes; also the Davenport Hotel, Gonzaga University
and many others. To meet our Seattle
and Portland competition in their own dooryard,
we opened offices in those two cities, and
George Hardgrove moved to Seattle, while I
continued with the home base in Spokane."
Both Ferris and Hardgrove formed many
business connections in the cities in which they
were located, and became active in many areas
of business and civic life, including a distribution
without compensation of millions of dollars
of war bonds during the two World Wars.
Mr. Ferris was persuaded to desert investment
banking and in the month of September, 1931,
became a commercial banker, when he was
elected President of the Spokane and Eastern
Trust Company, which banking institution he
guided through the financial upheavals of 1932
and 1933.
The Pacific Northwest Company was organized
to merge the long established firm of
Ferris and Hardgrove of Spokane, Portland,
Seattle, and the investment firm of Drumheller,
Ehrlichman & Co. of Seattle. The Pacific Northwest
Co. has had a remarkable growth. It serves
ten cities in Washington and Oregon, and has
capital and surplus of 11,578,297.60.
Harper Joy, today Executive Vice-President
of the Pacific Northwest Company, is as widely
known as any investment banker in the country,
having had many important positions in
national organizations.* Others are George
Ingraham, Earl Morrison, Albert Peterson, and
Sam Whittemore, Vice-Presidents, and Mrs.
Ethel Welliever, Cashier.
"I feel we had a lot of fun in our business,"
continued Mr. Ferris, "many interesting experiences,
some grief, but much to be proud of.
We traveled night and day over Montana,
Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, visiting
municipalities. County Boards and school
districts, negotiating and bidding for their
bonds. Into our organization, which we finally
incorporated, we fortunately added several as-
(Continued on page jo)
* Brother Joy is also well l&iown for his summer-time
work as a clown in several large circuses. A few years
ago he was subject of one of Ralph Edwards' radio programs,
"This Is Your Life," and in 1948 he brought an
outstanding group of Whitman Phis to the Centennial
Convention. The group put on a minstrel show in the
Phi- Phrolics and Mr. Joy was a great "Mr. Bones." ED.