Lucas & Simonds

City: Saint Louis

County: Saint Louis

State: Missouri

Lucas & Simonds was a banking firm in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1851, James H. Lucas established a banking house in St. Louis, and in 1852, he entered into partnership with John Simonds to establish the firm of Lucas & Simonds. Lucas & Simonds established a branch in San Francisco, California, and William T. Sherman resigned his commission in the U.S. Army to work for the San Francisco branch. Lucas & Simonds organized a branch in Springfield, Illinois, on October 5, 1852, with Antrim Campbell as president and Robert Irwin as cashier. In 1855, Lucas & Simonds began the process of closing the Springfield branch because the branch was not profitable. Simonds retired from the firm in 1857, and Sherman, with approval of the St. Louis office, closed the San Francisco branch. The Springfield branch closed in January 1857, and the Panic of 1857 forced Lucas to close the St. Louis office.

Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 6 January 1853, 2:4; 4 January 1854, 3:6; Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 1 August 1855, 1:6; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 19 January 1857, 2:1; J. Thomas Scharf, History of Saint Louis City and County (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883), 2:1407-8.