Financial History Issue 116 (Winter 2016) | Page 39

Waldorf Astor, Jay Gould and Oliver Harriman. After nearly 150 years of operation,
the company was acquired by discount
broker Charles Schwab in May 2000 for
$2.7 billion. In November 2007, Bank
of America purchased US Trust from
Schwab for $3.3 billion.
By the end of the early period in 1862, a
few additional trust companies were formed
in New York, Chicago and Kentucky. In the
case of Chicago, they were insurance companies and a loan company with trust powers granted by the State of Illinois.
Trust Companies, Middle Period
The middle period of banking history in
the United States, from 1863–1912, was the
golden age of trust companies. US economic output grew 60% in the period
between 1870 to 1900, led by manufacturing
which continued to grow at an accelerated pace. The leading industries by 1900
were the production of machinery, iron and
steel, printing and publishing and lumber.
Agriculture now accounted for only 20% of
the nation’s economic output. By 1890, the
US economy had become the largest of any
country in the world.
The most significant factor that