Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles - 1871 signed by Isaias W. Hellman and Prudent Beaudry

Beautifully engraved certificate of Deposite from the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles issued in 1871. This historic document was printed by Britton and Rey. This item is hand signed by the Company's Cashier ( Isaias W. Hellman ) and is over 132 years old. There is some minor ledger stain on left side and overall is in fine condition. The certificate was issued to and signed on the verso by Prudent Beaudry.
Certificate Vignette The Farmers and Merchants Bank was the first incorporated bank in Los Angeles, founded in 1871 by John D. Downey and Isaias W. Hellman, a successful merchant, real estate speculator and banker, and brother of Hermann W. Hellman. The Farmers and Merchants Bank was the oldest bank in Southern California from 1871 until 1956 when it was merged into the Security First National Bank of Los Angeles. The story of the Farmers and Merchants Bank coincides with the development of Los Angeles, particularly in the formative period from 1870 to 1900.
Isaias William Hellman,b. Oct.3, 1842, Reckendorf, Bavaria; d. April 9, 1920 ; came to the US in 1859; m. Esther Newgass, of New York on April 14, 1870. He arrived in L.A. in 1859 and began work as dry goods clerk; manager and president, Hellman, Temple and Co., bankers, 1868-71; He began in banking at Los Angeles in 1868 and founded the Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1871 and was its president from 1876-1920,: In 1890, he moved to San Francisco and he incorporated the Union Trust Company, the first trust company in California. Isaias William Hellman was president. He was also president, Bankers's Investment Co. Director: U.S. National Bank (Portland, Ore.), So. Pacific Co., many other corporations. He was also appointed to Regents of the University of California to fill unexpired term of Regent D. O. Mills, 1881-86; reappointed, 1886-1902; reappointed, 1902-18. His home was located at 2020 Jackson St. office 2 Montgomery St., San Francisco, California. The bank operated from his home on Jackson Street after the main branch was destroyed in the 18-Apr-1906 Fire and Earthquake. His son and grandson were later presidents of Wells Fargo Bank. Isaias William Hellman was also a co founder of the University of Southern California (USC). In 1879, three civic leaders, Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturalist; John G. Downey, an Irish-Catholic pharmacist who had served as governor of California from 1860 to 1862; and Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist, deeded 308 lots to the Board of Trustees, located in an area designated "West Los Angeles," near the intersection of Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard. Sales of the lots were to create an endowment to provide seeds of financial support for the institution. A portion of the land, located within the original land grant establishing El Pueblo de la Reina (Reyna) de Los Angeles, was to be reserved for the actual campus. The university opened in 1880 with 53 students and 10 teachers. Beaudry, Prudent (d. 1893) of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Calif. Mayor of Los Angeles, Calif., 1874-76. Died in 1893. Interment somewhere in Montreal, Quebec. Prudent Beaudry was originally from a Montréal family, though possibly born at Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines in Terrebonne county, he was one of the men who most contributed to the development of Los Angeles, California. He first went west at the beginning of 1850, travelling by way of Panama to reach San Francisco, where he initially lived with his brother Victor. That year, the two brothers sold syrup in the mining camps and small interior villages, but parted ways later in the year. In April 1852, Prudent settled in the still young town of Los Angeles. In 1868, he organized the Los Angeles City Water Company, of which he became the president, building an aqueduct at his own expense three years later. The reservoir required for this undertaking had a volume of one million gallons, enough to serve the purchasers of the 900 acres in Beaudry's "domain." In addition, Beaudry created a public park outfitted with all the modern conveniences. In 1867, Prudent Beaudry purchased Bunker Hill for $51 in order to develop an elegant residential community. By 1898, the neighborhood was full of Victorian homes and some elegant hotels. Colonel J.W. Eddy would occasionally look up from Third and Hill streets to the opulent homes and hotels on Bunker Hill. This spurred the idea of an inclined railway which would shorten the trip. The small funicular was christened Angels Flight and inaugurated on New Year's Eve, 1901. In 1871, Beaudry was elected city councilor of Los Angeles and in 1873 became one of the directors of the newly-formed Board of Trade, a precursor of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. In 1874, he became the city's first judge and later that year had the honor of being elected mayor of Los Angeles.