Edward H. H. Simmons

Edward Henry Harriman Simmons
Born	(1876-08-21) 21 August 1876 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	21 May 1955(1955-05-21) (aged 78)
Occupation(s)	Financier, writer
Known for	President of the New York Stock Exchange

Edward Henry Harriman Simmons (born August 21, 1876 – died May 21, 1955) was a prominent American financier and writer who held the position of president of the New York Stock Exchange.

Early life

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey on August 21, 1876, Simmons was the son of Charles Dewar Simmons (1847–1926) and Cornelia "Lilly" Neilson (née Harriman) Simmons. His family included siblings Harriman Neilson Simmons, Charles Dewar Simmons Jr., Mary Elizabeth (Simmons) Goff, and Cornelia Neilson (Simmons) King.

His maternal uncle was the railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman, and among his relatives were notable figures such as diplomat and future New York Governor W. Averell Harriman, along with bankers Oliver Harriman Jr. and E. Roland Harriman.

Simmons received his education at the Stevens School in Hoboken and later attended the Drisler School before pursuing medical studies at Columbia University, where he graduated in 1898.

Career

Shortly after completing his medical degree, Simmons shifted his focus from medicine to finance, establishing his own brokerage firm and becoming a director at Harriman National Bank, where his cousin Joseph Wright Harriman served as president.

He became a member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1900 and joined its governing committee in 1909. From 1921 to 1924, he held the vice-presidency before assuming the presidency in 1924 for a six-year term while partnering at Rutter & Gross. Throughout his leadership, he took a strong stance against stock fraud and bucket shops, utilizing the Exchange’s authority to shield investors from dishonest promoters. In 1928, he spearheaded an international initiative to combat securities fraud by coordinating efforts between U.S. and European regulatory bodies.

An accomplished orator and writer, Simmons presented influential speeches such as The Stock Exchange and American Banking (1925) and authored several publications including Modern Capitalism (1925), New York, Metropolis and Capital Market (1927), Safeguarding the Nation's Capital (1928), and Speculation in Securities (1929). In 1930, he analyzed factors contributing to the 1929 stock market crash during an address at Philadelphia’s Transportation Club.

After stepping down as president in 1930—succeeded by Richard Whitney—Simmons returned as vice-president in 1935 under Charles R. Gay’s leadership. Following Whitney’s conviction for embezzlement and subsequent imprisonment, Simmons provided testimony multiple times before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1938 regarding the financial collapse of Whitney’s firm.

Personal life

Simmons married twice during his lifetime. His first marriage was to Caroline G. Comstock (circa 1879–1920), daughter of Clarence M. Comstock, in 1901. The couple resided at 570 Park Avenue in New York City and maintained a summer residence in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. They had two daughters:

• Harriet C. Simmons, who wed banker and military officer Sheldon Townsend Coleman in 1923.
• Cornelia Neilson Simmons (1905–1995), who married Theodore Cole Romaine in 1928.

Caroline passed away in 1920 due to an overdose of a sleep medication. Simmons remarried on October 4, 1929, to Beatrice Vanderpoel Bogert (1881–1942), shortly before the Wall Street Crash of that year. After their honeymoon in Hawaii, they settled at 812 Park Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Beatrice was previously divorced from attorney William Bayard Blackwell II and had been involved in a widely publicized alienation of affections case prior to her marriage to Simmons.

Beatrice died at their Manhattan residence in June 1942. Edward H.H. Simmons died on May 21, 1955.

Descendants

His daughter Cornelia was the mother of Arthur Comstock Romaine, who graduated from Harvard and served as president of Webster Management, an affiliate of Kidder, Peabody & Co. Romaine entered into marriage with Dorothy Stevens in 1964 and subsequently wed Deborah Vaughan in 1982.