Black, Starr & Frost Jewelry Company History
The history of the oldest American company Black, Starr & Frost began in 1810 at 166 Broadway, New York. In fact, different sources list different names of the founders of the company. For example, the New York Times of July 10, 1910, and the Jewelers’ Circular of May 4, 1910, mention Erastus Barton as the company’s founder.
Meanwhile, the Jewelers’ Circular of May 4, 1929, mentions Isaac Marquand (1766-1838) as the founder of Black Starr & Frost. Later, Erastus Barton, known in London and New York as a silverware and jewelry designer, joined Isaac Marquand. In any case, both Erastus Barton and Isaac Marquand were at the origins of the company.
Soon, Frederick Marquand (1799-1882), son of Isaac Marquand, took over the business and renamed the firm Marquand & Barton. Later, the firm changed names twice more – Marquand & Bros, and Marquand & Co. In 1939, Henry Ball, Erasmus Tompkins, and William Black, the company’s new owners, renamed the firm Ball, Tompkins & Black.
Erasmus Tompkins died in May, 1851, and the new owners, Henry Ball, William Black and Ebenezer Monroe renamed the firm Ball, Black & Co. In 1865 William D. Black and Elbert B. Monroe joined the firm.
Robert C. Black (1844 -1907)
Born in Southport, Connecticut, he spent his childhood in Southport, and later moved to New York with his parents. He attended the Lyons school, and at the age of 17 joined his father in the firm of Ball, Black & Co. Robert Black and his wife Mary Grace Witherbee had three daughters and two sons. Their sons R. Clifford Black, Jr., and Witherbee Black worked for the firm of his father
The firm got its well-known name Black, Starr & Frost in 1874, when Robert C. Black, Cortlandt Way Starr (1833 – 1888), and Aaron V. Frost (1835 – 1907) purchased the firm. In April, 1876, the concern moved to 251 Fifth Avenue, and in March, 1898, they opened the beautiful store at 436 Fifth Avenue.
R. Clifford Black Jr (1877 – 1931), president of Black, Starr & Frost
Son of Robert C. Black, R. Clifford Black Jr, and his partners incorporated the business in February, 1908. His brother Witherbee Black became secretary and treasurer, and William L. Rich was vice-president.
The president of the Black, Starr & Frost R. Clifford Black had been with the firm for more than 30 years. Born in 1877 in New York, he graduated from Williams College in 1900. Immediately after his graduation, he entered the business of his father and grandfather – Black, Starr & Frost. Since 1929 he was vice-president of merged concern Black, Starr & Frost-Gorham, Inc.
Stores Merged Into $13,000,000 Organization
In May 1929 Black, Starr & Frost Gorham’ s Fifth Avenue Store and Spaulding & Co., Chicago, merged to Operate Under One Management. This merger brought the three concerns under one management as a $13,000,000 organization to be known as Gorham, Inc.
The merging of these stores was the largest consolidation of its kind ever consummated in the retail jewelry trade. It brought under one management three establishments with international reputations of being leaders in their field. The new company was headed by Edmund C. Mayo, president of the Gorham Mfg Co.
Merger with Gorham, Inc
Founded in 1831, the Gorham Mfg. Co was the largest manufacturer of sterling silverware in the world. Noteworthy, only Gorham’s Fifth Avenue store was included in the merger. The newly organized subsidiary became known as Black, Starr & Frost-Gorham, Inc., which operated the New York establishment. And Spaulding-Gorham, Inc., operated the stores of Spaulding & Co., Inc., of Chicago.
The executives included Witherbee Black, R. Clifford Black, A. V. Frost, Edward Krehbiel and Henry C. Tilden, who continued to operate the subsidiary companies of Gorham, Inc., with substantially the same personnel.
Return to the previous name Black, Starr & Frost
The company’s return to the previous name Black, Starr & Frost took place in 1962 after it merged with another New York jeweler, Marcus & Co.
Undoubtedly, the reputation of the oldest jewelry company with a 150-year history, its name, and heritage has become a coveted acquisition for other jewelry concerns since the 1960s. Black Starr & Frost has changed ownership several times and undergone several mergers, resulting in losing identity.
