H. R. (Hendrik Rutgers)

Edwin Lefevre (1871-1943) was an American journalist, writer, and statesman most noted for his writings on Wall Street business. An independently wealthy investor, while living in Hartsdale, New York a collection of Edwin Lefevre's short stories were published in 1901 under the title "Wall Street Stories." This was followed by several novels about money and finance until 1908 when Lefevre and his wife Martha and their children moved to a country estate in East Dorset, Vermont. During the 1909-1913 presidency of William Howard Taft, Edwin Lefevre was appointed an Ambassador of the United States, serving in a number of countries including Italy, Spain, and France. When his diplomatic career ended, he returned to his home in Vermont where he resumed his literary work, providing short stories for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and writing novels. Of the eight books authored by Edwin Lefevre his Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is considered a must-read classic by most anyone involved in the American financial community. The book began as a series of twelve articles published between 1922 and 1923 in The Saturday Evening Post. It is written as first-person fiction, telling the story of a professional stock trader on Wall Street. While published as fiction, it is generally accepted to be the biography of stock market whiz Jesse Livermore. In 1925, Lefevre came out with a second book about a stock trader, a factual biography with the title "The making of a Stockbroker." This book was about John K. Wing, a senior partner of Bronson and Barnes, a major Boston stockbrokerage, whose approach to the business provided a contrast to that of Jesse Livermore. On his passing in 1943, Edwin Lefevre's estate in East Dorset, Vermont (near Manchester) was passed to his widow. Built in 1812, it was the first home in the United States made with marble quarried right on the property. Eldest son, Edwin Lefevre, Jr. (b. 1902), who too worked on Wall Street, inherited the home and completely restored it in 1968 when he retired there. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Their second son, Reid Lefevre (b. 1904), was the founder of the travelling carnival know as the "King Reid Show" and a politician. He was elected to the Vermont General Assembly, serving as a member of the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1959 and the state Senate from 1961 to 1963.