Albert Gallatin Edwards

Who was Albert Gallatin Edwards?

Albert Gallatin Edwards was an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under President of the United States Abraham Lincoln and founder of brokerage firm A. G. Edwards.

Edwards was born in Kentucky in 1812 and named after Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. His father was Illinois Governor and U.S. Senator, Ninian Edwards. He graduated from West Point and was stationed near St. Louis, MO. There he met Louise Cabanne, the daughter of prominent St. Louis Family, whom he married in 1835. Following his marriage, Edwards resigned from the military and entered the wholesale business.

Edwards fought for the Union during the American Civil War and was rewarded for his effort by President Lincoln who named him Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in April, 1865. Later, in 1887, at the age of 75, he founded the brokerage firm that bore his name, A. G. Edwards. He is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.