Anderson, Clayton and Company (sometimes written Anderson, Clayton and Co, or ACC) was a cotton trading firm started in Oklahoma City by Frank Anderson, his brother Monroe Anderson, and brother-in-law William Clayton.[1] These three men formed a partnership on August 1, 1904. The company moved to Houston early in the 20th century because that city was gaining on Galveston for the title of cotton capital of the U.S. after the near-complete destruction of that port by the 1900 Galveston hurricane, and on account of Houston's rapidly expanding shipping facilities. By 1944, the company had become the world's largest cotton-trading company.[2]
In 1986, the company was acquired by the Quaker Oats Company that led to its delisting from the stock exchange and the closing of its Houston offices.
History
The company was created as a partnership on August 1, 1904, by Monroe Dunaway (M. D.) Anderson, his brother Frank E. Anderson and Frank's brother-in-law William L. Clayton.[3][4] In 1916, the company moved to Houston, Texas in order to have better access to a shipping port.[5] In 1905, William's younger brother, Benjamin Clayton, already known as an expert in railroad and steamship transportation, joined the partnership.[6]
The company grew over the next four decades, including during World War I, where it helped meet high demand for the commodity. In August 1923, the senior Bolshevik Viktor Nogin, head of the Soviet Textile Trust, traveled to New York and negotiated a deal with Anderson, Clayton and Company to provide cotton to the newly established Soviet Union. This the first trade deal between a US company and the communist regime.[7]
Additional Sources
See also
- Monroe Dunaway Anderson
References
- James S. Olson. Making Cancer History: Disease and Discovery at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center JHU Press, 1 August 2011^
- Kellar, p. 64^
- Gregory A. Fossedal. Our Finest Hour: Will Clayton, the Marshall Plan, and the Triumph of Democracy Hoover Press, 1 February 1993^