H. M. Byllesby and Company

Colonel Henry M. Byllesby formed H.M. Byllesby & Company, one of the large utility holding-companies of the pre-Depression era. Colonel Byllesby was involved in electric power generation for a considerable period. In 1885, the Electric Lighting Company of Mobile began operations. Colonel Byllesby, who worked as a draftsman on Thomas Edison's original electrical system, designed the generating and distribution systems for the Electric Lighting Company of Mobile (Alabama). In 1904, Byllesby headed a utility management company with headquarters in Chicago and the Byllesby company was managing the Enid, Oklahoma electric utility. In 1904, Byllesby assumed the management of the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company on a percentage basis. Colonel Byllesby's organization was chock full of experts in electrical and gas engineering, management and operating, and the Colonel himself was a shrewd manager. In the early Twentieth Century, Byllesby began acquiring local gas and electric power generating and distribution companies. In 1882, the Minnesota Brush Electric Company built an electricity generating station at St. Anthony Falls and the company, which had been renamed the Minneapolis Electric Company, was acquired by Byllesby in 1912 and was renamed Northern States Power Company in 1916. In April 1905, the San Diego Gas & Electric Light Company was sold to H. M. Byllesby & Company, of Chicago, and incorporated as the San Diego Consolidated Gas & Electric Company. In 1909, Byllesby organized the Washington County Light and Power Company, then purchased the Stillwater Gas and Electric Company, and the united the two companies as the Consumers Power Company. In 1910, Western States Gas & Electric Company, covering Oregon, was incorporated by the H.M. Byllesby & Co. as a holding company. The production of electricity frequently led to the development of electric street railways. In 1911, the Fargo and Moorhead Street Railway company was sold to H.M. Byllesby's Consumers Power Company. Consumers was a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern States Power Company, incorporated by Byllesby as a holding company in 1909.


Certificate: Common Stock, issued in the 1930’s

Printer: Western Bank Note Company

Dimensions: 7 3/4” (h) x 12” (w)

State: DE-Delaware

Subject Matter: Utility Companies | Electric Companies | Holding Companies

Vignette Topic(s): Body Adornments

Condition: Vertical fold lines, punch hole cancels in signature areas and body, toning and edge faults from age.