J.P. Morgan has a remarkable history and deep roots globally — a legacy that reaches back more than 200 years with the founding of its earliest predecessor in 1799. Learn some fun facts about our history.

The firm owns the brace of dueling pistols used in the infamous 1804 duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, who was the founder and a director of The Manhattan Company, the firm's earliest predecessor.

Salmon P. Chase’s image is on the $10,000 bill. A Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln, Chase is the bank’s namesake and is considered the “Father of Modern Banking.”

James Pierpont, J. Pierpont Morgan’s uncle, wrote “Jingle Bells” in 1857.

In 1882, the Drexel, Morgan building at 23 Wall Street was the first office in New York City to draw power from the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. Thomas Edison personally turned on the building’s lights.

J. Pierpont Morgan died in Rome in 1913, at the age of 75, leaving his son, John “Jack” Pierpont Morgan, Jr. to take over the helm of J.P. Morgan & Co. On the morning of Pierpont's funeral, the New York Stock Exchange was closed until noon — an honor generally reserved for heads of state.

In 1910, J. Pierpont Morgan had a gemstone, Morganite, named after him in recognition of his philanthropy and numerous contributions to the arts and sciences.

David Rockefeller — former chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank — established the firm’s art program and took the lead in the field of corporate art collecting. Today the JPMorgan Chase Art Program oversees more than 30,000 objects in 450 offices around the globe.

In 1973, David Rockefeller became the first American bank executive to enter the People’s Republic of China since the 1949 Revolution.

Robert Fleming, the founder of the merchant bank, Robert Fleming & Co., which was acquired by Chase Manhattan Bank in 2000, was the grandfather of novelist Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond series.

Back to Top