Edmund Jean Forstall (c. 1794-1874) was an American banker, merchant, and planter, from New Orleans, Louisiana, from a prominent Louisiana Creole family through his mother, and Irish heritage on his father's side.[1][2][3] He is known for developing The Forstall System in 1842.

Edmond Jean Forstall
Edmond Jean Forstall by Jean Joseph Vaudechamp
Personal details
Born1794
New Orleans,New Spain
DiedAugust 16, 1874(1874-08-16) (aged 83–84)
New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Spouse

(date missing)
Relations
OccupationMerchant, Planter & Banker

Career

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By 1818, through family connections, Forstall was a director of The Louisiana State Bank.[4] He began his mercantile career with Gordon, Grant & Co. in the early 1820s, which then became Gordon, Forstall & Co. in 1826, where he managed the New Orleans Branch.[3]

In 1938, Forstall became the president of Citizens Bank of Louisiana.[5] In 1842, he developed The Forstall System which was a banking system used until the end of the Civil War.[6]

Philanthropy

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Forstall was an Administrator of the University of Louisiana under President William Newton Mercer, with Secretary Albert G. Blanchard, Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court Edwin T. Merrick, Mayor of New Orleans Charles M. Waterman, Admin Pierre Emile Bonford, and Admin Isadore Labatut, M.D..[7]

Forstall Mansion

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Located at old No. 4 Carondolet Street, now 122, in the Central business district, the Forstall Mansion served as the home of The Boston Club from 1867 to 1884 and The Pickwick Club from 1894 to 1899. In 1856 he purchased 920 Saint Louis Street, then removed himself there.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "The Forstall Letters: Introduction". Forstall History. 12 June 2019.
  2. ^ Neu, Irene D (September 1969). "Edmond Jean Forstall and Louisiana banking". Explorations in Economic History. 7 (1–2): 383–398. doi:10.1016/0014-4983(69)90064-3. ProQuest 1305254934.
  3. ^ a b Neu, Irene D. (1985). "My Nineteenth-Century Network: Erastus Corning, Benjamin Ingham, Edmond Forstall" (PDF). Business and Economic History. 14: 1–14. JSTOR 23702645.
  4. ^ https://thebhc.org/sites/default/files/beh/BEHprint/v014/p0001-p0016.pdf
  5. ^ Vasconcellos, Ramon (Fall 2021). "Edmund J. Forstall and the Louisiana Banking Act of 1842". Financial History. No. 139. pp. 34–37. ProQuest 2707252909.
  6. ^ Holden, Arthur C. “The Phenomena of Long-Term Credit”. Land Economics 42 (1966): 363-370.
  7. ^ East Louisiana State Hospital (1857). Report of the Board of Administrators of the insane asylum at Jackson to the legislature of the state of Louisiana. OCLC 1052543850.[page needed]
  8. ^ "Photographs: Written Historical and Descriptive Data" (PDF). November 1964. Retrieved December 30, 2023.