Finding Opportunity in Chaos
After years spent experimenting in business while maintaining his career as an artist, Drexel made a permanent career change. In 1837, the Drexel family returned to Philadelphia after a year spent in Louisville, Kentucky. During that year Francis M. Drexel built up a successful currency brokerage business in an advantageous location for travelers and merchants hoping to trade in unstable bank notes. In 1838, Drexel opened a brokerage house in Philadelphia called Drexel and Company.
Amidst the turmoil generated by the end of the Second Bank of the United States, the unpredictable currency system, and opportunities created by the gold rush, Drexel's firm prospered.
Francis and Catherine had six children: Mary Johanna, Francis Anthony, Anthony Joseph, Joseph Wilhelm, Heloise, and Caroline. The three sons were brought into the family business in their early teens. Francis A. and Anthony J. were in their early twenties when they were made partners in 1847. The firm was rebranded to Drexel & Co., operating as a private bank in Philadelphia’s 3rd Street financial district. Because the United States lacked a national bank, private banks accumulated wealth by investing in new industries and the sale of war bonds. Drexel & Co. was heavily involved in financing the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, and the burgeoning railroad industry.