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FJD made a name for himself through his political and civic service as
he simultaneously was enlarging his legal business and building a name for himself through his advice to clients
who wished to invest in real estate. He believed in real property and did everything in his power to promote and
protect investment. He also had a great faith in bonds, but not in stocks. His activities kept him very involved
with the formation and management of several local homesteads and banks. He first served as a director of Louisiana
Homestead Association which eventually merged with the Mutual Building & Homestead Association. Then, with
Abe Briton, he founded the German--American Bank, which was first sold to the Canal Bank and, years later, became
the National Bank of Commerce. The first day that stock was issued for the German--American Bank it was completely
sold out, and, to paraphrase Ruth (who was citing the newspaper article on the subject) the success of the bank
stock was "due to the reputations of Dreyfous and Briton." According to Ruth, the bank was a big success,
but neither FJD nor Mr. Briton were willing to give up their other commitments to devote themselves single-mindedly
to the bank. FJD still had his active law practice and Mr. Briton his work at the Guaranty Trust where he was the
vice-president in charge of bank branches in various cities worldwide. His headquarters were actually in Paris,
not in New Orleans.
After the onset of the Depression in the early 1930S when President Roosevelt ordered all the banks closed in New
Orleans and elsewhere (except the Whitney, locally, which was solid financially), the Chase Manhattan Bank held
the mortgage on the Canal Bank holdings. The Chase Manhattan settled what was owed to them, but did not touch the
great deal of vacant property in Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes that the Canal Bank owned. Afterwards, shareholders
of Canal Bank were paid off in shares of that property. Oil was discovered there not long after the investment
was made, and the oil properties subsequently were reorganized as the very lucrative Southdown and Canal Assets
(oil and gas). FJD was one of those shareholders. He held on to that property, and Atlantic Richfield took a large
lease on part of it that paid what Ruth called "wonderful royalties." Later Atlantic Richfield split
up. Ruth and other family members still get royalties from that property, but now from several small companies.
FJD's interest in land led him to collect abstracts of the whole city which he pored over nightly in his study
in order to get a firm grasp of property locations and their assets and disabilities. This information gave him
the background to guarantee mortgages. He and Dr. Paul Saunders, a local banker and businessman, had the imagination
to put all the abstracts into a company, and they bought the building at Baronne and Gravier to house that firm.
They were very successful in this endeavor. Saunders and Dreyfous founded Louisiana Abstract and Title Guaranty
Company, formed the board and obtained all the abstracts in the city. FJD served as Director and President of Louisiana
Abstract and Title Guaranty for eight years. Ultimately, Irving Moss bought out Louisiana Abstract and renamed
it Union Indemnity Insurance. FJD stayed on the board, but whenever he disapproved of the way things were going,
he would register his vote against that with which he disagreed. Always concerned about Moss's business ethics,
FJD really had shown great foresight in registering his objections from the beginning. Unfortunately, in 1930,
Moss was indicted for some of his illegal practices, but the record of FJD's written objections kept his name clear.
FJD had already resigned from the board four years earlier, but he kept his stock in the company and gave each
of his children some. After FJD resigned from the board, Ruth sold her Union Indemnity stock and invested those
funds in Canal Bank--but the Depression caused the bank to be closed. Since its property assets were untouched,
stockholders, miraculously, did not lose all of their money, but actually profited. At the first meeting, when
the board of Southdown and Canal Assets was formed, FJD recommended George as someone knowledgeable and capable
in handling shares, bonds and securities. The companies asked George if he would like to be paid in shares of property
or with a salary, and George took the shares in the companies, which proved to be an extremely wise and profitable
decision.
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