As Baltimore brokerage houses go, the firm of Chapin, Davis is one that has stayed - thanks to the fact that it's staid.
It remains firmly planted in the North Baltimore community where it was founded a half-century ago, refusing to relocate downtown to the financial district that is home to most of its better-known competitors. The area it is entrenched in is home to many a Baltimore notable, who believe in the old-school way of letting friends manage their money.
Proof of its deep-rooted ties to Baltimore's patrician social circles can be seen in a plain, green hardbound volume tucked away in a backroom cabinet at the Chapin, Davis office. It is a list of clients from the early years, and among them is an unmistakable name - Edgar Allan Poe.
Well, actually, it's Edgar A. Poe III, the great-great-great-nephew of the famous poet who died in Baltimore. But it's apropos that a Poe once invested here - this is Chapin, Davis, after all, synonymous with a true-blue Baltimore identity.
Unlike the Baltimore name of Alex. Brown - the oldest investment house in the nation, bought by Deutsche Banc a few years ago - Chapin, Davis has kept its name going into the 21st century. The firm celebrated its 50th anniversary yesterday with a bash in its Cross Keys office.
"In a way, we haven't kept up with the times," said Talbot Jones Albert IV, 43, a broker whose sister and father also are employed as brokers at the firm. But, Albert says, keeping up with times and trends isn't what Chapin, Davis is all about.
H. Chace Davis Jr., one of the founding partners who is now retired, said the business has been his life's calling. "We started out with people our age, our friends who obviously trusted us," said Davis, 76. "The circle did grow. And nothing, nothing ever pleased me more than making money for people."
Founding partner Bedford Chapin, who died last year at 77, was born and raised in Roland Park and graduated from the St. Paul's School, where a hall recently was named in his honor.
Some clients said that in a world of depersonalized banking and finance, a smaller firm whose employees have more time to spend on individual accounts is welcome.
The president today is R. Bruce Alderman Jr., 43, who said he was mentored over 10 years at the firm by the jocular Chapin, who always addressed him as "My boy." Alderman, portfolio manager Gale Costa and a staff of 20 full-time and 16 part-time brokers manage about $420 million in assets, Alderman said, serving 3,500 clients.
As Alderman leafed through the green book, he expressed awe at the collection of names. "In that book is the old line, a 'who's who' of Baltimore."
The firm's clientele and brokers are more eclectic today than its history might suggest, but the company is still firmly planted in the same community soil. The brokerage does business far from downtown, preferring the environs of a residential neighborhood. It's easier to just drop by that way.
"Oh my soul, no, we never ever considered moving, because you would lose the people from Guilford and Roland Park who like to see their broker firsthand," Davis said. "They expect a one-on-one relationship."