On November 18, 1929, several weeks after the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression, Andrew James Lord, Leon Abbett, John R. Westerfield, and Julian B. Beaty created Lord, Westerfield &amp; Co., Inc., with headquarters at 68 William Street, a few blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. In 1931, the Westerfields resigned from the company. Leon Abbett, a member of the founding group and the son of a former two-time New Jersey governor and state Supreme Court justice, provided the capital contribution that enabled the firm to continue. The name of the company was changed to Lord, Abbett &amp; Co. and its headquarters were moved to 63 Wall Street.