H. E. Verran Co., 17-19 Union Square West corner of 15th Street (2003)

H E
VERRAN
COMPANY
New York
New York
MANUFACTURERS

Harry Eugene Verran (1869-1930), born in Platteville, Wis., headed the H. E. Verran Co., which manufactured embroidery at this address from 1915 to 1928. In the late 1920s Verran built a new factory in Stamford, Conn. and moved the company there.

Verran appears in the US Census of 1880 at the age of 11, the son of R. T. Verran, 52, born in England. Harry Verran moved to New York around 1900 and went to work for Charles E. Bentley (ca 1851-?) at Bentley's lace and embroidery factory on lower Broadway. He later (around 1912) bought the company, which then became "H. E. Verran Co., Art Needle Work."

Verran's obituary in the New York Times, 2 Sep. 1930, pg. 21, read, "Harry E. Verran, of 825 Fifth Avenue, president of the H. E. Verran Company, Inc., of Stamford, Conn., manufacturers of embroidery, died on Sunday at Roosevelt Hospital of bronchial pneumonia after a long illness it was learned yesterday. Mr. Verran was 61 years old. Born in Plattesville, Wis., Mr. Verran had been a resident of New York City for the past twenty-five years. Always engaged in the textile business, he entered the employment of Charles E. Bentley, who then headed the Verran firm, when he first came to New York, later buying him out. The Verran Company was formerly located at 19 Union Square West, but several years ago Mr. Verran erected a new factory in Stamford, transferring his business activities to that city. Mr. Verran was also treasurer and director of his company and vice president and director of the Hawthorn Spring Mills of Clover, S. C. He was also a director of the Broadway Association and a member of the Union League Club. He is survived by his widow, the former Emma Krelling; a daughter, Mrs. Marcella Vernon of New York and two sisters, Mrs. Gilman Bullard and Miss Laura E. Verran, both of Washington, D.C. The funeral will be private."

This sign is on the rear of 17-19 Union Square West. The building has a secondary entrance at 25 E. 15th St.

The H E Verran sign can be seem (obscurely) deep in the background of an undated photograph on the New York Public Library's Digital Collections.

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