Schmitz (Frank) , Moore (Charles F) & Co is commonly credited with having gone into business in about 1915, and some mark the company's beginnings with the year they formed a copartnership in New York which was 1909.
However, there is a piece of documentation that records the existence of Schmitz, Moore & Co in 1906 that can be found on google. It is the "Hearings Before The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of The House of Representatives on H. R. 14604 Forbidding the Importation and Carriage in Interstate of Falsely or Spuriously Stamped Articles of Merchandise Made of Gold or Silver or Their Alloys and for Other Purposes."
http://books.google.com/books?id=57AvAA ... tz&f=false