USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 31
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WILLIAM H.
pany & Brittain, extensive dealers in both local real-
BROWN. ty and North Dakota farm lands. He is also presi- dent of Win. H. Brown Company, of Mandan, North Dakota, with a capital of $500,000.
Mr. Brown is a native of Warren, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, born May 14, 1860, son of Thomas Brown and Elizabeth (Campbell) Brown. He obtained his early education through the public and high schools of Lena, Illinois, and afterward pursued courses at the Cedar Falls (Ia.) Normal College and the business college at Valparaiso, Indiana. Early in his real estate career he became quite heavily in- terested in Dakota lands, and lived for some time at Devil's Lake, North Dakota, of which city he was mayor in 1900-01. In the lat-
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ter year he formed his present connection with Joseph K. Brittain, the firm having extensive dealings in city property, real estate loans and farm lands.
In 1885 Mr. Brown married Miss Hattie Aunger in South Da- kota, and they have had five children: Harry L., Paul E., Ethel Freda, Cecil A., and Raymond Pierre.
Joseph King Brittain, identified with the real estate business of Chicago for nearly twenty years, and now a member of the firm of JOSEPH K. WVm. H. Brown Company & Brittain, extensive
BRITTAIN. dealers in North Dakota farm lands, as well as in local property, is a native of Greenville, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where he was born December 27, 1867. His parents were Jeremiah Reed and Nancy Davidson (King) Brittain, his father, now deceased, being for many years a minister of the United Presbyterian church, while his grandfather, Joseph Brittain, was a prominent farmer of Beaver county, Pennsylvania.
After passing through the public and high schools of Greenville, Mr. Brittain pursued more advanced courses at Thiel College, also located in his native town, and when of age came to Chicago in search of broader and more varied opportunities than he could find at home. In 1889 he started his real estate career as a rent collector on a very small salary, but within a few months so proved his capabilities that he was placed in the sales department of the firm, and on New Year's day of 1891 opened an office and established a real estate business under the name of J. K. Brittain & Co. His original location was No. 2 Sherman street ; in 1893 he moved to 100 Washington street, and May 1, 1896, to 155 LaSalle street, where the business of the firm was transacted until its consolidation with Wm. H. Brown & Con- pany in 1901.
In the year named a copartnership was formed with William H. Brown, then of Devil's Lake, North Dakota, but who moved to Chicago, the firm of Wm. H. Brown Company & Brittain establish- ing large and convenient offices on the second floor of the Tacoma building, corner of Madison and LaSalle streets. There it is still transacting a large business in Chicago real estate, farm lands and farm mortgages, carrying especially large tracts of North Dakota realty. ' The firm has also large and growing departments in renting and insurance.
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In his individual relations, Mr. Brittain is an influential member of the Chicago Real Estate Board, of whose street railway commit- tee he was secretary for the years of 1904, 1905 and 1906. He has been active in the organization of the Wentworth Avenue Improve- ment and Protective Association, having served as its president for three years and being still a director.
On June 15, 1896, Mr. Brittain married Miss Harriet D. Borland, daughter of the late James A. Borland, who, for years, was associated with the wholesale department of Marshall Field & Co. They have one child, Ashleigh Woodruff Brittain, and the family residence is at No. 7126 Princeton avenue. Mr. Brittain is a Republican and a member of the widely-known Hamilton Club. For many years he has been a leader in the religious and charitable work of the Normal Park Presbyterian church, of which he has been an elder for five years.
Biography, or the individual history of mankind, presents no more striking lesson than that early conditions of adversity, far from LEWIS E. crushing the man of strong character, serve only to spur him to grim endeavor and eventual success.
INGALLS.
In the life record of Lewis Ellsworth Ingalls is add- ed another valuable testimonial along this line, and another encour- agement to those whose paths of life must be cleared and smoothed by their own will and exertions. An examination of his life shows the overshadowing qualities of perseverance, a readiness to seize opportunities and judiciously apply them, and a far-sightedness which has never been confused by the practical details of the present. It is this faculty of retaining a strong grasp upon the details of the present, without losing a broad and clear outlook into the future, which is characteristic of all men of large affairs.
A native of Illinois, from the outset of his business career Mr. Ingalls seems to have been prompted by the spirit of enterprise and progress which has been the keynote to the phenomenal upbuilding of the west. He was born in the township of Dupage, Will county, Illinois, October 26, 1839. His father, a native of Vermont, was born at Walpole. April 10, 1800, and following his removal to what was then the far west, engaged in farming in Will county, dying at Naperville on the 10th of April, 1875. The mother bore the maiden name of Lois Royce, and was a sister of Jonathan and Abner Royce, both now deceased. She was born in the state of New York in 1800,
Truly Yours LE Ingalls
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ASTOR LENOX AND TILDEN HU MIDATIONS
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and passed away in Will county, Illinois, in 1856. Of the twelve chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ingalls, the following are deceased : Samuel, Mary, Henry, Jonathan, Phoebe, Hannah, George and An- drew. Abner E. Ingalls, of Joliet; Frank I. Ingalls, of Seneca, Kansas, and Lois Sargent, of Naperville, Illinois, are still living, as well as Lewis E., of this sketch.
Lewis E. Ingalls was the eighth child of the family, and his edu- cational advantages were limited to about eight months' attendance at the Naperville school, but reading and observation have largely broadened his knowledge, and in the school of experience he has learned the many valuable lessons which have made him a well in- formed, practical and successful man. When he was sixteen years of age he left home with no capital save his strong, determined char- acter, which has sustained him from first to last, and insured him success when otherwise he would have considered himself bankrupt a dozen times in the early years of his struggles.
During the first three years of his independent working career Mr. Ingalls was employed as a farm hand, first working for his board and afterward receiving ten dollars per month additional. Later his wages were increased to sixteen and twenty-five dollars. When he was nineteen years of age he went to Iowa and resumed farming near Waterloo, being thus employed in the summer months and engaging in trapping during the winter. After four years he returned to Dupage county, where agricultural operations consumed his time for the succeeding three years. Then removing to Clay- banks, Wisconsin, he busied himself for a year in getting out lum- ber at that point, but returned to Illinois and conducted lumber yards at Naperville and Lemont, Illinois. About this time he purchased the right of way for the Chicago, St. Louis & Western Railroad Com- pany, and had charge of the grading of the road south of Joliet, as well as at other places along the line. Persistent work and economy, with good management of both his savings and opportunities finally won, and in 1869 he was in a position to establish himself permanent- ly as a strong factor in some important and growing community.
In 1869 Mr. Ingalls purchased a farm of three hundred acres within two miles of the court house at Joliet, Illinois, and later an additional four hundred acres near the same place. He removed to his country estate in 1870 and has since resided there, although for
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many years he has been the leading real estate dealer in Joliet, and for the past two decades has transacted a large business in that line in Chicago, where he also owns much valuable property. His farm near Joliet now consists of three hundred and forty acres, bordering a fine gravel road. It is beautifully located near the Higinbotham place, which embraces some of Mr. Ingalls's former land. Nature has furnished much original beauty, which has been enhanced by the arts of the landscape gardener. There is a fine park and a sod race track on the place known as the Ingalls Park, which has been the scene of many successful fairs and races. A large dairy business is also conducted on the farm, with the raising of especially fine breeds of horses and cattle. A street car line runs through the prop- erty, in the development of which Mr. Ingalls has made a model coun- try place, where he finds rest and recreation from the strain of metro- politan business life.
Upon his first removal to Joliet Mr. Ingalls established a lumber yard there, but sold it about a year afterward and turned his atten- tion to his farm and his real estate and loan business. The latter he conducted until 1887, when he opened an office in Chicago.
Connected with numerous enterprises, the labors of Mr. Ingalls have directly benefited Joliet in many ways. In 1882 he established the first electric plant in Joliet, from which has developed the Econ- omy Light and Power Company. For fifteen years he was engaged in the active conduct of the light plant-first, of the Joliet Lighting Company, and afterward of two other organizations, finally, with others, purchasing dam No. I and forming the Economy Light and Power Company. While he was thus engaged in the lumber trade he sold much of his material to the steel mills, and finally disposed of his business to Mason & Plant. Mr. Ingalls was the originator of the plan which resulted in the purchase of the water plant of Joliet, and thus his labors have been of direct benefit to the city in many ways. For a time he was connected with the Chicago & Southwest- ern Railway Company, which was sold to the Santa Fe Railroad, after which he continued with the latter company for two years.
In 1887 Mr. Ingalls transferred his business interests largely to Chicago and now has a suite of rooms at No. 184 LaSalle street, where, as president of the Richmond-Smith Company Milk Agency. he represents nearly three thousand farmers who ship their milk to
LIDTEL HIT PRIN.
咖酒
11+
HOTEL DEL PRADO
THEN WYORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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Chicago. As to his Chicago real estate interests, he owns the Del Prado Hotel at Fifty-ninth, Madison and Washington avenues; the large Chicago fireproof storage warehouse at Twenty-first street and Wabash avenue; a large building at the corner of Illinois and Dear- born avenue, and a commodious apartment building on Fifty-ninth street and Michigan avenue. Altogether, his real estate holdings in the city are very valuable, and few men are better informed concern- ing realty in the metropolis. He has held offices in the Chicago Real Estate Board, and by experts his opinions are considered good au- thority. In Masonry he also stands high, being a Knight Templar, a member of Commandery No. 4. Joliet, and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Chicago. He has always been an earnest sup- porter of the Republican party. His club connections are with the Union and Commercial of Joliet, and the Union League and Ham- ilton of Chicago.
Mr. Ingalls has been twice married-his first wife, to whom he was united October 22. 1865, having been Miss Millie Emerson, of Door county, Wisconsin, who died at Lemont, Illinois, March IO, 1868. His second wife was formerly Miss Esther E. Bartholomew, of Marengo, Illinois, a daughter of Russ Bartholomew, a farmer of McHenry county, Illinois. By his second marriage he has had four children, as follows: Millie R., born October 16, 1870, and died at Dansville, New York, September 22, 1892; Royce K., born December 1, 1872, and died April 27, 1894; Myra R., born Janu- ary 1, 1874, and now the wife of George M. Peale, a resident of Joliet, and Charles L., born December 19, 1874, and died in 1881.
As a final estimate of Mr. Ingalls' character, it may be said that there is naught of the theorist about him. On the contrary, he is a man of action, and while others might argue and debate, he has gone to work and demonstrated. It is his ready execution that has been one of the strong elements in his success, advancing him from a humble position to one of progress and affluence. He stands as the best type of American citizenship, belonging to that class of men who, while winning success, do not strew their pathway with the wrecks of other men's fortunes. In his beautiful country home Mr. Ingalls has given evidence of his appreciation of nature in all her beauty, and in his business relations has often manifested a spirit of public progress which has prompted him to put forth generous and
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effective aid in support of many measures which have been of direct and broad benefit to the city.
Chester Chapin Broomell, associated with his brother, Francis E. Broomell, in the real estate and loan business under the name of
CHESTER C. Broomell Brothers, has been a prominent figure in
the development of the abstract business in Chicago.
BROOMELL. He was born in Chicago, February 19, 1862, a son of George D. Broomell, the well known Chicago educator and advo- cate of phonetic spelling.
Mr. Broomell graduated from the Hayes public school, Chicago, in 1875, and from the Central high school four years later, being employed on the night force of the Public Library, both during the latter course and afterward. For three years after leaving school he was also associated with A. W. Wheeler, a hardware dealer, and from 1882 to 1884 was associated with Lapp & Flershem, wholesale jewelers.
In 1884 Mr. Broomell, in partnership with Jerome J. Danforth, was engaged in the preparation of a set of abstract indexes, and early in the following year the two organized the Cook County Abstract Company, of which he was treasurer until 1890. Upon its reorgani- zation and enlargement under the name of the Chicago Title and Trust Company, Mr. Broomell became manager of the guarantee department, and was as instrumental as any one man in introducing the prevailing system of guaranteeing titles to purchasers of property in Chicago. In 1900 he became secretary of the company, and so con- tinued until the general consolidation of the local abstract com- panies, when he became one of the organizers and incorporators of the First-Mortgage Bond and Trust Company. Of this he was secretary and director until it was absorbed by the Royal Trust Com- pany in October, 1904.
Mr. Broomell has been associated with his brother as a dealer in real estate and loans since October 1, 1904. The Broomell Brothers conduct a general real estate business, but a large part of their transactions are in loans, this the most important feature of the business.
At Chicago, on the 2d of July, 1888, Mr. Broomell was married to Miss Lena F. Johnson, and they have become the parents of three children-Ellyn C., Francis J. and Mary. The family residence is
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at No. 337 North Central avenue, Austin. Mr. Broomell is a Re- publican in politics, and belongs to the Hamilton Club, the City Club, the Geographic Society of Chicago, is an ex-president of the Chicago Whist Club, and is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Oriental Consistory, the Medinah Temple, and Austin Lodge, No. 850. A. F. and A. M.
Francis Ely Broomell, a member of the firm of Broomell Brothers, well known real estate and loan dealers of Chicago, was born in
FRANCIS E. this city on the 6th of February, 1874, a son of George D. Broomell.
BROOMELL.
Francis E. Broomell received his education in the public schools of this city, and at Swarthmore College of Penn- sylvania, from which he graduated in 1893 with the degree of B. S. He then returned to Chicago and took charge of the Lake View office of C. J. Hambleton, formerly one of the largest real estate dealers and owners of Chicago, and upon his death in 1900, Mr. Broomell opened a real estate office of his own in the business center of the city. In connection with its duties he also handled the estate of Mr. Hambleton. Remaining alone in the business until 1905, he then formed a partnership with his brother, C. C. Broomell, and the firm of Broomell Brothers is now conducting a renting, real estate and loan business (the last named the leading feature), with offices at No. 601 Reaper block. During the year 1907 Francis E. Broomell was secretary of the Real Estate Board.
Mr. Broomell is identified with the City, University and Chicago Whist clubs, and is ex-secretary of the Independent Religious Society of Chicago.
The name of George Dare Broomell is prominently associated with the early educational interests of Chicago, and he is perhaps
GEORGE D. most widely known in his advocacy of phonetic
reform in English spelling. He was born in Chester
BROOMELL. county, Pennsylvania, July 27, 1832, son of John and Letitia (Parry ) Broomell.
Mr. Broomell entered upon the profession of teaching when but eighteen years of age, alternating his teaching with school attend- ance for three years. Within this period he attended school at Whitesboro, New York, served as principal of a Friends' select school in his native county, and had charge of a boarding school in New Voi. III-21.
.
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Jersey. While engaged in business in Philadelphia in 1854-6, Mr. Broomell made several trips to Chicago, and in 1856 came to this city to reside permanently. He served as principal of Dearborn School, 1857-63, and again from 1865 to 1866; principal of Haven School, 1866-69; and was the first incumbent of the office of assistant superintendent of schools, in which he served from 1869 to 1870. The duties proving too onerous for his health, at his own request he was relieved and appointed teacher of mathematics in the Chicago high school. He resigned that position in 1882 to become a member of the firm of Wanzer & Company, commission merchants on the Chicago Board of Trade, continuing therein until 1893. Since that time he has lived retired at his home, No. 496 West Monroe street.
In 1861 Mr. Broomell was married at Chicago to Miss Ellen B. Chapin, of New Marlboro, Massachusetts, their children being as fol- lows: Chester C., George D. (a lawyer, who died February 2, 1899), and Francis E. The surviving sons are associated in a real estate and loan business, and are well known in that field.
Joel D. Harvey, engaged in the general real estate and loan business for many years, is a native of Kane county, Illinois, born in the year 1836. After finishing his education in
JOEL D.
HARVEY. the public schools of Kane county, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1858, practicing law in the county named for the succeeding six years. In 1864 Mr. Harvey came to Chicago, and since that year has engaged here in both the real estate and loan business, of late years his attention being largely devoted to the investment feature. He has also attained considerable prominence as a Republican, and under the administra- tion of Presidents Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur and Cleveland held . the office of internal revenue collector at Chicago. For over thirty years Mr. Harvey has been a member of the Chicago Club.
This old and prominent citizen of Chicago, whose light of life went out March 7, 1908, was a stalwart and fine representative of SEVERT T. the Land of the Midnight Sun. He had been an GUNDERSON. important factor in the public affairs of the city for almost half a century. Its material activity had been promoted through his activity in business circles; educational and moral interests received his generous support, and the historic progress of the city, as evidenced by such grand forces as the World's
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Columbian Exposition, had been materially advanced by him. As a typical Norseman, he was a man not only of rugged intellectual strength, but of warm impulses and great heart. He was a man of broad usefulness, and also a deeply religious member of the com- munity, giving freely of his means, time and strength to forward effective movements of charity and philanthropy.
S T. Gunderson was born in Norway in the year 1839, and in 1848, at the age of nine years, he accompanied his parents on their emigration to the new world. The family at once located in Chi- cago, then a rapidly growing city of twenty thousand people. The journey westward was made by way of the Hudson river, the Erie canal and the Great Lakes, as railroad facilities were things of the future. The boy at once entered the public schools of Chicago, but, at the age of fifteen, on account of limited family circumstances, left his books behind him and commenced to learn the carpenter's trade. At -the age of eighteen he established a business of his own, in this field, and was thus engaged when the panic of 1857 swept over the country.
In view of the cessation of building operations caused by the fi- nancial depression of this period, Mr. Gunderson removed to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1858, but, finding conditions there no bet- ter, returned to Chicago. In 1862 he purchased a lake vessel, the "Hercules," and within the next five years became owner of six vessels, most of them engaged in the grain trade. He carefully watched his business interests, and his diligence, frugality and capa- ble management brought him a good income. As his financial re- sources increased, he also became connected with the lumber trade, and in 1871 purchased large interests in sawmills. This business was in a thriving condition when, in 1875, his plant was destroyed by fire, and, being but lightly insured, he lost nearly everything he had, and was financially ruined. But at this gloomy period, as ever through life, disaster seemed but to spur him on to more determined effort and harder labor. This brave trait, with his honorable dealings and re- markable business foresight, completely rebuilt his fortunes. From 1885 to 1899 Mr. Gunderson was the owner of extensive milling in- terests, and was the senior member of the firm of S. T. Gunderson & Son, manufacturers of moldings, casings, etc., and for a number of years was connected with John A. Gauger & Company, shipping
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large quantities of doors and sash of their own manufacture through- out the United States.
It was during this period of his career that the deceased made such an enduring record in connection with the World's Fair. When the subject of celebrating the fourth centennial of the discovery of America was agitated in 1892, Mr. Gunderson became deeply inter- ested in the project, and was an untiring and invaluable worker in his efforts to secure Chicago as the site of the exposition. The his- tory of the opposition is well known, and the triumph of this city, both in securing the site and organizing the fair along cosmopolitan lines, is in no small part due to Mr. Gunderson. From first to last, he gave his support to the exposition and worked for its broad success, and the Viking ship is one of the striking features which owed its origin to his enterprise and sense of historic justice. He was president of the company which purchased the little vessel, which is a reproduction of the bold craft which is supposed to have landed a Norse colony on New England shores in 1000 A. D., and which is still on exhibition at the Field Columbian Museum.
In 1892 Mr. Gunderson organized the firm of S. T. Gunderson & Sons, the well-known home builders of the west side and Oak Park, and with the destruction by fire of his sash, door and molding factory (in 1898), concentrated his abilities upon the development of this enterprise. The firm owned Gunderson & Gauger's addition to Chicago, Gunderson & Gauger's addition to Oak Park, Gunder- son's addition to Chicago, S. T. Gunderson & Sons' addition to Oak Park, and other city property, including a beautiful home of Mr. Gunderson at No. 1463 Washington boulevard. He foresaw the fu- ture development and growth of the city, and with keen sagacity realized the advancement which would be made in the value of real estate. He not only largely invested in real estate, but did not wait for others to improve it, but entered energetically into the work him- self. The firm, of which he was the senior member, has built on an average for the past decade, from sixty to eighty homes annually, which have been sold for cash and on terms. As true home builders it stands related to the community as a public benefactor.
In politics Mr. Gunderson was a firm Republican, but was never a politician in the insiduous sense. In 1874 he was elected to a seat
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