Nathaniel Kellogg "N.K." Fairbank (1829–1903) was a Chicago industrialist whose company, the N.K. Fairbank Co., manufactured soap as well as animal and baking products in conjunction with the major

meat packing The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally no ...

houses of northern Illinois. The company had factories in Chicago, St. Louis, Montreal and Louisiana and had international offices in the United Kingdom and Germany. Gold Dust Washing Powder (featuring the Gold Dust Twins and distributed by Lever Brothers), was one of the most successful cleansing product lines in twentieth century North America. Another original Fairbank creation, Fairy Soap, was purchased by Procter & Gamble and remains one of the best-known European household brands.

Early life and family

N. K. Fairbank was born in Sodus, New York in 1829. He was a descendant of

Jonathan Fairbanks Jonathan Fairbanks (1594 – December 5, 1668) was an English colonist born in Heptonstall, Halifax, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England who immigrated to New England in 1633. Around 1641 Fairbanks built the Fairbanks House in Dedham, ...

of England, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1633, and built Fairbanks House in Dedham.

Streeterville

Fairbank was the original owner of the land that currently comprises

Streeterville Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River. It is bounded by the river on the south, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue on the west, and ...

in downtown Chicago; now some of the most expensive real estate in the city. Despite unanimously winning several court cases, Fairbank, along with the

Pinkertons Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinker ...

and the Chicago Police, were unable – for 28 years – to remove the squatter and Chicago legend George Streeter, from the property. As a testament to the long-running feud, a street running near the outside (western) edge of Streeterville is named Fairbanks Court.

Other activities

Fairbank served as: president of the University of Chicago board of trustees, a founder and president of The

Chicago Club The Chicago Club, founded in 1869, is a private social club located at 81 East Van Buren Street at Michigan Avenue in the Loop neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Its membership has included many of Chicago's most prominent ...

, a founder of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a senior officer and an early major trader at the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established on April 3, 1848, is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...

, one of the original trustees of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the first Commodore of the Lake Geneva Yacht Club, and as a director of numerous corporations between 1880 and 1903. He was also a member of the famous Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia. Fairbank, Arizona, now a ghost town, was named for him because of his role in financing both the Grand Central Mining Company and the railroad in nearby Tombstone, Arizona.

The Livingstons

Fairbank married Helen Livingston Graham in New York on April 24, 1866, and they had seven children. Livingston Graham's original American ancestor was Robert Livingston, 1st Lord of

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. History Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the colonial Province of New York granted ...

. She died in 1895. N. K. Fairbank died at his home in Chicago on March 27, 1903, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery.

References

* ''Antecedents and descendants of Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank, 1595-2000'',

Helen de Freitas Helen Graham de Freitas, Lady de Freitas ( Bell; 16 August 1910 – 14 December 1998) was an American-born British public servant, and "a leading member of the American community in London". She was born in Chicago, Illinois on 16 August 1910 and ...

''The Story of Chicago''
by Joseph Kirkland, Dibble Publishing Co., 1892.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbank, Nathaniel Businesspeople from Chicago People from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Businesspeople from New York (state) 1829 births 1903 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople Fairbanks family Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)