Samuel Waters Allerton was a businessman who amassed a substantial fortune, primarily through ventures in stockyards and livestock. Allerton was the Republican Party's nominee for Chicago mayor in

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

, losing to Democratic nominee

Carter Harrison Sr. Carter Henry Harrison Sr. (February 15, 1825October 28, 1893) was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1879 until 1887; he was subsequently elected to a fifth term in 1893 but was assassinated before completing t ...

Early life

Allerton was born May 26, 1828, in

Amenia, New York Amenia is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 4,436 at the 2010 census. The town is on the eastern border of the county. History Amenia is one of the original towns formed by act of March 7, 1788. It compris ...

, the youngest of nine children of Samuel Waters Allerton Sr., a tailor and woolen mill operator, and his wife Hannah Allerton . He was a descendant of ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' pilgrims Isaac Allerton and Elder William Brewster. Isaac Allerton married Brewster's daughter Fear, who became the mother of Samuel Allerton's ancestral line. In 1835 when Allerton was seven, his father's woolen mill business failed financially, and the family property was auctioned off. This was reported to be a formative experience in Allerton's life. At the age of twelve, Allerton entered the workforce as a farm hand. The family experienced further financial difficulty as a result of the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

and some members moved as far west as Dubuque, Iowa, but ultimately they settled on a farm in

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in 1842. After six years Allerton had saved enough money to buy his parents a farm near Newark, New York, and they moved there.

Adult life and career

With his oldest brother Henry, Allerton rented and purchased farms, netting profits from them, and became a small-time livestock trader. He increased his involvement in livestock and made money in a venture transporting livestock over land after a break occurred in the rail line between

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

and

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. Allerton then moved west, ending up in Fulton County, Illinois where he raised cattle for a year. He moved his livestock operations to Chicago in 1860, opening up Allerton Swine Yards at the terminus of the

Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

. On July 2, 1860 Allerton wed Pamilla Wigdon Thompson in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. She was the oldest daughter of wealthy cattle farmers Asler and Berintha Thompson who lived near Canton in Fulton County. The Allertons moved into the Orient House, a Chicago boardinghouse. They soon bought a house at 644 Michigan Avenue and lived there until 1879 when they moved to 1936 Prairie Avenue. The Prairie Avenue house had been built for Daniel M. Thompson in 1869, and the Allerton family owned it until it was demolished in 1915. On June 10, 1863, their daughter Katharine ″Kate″ Reinette Allerton was born. In 1863 Allerton was a co-founder of the

First National Bank of Chicago First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD (following its 1995 merger with ...

. For many years, he served as the bank's director, and he continued to hold a financial interest his entire life. In 1864, Allerton was a key partner in the founding of the Pittsburgh Joint Stock Yards and he was a leader in the push to consolidate Chicago's railroad stockyards into the

Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...

in 1865. He led a group that invested $1 million to construct the St. Louis National Stockyards in 1871 and also invested in stockyards located in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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, and

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. On March 20, 1873, Allerton and his wife Pamilla had their second child, a son named

Robert Allerton Robert Henry Allerton (March 20, 1873 – December 22, 1964), born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, was the son and heir of First National Bank of Chicago co-founder Samuel Allerton. A philanthropist for most of his life, he left Allerton G ...

. A series of three oil paintings of the family by Henry H. Cross (1837−1918) in 1879 showed Samuel and Pamilla in a horse−drawn sleigh, Samuel and Robert in the sleigh, and Robert on his black pony.Oil painting (1879) by Henry H. Cross of Robert Allerton age six on a black pony. Located in the Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois Allerton was involved in the creation of the city's first

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line. Allerton was widowed on March 15, 1880, when Pamilla died of

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. On March 15, 1882, he married Pamilla's youngest sister, Agnes C. Thompson. Agnes was 24 at the time of their wedding, whilst Allerton was 53. While he and Agnes never had any children of their own, Agnes acted as a mother and mentor in the arts to Allerton's young son Robert, who was both her stepson and nephew. Politically, Allerton was a strong conservative Republican. In

he was the Republican nominee for mayor of Chicago. Allerton died on February 22, 1914, at the Allerton winter home in South Pasadena, California. Allerton's death was caused by

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

from which he had long suffered. He is buried with his wives Pamilla and Agnes in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.

Wealth and property

By the turn of the twentieth century, Allerton was among Chicago's wealthiest men. At one point, he was ranked by the ''

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'' as the third-wealthiest man in Chicago, behind only Marshall Field and

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. He was also a regular presence on Chicago's society pages. Allerton owned a

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Pullman railcar. In addition to the residence on Chicago's prestigious Prairie Avenue the Allerton family maintained a summer home in

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called The Folly and a Mission style winter home in South Pasadena, California. Allerton owned stockyards and farms throughout the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. He owned over 40,000 acres of farmland in Illinois,

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, and

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. At one point, he was a well known breeder of horses for

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References

Sources

* Bowman, David. ″Samuel W. Allerton (1828−1914)″ ''Proceedings of The Allerton Legacy Symposium''. Robert Allerton Park, Monticello, Illinois May 22, 1981. * Burgin, Martha and Maureen Holtz (2009) ''Robert Allerton, the Private Man and the Public Gifts''. Champaign: The News−Gazette, Inc. * Rotenstein, David S. "Hudson River Cowboys: The Origins of Modern Livestock Shipping". ''The Hudson Valley Regional Review''. Poughkeepsie, New York. Volume 19, number 1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Allerton, Samuel W. 1828 births 1914 deaths People from Amenia, New York Businesspeople from Chicago Illinois Republicans Politicians from Chicago 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)