Samuel W. Allerton

Samuel Waters Allerton (1828-1914) 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, losing to Democratic nominee Carter Harrison Sr.

Early life Allerton was born May 26, 1828, in Amenia, New York, the youngest of nine children of Samuel Waters Allerton Sr., a tailor and woolen mill operator, and his wife, Hannah . 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.

On July 2, 1860 Allerton wed Pamilla Wigdon Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. She was the oldest daughter of wealthy cattle farmers Asler and Berintha Thompson who lived near Canton in Fulton County.

In 1863 Allerton was a co-founder of the First National Bank of Chicago. For many years, he served as the bank's director, and he continued to hold a financial interest his entire life.

Allerton was involved in the creation of the city's first cable car line. Allerton's death was caused by diabetes 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 Chicago Tribune as the third-wealthiest man in Chicago, behind only Marshall Field and J. Ogden Armour. He was also a regular presence on Chicago's society pages.

Allerton owned a private Pullman railcar.

In addition to the residence on Chicago's prestigious Prairie Avenue the Allerton family maintained a summer home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin called The Folly and a Mission style winter home in South Pasadena, California.

Allerton owned stockyards and farms throughout the Midwestern United States. He owned over 40,000 acres of farmland in Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio.

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