Munger & Armour, as bookkeeper, and in 1864, at the consolida-
tion with Hiram Wheeler, he became a member of the new firm of
Munger, Wheeler & Co., and has had charge of their office ever
since. January 19, 1867, he was married to Elizabeth Mears,
daughter of the well known lumberman, Nathan Mears. They
have had five children — Marion, Elizabeth, James, Robert and
Nathan Mr. McKay is a member of the Citizens' Association,
and the Chicago and Union clubs.
Armour, Dole & Co. was established in i860, by Wesley
Munger, George Armour and Charles Dole. In 1S61, they took
the firm name under which they have done business continuously
ever since. They have had charge of the grain receipts of the Chi-
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad since the building of the first
elevator ("A"), capacity 850,000 bushels, in 1S60. The increase
of their businesshasbeenasfollows: In 1863, elevator "B" was built,
storage capacity, 850,000 bushels; in 1873 elevator "C" was added,
capacity, 1,500,000 bushels; in iS7g, elevator " D," capacity.
i.Soo.ooo bushels; in 1SS2, elevator " E," with a capacity of
1,000,000 bushels. Elevator "A" was enlarged to 1,250,000 bush-
els in 1S67. The present (1885) capacity of the four elevators still
controlled by the firm, is as follows: Storage room, 6,350,000
bushels; receiving and shipping capacity, 700,000 bushels a day;
shipping capacity, when not receiving, 1,500,000 bushels a day.
James Barrei.l, the manager of the great commission house
of Armour & Dole, and who owns an interest in the business, was
born in London, England, on September 2S, 1S34 — the son of
John and Elizabeth (Evans) Barrell. His early boyhood was
passed in the academic schools of London. At the age of twelve
years, he came with his father to Chicago-, and with him was en-
gaged in the grocery business for about four years. At the age of
sixteen he was employed as a clerk in the post-office at Chicago,
where he remained for ten years, the last half of the time occupy-
ing the position of chief clerk of the western distribution. Leav-
ing the post-office, he engaged with Armour & Dole, and during
the life of Mr. Armour, had charge of the office. After the death
of Mr. Armour, he succeeded him as general manager, and has held
that position until the present time. Mr. Barrell was married,
January 5, 1864, to Miss Sue S Finley, daughter of James W.
Finley, of Chicago. They have three sons — James F., Stewart
E. and Albert M. He is a member of Garden City Lodge, No.
141, A. F. & A. M.; of Lafayette Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M.; of
Apoilo Commandery, No. 1, K. T.; and of Oriental Consistory,
32", S. P. R. S. He is also a member of the Chicago, the Calu-
met and the Washington Park clubs.
FLINT, Odell & Co. — This firm was established, in 1854,
under the firm name of Flint, Wheeler & Co. (T. |. S. Flint, Cal-
vin T. Wheeler and Daniel Thompson). The firm name was
changed to Flint & Thompson, in 1861; to Flint, Thompson &Co ,
in 1864; and to Flint, Odell & Co. (James W. Odell) in 1878, un-
der which name the firm is now (1885) engaged in the business
which it has followed consecutively for twenty-eight years. Their
first elevator had a storage capacity for 160,000 bushels. Rock
Island Elevator "A," with a capacity for 750,000 bushels, was
completed in 1S56. In 1863, Rock Island Elevator " B " was built,
with storage capacity for 1,250,000. Elevator "A" was entirely
re-built, with a capacity of 1,500,000 bushels, in 1SS1-82. The
aggregate storage capacity of these two elevators, in 1885, was
reported at 2,600,000 bushels; receiving and shipping capacity,
300,000 bushels a day; and for shipping alone, 650,000 bushels a
day.
Vincent, Nelson & Co. — This firm comprises B. B. Vin-
cent, Murry Nelson and Enoch B. Stevens. They built the National
Elevator in 1S67, and continued in business until October 9. 1S71,
at which time their elevator was burned. They re-built in 1S71-72
Their first elevator, built in 1867, had a storage capacity for
250.000 bushels; their new elevator, built in 1S71, still (1885)
known as the National Elevator, and operated by the National
Elevator and Dock Co., has a storage capacity for 1,000,000
bushels, and is stated to be the only fire-proof grain elevator in
Chicago, having been adopted by the National Board of Under-
writers as the standard. No wood is exposed outside; there are
brick and hollow-tile walls, while the roof, receivers, scale-hoppers,
spouting, etc., are all of iron. Mr. Stevens retired from the firm
in August, 1877. The B. B. Vincent estate, with Murry Nelson,
continued the business until the present corporation was formed,
and are now che largest stockholders.
Munn & Scott commenced business in 1856, under the firm
name of Munn, Gill & Co. The style of the firm was changed, in
185S, to Munn & Scott (Ira Y. Munn, George L. Scott). Under
this name the firm continued until the great fire of October 9, 1871.
Soon after they were succeeded by the firm of George Armour &
Co. During the fifteen years of the firm's existence, it ranked
among the most enterprising and trustworthy, and their business
grew to excel in magnitude that of any other house in the city.
Their warehouses received grain from the Chicago & Alton Rail-
road, the Chicago & North-Western Railway, besides much from
other railroads and the canal. The growth and extent of their
business was: 185S to 1862, one elevator, with storage capacity for
200,000 bushels, capable of receiving and shipping 30,000 bushels
a day, and of shipping 75,000 bushels a day; 1S63, three eleva-
tors, with aggregate storage capacity for 1,500,000 bushels, capa-
ble of receiving and shipping 165,000 bushels a day, and of ship-
ping, when not receiving, 370,000 bushels a day: 1S64-71, four
elevators, with aggregate storage capacity for 2,700,000 bushels,
capable of receiving and shipping 300,000 bushels a day, and of
shipping 675,00c bushels a day.
Nathan Henry Warren was born in Concord, Mass., on
December 9, 1S27, and attended the public schools of that vicinity
until thirteen years of age, when he went to the Concord Academy,
then kept by John and Henry Thoreau, the latter of whom after-
ward became well known as a naturalist, lecturer and writer. He
remained at school until he was eighteen years of age, and then
took charge of a farm which his father had purchased near the
center of the town, and selected as a special branch of business the
breeding of Ayrshire stock, then coming into notice as superior for
dairy purposes. After the passage of the fugitive slave law by
Congress, in 1850, the section of the law which imposed a fine of
Si, 000 upon any person who should harbor, assist, or, when called
upon, refuse to recapture, any fugitive slave, caused a deep feeling
of opposition in Massachusetts, and Mr. Warren, with others, or-
ganized societies to assist fugitives. Until the War of the
Rebellion, it was his duty, as conductor upon the Underground
Railroad, to take to a secure place upon his premises, and keep until
a party could be made up, such persons " fleeing from service " as
arrived in Boston. These persons were forwarded from station to
station until they reached Canada. In i860, while serving in a
" Wide Awake CJub," Mr. Warren contracted so severe a cold that
376
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
a bronchial affection was the result, and for several years the ques-
tion whether he could live on the coast of New England remained
unsettled. In the winter of 1S63, he went to Hilton Head, S. C,
bought one of the abandoned plantations, which were being sold by
the Government for non-payment of taxes, and tried the experiment
of raising a crop of cotton. With regular weekly wages as the in-
centive, instead of the lash, the experiment was a success, and he
sold the plantation in the summer of 1S64, with a line crop of cot-
ton nearly ready to gather, and came to Arlington, 111., where his
brothers and present partners were then doing a grain and lumber
business. It was decided to open a grain commission house in Chi-
cago, which was done in April, 1S65, under the firm name of N.
H. Warren & Co., composed of N, H. Warren, Cyrus T. Warren
and Charles C. Warren. There has been no change in the firm
since that time. They commenced building grain elevators on the line
of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1S67, and, in
1S72, built in Nebraska, and have continued doing so to this time.
They have sold many of them, but their receipts of grain, princi-
pally from their own elevators, are about six millions of bushels a
year. Mr. Warren has been twice married; first to Mary Prescott
Barrett, in Concord, Mass., on April 26, 1S49, and had the follow-
ing children: Mary Elizabeth, Ella, George Henry, Alice and
Charles. He was again married in July, 1S79, to Mrs. Minerva
T. O'Hara, and they have one child — Paul Livingston.
The working capacity of the elevators of the city
were given in detail in the published reports for iS58to
1863. inclusive, to which have been added estimates,
based on that data, for succeeding years, in the follow-
ing table:
Veak.
Storage
capacity, bush.
Capacity tore-
per day, bush.
Capacity to
ship per day.
Bushels.
Aggregate *
Amount oi grain
handled each
year — bush.
1S5S
4,095,000
495,000
1,340,000
22,910,000
IS59
4,055,000
545,000
1,385,000
18,195,000
1S60
5,475.000
675,000
1,835,000
35,840,000
1S61
5 915.000
675,000
1,795,000
51,545,000
1S62
6,815,000
770,000
2.095,000
56,695,000
1863
10,010,000
1,110,000
2,520,000
56,819,000
1S64
9,935,000
1,110,000
2,520,000
48,725,000
1865 _
10,055,000
1,110,000
2,520,000
53,555,000
1S66
9,980,000
1,110,000
2,520,000
65,775,ooo
1867
io,6So,ooo
I, I So, OOO
2,670,000
57,130,000
186S
io,6So,ooo
i.iSo.ooo
2,670,000
64,335,000
1869
ii,5So,ooo
1,290,000
2,8oO,000
60,285,000
1S70
ii,5So,ooo
I,2gO,000
2,800,000
57,780,000
187I
11,375,000
1,260,000
2,S40,0O0
Si, 360, 000
Grain Warehousing. — With the enormous increase
in the volume of grain passing through the various
warehouses, the business of the warehousemen increased
in its importance, from year to year. With the gradual
perfections of the system of inspection and grading, the
warehouse receipts became as stable tokens of value as
the bank bills that purchased them, and the responsi-
bility of the warehousemen themselves came to be
viewed as demanding as strict integrity, as accurate and
unimpeachable business conduct, as the business of
banking itself, and as involving even greater fiducial
isibility to the public. Indeed, the deposits of
grain held in trust by these warehousemen often ex-
ceeded in value the money held in trust by all of the
city banks. The warehouse receipts issued for grain
were not, in their tenor, unlike certificates of deposit.
An important element of difference, however, consisted
in the fact that while the banker is, by consent of the
depositor, free to use the funds left in his care, between
the warehouseman and the storer of grain there is no
such understanding; since the former received a speci-
fied sum for holding the property intact and ever ready
for immediate delivery on payment of storage.
Nevertheless, under the somewhat crude State laws
first passed for the regulation of the business, many
and quite serious abuses grew up. Warehouse rei eipts
for grain were issued by the warehousemen as soon as
• Exclusive of amount drawn from store by mills, and inclusive of amount
remaining in store at the close of each year.
the elevators were built and grain began to be stored ;
the grain belonging to different parties being stored in
separate bins and delivered in kind. Under this cus-
tom, no two bins were likely to contain grain of similar
quality, and it was impossible to ship a cargo (unless
drawn from a single bin) which approached in kind or
quality the uniformity of any modern grade. There
also was a marked difference in the quality of " Stand-
ard " wheat, as drawn from the different elevators, and
much trouble and vexation prevailed among the wheat
dealers, which increased in proportion to the increase
of the grain trade, wheat, from the many diverse vari-
eties, qualities and conditions in which it came to the
market, being always the most difficult to manage.
Each warehouse had its own inspector, who was selected
generally for his honesty and known skill as a judge of
the quality of grain, more especially wheat. In fact,
there were no uniform or well-defined grades of wheat
recognized in Chicago prior to 1856. During that year,
the Board of Trade made the first move toward estab-
lishing grades of wheat, by the separation of the three
leading varieties into three standard grades, to be
known as "White Wheat," "Red W T heat" and "Spring
Wheat," which grades were defined as to the weight of
a measured bushel and general condition. The ware-
housemen generally sanctioned this first effort to class-
ify the grain, co-operating with the Board, of which
many of them were members. But the variable stand-
ard of inspection at the different warehouses still
remained a constant source of discontent and disagree-
ment. There was no statutory law, at that time, which
defined the standard, or enforced its strict adoption
upon all alike. The action of the Board of Trade, be-
ing unsanctioned by law, was advisory only, and this
the warehousemen were free to adopt or reject. The
measure was too imperfect to remedy the evil, although
it clearly pointed out the way. Things grew from bad
to worse ; the mixing of good wheat with inferior
grades, prior to its delivery, became so common a
practice among buyers and shippers, as to seriously
degrade the market of Chicago, and to divert much
of the better wheat to other points, whence it might
reach Eastern markets through channels whereby the
Chicago warehouses, and the prevailing lax inspection,
might be avoided.
In 1858, a second and successful effort was made,
through the joint efforts of the Board of Trade and the
leading warehousemen of the city, to establish uniform
grades. On May 1, 1858, the board of directors had
under consideration the subject of reform in grain in-
spection, and presented a report to a meeting of the
Board of Trade, in which they condemned the prevail-
ing methods, as affording no uniformity and fixing no
responsibility, recommending the employment of one
chief inspector, with power to appoint deputies, subject
to ratification by the directors. In consequence of
this report, a committee was appointed to draft a new
system of wheat inspection. The committee comprised
Julian S. Rumsey, S. H. Butler and Charles S. Dole.
They recommended the rejection of much of the wheat
that had been, prior to.that date, passed as "Standard,"
and proposed, after June 15, to make the inspection
much more rigid than formerly; grading it as "Club
wheat," " No. 1 Spring," " No. 2 Spring " and " Re-
jected." The assistance of the storage merchants in
making the new rules effective was asked. This report
was accompanied by an agreement, signed by the lead-
ing warehousemen, without whose co-operation the
proposed reform would have been impossible, except
through compulsory legal enactment.
THE BOARD OF TRADE.
377
The Board of Trade passed resolutions establishing
the grades as recommended, and designating- June 15 as
the date when the new system should go into effect.
During the season, several changes were found neces-
sary in the grades as first established. "No. 2 Spring"
was changed to " Standard," and test weights of the
different grades of spring wheat were defined. Subse-
quently, "No. 2 Spring" was re-established, as an inter-
mediate grade between " Rejected " and " Standard."
The first chief inspector appointed was George Sitts.
The first Committee on Inspection, under the new rules,
comprised Julian S. Rumsey (president), S. H. Butler and
C. S. Dole.
Up to the close of 1858, the new system applied
only to such grain as was received by the various
railroads. At that time the Board of Trade voted to
extend the system to cover grain received by lake and
canal, if put in store. There being no law to enforce
the resolution upon the warehouses receiving grain
from the canal-boats, large quantities continued, for
years afterward, to go into store uninspected. The pro-
portionate amount of the grain received and inspected
under the new rules, from June 15, when they first went
into effect, to December 31, 1858, as shown by the in-
spector's books, was as appears in the following tables :
No. 1 White Winter. ... .
No. I Red Winter
No. 2 Red Winter
Rejected Winter —
Club -
No. I Spring
No. 2 Spring
Rejected Spring
Total inspected.
Received by Canal and teams, not
inspected
Shipped — inspection not reported -
Total -
CORN.
112,800
634,800
360,600
59,300
2, IOO
l8g,200
2,120,500
648,500
4,127,800
1,504,553
5,692,353
151,568
572.853
329,222
38,979
354,265
2,959.399
345,744
4,712,030
4S4,85o
5,2o6,S8o
Grade Inspected.
Received.
Bush.
Shipped.
Bush.
No. I
1,148,400
Soi.goo
2,978,757
1,082,808
No. 2
Rejected
551,100
394.947
Total inspected .-
Received bv Canal and teams,
not
2,501,400
4,456,512
inspected .- . . -
Shipped and locally consumed-
spection not reported
— in-
4,396,917
1,921,452
Total . _.
6,898,317
6,377.964
Grade Inspected.
Received.
Bush.
Shipped.
Bush.
No. 1
404,400
13,200
116,400
534,000
671,512
1.205,512
753,993
109,189
863,182
74,595
937.777
No. 2
Rejected .
Total inspected .
Received by Canal and from other
sources, not inspected .
Shipped and locally consumed — in-
spection not reported
Total
Grade Inspected.
Received.
Bush.
Shipped.
Bush.
No. I
17,500
7,800
1, 200
26,500
31,509
58,009
No. 2
Rejected
1,269
Total inspected ..
Received by Canal and from other
sources, not inspected
Shipped and locally consumed — in-
spection not reported
Total ...
6,259
1,310
7,569
Grade Inspected.
Received.
Bush.
Shipped.
Bush.
No. I
21,200
69,600
14,400
105,200
73,400
No. 2
Rejected
55.573
3,349
Total inspected
Received by Canal and from other
sources, not inspected . . ....
Shipped, or locally consumed — in-
62,342
2,119
Total..
178,600
64,461
The system of inspection thus became established
in 1858, although it was many years before the grades
were allowed to remain unchanged a sufficient time to
be recognized and relied upon in Eastern and foreign
markets.
In August, 1859, the grades of wheat were for the
first time defined fully as to required quality, condition
and weight, as now. The grades were re-established
at that time, and were defined as follows :
No. 1 White Wheat : The berry to be plump, well cleaned,
and free from other grains.
No. 2 White Wheat : To be sound, but not clean enough for
No. 1.
No. 1 Red Wheat ; The berry to be plump, well cleaned, and
free from other grains.
No. 2 Red Wheat : To be sound, but not clean enough for
No. 1.
Rejected Winter Wheat: Unsound and unmerchantable wheat,
and to weigh not less than forty-five pounds to the measured
bushel.
No. 1 Spring Wheat : The berry to be plump, well cleaned,
free from other grains, and to weigh not less than fifty-eight
pounds to the measured bushel.
No. 2 Spring Wheat : To be sound, but not clean enough for
No, 1, and to weigh not less than fifty-two pounds to the measured
bushel.
Rejected Spring Wheat: All unsound, unmerchantable spring
wheat, and to weigh not less than forty-five pounds to the measured
bushel.
The above standard remained in vogue until Jan-
uary I, i860, when the minimum standard weight to the
bushel of No. 1 Spring was increased to fifty-nine
pounds, and of No. 2 Spring to fifty-six pounds.
It would be uninteresting to trace the inspection
through all the comparatively trivial changes that sub-
sequently occurred. No sweeping revision of grades
has been made since 1859, anil the prescribed standards
of weight, quality and condition established by the Board
of Trade and warehousemen of Chicago, during that
year, have remained the essential tests to this day.
Laws regulating Warehousing. — Prior to 1851, there
was no law in Illinois relating especially to the ware-
house business, and each warehouseman was " a law unto
himself," subject only to the penalties provided by the
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
general statutes for the punishment of fraud or other
business delinquencies or misdemeanors. In January
of that year, the first special act to regulate the business
was passed. It was designated " An act relating to
Wharfingers and other persons, and to prevent fraud."
It provided that no receipt should be issued for
grain not actually in store, and none for money loaned;
that no second receipt should be issued while the first
was outstanding; that property in store should not be
transferred without the consent of the party holding
the receipt. Violations of its provisions were made
felonies, punishable by a fine not exceeding $r,ooo, and
imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding five
years : these penalties being in addition to the right of
an aggrieved party to maintain a civil action for dam-
ages. For sixteen years, grain-warehousing was con-
ducted in Chicago under the provisions of this law.
At the time the law was framed, the storage and ship-
ping of grain was the least important feature of the
warehouse business, there being at that time only three
elevators in the city, with an aggregate storage capacity
of not to exceed 100,000 bushels. The total amount
of wheat shipped was but 437,660 bushels. Warehouse
receipts for grain were seldom negotiated or passed, as
thev afterward were when speculation became rife, and
the grain was usually stored, each lot in a separate bin,
for immediate shipment, or for the account of the owner
until such time as he might choose to sell it.
In 1867, the second "Warehouse bill " was passed.
During the period intervening between the passage of
the first and second bill, the business had grown to be
the most important factor in western trade. In place
of the three small houses were seventeen elevators, with
an aggregate storage capacity for 10,680,000 bushels,
which were filled during the winter months with wheat,
corn, rye, oats and barley, divided in the aggregate into
twenty well-defined and distinct grades, for which the
warehousemen had issued warehouse receipts, current
in all the grain marts of the country, and which they
were pledged to redeem, on presentation, in full weight
and exact quality as called for in the receipt presented.
They were the favorite collateral security for loans in
the city, and were often held by the banks on deposit in
amounts far exceeding their capital. No class of Chi-
cago business men had more weighty responsibilities, or
more important trusts, thrust upon them than the ware-
housemen, and it is but simple justice to state that none
endured so severe a test with less stain upon their repu-
tation. Nevertheless, sufficient abuses were apparent,
bofh in connection with the warehouse business and
among the members of the Board of Trade, to call
attention to the inadequacy of the existing laws to reg-
ulate a business which had developed many entirely-
new features since they had been enacted, and had, in
its magnitude and importance, so entirely outgrown
them. The subject became a matter of serious discus-
sion in the newspapers, on the Hoard of Trade, among
warehousemen and throughout the whole business com-
munity. In response to the generally expressed public
sentiment, that a complete revision of the laws for the reg-
ulation of warehousing was a necessity, the Legislature,
in February, 1867, passed a bill known as the "Ware-
Vet." It contained twenty-two sections, and
embodied the provisions of the former law, besides
containing a multiplicity of new regulations, skillfully
devised to m< â– I 1 nntingencies not contemplated at the
time of thi: passage of tin- earlier a< 1.
The new law was accepted, and observed without
any notable attempt to evade its provisions, although
many complaints were made against what was deemed
oppressive features. Among those thus condemned