The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago : A Biography of William B. Ogden

William Butler Ogden was a pioneer railroad magnate, one of the earliest founders and developers of the city of Chicago, and an important influence on U.S. westward expansion. His career as a businessman stretched from the streets of Chicago to the wilds of the Wisconsin lumber forests, from the iron mines of Pennsylvania to the financial capitals in New York and beyond. Jack Harpster's The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago: A Biography of William B. Ogden is the first chronicle of one of the most notable figures in nineteenth-century America. Harpster traces the life of Ogden from his early experiences as a boy and young businessman in upstate New York to his migration to Chicago, where he invested in land, canal construction, and steamboat companies. He became Chicago's first mayor, built the city's first railway system, and suffered through the Great Chicago Fire. His diverse business interests included real estate, land development, city planning, urban transportation, manufacturing, beer brewing, mining, and banking, to name a few. Harpster, however, does not simply focus on Ogden's role as business mogul; he delves into the heart and soul of the man himself. The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago is a meticulously researched and nuanced biography set against the backdrop of the historical and societal themes of the nineteenth century. It is a sweeping story about one man's impact on the birth of commerce in America. Ogden's private life proves to be as varied and interesting as his public persona, and Harpster weaves the two into a colorful tapestry of a life well and usefully lived.

William Butler Ogden was a pioneer railroad magnate, one of the earliest founders and developers of the city of Chicago, and an important influence on U.S. westward expansion. His career as a businessman stretched from the streets of Chicago to the wilds of the Wisconsin lumber forests, from the iron mines of Pennsylvania to the financial capitals in New York and beyond. Jack Harpster’s The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago: A Biography of William B. Ogden is the first biography of one of the most notable figures in nineteenth-century America.

Harpster traces the life of Ogden from his early experiences as a boy and young businessman in upstate New York to his migration to Chicago, where he invested in land, canal construction, and steamboat companies. He became Chicago’s first mayor, built the city’s first railway system, and suffered through the Great Chicago Fire. He had diverse business interests that included real estate, land development, city planning, urban transportation, manufacturing, beer brewing, mining, and banking, to name just a few. Harpster, however, does not simply focus on the business mogul; he delves into the heart and soul of the man himself—Ogden was a dedicated family man, a noted raconteur, a respected philanthropist, and a friend to many of the era’s rich and powerful.

The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago is a meticulously researched and nuanced biography set against the backdrop of the historical and societal themes of the nineteenth century. It is a sweeping story about one man’s impact on the birth of commerce in America. Ogden’s private life proves to be as varied and interesting as hispublic persona, and Harpster weaves the two together into a colorful tapestry of a life well and usefully lived.

Figures and Tables......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 1. Prelude......Page 18 2. The Little Railroad That Could......Page 23 3. Stately Edifices and Lofty Spires......Page 35 4. Go West, Young Man......Page 55 5. The Benevolence of the Butcher......Page 77 6. Mister Mayor......Page 90 7. Harnessing the Iron Horse......Page 113 8. The First Businessman......Page 138 9. The Best of Everything......Page 159 10. Building an Empire......Page 174 11. An Overgrown Gawk of a Village......Page 193 12. The Minnow Swallows the Whale......Page 213 13. The Gates of Hell......Page 238 14. Out of the Ashes......Page 261 15. A Whole-Souled Man......Page 275 Notes......Page 286 Bibliography......Page 306 Index......Page 318 Author Bio......Page 328