Artist: Ernest Sigmund Klempner (1867–1941)
Benjamin Peters Hutchinson
HUTCHINSON, BENJAMIN PETERS (1829–1899), inducted by 1920
Benjamin P. Hutchinson’s first enterprise was shoe manufacturing, in his birth state of Massachusetts. He moved to Chicago in 1858, and with partners, formed the first meat packing business in that city: Burt, Hutchinson & Snow. When Union Stock Yards opened, the firm relocated there. His second firm, Chicago Packing & Provision Company, established in 1872, grew to be the largest meat processing company in the United States, until Armour and Swift surpassed it. Hutchinson was one of the first stockholders in the First National Bank of Chicago, and he founded the Corn Exchange Bank in 1870, serving as president for several years, before turning the helm over to his son. Hutchinson shifted his focus away from packing and toward the grain markets, becoming a fixture on the Board of Trade in 1880. “Old Hutch” became the leading grain speculator in America until 1891, when he registered major losses.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 115