Artist: Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876–1936)
Samuel Waters Allerton Jr.
ALLERTON, SAMUEL WATERS JR. (1828–1914), inducted by 1920
Experiences growing up on a bankrupt family farm in Amenia, New York, propelled Samuel Waters Allerton Jr. into the workforce at age twelve. He and a brother rented farmland and reinvested profits, and soon he was making aggressive and risky livestock purchases in the New York and Chicago markets. This self-made man began investing in farmland, eventually accumulating 80,000 acres in several states, mostly in the Midwest. When he first traded cattle in Chicago, no bank existed, so his purchasing power was limited. As soon as the National Bank Act passed in 1863, he rallied investors to found the First National Bank of Chicago. Allerton worked with John B. Sherman (another bank shareholder and a stockyard operator) to bring together Chicago’s three independent stockyards, forming the Union Stock Yards in 1866. He invested in many businesses and projects, including the Chicago City Railway and the World’s Columbian Exposition, and he directed much of his vast accumulated wealth toward philanthropy, supporting schools, colleges, hospitals, and other public institutions.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 38