A Vermont boy blows into the windy city and changes everything.
Somebody ought to remember...

Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard was born in Windsor on this day in 1802. His family would first move to Montreal, and then at 16, Hubbard moved west to make his way in Illinois.

He formed a trading company trading meats, furs and Indian goods, and became the adopted son of an Indian chief. Hubbard was one of Chicago's first settlers, building its first warehouse.

He was the director of Chicago's first bank, wrote the city's first insurance policy, founded the first Episcopalian Church, paid for the first fire engine, and built the city's first large hotel. Ironically, almost nothing in Chicago pays tribute to Hubbard's achievements.

Photo courtesy the collections of the Chicago Public Library.

August Archives | August 23