John Crerar

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He started at the New York branch office managed by his stepfather, advancing gradually until being sent to the Boston branch to serve as a bookkeeper. His stint in Boston would last for just over a year, at which time he returned to New York, determined to be independent of his stepfather. He joined a rival large iron firm, working there until the age of 29, always vigilant for a viable escape into an independent business life.

Crerar's luck changed when he met Morris K. Jesup, two years his junior, but already having established in 1853 a railroad supply company. Jesup was already a man renowned for his wealth and philanthropy, and he was Crerar's business partner for the rest of his life. In 1856, after several successful years, Jesup sought a new bookkeeper and turned to his new acquaintance John Crerar.

Along with Crerar as a member of Jesup's new railroad house was a John S. Kennedy. The firm followed the infant industry and greatly prospered. As the Michigan Southern Railroad and the Michigan Central Railroad came to Chicago in 1852, it soon became apparent that not New York but Chicago would become the capital of the railroad industry. From Jesup's firm, J. McGregor Adams was sent to Chicago, where the branch plant expanded. Adams was soon joined by Crerar as co-junior partners managing the lucrative Chicago branch. In 1863 Adams and Crerar succeeded to the title and established their own firm of Crerar, Adams and Co., retaining however, the old title until 1868. In that year they first advertised themselves as "Crerar, Adams & Co., manufacturers and dealers in railroad supplies and contractors' materials, 11 and 13 Wells Street." This location was destroyed by the 1871 fire, situating itself temporarily in a "mere shanty" and then at the Robbins Building, where it would continue until Crerar's death.

With Crerar's increasing prosperity other investments beckoned. He shied away from the real estate market, and from mere speculation. Although conservative in his investments, he was an early investor in the Pullman's revolutionary scheme of sleeping cabins on trains, contributing capital and organization knowledge to the huge Pullman Palace Car Company. When the company was founded in 1867, Crerar was an incorporator and a member of the board of directors, in which capacity he would serve for twenty-two years.

Crerar also served as director of the Chicago and Alton Railway, through which he gained his close friendship with T.B. Blackstone. In his will Crerar left Blackstone, although a man of great wealth, a bequest of $5,000, "to purchase some memento which will remind him of my appreciation and his uniform and life-long kindness to me." Other directorships included that of the London and Globe Insurance Company, the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank and the Chicago and Joliet Railroad.

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