Ogden's Goal: William Butler Ogden, like many Chicagoans, was from the east, an easterner. Born in 1805, he grew up in western part of New York and first came to Chicago in 1835 to look over the sale of land that his brother-in-law, a Wall Street investor, had bought as part of the new town of chicago first speculative real estate. When William first arrived in Chicago he was ask to do many tasks, such as drain land, lay out streets and divide up lots, Ogden did those jobs and did them very well but he wanted to expand his work a little further , Ogden saw opportunity, an opportunity to make Chicago a easier place for the people to live, make chicago a place where people feel like they can get from place to place with no hassle or struggle, and essentially make Chicago the transportation capital of the USA.
"I was born close to a sawmill, was cradled in a sugar trough, christened in a mill pond, early left an orphan, graduated from a log schoolhouse and, at 14, found I could do anything I turned my hand to and that nothing was impossible..."
- William Butler Ogden |