September 22, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



17 



Dansville, and one brother, Eichard 

 Kennedy, of Eipley, N, Y. The funeral 

 was held Sunday afternoon, September 

 11, Eev. J. V. Cooper officiating. 



George Wittbold. 



Once more the craft in Chicago has 

 been called on to pay the last tribute 

 tpf respect to its oldest member. When 

 :he summons came, September 19, to 

 venerable, kindly George Wittbold, it 

 removed not only the oldest man then 

 ;ictively engaged in the trade in Cook 

 vounty, but the founder of the oldest 

 business in this line in the city, and 

 the one man who has seen the florists' 

 industry grow from small beginning of 

 ids early day to the great proportions 

 of the present. 



George Wittbold was born April 25, 

 1832, at Hanover, Germany, and as a 

 young man obtained that thorough 

 knowledge of plant growing which is 

 characteristic of the gardeners educated 

 in the Koyal Botanic Garden at that 

 place. Coming to America in 1857, he 

 was not the first commercial florist of 

 Chicago by some years. First of all 

 was Samuel Brooks, and then came 

 Edgar Sanders. The third establish- 

 ment was that of Williams & Wittbold, 

 but has long outlived its predecessors. 

 Williams & Wittbold had two places, 

 Mr. Williams conducting one on what 

 is now Fullerton avenue, while Mr. 

 Wittbold 's first glass was about where 

 North avenue intersects Clark street. 

 It was then some distance outside the 

 city, but Mr. Sanders was still farther 

 out, at what is now the corner of Bel- 

 mont and Evanston avenues. The 

 Brooks establishment was far out on 

 the south side. At the close of the 

 Civil war the partnership of Williams 

 & Wittbold was dissolved and in 1869 

 Mr, Wittbold acquired the land on 

 which he has lived and conducted his 

 business for the last forty-one years. 

 At the time of his purchase this was 

 marsh ground, far outside the settled 

 city districts. His contemporaries told 

 him it was not worth the $2,000 he 

 agreed to pay for four acres, but by 

 the time Mr. Wittbold had his marsh 

 filled in he had many opportunities to 

 turn his investment profitably. In later 

 years he often has referred to an oppor- 

 tunity for an exchange of his property 

 for a 7-acre tract nearer town, but still 

 in an unreclaimed condition. After the 

 city had grown, first to him and then 

 many miles beyond, he regretfully said 

 he wished he had made the trade, but 

 in the earth 703 he thought that four 

 acres was as much as ever would be re- 

 quired by a florist and that it would 

 be all his greenhouses could earn the 

 taxes on. When it came to putting in 

 the public improvements, he did, in 

 fact, find he had more than he could 

 handle and sold a part of the Bucking- 

 ham place frontage. Today his three 

 remaining acres are in a solidly built 

 up section, where real estate values are 

 measured by the front foot and the 

 property represents independence for 

 its owner. 



All the time that Chicago was grow- 

 ing the Wittbold business grew with it. 

 Where in the beginning only a little 

 local trade was handled, in the course 

 of time a big range of glass backed up 

 two retail stores and a large wholesale 

 business was done, both in the city and 

 throughout the west. Mr. Wittbold 

 brought up a family of five sons, each 

 of whom possessed the father's aptitude 

 for the business and all of whom at 



George WittboU. 



length became associated with it, assist- 

 ing in its extension and eventually tak- 

 ing over the entire responsibility. A 

 few years ago the George Wittbold Co. 

 was incorporated, the founder occupy- 

 ing the presidency, but each of the sons 

 holding an interest, with Louis Witt- 

 bold as secretary and treasurer. Since 

 that date the progress has been more 

 rapid than at any time in the history of 

 the business. A large nursery and 

 greenhouse plant has been established 

 at Edgebrook, HI., and many new lines 

 have been successfully added. When 

 the sons took over the burden of active 

 management, Mr. Wittbold was per- 

 mitted to indulge his preference and 

 devote his time to the friends of his 

 youth, the palms and ferns which were 

 his specialty from the time the business 

 became large enough to admit of spe- 

 cializing. Until quite recently he has 

 enjoyed excellent health and was in- 

 variably to be found at the potting 

 bench, where many visitors stopped for 

 a moment's chat with this kindly, 

 sweet tempered old lover of nature. 



Mr. Wittbold was survived by his 

 widow, Mrs. Emma Wittbold, and by 

 four sons and three daughters. The 

 sons are Fred, Louis, Henry and Otto. 

 The fifth son, Gustave, died January 

 24, 1908. The daughters are Mrs. Mary 

 James, wife of the florist at Des 

 Plaines; Mrs. Sophie Neve and Miss 

 Helen Wittbold. 



The funeral was held Wednesday 

 afternoon, September 21, from the late 

 residence at 3319 North Halsted street. 



There was a large attendance of those 

 in the trade, while two wagon loads of 

 floral pieces showed the esteem in which 

 Mr. Wittbold and his family are held. 

 Interment was at Graceland. The pall 

 bearers were George M. Garland, Frank 

 Garland, Warren Garland, Otto Herman, 

 Oscar Margraff and Dr. G. H. Fricke. 



John Donn. 



John Donn, a veteran florist and 

 landscape gardener of Baltimore, Md., 

 died September 13 at his residence, 1319 

 North Caroline street. He was 66 years 

 old and was born in Ayr, Scotland, but 

 came to America about thirty-five years 

 ago. He was at one time in charge of 

 the flower department of Peter Hender 

 &on & Co., in New York city. After 

 removing to Baltimore he conducted a 

 large establishment on Erdman avenue 

 for many years. He had the reputation 

 of being an expert landscape gardener 

 and was a prominent member of the 

 Gardeners' and I'lorists' Club of Balti- 

 more. The funeral was held on Friday 

 afternoon, September 16, and the inter- 

 ment was in London Park cemetery. 

 He is survived by a widow, Mrs. Eva 

 Eipple Donn, and by two nieces. Miss 

 Susie McFarlane and Mrs. G. E. De 

 Muth. Q. 



South Bend, Ind. — C. E. Campbell, re- 

 ceiver for the South Bend Floral Co., 

 has paid a dividend of one and one- 

 half per cent and his notice says it is 

 all the creditors will receive. 



