170 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



to make a name and character for himself, thereby being sure 

 to win. 



The first hundred cattle Mr. Allerton ever bought were sold 

 in New York City where the Fifth Avenue Bank now stands. 

 It was the worst market New York had known in ten years, and 

 he lost $700. This almost discouraged him, but an elderly uncle 

 who had been very successful, said to him, "Don't lose your 

 courage, I never found but one dea4 sure thing, and that was 

 hoeing corn at 50 cents a day. If you make money you must 

 sometimes lose it, try again." Young Allerton then went to 

 Erie. Rebellious women had burned the railroad bridges 

 because the trains would not stop for dinner, making a break 

 in the line. He bought 100 cattle, shipped them over the Erie 

 to New York, encountered a great flood, and found the market 

 consequently short. This netted him a profit of $3,000 and 

 gave him new courage. He drifted to the west and for one year 

 fed and raised cattle in Illinois. The panic incident on the 

 failure of the Sturgis interests in Cincinnati, wiped out every- 

 thing Mr. Allerton had. He became ill and concluded that 

 there was something wrong with the western climate, so took 

 an interest in his brother's store in Newark. This form of busi- 

 ness seemed too petty to him after dealing on so much larger a 

 scale, and the confinement made the western climate seem very 

 desirable to him. He borrowed $5,000 and started for the west, 

 proceeding directly to Fulton Co., where he traded a little, and 

 renewed his acquaintance with Miss Pamilla W. Thompson, 

 daughter of A. C. Thompson, a big cattleman located in that 

 county. In 1860 he removed to Chicago, and four months later 

 they were married. 



Believing that Chicago was the only place "where the world 

 turned around every twenty-four hours," he commenced in a 

 conservative way to buy and sell stock. At this period the only 

 general market in Chicago was held in the winter, the remainder 



