OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 171 



of the year all livestock being shipped to the East. A severe 

 break occurred in the Chicago cattle demand about this time, 

 and Mr. Allerton saw a favorable opportunity to buy. 

 Through the good influences of a Mr. Toby, he succeeded in 

 arranging for a sight draft with George Smith's bank. Mr. 

 Allerton thereupon went to the stockyards and bought all the 

 hogs on the market, preparing a draft for $80,000. This was 

 too much for the bank, which refused to handle it, having 

 expected something in the vicinity of $5,000 instead. After 

 various ventures he succeeded in getting it discounted at a 1% 

 rate by Aikens & Norton. The venture proved successful, and 

 gave Mr. Allerton the financial security necessary to establish 

 a permanent business. 



At the outbreak of the Civil War the financial situation in the 

 north was rather strained. Congress had just passed the National 

 Bank Act and had issued bonds to secure the circulation. Hither- 

 to, the only paper currency had been the so-called red-dog and 

 bob-tailed notes. Mr. Allerton broached the subject of a na- 

 tional bank to Mr. Aikens, but the latter demurred because he 

 feared he could not get stock taken. Nothing daunted, Mr. 

 Allerton secured five other men that would take $10,000 each 

 and thus the First National Bank of Chicago was founded. 



Ever since his permanent location in the west, Mr. Allerton 

 had been accumulating farm lands, and by the opening of the 

 new century, had acquired a total of about 19,000 acres in Illi- 

 nois, in addition to some 21,000 acres in Iowa, Wisconsin and 

 Kansas. As his financial independence grew he secured large 

 holdings in gold mines, and aided in the financiering of the street 

 railways in pioneer Chicago. Throughout all his activities, how- 

 ever, he maintained his chief interest in the livestock trade, con- 

 tinuing to ship to New York, New England and Britain. 



Mr. Allerton was a staunch republican in politics, and a 

 firm supporter of a strong tariS'. He lent active support to all 



