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18 | June 21, 2018 | The lake forest leader SOUND OFF
LakeForestLeader.com
NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN
2018
A Look Into History
Lake Forest connection to meat
packing and sporting goods
Honor the hardest working woman
you know by nominating her for the
North Shore Women In Business Awards,
presented by 22nd Century Media!
13 North Shore women will be honored in the following categories:
• Large Company
(51 employees or more)
• Medium Company
(11-50 employees)
• Small Company
(10 employees or less)
• Non-Profit
• Entrepreneur
• Woman-Owned Business
• Health and Wellness
• Real Estate
• Financial
• Legal
• Hospitality and Dining
• Education
• Senior Care
TO SuBMiT a NOMiNaTiON, viSiT
22ndCenturyMedia.CoM/noMinate
before July 31
To be eligible, women must either work or live in the North Shore
Winners will be announced at the Women In Business Awards Luncheon
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, and in the Women In Business special section
appearing Thursday, Sept. 27, inside 22nd Century Media publications.
Luncheon will feature awards, networking
and speaker Jeanne Malnati of The Culture
Group who will present:
Women and the “It” Factor: Leadership
Principles for Every Season of Life
Tickets available at 22ndCenturyMedia.com/women
Use promo code ‘paper’ to take $5 off general admission tickets.
David Forlow
Contributing Columnist
Thomas Edward
Wilson was born in
Canada in 1868 and
came to the U.S. at age 9.
After high school he
took a clerical position
with the Chicago and
Burlington Railroad. At
age 22 he went to work
for Morris & Company
meat packing counting
animals as they were
unloaded from rail cars.
Thomas rose through
the ranks, and upon the
death of Edward Morris in
1913, he became company
president.
In 1916 Thomas
established his own firm -
Wilson & Company Meatpacking.
The company
raised cattle on more than
3 million acres of land
stretching from Canada to
Brazil. By 1918 Wilson
& Company assets were
valued at $130 million
dollars – over a billion in
today’s money.
Thomas also served as
an early director of the 4H
Club and funded student
scholarships.
Thomas was a member
of Onwentsia, Old Elm
and Shoreacres.
In 1923 he was part of
a group which purchased
more than 200 acres of
farmland near the corner
of Waukegan and Rockland
roads. Two years
Thomas Wilson, of Wilson & Company Meatpacking
counts cattle. Photo Submitted
later, Knollwood Club
was founded and Thomas
was elected president.
Thomas lived in a home
just south of Knollwood
Club. He also owned
Edellyn Farm on 1,200
acres north of Lake Forest.
Edellyn was named
for his son Ed and daughter
Helen.
A nearby train depot,
post office and school
were all named for
Thomas.
After graduating
Princeton, his son Edward
Wilson followed his father
into the business. Edward’s
first position with
Wilson & Company was
in the pens of the stockyards.
But, it is not the
meat packing business for
which Thomas is remembered.
The company also made
tennis racquet strings, golf
balls and uniforms. At one
point both the Chicago
Cubs and Chicago White
Sox wore Wilson jerseys.
It is this little side business
for which Thomas
is remembered today, the
Wilson Sporting Goods
Company.
In 1954, the Wilson
school was sold to a developer
and 700 additional
acres of Edellyn were sold
to create Lakehurst Mall.
However, today the
Wilson name still appears
on topographic maps.
Thomas Wilson died in
1958 at age 90, and he
is buried in Lake Forest
Cemetery.
Come to the Lake Forest
– Lake Bluff Historical
Society Open House. 4-6
p.m. Sunday, June 24, 509
E. Deerpath, Lake Forest.
Free and open to the
public.
David Forlow has been a
Lake Bluff resident for more
than 20 years. He serves as
the board vice president for
the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff
Historical Society. To learn
more about the Historical
Society, visit www.lflbhistory.
org.