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JOHN F. GILCHRIST TELLS OF HOW THE FLOSSMOOR COUNTRY CLUB STARTED“Father of Flossmoor” Tells of Thirty Years Ago When Floss moor Was Acreage; How Golf Developed the Great Homewood AreaBy JOHN F. GILCHRIST[EDITOR’S NOTE: Readers of The Homewood News are indebted to “The Town Crier,” a leaflet published by the Flossmoor State Bank, for this accounting of early Flossmoor. The Hom'e-wood News thanks Art Panzar, editor of The Crier, and R. B. Hewetson, cashier of the bank, for permission to republish the story.—J. F. F.]The authentic story of the formation of the Flossmoor Country Club, and—incidentally—Flossmoor itself, started thirtyyears ago.On the 8th day of July, 1899, Mr. Fred Jenkins, nry associate in the Edison Company, and I went to lunch together at the Chicago Aathlctic Association. The National Golf Tournament was being played at Onwentsia. Both of us had played golf several times, and as we lived on the South Side, in the Hyde Park district, we were convinced that there should be a golf club somewhere on the line of the Illinois Central.I suggested to Mr. Jenkins that we start out that afternoon to see what the land was like. He told me that he was very anxious to see Chandler Egan play in the finals at Onwentsia and would rather make it the next day. However, Mrs. Gilchrist and I got 011 the Illinois Central train, going as far as Harvey, then hired a team and drove down to about where the Calumet Country Club is now, when one of our horses became sick and we returned to Harvey and Chicago.The next day, Sunday, July 9th, Mr. Jenkins and I went out to Harvey, walked from there to Homewood, looked over a good deal of property around Homewood and returned. The next day I asked Mr. Louie Seeberger, my associate in the Edison Company, to •provide me with a map of the farms in the vicinity of Homewood. After studying this, Mr. Jenkins and I, realizing that we needed a good real estate man who could talk German, decided upon Mr. Frank Riedel, then living on Black-stone avenue near 59th street. „Mr. Riedel went to Homewood, got acquainted with the people, and as a result of his work for about a month, three pieces of property were placed under option, one the property of Mr. Briggs, now the property of the Ravis-loe Country Club, another some property north of 183rd street, between the Illinois Central tracks and Kedzie avenue, belonging to a farmer whose name I think was Elbracht, and the third a piece of property east of Homewood.Mr. Jenkins and I went down and looked these pieces over, and were not satisfied. A week or two later Mr. Riedel took us to what is now Flossmoor, and we saw first the property of August Hecht and Chris. Hibbing, being 160 acres each, one on the east side and one on the west side of Western avenue. We were very much impressed with this property. We found that Judge Pinckney of the firm of Pinckney and Tatge, in the old First National Bank building, was the lawyer of Hecht and Hibbing and many other farmers in that vicinity.As a result we had a meeting with these two farmers in Judge Pinckney’s office, but found them very suspicious and unwilling to give an option except for a very unreasonable amount.In the meantime we had had some talks with Mr. A. H. Hanson, then general passenger agent of the Illinois Central Railroad. Mr. Hanson evidently mentioned the matter to Mr. John F. Wallace. He also mentioned it to Mr. John C. Nelleger and said he understood that Mr. Nelleger was anxious to join a golf club. We talked trains with Mr. Hanson and got the assurance of the Illinois Central people that if we purchased property at what is now Flossmoor, they would extend their train service there and build a depot for us.As a result of the information regarding Mr. Nelleger, I called him up one morning and made an appointment to lunch with him at the Chicago Athletic Association, of which we were both members. I had never met Mr. Nelleger and remember very well when I followed the page boy up into the lounge, seeing him jump up very quickly and come across the floor. However, prior to talking to Mr. Nelleger I had stirred the matter up among a good many of my friends in Hyde Park, notably Mr. Walter Nelson. Mr. John C. Welling, Mr. Thomas E. Wells, Dr. H. W. Gentles and others. I think we first talked with Mr. Nelleger about the middle of September or perhaps the first of October when he came into the picture. Mr. Nelleger and his partner, Mr. Wells, Mr. Jenkins and I went down and looked over the farms which we had under option, although we said nothing at that time to them about the Hecht and Hibbing farms.About the 23rd of October we organized a good sized excursion of people we thought we would like to have in the dub and took them to Homewood. We looked over the various pieces and we also looked over the property of Mr. Gore, part of which is now used as Markham Yards. We considered it rather a joke on us, as our party was literally stolen and dragged over there by an agent of Mr. Gore who got 011 the train without our knowledge. Mr. Wells was quite impressed with the Gore property and insisted on going to see Mr. Gore, which we did one Saturday morning, and found Mr. Gore very stiff in his price at $300 an acre, which was at least twice the market at that time.When Mr. Wells was satisfied by this turn-down, I informed him we had other property that we would like him to see. That afternoon Mr. Nelleger, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Wells and I drove out to Harvey, took a team and drove down and looked over the Hecht and Hibbing properties, with which they were very much impressed. We met August Hecht and made an appointment for him to come in to Judge Pinckney’s office, which he did a few days later. We found that Hecht and Hibbing were in a very much more mellow mood, as they had heard of the property under option at Homewood and became convinced they had lost an opportunity for a sale. Therefore, we made an option contract with them, with the understanding that it should not be put on record, but should be left in the hands of Judge Pinckney, under which we had an option to buy their farms for $125 an acre, this option to last for sixt ydays from the day on which it was made, November 14,1899. Mr. Jenkins and I put up $1,000 as option money, Mr. Jenkins and I having put up the money 011 the first pieces option at Homewood.We then started in to recruit a club and quickly had a subscription list drawn. The club was to be called the Homewood Country Club.There were two corporations. One was the Homewood Land Association and the other the Homewood Country Club. The capital of the Land Association was $28,000. Any one who took two shares of $100 stock at par got a membership without further initiation fee in the Homewood Country Club. Anyone who took twenty shares ($2,000 of the stock in the Land Association at par) got a life membership in the Homewood Country Club.When the original property was closed up some time in March or April,1900, (we having obtained an extension 011 our option) Mr. Jenkins and I wereFLOSSMOOR NEWS NOTES plt;Mrs. Lyle Harper and Lyle, Jr., of ^ Braeburn road, are leaving Thursday of 1( this week for a visit with friends in |c Omaha. They expect to be away four ” or five days.Miss Helen Nell Lemon was an en- ^ tertained house guest of Mrs. Earl ^ Silver, last week. Miss Lemon, whose . home is in Indianapolis, stopped over 1S on her way from California, where she 31 has spent the last few years doing settlement work. _Other guests of the Silver family L were Mrs. D. Stubbs and her little daughter, Martha, from Indianapolis, who made a short visit at the end of the week on their way home from Portland. hThey were all entertained in La- ^ Grange with friends on Sunday.To put it in a perfectly telling man- ® ner, I understand the young people got quite a “kick” reading about the festive party that didn't happen at all last t; Hallowe’en night. But then one has to be a futuristic writer to keep up with 11 the modernistic age. Anyway, the weather prohibited the bon-fire party; F so Bob Nicholson kept the wires busy, a calling part of the crowd to celebrate at ii his house, where actually they did have a party; the day slipping by without a disappointment after all.The monthly meeting of the Flossmoor Garden club was held at the home of Mrs. Percy Groves at Olympia Fields, Tuesday night. Mr. J. R. Foote gave-a .talk on Rockeries and Water Gardens, showing photographs of gardens portraying his work, as also the , display of two miniature rockeries.Mrs. A. Hinkley, mother of Mrs. John Gwinn of Flossmoor Park, has been visiting here several weeks.Mrs. Gwinn entertained at an afternoon tea for a group of mothers and daughters in her honor last Tuesday.Mrs. Herbert Smith gave a luncheon last week for the visiting mothers, including Mrs. Gwinn, Mrs. Hinkley, Mrs. Maxwell, Mrs. Pepper, Mrs. Briggs, Mrs. Crudup, Mrs. Hovne and her mother, Mrs. Dunbar.Friends of the Fred Bobos will be interested to know that Mr. Bobo has returned to their apartment in the Windermere East, quite improved in health and going about.Mrs. Marie L. Fitzner of Flossmoor Park, returned home last week from a trip to California, visiting friends in San Francisco, Piedmont and Otkland. Mrs. Fitzner was away six weeks.Flossmoor Church NewsSunday school, 9:45 a. 111.Preaching service, 11:00 a. m.The name of the minister who will preach the November 11 sermon cannot be announced at this time, but he will be well worth your attendance.The young people’s Sunday evening club will meet at the home of Robert Nicholson at 7:30 p. m.very anxious to include the property in the south end of the golf club owned by a man named Peterson, which we could have bought for $125 per acre, but Wells and Nelleger and some of the other associates we had gathered around us who did not know so much about the property thought we were ■ biting off more than we should. Therefore, we closed up. However, a few weeks later we took a crowd out to Flossmoor on a beautiful spring day, and everybody in the party believed we made a great mistake in not getting the piece through which the creek ran. By that time the owner had learned of our purchase, knew we wanted his land and the price nearly doubled, $200 per acre. The man had taken it in at $75 an acre not over four months before as his share of an estate.Mr. Jenkins and I carried on the burden of organization at first until Mr. Robert Wells was elected president of the club. His vigorous administration is well remembered. At the end of Mr. Wells’ term he urged me very strenuously to run as the second president, but believing Mr. John F. Wallace could do more for the club and not wanting the responsibility of the thing, I switched him off and we concentrated our forces on Mr. Wallace.I was the first secretary of the club and served for two or three years,J. F. G.October 25, 1929.
Newspaper Details
The Homewood News
Homewood, Illinois, US
Fri, Nov 08, 1929
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Tom D.
USA 28 Jan 2025
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