NICHOLAS G. IGLEHART

NICHOLAS GANO IGLEHART. A leading citizen of Evanston and prominent business man of Chicago, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 28, 1841. Extended notice of his parents, Nicholas P. and Frances M. Iglehart, will be found upon other pages of this volume.

The subject of this biography was about ten years old when the family located in Cook County. His primary education was secured in a private school at Niles, Michigan, under the tutelage of Rev. Henry Adams. He subsequently pursued a classical course at the Wisconsin State University at Madison, and was a member of the Class of 1860. Before completing the last year of the course, he abandoned his studies and went into business with his father in Chicago. In 1879 he entered the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, in the general freight department, where he continued for eight years, becoming an efficient and trusted attach� of that department. In 1887 he was elected Commissioner of the Chicago Freight Bureau, an organization of merchants, manufacturers and members of the Board of Trade, formed for the purpose of securing just transportation rates for the shippers of the city. His intimate knowledge of transportation problems makes his service of great value in this connection, and the duties of this position, which he still holds, have brought him in contact with transportation officials throughout the world. In 1894 he succeeded in securing an entirely new classification of freight for the state of Illinois, and is now taking an active part in a movement looking toward uniform classification throughout the United States.

Although his commercial duties demand a great deal of time and attention, he finds opportunity for social and fraternal societies of Evanston and Chicago. He introduced the Phi Delta Theta, the first Greek-letter society organized among the students of the Northwestern University at Evanston. He is a charter member of the Evanston Club, and is now serving as one of its Directors, and for seven years past has been a Director and Treasurer of The Country Club. He is also a member of the Evanston Boat Club, the Royal Arcanum, the National Union, and the Royal League. He is a Past Noble Grand of Union Lodge Number 9, and Past Chief Patriarch of Chicago Encampment Number 10, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a Thirty-second Degree Mason, being a life member of Oriental Consistory, a charter member and the first Recorder of Evanston Commandery, and a Noble of Medina Temple of the Mystic Shrine.

On the 7th of June, 1865, occurred the marriage of N. G. Iglehart and Miss Ella Gano. The latter is a daughter of Col. Charles L. and Jane (Harkness) Gano, of Cincinnati. Her father, who is a descendant of the same family as her husband's mother, was born in Kentucky, and earned his title as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixth-ninth Ohio Infantry in the Union army during the Civil War. Mrs. Iglehart's maternal grandfather, Anthony Harkness, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, of Scotch parents.

He was a Quaker in faith, and adhered to the forms and customs of that sect throughout his life. He settled at Cincinnati in 1815, and built the first cotton factory, and also the first iron foundry in that city. His wife, Mary Hogelan, who was also of Scotch lineage, was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Among other memorials of the family preserved by Mr. and Mrs. Iglehart are a number of newspapers published in the early part of the nineteenth century at Richmond, Philadelphia and other cities, in which the name of Maj-Gen. John S. Gano frequently appears. These papers were captured in Kentucky by a friend of Mr. Iglehart during the Civil War.

Mr. Iglehart is a member of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Mrs. Iglehart is connected with Evanston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. They are cultured and refined people, and occupy enviable positions in the social circles of that classical city.

– Submitted by Sherri Hessick on November 22, 2008.

DISCLAIMER:  The submitter is not related to the subject of this biography nor is she related to anyone mentioned in the biography.