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Show -'.-"' - - -- -m k !hfh1 LEVI Z. LEITER SUCCUMBS SUDDENLY TO HEART FAILURE J jH I ' J B r'WHi,,W.WKh'ftWMCitJM' AHI -W Z.ZJ77ZX? Levi Z. Loiter died Juno 9 nt nar Harbor, Mo., whero ho nnd his family were domiciled In tho Vnndcrbllt cot-tago cot-tago for tho summer. Heart falluro was tho causo of his death. His for- Levi 7.. Loitor, capitalist, retired merchant prince, ntul ono of tho build-I build-I ere of Chlcngo, died from heart fall-I fall-I uro. which followed a long drlvo nnd j walk which ho had taken tho day boforo his death. j Whllo tho death of Mr. I.eltcr re-i re-i moves ono of tho mon without notlco of whoso financial operations the his-J his-J tory of Chicago cannot bo written, It Lady Curzon. will not have a markod Influence In tho financial world. Tho management of Mr. Letter's great estato, which Is estimated ns bolng worth from ?20,-000,000 ?20,-000,000 to J30.000.000, had already passed Into tho bands of his son Jo-soph, Jo-soph, who wns tho principal flguro In tho grcnt wheat deal of 1898, which cost tho Letter ostnto In tho neighborhood neighbor-hood of $9,750,000. Levi Zolgler Letter was born In 1834 In tho quaint llttlo Dutch Calvin-lstlo Calvin-lstlo settlement of IOltcrsburg, Washington Wash-ington county, Maryland, which was foundod by nnd named nfter his ancestors, ances-tors, Ho wns educated thero and spent tho early years of his llfo In tho llttlo town, until 1851, when ho wont to Chicago to mnko a nnmo for himself, him-self, and to add by his own offorts to tho monoy ho had Inherited. Ho entoied tho employ of Downs & Van Wyck, whero ho workod until 1850, two years Inter. Then ho saw a bettor bet-tor opportunity for udvancoraont In nccoptlng tho position offered him In tho houso of Cooloy, Wadsworth & Co., whero ho worked sldo by sldo with Marshnll Field, who was to bo-come bo-come his business partner. Ho worked with tho firm until 1SC5, and tho favor with which ho wns looked look-ed upon by his employers Is proved by tho fact that when ho left thorn ho controlled nn Interest In tho business of tho firm. Mnrshall Field also had nn Interest In tho firm and decided to join young IvCltcr In a now venture. Thoy sold out to J. V. Fnrwell and purchased pur-chased a controlling Interest In tho business of Potter Palmer, who wns engaged In tho dry goods business at the time. The firm becamo known ns Field, Loiter & Co., romnlnlr-g so until 1881, when Mr. Loitor retired from It. Whllo engaged In tho dry goods tuno wns variously estimated at from HHJ $15,000,000 to $30,000,000. nnd ho was HHJ connoctcd with many vast financial HHJ enterprises. Tho body was taken to HHJ Washington for Interment. HHJ business with Mr. Field, Mr. Loiter In- HHI vested heavily In real ostato. As tho HHJ city grew tho valuo of IiIb holdings In- HHJ creased until by tho tlmo that ho ro- HHJ tired from tbo firm of Field, Lcllcr & HHJ Co., ho was worth millions of dollars HHJ Independent of his Interest In that HHJ HHJ But Mr. Letter's millions were not fl accumulated In the renl ostato busl- IH ncss simply by sitting down and wait- HHJ Ing for tho down town district to grow HHJ until It embraced within its boundar- HHJ los tho proporty that he had purchas- HHJ cd. Tho great tiro of 1S71. which HHJ ruined so many a Chlcngoan, practl- fl cnlly dostroyed Mr Loltcr's property. HHJ All tho buildings ho owned In tho HHJ down town district were lovclod to HHJ tho ground by tho llamos. His firm's HHJ buslnos houso wns also destroyed, HH Ho had to begin all ovor again, nnd it HHJ was only by untiring efforts that tho HHJ grcnt fortuno ho had mimesed to havo HHJ wiped out wns again accumulated HHJ Tho Letter family has enjoyed a HHJ moro prominent position in interna- HHJ tlonal society than any but a fow of HHJ tho other American multl-inllllonalrcs. jHHJ Tho marrlngo of Mary Loiter to Lord HHJ Curzon, who at tho tlmo of tho mar- HHJ riago waa a slmplo gentleman, Is tho HHJ principal cause for tho social proml- HHJ nonce of tho Loiter family. Lord Cur- HHJ zon, who nt tho tlmo of his marriage HHJ was a simple "Honorable" won his HHJ own way and his own title. Ho was a HHJ prominent lender of tho Conservative HH party In parliament at tho tlmo of hli HHJ marriage, and after ho had been ro HVJ turned, largely by tho efforts of hli HHJ wife, who campaigned for him, to par HHJ llamcnt, ho wns admitted to tho Mln- J Is try. Tho tltlo and tho viccroyaltj HH of India camo soon nfter, and Lad; HH Curzon becamo vlcorelno and practl- HHJ cnlly queen of India. Her family nat J urally shared In tho prominence which HHJ sho had achlovcd, and In Europo thoy HHJ OS&W LFTFJ? wero given a standing which row HJ Americans havo managed to attain. HHJ Tho Loiter homo at Washington Is, HH ono of thu finest In tho capital city. HHJ Hero many festivities aro held, and tho Letter girls nro prominent In dip- lomatio and ofllclal society. Tho $C0,- HJ 000 ballroom of tho Letter homo in HHJ Washington Is ono of tho most mag- HHJ nlflcent of Its kind In tho country HH |
