Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Gorman, James O ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com December 3, 2007, 5:14 am Author: Past & Present, 1907 The late James O. Gorman, of Joliet, who passed away March 5, 1905, deserves mention among the most prominent of the city's merchants and representative residents, for during his life time he made for himself a place among the men of business enterprise in the great west. His force of character, sterling integrity and control of circumstances gained him marked success and at all times his life was manly, his actions sincere, his manner unaffected and his example well worthy of emulation. Mr. Gorman was born in Wexford, Ireland, September 21, 1848, and coming to America with his parents when a year old, was partially reared in the state of New York. His father, James Gorman, Sr., on crossing the Atlantic, settled in the Empire state, where he engaged in business as a stationary engineer. In 1852 he brought his family to Joliet. His wife bore the maiden name of Ann Furlong and was also a native of Wexford, Ireland. In their family were seven children. Of this number James O. Gorman was a youth of four years when the family came to Illinois and in the Eastern avenue school in Joliet he acquired his education. From early life he manifested industry and laudable ambition and made the best use of his opportunities. In 1867 he bought a newspaper stand, which he conducted for a number of years, when the business was destroyed by fire. In the meantime he dealt not only in the papers and periodicals of the day but had also extended the field of his operations until he became a wholesale and retail dealer in fruit. He was one of the oldest merchants and one of the oldest and best buyers on South Water street. The business was established more than thirty- eight years ago and was successfully continued with comparatively few losses until 1876, when the fire occurred. He then received permission from the city aldermen and fire commissioners to occupy a small frame shack while erecting what became known as the Centennial block the same year. Immediately after the destruction of his store by the flames he resumed business, continuing his operations with little interruption. Thus he retrieved his lost possessions and in the course of years developed a trade which constantly grew in volume and importance until it was represented by a large figure. In 1887 he erected the Gorman building; in 1893 built a fine stone residence; and built a brick block of two stores on South Chicago street in 1903. Mr. Gorman was married in Joliet to Miss Nora Misener, who was born in this city and died about a year and a half after her marriage. On the 21st of October, 1884, he was again married at Fort Wayne, Indiana, his second union being with Miss Nettie Kimball, who was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, and came west with her parents, Samuel W. and Eliza (Drew) Kimball. The father, a native of Wells, Maine, removed westward to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the '50s. He was a house builder by trade and afterward engaged in teaching music, possessing superior ability as an exponent of that art. He died December 18, 1888, and his wife passed away in 1900. She was born in Dover, New Hampshire, but they were married in Wells, Maine, removing to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in November of the same year. Mr. Gorman continued actively in business up to the time of his death. He was the oldest out-of-town buyer known on South Water street, Chicago, and the news of his death was received with genuine regret by many of the commission merchants in that busy mart who had grown to respect and honor him. He was a splendid type of a fine business man, making his own way upward from a humble position as newsboy to that of one of Joliet's most prominent and enterprising merchants. At his death Mrs. Gorman organized a stock company for the continuance of the business. She is president of the company, with I. X. Kachelhoffer as buyer and Charles Cassidy as secretary and manager. The house handles fruit, vegetables, oysters and fish, carrying both imported and domestic wares, and the trade is largely wholesale. In addition to this business Mr. Gorman was interested in mines in Colorado. In manner he was pleasant and genial and very approachable, not hedging himself about with a reserve such as many men do who have become wealthy. When we stop to consider that he started out in life a poor boy with no capital whatever, his success seems most marvelous, yet it was the outcome of his own efforts. The spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth in the individual. Steadily pursuing his way, undeterred by the obstacles and difficulties in his path, he achieved a prosperity of which even he did not dream at the outset of his career. Steady application, careful study of business methods and plans to be followed, close attention to details, combined with untiring energy directed by a superior mind —these were the traits of character which brought him success and made him one of the foremost merchants of Joliet. Additional Comments: Past and Present of Will County, Illinois, by W. W. Stevens, President of the Will County Pioneers Association. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/gorman1900nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.7 Kb