Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Ingalls, L E 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

L. E. INGALLS. The history of mankind is replete with illustrations of the 
fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of 
opposition that the best and strongest in man are brought out and developed. 
The truth of this assertion finds another verification in the life record of 
L. E. Ingalls. Varied and extensive have been his business interests, and his 
ready recognition of opportunity has been the open sesame to success. An 
analyzation of his life record shows that one of his strongest characteristics 
has been the perseverance that has enabled him to carry forward to a high 
state of perfection whatever he has undertaken. Joliet has profited largely by 
his business operations and many substantial enterprises of the city have felt 
the stimulus of his sound, directing judgment and keen discrimination. He is 
still financially interested in different concerns of Joliet, and at the same 
time is operating largely in real estate in Chicago, seeking the broader field 
of labor offered by the city marvelous. A native of Illinois, from the outset 
of his business career Mr. Ingalls seems to have been prompted hy the spirit 
of enterprise and progress which has been the dominant factor in the 
upbuilding and development of the middle west. He was born in Dupage township, 
Will county, October 26, 1839. His father, Henry Ingalls, a native of Vermont, 
was born in 1800. Following his removal to the middle west, he followed the 
occupation of farming in Dupage county, and died in the year of 1875. The 
mother bore the maiden name of Lois Royce and was a sister of Jonathon Royce 
and Ahner Royce of Dupage township, now deceased. She was born in the state of 
New York in 1800 and passed away in 1856. Their family numbered twelve 
children: Samuel, Mary, Henry, Jonathon, Phoebe, Hannah, George and Andrew, 
deceased; Abner E. Ingalls, of Joliet; Frank I. Ingalls, of Seneca, Kansas, 
and Lois Sargent, of Naperville, Illinois, still living. The educational 
advantages of L. E. Ingalls were limited to about eight months attendance in 
the Naperville school, but reading and observation have largely broadened his 
knowledge, and in the school of experience he has learned the many valuable 
lessons that have made him a well informed, practical and successful man. He 
started upon his business career when sixteen years of age, having no capital 
save strong determination and earnest purpose. He worked first for his board 
and afterward was employed at farm labor at ten dollars per month, and later 
received sixteen dollars per month, and subsequently twenty-five dollars per 
month. He did not continue long as a farm hand, however, being ambitious for a 
broader business outlook. He eagerly watched for opportunities and improved 
them when they came. He purchased the right of way for the Chicago, St. Louis 
& Western Railroad Company and also had charge of the grading of the road 
south of Joliet and at different places along the line. Gradually he worked 
into the field of real-estate operations and has handled more property than 
any other man in Joliet. In the year of 1869 he purchased his home place 
adjoining the corporation limits of the city and he now owns three hundred and 
forty acres, constituting a valuable farm, which borders the gravel road. It 
is beautifully located near the Higinbotham place, and in fact Mr. Ingalls 
sold some land to Mr. Higinbotham. Nature has furnished much original beauty 
which has been enhanced by the arts of the landscape gardener. There is a fine 
park and race track on the place known as the Ingalls park, and here fairs and 
races are held. There is a street car line running through the farm and in the 
development of the property Mr. Ingalls has made a model country place, where 
he finds rest and recreation from the rush and turmoil of business life in the 
city. A large dairy business is conducted on the farm and the equipments are 
of most perfect character. Connected with various business enterprises the 
labors of Mr. Ingalls have directly benefited Joliet in many ways. He was for 
fifteen years engaged in the conduct of the electric light plant of Joliet, 
first, the Joliet Lighting Company and afterward two other companies, and 
finally with others purchased dam No. 1 and then formed the Economy Light & 
Power Company. He was also engaged in the lumber trade and he sold lumber and 
material to the steel mills in 1871 and in 1872 sold the lumber business to 
Mason & Plant. He originated the plan for the purpose of the purchase of the 
water plant of Joliet and thus his labors have been directly beneficial to the 
city in many ways. For a time he was connected with the Chicago & South 
Western Railway Company, which he sold to the Santa Fe Railroad, after which 
he continued with the latter company for two years. In 1887 he transferred his 
business interests largely to Chicago and now has a suite of rooms at No. 184 
La Salle street, where he is president of the Richmond-Smith Company, milk 
agency, representing nearly three thousand farmers who ship their milk to 
Chicago. He also owns the Del Prado Hotel, at Fifty-ninth, Madison and 
Washington avenues. He also owns the large Chicago fireproof storage warehouse 
at Twenty-first and Wabash avenue, and likewise owns a large building at the 
corner of Illinois and Dearborn streets and another commodious compartment 
building on Fifty-ninth and Michigan avenue. His real estate holdings in the 
city are very valuable, and few men are better informed concerning the 
valuation of realty in the metropolis. He has held offices in the real estate 
board of Chicago and his opinions regarding property are largely received as 
authority in real-estate circles. Mr. Ingalls has been married twice. He 
married Amelia Emmers, and his present wife bore the maiden name of Esther E. 
Bartholomew. She was born in Illinois, a daughter of Russ Bartholomew, a 
farmer of McHenry county, Illinois. Mr. Ingalls has lost three children, 
Millie, Roy and Charles, his surviving daughter being Myra, the wife of George 
M. Peale, a resident of Joliet. Mr. Ingalls is a member of the Masonic lodge, 
chapter and commandery at Joliet, and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at 
Chicago. He also belongs to the Union Club and Commercial Club of Joliet and 
to the Union League and Hamilton Clubs of Chicago. There is naught of the 
theorist about Mr. Ingalls. On the contrary he is a man of action, and while 
others might argue and debate he has gone to work and demonstrated. It is his 
ready execution that has been one of the strong elements in his success, 
advancing him from an humble financial position to one of business progress 
and affluence. He stands as a representative of the best type of American 
citizenship, belonging to that class of men who, while winning success, do not 
strew their pathways with the wreck of other men's fortunes. On the contrary, 
in his beautiful country home Mr. Ingalls has given evidence of his 
appreciation of nature in all of her loveliness and in his business relations 
has many times manifested a spirit of public progress that has prompted him to 
put forth generous and effective aid in support of many measures that have 
been of direct benefit to the city. 

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

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