FRANK G. KAMMERER, commission merchant, and prominent and influential as a member of the Board of Trade, Chicago, Ill., is a native of Washington county, Penn., born February 24, 1845, on the old homestead farm of his father in Nottingham township. John Kammerer, father of the subject of this memoir, was born in 1790, in Germany, where he was educated and became prominent in business circles as a lumber merchant in the city of Frankfort-on-the-Main. He was twice married in his native land; first in 1820, to Margaret Dunker, by whom he had five children, and she dying in 1830, he married for his second wife Elizabeth Bender. In 1831 he and his family came to America, settling in Washington county, Penn., and embarking in mercantile and other businesses on a tract of land he afterward (in 1839) purchased, in Nottingham township. Here were born to him children as follows: Jonathan, Joseph, Elizabeth, Jacob, William S. and Frank G. Of these Jacob died in 1839, and Jonathan in 1890. Frank G. and William S. are in business in Chicago. The father died July 24, 1856, the mother May 18, 1859. Frank G. Kammerer was educated in the common schools of his native county, and received a thorough business training at the Iron City Commercial College, Pittsburgh. He then engaged in business with his brother in the village of Kammerer, Washington county, remaining there until 1875, when he traveled for a year, after which he embarked in the insurance business at Washington, Penn., with Major A. G. Happer, under the firm name of Happer and Kammerer. This continued until the latter part of September, 1879, when he retired from the firm and moved to Chicago. In the meantime (in 1877) Mr. Kammerer assumed control, as vice-president and general manager, under Dr. Geo. P. Hayes, of what became the Pittsburgh Southern Railroad (now the B. & O. Short Line), running from Washington to Pittsburgh, and built the road from Finleyville to Washington. With this road he was connected two years, or until its completion, at which time he retired from the management. In 1880 Mr. Kammerer became a member of the Board of Trade of Chicago, and established the present flourishing firm of F. G. Kammerer & Co., office No. 35 Board of Trade Building, he being sole member of the firm. From the account of the Chicago Board of Trade given in Andreas' history ["1885-p. 315"] we quote the following: "Frank G. Kammerer is one of the very few business men of Chicago, who, in a comparatively short period of time, have been able to firmly establish themselves among the ablest and most untiring competitors of the most enterprising city in the world. Coming here only six years ago from Washington county, Penn., where he passed his earlier years in the successful prosecution of various mercantile and manufacturing enterprises, Mr. Kammerer at once engaged in the grain and provision trade, and by his energy and business foresight he has made the house of F. G. Kammerer & Co. a synonym for fair dealing and stability. He has been a prominent member of the Board of Trade since coming to Chicago in 1878, and in January, 1884, was honored by being elected a member of the committee of arbitration." On page 320, same history, we notice that Mr. Kammerer was a member of the committee on arbitration 1884-85-86, with William Gardner, J. C. Merrill, G. W. Phillips and F. G. Logan. In 1886 Mr. Kammerer was elected a director of the Board of Trade, serving the full term, retiring in 1889. In addition to his Board of Trade business interests, Mr. Kammerer has made several successful real estate investments, and is the owner of a considerable amount of property. He was one of the leading promoters of the artificial ice industry in Chicago, and was one of the first stockholders of the present company the Consumers Pure Ice Company of which he was elected president, and at present is a director and member of the executive committee. This is the largest original enterprise of the kind in Chicago, and one of the largest in the world. He is also largely interested in the manufacture and introduction of the "Hinson Car Coupler," one of the leading couplers of the Master Car Builders' type which has recently been legalized and endorsed by Congress, and he is president of the company that has control of the patent. On December 9, 1886, Frank G. Kammerer was united in marriage with Miss Dorrie List Hildreth, daughter of E. A. Hildreth, M. D., and Susan L. McMehen, of Wheeling, W. Va., and two children have come to brighten their home: Eugene, born January 23, 1888, and Frances, born October 21, 1889. Mr. Kammerer owns an elegant residence on Woodlawn avenue, one of the most beautiful and fashionable streets in the "Garden City," South Side.

Text taken from page 1000 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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