Robert Lucket Burchell

Robert Lucket Burchell is featured in a lengthy biography in The History of Whiteside County (circa late 1800's). That volume says that Robert Lucket "... in 1868 came to Erie, where he opened a dry goods store, investing a capital of about thirty-six hundred dollars... now owns three large stores and carries a stock valued at more than ten times the amount originally invested.... until the 1st of October, 1903, when he ... organized the First National Bank of Erie ... capitalized for forty thousand dollars and now has surplus and undivided profits of twenty thousand dollars." Granddaughter Margaret B. Palmquist said her grandfather had a large produce business and distributed to Chicago. He had a home in the historic Kenwood District of Chicago at 4350 Oakenwald, just north of Hyde Park – at that time, a highly prestigious address. (See recollections of Robert Shoecraft below). At the time, says a local historian, this neighborhood was “the” place to live in Chicago, before Lake Shore Drive and possibly before the railroad. (As of spring 1999, these houses on Oakenwald are being restored. The houses back up to a railroad track, then Lake Shore Drive, and Lake Michigan. He relocated his family to Erie, Illinois, and completed building his home around 1885. President of First National Bank of Erie, which he organized on October 1, 1903.

History of Whiteside County (circa late 1800's) devotes pages to the biography of Robert Lucket Burchell of Erie, Illinois, grandfather of Margaret Burchell Palmquist: Among the energetic, far-seeing and successful business men of Whiteside county is numbered Robert L. whose business interests have largely been of a nature that have promoted the general development of his town while advancing individual success. He is today president of the First National Bank of Erie, and proprietor of the largest mercantile establishment of the town. He has been closely associated with its commercial and financial interests since 1868, and bears an unassailable reputation by reason of the straightforward, honorable business principles that he has ever followed. Mr. Burchell was born in Columbus City, Iowa, May 31, 1846 (WRONG -- WAS 1847) .... [This portion of quotation appears in the file on Robert C. Burchell. See that file for history of Robert Lucket Burchell's father and siblings.] Robert L. Burchell...in 1868 came to Erie, where he opened a dry goods store, investing a capital of about thirty-six hundred dollars. As the years have passed his business has constantly increased until he now owns three large stores and carries a stock valued at more than ten times the amount originally invested.... Soon after his arrival in Erie he opened a private bank, which he conducted until the 1st of October, 1903, when he discontinued the private banking business and organized the First National Bank of Erie, of which he became president, while his son, Robert C. became cashier. The bank is capitalized for forty thousand dollars and now has surplus and undivided profits of twenty thousand dollars. He owns valuable real estate...., a valuable farm property in Erie and Fenton townships and has a number of buildings in the village. He also established a creamery in Erie... and in 1870 he was appointed postmaster of Erie.... Mr. Burchell was married on the 18th of November, 1866, in Chicago, to Miss Margaret Victoria Jones, a daughter of Augustus and Mary Jones and a native of the State of New York, born November 18, 1847 (wrong – born in 1849). Their children are: Robert C., who is cashier of the bank; Mrs. Mary Shoecraft, a resident of Clinton, Iowa; George, who has charge of his father's store; and Ruth and Margaret, in school. The eldest son, Robert C., born June 16, 1870, in Erie... spent two years as a student at Lake Forest, Illinois... was married in 1896 to Miss Vinnie G. Gilleland, a native of Evansville, Indiana. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Burchell has [sic] been born three CHILDREN: Robert Lawrence, Richard Gilleland and Leland C.

Robert Lucket Burchell was a friend of Marshall Field. (Marshall Field was born on August 18, 1834, in Massachusetts, parents John and Fidelia Field He moved to Chicago in 1856 and started the Marshall Field Company in the early 1850’s. The Field mansion was located on Prairie Avenue, built in 1908.) According to Robert Shoecraft, son of Mary (Mamie) Burchell Shoecraft, Marshall Field "offered to loan Robert L. Burchell the money to build a store in downtown Chicago, but he decided against this venture. He wanted to be with his family more than his business allowed him...." During the Depression, the Burchell bank, with capital, surplus, and undivided profits amounting to $80,000, closed. Further substantiation exists in the recollection of Cliff Reisenbigler, author of Remembering Erie, who told Peg Ransom in April 1996 that his father told him R.L. and Marshall Field were "close."

In 1975, Robert Shoecraft, Margaret Burchell Palmquist's cousin, wrote the following recollections of their grandfather, Robert Lucket Burchell: Robert L. Burchell was born in Columbus City Iowa in 1846 (WRONG -- WAS 1847). He was educated in Oregon Ill., and nearby Mt. Morris [Robert Lucket Margaret Burchell Palmquist's brother] confirmed that his grandfather attended Mount Morris College], after his parents left Iowa to settle down in Oregon. After finishing his schooling, he became a store clerk in Oregon, then clerked in Franklin Grove and in Dixon, Illinois. He was united in marriage to Margaret Victoria Jones in Chicago, November 18th, 1866 at the age of 20. She was the daughter of Augustus and Mary Jones and was born on November 18th, 1847 (wrong – was 1849), in New York State. In 1868, Robert L. with his wife as a helper, opened a small dry goods store in Erie Illinois, with a small cash capital. The business prospered and 15 years later, it consisted of 3 stores, connected, the dry goods department, a grocery department and a men's clothing department. Burchell's Store lasted for nearly 60 years! Robert Lucket & Margaret Victoria Burchell had 8 children, Edith, Robert C., Mary Jane, George, Ruth, Morris, Marguerite and Kenneth. Edith, Morris and Kenneth died before maturity,. In 1870 Robert L. Burchell became postmaster a job he held for many years. He was also Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for years. He opened a Creamery about 1875 and by 1884 was manufacturing about 100,000 lbs of butter a year. In 1883, he was Village Treasurer, also School Treasurer. He operated a private bank, called the Burchell bank, which became the First National Bank of Erie in 1903. He was a charter member of the Erie Masonic Lodge 667. The Burchell Produce business prospered so much that chickens, ducks and geese by the thousands were shipped to Chicago for distribution. A home in Chicago was established on Oakenwall Avenue [Based on a copy of a birth announcement in Peg Palmquist Ransom's possession, this was 4350 Oakenwald Avenue in Chicago, where Margarite Burchell was born on March 2, 1891], as part time residence. Marshall Field, pioneer Chicago merchant, offered to loan Robert L. Burchell the money to build a store in downtown Chicago, but he decided against this venture. He wanted to be with his family more than his business allowed him and he took his wife and children to California, to Florida, and other wonderful vacations for those days. All of his investments prospered. He bought 2 farms, took special pride in the first one bought, which had 400 acres of black soil, which he owned for many years. He was a strong Republican, was a delegate to the Roosevelt Progressive Convention, when T.R. bolted the Republican party. He never ran for office though was asked to, many times. The Burchell store had the first telephone in Erie and it was quite an attraction and oddity. The Burchell homestead had indoor plumbing far before most other homes in Erie. It had its own water system, its own sewer system, with huge septic tank. The first gas lights and gas stove was installed in the Burchell homestead with a gas manufacturing plant in the basement! The residence was almost like a small farm with its huge garden, chicken yard, barn, cows, and ice house. During the winter months, ice was cut from Rock River and stored in this big ice house for use in Burchell's grocery store and in the homestead. The family always had fresh eggs, fresh milk and cream and a big ice box, full of ice and excellent food. The Burchell grocery had fine foods, fresh meats, oysters in season, top brands of canned goods. Margaret Victoria Burchell originated the Erie Women's Club which did a lot of things to make Erie a better place in which to live. She dominated the Club for years and it raised a lot of money for such things as beautification for the Erie Cemetery, creation of a Park or two etc. One of the interesting side lights of Robert L. Burchell's ventures was Burchell's Hall, above the big store building he built. This became a theater and dance hall and some well known actors and actresses performed in his theater and people came from miles around for the shows held there. The dances attracted big crowds too, with the best orchestras hired. Robert L. Burchell had thousands of friends, some costing him a lot of money because of his easy credit program, in his store. He was a genial, happy man, with a great personality, considerable knowledge in many fields. He never smoked, seldom had even one highball. He loved good food, liked blue serge suits, but hated to buy clothes for himself. He loved to spend money on his family, on his home, liked to travel, enjoyed good cars, but kept each one a long time. Through the years he employed hundreds of people, who found him an easy boss, seldom cross. Some worked for him for years and years. He taught his employees a lot and some who left him became quite successful.

FEBRUARY 1998 Margaret Palmquist recalled that her grandfather and grandmother, R.L. and Margaret Victoria were in Chicago attending the theatre at the time of the Chicago fire on October 9, 1871. They had been married in 1866 and moved to Erie, Illinois, in 1868, but still had business ties in Chicago.

OCTOBER 2001 Dr. Robert Clay Burchell recalled that Robert Lucket Burchell’s chauffeur was Bert Brooks.

OBITUARY: The Dixon (Illinois) Evening Telegraph of April 11, 1934, carries a front page article on R.L.’s death from pneumonia after a 10 day illness, with a funeral on April 12 at 2:30 pm. Born May 31, 1847, it says, in Columbus City, Iowa, one of six children, all who preceded him in death. His father “Robert C. Burchell was a native of Virginia and a member of the legal profession. His mother was a native of Indiana. The family went from the east to Columbus City in the year 1850 and five years later moved to Oregon, where the father had a large legal practice.... Married Margaret Victoria Jones in Chicago on November 18, 1866, and two years later opened a general store in Erie.

QUESTIONS: Who was Judge Lucket?