McCormick family

Robert Hall McCormick (1780–1846)

Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809-1884)

Harold Fowler McCormick (1872-1941)

William Sanderson McCormick (1815-1865)

Leander James McCormick (1819-1900)

William Grigsby McCormick (1851-1941)

Leander Hamilton McCormick (1859–1934)

Alister Hamilton McCormick (1891-1921)

The McCormick family, of Chicago and Virginia is a famous American industrial, media, real estate, and political family of Scottish descent that attained prominence and fortune starting with the invention of the McCormick Reaper, the machine that revolutionized agriculture and became one of the most recognized brands in the world (McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and later, International Harvester). The family also went into real estate and media and publishing (Tribune Company) and were well known as society leaders in Chicago. During much of the 19th and 20th centuries, they were a powerful and controversial group, and perhaps one of the largest philanthropic entities of their time. They are descended from the grandfather of modern agriculture, inventor Robert McCormick (1780–1846) and Mary Ann Hall of Steele's Tavern, Virginia.

Members of the McCormick family [edit]

Cyrus Hall McCormick I (1809–1884) m. Nettie Fowler McCormick. Cyrus, entrepreneur, publisher, father of modern agriculture, and founder of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (International Harvester). At a young age he, along with his brothers, improved and later patented his father's mechanical reaper. He and his brother and sisters moved to Chicago in 1847. He was a candidate for U.S. Representative from Illinois 1862. A devout presbyterian, he was the primary benefactor of the McCormick Theological Seminary.^[1] Eldest brother of William and Leander.

Cyrus Hall McCormick II (1859–1936) Head of International Harvester. A music lover, he brought Prokofiev to the Unites States. In 1923, he and his mother donated McCormick Hall to Princeton University. Among many accomplishments, he was a member of the Jekyll Island Club, a founder of the Chicago Community Trust, and a financier of the Colombian World's Fair. He lived in the area then known as "McCormickville" (now the Near North Side & North Michigan Avenue area) at 50 East Huron and later moved to the Patterson-McCormick mansion in the Gold Coast. He also maintained a large estate, Walden, in Lake Forest and a camp in Michigan. He had three children, Elizabeth, who died in infancy, Cyrus III, and Gordon. None of his children had issue.

Anita McCormick Blaine (d. 1954) Founded the New World Foundation and also the Francis W. Parker School and the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago. Despite coming from a conservative Republican family, she embraced progressive movements, such as the United Nations and the suffragist movement. She was the grandmother of Nancy Blaine Harrison, wife of Gilbert A. Harrison, owners of The New Republic magazine.

Harold Fowler McCormick (1872-1941) (m.1895) Edith Rockefeller McCormick. Harold was a pioneer in aviation, running a number of successful flights and donated the Harold F. McCormick Collection of Aeronautica at Princeton. He was immortalized as an inspiration for Charles Foster Kane in the movie, Citizen Kane.

- - John Rockefeller McCormick (1897–1901)
  - Editha McCormick (1903–1904)
  - Harold Fowler McCormick, Jr. (1898–1973) (m.1931) Anne "Fifi" Potter Stillman (1879–1969)
  - Muriel McCormick (1902–1959) (m.1931) Elisha Dyer Hubbard (1906–)
  - Mathilde McCormick (1905–1947) (m.1923) Max Oser (1877–1942)
    - Anita Oser Pauling (d. 2009 in Paris, France) Peter Max Oser (d. 1970 in Geneva, Switzerland)

Stanley McCormick and Katherine Dexter McCormick (1875-1967) (m. 1904) Katherine, one of the earliest female graduates of MIT, she was a suffragist, worked with Margaret Sanger and funded the invention of birth control using interest earned from International Harvester dividends. Stanley, a champion tennis player at Princeton, met Katherine while motoring through Pride's Crossing, Ma. He later became a recluse and lived at Riven Rock, one of the great estates near Santa Barbera.

William Sanderson McCormick (1815–1865) Inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. Brother of Cyrus and Leander.

Robert Sanderson McCormick (1849–1919), U.S. Minister to Austria-Hungary 1901-1902, U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary 1902, U.S. Ambassador to Russia 1902-1905, U.S. Ambassador to France 1905-1907. He built the McCormick Villa in Washington DC, now the Brazilian Embassy. Robert Sanderson McCormick was also son-in-law of Chicago, Illinois Mayor Joseph Medill.^[2] Ruth Hanna McCormick was also daughter of U.S. Senator Marcus A. Hanna^[3] and later wife of U.S. Representative Albert G. Simms^[4] after Joseph M. McCormick's death. Joseph Medill Patterson (1879–1946), Illinois State Representative 1903 was first cousin of Joseph McCormick and Robert R. McCormick through the Medill family.^[5]

- - Joseph M. McCormick (1877–1925) married Ruth Hanna McCormick, He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention 1916 1920, member of the Illinois Legislature, U.S. Representative from Illinois 1917-1919, U.S. Senator from Illinois 1919-1925. .^[6] Ruth was a Republican National Committeewoman 1924-1928, U.S. Representative from Illinois 1929-1931, candidate for U.S. Senate from Illinois 1930. Wife of Joseph McCormick.^[7] She maintained a large farm in Byron, IL.
    - Katrine McCormick Barnes
    - Elizabeth McCormick Miller Tankersley
  - Robert R. McCormick (1880–1955), "The Colonel" famous publisher of the Chicago Tribune and patriarch of Chicago. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention 1912 1940 1948 1952. McCormick Place is named for him as is the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University.^[8] His estate, Cantigny in Wheaton, IL, is now a museum.

- William Grigsby McCormick (b. 1851) Chicago businessman. Founded Kappa Sigma Fraternity at the University of Virginia.
  - Chauncey McCormick (1884–1954), president of International Harvester. Married Marion Deering McCormick, heiress of the Deering Machine Company fortune that had merged with McCormick to form International Harvester. With his wife and her sister, owned Villa Vizcaya in Miami. Also maintained St. James Farm near Wheaton, Eastpoint in Seal Harbor, Maine, and along with Col. McCormick, the Grigsby estate in VA for fox hunting.
    - Brooks McCormick (d. 2007). Last McCormick to have senior role at International Harvester.
    - Roger McCormick
    - Charles Deering McCormick

Anna Reubina McCormick Blair (b.1860) Edward T. Blair

- - William McCormick Blair Married daughter of philanthropist, Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen Lousie DeKoven Bowen.
    - Edward McCormick Blair
    - Bowen Blair
    - William McCormick Blair, Jr. (1916-), founder of William Blair & Co., investment bankers. U.S. Ambassador to Denmark 1961-1964, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines 1964-1967.

Leander J. McCormick (1819–1900), inventor and founder of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, he owned vast tracts of land in downtown Chicago and Lake Forest, IL. In the 1880s, he donated the McCormick Observatory to the University of Virginia in an effort to help the South recover from the war. At the time it was the second largest telescope in the world and the largest in America. He built the Virginia Hotel on Ontario Street, Chicago. He was the youngest brother of Cyrus and William.

- R. Hall McCormick (1847-1917) m. Sarah Lord Day, head of the McCormick Estate, he built the McCormick Building and Roanoke building in downtown Chicago, among others. His chief interests were horses, yachting, and art. He owned one of the finest collections of British master paintings in the United States. He exhibited some of his paintings at the Columbian World's Fair of 1893 and was a trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago. Other than his home in McCormickville at 660 Rush Street in Chicago, he maintained residence in Lake Forest, IL, and Mizzentop, at Bar Harbor, Maine. He owned two steam yachts, the Rapidan, which was wrecked in Delaware, and the Satilla was named after a river near the Jekyll Island Club and which became a naval ship during World War II. Sarah was daughter and granddaughter of founders of law firm Lord Day & Lord.
  - Elizabeth Day McCormick (d. 1957) Owned one of the finest and most complete textile and costume collections, now the Elizabeth Day McCormick Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. To the University of Chicago she donated two very important early Greek texts, the Rockefeller-McCormick Manuscript in memory of her cousin and fellow collector, Edith Rockefeller McCormick, and later the Elizabeth Day McCormick Apocalypse.
  - Robert Hall McCormick III Head of the McCormick Estate, Chicago Alderman for 21st Ward, and worked at the Brazilian Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. Welcomed Marconi to the US in 1914. Maintained Roman style sailing ship, the San Marco in Venice, Italy, which was sunk by Nazi's during WWII. Grew up at 660 Rush Street (formerly Chez Paul restaurant) in McCormickville, and later at 25 East Erie Street, now headquarters for Driehaus Capital Management. Married Eleanor R. Morris, of the Morrises of Morrisania, ancient political dynasty of New York.

- Henrietta Laura McCormick-Goodhart (1857-1932), one of the first American heiresses to marry an English aristocrat, she lived in England and later, at her estate, Langley Park in Maryland. By order of Queen Victoria, her last name was officially changed to encompass her husband's name, Goodhart. She had two sons, Frederick and Leander. Leander was a main figure at the British Embassy in Washington D.C.

- L. Hamilton McCormick (1859–1934), art collector and inventor, he is credited with the creation of the study of Characterology. His Roman style house in McCormickville is now Lowry's Prime Rib of Chicago. He had three sons, Edward Hamilton, Leander James, and Alister Hamilton McCormick (1891-1921).