Garrett, Augustus, 1801-1848

Augustus Garrett, born in New York City in 1801, became involved in various business enterprises as a young man. After a series of financial failures, he settled in Chicago in 1834, where he began investing in commercial real estate; served as an agent for the National Fire Insurance Company of New York; and in concert with his New York business partner, John F. Seaman, as a wholesaler to Chicago merchants. He served one term as Mayor of Chicago in 1843-44. His commercial property holdings were larger than those of any other Chicago landlord at the time of his death in December, 1848.

Garrett's widow, Eliza Clark Garrett, inherited the bulk of his fortune; and at her own death in 1855, bequeathed the greater portion of it to endow the Garrett Biblical Institute (now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary).