Mr. Leiter, who owns a coal mine at the town of Zeigler,
Illinois, in an interview printed in the Chicago Record-Herald of
December 6, 1904, said: "When I go into the market to purchase labor,
I propose to retain just as much freedom as does a purchaser in any other
kind of a market. . . . There is no difficulty whatever in obtaining labor,
"FOR THE COUNTRY IS FULL OF UNEMPLOYED MEN."
Levi Leiter was a Chicago wholesaler.
He purchased a tract of land from Franklin
Cossitt, the primary successful real estate developer of the La Grange
area. Levi teamed up with Marshall Field in 1865 and bought Potter Palmer's
dry goods business. For many years Field & Leiter was Chicago's premier
department store. Leiter sold his share of the business to Field in 1881
and the store was renamed, Marshall Field's. Leiter owned considerable
real estate in the Chicago area and was involved in local philanthropies.
He donated property in La Grange for the Suburban Club, the First Congregational
Church and paid for the bell in the high school tower
Leiter II Building
Address: 403 S. State St. Year Built: 1891 Architect: William Le Baron Jenney Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: January 14,
1997
Renowned as one of the nation's most important early examples of skeletal-frame
commercial architecture, this building is discussed in every major history
of American architecture. A National Historic Landmark, it was designed
by William Le Baron Jenney, the so-called "father of the skyscraper."
This building was erected by Levi Leiter; later, it was leased by Sears,
Roebuck & Co. for its flagship department store. It is the city's oldest
surviving department store, a type of building that contributed to State
Street's development as a retailing thoroughfare. The so-called "first
Leiter" building, built in 1879 at Wells and Monroe, was demolished
in 1972.
Updated on
September 3, 2007
Many of the pictures on this site are located on books
and CD's located on the Zeigler's Memorabilia page
Thanks to those who have contributed
pictures and memorabilia that is viewed on this site.
Levi Zeigler Leiter 
