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Brothers John V. and Charles B. Farwell were two of the five partners in John V. Farwell
& Company, the oldest dry goods firm in Chicago. Born in upstate New York and raised
partly in downstate Illinois, they arrived separately in Chicago in the mid-1840s. In the
course of their careers they became involved in every variety of social, cultural, political,
patriotic, and religious, as well as economic, undertaking. Farwell Hall, the downtown
headquarters of the Y.M.C.A., was named after John. Charles, who later became United
States Senator from Illinois, was long active in Republican politics, and before the fire he
successfully finished the stalled Washington Street tunnel project. The Farwell Building
was located at 112-116 Wabash. After the fire the firm rebuilt several blocks west on the
northwest corner of Monroe and Franklin.
Bardwell was one of the many out-of-town photographers who, sensing a once-in-a-lifetime
aesthetic and commercial opportunity, hastened to the stricken city.
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Among the Ruins 