Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932)
Lumber Manufacturer, Philanthropist & Art Collector, of Chicago
He was born Martin Antoine Ryerson but was always known as Martin A. Ryerson. He was a member of a prominent Chicago family and a first cousin of Richard Teller Crane. He grew up in Chicago and for seven years was educated in Paris and Geneva before graduating from Harvard Law School (1878). In 1880, he began working for his father who owned the only lumberyard in Chicago to have survived the Great Fire of 1871. He became one of the most important civic leaders in the history of Chicago. He was President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago (1892 to 1922), donating $2-million during his tenure, and after his death he donated his entire art collection to the Art Institute of Chicago of which he'd been honorary president. The collection included five Renoirs, sixteen Monets, and a number of Old Masters. He lived between 4851 S. Drexel Boulevard (see images) in Chicago, and his summer estate "Bonnie Brae" in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He married Caroline, daughter of Charles Hutchinson, of Chicago, but they died without children, and his remaining $5-million estate was divided between family and various of his preferred institutions and charities.
