W. W. KIMBALL CO.

The history of the W. W. Kimball Company is another classic American success story. William Wallace Kimball moved from his native Maine to Decorah, Iowa in 1853 at the age of 25 and was in the insurance and real estate business there for four years. In 1857 he decided to travel to Chicago to seek his fortune. In many people′s eyes he couldn′t have picked a worse time: the Panic of 1857 was bankrupting businesses right and left. Over breakfast one...