Francis I. duPont & Co. Genealogy: Part IV

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A.C. Allyn & Co., Continued

A.C. Allyn & Co., Inc. (founded 1912, Chicago)
A.C. Allyn & Co. (founded 1948, Chicago)

In 1928, Arthur Allyn made the fortuitous decision to liquidate much of the firm's debt, and A.C. Allyn & Co. survived the crash that followed. That year, in 1929, Allyn created Artnell, an investment company named after him and his wife, Nelle Musick. (They married in 1913.) The Allyns had two sons, A.C. Allyn, Jr. and John W. Allyn, who both joined the family firm.

Arthur C. Allyn Jr. (1913-1985) studied at Dartmouth College and did not initially go to work for the family firm. He worked as "a biologist for the California Packing Company in San Francisco from 1938 to 1945," and served as president of the Pacific Vinegar Company until 1949, when he moved back to Chicago to become a partner in A.C. Allyn & Co. and president of Artnell Co., then a holding company. John W. Allyn (1917-1979) was a graduate of Lafayette University (1939). Unlike his brother, John joined the family firm right after graduating from school. He served in the Second World War (1942-1945) and became a partner in 1948. In 1948, the corporation also created a partnership called A.C. Allyn & Co. Allyn Sr. was the senior partner. 

Through Artnell Corporation, much of the Allyn family's legacy became intertwined with that of the Chicago White Sox. In 1959, Allyn Sr., Bill Veeck and Hank Greenberg led a syndicate that bought the majority interest in the White Sox, which were owned by Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, the granddaughter of Charles Comiskey, who had brought the baseball team to Chicago in 1900. Allyn Sr. had previously worked with Veeck to help him buy the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns in the late 1940s. The remaining shares, held by Dorothy's brother, Charles Comiskey, were sold to another buyer, who then later sold those shares to Artnell Corporation. After Allyn Sr. died of a heart attack in 1960, his sons became the heads of A.C. Allyn & Co. and Artnell Corporation, which began acquiring companies as subsidiaries.

1906 Chicago White Sox with Charles Comiskey. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

In 1960, Veeck became ill (he sustained a leg injury while serving in the Second World War). The following year, he and Greenberg sold their shares in the White Sox to Allyn Jr., who became president of the club. By the late 1960s, rumors circulated that Allyn Jr. was entertaining offers to sell the team to buyers who wanted to move the White Sox to Milwaukee. Allyn Jr.'s brother, John, did not want the club to move, and in 1969, he bought out his brother's shares. Allyn Jr. left Artnell Corporation and retired to Florida, where he founded the Allyn Museum of Entomology. (Allyn Jr. was an avid collector of butterflies.) In 1975, John sold the team back to Veeck.

Comiskey Park, the Chicago home of the White Sox from 1910-1990. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.



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