The Dean Legacy
Dean Hardwoods, Inc.
Heritage and History
As told in the first person by Charles D. Dean, Jr.
It all began in Chicago as the brainchild of Richmond Dean, then vice president and general manager of The Pullman Company – under its president Robert Todd Lincoln following the death of founder George Pullman 1n 1897.
The year was 1905, and my grandfather was having a hard time sourcing enough beautiful exotic veneers and lumber to build increasing numbers of beautifully appointed passenger railroad cars needed for the expanding train service across the nation.
About the same time, his oldest son Jack (John Richmond) had returned from a brief tour of duty at Notre Dame after a losing skirmish with academics, especially the German language. His professor reportedly quipped before his departure that Jack’s vocabulary was limited to two words: Anheuser and Busch.
With his son’s college days ended, Richmond was sharing his lament with a friend in the sawmill business one day over lunch.
Grandfather’s friend reportedly said to send the boy down to the sawmill in overhauls with some leather gloves, and he would help the young man see the light, and beg to resume college.
However, that wasn’t to be. Jack surprised them both with interest, hard work, and dedication, making a place for himself in the lumber yard, and earning the acceptance of most of his coworkers. However, according to this piece of family folklore, there was one notable exception. There was a big Bohemian guy in the sawmill who taunted Jack as silver-spoon dandy, and just wouldn’t let up. One day when his tormentor had gone too far, Jack also earned his acceptance – with flying fists learned in a lesser known Notre Dame program: boxing.
Jack’s interest in the business continued to grow, earning his father’s increasing confidence. That led to my grandfather making a personal investment in a struggling veneer mill and lumber yard in Chicago. It would allow Jack, and ultimately his three younger brothers, to have a business of their own, unlike his situation as an employee of the Pullman Company. Dovetailing with that was his interest in creating a more reliable source for the exotic veneer and lumber he needed for expanding Pullman Company requirements.
His first step was to hire a seasoned manager to teach Jack the ins and outs of running the business. From those seedlings, Jack, with his three younger brothers, Tomas Andrew (1899-1995), Phillip Dale (1904-1952?), and Charles Daly- my father (1905-1962), developed The Dean Company.
Together they built The Dean Company into a veneer and lumber enterprise respected around the world. They built four face veneer mills and compatible lumber operations in the USA, and one in Honduras, Central America.
