Abram M. Rothschild was born to a Jewish family in 1853 in Nordstetten ( today a district of Horb am Neckar ) , Baden-Württemberg , Germany , the youngest child in a family of thirteen . In 1856 , he immigrated to Davenport , Iowa where he joined his brother , Emmanuel , who had founded a retail store . The store was renamed to E. Rothschild and Bro . After the Great Chicago Fire , the brothers established a branch operation on the near west side of Chicago which soon morphed it into a clothing manufacturing operation . In 1881 , they liquidated their retail operations and went solely into clothing manufacturing with their company , the Palace Clothing Company ; Abram served as president and built production facilities in a number of cities . He served as a director of the Columbian Exposition and Vice President of the National Bank of the Republic . In 1895 , he built a retail store under his name , A.M. Rothschild Company , with his father-in-law Nelson Morris and his brother-in-laws Edward Morris and Ira Nelson Morris as silent partners . It became one of the largest retail stores in Chicago
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Abram M. Rothschild