He was born on May 15 , 1832 , in Paterson , New Jersey ( on the Tottoway Road , near the Passaic Falls ) to Timothy Botchford Crane and Maria Ryerson . Crane was a nephew of Chicago lumber dealer Martin Ryerson . He moved to Chicago from New Jersey in 1855 . Richard and his brother Charles soon formed R. T. Crane & Bro. , which manufactured and sold brass goods and plumbing supplies . The new company soon won contracts to supply pipe and steam-heating equipment in large public buildings such as the Cook County courthouse and the state prison at Joliet . In 1865 , R. T. Crane and Brother was incorporated and the name of the company was changed to the Northwestern Manufacturing Company . It began to manufacture a full line of industrial valves and fittings in cast iron , malleable iron and brass . By 1870 , when it employed about 160 people , it was making elevators as well . After the Chicago Fire of 1871 , the company decided to expand its operations . Just after the firm became Crane Bros . Manufacturing Co. in 1872 , it employed as many as 700 men and boys and manufactured over $ 1 million worth of products per year
Chicago Fire of 1871
Great Chicago Fire
Richard T. Crane