Hamlin was born in Elgin Illinois to Mary ( née Hart ) and John Austin Hamlin . His father was a former magician who had made his fortune from Hamlin 's Wizard Oil , a patent medicine sold as a cure-all under the slogan " There is no sore it will not heal , no pain it will not subdue . " Shortly after Hamlin 's birth , the family relocated to Chicago where his father went into the theatre business . He bought the site of Hooley 's Opera House which had been destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 and built and managed what was then called the Chicago Grand Opera House . He eventually handed over its management to George 's elder brothers Harry L. and Frederick R. Hamlin
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
George Hamlin