James E. Plew

James E. Plew (July 3, 1862 – April 16, 1938) was a successful Chicago businessman whose early interest in the development of aviation eventually led him to acquire the initial leasehold in 1934 on the Valparaiso, Florida property that would evolve into Eglin Air Force Base.

James E. Plew was born on July 3, 1862, in Brown County, Illinois. "He began his business career by starting a small linen supply service to a few buildings in Chicago. This business grew into the Chicago Towel Company, one of the largest of its kind in the world. He relinquished management of this business several years ago, but retained a large investment in it."

Plew became the agent in Chicago for the White Motor Car Company, and in 1909, opened a dealership to sell Curtiss airplanes as well. By 1910, he operated a Curtiss machine out of a small flying field at 65th Street and Major Avenue in the Clearing Industrial District just south of where Midway Airport now stands. As an officer of the Aero Club of Illinois, founded February 10, 1910, he succeeded Octave Chanute when the first president of the club died November 23, 1910. He held this post until succeeded by Harold F. McCormick in 1912.

The first victim of a fatal airplane crash in the Chicago area was piloting a Curtiss biplane owned by Plew. While trying to qualify for his pilot's license on July 13, 1911, Dan Kreamer put the plane into a sharp turn at one hundred feet and spun into the ground at 7:18 p.m. He was rushed to St. Anthony de Padua Hospital, where he died about an hour and a half later, leaving a widow and two children. The accident received front page coverage in all the Chicago newspapers the next day.

In 1914, McCormick, Plew, and Bion J. Arnold attempted to form a commuter airline which they announced would begin service in May, "using seaplanes to ferry passengers between various North Shore suburbs and Grant Park and the South Shore Country Club. Lake Shore Airline, which had two seaplanes, was intended to be a profit-making venture charging a steep twenty-eight-dollar round-trip fare between Lake Forest and downtown Chicago on four daily scheduled circuits. However, Chicago's irregular weather, especially the crosswinds, made a shamble of schedules, and the airline disappeared before the end of the year."

...
Wikipedia