Excerpt from Chicago; Its History and Its Builders, Vol. 4: A Century of Marvelous Growth
Albert Keep, whose activities were an element in the early commercial development of Chicago, in his later years through his business connections reached out to various sections of the country in the management and control of the affairs of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway system, of which he was made president. Ability may have been inherent, but it is only through the exercise and the utilization of one's talents that they are developed, and a life of intense and intelligently directed activity gave to Albert Keep the power which made him for many years a most forceful business factor in railway circles. He was born in Homer, Cortland county, New York, on the 30th of April, 1826, a son of Chauncey and Prudence (Wolcott) Keep, and was the fifth in a family of seven sons, all of whom were noted for superior business attainments and high character. The father was a man of wealth and likewise of sound judgment, who realized that if his sons were to become factors in the business world their instruction must be practical and that their powers must be tested in the actual field of service.
Albert Keep was sent as a pupil to the village schools and later spent two years as a student in Cortland Academy, but made his initial step in the business world when a youth of fourteen, being employed as clerk in a general country store in his native town from 1841 until 1846. His five years' experience there demonstrated the fact that he possessed latent ability and that he would develop it through industrious application. In all the five years he was never absent from his work for a single week day, being on hand at seven o'clock in the morning and often remaining until nine at night in the duties of the position.
The field of his activity was transferred to the west in 1846 and a long cherished ambition saw its fulfillment when he became part owner of a store in Whitewater, Wisconsin, his associates in the enterprise being Philander Peck and Henry Keep. He remained in Whitewater until 1851, when the firm decided to dispose of their business there, having more capital than was needed by the demands of the trade in a small town. A removal was made to Chicago, where they opened a dry-goods house under the firm style of Peck, Keep & Company, their location being at No. 241 South Water street. The new undertaking was attended with success from the beginning, but the great activity in real estate led them to dispose of their mercantile interest in 1856, making investment of their capital in property. Mr. Keep created a number of buildings which he rented and also sold as opportunity came to dispose of them it an advantageous figure. He continued to deal extensively in real estate and in making loans for himself and others.
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