Edward Nash Hurley (July 31, 1864 – November 14, 1933) was an

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businessman and inventor who served as the second chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from July 1, 1916 to January 31, 1917.

Biography

Hurley was born in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County ...

on July 31, 1864. He finished high school at 17 and went to work for the railroad, ascending from shopman to engineer, and eventually becoming assistant to the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. In 1897 he started producing pneumatic tools together with a couple of brothers and made $125,00 selling the British patent. In 1907 he became president of the National Bank of Wheaton and then founded the Hurley Machine Company, which produced vacuum cleaners and washing and ironing machines. In 1914 he was named to the Federal Trade Commission and in 1915 he became its chairman. Hurley also served on the Red Cross War Council, the War Trade Board, and as chairman of the

U.S. Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

. He helped professor

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in a question of Czechoslovak legions and a foundation of a Czechoslovak state in 1918. In 1918 with Professor Robert DeLoach he joined the Vagabonds, a group consisting of

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invent ...

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of ...

and

Harvey Firestone Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires. Family background Firestone was born o ...

who made a camping trip to the

Appalachian mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

. In 1926 he received the

Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the ar ...

and in 1933 he donated $200,000 to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

for a new building for the college, which was named Hurley Hall.

Death

He died in Chicago on November 14, 1933. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston.

Works

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References

1864 births 1933 deaths Federal Trade Commission personnel People from Galesburg, Illinois Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Laetare Medal recipients Woodrow Wilson administration personnel Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois) {{US-business-bio-1860s-stub