Cook County Initiates Development of Oak Forest Infirmary in 1907
While the State was busy engaging in activities that would eventually lead the facility into better patient living conditions over the next few years at the Dunning facility,[2] the County seemed determined to stay its course of suspicious politics and questionable decisions. Many people in both large and small communities had a low tolerance level for a number of ailments, with issues such as poverty being viewed as "proof" someone must be "sick" in order to live such a way. Definitions of compassion ranged from providing for fresh air in the architecture design while others were busy practicing some form of eugenics to speed the process of biological death.
Records indicate 5 bids were submitted for consideration as presented by Superintendent of Public Service for Cook County William McLaren opened the bids at a Board of Commissioners meeting on December 9, 1907; two from Edward A. Wanner, one from the law firm of Fischer & Fischer on behalf of Bernhard H. Franzen, George L. Thatcher of Thatcher, Griffin and Wright, and C. L. Buss. According to the meeting minutes, the bid submitted by C. L. Buss was the first one accepted by the county on December 3, 1907, and holds clues as to what the advertisement might have requested as well as reflecting the most complex pricing strategy for the tract of land as a package deal. Rather than averaging the cost of the entire tract to fit the demands of the county, certain acres were more expensive than other acres. Wanner's submission of a bid referencing property in the Orland township area clearly exceeded the 300 acre maximum and therefore outside of the scope of proposed work.[4]
The DuPont Farm and Ammunition Facility 1906 Explosion
Although the property submitted by C. L. Buss certainly looked appealing on paper, complete with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad being less than a quarter mile away, the DuPont Farm and Ammunition Storage facility most likely played a role in the choice of the county to purchase the property offered for sale.
Opening in 1894, the location had its own track spur off of the Chicago, Rock Island Railroad in between the Midlothian and Oak Forest whistle stops as well as a listing in the train schedule.(4) The primary product manufactured at the location was smokeless gunpowder, which was a clear game-changer in the gunpowder industry as well as forever altering the face of warfare. The DuPont station served as both a passenger drop off and pick up location for staff along with the occasion guest while providing a means to begin their distribution process of their product they were manufacturing.
Explosions were not uncommon in gunpowder factories and storage facilities and 12 years later in 1906, an explosion leveled the DuPont facility. Although there is currently no clear evidence as to the precise location of the facility, apparently the shock-waves from the explosion traveled a decent enough distance in which the windows of the Midlothian Country Club were shattered, according to a newspaper report. The newspaper adopted the name of the geographical location to be "DuPont, Illinois."
The material fallout from such an explosion must have affected the surrounding farms and small town community to varying degrees, and at some point prior to the call for bids by Cook County for the grounds, there was a transfer of the property to a "C. L. Busse" or "C. L. Buss" (depending on what records you are referencing) prior to the bid submission. The President of the Board of Cook County Commissioners at the time was William Busse and it is notable that Fred A Busse was Mayor of Chicago in 1907. There is no clear evidence of direct familial connection between any of these identities, but that does not mean they did not know each other in some capacity and regardless of their names.