Francis Weeks was a longtime Highland Park, Illinois resident. He and his wife traveled extensively in the 1960s-1980s, including throughout Western Europe, Asia, parts of Africa and Peru.
Richard Robert Donnelley founded the R.R. Donnelley & Sons Publishing Company in 1864. In 1870, the company was renamed Lakeside Printing and Publishing. After the Great Chicago Fire the company closed and opened under a new name, Lakeside Press, in 1902.
Lakeside Press produced a number of publications, including books, magazines, and mail order catalogs. Of note, the company published collectible books for the Chicago Caxton Club, as well as Lakeside Classics.
In 1903, Lakeside Classics began production, the brainchild of then company president Thomas E. Donnelley. The series was created in an effort to republish rare literary classics. The books were not sold to the general public, but instead given as gifts annually near Christmas to company employees, customers and suppliers. The classics often focused on American history.
J. S. Hyatt was a civil engineer for the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1912) and the North Shore Line beginning in the 1920s.