The Vault: Before We Were Baird & Warner

It may seem hard to imagine, but we haven't always been called Baird & Warner. Originally, our firm was called L.D. Olmsted & Co. Who's L.D. Olmsted? He moved to Chicago in 1846 and started a real estate lending business in 1855 after purchasing a quarter acre of land. In 1857, Lyman Baird joined the company and became partners with Olmsted in 1860. Olmsted died at the age 35, in 1862. Leaving Baird the sole partner. Baird then invited his friend, Francis Bradley, to visit from New Haven, Conn. Enter the Baird & Bradley era of the firm. Bradley had a strong finance background, and research shows he was the auditor of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company. In 1858, Lyman Baird married Elizabeth Mather Warner. After Bradley died in 1893, Baird took over the firm along with his son, Wyllys Warner Baird, and his brother-in-law, George L. Warner. The company was renamed Baird & Warner to honor the two families' connection. Lyman Baird retired during this time and took on a consulting partner role in the company. Wyllys Baird was just 16 when he started working in his father's office, and stayed with the company for 50 years, being appointed a partner at the firm in 1887. He also played a critical role in starting the Chicago Real Estate Board, the first formal industry organization in the city. Today, our president and CEO is Steve Warner Baird, the fifth-generation leader of Baird & Warner — and we remain just as passionate about serving Chicagoland as when we were founded 166 years ago.