B. F. Affleck

Born in Belleville, Illinois, Affleck was educated in the public schools there.[1] He did not have much formal higher educational background; one co-industrialist described him as having learned his trade in the "school of hard knocks".[6] As a young man, he spent four years working for the Harrison Machine Works company in his home town, leaving afterwards to work for American Express.[5] In 1890, at the age of 21, he joined the Alton Terre Haute Railroad where he worked until 1896, before taking a position at the Illinois Steel Company.[6] He was hired initially as a machinist, but rose to the position of sales manager in the cement department with his knack for bringing in profits and business acumen. In 1906, the Illinois Steel Company spun off their cement department, incorporating it as the Universal Portland Cement Company; Affleck continued as sales manager of the new company until 1915, when he became its president.[4][5]

On March 2, 1921, Affleck and thirty-nine other officers of cement corporations were indicted by a federal grand jury under the Sherman Antitrust Act for restraint of trade and attempts at monopoly. The companies involved were alleged to have tightly controlled the supply of cement, refusing to sell any builder more than the amount needed for a single job, and preventing them from using any unexpected surplus on other jobs; prices quoted on cement were invariably the same to the penny.[7]

Affleck became president of the Universal Atlas Cement Company after its merger with the Universal Portland Cement Company in January 1930; however, he retired from the position just six years later, in 1936.[8][9]

Affleck lived in Winnetka, a middle-class suburb, for some time; by the 1920s, he was well-off enough financially to move to Lake Forest.[10] Affleck was married twice, his first wife was Agnes Adams.[11] B. F. Affleck, and Agnes Adams, had one daughter, Mildred, born in 1904. Agnes Adams Affleck passed away in 1918 from influenza. Mr. Affleck married Irene Mansfield of Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1921. B. F. Affleck's second daughter, Jane Mansfield Affleck was born in October 1921. [12] His daughter Mildred, married Victor Spoehr of Winnetka in October 1923.[13][14][15] His daughter Jane, married Maurice Peacock Jr. of Philadelphia in November 1946.[16] Affleck served as trustee of a number of local institutions, including the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Chicago Association of Commerce, while his wife was active in the Alliance française and the Chicago Woman's Musical Club.[1][13] The Union League Club elected him their president in 1928.[17] Around that time, he also founded the Chicago Benjamin Franklins, an association of people with the given name Benjamin Franklin; they often held events in honor of the most famous Ben Franklin.[18][19] He also belonged to a number of industry associations, including the American Concrete Institute.[20]

Affleck moved back to Winnetka in 1933,[12] where he would remain until his death. On February 13, 1944, he died while shoveling snow off the walk outside of his home.[2] After his death, it came to light that, despite his illustrious career, his estate was worth much less than previously believed, possibly as little as $20,000.[21] A steamer of the United States Steel Corporation was named in his honor.[1]

• Eric Olsen (businessman)

• A picture of the B. F. Affleck, the steamer named in his honor