Editor’s Note: Lifelong Flossmoor resident Tom Dobrez has authored the definitive history of the village. His book is “A More Perfect Place-The Story of Flossmoor.” In conjunction with Flossmoor’s Future, the Foundation for the Preservation of Flossmoor History and Vicki Stephenson of HF Homes, sponsored a presentation of a movie to accompany the book. The book can be ordered at flossmoorhistorybook.com or purchased at Gypsy Fix in Flossmoor.
The Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle is sharing a segment from the book’s Chapter 3.
Many of Flossmoor’s founders were men of remarkable vision who were connected to one of the era’s most transformative projects: the electrification of the Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR), a technological advancement on par with the most significant developments of the industrial age. At the heart of this transportation revolution stood two of Flossmoor’s own — D.J. Brumley and Warren M. Vandersluis.
Brumley stands as a George Washington-like figure in the village’s history. After arriving in 1915, he became the driving force in the building of the Flossmoor School (name changed to Leavitt Avenue School). His 13-year odyssey to build the school (before the village existed) remains an unselfish act rooting volunteerism in Flossmoor’s DNA. Or as he noted in his personal notes titled “Flossmoor School Matters, 1915–1929,” Brumley joked that anyone reading his journals “would have some difficulty to determine whether I was employed by the Flossmoor School Board or was the Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central R. R.”
His contributions extended far beyond education and his leadership in establishing today’s School District 161. He became the village’s first president following its 1924 incorporation, served on the board of the park district for a decade, and helped establish Flossmoor State Bank. In 1927, he became a charter member of Flossmoor Community Church. A street in the village — Brumley Drive — bears his name to this day.
In 1959, after living four decades in his adopted hometown, Brumley passed away in Ingalls Hospital at age 94. After his death, the Homewood-Flossmoor Star remarked in an editorial, “Flossmoor lost one of its most highly regarded residents and outstanding contributor to community welfare.”
Brumley’s main job was as chief engineer overseeing the electrification of the ICRR alongside Vandersluis. The electrification project was a monumental undertaking that cost $23,500,000 (equivalent to $400,000,000 in 2025). It required relaying tracks, replacing all the old cars and locomotives, stringing trolleys, and redesigning stations. But the investment paid off handsomely. At the end of 1927, Vandersluis reported that the railroad had turned a $530,000 profit from its electric operations, compared to a loss the previous year with steam locomotives.
Vandersluis, who would eventually serve two years as Flossmoor’s president (mayor), emerged as a key figure in this transformation. A University of Michigan graduate and World War I veteran who rose to the rank of major in the Army’s Motor Transport Corps, he guided the ICRR’s suburban service into the electric age. The numbers tell the story of success: Before electrification, the ICRR operated 398 trains daily. In the first year of electric service, that number jumped to 556 to meet surging demand. By 1927, while other railroads like the Northwestern, Burlington, and Rock Island lines struggled with their steam engines, the ICRR stood alone as the only profitable rail line serving the Chicagoland area.
The electrified railroad had a boom effect on Flossmoor real estate. In 1921, the ICRR announced it would introduce electric service to Flossmoor, thus reducing the travel time to Chicago’s central business district to 31 minutes. Eight years later, a newspaper report noted that “property in Flossmoor is … selling at from 40 to 55 times its 1920 value. Almost all of this came during the period of construction” of the electric rail lines.
Flossmoor’s other founding fathers brought diverse talents to their new community. Henry Thies, a banker born in Rich Township in 1876, lived his entire life in the Flossmoor area, most of them in a home purchased from the railroad at 852 Burns Avenue. He founded Cook County Trust and Savings Bank, which became National Bank of Harvey. Thies was well-known and well liked. His sudden death, in 1941, from a stroke at the age of 65 came as a shock to the community and made headline news in the Homewood-Flossmoor Star.
Thomas Graham Grier, who lived on Hawthorne Lane, was an electrical manufacturer and a Renaissance man who wrote books about his travels through Panama and Cuba. He collaborated with D. J. Brumley on a gardening guide called Preparation and Care of a Garden for Vegetables, an amazing guide to growing vegetables “25 miles south of Chicago.” The Griers were extensive travelers. It was noted in 1927 that they drove their car more than 10,000 miles on a winter trip through the Southwest.
