The Illinois Watch Company
The Illinois Watch Company was founded in 1870 at Springfield, Illinois by a group of local businessmen, including John T. Stuart, a former law partner of Abraham Lincoln. The company produced its first watch in 1872 and named it the Stuart after this founder.
The Illinois company made many watch models in its early years under numerous model names, including a line of high quality railroad watches. The company followed the prevailing late 19th century national economic pattern with a number of business re-organizations over the years. The first one came in 1879 and included the addition of “Springfield” to the company name. Another came in 1885 and the name was again changed, this time to the Illinois Watch Company.
The Hamilton Watch Company bought out Illinois in the late 1920′s but continued to produce their models through 1932. As the country plunged further into the Great Depression Hamilton dropped the acquired Illinois models and simply added the Illinois name to several Hamilton models retailed through the 1940′s.