Founded by the Fowler brothers, Irish immigrants who had English investors, Anglo-American was one of the city's leading meatpacking firms in the years after the Civil War. By the mid-1870s, when it was still known as Fowler Bros., the company slaughtered more than 160,000 hogs each year, making it the third-largest packer in Chicago. By the end of the 1870s, using the name Anglo American Provision Co., the Fowlers' company employed about 1,800 men at a seven-acre pack- ing facility; annual sales at this time stood at about $8 million. Subsequently, it opened pack- ing plants elsewhere in the United States as well. Anglo-American continued to stand among the more important second-tier Chicago packers until 1902, when it became part of the National Packing Co. established by Armour, Swift, and other large Chicago packers.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.