John V. Farwell made his way to Chicago from his family’s western Illinois homestead in 1845 with very little capital; according to one account he arrived “on a load of wheat” with $3.45 in his pocket. His first employment was in the City Clerk’s office at $12 a month, earning $2 extra for each meeting of the city council he reported. Apparently, some of the city fathers disliked his scrupulous reporting of exactly what was said at each meeting – his honesty ultimately lost him the position.

Quickly, though, he found a new job. He climbed the ladder clerking in the dry-goods business and by 1850, he was admitted to partner. By 1865, he had taken over the wholesale firm as J.V. Farwell and Company – Marshall Field received his training under Farwell’s supervision.

John V. Farwell’s forward-thinking building of an extra-large warehouse, meant his firm was well-equipped to supply the troops during the Civil War, leaving him in an enviable financial position afterward. He made sure to translate his wartime profits into assistance for the cause, presiding over the Chicago branch of the United States Christian Commission; furnishing supplies, medical services, and religious services to Union soldiers during the war.

By 1881, the Chicago Daily Tribune called J. V. Farwell and Company one of the leading factors in the trade of the West, adding, “There is not a house whose members have done so much in building up and beautifying Chicago.” The firm had $20 million in sales and was one of the top three wholesalers of in the entire country.

John V. Farwell was also prominent in religious circles. He was a leading spirit in the development of the YMCA in Chicago – this may have led him to become, along with his brother Charles, one of the original shareholders in the Lake Forest Association in 1857. For about a dozen years, his role was as investor and property holder. Then, in 1869, his Lake Forest home at 888 East Deerpath was built. Shortly thereafter, he was elected mayor, serving 1871-1872.

In 1873 John V. Farwell said of his new community, "Lake Forest—beauty is certainly reached. There is probably no place in the United States which combines within itself such a culmination of landscape beauty as has [been] obtained here."