Local family tied to Wrigley Field 100th anniversary

Lesley Quigg of Whitefish, along with her sons, Reid and Carl, will travel to Chicago on April 23 to attend the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team.

Quigg is the great-great niece of the ball park’s original owner, Charles Weeghman. About 40 of Weeghman’s relatives will be at the game. Quigg’s mother will throw out the first pitch with the ball her grandmother, Dessa Weeghman, threw out at one of the games 100 years ago.

“There is such a rich family history with the stadium,” Quigg said.

Originally from Indiana, Quigg moved to Whitefish 19 years ago. This will mark her first trip to Wrigley, a stadium that is considered a Mecca among diehard baseball fans.

During a tour of the stadium she plans to touch the infamous ivy-covered brick wall in the outfield.

“We’ll be able to dig into our family history and touch it,” she said. “I’m excited my kids are around to have this experience.”

The story of Wrigley Field begins on April 23, 1914 when Weeghman’s Chicago Federals played their first game in what was then called Weeghman Park. Weeghman was a wealthy restaurant owner who always wanted to own a baseball team.

In December of 1913, he leased the land which was the former site of the Theological Seminary of the Evengelical Lutheran Church. He chose that site because of the proximity of the ‘L’ train tracks. On Feb. 23 1914 he walked down the street in Chicago with $250,000 in his pocket to pay Zachary Taylor Davis, also the architect for Comisky Park, home of the White Sox. The ground-breaking was on March 4 and Opening Day was April 23 with the Chicago Federals playing the Kansas City Packers. The attendance was 21,000 with Chicago winning 9-1. There were so many home runs hit that day that Weeghman had the leftfield wall moved back 25 feet.

In 1916, Weeghman purchased the Cubs from the Charles P. Taft family for $500,000. Taft was the half brother of President William Howard Taft. William Wrigley had only $15,000 of the half million that Weeghman invested before he became the sole owner of the Cubs.

Weeghman’s reputation was one of the highest quality. The fans enjoyed the cleanliness of the ball park and his food was top notch since he was in the restaurant business. Weeghman Park became famous for its hospitality since it promoted Ladies Day as well as allowing the fans to keep the foul balls.