George Dexter Whitcomb

Whitcomb was born in Brandon, Vermont, in 1834. He spent his early years in New England, where he gained experience in manufacturing and business practices that would serve him well later in life. The Whitcomb family relocated to Kent, Ohio, during his youth, and he later attended business college in Akron, Ohio, financing his education by working for the Panhandle Railroad as a ticketing agent and telegrapher.

In the late 1850s, Whitcomb moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he managed a company trading with frontier communities. After marrying Leadora Bennett in 1859, the couple settled in Chicago, Illinois. During the Civil War, Whitcomb served the Union Army by providing critical railroad supplies, primarily ties and timber.

After the war, Whitcomb worked as General Purchasing Agent for the Panhandle Railroad and later founded the Geo D. Whitcomb Company in Chicago, which specialized in manufacturing mining machinery and equipment. He invented early mechanized coal mining machines and eventually shifted the company's focus to industrial locomotives, pioneering the use of gasoline-powered locomotives for mining applications. By 1907, the company's primary manufacturing operations were relocated to Rochelle, Illinois, and it became internationally recognized as the Whitcomb Locomotive Works.