Harrison H. Rountree was a friend of L. Frank Baum, who in time became one of Baum's largest creditors. Rountree was a Chicago businessman, president of the Turner Brents Works, a brass foundry. He was a son of Major John Hawkins Rountree, a prominent Midwestern politician and civic leader of his generation. Harrison Rountree was the brother-in-law of Chauncey L. Williams, one of Baum's first publishers at Way & Williams. Baum dedicated his 1898 book By the Candelabra's Glare to Rountree. Baum biographer Katharine Rogers describes Rountree as "a cheerful, optimistic businessman."