"LI B R.AR.Y 

OF THE 
UN IVER.SITY 
OF ILLINOIS 

92O.O773 
Ail 
1897 



Return this book on or before the 
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University of Illinois Library 



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AUG14 

JUL08 




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L161 H41 



ALBUM OF GENEALOGY 



AND 



BIOGRAPHY 



COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



WITH PORTRAITS 



EIGHTH EDITION, REVISED AND EXTENDED 



CHICAGO 

CALUMET BOOK & ENGRAVING CO. 
1897 



THE CALUMET PRESS 



PRINTED BY 

CALL-MET BOOK & ENGRAVING COMPANY 
170-174 SOUTH CLINTON STREET 

CHICAGO 



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(A 



E BELIEVE the time has arrived 
when it becomes the duty of the 
people of this county to perpetuate 
the names of their pioneers, to fur- 
nish a record of their early settle- 
ment, and relate the story of their progress. 
The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of 
the age, and the duty that men of the present 
time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to 
their posterity, demand that a record of their lives 
and deeds should be made. In biographical history 
is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to 
enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down 
the river of time a safe vessel, in which the names 
and actions of the people who contributed to 
raise this country from its primitive state may be 
preserved. Surely and rapidly the great and 
aged men, who in their prime entered the wilder- 
ness and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, 
are passing to their graves. The number remain- 
ing who can relate the incidents of the first days 
of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that 
actual necessity exists for the collection and pres- 
ervation of events without delay, before all the 
early settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time. 
To be forgotten has been the great dread of 
mankind from remotest ages. All will be forgot- 
ten soon enough, in spite of their best works and 
the most earnest efforts of their friends to preserve 
the memory of their lives. The means employed 
to prevent oblivion and to perpetuate their mem- 
ory have been in proportion to the amount of intel- 
ligence they possessed. The pyramids of Egypt 
were built to perpetuate the names and deeds of 
its great rulers. The exhumations made by 
the archaeologists of Egypt from buried Memphis 
indicate a desire of those people to perpetuate the 
memory of their achievements. The erection of 
the great obelisks was for the same purpose. 
Coming down to a later period, we find the Greeks 
and Romans erecting mausoleums and rnonu- 



ments, and carving out statues to chronicle their 
great achievements and carry them down the 
ages. It is also evident that the Mound-builders, 
in piling up their great mounds of earth, had but 
this idea to leave something to show that they 
had lived. All these works, though many of 
them costly in the extreme, give but a faint idea 
of the lives and characters of those whose memory 
they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely 
anything of the masses of the people that then 
lived. The great pyramids and some of the 
obelisks remain objects only of curiosity; the 
mausoleums, monuments and statues are crumb- 
ling into dust. 

It. was left to modern ages to establish an intel- 
ligent, undecaying, immutable method of perpet- 
uating a full history immutable, in that it is al- 
most unlimited in extent and perpetual in its ac- 
tion ; and this is through the art of printing. 

To the present generation, however, we are in- 
debted for the introduction of the admirable sys- 
tem of local biography. By this system every 
man, though he has not achieved what the world 
calls greatness, has the means to perpetuate his 
life, his history, through the coming ages, for the 
benefit of his posterity. 

The scythe of Time cuts down all; nothing of 
the physical man is left. The monument which 
his children or friends may erect to his memory 
in the cemetery will crumble into dust and pass 
away; but his life, his achievements, the work he 
has accomplished, which otherwise would be for- 
gotten, is perpetuated by a record of this kind. 

To preserve the lineaments of our companions 
we engrave their portraits; for the same reason 
we collect the attainable facts of their history. 
Nor do we think it necessary, as we speak only 
truth of them, to wait until they are dead, or un- 
til those who knew them are gone; and we need be 
ashamed only of publishing the history of those 
whose lives are unworthy of public record. 



'075231 



PREFACE. 



The greatest of English historians, MACAU- 
LAY, and one of the most brilliant writers of the 
present century, has said: "The history of a 
country is best told in a record of the lives of 
its people." In conformity with this idea, the 
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM of 
this county has been prepared. Instead of going 
to musty records, and taking therefrom dry sta- 
tistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, 
our corps of writers have gone to the people, the 
men and women who have, by their enterprise 
and industry, brought the county to a rank sec- 
ond to none among those comprising this great 
and noble State, and from their lips have ob- 
tained the story of their life struggles. No more 
interesting or instructive matter could be pre- 
sented to an intelligent public. In this volume 
will be found a record of many whose lives are 
worthy the imitation of coming generations. It 
tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by 
industry and economy have accumulated wealth. 
It tells how others, with limited advantages for 
securing an education, have become learned 
men and women, with an influence extending 
throughout the length and breadth of the 
land. It tells of men who have risen from the 
lower walks of life to eminence as statesmen, and 
whose names have become famous. It tells of 
those in every walk in life who have striven to suc- 
ceed, and records how success has usually crowned 
their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, 
who, not seeking the applause of the world, have 
pursued "the even tenor of their way," content 
to have it said of them, as Christ said of the 
woman performing a deed of mercy "They have 
done what they could." It tells how that many 



in the pride and strength of young manhood left 
the plow and the anvil, the lawyer's office and 
the counting-room, left ever}- trade and pro- 
fession, and at their country's call went forth 
valiantly "to do or die," and how through their 
efforts the Union was restored and peace once 
more reigned in the land. In the life of every 
man and of every woman is a lesson that should 
not be lost to those who follow after. 

Coming generations will appreciate this vol- 
ume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from 
the fact that it contains so much that would never 
find its way into public records, and which would 
otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been 
taken in the compilation of the work, and every 
opportunity possible given to those represented to 
insure correctness in what has been written; and 
the publishers flatter themselves that they give 
to their readers a work with few errors of conse- 
quence. In addition to the biographical sketches, 
portraits of a number of representative citizens 
are given. 

The faces of some, and biographical sketches 
of many, will be missed in this volume. For this 
the publishers are not to blame. Not having a 
proper conception of the work, some refused to 
give the information necessary to compile a sketch, 
while others were indifferent. Occasionally some 
member of the family would oppose the enter- 
prise, and on account of such opposition the 
support of the interested one would be withheld. 
In a few instances men could never be found, 
though repeated calls were made at their resi- 
dences or places of business. 

CALUMET BOOK & ENGRAVING CO. 



ADDENDA. 



The preparation of this volume has involved the labor of several years. Since the pages 
were stereotyped, several of the subjects of biographies have passed away. 

Among these are : 

A. G. HURLEY .......... page 227 

I. N. CAMP, 546 

E. H. CASTLE, 544 

J. D. CATON, 115 

REV. OTTO GROENEBAUM, ........ 622 

C. M. HENDERSON, 391 

EDSON KEITH, 53 

M. N. KlMBELL, 528 

T. E. LEWIS, 297 

ORRINGTON LUNT, ......... 503 

JAMES MCMAHON, ......... 181 

GEORGE M. PULLMAN, ... . 231 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




Ills CenturyBjllisMnj 4 Zi - ica 







J. R. HOXIE. 



JOHN R, HOXIE. 



(JOHN RANDOLPH HOXIE. Chicago, the 
I Queen of our Great West, is indebted for its 
G) marvelous growth and rapid development, 
which have caused the whole world to acknowl- 
edge its commercial greatness, to a few men, 
who, to lay the foundations of metropolitan su- 
premacy, gave the best of their heart's blood, 
their brain power, and nerve forces. The ma- 
jority have as their reward wealth or honor, but 
few have both. Among the active business men 
who have acquired both was the subject of this 
sketch, who obtained it through close attention 
to business, and unswerving integrity and up- 
rightness of character. 

John R. Hoxie was born December 13, 1831, 
in Macedon, near Rochester, New York, and his 
parents were Cornelius and Anna (Brawnell) 
Hoxie. He received a partial education in the 
Macedon Academy, but as his tastes impelled 
him to use every opportunity for learning busi- 
ness ways, his schooldays were thus cut short. 
Many stories of his youthful trading propensities 
illustrate his ability in doing well for himself, and 
in him could plainly be seen the future financier 
and business man. On one occasion he wished 
to buy a fish-hook, but as his finances were low, 
he applied to the banker of the town, who lent 
him three cents. After catching and disposing of 
the fish he very promptly paid his debt, thus 
winning the esteem of his creditor. At the age 
of fourteen years he bought all the turkeys in the 
neighborhood and realized a handsome profit on 
them. At seventeen years of age he was able to 
buy his "time" or independence from his father, 
for one thousand dollars. He was always pru- 



dent with his earnings, and many times walked 
from Albany to Rochester to save the fare by 
stage. 

Mr. Hoxie became a sub-contractor on the 
Niagara Falls Railroad at an early age, and later 
was in the same position on the Staten Island 
Railroad. While in the latter position the yellow 
fever began raging and he was quarantined, but 
finally escaped to the mainland. After spending 
nearly two years in Virginia he returned to 
Rochester, New York, where he became a dealer 
in live stock, which he shipped over the Michigan 
Southern and other Railroads. His fame as a 
man of great business tact and ability spread 
over many States, and in 1857 he received an 
offer to assist in the management of the shipping 
business of the Michigan Southern Railroad, with 
headquarters in Chicago. This offer was re- 
ceived by telegram, and hastily packing his 
satchel, he told his mother he would return in a 
few days; but the days lengthened into weeks, 
months, and years, and he did not return home 
until 1862. The officers of the company recog- 
nized his ability, and the position of stock agent 
was offered him, which he accepted and retained 
during his connection with the road. 

At this time the company was almost bankrupt, 
but Mr. Hoxie infused new life into the business 
by building up the freight traffic, thus saving it 
from financial ruin. For this service the com- 
pany was ever truly grateful, and he was retained 
in office long after his active interest ceased. 
Largely through his influence the Railroad was 
able to retain its controlling interest in the Union 
Stock Yards, and the profits from the tremendous 



8 



J. R. HOXIE. 



traffic in live stock thus brought to it. When a 
combined effort was made by the other roads to 
induce Mr. Hoxie to retire from the service of the 
Michigan Southern, he declined every consider- 
ation offered him, and remained faithful through 
all temptation. 

From early morning until late eve did he labor 
in the interest of this road, and this was practi- 
cally his life work. He foresaw great possibilities 
in its future, and steadily strove to carry it for- 
ward to its destiny. His nature rejoiced in 
victory over opposition, and the sharp competition 
he often met was refreshing to his restless spirit, 
and a stimulus to greater exertions. He loved 
work for its own sake, not for praise and reward. 
In the end, however, he paid the usual penalty 
for living under such high pressure, by the in- 
vasion of sickness and premature death. His 
nature could not rest, and though his life was 
shorter, he accomplished much more than the 
majority of business men. 

Though an extremely busy man, he was al- 
ways cheerful, and liked the society of his fel- 
lows. He was, however, a stranger to the 
fashionable clubs, and made his home the scene 
of his rest and recreation. His wife was a 
worthy life companion, and her delight was to 
make the home pleasant, having a serene manner, 
a contented disposition, and being a great help to 
her husband in curbing his great ambition and 
teaching him the lessons of patience. 

As soon as he was able Mr. Hoxie began to 
invest money in securities, and so good was his 
foresight that he became wealthy. In 1878 he 
bought a large grant of laud from the heirs of 
Dr. Hoxie, a veteran of the Texan and the Mexi- 
can Wars, and an army surgeon under General 
Houston. This grant embraced ten thousand 
acres of land in Williamson County, Texas, to 
which he added another purchase of seven thou- 
sand acres. It is situated thirty-five miles from 
Austin, and six thousand acres of it have been 
cultivated, and fifty families reside on it. 

Mr. Hoxie also bought fifty-two thousand 
acres of land at Midland, Texas, in the Counties 
of Martin and Andrews, this land being used for 
grazing. Beside his mansion on Michigan Ave- 



nue, he had a country home twenty- one miles 
south of Chicago, which included seven hundred 
fifty-seven acres of land. Here he spent many 
hours away from the cares of business life, and 
lived close to the heart of Nature. On all his 
farms he has kept the buildings in excellent 
repair, having built many new ones. Unlike 
most business men, he early instructed his wife 
in the details of his affairs, being animated by the 
principle that what was his also belonged to her. 
To this wise precaution his widow now largely 
owes her ability to manage the property with 
such success. 

Mr. Hoxie made annual trips to his possessions 
in the South, and to every one of these Texas 
owed some improvement, and he many times 
used his influence in opening some avenue of 
commerce. In 1887 he decided to retire from 
business, but never fully carried out his intention. 
When he was in Texas he made his headquarters 
at Fort Worth and there he was held in high es- 
teem by all the inhabitants, and especially the 
business men. Prior to his coming to this town 
the business was very dull, but he inspired confi- 
dence by organizing the Farmers and Mechanics' 
National Bank, with a capital of one million 
dollars. He was the president of this bank and 
also of the First National Bank at Taylor, Texas. 
He was connected with twenty other banks in this 
State, his influence and standing giving them 
power to exist. 

In 1891, at the urgent request of the citizens 
of Fort Worth, he organized Stock Yards and 
Packing Houses, and the next year passed through 
a strike which made his presence at the yards 
necessary. This was such a severe strain on his 
finely organized nervous constitution that he 
never recovered his former health. A small bene- 
fit was gained at Carlsbad Springs, Germany ,but 
nothing could entirely stay the ravages of the 
disease, diabetes, from which his death resulted. 
He passed away November 21, 1896. 

Mr. Hoxie was a talented man, and had many 
charming traits of character. His influence was 
ever for good and his advice in municipal affairs 
was often sought and freely given. He was presi- 
dent of the Board of Trustees of Hyde Park and a 



LEONARD SWETT. 



school trustee in the town of Lake. During the 
centennial year he was a candidate for Congress 
on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated. 
Though he never afterward held any office his in- 
fluence was such that he controlled many positions 
of trust and responsibility. His rare wit and 
skillful repartee may be said to be gifts inherited 
from his mother, well-known for her good sense 
and quick perception. 

Mr. Hoxie became interested in the Chicago 
City Railway Company and was instrumental in 
extending the cable lines, being for many years 
one of the largest individual stockholders. He 
was many times the youngest member of various 
boards of management, where he was neverthe- 
less recognized as a born leader. His associates 
often called him "Boy", among these being such 
men as Silas B. Cobb, Daniel Jones, Solomon 
Sturges, Lyman Blair, John DeKoven, Samuel 
Nickerson, Lyman J. Gage, John B. Sherman, 
P. D. Armour, Samuel Allerton, and others 
equally well-known . He was called the ' ' Mogul ' ' 
of the Stock Yards Railroad along Fortieth street, 
which was secured by his indefatigable energy. 



In his business methods Mr. Hoxie was unlike 
the average man. Though possessed of sufficient 
ability to carry on numerous vast business enter- 
prises at the same time, he never used books to 
record his transactions, but so carefully was 
everything systematized that he suffered no loss 
from this fact. His was an eccentric character, 
but he was no recluse, and enjoyed rare friend- 
ships. He was well-known in Masonic circles, 
having attained the thirty-second degree. His 
wealth was accumulated in a legitimate way, and 
his only extravagance was indulged in providing 
for the comfort of his family. In religious 
belief he was a Quaker, and helped build and 
maintain the church at Twenty-sixth Street and 
Indiana Avenue. The principles of his forefathers 
seemed to be the guide and rule of his life. 

Mr. Hoxie was married October 22, 1872, to 
Mary J., daughter of P. D. Hamilton. Among 
the Quakers she was known as "John's wife. "but 
her husband always spoke of her with deference 
as Mrs. Mary J. Hoxie. Their union was blessed 
by three children, namely: John R., Junior, 
Gilbert H. and Anna C. 



LEONARD SWETT. 



I EONARD SWETT was born August n, 
1C 1825, near the village of Turner, Oxford 
\ J County, Maine, on what was known as 
Swett's Hill. This hill slopes in all directions, 
and constitutes one of the most beautiful spots in 
New England, and has ever since been owned 
by the family. His father, John Swett, was born 
in Gorham, Maine, February 4, 1789, and mar- 
ried Remember Berry, on August 29, 1816. The 
latter was born at Buckfield, Maine, December 
22, 1794. They settled after their marriage on 
the above-named hill, and lived and died there. 
The father was seventy years old, and the mother 
in her eighty-ninth year at the date of their 
respective deaths. 



Leonard Swett's grandfather was John Adams 
Swett, named for his mother, who was Sarah 
Adams, a descendant of John Quincy Adams, 
President. John Adams Swett was born June 23, 
1763, and died July 14, 1844. He married Betsey 
Warren, who was born June 28, 1763, and died 
June 3, 1846. 

Leonard Swett's great-grandfather was Dr. 
Stephen Swett, born at Durham, New Hampshire, 
and died in Otisfield, in 1808. He married Sarah 
Adams, who was born in Durham, New Hamp- 
shire, and died in 1807. They were married at 
Durham in 1757. 

Mr. Swett, the subject of this sketch, died 
June 8. 1889. He married Laura R. Quigg, of 



10 



LEONARD SWETT. 



Bradford, Massachusetts, July 20, 1854, and they 
had one son, Leonard H. Swett. March 5, 1886, 
his wife died, and July 14, 1887, he married 
Marie A. H. Decker, who survives him. 

Leonard Swett was the second son and fourth 
child of his parents, and they conceived the idea, 
at an early date, of giving him a better education 
than the town afforded, consequently he was sent 
to select schools in the vicinity, and completed 
his education at North Yarmouth Academy and 
Waterville College, now Colby University. He 
then read law for two years with Messrs. How- 
ard & Shepley, at Portland, Maine, and started 
in the world to seek his fortune. At first he 
traveled in the South for nearly a year, then, with 
the spirit of adventure, he volunteered as a sol- 
dier in the Mexican War, and was under General 
Scott from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. 
The war closed in May, 1848, when Mr. Swett 
returned and settled at Bloomington, Illinois. He 
commenced the practice of his profession in the 
fall of 1849, and gave to that profession the labor 
of a life. He was in indifferent health, on ac- 
count of a disease contracted in Mexico, which 
rendered it impracticable for him to sit in an office 
and do office work, and, therefore, at first he 
commenced to travel the circuit. The bar of that 
circuit, the eighth at that time, embraced many 
men of marked ability, some of whom have since 
acquired a national reputation. David Davis, 
since distinguished as a judge of the supreme 
court and a senator of the United States, was the 
judge from 1849 to 1862. Abraham Lincoln, for 
two years a member of congress, and afterwards 
known to the world as the martyred President 
and the emancipator of a race, was one of its 
lawyers. Edward D. Baker, a member of con- 
gress from the Sangamon District, also afterward 
from the Galena District, later a distinguished 
citizen of California, and a senator of the United 
States from Oregon, who died leading his men at 
the battle of Ball's Bluff, in the Civil War, was 
also one of its lawyers. There were also Edward 
Hannagan and Daniel W. Voorhees, since sena- 
tors from Indiana, who attended the eastern part 
of the circuit, and Stephen T. Logan, John T. 
Stuart, U. F. Linder and Oliver L. Davis. The 



sessions commenced the ist of September, and 
ended about the ist of January. The spring 
circuit commenced about February and ended in 
June. In a life with' these men and upon this 
circuit, Mr. Swett spent his time from 1849 to 
1862. The lawyers would arrive at a county seat 
of from five hundred to two thousand inhabitants, 
and the clients and public came in from the coun- 
try adjoining at about the same time. The law- 
yers were employed in such suits as were then 
pending in court, and the trials were immediately 
begun. After from three days to a week spent 
in this manner, the court would adjourn and the 
cavalcade start for the adjoining county seat, when 
the same processes would be repeated. Twice 
a year fourteen counties were traversed in this 
way, and in this manner Mr. Swett received his 
earlier legal education. David Davis, in a speech 
at Springfield, said in substance that this time 
constituted the bright spot of his life. In this 
expression he would doubtless be joined by every 
man named, most of whom now live beyond the 
river. 

In 1865 Mr. Swett moved to Chicago, where 
he soon acquired a prominent and leading position 
as a lawyer. During his life in the country, in 
Illinois, he took an active part in politics, taking 
part in the agitation of the slavery question, and 
canvassed nearly the whole state in the years 
1852, 1854, 1856, 1858 and 1860. He, however, 
held but one office, which was that of member of 
the legislature, in 1858 and 1859, and this was at 
the special request of Lincoln himself, to save to 
the latter the vote of McLean County. That 
county at the previous election had been carried 
by four votes. Lincoln thought Swett could be 
elected, and asked him to run. He did so, car- 
rying the county by nearly five hundred majority. 
He then engaged earnestly in the work of secur- 
ing the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for Pres- 
ident, writing to public men and organizing other 
workers. The three men who did more than all 
others to make Mr. Lincoln the nominee in 1860 
were Leonard Swett, David Davis and Norman 
B. Judd; and the two men who were closest of all 
to Mr. Lincoln until his death were Swett and 
Davis. Norman B. Judd was given a foreign 



LEONARD SWETT. 



ii 



mission, David Davis was made supreme judge, 
but Leonard Swett declined to take office under 
the administration. He was closer to Lincoln's 
innermost thoughts and sympathies than any man 
in the world. He was much like Lincoln in per- 
son, complexion and manner, so much so that he 
was often mistaken for the President in Washing- 
ton, and he was much of the Lincoln mould, in- 
tellectually. 

It has often been remarked that intimate as 
Lincoln was with Leonard Swett, he never gave 
him any office, and Swett was often asked the 
reason why. He always evaded the question, 
but, in a letter to W. H. Herndon, the author of 
the " Life of Lincoln," written a short time before 
Mr. Swett died, the latter explained this fact: 
When David Davis was a candidate for the su- 
preme bench, soon after Lincoln's election to the 
presidency, he was opposed by a senator of great 
influence, named Browning, whom Lincoln was 
almost ready to appoint. Leonard Swett was a 
warm friend of David Davis, and, going to the 
president, he said: " If you will give that place 
to Davis I will take it as one-half for him and 
one-half for myself, and never again will ask you 
for anything." David Davis got the appoint- 
ment, and Leonard Swett was true to his word. 
He said, not long before his death, that he was 
always glad he kept out of office. 

After his removal to Chicago, he devoted him- 
self exclusively to his profession, and absolutely 
ignored politics. Mr. Swett was distinguished as 
successful in the trial of causes, in fact, he did 
little else during his professional life. In Chicago 
the most important cases were intrusted to him, 
and it was a rare thing that he lost one of them. 
The reason of this was, that he attended to the 
details of the preparation personally, himself see- 
ing and talking with his witnesses, so that when 
the cause was heard in court it fitted together 
' ' without noise of axe or hammer. ' ' 

His business, in the main, was in civil cases; 
for instance, Thomas A. Scott, during the war, 
employed him for the Quicksilver Mining Com- 
pany to go to California to get possession of 
the great quicksilver mine near San Jose, after 
an adverse decision in reference to the Almaden 



claim. This country acquired by the treaty of 
Guadeloupe Hidalgo, at the close of the Mexican 
War, a large tract of land, now embracing many 
States and Territories, described by boundaries, 
and our Government agreed, wherever individu- 
als owned lands within these boundaries, it would 
issue to such parties a patent. Under the Mexi- 
ican law there were two kinds of titles, a mineral 
title, or a right to what the land contained under 
the surface, and a surface title. One man might 
own one title and another man the other. We 
have but one, the surface, and one owning that 
owns all above and below. The Barons had a 
mineral title to what they called the Almaden 
mine, and had made, prior to the decision, im- 
mense improvements. Justos Larios owned the 
surface title, and this was bought, and the Quick- 
silver Mining Company was organized upon this 
title. In 1863 the Supreme Court of the United 
States decided that the Baron title was a forgery. 
The quicksilver claim of Justos Larios had not 
been heard, and this left this property of immense 
value belonging either to the Government or to 
the quicksilver company. A contract was made 
between the Government and the quicksilver 
compan}', by which a possession might be taken, 
which should be joint as between the Government 
and said mining companj-, and Mr. Swett was 
appointed by President Lincoln to go to California 
and acquire this joint possession, it being under- 
stood that he would offer the Barons one million 
dollars for their improvements. It was also a con- 
dition of this agreement that the proceeds of the 
mine should be deposited in the mint at San Fran- 
cisco until the termination of the litigation between 
the Government and the Quicksilver Mining Com- 
pany. He went to" California, arriving there 
May 19, 1863, and leaving September 14, having, 
by aid of the courts and negotiations, secured the 
possession of the mine. Although Mr. Swett 
maintained a large office at Chicago, he, occasion- 
ally, at home and abroad, defended persons from 
criminal accusations, when the defense presented 
something attractive. In the vindication of honor, 
or if, upon the common frailty of the race, an act 
was done, he was a most accomplished and effect- 
ive advocate for the accused. He dealt, like a 



12 



LEONARD SWETT. 



mental philosopher, with the purposes of the 
mind of the accused, and revealed to the compre- 
hension of the court and jury the mysterious in- 
fluences which produced the act of the party. 
He tried the will, purpose and intent, and not the 
mere physical act upon which the charge was 
founded. His mind delighted in the beautiful 
philosophy of the law; he dealt with its spirit, not 
with its letter. In this manner, in thirty-six 
years, he defended twenty men for murder, en- 
tirely clearing eighteen and two escaping with 
light punishment in the penitentiary. 

He was called out of the city in criminal cases 
from Hartford, Connecticut, to defend the officers 
of the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company for 
conspiracy; to Denver, where, with Hon. Thomas 
Patterson, he defended Stickney, who shot a man 
in a fit of jealousy, killing also a young and at- 
tractive woman; and to Yankton, where he de- 
fended Wintermute for the killing of McCook. 

His style in a trial was simply the abnegation 
of every consideration except winning that case. 
To this he sacrificed everything. His style of 
speaking was earnest and convincing. He was 
the Chicago counsel for the Union Mutual Life 
Insurance Company, of Maine, and distinguished 
himself by gaining a suit for that company against 
the Chicago University, which had become fa- 
mous in the legal reports for its knotty problems 
of law and equity. 

On the 2ist of June, 1888, he made the nom- 
inating speech for Walter Q. Gresham for Presi- 
dent of the United States. Mr. Swett's address 
was an independent utterance, touching in an 
extremely effective manner the salient qualities 
of the individual eulogized, and also those points 
in his public career which "had brought him so 
prominently before the people as a possible presi- 
dential candidate. 

In private life Mr. Swett was a man of social 
disposition and strong attachments. He was a 
pleasant companion and a warm and steadfast 
friend, and was generous almost to a fault. His 
nature was kind, genial and sympathetic, and his 
social intercourse was enlivened by so many gen- 
erous and endearing qualities, that it won for him 
the affectionate regard of those who knew him 



intimately to an extraordinary degree. In person 
he was imposing; six feet two inches in height, 
and weighing, when in health, two hundred and 
twenty-five pounds or more. He possessed a 
strong face, with heavy, bushy, black eyebrows, 
over-hanging deep-set brown eyes, sparkling and 
brilliant, but kindly withal. An expansive, in- 
tellectual forehead betokened his strength of 
character. His voice was extremely rich and 
musical, and always pleasant to listen to. 

The Chicago Bar, by Frank B. Wilkie, said of 
him the following: 

" As a speaker he had few or no superiors at 
the bar. He required scarcely any preparation to 
make a speech on any subject. He saw a case 
clearly, and had the faculty of presenting it with 
equal clearness. He had that tendency toward 
amplification found in all true orators, and by 
whose aid he presented a single point in so many 
salient aspects, that it became as apparent as sun- 
light to his auditory. This ability to not only 
clearly present a point, but to restate it and reit- 
erate it under a slightly changed form up to a 
boundary where it becomes thoroughly under- 
stood, and yet, which is not carried beyond into 
the region of verbosity and tiresome and useless 
reiteration, is one of a high order, and it is one 
which Mr. Swett seemed to possess to perfection. 
Its due and judicious exercise requires an accur- 
ate knowledge of the men whom it is employed 
upon, and the precise ideas and illustrations which 
are demanded by their comprehension. Mr. Swett 
had all these qualities, and the additional one of 
being an excellent logician and an admirable 
manager, who thus not only knew what should 
be presented, but the very best form in which the 
presentation should be made. 

"Possibly the not least remarkable feature of 
his oratorical power was his ability to employ 
pathos. Herein, when occasion required, he rose 
to a most effective level. He was both rhetorical 
and natural in this direction, the former being to 
some extent a sequence to the latter, in that he 
felt what he said, and therein, as usually happens, 
was eloquent. He was exceedingly happy in the 
use of this powerful element. When in this mood 
he smote the rock of men's hidden emotions, and 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




F. FRANK F. HENNING 



F. F. HENNING. 



obediently as in the case of Moses, the waters 
gushed forth in response to the summons. From 
the possession of this subtle power to touch ef- 
fectively men's emotional natures, Mr. Swett had 
what the world would suspect from seeing him, 
and that was a powerful element of poetry in his 
character. This was true; and its existence was 
not only the source of his power to touch the 
hearts of others, but it refined his nature and 
gave him a chivalry that exhibited itself in a lofty 
regard for women, an integrity in business mat- 



ters that could not be disturbed, and a kindly con- 
sideration that leavened all his intercourse with 
others. In fine, the poetical quality, while it in- 
troduced no element of effeminacy in his char- 
acter, while it did not detract from his masculine 
vigor or interfere with his comprehensive ability, 
softened his naturally rugged make-up, and gave 
him an efficient refinement. ' ' Leonard Swett was 
one of nature's noblemen, and worthy to be re- 
membered as Abraham Lincoln's most trusted 
friend. 



FRANK F. HENNING. 



f~RANK F. HENNING, President of the 
rft German-American Hospital, of Chicago, 
I has been connected with business interests 
and philanthropic institutions in that city for a 
third of a century. He was born May 3, 1840, 
in the city of Gransee, Germany, and is the 
eldest son of Frederick and Henriette (Kanow) 
Henning. The family is of Swiss descent, the an- 
cestors having left Switzerland about 1780, on 
account of religious persecutions. 

Frederick Henning and his wife were natives 
of the same part of Germany as their son, Frank 
F. He was by trade a harness-maker, but later 
cultivated a farm and, about 1848, decided to 
emigrate to America, but as his father objected, 
he went into the country and bought a farm, 
which he conducted until he came to the United 
States. In 1855, the parents, with six children, 
sailed from Bremen on the sailing ship ' 'Othien, ' ' 
and five weeks later landed at New York. They 
came to Chicago, and after remaining a week, re- 
moved to Port Washington, Wisconsin. 

They finally settled about six miles from Mani- 
towoc, Wisconsin, where Frederick Henning 
bought one hundred sixty acres of timber land, 
which he cleared, and cultivated several years. 
He is now living retired in Manitowoc. Of his 
ten children six were born in the Fatherland and 
four in Wisconsin. Only five of these are now 



living, namely: Frank F. , the eldest; Paulina, 
now Mrs. Schroeder; Henrietta, wife of George 
Bodmer, of Chicago; Emma and Matilda. The 
mother died in 1893, aged eighty-four years, and 
the father has reached the age of eighty-six 
years. 

Frank F. Henning was reared on his father's 
farm and educated in the common schools of his 
native city. In 1859 he left home, with only one 
dollar in his pocket to make his own way in the 
world. He worked at loading a cargo on a 
vessel at Monitowoc and unloading it at Chicago, 
to pay his passage to the latter city. From there 
he walked to Morris, Illinois, a distance of sixty 
miles, where he found employment on a farm at 
eight dollars a month. Here he attended school 
during the winter of 1859-1860. July 28, 1861, 
he enlisted at Aurora, for three years, in the 
Union Army, and was mustered September i2th 
of that year, in the Thirty-sixth Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry, Company D. His regiment was 
assigned to the Western Division, and saw hard 
service in Missouri and Arkansas, and he par- 
ticipated in all the engagements where his regi- 
ment acted. Mr. Henning's first engagement 
was at Pea Ridge, and he was wounded at the 
battle of Stone River in the foot, head and right 
hip. He was taken, more dead than alive, to 
the field hospital, and after the wounds were 



F. F. HENNING. 



dressed, he was sent to the hospital at Nashville. 
From here he was sent to' Cincinnati, and was 
discharged in July, 1863, for disability. 

Upon his discharge he returned to his home in 
Wisconsin, where he remained until the early 
spring of 1864, and since that time has been a 
resident of the city of Chicago. He found em- 
ployment with Lohn & Koenig, for a time, in 
gluing chairs; then as salesman and bookkeeper, 
and in 1867 he bought a quarter interest in the 
business, the firm then becoming Koenig, Hen- 
ning & Gamer. Their business was located at 
Nos. 48 and 50 Fifth Avenue, where the fire of 
1871 wiped them out, and left them with a debt 
of twenty-five thousand dollars, which was the 
amount of insurance they carried, but they were 
able to obtain only six thousand dollars therefrom. 

Immediately after the fire the firm built a 
furniture factory, and in a year and a-halfpaid- 
their liabilities. Mr. Henning remained a mem- 
ber of this firm until the spring of 1881 . About 
1878 a German Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion was organized, of which Mr. Henning be- 
came president; its members visited hospitals, 
jails and poorhouses. Being of a sympathetic 
nature, Mr. Henning became interested in the 
sufferings of humanity and their alleviation, and 
decided to devote the remainder of his life to philan- 
thropic work. He had acquired a comfortable 
competence, and when he retired from manu- 
facturing, in December, 1883, he secured the in- 
corporation of the German Hospital, and in 1884 
it was opened in a building owned by Mr. Hen- 
ning. Most of the funds for the foundation of 
this institution were raised by Mr. Henning, who 
was its president. It was located at No. 242 
Lincoln Avenue, where he donated two years' 
rent. The present site of this hospital was pur- 
chased in 1886, Mr. Henning advancing three 
thousand dollars for the first payment, and a year 
later nine thousand dollars for building purposes. 
Its generous benefactor was president until 1896, 
when he resigned and withdrew, on account of 
differences of opinion among some of the directors 
and physicians. 

The hospital had accumulated property worth 
sixty thousand dollars, with an endowment fund 



of twenty-one thousand dollars, and for thirteen 
years Mr. Henning had devoted his time and 
energy to it, with no compensation in money. 
In 1886 he organized a deaconess' society for the 
purpose of procuring trained nurses, and failing 
to get enough in this way, they branched out and 
erected a large building for a nurses' training 
school, which is now used as the German-Ameri- 
can Hospital. Nurses have received two years' 
training when they graduate from this institution, 
and about fifty nurses have been graduated. 
Thus this institution is not only a hospital, but a 
training school for nurses. The noble founder 
cared not for honor or glory to himself in this 
good work, but found his compensation in the 
lives made happier and better, and the benefit of 
his fellow-creatures from the results of his time 
and study. 

In 1893 Mr. Henning was one of the prime 
movers in organizing the Bethesda Industrial 
Home, at Morton Grove, Cook County, Illinois, 
for the aged, infirm and helpless. In 1894, a 
printing office was established at the home to 
assist in defraying the expenses. This has 
proved a success, and there are now two monthly 
papers issued from it. Mr. Henning has ever 
since been connected with its management. 
Though he is a firm supporter of Republican 
principles, he could never be induced to accept 
office for himself. 

He has been twice married. June 28, 1866, he 
wedded Miss Dorothy Gamus, a native of Han- 
over, Germany, and they had six children, of 
whom three are living, namely: Frank, Arthur, 
and Oswald. The mother died in 1881. Febru- 
ary 28, 1883, he was united in marriage with 
Miss Emily Buerstatte, daughter of Henry and 
Maria (Meister) Buerstatte. She was born in 
Manitowoc, Wisconsin. They have three chil- 
dren, Meta, Laura, and Walter. Mr. Henning 
has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, 
and is known for his good works in all parts of 
the great metropolis. His example is worthy of 
study and emulation, and he is honored and 
admired by all. He has been connected with the 
Chicago Avenue Church (Moody's) a number of 
years. 



HERMANN RENDTORFF. 



HERMANN RENDTORFF. 



HERMANN RENDTORFF, an enterprising 
German-American citizen, has been identi- 
fied with Chicago for over thirty years. He 
was born August 6, 1843, in Sauk City, Sauk 
County, Wisconsin, being a son of Edmund and 
Henrietta (Graepel) Rendtorff, both of whom 
were natives of Hamburg, Germany. 

Edmund Rendtorff came to the United States 
in 1838. He was highly educated in his native 
tongue, as well as in three other languages, and 
was employed as correspondent and general office 
man. On coming to this country he worked on a 
farm in Illinois for a short time, and then went 
to Wisconsin. He was among the first settlers 
of Sauk City, and for some time was employed 
as clerk on a steamboat on the Rock River. He 
made a pre-emption claim to government land in 
Sauk County, and was able to buy eighty acres of 
it when it came into market. His education and 
ability fitted him for activity in the management 
of public affairs, and he soon became prominent 
in the county, being its first treasurer. 

He had been engaged to Miss Graepel before 
leaving Germany. In 1842. she came to America, 
and upon her arrival in New York they were 
married and settled upon his land, where he con- 
tinued farming for seven years. In 1847 he went 
to St. Louis as bookkeeper for Childs & Com- 
. pany, wholesale grocery dealers in that city. At 
the end of six years he returned to Sauk City and 
conducted a grocery store there for a period of 
twenty-five years. Mrs. Rendtorff died in 1889, 
at the age of seventy years, and her husband sur- 
vived until 1892, reaching the good age of sev- 
enty-six years. All of their six children grew to 
maturity, the eldest being him whose name heads 
this article. The second, J. Christian Rendtorff, 
resides on North Avenue, in Chicago. Susanna 
is the wife of F. A. Oswald, of the same city. 



Johanna is the next in order of birth. Emma, 
Mrs. Theodore Krueger, is also a resident of 
Chicago; and Richard O. is deceased. 

Hermann Rendtorff had but limited opportuni- 
ties for education. He was reared on the farm 
and attended school only during the winter 
months. He remained with his parents until he 
reached the age of eighteen years, and might have 
continued longer but for the outbreak of hos- 
tilities between the North and the South in 1861. 
He was filled with patriotic love for the land of 
his birth, and on the I4th of September, 1861, 
having just completed the eighteenth year of his 
age, he enlisted as a soldier in Company D, Ninth 
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He bore an active 
part in all the engagements in which his regi- 
ment participated, and was wounded in the right 
thigh by a bullet at the battle of Newtonia, Mis- 
souri, in September, 1863. He spent three months 
in hospitals at Fort Scott and Fort Leaven worth, 
Kansas, and still carries in his flesh the bullet 
which caused his injury. On his recovery he 
rejoined his regiment, with which he continued 
until honorably discharged at the close of his 
period of enlistment, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 
December 4, 1864. 

He returned to his native place and remained 
until February 20, 1865, on which date he became 
a resident of Chicago. He entered the employ of 
Ressing, Inderrieden & Company, wholesale and 
retail grocers, with whom he remained two years. 
At the end of this time he entered into partner- 
ship with G. E. Roscher, in a retail grocery 
store at No. 206 North Clark Street, and two 
years later sold out to his partner. 

He now entered the hardware establishment 
of his brother : in-law, Mr. Oswald, at Nos. 
139 and 141 Milwaukee Avenue, and rapidly 
mastered the business. At the end of one year he 



i6 



PETER JACKSON. 



formed a partnership with Mr. Oswald, and they 
opened a store on the corner of Lake and Halsted 
Streets, under the firm name of Rendtorff & 
Oswald. This connection lasted only a few 
years, and Mr. Rendtorff removed to the North 
Side and established an independent business on 
North Avenue. Two years later he purchased 
property on the corner of North Avenue and 
Mohawk Street, consisting of four lots and build- 
ings, whither he removed his stock and contin- 
ued business. In 1 880 he added the manufacture 
of stove- boards, which he carried on in connec- 
tion with his hardware store. In the year 1883 
he formed a partnership with his brother, J. 
Christian Rendtorff, and they opened two stores, 
one being at No. 154 North Avenue, and the 
other at No. 700 Lincoln Avenue. Their brother, 
Richard Otto, had charge of the former, and 
after his death they sold the Lincoln Avenue 
store. 

In 1883 Mr. Rendtorff felt that he had earned 
a vacation, and sailed for Europe in that year, 
spending thirteen months in visiting England, 
Ireland, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, 
Holland, Italy and Germany. On his return he 
opened a jobbing house in stoves, at No. 16 Lake 
Street, which he conducted until 1896, and then 
sold out. In 1894, when Mr. Rendtorff began 
building the present block at the corner of North 
Avenue and Mohawk Street, the stock was 
removed to No. 1 54 North Avenue, now conducted 



by his brother, J. Christian, who owns it, the 
partnership having been dissolved by mutual con- 
sent in 1896. 

Mr. Rendtorff has continued the manufacture 
of stove-boards since he first established it, and 
is now extensively engaged in the manufacture of 
a patent milk -pail with a detachable strainer, and 
a patent split-lock stove-pipe elbow. At present 
he is giving all his attention to his manufacturing 
interests, which are rapidly growing under his 
prudent and energetic management. Thirty-five 
men are employed in this business, and the 
products are shipped to nearly every state in the 
Union. His long business career in Chicago has 
made him a wide acquaintance, and firmly estab- 
lished his reputation as an upright and fair deal- 
ing business man. 

September 8, 1875, Mr. Rendtorff was married 
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Miss Ida Stuetze, a 
native of that city. Though not connected with 
any religious organization, Mr. Rendtorff is a 
supporter of all good works, and feels a keen in- 
terest in the moral, social and material welfare of 
the community in which he resides. His first pres- 
idential vote was cast in Little Rock, Arkansas, 
in 1864, for Abraham Lincoln, and he has since 
supported the candidates of the Republican party. 
He is a member of Hancock Post, No. 560, 
Grand Army of the Republic, and is highly 
esteemed by all classes of citizens because of his 
genial manner and manly worth. 



PETER JACKSON. 



POSTER JACKSON, who is an old settler iii 
LX Chicago, having lived here since 1870, was 
|*3* born in September, 1852, in County Carlow, 
Ireland, and is a son of William and Mary 
(Wynne) Jackson, natives of that country. He 
received his early education in his native land, 



and improved his opportunities for advancement 
in that country, but he was an ambitious youth 
and not satisfied with his prospects there, so de- 
cided to come to the new world. 

Previous to the age of eighteen years he emi- 
grated to the United States, coming direct to 



T. L. KRAMER. 



the "City by the Lake," which has since been 
his residence. His brother James came to Chi- 
cago and remained a short time, and another 
brother, William J. , emigrated later, and located 
in New York City, where he still resides. He 
was formerly employed as a buyer by A. T. 
Stewart. 

Peter Jackson realized the advantage of contin- 
uing at one trade through life, and accordingly 
satisfied himself of his abilities for his life work 
before beginning it. He decided to enter the 
employ of a railroad corporation, and he was 
compelled to begin with a small salary and a place 
at the bottom round of the ladder. By his care- 
ful study and attention to details, and his perse- 
verance, he was able to advance to the responsi- 



ble position of conductor, which position he held 
for about eight years. He is now a stationary 
engineer, and has the confidence and esteem of 
his associates and fellow-citizens. 

December 31, 1874, Mr. Jackson married Mary 
Josephine Kilcran, a daughter of Frank Kilcran, 
whose biography may be found on another page 
of this book. They had eight children, six of 
whom are living, namely: William, Mary, Sarah, 
Jane, Frank and Ellen. Mr. Jackson, as well as 
his parents and relatives in Ireland, are members 
of the Episcopal Church. He is a true and loyal 
citizen of the United States, and takes an interest 
in the affairs of the country. In national politi- 
cal matters he is a Republican, but is independ- 
ent in local politics. 



THEODORE L, KRAMER. 



'HEODORE LALUCK KRAMER, a veter- 
an of the Civil War, was born December 9, 
1846, in Towanda, Bradford County, Penn- 
sylvania, and is of German descent. His grand- 
father, Abram Kramer, left Germany on account 
of political trouble and his property was confis- 
cated by the German Government. 

Albert M. Kramer, father of Theodore, was 
born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, about 
1822, and was a machinist for many years in 
Towanda. He died at the age of sixty years, in 
Ulster, in the same State. His wife, Carolina 
Long, was a native of Fairmont, Luzerne County, 
in that State, and was a daughter of Abram Long, 
a farmer. She died about the year 1850, in To- 
wanda. 

Their son, Theodore L. Kramer, attended the 
public schools of Towanda until he reached the 
age of fourteen years, when he began work as an 
iron moulder. Before the completion of his six- 
teenth year he enlisted, September i, 1862, in a 



militia regiment called to oppose the invasion of 
Maryland by General Lee in that month. He 
served thirty days at this time, and again for a 
like period in the following year, when Pennsyl- 
vania was invaded. 

In December, 1863, he joined the One Hundred 
Fifty-second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, which 
was stationed at [Fortress Monroe. On the 
ist of February following, the One Hundred 
Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry was formed 
from volunteers from the One Hundred Fifty- 
second Artillery, and Mr. Kramer was among 
these, and was assigned to Company G. The 
regiment became a part of the Eighteenth Corps, 
under Gen. "Baldy" Smith, in the Army of 
the James. The Tenth and Eighteenth Corps 
were subsequently consolidated and made the 
Twenty-fourth Corps. Mr. Kramer was dis- 
charged, with his company and regiment, Decem- 
ber 14, 1865, at City Point, Virginia. 

During his service he participated in the follow- 



i8 



T. L. KRAMER. 



ing battles and skirmishes: Gettysburg, in Penn- 
sylvania; Swift Creek and Proctor's Creek, Dru- 
ry's Bluff, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Cold Har- 
bor, Assault of Petersburg, June 18, 1864, Mine 
Explosion, July 30, 1864, Chapin's Farm and 
Assault of Fort Harrison, Sailor's Creek and 
Appomattox Court House, where Lee surren- 
dered, in Virginia. 

In the assault on Fort Harrison at Chapin's 
Farm, September 28, 1864, Mr. Kramer distin- 
guished himself in a manner which won the ap- 
plause of all who witnessed his action, including 
several field officers, and gained the thanks of 
Congress, whose approval was made apparent by 
conferring upon him a beautiful bronze medal. 
The assaulting column, commanded by Gen. E. 
O. C. Ord, was obliged to march one and one- 
fourth miles in the face of a heavy artillery fire, 
and the colors of the One Hundred Eighty-eighth 
went down five times. On the fifth fall, young 
Kramer ran forward, seized the flag and carried it 
to the fort, where he turned it over to one of the 
regular color guard. When the fort was reached 
Kramer was the first to mount the wall, and 
seized the standard of a Texas infantry regiment, 
which formed a part of the garrison . He was at 
once made the target of every rifle within the fort 
which could be brought to bear upon him, and 
four bullets pierced his blouse. On looking 
around he discovered that not a single comrade 
had followed his lead, and he at once threw him- 
self down and, taking the captured flag along, 
rolled back into the moat surrounding the fort, 
which was at the time dry and afforded shelter to 
the Union troops, as the guns could not be trained 
low enough to molest them. 

In a few moments they made a united attack 
upon the fort, during which Private Kramer cap- 
tured a lieutenant-colonel. The latter fired one 
cartridge point blank at his captor, but missed, 
and before he could again raise the hammer of 
his pistol Kramer's musket was pressed against 
his breast and he surrendered. For these brave 
acts, which were witnessed by General Ord, Kra- 
mer was recommended for gallantry to the War 
Department, and received the "Medal of Honor" 
with a letter of transmittal, as follows ; 



WAR DEPARTMENT, 
ADJUTANT GENERAI/S OFFICE, 

Washington, March 29, 1865. 



Sir. 



Herewith I enclose the Medal of Honor, which 
has been awarded you by the Secretary of War, 
under the Resolutions of Congress, approved July 
12, 1862, "to provide for the presentation of 
Medals of Honor to the enlisted men of the army 
and volunteer forces who have distinguished or 
may distinguish themselves in battle during the 
present rebellion." 

Please acknowledge the receipt of it. 
Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

E. D. TOWNSEND, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 
Private Theo. Kramer, 

Company G, i88th Penna. Vols. 

On the reverse of this medal is inscribed: 

THE CONGRESS 
to 

PRIVATE THEODORE KRAMER, 

Co. G, 
1 88th PENNA. VOLS. 

On the evening of September 28, 1864, follow- 
ing the capture of Fort Harrison, Kramer was 
one of the party of one hundred men sent by 
General Ord to occupy a redoubt on the James 
River. They were attacked by infantry in front, 
while the enemy's gunboats kept up a fire in the 
rear, from the river, and were all captured except 
Kramer and one other, who escaped at great risk. 
Thus was completed a day of most exciting and 
important events in the career of Mr. Kramer. 

After the close of the war, Mr. Kramer came to 
Chicago and was employed as an iron moulder 
until 1 880, when he was appointed a letter carrier, 
through the influence of Gen. John A. Logan, 
and has continued in that occupation ever since. 
He is a member of George H. Thomas Post, No. 
5, Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics 
has always been a Republican. In 1875 he was 



C. T. WHEELER. 



made a Mason in Kilwinnig Lodge, No. 311, of 
Chicago, and in 1878 was exalted to the supreme 
degree of Royal Arch Masonry, in Sandwich 
Chapter, No. 107, of Sandwich, Illinois. 

In January, 1875, Mr. Kramer was married to 
Miss Ida E. Vosburgh, of Chicago, a daughter of 
Hiram A. Vosburgh, a painter of Janesville, Wis- 



consin, where she was born. Her mother was 
Sabra Doty, a member of a family prominent in 
that place. Four sons and three daughters have 
blessed the union, namely: Roy M., Carlisle L., 
Albert J., Jessie J., John A., Clara V. and Hazel 
L. Mr. Kramer lives at No. 930 North Hoyne 
Avenue in a pleasant home of his own. 



CALVIN T. WHEELER. 



QALVIN THATCHER WHEELER. Among 
I C the old-time merchants and bankers of Chi- 
\J cago who, by their firmness of character and 
honesty of purpose, left the impress of integrity 
in the volumes of unwritten history of our great 
metropolis and reflected the beacon" light of our 
commercial stability over the whole world, we 
must count him whose name heads this article. 

Mr. Wheeler was born in West Galway, New 
York, and is a son of Luther and Mary (Belts) 
Wheeler. His grandfather, Silas Wheeler, and 
two brothers went from Massachusetts to Fulton 
County, New York, and eventually removed to 
Steuben County, in the same State, where a town 
was named after them. They were known by the 
people in the neighboring section for their thrift, 
honor and fidelity. 

Luther Wheeler was by trade a builder. He 
was a good citizen, who was honored and respect- 
ed by all classes. In his old age, he and his wife 
removed to Amsterdam, New York, and here 
they died nearly at the same time, both at about 
the age of eighty years. Mrs. Wheeler was a 
devout Presbyterian, being an active member of 
the Church, and was the mother of five sons and 
three daughters. Her father, Isaiah Belts, was 
a lieutenant in the Revolutionary army. 

Calvin T. Wheeler received his primary educa- 
lion in Ihe common schools of New York and Il- 



linois. He left New York al Ihe age of len years, 
in Ihe company of his uncle, Dr. J. T. Belts, who 
practiced his profession in Kaskaskia, Illinois, 
where he sellled in 1818, being one of Ihe pioneer 
physicians of the Slate. He hoped to make a 
physician of Calvin T. Wheeler, but even al that 
early age his nephew had a tasle for active busi- 
ness life, and refused his uncle's offer to give him 
a college education. Instead, he entered his un- 
cle's store as a clerk. While al Kaskaskia he 
altended school, and profited by the instruction of 
Professor Loomis, a famous scholar and an honored 
man. Kaskaskia was at that time the social cen- 
ter of Ihe State, and many of the most prominent 
men in Illinois were located there. His associa- 
tions among Ihe people of Ihis town exerted a 
life-long influence on Ihe career of Mr. Wheeler, 
and his memory to-day is replete with pleasant 
recollections of his early life in Ihe capital of 
Illinois. 

In the flood of 1844 the waters of the Kaskas- 
kia and Mississippi Rivers rose lo such a height 
thai Ihe nuns, teachers and pupils of the Convent 
of the Sacred Heart, built by Pierre Menard, had 
lo be rescued in boats and removed to Saint Louis, 
where the convent now flourishes. Six months 
previous to the flood Mr. Wheeler had removed 
to Pekin, below Peoria, Illinois, where he was 
engaged in business. From there he removed to 



2O 



J. A. ERICKSON. 



Saint Louis, where he secured a position as 
clerk in the banking house of Clark & Milton- 
berger. 

In 1850 he took a trip to California, going to 
New Orleans, and continuing the journey on a 
large steamboat called the ' 'Georgia, ' ' which was, 
according to custom in those days, commanded 
by a naval officer, to Chagres, Central America. 
The passengers were taken up the Chagres 
River in canoes to the head of navigation. From 
there they made their way over the mountains to 
the Pacific coast, where they took a sailing vessel 
at Panama, bound for San Francisco. The 
journey lasted sixty days, and when Mr. Wheeler 
arrived at the Golden Gate he at once set out for 
the gold mines, by way of Sacramento. He en- 
gaged in mining, and for a time was successful. 
Then he sold out his interest and returned to Saint 
Louis, where T. J. S. Flint made him a proposi- 
tion to come to Chicago and open a commission 
office under the name of Flint & Wheeler. He 
did so, and the office was located near the Wells 



Street bridge, their grain elevators being situated 
on the South Branch of the Chicago River, where 
the Rock Island elevators now stand. 

Mr. Wheeler continued in the commission bus- 
iness until he engaged in banking, in connection 
with the firm of Chapin, Wheeler & Company, 
which was located on the corner of Lake and 
LaSalle Streets. After two years they transferred 
their interests to W. F. Coolbaugh & Company. 
This was just previous to the war, when the so- 
called stump-tailed money was in circulation. 

During the war Mr. Wheeler re-entered the 
grain commission trade. When the Union Na- 
tional Bank was organized, he was chosen First 
Vice-President, and after the death of Mr. Will- 
aim F. Coolbaugh he was elected president of 
the bank. He continued in that capacity nearly 
four years, at the end of which time he resigned 
and organized the Continental National Bank. 
He was president of this five years, and then re- 
tired from business cares, at the close of a useful 
and influential career. 



JOHN A. ERICKSON. 



(JOHN ALFRED ERICKSON, a contractor 
I and builder, who resides in South Chicago, 
C/ was born December 8, 1844, near Gutten- 
burg, Sweden, and is a son of Eric Peterson and 
Ella (Johnson) Peterson. He received his edu- 
cation in his native country, and when he was 
old enough, found employment at farm labor in 
the region near his home. He was thus engaged 
until 1870, when he married and settled in Lind- 
holmen, near Guttenburg, where he became a 
carpenter in a ship-yard. He remained here 
from that time until 1881, and learned all the de- 
tails of ship building, being able to construct an 
entire vessel. He then emigrated to America 
and settled in South Chicago. 



On his arrival in this city he found employ- 
ment as a carpenter, and because of his ability 
and training he has followed this trade most suc- 
cessfully. He soon engaged in contracting, and 
has erected many buildings in South Chicago, the 
first one being a residence for John Danielson, a 
clothier, at Hoegswis, Illinois. 

He was married October 30, 1870, to Miss 
Louisa Larson, who is now visiting her relatives 
and friends in Sweden. They have one child, 
Charles Erickson. While Mr. Erickson has 
learned to love the country of his adoption, he 
still remembers the friends and associations of his 
native country, and in 1894 he visited the scenes 
of his boyhood, where his father, aged eighty- 



THOMAS CARBINE. 



21 



five years, yet resides. He is a member of the 
Swedish Lutheran Church. 

On coming to South Chicago, Mr. Erickson 
bought a lot at No. 8944 Houston Avenue, and 
built a small house, where he resided until 1894, 
and then erected a three-story brick building, at 
a cost of seven thousand dollars. He has kept 
his place in good repair, and has the finest prop- 
erty in the neighborhood. 



Mr. Erickson has reached his present prosper- 
ity through his tireless energy and careful study 
of all work going on in his sight. When in the 
ship-yard at Guttenburg, he formed the habit of 
learning the details of all that came under his 
observation, and has always improved his other 
opportunities in the same way. He has thus won 
the respect and confidence of his patrons and as- 
sociates. 



THOMAS CARBINE. 



"HOMAS CARBINE, an inventor, who re- 
sides in Chicago, was born October 22, 1819, 
in Manchester, England. The family were 
well and favorably known in that country for 
many generations, some being in the army, and 
some being merchants. The grandfather of 
Thomas Carbine, James Carbine, was a native of 
England, and went to Jamaica on commercial 
business, and there made his home thereafter. He 
married there, and reared a large family of chil- 
dren, one son being lost on the "Royal George." 

His son James became a soldier, and for forty- 
one years was an officer in the British Army. He 
was an aide of the Duke of Wellington at Water- 
loo and other battles. He was near the Duke 
when he gave the famous order, "Advance the 
guards," in a calm voice, and later when he 
uttered the world-famed words, "Would to God 
that night or Bluecher would come," He often 
told the history of battles in which he had par- 
ticipated to his children, and Thomas Carbine, 
whose name heads this article, can relate them in 
a most interesting manner. Captain Carbine was 
retired on full pay, whereupon he bought a fine 
black charger which he rode for twenty-one 
years, and the noble animal died at the age of 
thirty years. 

Captain Carbine was married in Manchester, 



England, where he died at the age of nearly 
eighty years. His wife had been a teacher in a 
private seminary. She was the mother of ten 
sons and died in Manchester, aged seventy- 
six years. Thomas Carbine was the only one of 
the children to come to America. 

Thomas Carbine was educated in Manchester, 
and learned the trade of carpenter, and being 
skillful as a mechanic he became an expert mill- 
wright in America, where he constructed some im- 
portant work in this line. He came to the 
United States in 1840, being six weeks on the 
journey. He located in Utica, Oneida County, 
New York, which was then only a country 
village, and remained there twelve years. He 
came to Chicago in 1853, and in 1856 sold his 
home in Utica and removed his family to Chicago. 
Here he followed the bent of his inventive genius, 
and took care of his real-estate interests, having 
interested himself in property in the city. 

While in Utica Mr. Carbine was able to render 
some valuable assistance to the New York Central 
Railroad Company, which paid him generously, 
and has since given him free transportation. He 
used the money received to purchase a lot and 
build his residence. Mr. Carbine invented a 
machine for winding balls of yarn without a 
bobbin, for which he received a royalty of five 



22 



A. H. PERKINS. 



thousand dollars, which he judiciously invested 
in real estate in 1855. This formed the nucleus 
of the prosperity which enabled him to retire 
from the cares of business life, and spend the 
latter part of his life in peace and comfort. He 
also invented a process by which kerosene oil is 
converted into a gas which may be used for heat- 
ing purposes. The latter invention he never 
patented, and humanity will receive the free gift 
of his labors in this way. 

Mr. Carbine was married in Manchester, 
England, August 5, 1838, to Miss Sarah Brad- 
bury, daughter of John and Frances Bradbury, 
natives of England. She was born January 3, 
1819, in the city where the marriage took place. 
The two children now living are: Mary F. C. 
and Charlotte E. P. Mary is the wife of 



Frederich Bluhm, and Charlotte of James New- 
brun. The latter has three children, namely: 
Sadie, wife of Edward E. Reading; Arthur C. 
and James C. Mr. and Mrs. Carbine are mem- 
bers of the Episcopal Church. 

For thirty-six years the former has been a mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
and he is also connected with the Independent 
Order of Recceabites, an order of total abstinence. 
In his political views he is independent, and is a 
good example of Chicago's substantial citizens. 
In 1888 he and his wife celebrated their golden 
wedding, and received a gold medal from the 
German Old Settlers' Society for being the oldest 
non-German couple on the picnic ground, their 
combined ages amounting to one hundred fifty- 
seven years. 



AMOS H. PERKINS. 



Gl MOS HENRY PERKINS was born in Nor- 
J I wich, Connecticut, July 26, 1836, and was 
/ I one of five children, three boys and two 
girls. He was the son of Isaac and Nancy N. 
(Allen) Perkins, and a direct descendant of 
Miles Standish on his mother's side. Isaac 
Perkins was a carpenter and builder, but died 
when Amos was but ten years old. 

The subject of this biography learned his 
father's trade, but followed it for only a short 
time. He was educated in his native place, and 
at the age of twenty came to Chicago, and soon 
afterward began taking contracts for paving, lay- 
ing sidewalks and roofing. Mr. Perkins was a 
man of more than average intelligence, and 
became a shrewd, careful and successful business 
man. He was one of the contractors who con- 
structed La Salle Street tunnel. He continued 
to be a large contractor in cedar blocks, asphalt 
pavements and Portland cement walks, having 



had contracts for this in most of the large cities 
in the country. During the war he was a heavy 
dealer in tar, and at one time controlled nearly 
all of that product manufactured in the United 
States. 

Mr. Perkins was married July 20, 1874, to 
Miss May, daughter of John and .Mary (De For- 
est) Tristram, of Norwalk, Connecticut. They 
had four children, Emery B., Lorenzo B., Mrs. 
Nellie M. Harris and Mrs. Jennie C. Brown, the 
latter being deceased. 

Mr. Perkins attended Dr. Hillis' church at 
Central Music Hall, and he was an exemplary 
citizen and a good man. In his sphere he con- 
tributed in no small degree toward making Chi- 
cago the western metropolis of the United States. 
He was widely known in the West, East and 
South, and was beloved by all who came within 
reach of his magnetic and benevolent influence. 
He was the originator of the Western Paving 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




DR. JOHN O. HUGHES 



(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT) 



J. O. HUGHES. 



Supply Company, and although V. W. Foster 
was its president, he was its practical head and 
manager. - 

He was a member of Covenant Lodge, No. 526, 
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of 
Corinthian Chapter, No. 69, Royal Arch Masons. 
In politics he was a Republican. He died sud- 
denly, of apoplexy, at the age of sixty-one 
years, and at the time of his death was vice- 
president of the Western Paving Supply Com- 
pany. He had the universal respect of all 
representative elements of the city. Mrs. Perkins 
is an intellectual and accomplished woman and 



made for her husband the home which he prized 
so dearly, and which by her management always 
remained to him a haven of rest and comfort, 
where he ever found recreation from the cares of 
his ever-increasing business, and where he loved 
to entertain the friends who knew him best and 
loved him most. His was a most active and 
useful life, and although called away seemingly 
before his time, he accomplished much more than 
others do in a longer space of time, and, best of 
all, leaves to his posterity and friends an untar- 
nished name that will be remembered by future 
generations. 



JOHN O. HUGHES. 



HOHN OWEN HUGHES, M. D., who has an 
I extensive practice in Norwood Park and 
G/ vicinity, was born November 12, 1838, in 
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and is the second 
child of Owen and Catherine Hughes. Owen 
Hughes was for many years superintendent of a 
coal yard in that place, where he and his wife 
died. They were the parents of five children, 
only two of whom, John O. and Catherine, came 
to the West. The others are: Kirkpatrick, who 
died in Elizabeth, New Jersey; Catherine, a 
resident of Chicago; James, who has charge of the 
packing room of a rubber factory in New Bruns- 
wick, New Jersey; and Frank, superintendent of 
construction of boats in the Government^employ. 
John Owen Hughes became an orphan at an 
early age, and in his youth had very little educa- 
tion, being obliged to begin the battle of life when 
only a boy. His ambition was not satisfied by 
the employment he was able to find, and he 
wished for greater attainments than his limited 
opportunities for improvement had given him. 
He spent his leisure hours in study, and was thus 
able to obtain a teacher's certificate. He came 



to Chicago at the age of twenty, and taught in 
several parts of Illinois, occupying his spare mo- 
ments with the study of medicine. Thus his 
youth was spent in a struggle for advancement, 
and he formed habits of thought and application 
that have been retained in his after life. 

In 1862 Mr. Hughes enlisted in the One Hun- 
dred Third Illinois Volunteers, Company D, join- 
ing the Fifteenth Army Corps. This was the 
corps commanded by General Sherman, and with 
him Mr. Hughes continued until the close of the 
struggle. He was present in many important 
engagements, among them the Atlanta Campaign 
and the March to the Sea and through the Caro- 
linas. After Mr. Hughes had been with the 
army six months, he was placed in the medical 
department, where he remained, doing surgical 
work on the battlefield, such as dressing wounds 
temporarily, and preparing men for the operating 
board. 

At the close of the war Mr. Hughes entered 
Rush Medical College, and graduated in 1868, 
since which time he has practiced his profession. 
In 1873 he located in Norwood Park, which has 



F. W. PARKER. 



since been his place of residence. He acquired a 
large practice there and in neighboring villages, 
which has been principally attended to at his 
office for several years, and built a handsome 
residence in 1882. 

May 12, 1868, he married Mary V. Hartough, 
a native of Fairview, Fulton County, Illinois, 
and a daughter of Henry and Catherine (Vander- 
veer) Hartough, both of whom are natives of 
New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes had four 



children, namely: Frank, who was drowned at the 
age of fifteen years; Kate Hazeltine, who resides 
with her parents; Martha Lilian, who died when 
six years old; and Edwin, who lives at home. 
Mr. Hughes is a man of progressive ideas, of 
broad intellect, and feels a warm interest in the 
public welfare. He is a member of the American 
Reformed Church of Norwood Park, and a valiant 
supporter of the principles of the Republican 
party. 



FRANCIS W. PARKER. 



r~RANCIS WAYLAND PARKER, who car- 
fri ried the Cook County Normal School to a 
| ' high degree of usefulness and is known 
among educators all over the United States and 
in many parts of Europe, is still a student and is 
active in promoting the cause of primary educa- 
tion. Colonel Parker disclaims utterly all pre- 
tensions to having found any new methods or 
principles of education. His only claim has 
been and is that he is trying himself to study 
the great subject of education in its applica- 
tion in the common schools, and to lead other 
teachers to study this great subject. He has a 
firm and unalterable faith in the common school 
system; he believes that the common schools will 
be brought to a point of efficiency equal to the 
demands of this great Republic; that the salva- 
tion and perpetuity of the Republic depend upon 
the proper education of the children. 

Francis W. Parker was born October 9, 1837, 
in the village of Piscataquog, Town of Bedford, 
New Hampshire, which has since been swallowed 
up in the neighboring city of Manchester. 
Col. John Goff, one of the ancestors of the 
subject of this notice, was the first settler on the 
present site of Manchester, and several local 
names still preserve his memory. His son, 



Maj. John Goff, was an officer of the Revolution- 
ary army, and was the great-great-grandfather of 
Colonel Parker. Colonel John Goff was a famous 
hunter, was an officer at the siege of Louisburg, 
and active in the French and Indian war. Being 
too old to participate actively in the Revolution- 
ary struggle, he yet acted an important part in 
training Generals Sullivan and John Stark in 
military tactics and preparing them for the duties 
which they so well performed. The family of 
Goff is supposed to be closely allied to that of 
Goff the regicide, made famous by the pen of 
Sir Walter Scott. 

William Parker, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, was a drummer under Gen. John Stark 
at Bunker Hill, and served through the Revolu- 
tion as a soldier. He was founder of the village 
at the mouth of the river Piscataquog, called 
Squog by the people, where excellent rafting and 
harbor privileges were found for the navigators of 
the river Merrimac. 

Three ancestors of Colonel Parker, a Rand, a 
Goff and a Parker, were buried on Copp's Hill, 
the graveyard of the Old North Church in Bos- 
ton. All were members of Cotton Mather's 
church. His maternal grandfather, Jonathan 
Rand, was the first recorded teacher at Old Der- 



F. W. PARKER. 



ry field, now known as the city of Manchester. 
Ministers and teachers were numerous among the 
ancestors of Colonel Parker. His mother, Milly 
Rand, was a teacher, said to practice original 
methods with great success. Her grandfather 
was a graduate of Harvard College, a classmate 
of John Hancock, and many years librarian at 
Harvard. John, brother of Milly Rand, was a 
famous portrait painter and inventor of the me- 
tallic tube, now in general use, for holding paints 
and oils. 

Robert Parker, son of William, was a cabinet- 
maker, noted in the section where he lived for 
his excellent work. He was an ardent adherent 
of the Baptist faith, and named his son in honor 
of the famous Dr. Francis Wayland, president of 
Brown University. He died when this son was 
but six years of age. 

The latter attended the school of his native vil- 
lagfe when he was three years old, having pre- 
viously learned to read, and entered the local 
academy at the age of seven. When eight years 
old he read in Porter's Rhetorical Reader, had 
been through Colburn's Arithmetic, and was 
taken from school and bound out to William 
Moore of Goffstown. He spent five years upon a 
farm, being privileged to attend school only eight 
or nine weeks in the winter, but considers this 
one of the most fortunate periods in his primary 
training. At the age of thirteen years he left 
the farm and entered the academy at Mount 
Vernon, New Hampshire. Here he worked his 
way along by sawing wood and performing 
various sorts of manual labor. With the addi- 
tional money earned on farms in summer he was 
enabled to pay his expenses at school in winter, 
and this hard experience served to develop the 
most sturdy habits of self-reliance and industry. 

When he was sixteen years old he attended 
Hopkinton Academy, and in the winter of 1854-55 
he taught school at Corser Hill, now called Web- 
ster, New Hampshire. At a salary of fifteen dol- 
lars per month, he presided over a school includ- 
ing seventy-five pupils, many of them older than 
himself. The following winter he taught school 
in Auburn, New Hampshire, and such was his 
success that he was employed several successive 



winters in that town. His first winter's salary 
was eighteen dollars a month, and this included 
board on the old-fashioned system of "boarding 
'round." 

By continuing his plan of farm labor in sum- 
mer, teaching and attending school, he came, at 
the attainment of his majority, to the charge of 
the village school in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, 
and was subsequently at the head of the grammar 
school of his native village. 

In 1858 he went to Carrollton, Green County, 
Illinois, where, with one assistant, in one room, 
he superintended the instruction of one hundred 
and twenty-five pupils, ranging in age from 
twelve to twenty-five years. Without striking a 
blow he continued to manage this school two 
years, where two of his predecessors had been 
driven out by the insubordination of the pupils. 

True to his inherited martial instincts, young 
Parker sought to enter the service of his country 
immediately upon the outbreak of hostilities in 
the Civil War, which occurred while he was at 
Carrollton. Being unable to secure admission 
to an Illinois regiment, he returned to his native 
state and at once entered the Fourth New Hamp- 
shire Regiment as a private. Before the regiment 
was mustered he was elected first lieutenant of 
Company E, and in the following winter was 
made captain. The first three years of the war 
were spent by this command at various points 
along the Atlantic Coast, in Florida, Georgia and 
South Carolina, participating in the long siege of 
Charleston. 

Early in 1864 the regiment was placed in the 
command of General Butler at Bermuda Hun- 
dred, and Colonel Parker was in several great 
battles during the long campaign of 1864. At 
Drury's Bluff he lost twenty-eight of his forty- 
two men. The regiment was under General 
Grant at Cold Harbor, and took part in the siege 
of Petersburg. In the Crater fight the Fourth 
New Hampshire lost fifty men, and immediately 
thereafter Captain Parker was placed in com- 
mand. August 16, 1864, at Deep Bottom, he 
was suddenly called to the command of a brigade, 
and was severely wounded in the chin and neck 
while engaged in repelling a second charge of the 



26 



F. W. PARKER. 



enemy. For many weeks he lay in the hospital, 
suffering from a crushed windpipe. In the spring 
of this year his regiment numbered a full one 
thousand men, and only forty could be mustered 
at the last charge in the fall. 

In October, 1864, he was able to leave the 
hospital and go home to recuperate. He was 
active in the presidential campaign of that year, 
and in December was married to Miss Phene E. 
Hall, of Bennington, New Hampshire. Having 
been promoted to lieutenant-colonel, he joined his 
regiment after the battle of Fort Fisher, succeed- 
ing Colonel Bell, who fell in the first attack upon 
the fort. He marched with General Scofield 
across North Carolina to meet Sherman. Soon 
after the junction of forces was made at Cox's 
Bridge, Colonel Parker was made a prisoner and 
taken to Greensburg, North Carolina, where he 
first learned of the failure of armed rebellion, 
through the surrender of General Lee. For his 
bravery at Deep Bottom he was made a brevet- 
colonel. 

Colonel Parker was mustered out with his 
command in August, 1865, and immediately took 
the position of principal of the grammar school at 
Manchester, New Hampshire, which he held 
three years, at a salary of eleven hundred dollars 
per year. Despite his aversion he was drawn 
into politics, and determined to move in order to 
avoid his mistaken friends, for he felt sure he 
could not succeed in politics and teaching at the 
same time. He felt that teaching was his mission, 
aud proceeded to Dayton, Ohio, where he was 
engaged as a teacher. Here he began to put in 
practice some of his ideas of reform in education, 
and, in spite of opposition from parents and 
teachers, was sustained by the Board of Educa- 
tion. In 1871 he took the position of assistant 
superintendent of the schools of Minneapolis, 
Minnesota. During this year his wife died, and 
he resigned his position and went to Europe to 
study the science of education. 

He spent two and one-half y ears in the Univer- 
sity of Berlin, Germany, and also took a course 
of two years in philosophy under a private tutor. 
During his vacations he visited the schools and 
art galleries of the continent and made a study of 



European geography and history, and returned 
to America in 1875. His trip abroad was under- 
taken largely to satisfy himself whether his ideas 
were in conformity with those of the great 
thinkers of the world, and he came back fully 
confirmed in his theories. 

In April, 1875, he was made superintendent of 
the city schools of Quincy, Massachusetts, which 
were then in charge of a board, including John 
Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams and 
James H. Slade. The board gave him full 
authority and co-operated with him in his labors 
of re-organization. Much opposition was en- 
countered on the part of teachers, and the con- 
troversy attracted thirty thousand visitors to ob- 
serve the workings of the schools of Quincy 
during the three years Colonel Parker was in 
charge. In 1880 he was made one of the super- 
visors of schools in Boston, where he again met 
opposition from teachers and principals, but he 
was re-elected. He was offered the superintend- 
ency of schools at Philadelphia, but refused this 
to accept the position of principal of the Cook 
County Normal School. 

Here was opportunity to exercise his talent for 
training teachers, and here he could get near to 
the children, whom he wished to reach and bene- 
fit. He entered upon his duties January i, 1883, 
and met once more the antagonism of teachers 
and conservative citizens. But results soon began 
to demonstrate to these the wisdom of his scien- 
tific theories, and he was heartily sustained by 
the school board, and the institution was placed 
in successful operation in spite of politicians and 
other enemies to progress. 

Colonel Parker is the author of "Talks on 
Teaching, ' ' ' 'Practical Teacher, ' ' ' 'How to Study 
Geography," "Outlines in Geography," tract 
on "Spelling," and "Talks on Pedagogics. " He 
has visited every state in the Union, and lectured 
before institutes and conventions in most of them. 
A few of his lectures may be here mentioned: 
' 'The Child and Nature, ' ' ' 'The Child and Man , ' ' 
"Artist or Artisan Which?" "Home and 
School," "The Ideal School," "Education and 
Democracy." He is also the editor of a unique 
publication called the "Cook County Normal 



COL. VICTOR GERARDIN. 



27 



School Envelope," which shows the development 
of concentration in the Cook County Normal 
School, month by month. 

In December, 1882, he was married to Mrs. M. 
Frank Stuart, the first assistant in the Boston 
School of Oratory. Mrs. Parker is a leading ex- 
ponent of the Delsarte system of expression, and 
is a faithful coadjutor of her husband in his noble 
plans for benefiting the human race. Their 



home on Honore Street, Englewood, bears many 
evidences of her artistic taste in architecture and 
furnishings. Its library contains over four thous- 
and volumes, including many in the Norwegian, 
French, Dutch, German, Italian and Indian 
languages, which the Colonel reads readily. 
The lawns and extensive garden furnish him 
with physical exercise, by way of rest from his 
mental and literary labors. 



COL. VICTOR GERARDIN. 



EOL. VICTOR GERARDIN, known in Chi- 
cago as the "Father of the French," was 
born February 17, 1832, in Baccarat, France, 
where his father, Joseph Gerardin, was a farmer. 
The father of the latter, who bore the same name, 
followed the same avocation in the same locality. 
The mother of the subject of this sketch, Agatha 
Math, was a native of the same place, and, like 
her husband, was a scion of a family that has re- 
sided there since the eleventh century. Joseph 
Gerardin, junior, served under the great Napo- 
leon during the last two years of his campaigning 
in Europe. 

Victor Gerardin was the thirteenth child of his 
parents and was deprived of his mother by death 
when he was but three years old. For six years, 
until he was twelve years of age, he attended the 
village school and then came to America with a 
sister who was married. He arrived in New 
York on the ist of April, 1844, and went to 
work the next day in a glass factory, where he 
continued one year. He then entered into an 
apprenticeship at the hatter's trade, which he 
continued until he attained his majority. During 
his early apprenticeship his salary was not suffi- 
cient for his maintenance, and he supported him- 
self by selling papers and blacking boots in New 
York City. He did not neglect at the same time to 
improve his mind, and rapidly gained a mastery 
of the English language. 



In 1854 he came to Chicago and engaged in 
business with a partner, the firm being known as 
Grosset & Gerardin. The senior partner died in 
1877, and Mr. Gerardin has continued the busi- 
ness of hatter alone ever since. He was the first 
in Chicago to engage in the manufacture of silk 
hats, and is now the oldest artisan in that line in 
the city. In the Great Fire of 1871 all his real 
and personal property went up in smoke. He 
continued business, however, opening first in the 
house of a friend within ten days after the fire; 
and eventually paid in full every dollar of claims 
against him. His first place of business was on 
South Water Street, where he continued three 
years, and afterwards remained on La Salle Street 
between Randolph and Lake Streets, until the 
fire. For one year thereafter he was located on 
Canal Street, and has continued ever since at his 
present location on Clark Street, near Monroe. 
He was an extensive manufacturer, and previous 
to the panic of 1873 turned out enough hats to 
supply the present trade of the Northwest. 

Mr. Gerardin has ever been active in promoting 
social and benevolent labors and has been a mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 
he was old enough to be eligible, having been 
initiated in Sincerite Lodge No. 233, of New York 
City, on the day he became of age. In Chicago 
he was for many years a member of Union Lodge 
No. 9, and left that to become a charter member 



28 



J. M. KENNEDY. 



of Rochambeau Lodge No. 532, the only lodge in 
Chicago working in the French language, of 
which he was the principal organizer. This is 
one of the six lodges in the United States work- 
ing in that language, and was instituted Novem- 
ber 12, 1873. 

From the ist of March, 1859, Mr. Gerardin or- 
ganized the French Mutual Society (Societe Fran- 
caise de Secours Mutuels) and was its first presi- 
dent, filling that position for twelve consecutive 
terms. In 1861 he organized the Societe de 
Bienifaisance, of which he was president at 
the time of the fire in 1871. After that calam- 
ity this society distributed fifteen thousand francs 
to the sufferers. In 1886 Mr. Gerardin or- 
ganzed the Cercle Francais, of Chicago. All 
these societies are still in existence except 
the benevolent society, which was merged in 
the others when it had accomplished its pur- 
pose, after the fire. One of Mr. Gerardin's 
most highly prized treasures is an autograph let- 
ter from the wife of Marshal McMahon, who was 
president of the French relief society, acknowl- 
edging the receipt of funds sent from Chicago for 
the relief of the French flood sufferers, while 
McMahon was president of the French Republic. 

While a resident of New York City Mr. Ger- 
ardin served from 1852 until 1854 as a volunteer 
fireman with Engine Company No. 1 1 . He has 
been a member of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, since 1877. 



In religious faith he adheres to the Roman Cath- 
olic Church. He was a Republican up to the 
Cleveland-Elaine campaign of 1884, since which 
time he has adhered to the Democratic party. 
October 18, 1876, he was commissioned colonel of 
the "Hayes & Wheeler Minute Men of '76," on 
the staff of Gen. John McArthur. During the 
Civil War he was an ardent supporter of the ad- 
ministration, and an intense patriot. During the 
World's Fair he had charge of the Parisian Hat- 
ters' Exhibit, and had previously served as a 
member of the committee of one hundred, ap- 
pointed by Mayor Cregier. to secure the location 
of that exhibit in Chicago. 

He re-visited France in 1864, and again during 
the Franco-Prussian War, and on the last trip 
made a tour of England and Ireland. In Janu- 
ary, 1859, he was married to Marion, eldest 
daughter of John Magee, of Belfast, Ireland (for 
genealogy, see biography of Charles D. Magee, 
in this volume). Five of the nine children of 
Mr. Gerardin are now deceased. The names of 
all in order of birth, are: Minnie, Rea, Agatha, 
Eliza, Victor, Joseph, Walter, Emile and Esther. 
The third, sixth and seventh died within a period 
of two weeks, in the year 1875, of diphtheria, and 
are buried in Graceland Cemetery. Eliza died in 
1867, and Emile in 1884. Mr. Gerardin has 
lived for the last fourteen years in his present 
residence, which is located at No. 1128 North 
Halsted Street. 



JOHN M. KENNEDY. 



QOHN MCMILLAN KENNEDY, for many 

I years a business man of Chicago, now living 
O in retirement at Oak Park, was born in the 
Parish of Colmonell, Ayrshire, Scotland, Feb- 
ruary 26, 1815. His parents were Alexander 
Kennedy and Elizabeth McMillan. The former 



was a farmer, a tenant on the family estate which 
was inherited by his eldest brother. He was 
born April 7, 1772, and died December 14, 1871, 
thus lacking only four months of being one hun- 
dred years old. He was the father of twelve 
children, of whom the following is the record: 



J. M. KENNEDY. 



29 



Margaret is the widow of Rev. Andrew Mc- 
Dowell and resides at Stirling, Scotland; David 
inherited the family estate, which consists of one 
thousand five hundred acres, and also the title of 
Laird of Craig; John M. is the subject of this 
sketch; Anthony M. was a merchant and planter 
in Camden, South Carolina, where he died De- 
cember 17, 1892; Sarah is the widow of George 
McAdam and resides in Rickton, Scotland; Robert 
was a merchant in Camden, South Carolina, 
where he died in 1896; Mary became the wife of 
David Denholm, and died in Chicago in 1854; 
Alexander died in 1852, in England; Elizabeth 
died in Scotland in 1861; Agnes, wife of David 
Thorburn, resides at Newton Stewart, Scotland; 
Jane died at the age of twelve years; and James 
died at his native place, aged twenty-one years. 
John M. Kennedy received a common-school 
education in Scotland, and at the age of fifteen 
years, in company with his younger brother, 
Anthony, sailed from Greenock, Scotland, Oc- 
tober 10, 1830, in the good ship "Rogers Stewart" 
for America. After a voyage of fifty days they 
arrived at Savannah, Georgia, and proceeded by 
steamer to Augusta, in the same State, and 
thence by stage to Camden, South Carolina. 
There they joined a cousin, a merchant, who 
gave them employment as clerks. The elder 
brother remained until March 24, 1834, when, 
in company with Frederick Witherspoon, he 
made the journey to Fox River, Illinois, on 
horseback, a distance of one thousand two hun- 
dred and forty-four miles. On Big and Little 
Rock Creeks, in what is now Kendall County, 
they located farms, and there Mr. Kennedy car- 
ried on farming until November, 1848. At that 
date he removed to Chicago, and from 1849 to 
1852 was engaged in the lumber business. From 
1852 to 1857 he did a commission business, which 
proved very successful, but his accumulations 
were swept away in the panic of 1857. During 
the terms of John Wentworth and John C. 
Haines as mayors of Chicago, from 1857 to 1860, 
he served as chief of police with much credit, 
and was urged to serve longer, but refused. For 
the next five years he was employed by Howe & 
Robbins, grain dealers, and from 1865 to 1878 



dealt in lime as city salesman. In the last-named 
year he accepted the position of weigh-master on 
the Chicago & Alton Railroad, which he held 
until 1887, when advancing years compelled him 
to resign. Since that time he has been living in 
the enjoyment of the period of rest and recreation 
to which his long years of usefulness so eminently 
entitle him. In 1890 he built the pleasant cot- 
tage he now occupies at Oak Park, which has 
since been his home. 

Mr. Kennedy is one of the few men living who 
have witnessed the entire growth of Chicago as a 
city. On his first visit to that place he con- 
sidered it a very undesirable place to live, but later 
made it his home, wishing to secure skilled 
medical care for his wife, who was then an invalid. 
He was afterwards induced to remain in order to 
gain educational advantages for his children. His 
reminiscences of early Chicago are very interest- 
ing. Though he has passed his eighty-second 
birthday anniversary, his memory is excellent, 
and he recalls the events of his youth and early 
manhood quite as clearly as those of more recent 
occurrence. In earlier years he was opposed to 
the extension of slavery, and was successively a 
Whig and a Republican. He cast his first 
vote for President in 1836, and has therefore 
voted in sixteen presidential elections. In re- 
ligious views he has been a lifelong Baptist, and 
united with the Tabernacle Church of Chicago in 
1851. He was a member of this church forty 
years, though it was afterwards named the 
Second Baptist Church. For ten years he served 
as deacon in this organization. Since 1891 he 
has been connected with the First Baptist Church 
of Oak Park, 

March 30, 1837, Mr. Kennedy was married to 
Eliza Ann Rogers, a native of Camden, South 
Carolina, and a daughter of Alexander and Mary 
(Kelso) Rogers. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were both 
natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Irish and 
the latter of Scotch descent. Seven children 
were born of this union, as follows: Mary, now 
the widow of Samuel Ludington, resides with her 
father; Elizabeth, who was for thirty-eight years 
a teacher in Chicago, but now retired, also re- 
sides with her father; Alexander is in the insur- 



HENRY WINKELMAN. 



ance business in Chicago; Anthony is chief grain 
inspector of Boston, Massachusetts; John, James 
and Walter died in childhood. Mrs. Kennedy 
died in 1851. The subject of this notice was 
married a second time October 20, 1852, to Rosetta 
E. Hamilton, a daughter of David and Jerusha 
(Hulet) Hamilton. Mrs. Kennedy was born 
near Aurora, Erie County, New York. Her 
parents removed to Illinois in 1838. Seven chil- 
dren were born of this marriage, as follows: 
David, who is a member of the real-estate firm of 
Kennedy & Ballard of Chicago, and resides at 



Oak Park; William E., a railroad man on the 
Union Pacific Railroad; Hulbert, Ellen Eliza, 
Albert and Charles died in infancy; Robert B. is 
employed with his brother in Oak Park, where 
he resides. The mother departed this life Jan- 
uary 23, 1892. Mr. Kennedy is blessed by 
twenty-seven grandchildren and eight great- 
grandchildren. He has also cared for two orphan 
nieces, Mary L- Goff, now the widow of John J. 
Kott, and Agnes D. Kennedy, now Mrs. Frank 
M. Crittenden, both of whom reside in the city 
of Chicago. 



HENRY WINKELMAN. 



HENRY WINKELMAN was born January 
3, 1847, in Tedinghausen, Braunschweig, 
Germany, and is a son of Henry and Eliza- 
beth (Klueber) Winkelman, neither of whom 
ever came to America. John Winkelman, brother 
of the subject of this sketch, came to America 
in 1861 and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. His 
sympathies were on the side of the South in the 
great civil strife, and he enlisted in the Confed- 
erate army, and was killed during the war. Mary 
Winkelman, his sister, came to America in 1863, 
and afterwards married Henry Kassens. She and 
her husband reside at Colehour. Henry Win- 
kelman served in the cavalry service of Germany. 
He came to America in 1875, and in 1878 went 
to South Chicago, where he now resides. 

Henry Winkelman received all his education 
in his native country, where he remained until 
he was nearly twenty years old. The example 
of his older brother and his sister gave him the 
desire to come to this country, and when he was 
able to do so, he emigrated. He reached New 
York in July, 1866, and located in Brooklyn, 
where he remained until 1 88 1, being employed 



by a grocer until 1872, when he engaged in busi- 
ness for himself, conducting a meat market. 

In 1881 Mr. Wiukelnian came to South Chi- 
cago and opened a meat market at No. 10026 
Ewing Avenue. Later he bought some property 
a few doors away and moved his business, and in 
1884 he bought property at No. 9801 Ewing 
Avenue. He moved his business to this place, 
where he has conducted it since that time, and in 
1895 he built the comfortable brick flat which he 
occupies. 

In 1872 Mr. Winkelman married his first wife, 
Margaret Kolenberg, of Germany, but she died 
when they had been married less than two years. 
They had one child, who died when an infant. 
In 1876 he married his second wife, Miss Annie 
Kleemeyer. 

Mr. Winkelman has become well acquainted 
with the customs of his adopted country, whose 
interest he has at heart. In politics he does not 
follow party lines and prejudices, but votes for 
the man rather than for the party. He is a suc- 
cessful business man and enjoys the respect of his 
friends and neighbors. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




HENRY C. FRICKK 



(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT) 



H. C. FRICKE. 



HENRY C FRICKE. 



HENRY CHRISTIAN FRICKE, a vener- 
able pioneer of Chicago, was born August i, 
1815, in Springe, Hanover, Germany. His 
parents were Gottlieb and Mary (Ohm) Fricke, 
also natives of Springe, which is an ideal town, 
surrounded by mountains and having its own 
municipal government. The ancestry of Mr. 
Fricke dates back many centuries, its members 
having lived in the quaint little town of Springe, 
where they held positions of responsibility and 
led upright and useful lives, and were educated 
according to the opportunities of their times. 

Mr. Fricke's grandfather was a man of affairs, 
and occupied and tilled an estate of two thousand 
acres, for which he paid a yearly rental of two 
thousand German thalers to the King of Hano- 
ver. He was well educated, was a brainy man, 
of good executive ability, and reared a large fam- 
ily in the good customs of the country. His son, 
Gottlieb, succeeded to the homestead, and gradu- 
ally paid off the other heirs. He was industrious 
and frugal, and reared a family of ten children, 
two of whom, Henry C. Fricke and the youngest 
daughter. Louise Tamcke, now reside in Chicago. 

The subject of this sketch received the educa- 
tion afforded by his native town, and, being fond 
of study, made the best of his opportunities. He 
was gifted with excellent musical faculties, and 
was wont to associate with the best elements of 
society there, in the study of his favorite art. He 
became an expert performer on the spinnet, an 
instrument which was superseded by the piano, 
and he was among the musical leaders of the place. 

When it became necessary for him to select 
a vocation in life, he decided to become an ac- 



countant. He was elected to the office of city 
treasurer for life, and was subsequently elected 
burgomaster of Springe, but the Government re- 
fused to confirm this, because of his free expres- 
sion of liberal views during the stormy days of 
1848. He was too democratic for happy life un- 
der a monarchy, and by this oppressive act Han- 
over lost a good citizen, while the United States 
was thereby a gainer. Although the ties which 
bound him to his native land were strong, he de- 
termined to seek his fortune in the new world. 

May 8, 1853, he left Springe and arrived in 
Chicago July 24 of the same year. In the fol- 
lowing November his wife, Fredericka (born Ho- 
bein), followed with their five children. He soon 
found employment as bookkeeper in a small shop 
on La Salle Street, near the present south entrance 
to the tunnel. The cholera attacked his employ- 
ers, Braunhold & Sonne, and the care of the en- 
tire business fell upon Mr. Fricke for a time. 
Soon after, through the friendship of George 
Schneider, the well-known ex-banker, he received 
the appointment of delivery clerk in the foreign 
mail department of the postoffice, a position for 
which his education and previous business expe- 
rience especially fitted him. George B. Arm- 
strong, who has left the impression of his genius 
on the mail service of the United States and the 
world, never to be effaced, was then assistant 
postmaster, and became a warm friend of Mr. 
Fricke. 

The latter served faithfully in the postoffice 
seven years, and then entered into a partnership 
with Dr. Julius Lubarsch, taking a one-third in- 
terest in the business of Dr. Lubarsch. Mr. 



3 2 



G. W. WIEDHOF. 



Fricke became business manager and conducted 
matters satisfactorily to all concerned from Feb- 
ruary, 1861, to January 2, 1872, when he bought 
out the interest of Dr. Lubarsch, and subsequently 
acquired the one-third interest of Dr. Louis Coni- 
itti, who had superintended the medical depart- 
ment of the business. The latter interest was 
conferred upon Mr. Fricke's son, Dr. Gustav H. 
Fricke, who had just completed his medical edu- 
cation at Rush Medical College. 

In 1882 Mr. Fricke was seized with writer's 
paralysis, and turned over the entire management 
of business to his son. In July of that year he 
set out for a trip to Europe, accompanied by his 
daughter, Augusta, who much enjoyed the visit 
to her father's native home. It was a memorable 
trip for both. 

In 1870 Mr. Fricke moved on fifty acres of 
land in Maine Township, one mile west of Park 
Ridge. He gradually improved it until it became 
a park farm, and was a happy gathering place for 
his children and grandchildren. In course of 
time he invested in city real estate, including a 
valuable property on Clark Street, near Goethe, 



and three houses on Superior Street. Since No- 
vember 5, 1896, he has lived in one of these, and 
has made a charming miniature garden in the 
rear, where he enjoys a well-earned rest from the 
toils of a long and busy life. He is well known 
to a large number of Chicagoans as an industri- 
ous, kind-hearted man, who loves to entertain 
his friends and relatives, and is a most excellent 
type of the thrifty German-American citizen. 

Mr. Fricke was married February 17, 1839, in 
Springe, to Miss Fredericka Hobein, who was a 
woman of fine qualities, and proved a worthy 
helpmeet to her husband. She died November 3, 
1895, and was buried in Graceland Cemetery. 
After her death Mr. Fricke's youngest sister cared 
for his household until his return from the farm 
to the city. His children are named in order of 
birth: Mary, Mrs. Oscar Margraff"; Emma, wife 
of George Wittbold, whose biography will be 
found in this volume; Sophia, Mrs. Adolph Gar- 
the; Dr. Gustav H. Fricke; and Augusta, wife 
of George Garland. Besides these five children, 
Mr. Fricke is proud of twenty -four grandchildren 
and seven great-grandchildren. 



GEORGE W. WIEDHOF. 



JO)EORGE WHITTINGTON WIEDHOF 

I was born December 25, 1874, at No. 1402 
vj Dunning Street, Chicago, and is the son of 
Alfred H. and Bertha A. Wiedhof. His great- 
grandfather was a general under Napoleon Bona- 
parte, and was of Polish birth. He had previous- 
ly served in the Russian army, but at the begin- 
ning of trouble between Russia and Poland he 
took sides with his native country, and later 
went to France and served until the downfall and 
exile of the Emperor. He shared the troubles 
of Napoleon, and when he was sent to St. Helena, 



Mr. Wiedhof and his wife, who was a Spanish lady, 
were on board the ship, called "Bellerophon." 
It was on this journey that their son, grandfather 
of George W. Wiedhof, was born. Mr. Wied- 
hof returned to Europe later, settling in Eng- 
land, which country the family adopted until 
A. H. Wiedhof emigrated to America in 1854. 
He is a contractor and builder, and still resides 
in Chicago, being now sixty years old, and a hale 
and stalwart man. 

George W. Wiedhof received his early educa- 
tion in the common schools of the North Side in 



G. H. BALL. 



33 



Chicago, and later graduated from the Lake View 
High School. His education was completed by 
a course in dentistry at the Northwestern Univer- 
sity, and previous to his graduation he assisted 
some of the most prominent dentists in the city. 
When only twenty-one 3~ears of age, he estab- 
lished himself in the profession, and has a rapid- 
ly growing practice. His best efforts are in crown 
and bridge work and in gold filling, in which 
line he has made a good reputation. Dr. Wiedhof 
was formerly a member of various military com- 



panies, but of late years has been too busily en- 
gaged in his business to retain his interest in them. 
In political affairs Dr. Wiedhof has very liberal 
views, and he always takes great interest in ben- 
efiting his fellow-men. He is connected with 
several social societies, in all of which he is a 
genial and influential member. He is one of the 
rising business men of the city, but has many 
outside interests, and keeps informed on all sub- 
jects, which enables him to be a brilliant conver- 
sationalist and a genial companion. 



GODFREY H. BALL, 



Y HO WITT BALL, a prominent 
business man of Chicago, identified in many 
ways with its commercial and social inter- 
ests, is descended from an old family prominent 
in the military affairs of Great Britain. He was 
born February 15, 1853, in the city of Melbourne, 
Australia, being the son of Capt. George Pal- 
mer Ball of the British army. 

The latter was in the East India service, and 
for meritorious conduct was made a captain at 
the early age of twenty-three years, and served 
all through the terrible Indian mutiny. His 
wife, Isabella Ball, was a daughter of Col. 
Robert Hazelwood, who served in India under Sir 
Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Du'ke of Welling- 
ton. While in India, Colonel Hazelwood was 
stationed most of the time at Madras (where Mrs. 
Ball was born), but saw some very hard fighting 
during the mutiny. When Captain Ball retired 
from the service, he went with his family to live 
in Australia. One of his sons, Albert T. Ball, 
who settled in that country, was killed with his 
wife, in a terrible railroad accident, which oc- 
curred at MacKay, June 14, 1897. 

When the subject of this sketch was four years 
of age his parents went to England, and after 



residing one year in Liverpool, came to America. 
In 1858 they settled on a farm in Smithtown, 
Long Island, forty-three miles from Brooklyn. 
The father was a highly educated man, a graduate 
of Dublin University, and from him the son re- 
ceived his primary education. During his youth 
he worked on his father's farm and spent con- 
siderable time in hunting and fishing. In the 
year 1863 the family moved to Brooklyn and he 
completed his education in the public schools of 
that city. 

At the age of fifteen years he entered the em- 
ploy of Jabez A. Bostwick, of New York, after- 
ward well known as one of the leading spirits of 
the Standard Oil Trust, and continued in his 
service two or three years. He next spent one 
year in the service of a man named Warner, in 
the custom-house business, at New York. His 
next engagement was in the capacity of private 
secretary to Walter Brown, of the firm of Walter 
Brown & Son, at that time one of the largest 
wool merchants in the country. 

Mr. Ball was now convinced that his business 
experience qualified him for advancement, and 
seeing little opportunity in, a house where so 
many preceded him, he replied to an advertise- 



34 



S. V. R. BRUNDAGE. 



merit, through which, upon the strong recom- 
mendation of Mr. Brown, he secured a position 
with Gardner G. Yvelin, founder of the establish- 
ment of which Mr. Ball is now the managing 
partner in Chicago. The firm was known for 
some time as Yvelin & Smith, and after the 
death of the founder it became Smith & Vander- 
beck, which was in turn succeeded by the present 
firm of James P. Smith & Company; the parent 
house, situated at Nos. 90 to 94 Hudson Street, 
New York, has been established since 1831. Mr. 
Ball has been twenty-five years connected with 
this house, and since December, 1880, when he 
located in Chicago, he has been manager of its 
business here. He has traveled extensively, and 
during a period of eleven years visited every large 
city in America many times. 

In June, 1886, Mr. Ball was married to Mary 
Clement Harriot, a native of Covington, Ken- 



tucky, and scion of a very old and loyal family of 
that State. Mr. Ball's family includes a son and 
daughter, namely: James Percival, and Louise 
Harriot, aged, respectively, ten and five and one- 
half years. 

The family is very comfortably settled at No. 
4028 Lake Avenue. Mr. Ball was brought up 
in the Episcopal Church, to which he still ad- 
heres. He is entirely independent of political 
parties, having no faith in any organization, but 
is a good citizen, and casts his vote and influence 
where he believes they will result in the greatest 
good to the community. He is a true sportsman, 
with happy recollections of his youthful days, and 
enjoys an outing in fishing or the chase as much 
as ever. His genial and affable manners continue 
to make and retain friendships, and the success 
of the firm of which he is manager proves him an 
intelligent, clear-headed business man. 



STEPHEN V. R. BRUNDAGE. 



TEPHEN VAN RANSALAR BRUND- 
AGE, a prominent citizen of the West Side 
in Chicago, now deceased, was a scion of the 
sturdy Scotch blood which has been widely influ- 
ential in developing the best material and 
moral interests of the United States. Mr. 
Brundage was born December 25, 1839, in 
Barry County, Michigan, being the eldest child 
of Alonzo and Diadama (Dean) Brundage, both 
of whom were natives of the State of New York. 

George Brundage, father of Alonzo Brundage, 
was born in Scotland, and passed most of his life 
on a farm near Oswego, New York. He was 
well known in that section of the State, and 
was regarded as one of the representative citizens. 
He adhered to the principles of government ad- 
vocated by the Whigs, and was repeatedly chosen 
by his fellow-citizens to represent them in posi- 



tions of responsibility. Beside the subject of this 
sketch, he reared the following children: Alon- 
zo, George, Genoa, Frederick and Emma. 

Stephen V. Brundage was educated in his 
native State, and acquired the trade of blacksmith. 
Although he never served a regular apprentice- 
ship, he had a natural aptitude for mechanics, 
and became a highly skilled artisan in iron. 
After coming to Chicago, in 1867, he was sixteen 
years foreman of the blacksmith shops of the Chi- 
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He re- 
linquished this position to engage in business on 
his own account. 

In 1876 he established himself in a blacksmith 
shop on West Twenty-second Street, where he 
was assisted only by his eldest son. From this 
small beginning was built up a very successful 
business in the production of high-grade wagons 



OCTAVE CHAPLEAU. 



35 



and carriages, and the factory now employs twenty 
men, continuing to turn out only first-class 
goods, such as are sought by people preferring 
quality to cheapness. This growth was not sud- 
den, and was the result of the industry, prudence 
and upright character of the founder. Two of his 
sons, the first and third, became interested in the 
establishment, and are continuing on the lines 
laid down by their father. 

Mr. Brundage was married January 15, 1862, 
at Newark, Illinois, to Miss Maratta Hollenback, 
daughter of Wesley and Catherine (Rarich) 
Hollenback, who were among the pioneer set- 
tlers of northern Illinois. They resided in Ken- 
dall County during the Blackhawk War, and 
were among those warned by Chief Shabbona in 
time to escape the fury of the Indian warriors. 
They passed away at their home in Newark, Illi- 
nois. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Brundage 
are: Nelson Alonzo, Charlotte Louise (wife of G. 
G. Shauer), Edwin Wesley, Frederick Leroy and 



Stephen Walter, the last-named being a member 
of the dental profession in Chicago. 

Mr. Brundage passed from earth May 23, 1895, 
as the result of paralysis. He was widely known 
as a splendid mechanic, and a true friend and 
good companion. He was for many years a regu- 
lar attendant of worship at Saint Paul's Methodist 
Church, and was a most just and upright man. 
He was identified with the Masonic order, hold- 
ing membership in Pleiades Lodge, No. 478, 
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and most of 
the members of his family are connected with 
the order, either in the Blue or Eastern Star 
Lodges. Mr. Brundage was very successful as a 
business man, being far-sighted and conservative 
in management. He had a horror of debt, and 
had clear title to all property which he acquired. 
Among his possessions were a farm in Dakota, 
the shops where he conducted business and a 
substantial, four-story flat building, in which he 
made his home. 



OCTAVE CHAPLEAU. 



0CTAVE CHAPLEAU was born February 
27, 1834, in Saint Rose, Canada, and was 
the son of a farmer at that place. His early 
education was obtained in his native town, and 
when he was old enough he began the study of 
the stone-cutter's trade. Hoping to better his 
condition, he removed to Chicago, in 1866, and 
found ready employment at his trade. 

In 1880 he removed to South Chicago, and en- 
tered the service of the Illinois Steel Company in 
building a mill, where he was employed four 
years. He resolved to enter business in his own 
name, and accordingly bought ground and run 
a stone yard on Harbor Avenue. He was very 
successful and remained there until his death. 

August 5, 1866, he married Celina Hebert, 



daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Seymore) 
Hebert. She was born February 16, 1841 , in Saint 
John, Canada. Mr. Chapleau was a member of 
the Roman Catholic Church. In politics he took 
an active part, and was a Republican in senti- 
ment. He bought a lot at No. 8902 Superior 
Avenue, and in 1882 built the house which is 
now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Anton Gleitsman. 
He died May 26, 1893, and was mourned by a 
large circle of friends and acquaintances. 

Anton Gleitsman was born July 12, 1852, near 
Milwaukee. His parents were natives of Ger- 
many, but are old settlers in Wisconsin, having 
emigrated several years before Anton Gleitsman 
was born. He received his education in the com- 
mon schools of Wisconsin, and at an early age 



GEORGE DUNLAP. 



began to learn a trade. He became an engineer 
in a blast furnace. He came to Chicago in 1882, 
and since that time has been employed in a mill. 
May 22, 1895, he was united in marriage with 
Mrs. Chapleau, the widow of Octave Chapleau. 



Roman Catholic Church. They are highly es- 
teemed socially and have many friends. The 
former is a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
and in his political views is convinced of the jus- 
tice of the principles advanced by the Republican 



Mr. Gleitsman and wife are communicants of the party, and is one of its firmest supporters. 



GEORGE DUNLAP. 



/2JEORGE DUNLAP was born November 2, 
|_ 1825, in Lorraine, Jefferson County, New 
V.J York. He is a son of William I. and Mar- 
garet P. (Lane) Dunlap, both born in Cherry 
Valley, New York. John Dunlap, father of Will- 
iam I. Dunlap, was a captain of volunteers in 
the Revolutionary War from Cherry Valley, and 
his wife escaped the great massacre at that place 
by taking refuge in the fort. He was seven years 
in the service. His father was from the north of 
Ireland, and the family is of Scotch descent. He 
came to Cherry Valley, New York, where, with 
two brothers, he had a right of a township of 
land. The two brothers were lost at sea, with 
the papers showing the claim to the land, and the 
lawyer employed to settle the affair took all the 
land excepting two hundred acres. John was 
born on this farm and spent his life there. His 
wife was a Miss Campbell, and they have five 
children, namely: William I.; Livingston, a doc- 
tor, who practiced in Indianapolis until his death; 
Robert, who died in Milwaukee; Hannah, Mrs. 
Walrad, of Cherry Valley, deceased; and Eliza- 
beth, who died in young womanhood. 

William I. Dunlap served as a volunteer in the 
War of 1812. He removed to Jefferson County, 
New York, in 1822, and in 1836 he came to Ill- 
inois, settling first in Mendota, and later, in 1840, 
in Leyden, which latter place was his residence 
many years. He died in 1856, at the age of sixty- 
nine years. His wife died in 1865, at the age of 



seventy-seven years. She was born in Elizabeth- 
town, New Jersey, and removed to Cherry Val- 
ley with her parents when she was a child. Her 
father was of Dutch descent, and her mother of 
English origin. William I. and Margaret Dun- 
lap had ten children, of whom the following is 
the account: John, who was a tanner and cur- 
rier of Green Bay, Wisconsin, died when forty 
years old. Ann Eliza, deceased, married Oren 
Hotchkiss and lived at Champaign. Matthias L. , 
who died in 1875, was a horticulturist and a writ- 
er on kindred subjects in the Chicago Tribune, his 
column being "The Farm and Garden;" he lived 
in Leyden, where he started an extensive fruit 
farm, and subsequently removed to Champaign, 
Illinois; his son, Henry, is a member of the 
present state senate. Menzo is a farmer, whose 
home is in Sevoy, Illinois; Sally, deceased, mar- 
ried James H. Kinyon, of Champaign; William 
is a retired wheelwright, and resides at Irving, 
Lane County, Oregon; Robert, a dealer in agri- 
cultural implements, lives in Iowa City, Iowa; 
George is the subject of this sketch; Charlotte, 
deceased, married Erastus Bailey, of Wheeling, 
Illinois; and James Hamill died when twenty- 
two years old. 

George Dnnlap removed with his parents to 
Lewis County, New York, when seven years old, 
and there he attended the common schools. He 
came to Chicago in 1836, arriving on his eleventh 
birthday, and subsequently attended school in 



Z. M. HALL. 



37 



Troy Grove, La Salle County, Illinois. Later he 
attended a select school in Ottawa a few months. 
In 1840 he came to Leyden, then called Dunlap's 
Prairie, in honor of M. L. Dunlap, his brother, 
who surveyed much of the land in that vicinity, 
and was a prominent man, being a member of 
the state legislature one term. George Dunlap 
pre-empted one hundred and twenty acres of Gov- 
ernment land, and when it was put upon the mar- 
ket bought it. He lived on this farm, carrying 
on general farming until 1864, when he sold it. 
He was deputy sheriff six months, and then be- 
came assistant United States assessor, which posi- 
tion he held eleven years, resigning to take his 
seat in the twenty-ninth general assembly. He 
then engaged in the real-estate business, uniting 
with L. J. Swift in the firm of Dunlap & Swift. 
In 1884 he was compelled to leave the cares of 
the business, which had become one of the most 
successful on the West Side, on account of failing 
health. He subsequently removed to Santa Cruz, 
California, where he has ever since spent the 
winter months. 

In i8"69 he bought the first lots and built the 



first house in the village of Norwood, where he 
had his residence until 1884. In 1896 he built 
the pleasant home he now occupies. January 27, 
1851, he married Almeda Pierce, of Sandy Creek, 
Oswego County, New York. She is a daughter 
of John and Hannah (Ballou) Pierce, the latter 
of French ancestry, and both natives of Rhode 
Island. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap became the par- 
ents of six children: De Clermont is a civil en- 
gineer, and resides in Chicago; Hetty S., who is 
a school teacher, lives with her parents; Clifton 
F. is a printer of Chicago; Alice S. resides at 
home; Jessie D. married Percy V. Castle, a law- 
yer, who resides in Austin; and Mira died in 
1894. 

Mr. Dunlap has held many local offices. He 
served four years as supervisor of Leyden, five 
years as justice of the peace, and was school di- 
rector twenty-three years. He is a member of 
the Masonic order, having at present a demit 
from Santa Cruz Lodge, Santa Cruz, California. 
He is a well-read man, an intelligent citizen, and 
one who takes an interest in the affairs and im- 
provements of the generation in which he lives. 



ZEBULON M. HALL. 



7KBULON MONTGOMERY HALL is a 
I. descendant of an old colonial family who 
/~) emigrated from Coventry, England, in 1630, 
and settled in Boston, Massachusetts. The pro- 
genitor of the family in America was John Hall, 
the father of nine children. Of these Gersham 
Hall was the ancestor of the subject of this biog- 
raphy. He received the best collegiate education 
that could be obtained in New England at that 
time, and later took a part in the Revolutionary 
War, proving himself a brave officer. He was a 
man of great firmness of religious conviction, and 
his Bible is yet in possession of the family as one 
of its dearest treasures. 



His son, Gersham, also received a liberal edu- 
cation and resided in Boston. He died near Ball- 
ston Springs, New York. His wife's father, was 
also a soldier in the Revolution. His grandson, 
Loammi, married Miss Sarah Duell, a daughter 
of Benjamin and Sybil (Putney) Duell, who were 
of the Quaker faith. Loammi Hall and his wife 
resided in Perry, Genesee County, New York, 
where they were highly respected and wealthy 
farmers. For a time they kept a hotel, which 
was a landmark in the county. The family were 
blessed with long lives, and most of them lived 
to be more than seventy years of age. Loammi 
Hall and his wife died when they were compar- 



Z. M. HALL. 



atively young, in Genesee County. Their chil- 
dren were: Minerva, Jabesh, Loammi and Zebu- 
Ion M. Minerva married Walter Purdy, and is 
the only one living. Jabesh removed to Wiscon- 
sin, where he accumulated considerable property, 
and where he died. To secure this property for 
its rightful owners, Zebulon, though only a boy 
of sixteen years, undertook the long journey to 
Wisconsin, and was successful. 

Soon after this, in 1836, the subject of this 
notice came to Chicago, and eventually became 
one of the city's most influential citizens. He 
became employed in the grain elevator business 
by Charles Walker, and was for years a confiden- 
tial employe. When he had learned the details of 
the business, he engaged in it on his own respon- 
sibility and became very successful. His brother, 
Loammi, became his partner and they engaged 
in the wholesale grocery trade, under the firm 
name of Hall Brothers, but the city life and close 
confinement did not suit Loammi, who withdrew 
and engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which he 
prospered. Mr. Hall next took for a partner 
Charles Harding, and the well-known firm of 
Harding & Hall was formed, which conducted a 
lucrative wholesale ship chandlery business for 
many years. Mr. Hall at all times assumed the 
more active part in the conduct of business, and 
his management was characterized by such tact and 
ability that Mr. Harding was enabled to withdraw 
from the firm, which was continued by Z. M. Hall 
& Company until 1875, when Mr. Hall withdrew, 
in order to recuperate his health. For this pur- 
pose he went to Jackson County, Oregon. His 
active mind could not rest, however, and he was 
not entirely idle, but while there became interested 
in the stock business. After spending three years 
in Oregon, he returned to Chicago, where he 
resided until his death, which took place in Sep- 
tember, 1894, at the age of seventy-four years. 

Mr. ' Hall was married in Chicago, to Miss 
Kezzie Frost, a foster-daughter of Capt. A. W. 
Rosman, commander of the steamer "Atlanta," of 
the Goodrich line. He is one of the most noted 
captains on the lakes, having begun life on the 
water at the early age of seven years. At the 
age of seventeen years he became a captain, and 



for fifty years sailed the lakes, without having 
any serious accident. He was a grandson of 
Coonrod Rosman, who settled in Canada about 
the middle of the seventeenth century, and whose 
descendants removed from Canada to Pennsyl- 
vania. Captain Rosman was a son of Abraham 
and Rachel (Jones) Rosman, the former a soldier 
of the War of 1812, and the latter a descendant 
of the world- renowned Paul Jones. Captain Ros- 
man had two children, Charles A. and Eva, the 
latter the wife of Frank Hamilton. The former 
received a gold medal from the government for 
saving life on Lake Michigan. The exposure 
incident to this brave deed brought on con- 
sumption, from which his death resulted. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Z. M. Hall were: 
Francis Montgomery, Edgar Albert, Harry Vic- 
tor, Sadie Beatrice and Bessie Eugenia. The 
oldest son was drowned from the steamer "Ver- 
non," and left a wife and three children. Edgar 
A. is connected with the Hanchette Paper Com- 
pany; Harry V. is living in Arizona; Sadie B. is 
the wife of Lloyd James Smith; and Bessie E. is 
Mrs. A. G. Morely. 

Mr. Hall was a Mason, and was one of the 
liberal supporters of the New England Congre- 
gational Church, being one of its first members. 
In politics he was a strong Republican. To all 
enterprises which would assist in bettering the 
lives and condition of the human family, he gave 
his sympathy and aid. Though he was liberal to 
a fault, he accumulated a property, and had he 
been more selfish, the history of Chicago would 
have recorded another millionaire. He lived a 
life of noble impulse, and all that could be said 
of his inner life would reflect to his credit and in- 
tegrity. 

During the Great Fire he telegraphed to Indian- 
apolis for a fire engine, which was placed on a 
raft in the river, near his building, adjacent to the 
Randolph Street bridge, and thus it was saved, 
being the only one rescued in the center of the 
city. It was a five-story grocery store. After 
the fire he helped feed the public, and was pro- 
tected by a company of soldiers, sent to him by 
Gen. Philip A. Sheridan. They formed a 
double line, and he was thus able to distribute 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




JOSEPH H. ERNST 



(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT) 



J. H. ERNST. 



39 



alike to rich and poor, which he did without any 
compensation. He did not take advantage of 
the helplessness of his fellow-creatures, and try 
to raise the value of his goods, but by his gener- 



osity suffered a loss that weakened his business, 
and this, with the panic of 1873, caused him 
much embarrassment, but he continued it until 
the year 1875. 



JOSEPH H. ERNST. 



(JOSEPH HENRY ERNST. Germany has 
I contributed to Chicago and Cook County a 
Q) large percentage of their inhabitants. Many 
of these have achieved success in various business 
pursuits, while some have won distinction in the 
different professions, and others have risen to 
prominence in public affairs, and their names 
have become as familiar as household words. 
Among this vast number probably no one is 
more widely known or more highly respected 
than the gentleman whose name stands at the 
head of this article. For more than forty years 
he has been a resident of the city, much of the 
time occupying official positions, and in public 
and private life every duty has been honestly dis- 
charged and every trust held sacred. 

Mr. Ernst was born February 24, 1838, on the 
River Rhine, in Germany, near Bingen, made 
famous by an English authoress in the beautiful 
poem, "Bingen on the Rhine." He is a son of 
John and Barbara (Meyer) Ernst, natives of that 
place. John and Barbara Ernst became the par- 
ents of four children, namely: Joseph H., of 
whom this sketch is written; Adam, deceased; 
Catherine, widow of Mr. Hausman, of Chicago; 
and John, also deceased. The father died in 
1877, and the mother preceded him eight years, 
passing away June 4, 1869. 

Joseph Ernst received his early education in 
the common schools of his native country, and 
spent one year at the mason's trade. In 1854 ne 
sailed in the sailing-vessel "St. Nicholas" from 
Havre, France, to New York, the voyage lasting 



forty-eight days. On landing he came to Chicago, 
going to Buffalo by way of the Hudson River and 
Erie Canal, and the remainder of the way by rail. 
Two years later, the family, consisting of his 
parents and two brothers and a sister, emigrated 
to the United States, and located in Chicago. 
Joseph H. Ernst lived with his aunt, whose 
brother, Joseph Meyer, came to Chicago in 1845, 
and was widely known as the sexton and super- 
intendent of the old Chicago City Cemetery from 
1847 until the time of his death, which occurred 
December 1 6, 1864. Joseph became his assistant, 
and helped to keep the records of that time. 
While thus engaged he attended the old Franklin 
School two years, and graduated in 1856. The 
next two years he attended Sloan's Commercial 
and Law College, from which he graduated in 
1858. 

In 1864 Mr. Ernst opened a grocery store on 
North Wells Street, at No. 581, which he con- 
ducted two years. He was then appointed j?y 
the mayor as superintendent of the vacation of 
that part of the old city cemetery known as the 
Milliman tract. This work occupied two years 
and the city council then passed an ordinance to 
vacate the remainder of the cemetery, which is 
now included in Lincoln Park, appointing Mr. 
Ernst to superintend the work. He was fre- 
quently consulted by the Lincoln Park Commis- 
sioners during the early part of their work and fur- 
nished them with much valuable information, be- 
ing of great assistance to them. At the time of the 
Great Fire the city cemetery records were des- 



HENRY LAWRENCE. 



troyed. Mr. Ernst was clerk in the comptroller's 
office, in charge of exchange of city cemetery lots, 
also city taxes and city real estate, and remained 
in this office until May, 1882. 

In 1874 he engaged in the real-estate and loan 
business in partnership with Mathias Schmitz, 
under the firm name of Ernst & Schmitz, at No. 
271 East North Avenue, and in this venture he 
has ever since been successfully engaged. Since 
1874 Mr. Ernst has been secretary of the German 
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of North Chi- 
cago, being elected annually by a general meet- 
ing of all the members. 

Mr. Ernst was elected alderman of the Fif- 
teenth Ward in 1886, on the Democratic ticket, 
and was re-elected in 1888 in the present Twenty- 
first Ward. At the next election he declined a 
re-nomination. In 1892 his friends prevailed 
upon him to accept a nomination as an independ- 
ent candidate, and he was elected, receiving near- 
ly as many votes as both the other candidates. 
He has always discharged his public and private 



duties most faithfully, and was urged to accept a 
nomination for city treasurer, but declined. He 
is one of the directors of the German Catholic 
Orphans' Asylum of High Ridge. 

September 20, 1860, Mr. Ernst married Miss 
Katharine Schutz, a native of Germany, who 
came to the United States in 1853, an d reached 
Chicago in 1854. They have had eight children, of 
whom the six following are living: Anna, wife of 
William H. Weckler, residing on the corner of 
Wolfram and May Streets, Chicago; Adolph 
Charles, who is employed in his father's office; 
Andrew Joseph, also with his father; William 
Gregor, an attorney; Katharine Isabella; and 
Mary Angelica. Mr. Ernst and his family are 
members of Saint Michael's Roman Catholic 
Church. Mr. Ernst has resided on the North Side 
ever since he came to the city, in the vicinity of 
what is now Lincoln Park, and since 1873 his 
home has been at the corner of Eugenie Street 
and Cleveland Avenue, where he had a beautiful 
residence erected in 1892. 



HENRY LAWRENCE. 



HENRY LAWRENCE, D. D. S., for many 
years connected with the business interests 
of Chicago, and one of the most valuable 
citizens of that city, was born November 1 1 , 1823, 
in the city of London, England. He was a son 
of John Lawrence, for many years a resident of 
New York City. He received his primary edu- 
cation in the public schools of London, where he 
proved himself an apt and willing student. After 
coining to America, in 1859, he took up the study 
of dentistry with a prominent dentist of Philadel- 
phia, where he graduated, winning the esteem 
and admiration of his teacher. He then removed 
to Louisiana, and practiced his profession for a 
short time, and then went to Yazoo, Mississippi, 



where he remained until 1863, and then removed 
to New Orleans. He remained in the latter city 
until July, 1877, obtaining a profitable and lucra- 
tive practice. Most of his patrons were among the 
Creoles or old white settlers of that historic town, 
and thus he was enabled to save a comfortable 
fortune. His winters were spent in the North 
during this time, and he was especially attracted 
by Chicago, it then being a rapidly growing city, 
whose energetic citizens especially appealed to his 
regard. 

Mr. Lawrence always enjoyed the comforts of 
life, though he was industrious and frugal. He 
never ceased studying, and was a student of rare ap- 
plication, being the inventor of several dental in- 



JOSEPH JUNK. 



strunients, and often making his own tools. He 
was an ingenius craftsman, and frequently assisted 
his fellow.-dentists in some difficult operation or 
in the invention of some useful instrument. One 
of his inventions which has won fame for him is 
a water motor, thus doing away with foot power. 
He was a member of Chicago and New Orleans 
dental societies, being an honored guest at the 
meetings of these societies held in the homes of 
the members, as was then the custom. 

Mr. Lawrence was reared in the faith of the 
Church of England, and always adhered to that 
denomination, attending its services, although he 
liked other preachers very much, especially Dr. 
Thomas, whom he always delighted to hear. He 
was not connected with any secrect society, pre- 



ferring rather a quiet home life. He was very 
companionable and had great sympathy with 
all his fellow-men and women, being the happy 
possessor of a large number of friends and ac- 
quaintances. He exercised charity to all de- 
serving poor, not being ostentatious in all this, 
but believed in following the dictates of his heart 
only,- and not seeking the approval of his friends. 
He neyer, in any way, catered to the good-will of 
the masses. His every action was prompted by 
duty as he saw it, and thus in him is seen an ex- 
ample of an upright and honest man, true to his 
friends and principles. He died, in Chicago 
on the 6th of March, 1891, lamented by hosts of 
those who had learned to know him and call him 
friend. 



JOSEPH JUNK. 



(1OSEPH JUNK was born January 15, 1841, 
I at Salmrohr, near Trier, Germany. He was 
G/ the son of Joseph and Margaret Junk, natives 
of the same place. The former was a teacher 
there, and a scholarly man, who was esteemed 
and honored by all in the community. He lived 
to be over eighty years of age, and died in his 
native town. They had one son and five daugh- 
ters. Two of the latter were Sisters of St. Charles 
and well known as nurses during the wars. One 
of them, Margaret, was known as Sister Eu- 
phrasia, and was Mother Superior of the convent 
at Mettlach, the town where the famous German 
pottery is made. The owner of the manufactory 
built the convent. Her sister, Anna, was also in 
the convent, known as Sister Anastasia. Both 
of them are now deceased. The other three 
daughters are married, and live in Germany. 
The father of Joseph Junk, senior, was burgo- 



master of Salmrohr, and was killed by robbers, 
who mistook him for another man, for whom they 
were lying in wait. 

The subject of this sketch was educated in Ger- 
man}', and came to America at the age of twenty- 
seven years. After landing at New York, he 
came directly to Chicago, where he learned his 
trade with his old neighbor and countryman, 
Peter Schoenhoff, one of the early brewers of this 
city. He was afterward associated for several 
years with Huck's Malt House. 

May 18, 1871, he married Miss Magdalena, 
daughter of Hubert and Elizabeth (Thormann) 
Hagemann, well-known residents of Chicago, who 
came here in 1853. They formerly had a grocery 
on the West Side. In 1895 they celebrated their 
golden wedding. Of their nine children, only 
Magdalena now survives. 

Mr. Junk embarked in the brewing business in 



J. H. RAAP. 



1884, on the corner of Thirty-seventh and Hal- 
sted Streets. In this he had a valuable assistant 
in his wife, who became familiar with the details 
of the business. They were but fairly started 
when he died, February 23, 1887. At that time 
they manufactured about nine thousand barrels 
of beer annually. The estate was involved in 
debt for half its value, but with commendable 
zeal Mrs, Junk continued the business, and so 
well did she manage it that from time to time she 
was able to increase it, until at the present time 
the brewery yields eighty thousand barrels of 
beer annually, all of which finds a market in 
Chicago. Mrs. Junk deserves great credit for 
her work, especially when we remember that she 
was then the mother of six small children. The 
names of the children are as follows: Joseph P., 
Edward H., Mary E., Rose Anna, Aloysius and 
Mary Magdalena. Religiously the family are 
members of the Saint Augustine Roman Catholic 
Church. 

The two eldest sons are associated in business 
with their mother, and the eldest, though but 



thirteen years old at the death of his father, was 
of great assistance to his mother, devoting his 
whole time and energy to the business. The 
eldest daughter, Miss Mary E. Junk, is fast be- 
coming well known as a musician, excelling es- 
pecially on the harp, to which instrument she has 
devoted many years of hard study. 

The successful life of Mrs. Junk is well calcu- 
lated to interest her descendants as well as the 
citizens of Chicago, who are ever ready to honor 
and give due credit to those who assist in build- 
ing up the city's manufacturing interests, thus 
adding wealth and comforts to many homes. 

In 1890 Mrs. Junk built a handsome home, in 
spacious grounds, on Garfield Boulevard, which 
her aged parents share with her and which very 
nearly represents the ideal home, where rest and 
comfort await those wearied with the business of 
the day. Not only does Mrs. Junk possess energy 
and business capacity, which all must admire, 
but in addition to these she possesses those quali- 
ties of mind and heart which make her a good 
mother and a true woman . 



JOHN H. RAAP. 



(JOHN HENRY RAAP was born August i, 
1840, in L,udingworth, Hanover, Germany, 
(*) and was a son of Ernst and Catharina M. 
(Cords) Raap, both natives of that place. In 
1854 the family removed to America, settling in 
Chicago, where Mr. Raap bought a house of three 
rooms on Cornell Street, near Ashland Avenue. 
They had two children, namely: John Henry 
Raap, whose name stands at the head of this arti- 
cle; and Mrs. Minnie Dilcherd, who resides at 
No. 67 Cornelia Street, in Chicago. The parents 
were thrifty and economical, and they won the 
respect of the community. They died at their 
home on Cornell Street. 



John Henry Raap received most of his educa- 
tion in his native country, which he supplement- 
ed by subsequent reading and observation. He 
was confirmed in the German Lutheran Church, 
and of this faith he remained an adherent. He 
was a bright, intelligent boy when he came to 
America and soon learned to speak the English 
language fluently. He possessed those qualities 
that insure success in the business world. On his 
arrival in Chicago he became employed in a brick 
yard, and, realizing the advantages of a better edu- 
cation than he then possessed, he attended a night 
school, and there he studied diligently to prepare 
himself for the business career that was after- 



C. D. MAGEE. 



43 



wards his. He had indomitable courage and per- 
severance and he saw the hopeful side of life. 

Mr. Raap's first business venture was a grocery 
store, on the corner of Pratt and Milwaukee Av- 
enues, which he conducted only a short time. 
He then removed to Dunkel's Grove, where he 
had a general store two years and then sold out 
to return to the city, engaging in the flour 
and feed trade at Nos. 572-74 Milwaukee Avenue 
in a small building which was gradually merged 
into a wholesale liquor house. In 1870 he built 
the large building occupied by the business at the 
present time. He gradually extended his trade 
until he ranked among the foremost and most 
successful German business men in the city. 

As would be expected, Mr. Raap was connect- 
ed with many social orders and societies, among 
which are the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
the Sons of Hermann, the Central Turner Society, 
the Teutonia Maennerchor and the Chicago Re- 
bekah Society. In political opinions he was a 



Republican, and he had much influence in polit- 
ical affairs, but he never held any office. He 
passed away April 23, 1897. 

Mr. Raap was twice married. His first wife 
was Sophia Sohle, a native of Germany, now de- 
ceased. May i, 1873, he married Miss Helena 
Hannah Gilow, a daughter of Fritz and Mary 
(Wagner) Gilow, natives of Grim, Prussia. She 
proved to be in every way a worthy helpmate, 
and was of invaluable assistance to her husband, 
being as ambitious and enterprising as he. She 
was ever willing to lead, and she conducted the 
home and helped in the business of her husband. 
She is a true type of the German- American house- 
wife, always alert and willing to further her hus- 
band's interests. She survives her husband, and 
is the mother of five children, now living, namely: 
John Henry, junior, Tillie L,., Robert R., Ernst 
E. and Pearl Frances. The two older sons con- 
tinue to carry on the business which was left by 
their father. 



CHARLES D. MAGEE. 



HARLES DAVIDSON MAGEE, who has 

1 ( been connected with the iron industry of 
\J Chicago for many years, was born October 
3, 1846, in the beautiful city of Belfast, Ireland. 
His parents were John and Elizabeth (Croft) 
Magee, both natives of that country. The fam- 
ily emigrated to America in 1855 and settled in 
the growing city of Chicago, which was then 
just beginning to give evidence of future great- 
ness. There the elder Magee engaged in the 
iron, steam and gasfitting business, which he 
had learned and conducted before leaving Ire- 
land, and continued it successfully until his death, 
at the age of sixty-five years, October 27, 1878. 



Charles D. Magee spent his early boyhood in 
his native city and there attended school. He 
was but nine years of age when the family set- 
tled in Chicago, and in the public schools of that 
city he completed his education. He then en- 
gaged in business with his father and spent 
twenty years in steam and gasfitting, thus se- 
curing a thorough and practical knowledge of all 
the details of that trade and gaining a wide and 
varied experience, which has been of great use to 
him in his later business connections. Having 
shown an aptitude for trade and having gained a 
large acquaintance among business men, he 
readil} 7 secured a position as traveling represen- 



44 



AUGUST DRESEL. 



tative of the Corundum Wheel Company, and 
since that time he has served the interests of 
many of the most prominent iron firms in the 
United States, to the advantage and satisfaction 
of all parties. At present he is interested in the 
Automatic Acetylene Gas Company and is de- 
voting his energies to the promotion of that en- 
terprise. 

Mr. Magee was married in 1865 to Miss Mary 
D. Williams, who was bom June 29, 1845, in 
Terre Haute, Indiana, and is a daughter of R. G. 
and Sophronia D. Williams, both natives of New 
York. Mrs. Williams died December 19, 1896. 
Mr. and Mrs. Magee are the parents of three 
children, John E., Albert M. and Charles D., 
aged thirty, twenty-six and nineteen years, re- 
spectively. 

The subject of this notice is a valued and in- 
fluential member of the Wesleyan Methodist 
Church, worshiping at the church on Halsted 
Street, near Fullerton Avenue. He is prominent 



in the Masonic order, and in 1894 organized the 
Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, for which 
he wrote the ritual This order bears the same 
relation to the adopted rites of Masonry that the 
Order of Knights Templar does to the main body 
of Masonry. The order was incorporated by Mr. 
Magee in the State of Illinois, October 3, 1895, 
and the Supreme Shrine was then organized with 
headquarters at Chicago, Mr. Magee being 
elected Supreme Chancellor for a term of three 
years. Later the headquarters were removed to 
Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they are still 
located. Membership in the order is limited to 
Master Masons and their wives, mothers, sisters, 
daughters and widows. It is rapidly growing in 
numbers, having extended itself into three States, 
Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. Mr. Magee 
is a conservative in politics. He is a most genial 
and affable gentleman, ever ready to give help 
and advice to those who ask it, and is considered 
one of Chicago's most energetic business men. 



AUGUST DRESEL 



GJ1 UGUST DRESEL, for many years identi- 
J I fied with the business life of Chicago, has 
/ I been engaged in his present occupation of 
florist since 1866. He began business at No. 
656 Clybourn Avenue, and continued there until 
about 1888, when he sold out to Samuel J. 
Pearce. He then established himself at his pres- 
ent place of business, near the corner of Western 
and Belmont Avenues, where he has about one 
and one-half acres of ground under glass. His 
principal products are roses and plants for spring 



planting. He also raises palms and several 
varieties of flowers for cutting, selling the bulk of 
his product to dealers. 

Mr. Dresel was born October 9, 1838, in Hoi- 
stein, Germany, and is a son of Henry and Anna 
Dresel, both natives of the same province. The 
son was educated in his native land, where he 
went through a long and thorough course of 
training in landscape gardening, and the cultiva- 
tion of all kinds of pi ants produced for market. 
He continued in this occupation until his removal 



L. J. SMITH. 



45 



to the United States. In June, 1865, he left the 
Fatherland, taking passage on a steamship which 
sailed from Hamburg bound for New York. He 
landed in the last-named city in the latter part of 
July, and proceeded thence to LaFayette, Indiana, 
where he remained but a short time, removing to 
Jasper County, in the same State. 

In March, 1866, he had saved enough from his 
earnings as a farm laborer in Indiana to pur- 
chase a horse, and he rode the animal to Chi- 
cago. After his arrival he soon found employ- 
ment in the old Sheffield Avenue nursery of Mar- 
tin Lewis. During that season he worked at 
various occupations, and in the following spring 
he purchased from Mr. Lewis the floral depart- 
ment of his nursery, and began business for him- 
self. The beginning was small, but he was in- 
dustrious and attentive to the wants of his cus- 
tomers, working early and late to build up his 
fortunes. In a short time he was enabled to 
purchase the greenhouses which he occupied, and 



he has ever since continued to conduct the busi- 
ness with gratifying success. For six years he 
was also interested in the manufacture of brick, 
being a stockholder of the Northwestern Brick 
Company while it existed. 

He has usually supported the Democratic party 
in matters of political principle, but is not a 
strong partisan, and is wholly independent in 
considering local affairs. The candidate who 
seems to him best qualified and most willing to 
carry out the wishes of his constituents is certain 
to receive his support, regardless of party dicta- 
tions. 

December 20, 1866, Mr. Dresel was married to 
Miss Mary Kj-ersgaard, a native of Denmark. 
Two of their children died in childhood, and 
there are five living, namely: Claussin, Sophia, 
August, Henry and Louis. The family is identi- 
fied with the Lutheran Church and bears its 
share in the social life of the community, where 
it is held in the highest respect. 



LLOYD J. SMITH. 



I LOYD JAMES SMITH, one of the most 
It active and earnest of our business men, is 
l_^ a descendant of old Russian and English 
families, and is a native of Wheeler, Indiana. 
His grandfather, Peter Smith, was born in Eng- 
land, and was a brother of Sir Harry Smith, 
a noted officer of the British army, who fought in 
the American Revolution. 

Peter Smith's son, James P. Smith, who was 
born and educated in London, came to the United 
States at the age of fourteen years, and was for 
thirty years the manager of the Central Elevators 
of Chicago. He married Helen Christopher, 
daughter of a high official in the Russian govern- 
ment, who left his native country because of the 
jealousy of other officials, and left his property 
in Russia. 



Lloyd James Smith is one of their children. 
He was educated in a Chicago high school and 
the Metropolitan Business College. His first em- 
ployment was with the Northwestern National 
Bank, as messenger, at the age of seventeen 
years. After thus spending two years, he re- 
moved to Idaho, and in that state and in Oregon, 
spent two years in charge of a cattle ranch. 
After this he was a broker for the Central Elevator 
Company, and the Munger-Wheeler Company. 

In 1889 he became general manager of the 
Santa Fe Elevator and Dock Company, and the 
Chicago Elevator Company, and is now the sec- 
retary and treasurer of the Santa Fe Company. 
Since 1890 Mr. Smith has been a director of the 
Board of Trade, and his office continues until 
1900. He is chairman of the executive commit- 



4 6 



A. H. BUSSE. 



tee, and has served on all important commitees of 
the directory. He has always represented the 
elevator interests in any controversies. 

Mr. Smith has been chairman of the Cook 
County Republican Central Committee, and served 
two years as its vice-president. For five years 
he was the vice-president of the Marquette Club, 
and is a member of the Chicago Athletic Club. 
In political principle he is a Republican, and 



takes great interest in national and local af- 
fairs. He has attained high rank in the Masonic 
fraternity, and affiliates with Medinah Temple of 
the Mystic Shrine. 

October 15, 1890, he married Miss Sadie B. 
Hall, and they are the parents of one child, 
Lloyda Kezzie Smith, born October 4, 1891. 
Mrs. Smith is a daughter of Z. M. Hall, whose 
biography appears in this work. 



AUGUST H. BUSSE. 



GlUGUST HUBERT BUSSE was born No- 
I I vember 10, 1867, in a house which stood on 
/ I an alley between Commercial and Houston 
Avenues and Ninety-second and Ninety-third 
Streets. This house was subsequently moved to 
No. 9205 Commercial Avenue, where it still 
stands. August H. Busse is a son of August 
and Caroline (Albert) Busse. He received his 
education in the common schools of Chicago, part 
of the time attending the Bowen School. At the 
age of fourteen years he was obliged to leave his 
studies to attend to the more serious duties of life. 
He was first employed in the planing mill of 
Crandall, Fisher & Company, now belonging to 
Kratzer & Fisher. After spending a year with this 
firm, he was employed a year in the drug store 
of Arnold & Merrill, and then became engaged 
in carpenter work for Otto Schoening, with whom 
he remained about one year. 

May 9, 1885, Mr. Busse entered the service of 
the City Fire Department, as a driver at first, 
and truckman afterwards. In a fire which oc- 
curred in December, 1888, his left hand was in- 
jured, the small bones in his left knee were 
broken, and he received an injury in his side, so 
that he was compelled to remain at home six 



months. The fire which caused him so much 
suffering was on Mackinaw Avenue, between 
Eighty-fifth and Eighty-sixth Streets. 

Upon his recovery from injuries received while 
in the fire department, Mr. Busse resolved to find 
other employment, and accordingly, on May 23, 
1889, he joined the police force as patrolman, 
and for the past two years has been employed as 
messenger in the South Chicago Station. In his 
business life he has attended strictly to the duties 
of his position, and has always shown a disposi- 
tion to rise in station. While serving at a large 
fire May 8, 1897, Mr. Busse took a severe cold, 
which brought on hemorrhage of the left lung, 
and incapacitated him from active duty for many 
months. 

Mr. Busse was married April 2, 1890, to Miss 
Catherine, daughter of Joseph and Catherine 
Leiendecker. They are the parents of the fol- 
lowing children: Joseph, Frederick William and 
George Augustus. Mr. Busse and his family are 
communicants of the Roman Catholic Church, 
and he is connected with the Policemen's Be- 
nevolent Association. He is a man of genial and 
pleasant manner, and has many firm friends, by 
whom his merits and character are appreciated. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

riMIVERSITY OP ILLINOIS 



JOEL ELLIS. 



47 



JOEL ELLIS. 



ELLIS, for nearly fifty years an active 

I citizen and useful business man of ChicagO ) 
G/ was descended from the old Puritan stock 
which has done so much in developing the men- 
tal, moral and material interests of the United 
States. The energy, fortitude and stern moral 
character which characterized the founders of the 
New England colonies is still observed in many 
of their descendants, and these attributes were 
possessed by Joel Ellis in a marked degree. 

His first ancestor of whom any record is now 
to be found was Barzillai Ellis, born June 9, 1747, 
presumably in Massachusetts, and of English 
blood. March 6, 1773, he married Sarah Tobey, 
who was born June 5, 1755, no doubt in the 
same State and of similar ancestry. They resid- 
ed in Conway, Franklin County, Massachusetts, 
whence they moved, about the close of the last 
century, to Chautauqua County, New York. 
Here Barzillai Ellis died in 1827. His youngest 
son, Samuel Ellis, died in Chicago in 1856. The 
other children were Barzillai, Asa, Freeman, Ben- 
jamin, Joel and Elnathan. 

The children of Benjamin Ellis were Parmtlia, 
Eleanor, Jane, Stephen, Mason, Datus, Joel (the 
subject of this sketch) and Ensign. His wife 
was Sophia Birch, a native of Connecticut. Ben- 
jamin Ellis died in Fredonia, New York, in 1855. 
He was a farmer, and cleared up land in the prim- 
eval forest, which consumed the best years of his 
life and required the assistance of his children, 
who had little opportunity to attend school. 

Joel Ellis was born in Fredonia, Chautauqua 
County, New York, May 25, 1818. As above 
indicated, his early years were devoted to the toil 



which usually befell farmers' sons in those days, 
and he attended school but very little. Schools 
were far apart and held sessions of only three 
months per year, in winter, when attendance on 
the part of many children was almost impossible. 
However, Joel Ellis was blessed by nature with a 
sound mind and body, and his clear judgment 
and active industry made him a successful busi- 
ness man and good citizen. 

When, in 1838, he set out for the West, 
whither an uncle (Samuel Ellis, before mentioned) 
had preceded him, he was an energetic and self- 
reliant young man of twenty years, full of cour- 
age and hopefulness and the ardor and ambition of 
a strong nature. Arriving in the autumn, he found 
the young city of Chicago suffering from the com- 
mercial and industrial stagnation which followed 
the financial panic of 1837, and his search for 
employment was a vain one. The only offer which 
he received was from his uncle, who was engaged 
in farming some miles from the then city, but on 
ground now built up with thousands of the finest 
homes in Chicago, along Ellis, Greenwood and 
other avenues of the South Side. He continued 
in farm labor with his uncle for two years, much 
of which time was occupied in chopping wood 
from the timber which then covered this region, 
and which must be cleared away to make room 
for a tillable farm. 

From 1840 to 1858 he was associated with 
Archibald Clybourn, an active business man of 
Chicago (see biography elsewhere in this work), 
and became thorough!}- conversant with the meat 
business, which was one of Mr. Clybourn's chief 
enterprises. It was at the house of Mr. Cly- 



4 8 



JOEL ELLIS. 



bourn that he met the lady who became his wife 
in 1844. This was Miss Susan Galloway, a sis- 
ter of Mrs. Clybourn and daughter of James 
and Sally (McClenthan) Galloway, of Pennsyl- 
vania birth and Scotch ancestry. Her grand- 
father, Samuel Galloway, was a native of Scot- 
land, whose wife was of Pennsylvania-German 
descent. They were among the earliest settlers 
on the Susquehanna River, and Samuel Galloway 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army. Mrs. 
Ellis was taken by her parents, when a small 
child, to Sandusky, Ohio, and thence the fam- 
ily came to Chicago, arriving on the gth of 
November, 1826. They left Sandusky on the 
ist of October, in a sailing-vessel, and were 
wrecked south of Mackinaw, but were rescued by 
another vessel, which brought them to Chicago. 

James Galloway had visited Illinois in the fall 
of 1824, and was very much charmed with the 
country' about the Grand Rapids of the Illinois 
River (now known as Marseilles), where he bought 
a claim. He spent the winter of 1826-27 in 
Chicago with his family, and settled on this claim 
in the following spring, and continued to reside 
there the balance of his life. His wife died in 
1830, and he subsequently married Matilda Stipes, 
of Virginia. In character Mr. Galloway was a 
fit representative of his sturdy Scotch ancestry, 
and was well fitted for pioneering in those early 
days, when means of travel and communication 
were difficult, and the dwellers in the wilderness 
were compelled to forego many comforts and 
social advantages, besides braving the enmity of 
their savage neighbors. 

Of the five children of James and Sally Gallo- 
way, Mrs. Clybourn is the eldest. The second, 
Jane, wife of Washington Holloway, died in 1894. 
John died in Missouri. Susan is Mrs. Ellis. 
George, born April 12, 1828, at Marseilles, is now 
deceased. Of the second marriage, Archibald 
and Marshall are the only surviving offspring. 
The former now shares a part of the original farm 
at Marseilles with George's widow. The latter 
resides in Chicago. 

On leaving the employ of Mr. Clybourn, Mr. 
Ellis engaged in the retail meat business on his 
own account, and furnished supplies to many of 



the leading hotels and to vessels entering Chicago 
Harbor. In 1865 he formed a partnership with 
Thomas Armour and began an extensive whole- 
sale business in meats and provisions, which 
grew beyond his fondest dreams of success. In 
fifteen years he amassed a comfortable fortune, 
which was largely invested in improved real es- 
tate in the city. As the care of his property ab- 
sorbed much of his time, he decided to retire from 
active business, and, in the spring of 1871, he pur- 
chased twenty acres in the town of Jefferson (now 
a part of the city of Chicago), on which he built 
a handsome suburban home, in which he hoped 
to pass the balance of his days in well-earned rest 
from the arduous labors which had occupied his 
earlier years. Scarcely was he settled in his new 
home when the great fire of October, 1871, rob- 
bed him of all his buildings save the home at Jef- 
ferson, just completed. Without any repining, 
he set to work at once to repair the losses. It 
was his custom to rise at two o'clock in the morn- 
ing and drive into the city to begin business. 
There were no rapid-transit systems then to move 
suburban residents quickly from and to their 
homes, and he took means which would appall any 
but such stout natures as his to rebuild his fort- 
unes. In this he was moderately successful, and 
when a cancer caused his death at his home in 
Jefferson, October 29, 1886, he left his family 
comfortably provided for. 

A quiet, unassuming man, he gave little atten- 
tion to public affairs, though he took the interest 
in local and national progress which every true 
American must feel, and discharged his duty as 
it appeared to him by supporting the Republican 
party after it came into existence, having former- 
ly affiliated with the Whigs. He was a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, and was an active sup- 
porter of the Universalist Church, being among 
the organizers of St. Paul's congregation, whose 
pastor, Rev. W. E. Manly, performed the cere- 
mony which made him the head of a family. Be- 
sides his widow, he left three children, namely: 
Lucretia, now the widow of George W. Pinney, 
residing in Chicago; Winfield, of Highland Park, 
Illinois; and Mary Josephine, Mrs. Algernon S. 
Osgood, of Chicago. 



WILLIAM LEE. 



49 



WILLIAM LEE. 



{DQILLIAM LEE, a leading citizen of Pull- 
\ A I man, was born at Rochester, New York, 
YY June 14, 1851. He is a son of Rev. Henry 
Washington Lee and Lydia Mason Morton. 
Rev. H. W. Lee was a native of Hamden, Con- 
necticut. He entered the Episcopal ministry at 
an early age, and filled pastorates of several 
years each at Springfield, Massachusetts, and 
Rochester, New York. In 1854 he was made 
the first regular Bishop of Iowa, and filled that 
position during the balance of his life, his resi- 
dence being at Davenport, where his death oc- 
curred in 1874, at the age of fifty-nine years. 
He was one of the most active and distinguished 
men of that faith in the United States during his 
time, and greatly advanced the prosperity of the 
Episcopal Church in the West. 

The Lee family is of English lineage. Col. 
Roswell Lee, the father of Rev. H. W. Lee, 
served in the regular army of the United States 
for many years. He participated in the War of 
1812, and subsequently had charge of the United 
States Armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, for 
a considerable period of time. He was very 
prominent in the Masonic order, and a lodge of 
that fraternity at Springfield was named in his 
honor. 

Mrs. Lydia M. Lee, who is now living at Salt 
Lake City, Utah, at the venerable age of eighty- 
four years, was born at Taunton, Massachusetts. 
She is a daughter of ex-Governor Marcus Mor- 
ton, of that State. The latter was of English de- 
scent, and served for many years as Chief Justice 
of the State of Massachusetts previous to his 
election as Governor. 

William Lee, whose name heads this article, 
spent most of his boyhood in Davenport. In 



1864 he entered Hamden Military Academy, at 
Hamden, Connecticut, taking a two-years course 
at that institution. He subsequently became a 
student at Racine College, Racine, Wisconsin, 
but upon completing the junior year, in 1870, he 
went to Griswold College at Davenport, Iowa, an 
institution of which his father had been the 
founder. The following year he graduated, re- 
ceiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then 
became connected with the engineer corps of the 
Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and spent 
about one year about Kearney, Nebraska, where 
he was engaged in laying off the line of that 
road, then in course of construction. Being de- 
termined to perfect himself in this profession, he 
took a special course in engineering at Lawrence 
Scientific School, Harvard University. 

In 1873 he located at Chicago and engaged in 
general surveying, but the next year went to 
Salt Lake City, and occupied the next two sea- 
sons in surveying and mining. Four years more 
were spent in general engineering work at San 
Francisco. Returning to Illinois in 1880, he was 
employed as assistant engineer in platting the 
town of Pullman. Three years later he entered 
the service of the United States Government, on 
a survey of the Hennepin Canal, and also as- 
sisted in surveying the Illinois and Calumet 
Rivers. He was subsequently connected with 
the Public Works department of the village of 
Hyde Park, and upon the annexation of that ter- 
ritory to the city of Chicago, in 1889, he con- 
tinued for one year in the engineering depart- 
ment of the city. In the summer of 1890 he took 
charge of platting the town of Harvey. Two years 
were occupied in laying off this village, together 
with its drainage and water- works systems. Since 



Z. A. NEFF. 



that time he has done most of the surveying and 
engineering work for the villages of North Har- 
vey, Dolton, Riverdale, Homewood, Matteson 
and other places. During this time he has also 
done most of the work in this line for the Pull- 
man Land Association and Pullman's Palace Car 
Company. His reputation for accurate and reli- 
able workmanship causes his services to be re- 
peatedly sought wherever he is known. 

In October, 1873, Mr. Lee was united in matri- 
mony to Miss Anna Cleo Everett, daughter of 
William H. Everett, of Davenport, Iowa. Mrs. 
Lee was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 
her death occurred at Chicago June 25, 1884, at 



the age of thirty-five years. She left a son and a 
daughter, named, 'respectively, Henry W. and 
Mabel. Mr. Lee was again married, November 
15, 1888, to Florence Isabel Ferguson, daughter 
of William and Anna W. Ferguson, of Cincin- 
nati. Two children have been born of this union, 
namely, Alice Ferguson and Lydia Morton. The 
family moves in the best social circles and enjoys 
the good- will of all its acquaintances. Mr. Lee 
is a member of the Western Society of Civil En- 
gineers. A Republican in political sentiment, 
he takes a patriotic interest in all important pub- 
lic affairs, but never seeks the political patronage 
of his fellow-citizens. 



ZACHARIAH A. NEFF. 



G7ACHARIAH ADDISON NEFF, a resident 
I. of Cook County for the past thirty years, 
I^J and a public official during the greater part 
of that time, is a native of Pennsylvania, born 
April 21, 1834, at Blairsville, Indiana County, 
in that State. His father, Amos Neff, was born 
in Virginia, probably at West Point, and was a 
son of John Neff. It is supposed that members 
of the Neff family came to America from Alsace- 
Lorraine, and settled simultaneously in Virginia, 
Pennsylvania and New York, in each of which 
States their posterity have been numerous for 
many generations. Amos Neff died when the 
subject of this sketch was about seven years old. 
Elizabeth Brewer, who became the wife of 
Amos Neff and mother of Z. A. Neff, was born 
in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Her fa- 
ther, whose Christian name is supposed to have 
been Andrew or John Andrew, served in the 
Revolutionary army, and received a grant of six 
hundred acres of land in Wisconsin from the Gov- 
ernment in recognition of his services. While a 
young man he was captured by Indians and held 
a prisoner seven years. At the time of his death 



he lacked less than five months of completing his 
one-hundredth year. His daughter, Mrs. Neff, 
was born before the beginning of the present 
century, and was a strong and industrious wo- 
man. She died at the early age of fifty-seven, in 
1856. Beside the son whose name heads this 
article, she had a daughter, Martha A., who is 
now the widow of James Amesbaugh, residing at 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Z. A. Neff grew to manhood at Blairsville, 
Pennsylvania, and received the full benefit of the 
public schools. He learned the tinner's trade, and 
during the Civil War had charge of the tin, cop- 
per and sheet-iron department of the Government 
railroad shops at Alexandria, Virginia, serving 
in that capacity throughout the war. The mili- 
tary railroad system was organized by the noted 
Andrew Carnegie, who brought to the scene of 
action a number of workmen, including Mr. 
Neff. These works grew to immense propor- 
tions before the close of the war. 

After peace came, Mr. Neff came to Chicago 
and opened a tin shop, to which was soon added 
a stock of general hardware, and he did much 



W. J. KEMPER. 



jobbing and railroad work. In the spring of 
1872 he sold out and removed to Dolton, where 
he opened a hardware business and continued it 
about twenty years. He was appointed Post- 
master at Dolton by President Garfield, and re- 
appointed by President Harrison, serving in all 
about ten years. He is at present Clerk of the 
Village of Dolton, and since 1891 has been a 
County Constable, the duties of that office oc- 
cupying most of his time. During the time when 
not otherwise occupied, he does considerable col- 
lecting for Chicago houses, and on all occasions 
has shown himself to be a reliable, industrious and 
capable business man. 

He was married April n, 1872, to Miss Sarah 
S. Harter, who was born in Delaware, Ohio, and 
came to Illinois with her parents in 1843, theirs 
being the second family to locate on the site of 
the present village of Dolton. Mrs. Neffis the 
only child of John Harter and his second wife, 



Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Rheem. Her 
father had six other children, all of whom are or 
have been well-known citizens of Dolton. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Harter sprang from a distinguished fam- 
ily in Pennsylvania. She was a native of Rox- 
bury, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and 
died at Dolton in August, 1843. She was first 
married to William Grearson. The only son of 
this union, George W. Grearson, was killed by 
the explosion of a tug in the Chicago harbor in 
1863. 

Mr. Neff aided in the organization of a lodge of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Dolton, 
which has since surrendered its charter. He has 
always been a Republican in his political allegi- 
ance, and has voted for every presidential candi- 
date of that party since attaining his majority, 
including John C. Fremont in 1856. He has 
always been a public-spirited and useful citizen, 
and enjoys the respect of all his associates. 



WILLIAM J. KEMPER. 



fDGjlLLIAM JOHN KEMPER, one of theold- 
\A/ es * res idents f Chicago, who gained a 
V Y competence here by his characteristic Ger- 
man industry, frugality and integrity, was born 
on the 2d of February, 1816, in the Province of 
Osnabrueck, Hanover, Germany. His parents 
were Juergen Bernhardt and Katharine (Schuster) 
Kemper. The latter died at the age of fifty-two 
years in Germany. The father came to America 
in 1840, and settled in Chicago, where he died 
twelve years later. 

The subject of this sketch received his primary 
education in the public schools of Germany. 
From fourteen to eighteen years of age he worked 
as a farm laborer for one employer. On reach- 
ing his majority he put into execution his pre- 
viously conceived determination to seek his fort- 



une in the new and free world beyond the seas. 
He landed in New York in 1836, and found em- 
ployment, in company with his brother, John 
Kemper, in a tannery in Sullivan County, New 
York. 

May 14, 1837, he settled in Chicago. His first 
employment here was in the capacity of cook, 
serving the people engaged in developing a Gov- 
ernment harbor in the Chicago River. For sev- 
eral years subsequently he was employed by the 
lale John Wentworth and others. His next em- 
ployment was in the milk business with Lill & 
Diversey, who were established at the foot of 
Chicago Avenue. In 1843 he engaged in the 
milk and vegetable business on his own account, 
and continued this for twenty-one years, or until 
he retired in 1864. By his honesty and strict 



W. J. McELDOWNEY. 



attention to business he gained favor in the eyes 
of the public, and was known and respected 
throughout the northern part of the city. 

In 1848 Mr. Kemper bought the block of 
ground bounded by Orchard and Larrabee Streets 
and Fullerton and Belden Avenues. This ground 
has appreciated immensely in value since then, 
and it has been gradually sold off, except a plot 
at the corner of Orchard Street and Fullerton 
Avenue, one hundred and thirty by one hundred 
and seventy-five feet in dimensions, where Mr. 
Kemper has his home, in the midst of one of 
the most beautiful residence districts in the city. 
The great fire of 1871 destroyed two large houses 
which he owned at the corner of Wells and Hill 
Streets. 

On the i gth of July, 1843, in Chicago, Mr. Kem- 
per was married to Miss Katharine Toenigen, 
a native of the Province of Otersberg, Hanover, 
Germany. She is a daughter of Nicholas and 
Mary (Gerken) Toenigen. Mrs. Kemper is the 
second of two daughters born to her parents; she 
was robbed of her mother by death at the age of 
eleven years. She came to America with her 



sister, Mrs. Henry Knopp, in 1842. Nine chil- 
dren have been given to Mr. and Mrs. Kemper, 
namely: Anna Marie, Katharine, John, Louise, 
Christina, Margaret, William Henry, Edward 
Hermann and Richard George. The eldest and 
second sons are now deceased. The second 
daughter is the wife of F. Kruse; the next mar- 
ried Frank Pfunder; the fourth is Mrs. William 
Ermeling; and the fifth is the wife of Charles 
Baltz. The surviving sons married respectively 
Stella and Anna Sourwine. All are happily set- 
tled in business and social life in Chicago. Anna 
Marie has devoted her life to her parents, and is 
the stay and comfort of their old age. One of 
the most joyful events in the history of the fam- 
ily was the celebration, in 1893, of the golden 
wedding anniversary of the parents, who are still 
in the enjoyment of good health, and have dwelt 
for forty-five years in the same place. They are 
associated with the Evangelical Association, be- 
ing identified with the Wisconsin Street Church. 
Mr. Kemper voted for the elder Harrison, and 
has supported the Whig or Republican ticket 
ever since. 



WILLIAM J. McELDOWNEY. 



JOHN McELDOWNEY, Pres- 
identofthe Bank of Chicago Heights, a 
son of John McEldowney , whose biography 
appears in these pages, have inherited many of 
the qualities which made his father a leading and 
influential citizen. He is honest, straightfor- 
ward and friendly, and keeps in view the welfare 
of his fellows and of the community. He was 
born June 30, 1843, in Bloom, and spent his boy- 
hood on his father's farm in his native town. In 
childhood, and in the intervals of farm labor in 



later years, he attended the common school of the 
neighborhood, and finished his studies at Lake 
Forest Academy. 

Soon after the completion of his nineteenth year, 
in October, 1862, he enlisted in his country's serv- 
ice in the suppression of rebellion. He became 
a member of Company M, Fourteenth Regiment 
of Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel Capron. He 
served nine months in Kentucky, and was dis- 
charged at the end of that time, with the rank of 
sergeant. 



C. D. HEWS, A. M., M. D. 



53 



On his return to Bloom in 1863, Mr. McEl- 
dowuey entered the store of James Hunter in the 
village, and continued in his service until the 
spring of 1868. He then purchased a farm of one 
hundred and twenty acres, which he subsequent- 
ly increased to two hundred and sixty acres in 
Bloom Township; this he retained and tilled until 
1892, when he sold a quarter-section to the Chi- 
cago Heights Land Association. The remaining 
one hundred acres, adjoining the village, he still 
retains. 

Upon the organization of the Bank of Chicago 
Heights, January i, 1893, in which he was in- 
strumental, Mr. McEldowney was elected its pres- 
ident and has filled that position since. He is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church of Chicago 
Heights, of which he is treasurer and a member 
of the board of trustees. He has always taken 
an intelligent interest in the conduct of local 



affairs, and has often been selected to act in their 
administration. He has been Supervisor several 
years, and has also been Town Treasurer. He 
is a steadfast Republican in general political prin- 
ciple. 

He was married October 22,1866, to Miss Mary 
H. McQueen, a native of Elgin, Illinois, daugh- 
ter of George and Margaret (McCormick) Mc- 
Queen, both natives of Scotland. Five children 
complete the family of Mr. and Mrs. McEldown- 
ey, namely: John Howard, commercial editor 
of the Chicago Tribune; George I., book-keeper 
of the Chicago Heights Bank; Annie, William 
Frank and Ralph. As the result of his industry, 
prudence and sagacity, Mr. McEldowney is now 
at the head of one of the soundest and most suc- 
cessful business institutions of the community, 
and enjoys the respect and friendship of his 
fellow-citizens. 



CHARLES D. HEWS, A. M., M. D. 



(TJHARLES DEANEHEWS, A. M., M. D., 
I ( the first medical practitioner at Roseland, 
\J was born at La Porte, Indiana, April 5, 
1846. His parents, Dr. Richard B. Hews and 
Jane Elizabeth Spaulding, were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, and became early settlers in northern 
Indiana. His paternal grandfather, Bursten Hews, 
was an Englishman, who crossed the ocean and 
located in the Keystone State about the beginning 
of the present century. He kept an inn at Can- 
ton Corners, in Bradford County. His wife was 
an offspring of the famous Clendenning family 
of Scotland. She was a lady of extraordinary 
physical vigor, and a devout adherent of the 
Baptist faith. She was accustomed to walk twen- 
ty miles and back regularly each Sabbath (proba- 



bly to Towanda) to reach the nearest point at 
which she could enjoy the close communion of 
that sect. Even in old age she persistently de- 
clined the services of a carriage in going to church. 
She died at La Porte, Indiana, at the venerable 
age of ninety-six years. 

Dr. R. B. Hews studied medicine at Phila- 
delphia, and became a practitioner of the "Thom- 
sonian" school. About 1830 he removed to La 
Porte, making the journey with a horse and 
sleigh, accompanied by his wife. He practiced 
there several years and also engaged in mer- 
cantile business, opening the first store in the 
place, and bringing his goods from Detroit by 
team. In addition to these pursuits, he oper- 
ated extensively in real estate upon the present 



54 



C. D. HEWS, A. M., M. D. 



site of Joliet, Illinois, and other Western cities. 
The ground now occupied by the Union Depot 
at Kansas City was purchased by him before any 
one had dreamed of a railroad at that point. His 
death occurred at L,a Porte in 1892, at the age of 
eighty-six years. Mrs. Jane E. Hews is still liv- 
ing at the last-named place, at the age of seventy- 
six years. Her father, Charles Spaulding, was 
also of English lineage. Dr. and Mrs. R. B. 
Hews were the parents of nine children, two of 
whom died in infancy. Robert is a resident of 
Oakland, California, where he is Commissioner 
of Public Works. William, a prominent business 
man of Kansas City, is a veteran of the Forty- 
eighth Indiana Volunteers. James died in 1895, 
in Chicago, while Assistant Auditor of the Wis- 
consin Central Railroad. Charles D. is the next 
in order of birth. Mary J. is the wife of George 
H. Serviss, a banker of New Carlisle, Indiana. 
Elizabeth died in 1884, at L,a Porte, Indiana, 
where Kittie, the youngest, now resides. 

Dr. C. D. Hews evidently inherits the vigor- 
ous constitution and tendency to longevity which 
distinguished his progenitors. He received a 
liberal education, first taking a course at Hills- 
dale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, from which he 
received the degree of Master of Arts. In 1864 
he became a student at the Chicago University, 
and later attended the University of Michigan at 
Ann Arbor, graduating from that famous in- 
stitution in 1869, with the title of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. He had previously practiced about one 
year at Marengo, Illinois, with Dr. Green, one of 
the oldest surgeons in the State. 

Soon after leaving Ann Arbor he located at 
Roseland, where he has ever since been engaged 
in the active practice of medicine and surgery. 
When he came to this place the nearest physicians 
were at Blue Island and Hyde Park, and his 
practice extended for miles through the surround- 
ing country. Though his field of usefulness has 
been curtailed geographically, if measured by the 
number of patients treated it has been constantly 
increasing, and his popularity has been well 
merited. He is a member of the Chicago and 
Illinois Medical Societies. 

During Sherman's Atlanta campaign, in 1864, 



Dr. Hews enlisted under the call for three hundred 
thousand troops for one hundred days' service, and 
was enrolled in Company B, One Hundred and 
Thirty-eighth Indiana Infantry. He served un- 
der General Milroy, and accompanied the expedi- 
tion as far as Atlanta. He took part in a num- 
ber of skirmishes with Texas rangers, and other 
guerrilla bands. While encamped at Tantallon , 
Tennessee, his company, while on a foraging ex- 
pedition a few miles from camp, was surprised 
and captured by a Confederate force under Gen- 
eral Forrest, who was on the way to destroy Elk 
River Bridge, on the Nashville & Chattanooga 
Railroad. Not wishing to be encumbered by 
prisoners, the enemy were content with confiscat- 
ing all the clothing, money and other valuables 
of the Union men, who were obliged to work 
their way back to camp as best they could, and 
were afterward jeered by their comrades on ac- 
count of their scanty toilet. In common with the 
other volunteers who responded to that call, the 
Doctor received a certificate of thanks, which was 
signed by President Lincoln and Secretary Stan- 
ton ; this he still cherishes among his most valued 
relics. 

The Doctor was married in 1876, and has one 
daughter, Carrie Hews, now a student at Loretto 
Academy, Loretto, Kentucky. He is a member 
of the Masonic order, and has always been a 
Democrat in political sentiments. He served two 
terms as a member of the Board of Trustees of 
the village of Hyde Park (now the Thirty-fourth 
Ward of the city of Chicago) . He has always 
been interested in promoting public works, and 
was instrumental in securing the first appropria- 
tion for the improvement of Michigan Avenue 
through the village of Roseland, and in straight- 
ening that thoroughfare from Roseland to the 
Calumet River. Though his professional services 
are in almost constant demand, he finds time to 
keep well informed on the leading public ques- 
tions of the day, and displays independent judg- 
ment in forming and expressing his opinion. He 
keeps thoroughly abreast of the times on all pro- 
fessional and scientific subjects, and his library 
and instrumental appliances embrace all the latest 
and best productions in those fields. 



G. H. PETERMAN. 



55 



GEORGE H. PETERMAN. 



HENRY PETERMAN is one of 
l_ the oldest and most faithful employes of 
vU Pullman's Palace Car Company. His youth 
was spent upon the banks of the Potomac River, 
and his lineage has been traced from some of the 
early pioneers of the valley of that historic stream, 
a region famous for the production of men of 
sterling character and self-sacrificing devotion to 
principle. His parents were John Foster Peter- 
man and Pamelia Rosina Grosh. 

John F. Peterman was a son of G. W. Peter- 
man, a veteran of the War of 1 8 1 2 . He probably 
enlisted from Virginia, but was later found in 
Mercersburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a native 
of Martinsburgh, Virginia, and his mother's 
maiden name was Lingefelder. Her family at 
one time owned a tract of land in the city of 
Washington, including the site of some of the 
United States Government buildings. G. W. 
Peterman died January 21, 1845, aged fifty-seven 
years. His wife, Mary Catherine Tabler, died 
February 20, 1859, a ' the age of sixty-three. 
She was a native of Virginia, of German descent. 

John F. Peterman was born at Mercersburgh, 
Pennsylvania, and died at the age of fifty-four 
years, December 16, 1872, in Cumberland, Mary- 
land. He was a carpenter contractor by oc- 
cupation. Mrs. P. R. Peterman was a daugh- 
ter of Henry Grosh and Prudence M. L,eggett. 
Henry Grosh 's grandparents came from Bavaria 
before the Revolutionary War, and located at 
Graceham, Maryland. Frederick, the father of 
Henry Grosh, was born there about 1775. 
Frederick Grosh' s mother-in-law, Mrs. Smith, 
was captured by Indians during the Revolu- 
tionary War, was held a captive seven years, 



and died soon after her release. Henry Grosh 
was a baker and confectioner at Williamsport, 
Maryland, and also practiced the Thomsonian 
system of medicine. He died there at the age of 
eighty-seven years. Mrs. Peterman is the eld- 
est of his twelve children, and is now living at 
Pullman, aged seventy-four years. Her mother's 
people were of English lineage, and conspicuous 
for their longevity. The family was founded in 
the United States by two brothers, one of whom 
reached the great age of one hundred and twelve 
years. 

George H. Peterman was born at Cumberland, 
Maryland, November 10, 1846. He was there- 
fore less than sixteen years of age when the ani- 
mosities which had long agitated the people of 
the two great sections of the country culminated 
in civil war. Cumberland was destined to see 
much of the ravages of the strife. The majority 
of its people sympathized with the Confederate 
cause, and those inclined to be loyal to the Gov- 
ernment hesitated about taking any decisive 
action. 

Young Peterman was enthusiastic in the Union 
cause, and taking up a collection among those of 
his schoolmates who were patriotically inclined, 
purchased a few yards of bunting, which his 
mother sewed into a flag. This was raised on 
the public square and carefully guarded by the 
boys to prevent its destruction, which had been 
threatened. This was the first United States 
flag raised in the town after the beginning of 
hostilities. Young Peterman watched the progress 
of the war with impatience for two years, then 
enlisted, April n, 1863, in Company H, Third 
Maryland Potomac Home Brigade. He was 



JOSEPH CALDWELL. 



mustered out May 29, 1865, having served in 
the Middle Department, under Gen. Lew Wal- 
lace. Just previous to the battle of Monocacy, 
he received a bayonet wound in the groin, but 
continued on duty regularly. He took part in 
the battle of Monocacy, in Sheridan's entire 
campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, and in 
other minor engagements, and was with the regi- 
ment constantly except when on detached duty. 
After the war Mr. Peterman became a house car- 
penter at Cumberland, and thence removed to 
Newark, Ohio. 

In June, 1881, he came to Pullman, where he 
at once began work for the Pullman Company. 
He worked at house-building for a year or two, 
and then entered the car-shops. For the past 
twelve years he has been continuously employed 
in the trimming department, a fact which testifies 
to his skill and reliability. 

He was married September 27, 1892, to Miss 
Delilah V. Clem, of Baltimore, Maryland, daugh- 



ter of William S. and Julia Ann (Favorite) Clem. 
William S. Clem was a miller by trade, and when 
the war began he was employed at Culpeper 
Courthouse, Virginia. Though he sympathized 
with the Confederate cause, he took no part in 
the struggle, but during the disorder which pre- 
vailed there he was murdered. His wife died in 
1852, soon after which event Mrs. Peterman went 
to live with her grandfather, George Favorite, 
at Mechanicstown (now Thurmont), Maryland, 
where most of her childhood was passed. She was 
reared in the Baptist faith, and her husband in 
that of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Peterman is 
a member of J. B. Wyman Post No. 521, Grand 
Army of the Republic, at Pullman, and of Cum- 
berland Lodge No. 60, Knights of Pythias, at 
Cumberland, Maryland. A stanch Republican 
from boyhood, in the fall of 1893 he helped to 
organize the Pullman McKinley Club, the first in 
the United States. It now has over seven hun- 
dred members. 



JOSEPH CALDWELL. 



(JOSEPH CALDWELL, a prosperous mer- 
I chant of Chicago Heights, represents one of 
G/ the oldest families of the southern part of 
Cook County. He was born October 22, 1847, 
in the township where he resides, and is a son of 
John and Mary Jane (Caldwell) Caldwell. John 
Caldwell was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. His 
father, Hugh Caldwell, died during his child- 
hood, and he lived with his grandfather, a farmer 
and milk dealer, in Kilbarton. Peter, a brother 
of John Caldwell, became an extensive mason 
contractor at Glasgow, Larges and Paisley. He 
fitted the system of gas lights for the streets of 
Larges and built a wall around the cemetery 
there. He died on the first night that the streets 
were lighted by gas, and his body was the first 
interred in the cemetery. 



John Caldwell came to America at the age of 
eighteen years and landed at Montreal, Canada, 
June i, 1833. About a year later he went to 
Detroit, Michigan, and for the next ten years he 
was employed most of the time in driving the 
stage on the Tuttle Brothers' line from Detroit to 
Chicago. Four and six horses were driven to 
each coach, and besides carrying the mail a thriv- 
ing business was done in the transportation of 
passengers. The only competitor of this line was 
that of Frink & Walker, and frequent races were 
indulged in by the drivers of rival stages, who 
were always ambitious to be the first to arrive at 
each point with their loads of human freight. 
Though there was an occasional breakdown or 
capsizal, and more zeal than prudence was some- 
time displayed by the drivers, everyone enjoyed 



JOSEPH CALDWELL. 



57 



the sport. Mr. Caldwell was always fond of re- 
lating reminiscences of those pioneer days. 

Mr. Caldwell was subsequently employed in a 
grain elevator at Michigan City, Indiana, and 
drove a team about one year between Chicago 
and Joliet, hauling supplies for contractors on the 
Illinois and Michigan Canal. At one time his 
buffalo robe was stolen by some of the workmen 
on the canal, many of whom were desperate char- 
acters. He searched about until he found it, con- 
cealed under the bunk where they slept. Find- 
ing themselves detected, they threatened to take 
his life, but were restored to good humor by a 
treat of liquor, and Mr. Caldwell was ever after 
one of the most popular men on the road. 

In 1844 he pre-empted a farm in Bloom Town- 
ship, and the following year added to this by the 
purchase of eighty acres from the Government at 
one and one-fourth dollars per acre. He then 
built a cabin and began cultivating his farm, to 
which additions were made from time to time, 
his present homestead being purchased in 1856. 
He became the owner of more than half a section 
in all, and lived thereon continuously until his 
death, which occurred August 26, 1886, his age 
at that time being more than seventy-two years. 
He was a thrifty farmer and an earnest Christian. 
Soon after locating in Bloom, he became one of 
the prime movers in organizing a Presbyterian 
Church at the present location of Chicago 
Heights, and he served as an Elder of this so- 
ciety for many years. Later he united with the 
Presbyterian Church at Homewood, in which he 
was an Elder the balance of his life. 

On Christmas Day of the year 1844, Mr. Cald- 
well was married to Miss Mary Jane, daughter of 
Joseph Caldwell, one of the earliest settlers of 
Bloom Township, who located there in 1838 and 
purchased four hundred acres of land from the 
United States Government. Mrs. Caldwell sur- 
vives, at the age of seventy-four years, residing 
on the homestead farm, a part of which has never 
changed hands since pre-empted by her husband. 
She was born at Belmalone, County Tyrone, Ire- 
land, and came to America with her parents in 
1826. The family lived at Lennoxville, Canada, 
and continued to reside there until their removal to 



Cook County, in 1838. While en route by way 
of the Erie Canal, Mrs. Caldwell saw a train of 
cars for the first time in her life. Her father 
died in Bloom, April 29, 1860, aged seventy- 
seven years. His wife, Dorothy (Jack), survived 
until February 22, 1872, reaching the advanced 
age of eighty-three years. The following is a 
record of their offspring: James died November i, 
1864. Rosanna, Mrs. John Little, born October 
i, 1817, died March 2, 1883. Archibald, born 
June 13, 1820, died November 18, 1892. Mary 
J., Mrs. John Caldwell, was born Augusts, 1822. 
Thomas, born September i, 1826, died June 16, 
1881. Eliza, wife of William Caskey, born De- 
cember 7, 1828, died February 21, 1854. Martha, 
born October 15, 1829, is the widow of James Orr, 
residing at Harvey, Illinois. Dorothy, born 
June to, 1831, is the wife of James Brisbane, of 
New Lenox, Illinois. 

Mrs. Caldwell is quite active in mind and body, 
and exhibits her remarkable memory of events 
and dates. She often recalls the time when the 
prairie surrounding her home was almost unin- 
habited, and the groves which now dot the land- 
scape consisted of mere shrubs. None of the 
streams had been bridged when she came to this 
county, and travelers were obliged to make long 
detours to avoid those which were too deep to be 
forded. She had been the mother of eleven chil- 
dren, five of whom died in infancy. A record of 
the others is as follows: Julia was born October 1 1 , 
1845; Joseph was born October 22, 1847; Maria, 
Mrs. H. M. Goodell, residing at Titusville, 
Florida, was born October 23, 1855; James was 
born June 21, 1857; John, born October 10, 1859, 
died June 28, 1878; Edward, born June 26, 1861, 
is now in business in New York City. 

Joseph Caldwell, whose name heads this article, 
grew to manhood on his father's farm, which he 
helped to cultivate and improve, attending the 
public schools of the district in the intervals of 
this labor. He spent two years at Lake Forest 
University , and then returned to the farm. He was 
married March 26, 1874, to Catherine R., daugh- 
ter of Robert Wallace, of whom further mention 
is made in this volume in the biography of E. A. 
Wallace. Mrs. Caldwell was born in the town- 



DR. j. MCLEAN. 



ship in which she resides, and has presented her 
husband with six children, namely: Clara Jane, 
Anna Maria, Martha Janett, Mertie Lorena, 
John and Jesse. 

Soon after his marriage Mr. Caldwell took 
charge of the farm of his father-in-law, which he 
continued to operate until 1890, maintaining an 
extensive dairy. In the last-named year two hun- 
dred and forty-one acres of this land were sold to 
the Chicago Heights Land Association, constitut- 
ing the first ground subdivided by that corpora- 
tion. Mr. Caldwell then purchased a general 
merchandise store in the village, where he has 



since been continuously engaged in trade. He is 
a progressive, public- spirited and reliable citizen, 
and has often been called upon to fill positions of 
trust by his fellow-townsmen. He has been a 
School Director for the past twelve years, and 
School Treasurer of the township eight years. 
He is Clerk of the Board of Education at the 
present time, and was thirteen years Treasurer of 
the Union Detective Association. He has been a 
steadfast Republican, and from early life a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church, and was sixteen 
years Secretary and Treasurer of the Union Sun- 
day-school Association. 



DR. J. McLEAN. 



0R. JOHN McLEAN is the able surgeon em- 
ployed by the Pullman Palace Car Com- 
pany to attend any of its employes who may 
be accidentally hurt while in pursuit of its duties. 
He is also engaged in a general practice of medi- 
cine and surgery at Pullman, and during his 
residence of fifteen years in that beautiful suburb 
has come to be regarded as one of the most ex- 
emplary and useful citizens in the town. He is 
remotely descended from the celebrated clan Mc- 
Lean of Scotland, which includes among its poster- 
ity many noted citizens of the United States. 

John McLean, great-grandfather of the Doctor, 
was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where 
he grew to manhood and married. About 1750 
he removed to Greensboro, North Carolina, and 
built a house of cedar logs there, which is still 
occupied by some of his descendants. One of his 
sons, Joseph McLean, served in the Continental 
army. 

Robert McLean, another son of John McLean, 
was born at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, 
in 1763. He was a pioneer of Illinois, going to 
Franklin County in 1818. He erected a log 
house there, and returned to his native State, 



whence he brought his family the next spring. 
His wife was Jean Akin, a native of North Caro- 
lina, of Scotch descent. Two of her brothers 
were volunteers in the American army at the bat- 
tle of Guilford Courthouse. 

James Akin McLean, son of Robert and Jean 
McLean, was born March 25, 1809, in Guilford 
County, North Carolina. He became an ex- 
tensive farmer and stockman of Franklin County, 
Illinois. During the Black Hawk War he served 
under Captain Ewing, in Colonel De Ment's regi- 
ment, and took part in the engagement at Kel- 
logg' s Grove. While on this expedition he visited 
Fort Dearborn, where he met General Scott. J. 
A. McLean's wife, Lydia Smith, was born near 
Macon, Georgia, and was the daughter of James 
Smith, a native of the same State, who became a 
resident of Illinois in 1820. The Smith family 
was of English ancestry. 

Dr. John McLean, son of James Akin and 
Lydia McLean, was born in Franklin County, 
Illinois, October 7, 1837. His early life was 
spent on a farm, working during the summer and 
autumn, and attending school about three months 
each winter. At the age of twenty he began the 



F. B. MOORE, M. D., B. S. 



59 



study of medicine in the office of Dr. Francis 
Ronalds, then residing in Benton, Illinois. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1 860-61 he attended the St. 
Louis Medical College. 

In the following July he enlisted, and on the 
loth of August he was mustered in the Fortieth 
Regiment, Illinois Infantry. On the I4th of the 
following November he was commissioned Second 
Lieutenant of Company A of this regiment. He 
was present at the capture of Paducah and took 
part in the battle of Shiloh, where he received 
a serious wound, April 6, 1862, necessitating 
the amputation of his left foot. The regiment 
was highly complimented by the commander, 
General Sherman, for holding its ground under 
the enemy's fire after its supply of cartridges was 
exhausted. 

September 23, 1862, he resigned his commis- 
sion, but afterwards volunteered his services as a 
surgeon to accompany an expedition sent by the 
Sanitary Commission from Chicago. They pro- 
ceeded by steamboat to Vicksburg and picked up 
a load of sick and wounded soldiers, which they 
brought up the river. He then entered Rush 
Medical College at Chicago, from which he grad- 



uated in 1863. In June of that year he located 
at Duquoin, Illinois, where he practiced medi- 
cine and surgery until October, 1881. At this 
date he accepted the position of surgeon of the 
Pullman Palace Car Company and removed to 
his present residence. 

Dr. McLean was married in 1870 to Eugenie 
Paris, daughter of David and Elizabeth Paris, of 
Bloomington, Illinois. They have one son, Guy 
Marshall McLean, a practicing physician of La 
Porte, Indiana. 

The Doctor is associated with numerous fra- 
ternal and benevolent organizations, as well as 
professional societies, including the American 
Medical Association, the Academy of Railroad 
Surgeons, the Royal Arcanum, Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias; J. B. 
Wyman Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and 
Illinois Commandery of the Loyal Legion. A 
life-long Republican, he takes little interest in 
local political strife, but entertains well-defined 
views of the leading political questions of the day. 
A man of self-reliance and much force of char- 
acter, he exerts a powerful and beneficent influ- 
ence in the community. 



FLOYD B. MOORE, M. D., B. S. 



f~LOYD BROWN MOORE, M. D., B. S., fills 
r3 a prominent position in the professional and 
I f social circles of Pullman, Roseland and 
other southern suburbs of Chicago. He was 
born December 13, 1866, at Brockville, Canada, 
and his parents, Abner Daniel and Betsey Jane 
(Brown) Moore, were natives of the same locality. 
Abner D. Moore is a son of Frederick Moore, 
whose parents came from Ireland and settled in 
Canada about the beginning of the present cent- 
ury. Frederick Moore is still living on a farm 
at Brockville, at the venerable age of eighty-four 
years. Abner D. Moore has been a speculator in 



grain and live stock nearly all his life. In 1867 
he went to Portage, Wisconsin, and removed 
thence, two years later, to Fort Dodge, Iowa. He 
subsequently moved to Manson, in the same 
State, and is now living, at the age of fifty-five 
years, in Brockville, Canada. His wife, Betsey 
J. Moore, died in Manson, Iowa, in 1889. Her 
parents were natives of Canada, of English lineage. 
Dr. F. B. Moore graduated from the High 
School of Manson, Iowa, after which he entered 
the Northern Indiana Normal School at Val- 
paraiso, Indiana. After spending two years upon 
the scientific course of that institution, he grad- 



6o 



LOUIS OSWALD. 



uated, in 1886, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Science. He then entered the Chicago Medical 
College (now Northwestern University Medical 
School), and in April, 1889, received the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine from that college. 

He immediately entered upon the practice of 
medicine at Pullman, where he has since re- 
mained, with gratifying and pecuniary success. 
In the spring of 1896 he built a modern brick 
residence at Roseland, in which he maintains an 
office, as well as at Pullman. He follows the 
general practice of both medicine and surgery, 
and has been enabled by his success to invest to 
some extent in suburban real estate, which he 
improves from time to time, and thus adds to the 
general prosperity of the community. 

Dr. Moore was married in November, 1891, to 
Miss Mattie Alice Rolston, of Kensington, daugh- 
ter of John M. Rolston, a well-known undertaker of 
Chicago, now deceased. Dr. Moore is identified 



with numerous social, fraternal and beneficial 
orders, in most of which he fills the position of 
examinimg surgeon. These include Prosperity 
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; 
Palace Lodge, Pullman Chapter and Calumet 
Commandery, of the Masonic order; Calumet 
Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Pullman Council, 
National Union; Royal Council, Royal League; 
Pullman Tribe of Ben Hur, and the South Side 
Physicians' Club. He has been health officer 
of the South Side district for several months, and 
is now public vaccinator. 

He is local examining physician for a number 
of the leading life insurance companies of the 
United States, and is a useful and influential citi- 
zen, of whom any community might well be 
proud. He amply merits the prosperity and 
popularity which he enjoys. Politically he is 
independent, putting the man above party, and 
patriotism above politics. 



LOUIS OSWALD 



I GUIS OSWALD, one of the leading mer- 
I C chants of the southern portion of the county, 
\ J is a finely educated representative of a good 
German family. He was born in one of the 
beautiful villages which border the Rhine River, 
namely, Saint Guarshausen, Province of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, Nassau, March 7, 1836. His grand- 
father, Henry Oswald, was a farmer, who owned 
an estate in Westerfeld, Germany, and his father, 
also named Henry, was for nearly fifty years 
demanenrath of the Duke of Nassau, having 
charge of the extensive estates of that nobleman. 
He was but three years younger than the present 
century, and died in June, 1879, at the age of 
seventy-six years. His wife, Carolina Zink, died 
in April, 1847, at the age of forty- six years. She 
was the daughter of Rev. William Zink, a min- 



ister of the Evangelical Church, for many years 
pastor at Homburg for der Hoche. 

Louis Oswald attended the gymnasium at 
Wiesbaden, studying pharmacy and chemistry, 
and graduating in these branches at the early age 
of seventeen years. Immediately after this he 
came to America, and remained several months in 
New York City, where he found employment in 
a drug store. In April, 1854, he came to Chicago, 
and entered the drug store of Dr. Philip Mathie, 
on State Street, between Adams and Monroe. 
This store was then on the outskirts of the city, 
and Mr. Oswald boarded in a house on the pres- 
ent site of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 
station. The cholera raged through the first 
season of his residence here, and the young emi- 
grant had ample opportunity to observe its effects. 



G. VAN DER SYDE. 



61 



The drug store in which he was employed was in 
a hotel building, in which more than forty people 
died of this terrible scourge during the season. 

In 1856 Mr. Oswald went to Homewood, and 
accepted a position in a general store kept by 
Herbert & Zimmer, with whom he remained 
eighteen months. He then entered a branch store 
there, operated by Charles Robinson, of Blue Is- 
land, which was later conducted by Robinson, 
Hastings & Company. In 1859 he removed to 
Bloom (now Chicago Heights), which village 
then contained two stores, a blacksmith shop, 
wagon shop and paint shop. 

After working as a clerk one year in the gen- 
eral merchandise store of James Hunter, he be- 
came a partner in the firm of S. B. Eakin & Com- 
pany, which conducted a similar establishment. 
In 1865 he bought out the interest of Mr. Eakin, 
and has ever since conducted the business alone. 
He was Postmaster from 1865 to 1893, a period 
of twenty-eight years, and in 1876 his original 
store building was greatly enlarged. For many 
years he bought and shipped grain from this 
station, which was originally established by the 
Michigan Central Railroad Company, on account 
of his business. 



Mr. Oswald was married May 2, 1861, to Miss 
Mary, daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Sauter) 
Claus. Jacob Claus, who was an engineer, lost 
his life by drowning in the Chicago Harbor. Bar- 
bara Sauter came in 1832 (then a young girl) to 
Chicago, in company with the family of John H. 
Kinzie, on the first steamer which landed here. 
Mrs. Oswald was born in Michigan City, Indiana, 
and died December 6, 1888, aged forty years. 
Five of her seven children are living, the others 
having died in childhood. Dr. Julius W. Oswald, 
the eldest, is a surgeon in the Alexian Brothers' 
Hospital in Chicago. Otto A. is a clerk in his 
father's store. Frederick C. is a student in the 
Chicago Art Institute, and Cora B. and Florence 
B. remain with their father. Mr. Oswald has 
just reason to be proud of his children (all of 
whom are finely educated) and of his business 
record. He was a member of the Evangelical 
Church in youth, but is not now connected with 
any society. He cast his first Presidential vote 
for Gen. John C. Fremont, and has voted for 
every Presidential candidate since. He was Col- 
lector of Bloom Township in 1863, and takes a 
warm interest in public schools, serving for many 
years as School Trustee and Director of his district. 



GORIS VAN DER SYDE. 



SORIS VAN DER SYDE is one of the earliest 
settlers at Roseland, and has been largely 
instrumental in promoting the growth and 
development of that thriving suburb. His par- 
ents were Leonard and Line (Steanberg) Van 
derSyde, who, with their family, joined the party 
which originally settled at this place in 1849. 
The father, who had been a butcher in the Fa- 
therland, became the owner of ten acres of land 
on the west side of what is now Michigan Ave- 



nue. He carried on the business of a market- 
gardener until the growth of the town necessitated 
the subdivision of his land for building purposes. 
Some of the principal residences and business 
blocks of the village now stand upon this site. 
His death occurred October 8, 1875, at the age of 
seventy-two years. His wife, who was born in 
the same year as her husband, survived until 
February 24, 1877. Their children are Goris, 
subject proper of this notice; Line, widow of 



62 



G. VAN DER SYDE. 



Peter Dalenberg, of Roseland; Agnes, Mrs. John 
Ton, of the same place; and Nellie, Mrs. John 
Prince, now deceased. 

Goris Van der Syde was born at Numansdorp, 
Province of South Holland, December 13, 1827. 
He was educated in his native town, and after 
coming to this country attended an English 
school one winter. He has always been an ex- 
tensive reader, and speaks and writes the English 
language accurately. When the family located 
here, deer, wolves and other wild game roamed 
over the. prairie about their home. Having been 
reared in a thickly populated country, the young- 
er members of the family were at first afraid to 
wander far from the house, but soon became ac- 
customed to their new surroundings. He engaged 
in the meat business at first, but a few years later, 
in 1852, opened the first store in the town, and 
continued in mercantile business until 1880, when 
he retired from active pursuits, being succeeded 
by his son, who now conducts one of the leading 
stores in Roseland. For several years after Mr. 
Van der Syde came here there were but two 
houses on Halsted Street between his place and 
Twelfth Street, that being the road which he 
usually traveled with his ox-team to bring his 
goods from the city. At first their postoffice 
was at Chicago, but after the Illinois Central 
Railroad was built to Kensington an office was 
established at that place, known as Calumet 
Junction. In 1861 this office was removed to 
Roseland, and named Hope, that name being aft- 
erwards changed to Roseland. Mr. Van der Syde 
was appointed the first Postmaster at this place, 
and held the office continuously for twenty-five 
years, through successive changes in the national 
administration. 

Realizing that there was a great future for in- 
vestors in real estate, about 1860 Mr. Van derSyde 
bought eighty acres, in company with his brother- 
in-law, Mr. Dalenberg, the price of the tract be- 
ing eleven hundred dollars. This they afterwards 
divided, each taking forty acres. Soon after pur- 
chasing land here, Mr. Van der Syde planted a 
great many shade trees, finding recreation from 
his indoor pursuits in this manner. These shade 
trees are now the pride and ornament of the town, 



and have greatly enhanced the value of his prop- 
erty. Mr. Van der Syde subsequently sold thirty- 
three acres of his property for $66,000, and the 
whole has been subdivided and mostly built up 
with residences and business blocks, all being 
now included in the city of Chicago. He has in- 
vested quite extensively in farming lands in New- 
ton County, Indiana, where he devotes consider- 
able attention to planting vineyards and the culti- 
vation of various kinds of fruits. He helped to 
organize the Pullman Loan and Savings Bank, 
and was one of the first Directors of this flourish- 
ing and solid institution, an office which he still 
holds. 

In December, 1856, Mr. Van der Syde was mar- 
ried to Engeltje De Young, daughter of Henry 
and Geertje (DeVreis) De Young, of South Hol- 
land, Cook County, Illinois. Her father died in 
1893, aged nearly ninety years, and her mother 
in 1878, at the age of nearly eighty years. Mrs. 
Van der Syde was born in Puersen, South Hol- 
land, and came to America with her parents in 
1848. Of the six children of Mr. and Mrs. Van 
der Syde who reached mature years, three are now 
living: Leonard, a prominent merchant of Rose- 
land; Henry, who is a farmer of Newton County, 
Indiana, and George, who is still at home with his 
parents. Those deceased are Mary, Harry and 
Nellie, the last named being the wife of George 
McCutcheon. 

Mr. and Mrs. Van der Syde are connected with 
the Dutch Reformed Church at Roseland. A 
Republican in politics, the former served as Col- 
lector of Calumet Township for two terms, and 
was for one term Town Clerk. When he occupied 
the former position the whole tax-roll of the 
township, which then included South Chicago, 
was contained in a small volume which he car- 
ried in a hand satchel. His duties as one of the 
township officials during the great Civil War re- 
quired him to assist in the expenditure of the 
bounty raised by the township to induce volun- 
teers to enter the service and fill its quota of 
troops. His public duties have always been dis- 
charged in a faithful and capable manner, and he 
enjoys the friendship and good-will of all his fel- 
low-citizens. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 







ALBERT J. LAMMORIS 



A. J. LAMMORIS. 



ALBERT J. LAMMORIS. 



G| LBERT JACOB LAMMORIS, whose career 
LJ strikingly illustrates the truth of the modem 
/ I saying that "Nothing succeeds like suc- 
cess," was one of the self-made men of our times. 
He belonged to a class of young men who, 
though poor, find in metropolitan life the in- 
centives which superinduce the highest and best 
efforts of which men are capable; to master the 
disadvantages that are supposed to hinder their 
progress when opposed by rich and powerful 
rivals. The indomitable energy which char- 
acterized Mr. Lammoris was of a sort not to be 
balked by the inconveniences of poverty, and 
his career was a model one, in every way worthy 
of emulation. 

Although of foreign birth, he became, when 
yet a boy, thoroughly imbued with American 
ideas, and throughout his life he was actuated 
by that spirit of "push" which is distinctively 
characteristic of Americans. He was born in 
Gripskerk, one of the seven provinces of Gron- 
ingen, Holland, April 25, 1858, a son of Jacob and 
Johanna (De Vries) Lammoris, who came to 
America in 1864 and settled in Grand Haven, 
Michigan. Two years later they came to Chi- 
cago, young Albert being then eight years old. 
His parents were too poor to furnish him the 
essentials necessary to attendance on the public 
schools. As a boy he was naturally bright and 
active, having the faculty of adaptation, and 
could apply himself vigorously to the accomplish- 
ment of a purpose. But he lacked opportunities, 



and it was his misfortune to be deprived of the 
wholesome influence of home training. 

At the age of fourteen years he was admitted 
to the Industrial Home for Boys at Lansing, 
Michigan, where he remained one year. The 
influence of this institution was of the greatest 
benefit to him, and there he laid the foundation 
for a career which, though brief, has been 
paralleled in but few instances. In 1872 he re- 
turned to Chicago, being then less than fifteen 
years of age, practically without a home and des- 
titute of means. However, he was not dis- 
couraged by these disadvantages, but resolutely 
set about overcoming them, and for several years 
was variously employed. He had a natural 
aptitude for mechanics, and, acquiring a few 
tools, he established himself in the chair-repair- 
ing business. This he followed a few years, 
achieving sufficient success to enable him, with 
his scanty savings, to open a small furniture store, 
on the West Side, in 1881. In this venture he 
prospered, each year adding to the success 
which had begun to brighten his life. 

His circumstances warranting so important 
and necessary a step, April 13, 1882, he was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary L. Sherman, 
a young lady of talent and pleasing culture. 
Subsequently he opened another store in the same 
line of business, and successfully conducted both 
establishments until 1893, when he disposed of 
them. He had ample means now, and what, 
perhaps, is still better, an invaluable practical ex- 



6 4 



A. J. LAMMORIS. 



perience, which enabled him to execute a long 
cherished plan that of establishing cheap lodg- 
ing houses for the unfortunate poor of Chicago. 
His own early privations and battles with poverty 
had given him an insight into the needs of the 
poor, and to the betterment of their condition 
he now proposed to devote his time, talents and 
means. 

His plan was to furnish lodgings at the lowest 
price consistent with cleanliness, the minimum 
rates to be fifteen to twenty-five cents per day. 
The "Liberty House" was the first of the kind he 
erected, and it proved so successful that he im- 
mediately secured a large building on Clinton 
Street, now known as the "Friendship House," 
which he fitted up according to plans of his own. 
It is a mammoth house, having seven hundred 
twenty-five rooms, with baths, laundry, fire 
escapes, in short, modernly equipped throughout. 
From its opening the "Friendship" had a large 
patronage, and it continued to be deservedly 
popular. Subsequently Mr. Lammoris became 
connected with the "Arcade" and "Norwood," 
both houses similar in character but smaller. To 
the conduct of these hostelries he gave his per- 
sonal attention, it being to him as much a labor 
of love as of profit. It was his custom to give a 
dinner to the poor every Thanksgiving Day, 
feeding on some occasions eighteen hundred 
homeless men, at a cost of more than one thou- 
sand dollars. To the general relief fund of the 
charitable societies he was a regular and gener- 
ous contributor, and his donations to the boys of 
the Industrial Home were made semi-annually 
on July, fourth and at Christmas. To this in- 
stitution he was affectionately attached, always 
speaking of it as "my home," and yearly he 
visited it. 

In all his charitable works he was unostenta- 
tious, always giving freely of his means and in a 
way to attract as little attention as possible. Be- 
cause of his philanthropical works he was often 
spoken of in the public prints as "The best friend 
the homeless poor of Chicago ever had . " In all 
his habits Mr. Lammoris was decidedly tem- 
perate. Excesses of any kind were abhorrent to 
him, yet neither was he a purist of the extreme 



type. He knew the weaknesses of human nature, 
was always humanely human and his great, 
sympathetic heart went out in brotherly feel- 
ing to those unfortunates who had become 
slaves to the vices of appetite and passion. 

He was fond of travel, and in company with 
his wife, made five trips abroad, visiting the 
Paris and Vienna expositions, as well as nearly 
all the historic places of continental Europe and 
Great Britain . But it was in the public institutions 
for the poor and unfortunate of foreign lands that 
his greatest interest centered. As many of these 
as he could reach received his carefel scrutiny, 
that he might thereby be profited by this obser- 
vation when he came to develop certain plans 
which he had under deliberation pertaining to 
philanthropic work which he hoped to carry out 
in the future. 

Mr. Lammoris was a domestic man in the 
broadest sense of the term. To his family he 
was devoted. The noble impulses of the man 
are illustrated by the following incident: On 
his way home one night, he observed a little girl, 
about seven years old, on the street, alone and 
crying. She could give no intelligent account of 
herself. Pressing the waif to his bosom, he car- 
ried her to his home, and subsequently legally 
adopted her, giving her the name of Mabel S. 

He was an active participant in political affairs, 
in principle a Republican, but in no sense was he 
an office-seeker, the preferment of official place 
having no allurements for him. His death was 
both untimely and unexpected. From his youth 
he had been blessed with good health. For some 
months previous to his demise he had labored be- 
yond the point of human endurance, and being 
subjected to exposure as well, he took cold, 
which terminated in pneumonia, and after five 
days of suffering he passed to his reward April 
2, 1895. 

John Sherman, father of Mrs. Lammoris, was 
born in England, where the years of his boy- 
hood were passed. His opportunities for ob- 
taining an education were of the best. His par- 
ents desired that he should enter the ministry, 
and to that end he was prepared in that old and 
famously historic seat of learning, Trinity Col- 



CAPT. BARTHOLOMEW QUIRK. 



lege, Dublin. But the life of a clergyman was 
not to his liking, and in consequence thereof he 
ran away from home and came to America, land- 
ing in New York a short time previous to the 
outbreak of the Mexican War. At the first call 
for troops he enlisted and was assigned to duty 
in the marine service and actively participated 
in the movements of that department during the 
war. He received several wounds in action, 
none of which was of a disabling character. 

In New York City, in 1853, he was married to 
Miss Louisa Philips. In 1865 he came to Chi- 



cago, where he lived permanently until his death, 
which occurred March 7, 1890, at the age of 
seventy-one years. Many years of his life were 
devoted to travel, and he visited most parts of 
the inhabited, civilized globe. He possessed a 
genial, sunny nature, which made him a great 
socral favorite, and he was deservedly popular 
with those who justly appreciate refinement and 
courtly grace. Mrs. Sherman is a descendant of 
an old New York family, a lady of many pleas- 
ing qualities. She resides with Mrs. Lammoris, 
her only surviving child. 



CAPT. BARTHOLOMEW QUIRK. 



EAPT. BARTHOLOMEW QUIRK was 
born in March, 1836, in Castle Gregory, 
County Kerry, Ireland. His ancestors were 
tillers of the soil. His parents, Francis and Ellen 
(Lynch) Quirk, were natives of the same town 
where he was born a beautiful site overlooking 
the Bay of Tralee and the Atlantic Ocean. Fur- 
ther mention of his ancestors will be found in the 
biography of James Quirk, in this work. 

The subject of this sketch received his educa- 
tion in Chicago, pursuing the primary course in 
the first public school of the city the old Dear- 
born School. He served an apprenticeship at the 
trade of carpenter, which occupied his time and 
attention for many years. With all of his broth- 
ers he served in the Volunteer Fire Department 
of early Chicago, and was a member of Red 
Jacket Company No. 4. He was one of the 
organizers of the Shields Guards, named after 
General and United States Senator Shields, 
of Mexican War fame. About ninety-five per 
cent, of this organization, of which Captain Quirk 
was one of the most active promoters, entered the 
Union army and did valiant service in preserving 
the country as a whole, being a part of the Twen- 



ty-third Regiment Illinois Volunteers, under the 
famous Col. J. A. Mulligan. Although the 
quota of the State had been filled, by the personal 
solicitation of Colonel Mulligan, President Lincoln 
was induced to accept the services of the regiment, 
whose memory has been perpetuated in the one 
famous song, ' ' The Mulligan Guards. ' ' 

In the mean time it had proceeded to Missouri 
and participated as an independent organization 
in the Battle of Lexington, where most of the 
regiment was captured by General Price. They 
were exchanged in the winter of 1861-62, and the 
regiment was reorganized and proceeded to Har- 
per's Ferry, in May, 1862, and joined the cavalry 
forces of General Sheridan, with whom they par- 
ticipated in many active engagements. Colonel 
Mulligan was killed near Winchester, Virginia. 
The regiment subsequently campaigned through- 
out the war under different commanders and 
became very much reduced in numbers, so that 
several of the companies were consolidated. 

Captain Quirk entered the service as a second 
lieutenant, and resigned in February, 1865, hav- 
ing served over three years. After the war he 
returned to Chicago and continued building 



66 



CHRISTOPHER REICH. 



operations, in connection with which he invested 
in real estate and improved property, and was 
quite successful. His first presidential vote was 
cast for Abraham Lincoln, and he has ever since 
been a warm adherent of the Republican party. 
He took a great interest in the struggles of Ire- 
land against British oppression, and was one of 
the warmest supporters of the Fenian movement. 



Captain Quirk served as a member of the City 
Council two terms, and was several years a dep- 
uty sheriff of Cook County. With his wife and 
family he adheres to the Roman Catholic Church. 
In 1857 he was married to Miss Jane McCarthy, 
and they have three children: Mary E., Helena 
J. and Francis I. The second daughter is the 
wife of Lawrence J. Reed, of Chicago. 



CHRISTOPHER REICH. 



CHRISTOPHER REICH, now living a re- 
1 1 tired life in Ravenswood, is a native of 
\J Chicago, where his parents, Michael and 
Mary Ann (Tillman) Reich, were early settlers. 
Michael Reich was born in 1813, in Lorraine, 
France, and received his education in his native 
place, remaining with his parents until he was 
of age, and assisting his father, who was a dealer 
in tobacco. He served the term then required in 
the French army, which was seven years. About 
1840 he emigrated to the United States, sailing 
from Havre and landing at New York. He 
came directly to Chicago, but soon removed to 
Saginaw, Michigan, where he found employment 
in a saw-mill, and received his remuneration in 
the product of the same. He remained two 
years, then sent for his wife and two children, 
and located in Chicago, living for a short time on 
Harrison Street, and then on State Street. He 
bought twenty-seven acres of land on the South 
Side, and ten acres on the North Side, and en- 
gaged in gardening. He cultivated this land for 
several years, and was very successful in this 
venture. He was married in his native country, 
and his two eldest sons were born there, four 
others being born in Chicago. 

His children were: Michael, who was drowned 
in Lake Michigan, while on the pleasure boat 
"Lady Elgin;" Mary and Jacob, deceased; Chris- 



topher, the subject of this notice; Caroline, wife 
of Peter Franzen, of Englewood; and Peter, of 
Lake Station, Indiana. In 1857 the family re- 
turned to France, with the exception of the two 
eldest sons. Mr. Reich had sold part of his prop- 
erty in Chicago, but in 1860 he returned to that 
city and resumed gardening. He again visited 
France in 1865, to look after some property he 
had purchased during his former visit, and he 
remained two years, after which he again re- 
turned to Chicago, and engaged in gardening. 
He was always thrifty in the management of his 
affairs, and accumulated a competence. He took 
an interest in public concerns, but never held an 
office, and supported the Democratic party. He 
and his wife were members of the Roman Catholic 
Church. Mrs. Reich died October 28, 1889, and 
Mr. Reich passed away January i, 1893. 

Christopher Reich was born March 13, 1844, 
receiving his primary education in the public 
schools of Chicago, and later attending school two 
years in France. He remained with his parents 
until he grew to manhood, assisting his father in 
the care of his garden until he was twenty-two 
years of age. When his parents went to France 
the second time, he and his brother Peter re- 
moved to Calumet, where they bought twenty- 
five acres of land, which they cultivated. The 
health of Christopher failed, and he sold his 



HENRY KARNATZ. 



67 



share of land to his brother, and traveled in 
Europe, learning the art of photography while 
there. 

January 3, 1867, he married Miss Mary A. 
Kerber, a native of Chicago, and a daughter of 
John and Floradiue Kerber. Her parents were 
natives of Baden-Baden, Germany, and were 
early settlers of Chicago. In 1868 Mr. Reich 
opened a dry-goods store on the corner of Larra- 
bee and Center Streets, which he conducted 
successfully until he lost his stock and building 
in the Great Fire of 1871. He rebuilt, and again 
engaged in business, which he continued until 
1875, when he removed to Dyer, Lake County, 
Indiana, and kept a general store two years. 
He then removed to Crown Point, where he en- 
gaged in the same business, and five years later 
he returned to Chicago, and opened a store on 
Larrabee Street, opposite Wisconsin Street, which 
he conducted two years. He removed to Engle- 
wood, where he was proprietor of a store two 
years, and then retired from business on account 
of the death of his wife, which occurred April 12, 
1891. 

Mr. Reich spent a year in Milwaukee, to rest 
and regain his health, which was then poor. 
Mr. and Mrs. Reich were the parents of ten 
children, only five of whom are now living. Their 



names are: John C., Margaret, Christopher, Jo- 
sephine and Edward. In August, 1895, Mr. 
Reich married Miss Catherine Leis, a native of 
Chicago, and daughter of Jacob Leis. In politics, 
Mr. Reich favors the Democratic party. He and 
his wife are communicants of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church, being identified with the parish of 
Our Lady of Lourdes. Mr. Reich is an honored 
and respected citizen of Ravenswood, and takes 
an active interest in the welfare of that suburb, 
and also of his native city. 

Michael Reich, the eldest son of Michael 
Reich, was born in 1834, in Lorraine, France, 
and came to Chicago with the family in 1842. 
He followed gardening all his life. In 1860 he 
married, and about three months later he was 
prevailed upon by friends to go on an excursion 
to Milwaukee. This was on the fatal eighth day 
of September, 1860, when the pleasure steamer, 
"Lady Elgin," collided with another boat, off 
Gross Point, and nearly all the passengers were 
lost. Mr. Reich was among those who perished. 
He was a man who took quite an interest .in 
public affairs, and was for some years a member 
of the Volunteer Fire Department of the city, 
being a member of Company No. 7 when first 
organized, and later of No. 10. He was well 
known and highly respected. 



HENRY KARNATZ. 



HENRY KARNATZ was born December 13, 
1 86 1, in Mecklenburg-Schvverin, and is a 
son of Joachim and Mary (Deitlow) Karnatz, 
both of whom were born in the same locality. 
His father was a laborer, and in 1867 he moved 
to America with his family, starting from Ham- 
burg, and coining to Chicago by way of New 



York. In April, 1868, he came to Jefferson and 
rented forty-one and one-half acres, where he 
carried on gardening. The land is near what is 
now Forest Glen, and in 1877 he was able to buy 
it for six thousand dollars. It then contained 
but a few buildings, and he subsequently added 
good ones. Later, he bought thirteen and three- 



68 



E. S. OSGOOD. 



fourths acres. He had six children, three of 
whom died in Germany. The remaining three 
are: John, who resides on the home farm and 
owns a blacksmith shop near Bowmanville; 
Charles, who resides on a part of his father's 
farm; and Henry, the subject of this sketch. 
Joachim Karnatz died June 8, 1897, after an ill- 
ness of only two days, at the age of seventy-seven 
years, nine months and thirteen days. His wife 
survives him, having reached the age of seventy- 
fonr years. Both were members of the Evangel- 
ical Lutheran Church, being connected with Saint 
John's Church of Mayfair. 

Henry Karnatz attended the public school, and 
also the Lutheran School of Niles, then called 
Dutchman's Point. He left school at the age of 
thirteen years. He has since worked with his 



father on the farm, and at present he manages 
the part of it connected with the old home. He 
learned the painter's trade, and has a shop, where 
he does work for his brother, and sometimes for 
others. 

March 19, 1888, Henry Karnatz married 
Amelia Sell, who was born in Pomerania, and is 
a daughter of Charles and Minnie (Schroeder) 
Sell. Charles Sell died in 1897, in Leyden 
Township, where his widow still lives. Mr. and 
Mrs. Karnatz have four children, namely: Min- 
nie, Henry, John and Annie. Mr. Karnatz is a 
member of the same church as his parents, name- 
ly the Evangelical Lutheran. He is of the same 
political principle as his father, and supports the 
Republican party. He is a public-spirited and 
intelligent citizen, and enjoys the respect of all. 



EDWIN S. OSGOOD. 



|"~ DWIN SEW ALL OSGOOD, a well-known 
JO citizen of Austin, was boni November 21, 
I 1842, in Moulmein, in the British East 
Indies. He is the son of Rev. Sewall Mason and 
Sarah Maria (Willsey) Osgood. The Osgoods 
are an old English family, three of whom came to 
America in 1635, and settled in Massachusetts. 
They were William, Christopher and John, and 
from Christopher is descended the subject of this 
sketch. Emery Osgood, the father of Rev. Sewall 
M. Osgood, was a Baptist clergyman, whose field 
of labor was in western New York. Sewall M. 
Osgood was born in New York and there learned 
the printer's trade. He conducted a local news- 
paper at Jefferson, New York, a number of years. 
In 1836 he went to the East Indies, in connec- 
tion with the American Baptist Missionary Union, 
and he printed the first bible ever printed in the 
Burmese language. While he was there he was 
ordained a minister, and he continued in the 



missionary work until his death, in Chicago, in 
1875, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, 
Sarah M. Osgood, was born in Tioga County, 
New York, and was of Dutch descent. She died 
in 1849, at about forty years of age. 

Edwin S. Osgood was four years old when his 
parents returned to the United States from India. 
He was educated in the common schools and in a 
high school in Philadelphia. In 1860 he came 
to Chicago, and soon after August 29, 1862 
he enlisted in the Chicago Mercantile Battery, and 
served to the close of the war. He took part 
in the Vicksburg campaign, and was later in 
Louisiana, Texas, and Mobile, Alabama. He 
participated in Banks' Red River expedition, after 
which he was detailed in the paymaster's depart- 
ment, and he served in that capacity until the 
close of the war. 

After the war he returned to Chicago and en- 
gaged in business with a building contractor, and 



JOHN VAN NATTA. 



69 



later he was employed as solicitor and bookkeeper 
for the Terra Cotta Company. After this he 
was with H. C. & C. Durand, wholesale grocers. 
In 1880 he engaged' in the manufacturing busi- 
ness for himself, and since 1893 has been in the 
business of engraving and electrotj ping. He is 
now a member of the firm of Osgood & Company, 
engravers, the firm comprising Mr. Osgood and 
his son, Frederick S. Osgood. 

In 1868 Mr. Osgood was united in marriage 
with Elizabeth A., daughter of Timothy M. and 
Elizabeth (Covington) Bryan, of Philadelphia. 
Timothy Matlack Bryan was a grandson of 
Timothy Matlack, a soldier Quaker, whose picture 
hangs in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, in 
memory of his services to the country during the 
Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Osgood have 
five children living, namely: Helen, Mrs. Henry 
Husted, of Austin; William P., a student in the 
Chicago University ; Frederick S., of the firm of 



Osgood & Company; Edwin H. and Elizabeth 
M. All the members of the family are con- 
nected with the Baptist Church of Austin, which 
village has been their home since 1871. The 
family furnished four of the thirteen constituent 
members of the First Baptist Society, and Mr. 
Osgood has since been an officer of the church, 
being at present superintendent of its Sunday- 
school. 

Mr. Osgood is a member of Kilpatrick Post, 
Grand Army of the Republic, at Austin. He 
has always been a Republican in his political 
views. He was two years a member of the Board 
of Trustees of the town of Cicero, and three 
years one of the school trustees. He is con- 
nected with all reforms in Austin, and interested 
in improvements, and though his business is in 
the city, his interest is chiefly in his home, and 
he is a valuable member of society in his com- 
munity. 



JOHN VAN NATTA. 



(lOHN VAN NATTA was one of the worthy 
I pioneers of Cook County, and numbered 
Q) among his friends most of the early settlers 
of northeastern Illinois. He was born in Dutch- 
ess County, New York, February 25, 1796, and 
was the son of James Van Natta, both of the lat- 
ter 's parents being natives of Holland. John 
Van Natta lived at several different points in 
New York, part of the time in Geneseoand Steu- 
ben Counties, and part of the time in Chautauqua 
County, where he was married. In 1832 he re- 
moved to Cass County, Michigan, and settled at 
Adamsville. As everyone in that region, includ- 
ing his own family, was suffering from fever and 
ague, he determined to seek a more salubrious 
climate, and accordingly, soon after the Black- 
hawk War, he took a trip to Illinois, and was so 



well suited with the country that, in 1834, he re- 
moved his family to this State, coming with a 
team and wagon. He landed in Chicago June 
15, and stopped a few days at the Sauganash 
hotel, but decided to make his home on higher 
ground further west, so he continued his journey 
to Naperville. He made his home for a few years 
at Big Woods, in DuPage Count}'. As he pos- 
sessed one of the few horse teams in the county, 
he found it profitable to spend considerable of his 
time in freighting goods from Chicago and De- 
troit. He was employed by many of the emi- 
grants who arrived in Chicago during the next 
few years, to transport their families and effects 
to points in the interior of the State, and many of 
the acquaintances formed in this manner were 
continued through life. 



P. J. MAGINNIS. 



Later he moved to Kane County, and in 1841 
he located on the western bank of the Des Plaines 
River, where he lived many years, and owned two 
hundred acres of timber and prairie land, situated 
on both sides of the river. 

His later years were spent in Chicago, where 
he lived some time in retirement from business 
cares. He was always distinguished for his gen- 
erosity to those of his neighbors who might be in 
want or trouble, and many a settler who arrived 
upon the prairies of Illinois a few years later than 
he did was supplied with seed and provisions, 
free of charge, by Mr. Van Natta. 

In 1821 he was married to Miss Polly Farns- 
worth, in Chautauqua County, New York. She 
was a native of Vermont, born in 1803. They 
had six sons and two daughters, namely: Ira, de- 
ceased; Harvey, of Trenton, Missouri; William, 
of McHenry County, Illinois; Mary, now Mrs. 



Lovett; Henry, of Littleton, Colorado; Maria L., 
who married George Hatchings, and died in 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charles, of this city; and 
James, a resident of Cragiri, Cook County. Mrs. 
Polly Van Natta died in Leyden Township, Cook 
County, Illinois, September 12, 1851. She wasa 
devout member of the Baptist Church. Later Mr. 
Van Natta was married to Mrs. Sarah (Davidson) 
Fish, whose death occurred in Chicago a few 
years previous to that of Mr. Van Natta. 

In early life the latter was identified with the 
Baptist Church, but after his second marriage he 
united with the Methodist Church. He was al- 
ways distinguished for his uniform uprightness of 
character and his social, kindly disposition, which 
will cause him to belong remembered by all who 
knew him. He died near Berryville, McHenry 
County, Illinois, in June, 1885, in the ninetieth 
year of his age. 



PATRICK J. MAGINNIS. 



f"\ATRICK JOHN MAGINNIS, a self-made 
LX business man of Chicago and a valiant soldier 
[$ of the Civil War, was a native of Ireland, 
born March 6, 1842, in the town of Newry. 
His father, John Maginnis, who was a stone 
mason, came to America when the son was an 
infant. He found employment at first on Staten 
Island, New York, whence he proceeded to Chi- 
cago and finally engaged in the grocery business 
here. When Patrick was about eight years old 
he was brought to Chicago by his mother, who 
soon after died of cholera. 

The subject of this sketch was early left largely 
to his own resources, and rapidly developed in- 
dependence of character. He was largely self- 
educated, and worked his own way to success in 
life by the exercise of industry, guided by his 
natural talents and prudence. He acted as clerk 



in his father's store until the beginning of the 
Civil War, when he immediately offered his serv- 
ices in behalf of his adopted country. He was 
then only nineteen years old, and was twice re- 
jected on account of his youth, but was finally 
accepted, June 15, 1861, as a member of the sub- 
sequently famed Mulligan Guards. This com- 
pany was mustered into the service as Company 
I, Twenty- third. Regiment Illinois Volunteers. 
It was a fighting company and saw hard service, 
in which Mr. Maginnis bore his full share. He 
was discharged because of sickness at Lexington, 
Missouri, having risen to the rank of sergeant. 

After the war he went to Ireland to aid in the 
Fenian movement in the cause of Irish freedom. 
He was almost immediately seized by the British 
authorities, and spent eight months in an Irish 
jail. He was released near the close of the year 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




DR. A. R. SOMMERVILLE 



A. R. SOMMERVILLE, M. D. 



1865, and returned to Chicago, bringing with 
him his only sister, Mary Maginnis, who became 
the wife of Thomas Boyle, Mr. Maginnis' sub- 
sequent partner in business. She died in Chi- 
cago March 17, 1891. For a time Mr. Maginnis 
was employed in a cooperage establishment, and 
then engaged in the grocery business. He met 
with success, and finally established himself in 
the ice business after the Great Fire of 1871. At 
first he was a member of the firm of Maginnis & 
Boyle; subsequently the enterprise passed into the 
hands of an incorporated company, known as the 
Lincoln Ice Company, which still continues, in 
which Mr. Maginnis held a controlling interest, 
and of which he was president at the time of his 
death, September 6, 1893. 

October 20, 1874, Mr. Maginnis married Miss 



Nellie, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Welsh) 
Whitty, natives of Ireland. The parents died 
in that country, and Mrs. Maginnis came to 
America in 1865. She was thirteen years old 
when, in company with her brother, Nicholas, 
aged twenty years, she came to America. She 
is a lady of much business acumen, and has taken 
her husband's place in the management of af- 
fairs with great success. The establishment is 
conducted on a large scale, and now employs 
eighty teams and nearly two hundred men. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Maginnis, who are re- 
ceiving the advantages of the best educational 
and social connections, are named in order of 
birth: Mary A., John F., Thomas B., Edward 
A., Charles P., Helen, Robert E. and George 
Washington. 



AGNES R. SOMMERVILLE, M. D. 



Gl GNES ROBENA SOMMERVILLE, M. D., 
L_l a prominent physician of Chicago, was born 
| I July 12, 1842, in Troy, New York, and is a 
daughter of John and Jessie (Armstrong) Som-- 
merville. Her father died in 1896, at the age of 
eighty-five years, and her mother is also deceased. 
They were the parents of twelve children, six 
daughters and the same number of sons. 

Agnes R. Som merville received her early edu- 
cation in her native town, and graduated from 
the Willard Seminary, one of the best schools of 
Eastern New York. In 1869 she was afflicted by 
a very severe attack of muscular rheumatism, 
and after having tried a great variety of medi- 
cines and treatments, finally decided to try the 
electrical cure. The science was then in its 
infancy, but has since advanced to a well-recog- 
nized place in the healing of diseases. She re- 



ceived the electric bath treatment, which com- 
pletely cured her. She was so grateful to the 
science for its benefits to her that she began the 
study of it at once, and has won great success 
with the "new dry bath" cure. Dr. Sommerville 
stands at the head of her profession, and is the 
only lady in Chicago who is a graduate of elec- 
tric therapeutics. 

In 1859 Miss Sommerville came to the city of 
Chicago to visit some friends, and while here, 
she met John Sommerville, whom she married in 
1860, and has ever since resided in the great 
metropolis. She is the mother of two daughters, 
both of whom are married. They are: Effie, Mrs. 
John Clark Aubrey, and Jessie, Mrs. William 
Donely. 

Dr. A. R. Sommerville has not only followed 
the teachings of others, but has also made inde- 



T. G. SPRINGER. 



pendent research iu her profession. She is the 
patentee of several electrical instruments, which 
have proved a boon to the students of electricity 
as applied to the cure of disease. She enjoys a 



of offices located in McVicker's Theater Building, 
on Madison Street. Combined with her great 
business ability, and her love for her profession, 
she has a truly womanly character, and is honored 



large and lucrative practice, and occupies a suite and esteemed by all who know her. 



THEODORE G. SPRINGER. 



'HEODORE GREEN SPRINGER. Among 

the truly representative men in the great 
metropolis of the Great West are many 
whose reputations have passed beyond the con- 
fines of the American continent, and whose names 
are also enrolled in the scientific annals of the 
European continent for giving the world new 
ideas in science, which have given to humanity 
greater comfort, thus benefiting the human race 
at large. Among those names should be men- 
tioned the subject of this sketch, whose unselfish 
life and devotion to science entitle him to a place 
in this volume. 

He was born February i, 1832, in Bellevernon, 
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and is a de- 
scendant of a family distinguished in Europe. 
His great-grandfather, Michael Springer, born in 
Stockholm, in 1727, when a young man entered the 
service of King George of England and fought 
under the banner of his royal master. As a re- 
ward for services rendered, he received a grant of 
land in the American colonies, consisting of a 
tract of land two days' journey north and east of 
Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburg. The land com- 
prised five hundred fifty-seven acres, and was situ- 
ated in what is now Westmoreland Count}'. A 
part of the original homestead is still in the pos- 
session of the descendants of the family. Benjamin 
Franklin's name appears on the parchment which 
conveyed the land to Michael Springer. He im- 
proved the land and reared a large family. His 
son James was born in Westmoreland, and be- 



r 

/ 

,eame a thrifty manager of the patrimonial estate. 
He was a pioneer in developing the coal mines of 
southwestern Pennsylvania, and shipped its prod- 
uct by flatboats down the Monongahela River to 
Pittsburg. He was a sturdy Democrat in political 
matters and affiliated with the Baptist Church, 
but later his descendants became members of the 
Christian Church. He died at the age of seventy- 
six years. His wife, Sally Smith, was a native of 
Westmoreland County, and a daughter of Bar- 
tholomew Smith, a brave soldier of the Revolu- 
tion, whose death occurred while General La 
Fayette was making his second visit to America, 
and the military funeral services at the old Reho- 
both Cemetery were made more impressive by the 
General's attendance. Mrs. Sally Springer was 
fifty-five years old when she died. She was the 
mother of the following children: Martina, Theo- 
dore, Sophia, Anselmo, Caroline and Everill. 

The subject of this sketch, Theodore G. 
Springer, received the benefits of the schools of 
his county, but the ambitious boy was not satis- 
fied with the meager information they were then 
able to give. He qualified himself for a collegiate 
course, and in time entered Hiram College, which 
at that time was a shining light among educa- 
tional centers in Ohio. Here he improved his 
time, and laid the foundations for future years of 
study and research. He was a classmate of the 
lamented president, James A. Garfield, and from 
their acquaintance here sprang a friendship which 
lasted through life. After graduating, life on the 



S. B. HAGGARD. 



73 



old homestead became monotonous to the enter- 
prising young man and he resolved to go West. 
He did not come empty-handed, but was able to 
buy up large tracts of land and land warrants in 
Boone and Jasper Counties, and managed his es- 
tate with varying success. 

His mind was ever active amid his rural sur- 
roundings, and he invented several things of great 
utility to farmers, among them being a wagon 
brake, which is yet used quite extensively. He 
also invented a process for distilling water, and at 
about the same time a process for manufacturing 
an illuminating gas in hotels and farmhouses, 
which was the most successful of all his inven- 
tions, and which subsequently engaged all his 
attention. He took out forty or more patents, 
covering many useful inventions. The most 
noted is his invention ofsetteline gas. Mr. Pres- 
ton, the director of the United States mint in 
Washington, was one of his two partners, and 
they succeeded in getting out a first-class patent. 
Later this was sold to the old Setteline Gas Syn- 
dicate, which made a fortune from the manu- 
facture. 

In the interest of his inventions, and especially 
gas, Mr. Springer traveled extensively in Europe, 
where he was treated with great respect by the 
great scientists of the Old World, who recognized 
in him a genius. His water-gas invention, and 



its introduction, took him to France, Spain, Ger- 
many, Belgium and England. In the latter 
country he spent two and one-half years, mostly in 
London, and was compelled to return to America 
on account of the state of his health, as he was 
suffering from Bright's Disease, from which he 
finally died. 

Mr. Springer was a man of great determination 
and force of character. His perceptive and in- 
ventive faculties were developed to a remarkable 
degree, which enabled him to remember the prac- 
tical part of life while studying his inventions, 
and he left to his family a competency which will 
always surround them with the comforts of this 
world. He was always mindful of the welfare of 
his loved ones, which he showed in numerous 
ways. 

Mr. Springer was connected with the Masonic 
order, but was not a club or lodge man, as his 
home was his place of rest and recreation. His 
wife was a worthy companion of such a man. His 
portrait shows all that distinguishes the inventor 
and builder. Among his companions and 
fellow-men Mr. Springer stood for all that is rep- 
resented by honor, true manhood and integrity. 
His good name and his life-work are a rich legacy 
to coming generations, who will revere his mem- 
ory. He is survived by his wife and daughter, 
Mrs. C. W. Doton, both of Chicago. 



SAMUEL B. HAGGARD. 



(7JAMUEL BALDWIN HAGGARD, one of 
^\ the surviving pioneers of Cook County, is 
)/ now living in retirement at Austin, and re- 
lates many interesting historical reminiscences of 
Chicago and other places. He was born near 
Winchester, Kentucky, Novembers, 1814, and 
is a son of Dawson Haggard and Charity Bald- 
win. The great-grandfather of Dawson Hag- 



gard was a Welshman by birth, but came from 
England to Virginia. His grandson, David, the 
father of Dawson, was born near Charlottesville, 
in that State. He was a carpenter by trade and 
assisted in the construction of Thomas Jefferson's 
magnificent mansion at Monticello, which was, no 
doubt, the finest residence in America at that time. 
David Haggard and his twin brother, Bartlett, 



74 



S. B. HAGGARD. 



who could scarcely be distinguished from each 
other, served alter tiately" in the Continental army 
under one enlistment for several years, and the for- 
mer was present at the surrender of Lord Corn- 
wallis. David Haggard afterwards removed with 
his family to Kentucky. They were accompanied 
by several other Virginia families, including the 
Breckenridges and Marshalls, and the journey 
was made by floating down the Kanawha and 
Ohio Rivers as far as Maysville, Kentucky, 
whence they went overland to Clark County. 
Owing to the hostility of the Indians, they were 
obliged at times to take refuge in a fort at Boones- 
boro. David Haggard lived in Clark County 
until 1823, when he removed to Christian County, 
and in 1836 he located in Bloomington, Illinois, 
where his death occurred seven years later, at the 
age of eighty years. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Nancy Dawson, survived until ninety 
years of age, passing away at Cerulean Springs, 
in Trigg County, Kentucky. 

Dawson Haggard became a farmer and also a 
carpenter. He lived in Clark County until about 
1817, when he removed to Christian County, 
whence a few years later he removed to Trigg 
County, in the same State. His death occurred 
there in 1829, at the age of thirty-five years. He 
was a licensed preacher of the Baptist Church, 
and occasionally held services. After the death 
of her husband, Mrs. Charity Haggard removed 
to Indiana, and from there in 1841 removed to 
Bloomington, Illinois, where she died about eight 
years later. Her seven children are all living in 
Illinois, the youngest nearly seventy years of 
age. Their names and residences are as follows: 
Samuel B., Austin; Nancy, widow of Hiram 
Morris, Bloomington; David Dawson, of the same 
place; Mary Jane, widow of John Shrock, Chi- 
cago; Sarah Elizabeth, of the same city; John 
William, Bloomington; and Julia Ann, widow of 
John L. Matthews, Chicago. The two last-named 
are twins. 

Samuel .B. Haggard attended the frontier 
schools of Kentucky, in which State he also learned 
the trade of carpenter. In 1835 he became a 
resident of Bloomington, Illinois, where he fol- 
lowed his trade until the fall of 1843, when he 



removed to Chicago. He brought his family 
with a horse and buggy and paid one dollar per 
day for a man and team to bring his effects to 
this city, being several days on the road and 
camping out one night at Wolf Grove, five miles 
from the nearest house. He secured employ- 
ment in the iron foundry of Scoville & Gates, 
where he had charge of the woodwork for sev- 
eral years. In the fall of 1847 ne entered the 
employ of McCormick & Gray, who had just 
completed a factory building on the north side of 
the Chicago River east of Rush Street bridge. 
He superintended the erection of the machinery 
in this establishment and was superintendent ot 
the works until 1850. Five hundred reapers 
were built the first season, after which Mr. Gray 
retired and the firm became McCormick, Ogden 
& Company. Upon severing his connection with 
this concern, Mr. Haggard began the manufact- 
ure of chain pumps at No. 224 Randolph Street. 
He continued in that location until 1866, when he 
removed to the West Side and added a stock of 
hardware. He carried on this enterprise for ten 
years longer, when he permanently retired from 
active business. Since 1873 he has made his 
home in Austin, and is now one of the oldest 
residents of that suburb. For many years he en- 
joyed the acquaintance of the leading business 
men of Chicago, most of whom he has survived. 
In May, 1837, Mr. Haggard was married to Miss 
Mary Mason, daughter of George and Elizabeth 
(Howser) Mason, of Bloomington, Illinois. Mrs. 
Haggard was born at Nicholasville, Jessamine 
County, Kentucky, and was a member of the 
Baptist Church from childhood. She departed 
this life in 1889, at the age of seventy -three years. 
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Haggard was blessed 
with seven children, of whom the following is the 
record: Belle, widow of William Rucker, resides 
at Austin; Winfield Scott is a citizen of Chicago; 
Martha Jane is the wife of Albert Wicker, of 
Franklin Grove, Illinois; John David is a well- 
known citizen of Austin; Mary Frances, Mrs. S. 
S. Gould, lives in Oak Park, Illinois; Edith is 
the wife of E. W. Marble, of Austin, at which 
place Charity Elizabeth died at the age of thirty- 
four years. In 1887 Mr. and Mrs. Haggard cele- 



FRANK KUHN. 



75 



brated their golden wedding, which was attended 
by all their children and grandchildren, as well as 
by all of Mr. Haggard's brothers and sisters. 

For thirty years past Mr. Haggard has been 
connected with the Baptist Church, and his 
career has been in all respects well worth)' the 
emulation of posterity. Though in the eighty- 
third year of his age, he is still quite vigorous 
and his mind is clear and active. He distinctly 
remembers events which occurred when he was 
but three and one-half years old, and is likewise 
well posted on current events. He has always 



kept well informed on public affairs and remem- 
bers the presidential election of 1824, at which 
J. Q. Adams was elected by the House of Repre- 
sentatives, the opposing candidates being Henry 
Clay, Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford. 
He cast his first presidential ballot in 1836 for 
William Henry Harrison and has voted for every 
Whig and Republican candidate for that office 
since that time. He has affiliated with few social 
organizations, but is a member of the old Tippe- 
canoe Club of Chicago, and is held in the highest 
regard by his contemporaries. 



FRANK KUHN. 



|~~RANK KUHN. Among the German citi- 
r^ zens of Chicago, who, by their world-re- 
I nowned thrift and economy accumulated 
wealth, was the subject of this sketch. He was 
born February 27, 1827, in Elsass, then in France, 
but now a part of Germany. He came to Amer- 
ica when quite a young man, in a sailing-vessel 
which anchored at the port of- New Orleans, be- 
ing thirteen weeks on the voyage. He soon af- 
ter left New Orleans on account of the yellow 
fever and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he re- 
mained one year. 

In 1853 he came to Chicago, where he worked 
two years at the cabinet-maker's trade, which he 
had learned from his father, who was a skilled 
mechanic. He then, in company with Peter 
Schmidt, established a retail store for the dispens- 
ing of beverages, on Kinzie Street, which was a 
resort for the early inhabitants of the West Side. 
After two years he moved to the corner of Mil- 
waukee Avenue and Des Plaines Street, where 
he was, until 1859, a landmark. At this time 
he removed to the corner of Milwaukee Avenue 
and Erie Street, and here conducted business for 



almost eight years, when he removed to Kuhn's 
Park, which pleasure resort he built up and im- 
proved and conducted for five or six years. 

He was married August 10, 1859, to Miss 
Katharine Otzel, a native of Kur-Hessen, Ger- 
many. They had eight children, four of whom 
are now living, namely: Frank C. ; Emma, wife 
of John Spenger; Adolph A., and Annie, wife of 
Herman Bartells, a bookkeeper for thirteen years 
in the Hide and Leather National Bank in Chi- 
cago, where he enjoys the confidence and respect 
of all its officers and employes. Another son 
lived to the age of thirty years and was married 
to Miss Ida Koch, whose father was an old and 
respected citizen of Chicago. 

Mr. Kuhn died May 31, 1890, in Chicago, of 
poison, administered in some unknown way to 
his entire family, though he was the only one who 
died from its effects. His large property is still 
in possession of his widow, who, as a good Ger- 
man wife often does, assisted greatly in its ac- 
cumulation. Mr. Kuhn also left a good name, 
and is remembered as an upright citizen, honest 
and true to every obligation. 



7 6 



CAPT. DANIEL QUIRK. 



CAPT. DANIEL QUIRK. 



OAPT. DANIEL QUIRK, whose life came 
I ( to an end as the result of his exposure to 
\J the hardships of war, was a native of County 
Kerry, Ireland, born about 1826. His parents, 
Francis and Eleanor (Lynch) Quirk, came to 
Chicago when Daniel was ten years old, and 
lived for several years on the North Side. Later 
they removed to Woodstock, McHenry County, 
Illinois, where they passed the balance of their 
days. 

Daniel Quirk attended the first free school in 
Chicago, located near the present site of Mc- 
Vicker's theatre. While yet a boy he was em- 
ployed in a book and news store kept by John 
McNally, where John R. Walsh, now president 
of the Chicago National Bank, was a fellow- 
clerk. The outbreak of the Civil War found him 
here. He had joined a militia company known 
as the Shields Guards. April 15, 1861, this 
company enlisted in the Twenty-third Regular 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and in July of the 
same year the regiment was sent to the front in 
Missouri. Daniel Quirk was elected captain of 
Company K, and served in that capacity; but 
the period of enlistment of the men was short, 
and he re-enlisted and went to Virginia, where 
he was in the Army of the Potomac. Within a 
few days after entering field service, in July, 
1861, he was taken prisoner by General Early's 
command. He was quickly exchanged, and im- 
mediately re-entered the service, as before re- 
lated. In all his campaigns he was accompanied 
by his faithful wife, who shared the hardships 
and chances of war. She was also taken prisoner 
by the rebels, who treated her with great courtesy. 
After one week's detention she was released by 
the chivalrous rebel, General Early. Among their 



fellow-prisoners were Mrs. Dr. John Taylor, of 
Chicago, and Nathan Goff, afterward a member 
of President Garfield's cabinet. 

On Sunday, July 4, 1854, Mr. Quirk was mar- 
ried to Miss Margaret, daughter of Thomas and 
Margaret (O'Connor) Moore, the latter a native 
of Sligo, Ireland. The former was a native of 
Dublin, and a relative of Thomas Moore, the 
poet. The Moore family came to America in 
1837, and for some years the father kept a grocery 
store in Albany, New York. In 1847 they came 
to Chicago. 

Mrs. Quirk was born March 15, 1834, in 
Dublin. She showed the most heroic devotion 
through hard campaigns, and many sick and 
wounded bear testimony to her skill as a nurse, 
and kindness of heart. For some time before 
leaving the service, Captain Quirk was ill, and 
the faithful nursing of his wife saved his life for 
many years, though he was forced to resign on 
account of his inability to perform military duty. 
After having served over three years, in July, 
1864, he reluctantly abandoned military scenes 
and returned to Chicago. He never entirely 
recovered from the effects of his military priva- 
tions, although his partially disabled limb did 
not prevent him from volunteering for active 
duty in Ireland, when James Stephens proposed 
to fight there in 1865. Like many another pa- 
triotic Irish- American, Captain Quirk discovered 
that Mr. Stephens had miscalculated his military 
resources, and when the Irish people's office was 
seized, and most of the leaders arrested, he was 
compelled to escape by way of England; in this 
expedition he was also accompanied by his faith- 
ful wife. But Captain Quirk remained as enthu- 
siastic as ever Ireland was never absent from 



C. M. LEONARD. 



77 



his thoughts, and it is doubtful whether, during 
his periods of comparative health, he was ever 
absent from any gathering having for its object 
the advancement of the Irish cause. 

The Great Fire of 1871 burned Captain Quirk 
out of house and home. He set to work again 
with energy to regain a competency, and in this 
he was moderately successful. Although an 
invalid he responded promptly to his country's 
call when the Haymarket riot called out the 
Second Regiment. He commanded Company E 
in person till quiet was restored. The Govern- 
ment, mindful to some extent, at least, of his 
services to the Union, gave him a post office 
clerkship, which he retained till two years before 
his death. In 1880, accompanied by his wife, 
he went to Europe in the hope of recovering his 
lost vigor, but in vain, and the end came at his 
home on Superior Street, July 29, 1882. At the 
present writing Mrs. Quirk has resided a period 
of forty-four years in this house, where, sur- 
rounded by many of life's blessings, she is still 
devoted to the memory of her brave husband. 

Captain Quirk was a member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic and of Holy Name Church. 
He and his good wife adopted and reared a 



daughter, Leonora M. Quirk, who is now the wife 
of Nicholas Neary, of Chicago. From early 
youth Mrs. Neary has been devoted to art, of 
which she is a critical judge, and her home is 
adorned with some of the choicest gems of paint- 
ing and kindred arts. She is a painter of no 
mean ability, and excels especially in portrait 
work. 

The appended document is self-explanatory: 
HEADQUARTERS SECOND REGIMENT. 

May 13, 1877. 

Capt. Daniel Quirk, 

Commanding Co. E. 

Sir: The Board of Officers unanimously press 
you to withdraw the letter of resignation lately 
addressed to the Colonel commanding. 

They are of one mind that your withdrawal at 
this juncture would be a disastrous blow to Com- 
pany E, and a calamity to the entire regiment. 
Your conspicuous zeal in the organization and 
maintenance of the regiment, and the fidelity 
with which you have promoted its best interests 
and welfare, are appreciated by every member of 
the command and all would deplore your with- 
drawal. 

We therefore earnestly urge you to still stand 
by the colors of the Second and maintain the in- 
tegrity of Company E. 
Signed JOSEPH T..TORRENCE, COL. 



CHESTER M, LEONARD. 



CHESTER MARSHALL LEONARD, an 
1 1 honored veteran of the late Civil War, was 
U born in 1845, in Granville, Washington 
County, New York, and is a son of Elijah D. 
and Matilda (Harrington) Leonard, natives of 
that State. Mrs. Matilda Leonard died in 1865, 
and her husband survived her until 1896, when 
he passed away, at the age of eighty-four years. 



When Chester M. Leonard was seven years of 
age his parents moved to the West, locating in 
Kenosha County, Wisconsin, where they were 
among the earliest settlers. They shared the 
hard life of the pioneer, and were deprived of 
many advantages. The schools of that section 
were then very poor, but Chester M. Leonard 
received a fair education, and he has supple- 



JOHN BUCHANAN. 



merited it with observation and experience 
throughout his life, having always striven for 
improvement and advancement. His early life 
was spent with his parents on the farm, and 
when he was a young man he found employ- 
ment in the Kenosha Carriage Works, where he 
remained until the outbreak of the Civil War. 

In 1 86 1 he enlisted at Ripon, Wisconsin, in 
the First Wisconsin Cavalry, and served under 
General Sherman at the battles of Stone River, 
Chickamauga, Altoona, Atlanta and many others. 

He married Miss Lydia A. Burdock, a native 
of Trenton, New York, in Racine, Wis., in 1866, 
and they became the parents of five boys, namely: 
Arthur Lee, William H., Adelbert Ellsworth, 
Herbert and Clarence. 

Since the war Mr. Leonard has been engaged 



in engineering, which trade he now follows, with 
especial attention to mechanical engineering, in 
which he takes great interest. From a boy his 
tastes have been in the direction of mechanical 
labor, and he has always improved every oppor- 
tunity for enlarging his knowledge and skill in 
that branch of work. He is genial and friendly 
of manner, and has the warm friendship of a 
large circle of acquaintances and associates. He 
has the confidence of his employers, and despite 
the fact that he has lived through many trying 
experiences during the war, he is as capable of 
doing his work well as many younger men, and 
is always found at the post of duty in civil life, 
as he was in military service. He is ever ready 
to favor any movement calculated to promote 
human progress and improvement. 



JOHN BUCHANAN. 



3OHN BUCHANAN, a citizen of South Chi- 
cago, was born May 10, 1859, in Ireland, and 
is a son of John and Mary (Welsh) Buchan- 
an, both natives of the Emerald Isle. His par- 
ents lived all their lives in their native country, 
but John was such an ambitious youth that he 
became possessed of a desire to try his fortunes in 
the New World, by himself. He cherished this 
ambition until he was eighteen years old, and 
then he was able to emigrate. 

John Buchanan arrived in New York in 1877, 
and after spending a short time in that city, 
removed to Philadelphia, where he found employ- 
ment at various occupations, being some of the 
time with the firm of French & Richards. Not 



being very well satisfied with his life in Phila- 
delphia, he removed to Chicago in 1881, and after 
a few years' residence there, found employ- 
ment with the Illinois Steel Company, where he 
is at present engaged. 

November 12, 1884, Mr. Buchanan married 
Miss Annie Egan, and they became the parents 
of the following children: Denis Patrick (de- 
ceased), Mamie, John, Robert Emmett, Frank and 
Joseph Stephen. 

Mr. Buchanan is a thoroughly reliable citizen, 
and has an interest and pride in the progress of 
his adopted country. He and his family are com- 
municants of Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic 
Church. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

HNIVERSITY OP ILLINOIS 




ELISHA GRAY 



EUSHA GRAY. 



79 



ELISHA GRAY. 



QROF. ELISHA GRAY, whose inventive 
LX genius and persevering industry have played 
]3 no inconspicuous part in revolutionizing the 
business methods of the modern world, bears in 
his veins the sturdy and vigorous blood of some 
of America's founders. His grandfather, John 
Gray, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was a 
farmer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where 
he died. Mary Moore, wife of John Gray, was a 
native of Delaware, presumably of English blood. 
She survived her husband and moved, with her 
younger children, to the vicinity of Georgetown, 
Ohio, and afterward to Monroe County, in the 
same State, where she died. She was the mother 
of Thomas, Elijah, Elisha, David, John and 
Samuel Gray. 

David Gray was an Orthodox Quaker; a quiet 
man, of noble character, and beloved by all who 
came within his benign influence. He was a 
farmer, and lived near Barnesville, Ohio, whence 
he moved to Monroe County, in that State, where 
he died, in 1849, in the prime of life, at the age 
of about forty years. His wife, Christiana Edg- 
erton, was a native of Belmont County, Ohio, 
where her parents, Richard and Mary (Hall) 
Edgerton, were early settlers. Richard Edgerton 
was born in North Carolina, of English descent, 
and was a prominent member of the Society of 
Friends. The family was noted for the large size 
of its members, all being six feet or more in 
height. They were also brainy people. John 
Edgerton was a noted leader of the "Hicksite" 
Quakers, and a powerful anti-slavery agitator in 
Ohio and Indiana. His brother, Joseph Edger- 
ton, was the leading Orthodox Quaker of his day, 
and a great preacher. He was vigorous to the 



end of his life, which came after he had attained 
the age of eighty years. The Halls were also a 
vigorous and intelligent people, and prominent 
among the Quakers. 

David Gray and wife were well-read and intell- 
igent, and engaged in teaching in early life. 
Mrs. Gray was liberally educated for that day in 
Ohio, and her influence went far in preparing her 
son for the prominent part he was destined to 
take in the development of modern practical 
science. She survived her husband many years, 
reaching the venerable age of seventy-eight, and 
died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sarah 
Cope, in New Sharon, Iowa. 

Elisha Gray was born near Barnesville, Bel- 
mont County, Ohio, August 2, 1835. From a 
recent work, entitled "Prominent Men of the 
Great West," the following elegant and carefully 
prepared account of Professor Gray's life is taken : 
"When young Gray was but twelve years of 
age, he had received three or four months of dis- 
trict schooling and the usual industrial training 
given to farmers' lads of his age and condition of 
life. Over forty years ago his father died, leav- 
ing Elisha in a large measure dependent upon his 
own resources for a living. When fourteen years 
of age he apprenticed himself to a blacksmith, 
and partly mastered that trade, but, his strength 
being greatly overtaxed, he was forced to give it 
up and joined his mother, who had removed to 
Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Here he entered the 
employ of a boat-builder, serving three and a- 
half years' apprenticeship, learning the trade of 
ship-joiner. 

"At the end of this time he was a first-class 
mechanic and began to give evidence of his 



8o 



ELISHA GRAY. 



inventive genius. He was handicapped, how. 
ever, by the meagreness of his education, and 
was little more than able to experiment with the 
simplest contrivances. The testimony of one 
who knew him intimately at this time indicates 
that he had a consciousness of his own resources 
and was of the belief that Nature had destined 
him to accomplish some important work in life. 
He had a great desire to acquire that funda- 
mental knowledge which would open for him the 
way to intelligent research, investigation and 
ultimate achievements. 

"While working as an apprentice, he formed 
the acquaintance of Prof. H. S. Bennett, now 
of Fisk University, then a student at Oberlin 
College, Ohio, from whom he learned that at 
that institution exceptional opportunities were 
afforded to students for self-education; and 
immediately after he had completed his term of 
service he set out for the college, with barely 
enough money in his possession to carry him to 
his destination. He arrived in Oberlin in the 
summer of 1857, at once going to work as a 
carpenter, and supported himself by this means 
during a five-years course of study in the college. 
As a student he gave especial attention to the 
physical sciences, in which he was exceptionally 
proficient, his ingenuity being strikingly mani- 
fested from time to time in the construction ot 
the apparatus used in the classroom experiments. 
His cleverness in constructing these various 
appliances made him a conspicuous character 
among the students. While pursuing his college 
course he was not fully decided as to what pro- 
fession he would take up, and, at one time, he is 
said to have contemplated entering the ministry, 
finally deciding, however, not to do so. Perhaps 
the course of his life was decided by a remark of 
the mother of the young lady who afterwards 
became his wife. This was in a joking spirit, 
to the effect that ' it would be a pity to spoil a 
good mechanic to make a poor minister.' In 
fact, to this casual remark the now famous in- 
ventor has declared himself to be, in great meas- 
ure, indebted for what he has since accomplished. 
Truly, the worthy lady must have been of a 
sound and discriminating judgment, to discover 



the hidden worth of the young man, and she, 
doubtless, more than any one else, in his earlier 
days, fanned the latent sparks of genius into the 
flame which, in later days, revealed to his brain 
the contrivances which have made his name 
famous, and which have proved of inestimable 
value to civilization. 

"From 1857 to 1861 the Professor devoted 
himself to unremitting toil and study, and the 
result was that his naturally delicate constitution 
was impaired by the great strain upon his mental 
powers. In 1861, just when the future was 
brightening with the promise of success, and 
when he thought his days of struggling were 
past, he was stricken with an illness from which 
he did not recover for five years. After his mar- 
riage, in 1862, to Miss Delia M. Sheppard, of 
Oberlin, and, with a view to the betterment of 
his health, Mr. Gray devoted himself for a time 
to farming as an occupation. This experience 
was disappointing, both in its financial results 
and in its effects upon his health, and he returned 
to his trade, working in Trumbull County, Ohio, 
until he was again prostrated by a serious illness. 
Following this, came two or three years of strug- 
gle and privation; of alternate hope and disap- 
pointment, during which he experimented with 
various mechanical and electrical devices, but 
was prevented by his straitened circumstances 
from making any headway in profitable invention. 
Pressed by his necessities, he was once or twice 
on the point of giving up his researches and 
investigations entirely and devoting himself to 
some ordinary bread-winning industry; but he 
was stimulated by his faithful and devoted wife 
and her mother, both of whom had an abiding 
faith in his genius, and who aided him in his 
work with all the means at their command, and 
to whose influence was largely due the fact that 
he continued his efforts in the field of invention. 

"In 1867 a more prosperous era dawned upon 
him, with the invention of a self-adjusting tele- 
graph relay, which, although it proved of no 
practical value, furnished the opportunity of in- 
troducing him to the late Gen. Anson Stager, of 
Cleveland, then General Superintendent of the 
Western Union Telegraph Company, who at once 



ELISHA GRAY. 



Si 



became interested in him and furnished him facil- 
ities for experimenting on the company's lines. 
Professor Gray then formed a co-partnership with 
E. M. Barton, of Cleveland, for the manufacture 
of electrical appliances, during which time he 
invented the dial telegraph. 

" In 1869 he removed to Chicago, where he 
continued the manufacture of electrical supplies, 
General Stager becoming associated with him. 
Here he perfected the type-printing telegraph, the 
telegraphic repeater, the telegraphic switch, the 
annunciator and many other inventions which 
have become famous within the short space of a 
few years. About 1872 he organized the West- 
ern Electrical Manufacturing Company, which is 
still in existence and is said to be the largest 
establishment of its kind in the world. In 1874 
he retired from the superintendency of the elec- 
tric company and began his researches in teleph- 
ony, and within two years thereafter gave to 
the world that marvelous production of human 
genius, the speaking telephone. Noting one day, 
when a secondary coil was connected with the 
zinc lining of the bath tub, dry at the time, that 
when he held the other end of the coil in his left 
hand and rubbed the lining of the tub with his 
right, it gave rise to a sound that had the same 
pitch and quality as that of the vibrating contact- 
breaker, he began a series of experiments, which 
led first to the discovery that musical tones could 
be transmitted over an electrical wire. Fitting 
up the necessary devices, he exhibited this inven- 
tion to some of his friends, and the same year 
went abroad, where he made a special study of 
acoustics and gave further exhibitions of the 
invention, which he developed into the harmonic, 
or multiplex, telegraph. While perfecting this 
device, in 1875, the idea of the speaking tele- 
phone suggested itself, and in 1876 he perfected 
this invention and filed his caveat in the Patent 
Office at Washington. That another inventor 
succeeded in incorporating into his own applica- 
tion for a telegraph patent an important feature 
of Professor Gray's invention, and that the latter 
was thereby deprived of the benefits which he 
should have derived therefrom, is the practically 
unanimous decision of many well informed as to 



the merits of the controversy to which conflict- 
ing claims gave rise; and the leading scientists 
and scientific organizations of the world, accord- 
ing to a certain periodical, have accredited to him 
the honor of inventing the telephone. In recog- 
nition of his distinguished achievements, he was 
made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor at the 
close of the Paris Exposition of 1878, and Amer- 
ican colleges have conferred upon him the degrees 
of Doctor of Laws and Doctor of Science. 

"For several years after his invention of the 
telephone he was connected with the Postal Tel- 
egraph Company, and brought the lines of this" 
system into Chicago, laying them underground. 
He also devised a general underground telegraph 
system for the city, and then turned his attention 
to the invention of the 'telautograph,' a device 
with which the general public is just now becom- 
ing familiar through the public accounts of its 
operation. On March 21, 1893, the first exhibi- 
tions of the practical and successful operation of 
this wonderful instrument were given simultane- 
ously in New York and Chicago, and on the 
same day the first telautograph messages were 
passed over the wires from Highland Park to 
Waukegan, Illinois. The exhibitions were wit- 
nessed by a large number of electrical experts, 
scientists and representatives of the press, who 
were unanimous in their opinion that Professor 
Gray's invention is destined to bring about a 
revolution in telegraphy. 

' 'One of the beauties of electrical science is the 
expressiveness of its nomenclature, and among 
the many significant names given to electrical 
inventions none expresses more clearly the use 
and purpose of the instrument to which it is 
applied than the term, 'telautograph.' As its 
name signifies, it enables a person sitting at one 
end of the wire to write a message or a letter 
which is reproduced simultaneously in fac simile 
at the other end of the wire. It is an agent 
which takes the place of the skilled operator and 
the telegraphic alphabet. Any one who can 
write can transmit a message by this means, and 
the receiving instrument does its work perfectly, 
without the aid of an operator. The sender of 
the message may be identified by fhe/ac simile of 



82 



EUSHA GRAY. 



his handwriting which reaches the recipient, and 
pen-and-ink portraits of persons may be as 
readily transmitted from one point to another as 
the written messages. In many respects the 
telautograph promises to be more satisfactory in 
its practical operations than the telephone. Com- 
munications can be carried on between persons at 
a distance from each other with absolute secrecy, 
and a message sent to a person in his absence 
from his place of business will be tound awaiting 
him upon his return. These and many other 
advantages which the telautograph seems to 
possess warrant the prediction that in the not 
very distant future telautography will supplant 
in a measure both telephony and telegraphy. 
The transmitter and the receiver of the telauto- 
graph system are delicately constructed pieces of 
mechanism, each contained in a box somewhat 
smaller than an ordinary typewriter machine. 
The two machines are necessary at each end of a 
wire, and stand side by side. In transmitting a 
message an ordinary feed lead pencil is used. At 
the point of this is a small collar, with two eyes 
in its rim. To each of these eyes a fine silk -cord 
is attached, running off at right angles in two 
directions. Each of the two ends of this cord is 
carried round a small drum supported on a ver- 
tical shaft. Under the drum, and attached to 
the same shaft, is a toothed wheel of steel, the 
teeth of which are so arranged that when either 
section of the cord winds upon or off its drum, a 
number of teeth will pass a given point, corres- 
ponding to the length of cord so wound or un- 
wound. For instance, if the point of the pencil 
moves in the direction of one of the cords a dis- 
tance of one inch, forty of the teeth will pass any 
certain point. Each one of these teeth and each 
space represents one impulse sent upon the line, 
so that when the pencil describes a motion one 
inch in length, eighty electrical impulses are sent 
upon the line. The receiving instrument is prac- 
tically a duplicate of the transmitter, the motions 
of which, however, are controlled by electrical 
mechanism. The perfected device exhibited by 
Professor Gray, and now in operation, is the 
result of six years of arduous labor, an evolution 
to which the crude contrivance used in his earliest 



experiments bears little resemblance. The man- 
ufacture of the instruments will be carried on by 
the Gray Electric Company, a corporation having 
offices in New York and Chicago and a large 
manufacturing establishment just outside the 
limits of the suburban village of Highland Park, 
Illinois, of which place Professor Gray has been 
for many years a resident. Here, in addition to 
his workshop and laboratory, the renowned 
inventor has a beautiful home, and his domestic 
relations are of the ideal kind. 

' ' The title by which Professor Gray has been 
known for so many years came to him through 
his connection with Oberlin and Ripon (Wis- 
consin) Colleges as non-resident lecturer in 
physics, and his general appearance is that of the 
college professor or the profound student. He 
has none of the eccentricities which are the con- 
spicuous characteristics of some of the great 
inventors of the age, and, when not absorbed in 
his professional work, he is delightfully genial 
and companionable. 

"When the World's Congress of Electricians 
assembled in the new Art Institute in Chicago, 
on the 2ist of August, 1893, there were gathered 
the most noted electricians of all the world. The 
congress was divided into two sections, one of 
which termed the official section was com- 
posed of representatives designated by the vari- 
ous Governments of Europe and the Americas, 
and was authorized to consider and pass upon 
questions relating to electrical measurement, 
nomenclature and various other matters of import 
to the electrical world. To the other section ot 
the congress were admitted all professional elec- 
tricians who came properly accredited, and they 
were permitted to attend the sessions and partici- 
pate in the deliberations of the congress, although 
they were not allowed to vote on the technical 
questions coming before it. 

' 'When it was determined that the convening 
of international congresses of various kinds 
should be made one of the leading features ot 
the Columbian Exposition, a body, which became 
known as the World's Congress Auxiliary of the 
World's Columbian Exposition, was organized 
for the purpose of promoting and making all 



B. C. MILLER. 



necessary preparations for these gatherings. To 
Prof. Elisha Gray, of Chicago, this body as- 
signed the task of organizing the congress of 
electricians, and placed upon him the responsi- 
bility of formulating the plans and making all 
initiatory preparations for what was, unquestion- 
ably, the most important and interesting conven- 
tion of electricians ever held in this or any other 
country. While the Professor called to his assist- 
ance many distinguished members of his profes- 
sion, by virtue of his official position, he was the 
central and most attractive figure in this great 
movement. 

"Professor Gray is a member of the Union 
League Club of Chicago. Politically, he is a 
Republican. He has traveled extensively, not 
only in this country but throughout Europe. 
He is now in his sixty-first year, and he stands 
as an illustrious example of the general rule, for, 
although not yet an old man, he is one of the 
few prominent in the early days of electrical 
development who maintained their prominence 
and added to their reputation in the rapid strides 
which have been made during the last decade. 



But few of the early workers in the electrical 
sciences have maintained their prominence in the 
later development. This is undoubtedly due to 
the lack of plasticity which is usually attributed 
to maturer years, the possession of which in 
younger men often gives them the advantage in 
the rush for supremacy in new adaptation and 
under ever-changing conditions. Where, how- 
ever, this plasticity has been preserved during 
maturer years, as has been the case with the 
subject of this sketch, the maturer judgment and 
riper experience which those years have enabled 
him to bring to bear upon the newer problems 
have in many cases resulted in inventions and 
improvements of the utmost importance to man- 
kind and the cause of civilization. Professor 
Gray is a man of fine personal appearance, pleas- 
ing address, commanding bearing, and a man 
who will attract attention in any assembly, and 
who, on account of his great electrical skill and 
general scientific attainments, and because of his 
pleasing and affable manner, has won for him- 
self many friends and admirers. ' ' 



DR. BENJAMIN C. MILLER. 



0R. BENJAMIN COKE MILLER, one of 
the most successful physicians and most 
highly respected citizens of Chicago, passed 
away at his home on Everett Avenue, in that 
city, June 25, 1891. He was descended from a 
long line of American ancestors, who were dis- 
tinguished as physicians and gentlemen. 

The founder of the family in this country was 
Adam Miller, who was born near Metz, France 
(now included in the German Empire), and from 



whom the subject of this biography was a de- 
scendant in the eighth generation. He settled 
with his family in Frederick, Maryland, and be- 
came a large planter. He was noted as a man 
of wealth, culture and refinement, and held many 
slaves. These were liberated by his bequest on 
his death, and their loss at that time almost beg- 
gared his heirs; but they honored his behest. 
The family continued to reside in Maryland for 
several generations. The great-grandfather of 



8 4 



B. C. MILLER. 



Dr. Benjamin C. Miller moved to Shelby ville, 
Kentucky, where his son, Dr. Henry Miller, be- 
came an extensive planter. The latter was a 
tall and fine-appearing man, a noted physician 
and a man of affairs. He died at Shelbyville, of 
old age. 

Dr. Jefferson Miller, son of the last-named, 
was bsrn in Gallatin County, Kentucky, No- 
vember 29, 1807, and was educated in Virginia. 
Through over-confidence in his friends, he lost 
much of his property, and then took up the study 
of medicine with Dr. Clarke, a noted physician 
of his native State. While still a young man, he 
settled in the practice of his profession at Rush- 
ville, Indiana, and became widely known for his 
skill in the healing art. He united with the 
Methodist Church there in 1839. As a Chris- 
tian, he was liberal to all churches. As a citizen, 
he was public-spirited, and was much loved and 
respected by all. As a physician, he was un- 
usually successful, and was a man of extraordin- 
ary worth and usefulness in all relations of life. 
November 20, 1832, he married Eliza A. Stand- 
ford, of Greencastle, Indiana, and two of their 
children grew to maturity, namely: Dr. Benja- 
min C. and Henry Miller, the latter now a resi- 
dent of Ladoga, Indiana. The father died at 
that place, November 5, 1885, and his wife sur- 
vived him about five and one-half years, passing 
away in May, 1891. 

Benjamin C. Miller was born April 30, 1846, 
in Rushville, Indiana, and went with his parents 
early in life to Montgomery County, in the same 
State, receiving his primary education at Ladoga. 
In the spring of 1862, when he was barely six- 
teen years of age, he ran away from school at 
Battle Ground, Indiana, and enlisted as a private 
in the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry, then in camp 
at Indianapolis, preparatory to service in the 
Civil War. As this enlistment was made with- 
out the consent of his father, the latter was en- 
abled to claim him, which he did, and conducted 
the ambitious boy back to school. Before the 
father had reached home on the return from this 
duty, the son was again in camp, and he was 
this time permitted to have his way. He joined 
Company K, of the Eleventh Cavalry, of which 



he was made Sergeant, and participated in the 
service of that organization until December 19, 
1863, before the completion of his eighteenth 
year, when he was mustered out as a First Lieu- 
tenant. 

One day soon after this, a handsome young man, 
some six feet, six and one-half inches in height, 
bronzed by exposure in the line of military duty, 
and dressed in the handsome uniform of a Lieu- 
tenant, called at the home of his parents in La- 
doga. On learning the number of his regiment, 
they plied him with questions about Company K, 
and inquired if he knew young Benjamin Miller. 
He replied in the affirmative. At this moment 
his favorite dog came into the room, and, upon 
being spoken to by his young master, gave the 
most extravagant expressions of joy, bringing 
tears to the eyes of Mrs. Miller, who could scarcely 
forgive herself for failing to recognize her son 
until after this faithful animal had shown her his 
identity. 

Entering Rush Medical College of Chicago, 
young Miller was graduated with honor on the 
gth of February, 1869. He passed the competi- 
tive examination, and was appointed House Phy- 
sician and Surgeon of Cook County Hospital, 
serving a year and a-half. He was then made 
County Physician, in which capacity he served two 
years. He was immediately made Superintendent 
of Public Charities, having charge of the County 
Hospital, Insane Asylum and Alms House. 
After filling this position about eighteen months, 
he was appointed Sanitary Superintendent of 
Chicago by Mayor Medill, and was continued in 
that office by Mayor Colvin. During this period 
he was very useful in the community by his skill- 
ful management of the cholera epidemic of 1873. 
In 1875 he was made Surgeon, with the rank of 
Major, on the staff of Gen. A. C. Ducat, Com- 
mander of the Illinois National Guard. In 1876 
Dr. Miller resigned the position of Sanitary Su- 
perintendent and went abroad. He spent about 
a year in studying in hospitals at Aberdeen and 
Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England. 
Returning to Chicago, with added knowledge 
from these observations, he was enabled to com- 
mand a large share of the most difficult and re- 



J. M. HANNAHS. 



munerative medical and surgical practice of the 
then metropolitan city. In 1889 he was ap- 
pointed by the United States Government a Pen- 
sion Examiner, and continued to fulfill the duties 
of this position until his death. 

December 24, 1872, Dr. Miller was married to 
Miss Etta Barnet, of Chicago. She, with one 
daughter, survives him. The latter, Miss Mary 
Etta Miller, is a bright Chicago girl. She is 
possessed of marked literary and artistic tastes, 
and her work as a pen-and-ink artist has attracted 
considerable attention. Mrs. Miller is a daugh- 
ter of the late George Barnet, a sketch of whose 



career will be found on another page of this 
work. 

Dr. Miller's character was summed up in a 
few heartfelt and well-chosen words by his con- 
temporary, Dr. Pagne, as follows: "A man of 
extraordinary talent and attainments was Dr. 
Miller. While City Physician, he inaugurated 
the system of newsboys' picnics and outings. His 
friends were many, by reason of his greatness of 
heart. Chicago loses a good citizen, and the pro- 
fession an able member." 

The last sad rites over his remains were con- 
ducted by South Park Masonic Lodge, and his 
body was interred in Oakwoods Cemetery. 



JAMES M. HANNAHS. 



flAMES MONROE HANNAHS, one of the 
I oldest residents of Chicago, having come 
Q) here as early as 1836, is a descendant of an 
old and influential New England family, which 
originated in Ireland, the family name having 
been spelled in that country Hannah. The 
great-grandfather of James M. Hannahs was the 
first member of the family to leave his native 
land for the New World. He settled in Litch- 
field, Connecticut, where he was an active and 
influential citizen, and later became a zealous 
patriot. On the breaking out of the War of the 
Revolution, that contest with the Mother Coun- 
try which tried the mettle of her sons so sorely, 
he made his adopted country's cause his own, 
and was made a member of the Committee of 
Safety formed at that time. 

Daniel Hannahs, son of the foregoing, and the 
grandfather of the subject of this notice, was a 
soldier in the War of 1812. He was wounded at 



the battle of Queenstown, and for his services 
enjoyed a pension from the Government until his 
death, which occurred in 1842. Leaving Con- 
necticut, he moved with his family to central 
New York, settling in the wilderness near the 
Mohawk River. Undaunted in courage, and of 
a fine, soldierly physique, he was well fitted by 
nature for the Herculean task of founding a home 
in the primeval forests, and in his wife he found 
a willing helpmate. The latter was Elizabeth 
Gordon, a cousin of Lord George Gordon, the 
hero of the "Gordon Riots" of 1798, for his 
leadership in which he was imprisoned in Lon- 
don and tried for treason, but finally acquitted. 

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hannahs became the 
parents of four children, all sons: Chauncey, 
Marvin, William and Daniel. Of these, Marvin 
removed to Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan, 
in 1835, and became one of the leading men in 
that locality, and in later years his son George 



86 



J. M. HANNAHS. 



was elected State Senator from Michigan. Will- 
iam, another son of Daniel Hannahs, became a 
prosperous woolen merchant of New York City. 
His son, a law student, immediately after his 
graduation from Yale College, raised a company 
of cavalry in New York City, in the first month 
after the Civil War opened, and took the field. 
He was made Captain of this company, but, sad 
to relate, was killed in Virginia, in May, 1861. 

Chauncey Hannahs, the father of James Mon- 
roe, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in the 
year 1791, and removed with his parents to New 
York State, assisting his father in clearing 
up his farm. In later years, in this same lo- 
cality, he engaged in the foundry business. In 
1835 he removed to Wisconsin, then considered 
in the very far West, and located on Government 
land in Kenosha County, where the rest of his 
days were spent, his demise occurring in 1873, 
from old age. While living in New York State 
he had been Captain of an artillery company, 
and the title then gained he ever afterwards bore. 
In person large and strong, he delighted in out- 
door pursuits, and the pioneer life which he 
chose on leaving his old home in the East was 
one well suited to him in every respect. In his 
early life he had been an ardent Whig, but on 
the formation of the two great parties of Repub- 
licans and Democrats, he allied himself with the 
latter, and proved an equally earnest champion 
of its principles. In his religious leanings he 
was a Presbyterian, his wife being of the same 
faith. The latter was born in the year 1793, in 
Oneida County, New York, a daughter of Enos 
Nichols, a pioneer of that county, where he lived 
in a covered wagon until he could erect for him- 
self a house in the wilderness. He later became 
a pioneer of Lake County, Illinois, near the Wis- 
consin State line, and his family thus became 
neighbors of the Hannahs family. 

Mrs. Chauncey Hannahs died on the old home- 
stead in Keuosha County in 1882, also from old 
age. She had been the mother of seven children, 
as follows: Mrs. Ann Doolittle, William H., 
James M., Thomas J., Francis G., Frederick, and 
Adeline, who died at the age of fourteen years. 
A strange and shocking fatality occurred in this 



family, no less than six deaths taking place with- 
in twenty-two months, three children dying with- 
in three days of each other. All who now sur- 
vive are James M. and his brother, Francis G. 

The subject of this sketch was born June 26, 
1821, in Herkimer County, New York, and re- 
ceived a common-school education in a little 
schoolfeouse on the banks of the historic Mohawk 
River. On leaving school he entered his father's 
foundry to learn the business, and after coming 
to Chicago he followed the trade of a foundry- 
man in connection with a partner, the firm name 
being Hannahs & James. He continued thus en- 
gaged until he entered the employ of Wahl 
Brothers, manufacturers of glue, with whom he 
remained for twenty-five years, during part of 
that time representing the firm in New York 
City. After leaving Wahl Brothers he was act- 
ively engaged in promoting elevated railroads in 
Chicago, on a new principle. 

July 3, 1851, in Cook County, Illinois, Mr. 
Hannahs married Miss Matilda Irish, a daugh- 
ter of Perry Irish, and a native of Holley, New 
York. Several children were born of this mar- 
riage, but all died in infancy. Mrs. Hannahs 
died September 19, 1885, in Chicago. 

Mr. Hannahs has been for over forty years a 
consistent member of the Baptist Church. In re- 
gard to politics he is a Republican, having been 
a stanch Abolitionist previous to the war. He 
is a strong believer in the efficacy of free silver, 
and champions his cause with great ardor. While 
in the employ of Wahl Brothers, his business led 
him to travel extensively throughout the United 
States, and he has hosts of friends up and down 
the country, as well as in Chicago. Like many 
other Chicago business men, he was at one time 
a farmer in Cook County, but he yielded to the 
superior attractions of city life and sold his farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, which he had bought 
for $3 per acre. He has many reminiscences of 
early days in Illinois, and has contributed many 
interesting articles to Chicago newspapers, de- 
scribing the scenes and incidents of early days 
in this locality, and noting the stupendous 
changes wrought in the face of the country since 
he came here, a pioneer of 1836. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

HNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



JACOB FORSYTH. 



JACOB FORSYTH. 



(TACOB FORSYTH. In every community, 
I no matter how small, the intelligent observer 
G/ will find men who have risen above their 
fellows, both in fame and fortune, by sheer force 
of character and the ability to seize fortune at the 
tide. Though to the casual onlooker there often 
has seemed an element of "luck" in the chances 
of prosperity which have come to them, a closer 
observer will see that it has more often been the 
fortunate meeting of the man and the opportunity ; 
the opportunity may, perhaps, have occurred 
a hundred times before, but the man who should 
seize it, and by his ability and energy force results 
from it, has never before appeared. 

Jacob Forsyth, an old resident of Chicago, and 
one of its leading citizens, exemplifies the truth 
of the foregoing in a marked degree. Born in the 
North of Ireland, of Scotch descent, he possesses 
those fortunate characteristics which have placed 
so many of his countrymen on the highroad to 
success honesty, ambition, energy and resistless 
tenacity of purpose. Overlooking the daily dis- 
couragements, disappointments and hardships of 
their life, they keep ever before them the high 
object of their ambition; and if failure instead of 
success is their portion, it is through no weaken- 
ing of their powers by self-indulgence or idle re- 
pining. 

In the days of King James I. of England there 
sprang up a class of men known as "under- 
takers," who, in consideration of certain grants 
of land, undertook to locate a specified number of 
settlers upon the vast tracts of vacant ground in 
northern Ireland. It was at this time that a great 
emigration was made from Scotland to this region, 
and gave to the world that sturdy, industrious 



and highly moral class of people called Scotch- 
Irish. Prior to the siege of Londonderry, an 
epoch in the history of northern Ireland, the an- 
cestors of Jacob Forsyth settled in what is now 
the county of Londonderry. They were a rural 
people, and, as near as can be learned at the 
present time, were engaged in agriculture. 

To John Forsyth and his wife, Margaret Cox, 
was born a son, whom they christened Jacob. The 
latter married Elizabeth Haslette, and their son 
John was the father of the subject of this sketch. 
John Forsyth married Mary Ann Kerr, a native 
of County Londonderry, who was the daughter 
of Alexander Kerr and Anne Osborne, the latter 
of English descent. The Kerrs were of Scotch 
lineage, and very early in Ireland. The parents 
of Alexander Kerr were Oliver and Elizabeth 
(Wilson) Kerr. 

The father of Mr. Forsyth was an intelligent 
farmer, and the possessor of a small landed 
property. Anxious that his son should have the 
' 'schooling' ' which is the ambition of most of his 
countrymen, he sent him to a celebrated private 
academy, the principal of which was a famous 
Greek and Latin scholar and a renowned 
mathematician, in his vicinity. Possessing the 
studious inclination and the quick perceptions of 
an apt scholar, the youth profited greatly by his 
attendance here, and the proficiency he ac- 
quired in penmanship gained for him his first 
position in America. 

Jacob Forsyth was born January 12, 1821, at 
the old town of Limavady, near the present rail- 
road station and thriving village in County Lon- 
donderry, Ireland, known as Newtown, Limavady. 
Filled with the ambitious spirit which builds 



88 



JACOB FORSYTH. 



cities and develops the commercial possibilities of 
the world, he set out for the United States at the 
age of fifteen years. Settling in Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, he there first found employment as 
copying clerk and errand boy for the great com- 
mission and forwarding house of Forsyth & Com- 
pany, a member of which firm was a near relative. 
The firm was the oldest commission house in the 
city, and owned a large fleet of steamers, running 
on various western rivers. In those days the 
copying book had not been invented, and all let- 
ters had to be copied by hand, and this work fell 
to young Forsyth. By the interest he took in 
his work, and the care with which everything 
entrusted to him to do was performed, he soon 
won his way into the confidence of his employers, 
and was promoted from one responsible position 
to another, until he had attained that of head 
bookkeeper. 

Mr. Forsyth remained with Forsyth & Com- 
pany for fifteen years altogether, and at the end 
of that time his abilities had become so well 
known outside of the concern that he was offered 
several other advantageous positions. Accepting 
one of these, he became the Through Freight 
Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with head- 
quarters in Chicago, and by this means became a 
permanent resident of this city in 1857. After a 
few years' service in this capacity, he accepted 
the position of General Western Agent for the old 
"Erie" Road. 

About this time, his business giving him op- 
portunities for observing the prevailing real-es- 
tate conditions, he became impressed with the 
excellent opportunities to buy land cheaply ; and 
with a premonition of the growth of the city, and 
the consequent rise in land values, he resigned 
his position and began to invest largely in real 
estate. His wife had inherited a large amount 
of land in Lake County, Indiana, from her brother, 
George W. Clarke, who died in 1866, and to this 
Mr. Forsyth added by purchasing the holdings 
of small owners in the vicinity, until he had ac- 
quired ten thousand acres, a large estate for this 
land of comparatively small holdings. He had 
the shrewdness to buy this so as to form one im- 
mense tract, arguing that one large tract would 



possess more value than the same amount in scat- 
tered portions. During subsequent years he ex- 
perienced much annoyance and was caused many 
years' litigation in his efforts to expel squatters 
from the tract. They were very numerous 
around Lakes George and Wolf at the time, and 
their dislodgment was a matter of much difficulty. 
Mr. Forsyth was in litigation for five years before 
he finally obtained redress, and during this time 
read book after book on land decisions and the 
question of riparian rights, on which he is now 
one of the best-posted men in the country, and 
able to give information to many an intelligent 
attorney in that line of practice. 

When, finally, a decree was pronounced in his 
favor, he sold eight thousand acres of his land to 
the East Chicago Improvement Company for one 
million dollars, one-third of which sum was paid 
down. The company, however, failed to meet 
subsequent payments, and as a compromise the 
present Canal and Improvement Company was 
formed in 1887. From this Mr. Forsyth ac- 
cepted as reimbursement part cash, a large 
amount of bonds, and some stock in the company. 
In 1881 he bought another large tract on the 
lake shore, lying directly north of the present 
site of East Chicago, and in 1889 he sold a por- 
tion of this to the Standard Oil Company, and 
on it has since been built its large plant, known 
as Whiting. The limits of the city of Chicago 
having been extended to the Indiana line, across 
which lies Mr. Forsyth's land, the latter has been 
consequently enhanced in value, and has been 
greatly benefited thereby. 

AtUniontown, Pennsylvania, Mr. Forsyth mar- 
ried Miss Caroline M. Clarke, daughter of Robert 
Clarke, of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, who 
has borne her husband nine children, five sons 
and four daughters, all of whom are living. 
The family occupies a handsome, comfortable 
house on Michigan Avenue, and the home is per- 
vaded by an air of taste and refinement which 
is not always an element in the homes of the rich. 

In politics Mr. Forsyth is a Republican, a 
stanch advocate of his party's men and principles, 
though, owing to the stress of his extensive busi- 
ness interests, he has never found it convenient 



T. T. PROSSER. 



89 



to take an active part in political affairs. Had 
he done so, and brought the same energy and 
discernment to bear that he has displayed in the 
management of his private interests, it is safe to say 
that he would have made his mark in the political 
world, as he has made it in the business affairs of 
his adopted city. 

In appearance Mr. Forsyth is a large, well- 



proportioned man, with a kindly, shrewd face, 
the true index of a man who has lived an honest, 
helpful and kindly life. Though bearing the 
weight of seventy-five years and the responsi- 
bilities which the possession of great wealth al- 
ways brings, he is elastic in mind and body, and 
bids fair to live to an extreme old age. 



TREAT T. PROSSER. 



'REAT T. PROSSER. There are few tasks 
more difficult than to sketch the life of an 
inventor. The world is so jealous of inno- 
vation and improvement upon established meth- 
ods, so wedded to the past, and withal so disin- 
clined to recognize the brilliancy of more prac- 
tical genius, that the man who discovers de- 
ficiencies in practical mechanics and supplies them 
often goes to his grave unrewarded, even by the 
gratitude of the world he has benefited. He 
hears the name of the warrior, of the statesman, 
of the poet, even of the politician, in every 
household or business mart, but often his own, if 
mentioned at all, as of one who is building cas- 
tles in the air. 

But gifted innovators, while deeply feeling the 
lack of appreciation, have often adopted the sen- 
timent of Keplar, who said: "My work is done; 
it can well wait a century for its readers, since 
God waited full six thousand years before there 
came a man capable of comprehending and admir- 
ing His work." Now and then, however, genius 
is so practical, and its fruits contrast so brilliantly 
with what has preceded, that it compels almost 
instantaneous recognition and homage, and 
among the fortunate possessors of the latter class 
was the subject of this article, the late Treat T. 
Prosser. 



The Prossers are of Welsh descent, but the 
Treats, from whom Mr. Prosser was descended 
on the maternal side, were English. The first 
ancestors of the former family to come to America 
were two brothers, who came from Wales some 
time prior to the Revolutionary War, in which 
supreme contest two of their descendants partici- 
pated, and one met his death. The family lived 
on Prosser Hill, just outside of Boston, and it 
was in the Prosser barn that the members of the 
historic Boston "tea party" disguised themselves 
as Indians, previous to throwing the tea over- 
board into Boston Harbor. Grandfather John 
Prosser was one of the two members of the family 
mentioned previously as having served in the 
struggle with the Mother Country. He married 
Bethia Truesdale, daughter of a Connecticut phy- 
sician, and had eight sons and one daughter. 

Of these children, Potter A. Prosser, the father 
of Treat T., married Eliza, a daughter of Timo- 
thy Treat, whose son, a physician, became famous 
through the services he rendered during the 
great cholera epidemic. The Treat family came 
from Pitminster, Somerset, England. Richard 
Treat was baptized in 1584. Among the prom- 
inent descendants are Gov. Robert Treat, and 
Rev. Samuel Treat, of Pitminster. The father's 
birth occurred August n, 1793, and the mother 



go 



T. T. PROSSER. 



was born March 29, 1798. Their marriage was 
solemnized on the 5th of November, 1818, and 
of their union were born five children. The 
mother, a woman of many domestic virtues and 
lovable traits of character, died at the compara- 
tively early age of fifty-five years, but the father 
lived to the great age of ninety-six. 

Treat T. Prosser was born in the little town of 
Avon, New York, January 22, 1827. His youth 
and early manhood were passed in his native 
State, and his early education was received in its 
common schools. After reaching his majority he 
attended the academy at West Avon, feeling the 
need of a more thorough school training before 
starting out to earn his own way in life. Always 
handy in the use of tools, at the early age of 
fourteen he had been engaged at the trade of a 
millwright, in which he soon became a proficient 
workman. But while his hands were busily 
engaged at this work, his thoughts were wander- 
ing out upon the whole broad domain of mechan- 
ical science, and his studies at the academy were 
for the purpose of fitting himself for the career to 
which all his talents and his inclinations urged 
him. 

From the young millwright developed an 
inventor of agricultural implements of great 
value; of a superior system of machinery for the 
manufacture of bolts; of universally recognized 
improvements upon steam engines; of a practical 
and widely used machine for pegging boots; of 
coal machinery; of the Prosser Cylinder Car, and 
of many other mechanical devices, which either 
are now, or will become in the future, of great 
benefit to mankind. He drew the plans for the 
Chicago Hydraulic Company, which built the 
first water-works system in Chicago. 

In 1851 Mr. Prosser came to Chicago, and the 
wisdom of his choice of a location was demon- 
strated long ago. No other city has ever opened 
such welcoming arms to men of genius as has 
she, nor out of her own prosperity rewarded them 
so bountifully. The great fireof 1871 found him 
among its victims, and he lost the greater part of 
the accumulations of years; but financial loss is 
one of the minor evils to a man who has within 
himself the. power to mould, in a great measure, 



his own destiny, and is no mere inert mass, lying 
helpless under the buffetings of the winds of ill- 
fortune. The energy which was one of the 
marked points in his character asserted itself, and 
his days were ended in the prosperity he deserved. 

From 1851 until the date of his death, Decem- 
ber n, 1895, Mr. Prosser made Chicago his home, 
with the exception of two years spent in the 
Rocky Mountains, six years in Boston, and a 
short vacation spent in Europe. He was the first 
man to introduce the steam engine and the 
quartz-mill into the Rockies, the engine being 
constructed of material shipped from the East, the 
boiler being literally built in that wild region. 
While in Europe he was elected a member of the 
Society of Mechanics of England and Scotland, 
an honor which speaks of his high merits as a 
mechanical engineer. 

In West Bloomfield, New York, September 26, 
1849, Mr. Prosser married Miss Lucy J. Phillips, 
and of their union two children were born: 
Henry Blinn Prosser, of Chicago; and Mary 
Augusta, wife of Oscar E. Poole, of Lakeside, 
Illinois. Mrs. Prosser was the daughter of Isaac 
Webster Phillips, a relative of the famous Web- 
ster family, his mother being a sister of Noah 
Webster's father. Isaac Phillips was a native of 
Hartford, Connecticut, but removed to West 
Bloomfield, where he served as Justice of the 
Peace, and was commonly known as Judge Phil- 
lips. He came to Chicago late in life, and died 
at the home of Mrs. Prosser, at the age of sev- 
enty-two years. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Laura Miller, reached the advanced age of 
ninety-two years. 

Closely wedded to his profession , Mr. Prosser 
generally refused the responsibilities of official 
positions, but made an exception to this rule after 
the Great Fire, when he acted as superintendent 
of the distribution of food to the destitute in 
Districts Four and Five. These duties he filled 
in an energetic and impartial manner, which 
accorded well with the other actions of his well- 
spent life. In his politics he voted with the 
Republican party. 

Oscar E. Poole, who married Mr. Prosser 's only 
daughter, was born January 18, 1857, * n Will 



J. W. LARIMORE. 



County, Illinois, and is a son of Ezra and Eliza 
Treat Poole, pioneers in Will County, where they 
settled in 1850. He received his principal educa- 
tion in Joliet, where his guardian lived. His 
father died when he was but one and a-half years 
old, and his mother died when he was ten 
years old. His boyhood was spent in Joliet. 
At the age of eighteen years he became a clerk in 
his uncle's store, and three years later became a 
partner. At the age of twenty-two he entered the 
employ of the State, in the capacity of storekeeper 



at the State Penitentiary, remaining a number of 
years in that position. From there he went to 
Chicago, where he first started a milk business 
and then became a traveling salesman for Kinney 
& Company, and, later, their manager. He finally 
bought out the business, and it is now conducted 
under the name of Poole & Company. Mr. Poole 
was married, February 27, 1885, to Miss Mary 
Augusta Prosser, who is the mother of four 
children now living: Edward Prosser, Helen 
Irene, Lucy Eliza and Malcolm Alan Poole. 



PROF. JAMES W. LARIMORE. 



(TAMES WILSON LARIMORE, who died 
I suddenly of heart failure at his home in Chi- 
G) cago, May 30, 1894, was for many years 
prominent in the literary, social and religious 
work of the city. He was born in Steubenville, 
Ohio, May 6, 1834, and was a son of Joseph and 
Mary Jane (Wilson) Larimore, both also natives 
of that place. The earliest progenitors of the 
family known were French Huguenots, who fled 
from their native land after the cruel revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., locating 
in Scotland. There the name was difficult of 
pronunciation on the Scotch tongue, and from 
"Laird o' the Moor," the name gradually came 
to its present form. 

The first settlement of the family in Amer- 
ica was made in Chester County, Pennsyl- 
vania, where David Larimore, grandfather of 
the subject of this sketch, was born March 31, 
1782. For many generations the Larimores had 
been distinguished for literary tastes and attain- 
ments, and David Larimore was no exception to 
the rule. He was a man of affairs, and conserved 



the family estates, which were considerable. He 
died at Norristown, Pennsylvania, March 16, 
1857, having almost completed his seventy-fifth 
year. 

James Wilson, father of Mrs. Mary J. Lari- 
more, came of a Scotch-Irish family, which has 
borne a prominent part in the literary and social 
life of the United States, furnishing many not- 
able statesmen, attorneys and generals to the 
Nation. This family is also a strong factor in 
the literary life of America, and Professor Lari- 
more inherited talents from both lines of ances- 
tors. 

The youth of the latter was spent at Niles, 
Michigan, whither his parents removed when he 
was two years old. He early manifested a fond- 
ness for books, and most of his life up to the age 
of twenty-six years was spent in school. He 
was sent, in 1852, to Olivet Institute, in Eaton 
County, Michigan. Having an uncle in the 
faculty of the Hampton and Sidney College in 
southern Virginia, he was induced to go there. 
He remained some time, but the climate did not 



J. W. LARIMORE. 



agree with him. Consequently, he decided to 
finish his education at the North. He took a 
course at the University of New York City, which 
graduated him in the Class of 1860. He had a 
thorough theological education, having spent a 
year at Union Theological Seminary, later taking a 
full course at Princeton Theological Seminary, 
Princeton, New Jersey, preparatory to entering 
the Presbyterian ministry. He preached most of 
the time, supplying different churches during the 
latter part of his theological studies, his first 
regular ' 'call' ' being to one of the largest and 
most important churches at that time in Albany, 
New York, the Third Dutch Reformed. He had, 
however, a decided preference for life in the grow- 
ing West, and became pastor of the First Presbyte- 
rian Church of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Under his 
able ministry, this soon became the largest so- 
ciety of that denomination west of the Mississippi 
River. In 1863 he accepted the Chaplaincy of 
the Ninth Iowa Cavalry, at the earnest solicita- 
tion of his particular friend, Adjutant-General 
Baker, of Iowa, and at once went into the field 
with the regiment, spending most of the time in 
the Department of Little Rock, Arkansas, being 
Post Chaplain at De Vails Bluff. Just before the 
death of President Lincoln, in 1865, he was by 
him brevetted Major, and also assigned to the 
position of Hospital Chaplain in the regular 
United States army. He resigned his position 
at De Vails Bluff, as he had been ordered to re- 
port for duty at Webster Hospital in Memphis, 
Tennessee, in April, 1865. Owing to the uncer- 
tainty of the mails, he did not receive his papers 
until several days after the President's assassina- 
tion. 

At the close of the war Professor Larimore 
came to Chicago, and in the fall of 1865 was 
installed as pastor of the Seventh (now West- 
minister) Presbyterian Church of this city, which 
position he filled for something over two years. 
In the mean time he did much literary work, and 
for a period gave his exclusive attention to this 
congenial labor. He developed a great aptitude for 
journalism, and was offered the position of city 
editor of the Chicago Evening Journal in the 
spring of 1 87 1 , and accepted. He discharged the 



duties of this responsible charge with marked 
ability and success for three years. 

On the fatal ninth of October, 1871, when 
\h& Journal office was a ruin through the historic 
"great fire," Mr. Larimore gave a characteristic 
exhibition of energy and perseverance. With 
the aid of the editor-in-chief, Hon. Andrew Shu- 
man, an edition of the Journal was produced 
on a hand press, which they secured in a job-of- 
fice on the West Side; and with the flames 
threatening to consume the building over their 
heads, the paper was issued at the usual hour of 
publication being the only representative of the 
Chicago daily press put forth on that day. 

The numerous writings and publications of 
Professor Larimore had attracted the notice of 
the University of Chicago, and in March, 1874, 
he was elected to the professorship of physics in 
that institution. In consequence of this, he re- 
signed his connection with the Journal May 2 
of that year. He did not, however, enter upon 
the duties assigned him at the university, but 
later on accepted a similar position at the Cook 
County Normal School at Englewood. In Sep- 
tember, 1878, he was elected teacher of physics 
and chemistry at the North Division High 
School of Chicago. He entered at once upon 
his duties, and continued to fill the chair for 
eleven consecutive years, with great credit to 
himself and the school, making many devoted 
friends among his pupils. 

Before coming West Professor Larimore was 
married, at Hudson, New York, to Miss Katie 
Hoysradt, a beautiful and talented young lady, 
who died in Chicago in 1865. Her remains, with 
those of their two little boys, rest in the cemetery 
at Niles, Michigan. 

In 1867 he was again married, by Reverend 
Doctors Humphrey and Harsha, to Miss Hattie 
Stevens, of Chicago, the soprano singer of his 
church choir. . She was born in Strykersville, 
Wyoming County, New York, being the young- 
est of the three daughters of the late Ira Stevens 
of that town. In the year 1854, while she was a 
small child, the family went to St. Charles, Kane 
County, Illinois. Her father, a talented singer, 
died very suddenly of cholera the day following 



CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON. 



93 



their arrival, which was during the great epidemic 
of that year. Her mother, Percy Talmage 
Hotchkiss, a refined Christian lady, was born 
near New Haven, Connecticut. She died in 
April, 1888, leaving her six children, and many 
friends, to mourn her loss. 

Mrs. Larimore received her education in the 
high school at St. Charles, finishing it in Chi- 
cago, where the greater part of her life has been 
spent. Possessing marked musical talent, she 
devoted most of her time to its development, 
which brought her some distinction. At one 
time, while a young lady, she was urgently 
solicited to enter upon an operatic career. She 
was turned from that course by conscientious 
scruples. Aside from her musical talent, she is 
a lady of much culture and pleasing personality, 
and was ever a true helpmeet and companion 
to her talented husband in all his labors. Three 
bright children were given to Mr. and Mrs. Lari- 
more, all of whom are now deceased. Hattie 
Gertrude, the eldest, passed away at the age ot 
two years. Paul, a promising lad, reached the 



age of ten years, and was the subject of a most 
touching and beautiful obituary from the pen of 
Dr. Nixon, of the Inter Ocean. Blanche died in 
infancy. The remains of the husband and father 
and their three children lie buried at Rose Hill. 
During his ministry in Chicago, Professor 
Larimore preached many quite noted sermons, 
one of the most marked being what was called by 
the daily papers his "Crosby Opera House ser- 
mon." He also preached the sermon at the in- 
stallation of the late Professor David Sw^ng, who 
was loved by so large a number of the leading 
citizens of Chicago. At the time of his death 
these two ministers were the only surviving mem- 
bers of the original Presbytery of the city. Pro- 
fessor Larimore was ever active in good works, 
always having the welfare of his kind at heart, 
but ' 'God's finger touched him and he slept. ' ' The 
following lines express but feebly the high opinion 
in which he was held by his friends: 

"To know him was to love him, 
None named him but to praise." 



CAPT. CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON. 



EAPT. CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, one of 
the old landmarks of Chicago, who arrived 
in this city as long ago as 1838, was a native 
of the little kingdom of Denmark, and was born 
near Copenhagen, October 3, 1819, his parents 
being natives of the same locality. His father was 
killed by an accident before Christopher was a year 
old, and the latter was bound out to a farmer on the 
island of Als. Imbued with the strong love of 
the sea which has filled so many of his country- 
men and made them famous as sailors the world 
over, at the early age of fourteen years he shipped 
at Sonderburg, Denmark, on board an ocean 



vessel, and within the next two or three years 
had sailed around the globe. In the winter of 
1837 he found himself in the city of New Orleans, 
and, having long desired to verify the statements 
he had heard of the advantages America offered 
to industrious, enterprising youth of all nations, 
he left his ship, and started for the heart of the 
country. Aftei reaching St. Louis, he went to 
Peoria, in this State, whence, by means of a hired 
team, he reached this city. 

Mr. Johnson's employment after reaching what 
was then the muddy little village at the mouth 
of the Chicago River was as a member of a survey- 



94 



CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON. 



ing party; but he served thus only a short time, 
and soon after sought the more familiar and con- 
genial life of a sailor on the Great Lakes. On 
one occasion, while on a trip on one of the Lower 
Lakes, on a vessel called the "Maria Hilliard," 
he was shipwrecked and met with other mishaps. 
But on the whole fortune favored him; and after 
a few years' service as a common sailor, he was 
able to buy a small schooner, the "Helena," and 
took charge of her as captain. In 1849, while 
coming with a cargo of bricks from Little Fort, 
near Kenosha, the "Helena" was sunk near the 
Rush Street Bridge. On her voyage to Chicago, 
she had sprung a leak, but by the efforts of the 
captain and crew, she had been kept afloat until 
the city was reached. After raising his vessel, 
Captain Johnson sailed her for some time longer, 
but in 1853 concluded to give up sailing for good. 
His life on the lakes had given him a pretty fair 
insight into the lumber business, and in this he 
embarked, remaining thus engaged until the 
Great Fire, when, in common with innumerable 
others, he lost almost his entire savings. Fort- 
unately, however, he did not lose his residence, 
which was then on the West Side. He was the 
owner of a farm at Lemont, and he moved his 
family there for a time. His handsome new 
farmhouse was destroyed by fire two years later, 
and he built another. 

Captain Johnson had married in 1849, and for 
the next twelve years he reared his children on 
the farm. He retained the real estate he had 
owned in Chicago previous to the fire, and had 
added to it, and at the end of the twelve years he 
removed his wife and family to the city, finding 
here greater scope for himself and promise of 
future occupation for his sons. His property 
interests increased to such an extent that his time 
was fully taken up in managing his private 
affairs, and he never entered any other business. 
During all his life in Chicago he lived on the 
North Side, where he was universally known 
and popular with all. He built his first home on 
the corner of Ohio and Market Streets, a spot 
which he then considered the most prepossessing 
in the city. His objection to the South Side was 
due to its mud, that portion of the city being 



almost impassable in the early days on account of 
its level. At one time he intended to buy the 
land on which the Briggs House now stands, but 
after considerable deliberation concluded the site 
was too muddy, a succession of mud holes having 
to be crossed to reach it. 

Captain Johnson's widow, who yet survives, 
was previous to her marriage Miss Emily Ray- 
mond, a daughter of John and Louise Raymond. 
She is a native of Copenhagen, and was born 
September i, 1833. At the age of ten years she 
came to America with her father, who was a ship- 
carpenter. He followed the lakes until his death, 
which resulted from an accident he met with while 
in the pursuit of his calling, being caught and 
crushed between two ships. His death occurred 
some months later, at the age of forty-five years, 
August ii, 1853. Mrs. Johnson's marriage 
occurred in Du Page County, this State, near 
Naperville, December 9, 1849, and resulted in 
the birth of thirteen children, of whom the fol- 
lowing are living: Maria Louise, Mrs. A. Nelson, 
of Chicago; Lena Amelia, Mrs. John S. Lee, of 
Lemont; Evelyn, Mrs. D. T. Elston, of Chicago; 
Henry W., living in Socorro, New Mexico; Benja- 
min Franklin, of Pomeroy, Washington; Charles 
Christopher and George W. Johnson, of this city. 

In politics Captain Johnson was an ardent sup- 
porter of the Republican party, and his party's 
candidates were never defeated by his failure to 
do his duty at the polls. During the early years 
of the Civil War he served as Collector of the 
North Town, but a naturally retiring and modest 
disposition kept him from ever being conspic- 
uous in politics. In religious faith he accorded 
with the Lutheran Church. The respect in 
which he was held was shown at the time of his 
death, which occurred September 28, 1895, within 
a week of his seventy-sixth birthday anniversary. 
He had been an enthusiastic member of Cleveland 
Lodge of the Chicago Freemasons, in which he 
was initiated June n, passed July 7, and raised 
October 13, 1859, and his fellow Masons attended 
his funeral in a body. His early life had been 
full of incident and adventure, but his later years 
found him quietly fulfilling the duties of a self- 
respecting, honorable life. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



H. L. STEWART. 



95 



HART L. STEWART. 



EN. HART LE LAC STEWART, who was 
very prominent in the development of Mich- 
igan and Illinois, a participator in the Black 
Hawk War, and a leading citizen of Chicago for a 
generation, came of the sturdy stock which paved 
the way for and was active in the civilization of 
many of the eastern States of this country. He 
was born in Bridgewater, Oneida County, New 
York, August 29, 1803, and died in Chicago May 
23, 1882. 

The name indicates the Scotch origin of his 
ancestry, but the date of their transplanting to 
America is not known. From the recollections 
of General Stewart, published by him at the re- 
quest of his family, it is learned that his grand- 
parents, Samuel Stewart and Patience Hunger- 
ford, lived in Tolland County, Connecticut. The 
latter was, undoubtedly, of English lineage. 
She died many years before her husband, who 
passed away in 1816, at the age of eighty-two 
years. They had nine children, and the second, 
William, was the father of the subject of this 
biography. 

William Stewart was born in 1772, in Con- 
necticut, and was an early settler in the Territory 
of Michigan. He was a soldier in the War of 
1812, and also served in the militia regiment, com- 
manded by his son, which went from Michigan 
to aid in suppressing the Indians under Black 
Hawk in 1832. He was married at Mansfield, 
Windham County, Connecticut, in 1795, to Miss 
Validia Turner, eighth of the ten children of 
Timothy and Rachel (Carpenter) Turner, of 
Mansfield. Timothy Turner was born August 
18, 1757, in Willington, Connecticut, which was 
also the native place of his wife. The latter died 
in Mansfield Center, Windham County, Con- 



necticut, June 22, 1799. They were married 
August 20, 1776. Timothy Turner was a soldier 
of the Revolution, serving in the "Lexington 
Alarm Party" from Mansfield, Connecticut. He 
was the son of Stephen, third and youngest son 
of Isaac Turner, born in Bedford, Massachusetts, 
whose father came from England. Rachel Car- 
penter's parents were James and Irene (Ladd) 
Carpenter. The former was a son of Ebenezer 
Carpenter and Eunice Thompson. Ebenezer, 
born in Coventry, Connecticut, as was his son, 
was the son of Benjamin Carpenter and Hannah, 
daughter of Jedediah Strong. Benjamin was the 
tenth child of William Carpenter and Priscilla 
Bonette. The former was one of the four chil- 
dren of William Carpenter, who came from South- 
ampton, England, in the ship "Bevis" in 1638, 
and settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. (See 
biography of Benjamin Carpenter in this 
volume. ) 

When Hart L. Stewart was twelve years old, 
his father moved to Batavia, Genesee County, 
New York, where he purchased land of the Hol- 
land Land Company, and the son helped to clear 
this ground of timber. When seventeen years old 
the latter went into the office of David D. Brown, 
at Batavia, to study law. At the end of a year 
he was forced, by lack of means, to take some 
remunerative employment, and after vainly seek- 
ing a situation as school teacher, in which he 
hoped to be able to continue his legal studies, he 
engaged as clerk in a store in Oneida County 
with an uncle. Through the recommendation of 
the latter, at the end of a year he was employed 
by a merchant named Blair in Rochester, New 
York. After four months' service at Rochester, 
he was sent by Mr. Blair to open a branch store 



9 6 



H. I,. STEWART. 



at Lyons, New York, where he continued in 
charge until the fall of 1822. 

He now determined to engage in business on 
his own account, and, securing the assistance of 
his brother, George Stewart, opened a store at 
Lockport, New York, where a successful trade 
was carried on, they having the benefit of credit 
with Mr. Blair and other Rochester merchants. 
In 1823 Hart L,. Stewart took a sub-contract to 
finish the work of Judge Bates on the Erie Canal, 
which he completed, with a fair profit, the next 
year. These facts indicate that the young man 
had developed good business qualifications, which 
attracted the favorable notice and assistance of 
influential men. 

Having now gained a practical experience in 
canal construction, he sent his brother, Alanson 
C. Stewart, who had become associated with him 
in the mean time, to Cleveland, Ohio, in October, 
1824, to secure a contract on the Ohio Canal. 
Hart L,. had become engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness at Niagara, New York, and continued it un- 
til November, 1825, being at the same time in- 
terested in the Ohio contract which his brother 
secured. They next contracted to execute sec- 
tions on the western end of the Pennsylvania 
Canal, and in November, 1826, took the con- 
tract to bore a tunnel for the canal on the Coue- 
maugh River. This was finished in 1829, and 
was the first tunnel of its kind in the United 
States. Among those connected with the canal ' 
enterprise, they were known as the "boy con- 
tractors," the elder brother but twenty-four years 
old; but they were credited, and justly, with 
superior practical knowledge. They were the 
first to introduce the method of securing light by 
means of reflecting mirrors placed at the mouths 
of the tunnel. Work was prosecuted from both 
ends, night and day, and its completion was re- 
garded as one of the greatest achievements of the 
age, and the subject of this notice was furnished 
with some very flattering letters when he left 
Pennsylvania. 

Having made a considerable profit from his 
contracts, he now resolved to invest some of it in 
lands, before engaging in further ventures, and 
with that end in view, took a trip of exploration 



through Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, which oc- 
cupied three months. He purchased about one 
thousand acres on White Pigeon and Sturgis 
Prairies, in St. Joseph County, Michigan. 

Another plan which had for some time been 
considered was now consummated, and on the 
fifth of February, 1829, he was married to Miss 
Hannah Blair McKibbin, of Franklin County, 
Pennsylvania. In September of the same year 
they set out for their new home in Michigan. 
At the end of a six-weeks journey from Pitts- 
burgh, they arrived at White Pigeon, November 
7, 1829, and here a log cabin was erected. After 
making further provisions for a home, young 
Stewart went to Detroit and presented to Gov- 
ernor Lewis Cass his letters of introduction. 
These were from Governor Porter, Senators 
Blair and Lacock, Judge William Wilkins and 
James S. Stevenson, President of the Canal Board, 
of Pennsylvania, all of whom Governor Cass 
characterized as his personal friends. 

In the spring of 1830 the Governor sent to Mr. 
Stewart a commission as Colonel of Militia, and 
a year later appointed him one of the commis- 
sioners to locate the county seats of St. Joseph 
and Cass Counties. At this time, the entire 
population of Michigan, including Detroit, the 
chief city of the West, numbered but a few thou- 
sand whites. Through the influence of Colonel 
Stewart, a post route was established by the 
Government to supply the few scattered settle- 
ments extending from Detroit toward Chicago. 
The two Stewart brothers before named were the 
contractors for carrying the mails once in two 
weeks, which was accomplished on horseback, 
over a region where one hundred tons are now 
carried daily. Hart L. Stewart was made Post- 
master at Mottville, with the franking privilege, 
and his own letters and papers constituted the bulk 
of the mail at his office. In 1832 he was appointed 
Judge of the County Court by Governor Porter, 
and the next year he was commissioned Circuit 
Judge, in which capacity he officiated the next 
three years. 

In 1836 Judge Stewart was elected a member 
of the Second Constitutional Convention, which 
was called to fix the southern boundary of the 



H. L. STEWART. 



97 



State of Michigan to correspond with the line as 
established when Indiana and Ohio were ad- 
mitted to the Union. By this convention he was 
sent to Washington to secure, if possible, the ad- 
mission of the State with boundary as established 
by the ordinance ceding the Northwest Territory 
to the United States, and including Michigan 
City and Maumee City. That he did not suc- 
ceed is a matter of history, but the State secured, 
in offset, all of what is now known as the North- 
ern Peninsula of Michigan. On this mission 
Judge Stewart formed the acquaintance of many 
of the leading men of the Nation at that time. 

On his return home, Judge Stewart found that 
the Legislature had chosen him Commissioner of 
Internal Improvements, and in this capacity he 
took charge of the survey of the St. Joseph River 
for slack- water navigation, and also of the Central 
Railroad. The latter was partially built by the 
State, and then turned over to the Michigan Cen- 
tral Railroad Company. In 1838 he received the 
commission of Brigadier-General, commanding 
the Fourteenth Brigade, Michigan Militia. When 
the Indians, under Black Hawk, threatened to kill 
or drive out the settlers in northern Illinois and 
southern Wisconsin, the Government requested 
the Governor of Michigan to send volunteers to 
the rescue. General Stewart was ordered by 
Governor Porter to raise a regiment as soon as 
possible, and this was found an easy tas,k, as 
volunteers, from the age of sixteen to sixty, were 
numerous. The service lasted about six months, 
and Colonel Stewart's regiment included his 
brothers, A. C. Stewart, as Commander of a com- 
pany; Samuel M. Stewart, as Lieutenant of an- 
other; besides two other brothers and his father 
as volunteers. The latter was especially valuable 
as a drill master, on account of his previous serv- 
ice in the War of 1812. He was now sixty years 
of age. 

In June, 1836, General Stewart attended the 
letting of the construction contracts on the Illinois 
& Michigan Canal, and contracted for a large 
amount of deep-rock work near Lockport. He 
had as partners A. S. Stewart, Lorenzo P. Sanger, 
James Y. Sanger, and others, who took personal 
charge of the work, while he continued in charge 



of his personal and official interests in Michigan. 
In 1840 the inability of the State to meet its 
financial obligations compelled the contractors to 
abandon the work, at great loss, and ruin in 
many cases. About this time General Stewart 
took up his residence in Chicago, and in 1842 
he was elected a member of the Legislature, and 
was active in securing the acceptance of the for- 
eign bondholders' proposition to complete the 
canal. None of the contractors had ever received 
anything for their losses previous to that time. 
While on a trip to Canada to secure workmen for 
the canal in 1839, General Stewart was placed 
in arrest, under the impression that he was a spy 
in the interest of the "Patriot War. " Through 
the influence of friends, his mission was made 
known to the Canadian authorities, and he was 
discharged and furnished every facility for carry- 
ing out his business. From 1845 to 1849, under 
the administration of President Polk, General 
Stewart served as Postmaster at Chicago, being 
the first presidential appointee in that office. 

He now turned his attention to railroad con- 
struction, and became interested in some of the 
largest contracts ever given in the West to a 
single firm. The history of these undertakings 
is fully related in this volume in the biography 
of James Y. Sanger, who was associated with 
General Stewart in this work, and need not be 
repeated here. During the progress of their 
work, in partnership with several others, they 
became proprietors of the Rhode Island Central 
Bank, and this, in common with many others, 
was wrecked by the financial upheaval of 1857, 
though its proprietors were enabled to close up its 
affairs honorabl)- and with little loss to them- 
selves. 

General Stewart became a member of the 
Masonic fraternity in 1824, and subsequently 
took all the chapter and encampment degrees 
and several others. In political sentiment, he was 
a Democrat. He was one of the few brave spirits 
who stood with Stephen A. Douglas at North 
Market Hall, on the evening of September i, 
1854, when a mob of political opponents refused 
to let the "Little Giant" be heard, and even 
threatened him with bodily harm. In religious 



9 8 



J. H. RICE. 



faith, General Stewart was a true "neighbor," a 
Presbyterian, and for forty years rarely failed to 
listen to Rev. Dr. Patterson's sermons in the 
Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago. He 
was an able leader, quiet and gentle in his man- 
ners, sociable and genial, making his home a 
happy place for the frequent reunions of a large 
and interesting circle of friends. 

On the i2th of February, 1849, authority was 
granted by the State to five individuals, one of 
whom was Hart L. Stewart, to incorporate the 
Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company, which 
was granted the exclusive right to supply gas to 
the city of Chicago for ten years. Before the 
close of the next year, the streets of the city and 
many private buildings were for the first time 
illuminated by gaslight. In 1857 General Stew- 
art was Vice-President of the Great Western In- 
surance Company, with a capital of half a million 
dollars, and office at No. 160 South Water Street. 
The Stewart Building, at the northwest corner of 
State and Washington Streets (which was torn 
down in 1896, to make way for one of Chicago's 
famous high office buildings), was the fourth 
structure erected by General Stewart on that 
spot the first one having been for many years 
his family home. 

Hannah Blair McKibbin, wife of General 
Stewart, was descended from old and honorable 
families. Her maternal grandfather, William 
Nelson, was a brother of the famous Admiral 
Horatio Nelson, the hero of Trafalgar. His wife 



was Mary Harvey, and their children were Will- 
iam, James and Mary Esther. William Nelson, 
senior, died in 1803, at which time his daughter 
was about fifteen years old. She married Col. 
James McKibbin, of Franklin "County, Penn- 
sylvania, and their eldest daughter, Hannah B., 
became the wife of General Stewart, as before re- 
lated, and the mother of the following children: 
Mary Esther, Frances Validia, Amelia Mott, 
Catherine E. , Jane, Anna Waldo, Hannah McKib- 
bin and Helen Wolcott. The first married Henry 
A. Clark in 1850, and both are now deceased, 
being survived by a son, Stewart Clark, of Chi- 
cago. The second died at St. Louis, Missouri, 
while the wife of Watson Matthews, leaving one 
child, Fannie V. Matthews. Amelia and Cath- 
erine died in childhood. Jane Stewart married 
John C. Patterson, and died in 1875, leaving a 
son, Stewart Patterson. Hannah McKibbin is 
the wife of George Sydney Williams, of Chicago. 
The youngest is the wife of Lorenzo M. Johnson, 
manager of the Mexican International Railroad. 
Mary C. McKibbin, sister of Mrs. Stewart, 
married James Y. Sanger, whom she survives, 
and is among the most interesting surviving 
pioneers of Illinois. She is spoken of by General 
Stewart as the "Daughter of the Regiment," 
during the campaign against Black Hawk. She 
was then a miss of fourteen years, and ready to 
ride on any expedition, carrying dispatches and 
otherwise aiding in conveying information. 



JAMES H. RICE. 



(TAMES HARLOW RICE, one of the oldest 
I and most highly respected business men of 
(*/ Chicago, passed away at his home on Michi- 
gan Avenue, in that city, February 6, 1896. 
He was born in Tompkins County, New York, 
in 1830. His parents, Asa and Polly (Reed) 
Rice, were natives of Massachusetts, and settled 



in New York in 1811, shortly after their mar- 
riage. Asa Rice was a prosperous farmer, well 
known and esteemed for his great moral worth. 
Both he and his wife were members of the Meth- 
odist Church and active in good works. They 
attained a venerable age, the former dying when 
eighty years old, and the latter at seventy-five. 



E. W. EVANS. 



Mr. Rice was an "old-line" Whig, and in later 
life became a Republican. His nine children 
reached mature years, and three came West, 
namely, Henry, Columbus T. and James H. 
Rice. The first two are now residents of Adair 
County, Missouri. Columbus Titus Rice came 
with his brother to Chicago in June, 1854, and 
proceeded to Missouri four years later, and has 
resided there ever since. In early life he was a 
carpenter, and worked at that occupation while a 
resident of Chicago. On going to Missouri he 
engaged in farming, but is now retired from act- 
ive life. He was married in New York in 1855 
to Miss Catherine Wickoff, who is still his com- 
panion on life's journey. They are the parents 
of six children, namely: Edward, Flora, Mary, 
Elizabeth, Charles, Augusta and James. 

James H. Rice was also a carpenter, and very 
early after arriving in Chicago began contract- 
ing for the erection of buildings. Among the 
structures erected by him were the old Tremont 
House and the Commercial Hotel. He built the 
first structure put up after the fire of 1871, which 
was located on Quincy Place. From 1856 to 
1878 he was associated in this business with Mr. 
Ira Foote, with whom he was acquainted in early 
life in New York. 

In 1872 he engaged in the plate and window- 
glass trade, and built up an extensive and pros- 
perous business. This passed into the control of 
an incorporated company, known as the James 
H. Rice Company, of which he was President. 
He also became President of the Stewart Estep 
Glass Company, which engaged in the manu- 



facture of glass at Marion, Indiana. Both these 
institutions were flourishing at the time of his 
death. In trade circles for years he had been a 
leader, and his counsel had ever been sought and 
his sterling qualities of mind and heart thor- 
oughly appreciated. Among Mr. Rice's personal 
friends was the late Cyrus H. McCormick, for 
whom he did much work during his building ca- 
reer. He was widely known during the early 
days in Chicago, and was esteemed and respected 
by all classes of citizens. 

In 1876 he was married to Miss Margaret Su- 
san Gilliland, a native of Ohio, at that time a 
resident of Perry, Iowa. She died February 4, 
1896. During the last eighteen years of her life 
she had been an invalid. In life they were to- 
gether and in death not divided. No children 
blessed their union, but his wife was ever to him 
his child and care, and his devotion in this rela- 
tion was most beautiful. The double funeral 
from their late home was conducted by Rev. J. L. 
Withrow, a personal friend of Mr. Rice, with 
whom he was for some time associated on the 
Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Hospital. 
He spoke feelingly of the man and woman and 
their works, aims and ideas. The remains were 
laid away in Oakwoods Cemetery, the active 
pallbearers being workmen in the employ of the 
James H. Rice Company. By Mr. Rice his em- 
ployes were ever considered as his "boys." Some 
of these "boys" are men, aged and gray, who 
had been in his service for a quarter of a century, 
and all of them will miss his kindly, genial 
presence. 



ENOCH W. EVANS. 



ITNOCH WEBSTER EVANS, who for a 
Ky score of years ranked as a leading member 
L_ of the Chicago Bar, was born at Fryeburg, 
Maine, in 1817, and died in Chicago, September 
2, 1879. He was one of eleven children born to 



Capt. William and Anna Evans, further notice 
of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume, 
in connection with the biography of Dr. Moses 
Evans. 

Enoch W. Evans received his early education 



IOO 



JOHN DICKINSON. 



at Fryeburg Academy and Waterville College, 
in his native State. Later he went to Dartmouth 
College, where he pursued a classical course, and 
graduated with the Class of 1838. He then en- 
gaged in teaching at Hopkinton, New Hamp- 
shire, and simultaneously began to read law in 
the office of Judge Chase, a noted jurist of that 
State. 

In 1840 Mr. Evans came to Chicago, where he 
was admitted to the Bar during the same year, 
soon after removing to Dixon's Ferry, Illinois, 
remaining at that place two or three years. 
Thence he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where 
he practiced his profession until 1858. At that 
date he again located in Chicago, and was en- 
gaged in general practice in this city up to the 
time of his death. During this time he tried 
many important cases, which he managed with 
marked ability, gaining a numerous and profit- 
able clientage. 



On the i6th of September, 1846, Mr. Evans 
was married, Miss Caroline Hyde, of Darien, 
New York, becoming his wife. Mrs. Evans, who 
is a daughter of James Hyde, still survives, at 
the venerable age of seventy-four years, making 
her home in Chicago. She is the mother of four 
living children: William W., a prosperous at- 
torney at Chicago; Lewis H., a civil engineer, at 
present connected with the track elevation of the 
Chicago & Northwestern Railway in Chicago; 
Carrie, Mrs. William L. Adams, and Mary W., 
the two latter also residents of Chicago. 

Mr. Evans was a gentleman of quiet, un- 
ostentatious habits, and gave but little heed to 
public affairs. He confined his labors and at- 
tention almost exclusively to professional sub- 
jects, and achieved an enviable standing among 
his contemporaries, which justly entitles this 
brief record of his life to a place among the annals 
of his adopted home. 



JOHN DICKINSON. 



(JOHN DICKINSON, a highly successful 
I operator upon the Chicago Board of Trade, 
Q) residing at Evanston, was born in the his- 
toric old town of Deerfield, Massachusetts, No- 
vember 21, 1855, and is a son of Philander P. 
and Mary A. (Feeney) Dickinson. 

The Dickinsons were among the earliest 
Colonial families of Massachusetts. Philander 
R. Dickinson, the grandfather of the subject of 
this notice, was a wholesale and retail shoe 
dealer in New York City for many years. He 
attained the great age of ninety-eight years, dy- 
ing at Springfield Massachusetts. 

Philander P. Dickinson became an extensive 
manufacturer of brooms at Springfield, and had 
at one time the largest factory in that State. This 
establishment was destroyed by fire, inflicting 
upon Mr. Dickinson a financial loss which he 
was never able wholly to retrieve. In 1860 
he removed to Iowa, locating first at Claremont, 



and settling later at McGregor. At the latter 
point he again engaged in the manufacture of 
brooms, and built up a fair business On account 
of failing health, he retired from active business 
about 1865, and returned to the East. The last 
ten years of his life were passed at Norwalk, 
Florida, where he died in 1884, at the age of 
sixty-nine years. He was a member of the 
Baptist Church, and a steadfast Republican. 

Mrs. Mary A. Dickinson died at Evanston in 
1878, aged forty-nine years. She was born in 
New York City, her parents being of Irish de- 
scent. Her father was a wholesale shoe mer- 
chant in that city. She was a member of the 
Baptist Church. Her children are named and 
reside as follows: Millie D., Mrs. Julius Ball, 
Montague, Massachusetts; Mary J., and Delia, 
wife of F. H. Bennett, Chicago; John, Evanston; 
Hattie M., Denver, Colorado. 

John Dickinson was a small boy when the fam- 



BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF. 



101 



ily came West, and he received his education at 
the Evanston High School. He began his busi- 
ness career in a furniture store, and established 
himself in business as a shoe dealer at Evanston, 
with success. In 1879 he sold out and joined the 
Chicago Board of Trade, with which he has ever 
since been identified. He was among the younger 
members of that body, but soon demonstrated 
his capability and soundness, and has won the 
confidence and esteem of the entire membership. 
He handles all kinds of grain and provisions, as 
well as stocks and bonds and other paper securi- 
ties, on his own account, and has met with al- 
most uniform success. His profits have been 
largely invested in real estate at Hammond, 
Indiana, and in Florida timber lands and orange 
groves. 

Mr. Dickinson was married, November 25, 
1875, to Miss Mary Alice Johnson, daughter of 
Anthony Johnson and Catherine (Ganer) John- 



son. Mrs. Dickinson was born at Port Jervis, 
New York, where her father was connected with 
important railroad interests for some years. Mr. 
Dickinson is identified with the First Methodist 
Church of Evanston. He is a man of domestic 
tastes, and devotes little time to social recreations. 
He supports the Republican party, whose policy 
he believes to be in the interest of good govern- 
ment and the commercial prosperity of the 
country. 

In 1889 he built an elegant residence at the 
northwest corner of Asbury Avenue and Church 
Street, Evanston, which is surrounded by one of 
the handsomest and best- kept lawns in Cook 
County. In short, the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Dickinson, throughout its exterior and interior 
appointments, bespeaks the refined tastes and 
cultivated instincts by means of which, only, 
such an establishment can be designed and main- 
tained. 



BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF. 



gENJAMIN SHURTLEFF, one of the found- 
ers of Lake View, whose identity is rapidly 
becoming lost in the vast city of Chicago, is 
still a resident of that former suburb, and affords 
an excellent type of the pioneers of the metrop- 
olis of the West. He was born in Ernesttown, 
Lennox County, Ontario, July 19, 1812. His 
ancestors were English, and were very loyal 
subjects of the British crown. The first one in 
the American colonies settled in Massachusetts, 
whence Lemuel Shurtleff, grandfather of the 
subject of this notice, removed to Canada at the 
beginning of the American Revolution. He 
settled in Ernesttown, Lennox County, Ontario, 
where he engaged in farming, reared a large 
family, and reached a good old age. He had 
three sons, Seldon, Jacob and Gideon. 

The last-named passed his life in Canada, 
exceeding the age of eighty years, and was a 
farmer. He was a quiet, faithful Christian, 



devoted to the Methodist Church, and the welfare 
of his fellow-men was dear to his heart. His 
wife, Mary Ward, probably of Irish descent, was a 
tender and true wife and mother, and, like himself, 
a faithful member of the Methodist Church. She 
died at the age of sixty-two years. Of their 
twelve children, eleven grew to maturity, and 
three of the sons became residents of the United 
States. Their names were Samuel, Jacob, Gid- 
eon, Lemuel, Benjamin, Miles, John, Polly, Amy, 
Lydia and Amanda. Lemuel was an able me- 
chanic, and built some of the large iron mills at 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at which place he died. 
Miles was admitted to the Bar in New York, and 
became interested in the manufacture of iron at 
Rochester, New York, for many years. 

Benjamin ShurtlefF passed the first eighteen 
years of his life on the home farm, receiving such 
intellectual training as was afforded by the dis- 
trict schools and good home surroundings. At 



102 



BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF. 



the age of eighteen years he began learning the 
joiner's trade, of which he became master. In 
1837 he joined his brother in Pittsburgh, Penn- 
sylvania, and was associated with him in erecting 
large manufacturing plants there. Among these 
may be mentioned the immense iron mills of 
Spang, Chalfant & Company at J3tna, and 
the rolling mills of Louis Dalzell & Company 
at Sharpsburgh, another suburb of Pittsburgh. 
Among his fellow-workmen was Mr. C. K. Gar- 
rison, since one of the most successful business 
men and capitalists of that city, who was regarded 
by Mr. Shurtleff as one of the brightest business 
men he ever met. Twelve years of industrious 
application there gave Mr. Shurtleff a small cap- 
ital, which he resolved to invest in a newer place, 
and he set out for Chicago. 

Arriving here in 1851, he immediately made 
investments in real property, which his foresight 
told him was sure to appreciate greatly in value. 
He secured twenty acres in Lake View Town- 
ship, beside three twenty-acre tracts in section 
33, town 39 north, range 14, most of which has 
been subdivided and sold off. Shurtleff s Addi- 
tion was one of the most valuable and well-known 
subdivisions on the old maps, and he now has 
valuable property on the South Side of the city. 
His present possessions include about ten acres 
of the most valuable land in the city, including 
many improved lots in the vicinity of his home, 
on Oakdale Avenue. In 1870 he built six sub- 
stantial houses on the corner of Fremont and Oak- 
dale Avenues, which were beyond the ravages 
of the great fire of the next year and became 
immediately profitable. 

May 5, 1853, at Sharpsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Shurtleff was married to Miss Lucinda J. 
Sewell, daughter of James H. Sewell, an old 
resident of Pittsburgh. Judge James Sewell, a 
well-known character of that city, was a brother 
of Mrs. Shurtleff. Mrs. Shurtleff was bom in 
Baltimore, Maryland, and died January 10, 1856, 
in the prime of young womanhood, being but 
twenty-seven years old at the time of her death. 
She left a daughter, Lucy J., who was reared by 
her aunt, Mrs. J. B. Roberts, well known in Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania, society. She was educated 



at Ferry Hall Seminary, at Lake Forest, Illinois, 
and Hellmuth College, London, Canada, and is 
now the wife of Bruce M. Myers, of Chicago. 
Subsequently, at Chicago, Mr. Shurtleff married 
Mrs. Margaret A. Buker, who was born Sep- 
tember 2, 1837, at Greenwood, Maine. She was 
a daughter of Capt. Isaac P. Furlong, who was 
a native of Maine, and commanded a company 
in the War of 1812. His father took up the 
first claim in the town of Greenwood, Oxford 
County, Maine. Mrs. Shurtleff was a genial 
companion to Mr. Shurtleff in every sense of the 
word, and also a good business manager. She 
was a woman possessed of more than ordinary 
native ability, and esteemed for many good qual- 
ities of head and heart. She passed away July 
7, 1894, leaving two sons by her first marriage. 
Harry Leslie Buker, who was educated principally 
at the Schattuck Military School, Faribault, 
Minnesota, is well known in musical circles in 
Chicago, and was associated twelve years with 
the Slay ton Lyceum Bureau of that city. The 
other son, .William F. Buker, is an actor by pro- 
fession and a resident of New York City. 

Mr. Shurtleff was among the early members of 
the old Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church of 
Chicago, and has been a stanch supporter of the 
political principles of the Republican party all his 
life. In 1844 he voted for Henry Clay for Presi- 
dent of the United States, and he was among the 
promoters and organizers of the Republican party, 
voting for Fremont in 1856. His has been a 
quiet life of industry and attention to his private 
affairs, with no seeking after public honors. He 
has ever given of his time, influence and means 
toward the promotion of any movement calculated 
to further the general welfare, and his example 
is commended to the careful attention of every 
youth who hopes to make something of himself 
in the business, social or moral world. His suc- 
cess has not been the result of accident, but has 
been built up by shrewd calculation, and the 
prudent use of means acquired by the practice of 
habits of industry and right living. He refused 
his share of his father's estate, preferring it 
should go to his sisters. 



D. B. FONDA. 



103 



DAVID B. FONDA, M. D. 



0AVID BARTHOLOMEW FONDA, M. D., 
is a representative of an old and prominent 
Empire State family which settled in and 
named the county-seat of Montgomery County, 
New York. His grandfather, John Fonda, was 
a native of Holland, and settled at a place called 
Bogt, in Albany County, New York, where he 
owned an estate comprising several thousand 
acres. His only son, Henry Fonda, was born 
there and inherited this estate. Most of his life 
was passed at Watervliet, New York, where he 
died at the age of sixty-six years, in June, 1841. 
His wife, Rebecca Hall, was born at Mayfield, 
Fulton County, New York, and died in August, 
1840, at the age of fifty-six years. Henry Fonda 
was somewhat active in political affairs, though 
he never sought or accepted office for himself. 

David B. Fonda was born November 6, 1834, 
in Watervliet, Albany County, New York, where 
he remained until he reached the age of sixteen 
years. In his native township, at a place called 
Elisha's Kill, he received his primary education, 
completing the course of the upper school before 
he was sixteen years old. 

He was then appointed principal of the Second 
District School of the Third Ward of Schenectady, 
New York, where he taught one year. His first 
teacher's certificate was granted by Jonathan 
Pearson, professor of languages in Union Col- 
lege, at Schenectady, and superintendent of the 
public schools of that city. The scene of his 
labors for the next four years was a place called 



Lowell's Corners, where he taught in the joint 
district embracing portions of the towns of Cherry 
Valley and Seward, in the Counties of Schoharie 
and Otsego. While teaching here he pursued a 
private course in moral and mental philosophy, 
and the Greek and Latin languages, under the 
tutelage of Franklin Pierce, a cousin of the Presi- 
dent who bore the same name. At the end of 
this time he was prepared for matriculation at 
Hartwick College, a Lutheran Theological institu- 
tion. 

It is evident from the progress made up to this 
time that Mr. Fonda was a close student. By the 
time he attained his majority he had occupied a 
responsible position as teacher for a period of five 
years. The hard work involved in these labors, 
coupled with the diligent pursuit of his studies 
preparatory to further advancement, made deep 
inroads upon his physical strength, and a connec- 
tion which he formed at this time changed his 
plans and the entire course of his life. March 22, 
1855, he was married to Miss Clarinda Lowell, a 
descendant of the famous New England family of 
that name, who was born at Lowell's Corners. 
She was a daughter of Nyram Lowell. 

In 1855, with his bride, Mr. Fonda removed to 
Chicago. Having a relative who was in the 
service of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, 
he sought and secured employment as a brake- 
man on this line for the sake of the outdoor 
labor, and at the end of fourteen months spent in 
this capacity, he found his health fully restored. 



104 



D. B. FONDA. 



He then accepted a position as teacher at Rose- 
hill, and began the pursuit of a medical course at 
Rush Medical College. He attended lectures at 
this institution during the two years beginning in 
1859 an( i ending in 1861. 

Early in 1862 he enlisted as a private soldier, 
in Company C, Eighty-ninth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry known as the Railroad Regiment, being 
composed entirely of railroad men. By the time 
the regiment was mustered he was promoted to 
Orderly Sergeant, and continued in service 
through Kentucky with the Army of the Cumber- 
land until the battle of Perryville. After this 
engagement he was sent with a detail to escort an 
ambulance train to Bardstown, Kentucky. On 
his arrival there he found that he had been. ap- 
pointed chief steward of the hospitals at that point. 
He continued there until the latter part of 1863, 
and became secretary of the medical corps, which 
embraced eight army surgeons. When he entered 
the army his weight was one hundred forty- 
five pounds, but during his service it was re- 
duced to ninety-four pounds, and through the 
recommendation of the surgeons he was honorably 
discharged on account of disability, although he 
had never as yet asked for a release from duty. 
On his return to Chicago he was prostrated by 
a severe illness, which continued for a period of 
three months. 

Recovering his health, he again entered Rush 
Medical College in 1864, and two years later com- 
pleted the coarse. He subsequently entered 
Bennett Medical College, from which he received 
a diploma in 1878. In 1866 he began the practice 
of medicine at Jefferson Park, and has continued 
to reside there ever since. In 1867, without any 
solicitation on his part, he was elected by the 
County Board to the post of County Physician and 
superintendent of the insane paupers sustained by 
the county. Through his vigorous protest 
against the mixture of insane with the other 
wards of the county, the board was induced to 
appropriate money for a building to be devoted 
exclusively to the care of the insane. This was 
begun in 1868, and on the first day of the year 
1871 Dr. Fonda installed the patients in his charge 
in their new quarters. At the end of four years' 



service he retired and resumed his private practice 
at Jefferson, in which he has since continued with 
the ever-increasing confidence and respect of the 
community. 

Dr. Fonda has been somewhat active in the 
conduct of local affairs, and the promotion of the 
common welfare. In 1874 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the village board of Jefferson, of which 
body he was immediately made president and 
continued four consecutive years in this position. 
He was for many years health officer of the vil- 
lage, which was co-extensive with the town of 
Jefferson, until it was merged in the city of Chi- 
cago, and was again a member of the village 
board from 1884 until 1886. During the first 
year of this service he was president of the board, 
but refused that office during the second year, in 
order that he might be active on the floor in the 
discussion of many important movements then 
pending. For many years he was County Phy- 
sician in charge of the medical relief of the poor 
outside of public institutions. In 1889, when 
Jefferson was annexed to the city of Chicago, Dr. 
Fonda was elected one of the first aldermen from 
the twenty-seventh ward, and in the following 
April he was re-elected and served two years. 
In political matters he has always acted with the 
Republican party, having allied himself with it 
in 1856, and although he has sometimes voted 
for individuals not on his party ticket, he has 
ever remained true to its principles. In recent 
years he has made numerous addresses on political 
and economic subjects, which have been received 
with much applause. 

Dr. Fonda is still a member in good standing of 
the Lutheran Church at Gardnersville, New York. 
On a visit to the scenes of his early life, made in 
the fall of 1897, he attended worship at this place, 
where he met but one person that he had previ- 
ously known. After an absence of forty years 
this visit to his childhood home, although a very 
pleasant one on the whole, was much saddened 
by the absence of familiar faces. In the midst of 
family connections numbering thousands, he was 
still among strangers. 

Dr. Fonda was for many years connected with 
Hesperia Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted 



L. J. HALSEY. 



105 



Masons, of Chicago, and was a charter member 
of the first Masonic Lodge in Jefferson. He is 
now connected with Wylie M. Egan Lodge, 
Washington Chapter, Siloam Council, St. Ber- 
nard Commandery, and Medinah Temple, of the 
Mystic Shrine. He was for many years con- 
nected with Home Lodge No. 416, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, of Chicago, and is a mem- 
ber of George H. Thomas Post No. 5, Grand 



Army of the Republic. He is Grand Medical 
Examiner of the Independent Order of Mutual Aid 
of the State of Illinois. 

Mrs. Fonda passed away in 1890, at the age of 
fifty-five years, leaving one child, Carrie Azubah, 
who resides with her father. Dr. Fonda is yet in 
possession of sound health, and a vigorous intel- 
lect, and has many years of usefulness both as a 
citizen and physician before him. 



REV. LEROY J. HALSEY. 



REV. LEROY JONES HALSEY, D. D., 
LL. D. On the 28th day of January, A. 
D. 1812, Leroy Jones Halsey was born in 
Cartersville, Goochland County, Virginia, on the 
banks of the James River, twelve miles from 
Richmond, the first-born son of John and Lucy 
(Tiller) Halsey. His paternal ancestry is traced 
back through the Virginia and North Carolina 
settlements to a New England stock of the date 
of 1640. He was acquainted with the hardship 
>f straitened circumstances in his early childhood. 
When he was less than five years old his father 
met with reverses by too generously becoming 
liable for another man's debt. It deprived him 
of his business and his home, and forced his emi- 
gration to the far southwest to begin life anew. 
He located at Huntsville, Alabama. 

Leroy was always of a studious habit. He ac- 
quired the rudiments of knowledge at home, and 
from the few books and periodicals available he 
had gained much information before he went to 
school. At school learning was a pleasure to 
him. Study was a delight, and this love of ap- 
plication and research so early manifested was 
characteristic of his entire collegiate and theo- 
logical course, and remained with him through 
life. The days spent in the classic shades of the 
old Green Academy at Huntsville were among 
the happiest of his youth. 



At the age of nineteen he left his home in 
Huntsville to enter the University of Nashville, 
at Nashville, Tennessee, where he was matricu- 
lated in the autumn of 1831, and entered the 
junior class. His education had been begun and 
was prosecuted from first to last with the ministry 
of the Gospel definitely in view. 

In the summer of 1834 he was graduated, and 
after a visit to his home he returned to Nashville 
and taught a select school for a year, from the 
proceeds of which he repaid his college debt, and 
then accepted the position of tutor in the college. 
At the same time, in November, 1835, he placed 
himself under the care of the Presbytery of Nash- 
ville as a candidate for the Gospel ministry. 
Having served as tutor for a year he accepted the 
appointment of substitute professor of languages 
in place of a professor who was to be absent 
for a year. 

These three years succeeding graduation, one 
spent in private teaching, and two in college 
work, were beneficial in fixing and testing scholar- 
ship, and also from a financial point of view. 
They enabled him to discharge his debt and to 
accumulate a fund sufficient to defray the expense 
of a theological course. 

Retiring from these pleasing associations in the 
summer of 1837, after a brief visit to his home 
he journeyed eastward by stage coach and steam- 



io6 



L. J. HALSEY. 



boat until, at Frederick, Md. , he had his first 
view of a railway train, and thence through Bal- 
timore and Philadelphia, his first experience of 
railway travel, as far as Trenton, N. J. On the 
gth day of November he entered the Theological 
Seminary of Princeton. 

On the agth day of September, 1840, the semi- 
nary life of Dr. Halsey ended with his gradua- 
tion. He had been licensed by the Presbytery of 
New Brunswick on the 5th day of August pre- 
ceding. He immediately began his journey to 
the West, stopping in Philadelphia to preach in 
several of the churches there and to receive his 
commission from the Board of Missions assign- 
ing him to missionary labor in the bounds of the 
Presbytery of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

This work continued for more than two years, 
when its widely known success and the growing 
reputation of Dr. Halsey brought such urgent 
calls to wider fields that he was constrained to 
give them heed. The one which proved the 
most attractive was the one which showed the 
greatest need. A recently organized congrega- 
tion in the city of Jackson, the capital of Missis- 
sippi, was seeking for consecrated leadership and 
preaching power. They were without a house 
of worship, with little numerical or financial 
strength, but with united and zealous purpose 
and with a growing and influential community 
around, in crying need of Gospel privileges and 
influence and work. He accepted their call, and 
removing to Jackson, was ordained by the Pres- 
bytery of Mississippi and installed pastor on the 
sistday of March, 1843. 

A commodious house of worship was soon 
provided. The congregation grew and the work 
enlarged. This prosperous work continued for 
five years. 'During this pastorate, on the 24th 
day of April, 1844, he was married to Caroline 
Augusta Anderson, of Pendleton, South Carolina, 
a granddaughter of Gen. Robert Anderson of 
Revolutionary fame. 

His well-known success in Jackson led to his 
being called to undertake a similar work in Lou- 
isville, Kentucky, where a small colony of Presby- 
terians desired him to lead them in the work of 
founding and establishing a church. Satisfied of 



the importance of the enterprise, and undismayed 
by its prospective difficulties, he accepted their 
call and entered upon the work in the autumn 
of 1848. 

The church grew rapidly under his ministry. 
A comfortable house of worship was speedily pro- 
vided, and very soon the congregation, in point 
of numbers and ability and efficiency, took rank 
with the older churches of the city. 

Here he conducted a happy, useful and success- 
ful pastorate for ten years, in connection with the 
Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church, the same 
organization that, in a different locality, is still ac- 
tive, strong and prosperous, under the name and 
title of the Warren Memorial Church. 

In 1859 he was appointed by the General As- 
sembly to the Chair of Ecclesiology, Sacred 
Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology in the Presby- 
terian Theological Seminary of the Northwest, 
which the same assembly located at Chicago, on 
the basis of an endowment of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars donated by the late Cyrus H. Mc- 
Cormick, of this city. The institution is now 
known as McCormick Theological Seminary. 

He entered upon his work in Chicago in the 
autumn of that year. The city then contained a 
population of barely one hundred thousand. The 
seminary was domiciled at first in a rented build- 
ing at Clark and Harrison Streets. Two years 
later it found temporary quarters in the base- 
ment of the North Presbyterian Church at Cass 
and Indiana Streets. The present location, at 
North Halsted Street and Fullerton Avenue, was 
first occupied for seminary purposes in the winter 
of 1863 and 1864. 

Dr. Halsey continued his active labors in the 
seminary for thirty-three years, terminating 
them only in 1892, when he was eighty years old. 
In addition to the labors of the pastorate and 
of the professor's chair he was a faithful and in- 
fluential helper in the councils of the church; he 
responded to invitations for addresses on public 
occasions, and was a frequent contributor to the 
columns of the press. In 1858 he published his 
first book, "The Literary Attractions of the 
Bible," a work of classic merit, which holds and 
will continue to hold an assured place among the 



L. J. HALSEY. 



107 



preserved gems of English and American litera- 
ture. 

After Dr. Halsey came to Chicago his voice 
and pen occupied a wider sphere than that of the 
seminary alone. He preached often and in many 
pulpits all over the land and always with great 
acceptance. In 1860 he issued "Life Pictures 
from the Bible, ' ' a work that has held, and will 
always hold with those who possess it, an eminent 
place among the delineations of Bible character. 
In 1861 appeared "The Beauty of Immanuel," 
an exposition of the life, character, person, work, 
offices and glory of the Christ whom he loved 
and adored, a work most stimulating to piety and 
helpful to devotion. 

In 1866 he published, in three large volumes, 
through the L,ippiiicott press, the "Life and 
Works of Philip Lindsley, D. D.," a labor of 
love, preserving to posterity the literary produc- 
tions of one of the most accomplished educators 
of his day. In 1871 appeared from his pen ' 'The 
Memoir of Lewis W. Green, D. D.," and in 1881 
a volume entitled "Living Christianity," a brief, 
clear and strong presentation of the fundamentals 
of Christian faith and the essentials of Chris- 
tian duty. 

About this time he became Professor Emeritus 
and continued to give regular instruction in 
the matters of church government -and the sacra- 
ments. His pen was by no means idle, for in 
1884 he published a very instructive and edifying 
book on "Scotland's Influence on Civilization," 
and in 1893 there came from his pen the work 
into which he had poured the affections of his 
heart and the accumulated events and emotions 
of thirty years, "The History of the McCormick 
Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
Church," an octavo volume of five hundred 
pages. 

Dr. Halsey lived to be eighty-four years old, 
dying June 18, 1896. 

One of the large privileges of human life is to 
dwell in immediate touch with great and good 
men. The very presence, the example, and the 
teachings of such men, tend to form the character, 
to guide the thinking, to elevate the taste and to 
direct the activities of whole communities. Be- 



neath their kindly but potent influence, society 
is rounded out into fairer proportions, the pur- 
pose to accomplish noble ends becomes more de- 
cisive, sympathy expands and deepens, and life 
is found, more and more, to be truly worth the 
living. One of the noblest of this high class was 
the subject of this sketch. 

For thirty-seven years Dr. Halsey lived in 
Chicago. He entered on his work in that city 
in the zenith of his powers. Long and painstak- 
ing education had fitted him to exercise with 
commanding ability the sacred office to which he 
had been chosen. He had reached first rank as 
a preacher and pastor before he entered on the re- 
sponsible task of training young men for the 
ministry, and he came to this new work ripe in 
learning, mature in piety, skilled in administra- 
tion, familiar with the best methods of profes- 
sional education, intimately acquainted with the 
foremost churchmen of the period, ardent in the 
cause of a world- wide evangelization, embalmed 
in the confidence of the influential communion, 
which he represented, and in every way well 
fitted to advance the important enterprise to which 
he stood committed. 

At the time of his entrance to Chicago Dr. 
Halsey was called to lay the foundations upon 
which varied structures should be raised. Society 
was hardly formed, and his influence was felt in 
directing it along lines of Christian refinement. 
There was but one Presbyterian Church on the 
North Side, and that near the heart of the city. 
He early helped plant another and then others 
as the years went by. 

McCormick Theological Seminary was but just 
opened in Chicago. Its maintenance and develop- 
ment and permanent establishment had yet to be 
provided for. 

Few men have ever been called to so large and 
so varied a work in so important a center and at 
such an epoch-making period. For this impos- 
ing undertaking he had the equipment requisite, 
whether we consider it on the side of a large and 
unhesitating faith in the sublime truths which he 
came to teach and defend, or in the stead y cour- 
age for the day of small things to be fostered in a 
period of unrest and conflict or of conspicuous 



io8 



THOMAS GOODE. 



talents fitted to meet the diversified calls arising 
from the extensive task or of sublime patience 
in the midst of the fluctuations and discourage- 
ments incident to the sure establishment of a 
young institution in the center of a comoaratively 
new section of our great country. 

In the prosecution of these wide ranging labors 
Dr. Halsey laid his formative hand on a larger 
number of men than any other theological teacher 
of the Presbyterian Church in the West. His 
early colleagues soon passed on one in less than 
two years, to his heavenly home the others to 
important fields elsewhere. 

Dr. Halsey remained undaunted at his post in 
sunshine and in storm, when rude war rolled un- 
checked over the land, when peace once more 



settled on a still united nation. Under all the 
changes of an eventful period he stood fast, the 
one commanding figure in the changing scene, 
around whose person the destinies of the institu- 
tion revolved, and in whose lone hand its inter- 
ests often reposed. And ere yet unseen hands 
with gentle touch closed his eyes to earthly sight, 
to be re-opened so soon amid the splendors of 
mediatorial glory he had witnessed the triumphs 
of the cause to which he had devoted so many 
years of his life, in the establishment of a semi- 
nary of sacred learning, equal in its equipments to 
any in the land, and full to overflowing with in- 
genuous youth in preparation for the noble work 
of preaching the Gospel in every tongue and to 
every land under the sun. 



THOMAS GOODE, 



'HOMAS GOODE, one of Chicago's most 
worthy pioneers, now living in rest and re- 
tirement on Racine Avenue, was born 
April 18, 1816, in the Parish of Enfield, in Mid- 
dlesex, near London, England. He is a son of 
Thomas and Maria (Head) Goode, the former a 
native of Warwickshire, and the latter of Middle- 
sex, England. 

Thomas Goode, senior, was an orphan from the 
time he was a small boy, and was sent to London, 
where his eldest brother lived, and where he 
learned the trade of baker, at which he worked 
for many years. He had seven children that 
grew to maturity, three of whom came to America 
with their parents. John and Thomas came in 
1845, sailing from London, and upon arriving in 
New York, they went to Albany by boat, and 
from there proceeded to Buffalo by the canal. 
From Buffalo they came to Chicago by the old 
steamer "Madison." 

In 1859 Thomas Goode visited England, and 



when he returned to America his parents accom- 
panied him, spending their last years in Chicago. 
The father died in 1870, his wife having preceded 
him by three years. Edward, a younger brother, 
came to the United States about 1864, and still 
resides in this city, and John Goode makes his 
home in Florida. 

Thomas Goode received only an ordinary educa- 
tion in the schools of his native land, which were 
then much poorer than now, and was early em- 
ployed in a greenhouse, in the cultivation of 
flowers and plants. 

In 1840 Mr. Goode married Miss Ellen Colpus, 
and their first three children were born in Eng- 
land. Soon after coming to Chicago he bought 
property on the West Side, in Carpenter's Ad- 
dition, and later, bought twelve acres in North 
Chicago, afterwards Lake View. Here he raised 
vegetables extensively for the city market, and 
through his prudence and industry, and the great 
growth of the city, became wealthy. He sold 



G. N. POWELL. 



109 



some of his land to a railroad company, and the 
remainder mostly in lots. He retired from active 
business about ten years ago. Mr. Goode is an 
ardent Republican, but has never been willing to 
accept any public office himself. He is an ad- 
herent of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 

Mr. Goode has been married twice. By his 
first wife he had six children, two of whom died 
in infancy. Those of his children living are: 
Edwin Peto; Jane, wife of John M. Gibson; La- 



vinia and Rowland T. The mother of this family 
died about 1879. In 1891 Mr. Goode married 
Miss Margaret M. Gubbins, a native of the city 
of Chicago. 

Mr. Goode has lived many years in his present 
location, and has many friends. He is one of the 
oldest and most highly respected citizens of this 
part of the city, where, during his long residence, 
he has proven his sterling qualities of mind and 
heart. 



GEORGE N. POWELL. 



fJfEORGE NELSON POWELL, one of Chi- 

bcago's pioneers, came to the West in 1833. 
He was descended from English and Welsh 
ancestry, and his lineage has been traced back to 
Thomas Powell, who was born in August, 1641 
(probably in Wales), and died at Westbury, 
Long Island, December 28, 1721. A descendant 
of his in the fourth generation, Obadiah Powell, 
was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
Obadiah Powell died in Saratoga County, New 
York, at the age of nearly one hundred years. 
Some time previous to the Revolutionary War he 
removed thither from Dutchess County, in the 
same state, with his wife Betsy, taking all their 
belongings on the back of a pony. Like his 
Quaker ancestry, he was opposed to war, and 
was much censured during the Revolutionary 
struggle because of his non-combatant position, 
and most of his personal property was confiscated. 
He was steadfast in his convictions, however, and 
lived to be one of the leading farmers in the com- 
munity. At the age of ninety-eight years he 
husked several baskets of corn, which he carried 
on his shoulder to the loft of his carriage-house. 



He was the father of three sons and eight daugh- 
ters, all of whom lived to extreme old age, and 
his house was the favorite gathering-place of his 
descendants. His son, Frost Powell, lived until 
1840 in Dutchess County, New York, where he 
married Katharine Nelson, who was of Dutch 
descent. In 1840 he removed to Waterford, Ra- 
cine County, Wisconsin, where he died a few 
years later. 

His son, George N. Powell, whose name heads 
this article, was born August 13, 1807, in Dutchess 
County, New York. He received the best edu- 
cation that the locality afforded at that time, and 
early in life became a general contractor. Being 
convinced that the West offered great business 
opportunities, he removed in 1833 to Chicago. 
Here he rented a tract of land from Archibald Cly- 
bourn, and engaged in farming and gardening. In 
1836 he located in what was afterwards known as 
Jefferson Township, making claim to the north- 
east quarter of section thirty-six, which he pur- 
chased at the land sale of 1838. He at once com- 
menced the improvement of a farm on this land, 
which was then in a state of nature, and for sev- 



no 



G. N. POWELL. 



eral years kept a public house for the entertain- 
ment of travelers. While still in the prime of 
life, and apparently having many years of active 
usefulness before him, he was stricken with 
cholera and died August 18, 1850. Besides being 
a careful and successful business man he was ever 
active as a citizen and took a great interest in pub- 
lic affairs, affiliating in politics with the Dem- 
ocratic party. 

March 22, 1835, Mr. Powell married Miss Ara- 
mesia Harmon,' who was born in Montgomery 
County, Virginia, February 27, 1820. Her par- 
ents, Henry Harmon and Mary Ann Horn- 
barger, were natives of that state, and the chil- 
dren of Revolutionary soldiers. Henry Harmon 
enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, but peace 
was declared before his services were called for. 
He died October 29, 1829, and his widow mar- 
ried Jacob Miller. In 1832 this couple came to 
Chicago, where Mr. Miller worked as a carpen- 
ter. In 1849 he made the overland journey to 
California, and died there in the fall of that year. 
His widow died December 27, 1876, in Minne- 
sota. The family arrived in Chicago at the time 
of the Black Hawk War, and took refuge in Fort 
Dearborn. The daughter, Aramesia, was but 
twelve years of age at that time, and received her 
education and grew to womanhood in the pioneer 
settlement. She has been an observant witness 
of the marvelous growth of Chicago from a mere 
hamlet of log huts to the second city in the land. 
George N. and Aramesia Powell were the par- 
ents of six children, the first of whom, George 
W., died in childhood. John Frost, the second, 
is a prominent citizen of Waukegan, Illinois, 
where for some years he was largely engaged in 
manufacturing. He is especially active and in- 
fluential in the municipal affairs of that city, where 
he served many years as alderman, and was 
Mayor three terms. He is largely interested in 
Chicago property. William H., the third son, 
was a dealer in real estate in Chicago from 1870 
until his death, in August, 1896. He married 
Elizabeth J. Ritchie, who bore him a son, George 
H. Powell, now engaged in the real-estate bus- 
iness in Chicago. Mrs. Elizabeth J. Powell died 
in 1886. 



Daniel N. and Mary C., the fourth and sixth, 
are deceased. A sketch of the fifth, Perry P., 
appears below. In 1862 Mrs. Powell married 
Theodore Mismer, a native of Strasburg, which 
was at the time of his birth, in France, but now 
belongs to Germany. They have one daughter, 
Clara, now the wife of Fred C. Irwin, of Chicago. 
Perry Polk Powell, the youngest son of George 
N. and Aramesia Powell, was born January n, 
1845. He remained at home assisting in the 
cultivation of the farm and attending the district 
school until he reached the age of seventeen 
years. At that time the Civil War was stirring 
the martial spirit of every patriotic American, 
and young Powell was no exception to the rule. 
Though still very young, he enlisted, July 6, 
1862, in Battery A, First Illinois Light Artillery. 
In the fall of that year he took part in the Vicks- 
burg Campaign under General Sherman, and 
celebrated his eighteenth birthday by participat- 
ing in the Battle of Arkansas Post. On account 
of sickness he was discharged August 7, 1863, but 
on his recovery re-enlisted in Battery G of the 
First Illinois Light Artillery, and was discharged 
at the close of the war at Memphis, Tennessee. 

After farming for one year in Cook County, 
Mr. Powell removed to Blairstown, Iowa, where 
he carried on a general store for about two years. 
He then returned to Cook County, and has since 
followed farming and gardening. In 1870 he 
also engaged in the real-estate business, in which 
he has been very successful. He has given his 
hearty support to the Republican party and was 
a member of the first board of trustees of Jeffer- 
son after its organization as a village. He was 
initiated into Masonry in July, 1867, in Lincoln 
Lodge No. 199, at Blairstown, Iowa. He is a 
member of Winfield Chapter No. 42, Royal Arch 
Masons, and is Past Commander of Winfield Com- 
mandery No. 15, Knights Templar, both of Win- 
field, Kansas. He is also a member of Siberd 
Post No. 58, Grand Army of the Republic, De- 
partment of Kansas. Mr. Powell was married 
January 10, 1872, to Miss Mary E. , daughter of 
Thomas and Christie McGregor. Three children 
have blessed this union, named in order of birth, 
Maud, Frank and Ethel. 



C. B. DUPEE. 



in 



CHARLES B. DUPEE. 



/TJHARLES BILLINGS DUPEE. Among 
1 1 the business men who helped to promote 
\J the growth of Chicago, both materially and 
morally, the subject of this sketch should receive 
honorable mention. His ancestors were the de- 
voted French Huguenots, whose love of liberty 
and freedom of religious thought induced them to 
leave old France and settle in the New World. 
James, grandfather of Charles B. Dupee, was born 
in Walpole, Massachusetts. He was among the 
most progressive of the citizens of the old Bay 
State. (See sketch of H. M. Dupee for com- 
plete genealogy. ) 

Their son, Cyrus Dupee, was also born in Wal- 
pole, and learned the mercantile business in Bos- 
ton. For a long period he was engaged in the 
wholesale provision Iradein Brighton, Massachu- 
setts. He was married at Brighton (now Alls- 
ton), Massachusetts, to Miss Elizabeth English, 
of that place. He died there in 1841, leaving 
eight children. Three of his sons, Charles B., 
Cyrus and Horace Dupee, became prominent bus- 
iness men of Chicago, where the last two are still 
engaged in active life. He was a man of sterling 
character, devoted to his family and diligent in 
business. The family has for many generations 
been noted in mercantile business, and has al- 
ways maintained a high reputation for integrity. 

Charles B. Dupee was born in Brighton, Mass- 
achusetts, May 12, 1823. His first business under- 
taking was in the meat and ice trade at Fitchburg, 
Massachusetts, in which he was moderately suc- 
cessful. In 1 8 54 he became a resident of Chicago, 
establishing himself here in June of that year 
his family, which at that time consisted of a wife 



and two children, following in September. He 
continued in the meat business in Chicago, and 
after a time began putting up hams by a process 
of his own, which secured for him an excellent 
reputation and trade, and he grew prosperous and 
extended the business by adding the wholesale 
provision trade. He exercised great care in the 
preparation of his goods, which he insisted on 
giving his personal inspection, and the result was 
an ever-increasing trade and a high reputation 
for his wares, which continued to be popular on 
the market long after his demise. He was in- 
dustrious and economical, and his painstaking 
care provided him a handsome competence. For 
many years he carried on a large trade in supplies 
for the United States Government. 

Among his brother merchants, Mr. Dupee was 
known for his unswerving fidelity to those prin- 
ciples of true manhood that lift a man high above 
the rank of ordinary men and make for him a 
name in commercial centers that will forever be 
worthy of remembrance and emulation. He was 
a shrewd, far-seeing businessman, and his advice, 
often sought by friends, was safe and reliable. 
For about twenty years he was a resident of 
Hyde Park, and was highly esteemed by the res- 
idents of that suburb for his many noble qualities. 
He was identified with the Republican party, but 
was never connected with any office or political 
work, and was in everyway a model citizen, and, 
above all, an honest man the noblest work of 
God. 

After retiring from business, Mr. Dupee made 
good investment in real estate, and the rapid ap- 
preciation in value of his holdings added mate- 



112 



J. A. PEARSONS. 



rially to his resources, so that his declining years 
were passed in the enjoyment of the competence 
which his long years of industry had earned. He 
passed away at his home in Chicago August 12, 
1887, and his last words were: "I have been an 
honest man." He left the impress of his strong 
character upon the business world of Chicago, and 
a good name that will be ever cherished by his 
family. 

On the yth of April, 1847, at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, Charles B. Dupee was married to Miss Em- 
meline, daughter of Seth and Louise (Miles) 
Wellington, old and respected residents of Bos- 
ton. The Wellingtons were among the noted pio- 
neers of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
Mrs. Dupee's ancestor, Roger Wellington, mar- 
ried Miss Foster, a daughter of Dr. Foster, who 
was the first settled physician in Charlestown, 
Massachusetts. The Wellington monument, 



standing in the Watertown (Massachusetts) cem- 
etery, was erected over two hundred years ago. 
Three children came to bless the home of Charles 
B. and Mrs. Dupee. Their names are, Charles 
Frederick, Elizabeth A. and Emma M. The sec- 
ond is now deceased, and the last is the wife of 
Reuben D. Coy, of Chicago. Her only child is 
a daughter, named Margaret Wellington Coy. 
Charles F. Dupee came with his parents to Chi- 
cago in 1854. His father admitted him to part- 
nership in his growing business in order to have 
his aid in its conduct. Since the business was 
closed out he has given his attention to the care 
of his large property interests. He has two 
children, Elizabeth S. and Charles Edward Du- 
pee. 

In 1890 Mrs. Emmeline Dupee built one of the 
handsomest residences in Glencoe, Illinois, where 
her family now resides. 



JOHN A. PEARSONS. 



(JOHN ALONZO PEARSONS, an early set- 
I tier of Evanston, was born in Bradford, Ver- 
Q/ mont, September 8, 1818. He is a son of 
John Pearsons and Hannah Putnam, natives, re- 
spectively, of Lyndeborough and Francestown, 
New Hampshire. John Pearsons was a promi- 
nent farmer and lumberman of Bradford, where 
he located at the age of twelve years. For some 
years he also kept a hotel there, known as the 
Mann House. He was a soldier of the War of 
1812, serving throughout that struggle. His 
death occurred in Bradford, October 7, 1857, at 



the age of sixty-five years. His mother, whose 
maiden name was Elizabeth Kimball, also died 
there at an extreme old age. 

Mrs. Hannah Pearsons died at Holyoke, Mass- 
achusetts, in 1888, at the age of ninety-one 
years. She was a daughter of John Putnam, a 
Revolutionary soldier, and a relative of Gen. 
Israel Putnam. John Putnam served seven years 
in the Continental army, and was at one time a 
member of General Washington's Life Guard. 
He afterward became an Adjutant of Vermont 
militia, and, with two of his sons, participated in 



J. A. PEARSONS. 



the War of 1812. In later life he was a car- 
penter and bridge-builder at Bradford. His wife, 
Olive Barron, lived to the age of ninety-three 
years. 

John A. Pearsons spent his boyhood in Brad- 
ford, where he attended the district school, and, 
at the age of nineteen years, began teaching, a 
calling which he continued for four winters at and 
in the vicinity of Bradford. He helped to con- 
duct his father's hotel, and subsequently carried 
on the same business at White River Village and 
Norwich, Vermont. The latter place was then 
the seat of General Ransom's Military School. 

In September, 1852, he arrived in Chicago, 
where he was employed for a time by John P. 
Chapin, a prominent pioneer of Chicago. In 
March, 1854, he located at Evanston, being in- 
duced to settle there through the influence of 
Dr. Hinman. Mr. Pearsons was the first to build 
a house on the university lands, the location be- 
ing identical with his present residence on Chi- 
cago Avenue. Others soon followed his example, 
and when the Chicago & Milwaukee Railway 
reached that point the next winter, there was a 
rapid influx of people. Such was the demand for 
building materials and other merchandise, that 
Mr. Pearsons found it advantageous to engage in 
the business of general teaming. For eighteen 
years he operated Pearsons' Evanston Express, 
employing a number of teams and wagons on the 
road between Chicago and Evanston, and the 
business which he started has ever since been 
continued, and is still a prosperous enterprise. 
For some time he also kept a livery stable at 
Evanston. 

In 1872 Mr. Pearsons sold out his express line, 
and spent the following winter in the woods of 
northern Michigan in the interest of his brother, 
D. K. Pearsons, the well-known lumberman and 
philanthropist. Becoming interested in the lum- 
bering industry, and finding the business agree- 
able to his health, which had become considerably 
impaired, he spent the ensuing twelve years in 
the lumber woods, during a part of which time 
he operated a lumber-yard in Evanston. In 1885 
he disposed of his lumber interests, since which 
time he has lived in practical retirement. He 



has filled nearly every office in the township, vil- 
lage, and city of Evanston, and his official as well 
as business obligations have always been dis- 
charged in a creditable and efficient manner. 

On the twenty-fifth day of October, 1842, was 
celebrated the marriage of Mr. Pearsons and Miss 
Hannah Stevens Bay ley, of Newbury, Vermont, 
a daughter of Amherst Bayley and Melissa Stev- 
ens, both natives of Newbury. Mrs. Pearsons' 
paternal grandfather was the distinguished Gen- 
eral Jacob Bayley, of the Continental army. Her 
maternal grandfather, Simeon Stevens, was an 
extensive farmer and highly exemplary citizen of 
Newbury, distinguished also for his musical tal- 
ents, being the possessor of a strong and very 
sweet voice, which he retained even in old age. 
He survived until nearly ninety years of age. 

Mrs. Pearsons is a lady of many graces of mind 
and heart. In her youth she won considerable 
celebrity as a participant in the State Musical 
Conventions of Vermont. She was one of the 
prime movers in organizing the Woman's Ed- 
ucational Aid Association, which was formed 
in 1871, and has been an officer of the association 
from its inception, and for eighteen years has 
served as its President. The object of this 
society is to assist worthy young ladies of lim- 
ited means in obtaining an education. The Col- 
lege Cottage, which was built soon after the or- 
ganization of the association, has been several 
times enlarged and improved, and now accommo- 
dates about fifty-five students, and is recognized 
as a worthy adjunct of the Northwestern Univer- 
sity at Evanston. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pearsons are the parents of two 
children, and have lost two by death, one passing 
away in infancy. The eldest, Henry Alonzo, is 
a business man of Chicago, residing in Evanston. 
Isabella is the wife of Wilbur F. Mappin, of 
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Helen, who was the 
wife of Rev. Harvey R. Calkins, died March 27, 
1892, at the age of twenty-six years. Two 
grandchildren, Harry Putnam Pearsons and Lil- 
ian Mappin, make glad the hearts of this worthy 
couple. 

In October, 1892, the golden wedding of Mr. 
and Mrs. Pearsons was celebrated, and they are 



R. C. HALLETT. 



still in the enjoyment of excellent health and that 
contentment of mind which is "a continual feast, ' ' 
and few of their acquaintances, and none among 
strangers, can readily believe the number of their 
years of usefulness already spent. They are 
members of the First Methodist Church of Evan- 
ston, which they helped to organize in the sum- 
mer of 1854, at which time the society comprised 
but six members. Mr. Pearsons was the Chorister 
of the church for many years, and is one of the 
Trustees of the Des Plaines Camp- Meeting Asso- 
ciation. Mr. Pearsons cast his first vote for Will- 
iam Henry Harrison, and was a member of 
a military band which furnished music for 



many of the public gatherings of the famous po- 
litical campaign of 1840. He played in this band 
for ten years. Since the organization of the Re- 
publican party, he has been an adherent of its 
principles. When he first located inEvanston, a 
large portion of the present site of the city con- 
sisted of a marsh covered with water, and none 
of the streets had been improved. He has wit- 
nessed the material development of the town until 
it has come to be recognized as the first sub- 
urb of Chicago, and has simultaneously watched 
its intellectual and moral growth, in the promo- 
tion of which he has been an interested factor. 



REUBEN C HALLETT. 



REUBEN CROWELL HAlvLETT, grandson 
of one of the hardy pioneers of the Missis- 
sippi Valley, and son of James Hallett, of 
whom extended mention is made elsewhere in 
this volume, has the proud distinction of being 
a native of Illinois. He was born at Mount Car- 
roll, in Carroll County, on the isth day of Octo- 
ber, 1857, an d grew up in his native village, 
where he received his primary schooling. He 
attended Beloit College, Wisconsin, and finished 
his education at the Wesleyan University, Bloom- 
ington, Illinois, where he received instruction in 
the law department from Adlai E. Stevenson, 
Gen. Ira J. Bloomfield, John M. Hamilton, and 
other noted attorneys of the state. 

He was admitted to the Bar in 1880, and be- 
gan the practice of law at Mount Carroll, but 
soon turned his attention to other and more con- 
genial pursuits. He became the owner and pub- 
lisher of the Herald at Mount Carroll, which he 
retained about a year. He then went to Rock- 
ford, Illinois, where he was connected with the 



Rockford Watch Company seven years. He re- 
sided in Cleveland, Ohio, for a year, being iden- 
tified with the Arctic Ice Machine Manufacturing 
Company. During the last three years he has 
been the western representative of the Hildreth 
Varnish Company of New York, with headquar- 
ters in one of the Grand Pacific offices, on Jack- 
son Street, Chicago. 

Mr. Hallett possesses a keen business instinct, 
and his kind and genial manners and knowledge 
of human nature make him an exceptionally suc- 
cessful salesman. His dealings are largely with 
railroad companies, and cover many large con- 
tracts. He takes an active interest in all that 
pertains to the general welfare, and is thoroughly 
posted on questions that engage the public mind. 
He was the independent candidate for States At- 
torney of Carroll County in 1 880, but usually acts 
with the Republican party. He was made a 
Master Mason at Mount Carroll, and is now en- 
tering upon the work of the exalted degrees. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



J. D. CATON. 



JOHN D. CATON. 



(JOHN DEAN CATON was born in Monroe, 
I Orange County, New York, March 19, 1812. 
O He is the fifteenth of the sixteen children of 
Robert Caton, and the third child of his mother, 
Hannah (Dean) Caton, who was the third wife of 
Robert Caton. The latter was born March 22, 
1761, on a plantation owned by his father (Robert 
Caton) in Maryland. He joined the Continental 
Army at the age of fourteen. Though very young 
at the outbreak of the Revolution, he gave good 
service to his native land in that struggle, and 
after the triumph of colonial arms, settled on the 
Hudson River, in New York. He died in 1815. 
Robert Caton, grandfather of the subject of this 
biography, was born in England, of Irish de- 
scent, and served in the English army before set- 
tling in Maryland. He was a prominent citizen 
of that colony long before the Revolution, and 
the name is a conspicuous one in Maryland soci- 
ety to-day. Robert Caton, during the life of his 
second wife, joined the Society of Friends, and 
became a preacher in that denomination, his third 
wife being a member also. His four children by 
his third wife, according to the rules of that de- 
nomination, became birthright members, and so 
has the subject of this sketch continued; he is 
now a member of the society in good standing. 

When John D. Caton was four years old, his 
widowed mother took him to Oneida Count}-, 
New York. His advantages were few, but he re- 
ceived the primary training of a common school. 
At the age of nine years, he was set to work with 
a farmer, at two and one-half dollars per month, 
and brought home a quarter of beef as the fruit of 
his first earnings. Work was afforded only in the 
summer, and his winters were spent in school un- 
til he was fourteen. It had been his father's wish 



that he should be equipped for life with a trade, 
and he was apprenticed. A weakness of the eyes 
interfered with the completion of his time, and at 
sixteen, he joined his mother at Utica, New York, 
where he was enabled to put in nine months at the 
academy. He was so diligent and apt that he 
was thus equipped for earning by surveying and 
teaching school. While teaching, he pursued 
the study of the classics, and also did a little work 
in the law by practicing in justices' courts. He 
entered the office of Beardsley & Matteson, at 
Utica, as a student, at the age of nineteen years. 
He later studied with James H. Collins, who af- 
terward became a leader at the Chicago Bar and 
was a partner in practice with Mr. Caton. 

Having become well grounded in the theory of 
law, and having attained man's estate, he resolved 
to settle in the new West and establish himself in 
practice. He had a special incentive in this de- 
termination, in the fact that he was the accepted 
lover of one of "York State's" fairest daughters, 
and was anxious to secure a permanent home. 
Having reached Buffalo by canal, he took pas- 
sage on the steamer "Sheldon Thompson," which 
brought him to Detroit, and thence he took stage 
to Ann Arbor, still undetermined as to his loca- 
tion. Still pushing westward, he rode in a wagon 
to White Pigeon, and here, by pure accident, he 
fell in with a cousin, whose husband, Irad Hill, 
was a carpenter and was employed by Dr. John T. 
Temple, of Chicago, to build a house for him 
there. The doctor and Mr. Hill were then in 
White Pigeon getting lumber for this purpose. 
Young Caton joined the rafting party which 
transported the lumber down the St. Joseph 
River, and took passage on the schooner which 
conveyed it to its destination. This was the 



J. D. CATON. 



"Ariadne," whose cargo of lumber and immi- 
grants was about all she could carry. 

He soon determined to locate here, and in a 
few days set off on horseback for Pekin, one hun- 
dred and fifty miles away, to seek admission to 
the Bar. Here he met Stephen T. Logan, after- 
wards partner of Abraham Lincoln, and other 
leading attorneys of the State. After court ad- 
journed and supper had been taken, the young 
applicant accompanied Judge Lockwood, of the 
Supreme Court, in a stroll on the river bank, and 
after being plied with questions on the theory and 
practice of law, was addressed in these words: 
"Well, my young friend, you've got a good deal 
to learn if you ever' expect to make a success as a 
lawyer, but if you study hard I guess you' 11 do it. 
I shall give you your license." It took but nine 
years for the new licensee to attain a place beside 
his examiner on the supreme bench of the State. 

Mr. Caton's first case was in the first lawsuit 
in the village of Chicago, in which he appeared 
as prosecutor of a culprit accused of stealing thir- 
ty-six dollars from a fellow-lodger at the tavern. 
When the defendant was brought before Squire 
Heacock, Caton insisted that he be searched, and 
he was stripped to his underclothing. Before he 
could replace his apparel, as directed by the court, 
the prosecuting attorney discovered a suspicious 
lump in his stocking. Seizing hold of this lump, 
he turned down the stocking and disclosed the 
missing bills. The case was then adjourned till 
next day, and a Constable watched the prisoner 
all night, having confined him under a carpenter's 
bench. Next morning when he was arraigned, 
Spring and Hamilton appeared for the defence and 
took a change of venue to Squire Harmon, who 
held court in the old tannery, on the North Side 
near the river forks. The whole town was now 
agog with the novel spectacle of a public trial; 
and Harmon, in order to give all a chance to en- 
joy the show, adjourned to Wattle's Tavern, on 
the West Side, where the case came off with much 
eclat; all the young attorneys "spreading them- 
selves' ' in their respective speeches. Judge Caton 
remembers that he dwelt particularly on the enor- 
mity of the act of this serpent who had brought 



crime into this young community where it had 
been unknown. The thief was held for trial, but 
the device (then new) of "straw bail" gave him 
temporary liberty, which he made permanent by 
running away as soon as the money was recovered; 
and as the public had had the fun and excitement 
of a ' 'lawsuit' ' nobody cared much what became 
of the author of this welcome break in the village 
monotony. If he had been tried and convicted it 
would have been only the beginning of trouble, 
for there was no jail wherein to keep him. Young 
Caton got ten dollars for his fee the first money 
he had ever earned in Illinois by his profession 
and it just paid the arrears of his board bill. 
(History of Chicago, edited by Moses and Kirk- 
land.) 

Having now been launched in practice, Mr. 
Caton rented an office in the "Temple Building," 
having his lodging in the attic of the same struc- 
ture. To "make ends meet," he rented desk 
room in his office to his contemporary, Giles 
Spring. 

Justice Caton recalls July 12, 1834, an era in 
his youthful experience. It was the beginning of 
his judicial career; the date of his election to the 
office of Justice of the Peace, the only public office 
he ever held except those of Alderman of the city 
(1837-8) and Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
State (1843-64). He became its Chief Justice in 
1857. The election of 1834 was a fierce contest, 
"bringing out every last voter in the precinct, 
from Clybourne to Hardscrabble and beyond, per- 
haps even taking in the Calumet Crossing." The 
Government piers had been built and the begin- 
ning of a channel had been cut across the imme- 
morial sandbar, but as yet it had never been used. 
On this memorable day, the schooner "Illinois" 
chanced to be lying at anchor, and the friends of 
Caton (George W. Dole and others), to the num- 
ber of a hundred or more, got ropes to the schooner 
and dragged her by main force through the un- 
finished dug-way. Then they decked her with 
all the bunting in the village, and, hoisting sail, 
sped triumphantly up the stream to the Forks 
the first vessel that ever penetrated the Chicago 
River. And when the votes were counted the 



J. D. CATON. 



117 



tally showed John DeanCaton, one hundred and 
eighty-two; Josiah C. Goodhue, forty-seven. 
(Story of Chicago, 130). 

An incident in the life of the future chief jus- 
tice, which saved him to the people of Illinois, is 
elsewhere related in the biography of Col. Julius 
\Varren, who was ever gratefully remembered by 
Mr. Caton as his dearest friend. 

In the spring of 1835 Squire Caton felt himself 
able to assume the cares of a household, and he 
returned to New York, where he was wedded to 
Miss Laura Adelaide, daughter of Jacob Sherrill, 
of New Hartford. Their wedding tour was an 
ideal one, being a passage from Buffalo to Chicago 
on the brig "Queen Charlotte." This was one 
of the vessels captured in Put-in-Bay and sunk in 
the harbor of Erie by Commodore Perry in 1812. 
After twenty years, it had been raised and refitted, 
and this was her first trip. 

In 1836 Mr. Caton built the first dwelling on 
the ' 'school section, ' ' west of the river. This was 
at the southwest corner of Clinton and Harrison 
Streets, and at that time it was so far from other 
dwellings that it was called the ' 'prairie cottage. ' ' 
It fell before the great holocaust of 1871. About 
the same time that he built this house, he entered 
into partnership with Norman B. Judd (who 
drafted-the first charter of Chicago) . The finan- 
cial difficulties of 1837 almost crippled the ambi- 
tious young lawyer, and to increase his troubles, 
his health became impaired and he was advised 
by his physician to return to farming. He took up 
a tract of land near Plainfield, which he still owns, 
and removed his family thither in 1839. He con- 
tinued the practice of law, and the records show 
that he tried the first jury cases in Will and Kane 
Counties, as well as Cook. 

Mr. Caton was appointed an associate justice of 
the Supreme Court in 1842, and his united terms 
of service, by successive elections, amounted to 
twenty-two years. During the latter portion of 
this time he occupied the position of Chief Justice. 
The duties of his high office were completed day 
by day, no matter how much of the night they 
might consume, and the court in his day was al- 
ways up with its docket. In 1864 he left the 
Bench, and has since given his time to travel, 



literary labors and the conduct of his private af- 
fairs. He has published several works, among 
which are "The Antelope and Deer of America," 
"A Summer in Norway," "Miscellanies" and 
"Early Bench and Bar of Illinois." 

Before 1850 Justice Caton became interested in 
the electric telegraph. This was before the organ- 
ization of the Western Union, and he set to work 
to re-organize and set in order the dilapidated and 
scattered lines. They had hitherto occupied the 
wagon roads, and he secured the adoption of a 
system by the railways, where it was soon found 
to be an absolute necessity. When the Western 
Union took hold of the business, Judge Caton and 
his fellow-stockholders were enabled to make most 
advantageous terms for the disposition of their 
interests. 

Death first invaded the home of Judge Caton in 
1891, when a daughter, her mother's namesake, 
was taken aw?y, and in 1892, Mrs. Caton went 
before. For fifty-seven years, this happily-as- 
sorted couple had traveled together the journey 
o r life, and they were, no doubt, the oldest sur- 
viving couple in Chicago at the time of Mrs. Ca- 
ton's demise. During her last illness Judge Caton 
remarked to his family physician that they had 
lived together for more than fifty-seven years 
without a cross or unkind word ever passing be- 
tween them. Two children survived her, namely: 
Arthur J. Caton, a Chicago business man, who 
was admitted to the Bar, and Caroline, now the 
wife of the distinguished attorney, Norman Wil- 
liams. 

In August, 1893, Judge Caton suffered a slight 
stroke of paralysis. Before this affliction, advanc- 
ing years had brought on the old trouble with his 
eyes, which had, happily for his future career, 
turned his attention from a trade, but up to the 
beginning of 1893, he was able to read a little with 
the aid of strong glasses. By the aid of a reading- 
secretary, he keeps up an acquaintance with 
literature and current events. Even the added 
trial of decay in his powers of locomotion did 
not make him despair or become morose. To 
a close friend he said: "I do not repine. I do 
not lament the advance of age and the loss of fac- 
ulties; not one bit. I enjoy my life, and thank- 



n8 



T. H. WEBSTER. 



fully recognize the numberless compensations and 
alleviations that are mercifully left me. No; I 
am well content." 

He still survives at the age of eighty-three, and 



it is a little remarkable that the first lawyer in 
Chicago to bring a case in a court of record is 
still with us, with intellect unimpaired, when the 
bar numbers more than three thousand. 



THOMAS H. WEBSTER. 



'HOMAS HOLMES WEBSTER. Among 
the many fire-insurance agents with which 
La Salle Street abounds, there is, perhaps, 
no other man whose reputation for safe and con- 
servative business methods has been more con- 
sistently sustained than he whose name heads 
this notice. His entire business training and 
experience have been acquired in this city, and, 
while the opportunities for speculation have been 
abundant, and the chances for unusual profit have 
seemed quite as alluring to him as to others, he 
has conscientiously avoided all participation in 
that hazardous and demoralizing field, confining 
his attention to the regular channels of business, 
and thereby maintaining his business credit and 
securing the confidence and good- will of his asso- 
ciates. 

Mr. Webster was born in Leeds, England, on 
the 2gth of October, 1846. His parents, John and 
Mary (Holmes) Webster, were natives of York- 
shire. John Webster was employed for some years 
in the cloth-mills at Leeds, but being desirous of 
procuring better opportunities for his growing 
family, in 1853 he came to America. He located 
in Chicago and secured employment with the Chi- 
cago Gas Light and Coke Company, whose inter- 
ests he continued to serve until his death, which 
occurred in 1866, at the age of forty-two years. 
He began as a laborer, but with such faithful- 
ness and ability did he serve the interests of the 
company that he was soon promoted to a more re- 
munerative occupation, and at the time of his de- 
mise was the assistant Secretary of the company. 



His wife survived him but two years, passing 
away at the age of forty-four. They were mem- 
bers of the Second Baptist Church of Chicago, 
and had formerly been connected with the Taber- 
nacle Baptist Church. 

Thomas H. Webster, with his mother and the 
balance of the family, joined his father in Chica- 
go in 1855. He is one of a family of thirteen 
children, of whom but two others now survive. 
Their names are Sarah H., Mrs. W. C. Corlies; 
and Louisa L., Mrs. R. M. Johnson, all of Chi- 
cago. Thomas was educated in the public schools 
of this city, and upon the death of his father as- 
sumed the care of the family, supplying' to its 
members, as far as possible, the place of the de- 
ceased parent. His first employment was in the 
capacity of a clerk in a dry-goods store, where he 
continued for about one year. Since the ist of 
August, 1863, he has been consecutively connect- 
ed with the business of fire underwriting. He be- 
gan as office boy for the Chicago Firemen's In- 
surance Company, but was soon appointed to a 
clerkship, and about 1865 bcame the cashier of 
the company. This position he filled until the 
concern was annihilated by the great fire of 1871. 
After that disaster, the affairs of the corporation 
were placed in the hands of Hon. O. H. Horton, 
as assignee, and this gentleman secured the serv- 
ices of Mr. Webster as his assistant, his familiar- 
ity with the affairs of the concern being of great 
value in closing up its business. 

Mr. Webster was afterwards successively con- 
nected with the firms of Walker & Lowell, and 



LIBRARY 
OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF ILUN( 



W. C. GOUDY. 



119 



the Globe Insurance Company, continuing with 
the latter concern until it went out of business in 
1876. He then became a clerk for S. M. Moore, 
with whom he soon after entered into partnership, 
under the firm name of S. M. Moore & Com- 
pany. Upon the retirement of the senior member 
in 1886, this firm was succeeded by that of Web- 
iter & Wiley, Mr. E. N. Wiley becoming the jun- 
ior partner. In 1889 the latter firm was consol- 
idated with that of H. de Roode & Company, 
under the name of Webster, Wiley & de Roode. 
On the first of November, 1 894, Mr. de Roode re- 
tired from the firm, since which time the business 
has been conducted under the name of Webster, 
Wiley & Company, Mr. C. P. Jennings having 
become a third partner on January i, 1895. 

Mr. Webster was married, September 13, 1881, 
to Miss Anna Martindale, a native of Ohio, and 
a daughter of Rev. Theodore D. Martindale, a 



Methodist clergyman of that state. Mr. and Mrs. 
Webster are the parents of two sons, Frank M. 
and Ralph N. Mr. Webster is identified with the 
Union League, Sunset and Metropolitan Clubs, 
and Lexington Council of the National Union. 
He is not an active participant in political strife, 
but has all his life been a supporter of Republican 
principles. 

Having been the head of a family from the age 
of twenty years, he has had few opportunities for 
recreation, and finds his greatest pleasure in the 
midst of the home circle. His business opera- 
tions have been confined to the realm of fire un- 
derwriting, and while others have in some in- 
stances accumulated more wealth than he, the 
substantial friendship and esteem of his colleagues 
are his, and his record is one which causes no re- 
grets. 



WILLIAM C GOUDY. 



CHARLES GOUDY. To be a 
leader in any profession in a city the size of 
Chicago, means to be the possessor of large 
intellect, of close application and happy fortune; 
to be in the front rank of contemporary lawyers 
in a metropolis whose courts decide as many 
cases as the combined judiciary of all Great 
Britain, is a mark of pre-eminence indeed. Such 
pre-eminent distinction has been already noted 
by the Muse of History in her vast temple of 
fame, where, chiseled in conspicuous recent 
strength, we read the sterling name of William 
Charles Goudy. 

Mr. Goudy was born near Cincinnati, Ohio 
(but "across the line" in Indiana), on the isth 
day of May, 1824, unto Robert and Jane (Ainslie) 
Goudy. His father was a native of North Ire- 
land and of Scotch-Irish ancestry, of that virile 



blood which has already played so thrilling a 
part in American history on sea and land. The 
name is spelled Goudie in Scotland, where the 
poet Burns immortalized it in song in that stanza 
of a poem wherein occurs the line, ' 'Goudie, ter- 
ror of the Whigs!" The family continues to hew 
true to the block, for who ever heard of any 
Goudy who was anything but a Democrat in 
the United States ? His mother, who was of 
English birth, was residing in Pennsylvania when 
taken to wife by Mr. Goudy 's father. 

Robert Goudy was a carpenter in early life, later 
changing, as do so many of our citizens, his calling 
to printing, in which craft he was busied for some 
years at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But when 
the future Judge Goudy was a boy of ten years, 
his father moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, a most 
fortunate field, as afterwards developed, for all the 



I2O 



W. C. GOUDY. 



family. Here, in 1833, he began the publication 
of Gaudy's Farmers' Almanac, the first annual 
of its kind to be printed in the Northwest, which, 
filling a greatly felt need, grew speedily into the 
deserved prominence it maintained for the many 
years during which it was a household word. 
Later, he embarked in a newspaper of fair pro- 
portions for that era; in which connection let it 
not be overlooked that it was the first press to 
call pointed attention to that rising young star, 
Stephen A. Douglas. The son also did his share 
of battling for this candidate during that heated 
campaign when Douglas defeated Lincoln in the 
memorable congressional contest. 

The subject of this sketch graduated at the 
Illinois College of Jacksonville in 1845, an alma 
mater made proud time and again by the grand 
deeds of her hero pupil, whom she has twice hon- 
ored with her post-graduate degrees, namely, 
Master of Arts and Doctor of Laws. Suffice to 
say, that none of her myriad graduates ever won 
such special favor more fairly than he of whom 
we are writing. 

While reading law thereafter, Mr. Goudy 
taught school in Decatur. Later he went for a 
time into the office of Stephen A. Logan, partner 
of Lincoln. In 1847 he was admitted to the Bar 
at Lewistown, Illinois, entering directly into 
partnership with Hon. Hezekiah M. Weed, of 
that place, where he rapidly rose in public notice 
and favor. Taking an active part in politics, he 
was partially rewarded in 1852 by being elected 
States Attorney of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, 
which position of trust he resigned in 1856; and 
from 1857 to 1861 was twice returned as State Sen- 
ator for the Fulton-McDonough district. In 1859 
fame and rapidly growing practice invited him 
to Chicago, the great Western center, which, like 
Athens of old, calls annually for its tribute of 
talent and oratory from its outlying territory. 
For about the next thirty-five years his reputa- 
tion and his wealth grew with amazing rapidity, 
until none throughout the entire Mississippi Val- 
ley was better or more favorably known in his 
profession than Judge Goudy. His learned skill 
was demonstrated in the higher courts all over 
this western county, from which, in frequent 



triumphs, he went to more honorable laurels 
achieved before that tribunal of dernier resort, the 
Supreme Court of the United States. His specialty 
was the law of real property, in which branch 
of learning he was recognized as a leader all over 
the vast domain his talents dominated; indeed, 
there have been expressed on more than one oc- 
casion sincere regrets that Judge Goudy left no 
published work upon this broad field of judicature, 
of especial application in the newer West, for 
the guidance of future brothers. It would indeed 
have been the labor of a legal giant, gigantically 
performed. During all this later period, not a 
volume of Illinois Reports, and they number into 
the hundreds, but bears his name as attorney or 
counsel in cases of gravest import and represent- 
ing questions and corporations of greatest magni- 
tude. 

As illustrating the thoroughness with which 
he worked and the minuteness of inquiry and 
research to which he -would voluntarily go, rather 
than admit he was beaten or acknowledge there 
was no redress (in his opinion) for his client, 
we must digress sufficiently to call attention to 
that case (the Kingsbury-Buckner), perhaps 
most famous of all his many noted cases, which 
involved the question of the fee of that splendid 
piece of central real estate upon which now stands 
the Ashland Building, the great law office re- 
sort, corner of Randolph and Clark Streets, in 
our city. This case long looked hopeless for the 
party in whose interests Judge Goudy had been 
retained. Conviction of the fact that the grantee, 
who seemed to own the fee, was really a holder 
for cestuis qui trust was sincerely entertained, but 
in support of such hypothesis not a scintilla of 
evidence seemed possible to be introduced. Early 
and late, far and near, in and out of season, our 
lawyer toiled to find some slight link, so vital to 
support such a much-sought chain of title. In 
short, almost at a standstill, sufficient proof was 
at last unearthed from a letter written as casual 
correspondance to a relative of the writer in the 
Down East. This became the turning-point of 
the case. For his services the Judge is said to 
have been paid the largest fee known in the 
West. How many thousands is not known, but 



W. C. GOUDY. 



121 



surely it was earned in such a manner as to be 
gladly paid by a client who would have lived and 
died in ignorant non-assertion of rights, but for 
the untiring researches of his lawyer. Let every 
young attorney ponder well the significance of 
the story; just such opportunities time and again 
have made in an instant the name and fame 
)f the energetic hero. The ability to win cases 
is the crucial test of lawyers; and a still greater 
test is the ability to effect a desirable compromise, 
as the subject of this sketch often did; for exam- 
ple, in the notable Wilbur F. Storey will case. 

During the later years of his exceedingly active 
career, the firm of which he was senior member 
was styled Goudy, Green & Goudy, and for 
a considerable period prior to his demise he was 
chief counsel for the Chicago & Northwestern 
Railway, in which position he had the excep- 
tional fortune of holding his former private 
clientage. It is worth recording that the reasons 
for his being retained by that railway were 
found in numerous suits brought against it by 
Mr. Goudy for clients, who usually won. 

Mr. Goudy married, August 22, 1849, a most 
estimable and cultured lady, Miss Helen Judd, 
of Canton, Illinois, a daughter of Solomon Judd, 
quite a distinguished Abolitionist. His father was 
Solomon Judd, Sr., of Westhampton, Massachu- 
setts, coming of excellent ancestry, tracing back 
to the pride of all Yankees, the "Mayflower" of 
1620. Mrs. Goudy's mother was Eleanor Clark, 
born of an old Northampton, Massachusetts, 
family. 

Two children cheered their most happy wedded 
life. Clara Goudy (an adopted daughter), born 
in October, 1857, married, in 1887, Ira J. Geer, 
of this city, a practicing lawyer of superior 
repute, by whom she has one child, William 
Jewett Geer. Judge Goudy left an only son, 
William Judd Goudy, who was born in 1864, 
for an extended sketch of whom vide other pages 
herein. 

Mrs. Goudy was born on the 2ist of November, 
1821, at Otisco, Onondaga County, New York, 
was educated at the Aurora Academy of that 
State, after which she taught school for about 
nine years. She then removed to Canton, Illinois, 



where she had been teaching her own private 
school for young ladies about two years at the 
time Judge Goudy won her undying affections. 
She survives her deeply mourned husband, and, 
while not in perfect health, yet for her mature 
age well preserved; and it is the earnest wish 
of all her myriad friends and recipients of generous 
benefactions that she may long continue in a 
sphere of wisely contented usefulness. She is 
unostentatiously conspicuous for her many works 
of charity, formal recognition of which was made 
some years since in her elevation to the position 
of President of the Board of Managers of the Half 
Orphan Asylum. Truly may it be said in sim- 
ple, modest truth, her life has been a model for 
imitation. 

The old Goudy homestead, one of the choicest, 
most elegant of its time, was located in what has 
since become a very public neighborhood, about 
No. 1 140 North Clark Street. In the early days 
it stood in a magnificient grove of trees some 
acres in extent, whose retirement received a con- 
tinual benediction from the murmurs of the lake 
near at hand. Later operations have subdivided 
and covered with many dwellings this lovely 
property. "And the place thereof shall know it 
no more." Anticipating growing encroachment 
upon that privacy in which Mr. Goudy so much 
delighted, he finally built a solid, ornate mansion 
of gray granite at No. 240 Goethe Street, than 
which none of our citizens can boast of a more 
complete or elegant home. In full view of the lake 
(but a block distant), contiguous to a beautiful 
private park, within easy access of business 
haunts, and yet enjoying the stillness of a veritable 
country seat, Judge Goudy with his wife there 
found the oasis of existence, his seat of recupera- 
tive rest, his scene of domestic bliss, for he was 
emphatically, notwithstanding the grandeur and 
publicity which cast a halo about his character, 
a domestic man. Though a valued member of 
the Union and Iroquois Clubs, he was not an 
habitue of their inviting halls, save on rare special 
occasions. 

In politics, like all his lineage, he was a sturdy 
Democrat ; not particularly aggressive, but full of 
wise counsels and dictator of winning courses to 



122 



H. F. FRINK. 



be pursued in accomplishing certain political 
ends. His first vote was cast for L,ewis Cass in 
1848; he had much to do with the nomination of 
President Cleveland to his last term of office; and 
might have passed away in occupation of the 
most dignified seat of judicial honor within the 
gift of our country, i. e., the Supreme Bench of 
the United States, had not his ever honorable 
principles decided him to withdraw in favor of 
his old friend, the present Chief Justice, M. W. 
Fuller. He was at one time President of the 
Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners, as he had 
been among those most actively valuable in lay- 
ing out the bounds and bringing into being that 
most beautiful of all our resorts. 

Judge Goudy was a "gentleman of the old 
school," always courteous and scrupulously hon- 
orable; the possessor of a frankly-bright, prepos- 
sessing face, brimful of character. A very broad 
forehead surmounted features all finely chiseled; 
his figure was but of medium height and physical 
weight, but capable of expressing great dignity 
upon occasion. Though rather sickly in youth, 
by abstemious habits he had grown for many 
years to be quite robust, in which condition he 
was maintained by studious attention to all his 



habits, save that of work. In this, he reminds 
one strongly of the great Csesar, who, sickly in 
youth, by careful regimen grew to endure in- 
credible labors. Indeed, it was from over appli- 
cation, following too speedily a season of malady, 
that Judge Goudy met his end April 27, 1893; 
which found him suddenly, like the lightning 
flash, seated in his chair by the office desk, whither 
he had injudiciously repaired upon important 
business. His tough, perennial thread of life, 
which had been vexed and tugged at time and 
again by his response to urgent demands, was 
strained beyond endurance; it snapped, and the 
heroic melody of a noble life became forever in- 
stantly silent. He was buried under the auspices 
of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in which he 
had always had a vital interest, and now sleeps the 
peaceful sleep of the just in the family lot at Grace- 
land Cemetery, which spot will long continue to be 
marked by the dignified memorial now rising 
over his remains. 

He left a supremely honorable name. Out of the 
many illustrious heroes found herein, none need 
doubt that the memory of the greatest will not 
survive that of Hon. William Charles Goudy. 



HENRY F. FRINK. 



HENRY FARNSWORTH FRINK, whose 
business and social relations cause him to be 
well known in Cook County, enjoys the dis- 
tinction of being a native of Chicago, and repre- 
sents one of its most esteemed pioneer families. 
The house in which he was born stood at the 
corner of Wabasli Avenue and Randolph Street, 
and the date of his advent was April 17, 1848. 
His parents were John and Harriet Frink, an ap- 
propriate notice of whom is given elsewhere in 
this book. 

Henry F. Frink was afforded excellent educa- 



tional advantages, and at twenty years of age 
graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
from the Chicago University. It is needless to 
add that his subsequent career has been such as 
to reflect credit upon his Alma Mater. He began 
the study of law in the office of Sleeper, Whiton 
& Durham, and in 1872 was admitted to practice 
by a committee composed of members of the Bar 
appointed for the purpose of examining candi- 
dates. Since that date he has been continuously 
engaged in practice, making a specialty of real- 
estate law and the examination of abstracts. His 



J. M. ADSIT. 



123 



ample experience and accurate knowledge of 
these subjects are of great value to himself and 
his clients, and cause his opinions to be received 
with respectful attention by attorneys and officials 
generally. He deals in city and suburban realty 
to a considerable extent, and by the exercise of 
foresight and discrimination in these operations 
has accumulated a competence, which he endeav- 
ors to invest in such a manner as to promote the 
commercial interests of the community. In 1891 
he organized the Austin State Bank, of which he 
has ever since been the President, giving consid- 
erable of his time and attention to its affairs. His 
business of all kinds has been conducted in such 
a manner as to secure the best results to his col- 
leagues and at the same time to inspire the confi- 
dence of the public in his judgment and integrity. 
On the I4th of April, 1886, occurred the mar- 
riage of Mr. Frink and Miss Louise Creote, a 
most estimable lady and a daughter of Joseph 
Creote, an early pioneer of Chicago. A daugh- 
ter, Mildred, helps to brighten the home circle of 
Mr. and Mrs. Frink. The former of this couple 



adheres to the Episcopal faith, in the tenets of 
which he was instructed in youth, while his wife 
is a member of the Baptist Church at Austin, 
where the family resides. 

Socially, Mr. Frink is identified with the Royal 
League and Athletic Clubs. While never an act- 
ive politician, he is not unmindful of the duties 
of citizenship, and usually casts his ballot in sup- 
port of Republican principles. 

Previous to the great Chicago fire he occupied 
an office with W. D. Kerfoot at No. 95 Washing- 
ton Street, and for a time subsequent to that dis- 
aster he shared with that gentleman the historic 
cabin in the street, which served them as a shel- 
ter pending the rescue of their safe from the em- 
bers and the erection of their new building. He 
did duty as a member of the citizens' patrol guard 
immediately after the great fire, a temporary ar- 
rangement for the protection of homes and prop- 
erty, which was instrumental in preventing a 
great deal of the pillage and plundering to which 
the city was exposed until the police force could 
be re-organized. 



JAMES M. ADSIT. 



(TAMES M. ADSIT. To have been among 
I the first in Chicago to engage in any honor- 
Q) able calling is quite sufficient to make such 
a one a local historical personage for all time to 
come, and so the career of James M. Adsit is 
filled with unusual interest, because of the con- 
spicuous fact that, apart from his being an excep- 
tional character, he was among the first bankers 
to enter upon a career of finance within the pres- 
ent limits of Cook County. 

Mr. Adsit was born February 5, 1809, in 
Spencertown, Columbia County, New York, unto 
Leonard and Frances Adsit {nee Davenport). 
His father dying when the son was but six years 
of age, he went to live and remain with his 
grandfather Adsit, and after finishing the com- 



mon-school education customary for those early 
days, went for a time into employment in his 
uncle Ira Davenport's store. 

On April 2, 1838, he arrived in Chicago, 
then a city of but a single year's standing, con- 
sisting of only a few streets stragglingly built up; 
and, as one of the earliest pioneers, founded a 
private bank at Number 37 Clark Street in 1850, 
having up to that time, from the date of his arri- 
val, been engaged in loans and investments on 
Lake Street. In 1856 he removed one door to 
Number 39 Clark Street, where he remained un- 
til the "Chicago Fire," at which time he had the 
great misfortune to lose all of his personal papers 
and books connected intimately with much of 
Chicago's early history, whereby vanished forever 



124 



J. M. ADSIT. 



valuable data covering the development of the 
city for its first three decades. But fortune was 
his on that occasion to save the bulk of moneys 
and securities in the vaults of his office, thereby 
being able to reassure his depositors, many of 
whom on days following came with woeful visage, 
in expectation of news of their hard-earned 
means having gone up in flames. 

Shortly after he had re-opened his banking busi- 
ness at Number 422 Wabash Avenue for a few 
months, he removed to a store on Wabash Avenue 
a few doors from Congress, thence to the Ogden 
Building, corner Lake and Clark Streets. He then 
built at Number 41 Clark Street, where he contin- 
ued in active life until 1881 . At that date, owing 
somewhat to failing health, he decided to merge his 
corporation into the Chicago National Bank, of 
which he became the first Vice-President, resign- 
ing, however, in 1885, a t which time he retired 
from active life. 

His shortsightedness, if indeed we are right to 
so style the matter, was a lack of faith in the 
future real-estate values of Chicago. Had a bold 
course been adopted in this direction, it would 
have resulted in the acquiring of an estate vast 
indeed: but sufficient honor is his, in that he un- 
swervingly carried out his financial life in strict 
integrity. 

While ever a stanch Republican in politics, 
Mr. Adsit was never prominent in public life, fig- 
uring rather in the background on movements 
which were to be carried out for the public weal. 
In that sense he was always a most active and 
useful member in aid of advances. Among the 
institutions with which he was conspicuously as- 
sociated was the Mechanics' Institute, of which 
he was the first Vice-President. Following the 
panic of 1857, when threatened by adverse cir- 
cumstances with destruction, he lent strong finan- 
cial support, and was for years one of the chief 
managers, until its future of honor and usefulness 
was assured. In 1871 he was Chairman of the 
Clearing House Association. Among the large 
estates promoted under his management was that 
of Allen C. Lewis, which was enhanced greatly 
in value through his shrewd handling. 

He was a member of the North Side Union 



Club, but growing infirmity of health and life-long 
devotion to home influences prevented much so- 
cial dissipation. On Dearborn Avenue, at the 
corner of Elm Street, in a luxurious mansion- 
house, to which he removed in 1884, he spent 
happy days following a most usefully busy career. 

Up to the time of the great fire, he had at- 
tended at the Wabash Avenue Methodist Church; 
afterwards for some years at the Plymouth Con- 
gregational Church, but finally became an habit- 
ual attendant at David Swing's church, on the 
North Side, following him to the Music Hall or- 
ganization across the river, being thus long in 
intimate relations with him who so feelingly offi- 
ciated at the final obsequies, preceding interment 
at Graceland. The time of going to the other 
shore was September 4, 1894; subsequent to a 
stroke of paralysis and some years of indisposi- 
tion; and when his venerable form, which had 
borne the trials of upwards of eighty-five years, 
was laid to rest, there was not a dry eye over the 
melancholy thought that the worthiest of the rem- 
nant of the early pioneers had gone to his well- 
merited reward. And thus the first generation 
passed into that history which it is the province 
of this publication to rescue from oblivion for the 
edification and teaching of future times. 

Said the well-known philanthropist, Dr. Pear- 
son, in speaking of Mr. Adsit: "He was a thor- 
oughly upright man, whom I never knew to fail 
in an>- undertaking. He passed through the pan- 
ics of 1857, l866 an( * l8 73. an d the great fire, 
not without financial loss, but without a blemish 
upon his reputation, meeting every obligation 
faithfully." Mr. John J. Mitchell, President of 
the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, remarked 
shortly after his demise: "Mr. Adsit was a man 
of the very highest integrity, and none stood 
higher than he among the business men and bank- 
ers of Chicago. * * * In his death Chicago 
loses not only one of her foremost citizens, but 
one who helped to make the city's history, and 
the success she now enjoys." 

Mr. Adsit married, January 21, 1840, MissAr- 
ville Chapin, of Chicago, who, herself in ad- 
vanced age, survives him, waiting her message 
to join on the other side him she so long, so deep- 



H. M. ROBINSON. 



125 



ly loved. Seven children blessed their union, 
namely : 

Leonard D. Adsit, who was born January 29, 
1841, and who died in Chicago in 1879, having 
been a banker, associated with his father; 

Isabella F., who married Ezra I. Wheeler, of 
Chicago, a commission merchant, now deceased, 
leaving her without children; 

James M. Adsit, Jr., born April 7, 1847, un- 
married; a former banker with his father; now a 
stock broker with office in the Stock Exchange; 

Charles Chapin, who is associated with his 
brother as a stock broker; born July 14, 1853; 
married in October, 1890, to Mary Bowman Ash- 
by, of Louisville, Kentucky, by whom one child, 
Charles Chapin, Jr., was born July 3, 1892; 

Caroline Jane, educated at Dearborn Seminary, 
then at Miss Ogden Hoffman's private school in 
New York City; unmarried; 

Frank S., born September 7, 1855; died in 
childhood ; 

Jeanie M., educated at Dearborn Seminary; 
unmarried. 

Mrs. Adsit comes of an old and distinguished 
New England family, of which she is a repre- 
sentative of the seventh American generation. 
Springfield, Massachusetts, is their leading home- 
stead, where members have erected a magnificent 
statue of their "Puritan divine" ancestor. 

Deacon Samuel Chapin, who married a Miss 



Cisily, was the progenitor from whom are de- 
scended all in the United States. He came from 
abroad to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1641, at 
which time he took the "freeman's oath" in Bos- 
ton. The following year he went to Springfield, 
then one of the frontier towns, where he was for 
a long time a local magistrate and one of its first 
deacons. 

His son Henry married Bethia Cooley, and re- 
sided in Springfield. Was a Representative in 
the General Court, a merchant sea-captain be- 
tween London and Boston; afterwards retired to 
live in Boston ; then to Springfield. He had a son, 

Deacon Benjamin, who married Hannah Col- 
ton, and lived in Chicopee, a set-off portion of 
northern Springfield, Massachusetts, where he 
was one of its first deacons. He had a son 

Captain Ephraim, who married Jemima Chapin, 
his own cousin ; lived in Chicopee, where he was 
an old-time inn-keeper. He also served in the 
French and Indian Wars. He had a son 

Bezaleel, who also married his own cousin, 
Thankful Chapin; living at Ludlow Massachu- 
setts. He had a son 

Oramel, who married Suzan Rood; living in 
Ludlow, Massachusetts, thence removing to Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin, later to Chicago, where he 
died. 

Their daughter Arville married the subject of 
this sketch. 



HAMILTON M. ROBINSON. 



HAMILTON MOFFAT ROBINSON was 
born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Eng- 
land, February 12, 1862, and is the eldest 
son of James Hamilton Robinson and Frances 
Jane Moffat. Both the parents represent ancient 
Scottish families. 
James H. Robinson, who was born in London 



and educated at the Edinburgh High School, 
engaged in business in Manchester, England, 
soon after completing his education, and later in 
London, in the East India trade. He continued 
ip business about thirty years, dealing in jute 
and export merchandise. During a portion of 
this time he resided at Calcutta, in order to give 



126 



H. M. ROBINSON. 



personal supervision to his export trade. In 1885 
he retired from business and came to America, 
locating at Winnipeg, Manitoba, where his chil- 
dren had preceded him and where he still resides. 
His father, George Brown Robinson, had suc- 
ceeded his (George's) father in the East India 
trade, and also resided for some years in Calcutta. 
He married Jane Campbell Hamilton, like him- 
self a native of Scotland. She is still living in 
London, at the age of seventy-five years. 

Mrs. Frances J. Robinson was a daughter 
of Col. Bowland Moffat, who commanded the 
Fifty-fourth Regiment of the British army, was 
a veteran of the Crimean War, and was stationed 
for some years at Calcutta, at which place Mr. and 
Mrs. James H. Robinson were married. A num- 
ber of the ancestors of Colonel Moffat were well- 
to-do merchants in the West India trade, and sev- 
eral members of the family served in the British 
army. 

Hamilton M. Robinson was but six months 
old when the family moved from London and 
again took up its residence in Calcutta. Seven 
years subsequently he returned to Europe, and at- 
tended boarding-schools at various points in 
the South of England. At the age of sixteen 
years he finished the course at Chatham House 
College, Ramsgate, Kent. It had been his in- 
tention to enter the East Indian civil service, but 
owing to his father's financial embarrassments 
at that time, he abandoned this purpose and en- 
tered the London office of Kelly & Company, 
East India merchants. He began in the capacity 
of office boy, but with such vigor and intelligence 
did he apply himself to business, that in the brief 
space of four years he became the office manager 
of the firm. He continued in that connection un- 
til September, 1883, when he determined to seek 
a wider field for the development of his talents 
and ability, and came to America, joining his 
brother in the Northwest Territory of Canada. 
He homesteaded a farm in Manitoba, but a short 
time sufficed to convince him that the pursuit of 
agriculture was neither as profitable nor congenial 
as he had anticipated. In the following May he 
joined a friend who was coming to Chicage, and 
has ever since made this city his home and place 



of business. In the spring of 1885 he again 
visited the Northwest Territory, and as a mem- 
ber of Colonel Boulton's scouts, assisted in sup- 
pressing the Riel rebellion. 

He arrived here with neither money, friends 
nor influence, and wasted no time in seeking or 
waiting for a genteel position, but immediately 
began work at the first employment which he 
could obtain. In the mean time he was constantly 
on the alert for a more lucrative occupation, and 
in a few weeks secured a position as bookkeeper 
with the Anglo-American Packing and Provision 
Company, with which he remained for about 
three years. In May, 1887, he resigned this em- 
ployment and obtained a position with the firm 
of Crosby & Macdonald, marine underwriters. 
He continued in this connection about five years, 
winning the confidence and esteem of his em- 
ployers, and demonstrating his integrity and 
ability for the transaction of business. In what- 
ever position he has been placed he has ever been 
an indefatigable worker, striving to promote the 
interests of those whom he served, even at the 
expense of his own health and personal comfort. 
On the first of June, 1892, Mr. Robinson formed 
a partnership with James B. Kellogg, under the 
firm name of Kellogg & Robinson, marine average 
adjusters. This is one of the leading firms of 
marine adjusters upon the shores of Lake Michi- 
gan, and their success has been gratifying from 
the start. 

Mr. Robinson is a member of the Lake Board 
of Average Adjusters, and of the Association of 
Average Adjusters of the United States. He has 
never identified himself with any political party, 
but takes an intelligent interest in questions of 
public policy, and has been an American citizen 
since 1891. He is heartily in sympathy with the 
spirit of American institutions, and may be classed 
as one of the most desirable and useful among 
the foreign-born citizens of Chicago. 

He was married, in 1887, to Ida T. Cleverdon, 
of Toronto, province of Ontario, Canada, daugh- 
ter of William Thompson Cleverdon and Nanie 
Geech, both formerly residents of Halifax, Nova 
Scotia. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



M. W. FULLER 



127 



MELVILLE W. FULLER. 



I ELVILLE WESTON FULLER. The fol- 
lowing sketch of Chief Justice Fuller was 
written by the late Major Joseph Kirkland 
for the "History of Chicago," published by Mun- 
sell & Company, by whose permission it is here 
reprinted: 

Chief Justice Fuller traces his descent direct 
to the "Mayflower. ' ' His father was Frederick A. 
Fuller, and his mother Catherine Martin Weston. 
His grandfather on the mother's side was Nathan 
Weston, Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme 
Court; and his uncle, George Melville Weston, 
was a prominent lawyer of Augusta. Melville 
Weston Fuller was born February n, 1833, at 
Augusta, Maine, and grew up with good educa- 
tional advantages. He was prepared for college 
at Augusta, and entered Bowdoin College in 1849, 
where he was graduated in 1853. Thence he 
went to Dane Law School (Harvard), where so 
many of our western jurists have earned their 
diplomas. He is described as having been a 
rather aimless youth, but in college a model 
student, with a special gift for public speaking. 
He began his law practice in Augusta, but find- 
ing business lacking, he employed his time and 
eked out his income by newspaper work; a cir- 
cumstance to which is doubtless due something of 
the literary facility which has always formed a 
strong feature in his career. 

An interesting fact connected with this journal- 
istic experience is this: At a certain session of the 
Legislature which Melville W. Fuller reported for 
the Augusta Age (which he and his uncle, B. A. 
G. Fuller, published together), James G. Elaine 
was engaged as correspondent of the Kennebec 



Journal. Though opposed in politics, the two 
men were always personal friends, and at last, by 
a curious coincidence, found themselves in Wash- 
ington together; the one Chief Justice of the Su- 
preme Court, and the other Secretary of State. 

Mr. Fuller's success in Augusta as a lawyer 
was in proportion to the law business of the place, 
and so not large or satisfying. His success in 
politics was in proportion to his ability, and there- 
fore excellent. At twenty-three he was City At- 
torney and President of the Common Council of 
Augusta. 

Still, it must have been unconsciously borne in 
upon him that Augusta and Maine, always loved 
and honored by him, were, after all, a "pent-up 
Utica" to such a soul as his. He must, at least, 
see the great West. In 1 856 he came to Chicago, 
meeting here his friend and fellow-townsman, 
Mr. S. K. Dow, a practicing lawyer, who urged 
him to emigrate, offering him a place in his office 
and, at his choice, either a partnership in the 
business or a salary of $50 per month. He chose 
the latter, and worked on those terms five months, 
living within his income. But scarcely a year 
had passed before he began to do a fine and prof- 
itable business, which went on increasing with 
remarkable speed and steadiness up to the time 
of his leaving the Bar for the Supreme Bench. 

In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and by 
friendship and sympathy a warm adherent ot 
Stephen A. Douglas. At Mr. Douglas's death in 
1861, he delivered the funeral oration, his speech 
being a masterly production. In the same year 
he was elected a member of the Constitutional 
Convention, and two years later we find him in 



128 



M. W. FULLER. 



the Illinois Legislature. Here he gave the same 
strenuous support to the war which was offered 
by other Douglas men; he was a Unionist, but 
not an anti-slavery man or Republican. The 
war Democrats were in favor of the war as they 
thought it should be conducted, giving their ad- 
herence to the McClellan plan as being the most 
certain to triumph and restore the integrity of the 
country. 

Here it seems well to quote from some fine 
verses written by Mr. Fuller long afterward. 
They are on the death of General Grant, and 
show at once a loyal feeling for the great soldier's 
services and a true poetic thought and diction; a 
power of composition rare in the learned, prac- 
ticed and successful lawyer: 

Let drum to trumpet speak 
The trumpet to the cannoneer without 
The cannon to the heavens from each redoubt, 

Each lowly valley and each lofty peak, 
As to his rest the great commander goes 
Into the pleasant land of earned repose. 

* * * * 

Not in his battles won, 
Though long the well-fought fields may keep their name, 

But in the wide world's sense of duty done, 
The gallant soldier finds the meed of fame; 
His life no struggle for ambition's prize, 
Simply the duty done that next him lies. 

* * * * 

Earth to its kindred earth: 
The spirit to the fellowship of souls! 
As, slowly, Time the mighty scroll unrolls 

Of waiting ages yet to have their birth, 
Fame, faithful to the faithful, writes on high 
His name as one that was not born to die. 

Mr. Fuller was a hard worker in his profession ; 
and it is said of him that in any case his stoutest 
fighting is done when the day seems lost, when 
he is very apt to turn defeat into victory. He is 
reported to have had, during his thirty years' 
practice, as many as twenty-five hundred cases at 
the Chicago Bar; which, deducting his absence at 
the Legislature, etc., would give him at least one 
hundred cases a year; fewer, necessarily, in the 
earlier part of his practice, and more afterward. 
This shows a remarkable degree of activity and 
grasp of business. He has never made a specialty 
of any kind of law, though there are some where- 
in his name scarcely appears; for instance, di- 
vorce law and criminal law. Among his many 
cases are Field against Leiter; the Lake Front 



case; Storey against Storey's estate; Hyde Park 
against Chicago; Carter against Carter, etc., and 
the long ecclesiastical trial of Bishop Cheney on 
the charge of heresy. 

His partnership with Mr. Dow lasted until 
1860. From 1862 to 1864 his firm was Fuller & 
Ham, then for two years Fuller, Ham & Shep- 
ard, and for two years more Fuller & Shepard. 
From 1869 to 1877 he had as partner his cousin, 
Joseph E. Smith, son of Governor Smith, of 
Maine. Since that time he has had no partner. 
His business was only such as he chose to ac- 
cept; and his professional income has been esti- 
mated at from $20,000 to $30,000 a year. His 
property includes the Fuller Block on Dearborn 
Street, and is popularly valued at $300,000. 

He was a delegate to the Democratic National 
Conventions of 1 864, 1872, 1876 and 1880, always 
taking a prominent place. Just after Mr. Cleve- 
land's first election to the Presidency, Mr. Fuller 
called on him in Albany, and Mr. Cleveland at 
once conceived for him a very high appreciation. 
On the death of Chief Justice Waite it seemed de- 
sirable that the new Justice should be taken from 
the West; and Mr. Fuller's liberal education, the 
catholicity of his law practice, his marked indus- 
try, abilit}- and command of language all these, 
joined with his devotion to the principles of his 
party, made him a natural choice for nomination 
to the position. High and unexpected as was the 
honor, Mr. Fuller hesitated before accepting it. 
If it satisfies his ambition in one direction, it 
checks it in another. 

The salary of the Chief Justice of the United 
States is $10,500 a year; very far less than the 
gains arising from general practice in the front 
rank of lawyers, or from service as counsel of any 
one of hundreds of great corporations. So there 
comes a kind of dead-lock; if a man happens to be 
born to riches, he is pretty sure never to go 
through the hard work which alone gives leader- 
ship in the law. If he starts poor, then, having 
his fortune to make, he cannot take Federal judi- 
cial office, that being a life-long position. The 
only way in which the Federal Bench can be ap- 
propriately filled, under the circumstances, is 
when by chance a man prefers power and dignity 



JOHN PRINDIVILLE. 



129 



to mere riches; or where his success has been so 
sudden that he, is able (and willing) to accept 
a judgeship as a kind of honorable retirement 
from the struggle and competition of practice. 

Aside from these considerations, Mr. Fuller felt 
a natural hesitancy in undertaking a responsibil- 
ity so trying and hazardous. 

As to the money obstacle, Mr. Fuller probably 
felt himself, through his great and rapid success, 
able to afford to accept the appointment. He ac- 
cepted it, was hailed in his new dignity with 
genial cordiality, and has filled the office with un- 
impeachable credit and honor. 

Mr. Fuller's first wife was Miss Calista O. 
Reynolds. She died young, after bearing him 
two children. He married a second time, taking 



to wife Mary Ellen, daughter of the distinguished 
banker, William F. Coolbaugh. His family now 
consists of eight daughters and one son; and 
his domestic and social relations are as happy as 
it is possible to imagine, the young ladies being 
full of gaiety and loveliness in all its styles and 
types. He himself is never so well content as in 
his own household, making merry with all. It is 
even whispered that should his resignation not 
throw his own party out of the tenancy of the 
office to which it chose him, he might give up the 
irksome and confining dignity and the forced 
residence in a strange city, and return to the 
West, to the city of his choice, to the home of 
his heart. 



CAPT. JOHN PRINDIVILLE. 



ft} APT. JOHN PRINDIVILLE, whose name is 
I ( a synonym for honesty, courage and gener- 
\J osity among the early residents of Chicago, 
was born in Ireland, September 7, 1826. The 
names of his parents were Maurice Prindiville and 
Catharine Morris. While a boy at school Maur- 
ice Prindiville ran away from home and went to 
sea, making a voyage to India, thereby gratifying 
his thirst for adventure and forfeiting the oppor- 
tnnity to enter Trinity College at Dublin. Re- 
turning to his native land, he there married Miss 
Morris, and in 1835 came with his family to Amer- 
ica. After spending a year at Detroit, he came to 
Chicago, where he was for several years in charge 
of Newbury & Dole's grain warehouse. With his 
family, he took up his residence in a log house on 
Chicago Avenue, at the northern terminus of Wol- 
cott (now North State) Street, which was subse- 
quently extended. The locality was long known 
as "the Prindiville Patch." The nearest house 
was Judge Brown's residence, on the west side of 
Wolcott Street, between Ontario and Ohio Streets, 



the only one between Prindiville' s and River 
Street, the intervening territory being covered 
with thick woods. Indians and wild beasts were 
numerous in the vicinity at that time, and John 
Prindiville became quite familiar with the Indians 
and learned to speak several of their dialects. 
His father and he were firm friends of Chief Wau- 
bansee and others, and always espoused their 
cause in resisting the encroachments of the whites 
upon their rights and domains. 

As a boy John was noted for his dare-devil 
pranks, though always popular with his comrades, 
whom he often led into difficulties, out of which he 
usually succeeded in bringing them without seri- 
ous results. He was one of the first students at 
St. Mary's College, which was located at the cor- 
ner of Wabash Avenue and Madison Street. Upon 
one occasion, he led a number of students upon a 
flqating cake of ice near the shore of the lake. 
The wind suddenly changed, and, before they 
were aware of their condition, floated their preca- 
rious barge out into the lake. Upon discovering 



JOHN PRINDIVILLE. 



the danger, John promptly led the way back to 
shore by wading through water breast deep. This 
prompt action, aided by his reputation for honesty 
and truthfulness, saved him from punishment at 
the hands of the college authorities. He always 
had a great desire to live upon the water, and at 
the age of eleven years he gratified this tendency 
by shipping as a cook on a lake schooner. Two 
of the first vessels upon which he sailed were the 
"Hiram Pearson" and "Constitution." His 
menial position made him the butt of the sailors, 
but he took so readily to the life of a mariner and 
performed his duties so thoroughly and capably, 
that he rapidly won promotion to more respon- 
sible posts, and when but nineteen years of age 
became the master of the schooner "Liberty," 
engaged in the lumber trade between Chicago and 
other Lake Michigan ports. For about ten years 
he was the skipper of sailing-vessels, abandoning 
the last of these in 1855, after which he com- 
manded several steamers, although that was never 
so much to his taste as sailing. In 1860 he for- 
sook marine life, though he has been ever since 
interested in the operation of lake craft. From 
1855 to 1865 he and his brother, Redmond Prin- 
diville, operated a line of tugs upon the Chicago. 
River. During this time, in August, 1862, he 
had a narrow escape from instant death by the 
explosion of the boiler of the tug "Union." 
Though not regularly in command of the vessel, 
he chanced to be on board at that time, and had 
just left the wheel, going aft to hail another tug, 
when the accident occurred. Captain Daly, who 
took his place at the wheel, and several others 
were instantly killed. 

As a skipper, Capt. John Prindiville was noted 
for quick trips, always managing to out-distance 
any competing vessels, though he made wreck of 
many spars and timbers by crowding on canvas. 
One of his standing orders was that sail should 
not be shortened without instructions, though it 
was allowable to increase it at any time deemed 
desirable. He was ever on the alert and always 
took good care of the lives of his crew and pass- 
engers. He was a strict disciplinarian, but was 
always popular with his men, who considered it 
a special honor to be able to sail with him, and 



were ever ready to brave any danger to serve 
him. These included a number of those who had 
been accustomed to curse him when he first began 
his marine career in the capacity of cook. 

In 1850 Captain Prindiville commanded the 
brigantine "Minnesota" (which was built in Chi- 
cago, below Rush Street Bridge) , the first Amer- 
ican vessel to traverse the St. Lawrence River. 
Her cargo consisted of copper from the Bruce 
Mines on Georgian Bay, and her destination was 
Swansea, Wales. Owing to the stupidity and in- 
capacity of the pilot, she ran upon the rocks in 
Lachine Canal and was obliged to unload. This 
was a disappointment to the youthful captain, who 
was ambitious to be the first lake skipper to cross 
the ocean. He and his brothers owned the 
schooner "Pamlico," the first vessel loaded from 
Chicago for Liverpool. This was in 1873, and 
the cargo consisted of twenty-four thousand seven 
hundred bushels of corn. 

November 17, 1857, occurred one of the most 
disastrous storms which ever visited Lake Michi- 
gan, an event long to be remembered by the fami- 
lies of those who were sailors at that time. A 
number of vessels were wrecked off the shore of 
Chicago, and many lives were sacrificed to the fury 
of the elements. The number of fatalities would 
have been far greater but for the bravery and har- 
dihood of Captain Prindiville and his crew, who 
manned the tug "McQueen" and brought maity 
of the men to land in safety, though at the peril 
of their own lives. For this act of bravery and 
humanity, on the evening of that day, Hon. 
Stephen A. Douglas, in behalf of the citizens, 
who had assembled at the Tremont House, ten- 
dered him a purse of $700 in gold. This valua- 
ble testimonial he modestly declined, recommend- 
ing that the money be distributed among the 
families of the crew of the "Flying Cloud," all of 
whom had been lost in the storm. This is only 
one of the many instances of his courage and self- 
sacrifice in behalf of others. It is an acknowl- 
edged and well-known fact that he has saved more 
human lives than any other navigator on Lake 
Michigan. 

Captain Prindiville is the father of eight living 
children, the offspring of two marriages. On the 



J. W. GARY. 



i8th of November, 1845, Miss Margaret Kalehr 
became his bride. After her death he married 
Margaret Prendergast, a native of Burlington, 
Vermont, who came to Chicago with her parents 
about 1840. Of his three sons, Redmond is now 
an ex-captain of lake craft, and resides in Chi- 
cago. James W. and Thomas J. are associated 
with their father in the vessel and marine busi- 
ness. 

Captain Prindiville has been a steadfast Roman 
Catholic from boyhood, and is now a communi- 
cant of the Cathedral of the Holy Name. He is 



broad-minded and tolerant toward all sincere 
Christians. He is a member of the Royal Arca- 
num, and in national politics has been a life-long 
Democrat, but gives his support to any good citi- 
zen for local office, irrespective of party fealty. 
He has been a member of the Chicago Board of 
Trade since 1856, and is now one of the oldest 
citizens connected with that body. His noble, 
self-sacrificing spirit and unquestioned integrity 
of character have won a host of friends, by whom 
his memory will be cherished long after the mere 
man of millions has passed into obscurity. 



JOHN W. GARY. 



(JOHN W. CARY was the lineal descendant 
I in the fifth generation of John Gary, who 
(2) came from Somersetshire, near Bristol, Eng- 
land, in 1634, and joined the Plymouth Colony, 
and a son of Asa Gary, who was born in Mans- 
field, Connecticut, in 1774. He was born Feb- 
ruary ii, 1817, in Shoreham, Vermont. Four- 
teen years later, his parents removed to western 
New York, where he attended the common 
school, assisting his father on the farm until, at 
the age of twenty, he entered Union College. He 
supported himself through college, and was grad- 
uated with the Class of 1842. Two years later he 
was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of 
New York, and followed his profession in Wayne 
and Cayuga Counties until 1850, when he re- 
moved to Wisconsin, taking up his residence at 
Racine. He took an active interest in educational 
matters, and as a School Commissioner was in- 
strumental in developing the public-school sys- 
tem of Racine. He was elected State Senator in 
1852, and Mayor in 1857. Two years later he 
removed his home to Milwaukee, and was at 



once engaged as solicitor and counsel to fore- 
close the mortgages given by the La Crosse & 
Milwaukee Railroad Company. At the resulting 
sale, the property was purchased by the Milwau- 
kee & St. Paul Railroad Company (now the Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul), which he had in- 
corporated, and of which he continued as the 
legal adviser and one of the controlling spirits to 
the day of his death, a period of thirty-six years. 
Until 1887 he was the General Solicitor of that 
company, at which time the Board of Directors 
created the office of General Counsel, and he was 
then chosen to that position, which he continued 
to fill up to the time of his death. He was not 
only the legal adviser of that company, counsel- 
ing on all questions and conducting all its litiga- 
tion, in which he was eminently successful, es- 
pecially before the Supreme Court of the United 
States, but during all that time he was the chief 
counselor and adviser of the general policy of the 
company. He stood high in the legal profession, 
and was regarded by all as one of the best equip- 
ped railway lawyers in the country. Some of the 



132 



J. W. GARY. 



cases in which he appeared as counsel before the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and in which 
he was successful, rank among the most notable 
cases of that court. He argued before that court 
what is known as the Milk Rate case, which was 
the case of the State of Minnesota against the 
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Com- 
pany, decided in April, 1890. The magnitude 
of that case, both as regards the principle in- 
volved and the moneyed interest affected, places 
it by the side of such cases as the Dartmouth 
College case, the case of McCulloch versus Mary- 
land, and the Slaughter House cases. The Su- 
preme Court in that case held, as Mr. Gary had 
for many years contended, that the reasonableness 
of a rate of charge for transportation of property 
by a railroad company was a question of judicial 
determination, rather than of arbitrary legislative 
action, and that State Legislatures, in fixing the 
rates of freight, must fix reasonable rates; that is, 
rates which are compensatory , such as will per- 
mit carriers to receive reasonable profits upon 
their invested capital, the same as other persons 
are permitted to receive. 

The success of Mr. Gary in this case is all the 
more notable from the fact that fifteen years pre- 
viously he appeared as counsel for the St. Paul 
Company in what are- known as the Granger 
cases, in which that court declined to adopt the 
rule which it afterwards established in the Milk 
Rate case. 

Of the members of that court at the time the 
Granger cases were argued, but one remains, 
Justice Field, and of the leading counsel who ap- 
peared in those cases all have passed away ex- 
cept William M. Evarts. It is a notable fact that 
Mr. Cary survived every justice who was a mem- 
ber of that court at the time of his first appearance 
therein, as well as the leading lawyers who were 
practicing in that court at that time. 

It is told of Mr. Cary that he successfully 
argued fourteen cases during one session of the 
Supreme Court, against such men as Caleb Cush- 
.ing, Matt H. Carpenter, Henry A. Cram, of New 
York, and other eminent men. 

In 1872, while a member of the Wisconsin 
State Legislature, he was requested to draw a 



general railroad law for the state, which he did, 
and the statute which he prepared was adopted 
and is still in force, and has passed into history 
as one of the most important laws ever enacted in 
Wisconsin, and is regarded by all as a law fair 
both to the people and the railway companies. 

No person in the State of Wisconsin was better 
or more favorably known than Mr. Cary. His 
reputation as a lawyer of marked abilities, and 
his character for candor and integrity as a man, 
were enviable. At all times and everywhere he 
maintained the honor of his profession and the 
majesty of the law. Those who knew him best 
respected him the most. 

He always took a great interest in political af- 
fairs, and was unusually well versed in national 
and political history. Throughout his entire man- 
hood he was a devoted adherent of Democracy, 
receiving in 1864 the nomination for Congress, 
and upon several occasions the complimentary 
vote of the Legislature for United States Senator. 
During the long period in which the Democratic 
party was in the minority, which covered nearly 
the whole of his maturer years, Mr. Cary re- 
mained steadfast in his loyalty to its principles. 
But for this fact his name would undoubtedly 
have found place on the pages of history among 
the most eminent statesmen of his generation. A 
man of vast mental endowment, clear of judg- 
ment, and true as the needle to the pole was he 
to the right as he saw the right. 

He resided in Milwaukee until 1890, when the 
general offices of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
Paul Railway Company were removed to Chicago. 
At this time he removed his home to Hinsdale, a 
suburb of Chicago, where he resided until his 
death, which occurred in Chicago on March 29, 
1895. 

In 1844 Mr. Cary was married to Eliza Vilas, 
who died in 1845, leaving a daughter, Eliza. In 
1 847 he was married to Isabel Brinkerhoff. He 
has seven children living, namely: Eliza, who is 
the wife of Sherburn Sanborn ; Frances, the widow 
of Charles D. Kendrick; Melbert B., Fred A., 
John W., Jr., George P. and Paul V. 

In his intercourse with his fellow-men, and 
with his associates in professional labor, he was 



E. W. BAILEY. 



133 



alway considerate and gentle. No unkind or 
reproachful word ever passed his lips. He was 
true and faithful in friendship, magnanimous in 
his dealings with others, and every act was 
prompted by the highest sense of honor. He was 
modest and unassuming, simple and unaffected in 



manner, and admired, trusted and loved by all 
who knew him. 

" In his family and home life 
He was all sunshine; in his face 
The very soul of sweetness shone." 



EDWARD W. BAILEY. 



|~DWARD WILLIAM BAILEY, a member 
fJ of the Chicago Board of Trade, was born at 
Elinore, La Moille County, Vermont, Au- 
gust 31, 1843. His parents, George W. Bailey and 
Rebecca Warren, were natives of Berlin, Vermont. 
The Bailey family is remotely of Scotch lineage. 
George W. Bailey was one of a family of thirteen 
children, and was bereft of his father in childhood. 
He participated in the War of 1812, entering the 
sen-ice of the United States at the age of sixteen 
years. But little is known of his service, except 
that he was in the battle of Fort Erie. He be- 
came a prominent farmer and practical business 
man, officiating as President of the Vermont 
Mutual Life Insurance Company, and for many 
years filled the office of Judge of Probate in 
Washington County, a circumstance which indi- 
cates the regard and confidence reposed in him 
by his fellow- citizens. His death occurred at 
Montpelier in 1868, at the age of seventy years. 
Mrs. Rebecca Bailey was a daughter of Abel War- 
ren. She died upon the homestead farm at El- 
more in 1885, having reached the mature age of 
eighty-three years. 

Edward W. Bailey is the youngest of ten chil- 
dren. His education was obtained in the public 
schools, and in Washington County Grammar 
School at Montpelier. From the age of seventeen 
years, he assisted his father in the management 
of the homestead farm, thereby developing a 
strong muscular frame and acquiring strength 
and endurance for the subsequent battle of life. 



He also inherited the upright character and con- 
scientious principles for which his progenitors 
had been conspicuous, and when, in 1869, he en- 
tered upon his commercial career, he was fully 
competent to meet and master the exigencies and 
vicissitudes which ever beset the business man. 
At that date he purchased a grocery store at 
Montpelier, and the following year he and his 
partner increased their business by the addition 
of a gristmill. When the firm dissolved, a few 
years later, Mr. Bailey retained the mill and 
still continues to own and operate the same. 

In 1879 he located in Chicago, and, in partner- 
ship with V. W. Bullock, began dealing in grain 
on commission, an occupation which still em- 
ploys his time and attention. After the first two 
or three years, Mr. Bailey became sole proprie- 
tor of the business, and now occupies commo- 
dious quarters in the Board of Trade Building. 
In most instances, he has been successful, and he 
has ever maintained a reputation for honorable 
dealing and integrity of character, which has 
earned him the confidence of all his business as- 
sociates. There is, perhaps, no man upon the 
Board of Trade to-day in whom the public has 
better reason to trust or whose business credit is 
freer from imputation. 

In June, 1869, he was married to Miss Jennie 
Carter, daughter of Charles H. Carter, of Mont- 
pelier, Vermont. The lady was born in Wil- 
mington, Massachusetts, and has become the 
mother of two children: George C., who holds a 



134 



J. B. BRADWELL. 



responsible position with the great packing house 
of Swift & Company, and Mary D., wife of Fred- 
erick Meyer, of Chicago. Mr. Bailey holds 
liberal views on religious subjects, and was for 
many years a member of the congregation of the 
late Prof. David Swing. He is not in fellowship 
with any social or religious organization. Though 
not an active politician, he never fails to exercise 



the right as well as duty of casting a vote, 
and supports Republican principles, believing the 
Republican party to represent the best social and 
economic ideas. He is a man of resolution and 
prompt action, and his industrious habits have 
made him an exemplary business man, whose life 
and character are worthy of the emulation of the 
rising generation. 



HON. JAMES B. BRADWELL. 



HON. JAMES B. BRADWELL. This dis- 
tinguished gentleman, an excellent portrait 
of whom is herewith presented, was born 
April 1 6, 1828, at Loughborough, England. His 
parents were Thomas and Elizabeth (Gutridge) 
Bradwell. The family left England when James 
was sixteen months old, and settled in Utica, 
New York, where they resided until 1833, when 
they removed to Jacksonville, Illinois. They 
went from Jacksonville to what is now Wheeling, 
Cook County, Illinois, in Ma}-, 1834. The fam- 
ily made the trip in a covered wagon drawn by a 
span of horses and a yoke of oxen, and, although 
the distance was but two hundred and fifty miles, 
it took twenty-one days to complete the journey. 
Young Bradwell spent a number of years upon a 
farm in Cook County, splitting rails, breaking 
prairie, mowing and cradling in the old-fashioned 
way, which aided to give him that strength of 
body and mind which he possesses at the age of 
sixty -seven. His early education was obtained 
in a log schoolhouse; later in Wilson's Academy, 
of Chicago, in which Judge Lorenzo Sawyer, of 
California, was tutor; and was completed in Knox 
College, Galesburg, Illinois. He supported him- 
self in college by sawing wood and working in a 
wagon and plow shop afternoons and Saturdays, 
where he often had to take his pay in orders on 
stores, which he discounted at twenty-five cents 



on the dollar. This resulted in the young man 
taking an oath that if ever he lived to employ 
men he would never pa}- them in orders or truck. 
Although he has paid hundreds of thousands 
of dollars for wages, he has religiously kept his 
oath. For a number of years before his admis- 
sion to the Bar he worked as a journeyman at 
several different trades in Chicago. He is a 
natural mechanic, and, believing with Solomon 
that "the rest of the laboring man is sweet," he 
aimed, even when on the Bench and at the Bar, 
to devote a portion of every day to some kind of 
manual labor. It is said that he could earn his 
living to-day as a journeyman at any one of sev- 
enteen trades. As a process artist he has few su- 
periors. He invented a process of his own for 
doing half-tone work, and has the honor of hav- 
ing made the first half-tone cut ever produced 
in Chicago that of Chief Justice Fuller, of the 
United States Supreme Court. Nearly forty years 
ago he was admitted to the Illinois Bar, and, 
being a good speaker, a bold, dashing young 
man, and considerable of a "hustler, "he succeeded 
in building up a large and paying practice. In 
1 86 1 he was elected County Judge of Cook Coun- 
ty by a larger majority than any judge had ever 
received in the county up to that time; and in 
1865 he was re-elected for four years. Judge 
Bradwell was elected to the Legislature of Illi- 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




MRS. MYRA BRADWELL 



MYRA BRADWELL. 



135 



nois in 1873, and re-elected in 1875. He has 
held many offices in charitable and other institu- 
tions; presided at Cleveland during the organiza- 
tion of the American Woman Suffrage Associa- 
tion; was President of the Chicago Press Club; 
President of the Chicago Rifle Club, and for 
many years was considered the best rifle shot in 
Chicago; President of the Chicago Bar Associa- 
tion; President of the Illinois State Bar Associa- 
tion, and for many years its historian; President 
of the Chicago Soldiers' Home; Chairman of the 
Arms and Trophy Department of the Northwest- 
ern Sanitary Commission and Soldiers' Home 
Fair in 1865; one of the founders of the Union 
League Club of Chicago, President of the Board 
of Directors the first year, and the first man to 
sign the roll of membership, "Long John" Went- 
worth being the second; he has been President of 
the Chicago Photographic Society, and was Chair- 
man of the Photographic Congress Auxiliary of 
the World's Columbian Exposition. 

When on the Bench he ranked as a probate 
jurist second only to the distinguished surrogate, 
Alexander Bradford, 'of New York. 

He was the first judge to hold, during the war, 
that a marriage made during slavery was valid 
upon emancipation, and that the issue of such a 
marriage was legitimate upon emancipation and 
would inherit from their emancipated parents; 



or, in other words, that the civil rights of slaves, 
being suspended during slavery, revived upon 
emancipation. The opinion was delivered in the 
case of Matt C. Jones, and was published ap- 
provingly in the London Solicitors' Journal, and 
fully endorsed by Mr. Joel Prentiss Bishop ten 
years after it was rendered, in one of his works. 
Judge Bradwell was the friend of the widow and 
the orphan an able, impartial judge. 

He was an influential member of the Legisla- 
ture, and aided in securing the passage of a num- 
ber of measures for the benefit of the State and 
the city of his adoption. He holds advanced 
views as to the rights of women, and introduced 
a bill making women eligible to all school offices, 
and, mainly by his influence and power, secured 
its passage; also a bill making women eligible to 
be appointed notaries public. 

Judge Bradwell has taken the Thirty-third and 
last degree in Masonry, and is an honorary mem- 
ber of the Supreme Council with its Grand East 
at Boston, and also an honorary member of the 
Ancient Ebor Preceptory at York, England. He 
has recently published a neat volume of Ancient 
Masonic Rolls and other matter of interest to the 
order, showing that there was originally no pro- 
vision against the admission of women to the fra- 
ternity. 



MYRA BRADWELL 



IV^YRA BRADWELL. In these latter days 
I V I of the century, a century which has done 
|(jj| more for women than any other in the his- 
tory of the world, it is interesting to record the 
life of a citizen of Chicago of national reputation, 
who wrought earnestly, wisely and successfully 
for woman's advancement. 

To follow in a pathway which has been made 
for one is easy. To be an original and practical 



leader, clearing the way for others to come, is a 
difficult undertaking. Such a leader was Myra 
Bradwell, one of the pioneers in the movements 
to give woman equal rights before the law and 
equal opportunities to labor in all avocations. 

Myra Bradwell was born in Manchester, Ver- 
mont, February 12, 1831. In infancy she was 
taken to Portage, New York, where she remained 
until her twelfth year, when she came West with 



MYRA BRADWELL. 



her father's family. In the warp of her nature 
was woven the woof of that sterling New England 
character which has made such an impress on 
our national life. On her father's side she was 
descended from a family which numbers many 
noble men, philanthropists, eminent divines and 
noted statesmen. Her father, Eben Colby, was 
the son of John Colby, a Baptist minister of New 
Hampshire. Her father's mother was a lineal 
descendant of Aquilla Chase, whose family gave 
to the world the noted divine, Bishop Philander 
Chase, of the Episcopal Church, and Salmon P. 
Chase, Chief Justice of the United States. 

On her mother's side she was a descendant of 
Isaac Willey, who settled in Boston in 1640. Two 
members of the family, Allen and John Willey, 
served in the Revolutionary War, and were in the 
little army which suffered glorious defeat at Bun- 
ker Hill. Her family were aggressive Abolition- 
ists and stanch friends of the Lovejoys. The 
story of the murdered martyr, Elijah Lovejoy, as 
recounted by the friend of her youth, Owen Love- 
joy, made a deep impression upon her mind. 
Thus early was implanted a hatred of slavery 
and injustice in the soul of one who was destined, 
in after years, to bear a conspicuous part in free- 
ing her sex from some of the conditions of vas- 
salage in which it had stood a champion who 
broke one of the strongest barriers to woman's 
enfranchisement, the Bar, and paved the way for 
women into the upper halls of justice, into the 
greatest court of the world. As a student, pos- 
sessed of a keen, logical mind, with the soul of a 
poet, she early evinced a deep love for learning, 
and made the most of the limited educational ad- 
vantages which were then deemed more than suf- 
ficient for girls. After studying at Kenosha and 
the ladies' seminary in Elgin, Myra engaged in 
teaching. 

May 18, 1852, Myra Colby was united in mar- 
riage with James B. Bradwell. Soon after her mar- 
riage she removed with her husband to Memphis, 
Tennessee. While there she proved herself a 
veritable helpmate, conducting with her husband 
the largest select school in the city. In two 
years they returned to Chicago, where her hus- 
band engaged in the practice of the law, and 



where they have since resided. With the ardor 
of a true patriot, she could not remain inactive 
when danger threatened the Government which 
her Revolutionary ancestors fought to establish. 
During the war she helped care for the suffering, 
the wounded and the dying. The Soldiers' Fair 
of 1863, and the Fair of 1867 for the benefit of 
the families of soldiers, had no more active or 
efficient worker than Mrs. Bradwell. She was a 
member and Secretary of the Committee on Arms, 
Trophies and Curiosities of the great Northwest- 
ern Sanitary Fair, and was the leading spirit in 
producing that artistic and beautiful exhibition in 
Bryan Hall in 1865. When the war was over, 
she assisted in providing a liDme for the scarred 
and maimed and dependent veterans who shoul- 
dered the musket to preserve the Union. 

Becoming deeply interested in her husband's 
profession, she commenced the study of law un- 
der his tutelage, at first with no thought of be- 
coming a practicing lawyer, but subsequently she 
decided to make the profession her life work, and 
applied herself diligently to its study. In 1868 
she established the "Chicago Legal News," the 
first weeekly law periodical published in the West, 
and the first paper of its kind edited by a woman 
in the world, and which stands to-day the best 
monument to her memory. Believing fully in 
the power of the law, she adopted as the motto 
of the "Legal News" the words Lex Vincil, which 
have always been at the head of its columns. 
Practical newspaper men and prominent lawyers 
at once predicted its failure, but they under-esti- 
mated the ability and power of its editor. She 
obtained from the Legislature special acts mak- 
ing all the laws of Illinois and the opinions of the 
Supreme Court of the State printed in her paper 
evidence in the courts. She made the paper a 
success from the start, and it was soon recognized 
by the Bench and Bar throughout the country as 
one of the best legal periodicals in the United 
States. With her sagacity, enterprise and mas- 
terful business ability she built up one of the 
most flourishing printing and publishing houses 
in the West. Two instances may be cited to 
show her business energy and enterprise. From 
the year 1869, when she first began to publish 



MYRA BRADWELL. 



137 



the Illinois session laws, she always succeeded 
in getting her edition out many weeks in advance 
of any other edition. At the Chicago fire, in 
common with thousands of others, she lost home 
and business possessions, but, undismayed by 
misfortune, she hastened to Milwaukee, had the 
paper printed and published on the regular pub- 
lication day, and thus not an issue of her paper 
was lost during this trying time in our city's 
history. 

She finally decided to apply for admission to the 
Bar and to practice law. She had been permitted 
to work side by side with her husband as a most 
successful teacher, why not as a lawyer ? 

In 1869 she passed a most creditable examina- 
tion for the Bar, but was denied admission by the 
Supreme Court of Illinois, upon the ground that 
she was a married woman, her married state be- 
ing considered a disability. She knew that the 
real reason had not been given. She filed an ad- 
ditional brief which combated the position of the 
court with great force, and compelled the court 
to give the true reason. In due time the court, 
by Mr. Chief Justice Lawrence, delivered an elab- 
orate opinion, in which it was said, upon mature 
deliberation, the court had concluded to refuse to 
admit Mrs. Bradwell upon the sole ground that 
she was a woman. She sued out a writ of error 
against the State of Illinois in the Supreme Court 
of the United States. Her case in that tribunal 
was argued in 1871 by Senator Matt Carpenter. 
In May, 1873, the judgment of the lower court 
was affirmed by the United States Supreme 
Court. Mr. Chief Justice Chase, who never failed 
to give his powerful testimony to aid in lifting 
woman from dependence and helplessness to 
strength and freedom, true to his principles, dis- 
sented. As has been well said, "the discussion 
of the Myra Bradwell case had the inevitable ef- 
fect of letting sunlight through many cobwebbed 
windows. It is not so much by abstract reason- 
ing as by visible examples that reformations 
come, and Mrs. Bradwell offered herself as a living 
example of the injustice of the law. A woman of 
learning, genius, industry and high character, 
editor of the first law journal in the West, forbid- 
den by law to practice law, was too much for the 



public conscience, tough as that conscience is. ' ' 
Although Mrs. Bradwell, with Miss Hulett, 
was instrumental in securing the passage of a 
law in Illinois granting to all persons, irrespec- 
tive of sex, freedom in the selection of an occu- 
pation, profession or employment, she never re- 
newed her application for admission to the Bar. 
Twenty years after, the judges of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, on their own motion, performed 
a noble act of justice and directed license to prac- 
tice law to be issued to her, and March 28, 1892, 
upon motion of Attorney-General Miller, Mrs. 
Bradwell was admitted to practice before the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. 

A pioneer in opening the legal profession for 
women, Myra Bradwell' s signal service to her 
sex has been in the field of law reform. Finding 
women and children without adequate protection 
in the law, she devoted herself with the zeal of 
an enthusiast to secure such protection. One of 
the most wonderful phases of her character was 
the power which she exerted in securing these 
changes in the law. 

It is interesting in this connection to note that 
she was the only married woman who was ever 
given her own earnings by special act of the 
Legislature. She drafted the bill giving a mar- 
ried woman a right to her own earnings. A case 
in point, so monstrous in its injustice, gave an 
added impetus to her zeal. A drunkard, who 
owed a saloon-keeper for his whisky, had a wife 
who earned her own living as a scrubwoman, 
and the saloon-keeper garnisheed the people who 
owed her and levied on her earnings to pay her 
husband's liquor bill. It needed but an applica- 
tion like this for her to succeed in her efforts to 
pass the bill. She also secured the passage of 
the law giving to a widow her award in all cases. 
Believing thoroughly in the principle enunciated 
by John Stuart Mill, "of perfect equality, admit- 
ting no privilege on the one side nor disabil- 
ity on the other," she was an enthusiastic sup- 
porter of the bill granting to a husband the 
same interest in a wife's estate that the wife had 
in the husband's. While holding most advanced 
views upon the woman question, she recognized 
that the prejudice of years cannot be overcome in 



138 



MYRA BRADWELL. 



a day, and that the work must be done by de- 
grees. 

She therefore never missed an opportunity to 
try to secure any change in the law which would 
enlarge the sphere of woman. With this purpose 
in view, she applied to the Governor to be ap- 
pointed Notary Public. Finding her womanhood 
a bar to even this humble office, she induced her 
husband, who was in the Legislature, to intro- 
duce a bill making women eligible to the office of 
Notary Public, which bill became a law. The 
bill drafted by her husband permitting women to 
act as school officers, and which was passed while 
he was in the Legislature, received her hearty sup- 
port. In all the reforms which Mrs. Bradwell se- 
cured, she was not acting as the representative of 
any organization, but they were secured through 
her personal influence. Twice Mrs. Bradwell 
was honored by special appointment of the Gov- 
ernor, being appointed a delegate to the Prison 
Reform Congress at St. Louis; and it was mainly 
by her efforts that women, after a severe contest, 
were allowed a representation on the list of officers, 
she declining to accept any office herself; subse- 
quently she was appointed by the Governor as 
one of the Illinois Centennial Association to repre- 
sent Illinois in the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. 

Mrs. Bradwell circulated the call for the first 
Woman Suffrage Convention held in Chicago, 
in 1869, and was one of its Vice-Presidents. She 
was one of the active workers in the suffrage 
convention held in Springfield in 1869, and for a 
number of years one of the executive committee 
of the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association. She 
also took an active part in the convention at 
Cleveland which formed the American Woman's 
Suffrage Association. Once only was she per- 
mitted to exercise the right of suffrage. Under 
the recent school law in Illinois she cast her bal- 
lot for the first and last time, her death occurring 
on the fourteenth day of February, 1894. 

A thorough Chicagoan, in the life, progress 
and best interests of her city she had a citizen's 
interest and a patriot's pride. She was untiring 
in her efforts to secure the World's Fair for Chi- 
cago, accompanied the commission to Washing- 



ton, and rendered valuable services there in ob- 
taining the location of the Exposition in Chicago. 
She was appointed one of the Board of Lady 
Managers, and was Chairman of the Committee 
on Law Reform of its auxiliary congress. It is 
interesting to note that the woman who labored 
so courageously, persistently and effectively to 
secure for women their rights was herself a rep- 
resentative in the first national legislature of 
women to be authorized by any Government. 

Mrs. Bradwell was the first woman who be- 
came a member of the Illinois State Bar Associa- 
tion and the Illinois Press Association; was a 
charter member of the Soldiers' Home Board, 
the Illinois Industrial School for Girls, the Wash- 
ingtonian Home, and the first Masonic chapter 
organized for women in Illinois, over which she 
presided; was a member of the Chicago Women's 
Club, the daughters of the American Revolution, 
the Grand Army Relief Corps, the National Press 
League and the Woman's Press Association. 

A gentle and noiseless woman, her tenderness 
and refinement making the firmness of her char- 
acter all the more effective, Mrs. Bradwell was 
one of those who live their creed instead of preach- 
ing it. Essentially a woman of deeds, not words, 
she did not spend her days proclaiming on the 
rostrum the rights of women, but quietly, none 
the less effectively, set to work to clear away the 
barriers. 

A noble refutation of the oftimes expressed be- 
lief that the entrance of women in public life 
tends to lessen their distinctively womanly char- 
acter, she was a most devoted wife and mother, 
her home being ideal in its love and harmony. 
She was the mother of four children', two of whom 
survive her, Thomas and Bessie, both lawyers, 
and the latter the wife of a lawyer, Frank A. 
Helmer, of the Chicago Bar. 

Of this gifted and honored lady it has been 
truthfully said: "No more powerful and convinc- 
ing argument in favor of the admission of women 
to a participation in the administration of the 
Government was ever made than may be found 
in Myra Bradwell' s character, conduct and 
achievements." 



JOHN FRINK. 



139 



JOHN FRINK. 



(7OHN FRINK, who was probably as well 

I known as any man in the United States, out- 
G) side of National public life, was a leader in 
the operation of transportation lines before the 
days of railroads, as well as in railroad building 
and operation. He was born at Ashford, Con- 
necticut, October 17, 1797, and died in Chicago 
May 21, 1858. He represented the seventh gen- 
eration of his family in America, being descended 
from John Frink, who settled at New London, 
Connecticut, previous to 1650. The last-named 
took part in King Philip's War, as a Colonial sol- 
dier, and for his services in that conflict was 
awarded by the General Court of Connecticut a 
grant of two hundred acres of land and permis- 
sion to retain his arms. 

John Frink, the father of the subject of this 
notice, removed about 1810 from Ashford, Con- 
necticut, toStockbridge, Massachusetts, becoming 
the proprietor of the Stockbridge Inn, a noted 
hostelry, which is still kept there. He afterward 
kept taverns at Northampton and Palmer, Mass- 
achusetts. His death occurred at the latter place 
in 1847, at the age of sixty years. 

While a young man, John Frink, whose name 
heads this article, started out in the operation of 
a stage line. One of his first ventures was the 
establishment of a stage line between Boston and 
Albany, by way of Stockbridge. His partner in 
this enterprise was Chester W. Chapin, ofSpring- 
field, Massachusetts, afterward conspicuous in 
railroad operations. A branch to New York City 
was soon added, and the undertaking was entire- 
ly successful, becoming a prosperous medium of 
travel. Mr. Frink was subsequently instrument- 
al in the establishment of a stage line between 
Montreal and New York, an undertaking of con- 
siderable magnitude in those days. 

About 1830 he made a trip, by way of Pitts- 
burgh, to New Orleans, and was so favorably im- 
pressed with the development and progress of the 



West that he determined to transfer the field of 
his operations to a new territory. Accordingly, 
in 1836, he came to Chicago, and soon after his 
arrival purchased the stage line in operation be- 
tween Chicago and Ottawa, Illinois. He soon 
afterward established a connecting line of steam- 
boats on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, be- 
tween the latter point and St. Louis, and the 
route thus completed immediately became a pop- 
ular thoroughfare. Another stage line was short- 
ly afterwards put into operation between Galena 
and Chicago, by way of Freeport. Galena was 
then the metropolis of the Northwest, and this 
line of stages became the most important over- 
land route of travel in that region. Another ex- 
tensive undertaking was the establishment' of 
stages between Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. 
The business was conducted at the outset by the 
firm of John Frink & Company, later known as 
Frink & Walker. This became one of the most 
powerful business concerns in the Northwest, and 
its operations eventually extended to Des Moines, 
Iowa, and Fort Snelling, Minnesota. All compe- 
tition was driven out of the way, even though 
business was sometimes conducted for a season at 
a loss, in order to maintain their supremacy. An 
immense number of men and horses was em- 
ployed. The stage sheds were located at the 
northwest corner of Wabash Avenue and Ran- 
dolph Street, with extensive repair shops adja- 
cent; and the principal stage office was on the 
southwest corner of Dearborn and Lake Streets, 
opposite the Tremont House, then the principal 
hotel of Chicago. 

One of the most important features of the busi- 
ness was the carriage of the United States mails, 
and the securing and care of the contracts for the 
same kept Mr. Frink in Washington a large por- 
tion of the time, and brought him in contact and 
intimate acquaintance with the leading politicians 
and public men of the nation. These contracts, 



140 



O. B. PHELPS. 



which involved large sums of money, were faith- 
fully carried out, a fact which enabled him to 
hold them in spite of aggressive competition. He 
was a man of rare executive ability, excelling the 
various partners with whom he was associated in 
that respect to such a degree that he was kept 
constantly on the move to regulate the adminis- 
tration of business. He was a man of fine phys- 
ical make-up and of most unusual colloquial and 
conversational abilities, which made him popular 
in any circle where he chanced to be. He was 
extremely fastidious in dress and the care of his 
personal appearance, and required the most scru- 
pulous care and thrift in all his employes. No 
man who failed to keep matters under his charge 
in first-class order could remain a day in his em- 
ploy. 

When the steam locomotive became a practical 
success, Mr. Frink at once saw that it would su- 
persede the horse as a means of propelling pas- 
senger vehicles. He accordingly began to close 
out his interests in the stage business, transfer- 
ring his capital and energy to railroad building 
and operation. He was one of the prime movers 
in the construction of the Chicago & Galena Un- 
ion Railroad, and also the Peoria & Oquawka, 
now a part of the great Burlington System, and 
in the Peoria & Bureau Valley Railroad, at pres- 
ent a branch of the Rock Island System. He 
did not live to witness the ultimate completion 
of these lines, but their success vindicated his 
foresight and judgment. 

Mr. Frink was first married to Martha R. 



Marcy, who died in Chicago in 1839, leaving 
three children: John, Harvey and Helen. The 
last-named became the wife of Warren T. Hecox, 
one of the original members of the Chicago Board 
of Trade, and all are now deceased. For his 
second wife he chose Miss Harriet Farnsworth, 
who was born in Woodstock, Vermont, July 2, 
1810, and died at Wheaton, Illinois, March 7, 
1884. Her father, Stephen Farnsworth, was a 
descendant of Matthias Farnsworth, an early set- 
tler of Groton, Massachusetts. The descendants 
of the last-named, in direct line, were Samuel, 
who was born at Groton, October 8, 1669; Steph- 
en, born in 1714, died at Charleston, New Hamp- 
shire, and who took part in the French and Indian 
War, in which two of his brothers were killed. 
Stephen, Jr., father of Mrs. Frink, was born in 
Charleston, New Hampshire, June 20, 1764. He 
moved to South Woodstock, Vermont, where he 
became a prominent fanner and miller. He 
served as a member of the Vermont Legislature, 
and was a Justice of the Peace for a great many 
years. 

Mrs. Harriet Frink was one of the earliest 
members of St. James' Episcopal Church of Chi- 
cago, and when Trinity Church was formed on 
the South Side she joined that society. She aft- 
erwards became a member of Christ Church, and 
continued to be a communicant thereof until her 
death, both she and her husband being buried 
from that church. Their children are George, 
Henry F., and Eva, Mrs John W. Bennett, all of 
whom reside at Austin, Illinois. 



OTHNIEL B. PHELPS. 



ITHNIEL BREWSTER PHELPS. The 
subject of this sketch was born at Cones- 
ville, Schoharie County, New York, Febru- 
ary 18, 1821, and was the elder of two children 



springing from the marriage of George W. Phelps 
with Zerviah Potter. His mother dying when 
Othniel was only two years of age, his father 
married Mary Chapman in the year 1824, 



O. B. PHELPS. 



141 



wherefrom it will be seen that his step-mother 
was the only maternal parent of whom he ever 
had a memory. From this second union eight 
children came into being, the eldest of whom was 
William Wallace Phelps, a sketch of whom will 
be found upon other pages in this work; in con- 
nection with which will also be found a succinct 
account of the Phelps genealogy, which, for ob- 
vious reasons, is not reprinted at this place. 

His early life was spent upon a farm (it seems 
as if the farms of that generation did the raising 
of all the brains, as well as vegetables, etcetera, 
of the country), and his erudition, save the self- 
learned, was limited to the common school. At 
a very youthful age, he went to Catskill, New 
York, as clerk in the mercantile house of Joshua 
Fiero, and, being one of unusual energy and self- 
reliance, after a few years he started a mercantile 
business for himself at Windham, Greene County, 
New York, to which place he removed, and in 
which occupation he was engaged for the next 
succeeding six years. 

Selling out at the end of that period at an ad- 
vantage, he removed to Williamstown, New York, 
where he engaged in the tanning business, be- 
coming the possessor of one of the finest proper- 
ties in that part of the country at that time ( es- 
pecially notable in one of so few years) . He was 
estimated to be worth an estate of $80,000, which, 
however, was entirely swept away by the panic 
of 1857. 

Almost directly with the disappearance of his 
household gods, he set his face towards the then 
far West to retrieve, as fortune should favor him, 
his lost accumulations. Chicago was the fortun- 
ate end of his journey, which was not then, as 
might be now, wooed into a longer continuance 
than necessary by luxurious conveniences for 
traveling. He bought a house on West Madison 
Street; but within a few years found the spot 
henceforth to be most dear to him on earth, pur- 
chasing again, at Number 2427 Indiana Avenue. 
The large brick mansion, standing to-day nearly as 
he found it, was one of the finest places in the 
city at that time, and a veritable landmark in this 
generation; for in the early sixties and for 
long after this was well out on the edge of the 



town, viewing to the westward, as far as Michi- 
gan Avenue, a thrifty cornfield in summer time. 

His business relations from the start were with 
our prince of citizens, Potter Palmer, for whom 
he acted as confidential adviser and credit man, 
with power of attorney (a position of great re- 
sponsibilities) up to the time of the Big Fire in 
1871. From this time, although in the very mer- 
idian of life, hale and hearty, having re-made a 
conspicuous estate, he lived the retired life of a 
gentleman of leisure. 

Politically he was a Republican, and for sever- 
al years he acted as a prominent City Alderman, 
closing his record thus in 1882, because of the 
results of an outspoken nature, which would nev- 
er quietly allow public wrongs to be attempted. 

He was a keen lover of finely bred dogs and 
horses, of which he owned many in his time, 
finding in this about his only real extravagance. 
Most pleasant days found him on the boulevards 
behind as fine a pair of gentleman's drivers as 
our city could boast; and when a better pair passed 
him on the road, he quietly remarked to himself, 
"That is the team I want." From this trait, it 
has been said, those who knew this proud weak- 
ness often realized exceptional prices for horses 
from one who, they knew, would have them, if he 
had set his mind that way, regardless of cost. In 
this connection it should not be forgotten that he 
was a charter member of the famous Washington 
Park Club, now for long years one of the most 
distinguished places for race meetings in the 
country. 

Not what would be called a pious man, he was 
none the less a fair-minded, public-spirited citi- 
zen, who was a great credit to our city (more so, 
perhaps, than some who are prominent in mat- 
ters ecclesiastical) , and a regular attendant at Dr. 
Scudder's Congregational Church. Between Dr. 
Scudder and Mr. Phelps there was a deep and 
wholesome regard, and this pastor officiated with 
much feeling at the final obsequies, after which 
the remains were borne to Graceland Cemetery, 
where they lie at the foot of a sightly monument. 
Physically, he was a portly man; facially, he 
had a physiognomy in which all could read a grim 
determination that whatsoever was undertaken 



I 4 2 



O. B. PHELPS. 



would, the Heavens permitting, be put through; 
yet, he was kind and generous; though blunt, 
warm-hearted indeed. His health was uniformly 
good, save for the vital lurkings of the insidious 
heart disease, which suddenly took him hence on 
the seventh day of February, 1891. 

Mr. Phelps was twice married. First, to Miss 
Emerette Steele of Windham, New York, about 
the year 1846. She died, without issue, in the 
year 1880, and was buried at Graceland. Second, 
to Mrs. Sarah Van Buren, the widow of Aaron 
R. Van Buren, of Catskill, New York, in Decem- 
ber, 1882. Her first husband was of the family 
of the so-called "Kinderhook" (New York) Van- 
Burens, which has produced a number of illus- 
trious men, chief among them being our eighth 
National Chief Magistrate, Martin Van Buren. 

Mrs. Sarah (Van Buren) Phelps survives her 
husband, in good health, and without children. 
Mrs. Phelps' parents were Franklin and Hannah 
(Groom) Graham, of Catskill, New York, her fa- 
ther being a son of Samuel and Martha (French) 
Graham, of Windham, New York. Her grand- 
mother French was of French parentage, and 
from Montreal, Canada. It is needless to remark 
that the Grahams are of Scotch antecedents. 
From Beers' "History of Greene County, New 
York" (p. 402), we learn that the said Samuel 
Graham went from Conway, Massachusetts, about 
the year 1800 to Windham, New York, where, in 
the village, he bought of one Constant A. Andrews 
a property (at present known as the Matthews 
Place, and owned by N. D. Hill), whereon the 
first tannery of the place, a large one for the 
times, was constructed prior to 1805 by said 
Samuel Graham. The latter passed into a son's 
hands, and continued to be operated up to 1832. 
Samuel died there in 1830, aged seventy years. 

The Massachusetts Grahams are undoubtedly 
descended from old Connecticut stock, which has 
been very prolific in numbers and emigrating 
members to other of the United States, not a few 
of whom have made prominent names for them- 
selves. From Cothren's "History of Ancient 
Woodbury, Connecticut" (pp. 545 et seq.}, we 



glean the following of both the trans-Atlantic and 
native tree: 

The family arms are: Or, on a chief sable three 
escalops of the field; crest, an eagle, wings hover- 
ing or, perched upon a heron lying upon its back, 
proper beaked and membered gules; motto, Ne 
Oubliez. 

The family is of great antiquity, tracing its de- 
scent from Sir David Graeme, who held a grant 
from King William the Lion of Scotland from 
1163 to 1214. His descendant, Patrick Graham, 
was made a Lord in Parliament about 1445, and 
his grandson, William, Lord Graham, was, in 
1504, by James IV., created Earl of Montrose. 
His son William was second earl, succeeded in 
turn by John, John ( Junior) and James, fifth earl, 
a very distinguished character in history. He was 
born in 1612, and joined the Covenanters against 
Charles I. , but later became loyal to his sovereign, 
who created him Marquis of Montrose. He had 
a varied career, which ended by his execution in 
1645 by the axe on the scaffold, as did that of so 
many contemporaries. He was succeeded by 
James, James, and James, fourth Marquis, who 
was made Lord High Admiral of Scotland in 
1705, and in 1707 Duke of Montrose. Then 
came David, Earl and Baron Graham, succeeded 
by William (his brother), James, James, the 
fourth Duke of Montrose, etc., who was a Com- 
missioner of India Affairs, Knight of the Thistle, 
Lord Justice-General of Scotland, Chancellor of 
Scotland, etc. 

The Rev. John Graham, A. M., a second son 
of a Marqnis of Montrose, was born in Edinburgh 
in 1691; he graduated at the University of Glas- 
gow, and studied theology at his native Edin- 
burgh; came to Boston in 1718, where he married 
Abigail, a daughter of the very- celebrated Dr. 
Chauncey, of Harvard College. Later Rev. Mr. 
Graham removed to Exeter, New Hampshire, but 
in 1722 to Stafford, Connecticut, and in 1732 to 
Woodbury, Connecticut, where he lived until his 
death, in December, 1774. He was an eminent man 
and left a family of five sons and four daughters, 
from whom are descended a numerous progeny. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



S. B. COEP. 



43 



SILAS B. COBB. 



(7J ILAS BOWMAN COBB. In the entire his- 
2\ tory of the world it has been vouchsafed to 
Q) but few men to witness the growth of a mu- 
nicipality from a few dozen in population to a 
million and a quarter souls. No story of Chicago's 
development can be written without cognizance of 
Silas B. Cobb as one of its initial forces. It was 
such sturdy, self-reliant and hopeful young men 
as he that began the development of her great- 
ness, and carried forward her growth in middle 
and later life. Ever since the little band of Pil- 
grims established a home on the rocky and frost- 
locked shores of Massachusetts, New England has 
been peopled by a race of enterprising and adven- 
turous men, whose habits of industry and high 
moral character have shaped the destinies of the 
Nation. It is not strange, then, that the hamlet 
planted by their descendants on the swampy shore 
of Lake Michigan in the 303' should become the 
commercial, industrial and philanthropical me- 
tropolis of America. 

Silas W. Cobb, father of the subject of this 
sketch, gained a livelihood by various occupa- 
tions, being in turn a farmer, a tanner and a tav- 
ern-keeper, and the son was early engaged in 
giving such assistance to his father as he was able. 
When other boys were applying themselves to 
their books, he was obliged to employ his strength 
in support of the family. His mother, whose 
maiden name was Hawkes, died when he was an 
infant, and he knew little of maternal love or care, 
growing up in the habit of self-reliance which 
carried him through many difficult enterprises 
and made him a successful man. He was born 
in Montpelier, Vermont, January 2$, 1812, and 



is now entering upon the eighty-fourth year of 
his age. He is keenly active in mind and sound 
in body, taking a participating interest in all the 
affairs of life. 

At the age of seventeen, young Cobb was regu- 
larly "bound out," according to the custom of 
those days, for a term of years, as apprentice to a 
harness-maker, having previously made a begin- 
ning as a shoemaker, which did not suit his taste. 
Within a twelvemonth after he was "articled" to 
the harness-maker, his employer sold out, and the 
new proprietor endeavored to keep the lad as an 
appurtenance to his purchase. Against this the 
manly independence of the youth rebelled, and the 
new proprietor was obliged to give him more ad- 
vantageous terms than he had before enjoyed. 
Having become a journeyman, he found employ- 
ment in his native State, but he was not satisfied 
with the conditions surrounding him. After nine 
months of continuous toil and frugal living, he 
was enabled to save only $60, and he resolved to 
try his fortune in the new country to the then 
far West. 

Joining a company then being formed at Mont- 
pelier to take up land previously located by 
Oliver Goss, the young man having but just at- 
tained his majority in spite of his father's re- 
monstrance, set out. From Albany, the trip to 
Buffalo was made by canal packet, and in the 
journey from home to this point all his little sav- 
ings, except $7, were exhausted. The schooner 
"Atlanta" was about to leave Buffalo for Chicago, 
and Mr. Cobb at once explained to the captain 
his predicament. The fare to Chicago was just 
$7, but this did not include board, and Mr. Cobb 



144 



S. B. COBB. 



was delighted, as well as surprised, when the 
captain told him to secure provisions for the jour- 
ney and he would carry him to Chicago for the 
balance. After a boisterous voyage of five weeks, 
anchor was dropped opposite the little settlement 
called Chicago. Its hundred white and half-breed 
inhabitants were sheltered by log huts, while the 
seventy soldiers forming the garrison occupied 
Fort Dearborn. And now a new hardship assailed 
the young pioneer. Disregarding the bargain 
made in Buffalo, the tricky commander of the 
schooner refused to let him leave its deck until 
his passage money had been paid in full. For 
three days he was detained in sight of the promised 
land, until he was delivered by a generous 
stranger, who came on board to secure passage to 
Buffalo. His first earnings on shore were applied 
by Mr. Cobb in repaying the sum advanced by 
his kind deliverer. Before the boat sailed he 
found employment on a building which James 
Kinzie was erecting for a hotel. He knew noth- 
ing of the builder's trade, but had pluck and 
shrewdness, and took hold with such will that he 
was placed in charge of the work, at a salary of 
$2.75 per day a very liberal remuneration in his 
estimation. The building was constructed of logs 
and unplaned boards, and did not require a very 
high order of architectural skill, but within a 
few days a man, seeking the position, called at- 
tention to the lack of experience on the part of 
the youthful superintendent, and clinched the 
matter by offering to do the work for fifty cents 
less per day. 

Mr. Cobb now invested his earnings in a stock 
of trinkets and began to trade with the Indians, 
by which he secured a little capital, and resolved 
to erect a building of his own and go into busi- 
ness. The nearest sawmill was at Plainfield, forty 
miles southwest of Chicago, across unbroken 
prairies. Getting his directions from an Indian, 
Mr. Cobb set out on foot to purchase the lumber 
for his building. There being 110 trail, he was 
guided solely by the groves which grew at long 
intervals, and found only one human habitation 
on the way. From one of the settlers at Plain- 
field he secured the use of three yoke of oxen and 
a wagon, with which to bring home his purchase 



of lumber. He was but fairly started when a 
three-days rain set in, and the surface of the 
prairies became so soft that the wagon sank deep 
in the mud, making progress almost impossible 
and compelling an occasional lightening of the 
load by throwing off a part. After sleeping three 
nights on the wagon with such shelter as could 
be made with boards from the load, with the rain 
beating down pitilessly and the wolves' howling 
the only accompaniment, he arrived at the Des 
Plaines River, still twelve miles from his destina- 
tion. The stream was so swollen by the rains 
that it was impossible to cross with the wagon, 
and the balance of the load was thrown off and 
the oxen turned loose to find their way back to 
their owner, which they did without accident. 
After the rains were over and the ground became 
settled, the trip was repeated, the lumber recov- 
ered and brought safely to Chicago. These are 
some of the experiences of the pioneer, and can 
never be forgotten by those who pass through 
them. 

When Mr. Cobb had completed his building, 
which was two stories in height, he rented the 
upper story, and began business on the ground 
floor. The capital consisted of $30, furnished by 
Mr. Goss, who was a partner in the venture, and 
was invested in stock for a harness shop. The 
industry and business ability of the working part- 
ner caused the enterprise to prosper and grow, 
and at the end of a year he withdrew and set 
up business on his individual account in larger 
quarters. His business continued to grow, and 
in 1848 he sold out at a good advance. He then 
engaged in the general boot and shoe, hide and 
leather trade, in partnership with William Os- 
borne, and found success beyond his fondest an- 
ticipations, and in 1852 he retired from mercan- 
tile operations. About the same time, he was 
appointed executor of the estate of Joel Matteson 
and guardian of the latter' s five children. When 
this trust closed in 1866, the estate was found to 
have been vastly benefited by his shrewd man- 
agement of the trust. 

With characteristic foresight, Mr. Cobb early 
began to invest in Chicago realty, and the wisdom 
of his calculations has been abundantly demon- 



S. B. COBB. 



strated. He has also been identified with semi- 
public enterprises, or those which largely con- 
cerned and benefited the city, while yielding a 
return to the investors. In 1855 he was elected 
a Director of the Chicago Gas Light and Coke 
Company, and subsequently one of the Board of 
Managers. This position he held until he sold 
his interest and retired from the company in 1887. 
It was his executive ability which was largely re- 
sponsible for the establishment of cable roads in 
the city, those on State Street and Wabash Ave- 
nue being constructed under his advice and direc- 
tion, while President of the Chicago City Railway. 
He is still active in the councils of that company, 
as well as of the West Division horse railway. 
For many years he was among the controlling 
members of the Chicago & Galena Union and 
Beloit & Madison Railroads, now a part of the 
Northwestern System (see biography of John B. 
Turner). Mr. Cobb is a Director of the National 
Bank of Illinois, and several blocks of fine build- 
ings in the business district contribute to his in- 
come, as the result of his faith in the city and 
sagacity in selection. 

While being prospered, he has not forgotten to 
add to his own felicity by contributing to the happi- 
ness of others. He has been one of the kindest 
husbands and fathers, and not only his family but 
the city of his home have often shared in his bene- 
factions. When the effort to raise $1,000,000 for 
the buildings of the new University of Chicago 
was straining every resource of the Trustees, Mr. 
Cobb came forward unsolicited and donated $i 50, - 
ooo, assuring the success of the movement. The 
"History of Chicago," by John Moses, says: "It 
is believed that up to the time when this subscrip- 
tion was made, few, if any, greater ones had ever 
been made to education by a Chicago citizen at 
one time. A noble building, the Cobb Lecture 
Hall, now stands on the University campus, a 
monument of the builder's liberality and public 
spirit. As long as the great university endures, 
this memorial of Silas B. Cobb's life will stand, 
the corporation having pledged to rebuild the hall 
if it should be destroyed." The Presbyterian 
Hospital and Humane Society of Chicago are also 
among the beneficiaries of his generosity, and Mr. 



Cobb will be remembered as one of the city's 
largest benefactors, as well as a successful busi- 
ness man. 

In 1840 Mr. Cobb married Miss Maria, daugh- 
ter of Daniel Warren, whose biography appears 
elsewhere in this work. He thus describes his 
first meeting with his future bride: "I arrived 
in Chicago in the spring of 1833. In October of 
the same year I was occupying my new shop op- 
posite the Kinzie Hotel in the building of which 
my first dollar was earned in Chicago. Standing 
at my shop one afternoon, talking with a neigh- 
bor, my attention was attracted by the arrival at 
the hotel of a settler's wagon from the East. With 
my apron on and sleeves rolled up, I went with 
my neighbor to greet the weary travelers and to 
welcome them to the hospitalities of Fort Dear- 
born, in accordance with the free and easy cus- 
toms of 'high society' in those days. * * * * 
There were several young women in the party, 
two of them twin sisters, whom I thought partic- 
ularly attractive, so much so that I remarked to 
my friend, after they had departed, that when I 
was prosperous enough so that my pantaloons and 
brogans could be made to meet, I was going to 
look up those twin sisters and marry one of them 
or die in trying." The same pertinacity and 
acumen which characterized his every undertak- 
ing carried him through seven years of toil and 
privation until he had won the prize, which in- 
deed she proved to be. Their wedding took place 
on the ayth of October. Her twin sister married 
Jerome Beecher (for sketch of whom see another 
page). 

Mrs. Cobb passed away on the loth of May, 
1888. Of her six children, only two survive. 
Two daughters died in infancy, and Walter, the 
first-born and only son, and Lenore, wife of Joseph 
G. Coleman, are also deceased. The others are: 
Maria Louisa, wife of William B. Walker, and 
Bertha, widow of the late William Armour. 

Being a man of firm principle, Mr. Cobb has 
always adhered to a few simple rules of conduct, 
in the adoption of which any youth may hope to 
win moderate success, at least. He early discov- 
ered the disadvantage of being in debt, and made 
it a rule as soon as he got out to stay out. The 



146 



W. E. ROLLO. 



other words forming his motto are: Inaustry, 
economy, temperate habits and unswerving in- 
tegrity. A few more words from the pen of Mr. 
Cobb will fittingly close this brief article. On 
the guests' register in the Vermont State Build- 
ing at the World's Columbian Exposition, ap- 
peared this entry over his signature: "A native 



of Vermont, I left Montpelier in April, 1833, and 
arrived at Fort Dearborn, now the city of Chicago, 
May 2gth of the same year. I have lived in Chi- 
cago from that time to the present day. Every 
building in Chicago has been erected during my 
residence here. ' ' 



WILLIAM E. ROLLO. 



QGJILLIAM EGBERT ROLLO is a well- 
\ A / known citizen of Chicago and a veteran 
Y V underwriter, having been engaged in that 
line of business since 1850. He was born in the 
Parish of Gilead, Hebron Township, Tolland 
County, Connecticut, January 3, 1851. His par- 
ents, Ralph R. Rollo and Sibyl Post, were natives 
of South Windsor, Connecticut. The former was 
a farmer by occupation, and a son of William 
Rollo, who, in addition to his agricultural inter- 
ests, carried on the business of a tanner and cur- 
rier. Their progenitors were among the earliest 
colonists of Connecticut, and traced their lineage, 
through a long line of English ancestry, from the 
famous William Rollo, better known in history 
as William the Conqueror. 

Ralph R. Rollo died in 1869, at the extreme 
old age of eighty-eight years. Mrs. Sibyl Rollo 
passed away in 1833, in her fifty-first year. They 
were strict adherents of the Congregational faith, 
and observed most rigidly the rules of its creed. 
The names of their children were: Lucy A., who 
died in South Windsor, Connecticut, in 1858; 
Evelyn S., who died in Chicago in 1882, while 
the wife of Elizur W. Drake; Ralph R., who be- 
came a resident of Chicago in 1870, and died in 
1872; Henry, who died in childhood; Lucinda 
F., Mrs. Solyman W. Grant, who departed this 
life at Conneaut, Ohio, in 1845; Samuel A., 



whose death occurred in New Jersey in 1864; and 
William E. , whose name heads this notice. 

The last-named became a student at East Wind- 
sor Academy, and completed his education at a 
similar institution at East Hartford, graduating 
therefrom at the age of eighteen years. It had 
been his intention to take up the study of law, 
but his father sternly forbade that plan, declaring 
that no man could simultaneously be a lawyer 
and a Christian. Accordingly he abandoned his 
cherished hopes, and in 1850 he went to Colum- 
bus, Ohio, as a representative of the Hartford 
Fire Insurance Company. While in that city he 
was also the agent of the Springfield Fire and 
Marine Insurance Company of Springfield, Mass- 
achusetts, the State Mutual Fire of Pennsylvania, 
and the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Com- 
panies. His faithful and efficient management of 
the business in his hands soon caused other cor- 
porations to seek his services, and in 1858 he be- 
came the General Agent of the Girard Fire and 
Marine Insurance Company, and during the next 
two years established agencies in Chicago and all 
the principal cities of the West. 

Since 1860 he has been permanently located in 
Chicago. In 1863 he organized the Merchants' 
Insurance Company of Chicago, which included 
among its stockholders many of the most substan- 
tial citizens and business men of the city. This 



J. G. ROGERS. 



corporation had become well established, and was 
doing a most flattering, lucrative business, when 
it was overtaken by the great holocaust of 1871, 
going down in company with many other or- 
dinarily invincible companies before the un- 
dreamed-of assault upon its assets. The year fol- 
lowing that disaster, through Mr. Rollo's efforts, 
the Traders' Insurance Company was re-estab- 
lished and made a successful and solid institution. 
After two years, owing to failing health and other 
great demands upon his time, he turned over the 
enterprise to other parties. Since that time he 
has been carrying on the insurance agency of 
William E. Rollo & Son. This firm manages the 



Western Department of the Girard Insurance 
Company, and represents a number of other lead- 
ing underwriting concerns. 

Mr. Rollo was married, in October, 1845, to 
Miss Jane T. Fuller, daughter of Gen. Asa Ful- 
ler, of Ellington, Connecticut. Mrs. Rollo is a 
native of the same state, born at Somers. They 
are the parents of two daughters and a son, Jen- 
nie Sibyl, Evelyn Lavinia and William Fuller, 
the last-named being a member of the firm of 
William E. Rollo & Son. Mr. Rollo has adhered 
strictly to the business of underwriting, meeting 
with success where men of less energy and perse- 
verance would have despaired. 



HON. JOHN G. ROGERS. 



HON. JOHN GORIN ROGERS, who was for 
many years one of the ablest and most popu- 
lar jurists in Chicago, has been thus de- 
scribed by previous writers: 

"Nature designed him for a Judge. His mind 
was of the judicial order, and he would in almost 
any community have been sought for to occupy a 
place on the Bench. The high esteem in which 
he was held as a jurist among the entire profession 
was the result of a rare combination of fine legal 
ability and culture and incorruptible integrity, 
with the dignified presence, absolute courage, and 
graceful urbanity which characterized all his offi- 
cial acts. Like the poet, the Judge is born, not 
made. To wear the ermine worthily, it is not 
enough for one to possess legal acumen, be learned 
in the principles of jurisprudence, familiar with 
precedents and thoroughly honest. Most men 
are unable wholly to divest themselves of preju- 
dice, even when acting uprightly, and are uncon- 
sciously warped in their judgment by their own 
mental characteristics or the peculiarities of their 
education. This unconscious influence is a dis- 



turbing force, a variable factor, which more or less 
enters into the final judgment of all men. In 
this ideal jurist this factor was not discernible, 
and practically did not exist." 

Judge Rogers traced his ancestry from some of 
the most honorable families of Virginia, being de- 
scended from Giles Rogers, who emigrated from 
Worcestershire, England, to Virginia in the sev- 
enteenth century. He settled at the present vil- 
lage of Dunkirk, on the Mattapony River, in King 
and Queen County. The maiden name of his 
wife, whom he is supposed to have married in 
Virginia, was Eason, or Eastham. They were 
the parents of three sons and three daughters. 
One of the sons, John Rogers, married Mary 
Byrd, daughter of Captain William Byrd, who 
came from England to Virginia late in the seven- 
teenth century. Captain Byrd was a native of 
Cheshire, and received from the Crown a grant 
of land embracing most of the site of the present 
city of Richmond and of Manchester, on the op- 
posite side of the James River. John Rogers was 
a farmer and surveyor, and lived in King and 



148 



J. G. ROGERS. 



Queen County. He also took up land on the 
border between Carolina and Spottsylvania Coun- 
ties. His initials, with the date 1712, are carved 
upon a rock there. Among the descendants 
of John and Mary (Byrd) Rogers may be men- 
tioned General George Rogers Clark, the noted 
Kentucky frontiersman, and his brother, William 
Clark, the explorer of the American Northwest, 
beside a number of prominent military men, in- 
cluding Colonel George Grogham, of Fort Meigs 
and Sandusky memory, as well as several emi- 
nent statesmen and jurists. Among the latter 
was Hon. John Semple, who became a United 
States Senator from Illinois. 

In the first year of the present century, Byrd 
Rogers, a son of John and Mary Rogers, moved 
to Fayette County, Kentucky, where he soon aft- 
erward died. He had four sons and two daugh- 
ters. One of the sons, George Rogers, became 
an eminent physician, and died at Glasgow, Ken- 
tucky, in March, 1860. He married Sarah Hen- 
sley Gorin, a daughter of General John Gorin, 
who served in the Continental army, and rose to 
the rank of Major during the War of 1812. Mrs. 
Sarah H. Rogers was born December n, 1800, 
and died in 1870. Dr. and Mrs. Rogers had four 
sons and five daughters, and two oi the former 
became Judges. These were John Gorin Rogers, 
the subject of this notice, and George Clark Rog- 
ers, who became a Circuit Judge at Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, and died there about 1870. 

John Gorin Rogers was born at Glasgow, Ken- 
tucky, December 28, 1818, and died in Chicago, 
January 10, 1887. His primary education was 
obtained at the village school, and at the age of 
sixteen years he entered Center College at Dan- 
ville, Kentucky, an institution famous for its lect- 
ures on law, in which he acquired the founda- 
tion of his professional knowledge. Thence he 
went to Transylvania University at Lexington, 
from which he graduated in 1841, with the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts. He began his practice 
in his native town, being a part of the time asso- 
ciated with his uncle, Hon. Franklin Gorin, one 
of the oldest lawyers of the State. 

In 1 857 he became a resident of Chicago, where 
his talents and ability soon won him a prominent 



position at the Bar. In 1870 he was chosen one 
of the five Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook 
County, a position to which he was repeatedly 
re-elected and continued to hold during the bal- 
ance of his life. He commanded the universal re- 
spect of the people and the members of the Bar, 
and, though he was always nominated as a Dem- 
ocrat, he received the support of many leading 
Republicans. 

Judge Rogers always took an active interest 
in public affairs, and previous to his elevation to 
the Bench he was interested in many prominent 
political movements, though he was never a vio- 
lent partisan. In early life he was an old-line 
Henry Clay Whig, and in 1848, and again in 
1852, he was placed on the electoral ticket of that 
party in Kentucky. In 1860 he became identi- 
fied with the Democratic party, and was placed 
on the Bell and Everett electoral ticket of Illinois. 
In 1856 he was a member of the convention which 
nominated Millard Fillmore for President of the 
United States. Had he chosen to pursue a polit- 
ical career, he could, no doubt, have held some 
of the highest offices in the Nation; but after his 
election to the Bench he refrained from taking 
any active part in politics, contending that a 
Judge should be in all things strictly non-partisan, 
and should not lower the dignity of his office, or 
subject himself to a charge of prejudice or favor- 
itism, or place himself in any position where any 
one might think that he had a claim on him for 
special favors. 

Though not a total abstainer, Judge Rogers 
was always an advocate of the temperance cause, 
and at one time was Grand Worthy Patriarch of 
the Sons of Temperance of the State of Kentucky. 
In 1849 he joined the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and from that time until his death was 
the recipient of numerous honors from the order. 
In 1863 he was elected Grand Master of Illinois, 
and in 1869 was Grand Representative to the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States. Aft- 
er the great Chicago fire, he was selected as one 
of the Chicago Odd Fellows' Relief Committee, 
and as treasurer of that body received and dis- 
bursed $ 1 2 5 ,000. He helped to organize the Char- 
ity Organization Society, which was formed to 



EDSON KEITH. 



149 



promote the co-operation of all the charitable or- 
ganizations of the city in 1883. In 1878 he was 
elected the first President of the Illinois Club, and 
was re-elected to that position in 1882. He was 
also a prominent member of the Iroquois Club. 

Judge Rogers was always popular in society, 
where his genial love for humanity and sincerity 
of purpose won him a host of friends, and his 
name carne to be a household word among the 
older residents of Chicago. He always manifest- 
ed a deep interest in the poor and humble of his 
fellow-citizens, and would often stop to grasp the 
hand of a man of no social position, while he 
might merely pass with a pleasant bow a million- 
aire or social leader. 

In 1844 Mr. Rogers was married to Miss Ara- 



bella E. Crenshaw, daughter of Hon. B. Mills 
Crenshaw, who afterward became Chief Justice 
of the State of Kentucky. Mrs. Rogers, who 
still survives her noble husband, is a lady of high 
culture and many accomplishments, and to her 
loving thoughtfulness and kindly assistance may 
be attributed much of the success achieved by her 
husband. They were the parents of four chil- 
dren, all of whom reside in Chicago. Henry, the 
eldest son, though finely endowed intellectually, 
owing to ill-health has not been actively engaged 
in business for many years; and George Mills 
Rogers, the second son, is a well known attorney 
and Master in Chancery; the eldest daughter is 
the wife of Joseph M. Rogers; and Sarah is the 
wife of ex -Judge Samuel P. McConnell. 



EDSON KEITH. 



HUDSON KEITH, one of Chicago's self-made 
Kj men, is numbered among the most energet- 
I ic, honorable, progressive and broad-minded 
residents of the city. He was born at Barre, Ver- 
mont, January 28, 1833, and is a son of Martin 
Keith, a prominent farmer and builder of that 
place, who afterward became a resident of Chicago. 
The Keith family in America are all descend- 
ants of Rev. James Keith, of Bridgewater, Mass- 
achusetts, who emigrated from Scotland about 
1660. Though but sixteen years of age at that 
time, he was a graduate of Aberdeen College, and 
became the pastor of the Presbyterian Church at 
Bridgewater. It is said that his first sermon was 
delivered from a rock in "Mill Pasture," so- 
called, near the river. He married Susannah, 
daughter of Deacon Samuel Edson, and they had 
nine children: James, Joseph, Samuel, Timothy, 
John, Jariah, Margaret, Mary and Susannah. 
Unto James (second) were born eight children: 



James, Mary, Gensham, Israel, Faithful, Esther, 
Jane and Simeon. The children of James (third) 
were: Noah, Comfort, James and Abigail. One 
of the children of Comfort Keith was Abijah, born 
June 20, 1770. He was born in Uxbridge, 
Worcester County, Massachusetts, and was one 
of the early settlers of Barre, Washington Coun- 
ty, Vermont. 

Martin Keith was the second son of Abijah, 
and was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Feb- 
ruary 23, 1800, and came with his father's family 
to Barre, Vermont, in 1804. He was married to 
Miss Betsey French, and had seven children: 
Damon, Judith, Osborn R., Edson, Byron and 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Betsey French was one of the fourteen children 
of Bartholomew and Susannah French, who came 
to Barre from Alstead, New Hampshire, in 1791. 
Bartholomew French, who was one of the earliest 
settlers of Barre, built the first mill in that place. 



150 



EDSON KEITH. 



He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and 
was born in Sutton, Massachusetts. A historian 
of the town of Barre says: "To this energetic 
man and his descendants much of the prosperity 
of the town, from the time of his arrival until the 
present day, is due." Twelve of his seventeen 
children lived until the youngest was past sixty 
years of age. At least two of his sons served in 
the War of 1812, and one of them, named Bar- 
tholomew, commanded a company of Vermont 
troops, and served as a Captain of militia for many 
years afterward. 

Mr. and Mrs. Martin Keith removed to Chica- 
go in 1859. The former died herein 1876, at the 
age of nearly seventy-seven years, and the latter 
in 1868, aged about seventy years. They were 
worthy representatives of the pioneer families of 
New England, and cherished the same love of hon- 
or and truth for which their ancestors were con- 
spicuous, while practicing that rigid adherence to 
principle which has distinguished their posterity. 

Edson Keith passed his childhood upon the 
homestead farm and in attendance at the public 
school. At the age of seventeen years he went 
to Montpelier, where -the next four years were 
spent. In 1854 he came to Chicago, beginning 
his mercantile career in this city as clerk in a re- 
tail dry-goods store. Two years later he became 
a salesman and collector for a wholesale house, 
dealing in hats, caps and furs. In 1860 he be- 
came a member of the firm of Keith, Faxon & 
Company, jobbers of hats, caps, furs and milli- 
nery. Since that time he has been continuously 
associated with that line of business, though the 
style of the firm has undergone a number of 
changes and transformations, and the volume of 
its transactions has been repeatedly multiplied. 
He is now senior member of the wholesale fancy 
dry-goods and millinery establishment of Edson 
Keith & Company, on Wabash Avenue, and 
President of the firm of Keith Brothers & Com- 
pany, wholesale dealers in hats, caps, etc., whose 
place of business is on Adams Street. In addition 
to these, he is proprietor of Keith & Company, 
grain warehousemen, and is a stockholder and 
Director of the Metropolitan National Bank. 



He has ever taken a keen interest in the growth 
and progress of Chicago, maintaining perfect con- 
fidence in its future greatness, and has at differ- 
ent times managed some extensive real-estate 
transactions, which not only have contributed to 
his personal gain, but have been important fac- 
tors in the financial prosperity of the commun- 
ity. 

But a few years had elapsed after casting in his 
lot with the growing metropolis before he had es- 
tablished a reputation for integrity of character 
and honorable dealing which has ever been con- 
sistently maintained, and he enjoys the esteem 
and confidence of his colleagues and coadjutors to 
a degree attained by few men in the West. 

In 1860 Mr. Keith was happily married to 
Miss Woodruff, of Chicago. This union has been 
blessed with two sons: Edson, Jr., a graduate of 
Yale College and later of Columbia Law School, 
New York City; and Walter W., a graduate of 
Yale. 

Though a sympathizer with Republican princi- 
ples, Mr. Keith is not a strict partisan, but sup- 
ports such men for public office as he deems most 
worthy of his confidence. And, while he does 
not hold membership with any religious organiz- 
ation, he isa liberal supporter of institutions tend- 
ing to upbuild the moral and intellectual senti- 
ment of the people. He is a patron of art and 
literature, and was for several terms a Vice-Presi- 
dent of the Art Institute of Chicago. He served 
for three years as President of the Citizens' Asso- 
ciation, in the inception of which he was one of 
the foremost movers, and which did a great work 
in the reform of municipal and state affairs. He 
was three years President of the Calumet Club, 
and is identified with numerous other leading 
clubs of Chicago and New York City. His hon- 
orable and successful career stands out on the 
horizon of Chicago's history, a fitting example 
to its rising generations of the rewards which 
await persistent and intelligent application, when 
accompanied by straightforward dealing, but- 
tressed with regular habits and unswerving integ 
rity of character. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



J. F. EBERHART. 



JOHN F. EBERHART. 



(7OHN FREDERICK EBERHART, fifth 
I child of Abraham and Esther Eberhart (nee 
O Amend), was born January 21, 1829, at 
Hickory, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, his early 
years being busily spent upon his father's farm, 
situated in the then new-settlement region. 

In 1837 he moved with his parents to Big Bend 
(on the Allegheny), in Venango County, Penn- 
sylvania, still occupying himself with agricultural 
pursuits, save in winter, which time was given 
over to district schools. At sixteen he left school, 
becoming himself a country pedagogue, his first 
charge being located at the mouth of Oil Creek 
(near Franklin), Pennsylvania, where, after the 
manner so eloquently depicted by Eggleston 
in "The Hoosier Schoolmaster," he "boarded 
'round" and received his few dollars per month 
for "teaching the young idea how to shoot." 

The following year he took advanced tuition in 
drawing, writing and flourishing, afterward teach- 
ing these accomplishments to others. After some 
further schoolteaching, and having himself com- 
pleted the curriculum of the Cottage Hill Acad- 
emy at Ellsworth, Ohio, he entered Allegheny 
College, in 1849, whence he graduated July 2, 
1853, having, like many another contemporary 
who has since "made his mark," worked his way 
through college by teaching and working upon 
farms. He always took a leading part in his 
classes, as well as in many field sports, outlifting, 
outjumping and outrunning all his several hun- 
dred classmates. Perhaps we may allow this to 
speak as a prophecy of later superior achieve- 
ments. In oratory he was proficient, as is suffi- 
ciently attested by the plaudits of the several 
thousand auditors who attended his Fourth of 
July oration near his old home at Rockland, Pa., 
two days after his graduation. 



The succeeding fall he assumed the duties of 
Principal of the Albright Seminary at Berlin, 
Somerset County, Pennsylvania. This first in- 
stitution of letters founded by the Evangelical As- 
sociation developed and prospered under his fos- 
tering care. And here a digression is briefly 
made in order to call attention to the fact that the 
Rev. H. W. Thomas, now pastor of the People's 
Church, Chicago, was a pupil of his at this time. 

The first serious disappointment in his life 
work, as Mr. Eberhart had first planned it, oc- 
curred after two years' confinement over school 
duties, at which juncture several consulting doc- 
tors of medicine prognosticated a growing con- 
sumption, which he could not outlive beyond a 
few months at the furthest. Packing up his pos- 
sessions, he set his face toward the great West, 
a country destined to give him that abundant 
measure of renewed life which he has since spent 
in the interest of others as well as himself. April 
1 5< l8 55. was the date of his first coming to Chi- 
cago, at which time in the then "Muddy City" 
he remained only a short interval, on his way to 
Dixon, Illinois, where for a time he edited and 
published an early newspaper, called the Dixon 
Transcript. About this time he also prepared and 
delivered lectures upon chemistry, natural philos- 
ophy, meteorology and astronomy, they being 
among the first popular lectures to be illustrated 
by practical apparatus. He also at this period 
traveled for New York publishing houses, and was 
largely instrumental in establishing district-school 
libraries in the state. But, best of all, in this in- 
vigorating climate, with its changes of diversified 
labors, attended by abundance of outdoor sports 
and healthy exercises, he regained and fortified 
that healthful virility which through more than 
three and a-half decades has amply sufficed to 



152 



J. F. EBERHART. 



keep him well engaged in honorable pursuits; 
until at this writing, through untiring self-efforts, 
he stands prominent and time-honored among the 
early educators of Illinois and the West. 

On locating in Chicago, he purchased and for 
three years edited and published, "The North- 
western Home and School Journal," interspers- 
ing such labors by lecturing before and conduct- 
ing teachers' institutes, not only in Illinois, but 
also in other western states, coming thus into 
personal contact with the leading educators of the 
day, such as Elihu Burritt, Henry Barnard and 
Horace Mann. 

He was elected Superintendent of Schools of 
Cook County in the fall of 1859. This office he 
uninterruptedly held for ten years, during which 
time he earnestly labored to arouse a unanimity 
of interest and enthusiasm of which our local 
school history affords no parallel. Our free 
schools in the county up to this time had never 
been under proper supervision, and were when 
he assumed the duties in a neglected condition. 
But he began a thorough systematic visitation of 
schools, conferring with teachers and directors, 
organizing institutes, etc. ; until, finding it im- 
possible to secure otherwise the services of ade- 
quately qualified teachers, he began his agitation 
for a county normal school, and with such suc- 
cess, that in 1867 a school was opened at Blue 
Island, through provisions made by the Board of 
Supervisors. This school, since removed to Nor- 
mal, has grown to be a power in the land, being 
sought by many pupils coming from long distan- 
ces, and always having a large attendance roll. 
Among other noteworthy acts we may call to 
mind the following: Mr. Eberhart was among 
the organizers of the Illinois State Teachers' As- 
sociation, the first seventeen consecutive sessions 
of which he attended; he assisted in establishing 
the State Normal University, and in making many 
valuable changes in the state school law, includ- 
ing the original act authorizing counties to estab- 
lish normal schools, and was the principal mover 
in forming the State Association of County Super- 
intendents, which chose him for its first President. 
As President of the County Board of Education, 
he was the means of introducing the ' 'kindergar- 



ten" into the Cook County Normal School, and 
also aided in establishing the system of free kin- 
dergartens in the city. During all this time he 
was a member of the American Institute of In- 
struction, as well as one of the first life members 
of the National Teachers' Association. Mr. Eb- 
erhart received many overtures to accept profes- 
sorships and presidents' chairs in some of our 
leading institutions of learning, but he always 
declined, principally because he did not again 
wish to risk his health and life in such work. 

Always imbued with a liking for travel and 
outings, and with generous tastes for a liberal, 
rational enjoyment and improvement of life and 
its grand possibilities, after a quarter of a century 
spent as before briefly indicated, he set about ac- 
cumulating a fortune out of real estate. At the 
time of the panic of 1873 he was esteemed one of 
the millionaires of the city. However, through 
joint interests with others, which he had to settle, 
he lost his possessions, but is now again a wealthy 
man, and is content in making a wise use of his 
powers and gifts, being a liberal parent and hus- 
band, and munificent in charity donations. 

Personally Mr. Eberhart is rather slender, but 
well proportioned, six feet in stature, of affable 
manners, positive in opinion, Republican in poli- 
tics and of deeply religious convictions. 

Christmas Day, 1864, the subject of this sketch 
was married to Miss Matilda Charity Miller, a 
daughter of Joseph C. and Mercie H. Miller, of 
this city. This most estimable lady was born in 
Toronto, Canada, but in infancy was brought to 
the United States, where, prior to her marriage, 
she became a prized teacher. She has become 
the tenderest of mothers, and full of thoughtful 
kindnesses toward unfortunates in life. Six chil- 
dren have blessed their union, namely: Maude 
Winifred, born November i, 1866, and who died 
February n, 1873; John Joseph, born September 
8, 1870; Frank Nathaniel, December 17, 1872; 
Mary Evangeline, April 3, 1875; Grace Josephine, 
June 4, 1877; an d Wilfred, June 12, 1881, and 
who died December 26, 1882. 

A brief genealogy of the family is here added: 

The name has been variously spelled, Everhart, 
Everhard, Eberhardt, Eberhard and Eberhart 



J. F. EBERHART. 



153 



being the most common forms. Such changes of 
patronymic spelling are by no means unusual in 
German descendants living upon American soil; 
but Eberhart is believed to be the most general, 
as well as correct, English orthography, and is 
used by the branch which is the subject of this 
sketch. 

This family, which from 1280 to 1723 (a period 
of four hundred and forty -three years) gave birth 
to counts and dukes reigning over the province of 
Wurtemberg, is of Swabian (Bavarian) German 
origin. Through the middle ages its numerous 
descendants have figured very conspicuously in 
the history of that country and the advancement 
of civilization. As a generation they have lived 
ahead of their respective years; have been a mar- 
tial, well-educated, honorable and religious branch 
of the human race. 

One Eberhart rendered invaluable assistance to 
Martin Luther, hero of the Reformation, since 
which era most of the families have belonged to 
the Lutheran Church. Of its many men of let- 
ters, space permits a reference only to Johannes 
August Eberhardt, friend of Frederick the Great, 
Privy Councilor to the King of Prussia, mem- 
ber of the Berlin Academy, one of the greatest 
scholars of the eighteenth century, who composed 
many able treatises, some of them authority to 
this day. 

Of the sovereigns of this family, whose deeds 
and virtues are celebrated in prose and verse (the 
lyric king of German song, the immortal Schil- 
ler, pausing in Parnassian flights to do them 
homage), we must chronicle how "Duke Eber- 
hard the Noble," "Duke Eberhard the Groaner" 
(or "Rushing Beard"), "Duke Eberhard the 
Mild," "Duke Eberhard with the Beard," "Duke 
Eberhard the Younger," "Prince Eberhard" and 
"Duke Leopold Eberhard" were some of the 
most noted rulers springing- from the loins of this 
famous race. 

The first above was the founder of the royal 
line, being the most daring warrior Wurtemberg 
has ever produced, of whom it is written: 

"Then spoke Eberhard the Great, 

Wurtemberg's beloved lord, 
'No great cities boast my state, 

Nay, nor hills with silver stored. 



" 'But one treasure makes me blest, 
Though the days are fierce and dread; 

On each subject's loyal breast 
I can safely lay my head.' 

" 'Eberhard !' cried one and all, 

And meekly before him bowed, 
'Thou art richest of us all! ' 

And their praise rang long and loud.' 

The grandson of ' 'The Noble' ' was ' 'The Rush- 
ing Beard," whose episode connected with the 
fatal conduct of his son Ulrich is famed in art, 
compositions thereupon being hung in the Cor- 
coran Gallery at Washington (District of Colum- 
bia), in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and two 
canvases in the Museum of Rotterdam; while in 
Wurtemberg's capital is a life-size statue in mar- 
ble of "The Rushing Beard," which is among 
the first objects of interest to attract the attention 
of the visitor. 

Intermarriages were made with such leading 
families as the Ulrichs, Rudolphs, Henrys, Fred- 
ericks, Hartmans and Ludwigs, whose names are 
occasionally found in the line of rulers, when a 
male heir was wanting to the Eberharts; or, per- 
chance, a female sovereign for a time appears, as 
in the case of the Duchess Henrietta, widow of 
"Eberhard the Younger." 

With the death of Charles VI, Emperor of Ger- 
many, in 1740, passed away the glories of the 
House of Hapsburg. At this era the Eberhardts 
also ceased to reign in Wurtemberg, being de- 
throned partly by their own injudicious counsels 
and conduct, but more especially by the then 
growing ascendancy of the Catholics. This was 
the time of self-expatriation of many of their line 
in quest of better fortunes, together with the civil 
and religious freedom of the New World. 

In 1727 three brothers, Michael, Peter and 
Joseph, came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of 
these, Michael Eberhart came from Germany in 
the ship "Friendship, John Davis master, land- 
ing in the City of Brotherly Love October 16, 
1727. He had a son Paul, born during the voy- 
age to America, who lived in Northampton Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, until 1773, when he removed 
to the "Manor Settlement" near Greensburg, 
Pennsylvania. He had a third son, Christian, 
who married Anna Maria Snyder, of his native 



154 



D. H. PINNEY. 



place, where he died in 1849, at the advanced age 
of seventy -seven. He had a second son, Abra- 
ham, who was born December 28, 1797, and who 
married, August 22, 1820, Esther Arniend, of 
New Salem, Pennsylvania. At twenty-five he 
removed into the wilderness of Mercer County, 
Pennsylvania, where he cleared a farm and erect- 
ed a sawmill on the Little Neshannock. He 



afterward lived in Illinois and Iowa, and was the 
first to take up residence in the suburb of Chi- 
cago Lawn, October 2, 1877. He died August 7, 
1880, and was interred in Rose Hill Cemetery. 
He was a man of great good sense and stanchest 
probity. From him descended a fifth child, John 
Frederick Eberhart, the subject of the foregoing 
sketch. 



HON. DANIEL H. PINNEY. 



HON. DANIEL HYDE PINNEY, a worthy 
member of the Chicago Bar, and formerly 
Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of 
Arizona, is descended from one of the early Colo- 
nial families of Connecticut. His grandfather, 
Peter Pinney , was a native of the ' 'Land of Steady 
Habits," and his parents, Martin and Nancy 
(Johnson) Pinney, were born in Vermont. Mar- 
tin Pinney was reared in Franklin County, Ver- 
mont, and settled in Western New York about 
1830. He was a carpenter and builder, and 
erected many of the early buildings of Orleans 
County, New York, where he died in 1869, at 
the age of seventy years. His widow is still liv- 
ing there, in the ninety-second year of her age. 
The subject of this notice is the seventh of their 
nine children. 

Daniel H. Pinney was born in Albion, the seat 
of Orleans County, New York, June 2, 1837. He 
received the benefit of the common schools of his 
native town, and when still a young man joined 
the engineering corps employed in the enlarge- 
ment of the Erie Canal, continuing in that work 
two years and gaining a practical knowledge 
which ever after proved of advantage to him. 
He was possessed of energy, and a worthy ambi- 
tion to rise in the world, and resolved to try his 
fortune in the new West. 

The year 1856 found him in Chicago, looking 



for any honorable employment. For about two 
years he worked as a clerk and in various occu- 
pations, and in the mean time set his mind on the 
study of law. Going to Michigan City, Indiana, 
he entered the office of J. A. Thornton, a leading 
attorney of that place. When business called 
him to Joliet, Illinois, he continued his studies in 
the office of Snapp & Breckenridge, and applied 
himself with such industry and aptitude that he 
was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of 
the United States in the fall of 1861. 

His first experience as a practical lawyer was 
obtained in the town of Wilmington, Will Coun- 
ty, this State, where he practiced two years with 
moderate success. At the end of this period he 
returned to Joliet and continued his way into 
the confidence and esteem of the public. This is 
shown by the fact that he was five times elected 
City Attorney of Joliet, and in 1876 he was the 
successful candidate, as an Independent, for a seat 
in the General Assembly. He espoused the cause 
of Judge David Davis as candidate for the United 
States Senate, and as an active and aggressive 
worker, was largely instrumental in the success 
of that candidacy. He continued his law prac- 
tice in Joliet until 1882, when he was appointed 
by President Arthur to a position on the Supreme 
Bench of Arizona, which he filled with credit to 
all concerned for four years. 



F. E. R. JONES. 



155 



After spending a year in California, Judge Pin- 
ney returned to Illinois, settling in Chicago, where 
he has continued in practice since. He is an 
exceptionally able trial lawyer, and has handled 
a wide range of cases, many of them taking him 
to the Supreme Courts of adjoining and distant 
States. He is, withal, a very modest man, and 
gets no more credit than he is entitled to. He is 
a member of the Chicago Bar Association and of 
the Sons of New York. Being an independent 
thinker, he has not allied himself with any organ- 
izations other than social ones. In religious faith 
he is a Universalist, and attended the Englewood 
church of that denomination as long as he dwelt 
near it. He was an original Lincoln Republican, 



and was for many years an active campaigner, 
but retains his independence of party lines, and 
acts in elections according to his faith in respec- 
tive candidates. 

In 1865, at Albion, New York, Mr. Pinney 
was married to Miss Mary, daughter of John B. 
Lee, a prominent citizen of that town, which was 
Mrs. Pinney 's birthplace. She died in 1872, leav- 
ing a son, William Lee Pinney, now in business 
at Phoenix, Arizona. In 1874 Mr. Pinney mar- 
ried Miss Mary E. Bowman, of Shawneetown, 
Illinois, a native of Kentucky, who has borne him 
three children, Harry Bowman, Sidney Breese 
and Nannie E. Pinney, aged, respectively, nine- 
teen, seventeen and nine years. 



FRED E. R. JONES. 



f~ RED ELLSWORTH RANDOLPH JONES. 
[3 To what extent the character of an individ- 
| ual is molded by the circumstances and con- 
ditions which surround him is a problem that ad- 
mits of almost unlimited discussion. But no stu- 
dent of human nature will attempt to deny that 
the environments of childhood exert a powerful 
influence upon the life of the future man or wo- 
man. A thorough business training, begun at 
an earty age, and vigorously adhered to in ma- 
ture years, while it may dwarf some of the finer 
sensibilities and smother many of the noblest at- 
tributes of a man's nature, seldom fails to develop 
a capable, systematic and successful business man. 
Mr. Jones was born at Chelsea, Washtenaw 
County, Michigan, January 18, 1860, and is a son 
of Aaron C. Jones and Carrie R. Clarke. A. C. 
Jones was born in New York, and came, during 
his childhood, with his parents to Michigan. 
They settled near Adrian, where his father, Ab- 
ner Jones, became a prominent farmer. The lat- 
ter was a native of New York. Aaron C. Jones 



was a master marble-cutter, but being troubled 
with weakness of the lungs, which was aggra- 
vated by the pursuit of this calling, he abandoned 
it. In 1868 he came to Chicago and engaged in 
the fire-insurance business, which occupied his 
attention until the great fire. The spring follow- 
ing this disaster he contracted a severe cold, which 
developed consumption and terminated his life. 
His death occurred in 1874, at the age of forty- 
five years. 

Mrs. Carrie R. Jones, who still resides in Chi- 
cago, was born in Goshen, Indiana, where her 
father's death occurred about the time she was 
eleven years of age. Her mother's maiden name 
was Randolph, and she was a relative of the noted 
Virginia family of that name the Randolphs of 
Roanoke. Her grandfather, who was a man of 
considerable means and influence, devoted much 
time and money to the cause of the American col- 
onies during the Revolutionary War. During 
the progress of that struggle he made an expedi- 
tion to the West Indies in the interests of the Na- 



156 



B. M. WIEDINGER. 



tional Government, leaving his motherless chil- 
dren in charge of a neighbor and friend. His 
absence was unexpectedly prolonged, and during 
this time the neighbor moved across the Ohio 
River to the western frontier, and the family was 
never re-united. 

The subject of this sketch attended the public 
school until twelve years of age, at which time, 
owing to his father's failing health, he was 
obliged to abandon his studies and begin the bat- 
tle of life. He obtained employment in the in- 
surance office of the late George C. Clarke, his 
first position being that of errand boy. Under 
the instruction and training of his kind employer, 
he rapidly developed an aptitude for business and 
was promoted to more responsible positions. At 
the age of twenty years he became the bookkeeper 
and confidential man of the concern, with which 
he continued to be identified until 1893. Few 
boys of his age had to contend with the stern, 
realistic problems of life to such a degree as he, 
but, with the advice and counsel of his employer 
and aided and sustained by his mother's counsel, 
he made the most of his opportunities. He at- 
tended night schools at intervals and subsequently 



became a teacher of bookkeeping to night classes 
at the Chicago Athenaeum. 

In January, 1893, he was made City Manager 
in Chicago of the Liverpool & London & Globe 
Insurance Company, which position he has filled 
up to this time with credit to himself and the mu- 
tual advantage of the parties concerned. He now 
occupies one of the finest suites of offices in the 
city, being located in the new and modern Asso- 
ciation Building. 

Few people who know Mr. Jones as an able, 
thorough-going business man are aware that be- 
neath his calm, sedate and unemotional exterior, 
there are veins of sentiment, philosophy and enthu- 
siasm which are seldom allowed to assert them- 
selves during business hours. His more intimate 
associates, however, know him as a man of re- 
fined and cultivated tastes, who has given consid- 
erable attention to the study of vocal music and 
other arts. He is a member of the Apollo and 
Mendelssohn Clubs. He takes little interest in 
political or other public movements, but feels a 
deep concern in the development of the intellect- 
ual and spiritual sentiments of mankind. 



BERNHARD M. WIEDINGER. 



BERNHARD MARIA WIEDINGER, an 
educator of prominence and one of the old- 
est members of Chicago's German colony, 
believed in the brotherhood of man and the equal- 
ity of all before the law, and this brief sketch of 
his life will show a little of the much he did for 
the emancipation of the down-trodden from op- 
pression and slavery, as well as something of his 
efforts in educating and preparing for the respon- 
sibilities of after life many of the active and in- 
fluential citizens of Chicago. 

Professor Wiedinger was born at Engen, near 
Constance, in Baden, Germany, on the isth of 
August, 1826. His ancestors, though not titled, 
were persons of property and influence, and were 



among the leading citizens of the municipality in 
which they dwelt. 

Abraham de Santa Clara, a monk and author 
of distinction some centuries past, was a near 
relative of Professor Wiedinger's maternal ances- 
tor of several generations ago. Among the host- 
ages shot by General Moreau in the Napoleonic 
wars, and whose bones were recently interred 
with great honor, was an ancestor on the mater- 
nal side. For a political offense another gave up 
his life under the leaden prison roof of Venice. 

His father, George, served as an officer in the 
French army in the famous Peninsular campaign, 
and with his brothers was in the Government em- 
ploy, he being engaged in arboriculture and viti- 



B. M. WIEDINGER. 



157 



culture, and having charge of a large number of 
men. George Wiedinger died some time in the 
fifties, aged seventy-seven. His wife, Apollonia, 
nee Fricker, died in 1848, at the age of fifty-six. 
This couple were the parents of thirteen children, 
only three of whom grew up to years of maturity, 
all the others dying in early childhood. The eld- 
est child was George, the second Julius Batiste, 
and Bernhard was the youngest. 

Bernhard Wiedinger obtained at Constance the 
education afforded by the real school and gymna- 
sium, and later attended the Heidelberg Univer- 
sity. There he spent two years, and was noted 
alike for his knowledge of languages and musi- 
cal versatility. The noted rebellion of 1848 broke 
out while he was a student at the university, he 
being then twenty -two years old, and enrolled as a 
soldier. Young Wiedinger had imbibed in his 
studies a fierce and unquenchable love of liberty, 
and hatred of all forms of oppression and tyranny, 
and did not hesitate to cast his lot with the Revo- 
lutionists and share in the dangers that the up- 
rising brought to those who participated in it. 
He saw bloody work, and was several times 
wounded. A wound which he received in the 
head was of a serious nature. The collapse of 
the Revolution brought swift and summary pun- 
ishment to many who had raised their hands for 
liberty. Among those who were taken was young 
Wiedinger. Until two days before his trial all 
who were tried were sentenced to death and exe- 
cuted. His punishment was severe, on account 
of his having been enrolled in the army. He re- 
ceived a sentence of ten years in prison, seven 
months of which were spent in solitary confine- 
ment. After spending something over a year in 
prison, by the aid of friends he escaped to Switz- 
erland, and later went to France. In the latter 
country, on account of a speech he made at a 
demonstration by Republicans, he was compelled 
to leave the political asylum he had sought in 
Europe, and come to America, where his efforts 
in the cause of freedom were destined to be far- 
ther-reaching and more successful than they had 
been in countries where oppression had crystalized 
in monarchy. 

Arriving in the United States in 1851, he re- 



mained for a time at Philadelphia, where he had 
distant relatives. He at once began to learn the 
language of the country, and in order to do so in 
what he thought would be the most successful 
way, he obtained employment on a farm where 
he would hear only English spoken. He re- 
mained on the farm one month, and in after life 
he often jocosely said that in that time he learned 
just five words, "breakfast, dinner and supper, 
horse and harness." He was not long, however, 
in acquiring a knowledge of English. Among 
his earliest acts was filing a declaration of his in- 
tention to become a citizen of the republic whose 
political institutions were so dear to him. 

His first permanent employment was as travel- 
ing salesman for a Philadelphia book house, and 
in that business he remained for some time and 
traveled much. He early became an enthusiastic 
worker in the cause of the abolition of slavery. 
He was a delegate to the first Republican Na- 
tional Convention held at Cincinnati in 1854, an( i 
stumped the state of Indiana with Oliver P. Mor- 
ton for that party, speaking in German. Later, 
he went to Kansas, where he thought his efforts 
in the abolition cause would be more helpful, and 
there had charge of a station of the "underground 
railroad," as it was called, for the aid of slaves 
escaping from the South. He spent some time 
in the law office of Sherman & Ewing, and was 
assistant Secretary of the famous Topeka Con- 
vention. John Brown numbered him among his 
band, and when he planned his historic raid on 
Harper's Ferry sent for him; but he arrived at 
the place of rendezvous twelve hours too late. 
In the early part of 1860 he started an abolition 
paper at St. Joseph, Missouri, but one night a 
mob visited his office, threw his type and presses 
into the river, and he was compelled to seek a 
more promising field of operations. Coming to 
Illinois, he recruited a company of one hundred 
men for the famous Hecker regiment, and was 
elected Captain. On account of defective sight, 
caused by injury to his eyes when a child, he was 
prevented from going to the front. 

Soon afterward he came to Chicago and bought 
out a German school of small proportions and en- 
gaged in the work of education. He was very 



B. M. WIEDINGER. 



successful as a teacher, and soon had three hun- 
dred pupils in attendance. Later he organized a 
company which built a schoolhouse on the corner 
of La Salle Avenue and Superior Street. His 
health failing, he was compelled to give up teach- 
ing in 1868 and seek outdoor employment. Sub- 
sequently he gave private lessons, was a clerk in 
the postomce for a year, and also held a position 
in the City Clerk's office for two years. A por- 
tion of the time between 1868 and 1878, when his 
health permitted, he was engaged in teaching. 
He spent a part of this time in the school, but 
most of the time as a private tutor. In those 
years, beside the misfortune of bad health, he 
suffered the loss of his schoolhouse and household 
goods in the great fire. 

In 1865 Mr. Wiedinger was married to Miss 
Mary D. Moulton, a native of Maine, and a 
daughter of Judge Jotham Tilden Moulton, of 
Chicago. Mrs. Wiedinger is a descendant of an- 
cestors who helped build up the New England 
States. Her father, born October 8, 1808, was a 
graduate of Bowdoin College, where the poet 
Longfellow was one of his teachers. He gradu- 
ated from Harvard Law School, where he was a 
classmate of Wendell Phillips and Charles Sum- 
ner, with the latter of whom he maintained a life- 
long friendship. Coming to Chicago in 1852, he 
bought a third-interest in the Chicago Tribune, 
which he sold a year later. He held the office of 
Deputy Clerk of the United States Court, and 
United States Commissioner and Master in Chan- 
cery, which last office he held until after the fire. 
His death occurred in 1881. Mr. Moulton was 
the son of Dr. Jotham Moulton, and grandson of 
Colonel Moulton, who died in 1777, after serving 
one year in the struggle for independence. Mrs. 
Wiedinger has been a teacher for a large part of 
her life, rendering valuable assistance to her hus- 
band in his profession. She has also written for 
the press, contributing translations, original stories 
and poetry. 

Mr. Wiedinger left three sons: George T., 
Bernhard M. and Frank A. The first of these is 
a lawyer, the second is engaged in real-estate work, 



and the third has chosen the newspaper profession. 

Mr. Wiedinger was one of those earnest and 
tireless men whose energies keep them always em- 
ployed. As a friend of freedom, he took an 
active part in the great moral struggle that pre- 
ceded the appeal to arms, in which he was unable 
to engage on account of physical infirmity, but 
to the aid of which his most effective assistance 
in every other way was given. He aided in 
the organization of the Republican party, in 
order that a bulwark of freedom might be es- 
tablished, and stood in the forefront of progress 
of that party till 1888, when he considered the 
party had gone from the position it formerly oc- 
cupied, and he then joined the ranks of the Dem- 
ocracy. As an educator, he took a place among 
the leading Germans of Chicago, and his worth 
as a teacher is often testified by the leading Ger- 
man-American citizens of Chicago, who were his 
pupils and life-long friends. He was liberal in 
his ideas and progressive in his work, and said 
that, if he had done nothing else, he had made it 
impossible to have a successful German school in 
Chicago without having an English teacher in it. 
In the organization of societies of various kinds 
he took a leading part. He was one of the or- 
ganizers and President of the Turners' Associa- 
tion of Chicago, also one of the organizers of the 
Schiller Liedertafel, and. its musical director. In 
recent years a bowling club, composed of his 
former pupils, assumed the name of " Wieding- 
er' s Boys." 

In physique Mr. Wiedinger was a powerful 
man, and a complete master of the art of self-de- 
fense. Once, when attacked by three ruffians, he 
knocked one down with his fist, kicked over an- 
other, and the third, seeing the condition of his 
companions, fled for safety. He was a prolific 
writer in his early years, and the habit of con- 
tributing to the newspapers he kept up through 
life. As a friend, a husband and father, he showed 
those rare characteristics that endeared him to his 
familiars. His gentle, confiding nature, his do- 
mesticity and devotion to his family were ap- 
parent to all. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



SAMUEL J. JONES. 



159 



SAMUEL J. JONES, M. D., LL. D. 



(3AMUEL J. JONES, M. D., LL. D., is a na- 
/\ live of Bainbridge, Pennsylvania, born March 
Q) 22, 1836. His father, Doctor Robert H. 
Jones, was a practicing physician in the Keystone 
State for a third of a century, and died in 1863. 
The mother, whose maiden name was Sarah M. 
Ekel, is a member of one of the pioneer families 
of the old town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, of 
Swiss and Huguenot descent. At the age of sev- 
enteen, their son Samuel, having finished his pre- 
paratory studies, in the fall of 1853, entered Dick- 
inson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 
which he was graduated four years later with the 
degree of A. B. In 1860 he received the degree 
of A. M., and in 1884 was honored by his alma 
mater with the degree of LL. D. His choice of 
a vocation in life was no doubt influenced by his 
father's successful practice of medicine, and at an 
early age he determined to follow in his father's 
professional footsteps. Accordingly, on leaving 
college, he began the stud}' of medicine, which he 
pursued for three years under his father's super- 
vision. In the fall of 1858 he matriculated at the 
University of Pennsylvania, and after pursuing 
the studies prescribed in the curriculum of the 
medical department of that institution, took the 
degree of M. D. , in the spring of 1860, just thirty 
years after the father had graduated from the 
same university. 

The advantages and opportunities for observa- 



tion and adventure presented by the United States 
naval service proved too attractive for the young 
practitioner to resist, and he became one of the 
competitors in the examination of candidates for 
the position of Assistant Surgeon. He success- 
fully passed the examination, and received his ap- 
pointment just before the outbreak of the War of 
the Rebellion, and entered upon a life which, for 
activity, change, excitement and opportunity for 
acquiring experience, should have fully satisfied 
his desires in those particulars. He first saw 
service on board the United States steam frigate 
"Minnesota," which sailed under sealed orders 
from Boston, May 8, 1861, as flag-ship of the 
Atlantic blockading squadron. Three months 
later he was present at the battle of Hatteras In- 
let, which resulted in the capture of the Confed- 
erate forts with fifteen hundred prisoners, and 
ended the blockade-running there. This was the 
first naval battle ever fought in which steamships 
were used and kept in motion while in action. 
In January, 1862, Doctor Jones was detached 
from the "Minnesota" and detailed as Surgeon of 
Flag-OfEcer Goldsborough's staff, on the expedi- 
tion of Burnside and Goldsborough, which re- 
sulted in the capture of Roanoke Island. Later 
he was assigned to duty as Staff Surgeon under 
Commander Rowan, and was present at the cap- 
ture of Newbern, Washington and other points on 
the inner waters of North Carolina. 



i6o 



SAMUEL J. JONES. 



Soon afterward Doctor Jones accompanied an 
expedition up the Nansemond River for the relief 
of the Union forces engaged in repelling General 
Longstreet's advance on Suffolk, Virginia. This 
force was under the command of Lieutenant Gush- 
ing, of Albemarle fame, and Lieutenant Lamson. 
In the spring of 1863 Doctor Jones was assigned 
to duty at Philadelphia, there passed a second 
examination, was promoted to the rank of Sur- 
geon, and assigned to duty at Chicago, where, 
among other duties, he was engaged as Examin- 
ing Surgeon of candidates for the medical corps 
destined for naval service in the Mississippi River 
Squadron. While occupying this position he was 
ordered to visit various military prisons, and there 
examined more than three thousand Confederate 
prisoners who had requested permission to enlist 
in the Federal service, and who were accepted 
and assigned to men-of-war on foreign stations. 
He was ordered to the sloop-of-war "Ports- 
mouth, ' ' of Admiral Farragut' s West Gulf Block- 
ading Squadron, in 1864, and was soon after as- 
signed to duty as Surgeon of the New Orleans 
Naval Hospital, where he was at the close of the 
Rebellion. In the fall of 1865 he was sent to 
Pensacola, Florida, as Surgeon of the navy yard 
and naval hospital. In 1866 he was again as- 
signed to duty at Chicago, where he remained 
until the marine rendezvous there was closed, in 
the same year. In 1867 he was ordered to the 
frigate "Sabine," the practice ship for naval ap- 
prentices, cruising along the Atlantic Coast, which 
was his last active sendee in the navy. 

In 1868, after eight years' continuous service, 
Surgeon Jones resigned to devote his attention to 
private practice. Not long after he was elected 
delegate from the American Medical Association 
to the meetings of the medical associations of 
Europe, and was, at the same time, commissioned 
by Governor Geary, of Pennsylvania, to report 
on hospital and sanitary matters of England and 
the continent. He attended the meetings ot the 
societies at Oxford, Heidelberg and Dresden, and 
in the month of September, at the last place, 
participated in organizing the first Otological 
Congress ever held. Combining travel with study, 
he enjoyed the remainder of the year in visiting 



various pans of Europe and investigating medi- 
cal and sanitary affairs, giving special attention 
to diseases of the eye and of the ear. On his re- 
turn to the United States he resumed practice in 
Chicago in 1868. Soon after he was elected 
President of the Board of Examining Surgeons 
for United States Pensions at Chicago, and was 
also made a member of the medical staff of St. 
Luke's Hospital, and there established the de- 
partment for the treatment of diseases of the eye 
and ear, with which he has since been connected. 

In 1870 Doctor Jones was again elected a del- 
egate from the American Medical Association to 
the meetings of the European associations, and, 
during his stay abroad, spent some months in re- 
search and investigation. In the same year he 
was elected to the newly-established chair of 
Ophthalmology and Otology in Chicago Med- 
ical College, now Northwestern University Medi- 
cal School, a position he continues to hold. He 
also established the eye and ear department in 
Mercy Hospital and in the South Side Dispensary, 
having charge of each of them for about ten 
years. For a number of years he was one of the 
attending staff of the Illinois Charitable Eye and 
Ear Infirmary in Chicago. In 1876 he was a 
delegate from the Illinois State Medical Society 
to the Centennial International Medical Congress 
at Philadelphia, and in 1881 represented the 
American Medical Association and the American 
Academy of Medicine at the Seventh International 
Medical Congress at London. The Ninth Inter- 
national Medical Congress was held in Washing- 
ton, District of Columbia, in 1887, and of this Doc- 
tor Jones was a member. He was President of 
the section of otology, and was e x-officio a mem- 
ber of the Executive Committee, whose duty it 
was to arrange the preliminary organization of 
the congress. 

In 1889 Doctor Jones was elected President of 
the American Academy ot Medicine, whose ob- 
jects, as stated in its constitution, are: "First, to 
bring those who are alumni of collegiate, scien- 
tific and medical schools into closer relations with 
each other. Second, to encourage young men to 
pursue regular courses of study in classical and 
scientific institutions before entering upon the 



WILLIAM O. KEELER. 



161 



study of medicine. Third, to extend the bounds 
of social science, to elevate the profession, to re- 
lieve human suffering and prevent disease." 

Doctor Jones, as may be inferred from the read- 
ing of the foregoing recital of his services in his 
profession, is an enthusiastic worker and an able 
physician, whose genial manner and success in 
practice have made him widely known. His la- 
bors in the many societies of which he has been a 
member have been ably supplemented by the 
product of his pen, which has been directed to- 
ward raising the standard of the practice of medi- 
cine. His writings have frequently appeared in 
medical journals, and for several years he was 
editor of the Chicago Medical Journal and Exam- 
iner, one of the leading periodicals of the country. 
He has successfully applied himself to acquiring 
knowledge pertaining to his specialty, and for 
twenty years has been recognized by both the 
medical profession and the public as authority on 
all matters pertaining to ophthalmology and otol- 
ogy. He has always stood high in the esteem of 
the profession, and has been active and influential 
in its councils and deliberations. His fine personal 



appearance, genial manners, fund of entertaining 
conversation, and frank, manly deportment have 
made him a favorite, both as an individual and a 
practitioner, and drawn to him a large clientele. 

He has never held any political office, but has 
preferred the reward which has come to him, un- 
sought, in his profession and in literature and 
science. He has for a quarter of a century been a 
member of the Chicago Academy of Science, and 
he is one of its Board of Trustees. He is also 
President of the Western Association of the 
Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, and of 
the Illinois Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa, 
the oldest Greek-letter society in the United States, 
founded in 1776, whose membership has always 
been restricted and conferred as a recognition of 
scholarship. 

When the Illinois Naval Militia was organized 
as a part of the National Naval Reserve, he was 
solicited to give that organization the benefit of 
his large experience in the naval service in the 
War of the Rebellion, and he is now Surgeon of 
the First Battalion, and has taken an active in- 
terest in its development. 



WILLIAM O. KEELER. 



O. KEELER, who after an active 
career i s spending his declining years at the 
home of his only surviving son, No. 6818 
Wright Street, Englewood, was born in Danbury, 
Conn., on January i, 1819. His paternal grand- 
father, of Scotch descent, was extensively engaged 
in farming, and gave to each of his children as 
they married considerable tracts of land. His 
death occurred at the advanced age of ninety-five 
years. Abraham G. and Sarah (Dan) Keeler, 
parents of William O., were natives of Connecti- 
cut. The father followed farming in that locality 
until his death, which occurred December 23, 



1836, at the age of sixty-two years. He was 
drafted for service in the War of 1812, but hired 
a substitute. His wife lived until 1860, passing 
away at the age of seventy-seven years. She was 
a member of the Baptist Church, under the in- 
fluence of which church her children were reared. 
William O. Keeler is the sole survivor of a 
family of eight sons and two daughters. He was 
reared in his native town, and at the age of seven- 
teen beganjearning the hatter's trade. For some 
years he engaged in the manufacture of hats and 
in merchandising, devoting his time and atten- 
tion to those enterprises throughout his business 



162 



ALBERT WILSON KELSO. 



career. He established the first hat manufactory 
in Yonkers, N. Y., employing eighty workmen, 
which was considered a large force at that time. 
On the 26th of April, 1843, Mr. Keeler was 
united in marriage with Miss Abigail Stuart Clark, 
daughter of Sallu P. and Hannah (Benedict) 
Clark. Eight children were born of their union, 
six sons and two daughters. Ella, now deceased, 
was the wife of J. Deville Dennis. William P. 
married Miss Temperance Hayward, daughter of 
Ambrose D. and Martha (Wiley) Hayward, the 
former a native of Maine, and the latter of Mass- 
achusetts. They have two children, William P. 
and Martha Abigail. William P. Keeler has 
since April, 1872, held the responsible position of 
City Cashier in the wholesale house of Marshall 
Field & Co. He and his wife are members of the 
Englewood Christian Church. On the nth of 
May, 1864, while yet a boy, he enlisted in the 
War of the Rebellion, joining the one hundred 
day men and becoming a member of Company A, 
One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Illinois Infan- 
try, U. S. A., continuing in the service until the 
25th of October. Frederick S. and Isaac Ward 
were the next younger, but are now deceased, as 
also Frank, twin brother of Fannie. The latter 
is the wife of Walter Colby, of Chicago, and 
they have two children, Otis Keeler and Abigail 



Stuart. Susan C. and Charles L. have also passed 
away, and the mother of this family, who was a 
devoted member of the Christian Church, died 
May 17, 1889, in her sixty-seventh year. 

In 1852, William O. Keeler went to California 
in search of gold, and after a two-years stay re- 
turned to Danbury, Conn., remaining thereuntil 
the fall of 1854. He then came to Chicago and 
opened the first hat, cap and fur store on Randolph 
Street, under the old Mattsson House, occupying 
this stand for a number of years. He afterward 
removed to a new block on the opposite side of 
the street, conducting the business until 1861. 
He then accepted a clerkship with a hat house 
on Clark Street, near Lake, and later at No. 77 
Lake Street, in the Tremont Block, remaining 
there until 1866. In that year he went upon the 
road as a traveling salesman, which calling he 
pursued for a limited time only. His later years 
have been mostly spent in the manufacture of 
dress hats, but in the spring of 1894, after pass- 
ing his seventy-fifth milestone, the infirmities of 
age compelled him to give up work. Father and 
son have never been separated in their lives ex- 
cept for comparatively brief intervals, the home 
of the one having always been the home of the 
other. 



ALBERT WILSON KELSO. 



G| LBERT WILSON KELSO, of Chicago, oc- 

I | cupies the responsible position of chief clerk 
/I in the office of the Assistant General Manager 
of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. 
The record of his life is as follows: A native of 
Shippensburgh, Pa., he was born on the 22d of 
October, 1859, and is a son of James W. and 
Anna B (Shade) Kelso. His father was also a 
native of Shippensburgh, and died in that town 
when the son was only six months old. By trade 



he was a painter and decorator, and did a good 
business along that line. After the death of her 
first husband, Mrs. Kelso married Henry High, 
and is now residing in Wilson, Kan. 

Mr. Kelso whose name heads this record at- 
tended the public schools until fourteen years of 
age, thus becoming familiar with the common 
English branches of learning. His knowledge 
has since been greatly supplemented by reading, 
experience and observation, and he has thus be- 



WALES TOBEY. 



163 



come a well-informed man. At the age of eigh- 
teen he emigrated westward, removing with the 
family to Wilson, Kan. From the age of eight 
years he had been accustomed to work in a brick- 
yard, and also engaged in other labor, thus con- 
tributing to his own support. He is a self-made 
man, and whatever success he has achieved in 
life is due entirely to his own efforts. 

While living in Wilson, Kan., Mr. Kelso sought 
and obtained a position as night clerk in a hotel. 
Later he removed to Russell, Kan., where he was 
employed in the same capacity. In May, 1880, 
he entered the service of the Union Pacific Rail- 
road Company and removed to Wallace, Kan. 
For seven years he continued his connection with 
that road, becoming chief clerk in the Division 
Superintendent's office at Wallace, his merit and 
ability winning him a promotion to which he was 
justly entitled. Later he was in the office of the 
Superintendent of Bridges and Buildings of the 
Union Pacific Railroad Company at Omaha, and 
on the 27th of April, 1887, he engaged with the 
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at To- 
peka, Kan., occupying a position as clerk in the 
office of the Superintendent of Roadways. In 
August, 1890, he came to Chicago as chief clerk 



in the office of the Assistant General Manager, 
which position he now holds. He discharges his 
duties with promptness and fidelity, and wins the 
respect of all with whom he is brought in contact. 

Turning from the public to the private life of 
Mr. Kelso, it is noted that in June, 1883, was 
celebrated his marriage with Miss Elizabeth Spahr, 
daughter of John and Mary Spahr, who were 
residents of Carlisle, Pa. The family circle now 
includes four children, a son and three daughters: 
Mary, Edith, Newton and Nora. 

Socially, Mr. Kelso is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and has taken high rank in the order, 
belonging to Topeka Commandery and Medinah 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine. From his boyhood 
he has been an advocate of Republican principles, 
and since attaining his majority he has cast his 
vote for the men and measures of that party. 
He is an accurate and reliable scribe, who has 
won his way to his present responsible position 
by his own unaided efforts. His integrity, indus- 
trious habits and systematic business methods in- 
spire the confidence of his superior officers, and 
his many admirable social qualities have gained 
him numerous personal friends. 



WALES TOBEY 



JALES TOBEY, a leading citizen of Worth 
Township, claims New York as the State 
of his nativity, his birth having occurred 
near Plattsburg, on the 28th of September, 1831. 
His parents were Jesse and Statira (DeKalb) To- 
bey. The father, who was born in Champlain, 
N. Y., was an attorney by profession and became a 
large land-owner and iron-founder. He traveled 
extensively through the West, and in the commu- 
nity where he lived was recognized as one of its 
most prominent business men. His death oc- 



curred in Plattsburg, N. Y., in July, 1873, at the 
age of seventy-three years. The Tobey family was 
of English origin. Jesse Tobey, Sr., the grand- 
father of Wales, was one of four brothers who in 
an early day came to America. The others set- 
tled in Connecticut, Vermont and Ohio, respec- 
tively. Mrs. Statira Tobey was a native of the 
Empire State, but her parents were born in Penn- 
sylvania, and were of German descent. Her 
death occurred in 1841. 

Wales Tobey spent his boyhood days upon a 



1 64 



HIRAM P. CRAWFORD. 



farm in Jay Township, Essex County, N. Y., 
and attended the public schools and an academy. 
Thus he acquired a good English education, which 
well fitted him for the practical duties of life. At 
the age of nineteen he left home and entered upon 
his business career as book-keeper and salesman 
in a mercantile establishment in Newport, Mich., 
where he was employed for three years. He be- 
lieved it would be to his advantage to begin bus- 
iness in the West, and his judgment was not at 
fault, as the years have shown. He worked for 
the firm of E. B. & S. Ward, relatives of his 
grandmother. When the three years had passed, 
he went to Grand Haven, Mich., where he began 
business on his own account as a dealer in wood, 
furnishing steamboats on the lake. In 1851 he 
became a resident of Milwaukee, and thence went 
to Strong's Landing, Wis. The following spring 
he came to Cook County, 111., settling in Worth 
Township. ' 

In 1856, Mr. Tobey purchased his present farm 
near Worth Station. It was then a tract of wild 
land, but he at once began to clear and cultivate 
it, and now has a finely improved farm, supplied 
with all modern accessories and conveniences. 
He has bought and sold considerable real estate, 
and this branch of his business has also proved 
to him a good source of income. For ten years 
after locating on his farm, his nearest postofnce 
was Blue Island, a distance of nine miles, but 
through his efforts offices were established at 
Worth, South Mount Forest and Grosskopf. 
For a year after this result was attained the mail 



was brought from Blue Island by private enter- 
prise, for the Government had not then estab- 
lished a mail route. Mr. Tobey, in connection 
with two other men, supported the mail route by 
subscription. 

On the 8th "of January, 1858, Mr. Tobey was 
united in marriage with Elizabeth Van Horn, 
daughter of A. C. Van Horn, of Homer, 111. They 
had three children: John Dillon, a dealer in hay, 
grain and ice, in Chicago; Emma, wife of F. 
Hepperley, of Norfolk, Neb.; and Marion, wife 
of John Elliott, of Winside, Neb. The mother 
of this family passed away February 14, 1870, at 
the age of thirty years. She was a member of 
the Methodist Church. 

Mr. Tobey was married to his second wife, 
Elizabeth M. Burt, daughter of Alvin Burt, of 
Westport, N. Y., January 8, 1874. She was the 
mother of one child, Charles Clifford Tobey. 
She passed away June 14, 1892, at the age of 
forty-seven years. 

Mr. Tobey attends the services of the Meth- 
odist Church at Worth, which was built upon 
land contributed by him. In earlier years he 
was a Republican, but since the formation of 
the Prohibition party has been identified with that 
movement. He has never sought, nor would he 
accept, public office. He has witnessed the mar- 
velous development of Chicago and Cook County 
for more than forty years, and has borne no small 
part therein, ever striving to promote the moral 
and intellectual growth of the community as well 
as its material prosperity. 



HIRAM PRATT CRAWFORD 



HIRAM PRATT CRAWFORD, a real-estate 
dealer of Crawford's Station, Chicago, is a 
native of the Empire State, his birth having 
occurred in Buffalo on the 3d of January, 1831. 



He is a son of Pe:er Crawford, whose biography 
will be found elsewhere in this work. He at- 
tended the public schools of Buffalo and Chicago. 
At the age of nineteen, he was established by his 



FRANK H. NOVAK. 



165 



father in a lumber-yard in Marengo; and when the 
railroad was extended to Belvidere, he removed to 
that place, whence he afterward went to Rock- 
ford, 111. In 1855, he became a resident of Gales- 
burg, where he carried on business for two years. 
Since 1857, ne nas resided at the old homestead, 
where he is engaged in looking after his exten- 
sive real-estate interests. The original farm pur- 
chased by his father has constantly increased in 
value, and now includes some of the most valuable 
suburban property adjacent to the city. 

In 1870, Mr. Crawford married Miss Sarah A. 
Launt, daughter of Lewis L,aunt, of Hamden, 
Delaware County, N. Y., the birthplace of Mrs. 



Crawford. Three children graced this union, 
namely: Sadie B., wife of M. D. Broadway, of 
Chicago; Nettie S., and Jessie L., deceased. The 
parents and their children hold membership with 
the Baptist Church. In his political views, Mr. 
Crawford is a Republican, andstanchly advocates 
the principles of that party. He has filled vari- 
ous positions of trust, having been Assessor, Tax 
Collector and Superintendent of Public Works in 
Cicero Township. Mr. Crawford is a gentleman 
of rare physical strength for one of his years. He 
is kindly in manner, hospitable, and deeply in- 
terested in the growth and progress of Chicago. 



FRANK H. NOVAK. 



f~RANK H. NOVAK, a leading attorney of 
r^ West Pullman, was born near Iowa City, 
I Johnson County, Iowa, on the i6th of No- 
vember, 1862, and is a son of Frank and Barbara 
Novak, who are still living on a farm near Iowa 
City. The former is a native of Vienna, Austria. 
He crossed the Atlantic to America in 1858, and 
became one of the pioneer settlers of Johnson 
County, Iowa. He is now one of its most ex- 
tensive farmers and representative citizens. His 
wife, who was born near Praug, Austria, is a 
daughter of Frank and Mary Hiek, early settlers 
of Lynn County, Iowa, who emigrated to America 
from Praug, Austria, in 1855. 

In taking up the personal history of our sub- 
ject, we present to our readers the life record of 
one who is both widely and favorably known in 
this section of Cook County. After attending 
the common schools, he entered the Iowa City 
Commercial College, from which he was graduated 
in the Class of '85. He then engaged in teach- 



ing for several terms, and met with good success 
in that line of work. He afterward became a 
student in the Iowa State University, of Iowa 
City, and, on the completion of the collegiate 
course, entered the law department, having de- 
termined to become a member of the legal pro- 
fession. H^e received his diploma in 1889, and 
was thereby entitled to admission to the Bar and 
to practice in the federal courts. 

Immediately after completing his law studies, 
Mr. Novak opened an office in Iowa City, and 
was there engaged in business until August, 
1893, when he crossed the Mississippi into Illi- 
nois and located at West Pullman, where he has 
since made his home, becoming the leading at- 
torney of that growing suburb, and doing business 
as a lawyer and loan and collection agent. He 
is also interested in real-estate and in live-stock 
investments near Iowa City, where the breeding 
of English Shire horses and Red Polled cattle is 
made a specialty. 



1 66 



JOHN J. LEAHY. 



On the 28th of March, 1890, Mr. Novak was 
united in marriage with Miss Nellie M. Burke, 
daughter of Thomas Burke, a resident of Oxford, 
Iowa. The lady is a native of Ottawa, Illinois. 
Their union has been blessed with one child, Marie 
Barbara. 

The parents both attend the Catholic Church. 
Mr. Novak is a member of the Knights of Pythias 
fraternity, the Knights of the Maccabees and the 
Order of Red Men. In politics, he is a Democrat, 



and warmly advocates the principles of that party. 
He has held a number of public offices, was Town- 
ship Clerk both in Lucas and Monroe Townships 
of Johnson County, Iowa, was Assessor of Mon- 
roe Township, and filled other positions of public 
trust. Mr. Novak is a gentleman of pleasing 
address, good business judgment and marked pro- 
fessional ability, making friends of all with whom 
he comes in contact in either business or social 
relations. 



JOHN J. LEAHY, M. D. 



(lOHN j: LEAHY, M. D., who is successfully 
I engaged in the practice of medicine in Le- 
Q) mont, was born in April, 1863, and is a na- 
tive of County Limerick, Ireland. His father, 
Thomas Leahy, was a native of Tipperary, and 
his mother, Margaret Leahy, of Kitteely. The 
Doctor acquired his primary education in the na- 
tional schools of the Emerald Isle, and then began 
the study of medicine in the College of Surgeons 
in Dublin, where he remained for three years. 
In 1883, he emigrated from Ireland, and in Sep- 
tember of that year reached Chicago, where he be- 
came a student in Rush Medical College. He 
there spent two years, and still another year in the 
Cook County Hospital. 

In April, 1885, Dr. Leahy acted upon the ad- 
vice given to the young men of America by the 
sage of Chappaqua and went West, settling at 
Delmar Junction, Clinton County, Iowa. At- 
tracted by the inducements offered at Lemont, 
however, he, in the autumn of the year 1885 
settled in this place, where he has enjoyed a large 
and constantly increasing practice. Much of the 



time Dr. Leahy has been employed by corpora- 
tions working large forces of men. From 1886 to 
1891, he was surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad 
Company, and during the year 1892 he was 
physician and surgeon for the firm of Frazier & 
Chalmers, manufacturers of mining machinery at 
Chicago, where he was busily engaged, having in 
charge a thousand men and their families. Since 
the beginning of 1894, ne has been physician and 
surgeon to the Illinois Stone Company, and also 
to Section 5 of the Drainage Canal at Lemont, in 
addition to his general practice. 

In 1887, Dr. Leahy married Miss Margaret 
Reardon, of Lemont, daughter of Thomas and 
Helen Reardon, whose sketch appears elsewhere 
in this volume. Three bright and beautiful chil- 
dren, two girls and a boy, have blessed this un- 
ion. They are Clara Louise, John J. and Mar- 
ion. Dr. Leahy's cheerful disposition makes him 
many friends, professionally and otherwise, and 
he enjoys a large and lucrative practice. He has 
one brother in this country, Rev. Patrick Leahy, 
of Lyons, Iowa. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




c 



CYRUS H. McCORMICK. 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 



EYRUS HALL McCORMICK, measured by 
his achievements and their influence upon 
mankind, must rank as one of the greatest 
benefactors of modern times. This statement is, 
perhaps, a comprehensive one, but it is not un- 
warranted by facts, and indeed was given an au- 
thoritative stamp when, in the latter years of Mr. 
McCormick's life, he was chosen a corresponding 
member of the French Academy of Sciences, on 
the ground of his having done more for the cause 
of agriculture than any other living man. Why 
this broad and generous tribute ? Why is the 
name of Cyrus Hall McCormick remembered and 
honored, and why will his memory hold a sacred 
niche in Fame's enduring temple throughout all 
coming time ? To answer queries of this nature 
we must give a brief sketch of the life, the influ- 
ences, and the labors of him concerning whom 
they are asked. 

The McCormick family lived in Rockbridge 
County, Virginia. They were descendants of an 
early settler in that portion of the S.tate, who had 
been invited thither by the fertile fields lying in 
the broad valley between the Shenandoah and 
Blue Ridge mountain ranges. It was here that 
Cyrus Hall McCormick was born on the isth of 
February, 1809. His parents were Robert and 
Mary Ann (Hall) McCormick, and their circum- 
stances, while perhaps not warranting luxurious 
living, were, nevertheless, conducive to comfort 
and the peaceful enjoyments common to that pe- 
riod. It was an era when modern frivolities and 
diversions were comparatively unknown, and 
when the hearts of men and women found their 
sweetest solace in the regularly recurring sen-ices 
held in the little church. Light literature was there 
unknown, and books of travel, history and biog- 



raphy were almost equally scarce. As a conse- 
quence, the Bible was much read in the homes of 
the people, and its precepts were more carefully 
instilled into the minds of its students than is com- 
mon in this push-and-hurry age of ours. The 
parents of young McCormick were recognized by 
their neighbors as the possessors of marked abil- 
ity and integrity of character, and their lives and 
actions were shaped in conformity with the best 
ideals of Christianity. 

It was amid surroundings such as these that 
the subject of this sketch acquired those traits 
which mark the career of the successful man, 
and to which men of all times and of all nations 
have paid the tribute of their admiration and 
their praise. This schooling of his character 
at home was supplemented by young McCor- 
mick's attendance upon the " Old Field " school, 
where the rudiments of book knowledge were 
acquired, and this was further enhanced by an 
evident desire for knowledge not found in books, 
a knowledge of the practical, of the common things 
about him. Genius is rarely an accidental trait, 
and it will be seen that the natural environments 
in which young Cyrus lived were shaping his 
destiny. His father was a man of more than or- 
dinary ability, himself a student throughout all the 
years of his life, with an inclination toward in- 
vention, and indeed an inventor in fact, as sever- 
al useful devices are accredited to his ingenuity 
in this line. He was extensively engaged in 
farming, and had^, upon his premises both black- 
smith and wood-working shops for the prompt re- 
pairing of the various farm implements, as occa- 
sion demanded. He appears to have been fond 
of the workshop, and it was but natural that he 
should give considerable time and attention to the 



1 68 



CYRUS H. McCORMICK. 



construction of experimental devices as they sug- 
gested themselves to him. Among some of the 
improvements resulting from his experiments were 
a hemp-breaking machine, a threshing-machine, 
and a blacksmith's bellows. As early as 1809, 
he conceived the idea of a grain-cutting mechan- 
ism, and in the summer of 1810 his conception 
had assumed a tangible form and was taken into 
the field for practical test. The cutting device 
consisted of a system of rotary saws, revolving past 
the edges of stationary knives, so as to cut like 
shears. A witness who saw its performance in 
the grain field described it as " a somewhat fright- 
ful looking piece of machinery when moving." 
It failed to meet the expectations of its inventor 
and was laid aside, though the idea of the reaper 
kept possession of him for several years thereafter, 
and he in fact made one or two subsequent at- 
tempts to perfect the machine, but without success. 
To his father's experiments and failures young 
Cyrus paid much attention, and it is not un- 
likely that at an early age he brought himself to 
believe that he would some time bring order out 
of the chaos which had marked the elder's reap- 
er-inventing career. He had a natural liking for 
mechanical inventions, and spent a goodly portion 
of his time in his father's workshops, becoming 
quite an adept in the use of the various tools. At 
the age of fifteen he made a grain cradle, by the 
use of which he was enabled to go into the har- 
vest field and keep pace with the older laborers. 
A little later he constructed a hill-side plow, a 
practical and useful invention, which threw alter- 
nate furrows either right or left. This was pat- 
ented, but was in turn superseded by his horizon- 
tal self-sharpening plow. It was at the age of 
twenty-two that he determined to devote his en- 
ergies to the reaper; and with his father's fail- 
ures before him plainly showing what was im- 
practicable, and perhaps offering vague suggest- 
ions as to what the practicable machine must be, 
he dreamed, he thought, and he worked. He first 
convinced himself that the principle adopted by 
his father was fundamenUil.'y wrcfg, he believing 
that the cutting device should give way to a hori- 
zontal reciprocating blade, which should operate 
upon the grain in mass. Deciding upon the de- 



tails of such a machine, he set to work with his 
own hands to combine them in wood and iron. 
He became so deeply absorbed in his work that his 
father, remembering his own futile attempts in the 
same line, sought to discourage the boy, telling 
him that he was wasting both his time and talents. 
Happily, however, Cyrus saw deeper, and with 
that persistence which was an inborn trait of his 
character, continued on in his work, and in the 
summer of 1831 went into a field of grain with the 
first successful reaper that was ever built. The 
distinguishing features of that machine were the 
reciprocating blade, operating in fixed fingers; the 
platform for receiving the falling grain ; the reel 
to draw the grain back to the knives; and the 
divider, to separate the grain to be cut from that 
left standing. These features and their combina- 
tion must be credited to the genius and skill of 
Cyrus Hall McCormick. They are found in all 
grain-cutting machines now extant, of whatso- 
ever name or nature, and to dispense with them 
" would be to wipe every reaper out of existence." 
The words quoted are from " Knight's New Me- 
chanical Dictionary', ' ' compiled and edited by Ed- 
ward H. Knight, A. M., 1,1,. D. , in charge of 
the classifications and publications of the United 
States Patent Office. 

When the field experiment had demonstrated 
the practical utility of his invention, it was tem- 
porarily relegated to a secondary place in the 
mind of its inventor. To enter at once upon the 
work of building machines for general use would 
involve an expenditure and obligation which, at 
that time, it was felt, could not be assumed; and 
therefor, more perhaps as a stepping-stone than 
otherwise, Mr. McCormick entered into a partner- 
ship for the smelting of iron ore, a business which 
appears to have moved along smoothly and with 
some degree of success until the panic of 1837, 
when it went down in the general crash which 
carried with it so many older and more preten- 
tious enterprises. Looking out upon the wreck, 
Cyrus McCormick saw all material interests reced- 
ing from him; looking within, he saw a sturdy 
young manhood, and felt the red blood of ambi- 
tion coursing through his veins. Little time was 
spent in repining. The first thing to be done 



CYRUS H. McCORMICK. 



169 



or at least to be provided for was the payment 
of every obligation which the firm had assumed, 
and to this end Mr. McCormick sacrificed all his 
possessions, including the farm which his father 
had given him. Then, with his face turned toward 
the light, with faith in himself and the reaper, 
he cast about him for ways and means for the 
further improvement of his machine, its manu- 
facture and sale. Like most stories of great suc- 
cesses, this is the story of small beginnings, many 
vicissitudes and perplexities, and some anxiety; 
but over all the rainbow of hope. The shops of 
the old Virginia farm were utilized as ' ' factories ' ' 
during the first few years, and, as may be imag- 
ined, the annual output of machines was insig- 
nificant until the year 1845, when it was decided 
to start a plant at Cincinnati, Ohio. Arrange- 
ments were also made at this time with a firm at 
Brockport, New York, for building the reaper on 
a royalty. It was thought that from these two 
points the East and West could be supplied, but 
the popularity of the grain cutter outran the ex- 
pectations of its inventor, and, to accelerate the de- 
velopment of the regions farther west, a demand 
for it sprang up and became so general that it 
was decided to again enlarge the plant, increase 
the facilities, and locate near the great and grow- 
ing market of the West. Accordingly, in 1847, the 
McCormick Reaper Works became one of the 
great industries of the young city of Chicago. In 
1848 seven hundred machines were built and sold, 
and from that-time to this the business has shown 
a steady growth, until its proportions are well 
nigh amazing. The present capacity of the Mc- 
Cormick Reaper Works exceeds 150,000 machines 
every year; and, with the possible exception of 
India, there is no grain and grass growing coun- 
try beneath the sun where the McCormick ma- 
chines are not employed in garnering the crop. 

After the assured success of the reaper at home, 
Mr. McCormick took measures to bring it to the 
attention of the agriculturists of the Old World. 
As an initial step in this direction, the machine 
was placed on exhibition at the first World's Fair, 
held in London in 1851. It was at a time when 
English eyes were given to the casting of unfriend- 
ly glances toward whatever emanated from Yan- 



keedom, and the McCormick reaper was not al- 
lowed to escape the ridicule of the press, the 
London Times characterizing it as "a cross 
between an Astley chariot and a wheelbarrow." 
Before the Exposition season closed, however, 
the reaper completely conquered prejudice and 
the Times made the amende honorable by stating 
editorially that it was ' ' alone worth the entire ex- 
pense of the Exhibition," and the Great Council 
Medal was awarded to Mr. McCormick 011 the 
ground of the originality and value of his inven- 
tion. From this moment fame and fortune were 
assured, and there were no fields either at home 
or abroad in which McCormick was not conquer- 
or. At the UniversalExposition at Paris, in 1855, 
he was awarded the Grand Prize. Again at Paris in 
1867 he gained the Grand Prize and decoration by 
the Emperor with the Cross of the Legion of Hon- 
or. It was at this time that M. Eugene Tisseraud, 
Director-General of the Imperial Domains, said: 
' ' The man who has labored most in the general 
distribution, perfection and discovery of the first 
practical reaper is assuredly Mr. McCormick, of 
Illinois. Equally as a. benefactor of humanity 
and as a skillful mechanician, Mr. McCormick 
has been adjudged worthy of the highest distinc- 
tion of the Exposition." A third triumph was 
secured at Paris in 1878, when the Grand Prize 
was once more bestowed upon Mr. McCormick, 
and he was also honored by the French Academy 
of Sciences, as was referred to in the opening 
paragraph of this sketch. Many personal trib- 
utes might be given illustrating the high regard 
in which Mr. McCormick was held, and showing 
the recognition of the value of his invention. 
During his life-time honors came to him thick and 
fast, and it is not untimely to add here that since 
his death the business which he founded, and the 
harvesting machines which still bear his name, 
stand first and foremost in the business and agri- 
cultural world. Honors have continued to come 
to the McCormick, not the least of which were 
those secured at the World's Columbian Exposi- 
tion 01*1893. 

Cyrus Hall McCormick encountered obstacles 
which only a matchless energy and ability could 
have overcome. At the beginning of his career, 



170 



JOHN B. TURNER. 



and ior a long time afterwards, he was inconveni- 
enced by a lack of capital and by his isolation 
from centres of communication and trade. He 
was forced to overcome the opposition originally 
brought to bear against all labor-saving machines. 
Congress refused to give him just patent protec- 
tion, for the reason that his invention was so val- 
uable that all should be allowed to make it ! 
But against all these odds he came out conqueror. 
Steadily he overcame every obstacle and estab- 
lished his claim to be A benefactor of the indus- 
trial world. 

Man's better nature, his human side, his kind- 
lier, gentler self, cannot be always seen to advan- 
tage in the hurly-burly of an active business ca- 
reer, and it is pleasant to recall the memory of 
Cyrus Hall McCormick as he appeared to those 
who knew him in social life, in his home, in his 
church relations, and in all those varied walks 
that lead away from business and touch the strings 
of human hearts. Mr. McCormick had this gen- 
tler nature, and, while it is not our purpose here 
to rehearse the many ways in which this charac- 
teristic evinced itself, still a sketch of his life 
should contain a brief mention of those more con- 
spicuous acts wherein are shown the trend of his 
benevolence and the munificence of his philanthro- 
py. In 1859, at the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church held at Indianapolis, he 
made a proposition to endow the professorships of 
the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the 
Northwest, on condition that it be located at Chi- 



cago. The conditions were accepted, and the 
seminary, which, in addition to the original en- 
dowment, received from Mr. McCormick numer- 
ous other magnificent donations, is to-day a proud 
monument to his liberality and nobility of heart. 
On the educational and religious lines of his work 
was also his purchase of the Interior, a news- 
paper established in Chicago to represent the Pres- 
byterian Church. In the hour of its financial 
struggles he purchased it, placed it upon a sound 
financial basis, and it is to-day one of the most 
able and influential religious journals published. 
He was also a liberal contributor to various schools 
and colleges in different parts of the country, 
those of his native Virginia coming in for gener- 
ous recognition at his hands. 

In 1858 Mr. McCormick married Miss Nettie 
Fowler, daughter of Melzar Fowler, Esq. , of Jeff- 
erson County, New York. Four sons and three 
daughters were born to them, two cf whom, a son 
and a daughter, died in infancy. The surviving 
children are: Cyrus Hall McCormick, now Presi- 
dent of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Com- 
pany; Mary Virginia; Anita, widow of the late 
Emmons Elaine; Harold and Stanley. 

Mr. McCormick died on the 1 3th of May, 1884. 
His life was rounded out by something more than 
the three-score and ten years of scriptural allot- 
ment; but we live in deeds, not years, and, meas- 
ured by this standard, the life of Cyrus Hall Mc- 
Cormick was long, and ever longer groweth. 



JOHN BICE TURNER. 



flOHN BICE TURNER, founder of the great 
I railway system now known as the Chicago 
(2) & Northwestern, will ever deserve the grat- 
itude of Chicago for his public spirit and perse- 
verance in carrying out his enterprises in the face 



of great financial and other difficulties. The pio- 
neers of Chicago, whose number is rapidly grow- 
ing small, speak of him in the most kindly and ap- 
proving terms. Probably but a very small percent- 
age of the thousands who daily ride to and from 



JOHN B. TURNER. 



171 



the city on the "Northwestern" suburban trains 
ever consider the hardships endured by those who 
first undertook to construct a railway to the West 
from the struggling young city by the lake. It 
had no double track at first, and no "parlor" or 
"palace sleeping" cars followed its strap rails. 
The generation which found a modern-equipped 
line ready for its accommodation can little under- 
stand the conditions that obtained when John B. 
Turner laid the first ' 'T' ' rails in Illinois. 

The subject of this biography was born in Col- 
chester, Delaware County, N. Y. , on the I4th of 
January, 1799, less than a decade after the estab- 
lishment of the present United States Government. 
His father, Elisha Turner, died when he was but 
two years old, and his mother when he was four- 
teen. Her maiden name was Patience Coville, and 
she was of Dutch origin. The Turners are of Eng- 
lish lineage. Soon after his father's death, J. B. 
Turner was adopted by David Powers, and passed 
his youth on a farm and about a tanyard operated 
by his foster-father, in the meantime receiving such 
instruction as the country schools of the time af- 
forded. In 1819, he married Miss Martha Volun- 
tine, and settled down at farming. Five years 
later, he sold out his interest in the farm and pur- 
chased a mill and store, and built a distillery at 
Maltaville, in Saratoga County, which he oper- 
ated six years. Financial reverses caused him to 
abandon these interests, and his attention was first 
turned to railroad construction in 1835, when he 
took a contract to build seven miles of the Ran- 
som & Saratoga Railroad. After its completion, 
Mr. Turner was placed in charge of this road, 
most of whose trains were hauled by horses, of 
which the company owned thirty head, and he 
constructed bams every ten miles for the accom- 
modation of the motive power. It was on this 
line, under Mr. Turner's management, that the 
"Champlain," an engine of five tons' weight, was 
placed in commission, being the second of its kind 
in use. 

In November, 1835, Mr. Turner, with a part- 
ner, broke ground on the Delaware Division of 
the New York & Erie Railroad, but was forced to 
suspend operations when the financial disasters of 
April, 1837, crippled the owners, and the capital 



of the contractors appeared to be swallowed up. 
The subsequent resumption of the company re- 
stored to Mr. Turner the $16,000 which he re- 
garded as lost, and with a brother-in-law, John 
Vernam, he engaged in building the Genesee Val- 
ley Canal. The suspension of operations by the 
State on the canal in 1840 again caused a heavy 
loss to Mr. Turner, but on the resumption of con- 
struction this was, in part, restored to him. By 
the spring of 1843, he had completed a section of 
the Troy &Schenectady Railroad with profit, and 
he turned his attention toward the growing West 
as the most desirable field for the investment of his 
capital. With his wife, he made a trip as far 
West as the Mississippi River, and decided to lo- 
cate at Chicago, returning East at once for his 
family. 

The I5th of October, 1843, found him again in 
Chicago, and he took up quarters at the old Tre- 
niont House. His active mind readily grasped 
the opportunities for investment, and one of his 
first moves was the purchase of one thousand 
acres of land near Blue Island, on which he placed 
a herd of sheep, brought from Ohio in the spring. 
An attempt at railroad building had been made 
as early as 1837, and a few miles of strap rails 
had been laid, terminating on the prairie not far 
from the present western limits of the city of Chi- 
cago. In 1847, Mr - Turner and William B. Og- 
den, the first mayor of Chicago, organized a com- 
pany to construct a road westward from Chicago, 
and on the 5th of April in that year, Mr. Ogden 
was elected President, and Mr. Turner Acting 
Director of the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, 
the objective point being Galena a town little 
less than Chicago in size and importance at that 
time. Both the gentlemen above named were en- 
thusiastic in the interest of the enterprise, and by 
their untiring labor in soliciting subscriptions to 
stock and securing right of way from the people 
most benefited by its construction, said construc- 
tion was made possible. At the election of officers 
in December, 1850, when Mr. Turner was made 
President, the track was completed beyond Elgin 
and reached Freeport, where it connected with the 
Illinois Central in September, 1852. 

By this time, it had been demonstrated that the 



172 



E. F. L. GAUSS. 



western prairies were destined to support an im- 
mense population, and attention was turned to the 
construction of the "Dixon Air Line," from 
Turner Junction west to the Mississippi River. 
This was rapidly completed under Mr. Turner's 
active and able management, and a portion of the 
line across the State of Iowa was also completed 
under his presidency, before he resigned in 1858. 
He continued an active director of the road, and 
in the Chicago & Northwestern, after the consol- 
idation of the different lines, until his death. In 
1853, he organized the Beloit & Madison Railroad 
Company, which became a part of the same sys- 
tem, being now a part of the Madison Division, 
and on the consolidation, in June, 1864, of these 
various lines, he was chairman of the committee 
having the arrangements in charge, and was af- 
terward a member of the Executive Committee of 
the Chicago & Northwestern. Mr. Turner was 
also a director of the North Side Street Railroad, 
incorporated in February, 1859, and continued to 
hold stock during his life. 



In 1853, Mr. Turner was called upon to mourn 
the death of the wife who had shared in his early 
toils and successes, and in 1855 he married Miss 
Adeline Williams, of Columbus, Ga. Three sons 
and three daughters were given to him. He was 
vigorous and active to the day of his death, which 
was the 26th of February, 1871, more than sev- 
enty-two years of life having been his allotted 
time. The end came peacefully and quietly, and 
on that day Chicago lost one of her most valued 
and upright citizens, who did what he could to 
benefit his fellows. On the day of his funeral, 
the offices of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- 
way were closed out of respect for the "judicious 
and faithful counselor, genial companion, consider- 
ate friend and Christian gentleman. His devo- 
tion to the material interests of the country was 
exceeded only by the patriotism which never lost 
sight of the highest duties of citizenship. His 
great works live after him, and will keep his 
memory green forever." 



E. F. L. GAUSS. 



fT F. L. GAUSS is First Assistant Librarian in 
rp the Chicago Public Library, and the responsi- 
I ble position which he occupies finds in him a 
capable incumbent. He is also a patron of literature 
and music, and indeed is a friend to all those arts 
which are calculated to elevate and benefit man- 
kind. He claims Germany as the land of his 
birth, which occurred in Stuttgart in 1842. He 
came of one of the old aristocratic families of that 
country, and was reared accordingly. The father 
died in 1848, and the mother was called to her 
final rest in 1845. 

Mr. Gauss whose name heads this record at- 
tended school in his native land for a number of 
years, and in 1859, at the age of seventeen, he 



crossed the Atlantic to America, settling in New 
York City. When the war for the Union broke 
out, and President Lincoln called for volunteers 
to aid in crushing the rebellion which threatened 
to destroy the nation, he at once enlisted, joining 
the boys in blue of Company K, First New York 
Infantry. After two years of valiant service he 
was honorably discharged, in 1863. 

Mr. Gauss on leaving the army went to Mis- 
souri, where he studied theology in the Missouri 
Evangelical School, and later he pursued his 
studies in an Episcopal academy in Ohio. In 
1871, in St. Louis, he was ordained as a minister, 
and was given charge of the church in Bunker 
Hill, 111., where, as there were many German 



ROBERT S. HILL- 



173 



settlers in that locality, his services were con- 
ducted in his native tongue. In 1874 he went to 
Europe in order to complete his studies, and from 
1875 until 1878 was a minister in the State 
Church of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. In 
the latter year he again crossed the Atlantic to 
America, and took up his residence in Galena, 
111., being called to the pastorate of the church at 
that place, of which he continued in charge for 
two years. In 1880 he came to Chicago, and en- 
gaged in literary work while in the employ of 
the Government, in which employ he continued 
until 1885. In 1887 he entered the Chicago Pub- 
lic Library. He was' afterward made First As- 
sistant Librarian, and still fills that position. He 
also continues his ministerial work to a limited 
extent, although he accepts no pastorates. 

In 1867 Mr. Gauss was united in marriage 
with Miss Henrietta Stehlin, and to them has 



been born a family of five children. The parents 
and their children are all members of the Con- 
gregational Church, and take a most active in- 
terest in church work, doing all in their power 
for its promotion and success. 

Mr. Gauss has won a high reputation as a pub- 
lic speaker, and at one time delivered many ad- 
dresses in support of the Republican party, the 
principles of which he warmly advocates. He 
has, however, never aspired to public office. He 
has also won note as a metrical translater. He 
is a man of most liberal education, and during 
the famous Anarchists' trial served as official in- 
terpreter. Socially, he is connected with the 
Schiller Club, of which he is Secretary, and also 
belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the National 
Union and the German Press Club, which latter 
he is now serving as Treasurer. He is also Pres- 
ident of the Chicago Library Club. 



ROBERT S. HILL. 



ROBERT S. HILL, who is successfully en- 
gaged in the practice of law in Chicago, was 
born in Buxton, York County, Maine, on 
the 3ist of August, 1851. His ancestors on his 
father's side came from England. Three brothers 
of the name of Hill crossed the Atlantic with the 
early English colonists and settled in Massachu- 
setts. One of them afterwards removed to the 
district of Maine, and from this branch of the Hill 
family the subject of this sketch is directly de- 
scended. The members of the family were prom- 
inent land-owners and business men, and often 
bore an important part in the events which went 
to make up the history of colonial days. Mr. 



Hill's great-grandfather was the owner of the 
property in Buxton, Maine, now occupied by his 
father. The grandfather was a resident of Bux- 
ton, and took part in the War of 1812, during 
which he was commissioned as an officer by the 
Governor of the Pine Tree State. Another of the 
ancestors of the subject of this sketch was an offi- 
cer in the Revolution, and was numbered among 
the heroes of the battle of Bunker Hill. Another 
was captured by the English and taken to Can- 
ada, where he was forced to live among the Indi- 
ans for an entire winter, during which time he was 
subjected to great hardships and suffering. He 
finally escaped and returned to his home in Maine, 



ROBERT S. HILL. 



much to the surprise and pleasure of his wife and 
family, who supposed him dead. 

On his mother's side Mr. Hill traces his ances- 
try back to the ' ' Mayflower, ' ' being descended 
from Moses Fletcher, who crossed the Atlantic 
in the vessel which brought the Pilgrim Fathers to 
the shores of the New World. The latter was a 
member of the Council of Plymouth, and now lies 
buried at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, where 
his name appears on the monument erected in 
memory of those old heroes. 

Mr. Hill's father, now retired from business 
with a competency, was an active lumberman and 
farmer in Buxton, Maine. He has always taken 
a keen interest in the religious, educational and po- 
litical matters pertaining to his town, state and 
country. He was a great admirer and a warm 
friend of the late Hon. James G. Elaine. 

The boyhood days of R. S. Hill were pleasant- 
ly passed in his native town, and he was given 
good educational advantages by his father. After 
leaving the common schools in Buxton, he at- 
tended Limington and Gorham Academies, both 
of Maine, and his first effort in life after leaving 
the latter institution was to engage in school 
teaching in his native state, being then twenty 
years of age. After a brief and successful experi- 
ence as a school teacher, he came to the West with 
his uncle, and entered Michigan State University 
at Ann Arbor, being graduated from the law de- 
partment of that institution in the Class of ' 74. 
He then returned to New England, and for one 
year studied law in the oflice of an attorney in Bos- 
ton. The year 1876 witnessed his return to the 
West and saw him located in Chicago. He im- 
mediately embarked in practice, which he has car- 
ried on continuously since. He makes corpor- 
ation law a specialty, and has been very success- 
ful, winning many important cases. At the pres- 
ent time he is employed as attorney for a number 
of corporations. 

On the 26th of January, 1877, Mr. Hill was 
married in Buxton, Maine, to Miss Fannie S. 
Owen. Her ancestors came from England and 
aided the colonies in their struggle for iudepen- 



ence, taking a leading part in the War of the Rev- 
olution. One of the number was captured by the 
British in 1807, taken on board a man-of-war, and 
forced to serve as a part of the crew. After a few 
weeks' service, while the ship was cruising off the 
coast of Massachusetts, he took advantage of a 
favorable opportunity, jumped overboard, swam 
safely ashore and returned home. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Hill have been born five children, as fol- 
lows: Harry Robert, who died of diphtheria in 
1 882 ; Owen T. , now a student of the Fuller School, 
Hyde Park; Helen M. and Alice, who attend the 
same school; and Robert S., a little lad of three 
and a-half years. 

Mr. Hill is a great admirer and firm supporter 
of the Hon. Thomas B. Reed, who is his 
choice for the presidency. He has known Mr. 
Reid all his life, and on account of a knowledge of 
his character, ability and political proclivities, he 
supports him as a presidential candidate. Mr. 
Hill takes a very warm interest in political affairs, 
and labors earnestly to promote the growth and 
insure the success of his party. He is recognized 
as a good parliamentarian and, because of his 
knowledge of the rules of parliamentary usage, 
has often been called upon to preside over politi- 
cal meetings where trouble and turbulence were 
anticipated, and as such presiding officer has been 
able, even in very exciting meetings, to maintain 
order and discipline where one less skilled would 
have failed. 

Mr. Hill is a member of the Sons of Maine. He 
contributes liberally to benevolent institutions, 
yet makes no display of his charity. In his tastes 
he is domestic and enjoys the companionship of his 
family much more than that of general society. 
In his religious belief he is liberal, broad minded 
and charitable, believes in his children attending 
church and Sunday-school and having instilled 
into their minds the principles of Christianity. In 
both business and social circles he is well known 
as an honorable, upright man, and is held in the 
highest regard by his many acquaintances and 
friends. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




^^^ 



JESSE SPALDING. 



75 



JESSE SPALDING 



fl ESSE SPALDING is a descendant of one of 
the oldest American families. The euviron- 
ment of the New England fathers was calcu- 
lated to bring out and develop all that was 
sturdy and vigorous in both mind and body, and 
their descendants continue to manifest the traits 
of character which enabled them to survive the 
hardships which they were compelled to endure, 
and which rendered prosperity possible in the 
face of the most forbidding conditions. 

The town and family of Spalding are known 
to have existed in Lincolnshire, England, in the 
twelfth century. Between 1630 and 1633, Edward 
Spalding left that town and settled in Braintree, 
in the then infant colony of Massachusetts. From 
him the line of descent is traced through Joseph, 
Nathaniel, Joseph, Joseph and John to Jesse. 

The Spalding family first settled in southern 
Connecticut, early in the seventeenth century. 
Its members shared in the work of subduing the 
wilderness, as well as defending their homes from 
the aboriginal savages. Some of them achieved 
distinction in the heroic defense of Fort Groton, 
Connecticut. Many served in "King Philip's 
War," and fifty-two were active in the Revolu- 
tion, of whom nine participated in the battle of 
Bunker Hill, where one fell from his dying horse. 

Joseph Spalding, grandfather of Jesse, was 
born in Plainfield, Connecticut. He was an of- 
ficer of the Revolutionary army, and removed to 
Pennsylvania in 1780, settling on land near Ath- 
ens, Bradford County, on the upper waters of the 
Susquehanna River. This land was claimed by 
both Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and Mr. 
Spalding was obliged to pay tribute to both com- 
monwealths before he could secure a clear title. 
This was a great hardship, but he went to work 



with characteristic energy, and shortly thereafter, 
despite all discouragements, became a prosperous 
farmer and leading citizen of the community. 

John, father of Jesse Spalding, was active and 
influential in Bradford County affairs, and at one 
time occupied the office of Sheriff, winning uni- 
versal approbation by the intrepid and vigorous 
manner in which he discharged his official (and 
often perilous) duties in a new and somewhat 
lawless community. His wife, Elizabeth, was a 
daughter of Dr. Amos Prentiss, a distinguished 
physician of Groton, Connecticut, and a represen- 
tative of a prominent Colonial family. 

Jesse Spalding was born at Athens, Pennsylva- 
nia, April 15, 1833. While assisting his father 
in farm work, he found time to acquire such edu- 
cation as the common schools and the academy 
of his native town afforded. On attaining his 
majority he engaged in lumbering on the north 
branch of the Susquehanna, and became a woods- 
man and raftsman. At the age of twenty-three 
he began to deal in lumber on his own account, 
and was successful. His product was rafted to 
Middletown, Columbia and Port Deposit, and 
marketed in Washington, Alexandria, Norfolk 
and Richmond, Virginia, and other points. 

Foreseeing the rapid growth of the young city 
of Chicago, he removed hither in 1857, an( ^ 
soon after bought a sawmill at Menekaunee, at 
the mouth of the Menominee River, in Wiscon- 
sin, where he commenced the manufacture of 
lumber. This mill was burned in 1870, rebuilt 
and burned in 1871, rebuilt in 1872, and is now 
finely equipped with gang, band and circular 
saws and modern machinery, being thoroughlj r 
complete in all its appointments. For a time 
business was conducted by the firm of Wells & 



I 7 6 



JESSE SPALDING. 



Spalding, the firm name later becoming Spalding 
& Porter, and subsequently Spalding, Houghtel- 
ing & Johnson. In 1871, the concern was incor- 
porated as the Menominee River Lumber Com- 
pany, and in 1892 Mr. Spalding purchased the 
interest of his partners, and has since been the 
sole owner. Shortly after he bought out the 
New York Lumber Company at Menekaunee, he 
secured a milling property at the mouth of Cedar 
River, about thirty miles above the city of Me- 
nominee, and in 1882 he organized the Spalding 
Lumber Company, of which he became President, 
being at the same time its active manager. His 
purchases of timber-lands in Wisconsin and Michi- 
gan to supply the mills of these companies with 
logs have aggregated two hundred and sixty-five 
thousand acres. Besides its value for timber, this 
land has proven rich in iron ore, and three mines 
are now successfully operated on the property. 
The output of the mills at Cedar River is shipped 
in boats owned by the Spalding Lumber Com- 
pany direct to Chicago, whence it is distributed 
from the Chicago yards to the western and south- 
western markets in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, 
Kansas and Missouri. Lumber has also been ship- 
ped recently, in large quantities, direct from the 
mills at Menekaunee to Detroit, Buffalo, Roch- 
ester, Albany and Boston. The companies of 
which Mr. Spalding is the head are among the 
largest of their kind, and annually produce from 
sixty to seventy-five millions of feet of lumber. 

Although he cannot be said to have been a pio- 
neer in the lumber business of Chicago, few men 
have been more closely identified with its growth 
than Mr. Spalding. In fact, his name is indissol- 
ubly linked with the political, social and business 
interests of the city and the Northwest. 

Mr. Spalding is amply fitted by nature and 
training for the manipulation of large interests, 
and his success is in no small degree due to the 
fact that he does not despise small things. All 
the minutiae of his extensive interests are famil- 
iar to him, and his practical experience enables 
him to give attention to the smallest details. His 
investments in banking and other financial con- 
cerns are made with the same judicious care, and 
are equally successful with his other undertak- 



ings. He is a director in many large corporations 
of the city, and his advice is frequently sought in 
the conduct of many important enterprises. It is 
not strange that his fellow-citizens should discover 
in him a capable man of affairs; and when the city 
was destroyed by fire in 1871, he was sought out 
as one who would be useful in adjusting public 
business to existing conditions, and in raising 
Chicago from its ashes and reviving business ac- 
tivity. He was three years in the City Council, 
and while Chairman of the Finance Committee, 
he, by judicious management, aided in the resto- 
ration of the city's financial credit, materially 
furthering the establishment of good municipal 
government. In 1861, when the Nation was 
threatened with destruction, Mr. Spalding was 
among its most active defenders. He was re- 
quested by the Adjutant-General of the State of 
Illinois to build and equip barracks for the Gov- 
ernment soldiers (afterward known as "Camp 
Douglas"), besides which he built barracks the 
following year on the North Side for returning 
soldiers. He furnished all the material for these 
structures, receiving in payment the State Audi- 
tor's warrants, there being no funds in the Treas- 
ury to be applied to this purpose. 

Mr. Spalding has been an active worker in the 
interests of the Republican party from its incep- 
tion, because he believed the weal of the Nation 
depended upon the success of the principles main- 
tained by that party. He was a personal friend 
of Grant, Arthur and Conkling, as well as other 
now prominent National leaders, and gave coun- 
sel in many grave exigencies. He presided at 
the unveiling of the Grant monument in Lincoln 
Park. In 1881 he was appointed by President 
Arthur Collector of the Port of Chicago, and filled 
that office in a manner most acceptable to the 
Government and the people of the city. With 
him a public office is a trust, to be executed with 
the same faithful care which one bestows on his 
own private affairs; and when he was appointed 
Director of the Union Pacific Railroad on behalf 
of the Government by President Harrison, he 
made a personal investigation of the property in 
his own painstaking way, submitting the report to 
the Secretary of the Interior. This report, which 



S. P. McCONNELL. 



177 



gave a careful review of the resources of the 
country traversed by the line, and its future pros- 
pects, was ordered printed by Congress, and com- 
manded careful attention from financiers and those 
concerned in the relations of the Pacific roads to 
the Government. It was also embraced in the 
annual report of the Board of Directors of the 
Union Pacific Railway Company. 

Mr. Spalding was associated with William B. 
Ogden and others in the project for cutting a 
canal from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay, by which 
the danger of navigating "Death'sDoor" (as the 
entrance to Green Bay is known) could be avoid- 
ed, as well as saving a distance of about one hun- 



dred and fifty miles on each round trip between 
Chicago and Green Bay ports. This was com- 
pleted in 1882 by the Sturgeon Bay & Lake 
Michigan Ship Canal and Harbor Company, of 
which Mr-. Ogden was the first President, suc- 
ceeded on his death by Mr. Spalding. During 
the first year of its operations, 745,128 tons of 
freight passed through the canal, and in 1892 
the business amounted to 875,533 tons. In 1891 
4,500 vessels (trips) passed through, and the 
next year the number was 5,312. Congress hav- 
ing passed an act to purchase the canal and make 
it free to all navigators, it was turned over to the 
United States Government in 1893. 



HON. SAMUEL P. McCONNELL. 



HON. SAMUEL PARSONS McCONNELL 
was born in Springfield, Illinois, July 5, 
1849. His parents, John and Elizabeth 
(Parsons) McConnell, still reside at Springfield. 
James McConnell, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, came from County Down, Ireland, 
about 1810, and engaged in the manufacture of 
gunpowder in New Jersey. He afterward re- 
moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, where he 
became an extensive farmer and wool-grower. 
He was one of the first to cultivate the prairie 
soil of Illinois, demonstrating its fertility and 
general advantages to his neighbors. He amassed 
considerable property, and died in 1867. 

John McConnell was born in Madison County, 
New York, but went with his parents to Illinois 
in his youth. When the United States became 
involved'in civil strife, he recruited a company of 
soldiers, and entered the military service as a 
Captain, rising by promotion to the rank of Gen- 
eral. Since the close of the war he has been en- 
gaged in the insurance business in Springfield. 
Mrs. Elizabeth McConnell was born in Connecti- 



cut, and is descended from English emigrants who 
located there about the middle of the seventeenth 
century. Her grandfather, John Parsons, was a 
Captain in the Continental army. 

Samuel P. McConnell was educated at the 
Springfield High School and Lombard University 
at Galesburg, Illinois, graduating from the latter 
institution in 1871, with the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts. He read law with the firm of Stewart, 
Edwards & Brown, of Springfield, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar in 1873. In December of the 
same year, he came to Chicago, where he has 
since been a prominent member of the Bar, and 
has occupied an honorable position upon the 
Bench. 

In 1889 he was elected a Judge of the Circuit 
Court of Cook County, to fill the vacancy caused 
by the death of Judge McAllister, and, upon the 
expiration of the term in 1891, he was re-elected. 
In 1894 he resigned this office, and resumed his 
private practice. He was led to take this step by 
the inadequacy of the salary paid a Circuit Judge. 
It is much to be regretted that almost any man 



MINER RAYMOND. 



fitted to grace and honor the Bench is able to earn 
several times the salary of a Judge in private 
practice. 

Among the most prominent cases tried before 
Judge McConnell may be mentioned the first 
Cronin trial, the case of Ross versus White, the 
Chicago City Railway Company versus Springer, 
and the receivership of the J . H. Walker Com- 
pany, in which property to the amount of five 
millions of dollars was involved. His impartial 
and equitable decisions earned him the respect of 
attorneys, jurors and litigants, and his departure 
from the Bench was widely regretted. 

In 1876 he was married to Miss Sarah Rogers, 
daughter of Judge John G. Rogers, of whom ex- 
tended mention is made on other pages of this 
volume. Judge and Mrs. McConnell are the par- 
ents of three children, named, respectively, Julia, 
James and Eleanor. 

From youth Judge McConnell has been a Dem- 
ocrat, departing from the precepts and example 
of his father. He has never been a candidate for 



any other office than that of Judge, though re- 
peatedly importuned by party managers to be- 
come a political leader. Among the social and 
fraternal associations into which he has naturally 
been drawn, may be mentioned the Iroquois, Lit- 
erary and Waubansee Clubs. While President of 
the first-named organization, he took a decided 
position on the silver question, which was antag- 
onistic to that of many members, and he felt it 
incumbent upon him to resign, but this act 
aroused such a strong protest in the club, that he 
was induced to withdraw his resignation. 

He presided over the city convention which se- 
lected delegates to the State Democratic Confer- 
ence, held at Springfield in June, 1895, to deter- 
mine the attitude of the party on the silver issue. 
He was made Permanent Chairman of this con- 
ference, which wholly sustained his views upon 
the question at issue. In this, as in all other 
matters affecting public policy, he has been actu- 
ated by a desire to promote the general welfare, 
and without wish to occupy office. 



REV. MINER RAYMOND, D. D., LL.D. 



REV. MINER RAYMOND, D.D., LL.D., 
the oldest college professor in the Methodist 
denomination, both in respect to age and 
length of service, and one of the oldest teachers 
of theology now living, is a resident of Evanston, 
and until a short time since was active in edu- 
cational work, in which he had been engaged for 
more than sixty years. He is a native of New 
York City, and was born on the zgth of August, 
1811. His father was Nobles Raymond, and the 
genealogist of this family has traced its descent 
from Raimonde, Count of Toulouse, France, and 
demonstrated that, on account of its espousal 
of the Huguenot faith, its members were expa- 
triated, and some fled to Essex, England, whence 



the emigration to America occurred. The Ray- 
monds became settlers in New England, and now 
a host of this name, many of them prominent in 
commercial and educational affairs, trace their 
descent to the two or three who came to the 
colonies in very early times. 

Nobles Raymond married Hannah Wood, and 
they became the parents of nine children, of 
whom Miner was the eldest. Soon after his birth 
his father removed with his family to the village 
of Rensselaerville, New York, and there the boy, 
when of school age, began to receive the rudi- 
ments of his education, remaining in school un- 
til twelve years of age. At that time his services 
were required in his father's shop, and he spent 



MINER RAYMOND. 



179 



the following six years in learning the art of 
making shoes, in which he became so proficient 
that his handiwork was second to that of no other 
workman in style or finish. The same rule of 
doing well whatever he did was as rigidly ad- 
hered to when he was a mechanic as it has been 
since he has held a position in the forefront of 
educators. 

The event in his youth most far-reaching in its 
results on character and fortune was his conver- 
sion and union, at the age of seventeen years, 
with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which 
he was to be so conspicuous and honored. His 
father and mother were faithful adherents of that 
creed. For more than twenty years they were 
the only permanent residents of Rensselaerville 
who were connected with that church, and their 
house was ever a home for Methodist ministers. 
The account of the great revival at Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts, kindled in Miner Raymond a de- 
sire for knowledge; it was the turning-point in a 
great life, starting him on a new course and 
bringing him into intimate and helpful relations 
with an educational institution. Through the 
efforts of the Presiding Elder of the district in 
which he resided, he began his advanced educa- 
tion in the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, 
then the only Methodist institution of learning of 
any magnitude on this continent, of which only 
three or four were then in existence. Like many 
another student, he added to his limited means 
by the labor of his hands; and the proceeds of 
his work on the bench, mending the boots and 
shoes of his fellow-students, helped to meet the 
expenses incident to his education. But this did 
not continue long. It was soon discovered that 
he was endowed with the gift of teaching, and he 
was made assistant teacher, a position which he 
held for three years, while still a student in the 
academy. His especial faculty for elucidating 
the principles of arithmetic, which were then 
very imperfectly treated in the textbooks, led to 
his selection as teacher of a class of teachers, and 
this was the starting point of his long career as 
an educator. 

Graduating in 1831, he was immediately made 
a member of the faculty, and taught in that in- 



stitution with marked success for ten years. In 
1833 his name appears in the catalogue as usher, 
and it was then he began his remarkable peda- 
gogic labors. In 1834 he was advanced to the 
charge of the English department, where he 
labored with great success and growing popu- 
larity for four years. During this period he had 
been a diligent student and had delved deep into 
the mysteries of ancient languages, the natural, 
mental and moral sciences, and the higher mathe- 
matics, for which he discovered a taste and apti- 
tude. When the degrees were conferred by the 
Wesleyan University upon the students he had 
taught at the academy, he received, in recogni- 
tion of his high ability and efficient services, 
the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In 1838 
he was promoted to the chair of mathematics, 
which he filled with distinction for the three 
years he remained as a teacher in the institution. 

While yet engaged in teaching, Professor Ray- 
mond joined the New England Conference, in 
1838, and three years later entered upon pastoral 
work. He served two years at Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts, four years at Church and Bennett Street 
Churches, Boston, and in 1847 went to Westfield, 
where he remained one year. 

Upon the resignation of Robert Allyn as Prin- 
cipal of the Wesleyan Academy, Professor Ray- 
mond was requested by the trustees to take the 
position at the head of that institution. The 
pastorate was the ideal life work to which he was 
attached and for which he had educated himself, 
but, after mature consideration, he decided to put 
aside preference, and accept what he considered 
a call of duty, and entered upon the work with a 
devotion and energy that left a very deep impres- 
sion upon the school at the head of which he 
stood. 

The first two or three years of Dr. Raymond 
at Wilbraham were tentative and preparatory. 
New buildings were necessary to the success of 
the school, and how to get them was a problem, 
the solution of which demanded his full strength; 
but he met the difficulties and conquered where 
most men would have failed. In spite of debt 
and other obstacles, he succeeded in erecting 
Fisk Hall, in 1851. In the two years following 



i8o 



MINER RAYMOND. 



the number of pupils greatly increased, and in 
the year 1853 rose to over six hundred, nearly 
double the attendance of previous years. Through 
the efforts of Dr. Raymond, Binney Hall was 
built, in 1854. The principal building of the 
institution, including its dormitory and board- 
ing apartments, was destroyed by fire two 
years later. Nothing daunted by this calamity, 
he set about obtaining the means to rebuild it in 
still nobler proportions, and that same year suc- 
ceeded in completing a structure costing fifty 
thousand dollars. By the act of an incendiary, 
in 1857, this structure was also destroyed, but 
Dr. Raymond and a few brave aids rose superior 
to the discouragements that had beset them, ob- 
tained money by popular subscription, aroused 
the friends of education throughout the state, and, 
by petition and strong personal influence, secured 
legislative aid, by which means a third building, 
more commodious, more beautiful and more cost- 
ly than its predecessors, rose upon the site of 
their ruins, and to-day is the chief ornament of 
this seat of learning, a monument to the faith 
and indomitable courage of Dr. Raymond. 

In 1864 he was elected to the chair of system- 
atic theology in Garrett Biblical Institute, Evans- 
ton, Illinois, and resigned his position at the 
head of the academy, which he left enjoying a 
high degree of prosperity. Coming to Evanston, 
he entered upon a work which his long experience 
as a teacher, ripe scholarship, and" devotion to his 
profession have made eminently successful and 
gratifying in its results. For thirty-one years 
he filled a position in which he was eminently 
useful as a teacher, and during three years of 
that time was also pastor of the First Methodist 
Episcopal Church in Evanston. Soon after en- 
tering the institute, he became convinced that he 
was spending one-third of his time in telling the 
students what the meaning of the theological 
authors was. Then came the determination to 
write out his lectures and make the expression 
as plain as possible, so that theology might be 
clearly taught and readily understood. In due 
time appeared his "Systematic Theology," in 
three volumes, intended for students preparing 
for the Methodist ministry, which has proved to 



be a very popular book. One distinguished 
authority is quoted as saying: "It is the strong- 
est defense of Arminianism we have seen." Be- 
sides his pastoral work, Dr. Raymond has helped 
to direct the work of the church in its national 
councils. Six times he was elected as a delegate 
to the General Conferences, as follows: Pitts- 
burgh, in 1848; Boston, in 1852; Indianapolis, in 
1856; Buffalo, in 1860; Philadelphia, in 1864; 
and Brooklyn, in 1868. 

Dr. Raymond was married, August 20, 1837, 
to Elizabeth Henderson, of Webster, Massachu- 
setts, who died September 19, 1877. Five chil- 
dren were born of this union, all of whom are 
now living. Mary is the widow of Philip B. 
Shumway, the builder of the Elgin, Joliet & 
Eastern Railroad, and now resides in Evanston. 
William is in the employ of that railroad. Samuel 
B. is a prominent citizen and prosperous sugar 
broker in Chicago. James H. is a well-known 
and successful patent lawyer in Chicago. Freder- 
ick D. is Secretary and Treasurer of the Elgin, 
Joliet & Eastern Railway Company. 

On July 28, 1879, Dr. Raymond was united in 
marriage with Isabella (nee Hill), widow of Rev. 
Amos Binney. Dr. Raymond's domestic life has 
been a pleasant one; his house has been the dwell- 
ing-place of peace and happiness. His exemp- 
tion from illness up to the past winter, and the 
contentment of his mind, have conspired to pre- 
serve his physical vigor, which is evidenced by 
the full head of hair, now of flowing whiteness, 
and the clear, bright eye which lends vivacity to 
his countenance. 

Rev. David Sherman, D. D., author of the 
' ' History of the Wejleyan Academy at Wilbra- 
ham," has thus written of Dr. Raymond: 

' ' His first essays in teaching reveal the born 
schoolmaster, destined to advance to the fore- 
front. No one who attended his classes can ever 
forget his clear and forcible instructions. The 
principles involved in the study were seized upon 
and traced onward through intricate problems as 
in lines of light. No one could fail to see or to 
be carried with the demonstration. But his 
superiority as a teacher was not simply in the ex- 
tent and accuracy of his knowledge, or even in 



JAMES McMAHON. 



181 



his ability to make truth visible; it was rather in 
that higher ability to develop the student and to 
create in him the capacity to investigate and 
master truth. It was not simply the amount of 
knowledge he communicated, it was the way he 
impressed himself upon other minds coming un- 
der his instruction. The man, even more than 
the pedagogue, was behind his utterances." 

The same writer, in speaking of him as a 
preacher, says: 

' ' With him religion was the main considera- 
tion, and his convictions on the subject were 
deep and strongly expressed. He spoke with 
the demonstration of the spirit and power. If 
his prayers and exhortations were thoughtful and 
intellectual,, they were, at the same time, intense 



and fervid, enlisting the emotions of the heart as 
well as the accurate formulations of the brain. 
* * * * Though gifted with large capacity 
for astute and accurate thought, he was gladly 
heard by the people, because his logic usually 
came to a white heat. To the religious people of 
Wilbraham he was for a quarter of a century the 
oracle. No other principal, certainly after Dr. 
Fisk, obtained so firm and enduring a hold upon 
the people as Miner Raymond." 

What was said in those days may be repeated 
with emphasis concerning his labors in later 
years, when in the enjoyment of his full intel- 
lectual strength and the knowledge and experi- 
ence gained in more than half a century of con- 
tinuous mental activity. 



JAMES McMAHON. 



(TAMES McMAHON. Few people in Evan- 
I ston are as well known, or regarded with as 
(*/ much sincere respect and admiration, as the 
subject of this notice and his excellent wife. 
During their residence of over thirty years in 
Cook County, they have been almost constantly 
identified with charitable and philanthropic en- 
terprises, and have won the friendship of both 
rich and poor to an unusual degree. 

Mr. McMahon was born at Belfast, Ireland, 
June 4, 1813. He is a son of Alexander Mc- 
Mahon and Mar> 7 Ann Douglass, both of whom 
were of the stanch Scotch- Irish blood which has 
ever been active in promoting the best interests 
of mankind. Alexander McMahoii was the de- 
scendant of a family which had been for many 
generations engaged in the linen trade. Two of 
his brothers were extensive merchants at Belfast, 
Ireland, and amassed a fortune there. Alexander 
turned his attention to agriculture, and in 1819 
came to America. After living for a time near 



Watertown, New York, he removed to a farm near 
Kingston, Canada, upon which he resided for fifty 
years, departing this life in 1883, at the age of 
ninety-three years. He was the father of fourteen 
children, of whom James was the eldest. He was 
an honorable and thrifty business man, and accu- 
mulated a competence, in the enjoyment of which 
his later years were spent. He and his wife were 
devout Presbyterians. The latter died at King- 
ston, several years later than her husband. 

James McMahon enjoyed excellent educational 
advantages, pursuing courses of study success- 
ively at Andover Academy; Cheshire Academy, at 
Cheshire, Connecticut; and Washington (now 
Trinity) College, at Hartford, Connecticut. His 
parents designed to fit him for the Presbyterian 
ministry., but, while a student at Washington 
College, he became converted to the Episcopal 
faith, and abandoned his theological studies, to 
their great disappointment. While a young man, 
he spent considerable time in travel, visiting Eu- 



182 



JAMES McMAHON. 



rope three times, and becoming quite familiar 
with the ways of the world and its business 
methods. In 1849, in company with a party of 
young men of his acquaintance, he went to Cali- 
fornia, by way of the Isthmus. He remained 
three years in that state, during which time he 
mined successively at Hangtown, American Val- 
ley and Big Bar, and also recovered his health, 
which had become considerably impaired before 
his departure from the East. At the last-named 
mines he gained a rich reward for his labors, and 
thence returned to the East, again making the 
voyage by way of the Isthmus, a regular line of 
steamers having been established since he first 
made the journey. 

He landed at New Orleans, thence went to Dal- 
las County, Alabama, where he purchased an ex- 
tensive cotton plantation with a retinue of slaves, 
and had just established a profitable business 
when the Civil War broke out. On account of his 
political views, he found it impracticable to re- 
main there, and in 1860 he was obliged to 
abandon his property and remove to the North. 
He located in Chicago, where he became asso- 
ciated with the insurance agency of Thomas B. 
Bryan, and continued to carry on that line of 
business for a number of years, representing the 
Mutual Life, the Mutual Benefit and the Equit- 
able Life Insurance Companies. His business 
ventures were fairly successful, and he had accu- 
mulated -considerable property when the great fire 
of 1871 visited the city. Most of what he saved 
from that disaster was swept away by the panic 
of 1873. At the latter date he moved to Evans- 
ton, and for a few years conducted a restaurant 
in Davis Street. Since 1882 he has filled the of- 
fice of Township Supervisor, being re-elected 
each season without opposition. In addition to 
his official duties, he acts as a purchasing agent 
for Evanston merchants, making regular trips to 
Chicago in their interests. 

He is a thirty-second-degree Mason, and is 
held in the highest regard by his brethren of that 
order, from whom he has received many testimo- 
nials. He first joined Oriental Lodge, and is 
now identified with Evans Lodge, Evanston 
Chapter, Evanston Commandery and Oriental 



Consistory, his duties as Tyler of these several 
bodies taking up considerable of his time. 

Mr. McMahon was married, in 1865, to Martha 
Cornelia Converse, daughter of Samuel Augustus 
and Anna (Easton) Converse, of Stafford, Con- 
necticut. Mr. Converse, who was a descendant 
of the French Huguenots who located in America 
during the Colonial period, died in Connecticut, 
at the extreme old age of ninety-three years. He 
was an influential citizen of Stafford, and a pen- 
sioner of the War of 1812. Mrs. McMahon came 
to Chicago in 1860, and was associated with Mrs. 
Mary A. Livermore in conducting the great San- 
itary Fair. Mr. McMahon was also one of the 
promoters of this undertaking, and sold thousands 
of tickets in its support. Though not blessed 
with children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Mahon have adopted and partially reared several 
children, one daughter, Harriet Wilmina, having 
been a member of the family from infancy. She 
was first married to Professor W. W. Graves, an 
instructor in the Northwestern University, and 
since his death has become the wife of Edwin 
O'Malley, of Chicago. Jennie, another adopted 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. McMahon, is now Mrs. 
Cameron, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

When he first located in Chicago Mr. McMahon 
resided on the South Side, near the home of 
Stephen A. Douglas, who became his intimate 
friend. He helped to organize St. Mark's Church, 
on Cottage Grove Avenue, and was for some 
years one of its most active and influential mem- 
bers. He served four years as Superintendent of 
Trinity Mission, and he and his wife have been 
communicants of St. Mark's Church of Evanston 
since removing to that city. Previous to the 
Great Rebellion, he was a Democrat, but since 
coming to Chicago has been a consistent Repub- 
lican. He is a life member of the Masonic Vet- 
erans' Association of Chicago, and during the 
war acted as agent for the numerous Masonic 
charities of the city of Chicago, securing relief 
and transportation for many indigent members of 
the order belonging to the Union army. The 
retrospection of his long and useful life may well 
afford comfort and satisfaction in his declining 
years. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT) 



JONATHAN CLARK 



JONATHAN CLARK. 



JONATHAN CLARK. 



(JONATHAN CLARK, prominent among Chi- 
I cago contractors and builders, was born at 
O West Walton, in the county of Norfolk, Eng- 
land, May 28, 1828. His parents were William 
and Christina Clark, and his father died when 
Jonathan, the eldest of four children, was only 
seven years old. At the age of eight he was put 
to work herding sheep on the Norfolk commons 
and keeping the birds off the fields of grain, for 
which he received two shillings (fifty cents) per 
week. He went out to service on a farm at twelve 
years of age. His earnings during the last year 
of service he saved to pay his way to America. 
Previous to that time he had contributed his 
wages to the support of his widowed mother and 
his younger brothers. 

On the 2ist of September, 1848, Mr. Clark 
sailed from England, and arrived in Chicago on 
the 2jth of November, via New York, being nearly 
ten weeks on the journey. He came by way of 
the Lakes directly to Chicago, penniless and 
friendless, but resolute and ready for whatever 
came. His first employment was hauling wood 
into Chicago. The winter was very severe, and 
he froze his feet, and, through the dishonesty of 
his employer, he lost his wages. In the spring 
of 1849 he worked six weeks for Jefferson Mun- 
son, of Downer's Grove, and then returned to 
Chicago and became an apprentice to P. L. Up- 
dyke and John Sollitt, with whom he spent three 
years, learning the trade of carpenter and joiner, 
and at the expiration of that time receiving'the 
sum of $200 for his services. He spent six months 
as a journeyman, and then began contracting on 
his own account, and was successful, accumulat- 



ing money from the start. By saving his earn- 
ings, he was able to pay his brother's passage to 
America in 1849, an< i i n l &5 the two brought 
over the remainder of the family. 

In 1860, in company with his brother, Mr. 
Clark went overland to Denver, where they 
fitted up the first express building and the post- 
office. After spending the summer there, they 
returned in the fall by team, as they had gone. 
On the Platte River Mr. Clark's horse was stolen, 
and while trying to recover it, he traveled on 
foot in the night, and was surrounded by wolves, 
barely escaping with his life. The thief was 
captured, and Mr. Clark's companions wanted to 
try him, but as that meant conviction and hang- 
ing, he refused to allow it, and the offender was 
permitted to accompany the outfit to Omaha, and 
to go unpunished. In 1867 Mr. Clark was ap- 
pointed by Gov. Oglesby to superintend the con- 
struction of Illinois buildings at the Paris Expo- 
sition. There the United States Government, 
recognizing his worth, secured his services in the 
Department of Works, and appointed him assist- 
ant to the Superintendent of the American por- 
tion of the exposition. Before returning to the 
United States, he visited his old home and por- 
tions of Switzerland and Germany. 

During the years he was engaged in contract- 
ing, Mr. Clark did an immense business, and 
erected many residences, stores and business 
houses. Among them were the Bowen Block, 
McCormick Hall Block, Kingsburg Music Hall, 
Kingsburg Block, the Chicago Water Works, 
Bigelow Hotel, the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation building and Academy of Design, the 



184 



GEORGE G. CUSTER. 



Brother Jonathan building and the First National 
Bank building. The reconstruction of the Chi- 
cago Water Works was the first job he did after 
the fire, and the embers were still hot when he 
began work on it. The Bigelow Hotel occupied 
the site of the present postoffice, and disappeared 
in the great fire. Mr. Clark was both builder 
and owner of the Academy of Design, which was 
the first building ever erected in Chicago for a 
fine-arts exhibit. 

In 1852 Mr. Clark married Miss Alice Sarde- 
son, a native of Lincolnshire, England, but then a 
resident of Chicago. Of the marriage, five chil- 
dren were born and all are now living in Chicago. 
They are: Euna, the wife of Shea Smith, of Shea 
Smith & Co.; F. W.; George T.; Retta M., now 
the wife of Dr. Kauffman, of Chicago; and J. Y. 
The sous F. W. and G. T. are members of the firm 
of Jonathan Clark & Sons Co., contractors, who 
have erected many buildings, notable among 
which are the Art Institute and the Government 
buildings at Ft. Sheridan. The senior member of 



this firm is not now actively connected with the 
company, but is employed in erecting and manag- 
ing buildings, of which he has about a score, built 
on ground held on ninety-nine-year leases. 

Mr. Clark is a Republican, a member of the 
Union League and Sunset Clubs, and a Thirty- 
second Degree Mason, in which order he has held 
many high offices. He attends, but is not a mem- 
ber of, Dr. Thomas' Church. In his later years 
he has traveled largely through the United States, 
including the Pacific Coast and Florida. He has 
a fruit farm and an elegant residence at Fn..tland 
Park, in the latter State. 

Jonathan Clark is numbered among the men 
who have made Chicago, and given it the char- 
acter which it bears. Through trials, by perse- 
verance and an honest course, he has risen to 
prominent place in the city which he has made 
his residence for almost half a century, and where 
he is an honored citizen, who bears his years 
with dignity, and grows old gracefully in the 
midst of a large circle of devoted friends. 



GEORGE GRANGER CUSTER. 



f2fEORGE GRANGER CUSTER, who is now 

b serving as Auditor of the City Board of Ed- 
ucation, was born on the 6th of December, 
1838, in Sanford, Edgar County, Illinois. His 
father's ancestors bore the name of Granger, and 
came from England to America, locating in Con- 
necticut. His father was a physician, and in 
Newark, Ohio, married Nancy Link. His death 
occurred at the early age of twenty-eight years, 
and soon after our subject, then a child of six 
months, was taken for adoption by Isaac D. Cus- 
ter, of Terre Haute, Indiana, whose name he 
then assumed. He found in his foster-father a 
kind-hearted and liberal man, who could not have 



treated an own son with more kindness and con- 
sideration. The maternal ancestors of the sub- 
ject of this sketch were of French origin, and on 
emigrating to the New World settled in Freder- 
icksburg, Virginia, about the middle of the eigh- 
teenth century. From there the maternal grand- 
father with his family removed about the year 
1825 to Newark, Ohio. 

When George was a child of six years, the 
Custer family removed to St. Louis, Missouri, 
and for five years he attended Wyman's private 
school. Soon after he accompanied his father on 
a trip to California, where they remained for one 
year. Mr. Custer went to the West to see the 



GEORGE G. CUSTER. 



185 



country, and took his adopted son on account of 
his poor health. The result of the trip proved the 
wisdom of the father, as the son became a strong, 
hearty boy, and now enjoys a vigorous manhood. 
He made the journey across the plains on horse- 
back, leaving St. Louis on the 4th of April, 
1850, on the steamboat "Princeton," and., arriv- 
ing at old Ft. Kearney, Nebraska, fifteen days 
later. There they remained until the early part 
of May, when, the grass having grown sufficiently 
to furnish feed for horses and mules, they re- 
sumed their journey. They were eighty-six days 
in making the trip from the Missouri River to 
Hangtown, now Placerville, California. Their 
next resting-place was Sacramento, from whence 
they went to San Francisco. They suffered the 
usual hardships and privations incident to the 
trip across the plains in days of the gold excite- 
ment, being sometimes for days with very small 
rations of food, and only water sufficient to moisten 
the lips; but, notwithstanding, no illness fell to the 
lot of father or son during the trip to and from 
California. Mr. Custer had no mining experi- 
ences, for he was then too young to dig for gold. 
After a sojourn of a few months in California, he 
returned home, by way of the Isthmus, stopping 
on the way at the island of Jamaica and in New 
York City, from whence he came West, by way 
of the Hudson River to Albany, thence to Buffalo 
by rail, by lake toChicago, by canal to La Salle, 
and on the steamer "Robert Fulton" to St. Louis. 
Mr. Custer then attended Jones' College until 
eighteen years of age, and resided in St. Louis 
until 1854, when the family removed to a farm 
near Davenport, Iowa. In the fall of 1855, he 
returned to St. Louis and accepted a position as 
assistant book-keeper in the retail grocery house 
of Ellis & Hutton, at that time the largest estab- 
lishment of the kind in the city. In the summer 
following he returned to Davenport and entered 
the employ of Thomas H. McGee, wholesale 
grocer, as chief clerk and book-keeper, and in the 
spring of 1857 took charge of the office of the 
Burtis House, then the best-equipped hotel west 
of Chicago. After a few months he was taken 
sick and returned to the farm, where he remained 
until coming to Chicago, in April, 1862. 



In the mean time Mr. Custer was married. On 
the 4th of October, 1860, he wec'ded Miss Sarah 
Ann Kelly, of Davenport. The lady was born in 
Mt. Carmel, near Cincinnati, Ohio, September 7, 
1842. Her father, Daniel C. Kelly, a native of 
Cincinnati, is now living in Davenport, Iowa, 
where the foster-father of this subject also resides. 
They are aged respectively eighty and eighty- 
three years, and still active and in good health. 
Four children have been born to Mr. Custer and 
his wife: Tillie, who is now the wife of Robert J. 
Clark, and has one child; Hattie Winchell, wife 
of William G. R. Bell; Sadie Belle; and George G. 

On leaving the farm in Iowa, Mr. Cutter came to 
Chicago and accepted a position as assistant com- 
mercial reporter on the Morning Post, edited by J. 
W. Sheahan, with which he was connected for a 
year. He then entered the employ of Hobbs, Oli- 
phant & Co. , commission merchants, and at the end 
of three years started in business for himself as a 
member of the firm of Olcott, Lash & Co. , in the 
same line of business. This venture proved un- 
successful, on account of the credit given country 
customers. Mr. Custer then engaged in the 
brokerage business, but during the great fire again 
met with losses, after which he spent three years 
with Hall & Winch, sash and door manufacturers. 
He then returned to the Board of Trade, and was 
quite successful in business for several years, but 
at length lost his fortune in a "big corner." 

At that time Mr. Custer left the city, removing 
to Nevada, Illinois, where he took charge of an 
elevator owned by A. M. Wright & Co. On his 
return in 1880, he accepted a position with 
James H. Drake & Co., commission merchants, 
with whom he remained for a year and a-half, 
when failing health forced him to abandon that 
work. Farm life had previously proved benefi- 
cial, and he again resorted to that cure, carrying 
on agricultural pursuits until his health was re- 
stored. Once more he entered the employ of 
Hall & "Winch, with whom he continued until 
the death of the junior partner, when the business 
was closed out. He \vr.s then with the firm of 
Garvey & Jenkinson until they retired from busi- 
ness. 

In May, 1886, Mr. Custer became Auditor of 



i86 



WILLIAM WEST. 



the Board of Education, and has been unani- 
mously re-elected since that time. He was the 
candidate for the office of Assessor of West Chi- 
cago, on the Democratic ticket, in 1871, but 
never sought political preferment, although he 
took an active part in politics in early life. He is 
known as a conservative Democrat. Socially, he 
is connected with the Royal Arcanum and the 
Royal League, and is the First Vice-Presideut of 
the California Pioneers. In early life he joined 
the Baptist Church, but as its doctrines were not 
in accordance with his broad and liberal views, he 



joined the Third Unitarian Church, and was, until 
his removal from the West to the South Side, one 
of its active and respected members. He is so- 
cially inclined, possessed of a genial nature and 
pleasant disposition. He is popular among his 
acquaintances, and is one who makes and retains 
friends. He possesses a sanguine temperament, 
is an energetic worker and not easily discouraged. 
Fond of home and family, he is true to those who 
rely upon him, and his faithfulness and sterling 
worth have won him warm regard. 



WILLIAM WEST. 



|t> QlLLIAM WEST, one of the enterprising 
\ A / citizens of Cook County, now successfully 
V V engaged in farming on section 30, Niles 
Township, is numbered among the early settlers 
of the State, having come to Illinois with his 
parents in 1836. He is a native of Yorkshire, 
England, born on the 2ist of June, 1814. His 
father, James West, was born in Shipton, Eng- 
land, in 1768, and died in the fall of 1838, two 
years after his emigration to America. His wife 
bore the maiden name of Jane Hodgen, and was 
a daughter of Thomas Hodgen, a shoe-maker of 
Great Husband, England. As above stated, 
James West, accompanied by his family, bade 
adieu to friends and native land and sailed for 
America in the good ship "Sylvenus Jenkins," 
which brought him to New York after an un- 
eventful voyage of thirty-one days. He was de- 
tained in New York quite a while on account of 
the sickness of a relative, John Dewes, but at 
length resumed his journey and traveled toward 
the setting sun until he reached Cook County. 
He became the first settler of Jefferson Township, 
and it was his intention to purchase a claim as 



soon as the land came into market, but death 
frustrated his plans. 

William West pre-empted a quarter-section of 
land in JeSerson Township, on which he resided 
until 1856, when he came to Niles Township, his 
present home. One of the most important events 
of his life occurred in 1843, when was celebrated 
his marriage with Mrs. Isabella Mosley, a daugh- 
ter of John Kendel, who was a native of York- 
shire, England, and a farmer by occupation. 
Mrs. West was born in \orkshire, December 18, 
1821, and died January 28, 1864. Their union 
was blessed with four sons and five daughters, 
and five of the number are still living, namely: 
William, who was born June n, 1850, and now 
resides in Chicago; Mary Jane, who was born 
April 27, 1852, and is the wife of Robert Robin- 
son, of Avondale; Isabella E., who was born 
August 27, 1857, and is the wife of John Proctor, 
a resident of Arlington Heights; Martha Ann, 
who was born February 20, 1860, is the widow 
of Emil Haag, and resides in Niles; and Edward, 
who was born January 18, 1864, and is now en- 
gaged in the flour and feed business in Chicago. 



J. D. TOBEY. 



187 



In 1866, Mr. West was again married, his second 
union being with Mrs. Frances Ollinger, who is 
now deceased. 

Mr. West cast his first vote for William Henry 
Harrison and has voted at each Presidential elec- 
tion since that time. He now affiliates with the 
Democracy, but from 1860 until 1892 supported 
the Republican candidates. He received no spe- 
cial advantages in life, his school privileges being 



obtained previous to his tenth year, and his edu- 
cation from that time was acquired through con- 
tact with the world. He had no capital or influ- 
ential friends to aid him in business, and the suc- 
cess which has crowned his efforts is the just re- 
ward of his own labors. As a citizen he is pub- 
lic-spirited and progressive and devoted to the 
best interests of the community, and by those who 
know him he is highly respected. 



JOHN D. TOBEY. 



(TOHN DILLON TOBEY, who is doing an 
extensive business as a dealer in hay and 
grain in Chicago, was born at Worth Sta- 
tion, Cook County, on the 3d of September, 
1859, and is a son of Wales and Elizabeth Tobey, 
who are represented on another page of this work. 
He spent his early boyhood days upon his father's 
farm, and acquired his education in the district 
school of the neighborhood and in the High School 
of Blue Island. At the age of seventeen he left 
home with $2.85 in his pocket. From that time 
he has made his own way in the world unaided, 
and the success he has achieved is therefore due 
entirely to his own efforts. He began work as a 
farm hand, receiving $15 per month in compen- 
sation for his services. With his first season's 
wages he bought a half-interest in a threshing- 
machine, and the following winter started a hay 
press. 

Fifteen months after leaving home, Mr. Tobey 
had accumulated $3,300, besides a hay-press, 
teams, etc. In connection with his other work 
he also did road contracting in Worth Township. 
For one year after coming to Chicago he was in 
the employ of Nelson Morris & Co. , buying sup- 
plies of feed for the stock. Since 1886 he has 
engaged in his present business as a dealer in hay 
and grain at No. 309 Twenty-sixth Street. He al- 



so handles ice. His business has steadily in- 
creased in volume, until it has now assumed ex- 
tensive proportions, and on the ist of June, 1894, 
the J. D. Tobey Hay and Grain Company was in- 
corporated. Of this Mr. Tobey is president and 
general manager. For some years he has been 
the best known dealer in his line on the south side 
and is now the largest retail dealer in the United 
States. He also deals in city real estate and 
farm property, and has invested to some extent in 
western lands. 

On the loth of September, 1885, Mr. Tobey 
was united in marriage with Miss Clara M. Burt. 
The lady is a native of Westport, Essex County, 
N. Y., and is a daughter of Alvin Burt. Their 
union has been blessed with one child, Gracie. 
They also lost two sons who died in infancy 
within two weeks of each other. 

Mr. Tobey takes considerable interest in civic 
societies, and is a member of Golden Rule Lodge 
No. 726, A. F. & A. M. ; a life member of Chi- 
cago Commandery No. 19, K. T. ; and also be- 
longs to Medinah Temple and the Mystic Shrine; 
to Acacia Club; to America Lodge No. 271, K. 
P. ; Longfellow Lodge No. 708, R. A. ; George 
B. McClellan Council of the National Union; 
Chicago Heavy-Weight Base Ball Club, the Sud- 
seite Turngemeiude, and several other social and 



188 



ALEXANDER McDANIEL. 



insurance orders. He votes with the Republican 
party, but has never sought or desired political 
preferment, in fact has several times refused pub- 
lic office. Physically, Mr. Tobey is the picture 



of health and strength. He is of a social, genial 
nature, and is a gentleman of rare business abil- 
ity, having attained success through good judg- 
ment, ready decision and energetic determination. 



ALEXANDER McDANIEL 



Gl LEXANDER McDANIEL, of Wilmette, is 
LJ now living a retired life, enjoying a rest which 
/ I he has truly earned and richly deserves. He 
has for many years resided in Cook County, and 
is so widely and favorably known that he needs 
no special introduction to the readers of this vol- 
ume. This work would be incomplete without 
the record of his life, which is as follows: He 
was born February 13, 1815, in Bath, Steuben 
County, New York, and is a son of Daniel Mc- 
Daniel, who was of Scotch descent, but was born 
in the State of New York and made farming his 
life work. He married Rachel Taner, a lady who 
was born and reared in the Mohawk Valley, and 
was a descendant of the Mohawk Dutch. They 
became the parents of seven children, four sons 
and three daughters. 

Alexander McDaniel is the eldest son. The 
days of his boyhood and youth were spent in his 
parents' home and he became familiar with all the 
duties of farm life. He aided in the cultivation 
of the old homestead until he had attained his 
majority, when he started out for himself, and, 
leaving the East upon the tide of emigration which 
was steadily moving westward, he came to Chica- 
go, arriving in this city on the 2yth of May, 1836. 
Here he worked until the I4th of August, when 
he went to New Trier Township, spending sever- 
al days looking up lands on the Ouilmette Indian 
reservation. He then returned to Chicago, where 
he continued until October, when he again came 
to New Trier Township, and pre-empted one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of Government land where 



the town of Winnetka now stands. The land in 
the reservation had not then been surveyed. Mr. 
McDaniel deposited the price of the property with 
the Government agent until it should be surveyed 
and placed upon the market, which was four 
years later. He built a log cabin, one of the first 
four houses which stood between Chicago and the 
present site of Winnetka, and there he kept bach- 
elor's hall for four years. The only neighbors he 
had for the first year, except Erastus Patterson, 
were Indians, and he was the only young man in 
that locality. Speaking of the Indians, he said 
the Ouilmettes were quite enlightened and good 
neighbors, always being peaceable. Mr. McDan- 
iel purchased three forty-acre tracts of land, pay- 
ing the usual price of $1.25 per acre, and forty 
at twenty shillings per acre. Upon this land a 
part of the town of Evanston now stands. When 
he first came to Cook County there were only 
three small log cabins north of Chicago, and many 
of the now thriving villages and cities had not 
sprung into existence, while the work of progress 
and civilization seemed hardly begun. 

On the ayth of November, 1842, an important 
event in the life of Mr. McDaniel occurred, his 
marriage with Miss Emeline Huntoon. The la- 
dy was born in Champlain, New York, March n, 
1824, and is a daughter of George W. and Lucin- 
da (Bowler) Huntoon, whose family numbered 
ten children. The father was a ship carpenter, 
and was born in Vermont, December 9, 1791. 
The mother was born January 9, 1796. With 
their family they came to Cook County in 1840, 



W. R. DERBY. 



189 



settling on the present site of South Evanston. 
Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel became the parents of six 
children. Jane, who was the wife of William 
H. Kinney, Postmaster of Wilmette, is now de- 
ceased; Ellen, widow of A. B. Balcam, resides 
with her parents; Charles, who enlisted at the age 
of sixteen and served three years in the Eighth 
Illinois Cavalry, is now a carpenter and contractor 
of Wilmette; George is interested in mining in 
Colorado; Henry is a policeman of Wilmette; 
and William Grant is a fireman on the North- 
Western Railroad. 

Mr. McDaniel exercises his right of franchise 
in support of the Republican party. His first vote 
was cast on the 4th of May, 1837, for William 
B. Odgen, first mayor of Chicago, and his first 
presidential vote supported William Henry Harri- 
son. Soon after the village of Wilmette was start- 
ed, he was appointed the first Postmaster, hold- 
ing the office for nineteen successive years, when 
he resigned in favor of Mr. Kinney, the present 
incumbent. He has never sought or desired po- 



litical preferment, his time and attention being 
largely occupied by his business interests. His 
wife, a most estimable lady, holds membership 
with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and takes 
an active part in its work and upbuilding. For 
twenty-six years Mr. McDaniel has been a resi- 
dent of Wilmette. His first home at this place, 
located on Center Avenue, was the fourth house 
built in the town, and in it he resided for twen- 
ty-three years. In 1891, he erected a more sub- 
stantial and modern dwelling on the same street, 
and there spends his declining days. He has wit- 
nessed almost the entire growth and development 
of the county, the best interests of the communi- 
ty ever find in him a friend, and his hearty sup- 
port and co-operation are given to those enter- 
prises which are calculated to advance the gener- 
al welfare. His sterling worth and strict integri- 
ty have made him a leading citizen of the com- 
munity and one well worthy of representation in 
this volume. 



WILLIAM R. DERBY. 



fDQlLUAM R. DERBY, who was for many 

\ A I years prominently identified with the his- 
Y V tory of this community, was numbered 
among the honored pioneer settlers, having be- 
come a resident of Cook County in 1834. He 
was born in Dorset, Bennington County, Ver- 
mont, on the 1 7th of March, 1805, and was a 
son of Sylvester Derby, whose birth occurred in 
the same locality in 1780. In 1816 the father 
removed with his family to Genesee County, New 
York, where he remained until his death, which 
occurred at the ripe old age of ninety years. 

William Derby spent the first sixteen years of his 
life at his parents' home, and then began to learn 
the trade of a wool carder and dresser, which he 



followed for nine years. He later engaged in the 
hotel business for nearly two years, and in 1834 
he emigrated westward to try his fortunes on the 
broad prairies of Illinois. He settled on section 
34, township 37, range n, about three miles 
southeast of the village of Lemont. At that 
time there were only two houses between Joliet 
and Chicago. The latter place was a small vil- 
lage, and the most far-sighted could not have 
dreamed of the prominence and importance which 
were to make it the metropolis of the West and 
one of the important cities of the world. Mr. 
Derby had for neighbors a brother-in-law, Jere- 
miah Luther, Orange Chauncy and Joshua Smith, 
all natives of Vermont except Mr. 'Luther, who 



W, R. DERBY. 



was born in New York. When Mr. Derby came 
to Cook County he had a span of horses, harness 
and wagon, some household effects and $40 in 
money. He disposed of his team in order to pay 
for his land when it came into market, and he 
was thus enabled to purchase one hundred and 
forty acres. It was wild land, but with charac- 
teristic energy he began its development, and in 
course of time transformed it into a fertile farm. 
He built a log house, in which he lived for about 
twenty-five years, and then erected a two-story 
brick residence, which he made his home until 
1879, when he sold his farm (then containing 
two hundred acres) and removed to Lemont. 

Mr. Derby was married on the 28th of June, 
1830, in Castile, New York, to Miss Eliza N. 
Luther. Together they traveled life's journey for 
about half a century. On the 5th of April, 1880, 
Mrs. Derby was called to the home beyond. She 
was beloved by all who knew her and her friends 
were many, By their marriage were born four 
children, of whom two are now living. Sylvester 
L-, the elder, was born in Castile, New York, 
September 18, 1836, and at a very early age was 
brought to Lemont, where he has since made his 
home. He graduated from the high school of 
Chicago, and during his early business career 
followed farming, but in 1879 he disposed of his 
land and removed to Lemont, where he embarked 
in the lumber trade, and also in the manufacture 
of lumber in Michigan. His standing as a busi- 
ness man is above reproach. His systematic 
methods, his enterprise and his fair and honor- 
able dealing have gained him the confidence and 
esteem of all with whom he has been brought 
in contact. He enjoys a liberal patronage, and 
has a well-equipped lumber-yard. On the 24th 
of September, 1855, l je was married to Charlotte 
D. Russell, of Dover, New Hampshire, and to 
them were born five children, four yet living, 
namely: Mrs. Ida E. Brown, Sylvester O.,O. R. 
and J. A. L. The three sons are associated with 
their father in the lumber trade. They are thor- 
ough business men, of sterling integrity, and the 
firm is one of prominence in the community. 



Sylvester L. Derby has been honored with sev- 
eral offices of trust, the duties of which have 
ever been discharged with promptness and fidel- 
ity. In politics he is a Republican. In 1892 he 
was President of the Illinois Retail Lumber Deal- 
ers' Association. Although he is now nearing 
his sixtieth birthday, he is still hale and hearty 
as a young man of twenty-five, and is recognized 
as one of the leading citizens of Lemont. 

John T. Derby, the younger son of William R. 
Derby, was born in Lemont, October 29, 1840, 
acquired his early education in a log schoolhouse 
at Gooding's Grove and later was graduated from 
Castile University. He began life as a school 
teacher in the town of Palos, Cook County, and 
for several years continued teaching in Cook and 
Will Counties. He studied law with Judge J. P. 
Atwood, of Chicago, where he was admitted to 
the Bar, and in 1 873 was chosen Assistant County 
Superintendent of Schools under George D. Plant, 
which position he held until the close of Mr. Plant's 
official term. He was the first City Attorney of 
Lemont, and was a member of its first Board of 
Education. On the 7th of May, 1862, was cele- 
brated his marriage with' Clara H. Dakin, of 
Millerton, Dutchess County, New York, and by 
their union were born three children, of whom 
Nettie E. and Edward D. are now living. Mrs. 
Derby died February i, 1885, and in 1886 Mr. 
Derby married Miss Abbie E. Jones, of Du Page, 
Will County, Illinois. He is at present engaged 
in the practice of law, and is a radical temper- 
ance man, who supports by his ballot the Prohi- 
bition party. 

William R. Derby, whose name heads this 
record, was an advocate of Democratic principles 
and was often called to office by his fellow-towns- 
men. He served as Supervisor, was also Justice 
of the Peace for five years, was Township Treas- 
urer sixteen years and Township Clerk for sev- 
eral years. In these various offices he was ever 
true and faithful. All who knew him respected 
him for his upright life and straightforward deal- 
ings and for a public and rjrivate career which 
were alike above reproach. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



L. A. BUDLONG. 



. 191 



LYMAN A. BUDLONG. 



j YMAN ARNOLD BUDLONG is a highly 
It representative type of all that constitutes a 
[_2r well-ordered life. He is descended from an 
ancestry which dates back to the crucial period 
of American history back to that period when 
the principles of liberty, involving perfect freedom 
of conscience first began to crystallize and take 
form in the minds and hearts of a brave and reso- 
lute people, from whom, as a nation, has been 
inherited that priceless legacy of liberty which is 
so distinctively American. 

From the best evidence extant, Francis Bud- 
long, the founder of his family, came to. this coun- 
try some time during the seventh decade of the 
seventeenth century, and effected a settlement in 
the province of Rhode Island. Here, in 1669, 
he married Mrs. Rebecca Howard (nee Lippit), 
of Warwick, Rhode Island. It was in the year 
1675 that Massasoit, the renowned chieftain of the 
Wampanoags, died and was succeeded by his son 
Philip. Urged by his young warriors, Philip 
disregarded the treaty of his father, which had 
been kept by him for fifty years, and inaugurated 
a war for the purpose of destroying the whites 
and recovering his hunting grounds. For a year 
flame and the scalping-knife, in the hands of a 
merciless foe, wrought the destruction of more 
than six hundred houses, while nearly one thou- 
sand men fell in battle, and scores of women and 
children came tinder the tomahawk of the infuri- 
ated savages. During this struggle, known in 
history as King Philip's War, the family of 
Francis Budlong, save one, was massacred an in- 
fant boy having been spared. This little one was 



given a home in the family of Mr. John Lippit, 
its uncle, by whom it was reared, and from 
this rescued waif descended the numerous 
Budlongs widely scattered throughout the coun- 
try. Tradition asserts that they are of French 
origin, probably of Huguenot blood, as, a little 
previous to that time, a great number of Hugue- 
nots had fled from France to our shores to seek 
a place where they could exercise, without hind- 
rance, the privilege of free conscience. 

Lyman A. Budlong is of the seventh generation 
in direct descent from Francis, the founder of the 
family in America. His paternal grandfather 
and great-grandfather bore the name of Samuel, 
and gallantly served in the Continental army 
during the war for independence, the former as a 
drummer boy and the latter as a private soldier. 
The parents of Mr. Budlong were Joseph S. (born 
March i, 1804) and Mary Ann (Arnold, born 
April 20, 1804) Budlong, both of whom were born 
in Rhode Island, where their lives were passed. 
The father died March 14, 1887, and the mother 
departed this life January 5, 1894. 

Mary Ann (Arnold) Budlong was of the sev- 
enth generation from William Arnold, a native of 
Cheselbourne, England, who settled in Provi- 
dence Plantations (now Rhode Island) in early 
colonial days. Her parents were Ephraim and 
Waity (Warner) Arnold, the former being a son 
of Simon and Hannah (Chapman) Arnold. 

Of Joseph S. Budlong's ten children, nine 
grew to maturity and reared families. In order 
of birth, they are as follows: James Arnold (now 
deceased); Albert, who died in childhood; Will- 



192 



L. A. BUDLONG. 



iara Henry, a resident of Jersey City, New Jersey ; 
Lyman Arnold, the subject of this sketch; Mary 
Elizabeth, who became the wife of William 
Johnston, of Washington, Vermont, and died in 
1862; Abbie Stone and Catherine Rhodes (twins), 
the former now the widow of Horace Bates, of Bel - 
lingham, Massachusetts the latter the wife of 
Daniel Burlingatne, of Cranston, Rhode Island; 
Waity Warner, who married William Tyler, of 
Brooklyn, New York; Joseph Arnold, a resident 
of Cook County, Illinois (see sketch in this work); 
and Simeon, who resides in Cumberland, Rhode 
Island. 

It was in the picturesquely rural town of 
Cranston, Rhode Island, that Lyman A. Bud- 
long was born, on the 22d of December, 1829. 
In the public school of his native town he was 
taught the rudimentary branches of learning, 
and subsequently he attended a seminary where 
a wider course of study was entered upon. When 
he was eighteen years old he was competent to 
teach, and for five years he was successfully en- 
gaged in that work during the winter months, 
devoting the rest of the year to farm labor. His 
first school lasted for a term of four months, for 
which he received twelve dollars per month, all of 
which he gave to his father. Subsequent to at- 
taining his majority he attended a few terms of 
school, which rounded out his education, making 
him highly proficient in the range of his studies 
and it is to the thoroughness of his educational 
training that is due in large measure his success 
in life. 

Equally painstaking had he been in acquiring 
a thorough knowledge, in all its details, of gar- 
dening. From his youth he was a connoisseur in 
plant-culture. He learned plant life as he learned 
books, by concentrated effort and intelligent ap- 
plication. It is in the combination of this mental 
and physical training, directed by a high aim, 
that enabled him to overcome adverse conditions, 
and, eventually, to reach the goal of successful 
accomplishment. 

His marriage with Miss Louise L. Newton, of 
Norwich, Vermont, was celebrated October 6, 
1856. Mrs. Budlong was born in Norwich, Ver- 
mont, January i, 1833, and is a daughter of 



George and Orella (Snow) Newton, natives of 
Vermont, the former being a son of Dr. Israel 
Newton, who served through the Revolutionary 
war. To George and Orella (Snow) Newton 
were born two sons and four daughters, as fol- 
lows: Cyril C. (now deceased), who married Re- 
becca McConachie, by whom he had three chil- 
dren Emily, George and Mary; Louise L. (Mrs. 
L. A. Budlong); Lucy Amelia, widow of Mr. 
Lewis Wilson; Mary A., widow of Orlando Tal- 
cott; Ellen E. , wife of W. N. Spring, of Le Mars, 
Iowa; and George P., now deceased. 

Mr. Budlong, the subject of this sketch, contin- 
ued to reside in his native place until 1857, when, 
realizing that a constant narrowing of environ- 
ment was taking place in the East, he decided to 
seek in the West a field of operations where no 
restraint upon ambition from cramped surround- 
ings existed. He selected Cook County as the 
most promising field for contemplated operations. 
His working capital was small, but that in nowise 
checked the ardor of his ambitious spirit, although 
it necessitated beginning in a small way and on 
leased land. To increase his revenue, he taught 
a country school near his home during the winter 
of 1858-59, and in the two following winters he 
taught in the neighboring county of Du Page. 
The balance of the time was employed in garden- 
ing for the Chicago market. His income, though 
limited, was more than enough to meet his ex- 
penses, and the surplus was employed in extend- 
ing his operations. In 1861 he located on part 
of the estate he now occupies that of the late Dr. 
Foster and has made market-gardening his life's 
work. 

He is the pioneer of the West in the pickling 
business. His original plant was established im- 
mediately after his arrival in Cook County, the 
first output being four hundred bushels. From 
this modest beginning has grown his present 
mammoth business, the annual product of his 
present plant being one hundred thousand bush- 
els of pickles, one hundred thousand bushels of 
onions, and fifty thousand bushels of other kinds 
of market vegetables. This vast amount is 
grown on five hundred acres of land, which is 
tilled on the highest scientific principles. When 



L. A. BUDLONG. 



193 



he located upon this land, less than forty acres of 
a tract of six hundred was tillable. More than 
one hundred acres was a labyrinth of bog and 
quagmire, and the rest could be made arable only 
by an extensive system of drainage. Every acre 
has been reclaimed, subdued and brought to the 
highest state of perfection. In addition to the 
best drainage facilities, he has fitted up two 
pumping stations, with the best of modern appli- 
ances, to carry off the surplus water in wet sea- 
sons, when ordinary drainage is insufficient. One 
of these is located on a low tract of one hundred 
and twenty acres, and the other drains a quarter- 
section, their capacity being five thousand gallons 
a minute, each. 

During the harvesting season from July 15 to 
September 15 he employs an average of eight 
hundred people, and from one to two hundred 
during the balance of the year. All his products 
are justly celebrated for superior quality, his well- 
known brands being sufficient guaranty of their 
high excellence. A large part is sold direct to 
the jobbing trade in most of the states east of the 
Rocky Mountains, while no inconsiderable quan- 
tity is sold from wagons in the city to the retail 
trade. 

Mr. Budlong's career furnishes an illustration 
of the results to be obtained by a clear and well- 
defined purpose. He is not a theorist, but a calm, 
practical man, who reaches conclusions through a 
process of reasoning peculiar to men of methods 
and ripe experience. His well-defined power of 
application is particularly noticeable, and he is 
the possessor of marked administrative abilities. 
For many years, until his sons became competent, 
under his tutelage, to bear a part of the burden 
of cares arising from a large business, he person- 
ally superintended the operations of the various 
departments, carrying in his mind the innumer- 
able details. 

Although his life has been one of ceaseless 
activity, he has, withal, retained intact those 
pleasing social qualities which have made him so 
deservedly popular with all. His nature is thor- 
oughly democratic, and he caters to none because 
of wealth or social position. The laboring man 
upon his estate is treated with the same kindly 



consideration he would accord to a king. He is 
one of the most companionable of men, and, hav- 
ing been a close observer of passing events, and a 
student as well, he is an interesting and instruct- 
ive conversationalist. 

In early life Mr. Budlong's political preferment 
was for the Democratic party, but, being always 
an adherent of the principles which gave birth to 
the Republican party, he cast off his fealty to the 
former in 1 860, since which he has zealously sup- 
ported Republican men and measures. With local 
public affairs he has been prominently identified, 
having always taken an active and leading part in 
whatever, in his judgment, best subserved the 
public good. Upon the organization of the vill- 
age of Jefferson he was elected a trustee, in which 
capacity he has since served several times. He 
was also the first to be elected to the position of 
Mayor of the village. He held the office of 
school director twenty-eight consecutive years, 
until the village was merged in the city of Chi- 
cago. He is a prominent member of the Masonic 
order, being a charter member of Providence 
Lodge No. 711, of Jefferson, in which he accept- 
ably served many years as Worshipful Master. 
He is also identified with Corinthian Chapter, 
Apollo Commandery and Oriental Consistory, 
of Chicago. 

Mr. and Mrs. Budlong became the parents of 
five children, namely: Mary L., wife of A. L. 
Jones, of Mokena, Illinois; Edward L.; Lyman 
A. (deceased); Joseph J., and Laura W., wife of 
H. H. Chester, of Evanston, Illinois. 

All the children reside near their father, in 
pleasant homes, all worthily reflecting much 
credit upon their parents by the correctness of 
their lives. Mr. Budlong is essentially domestic, 
and derives much pleasure from the associations 
of the home circle, which has been enlarged by 
the arrival of thirteen grandchildren. His modern, 
well-appointed home is replete with all that a 
cultivated taste can suggest, and here he is spend- 
ing the evening of his days in the quiet content- 
ment of a successful and well-ordered life. His 
three- score and seven years rest lightly on his com- 
pact frame, time having made but slight impres- 
sion upon his rugged constitution. 



I 9 4 



REV. C. F. EBINGER. 



REV. CHRISTIAN F. EBINGER. 



REV. CHRISTIAN FREDERICK EBIN- 
GER, the first minister of the Evangelical As- 
sociation ordained in Illinois, was numbered 
among the first permanent settlers of Cook Coun- 
ty. He took up his home in what is now the 
town of Niles in 1834. He was the youngest 
son of John and Katharine Ebinger, and was 
born February 8, 1812, near the city of Stuttgart, 
Germany. He was well educated in his native 
place, and reared to the occupation of florist and 
gardener. For a number of years he had charge 
of a flower garden of King William of Wurtem- 
berg. 

In 1831, John Ebinger, with his wife and three 
sons and one daughter, came to the United 
States and located at Detroit, Michigan. Early 
in 1834 he set out for Chicago, and in May of 
that year he pre-empted eighty acres of land on 
the Indian trail leading to Milwaukee, which was 
subsequently occupied by a plank road. He 
built a one-story log cabin, twenty-four by four- 
teen feet in ground dimension, and began life in 
true pioneer style. His children were: Frederick, 
John, Elizabeth (who became the wife of John 
Plank), and Christian F., all of whom are now 
deceased. 

Christian F. Ebinger had just attained his 
majority when he came with his parents to the 
United States. February 12, 1834, at Ann Ar- 
bor, Michigan, he was married to Miss Barbara 
Ruehle, who was born August n, 1812, in 
Indebach, near Stuttgart, Germany. Her par- 
ents were Joseph and Barbara (Schwegler) 
Ruehle. Her mother died when Mrs. Ebinger 



was eight years of age, and after her death her 
father married Eva Magdaline Allmeudinger. 
Mrs. Ebinger came to America in 1832, with her 
father and stepmother. They settled at Ann 
Arbor, Michigan, where the father died only six 
weeks after their arrival. She continued to re- 
side with her stepmother until her marriage, and 
then set out with her husband to accompany the 
latter' s parents to Chicago. All their belongings 
were placed in a light wagon, in which the old 
people rode, while the young couple made their 
honeymoon trip on foot, the journey consuming 
three weeks. They camped at night, with the 
blue canopy of heaven for a cover, and father and 
son took turns in guarding their resting-place 
against possible surprises by Indians or wild 
beasts. 

Christian F. Ebinger was reared in the Luth- 
eran Church, but in 1840 he became identified 
with the Evangelical Association, The follow- 
ing year he was ordained as a preacher, and 
acted in that capacity until his death. He oc- 
casionally supplied the pulpit for other ministers, 
but never became an itinerant. He followed 
farming, and was industrious and careful in his 
business methods, and was successful. He took 
a lively interest in public affairs, and was a friend 
to education. He served as school trustee for 
many years, and held nearly all the offices of the 
township, being its first assessor and overseer of 
the poor, and was many years supervisor. He 
died in 1879, after a useful career, and his funeral 
was one of the most notable in the community 
where he was the pioneer settler. 



ADOLPH ARNDT. 



195 



His family included thirteen children, of whom 
ten reached maturity, namely: Christian, a resi- 
dent of Niles; Mary, who became the wife of 
Henry Giffert, and died in 1860. (Her husband 
was a Union soldier, and died from injuries re- 
ceived in the Civil War. He was the father 
of William Giffert, now assessor of the West 
Town of Chicago.) Henry, now deceased; Eliza- 
beth, who was the wife of William Neff, and is 
deceased; Margaret, wife of Louis Grafius, of 
Chicago; Daniel, who died at the age of fifteen; 
Sarah, widow of William Weathers, now resid- 
ing with Mrs. Ebinger; Louise, wife of William 
Grafius, of Chicago; Caroline, Mrs. M. J. Good, 
of the same city; and William R., a resident of 
Aurora, Illinois. 

From the inception of the Republican party in 
1856, Mr. Ebinger was one of its stanchest sup- 
porters. In the early years of his residence in 
Niles he dispensed a generous, open-handed 
hospitality to all comers, although he did not 
keep a hotel. The aboriginal inhabitants of the 
country were his friends, because he treated them 
with uniform kindness, and were often enter- 
tained at his home. He was intimately ac- 



quainted with Blackhawk, whom he often enter- 
tained, and who is described by Mrs. Ebinger as 
a man of fine appearance, who spoke English 
readily, and dressed in civilized costume. 

Mrs. Ebinger is one of the most interesting 
talkers upon early history in Chicago, although 
she has never mastered the English language, 
and converses freely with visitors, relating many 
interesting reminiscences. She has nearly com- 
pleted the eighty-fifth year of her age, and still 
assists with the labors of the household, and con- 
trols the management of an extensive farm. Her 
sister-in-law, the wife of Frederick Ebinger, 
was a resident of Fort Dearborn, having come 
from Ann Arbor as companion to Mrs. Wilcox, 
wife of the general in command of the fort. At 
the social functions which Mrs. Ebinger attended 
at the fort, she danced to the music of the only 
violin within a hundred miles. For some years 
after her settlement with her husband in Niles, 
there were no houses between their home and the 
village of Chicago, and the nearest residence to- 
ward Milwaukee was seven miles away. Her 
vision of Chicago, bounded by Fort Dearborn and 
the World's Fair, is one now enjoyed by very few. 



ADOLPH ARNDT. 



GlDOLPH ARNDT, a market-gardener of 
LJ South Evanston, is a representative Ger- 
/ 1 man-American, who has resided in Cook 
County for nearly half a century. He was born 
in Schmolda, Prussia, June n, 1843, and is a son 
of Frederick and Anna Marie Arndt, natives of 
the same place. They, with their family of six 
children, came to America in 1854, landing at 
New York, whence they came direct to Chicago, 
arriving July 4 of that year. They located at 
Rosehill and engaged in farming on rented land. 
About six weeks after their arrival Mrs. Arndt 



died of cholera. Mr. Arndt continued farming 
until his death, which occurred a number of 
years ago. 

Adolph attended school for some time in Rose- 
hill and received a limited education. He was 
reared tQ farming and gardening, which have been 
his life work, and in which work he is -still en- 
gaged, operating about twenty-five acres. His 
father died before he was of age, therefore he 
early learned to depend upon himself, and is 
practically a self-made man, having acquired his 
valuable property by his own industry. In 1868 



PETER BISDORFF. 



he bought twenty acres of land in sections 19 and 
24, Evanston Township. This was new and un- 
improved land, which he cleared and improved 
himself. 

Mr. Arndt has always taken a lively interest 
in political affairs. He supports the Democratic 
party, and has held the offices of highway com- 
missioner and village trustee of South Evanston. 
May 12, 1869, he married Miss Mary, daughter 
of Peter Muno, whose biography appears on an- 



other page of this work. They have a family of 
ten children, namely: Elizabeth, wife of Michael 
Becker; Peter, who married Nettie Eiden, and 
resides at Edgewater; Henry, Charles, Christian, 
Mary, Joseph, William, Minnie and Theresa; 
two children died in infancy. All in this family 
are members of Saint Nicholas' Roman Catholic 
Church of South Evanston. Mr. Arndt is a 
good citizen, who encourages every worthy enter- 
prise. 



PETER BISDORFF, 



("\ETER BISDORFF, an eminently respectable 
LX citizen and successful market-gardener, was 
[$ born January 8, 1841, near the city of Lux- 
emburg, Germany, and is a son of John and Kath- 
arine Bisdorff, both of whom were natives of the 
same locality. 

The father was a man of superior intelligence, 
and had the advantage of attending the best 
schools and colleges of Germany. His superior 
qualifications were recognized by his government, 
and he was given the important position of For- 
ester to the Crown, a place of honor and trust, 
which he filled many years to the entire satisfac- 
tion of his sovereign. 

Peter Bisdorff, whose name heads this article, 
passed the years of his minority in his native 
land, where he enjoyed the advantages of the 
splendid German school system and obtained a 
good education. In 1861, just after turning to 
his twentieth year, he went out from the parental 
home to secure a home and fortune for himself in 
America. After an uneventful voyage he disem- 
barked at New York, and at once made his way 
to Wisconsin, locating near Mineral Point. 

In 1862 he came to Chicago, where he had 
relatives, and at once began in earnest to lay the 
foundations for a successful career. He faith- 



fully served one employer four years and another 
two. His savings had been carefully laid by, 
and he was now enabled to open the business of 
market-gardening on his own account, although 
in a small way and on leased land. He had 
patience and perseverance, and each year added 
somewhat to his cash account, and in 1870 he 
was able to buy two lots near Halsted Street. 
This ground he cultivated most successfully 
eighteen years, and then traded for land on 
Argyle Street, where he now resides, and is 
engaged in gardening. At present he is the 
owner of six acres of land, five of which are 
devoted to cultivation of all kinds of vegetables 
for the city market. 

His career illustrates very aptly what can be 
accomplished in the long run, without capital at 
the start. Constant effort, intelligently directed, 
has won for Mr. Bisdorff that which he set out to 
acquire, namely, a competency to maintain him in 
comfort after his working days are over. Al- 
though his life has been a busy one, he has all 
this time kept himself thoroughly posted on cur- 
rent topics of the day, and is in touch with the 
spirit of the times. In politics he is independent, 
catering to no party, and is dominated by none, 
but votes as his best judgment directs him. His 



C. H. CEPERLY. 



197 



political interest stops at the exercise of suffrage, 
and he is in no sense an office seeker. 

He was married January 2, 1868, to Miss Anna 
Leider, a native of Wisconsin, who has borne 
him nine children: William, Nicholas, John, 
Katharine, Peter, Mary, Barbara, George and 
Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Bisdorff and all of their 
children are members of St. Mathias' Roman 
Catholic Church, and are among its liberal sup- 
porters. 

Mrs. Bisdorff is the second daughter of William 
and Katharine (Michael) Leider, natives of Lux- 



emburg, who came to America in 1848, and 
settled in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. Mrs. 
Bisdorff was born there July 14, 1849. The 
family included the following children: Mathias, 
Margaret (now deceased), Anna, Nicholas, John, 
Katharine, Samuel, George, Theodore and Bar- 
bara. Mathias and John live in Wisconsin, and 
all the others are residents of Chicago. Katha- 
rine is the wife of John Schiller, and Barbara, of 
Peter Funk. The mother of this family died in 
1875, and the father survived her twelve years, 
dying in 1887. 



CORNELIUS H. CEPERLY. 



CORNELIUS HENRY CEPERLY, presi- 
I ( dent of the Old Settlers' Society of Rogers 
Vj Park, is a native of the State of New York, 
born October 31, 1841, in the town of Root, 
Schoharie County. He is the youngest child of 
Barnard and Dolly (Russell) Ceperly, both of 
whom were born in the same State, descendants 
of the early Dutch settlers of that region. They 
had a family of thirteen children, eleven of whom 
grew to maturity, and of this number five are liv- 
ing at this writing, namely: David, of Chicago; 
Daniel, a farmer of Gilmore City, Floyd County, 
Iowa; Hannah, widow of John A. Oliver, and a 
resident of West Monroe Street, Chicago; Clara, 
wife of William Russell, of Clarksville, Butler 
County, Iowa, and the subject of this notice. 
The father died in New York, and the mother came 
.West to settle with her sons about 1846, and lo- 
cated on a farm in Northfield Township, this county. 

Here Cornelius H. Ceperly grew to manhood, 
and received a fair education in the common 
school, which he attended in the winter months 
his time being occupied with the duties of the 
farm in summer. 

August 9, 1862, he enlisted as a soldier in 



Company G, One Hundred and Thirteenth Illi- 
nois Volunteer Infantry, and served until the in- 
tegrity of the Union was assured, participating in 
all the engagements in which his regiment fought. 
He never shirked, was never wounded or sick, 
but was always on duty at his post, until he was 
discharged, June 20, 1865, at Memphis.Tennessee. 

On his return from the field, he took up the 
arts of peace where he had left them, engaging 
for a short time in farming. He then resumed 
his practice in carpenter work, in which he had 
had some experience prior to going to the war, 
and became master of the trade. About 1868 he 
began contracting and building on his own ac- 
count, in which he continued with gratifying 
results to himself and patrons, until June, 1895. 
Since that time he has acted as building inspector 
in the service of the city of Chicago, and his pub- 
lic duties are discharged with the same care and 
fidelity which always characterized his work. 
The East End School and many of the residences 
at Rogers Park were erected by him, and his 
work testifies to his integrity and skill. 

In politics he is an ardent Republican, and his 
first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lin- 



198 



MICHAEL WEBER. 



coin in 1864. He served several terms as a mem- 
ber of the school board of Rogers Park, and was 
one term its president. He takes a lively interest 
in the success of his part}-, which he believes to 
be devoted to the protection and service of the 
public interests, in which he aims to labor per- 
sonally. He is a regular attendant of the Con- 
gregational Church, of which his family are 
communicants, and is a member of the Royal 
Arcanum, Loyal League and Cumberland Post 
No. 737, Grand Army of the Republic. 

April 10, 1866, Mr. Ceperly was married to 
Miss Frances J. Kerr, a native of Roscoe, Winne- 
bago County, Illinois, a daughter of Charles and 



Ann (Larkin) Kerr, the former a native of Scot- 
land, and the latter of England. Mr. Kerr died 
February 14, 1874, his good wife having passed 
away November 8, 1873. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ceperly are the parents of a son 
and five daughters, namely: Clara, wife of 
Calistus Ennis, of Chicago; Cornelia, wife of R. 
M. Simon, the present recorder of Cook County; 
Walter, who resides with his parents; Alice (Mrs. 
John Jones) , of Rogers Park ; Lydia and Ruby , 
at home. Mr. Ceperly is a frank and genial gen- 
tleman, whom it is a 'pleasure to meet, and his 
friends are numbered by those who meet him in 
any of the relationships of life. 



MICHAEL WEBER. 



WEBER, a real-estate dealer 
residing at No. 3766 North Hermitage 
Avenue, Chicago, has been a resident of 
Cook County for forty-five years. He was born 
January 3, 1827, in Ebersheim, near Mainz, Rhein- 
Hessen, Germany, and reared to farm life there, 
receiving a good education. February 22, 1852, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Maria 
Baer, who was born in Oberolm, near Mainz. 
About two weeks after their marriage they bade 
adieu to home and friends, and set out for far 
America, to seek a new home and make their 
fortune. 

They came direct to Cook County and located 
in the town of Ridgeville, where Mr. Weber 
bought the land on which he now resides. Some 
thirty years later his brother Mathiascame; three 
years later his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Thart; and 
five years ago, his brother, John Weber, came to 
this country and located in Chicago, but their par- 
ents remained in Germany, where they died several 
years ago. After his arrival in Cook County Mr. 



Weber devoted his energies to farming and 
gardening, and by industry he acquired a hand- 
some property. At one time he owned one hun- 
dred and thirty-six acres of valuable land, and 
he also invested considerable in city property. In 
the Great Fire of 1871 he lost about eighteen 
thousand dollars' worth of property, but he was 
not discouraged, and renewed his activity in bus- 
iness. After this disaster he gave up farming, and 
in company with his son, Bernard F. Weber, en- 
gaged in real-estate transactions, which they con- 
ducted successfully several years. 

During the last eight years Mr. Weber has con- 
fined his operations to the. disposal of his own 
land. He occupies a beautiful residence, which 
he built in 1891. It is supplied with all the mod- 
ern improvements, and elegantly furnished, and 
he and his good wife live in happy contentment, 
surrounded by all the comforts of life and many 
of its luxuries. They began life in a humble way, 
amid the primitive surroundings of the pioneer 
days, and have earned, by their own prudence 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

flNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




MATHIAS MANN 



(From Photo by W. J. ROOT) 



MATHIAS MANN. 



199 



and good management, the blessings which they 
enjoy. Their family includes a son and two 
daughters, all comfortably settled near them, 
namely: Bernard F. (see biography elsewhere in 
this work); Margaret, wife of Max Sorgatz; and 
Gertrude, Mrs. Fred Kellner, of Chicago. 

Mr. Weber has fulfilled the public duties of a 
good citizen, having served seven years as com- 
missioner of highways. In political matters he 



acts with the Democratic party. Both he and his 
wife are among the faithful members of Saint 
Henry's Roman Catholic Church, to whose sup- 
port they are liberal contributors. In all the 
years of his residence in Cook County, Mr. Weber 
has borne an important part in the development of 
city and country, and by his fair dealings and up- 
right character has won the confidence and re- 
spect of many friends. 



MATHIAS MANN. 



[ATHIAS MANN, an old settler and real- 
estate dealer of Rogers Park, is a native 
of Chicago, born February 16, 1844. His 
parents were Tillman and Katherine (Earth) 
Mann, both of whom were born and reared in 
Prussia and married there before coming to the 
United States. 

The name Mann is of English origin. The fam- 
ily was founded in Germany by the great-grand- 
father of our subject, who was a veterinary sur- 
geon by profession, and went to Germany during 
the early Napoleonic wars. The grandfather of 
Mathias was also a veterinary surgeon, and his 
father, Tillman Mann, served in the German 
Army as a horseshoer. Tillman Mann had two 
children, Nicholas and Mary, when he came to 
Chicago and settled on the North Side, in 1842. 
They traveled by water over the whole distance 
from the Fatherland. From New York they 
went by the Hudson River to Albany, and thence 
on the Erie Canal to Buffalo, where they took 
ship for Chicago, arriving in this city on the Na- 
tional holiday, July 4. 

For four years Mr. Mann labored in a brick 
yard in Chicago, and by saving his earnings lie 
was then enabled to purchase land which soon 
made him independent. He bought twenty-six 



acres on section 31 of Ridgeville Township, and 
engaged in farming and gardening. The subject 
of this sketch was born while the family resided 
in Chicago, and a daughter, Barbara, came at 
the farm home. All are still living except Mary. 
The father died January 26, 1872, and was sur- 
vived more than ten years by his wife, who passed 
away September 10, 1882. Mr. Mann was suc- 
cessful in life, and found opportunity to give 
some attention to the conduct of public affairs. 
He was chosen by his fellow-citizens to fill vari- 
ous official positions. 

Mathias Mann succeeded to the possession of 
the homestead, and continued farming and gar- 
dening until 1895, when he platted Mann's Addi- 
tion to Rogers Park, and is now engaged in dis- 
posing of the same and in the transaction of a 
general real-estate business. His sound and 
practical judgment and general intelligence fit 
him for the transaction of this kind of business. 

In politics Mr. Mann is a stanch Democrat, 
and takes an active part in the control of local 
affairs. He has served as trustee of the village 
of Rogers Park four years, was school director 
six years, and acted as judge of election in 1896. 
He is a public-spirited and progressive citizen, 
and takes a lively interest in all matters pertain- 



200 



J. A. BUDLONG. 



ing to the public welfare. He has been a di- 
rector in Saint Henry's Roman Catholic Church 
many years. 

April 23, 1868, Mr. Mann was married to Miss 
Margaret Muno, a native of Prussia, who came 
to this country in infancy with her parents, Peter 
and Mary K. Muno, of whom mention is made at 
length on another page of this volume. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Mann were born the following children: 
Mary K., wife of Joseph Trausch, of Rogers 
Park; Katharine M. , who became the wife of J. 



P. Jaeger, and died in 1893, leaving one child; 
Henry, Elizabeth, Birdie and Edward. Mrs. 
Mann died April 13, 1885. 

Mr. Mann has spent almost his entire life in 
Rogers Park, and has not only witnessed the 
growth and development of this beautiful suburb, 
but has contributed his share to its advancement, 
and is reckoned among its most worthy citizens. 
In 1894 he visited Europe and spent about three 
months in traveling among the interesting scenes of 
the Old World. 



JOSEPH A. BUDLONG. 



(JOSEPH ALBERT BUDLONG, a prosper- 
I ous florist of Chicago, is a native of Rhode 
(*/ Island, born March 17, 1841, at Cranston. 
He is a son of Joseph S. and Mary Ann (Arnold) 
Budlong, extended mention of whom, and their 
ancestry, is made in the sketch of L. A. Budlong, 
on other pages of this volume. 

Mr. Budlong's boyhood was passed under the 
parental roof, the public schools affording him the 
only means of an education, which, though mea- 
ger in scope, had the merit of thoroughness. In 
the great school of business experience, and 
through reading and observation, he has acquired 
a knowledge of men and things which makes him 
an intelligent and useful citizen. His father's 
occupation was market-gardening, and young 
Joseph was, early in life, introduced to an expe- 
rience between the rows of growing plants. He 
was thus employed until after passing his major- 
ity, when he decided upon a change of occupation 
and location, and went to Providence, Rhode Is- 
land, following the carpenter's trade two years. 

In 1862 he came to Cook County and joined his 
brother, Lyman A., who had settled here five 
years before, in the gardening and pickling busi- 
ness. From his brother he obtained employment 



on a salary, remaining with him three years. The 
country was low and almost continuously wet, 
and this, with other causes, gave rise to condi- 
tions which developed in him a serious rheumatic 
ailment, causing intense suffering, and he was 
eventually compelled to return to the East. In 
Brooklyn, New York, he secured a clerkship with 
another brother, who was a merchant, and while 
thus engaged he became acquainted with Miss 
Teresa Smith, to whom he was married February 
i, 1866. She is a native of Brooklyn, daughter 
of William and Priscilla (Timms) Smith, both of 
whom were born in London, England. 

Shortly after his marriage he returned, with 
his wife, to Cook County. Leasing land from 
his brother, he began gardening upon his own 
responsibility, and continued successfully two 
years. He then entered into a co-partnership 
with his brother in the gardening industry, and 
from a small beginning, they developed gradually 
one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the 
West. This business relation between the broth- 
ers was happy in conduct and results and was 
continued seventeen years, at the end of which 
period it was dissolved by mutual consent. 

The efforts of the subject of this sketch had 



CHARLES SMITH. 



201 



been so well directed that he was able to buy ten 
acres of ground, which he leased to another, who 
built greenhouses for the cultivation of vegeta- 
bles. Upon the expiration of this lease, Mr. 
Budlong assumed personal control and vigorously 
set about the cultivation of his own land. He 
extended the lines by erecting new greenhouses, 
and entered quite extensively upon the produc- 
tion of all kinds of garden vegetables, being thus 
engaged for a number of years. For the past ten 
years he has grown flowers exclusively, princi- 
pally roses and carnations for the cut-flower trade. 
This business, under his wise management, has 
been lucrative and has grown to great propor- 
tions. There are now upon his estate eighteen 
greenhouses, each having an area eighteen by 
two hundred feet, and one thirty by three hun- 
dred feet in size. The product is something 
enormous and is rapidly disposed of through the 
commission houses of the city. His is, probably, 
one of the largest individual businesses of the 
kind in the country, and it stands as the strong- 



est evidence that now, as ever success can be 
won by intelligent direction, supplemented by 
persistent and tireless effort. 

To Mr. Budlong and his estimable wife have 
been born three children. Albert Henry, the 
eldest, is married and resides near his father, 
having two children. The second died in early 
childhood. The youngest, Florence M., is the 
wife of John Spellman, of Kvanston, and the 
mother of one child. 

Mr. Budlong' s political affiliation is with the 
Republican party. He is prominently identified 
with the Masonic fraternity, being a charter mem- 
ber of Providence Lodge No. 711, of Jefferson. 
He maintains good standing in Corinthian Chap- 
ter, Royal Arch Masons, Apollo Commandery, 
Knights Templar, and Oriental Consistory, of 
this city. As no one can reach these exalted de- 
grees who is not of well-known probity and abil- 
ity, his standing in this great order is sufficient 
testimonial of his standing in the community 
which has been so long his home. 



CHARLES SMITH. 



/TjHARLES SMITH, one of the progressive 
I ( and successful German-American citizens of 
\J Cook County, is deserving of honorable 
mention among those who left home and native 
land, with all the endearing associations sur- 
rounding one's birthplace, to make a home and a 
name in the midst of strangers, whose language 
and customs were as strange as their faces. He 
was born February 26, 1854, near Hamburg, 
Schlesvvig-Holstein, Germany (then part of Den- 
mark). His parents, Asmusand Maria Schmidt, 
were born and lived at the same place until the 
death of the mother. Some years after this sad 



event, the father came to Chicago, and died at the 
home of the son whose name heads this notice, 
in 1891. 

Charles Smith received a good education in his 
native language and was early accustomed to the 
labors of the farm. He is made of the superior 
material which is not satisfied to sit down in idle 
contentment or drift with the current of events 
listlessly. He was not satisfied with his environ- 
ment and opportunities, and early determined to 
emigrate to that free country across the Atlantic 
Ocean, of which he had read and heard. In 1871 
he arrived here, a poor boy of seventeen years, 



202 



J. G. FENN. 



yet rich in a good, sound mind and healthy body, 
with strong reliance upon himself and hopes of 
the future. When he reached Chicago he had 
about a dollar left, but he immediately went to 
work as a gardener, and continued diligently at 
work and saving his earnings until he had accu- 
mulated enough to begin business for himself in 
a small way. 

For a few years he tilled leased land, and by 
industry and careful management was able in 
time to purchase ground. In 1886 he bought 
seven acres of land on Touhy Avenue, Rogers 
Park (Chicago), and is now very comfortably 
situated, with a pleasant home and substantial 
furnishings. Here dwells a united and happy 
family. May 2, 1877, Mr. Smith was married 
to Miss Sophia Sobey, who was born April 21, 
1854, in Wemorby, Sweden. Her parents died 
when she was but fourteen years old, and she 
came to America at eighteen, and has never re- 
gretted the fortune which brought her here. 



Three children complete the family of Mr. and 
Mrs. Smith, namely: Frederick, born July 25, 
1878; Helen, October 3, 1882; and Lulu, March 
3, 1888. Carl, born May 19, 1881, died at the 
age of eleven months. Though they are faithful 
believers in the faith of the Lutheran Church, on 
account of the distance from any house of worship 
of that denomination, they are accustomed to at- 
tend the Methodist Church services. 

Mr. Smith is held in high esteem by his fellow- 
citizens, as is attested by the fact that he was 
several times elected to the responsible position 
of trustee in the village of West Ridge while 
that corporation existed. He is not bound to 
any political party, and is wont to use his best 
efforts in securing honest and competent men to 
administer public affairs, regardless of party dis- 
tinctions. By upright practices and diligent at- 
tention to business he has gained the respect of 
all who know him and an independent position in 
the world. 



JOHN G. FENN. 



(JOHN GEORGE FENN, a representative 
\ German-American citizen who has now re- 
Q) tired from active life, has been a resident of 
Chicago since 1853, and now makes his home in 
that portion of the city known as Rogers Park. 
He was born October 22, 1825, in Kreis Unten 
Franken, Bavaria, and is the son of Charles and 
Margaret (Stratz) Fenn. The father was a cooper 
in his native land, and in 1853, with his wife 
and six children, came to the United States. 
Disembarking in New York on July 10 of that 
year, he proceeded by rail to Buffalo, New York, 
by boat to Detroit, and thence by rail to Chicago. 



He died in 1860, and his wife survived him nine- 
teen years. Their children, in order of birth, 
were: John George, whose name heads this 
sketch; Charles; John and Christian, who are 
now deceased; Margaret, wife of Charles Schmidt, 
residing in Wisconsin, and Barbara, who is also 
deceased. 

John George Fenn was reared in Bavaria, where 
he received the liberal education accorded to every 
German child, and became master of the cooper's 
trade, which he followed until he came to Chi- 
cago. The capital of the entire family on its ar- 
rival here consisted of about one hundred dol- 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

HNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




REV. F. N. R. PKRRY 



REV. F. N. R. PERRY. 



203 



lars. The subject of this sketch soon found em- 
ployment in a lumber yard, and was so industri- 
ous and careful of his earnings that he was en- 
abled to go into business on his own account after 
three years. At that time he opened a restaurant 
at No. 229 North Clark Street, and continued 
there three years, when he bought a lot on the 
opposite side of the same street, and built a 
business block, which he immediately occupied. 
In the Great Fire of 1871 he lost all his posses- 
sions, including this building and two houses, 
for which he recovered a very little insurance. 
However, he had credit and friends, and im- 
mediately proceeded to rebuild, and continued 



the business about eight years on the same site. 
At the end of this period, owing to failing health, 
he was forced to give up business, and since 1879 
he has been living a retired life at his present 
home. He has never taken much interest in 
political contests, and is content to leave to others 
the struggles of practical politics. 

August 31, 1863. he was married to Elizabeth 
Gundermann, a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, who 
came to the United States in 1854. She remained 
in New York City two years and then came to 
Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Fenn are Lutherans in 
religious faith. The former is a member of the 
Ancient Order of Druids and the Sons of Hermann. 



REV. FRANK N, R. PERRY. 



REV. FRANK NOEL RANSOM PERRY, 
pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes 
at Ravenswood, is a representative of a prom- 
inent pioneer family of the State of Illinois. His 
maternal grandfather was Noel Le Vasseur, who 
was in Chicago when it was but a hamlet. He 
was the first settler at Bourbonnais Grove, in Kan- 
kakee County. He donated the site of Saint Vi- 
ator's College, and was long connected with the 
growth and development of that section of the 
State. Noel Le Vasseur came to Chicago with 
Gurdon S. Hubbard, who was his warm personal 
friend, and who. upon the death of Le Vasseur, 
went to Bourbonnais Grove to attend his funeral. 
Father Perry is the son of Albert S. Perry, who 
came to Illinois from Bridgeport, Connecticut. 
The subject of this sketch and his brother, Ed- 
ward H. Perry, are the only surviving members 
of the family of Albert S. Perry. 

Rev. Frank N. Perry was born in Kankakee, 



Illinois, February 9, 1862. He pursued a class- 
ical course of study at the College of Saint Viator's 
and his theological course in Saint Mary's Sem- 
inar}', at Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained 
a priest June 16, 1887, and for about eight years 
succeeding his ordination he was assistant priest 
at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. 

The first religious services in the parish of which 
Father Perry now has charge were conducted by 
Father Coughlin at Bennett Hall, on the first 
Sunday in March, 1892. Services were held 
there until October of the same year, when the 
present church edifice was ready for occupancy. 
In May, 1893, on account of ill-health, Father 
Coughlin resigned pastoral charge of the parish, 
and was succeeded by Father Perry. The church 
was dedicated October 1 5th of the same year. In 
May, 1895, the priest's residence was completed. 
The parish, though comparatively young, is in a 
prosperous condition. 



204 



R. F. DILGER. 



ROBERT F. DILGER. 



ROBERT FRANK DILGER, a market-gar- 
dener of Chicago, residing at No. 4183 North 
Clark Street, is a native of Cook County, 
born January 13, 1859. He is the second son of 
Frank Paul and Charlotte (Wollner) Dilger. 

Frank P. Dilger was born at 2 o'clock on 
the morning of April 2, 1828, in Dorndorf, Koen- 
igreich, Wurtemberg, Germany, and died at Rose- 
hill, Cook County, Illinois, December 26, 1872, 
at'n o'clock A. M. Charlotte Wollner, born 
March 7, 1831, in Teszin, Mecklenburg-Schwer- 
in, Germany, died at 2:30 o'clock, November 24, 
1869, at Rosehill. Mr. Dilger came to America 
in 1852, and located immediately at Chicago. 
Mrs. Dilger came with her parents to Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, in 1851, and the next year removed 
to Chicago. They were married in this city, No- 
vember 29, 1856. All their children were born at 
Rosehill, as follows: Frank P., August 26, 1857; 
Robert F., January 13, 1859; Sophia, April 21, 
1861; Mathias P., December 10, 1862; Anna Ma- 
ria, December 12, 1864. The last-named is the 
wife of William Volk, a grocer of Chicago. Ma- 
thias is a florist at Waukegan, Illinois. 

Frank P. Dilger enjoyed good educational ad- 
vantages in his native land, and there learned the 
carpenter's trade. On arriving in this country he 
continued as a journeyman for a short time, and 
then began the erection of buildings by contract. 
Many of the farm buildings in the former town- 
ship of Lake View, in Niles Township, and at 
Gross Point, were erected by him. He built the 
first Saint Henry's Church at what is now High 



Ridge. In connection with his building opera- 
tions, he carried on farming and gardening, where 
the son whose name heads this article now re- 
sides. At one time he owned a park at Rosehill 
Cemetery, which he exchanged in 1860 for eight 
acres of land, a part of which is now owned by 
Robert F. Dilger. He took a commendable in- 
terest in public affairs, but never sought an offi- 
cial position. He died at the age of forty-five 
years, in 1872, having survived his wife nearly 
four years. She passed away November 24, 
1869. She was identified with the German Lu- 
theran Church, while he was a devoted member 
of Saint Henry's Catholic Church. 

Robert F. Dilger was educated in the public 
schools and has ever been an intelligent reader 
and observer. He is well informed on the ques- 
tions that engage public minds, and is a public- 
spirited and progressive citizen. He grew to 
manhood in the neighborhood in which he lives, 
and enjoys the respect and confidence of his con- 
temporaries. Believing that the Republican party 
is the exponent and advocate of the truest and 
best principles of public policy, as compared with 
other political organizations, he has ever been 
found among its most faithful adherents. 

While a boy Mr. Dilger worked eight years for 
Mr. Nicholas Kransz, of whom extended mention 
is made in this volume. After arriving at matu- 
rity, he spent three years in the seed store of J. 
C. Vaughan, a well-known seedsman and florist 
of Chicago. He has been self-sustaining since 
the age of thirteen years, and is essentially a self- 



H. E. ROUNDS. 



205 



made man. Being careful of his earnings, he was 
able, on leaving the service of Mr. Vaughan, to 
establish himself in business, and has continued 
ever since with gratifying success. 

November 24, 1887, he was married to Miss 
Maggie Riedel, daughter of Charles and Kathar- 
ine (Weber) Riedel, natives of Germany. Mrs. 
Dilger's parents now reside at De Pere, Wiscon- 
sin. She is the second of their six children. The 



others were: Mary, who died at the age of seven 
years; Charles, now a resident of Tacoma, Wash- 
ington; Edward, now deceased; Carrie and Lou- 
ise, the latter also deceased. Mrs. Dilger is the 
mother of three children, namely: Alois, Elmer 
and Robert Walter. The family is not connected 
with any church organization, but is respected 
and esteemed as among the best moral elements 
of the community. 



HORACE E. ROUNDS. 



HORACE E. ROUNDS, editor and proprietor 
of the Rogers Park News-Herald, is a native 
of Enosburg, Vermont, born September 29, 
1838. He is a son of Lester and Aurilla (Parker) 
Rounds, the former being a native of Canada, and 
the latter of Vermont. The Rounds family is 
descended from English and Irish ancestry. 

Lester Rounds was a gentleman of good edu- 
cation, acquired in the schools and seminaries of 
Vermont and New York. He moved to the 
West in 1840, with his family, and settled in 
South port (now Kenosha), Wisconsin, in which 
locality he was among the first settlers. His fine 
attainments made him a desirable acquisition to 
the little frontier settlement, where he was one of 
the pioneer school teachers. In 1844 he moved 
to Ceresco (now Ripon), Wisconsin, founded by 
the "Fourierites," a society of the community 
order, originated by Francois Marie Charles 
Fourier, a French Socialist, whose plans for so- 
cial reform were never successfully realized. 
While living in Ceresco, Mr. Rounds was ap- 
pointed postmaster, which position he held until 
the phalanx went to pieces in 1848. 

In 1850, he, with three others (his brother, J. 
M. Rounds, William Starr and W. C. Dickerson) 



founded the village of Eureka, Wisconsin. Here 
Mr. Rounds, or "Uncle Lester," as he was 
familiarly called, established himself in a general 
mercantile business, in which he achieved con- 
siderable success. Being fitted by nature and ed- 
ucation for leadership, he became a sort of public 
functionary, holding many local offices, such as 
postmaster, justice of the peace and administrator 
of estates. In his early life he was an ardent Whig, 
and later espoused the principles of the Repub- 
lican party, being one of its most radical de- 
fenders. He was a man of great goodness of 
heart, and few men had a greater popularity at 
home than "Uncle Lester." To him and his de- 
voted wife were born five children, namely: Ster- 
ing P. , at one time public printer of the United 
States Government, and a gentleman of the high- 
est attainments, who died in 1887, aged nearly 
sixty years; Rhoda A. (Mrs. Alberts. Bolsten, 
of Sugar Grove, Illinois) ; Horace E. ; Edward 
Q. , who died at the age of three years; and 
Florence, who died in infancy. Lester Rounds 
died in 1888, at the age of eighty four years, and 
Mrs. Rounds in 1882, at the age of seventy-five 
years. 

The subject of this sketch was a year and a- 



206 



H. E. ROUNDS. 



half old when his parents settled at the present 
site of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and received his ed- 
ucation in Eureka, in such branches as were 
taught in district schools. In 1854, when fif- 
teen years of age, he came to Chicago, then a 
city of only sixty-five thousand people, to learn 
the printer's trade in the office of his brother 
Sterling, who was then proprietor of the most 
important job printing establishment in the city. 
He remained here six years, and thoroughly 
mastered the intricacies of the printer's art, also 
acquiring some proficiency in writing for the 
Chicago Sunday Leader and Rounds' Printers' 
Cabinet. 

The discovery of gold at Pike's Peak made him 
ambitious of acquiring wealth by the ' 'short cut, ' ' 
and in 1860 he started for that Eldorado in 
charge of a train of six wagons drawn by oxen, 
carrying mining machinery and supplies. Forty- 
five days were consumed going from St. Joseph 
to the Gregory mining camp. He remained a 
year and a-half in Russell Gulch, meeting with 
poor success, and finally sold the mill and ma- 
chinery for about one-fifth of its cost. He was a 
member of a law and order committee, which 
had for its object the trial and punishment of the 
many criminals who infested the mining camps, 
and assisted in preserving order at the execution 
of one criminal and in flogging another for 
heinous crimes. 

From there he went to Denver, Colorado, and 
with his brother, Sterling P. , bought a quarter 
interest in the Rocky Mountain News, remaining 
there eighteen months. In 1863 he sold to Gov. 
John Evans, returned to Chicago, and shortly 
after went to Eureka, Wisconsin, where he joined 
his father in the mercantile business, after being 
rejected as a volunteer for the Union army on ac- 
count of a temporary physical disability. 

In June, 1864, he tried again with better suc- 
cess and enlisted in Company C, Forty-first Wis- 
consin Volunteer Infantry, a hundred-day regi- 
ment, which went at once to Memphis, Tennes- 
see, in the vicinity of which it became actively 
engaged in desultory warfare with marauding 
bands of the enemy, under General Forrest, and 
other bushwhacking bands. He was at Memphis 



when the rebel General Forrest raided that city, 
and took part in the hot skirmish that followed. 
He served a month longer than his enlisted term. 

Returning to Eureka, he resumed business 
vt ith his father for a time, then established the 
Eureka Journal, the first and only paper the town 
ever had, conducting the enterprise one year. 
During this year, 1867, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Hattie N., daughter of LaFayette 
and Lucy M. Parker, of Racine, Wisconsin. 
Subsequent to this event, he went to Oshkcsh, 
Wisconsin, and established the Oshkosh Journal, 
having for a partner Hiram Morley. This vent- 
ure proved fairly successful, and after five years 
of unremitting toil in building up a circulation 
and acquiring a good advertising patronage, the 
business was sold to the Oshkosh Northwestern. 
Returning to Chicago in 1873, he again took a 
position with his brother, Sterling P., with whom 
he was associated for ten years. In 1884 he ac- 
cepted the assistant editorship of Peck' s Son, 
published at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which po- 
sition he ably filled for two years, doing a large 
share of the literary work. Succeeding this, he 
established a job printing office in Milwaukee, 
which he conducted until 1891, which year dates 
the establishment of his present paper at Rogers 
Park, the News-Herald, which is considered to 
be one cf the essential fixtures of the place. 

Mr. Rounds is a member of Cumberland Post, 
No. 737, Grand Army of the Republic, of which 
he has been quartermaster ever since its forma- 
tion, except one year, when he was commander. 
He is a Republican in politics, and cast his first 
vote for the lamented Lincoln when a candidate 
for his second term. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Rounds have been born four 
children, three of whom are living: Elinor, wife 
of Howard D. McLeod, of Muskegon, Michigan; 
La Fayette and Aurilla. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Rounds are members of the Congregational 
Church, and take an active interest in religious 
works. It can be truthfully said that much of 
the progress made by the handsome and thriving 
suburb of Rogers Park is due in considerable 
part to the publicity given it by the News- 
Herald. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




WILLIAM S. JOHNSTON 



(From Photo by W. J. ROOT' 



W. S. JOHNSTON. 



207 



WILLIAM S. JOHNSTON. 



p QlLLIAM SKEA JOHNSTON, the well- 
\ A / known carriage manufacturer of Oak Park, 
V V comes of that sturdy, God-fearing Scotch 
lineage which has given so many substantial citi- 
zens to all the newer parts of the world. He was 
born January 12, 1841,111 the parish ofOrphir, 
in the Orkney Islands. His parents were John 
and Janet (Skea) Johnston. The former was 
born in the Shetland Islands, where his ancestors 
had lived for many generations. His father re- 
moved with his family to the Orkney Islands, 
where the son became a blacksmith. Mrs. Janet 
Johnston died in 1847. She was the mother of 
nine children, as follows: John, who died in Lon- 
don in 1848; James, now residing in Oak Park, 
Illinois; Janet (Mrs. Joseph Haloro), who still 
lives in the Orkney Islands; Thomas, a blacksmith 
in Stockton, California; Magnus, who died in 
childhood; William S., the subject of this sketch; 
Andrew, a blacksmith and carriage builder, re- 
siding in Chicago; Archibald, who died in the 
West Indies in 1867; and one who died in infancy. 
John Johnston married, as his second wife, Miss 
Katherine Wilson, who became the mother of 
four children, of whom the following is the rec- 
ord: Ann (Mrs. David Scott) died in Edin- 
burgh, Scotland; John resides in Oak Park; David 
died in the Orkney Islands, where Mary (Mrs. 
Peter Turn's) still resides. 

William S. Johnston learned the trade of a 
blacksmith in his father's shop, where he worked 
until he reached his majority. His educational 
advantages were very limited, but he has largely 
made up for the lack of early advantages by the 
use of rare business judgment and strong common 



sense. In the year 1862 he engaged with the 
Hudson Bay Company to go to York Factory, 
located about four miles from Hudson Bay, for 
five years. There he did various kinds of black- 
smith work for the Indians, in the interest of the 
above company, such as making traps, spears 
and axes, and repairing their guns and other im- 
plements. For this work he received thirty-six 
pounds a year and fifty acres of land at the end of 
the five years. At the end of his term of service 
he received a grant of a piece of land near Winni- 
peg, though at that time it was still a wilderness. 
This he sold and engaged for another year with 
the same company at Fort Pelley, in what is now 
Manitoba. He subsequently journeyed down the 
river to York Factory, where he took passage to 
London. Thence he went to his old home, and 
after a short visit, removed to Edinburgh, where 
he remained eighteen months, working at his trade. 
In 1870 he resolved to seek his fortune in the 
United States, and, having previously married, 
he came to New York, whence he continued his 
way to Wilmington, Will County, Illinois, where 
he worked for about one and a-half years. He re- 
moved in 1872 to Oak Park and opened a carriage 
and horse-shoeing shop on Lake Street, in a 
building which had previously been used as a 
carpenter shop. Though he received much oppo- 
sition and- even threats from others in the same 
line of work, he remained at his post and soon 
saw his business begin to prosper. After five 
years he erected a fine building, near the same lo- 
cation, and continued the business until 1886. 
During that year he built a more commodious 
structure on Harlem Avenue, and in 1887 opened 



208 



W. H. REEDY. 



a carriage shop, taking his two sons into partner- 
ship. This shop is complete in every detail, and 
is equipped for doing all work connected with car- 
riage and wagon building. He has also built a 
number of dwelling houses at Oak Park. 

November 19, 1869, Mr. Johnston was married 
in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Miss May Linklator 
Scarth, daughter of John Stuart Scarth and May 
Linklator. Mrs. Johnston, who is a lady of cult- 
ure and refinement, was born at Kirkwall, in the 
Orkney Islands, a town famous for its monument 
to the Covenanters who suffered martyrdom near 
there, as well as for St. Magnus' Cathedral, the 
oldest institution of its character in Scotland. 

John S. Scarth was the son of a British soldier, 
and was born on board a man-of-war en route to 
France from Malta, where his father had been 
stationed. The latter served twenty-one years in 
the army, participating in the Battle of Waterloo 
and many other engagements, and finally retired 
upon a pension. John S. Scarth learned the 
tailor's trade, but spent most of his life as an in- 
structor in vocal and instrumental music, for 



which art he had a peculiar talent. For forty 
years he was precentor at St. Magnus' Cathedral. 
He died in Liverpool, England, in 1888, aged 
seventy-nine years. His wife, who was descend- 
ed from an old Orkney family, died at the same 
place in 1875. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have been the parents 
of six children, of whom two died in childhood. 
The others are: Ellen (.Mrs. Peter L. Petersen), 
of River Forest; Lillie, who is at home with her 
parents; John and Archibald, associated in busi- 
ness with their father. Two nieces, Adelaide and 
Flora, have also been adopted into the family. 
Mr. and Mrs. Johnston were members of the Free 
Church of Scotland, and are now connected with 
the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Park. In 
1893 they made a visit to their old home in the 
Orkney Islands, and also to many other points of 
interest in England and Scotland. Fraternally 
Mr. Johnston is connected with Harlem Lodge 
No. 540, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, 
and with General Grant Council No. 916, Royal 
Arcanum, both of Oak Park. 



WILLIAM H. REEDY. 



HENRY REEDY, an enterpris- 
ing young business man of Chicago, was 
born in Rock Island, Illinois, September 10, 
1861, and is a son of John and Mary (Graham) 
Reedy. John Reedy was born at Manaugh, near 
Silvermines, County Tipperary, Ireland, and his 
wife was a native of the same country. He came 
to America in 1851, stopping in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where he learned the trade of machinist. Three 
years later he went farther West, and after living 
temporarily at Muscatine, Iowa; St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, and other places, finally settled at Rock 
Island, Illinois, where he worked at his trade in 
the Deere Plow Works until 1872. In that year 



he removed to Chicago, which has since been his 
home. From 1872 to 1889 he was engaged in the 
Reedy Elevator Works, and since that time has 
been retired. Mrs. Mary Reedy died in Chicago 
April 20, 1897, at the age of sixty-six years. 
She was a faithful member of the Church of the 
Holy Name (Cathedral), in which the family has 
worshipped for many years. 

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Reedy, of whom two died in childhood. The 
others are: William H., of whom this article is 
written; Mary, Mrs. C. O. Foltz, Antioch, Illi- 
nois; John T., employed in the store of A. H. 
Abbott, Chicago; James W., a machinist in the 



T. L. HUMPHREVILLE. 



209 



works of the Reedy Elevator Company; Henry 
J., connected with the Board of Trade firm of 
Swartz & Dupee; Kate, Mrs. O. J. Walsh, of 
Chicago; and Graham D., bookkeeper in the of- 
fice of the Reedy Elevator Company. 

William H. Reedy, the subject of this sketch, 
attended the public schools of Rock Island and 
also of Chicago. In 1877 he left school and the 
following year entered the employ of Gardner, 
Stone & Company, a Board of Trade firm of Chi- 
cago, with whom he remained one year. In 
1879 he became bookkeeper in the office of his 
uncle, J. W. Reedy, who was engaged in the 
manufacture of passenger and freight elevators. 
On the organization of The Reedy Elevator 
Manufacturing Company in 1885, J. W. Reedy 
became president and W. H. Reedy secretary and 
treasurer of that concern. In 1889 the former 
died and his sister succeeded to his office, but 
the latter still retains the offices held by him. 
The business was established in 1864 and has an 
extensive trade in the West, Northwest and 
South, and has a branch in New York City. 

September 18, 1889, Mr. Reedy was married 



to Miss Clara Downey, who was born in Liver- 
pool, England, and is a daughter of John and 
Mathilda Sophia (Fowler) Downey. This union 
has been blessed by four children, named in order 
of birth, Marie, Clara, Leo and Marguerite. The 
family is connected with St. Luke's Roman 
Catholic Church of River Forest. That beauti- 
ful village has been its home since 1891, and since 
1893 it has occupied the elegant residence which 
was completed in that year. Mr. Reedy has 
been a Democrat in all National questions, but 
in local affairs he is independent of party prejudice. 
He has always been much interested in athletics, 
being himself well developed physically. In 
former years he devoted considerable attention to 
rowing, having been a member of two well-known 
boat clubs, the Delaware and the Iroquois. He 
was also at one time an enthusiastic hand-ball 
player, and for several years was interested in 
the game of base ball in a semi-professional way. 
In 1878 he was one of the .first amateur pitchers 
in Chicago to throw the curved ball, which had 
been introduced by professionals the previous 
season. 



THOMAS L. HUMPHREVILLE. 



'HOMAS LIBERTY HUMPHREVILLE 
is one of the best known citizens of the 
village of River Forest, whose long years 
of professional labor have extended his acquaint- 
ance throughout Cook County. His lineage is 
traced from some of the oldest and most esteemed 
New England families, his ancestors on the 
paternal side, who were doubtless of English 
origin, having first settled in this country in the 
vicinity of West Haven, Connecticut. 

His grandfather, Lemuel Humphreville, was 
one of five brothers who resided in that locality. 
He was a farmer by occupation and served some 



time in the Continental army, contracting rheu- 
matism from exposure on the battlefield, on ac- 
count of which he was granted a furlough and 
went home to recuperate. While he was there 
his neighbors, who were nearly all tories, at- 
tacked his house at night with stones and clubs, 
breaking out the doors and windows, and mak- 
ing it uninhabitable for the time being. His son, 
Lemuel, then a lad of seven years, was knocked 
senseless by a stone. Lemuel Humphreville, 
senior, married a Miss Beecher, a member of the 
family from which sprang the noted Brooklyn 
divine of that name. Mr. and Mrs. Humphre- 



210 



T. L. HUMPHREVILLE. 



ville reared a family of seven daughters and two 
sons, most of whom were noted for their great 
longevity, two of the daughters reaching the age 
of ninety-eight years, and another, Anna Peck, 
surviving to the age of one hundred and three. 

Liberty Humphreville, the second son of this 
worthy couple, was born at Northfield, Litch- 
field County, Connecticut, his birthday being 
identical with that of the nation, July 4, 1776, on 
account of which fact he was so named by his 
patriotic father. While a young man he re- 
moved to Chenango County, New York, and 
thence to a farm in the town of Pompey, Onondaga 
County, New York. His death, which was 
caused by an accident in the hay-field, occurred 
July 20, 1818. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Milly Marsh, survived until 1857, passing 
away in Delphi, New York, at the age of sixty- 
seven years. She was also a native of Litchfield 
County, Connecticut, and her parents, Thomas 
Marsh and Polly Peck, became early settlers in 
Pompey, New York. Besides Mrs. Humphre- 
ville, their family included a daughter, Sally, and 
three sons, Edward, Hiram and Thomas Horatio. 
The last-named, who was an attorney by profes- 
sion, was for some years a resident of Chicago. 
Liberty and Milly Humphreville were the parents 
of two sons and two daughters: Charles L., who 
died at the age of twenty-two years; Lucena, 
Mrs. Charles Jones, who died in River Forest, 
Illinois, in 1895, at the age of eighty-three years; 
Olive, wife of Dr. Eli Cook, who died in 
Delphi, New York; and Thomas Liberty. 

The last-named was born at Pompey, New 
York, July 16, 1817. His early boyhood was 
passed upon a farm, the time being varied with 
attendance at the country school and one or two 
terms at a select school. In the seventeenth 
year of his age he turned his back upon his home 
and early associations, determined to seek his 
fortune in the western wilds of Michigan, a point 
which seemed as remote at that time as China or 
Japan are to the people of Chicago at the present 
day. With all his possessions packed in a small 
hand satchel, he made the journey from Syracuse 
to Buffalo by way of the Erie Canal. At the 
latter city he met a former school-mate, whose 



hospitable reception served to alleviate the pangs 
of homesickness which he had begun to feel, and 
permitted him to continue the journey with a 
cheerful heart. The steamer "Daniel Webster" 
bore him from Buffalo to Detroit, whence he 
traveled by stage to Saline, Michigan, a frontier 
town, in which his uncle, Thomas H. Marsh, 
was engaged in the practice of law. At the lat- 
ter 's suggestion he determined to fit himself for 
that profession, but in the mean time was obliged 
to become a clerk in a general store in order to 
earn a livelihood. He spent several years in that 
way, pursuing his legal studies by night, and at 
odd intervals, often burning his tallow candle or 
dip until 3 o'clock in the morning. Once each 
year during her lifetime, he made the journey to 
New York to visit his mother. In 1843 he was 
admitted to the bar at Ann Arbor, and for a num- 
ber of years thereafter he was engaged in legal 
practice in that city and the adjacent towns, re- 
taining his residence at Saline. He was subse- 
quently employed by mercantile houses in New 
York City to attend to their legal business through 
the West, his operations extending to several 
States. 

In 1863 he located in Chicago, where he has 
ever since been engaged in general practice. His 
first office was on Randolph Street, and at the 
time of the city's destruction by fire, eight years 
after his arrival, his place of business was at No. 
87 Washington Street. At that time he had an 
elegant residence on the lake shore, at Whitney 
Street (now Walton Place), which, with its con- 
tents, was also destroyed. He and his family 
barely escaped with a horse and buggy, taking 
such few articles as they could carry and fifteen 
dollars in cash. Driving to the country on the 
north-west side of the city, they encamped on the 
prairie for the first night, amid thousands of other 
homeless refugees. Many victims of that awful 
holocaust who had less reason to feel discouraged 
than Mr. Humphreville, gave up in despair, but 
though then past fifty years of age, he set res- 
olutely about the task of retrieving his fortunes 
and providing a home for his family. In a few 
days he secured the use of a building at the cor- 
ner of Green and Van Buren Streets, which served 



DELOS HULL. 



211 



for a time the double purpose of office and resi- 
dence, the office portion being shared with several 
other attorneys. Old and new clients began to 
seek his services, and a prosperous practice was 
soon established. Since May 27, 1881, his home 
has been at River Forest, 'and for twelve years 
past he has served as police magistrate of that 
village. The high regard in which he is held by 
members of his profession and the uniform fair- 
ness of his decisions cause many cases to be 
brought to his court for adjudication from all 
parts of the city and county. 

Mr. Humphreville was married December 3 1 , 
1843, at Saline, Michigan, to Miss Ann Eliza 
Oliphant, a native of Barnegat, New Jersey. 
She died in April, 1846, leaving one daughter, 
Anna Eugenia, now the wife of R. M. Van Ars- 
dale, of New York City. Mr. Humphreville was 
again married, July 16, 1848, the bride being 
Mary Ann Gurley, daughter of Dr. Royal 
and Sally (Post) Gurley, of Saline, Michigan. 
This lady was born in Ontario County, Michigan, 
and died at River Forest, Illinois, June 20, 1885, 
aged nearly fifty-two years. She bore her hus- 



band five sous, named respectively, James Royal, 
Torrence Liberty, Erasmus Darwin, Gurley Mc- 
Clellan and Louie D. The second son is engaged 
in business at Fondis, Elbert County, Colorado, 
and all the others reside in Cook Count}-. 

Mr. Humphreville has always been a consistent 
Democrat. He cast his first Presidential vote for 
Martin Van Buren in 1840, and recalls many in- 
teresting reminiscences of that famous "hard 
cider" campaign. He was postmaster at Saline, 
Michigan, for eight years or more, receiving his 
official commission from President Tyler. Mr. 
Humphreville also served several terms as Cir- 
cuit Court Commissioner in Washtenaw County, 
Michigan. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster 
at River Forest by President Cleveland, holding 
that office until its consolidation, four years later, 
with the Oak Park office. Though nearly eighty 
years of age, he is still as sprightly and active as 
most men of forty or fifty. The dignified and 
honorable course which he has always pursued, 
whether acting in an official capacity or in that 
of a private citizen, causes him to be universally 
esteemed. 



DELOS HULL, 



0ELOS HULL, one of the most patriotic and 
public-spirited citizens of Oak Park, was 
born at Lafayette, Onondaga County, New 
York, April 12, 1842. Heisason of EdwardH. 
Hull and Maria Van Valkenburgh, the former of 
whom was born at Truxton, Cortland County, 
New York, November i, 1806, and died at 
Lombard, Illinois, May 22, 1878. He learned his 
father's trade, that of miller, and afterwards en- 
gaged in mercantile business at De Ruyter, New 
York. Later he read law with A. Scott Sloan, 
since a judge of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, 
and also with H. C. Miner, at De Ruyter, New 



York. In 1852 he headed a company of sixteen 
emigrants who went to California by way of the 
isthmus. There he engaged in mining for two 
years, and afterwards operated a grist mill at San 
Jose, an enterprise which proved quite remunera- 
tive. In the spring of 1856 he returned to New 
York, and the next fall came to Illinois, making 
his home at Lombard, where he practiced law 
during the remainder of his life. He filled a 
number of public offices in Du Page County, in- 
cluding those of district attorney, clerk of the 
circuit court and county recorder. 

The ancestry of this family has been traced to 



212 



DELOS HULL. 



Tristram Hull, who came from Hull, England, in 
1632, and settled on Nantucket Island. He was 
a sea-faring man and commanded a merchant ves- 
sel. He and his people were Quakers and suf- 
fered their share of the persecution which was 
accorded to their sect in those days. One of his 
female relatives was burned at the stake for "her- 
esy" on the public square of Boston. John Hull, 
one of the descendants of Tristram Hull, laid out 
the city of Hudson, New York, at which place 
his son, George, the father of Edward Hull, was 
born in 1787. George Hull died at Oak Park in 
1886, lacking only six months of being one hun- 
dred years old. His mother, whose maiden name 
was Anna Haight, reached the age of ninety-four 
years. Sallie Barnard, who became the wife of 
George Hull, was the daughter of a sea captain, 
who was a relative of Benjamin Franklin. Her 
mother's maiden name was Myrick. 

Mrs. Maria Hull was born at Canaan, Colum- 
bia County, New York, in August, 1812. The 
names of her parents were Lambert Van Valken- 
burgh and Freelove Aylesworth. Mr. Van Valk- 
enburgh was a scion of one of the Knickerbocker 
families, and became a prominent farmer near 
Lockport, Niagara County, New York, where he 
settled about 1820. Mrs. Hull is now living at 
Oak Park, having reached the venerable age of 
eighty-five years. She is the mother of five sons 
and one daughter who survived the period of 
childhood. Of these, George Henry and Frank- 
lin are now deceased; Thomas M. is a well-known 
citizen of Wheaton, Illinois; Dewitt C., who 
served two years in Company D, Seventeenth 
New York Cavalry, died in July, 1865, from 
disease contracted in the service; Delos is a twin 
brother of the last-named; and Sally J. is the 
widow of Liberty Jones, and now resides at Oak 
Park. 

Delos Hull was six years old when the family 
removed to De Ruyter, New York, where he at- 
tended the public schools and the Seventh Day 
Baptist Seminary. In June, 1858, he came to 
Lombard, Illinois, and continued his studies for a 
time. His first business experience was acquired 
as clerk in a general store in Lombard, and in 
1860 he began teaching in the country schools 



near that village. The next spring he became a 
bookkeeper in the first steam laundry opened in 
Chicago, but abandoned that occupation to go to 
the defense of his country, enlisting on the 2oth 
of August, 1861, in Company H, Eighth Regi- 
ment Illinois Cavalry, known as Farnsworth's 
Black Abolition Regiment. He served in the Ar- 
my of the Potomac during his entire service, being 
in almost constant activity until July 21, 1865, 
when he was honorably discharged. He partici- 
pated in nearly all of the engagements of that 
army, including many cavalry fights and a num- 
ber of general battles, among which may be men- 
tioned Williamsburgh, Fredericksburg, Antietam, 
Gettysburg, South Mountain, and the Seven Days' 
Campaign in the Wilderness. The next morning 
after the battle of South Mountain his regiment 
was sent out to Boonesboro to reconnoiter, and 
unexpectedly encountered a force of four thousand 
Confederates, which they defeated in a hand to 
hand fight, by the use of seven-shooting carbines, 
which had then just been introduced, and took the 
enemy considerably by surprise. It was in this 
conflict Mr. Hull was struck by a spent ball, which 
was stopped by a diary in his pocket, but escaped 
serious injury throughout, which seems almost 
miraculous, considering the many dangers to which 
he was exposed. 

Upon the return of peace he was employed for 
about one year by the American Express Compa- 
ny in Chicago, and in the fall of 1866 he went to 
Lockport, New York, where he was in the employ 
of his uncle, D. A. Van Valkenburgh. Two years 
later he returned to Lombard and engaged in 
farming and dairying. But he was of too active 
and enterprising a spirit to be long contented in 
that occupation. In the fall of 1870 he became 
assistant bookkeeper in the Chicago office of the 
Weed Sewing Machine Company, and soon after 
took charge of its city business. One year later 
he became the state agent of that concern for Min- 
nesota, making his headquarters at St. Paul. He 
afterwards traveled for three years as special rep- 
resentative of the company, and about 1876 start- 
ed an independent city agency in Chicago in 
company with J. VV. Kettlestrings. He subse- 
quently became traveling representative of the 



A. H. PRESTON. 



213 



clothing house of Charles P. Kellogg & Company, 
which connection was continued until his appoint- 
ment, June i, 1889, to the office of postmaster 
at Oak Park, a position which he held until April, 
1 894. During the previous year he had purchased 
the coal business of Johnston & Company, at that 
village, to which he has since devoted most of his 
time and attention. Under his management the 
trade has grown to considerable proportions, and 
besides doing an extensive retail business, which 
employs a number of men and teams, a wholesale 
office was established in Chicago, May i, 1897. 
He is also president of the Oak Park Business 
Men's Association. 

December 31, 1868, Mr. Hull was married, at 
Oak Park, Illinois, to Amelia E. Whaples, daugh- 
ter of Reuben Whaples, one of the pioneers of 



northern Illinois. Of three children born to this 
union, two sons died in infancy, the only survivor 
being a daughter, Mabel L., now the wife of 
George Sinden, of Oak Park. Mr. Hull is 
a member of the First Congregational Church 
of Oak Park; and, being naturally of a social 
and genial nature, has affiliated with a num- 
ber of fraternal organizations, among which 
may be mentioned the Masonic order, the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Grand Army of 
the Republic, and the Royal League. He has al- 
ways been a stanch Republican, but has never 
filled any elective office. Embodying the phys- 
ical vigor and unswerving devotion to principle 
which distinguished many of his progenitors, he 
commands the respect and admiration of all with 
whom he comes in contact. 



AUGUSTUS H. PRESTON. 



GJUGUSTUS HITCHCOCK PRESTON en- 
I \ joys the unique distinction of being the old- 
/ i est locomotive engineer (measured in years 
of continuous service) whose headquarters is 
Chicago. He has been in the railway train serv- 
ice for about forty -five years, and since 1855 has 
been employed as an engineer on the lines now in- 
cluded in the Chicago & Northwestern system. 
During all this time he has never lost a whole 
month nor been suspended for any cause. He 
has covered in all about 2,200,000 miles, and 
though by the rules of the company he was 
entitled to retire on a pension several years since, 
he is still hale and hearty, and continues to cover 
his daily route with the regularity of clock-work. 
Mr. Preston was born at Atwater, Ohio, De- 
cember i, 1831, the names of his parents being 
Justus and Sina (Hall) Preston. The ancestorsof 
Justus Preston were among the colonial emigrants 
who came from England and settled in this coun- 



try in 1635. He was born near Meriden, Con- 
necticut, where his father died about ten years 
subsequent to his birth. The boy learned the 
trade of wheel-wright.and during the War of 1812 
spent about three months in military service, 
being employed in defense of the New England 
coast. He subsequently removed to Atwater, 
Ohio, and followed his trade there for a number 
of years. Thence he removed his family and ef- 
fects with ox-teams to Illinois in 1837. 

He settled at Sycamore, DeKalb County, near 
which place he bought a large tract of land from 
the United States Government and engaged in 
farming. He was a natural mechanic, and made 
most of his agricultural implements, besides 
erecting his farm buildings. His first house at 
this place, which was built of logs and roofed with 
split shingles, did not contain a single nail. He 
died June 2, 1847, at the age of fifty-three years. 
He was a man of simple tastes, who concerned 



2I 4 



A. H. PRESTON. 



himself but little with public affairs. He was 
married at Meriden, Connecticut, to Lodema 
Brockett, who died at Atwater, Ohio, about 1827, 
leaving one son, Jared, a farmer now residing at 
Genoa, Illinois. Mr. Preston's second wife was a 
Miss Hall, of Wallingford, Connecticut, to whom 
he was united January 18, 1829. She died Feb- 
ruary 26, 1869, at the age of sixty-seven years. 
She was the mother of six children, as follows: 
Henry, who died at Genoa, Illinois, in February, 
1868, in the thirty-eighth year of his age; Au- 
gustus H.; Charles; George; Norman and Eliza- 
beth, Mrs. De Witt Greene. The last-named 
lives in Chicago, the two youngest sons live at 
Sycamore, and Charles at Genoa, Illinois. 

Augustus H. Preston spent most of his boy- 
hood upon his father's farm. While driving 
thence to Chicago in June, 1847, he saw a loco- 
motive for the first time in his life, near the pres- 
ent village of Oak Park. The following fall he 
came to the city and began to learn the black- 
smith trade, in the shop of Hollingsworth & 
Pierce, which stood on the east side of Canal 
Street, between Randolph and Lake Streets, west 
of which was then along stretch of open prairie. 
In July, 1852, he began work on the Michigan 
Central Railroad, as a fireman, and on the 24th 
of June of the following year, entered the employ 
of the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad. Two 
years later he was promoted to the position of 
engineer, in which capacity he was first employed 
on a gravel train at Sterling, Illinois. For two 
years, beginning in 1857, he drew an accommo- 
dation train between that place and Fulton, haul- 
ing all the freight and passengers between those 
points. After this he was placed in charge 
of passenger trains between Chicago and Fulton, 
and since the consolidation of the road with the 
Chicago & Northwestern in 1864, has been al- 
most constantly employed on passenger trains. 
For several years he spent two weeks of each 
month drawing the pay-car over the entire sys- 
tem. From 1865 to 1890 he drew nearly all the 
special fast trains sent out over the road. In 
June, 1866, he hauled a special fast excursion 
train to Omaha and return, for the officials of the 
road, and two months later took a party of editors 



to Omaha on another fast run. In June, 1876, 
he took the Jurrett & Palmer Special Fast Con- 
tinental Train from Chicago to Clinton, covering 
the distance of 140 miles in two hours and thirty 
minutes, stopping eight minutes for water. This 
was the fastest time made by the train on any di- 
vision between New York and San Francisco. 
In the period covered by the World's Fair Mr. 
Preston covered 96,000 miles and carried 100,000 
passengers. During his connection with this 
system he has drawn material for the construction 
of about 1 50 miles of its lines, and for three months 
drew a passenger train between Clinton and 
Marshalltown, Iowa, when there was not a house 
along the route. 

Mr. Preston was married September 8, 1856, 
to Eliza, daughter of Dorastus and Juliet (Saf- 
ford) Wright, of Elgin, Illinois. Mrs. Preston 
was born at Malone, New York, and came to 
Illinois with her parents in 1849. Her father, 
who was a carpenter by trade, was born at Fair- 
field, Vermont, and died at Nelson, Illinois, in 
1864, aged sixty-six years, his remains being in- 
terred at Elgin. Both he and his wife were of 
English lineage, and sprang from some of the 
earliest Vermont families. Mrs. Juliet Wright 
died at Elgin in 1863, at the age of fifty-three 
years. She was born at Cambridge, Vermont, 
and was a daughter of Eric Safford, whose father, 
David Safford, served as an officer in the Con- 
tinental Army. 

Mr. and Mrs. Preston are the parents of five 
children, of whom the following is the record: 
Frank D. is an engineer on the Chicago & North- 
western Railroad, living at Oak Park; Harry W., 
who lives at Danville, Illinois, holds a similar 
position on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Rail- 
road; Juliet is the wife of C. H. Haight, of New 
York City; Percy C. is a fireman on the Chicago 
& Northwestern Railroad, residing at Elgin, Illi- 
nois; and Jessie M. is still with her parents. Mr. 
and Mrs. Preston are communicants of Grace 
Church (Episcopal) of Oak Park, and the for- 
mer is a member of the Brotherhood of Loco- 
motive Engineers and of the Masonic order, be- 
ing identified with Harlem Lodge No. 540, and 
Cicero Chapter No. 180. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




WILLIAM BEYE 



WILLIAM BEYE. 



215 



WILLIAM BEYE. 



(3 QlLLIAM BEYE. In the death of William 
\Al ^ e y e > which occurred at his home in Oak 
V V Park, April 10, 1897, Cook County lost a 
patriotic and exemplary citizen, and the city of 
Chicago lost an energetic and useful business man. 
Though an alien by birth, he was a thorough rep- 
resentative of American principles and senti- 
ments, and no citizen of the United States could 
have been more loyal to the traditions of this 
country. 

He was born in Halle, Duchy of Brunswick, 
Germany, May 12, 1841. He was the son of 
Henry and Hannah (Bummer) Beye, his father's 
name being probably of French origin. Henry 
Beye was the proprietor of a stone quarry which 
furnished material for buildings. He died in 
Halle, in the fall of 1886, at the age of eighty-three 
years. He was a prominent citizen, interested 
in public affairs, of temperate habits, and a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Hannah 
Beye died at the age of fifty-three years, in 1857, 
leaving four children, namely: Hannah (Mrs. 
Wiechert), former wife of C. Lember, who was 
killed near Stover, Missouri, soon after the Civil 
War commenced. (He was a Union soldier and 
was killed by a guerrilla.) Henry, who died Sep- 
tember 13, 1895. in Marshall Count)', Iowa, at 
the age of sixty years; William; and Fred, who 
still lives at the old homestead in Germany. Hen- 
ry Beye, senior, married a second time, having 
one daughter, now Mrs. Eiler, of Marshall Coun- 
ty, Iowa. 

William Beye lived in his native country until 
he was fifteen years old, receiving a common- 
school education. In 1856 he came to the United 
States, locating in Elk Grove Township, Cook 
County, with his cousin, Louis Albright. He 



spent the next few years in farm work, attending 
school in winter. In September, 1861, he en- 
listed in Company D, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, 
and was mustered out in the Army of the Poto- 
mac. After serving two and one-half years, he 
re-enlisted in the same company. He took part 
in the battles of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks, 
when Companies F and D acted as body guard of 
General Keyes throughout the seven-days fight. 
On the last day of this campaign, the troops on 
the James River were overtaken by a terrific thun- 
derstorm, and many of the men thought the last 
day of the world had come. On reaching Alex- 
andria, they were joined by Pope's returning 
army. The next fight was at South Mountain, 
where they met Allen Pinkerton, who brought 
news of the surrender of Harper's Ferry. During 
the week between South Mountain and Antietam, 
there was almost constant fighting. His regi- 
ment held a bridge leading towards Sharpsburg, 
under fire of a Confederate battery. Mr. Beye 
took part in the review of the army by President 
Lincoln, soon after which General Burnside took 
command. After the battle of Fredericksburg 
they were sent further South, and guarded the ex- 
treme left of the army during the following winter. 
In June, 1863, Mr. Beye was at Chancellorsville 
under General Hooker. During Lee's invasion 
of Pennsylvania, they came almost every day into 
active service. 

On the second day of Gettysburg Mr. Beye was 
left a target for many rebel bullets, in an open 
field, having been separated from the rest of the 
company. Before the battle closed, his regiment, 
with others, was sent to Boonesboro, to intercept 
the retreat of the enemy. They had constant 
fighting for a week, when Leerecrossed the Poto- 



216 



A. A. KNAPP. 



mac. After the battle of Gettysburg they were 
alternately driving and being driven, till the two 
armies confronted each other on the Rappahan- 
nock, in the second battle of Fredericksburg. In 
the spring of 1864 his brigade was employed in 
keeping the guerrillas in subjection in Lowdon 
Valley. During General Early's advance upon 
Washington, in the summer of 1864, they were 
employed in the defense of that city. From this 
time until Lee's surrender, their headquarters were 
at Fairfax Court House. They received the news 
of Lincoln's assassination about one o'clock on the 
morning following its occurrence, with orders to 
guard all roads and ferries. The regiment acted 
as an escort at his funeral, soon after which they 
were sent by way of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road to Parkersburg, Virginia, thence down the 
Ohio River to Saint Louis, where they were mus- 
tered out. 

Returning to Illinois, Mr. Beye attended the 
Elgin Academy one winter, then entered Bryant 
& Stratton's Business College, and obtained a sit- 
uation in the county treasurer's office, where he 
remained sixteen years. For twelve years he was 
left in complete charge, as assistant treasurer, un- 
der eight different heads of that department. His 
reliability in discharging the duties of that respon- 
sible position was so generally recognized that the 
bondsmen of each successive treasurer, during 
this time, required his retention in that place. 



In the spring of 1883 Mr. Be}^e entered into 
partnership with James H. Heald, forming the 
grain and commission firm of William Beye & 
Company. In the following winter they were 
joined by J. C. Howell, the firm becoming Howell, 
Beye & Company, which firm continued to do 
business until 1889, when Mr. Beye withdrew and 
became a stockholder in the well-known McNeill 
& Higgins Company, wholesale grocers, and he 
was identified with it until his death. He was 
also to some extent interested in banking in the 
city. 

In 1878 he was married to Miss Nellie C. Lom- 
bard, of Boston, Massachusetts, and they had 
eight children, who are still living, namely: Han- 
nah C. ; Marian and William, junior, who are" 
students at Oak Park High School; Cudworth, 
Howard, Edward Lawrence, Elizabeth and Hel- 
en J. 

The family of William Beye has lived in Oak 
Park since 1884, and attends the Unity Church in 
that village. Mr. Beye was always a Republican 
in politics. He was a member of the Oak Park 
Club, which he served as president, and of Phil 
Sheridan Post, Grand Army of the Republic. For 
a number of years he was a member of the board 
of education in Oak Park. 

After a very short illness Mr. Beye died, as above 
noted, at his home, No. 242 Maple Avenue, in 
Oak Park. 



ALBERT A KNAPP. 



Gl LBERT ASA KNAPP, a well-known busi- 
I_l ness man of Oak Park , was born in the town 
/ I of York, Du Page County, Illinois, January 
20, 1852, and is a son of Asa Knapp, of whom an 
extended notice appears elsewhere in this volume. 
He spent his boyhood on his father's farm, and 
attended the district school. Later he became a 



student at Wheaton College, and after completing 
his studies returned to the farm. From 1872 to 
1882 he carried on a cotton plantation at Athens, 
Alabama. In the latter year he again took up 
farming in Du Page Count}-, which he continued 
until 1891, when he removed to Oak Park and 
opened a livery business. He is still engaged in 



ASA KNAPP. 



217 



that vocation, which has proved very lucrative 
and successful, he having one of the most finely 
equipped stands of the kind in Cook County. 

July 20, 1876, Mr. Knapp was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Ellen Sabin, who was born in 
Schaumburg, Cook County, Illinois. Mrs. Knapp 
is a daughter of John and Laura (Aldridge) 
Sabin, who came from Susquehanna County, 
Pennsylvania, to Schaumburg, Illinois, in 1845, 



being among the early settlers of that locality. 
John Sabin was a native of Connecticut. Five 
children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Knapp, as follows: Asa Lee, Grace, Earl, Hattie 
and Owen. All are at home, and all except the 
eldest and the youngest are in school. Fra- 
ternally, Mr. Knapp is a member of Court Oak 
Park No. 3119, Independent Order of Foresters. 
In politics he is an ardent Republican. 



ASA KNAPP. 



(S\ SA KNAPP, an early pioneer of DuPage 
LJ County, Illinois, who was for over twenty 
/ I years a resident of Cook County, was born at 
Pine Plains, Dutchess County, New York, March 
ii, 1811, and died at Melrose Park, Illinois, 
August 23, 1896. The Knapp family is of Ger- 
man origin, but has been located in America for 
several generations. The father and grandfather 
of the subject of this notice, each of whom bore 
the name of Asa, were natives of Connecticut, 
and became farmers in Dutchess County, New 
York. 

Asa Knapp, of whom this sketch is written, 
spent his boyhood on his father's farm and grew 
to be a fine specimen of physical manhood. He 
also acquired a practical knowledge of business 
affairs and was well fitted to lead a pioneer life. 
Having reached his thirtieth year he resolved to 
invest his savings in a region where land was 
cheap, and to aid in the development of the Great 
West. Accordingly, in 1837 he removed to the 
prairies of DuPage County, where he purchased a 
claim to a half-section of land in the town of 
York, for which he paid five hundred dollars. 
Two years later, when the survey was made, he 
was obliged to pay one dollar and a-quarter per 
acre in addition, to the United States Government. 
This land was soon brought under cultivation 



and he rapidly acquired more. At one time he 
had one thousand acres and was able to give a 
finely improved farm to each of his three sons, be- 
sides retaining the original homestead. He was 
a persistent, hard-working man, and though a 
part of his land was rented he always gave it care- 
ful supervision. He took an active interest in 
the affairs of the town and county and held sev- 
eral offices of trust and honor, being supervisor of 
the town of York in 1854, and serving as a mem- 
ber of the DuPage County Board of Commission- 
ers in 1846-47-48. 

Wishing to give his children better educational 
advantages, Mr. Knapp removed in 1861 to Oak 
Park, where he resided about two years. He then 
returned to his old home, but in 1876 retired from 
active farm life, removing to Melrose Park. There 
he spent his declining years, still giving personal 
attention to his business affairs and retaining his 
health and strength until a short time before his 
death. 

October 10, 1841, Mr. Knapp was married to 
Philura Plummer, daughter of Caleb and Polly 
(Webster) Plummer. Caleb Plummer was born 
in Vermont, March 31, 1780, and removed to 
Alden, Erie Count}', New York, where he mar- 
ried and where his daughter Philura was born 
August 6, 1818. He died there November 29, 



218 



GEORGE NORDENHOLT. 



1840. His wife was born March 3, 1783, and 
died in DuPage County, Illinois, August 2, 1853. 
Eight children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Knapp, one of whom died in childhood. Of the 
others the following is the record: Phoebe (Mrs. 
John J. Dooley) resides in Baker City, Oregon; 
Emma (widow of Henry Vernon) resides in 
Wheaton, Illinois; Hattie and Evelyn reside at 
Melrose Park; Albert A. and William P. are 



citizens of Oak Park; and Charles Elmer is secre- 
tary of Price Brothers Printing Company, of 
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp 
celebrated their golden wedding October 10, 1891, 
surrounded by many friends and relatives. Both 
were members of the First Congregational Church 
of May wood, Mrs. Knapp having united with 
that denomination while a resident of Oak Park. 
The latter departed this life March 28, 1895. 



GEORGE NORDENHOLT. 



NORDENHOLT, a well-known 
j_ business man of Oak Park, at present presi- 
VU dent of the Cicero and Proviso Ice Company, 
has been for many years prominently connected 
with the business and real-estate interests of the 
suburbs of western Cook County. He was born 
near the seaport city of Bremen, Germany, No- 
vember 30, 1855, and is the only son of Frederick 
and Margherita (Wragge) Nordenholt. The fa- 
ther, who was a mason by trade, died when his 
son was three years old. Besides the son, the 
family consisted of one daughter, Mary, now 
Mrs. Louis Stahmer, of River Forest. Mrs. 
Nordenholt, who afterwards married Diedrich 
Barkemeyer, died in Germany in 1888, aged 
sixty-two years. Mr. Barkemeyer is now living 
in Oak Park, at the age of sixty-five years. 

George Nordenholt received the common-school 
education of his native land, and when about 
fourteen years of age was apprenticed to learn the 
baker's trade. This he accomplished in three 
years, and for about two years traveled in various 
parts of Germany. He then became baker on 
one of the vessels of the North German Lloyd 
line of ocean steamers, and continued in this 
work, with the exception of one or two short in- 
tervals, until 1878. His first trip to America 
was in 1872, when he made a short stop in New 



York City. In all he crossed the Atlantic eighty- 
six times. 

In 1878 he removed permanently to the United 
States, locating in Chicago, where he worked at 
his trade nearly two years. At about this time 
he began to recognize the advantages of Oak 
Park as a location for a bakery, and wishing to 
establish himself where he could receive the full 
benefit of his own efforts and business manage- 
ment, he concluded to locate in that suburb. 
With a small amount of money which he had ac- 
cumulated, he opened a bakery, and for some 
time he was able to do all the work with the help 
of a boy. But as the patronage increased, more 
help was required, so that when the business 
passed into other hands it employed eighteen 
men and three girls. Having acquired a com- 
petency, and wishing to retire from active labors, 
Mr. Nordenholt sold the bakery in 1895 to Mr. 
Albert Burgess, by whom it is still operated. 
After a few months of leisure, Mr. Nordenholt 
found that idleness was not in accord with his 
enterprising nature, and in looking for something 
to employ his time, hit upon a bankrupt ice com- 
pany, which he concluded might be put upon a 
paying basis by judicious management. He there- 
fore incorporated a new company, under the name 
of the Cicero and Proviso Ice Company, of which 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




JOHN D. WALLER, M. D. 



(From Photo by W. J. ROOT) 



J. D. WALLER. 



219 



he became the president. Under his able super- 
vision the enterprise has been very successful, 
and its business is still growing. In the season 
of 1896 four thousand tons of ice were sold. 
New ice houses and barns have been erected , and 
new wagons and machinery purchased, all of the 
best to be obtained. Sixteen horses are used to 
distribute the ice, and the industry gives employ- 
ment to about twenty men during the season. 

Aside from the pursuit of his regular business, 
the subject of this notice has been equally suc- 
cessful in handling and improving real estate. 
His dealings in that line have covered a wide 
area, including Melrose Park, May wood, River 
Forest, Harlem and Oak Park. It has been his 
custom to improve his holdings as far as possible, 
and he has erected many houses and other build- 
ings. In 1895 he built the elegant modern resi- 
dence, at the corner of Chicago Avenue and 
Marion Street, which is the family home. Be- 
sides this he still owns a residence in Oak Park, 
two in River Forest and a fine brick store build- 
ing in Harlem. 



April 28, 1883, Mr. Nordenholt was married 
to Miss Mary E. Burkhardt, who was born in 
Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and is a daughter of 
August and Elizabeth (Middendorf) Burkhardt. 
The family emigrated from the Fatherland to 
England, whence in 1873 they came to Chicago. 
Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt now reside in Harlem. 
Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Nordenholt, named in order of birth, George D., 
Louis B., Arnold, Bertha B. and Walter Wash- 
ington. The third died in childhood. The mem- 
bers of the family are regular attendants of the 
Presbyterian Church of Oak Park. 

The subject of this sketch is a hearty supporter 
of the Republican party, but takes active part in 
public affairs only when his services are necessary 
to carry some important measure. He is devoted 
to his home and family, and allows no outside 
affairs to crowd out his domestic interests. His 
chief recreation is a few weeks of hunting and 
fishing each year. He usually spends his vaca- 
tion in northern Wisconsin, and in his home are 
many trophies proving his skill as a sportsman. 



JOHN D. WALLER. 



(JOHN DUKE WALLER, M. D., a leading 
I member of the medical profession in Oak 
Q) Park, was born in Maysville, Kentucky, April 
6, 1852. He is the son of Hon. Henry Waller, 
whose biography is given elsewhere in this work . 
John D. Waller attended the public schools of 
Chicago. His health failing, he engaged in busi- 
ness and eventually, through his own efforts, 
prepared himself for the study of medicine and 
entered Rush Medical College, from which he 
graduated in 1883. In 1882 he began to practice, 
as assistant physician in the insane asylum at 
Jacksonville, Illinois, where he remained for five 
and one-half years. While there he was one time 



president of the Morgan County Medical Society. 
In May, 1888, he came to Oak Park, where he 
has since remained, engaged in the practice of 
medicine, to which he has given his exclusive at- 
tention, and in which he has been eminently suc- 
cessful, having frequent calls to all the neighbor- 
ing suburbs. Dr. Waller was married in 1888 
to Miss Katherine, daughter of Rev. William 
Short, D. D., a Methodist preacher, who was presi- 
dent of the Illinois Female College in Jacksonville 
for a period of eighteen years. Mr. Short is now 
superintendent of the Illinois Institute for the 
Education of the Blind, at Jacksonville. 

Dr. and Mrs. Waller are the parents of three 



22O 



G. M. DAVIS. 



children, namely: Judith Car}', Marie Short, 
and Katherine. Dr. Waller and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian Church of Oak 
Park. He is a member of Siloam Commandery 
of Knights Templar, of Oriental Consistory, the 
National Union, of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, a charter member of the Oak Park Club, 
a prominent member of the Masonic order, and 



of a number of other orders. Though reared 
amidst the precepts and traditions of the Demo- 
cratic party, he began at an early age to have in- 
dependent and liberal ideas concerning the ques- 
tions of public policy, and for the past twenty 
years he has supported the Republican party, 
though his political activity does not extend be- 
yond the casting of his own ballot. 



GEORGE M. DAVIS. 



EEORGE MORTIMER DAVIS, an influen- 
tial citizen of Austin, and a successful busi- 
ness man of Chicago, was born at Eaton, 
Madison County, New York, August 25, 1844. 
His parents, Richard Mowry Davis and Rowena 
Wells Davis, both sprang from families which 
were conspicuous in the early history of the 
United States. Richard M. Davis was born to 
Nathaniel and Sophronia (Johnson) Davis, in 
Erieville, New York, and was a millwright by 
trade, also working at pattern- making. He died 
at the age of nearly seventy-seven years, at Ham- 
ilton, New York, December 31, 1889. In 1858, 
while working at making patterns, in Utica, New 
York, Mr. Davis wrote on a slip of paper, which 
he nailed between two pieces of lumber, "When 
you find this, I will be in kingdom come." It 
was found by workmen a few months after his 
death, but no one in the foundry at that time 
knew who the writer was. Mrs. R. W. Davis 
was born in Erieville, New York, and died at 
Eaton, New York, November 4, 1872, at the age 
of nearly fifty -eight years. She was a daughter of 
Barker Wells and Fanny Stillman. The parents 
of the last-named were John Stillman and Mary 
Potter, the latter a lineal descendant of Ichabod 
Potter, who was born in Portsmouth, Rhode 
Island, in 1637. His descendants in direct line 
to Mrs. Stillman were named respectively, 



Thomas, Thomas and George. Mr. and Mrs. 
Davis' children were: Frances C. (Mrs. James P. 
Marsh, of Chicago), Helen Celeste (Mrs. Walter 
Morse, of Eaton, New York) and George M. 

George M. Davis lived at Eaton, New York, 
until nearly grown to manhood. At fifteen years 
. of age, he began to learn the machinist's trade. 
After two years he went to Binghamton, New 
York, where he worked in a gun factory which 
was engaged in filling contracts for the United 
States Government. Later he worked in a gun 
factory in Watertown, and then in Ilion, New 
York. In 1865 he went to Oil City, Pennsylva- 
nia, and from there to Cincinnati, Ohio. After 
spending six months in that city, he came to 
Chicago, in 1866. 

On his arrival he began the business of mak- 
ing steam gauges, his first location being on 
Washington Street near Fifth Avenue. He 
has ever since been engaged in that line of busi- 
ness, with which he now includes different special- 
ties in steam fittings, many of which are his own 
invention. He originated the idea of an auto- 
matic air valve for steam radiators and first intro- 
duced the use of the same in steam-heated 
buildings. He afterwards devised an automatic 
steam regulator for reducing the pressure of steam 
used for heating purposes; also a patent steam 
trap, and many other appliances now in general 



H. H. HUNT. 



221 



use; while in some cases he has anticipated a de- 
mand for articles sure to be appreciated at some 
future time. 

This enterprise has always prospered, as have 
others in which he is interested. Since 1870 he 
has been located at Austin, and since 1894 he has 
owned the electric light plant in that place. He 
is a director of the Prairie State National Bank of 
Chicago, is extensively interested in silver mines 
in Mexico, and is a member of the March-Davis 
Bicycle Company, Chicago. 

December 31, 1867, he married Miss Henrietta, 
daughter of Dr. Ira and Frances Dales, of Chica- 
go. Dr. Ira Dales was born at Courtright, Dela- 
ware County, New York. His parents were John 
and Sarah (Cavin) Dales, the latter a cousin of 
Alexander Hamilton, the eminent statesman and 
financier. Three of the nine sons of Mr. and 
Mrs. Dales became physicians. Dr. Ira Dales 
was married at Monticello, New York, to Frances 
Coit. He practiced a number of years at Port 
Jervis, New York, and in 1854 came to Illinois, 
locating at Aurora, where his death occurred two 
years later. Mrs. Frances Dales, who is now 
over eighty years of age, has lived at Austin since 
1871. She is a daughter of Dr. Joseph Coit 
and Mary Voris. Dr. Coit, whose family was 
of English lineage, served as a surgeon in the 
Texan army during the war between that State 



and Mexico, and died in that service. Mary 
Voris was born on Long Island. Her ancestors 
were among the old Knickerbocker families which 
came from Holland. 

Mrs. Davis was born in Monticello, New York. 
She is the mother of two sons, Walter Edgar, 
manager of the March- Davis Bicycle Company, 
Chicago; and George Coit, a student of mechan- 
ical engineering at Michigan State University, 
Ann Arbor, Michigan. The family is identified 
with the Presbyterian Church of Austin, and its 
members are recognized at leaders in the most 
progressive public movements of that suburb. 
Mr. Davis is an ex-president of "The Oaks," the 
principal social club of that village, in which he 
has taken a lively interest. He was a charter 
member of the Park Lodge, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, and has passed through all the 
chairs therein. Always a Republican, his only 
official service has been in the capacity of a mem- 
ber of the Board of Education at Austin, of which 
he is now the oldest member. During his connec- 
tion with that body the number of teachers em- 
ployed has increased from four to more than fifty, 
and it is largely due to the wise and far-seeing 
policy adopted by himself and his colleagues that 
the schools of that place are acknowledged to be 
among the most efficient and progressive in the 
State. 



HARRISON H. HUNT. 



HARRISON HOBART HUNT, a veteran of 
the great Civil War, was identified with im- 
portant business interests in Chicago for 
nearly a score of years, and led an exemplary and 
useful life in both civil and military affairs, which 
amply entitles him to commemoration in this rec- 
ord. He was born at Orange, Franklin County, 
Massachusetts, July 8, 1845, and died at Oak 
Park, Illinois, June 15, 1893. The names of his 



parents were Rodney Hunt and Margaret Parker. 
Rodney Hunt, who was a scion of an old New 
England family, was born at Ashburnham, Mas- 
sachusetts. For over thirty years he was engaged 
in the manufacture of woolen mill machinery at 
Orange, and both he and his wife passed away at 
that place. 

After leaving the public schools, Harrison H. 
Hunt pursued a course at a business college at 



222 



H. H. HUNT. 



Poughkeepsie, New York. When only seventeen 
years of age he enlisted in the Fifty-second Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and 
served one year as an orderly under General 
Grover, in the Department of the Gulf. He took 
part in General Butler's expedition against Fort 
Gibson, and in the subsequent Vicksburg cam- 
paign. 

After his term of enlistment expired he went 
to Boston and became a bookkeeper in a whole- 
sale paper house. In 1867 he went to Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, where he was employed for a time by 
Josiah A. Noonan & Company, wholesale paper 
dealers. He afterwards did a commission busi- 
ness in hides and wool in that city, and from 
there removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, whence he 
traveled through Ohio, Illinois and other West- 
ern States, in the interests of the wholesale paper 
firm of Moore, Wilstach & Moore. Still later 
he became a traveling representative of a firm of 
safe manufacturers in that city. Returning to 
Milwaukee in 1871, he spent the next year in the 
United States Internal Revenue service. He then 
returned to Orange, Massachusetts, where for 
three following years he was connected in business 
with his father. 

In 1875 Mr. Hunt located in Chicago, believ- 
ing that this rapidly growing city presented the 
best field for putting to practical use the knowl- 
edge gained by his previous varied experience. 
Here he first became a salesman for F. P. Elliott 
& Company, wholesale paper dealers. From the 
time of his arrival in this city he gave his exclu- 
sive attention to this branch of business and upon 
severing his connection with the above-named 
firm entered into an engagement with McCann, 
Fitch & Converse, which lasted about three years. 
Upon the death of Mr. McCann he purchased the 
interest formerly held by that gentleman and the 
firm became Fitch, Hunt & Company, under 
which name the enterprise continued five or six 
years. In 1887 Mr. Hunt sold his interest in 
this concern, after which he became the head of 
the house of H. H. Hunt & Company, which 
continued to do a prosperous wholesale paper 
business during the balance of his life. His com- 
mercial transactions were always conducted with 



the utmost integrity, and his relations with pat- 
rons and contemporaries were such as reflected 
great credit upon his character. 

On the 3oth of August, 1870, at Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin, occurred the wedding of Mr. 
Hunt and Miss Annie E. Mower, daughter of 
Samuel F. and Anna C. (Litch) Mower. Samuel 
F. Mower, who was a dealer in butter, eggs and 
cheese in Boston, Massachusetts, was born at 
Worcester, and died at Newton, in the same 
State, January 16, 1856, having reached the age 
of fifty-three years. His father, Ebenezer Mower, 
who was a farmer at Worcester, reached the great 
age of one hundred years. After the death of her 
first husband, Mrs. Anna C. Mower married 
Gen. Harrison C. Hobart, and they removed 
to Wisconsin, living for a number of years at 
Chilton, and later at Milwaukee, in that State. 
General Hobart, who still resides in the last- 
named city, has long been distinguished in the 
military and political affairs of the State of Wis- 
consin. Mrs. Hobart died at Milwaukee August 
ii, 1896, at the age of seventy-nine years. She 
was born at Bradford, Vermont. Her maternal 
grandfather, John House, was one of the original 
proprietors of the town of Hanover, New Hamp- 
shire, and built the first two-story house in that 
place. During the Revolutionary War he was 
very active in the cause of American Independ- 
ence and in the course of the conflict served as 
captain of three different companies of New 
Hampshire troops. He participated in engage- 
ments at Saratoga, White Plains and Ticonderoga, 
and shared the horrors and privations of the ter- 
rible winter at Valley Forge. 

Since 1876 Mr. Hunt had been a resident of 
Oak Park, and that attractive suburb is still the 
home of his family, which includes, besides his 
widow, a son, Rodney, who is a student at Rush 
Medical College, Chicago, and a daughter named 
Helen A. The family has long been identified 
with Grace Church (Episcopal), of Oak Park, 
and Mr. Hunt was a member of Phil Sheridan 
Post No. 615, Grand Army of the Republic. He 
was a charter member of Garden City Council, 
Royal Arcanum, but afterwards united with 
General Grant Council at Oak Park. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



J. N. GAGE. 



223 



JOHN N. GAGE. 



(JOHN NEWTON GAGE. The subject of 
I this sketch was born in Pelham, New Ramp- 
ed shire, May 30, 1825, unto Nathan and Me- 
hitable (Woodbury) Gage. Being brought up 
on a farm, a fact which holds true of most of our 
leading pioneer citizens, his early educational ad- 
vantages were limited to such common schools as 
the ubiquitous energy so characteristic of New 
England Puritans and their descendants had at 
that early date made possible at the scene of his 
nativity. At about twenty years of age, he put 
forth his "best foot" in taking the first step upon 
his pathway through life, and though he often 
found the way beset with difficulties, yet he was 
always found bravely and tirelessly at work, per- 
forming his tasks as a man and Christian in the 
best of the light given unto him. 

His first independent work was in the Waltham 
(Massachusetts) Cotton Company's Mills, where, 
in he later became overseer in its weaving-room. 
After a period of eight years of such service, mak- 
ing it his determination to come West, he took 
private evening lessons in bookkeeping, so as not 
to interfere with the discharge of his paid duties, 
which he finally resigned to others (and, we fain 
believe, less competent) hands. He set out for 
Chicago, the distant but much-sought El Dorado 
of our country at that time, which he first saw, 
spread out in a panorama almost as Nature's God 
had made it, in the spring of 1857. 

He soon met with co-operative energies in the 
persons of Christopher C. and Daniel Webster, 
with whom he directly entered into articles 
of partnership, establishing one of the earliest 
wholesale and retail millinery houses of our city, 
known then by the firm style of Webster & Gage, 



their first place of business being located on Lake 
Street. Having the misfortune of being burned 
out in 1857, they re-opened at No. 78 Lake Street, 
where they continued until the withdrawal of the 
Websters, about 1868. Mr. Gage took into a 
new partnership formed at that time a brother, 
Seth Gage, and a nephew, Albert S. Gage, under 
the new name of Gage Brothers & Company, a 
name retained to this day (after a brief interval of 
change to A. S. Gage & Company), by which the 
house has continued to grow and remain known 
throughout the entire West and Northwest. 

Being burned out by the Great Fire, they set up 
temporarily in A. S. Gage's private house, until 
they were enabled to re-open for a period of two 
months in a temporary structure upon the Lake 
Front. From this location they removed to Wa- 
bash Avenue, near Jackson, thence to the corner 
of Madison Street and Wabash Avenue, where 
the trade still finds them profitably busy, one of 
the noted houses of the city. 

The subject of this sketch sold out to his part- 
ner, A. S. Gage, about 1878. Thereafter, though 
in excellent health, he lived a life of respected re- 
tirement until the sad event of his demise from 
blood poisoning, following upon what seemed to 
be a trivial complaint, June 1 1, 1887, & t h' 3 man- 
sion house, No. 1 308" Michigan Avenue, whence 
his remains were borne to the family lot in Oak- 
wood Cemetery. 

The following is a copy of the resolutions 
adopted by the Directors of the Wright & Law- 
ther Oil and Lead Manufacturing Company on 
this sad occasion: 

"WHEREAS, Death having taken from us our 
esteemed fellow-member and Vice-President, Mr. 



224 



J. N. GAGE. 



John N. Gage, one of the founders of this com- 
pany, who died June n, 1887, it is hereby 

"Resolved: That in the death of Mr. John N. 
Gage the company has suffered an irreparable 
loss. Appreciating, as we do, his worth as a 
man, his careful, just and conservative business 
methods, we can never fully fill his place in the 
Company's affairs; 

"Resolved: That the heartfelt sympathy of each 
and every member of this Board is felt for his 
family in their great loss and affliction; and that 
a copy of these Resolutions be sent to them, and 
also spread upon the records of this Company. ' ' 

In politics he was an inflexible Republican, 
always casting his ballot, but as carefully avoid- 
ing any approach towards active politics. In re- 
ligious faith he was liberal, having for many 
years attended Dr. Ryder's church, St. Paul's 
Universalist, whose pastor held and was held in 
mutual esteem from as far back as the early '6os. 

And so, with little variety or romance, lived 
and died one of the sturdiest, most useful of our 
citizens. Subsequent generations, with more lei- 
sure and wealth, may develop more elegance and 
refinement; but to men of Mr. Gage's virile stamp 
the city of Chicago (as well as the entire West, 
yes, in truth, all new countries) owes the founda- 
tion stones of future greatness and prosperity. 
Without the first courses of masonry there can 
never be builded high superstructures, with or- 
nate, elaborate and admirable dome and spire. 
What Washington, Jefferson, the Adamses and 
others were to the infant colonies, straggling for 
very existence and recognition as an independent 
nation, such were Mr. Gage and his associates to 
Chicago. Most of them are now gathered to 
their fathers, but their deeds are immortal. That 
Chicago is now the wonder and envy of the world 
is mainly owing to the persistent, honest efforts 
early and late of such citizens as Mr. Gage fitly 
typifies. 

Mr. Gage married, December 15, 1849, at the 
scene of his nativity, Miss Martha Webster, by 
whom, fortunately, he left one child, a sou, to 
bear his esteemed name, Frank Newton Gage, 
who was born July 24, 1853. After receiving a 
good education in Chicago, he entered his father's 
store, but later withdrew, and is at present an 
active member of the Stock Exchange. He mar- 



ried, in 1889, Olive E. Lewis, of this city, who 
has borne him a son, John Newton Gage, named 
for his grandfather, the subject of this sketch. 

Martha Webster is a daughter of Enoch and 
Betsy Webster (relatives before marriage) born in 
Haverhill, Massachusetts. Enoch was a son of 
Caleb Webster, of Revolutionary fame. Betsy was 
a daughter of Stephen Webster. Mrs. Gage is thus 
related through both her parents to the greatest 
of America's statesmen and orators, Daniel Web- 
ster, of Marshfield, Massachusetts. She is also 
related to the famous Mrs. Dustin, of Colonial 
times. Captured by Indians, who dashed out 
the brains of her sleeping babe, she was marched 
miles into the wilderness. While her captors 
were asleep, she loosened her fetters, and, having 
slain every colored face of them, safely made her 
return home, as set out in graphic early historical 
authorities. Of all the heroines of "good old 
colony times, ' ' and there were thousands of such, 
it has always appeared that she was queen of 
them all by this single episode. 

The family of Gage (which is of Norman ex- 
traction) derives its descent from one De Gaga 
(Gauga or Gage), who accompanied William 
the Conqueror into England in 1066. After the 
"Conquest" he was rewarded by a large grant of 
land in the forests of Dean, Gloucester County, 
adjacent to which he fixed his abode and erected 
a family seat at Clerenwell (otherwise Clarewell). 
He also built a large, mansion house in the town 
of Chichester, wherein he died, and was buried 
in the neighboring abbey. His posterity re- 
mained in the vicinity for many generations, in 
credit and esteem, of whom there were Barons in 
Parliament in the reign of Henry II. The line 
from the beginning of the fifteenth century has 
been traced as follows: John Gage had a son, 
John Gage, born 1408; married Joan Sudgrove. 
Their son was Sir John, knighted 1454; married 
Eleanor St. Clere; died September, 1486. Will- 
iam, Esquire, born 1456; married Agnes Bolney. 
Their son, Sir John, born 1480, knighted May 
22, 1541; married Phillippa Guilderford; died 
April 28, 1557. Their eldest son, Sir Edward, 
knighted by Queen Mary, married Elizabeth 
Parker. Their son, John, Esquire (eldest of nine 



E. McK. 



225 



sons), thirty years old at his father's death; heir 
to fifteen manors and other Sussex lands. John 
(nephew) made Baronet March 26, 1622; married 
Penelope, widow of Sir George Treuchard; died 
October 3, 1633. 

John (second son), of Stoneham, Suffolk Coun- 
ty, England, came to America with John Win- 
throp, Jr., landing at Salem June 12, 1630; in 
1633 one of twelve proprietors of Ipswich; wife 
Anna died in June, 1658; married (2d) Mary 
Keyes, November, 1658; moved to Rowley 1664.; 
held many responsible offices of trust and fidelity 
in Ipswich and Rowley, in which latter place he 
died in 1673. Daniel (second son) married 



Sarah Kimball in 1675; died November 8, 1705. 
Daniel, born March 12, 1676; married Martha 
Burbank, March 9, 1697; settled on the batiks of 
the Merrimac River, on the main road to Me- 
thuen, where the old Gage House, the oldest in 
town, still stands. Died March 14, 1747. Dan- 
iel (third son), born April 22, 1708, removed to 
Pelham, New Hampshire; died September 24, 
1775. David (fourth son), born August 9, 1750. 
Nathan (fifth), the father of the subject of this 
sketch, whose son and grandson, enumerated 
herein, bring the record up to the extraordinary 
number of seventeen consecutive male generations. 



EDWARD McK. TEALL. 



[~~DWARD McKINSTRY TEALL. The de- 
j^ velopment of the insurance business has kept 
|_ pace with the growth of other commercial 
enterprises and has assumed such magnitude and 
variety, and become so complex and at the same 
time so vital to life and property, that it must now 
be regarded as one of the important industries of 
the United State. The last few years have seen 
reductions in the rates of insurance, and corres- 
ponding advantages to property-holders, in Chi- 
cago, in consequence of the rapid development of 
the art of constructing fire-proof buildings and 
the great improvement in the facilities for check- 
ing and extinguishing fires. These important 
changes, which are still in progress, require 
prompt attention and action by the companies 
doing business here, for competition is just as 
fierce in this line of business as in any other. In 
fact, the sharp, but honorable, rivalry among in- 
surance men has developed a number of experts 
in the business, men with sufficient mental pene- 
tration to foresee the result of changed conditions, 
and sufficient executive ability to carry out such 



methods as are most likely to secure favorable 
results. 

Among the most successful and systematic 
manipulators of this art is the gentleman whose 
name heads this notice. His birth occurred at 
Albany, New York, July 27, 1839, his parents 
being Edward McKinstry Teall and Eliza Perry. 
The founder of the family in America was Oliver 
Teall, who came from England and settled at 
New Haven, Connecticut, about 1723. His fa- 
ther had been Apothecary General to the British 
army, serving under the Duke of Marlborough 
during the reigns of William I. and Queen Anne. 
Prudence, the wife of Oliver Teall, who came 
with him to America, died at Killingsworth, Con- 
necticut, June 24, 1780. Oliver Teall, second 
son of this Couple, married Ruth Hurd and set- 
tled at Killingsworth. He served as a Surgeon 
in the British Army during the French and In- 
dian War, and also during the War of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, maintaining his loyalty to the 
crown throughout his life. Five of his sons, 
Timothy, Titus, Oliver, Joseph and Nathan, 



226 



E. McK. TEALL. 



served in the Continental army. Father and 
sons were mutually antagonized by their loyalty 
to their respective causes, and never became rec- 
onciled. Another son, named Benjamin, having 
lost an eye during his childhood, was thus inca- 
pacitated for military service and did not partici- 
pate in the conflict. 

Oliver Teall (third) was born in Middletown, 
Connecticut, January i, 1759. When only six- 
teen years old he enlisted under General Putnam, 
Captain Gale's company, and afterward served 
in Captain Hyde's company, which was success- 
ively stationed at Fort Trumbull and at Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island. He was subsequently as- 
signed to Colonel Sommers' command at Ger- 
mantown, Pennsylvania. He was one of the 
devoted band which endured the historic hard- 
ships of Valley Forge, where his brother Titus 
died of smallpox. Later in the war he was sta- 
tioned at West Point and on the Highlands. He 
acted as guard to General Washington and his 
family while they attended church. After peace 
came he married Susan, daughter of Col. Brin- 
ton Paine, of Dutchess County, New York. 
They settled at Upper Hillsdale, Columbia Coun- 
ty, New York, where he became a prosperous, 
farmer. They were the parents of twelve chil- 
dren. His death occurred at Albany on the i8th 
of September, 1842, aged eighty-two years. 

Col. Brinton Paine, who was an officer of the 
Continental army, was a descendant of Stephen 
Paine, who came to Massachusetts in 1638, and 
became one of the leading citizens of the colony, 
He was one of the chief contributors to the pros- 
ecution of the Indian wars. His son Stephen 
was present at the great swamp fight in which 
King Philip's band was exterminated. 

Edward M. Teall, Sr., was a son of Oliver 
Teall, third. He became a prominent merchant 
of Albany, and was also proprietor of one of the 
first lines of boats on the Erie Canal. He did a 
general forwarding business, and the Chicago 
American of April 9, 1839, the first issue of a 
daily paper in this city, contained his business 
advertisement. He was for many years influen- 
tial in New York politics. Eliza Perry was born 
at I^enox, Massachusetts. Her father, Freder- 



ick Perry, who was a son of a clergyman, was a 
native of Connecticut. He was a graduate of 
Williams College, and became a cotton manufac- 
turer at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 

The subject of this biography received his 
primary education in private schools, and after- 
ward became a student in the academy of Albany. 
In the spring of 1857 he came to Chicago and 
soon after secured employment as a clerk in the 
insurance office of Higginson & James. This line 
of business was then in its infancy, and the most 
sanguine enthusiasm could not have foreseen the 
extent to which that industry would be developed. 
He went to work' with a will, and his fidelity, 
thoroughness and aptitude soon won the confi- 
dence and good-will of his employers. In 1863 he 
became one of the partners of the firm of Alfred 
James ^& Company, which continued to transact 
business for about three years. Their place of 
business was at the southeast corner of South 
Water and Clark Streets, which location was the 
center of the insurance business at that time. 
He afterward formed a partnership with Freder- 
ick P. Fisher, a relation which continued for ten 
years, during one of the most important eras of 
the insurance business in the West. At the end 
of that period the present firm of Edward M. 
Teall & Company was formed, Cyrus A. Hardy, 
a trusted clerk of the former firm, being the jun- 
ior member. Mr. Teall is one of the Directors 
of the Westchester Fire Insurance Company of 
New York, and in addition to serving the local 
interests of that corporation the firm represents 
several leading insurance companies of other 
cities. The business in its charge is conserva- 
tively and honorably conducted, and the firm en- 
joys the confidence of the public and of under- 
writers to a remarkable degree. Mr. Teall is 
President of the Chicago Fire Underwriters' As- 
sociation, and has been for a number of years. 

On the nth of June, 1862, Mr. Teall was mar- 
ried to Miss Katherine Mead, of New York City, 
daughter of Isaac H. Mead and Rachel Van Voor- 
hees Demorest. Mrs. Teall's maternal grand- 
father was also a native of New York City, being 
a scion of a very old and well-known family of 
that municipality. Mr. Teall has been for many 



A. G. BURLEY. 



227 



years a member of the Third Presbyterian Church 
of Chicago, in which he officiates as Trustee and 
Elder. He is a member of the Illinois Club, 
and Deputy Governor of the Society of Colonial 
Wars of the State of Illinois, which he helped 
to organize. He is also a member of the Illinois 
Society of Sons of the American Revolution, and 
still preserves the Teall coat-of-arms granted to 
the family by George I. in 1723. He has been 



often urged to enter the arena of politics, has 
been tendered important nominations by the Re- 
publican party, of which he is an active and dis- 
tinguished member, but prefers to devote himself 
to his business, home and social duties. For rec- 
reation, he and his wife have always spent the 
summer at their beautiful farm and summer home 
in the Berkshire Hills, Stockbridge, Massachu- 
setts. 



ARTHUR G. BURLEY. 



GJRTHUR GILMAN BURLEY. The year 
I I 1812 is a national epoch, for at that time 
/ | the United States, for a second time within 
the easy memory of man, started in to chastise 
the British Lion. What events of world-wide 
significance have transpired during those more 
than eighty intervening years ! To think of it is * 
like a dream: to have predicted it, would have re- 
sulted in that day in an inquirendo de lunico pro- 
ceeding concerning the lack of brain matter in the 
bold transgressor of common sense who should 
prophesy. Two years later, Robert Fulton was 
making his (the very first) steamboat trial upon 
the Hudson River. Then came steam as applied 
to locomotives, which has done more than any- 
thing else in so rapidly opening up the great in- 
terior and West of our immense country, where- 
as, before, ox-carts and canal-boats were the 
most approved forms of transportation of chattels, 
prior to the advent of the "prairie schooner," 
which shortly preceded the "Union Pacific." 
The telegraph, reapers, thousandfold manufac- 
tories, electric light and locomotion (not to men- 
tion scores of other wonderful economic and utili- 
tarian inventions of more recent date within the 
present century), all cry out that, in point of 
actual comfort and intelligent means of effecting 



business ends, the world has since that year 1812 
done almost more than had been done in the 
hundreds and thousands of years which had pre- 
ceded. And all this within the memory of liv- 
ing men; yes, within the memory of one now liv- 
ing in our midst, who, wonderful to relate, like 
Gladstone, an octogenarian, is still in the harness 
of active business life. We who live in Chicago 
know what that means in this day. Honor to 
whom honor is due ! 

Arthur Gilman Burley, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in the aforesaid year of 1812, 
upon the fourth day of October, at Exeter, New 
Hampshire, unto James and Charlotte I. (Gilman) 
Burley, his father being the Cashier of the Exeter 
Bank. 

The Burleys are regarded Down East as ' 'good 
stock;" that seems to be the prevailing opinion 
in our city, from all that is thus far known of 
them in our-midst. The first by the name who 
came to our shores was Giles Burley, who, with 
his wife, Elizabeth, settled at Ipswich, Massachu- 
setts, in the year 1648. Here, in 1664, he took 
the proper oath and became a "commoner." He 
was also a "planter," and lived eight years of 
his useful life upon Brooke Street of that ancient 
town, and owned "Division Lot No. 105, on 



228 



A. G. BURLEY. 



Great Hill, Hogg Island," in that vicinage. He 
had a son, Andrew Btirley, who was born at 
Ipswich, September 5, 1657. The latter married 
Mary, a daughter of the rather celebrated Roger 
Conant. Upon the death of his father, while in 
childhood, he was bound out (as was the old cus- 
tom) to one John Brown. He was called in 
records "husbandman and yeoman," and bore the 
rather dignified title of ' 'Cornet. ' ' He had a son , 
Hon. Andrew Burley, who was born at Ipswich 
in June, 1694. His career was replete with hon- 
ors, including among others the positions of Jus- 
tice of the Court of Sessions and Representative 
to the State Legislature in the years 1741 and 
1742. He acquired, and left intact, a large es- 
tate. He was twice married; first, to Lydia 
Pengry, by whom he had six children; secondly, 
to Mrs. Hannah Burnham. He had a son, An- 
drew Burley, Jr., who married a Mrs. Hannah 
Cogswell (a daughter of his father's wife). He 
graduated at Harvard College in 1742, and lived 
on Brooke Street in Ipswich (near the location 
of his first American progenitor) , upon land for- 
merly granted to Governor Dudley's son Samuel. 

He left a son, James Burley, who was by trade 
a cabinet-maker, also an officer in the Revolu- 
tionary War. The latter married Susannah ' 
Swazey, and died in Exeter, New Hampshire, 
leaving a son, James Burley, Jr., who has been 
already noticed as the father of the subject of this 
sketch. 

Arthur Gilman Burley received for his educa- 
tion the best that the common schools of his na- 
tive Exeter had to offer, which information was 
somewhat rounded out by a supplementary year at 
the Exeter Academy. He resolutely turned his 
young face toward the distant West at the age 
of twenty-three, reaching his future home, Chi- 
cago, on the seventeenth day of May, 1835. 
(Sixty long years ago. Imagine the appearance 
at that time of the country which is at present 
covered by our fair city ! How many of the 
comers of that day are yet in the flesh ?) 

Mr. Burley first worked as clerk for John Hoi- 
brook in a boot and shoe shop for about two 
years. In 1837 he went to New York City, to 
buy for his brother-in-law, Stephen F. Gale, a 



stock of books and stationery (one of the very 
first to be imported among us), and remained with 
Mr. Gale for about two years following. 

In 1838 the crockery business of the North- 
west was founded by Mr. Burley, who bought 
from the State Bank of Illinois a stock of such 
goods, his place of trade being then located at 
the corner of La Salle and Lake Streets. He 
has been in that, business ever since, a period of 
over fifty-seven years, and is now regularly on 
duty at the old stand. 

He was burned out in 1842, and then moved to 
No. 105 Lake Street, later to No. 175 on the same 
thoroughfare, where, in 1852, he was joined by a 
brother-in-law, Mr. John Tyrrell, who came on 
from New Hampshire to enter into a partnership. 
This still continues in operation, being incor- 
porated under the firm style and name, "Burley 
& Tyrrell, Importers and Dealers of Crockery, 
Chicago." 

They had built their own quarters at No. 48 
Lake Street about 1857, but, fortunately, had 
disposed of the same before the time of the Great 
Fire in 1871. They still had their store located 
therein, which, of course, went up in smoke and 
down to the ground in ashes. After this fire 
they had a temporary office at the corner of State 
and Sixteenth Streets; then occupied a store for 
about three years at the corner of Van Buren and 
Wabash; then removed to No. 83 State Street; and 
finally to Nos. 42, 44 and 46 Lake Street, which 
premises they continue to occupy at this time. 
Having found it cheaper to rent, they have never 
cared to build. 

Mr. Burley also had the misfortune of having 
his home burned up in 1874, when he was living 
below Harrison Street. He is now, as for a long 
time, cosily situated at No. 1620 Indiana Avenue. 

Although an unostentatious man, Mr. Burley 
has been a very prominent figure in social and 
business matters for very many years. Few in- 
deed, if any, can antedate him in this relation. 
He aided in the formation of the First Unitarian 
Church (since called the Messiah) in 1836, one 
of the oldest and foremost in the entire North- 
west, and of which he has always been a most in- 
terested and conspicuous member. 



R. R. CLARK 



229 



In politics, he has always been, since the days 
of the Whigs were no more, a consistent Re- 
publican, but in no sense or wish a public charac- 
ter. A true exemplifier of the best principles of 
Free Masonry, with which he affiliated as early 
as 1848, he has never cared to go to the height 
of degrees his proficiency and long service would 
have richly entitled him to, and undoubtedly have 
brought choice flowers of honor in their train, 
but he has been Treasurer of Oriental Lodge for 
forty-two years. He was also for a time much 
interested in the mysteries of Odd-Fellowship. 

Not at heart a club man, he has nevertheless 
been a member of the Calumet, as he is at present 
upon the roll of the Chicago Club. Very do- 
mestic in habits, he is not frequently found in the 



circle of club habitues. In public affairs and 
whatever promotes the business and social good 
and welfare of the community, Mr. Burley always 
is an interested, and usually a participating, citi- 
zen. Young in enthusiasm, certainly he bears 
his laurel of years gracefully, as we will sincerely 
hope he may long live to do. 

Upon the twenty -fourth day of September, 1849, 
Mr. Burley was joined in marriage with Welthy- 
an Loom is Harmon, who comes of a good old- 
time Down-East family. It is regretted that no 
children have been born to them to perpetuate 
the name and further the noble traits the family 
has conspicuously borne up to this time in the 
history of our country. 



ROBERT R. CLARK. 



ROBERT RODMAND CLARK, an early resi- 
dent of Lake View, now a part of Chicago, 
is descended from English ancestors and was 
born in Clarkson, Monroe County, New York, 
May 24, 1831. His great-grandfather, William 
Clark, came from England and located first on 
the Hudson River, at Albany, New York, later re- 
moving to the Mohawk Valley. He was pos- 
sessed of some means, and dealt in realty during 
his residence in America. His son William had 
large holdings of lands and farms in central New 
York, and was one of the first American import- 
ers of Morocco leather, having his headquarters 
at Utica, New York, his native place. He was 
among the first settlers of Monroe County, and 
the town of Clarkson was named for him and 
another settler of the same name, though no rela- 



tive, who located there in the same year. He 
died there at the age of sixty-eight years. Five 
of his seven children, four sons and a daughter, 
grew to maturity. 

The third of these, William L. Clark, born in 
Utica, was about twenty years old when his par- 
ents moved to Clarkson. He married Cornelia 
Stewart, a native of Wyoming County, New 
York. Her parents, Daniel and Sallie (Fish) 
Stewart, were children of native Scotch parents, 
and were born in Chemung County, New York. 
She lived to the age of eighty-two years, passing 
away at the home of her son in Lake View in 
1886. William L. Clark was an extensive fann- 
er, but lost heavily in speculation in later life. 
He was an upright man, and reached the age of 
seventy-two years, dying in Lake View in 1876. 



230 



R. R. CLARK. 



He was affiliated with the Universalist Church, 
while his wife adhered to the Presbyterian teach- 
ings of her fathers. They were the parents of 
three children. The eldest, Sallie, is the widow 
of George B. Marsh, now residing in Chicago; 
and the youngest, Laura, is the wife of Charles 
L. Bassett, ot LaPorte, Indiana. 

Robert R. Clark is the second child of his par- 
ents. He combines in a happy degree the sturdy 
qualities of physical and mental make-up of his 
ancestors. When a mere boy he determined to 
recover his father's lost homestead as a home for 
his parents, and before he had reached the age of 
twenty years had accomplished his purpose. 
Previous to the age of sixteen years he had the 
educational advantages afforded by the common 
schools, and he then went to Michigan, where he 
found employment as a school teacher. Return- 
ing for a short time to the home farm, he became, 
in his eighteenth year, check clerk on board the 
steamer "Empire State," plying between Buffalo 
and Chicago, then the finest vessel on the Lakes. 
He was subsequently on board the "Wisconsin" 
one year, and returned, as chief clerk, to the 
"Empire State," where he continued five years. 
He also served on the "Southern Michigan" and 
"Western Metropolis, " all these boats being the 
property of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 
Railroad. The last two only ran from Buffalo to 
Monroe or Toledo, where they connected with 
that portion of the railroad completed from Chi- 
cago to those points. Mr. Clark was on board 
the steamer "Northern Indiana" when it burned 
on Lake Erie, one beautiful morning, off Point 
au Place, with a loss of between four and five 
hundred passengers. Being a good swimmer, 
he remained on board until the fire had swept to 
the stern of the vessel (because of its propulsion 
toward the shore), and after entering the water 
saved several passengers by giving up to them 
doors which he had wrenched from the staterooms 
for his own use. He was finally picked up by a 
boat bound for Buffalo, and made his regular 
trip out of that port on another vessel the night 
of the same day. When the "Golden Gate" was 



wrecked on the bar at the mouth of Erie Harbor, 
a short time later, Mr. Clark was on board, and 
was saved with all the rest save one, who tried 
to swim ashore in the midst of the wreckage. The 
wreck was continually swept by the waves, but 
it was safer than the choppy bay, full of the 
floating cargo of the "Golden Gate." All who 
remained on board were safely conveyed to shore 
by a Government vessel in the morning. With 
the exception of one year, which was spent as re- 
ceiver in charge of the ticket office at Buffalo, 
Mr. Clark continued in the marine service until 
he settled in Chicago in 1857. 

Having made some successful investments in 
Chicago during his previous visits here, he de- 
cided to settle here, a resolution which was, prob- 
ably, strengthened by his marriage, in 1857, to 
one of Chicago's fair daughters. This was Miss 
Blanche, only daughter of the late Daniel Elston, 
one of Cook County's most worthy and honored 
pioneers. In 1859 Mr. Clark turned his atten- 
tion to the fuel trade, and later dealt in lumber, 
but his chief occupation has been the handling of 
realty. For the last twenty years he has made a 
specialty of leasing residence property to others 
who would improve it, and has been largely in- 
strumental in building up what was formerly a 
. suburb known as Lake View, now a part of the 
great metropolis in name as well as in fact. He 
has naturally taken a keen interest in the moral 
and material welfare of that section, and has act- 
ively participated in the government of the town 
and village of Lake View. In political affilia- 
tion he is found with the Democratic party on 
national issues. In religious belief he is ex- 
ceedingly liberal, and very independent in all 
thought and action. His early experience taught 
him self-reliance, and his history should serve as 
a worthy example to the ambitious young man. 
He is still the owner of the old homestead in New 
York. Mr. Clark is fond of hunting, and is a 
member of the Poygan Shooting Club, whose 
members spend much of the duck-hunting season 
on Lake Poygan, in Wisconsin. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



G. M. PULL-MAN. 



231 



GEORGE MORTIMER PULLMAN. 



(3 EORGE M. PULLMAN was born in Brocton, 

bChautauqua County, New York, March 3, 
1831, and is the third child of James Lewis 
and Emily Caroline Pullman. The father was a 
native of Rhode Island. Emily C. Pullman was 
the daughter of James Minton, of Auburn, New 
York. She was a good wife and mother, and 
assisted her husband in implanting in the minds 
of their children the best moral principles, while 
inculcating habits of industry' and careful study. 
The father was a builder and house-mover, and 
George early began to observe his methods, while 
assisting in his operations. Some very useful ap- 
pliances of the business are the invention of the 
elder Pullman. He died in 1853, and the respon- 
sibility of head of the family fell upon George, 
who was the eldest unmarried son. Through 
almost forty years of her widowhood, he was the 
stay and loving aid of his mother, who passed 
away in May, 1892, after seeing all her seven chil- 
dren occupying responsible and useful positions 
in life. 

Royal H., the first-born, is pastor of the First 
Universalist Church of Baltimore. His interest 
in public affairs is demonstrated by the fact that 
he was the candidate of his party for Congress in 
1890. Albert B., who died in 1893, occupied up 
to 1882 responsible positions in the Pullman 
Palace Car Company, which is the creation of his 
younger brotli-.r, George. James M. Pullman, 
D. D., is pastor of the Universalist Church at 
Lynn, Massachusetts, the leading parish of that 
sect in America. Charles L. was, until Septem- 
ber, 1894, contracting agent for the Pullman Com- 
pany, but is now engaged in other business in 
Chicago; and Frank W. was Assistant United 
States District Attorney of New York, where he 
died in 1879. Helen A. is the wife of George 



West, of New York; and Emma C. is the wife of 
Doctor William F. Fluhrer, chief surgeon of Belle- 
vue Hospital, New York. 

George M. Pullman was always of a practical 
turn of mind, and was a diligent student of 
branches which were calculated to fit him for a 
business life. He enjoyed the benefit of a com- 
mon-school education, and is remembered as an 
industrious and hard-working pupil. At the age 
of fourteen, he undertook to sustain himself, his 
first employment being that of a clerk at $40 per 
year. Neither his remuneration nor his tastes or 
habits were likely to lead him into dissipation, 
and he seems to have done his work with credit 
to himself and satisfaction to his employer. At 
the end of the year he joined his eldest brother, 
who had a cabinet-making shop at Albion, New 
York. This pursuit was well calculated to pre- 
pare him for the subsequent conduct of the larg- 
est building and furnishing enterprise in the 
world, though he was, probably, wholly uncon- 
scious of his future at that time. He persevered 
and was faithful, because it was part of his nature, 
as well as the natural result of his teachings and 
early surroundings. He continued in the cabinet 
work until the death of his father, in 1853. The 
long illness of the head of the family, who wasted 
away in gradual decline, had exhausted the means 
of the common purse, so that the widow was con- 
fronted with the necessity of providing for her- 
self and her minor children. In doing this, she 
was not left to battle alone, for her son George at 
once took up the responsibility of head of the 
household and relieved her of financial burdens. 
The Erie Canal was about to be enlarged, and 
the commissioners had asked for bids for raising 
or removing many buildings along its banks. 
Young Pullman was the successful bidder on some 



232 



G. M. PULLMAN. 



of these contracts, and so well did he manage his 
enterprise that he was enabled to maintain the 
family in comfort, and arrived in Chicago in 1859 
with a capital of $6,000 as the result of his sav- 
ings. About this time the courts decided that 
Chicago had the power to grade the streets, and 
he quickly found ample employment in raising 
the buildings to correspond with the grade. 
Probably but few of the modern residents of the 
city know that the streets of the South Side are 
some ten feet above the original prairie level, and 
that the buildings standing in 1856 had to be 
raised that distance to meet the street level. In 
1860 Mr. Pullman was occupying a lot of two 
hundred feet front, at the corner of Washington 
and Franklin Streets, with his machinery and ap- 
pliances, and a small one-story building for an of- 
fice. He was full of the spirit of push and prog- 
ress which animated Chicago in those days, and 
did not hesitate to enter upon undertakings of 
great magnitude. Among these was the lifting 
of the entire block of brick buildings facing the 
north side of Lake Street, between Clark and La 
Salle. This was successfully accomplished by 
the aid of six thousand jackscrews, without in- 
terruption to the business conducted in the struc- 
tures, or the breaking of a single pane of glass 
or a yard of plaster. 

A recent writer says: " His true mission was 
the creation of the sleeping-car system. * 
Nowhere else has the matter of splendid, ingen- 
ious, artistic appliances for indoor comfort been 
carried to such a pitch as in the devising and 
constructing of the palace car, of which thousands 
have been built; and each year, if not each day 
and each car, brings a studied advance on its pre- 
decessor. * * Giving his days to labor 
and his nights to restful travel, a man may spread 
his field of usefulness over a continent, without 
the sapping of his strength or the shortening of 
his days." 

The idea of the sleeping-car came to him one 
night while observing his fellow train-passengers 
buying head-rests from a vendor to mitigate the 
discomfort of an all-night ride. Soon after, he 
took passage on one of the ' ' night cars ' ' of the 
time, and while seeking repose on the comfortless 



shelf provided, evolved the idea of the modern 
sleeper. His knowledge of cabinet-making here 
came to his aid, and he met and overcame many 
difficulties in the preparation of a model. The 
general plan varied but little from the present 
form, having comfortable berths that could be put 
away during the day, leaving a coach suitable for 
day travel. In 1859 he secured from the Chicago 
& Alton Railway two old passenger coaches to 
experiment with, and in an unused railway shed, 
on the present site of the Union Passenger Station 
at Chicago, he worked to realize his idea, wholly 
at his own expense. The result was the first 
pair of real "sleepers" in the country, which 
were put in successful operation on the night 
trains between Chicago and St. Louis. 

This result did not deter him from an undei- 
taking which he had for some time contemplated, 
namely, a trip to the gold fields of Colorado. 
After three years of mining, he returned to Chi- 
cago very little richer in purse, but with addi- 
tions to his stock of experience. He now set to 
work to improve his original design of sleeping- 
cars, which no one had had the shrewdness to 
take advantage of during his absence. The cars 
which he had remodeled were too small and not 
of sufficient strength to carry out his ideas, and 
he set to work to construct one especially for the 
purpose. The car must be higher, the berths 
wider, and more taste and elegance employed in 
its furnishing. At an expenditure of one year's 
time and $18,000 in money, he produced the first 
real ' ' palace car. ' ' It was named the ' ' Pioneer, ' ' 
and is now stored in honorable retirement at 
Pullman; but it was found to be too high to go 
under some of the viaducts spanning the rail- 
roads, and the wide steps would not pass the 
platforms of many stations. It began to look as 
ii he must build a railroad to accommodate his 
invention. Just at this time the body of the 
martyred President, Lincoln, was to be brought 
from Washington to his native state, and the 
obstacles to the passage of the ' ' Pioneer ' ' were 
removed, in order that it might be employed in 
that sad funeral journey. It formed a part of 
the train which took the body to its last resting- 
place at Springfield. From that time the eastern 



G. M. PULLMAN. 



233 



roads were open to it and its counterparts. The 
present wide use of the Pullman sleepers, in 
Europe as well as in .America, is too well known 
to need comment. The history of the Pullman 
Palace Car Company is almost as well understood, 
though many who enjoy the facilities for comfort- 
able travel afforded by it know little of the labors 
of its founder in establishing a happy and desira- 
ble home for its employes at Pullman. 

The history of the great strike at Pullman and 
among railway employes in 1894 is also now a 
matter of history. During its progress Mr. Pull- 
man maintained a dignified and consistent atti- 
tude, notwithstanding much harsh and unjust 
criticism; and the course of the Pullman Com- 
pany in that struggle has been generally vindi- 
cated. 

The Nation, in its issue of November 22, 1894, 
refers to the general feeling that the existence of 
the Government and of society itself was at stake 
in this strike, and that to give in to the strikers 
at that point, or at any point, would have been a 
deadly blow to liberty and the rights of property ; 
and says: " What account of the circumstances 
accompanying this strike, which was not so much 
a strike as a social convulsion, can be complete 
if it leaves out the intense anxiety of the best 
citizens lest a fatal surrender of principle should 
be made?" * * * " There were hundreds of 
thousands of the best American citizens who re- 
joiced with great joy at that critical moment that 
Mr. Pullman was unyielding;" and "Americans 
abroad anxiously scanned the fragmentary des- 
patches and prayed fervently that Mr. Pullman 
would at any rate stand firm." 

Mr. Pullman has been identified as an initial 
force with other large enterprises than the Palace 
Car Company, of which he is the head. Among 
these may be mentioned the Metropolitan Ele- 
vated Railway of New York, which was con- 
structed in the face of determined and powerful 
opposition. He has taken an active interest in 
the project for the construction of a canal across 
the isthmus of Nicaragua. Another work in 
which he rendered great public sen-ice was in the 
distribution of relief funds after the great fire of 
1871. At the earnest appeal of Mayor Mason, 



he accepted the charge of disbursements as trus- 
tee, which was accomplished without the loss of 
a dollar, though to the detriment of his private 
interests through consumption of his time. 

In private life Mr. Pullman is a patron of art 
and literature, and a supporter of elegance and 
refinement in society. In 1867 he married Miss 
Hattie A., daughter of James Y. Sanger (whose 
biography appears elsewhere in this work). Two 
daughters, who are active in philanthropic and 
religious work, and twin sons complete the fam- 
ily. They are: Florence Sanger; Harriet S., 
now the wife of Francis J. Carolan; George M., 
Jr. , and Walter Sanger. 

It has been Mr. Pullman's happy privilege to 
erect for the Universalist Society at Albion, New 
York, a memorial of his parents, in the form of 
a handsome and substantial church edifice. It 
is built of dark brown Medina stone, 125x80 feet 
in ground dimensions, with perfect furnishings 
and decorations. On the right and left, as one 
enters the auditorium, are placed the bronze 
medallion portraits of Mr. Pullman's father and 
mother. They were designed by Sculptor Carl 
Rohl Smith, of Chicago. They are oval, two 
feet five inches by one foot nine inches, and 
framed in a narrow moulding, ornamented with 
pearls. The tablet inscription is as follows: 

Erected by a Son 

as a 
Memorial to His Father, 

JAMES LEWIS PULLMAN, 

In Recognition of His Love and Work for the 
Universalist Church and Its Faith, 

and 
In Memory of His Mother, 

EMILY CAROLINE PULLMAN, 

One with Her Husband in the Joys and Hopes of 

Religion. 
Dedicated January, 1895. 

It is inclosed in a lx>rder composed of a wreath 
of ivy, the symbol of affection. A beautiful me- 
morial window is in the west transept. 

The dedicatory services were held on the last 
day of January, 1895, the sermon being delivered 
by Rev. R. H. Pullman, of Baltimore. At the 
installation of the pastor, on the same day, the 



234 



C.'G. HUTCHINSON. 



Rev. James M. Pullman, of Lynn, Massachusetts, 
preached the installation sermon, when the Rev. 
Charles Fluhrer, D. D., late of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan , was made pastor. Others who officiated 



in the services were the Rev. Dr. C. H. Eaton, 
D. D., of New York; the Rev. Dr. J. K. Mason, 
D. D., of Buffalo; and the Rev. Asa Saxe, D. D., 
of Rochester. 



CHARLES G. HUTCHINSON. 



QHARLES GROVE HUTCHINSON, a pro- 

1 1 gressive and energetic business man of Chi- 
vj cago, was born in Williamsville, Erie Coun- 
ty, New York, January 24, 1847, and is a son of 
William H. Hutchinson and Jane Grove. The 
Hutchinson family, which is, doubtless, of Eng- 
lish origin, located in the Connecticut Colony as 
early as the seventeenth century. Joseph, the 
father of William H. Hutchinson, served through 
the War of 1812, as lieutenant of a compan}' of 
Connecticut troops. He took part in the campaign 
about Fort Erie and Buffalo, and the close of the 
war found him stationed at Detroit. Soon after the 
cessation of hostilities he resigned his commission 
and settled in western New York. His sojourn 
in this locality during the war had revealed to 
him its pre-eminent advantages as an agricult- 
ural country. For many years he was landlord 
of the Mansion House at Williamsville. His 
death occurred in Chicago in 1877, at the a & e f 
seventy-nine years. 

William H. Hutchinson, who was born in Leb- 
anon, Connecticut, removed with his family to 
Chicago in the spring of 1849. Soon after com- 
ing to this city he began the manufacture of soda 
water, which he continued up to the time of his 
death, which occurred in 1880, at the age of six- 
ty-five years. His place of business was at the 
corner of Randolph and Peoria Streets, where he 
erected a large factory, which escaped destruction 
in the Great Fire. The family residence, at the 



corner of North State and Erie Streets, was swept 
away in that conflagration. His prompt loan of 
a quantity of soda-water boxes, which afforded 
admirable pigeon-holes at the time, enabled the 
postoffice to resume the distribution of the mails 
with little delay after the fire. He was ever a 
public-spirited citizen and an enthusiastic ad- 
herent of the Democratic part}-, contributing 
much of his time as an organizer and worker for 
its success, though always refusing to be himself 
a candidate for any office. 

Mrs. Jane (Grove) Hutchinson was born in New 
York. Her father, who was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, was of Dutch descent. The name was 
originally written Groff. While returning from 
a visit to Mackinaw, in 1856, Mrs. Hutchinson 
became a victim of one of the saddest disasters 
which ever occurred upon Lake Michigan, being 
one of the passengers of the ill-fated steamer 
" Niagara," which burned off Port Washington, 
Wisconsin. She was the mother of four sons: 
Chester M., of Hawthorne, Cook County, Illi- 
nois; William A., who is in the United States 
revenue service at Port Townsend, Washington; 
and George C. and Charles; G., both of whom are 
residents of Chicago. William H. Hutchinson 
was married a second time, to Miss Mary M. 
Warner, of Williamsville, New York, and they 
became the parents of two sons, Douglas and 
Eugene, the latter of whom is now deceased, and 
the former resides in Chicago. 



G. M. ROGERS. 



235 



Charles G. Hutchinson attended the Washing- 
ton School of Chicago until he was fifteen years 
old, after which he was a student for four years at 
the Military Academy at Fulton, Illinois. After 
the close of the Civil War there being no further 
promise of demand for military service he re- 
turned to Chicago, and became identified with 
his father's business, which he continued to con- 
duct for some time after the death of its founder. 
In 1879, in company with his brother, George C. 
Hutchinson, he established a factory for the pro- 
duction of bottlers' supplies and extracts, under 
the firm name of W. H. Hutchinson & Son, which 
is still retained. Two years later the present 
factory on Desplaines Street was built, and about 
forty men are employed therein. The subject of- 
this notice is also identified with several other im- 
portant industries. He is a stockholder and 
Treasurer of the Independent Brewing Associa- 
tion, and President of the Chicago Fountain Soda 
Water Company. He is one of the stockholders 



of the Coit Paint Company (incorporated) , and is 
the inventor and patentee of the Hutchinson 
Spring Bottle Stopper, a unique and useful ap- 
pliance, which has come into almost universal use. 
Mr. Hutchinson is a prominent member of the 
Masonic fraternity, being identified with D. C. 
Cregier Lodge, Washington Chapter, Chicago 
Commander}', Knights Templar, Oriental Con- 
sistory and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. 
Like his father, he has been a life-long Democrat, 
but never seeks public position. He is an en- 
thusiastic and successful sportsman, and makes 
frequent excursions to the woods of Northern 
Wisconsin for the purpose of indulging his taste 
for fishing and hunting. He is a member of the 
Eagle River Fishing and Shooting Club, and of 
the Cumberland Gun Club, two of the leading 
sportsmen's organizations of Chicago. In all his 
business and social relations he is deservedly pop- 
ular, through his genial and social disposition 
and his kind and courteous manners. 



GEORGE M. ROGERS. 



MILLS ROGERS is not only dis- 

btinguished as one of the foremost attorneys 
and jurists of Chicago, but has given much 
study and careful attention to the leading public 
questions of the day. He is well versed in prob- 
lems relating to political economy and municipal 
reform, and his views are never narrowed by con- 
siderations of party policy, nor are his expressions 
colored by mere personal or mercenary motives. 
His professional integrity and his reputation as 
a citizen have been equally well maintained, and 
no modern record of Chicago's representative men 
would be complete without some notice of his 
achievements. 



Mr. Rogers was born at Glasgow, Kentucky, 
on the sixteenth day of April, 1854, and is a 
son of the Hon. John Gorin Rogers and Arabella 
E. Crenshaw, extended notice of whom, together 
with the genealogy of their families, is given 
elsewhere in this volume. The subject of this 
sketch was but four years old when the family 
came to Chicago. He was educated at the public 
schools and the Chicago University, supplement- 
ing the instruction so received by a course at Yale 
College, from which famous institution he was 
graduated in 1876. He began his legal studies 
in the office of Crawford & McConnell, and con- 
tinued the same in the Union College of Law 



236 



G. M. ROGERS. 



now the law department of the Northwestern 
University. 

In 1878 he was admitted to the Bar, and began 
practice in partnership with Samuel P. McConnell, 
a well-known barrister, since one of the Judges of 
'the Circuit Court of Cook County. During the 
continuance of this partnership he was chosen at- 
torney for the Citizens' Association, and was a 
member of the committee which prepared and 
secured the passage of the original reform city 
election law. He also personally prepared the 
primary election law, which was adopted verbatim 
by the committee of the association having that 
subject in charge, and was presented to the Legis- 
lature for adoption. Owing to the fact that this 
bill was in charge of Senator Crawford during its 
passage, it became known as the ' ' Crawford 
Election Law." 

His services in behalf of this association could 
not fail to attract attention to his signal ability as 
a lawyer and a statesman, and caused his ap- 
pointment as Assistant City Attorney. This po- 
sition he filled with such credit that, in 1886, he 
was appointed City Prosecuting Attorney, but ow- 
ing to the ill-health of his wife, which demanded 
that he should travel with her, he resigned the 
office in April of the following year. After return- 
ing to the city he was appointed, in November, 
1887, to the office of Assistant United States At- 
torney, but resigned that position in the following 
March, to re-engage in private law practice. 
With this business he has combined that of real- 
estate and loans, and his transactions have grown 
to such volume as to require the assistance of 
several clerks. 

On the ist of February, 1889, he was ap- 
pointed :i Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court 
of Cook County, and has discharged the duties of 
that judicial office with such candor and im- 
partiality as to earn and receive the approbation 
of courts, attorneys and litigants. 

In 1893 it was deemed advisable by the leading 
lawyers of Chicago to take some practical steps 
toward the separation of judicial affairs from the 
contamination of political interests. With this 
end in view, they placed in nomination eight 
candidates for judicial positions, who were equally 



divided in political affiliations between the two 
leading parties. Mr. Rogers received the highest 
vote of any candidate before the Bar Association 
the total number being 1346, out of which he 
received 1222. This nomination came to him 
without any solicitation on his part, and, although 
the " party machine" which dominated the Dem- 
ocratic convention prevented the endorsement 
of his nomination, which he made no effort to 
secure, his endorsement by the members of the 
Bar, who were influenced by no political consid- 
erations, but by a desire to elevate the judiciary 
and purify the administration of justice, was re- 
garded as a far greater compliment than an elec- 
tion as a candidate of any political party could 
have been. 

On the 3d of June, 1884, Mr. Rogers was mar- 
ried to Philippa Hone Anthon, a daughter of the 
late Hone Anthon, of New York City, whose 
family is conspicuous for the large number of 
eminent professional men among its members. 

Mr. Rogers is one of the founders of the Iro- 
quois Club, and among the other clubs with 
which he is prominently identified may be men- 
tioned the Illinois, University and Law Clubs. 
In the fall of 1888 he united with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, in which his father had 
been one of the leading spirits, and he has repre- 
sented his lodge in the Grand Lodge of Illinois. 
In 1882 he made a foreign tour in company with 
his brother, who was suffering from ill-health, 
and visited the principal cities and other points 
of interest in Europe. His active mind and keen 
observation could not fail to make this trip of 
value to him in broadening his experience and 
extending his knowlege of men and the affairs of 
the world. 

For a number of years after beginning his pro- 
fessional career, he was prominent in the political 
counsels of the Democratic party. In 1880 he 
was nominated as the candidate of his party for 
State Senator. His personal popularity may be 
judged from the fact that the usual Republican 
majority of two thousand in his district was re- 
duced to eight hundred. For some time he was 
Vice- President of the Cook County Democratic 
Committee, and labored diligently, though in 



ROBERT HERVEY. 



23? 



vain, to bring about some needed reforms in the 
organization and methods of the party. Becom- 
ing displeased with the methods of politicians, he 
became one of the organizers of the Iroquois 
Club, which was established for the purpose of 



exerting an influence in National politics, leaving 
local strife to those whose taste led in that direc- 
tion, and he was elected one of its first Vice- 
Presideuts. 



ROBERT HERVEY, LL. D. 



ROBERT HERVEY, LL. D., who was for 
nearly forty years a familiar figure in Chi- 
cago court rooms, was born in Glasgow, 
Scotland, August 10, 1820. He is a son of Alex- 
ander and Elizabeth (Gibson) Hervey. The fa- 
ther was a son of Robert Hervey, who founded a 
mercantile establishment at Glasgow, in which 
Alexander succeeded him. The business career 
of the latter was cut short by his death, when his 
son Robert was but eleven years of age. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Hervey afterward came to America, and 
for a number of years resided with her son in 
Chicago. She died at Brockville, Canada, in 
1862. 

Robert Hervey was educated in his native city, 
first at a grammar school and later at the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow. While at this institution he 
began the study of medicine, and the knowledge 
thus obtained was of great use to him in subse- 
quent legal practice. With this information he 
often surprised courts, as well as expert witnesses. 
At the age of seventeen years he went to Canada, 
intending to enter into mercantile business in 
connection with uncles who were residing there. 
By the advice of one of the latter, however, he de- 
cided to study law, and became a student of Hen- 
ry Sherwood, of Brockville, afterward the Attor- 
ney-General of Ontario. When this gentleman 
removed to Toronto, Mr. Hervey accompanied 
him to that city, where he was admitted to prac- 
tice in 1841. He then opened an office at Otta- 
wa, then called By town, the eastern terminus of 
the Rideau Canal, which had recently been com- 
pleted. He continued his legal business at Otta- 



wa until 1852, when he came to Chicago, and has 
since been continuously in legal practice here. 

He first opened an office in partnership with 
Buckner S. Morris and Joseph P. Clarkson, at 
the southeast corner of Lake and Clark Streets, 
in the same building where Judge Thomas Drum- 
mond then held United States Court. Mr. Her- 
vey subsequently took James R, Hosmer into 
partnership for a time, and in May, 1858, became 
a partner of Elliott Anthony since a distin- 
guished Judge of the Superior Court. Mr. A. T. 
Gait was afterward admitted to this firm, and 
for many years the firm of Hervey, Anthony & 
Gait was one of the best known in Chicago. Mr. 
Hervey 's early partner, Joseph Clarkson, was a 
brother of Bishop Clarkson, who was then Rector 
of St. James' Church on the North Side, and 
afterward became Bishop of Nebraska. 

Mr. Hervey has practiced in all courts, from 
Justices' up to the Supreme Court of the United 
States, to which latter he was admitted in 1873, 
and has been employed on some of the most im- 
portant criminal cases in Cook County. The first 
of these was in 1855, when he defended Patrick 
Cunningham, accused of killing a policeman. 
This case created a great sensation in Chicago, but 
Mr. Hervey secured a change of venue to Wau- 
kegan, where the minds of the jurors were less 
prejudiced than in Chicago, and his client was 
sentenced to the penitentiary for eight years for 
manslaughter. The adroit and skillful manage- 
ment of the defendant's attorney saved the latter 
from a death sentence and established the law- 
yer's reputation. Though he has defended some 



ROBERT HERVEY. 



notorious criminals, none of his clients have ever 
been executed. He was attorney for some of the 
aldermen and Cook County Commissioners who 
were accused of "boodling," and all his clients 
were acquitted. 

One of the most important cases taken up by 
the firm of Hervey & Anthony was the dissolu- 
tion of the consolidation of the Chicago & Galena 
Union Railroad Company with the Chicago & 
Northwestern Railroad Company, a deal which 
was manipulated by the directors of the respect- 
ive roads to the dissatisfaction and alleged dis- 
advantage of the stockholders of the former road, 
who had not been consulted in the matter. The 
contest was finally settled by payment of dam- 
ages to the plaintiff stockholders of the Chicago 
& Galena Union. 

For six years past Mr. Hervey has been afflict- 
ed with ill-health, which has confined him to his 
house and prevented his attendance at court or 
social gatherings. While his health permitted 
him to do so, he attended the Episcopal Church. 
Since 1865 he has been a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, having joined Blaney Lodge at that 
date. While a young man he joined the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Ottawa, and be- 
came the Noble Grand of Ottawa Lodge No. 1 1. 
His connection with this order was abandoned, 
however, on his coming to the United States, 
though he has often regretted this action. While 
a citizen of Canada he was quite an active politi- 
cian, and spent considerable of his time, energy 
and money in the effort to help shape local affairs. 
His uncle, who realized the futility of this course, 
exacted a promise from young Hervey on coming 
to Chicago, that he would not mingle in the pol- 
itics of the United States. This pledge has been 
faithfully observed, and he did not become a voter 
until 1887. 

In 1852 he became a member of St. Andrew's 
Society, an organization in which he has ever 
taken an active interest, and has probably done 
as much for its promotion as any single member. 
He has served as President of the society for six 
terms. The object of this association is to relieve 
the distress of the unfortunate among the coun- 
trymen and women of its members, and it has 



come to be one of the leading charitable institu- 
tions of the city. In the winter of 1865, during 
which there was much suffering to be relieved 
among the poor and unfortunate, the funds of the 
society became exhausted, and, at the request of 
his friends, Mr. Hervey prepared and delivered a 
lecture on Robert Burns at the old Metropolitan 
Hall. The receipts of this lecture netted the 
society about $450. This address met such pop- 
ular approval that it was afterward several times 
repeated in other places. In 1883 the faculty of 
Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois, 
invited him to deliver this lecture, together with 
an address to the graduating class of that institu- 
tion. This request was cheerfully complied with, 
and as a token of their appreciation of this effort 
the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon 
him by the university. Another lecture on 
Walter Scott, which he delivered several years 
later at the same hall, also netted the society a 
handsome sum. In 1865 he helped organize the 
Caledonian Club, and was chosen its first Chief, 
a position which he filled several years. 

Mr. Hervey was first married to Miss Maria 
Jones, daughter of Dunham Jones, a farmer near 
Brockville, Canada, who removed thither from 
the United States during the Revolutionary War, 
on account of his loyalty to the British Crown. 
Mrs. Maria Hervey fell a victim to the cholera in 
1854. In 1861 Mr. Hervey was again married, 
to Frances W. Smith, a native of Rochester, New 
York, and his present helpmate. Her mother, 
who is now Mrs. T. B. Bishop, is a native of 
England, and resides in Chicago, aged over eighty 
years. Mr. Hervey has three children. Alexan- 
der is a farmer near Charleston, Missouri. Rob- 
ert is the manager of an extensive lumber com- 
pany at Tonawanda, New York; and Sophia is 
the wife of Sidney F. Jones, of Toronto, Ontario. 
For twenty-four years past Mr. Hervey lias lived 
near the lake shore, on Twenty -fifth Street, hav- 
ing moved to that location a short time previous 
to the great Chicago Fire, and thereby avoided 
becoming one of its victims. In this pleasant lo- 
cation his most recent years have been altogether 
spent, and here his friends always receive a hearty 
welcome. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




AUGUST BECK 



AUGUST BECK. 



239 



AUGUST BECK. 



(3| UGUST BECK, for nearly forty years an 
f I active business man of Chicago, and one of 
/ 1 the city's most popular German- American 
residents, passed away at his home in that city, 
on the morning of March 5, 1897. Mr. Beck had 
not only a distinct and pleasing personality, but 
he had as well, in happily blended combination, 
a nicety and precision of mental adjustment that 
made him at all times, and under all circumstan- 
ces, the master of every business complication. 

He was born August 8, 1830, at Steinbach, in 
the Grand Duchy of Hessen, and was descended 
from a family which has included among its mem- 
bers, in the last century, a number of men 
high in the political and official circles of Ger- 
many. His father, Frederick Wilhelm Beck, was 
born July 29, 1800, in Bersrad, Grand Duchy of 
Hessen, and was a school teacher, being employed 
previous to 1840 in Grosskarben, and thereafter, 
until 1870, at Giessen, where he died in 1883. 
Here was celebrated in 1875 the golden wedding 
anniversary of himself and his estimable wife, in 
the presence of all their children. February 13, 
1825, Mr. Beck was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Sang, who was born November 17, 1807, in 
Sauerbach, Hessen. She died in 1877, in her 
seventieth year. 

August Beck was educated at the gymnasium 
of Giessen, and when eighteen years old entered 
the employ of a leaf tobacco house at Mannheim. 
Later he was with G. W. Gail & Company, of 
Giessen, manufacturers of tobacco, with whom he 
continued several years. In 1854 he came to the 
United States and entered the branch house of the 
same company at Baltimore. 

He came to Chicago in 1855, and July 17 of 
that year he began business under the firm name 
of August Beck & Company, handling tobacco at 
wholesale and manufacturing cigars. The latter 



part of the business, however, he soon abandoned. 
In 1857 he entered into a partnership with Mr. 
Carl Wirth, 1 under the style of Beck & Wirth. 
After the death of Mr. Wirth the concern was in- 
corporated in 1881, Mr. Beck becoming president. 
In this capacity he labored with untiring zeal to 
promote his business interests, in which he was 
eminently successful. 

The disastrous conflagration of 1 87 1 swept away 
almost his entire fortune of about one hundred 
thousand dollars. But he was not disheartened 
by this catastrophe. To him this was but an in- 
cident in his career, and the iron-like quality of 
the man asserted itself. On the ashes of his for- 
tune, he resolutely set about re-organizing his 
affairs. His integrity and probity of character 
had been thoroughly established in his fourteen 
years of ceaseless business activity, and the great 
confidence which he enjoyed in commercial circles 
is attested by the fact that on the day after the 
Great Fire he received from the well-known firm 
of C. F. Tag & Son, of New York, a telegram 
authorizing him to draw upon them for seventy- 
five thousand dollars. 

With everything gone but his good name, he 
established himself squarely on the principles of 
his high code of honor, scorning to take advan- 
tage of his creditors by forcing a liquidation of his 
indebtedness at a discount, as many did. He 
steadfastly refused to make any proposition of 
settlement on a compromise basis. For years he 
toiled early and late, with an eye single to one 
purpose that of recovering from his losses; and 
in time he paid every creditor in full, with inter- 
est, declining every other settlement. He trav- 
eled extensively throughout the territory in 
which he sold goods, and thereby laid the solid 
foundation of the success of the present firm, 
largely upon personal acquaintance with jobbers 



240 



J. A. REIS. 



and merchants of the retail trade. In 1892 he laid 
aside the active cares of his large business his 
son-in-law, Otto C. Schneider, purchasing his 
interest. The latter insisted, however, upon Mr. 
Beck retaining the title of president in the cor- 
poration, which he did. 

Mr. Beck traveled extensively abroad, and 
crossed the ocean ten times, to visit his beloved 
Fatherland. His love for the country of his na- 
tivity in no sense detracted from his loyalty to the 
land of his adoption. He was thoroughly Ameri- 
can in his views, and loved the institutions of this 
country, and he enjoyed thoroughly and to the 
fullest extent the liberties and advantages all en- 
joy in common in this favored land. His family 
connections in Germany are of the highest order. 
His eldest brother, William Beck, in Darmstadt, 
enjoys the distinction of being a Privy Councillor 
to the Grand Duke ofHessen. His brother-in- 
law, at Mayence, has been a member of the Ger- 
man Reichstag, and his youngest brother, Charles 
Beck, whose place of residence is in Havana, 
Cuba, has the honor of representing different 
countries as Consul to "The Pearl of the 
Antilles." 

Mr. Beck was Consul of the Grand Duchy of 
Hessen at Chicago, from 1866 to 1871, and when 
he retired from that service was decorated by the 
Grand Duke with the "Ritterkreuz of the Order 
of Philip the Magnanimous. ' ' He was an hon- 
ored member of the Germania Club of Chicago, 



and was a supporter of the Republican party in 
American politics, but was not a politician, al- 
ways declining to become a candidate for political 
preferment. 

In 1857 he was married to Miss Louise Ger- 
lach, of Frankfort-on-the-Main. She died in 

1893, leaving three children, namely: William 
C., Charles F., and Emily, the wife of Otto C. 
Schneider. 

Mr. Beck's last continental trip was made in 

1894, upon which occasion he visited Egypt and 
other remote lands. While on the African conti- 
nent his health became impaired, but he was 
greatly benefited by a sojourn of several weeks 
in the pure air of the mountains of Switzerland. 
Upon his return from this trip he lived a quiet 
life, at his comfortable home on La Salle Avenue, 
surrounded by his children and grandchildren, to 
whom he was devotedly attached. He was one of 
the most companionable of men, and his con- 
genial, sunny nature always made all who came 
into his presence feel at ease. He was well 
informed and a pleasing conversationalist. His 
leisure hours were whiled away at his favorite 
pastime, the intricate game of skat, at which he 
was considered an expert player. Said one who 
knew him well: "His loyalty to friends, the per- 
fect simplicity and frankness of his character, and 
the total absence of affectation and outward dis- 
play made him an exceptionally good friend to all 
who enjoyed his confidence. ' ' 



JOSEPH A. REIS. 



(JOSEPH ADAM REIS, of Rogers Park, is a 
I carpenter and builder, also a florist, and was 
(/ born in Monroe County, Illinois. On the 
maternal side he is descended from the oldest 
German family in the State. The Reis family 
was founded in this State by his father, Peter A. 



Reis, who was born in Rhenish Bavaria about 
1838, and came to this country when a small boy 
with his parents, Peter and Margaret Reis, lo- 
cating in Monroe County, where the parents died, 
and where Peter A. Reis still resides. 

On the maternal side, Joseph A. Reis is de- 



JOHN BERG. 



241 



scended from an old German family that was 
founded in this country in the early part of this 
century by his great-grandfather, Joseph Platz, 
who came from Rhenish Bavaria, and settled near 
New Orleans, Louisiana. Joseph Platz, the ma- 
ternal grandfather of Mr. Reis, came to Illinois 
when a boy, with his mother and two half-broth- 
ers, the family settling at Columbia, Monroe 
County. 

On reaching manhood he became the owner of 
the first stone quarry and lime kilns in the State. 
He died in 1871, leaving a family of four daugh- 
ters, Deborah, the mother of Mr. Reis, being the 
second. 

Peter A. and Barbara Reis have ten children, 
all of whom are living. 'Joseph A. is the only 
member of the family who lives in Cook County. 
He was educated in the public schools of Colum- 
bia, and learned the carpenter trade with his uncle, 



spending his vacations working at the trade, and 
one year after graduating from school. After 
learning the trade he worked as a journeyman 
several years. For some years he was foreman 
for Mr. Kinney, of Evanston. In 1892 he en- 
gaged in the production of vegetables in green- 
houses, but two years ago turned the business 
into the growing of flowers for the city market. 
He is also engaged in contracting for building 
greenhouses. 

September 16, 1884, he married Margaret 
Muno, a daughter of Henry and Margaret (Pink) 
Muno. They have seven children, namely: Mar- 
garet, Agnes, Clarence, Elizabeth, Arthur, Hen- 
rietta and Joseph. All are members of Saint 
Henry's Church. Mr. Reis is a Democrat in 
politics, but has never sought office. He is an 
intelligent, reading man, and a useful member of 
society. 



JOHN BERG. 



3OHN BERG, of Bowmanville, is one of the 
old residents of Chicago. He was born- in 
Germany, January 18, 1825, and is a son of 
Nicholas Berg. In 1840 he emigrated to the 
United States, being the only member of his fath- 
er's family who came to America. He spent a 
short time in Indiana before locating permanently 
in Chicago. Being without means or influential 
friends, he was obliged to accept any kind of em- 
ployment as a means of earning an honest living. 
By carefully saving his earnings he was enabled 
to buy a team and wagon, and for some years did 
an express business. For a few years he kept a 
buffet on Clark Street, in Lake View. 

In 1871 he bought two acres of land in Bow- 
manville, and started a small grocery store, where 
his sons are now conducting the large business 
that has grown from that small beginning. About 



two years later he added a saloon to his grocery 
business, and here continued to do a profitable 
trade until 1894, when he turned the business 
over to his sons, and has since been living in 
retirement. 

His business career was characterized by indus- 
try, enterprise and fair dealing. In public affairs 
he has taken a considerable interest. In National 
and State elections he usually acts with the Re- 
publican party, while in local concerns he is found 
supporting the men best qualified for administra- 
tive positions. He served several years on the 
board of trustees of Jefferson Township, and a 
number of years as justice of the peace, and is at 
the present time a notary public. 

Mr. Berg and his family are members of Saint 
Mathias' Roman Catholic Church. He has been 
twice married, h;s first wife dying without issue. 



242 



RICHARD RUvSK. 



April 21, 1854, lie married Miss Mary Nernberg, 
a native of Germany. To this union nine chil- 
dren have been born, namely: Mary, wife of 
Peter Gort; Anna, now Mrs. August Goetz, of 
Bowmanville; Theresa, wife of Edward Munz, of 
West Pullman; Katharine, wife of John Sumnick, 
of Chicago; William, a grocer of Bowmanville, 



who married Elizabeth Penning, by whom he has 
two children, Andrew and Peter (twins), both in 
business at Bowmanville. John Adam married 
Miss Alvina Singstock; and Susie, the youngest 
of the family, is the wife of Elmer Clark. 
Andrew Berg married Helen Miller, and Peter, 
his twin brother, married Miss Jennie Brown. 



RICHARD RUSK. 



RICHARD RUSK has been a resident of Cook 
County for over a quarter of a century. He 
was born February 28, 1838, in County 
Armagh, Ireland, and is a son of Alexander and 
Elizabeth (Fair) Rusk, the former born in Scot- 
land and the latter in County Armagh, Ireland. 
Mrs. Rusk died in Ireland, June 20, 1859, the 
very day that Richard Rusk landed in the United 
States. After the death of his wife Alexander 
Rusk went to Australia and remained three 
years, returned to Ireland, and after spending 
three years there, came to America, bringing 
with him his three daughters. He located near 
Washington, District of Columbia, and bought 
twelve acres of land, part of General Lee's farm. 
After the heavy oak timber was cleared off the 
land, he planted it with peach trees, and spent 
most of the remainder of his life there. Mr. 
Rusk lived the last five years of his life in George- 
town, where he died about 1873. The family 
consisted of four sons and four daughters, namely: 
George, who died in Ireland; Richard, the sub- 
ject of this notice; William, now living in Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia; Samuel, of Cali- 
fornia; Margaret and Jane, twins, the former de- 
ceased, and the latter living in Washington; Lucy 
and Elizabeth. 

Richard Rusk was educated in the national 
schools of Ireland. At the age of nineteen years, 
he began to learn the trades of carpenter and 



wagon maker. He was apprenticed for the term 
of seven years, but after working five years and 
a-half with no pay, he became tired of it, and ran 
away to work for another man, who paid him four- 
pence a day, about fifty cents a week. He was an 
ambitious youth, and with even these small earn- 
ings he was able to save enough to buy himself 
clothing for two years and his passage to America. 

In May, 1859, he sailed from Belfast, arriving 
two days later in Liverpool , and started the same 
night for America, in the sailing ship "White 
Star," having on board nine hundred and eighty 
emigrants. After an uneventful voyage of five 
weeks he landed in New York, and from there 
he went by way of Albany to Rutland, Vermont, 
to visit a cousin. He worked in Vermont at his 
trade two years, and then, in 1862, went to New 
York, and from there to Washington, where he 
worked at his trade in a Government shop one 
year. He was transferred to the field and em- 
ployed in repairing ambulances and buggies, 
which he continued until the close of the war, 
with the exception of two months when he was 
ill. He was in the employ of the Government 
at the time of the assassination of President Lin- 
coln, and attended his funeral. 

After the war, Mr. Rusk opened a wagon shop 
at No. 22 West Washington Street, Chicago, and 
did a successful business. He next went to Rut- 
land, La Salle County, Illinois, and built a new 



L. C. WEMPLE. 



243 



wagon shop and carried on a successful business 
nearly three years. In 1869 he came to Cook 
County and bought ten acres of land in sections 1 1 
and 1 2 Jefferson Township, and engaged in garden- 
ing. He leased three hundred acres of the Jack- 
son farm and carried on farming also. He now 
owns thirty acres of the same land, and, besides 
the farm, owns a fine business block on Lincoln 
and Graceland Avenues, Chicago. 

On Christinas day of 1864, in Washington, Mr. 
Rusk married Miss Margaret Wallace. Mr. and 
Mrs. Rusk had eight children, seven of whom are 



now living. They are: Charles, who lives on 
Belmont Avenue; John; William; David; Anna, 
wife of John Flood; Mary, now Mrs. James Shea, 
of Rogers Park; and Margaret, wife of Arthur 
Bairstow. 

Mr. Rusk has always shown great interest in 
the prosperity of his adopted country, and is a 
progressive citizen. He usually acts with the 
Republican party, but always supports the man 
he considers most fit for an office, whether local 
or national. The family is identified with the 
Episcopal Church. 



LEONARD C WEMPLE. 



I EONARD CARL WEMPLE, of Rogers 
1C Park, was born in the town of Fonda, Mont- 
l_y gomery County, New York, February 9, 
1836. He is the son of Jacob Van Alstine and 
Eleanor (Veeder) Wemple. His ancestors were 
Holland Dutch, and both families were founded 
in America before the Revolutionary War. Jacob 
Van Alstine, the great-great-grandfather of Leon- 
ard Wemple, served as a soldier in the War for 
Independence and was present at the surrender 
of Burgoyne. 

In 1848, when the subject of this sketch was 
twelve years of age, the family came to Chicago. 
Jacob V. A. Wemple was a manufacturer of 
threshing machines, and obtained the third patent 
granted by the United States Government on a 
machine for threshing and separating the grain 
from the straw and chaff. He carried on the 
manufacture of machines in Chicago until 1859, 
when he failed in business. He then went to 
Winnebago County, in this State, and engaged in 
farming, on land previously purchased. Subse- 
quently he removed to a farm in Branch County, 
Michigan, where he died in 1873, and his good 
wife died seven years later. They had a family 



of fourteen children, three of whom died in 
childhood. The following grew to maturity, and 
four are living at this writing: Caroline, John; 
Leonard C. , the subject of this article; Maria 
Jane, deceased; Virginia Catherine, deceased; 
Lavina, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased, and Eu- 
gene. These are among the heirs of the cele- 
brated Trinity Church property of New York. 

Leonard C. Wemple was fairly educated in 
private schools in Chicago. He was early 
trained in his father's shop, and became an ex- 
pert workman in both wood and iron, and has all 
his life followed that form of mechanics. For 
nearly half a century he has been a resident of 
Chicago, with the exception of some months 
which he spent in California, on two different oc- 
casions. No better testimonial of his ability as a 
workman, of his reliability and good habits can 
be formed than the fact that for the past fourteen 
years he has been in the employ of the William 
Deering Harvester Company, of Chicago, as a 
pattern-maker, a position which he still occupies. 

March 23, 1864, Mr. Wemple married Miss 
Ruth, daughter of Philip G. and Anna (Austin) 
Whelden. She was born in Rensselaer County, 



244 



H. C. HANSEN. 



New York, and came to Illinois with her parents 
when a child, and was reared on a farm in Boone 
County. Her parents were natives of the Empire 
State, and had five children, namely: Charles G., 
Elizabeth, Ruth, Nathaniel G. and Isaiah. The 
mother died when Mrs. Weniple was five years of 
age. A few years later Mr. Whelden married 
Miriam Harriet Austin, sister of his first wife, 
and they became the parents of three children 
Harriet Ann, Philip G. and Jabez. After coming 
to this State Mr. Whelden engaged in farming in 



Boone County, until he retired from active busi- 
ness and became a resident of Rockford, where he 
died in June, 1895, his wife having been dead five 
years. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Wemple were born three chil- 
dren, as follows: Willis Grant, an engineer on the 
Chicago & Northwestern Railway; Clarence 
Nelson, also in the employ of the same railroad 
company; and Ada Louise. Mr. Wemple is a 
Republican in political opinion, and is a regular 
attendant of the Methodist Church. 



HENRY C HANSEN. 



HENRY CHRISTIAN HANSEN, a promi- 
nent business man of Oak Park and Chi- 
cago, was born at Waygaard, near Tondern, 
Schleswig-Holstein, October 8, 1840. As far as 
known, nearly all his progenitors have been noted 
for longevity and physical vigor. His grandfa- 
ther, Daniel Hansen, was born at Leek, in the 
same State, March 19, 1766. He was engaged in 
mercantile business at Waygaard during the 
greater part of his life. In this enterprise he was 
succeeded by his only son, Hans Johann Diedrich, 
who became the father of Henry C. Hansen. 
Hans J. D. Hansen was born at Waygaard, Oc- 
tober 8, 1802, and died in the same place in 1851, 
at the age of forty-nine years, one month and 
three weeks. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Anna Sonnichsen, died there in 1893, having at- 
tained the age of ninety-two years. She was born 
at Nord Waygaard and was the eldest in a family 
of eleven children. 

Henry C. Hansen is the youngest .of six chil- 
dren born to his parents, and the only represen- 
tative of the family in the United States. He 
was educated in the public schools of his native 
place, and at the age of sixteen years entered a 



mercantile establishment at Niebull, where he 
spent five years in learning the details of that 
business, serving four years of this time without 
wages. He was afterward employed in other 
cities, and spent one year in a large wholesale and 
retail dry-goods house at Hamburg. 

After the close of the War of 1866 he came to 
America and spent the next year in a grocery 
and market at Wheeling, West Virginia. He 
then came to Chicago, where he was first employed 
in a retail grocery store on Chicago Avenue. 
He was afterwards connected with dry-goods 
houses in that city, and in 1873 removed to Oak 
Park, where he purchased a stock of general 
merchandise and carried on that line of trade for 
the next fourteen years. Since that time he has 
devoted most of his attention to the real-estate 
and loan business, maintaining an office for that 
purpose in Chicago. Having acquired considerable 
property in the city and suburbs, its care now oc- 
cupies most of his time. He has always taken 
an active interest in movements calculated to 
promote the development of Oak Park and ad- 
jacent suburbs. He was one of the first men in- 
terested in the construction of the Cicero & Pro- 



SIVERT HOLLESEN. 



245 



viso Electric Railroad, and was for a time a mem- 
ber of the board of directors of that corporation. 
This organization built the first line of electric 
road in Cook County, and has since constructed 
a number of other lines, connecting the city with 
most of the West Side suburbs. He was also one 
of the prime movers in the organization of the 
Ogden Street Railway Company, which was 
formed for a similar purpose. In 1892 he became 
one of the incorporators of the Oak Park State 
Bank, and has ever since been vice-president of 
that thriving institution. He has several times 
served the town of Cicero in official capacities, 
having filled the office of collector for one year, 
and that of trustee four years. In political action 
he has always been unbiased by party prejudice, 
and supports such men and measures as he be- 
lieves to be in the best interests of the country. 
In 1872 he was a warm supporter of Horace 
Greeley for the presidency, and for a number of 
years thereafter sustained the national Democratic 
ticket. In 1896 he was a delegate to the con- 
vention at Indianapolis which nominated John M. 
Palmer for the presidency, but, becoming con- 
vinced that the business interests of the country 



could be best served in that manner, he cast his 
ballot for William McKinley. Though reared 
in the Lutheran faith, he has never affiliated with 
any religious or social organization since coming 
to the United States. 

He was married in March, 1874, to Catharine 
Gaugler, daughter of Moritz Gaugler, of whom 
further notice appears on another page of this 
book. Mrs. Hansen was born in Chicago, and 
has developed unusual skill in painting and wood- 
carving. Among many other things, she has 
designed and executed a fire screen of combined 
carved and embroidery work which has attracted 
considerable attention as a remarkable amateur 
production. She is a member of the Gesellschaft 
Erholung, a charitable organization in Chicago, 
and pieces of carving contributed by her have 
realized good prices for the benefit of that society. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hansen have two sons, Moris and 
Edward, both of whom are graduates of the Oak 
Park High School, and the latter of Bryant and 
Stratton's Business College. The elder son is an 
amateur painter of ability, and no guest of this 
family can fail to be impressed by the skill dis- 
played in the handiwork of its members. 



SIVERT HOLLESEN. 



DIVERT HOLLESEN, an industrious, pro- 
7\ gressive and successful citizen of North 
\~) Chicago, was born August 10, 1849, in 
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (then a part of 
Denmark). His parents, John and Mary Chris- 
tina Hollesen, were natives of that place, where 
they passed their entire lives. The father died 
in 1856, and the mother iri 1892. 

Sivert Hollesen grew to manhood in his native 
land and received a fair education, which is as- 
sured to every citizen of that country. He was 
early accustomed to the duties of farm life; but 



has always spent his leisure time in reading and 
studying, and is thoroughly well informed on the 
topics which engage the attention of the people of 
the present day. He writes and reads rapidly in 
the Danish, Norwegian and English languages, 
and speaks the German tongue fluently. 

In 1871 he came to the United States, by way 
of Leith and Glasgow, Scotland, and first touched 
American soil at Quebec, proceeding thence to 
Chicago, by way of the Grand Trunk Railroad. 
On his arrival here he possessed twenty dollars in 
gold, with which he began life. He was first em- 



246 



CELESTIAL KELLER. 



ployed as a laborer, and very soon found employ- 
ment at gardening, at which he served twelve 
years for one employer, Mr. R. J. Lewis, a 
well-known gardener and florist. During most 
of this time he occupied the position of foreman. 

In 1886 he began business for himself, on rent- 
ed ground, at the corner of Fullerton and Racine 
Avenues, and has achieved remarkable business 
success. In 1887 he purchased fifteen acres of 
land, at the corner of Devon Avenue and Perry 
Street, on which he has placed all of the improve- 
ments, including a good residence and out- 
buildings. 

He is now doing a large and profitable business 
in producing vegetables for the city markets. He 
employs four men all the time, and this force is, 
of course, largely increased during the summer 
months. In 1892 he bought twenty-three acres 
in North Evanston; the following year he pur- 
chased ten acres in Niles Township. These are 
considered by good judges to be shrewd invest- 
ments. Mr. Hollesen has never been ambitious 



to manage the affairs of his neighbors or of the 
public generally, but is a steadfast Republican, 
and does not fail to perform his duties as a private 
citizen, as he understands them. 

June 17, 1882, he was married to Miss Frances 
Schoenbeck, who is a daughter of Peter and Anna 
Schoenbeck, natives of West Prussia, in which 
country Mrs. Hollesen was born May 13, 1859. 
In 1880 she came to America, with her parents, 
who are now residents of Rogers Park. Mr. and 
Mrs. Holleseu have seven daughters Anna, 
Mary, Fallie, Martha, Sophia, Clara and Frances. 
They lost a son at the age of three months. All 
are identified with Saint Henry's Roman Cath- 
olic Church. 

Mr. Hollesen is deserving of credit not only for 
the material success which he has attained, but 
for the cultivation of his mind and talents, in the 
midst of a most laborious life, and he is now 
respected as one of the most intelligent and pro- 
gressive citizens of the community in which he 
resides. 



CELESTIAL KELLER. 



CELESTIAL KELLER, who is engaged in 
I ( farming on North Clark Street, Chicago, has 
\J been a resident of Cook County since 1857. 
He was born September 22, 1830, in Argon, 
Switzerland, and is a son of Frank Lorenz and 
Mary (Stagmeyer) Keller. He was educated in 
the beneficent public schools of Switzerland, and 
became master of the carpenter's trade, at which 
he worked in connection with farming. 

He came to the United States in the year before 
named, disembarking at New York and proceed- 
ing directly to Chicago, where he secured employ- 
ment at his trade until the Great Fire of 1871. 



After this he took up farming at his present loca- 
tion, and has continued that occupation since. 

Mr. Keller does not take an active part in the 
management of public affairs, leaving these cares 
to more ambitious souls. He is a faithful adhe- 
rent of the Roman Catholic faith, while the re- 
maining members of his family are connected with 
the Presbyterian Church. 

November 25, 1867, Mr. Keller was married to 
Katharine Klein, daughter of Christopher and 
Anna (Young) Klein. Mrs. Keller's family came 
to America in 1866, and arrived February 2 of 
that year in Chicago. A month later they bought 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




HENRY O. LOVETT 



H. O. LOVETT. 



247 



land on Clark Street, and continued farming there 
for many years. The mother was killed by an 
accident September 9, 1876, and the father died 
April 14, 1886. They were adherents of the 
Presbyterian religious faith. They were from the 
Rhine Province of Prussia, Germany, where both 
were born, as were their children, who came with 



them, namely: Katharine (Mrs. Keller); Anna, 
wife of Jacob Meelbeier; Michael, now deceased; 
Christopher, a resident of Chicago; Barbara, wife 
of Henry Rumstick; Sybla (Mrs. Frederick 
Meyer); and Elizabeth, wife of Michael Boscheit. 
Mr. and Mrs. Keller have lost three children, and 
have two living, namely: Albert and Bertha. 



HENRY O. LOVETT. 



HENRY ORISON LOVETT was born in 
Bath, Steuben County, New York, in 1826, 
and was the son of Joseph and Lydia 
(Crouch) Lovett, the latter being a native of 
Connecticut, in which State she was married to 
Mr. Lovett. About 1835 the family came to Cook 
County, locating on Grand Avenue (then known 
as the Elgin Road), in the present village of 
Galewood. His father died here, and his mother 
died in Palmyra, New York, at the home of her 
son, Joseph Lovett. 

When grown to manhood, Henry O. Lovett 
settled in the town of Leyden, where the 
remainder of his life was spent. He became 
the owner of six hundred acres of prairie 
and timber land, and was one of the most exten- 
sive farmers of that township. Much of his prop- 
erty has been sub divided, the present village of 
Ellsworth having been laid out thereon. 

Mr. Lovett was one of the leading members of 
the Norwood Baptist Church at Norwood Park. 
He took an active interest in establishing a good 
system of public schools in the town of Leyden, 
and aided in many other progressive movements. 
He filled many local offices, and discharged every 
public duty in a most acceptable and conscientious 
manner. He was a Republican in principle, but 



could hardly be called a politician, and never 
sought to advance his private interests at public 
expense. 

He was married December 3, 1848, to Miss 
Mary, daughter of John and Polly Van Natta, of 
whom further notice is given elsewhere in this 
volume. Mrs. Lovett was born in Mina, Chau- 
tauqua County, New York. They were the par- 
ents of seven children, namely: John J., of Mont- 
clare; Mary H., who died September 23, 1860, at 
the age of nine years; Ella A., the wife of Rev. 
John L- Jackson, pastor of a Baptist Church in 
Hyde Park; Charles Edwin, who died August 5, 
1883, at the age of thirty years; Stanley Ernest, 
who died at the age of eighteen months; Emery 
Orison, a Baptist minister at Fort Scott, Kansas; 
and lona Esther, wife of William C. Brown, who 
resides at Oak Park. 

Mr. Lovett died January 4, 1873, at Ellsworth, 
Cook County, Illinois, at the age of forty-seven 
years. Since 1891 Mrs. Lovett has made her 
home at Oak Park. She relates many interesting 
incidents and reminiscences of earl}' life in Chi- 
cago and Cook County, and anyone who is inter- 
ested in the history of this locality and its pioneers 
will find it a treat to listen to her, as one can learn 
much from her on this topic. 



248 



MORITZ GAUGLER. 



MORITZ GAUGLER. 



lORITZ GAUGLER, one of the worthy 
pioneers of Cook County, was born June 
12, 1808, at Undercept, Elsass (at that 
time a part of France) , and his death occurred at 
Oak Park, October 3, 1879. His father, Nicholas 
Gaugler, was a professional cook and was em- 
ployed for many years in the family of a French 
nobleman. His wife died when the son, Moritz, 
was but three years old. The latter learned the 
trade of cabinet-maker in his native land, and in 
1830 emigrated to the United States. He located 
at Watertown, New York, where he followed his 
trade, though he found that much of the skill 
which he had acquired was of but little use in 
this country. He was married there, and in 
1836 came to Chicago, spending six weeks in the 
journey, which was made by the way of Erie 
Canal and the Great Lakes. A short time after 
his arrival he went to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, 
where a number of Chicago people were inter- 
ested in the construction of a sawmill. He was 
employed about two years at that place, then in 
the midst of the wilderness. During this time 
he made several trips to Chicago with an ox- 
team, sometimes being several weeks upon the 
way, owing to the almost impassable condition of 
the roads. He subsequently took up his resi- 
dence in Chicago, where he worked at the car- . 
penter trade and such other employment as of- 
fered opportunity to gain a livelihood. He some- 
times eked out his income by picking strawberries 
for market, as that fruit grew very abundantly 



in the vicinity of Wright's Grove, on the North 
Side. After a time he began taking building 
contracts, but in this enterprise was not very 
successful. 

Soon after coming to Chicago he made the ac- 
quaintance of William B. Ogden, and an intimate 
friendship always existed between them. He 
was often advised by Mr. Ogden to invest his 
savings in real estate, but hesitated for several 
years about accepting this advice. Among the 
tracts which he had been urged to purchase was 
one of about two acres, on the west side of Clark 
Street, between Schiller Street and North Ave- 
nue, which was offered to him for six hundred 
dollars. A few years later, having become con- 
vinced of the advantage of such investments, he 
paid ten thousand dollars for the same piece. He 
made his home there for several years, in the 
mean time subdividing and selling portions of it, 
which yielded him a handsome profit on the in- 
vestment. 

About 1865 he removed to Oak Park, which 
was then a small straggling village. He bought 
considerable property at that place, much of 
which he subdivided and improved from time to 
time. He built two houses on Chicago Avenue, 
among the first erected on that thoroughfare in 
Oak Park. He was always interested in public 
affairs, and served several terms as a member of 
the board of trustees of the town of Cicero, dur- 
ing which time some noteworthy public improve- 
ments were made. He was a natural musician, 



JULIUS RISTOW. 



249 



and all of his descendants have inherited more or 
less of his talent in that direction. 

Mr. Gaugler was married in 1835, to Catharine 
Young, who survives him and is now living at 
Oak Park, at the venerable age of eighty-six 
years. She was born at Winterburg, France, and 
came to the United States about 1830, in company 
with her brother, who left his native land in 
common with many^of his countrymen, to evade 
the onerous military duty imposed there. Pre- 
vious to her marriage, Mrs. Gaugler was em- 
ployed as head cook in a hotel at Watertown, 
New York. Her father, Nicholas Young, oper- 
ated a line of teams engaged in transporting salt 



from Germany into Elsass. About 1835 became 
to the United States, and lived at Watertown, 
New York, until his death, at the age of seventy- 
five years. His wife reached the age of ninety- 
eight years. Her brother, Nicholas Wehrung, 
was an officer in the army of Napoleon I, as was 
also a Mr. Marzloff, who married a sister of Mrs. 
Gaugler. Of five daughters born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Gaugler, three grew to womanhood, name- 
ly: Josephine, Mrs. Frederick Cronemeyer, of 
Omaha, Nebraska; Emaline, deceased wife of 
George Timme, of the same place; and Catharine, 
now the wife of Henry C. Hansen, of Oak 
Park. 



JULIUS RISTOW. 



(1 ULIUS RISTOW is one of the industrious 
I and progressive citizens which Germany has 
G) furnished to Cook County. He is the eldest 
son of the late Erdman and Katherine Ristow, of 
whom further mention is made in the biography 
of Otto Ristow, in this work. The subject of this 
sketch was born October 13, 1845, in Germany, 
where he grew to manhood, receiving a thorough 
training in the profession of florist. At the same 
time he received the liberal education which is 
guaranteed to every German subject by the munif- 
icent educational system of the Empire. 

In 1858 lie married Miss Amelia Hager, and 
ten days after this interesting event in his life he 
set sail, accompanied by his loving bride, to 
make a home and fortune in free America. It is 
easy to imagine with what conflicting emotions 
this young pair severed their connection with 
home, friends and native land, while buoyed up 
with youthful hopes and confidence in each other, 
to begin life amid strange surroundings, in a 
country whose language was strange and un- 
musical to them. They had been bred to habits 



of thrift and industry, and felt sure that they 
would never want while health and strength were 
spared them. 

For a few years after his arrival in Cook Coun- 
ty, Mr. Ristow worked in the service of others, 
until he could save something from his wages. 
He did not falter in his determination to make a 
home, and in this he was cheered and aided by 
his faithful wife. In 1872 he located in what was 
then called Bowmanville, and with his brother, 
Otto Ristow, began business as a florist, upon 
leased land. This arrangement continued seven 
years, and in 1884 he bought an acre of land on 
Western Avenue, where he now lives. After- 
ward he purchased an additional half acre, and 
the greater portion of his ground is now covered 
by greenhouses, devoted to the production of 
roses for the cut-flower trade. As Mr. Ristow 
thoroughly understood every detail of this im- 
portant industry, he has made a success of the 
business. Although he began a poor man, he is 
now in comfortable circumstances, but he does 
not relax his careful attention to business or his 



250 



SIMON SIMON. 



accustomed diligence in its prosecution , and every 
youth anxious to succeed in life is advised to 
study the plan of his operations. 

While he has usually supported the Democratic 
party in political contests, Mr. Ristow is not 
strongly partisan, and does not believe that any 
party or set of men embodies all the patriotism or 
true philosophy of government, and is disposed 
to ignore party lines, especially in local matters. 
He has never desired or sought public honors, 
preferring to devote his time to his own business 
and the best interests of his family. He is a 



member of the Lutheran Church, and has ever 
borne his share in its maintenance. 

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Ristow includes 
nine children, all born in Chicago and all living 
at this writing. Clara, the eldest, is the wife of 
Herman A. Banske, and the mother of three 
children, Otto August, Herman William Albert 
and Elsie Amelia, besides one who died in in- 
fancy. The second daughter, Anna, is the wife 
of Albert Kuno, a gardener of Bowmanville. The 
other children are: Mollie, Ida, Leo, George, 
John, Richard and Edward. 



SIMON SIMON. 



ilMON SIMON, of Ravenswood, Chicago, is 
a pioneer settler of that locality. He is a 
native of Prussia, Germany, born May 19, 
1840, and is a son of Jacob and Gertrude Simon, 
natives of the same place, where the father 
learned and followed the trade of shoe-nail smith. 
In 1847, with his family of nine children, he set 
out for America, and arrived in Chicago on the 
7th of July in that year. Having exhausted his 
means in the journey, he was obliged to accept 
any employment that offered, and set bravely 
about making a home and a name for himself 
and children in the land which they has sacrificed 
so much to reach. He took up his residence on 
Dearborn Avenue, between Elm and Division 
Streets, where Mrs. Simon died in the fall of 
1865. After the Great Fire of 1871, the father 
lived with his son, Michael Simon, where he 
died in 1885. Both he and his good wife were 
born in the year 1795. Their children were: 
Mathias; Mary, widow of Peter Moulton; Jacob, 
deceased; Anna, wife of Jacob Weber; Peter; 
Johanna, widow of Mathias Cossman; John, Nich- 



olas and Michael, deceased; William; and Simon, 
the youngest. Besides these, one died in infancy 
in the old country. When the parents celebrated 
their golden wedding in 1865, seventy-three chil- 
dren and grandchildren were present to con- 
gratulate them. 

Simon Simon, the subject of this notice, was 
educated in the Franklin School, at the corner of 
Sedgwick and Division Streets. At the age of 
sixteen years he went to learn the trade of 
moulder, in the study and practice of which his 
time was occupied for several years, until failing 
health compelled him to abandon it. For about 
twelve years he was a member of the Chicago 
police force, and for a period of eight years he 
kept a restaurant. He is now in the service ot 
the county, as an attache of Sheriff Pease's office, 
and has acted as turnkey a number of years, un- 
der two preceding sheriffs. 

In 1860 Mr. Simon was married to Miss Anna 
Elizabeth Myer, a native of Prussia, who came 
to Chicago when a small child. She was a foster 
daughter of Jacob Myer, who was the second 



CAPT. ANDREW TORKILSON. 



251 



husband of her mother. Mrs. Simon passed from 
life September 3, 1892, leaving a family of three 
sons the second of whom is recorder of Cook 
County and two daughters, namely: George, 
Louise, Robert M., Henry and Katharine. The 
eldest son is an artist of well-known skill. 

Mr. Simon became a resident of Lake View 
(now part of Chicago) in 1875. Since becoming 



a citizen of the United States he has given his 
earnest support to the principles advocated by the 
Republican party. To all of his children he is 
devoted, and he has given to each the best educa- 
tional opportunities. These have been appreciated, 
and the family is known as a united and highly 
cultivated one, enjoying the respect of the com- 
munity in which it resides. 



CAPT. ANDREW TORKILSON. 



EAPT. ANDREW TORKILSON was an 
early settler of Chicago, and one of the city's 
representative Scandinavian citizens. He 
was born on the western coast of Norway in 1825. 
His advantages for obtaining 'an education in the 
primary branches were good. His parents were 
ambitious for him to have a bright future, and, 
after completing an elementary course in the com- 
mon schools, he had his choice of what his career 
should be, though they themselves were inclined 
to see him enter the ministry. This was not 
young Andrew's choice, however, and as he had 
a predisposition to military life, he chose that, 
and at once entered the National Military School 
of his country, at Christiania, where he was care- 
fully taught in the manual of arms and the ab- 
stract principles of war. He graduated after six 
years of close application. Afterwards he entered 
the Government service, having been commis- 
sioned lieutenant, and served a year, when he re- 
signed to come to America. He could not leave 
without a permit from the Government officials, 
which he had difficulty in securing. 

In 1854 ne emigrated to America in a sailing- 
vessel, which was seventy-two days en route, 
landing at New York. From there he came to 
Chicago by the water route, and upon settling 
here he learned the cooper's trade, which he fol- 
lowed for some years. He had a shop of his own, 



and at times employed as many as thirty men. 
In this business he was very successful, accumu- 
lating considerable property. Previous to the 
outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed to 
the police force of the city, proving himself a brave 
and efficient officer. In 1856 he made a Euro- 
pean trip, visiting England, Ireland, many points 
of the continent, and his own home in Norway, 
being gone a year. 

Early in 1861 came the opportunity to distin- 
guish himself in the profession of arms, for which 
he had been carefully fitted. He recruited one 
hundred twelve men in the city, tendering them, 
with himself, to Governor Yates, but the State 
quota being then full, the Governor was compelled 
to refuse acceptance. In this dilemma he com- 
municated with the Executive of Wisconsin, ten- 
dering himself and all the men he had recruited, 
and was accepted. Out of his own pocket he 
paid the fare of these men to Madison, Wisconsin. 
Beside this he had clothed and lodged the men for 
sixty days previous, in order to keep them to- 
gether. They were a magnificent body of men, 
not one of whom measured less than six feet in 
height. 

Upon arriving in Madison they were organized 
as Company A, Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry, and 
Mr. Torkilson was appointed captain. The regi- 
ment was at once sent to the seat of war, and was 



252 



CAPT. ANDREW TORKILSON. 



incorporated in General Grant's army at Cairo, 
Illinois. Under this redoubtable chietain the 
regiment took part in the decisive victories which 
resulted from Grant's first campaign, fighting at 
Perryville, Forts Donelson and Henry, and at 
Island Number Ten. Then under General Buell, 
but still in Grant's army, it fought in the last 
day's fight at Shiloh; then came the bloody en- 
gagements of Corinth, Murfreesboro, Chatta- 
nooga, Missionary Ridge, and the subsequent 
fighting of Sherman's army up to the final siege 
of Atlanta. Captain Torkilson acquitted himself 
as became a true and gallant soldier, which he 
was. The deafening noise of the scores of con- 
flicts so impaired his hearing that he was obliged 
to surrender his commission, which he did with 
reluctance. 

Upon his return to civil life he settled in Chi- 
cago, aud was for the second time appointed to 
the police force, this time by his friend, Mayor 
John Wentworth. He was active in the city's 
politics, and wielded an influence that was con- 
siderable. Mayor Wentworth said of him, "To 
Captain Torkilson' s influence I am indebted for 
my election." The mayor was his devoted friend, 
and their mutual confidence was never disturbed 
to the end of their lives. 

Some years after the war Captain Torkilson 
settled in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he followed 
coopering and hotel-keeping, and held numerous 
official positions of trust. In 1873 he returned to 
Chicago and settled in Rogers Park, which could 
then boast only a few scattering homes. For a 
time following his settlement there he had charge 
of the toll-gate, and was subsequently engaged in 
the cooperage business. 

He was an active and energetic man, and en- 
joyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew 
him. In height he stood six feet three inches, 
and weighed about two hundred twenty pounds. 
His scholarly attainments were of a high order 
and he remained a Student all his life, keeping 
himself informed upon the leading and important 
questions of the day. He was an honored mem- 
ber of the Masonic order, having attained to the 
Master's degree. 

He was twice married, his second wife, Miss 



Christina Smith, a native of Nonvay, being wed- 
ded to him in Chicago. Their union resulted in 
seven children, six of whom are living, namely: 
Benjamin, Andrew F., John A., Thomas F., 
Clara F. and Anna C. ; Mary E. is deceased. 
Mrs. Torkilson, who is still living, is a daughter 
of Benedict and Elizabeth Smith, of Norway. The 
former still survives, and is a gentleman of influ- 
ence and worth, having followed the seas for a 
great many years. He has visited America twice, 
attending the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel- 
phia, in 1876, and in 1893 the World's Fair in 
this city, making the last journey both ways un- 
attended, though over ninety years of age. 

Captain Torkilson was an ardent Republican 
in politics, and his party had no more stanch 
supporter than he. Public service was uncon- 
genial to him in many ways, but he sought to 
fulfill his share of the duties of a good citizen. 
His death occurred October 18, 1881, and his 
remains repose in Rogers Park, where they were 
interred with Masonic honors. 

Benjamin Smith Torkilson, eldest son of Cap- 
tain Torkilson, was born in Chicago November 
15, 1859. He was reared in the city, and edu- 
cated in its public schools. In youth he learned 
the cooper's trade, and later learned stone-cutting. 
Politically, he affiliates with the Republican par- 
ty. He was married to Miss Emma Collins in 
1883, and they have four children, namely: Ella, 
Marion, Anna and Margaret. Mrs. Torkilson 
was born at Bailey's Harbor, Wisconsin. 

The second son, Andrew F. Torkilson, was 
born in Chicago in 1863. He was reared in 
Rogers Park and educated in the elementary 
branches in the public schools of that suburb. 
This was supplemented by a course in a business 
college, and he has, for a number of years, ac- 
ceptably filled a responsible position with the 
Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company, 
being store-keeper of its dining-car service. He 
is an esteemed member of the Masonic fraternity 
and of the Royal League. His wife, Clara (Bart- 
lin) Torkilson, has borne him a son, named 
Fremont. Mr. Torkilson is a young man of 
pleasing, affable manners, and of good business 
and executive ability. 



HENRY WALLER. 



253 



HENRY WALLER. 



HENRY WALLER, for many years a promi- 
nent representative of the Chicago bar, was 
born in Frankfort, Kentucky, November 9, 
1810, and died at River Forest, Illinois, July 28, 
1893. He sprang from a family which has pro- 
duced many illustrious men, both in this country 
and in Europe. Among the noted members of 
the Waller family in England were Sir William 
Waller, a distinguished general and member of 
Parliament during Cornwall's time, and Edward 
Waller, the poet. A member of this family came 
to Virginia about the time of the Restoration , and 
settled in Spottsylvania County. Among his de- 
scendants were John and William Edmund Wal- 
ler, eminent Baptist ministers, who suffered con- 
siderable persecution from the Church of England. 
Richard, the son of Rev. William E. Waller, 
was the father of C. S. Waller, deceased, formerly 
commissioner of public works in Chicago, and at 
one time assistant state auditor of Kentucky. 
William S., another son of Rev. William E. 
Waller, was for about forty years cashier of the 
Bank of Kentucky. He married Miss Brecken- 
ridge, a lady whose deep religious convictions and 
conscientious devotion to principle made her a 
typical representative of one of the foremost fam- 
ilies of the Bluegrass State. The four sons of this 
couple, Henry, James B. , William and Edward, 
became prominent citizens of Chicago, and all are 
deceased. There were two daughters, Mrs. Cath- 
arine Carson, deceased, and Mrs. Susanna P. 
Lees, who is a resident of New York City. The 
former was the mother of Mrs. Clifton Brecken- 
ridge, wife of the present United States Minister 
to Russia. 

Henry Waller graduated from West Point in 



1833, but soon resigned from the military service 
and studied law at Maysville, Kentucky, where 
he was a law partner of the Rev. John A. Mc- 
Clung, attorney, and was one of the lawyers en- 
gaged in the celebrated Dred Scott case. In 1855 
he came to Chicago, where he practiced law twen- 
ty years. In 1875 he was appointed a master in 
chancery. He continued to discharge the duties 
of that office until about 1891, when he declined 
a reappointment on account of failing health. He 
lived on Ashland Avenue about twenty years, but 
in 1886 he moved to River Forest, where the. re- 
mainder of his life was spent in retirement. 

Mr. Waller was married to Miss Sarah Bell 
Langhorne, daughter of John T. Langhorne, ot 
Maysville, Kentucky, a well-known hotelkeeper 
of that city, whose wife was Elizabeth B. Payne, 
a daughter of Col. Duvall Payne, who was a 
brother of the noted Col. Thomas Y. Payne. 'She 
was the second of five children. The others were: 
Mrs. Elizabeth Green, Mrs. Judith L. Marshall, 
Maurice Langhorne, and John D. Langhorne. 
Maurice Langhorne was captain of a Mississippi 
steamer before the war, and a well-known charac- 
ter on the Father of Waters. His brother graduated 
from Annapolis, and was an officer in the United 
States Navy for many years. Mrs. Sarah B. 
Waller died in Chicago, December 13, 1883, at 
the age of sixty- two years. Mrs. Waller was a 
student at Aberdeen, Ohio, where she was a class- 
mate of Gen. U. S. Grant. She was married at 
the age of fifteen years, and was the mother of 
ten children before she was thirty-six years old. 
She was chiefly self-educated, and was a historian 
of some note. She was a remarkable woman, 
queenly in social circles and a leading spirit among 



254 



P. H. DOBBINS. 



the brilliant men and women of her time. During 
the war she was a ministering angel to the sick 
and suffering Southern prisoners at Camp Doug- 
las. Her influence for good was felt by everyone 
who came within her reach, and many bless her 
memory. Following are the names of her chil- 
dren : William Smith Waller, who died in Chicago 
in 1874, aged thirty-six years, and who was a 
dealer in real estate; Rev. Maurice Waller : D. D., 
of Lebanon, Kentucky; Lilly L-, chief matron of 
the Police Department of Chicago; Henry, a well- 
known real-estate dealer in Chicago; Edward C. , 
of the same occupation, residing at River Forest; 
Catherine, wife of Rev. John G. Hunter, D. D. , 
of Harrodsburg, Kentucky; Judith C. W. (Mrs. 
William S. Johnston) , of Chicago; John D. ; Bell 
Langhorne, of Chicago; and James B., of Norfolk, 



Virginia, who is connected with the Seaboard Air 
Line Railroad Company. 

Politically Mr. Waller was a conservative Dem- 
ocrat. He served two terms in the Kentucky 
Legislature before leaving that State, from 1845 
to 1849. In Illinois he was the firm friend and 
co-laborer of Stephen A. Douglas, at whose funeral 
he was an honorary pall-bearer. They stumped 
the State together in several campaigns. During 
his earlier years in Chicago, Mr. Waller was a 
member of the old South Presbyterian Church 
(of which Rev. W. W. Harsha was then pastor) . 
He was afterward identified for a number of years 
with the Third Presbyterian Church of Chicago. 
He was firm and uncompromising in all his con- 
victions, and able to hold his own in debate with 
the ablest speakers of his day. 



PARIS H. DOBBINS. 



RARIS HORACE DOBBINS, a successful 
yf young business man of Chicago, who now 
J>3 resides at River Forest, was born in the city 
of Paris, France, October 6, 1869, and is a son of 
Thomas S. and Mary C. Dobbins, of whom ex- 
tended notice will be found in this volume. While 
an infant, Paris H. Dobbins was brought by his 
parents to the United States, arriving in New 
York City on the first anniversary of his birth. 
His education was obtained in Chicago, where he 
attended the public schools, and later the Har- 
vard School, one of the best-equipped private 
educational institutions in the city. 

At the age of seventeen years, he began his 
business career as a clerk in the First National 
Bank. Three years in this connection sufficed to 
give him a thorough knowledge of practical 
business methods, and in 1890 he formed a part- 
nership with his brother, Charles E. Dobbins, 
and engaged in the manufacture of steel springs. 
Though begun on a rather limited scale, the en- 



terprise has been prosperous from the start, 
from twenty to forty men being now employed. 
All kinds of wagon and carriage springs are 
manufactured by the firm, which is now known as 
Dobbins & Company. 

December 29, 1890, was celebrated the marriage 
of Paris H. Dobbins to Miss Lottie C. Spurck, 
daughter of P. E. Spurck, of Peoria, Illinois. 
They have two living children, named respect- 
ively, Mary Corinneand Thomas Deshler. Since 
May i , 1896, their home has been at River Fuicst, 
where they attend Saint Luke's Catholic Church. 
In this rural suburb Mr. Dobbins finds much 
pleasant recreation from the noisy and tumultuous 
life of the city. He is connected with the Bank- 
ers' Athletic Club of Chicago. He has usually 
supported the Democratic party, but has more 
recently acted independent of party lines, and in 
the fall of 1896 supported William McKinley for 
President of the United States, believing his can- 
didacy to be in the interests of national prosperity. 



A. B. MCLEAN. 



255 



ARCHIBALD B. McLEAN. 



RCHIBALD BRUCE McLEAN. It is a re- 
LJ markable circumstance that this gentleman, 
/ I although he has attained the age of over 
seventy-five years and has spent the greater part 
of this time either in active business or military 
service, has never been a witness of an accident. 
He was born at Stirling, Scotland, a locality teem- 
ing with romantic interest and historic reminiscen- 
ces, on the yth of April, 1820. Both his parents 
were worth y representatives of the Scotch nation . 

His father, Alexander McLean, who was born 
at Callendar, became a cabinet-maker at Stirling, 
where his death occurred when Archibald was 
but three years old. The mother, Elizabeth 
(Robinson) McLean, was a native of Bannock- 
burn. After reaching the age of eighty years 
she came to America, and died at Brooklyn, New 
York, in 1871, at the venerable age of one hun- 
dred and one years and two months. She was 
the youngest of a family of ten children which 
was conspicuous for the longevity of its members. 
Her eldest brother, James Robinson, reached the 
age of one hundred and fifteen years, dying at 
Glengary, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander 
McLean were the parents of seven sons, four of 
whom still survive. James is a business man of 
Glasgow, Scotland. Alexander and George are 
citizens, respectively, of Brooklyn and Albany, 
New York. John died in Cork, Ireland, after 
serving fifteen years in the British army. Neal 
died in a hospital from the effects of wounds re- 
ceived during the great American Civil War; and 
Archibald B. is the next in order of birth. Don- 
ald, the eldest of the family, died in boyhood. 

Archibald B. McLean grew to manhood in his 
native town, and at the age often years began to 



learn the tailor's trade, an occupation which he 
has continued ever since, with the exception of 
the time spent in military service. At the age of 
seventeen years he entered the British army as a 
member of the Seventy-first Highland Light In- 
fantry, which was soon afterward ordered to Can- 
ada to assist in quelling the rebellion then in 
progress in that colony. He saw considerable 
skirmish duty during this expedition, and was 
stationed most of the time at Montreal or St. 
John's, Canada. 

In 1843 he was discharged from the service of 
the Crown, and, coming to the United States, lo- 
cated at Albany, New York, where he worked at 
his trade for the next two years. At the end of 
that time he enlisted in the United States navy 
and embarked on the seventy-four-gun ship "Col- 
umbus," which sailed from Brooklyn, New York, 
upon a voyage around the world. While at a 
Chinese port the crew first heard of the war be- 
tween the United States and Mexico and received 
orders to sail for the coast of California. Upon 
their arrival they patroled that coast until the 
close of hostilities, when they returned to the 
Atlantic Coast by way of Cape Horn. The voy- 
age, which terminated at Norfolk, Virginia, had 
lasted for thirty-five months, during which time 
they had sailed sixty-eight thousand miles. 

Mr. McLean again went to Albany and opened 
a tailoring establishment, carrying on business at 
that place until 1854, when he came to Chicago 
and engaged in business on Randolph Street. 
Three years later he removed to Janesville, Wis- 
consin. Here he carried on a merchant-tailoring 
establishment until the outbreak of the rebellion, 
when he was again seized with the spirit of mil- 



256 



R. N. TRIMINGHAM. 



itary enthusiasm. Soon after the fall of Fort 
Sumter he recruited Company D of the Second 
Wisconsin Infantry, and, declining a Captain's 
commission, became the First Lieutenant thereof. 
He reached the field with his regiment in time 
to take part in the disastrous battle of Bull 
Run, and after serving six months resigned his 
commission and applied for a position in the Ma- 
rine Corps. Having passed the prescribed age, 
and the officers not being aware of his past naval 
experience, his services were declined, and he re- 
enlisted in Company C, of the Twenty-seventh 
Wisconsin. He chose the position of color-bearer, 
and served in that capacity until the close of hos- 
tilities. Though he was constantly exposed to 
the fire of the enemy, taking part in many of the 
bloodiest engagements of the war, Mr. McLean 
received no wounds and was never in a hospital. 
After participating in the battles of Fort Donel- 
son, Pittsburg Landing and Corinth, he took 
part in General Shield's expedition in Arkansas. 
This campaign encountered fourteen general en- 
gagements in twenty-one days, besides meeting a 
great deal of guerrilla warfare. After the close of 
the campaign he was sent to Mobile and took 
part in the siege of that place, which terminated 
the war. 

After peace came he remained one year in 
Janesville, but in 1866 again located in Chicago, 



where he was continuously engaged in merchant 
tailoring until June, 1894, when he resigned the 
business to his son, W. S. McLean, who had 
previously been for some years a partner in the 
business. During the twenty-nine years' exist- 
ence of this establishment it has won and retained 
a valuable patronage and is still in a flourishing 
condition. 

On the nth of April, 1849, Mr. McLean was 
married to Margaret Shields, a native of Elgin, 
Morayshire, Scotland. Four children have been 
born to them, all of whom are residents of this 
city. They are: William S., the present successor 
of his father in business; Archibald, who is also 
connected with the establishment; George', who 
has charge of a department in the great wholesale 
establishment of Marshall Field & Co. ; and Isa- 
bella, now the wife of William L- Melville. Mr. 
and Mrs. McLean are the proud grandparents of 
eight children. 

For over forty years Mr. McLean has been con- 
nected with the Masonic order, and although he 
has been at times a member of other societies, is 
not identified with any other organization at the 
present time. He has been a steadfast Repub- 
lican from the organization of that party, and has 
ever been a patriotic and public-spirited citizen of 
the land of his adoption. 



RALPH N. TRIMINGHAM. 



RALPH N. TRIMINGHAM, Secretary of the 
Chicago Underwriters' Association, is one of 
the best known insurance men in the city. 
He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, Sep- 
tember 2, 1838, and is the eldest son of Ralph 
and Ann (Brine) Trimingham, and a member of 
one of the oldest Colonial families. 

The Trimingham family was founded in Ber- 
muda by James Trimiugham, who emigrated 



thither from England during the reign of Charles 
II. and died there April i, 1735, The mercan- 
tile house which he established and conducted 
there during his lifetime was inherited and en- 
larged by successive generations of his descen- 
dants. He was the father of four sons and two 
daughters. Of these, John, the third son. mar- 
ried Elizabeth Jones. Francis, the third son of 
this couple, died in 1813. He inherited the rare 



R. N. TRIMINGHAM. 



257 



commercial instincts of his ancestors, and under 
his able guidance the business assumed extensive 
proportions, and branch houses were established 
in the Barbadoes, St. Vincent, and St. John's, 
Newfoundland. Several of his sons became 
partners in the concern, and continued the busi- 
ness for some time after his death. The firm 
owned a number of vessels and maintained exten- 
sive trade between the places above mentioned 
and various ports in Great Britain and South 
America. 

Francis Trimingham married Frances Light- 
bourn, and they were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, the youngest of whom was Ralph, father of 
the subject of this notice. The last-named gen- 
tleman, who was born at Bermuda in 1801, re- 
moved while a young man to St. John's, taking 
charge of the company's interests at that place. 
He was married there, and about 1847 removed 
to Baltimore, Maryland, where the firm of which 
he was a member also established a mercantile 
house. Four years later he disposed of his inter- 
est in the business, and in 1851 removed to St. 
Vincent, where he turned his attention to agri- 
culture and operated a large sugar plantation for 
the next four years. He then came to Chi- 
cago, and for a brief period re-engaged in mer- 
chandising, but soon retired from active business. 
His death occurred in 1869, at the age of sixty- 
eight years. His wife survived until August, 
1874, departing this life at the age of sixty-three 
years. She was born in Newfoundland and was 
a daughter of Robert and Ann Brine. They 
came from the South of England and settled at 
St. John's, where Mr. Brine was for many years 
a prosperous merchant. 

Ralph N. Trimingham was educated at private 
schools, it being the intention of his parents to 
give him a college education and fit him for 
the Episcopal ministry. This purpose had to be 
abandoned, however, and at the age of sixteen 
years he entered upon his business career as clerk 
in a lawyer's office at St. Vincent. His subse- 
quent occupations have usually been of a clerical 
order, and he seems to be peculiarly adapted for 
the accurate, methodical labors which are so es- 
sential to success in such avocations. For some 



time previous to the departure of the family from 
St. Vincent he was employed as cashier in a dry- 
goods store, and his first occupation in Chicago 
was of a similar nature. A few years after locat- 
ing here he entered the office of Magill & La- 
tham, vessel-owners and commission merchants, 
with whom he remained for some time. He sub- 
sequently became a bookkeeper for his uncle, 
William Brine, who was a commission merchant 
operating upon the Board of Trade. 

Since 1866 he has been identified with the fire- 
underwriting interests of the city. His first con- 
nection in that line was with the Home Insurance 
Company of New York, under the management 
of Gen. A. C. Ducat, with whom he remained 
for a little over ten years. After leaving the em- 
ploy of the Home he for a short time became en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits, but soon re-entered 
the business of fire insurance. In 1882 he was 
elected Secretary of the Underwriters' Exchange, 
a combination of insurance companies, and when 
the members of that organization united with 
those of the Chicago Board of Underwriters in 
forming the Chicago Fire Underwriters' Associa- 
tion, an institution organized for a similar pur- 
pose, he continued to serve the new concern in 
the same capacity. In 1894 the last-named cor- 
poration was succeeded by the Chicago Under- 
writers' Association. In recognition of his expe- 
rience and previous services, Mr. Trimingham 
was elected Secretary of the new association, and 
the performance of his duties to these successive 
organizations has absorbed his time and attention 
since 1885. 

On the 1 6th of April, 1885, he was married to 
Miss Carrie J., daughter of Robert G. Goodwillie, 
an early resident of Chicago. They are the par- 
ents of two daughters, named, respectively, Eliz- 
abeth and Anna. For thirty-eight years Mr. 
Trimingham held membership with the Third 
Presbyterian Church of Chicago, in which, for 
seventeen years, he was Elder and Clerk of the 
Session. He is now Elder of the First Presby- 
terian Church at Oak Park, where he lives. He 
has been identified with the Masonic order for 
the last twenty years, being a member of Cleve- 
land Lodge, Washington Chapter and Siloam 



G. W. BARNARD. 



Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is 
Past Eminent Commander. His life has been 
marked by diligent, punctual habits and the con- 
scientious observance of upright principles. He 
has witnessed the growth and development of 



Chicago for nearly forty years, and during all that 
time he has spent but little time out of the city, 
his chief recreation being found in his domestic 
and social relations. 



GILBERT W. BARNARD. 



0ILBERT WORDSWORTH BARNARD is 

bwell known amid Masonic circles through- 
out America and Europe, and has a world- 
wide reputation for sterling character, accommo- 
dating manners, and devotion to the interests of 
the order. He was born at Palmyra, Wayne 
County, New York, June i, 1834, and is the son 
of George Washington Barnard, whose death oc- 
curred previous to the birth of this son. The 
father of George W. Barnard, whose name was 
spelled Bernarde, was a Frenchman. Following 
the noble example of the immortal La Fayette, 
he came to America to enlist in the cause of free- 
dom, and upon the termination of the conflict 
settled in western New York, where he married 
and became the father of two sons. The elder 
of these died without issue, and the second lived 
and died in Wayne County, that state. The lat- 
ter became the captain of a passenger packet on 
the Erie Canal, a position of considerable import- 
ance in his time. His wife, Sabrina Deming, 
was a native of New York, and now resides in 
Howard City, Michigan, at the extreme old age 
of eighty years, her present name being Preston. 
Gilbert W. Barnard was reared in the family of 
his maternal grandfather. David Demming, a na- 
tive of Connecticut, who removed to Jackson 
County, Michigan, soon after his grandson be- 
came a member of his family. The Demming 
family was founded in America by four brothers, 
who settled in Connecticut early in the seven- 
teenth century. The name was originally spelled 



Dummund, but by a process of evolution peculiar 
to foreign names in America, it became Demming, 
and was contracted by the present generation by 
the omission of one " m." 

The subject of this biography spent the first 
fifteen years of his life in Jackson County, Mich- 
igan, whence he came to Chicago and began his 
business career as clerk in a general store. He 
afterward engaged in the book and stationery 
business, which line of trade he carried on for 
several years, achieving a reputation for upright 
and honorable dealing, and winning the esteem 
and confidence of his fellow-citizens. During the 
first year of his residence in Chicago he joined 
the volunteer fire department, and during the next 
nine or ten years rendered much valuable service 
to the city. 

- In October, 1864, he joined the Masonic order 
and has ever since been actively identified with 
its interests. He has taken over three hundred 
degrees known to Masonry, and has filled most 
of the principal offices in the subordinate and 
grand lodges. He is at present Past Master of 
Garden City Lodge; Past High Priest of Cor- 
rinthian Chapter No. 69, R. A. M.; Past Emi- 
nent Commander of St. Bernard Commandery 
No. 35, Knights Templar; Past Commander-in- 
Chief of Oriental Consistory ; Grand Secretary of 
the Grand Chapter; Grand Recorder of the Grand 
Council and of the Grand Commandery; and 
Grand Secretary of the Council of Deliberation, 
S. P. R. S., and other bodies. 



JACOB MANZ. 



259 



In 1877 he was elected Secretary of the Capit- 
ular, Cryptic and Chivalric Grand Bodies of the 
State of Illinois, a position he has ever since filled, 
and has devoted the best years of his life to the 
interests of the fraternity, administering to the 
wants of his brethren, and relieving the needs of 
their widows and orphans in distress. His sig- 
nal ability and unrelenting efforts in the perform- 
ance of his duties have won for him a host of 
friends and admirers. He has labored untiringly 
in behalf of the Illinois Masonic Orphans' Home, 
of which he was the first Secretary, and through 
his active efforts has contributed much to the up- 
building of that worthy institution. 



His long connection with the Ancient Accepted 
Scottish Rite has placed him in correspondence 
with all branches of the order in all parts of the 
world. His commodious quarters in the Masonic 
Temple are general headquarters for Masonic 
affairs, and the resort of brethren from every civ- 
ilized country on the globe. They contain an 
ample library, and are filled with numerous other 
articles of use or interest to members of the fra- 
ternity . 

Mr. Barnard was married in 1863, and one child, 
a daughter, is still living, he having lost three 
children. 



JACOB MANZ. 



(JACOB MANZ, one of the self-made men of 
I Chicago, and prominent among its Swiss- 
(*/ American citizens, is an excellent representa- 
tive of the benefits of a Republican Government. 
He was born October i, 1837, in Marthalen, in 
the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, in which his 
grandparents and parents, Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Keller) Manz, were also born. 

Jacob Manz, Sr., was a stone-cutter in early 
life, and became an architect and superintendent, 
which indicates that he made the best use of his 
faculties and opportunities. Having heard much 
of the wonderful republic beyond the seas, he 
came to America in 1853, to ascertain for himself 
if it afforded better opportunities for an ambitious 
man than his native land. He spent six months 
at Lima, Ohio, and came to Chicago in the spring 
of 1854. He soon decided to remain here, and 
wrote to his wife to dispose of their property in 
Switzerland and follow him, with the children. 
On account of the youth of some of the latter, 
whose studies were not yet completed, as well as 
the difficulty of disposing of the property to ad- 



vantage, the move was postponed until death pre- 
vented the meeting again on earth of husband 
and wife. The latter died in 1860, at the age of 
fifty-eight years. Mr. Manz did some building 
in Chicago, but was forced in a short time to give 
up business by the failure of his sense of hearing. 
His latter years were occupied in carving marble 
monuments, and he died in 1886, aged eighty- 
four years, leaving two sons and two daughters. 
Marguerite, the eldest, is the wife of Ulrich 
Liechty, residing at Polk City, Iowa. Elizabeth, 
Mrs. Toggenburger, is living at Bluffton, Ohio, 
near which place the younger son, William, also 
resides. 

Jacob Manz, the elder son and third mature 
child of his parents, grew up in his native village, 
attending the public schools until his thirteenth 
year. He was then apprenticed to a firm of wood- 
engravers in Schafihausen, with whom he re- 
mained until sixteen years old. Through the 
dissolution of partnership of his employers, he 
was unable to finish the prescribed term of his ap- 
prenticeship, but has natural ability and industry 



260 



HUGO NEUBERGER. 



had already made him a skillful engraver. He 
immediately set out for America, crossing the 
ocean on a sailing-vessel, and arriving in Chicago 
in the middle of July, 1855. He soon found em- 
ployment with S. D. Childs & Company, with 
whom he continued six years, and was next for 
five years in the employ of W. D. Baker, a well- 
known Chicago engraver. His long terms in 
these connections are sufficient indication of his 
faithfulness and skill. After a short period with 
Bond & Chandler, Mr. Manz formed a partner- 
ship with another engraver and went into busi- 
ness for himself, late in 1866. 

The firm was known as Maas & Manz, and was 
first located at the corner of Clark and Washing- 
ton Streets, and was two years later moved to 
Dearborn and Madison. While here, Mr. Manz 
became the sole proprietor of the business, by 
purchasing the interest of his partner, and was a 
very heavy loser in the great fire of 1871, realiz- 
ing almost nothing of insurance. He had faith, 
however, in himself and the city, and very soon 
opened a shop on West Madison Street, near 
Union, whence he shortly removed to Clinton 
and Lake Streets. He subsequently occupied 
locations on LaSalle, Madison and Dearborn 
Streets, and is now established atNos. 183 to 187 
Monroe Street. The business, in the mean time, 
has kept pace with the growth of the city and 
the improvements in the art of engraving. It is 
now conducted by an incorporated company, 



known as J. Manz & Company, of which Mr. 
Manz is President, F. D. Montgomery Vice- 
President, and Alfred Bersbach Secretary and 
Treasurer. Every process of engraving adaptable 
to the printing-press is carried on, and about one 
hundred people are employed in the establish- 
ment. 

The genial and benevolent character of Mr. 
Manz has naturally led to participation in the 
work of many social and charitable organiza- 
tions. He is a member of the Sons of Hermann, 
Schweizer Maennerchor, Swiss Benevolent Socie- 
ty, Germania Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted 
Masons, and Gauntlet Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
also of the Royal League and National Union. In 
religious faith, he adheres to the Swiss Reformed 
Church, and has been a Democrat in political 
preference since 1876. His only visit to the home 
of his childhood was made in the summer of 1894, 
when he made a tour of interesting localities in 
Europe. 

Mr. Manz has been twice married. January 6, 
1859, he wedded Miss Carolina Knoepfli, who 
died September 7, 1866. She was a native of 
Ossingen, Switzerland. Two of her children are 
living, namely: Caroline and William Manz. 
November 24, 1867, Mr. Manz married Johanna 
Hesse, who was born in Crivitz, Mecklenburg. 
Germany. Her children are Ida, Paul, Adolph 
and Helena Manz. 



HUGO NEUBERGER. 



HUGO NEUBERGER. Germans as a class 
are a thrifty people, and when, after some 
years, those who have come from the Fa- 
therland return to pay their visits to old, loved 
scenes, their friends wonder at the wealth Fort- 
une has allowed them to so quickly acquire 
in our beloved country of such advantages; for 
here each man is equal in the eyes, not only of 



God, but the law; here he may do as he pleases, 
so long as he does not commit a crime or trespass 
upon the rights of his neighbors. Politically, 
they are formidable too, for we can see in the 
election of Governor Altgeld what power is theirs 
when they unite upon a candidate. 

A man of influence among his fellow-citizens 
was Hugo Neuberger, who was born at Camberg, 



HUGO NEUBERGER. 



261 



near Frankfort, Germany, on the 8th day of April, 
1819. He came of a good family, one of his 
brothers afterward becoming Mayor of his native 
place, in which office he was 'continued for a 
period of twenty years. Hugo, being a younger 
son, and denied, according to the laws of the Old 
World, some of the rights and advantages of an 
elder child, like so many other enterprising young 
men, came to this country to seek his fortune (or, 
let us say, to make his fortune) , in boyhood. He 
settled very soon after his arrival in his life-long 
home, Chicago, which he grew to love with that 
strong attachment entertained by all the old set- 
tlers, who have seen its wonderful rise from a 
sandy lowland (not unlike a part of Holland) to 
its present growth as the metropolis of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, and destined before long to be- 
come one of the most powerful cities of the globe. 

He bought, after many exchanges (for he was 
a man of speculation, a typical American, always 
ready for a trade), the valuable piece of property 
now known as Nos. 284 and 286 North Clark 
Street, about the year 1860. Here he built a 
substantial frame house, used as a grocery and 
(according to the Old Country custom) a beer 
hall combined, with his residence adjoining. 
This was destroyed some years after his death, 
in the great fire of 1 87 1 . His widow rebuilt more 
substantiall}' in brick a structure of three stories, 
now used as dwelling flats, having by self-denial 
and unusual good sense been able to keep the 
property and family together, and to see the latter 
properly brought up to become useful members 
of the community. 

Mr. Neuberger had been a landscape-gardener 
in Germany; but it is needless to remark in those 
early days there was no demand for such services 
in this vicinity, although no doubt at this date, 
were he again to come among us as he did so 
many years ago, his able intelligence would be 
eagerly sought by the owners of some of our pal- 
atial residences, for we have already grown to 
number in our midst some of the finest homes 
to be found anywhere in the country. Accord- 
ingly, he turned his active mind to something that 
was practicable in those days, from which he had 
the satisfaction of knowing that he died in fair 



circumstances, and future advances certainly con- 
spired to give to his family who survived him a 
success in life which at that time could not have 
been altogether foreseen. 

He was a consistent Democrat, voting regularly 
but never seeking office. He was a Catholic in 
faith, although his family, like their mother, have 
altogether embraced the Lutheran tenets. As a 
citizen he was law-abiding and reliable and had 
many friends. He died in July, 1863, and was 
buried in the family lot in Graceland Cemetery. 
Had he lived to more mature years he would have 
been justly proud of his family, whom it was fated 
he should be taken from in middle life. 

Mr. Neuberger married, May 25, 1854, Miss 
Magdalena Ludwig, of Detroit, Michigan, a 
daughter of Simon and Margaret (Knaben) Lud- 
wig, who emigrated from Baden, Germany. She 
was born in the City of Straits, July 18, 1835, 
removing to this city in early life, where she 
grew to know and love the subject of this sketch; 
and although widowed in early life, she has been 
faithful to his memory ever since, as she will die, 
filled with the trust of guiding aright the family 
of young people entrusted by God to her moth- 
erly charge. All of them have grown to be a 
comfort to her, respectable members of the com- 
munity, and some of them with descendants who 
call her "Grandma." It is owing to her watch- 
ful care during the past more than thirty years 
that her children grew up in honor, and that they 
could be kept together in a home, and with a 
property left them (of comparatively little value 
at the time) now grown to be of considerable 
worth. 

Four children were the fruits of their happy, 
though short, wedded life. Louise, born April 3, 
1855, married, April 5, 1883, Julian Vaudeberge, 
of Chicago, an editor in good standing; they have 
two children, Madeline Marie and' Julian. Ba- 
betta married, in 1892, David J. Lyons, of the 
merchant police force, who unfortunately died the 
following year, leaving no children. Magdalene 
is unmarried. Hugo George married, in 1887, 
Miss Emma L. Hunting, of Chicago, who died 
in 1892, leaving two children, Anna Louise and 
Florence Augusta. He has been for some years a 



262 



E. F. PEUGEOT. 



commercial traveler, but at present is employed 
on the merchant police. 

We thus see that Mr. Neuberger established 



bring honor and fame to his name. Therefore it 
is eminently fitting that his history should be 
preserved herein, that those who shall follow in 



one of the representative German families of the after years ma)- gain a faint idea of the early life 



city, whose members, as they grow more and 
more into harmony with American ideas, will 



of this Chicago pioneer. 



EDWARD F. PEUGEOT. 



[TOWARD FREDERICK PEUGEOT, an 

1^ early citizen of Chicago, and at one time a 
I leading merchant and importer, was born in 
Buffalo, New York, September 8, 1836, and was 
the son of Peter Peugeot, a native of France. He 
was also a relative of Peugeot Brothers, the fa- 
mous bicycle manufacturers of Paris. Peter Peu- 
geot was a highly esteemed citizen of Buffalo, 
New York, to which city he removed from France 
in 1833. He was engaged several years in the 
hardware business, and as a manufacturer of ma- 
chinery, but, having amassed a competency, he 
retired from active business twenty years before 
his death, which occurred November 22, 1875, in 
the seventy-fourth year of his age, having been a 
resident of Buffalo forty-two years. His wife, De- 
siree, nee Sachet, also a native of France, survived 
him, and her death occurred in November, 1886. 
They were the parents of thirteen children, all 
but two of whom died before their father. Ellen 
J. became the wife of Judge W. M. Oliver, ol 
Buffalo, and died at San Marcial, New Mexico, 
while there trying to restore her health. An- 
other daughter, Amelia, now deceased, became 
the wife of George P. Bird, now a wealthy mill- 
owner in Helena, Montana. 

The other survivor was Edward, the subject 
of this sketch, who came to Chicago in 1857, 
when twenty-one years of age, and displayed 
great ability in building up the largest toy im- 
porting house in the West, which was known as 
Peugeot' s Variety Store. During the time when 
his business was largest, he made annual visits 



to France to select goods. He was the local rep- 
resentative of some of the largest and best known 
manufacturing companies in France. When Chi- 
cago was destroyed in 1871, he lost everything, 
and, on account of the failure of the local insur- 
ance companies, caused by the unparalleled mag- 
nitude of their losses, he realized nothing from 
that source. However, he went into business 
again after the fire, and to some extent retrieved 
his fortune. 

On the I4th of March, 1861, Mr. Peugeot was 
married to Maria L. Flershem, daughter of Lem- 
uel H. Flershem, who is mentioned at length in 
this volume. Four children blessed the home of 
Mr. Peugeot, namely: Nina, now the wife of 
Conrad Mueller, real-estate dealer and Assistant 
Clerk of the Sheriff of New York County; she 
has one child, Edward Herman Mueller. lone, 
the second daughter, resides with her mother. 
Pierre and Leon are now in the employ of W. 
McGregor & Company, of Chicago. Mr. Peugeot 
died August 8, 1886, and subsequently his widow 
became the wife of William McGregor (see sketch 
elsewhere in this work). 

Edward F. Peugeot was a man in whom those 
elements so essential to social popularity and 
business success were prominent, and he was al- 
ways the center of a large circle of admiring 
friends. He was a very enterprising merchant, 
possessing a high character and integrity, and 
left to his children, as a legacy, a good name and 
an excellent example of true manhood. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 





Bk ,*. C.y. Co. Cficayo. 

/^> 



FERDINAND LINK. 



263 



FERDINAND LINK. 



l"~ ERDINAND LINK. ' 'Der Gipfel des Ber- 
IV es f un ^ e ^ * m abend Sonnenschein," sings 
| ^ the beautiful, irresistible Lorellei, seated 
upon the picturesque summits of those storied, 
castle-crowned highlands of the Rhine, whence 
she drew to herself all who came within the scope 
of her vision. It is proper now to write modestly 
of one born in the Fatherland, to whom the sound 
of "America" was, like the harmony of theold folk- 
song, an entrancing melody, full of bright proph- 
ecy, the hope of whose fulfillment he could not 
withstand. 

Ferdinand Link was born on the ist of No- 
vember, 1829, in Birkigt Herzogthum, Meinin- 
gen, Germany, his parents being Trougott and 
Rosina (Schmidt) Link, persons of respectable 
attainments, who lived and died in the Old Coun- 
try. At about his fourteenth year he had com- 
pleted the learning of the same trade as his 
father, a carriage-maker, after which, in accord- 
ance with the custom of his country-men, he 
traveled to improve his knowledge of the craft, a 
phase of intelligent life very interestingly set forth 
by the great Goethe in his immortal ' ' Wilhelm 
Meister." 

Having acquired whatever seemed necessary to 
thoroughly fit his genius to his life-work, he re- 
solved to come to the United States of America; 
so, in 1848, at the age of nineteen, he set sail 
from Bremen upon a passage which took forty- 
nine days in crossing to Baltimore, where he 
disembarked on the 6th of July, 1848. Presently 
he found employment at his old trade with a 
Mr. Bishop, with whom he remained for a time 
in mutual good-will. Anon, desirous to see more 
of the New World, and getting on famously with 



the new language, he set out for Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, via the Natural Bridge, up to Abington, 
where he continued his trade for a season, or un- 
til the ist of November, 1850. Thence, at that 
time, he proceeded to Kingston Springs, and by 
way of the Mississippi River as far south as New 
Orleans, directly returning as far north as this 
city, which he reached the last week in Decem- 
ber, 1850. and where for more than forty years 
he has continued uninterruptedly to reside, pros- 
pered, honored, and full of dignified interests in 
our midst. 

Mr. Link is a very modest man, but in his 
craft it remains true that in the younger days he 
was the peer of any in our city, which is amply 
evidenced by some handiwork, so superior and 
excellent, that it raises a well-defined doubt as 
to whether there was any other here who at that 
time could have done so skillfully. In the lan- 
guage of the country whence he came to our 
shore, he was a master mechanic, a "turner" of 
rare ability. Among the things which came 
like magic from his deft touch were the following, 
which recur readily to the mind: A finely carved 
turnout for Governor Wise, of Virginia; the first 
hearse ever used in our city which had glass sides, 
made for Undertaker Gavin, before which they 
used a rough conveyance with a pall thrown over 
the coffin; and the first public hack ever con- 
structed here or seen upon our pioneer streets. 
Surely this is quite sufficient to establish Mr. 
Link's right to be remembered as one of the best 
"turners" who ever lived with us, and certain- 
ly the man who did the first really fine kind of 
work in several valuable lines. 

For eleven years he was foreman for Richard 



264 



FERDINAND LINK. 



Biel, a carriage manufacturer on the West Side, 
who "has now gone to the "bourne whence no 
traveler returns. ' ' While working at his trade, 
Mr. Link also began to turn his attention to that 
source of financial wealth which has made most 
of our rich men, and that was to real-estate in- 
vestments; for never in the history of the world 
has there been so much money made in so short 
a time out of building sites as right here in our 
little Cook County, Illinois. Foreseeing himself 
what would certainly come of it, he began to make 
good moves in this direction as fast as he could 
get money to buy with. On State Street, near 
Chestnut, which for the greater part has been the 
locality of his winning moves, he purchased a 
piece of land and proceeded, in 1858, to put up 
some houses for rent. The results were gratify- 
ing from the start. 

In the winter of 1864, in reduced health (ad- 
vised by his physicians to do so if he wished to 
prolong his life), he took his family and went to 
California. The route, before the days of the 
steam horse, was from New York City, via the 
West Indies and the Carribean Sea, to Aspinwall 
and Panama, and then by another line of steam- 
ers to San Francisco, in which last city he stopped 
for some time, his condition being much amelior- 
ated by the salubrious climate, and his interest 
deeply aroused by the quaint customs of that 
strange new country, whose hills were made of 
gold . For a season he soj ourned at Los Angeles (at 
a period prior to this of they? de siecle) , Alame- 
da, Warm Springs, and returned home in March, 
1867, via Nicaragua and Greytown. Mr. Link's 
love of travel is remarkable, and his keenly- 
observing eyes, with the note-book which he 
invariably keeps, make it intensely interesting 
after long years to revisit with him in memorized 
record those scenes of former delights. 

On his return he invested in more real estate 
near the site of his former possessions, and put up 
houses upon the same; then came the fire of 1871, 
that mighty holocaust which cost so many their 
entire fortunes, and did inestimable damage for a 
time to all our citizens, until returning courage 
resulted in rebuilding better than was ever 
dreamed of before. Mr. Link lost by this fire 



seven houses, which shows that he had already 
grown to be quite a landlord. Nothing daunted, 
with that admirable energy which was so charac- 
teristic of the age, he mortgaged his land to set 
to work and build again, this time including the 
construction of a grocery store near the corner of 
State and Chestnut Streets, which he personally 
conducted up to the year 1882, when he finally 
retired from business, well intrenched in his fort- 
unes, with hosts of friends his genial, honest and 
frank nature had won him, for he never made an 
enemy in his life. 

That he might spend his closing years ' 'under 
his own vine and fig tree," he bought a fine lot 
at Number 76 Walton Place, overlooking the lake 
at its foot (and which now has within plain view 
the celebrated Newberry Library, since construct- 
ed, one of the famous libraries of the world) . where 
he erected a commodious home, wherein the years 
pass by (when he is not in other scenes) like a 
dream of the fabled days of old. 

In 1852, tired of single blessedness, Mr. Link 
took to his heart a wife (one of the most congen- 
ial, entertaining, whole-souled women in our whole 
city), Miss Mary Laux being her maiden name. 
She was born, like himself, in Germany, in the 
town of Losheim, County of Merzig, Province of 
Trier, West Prussia, it being territory formerly 
belonging to the French, and quite adjacent to 
the famous Alsace-Lorraine country of later years' 
contest. Her father, Peter Laux (coming of an 
old French family) , had been a second orderly for 
the great Napoleon. At the battle of Leipsig, 
his horse being shot under him, he caught the 
horse of the first orderly, who had himself been 
killed, which was so bewildered by the fray and 
smoke of battle, that when soldat Laux, being ig- 
norant of the way to his troop, gave the horse his 
head, he dashed away into the very enemy 's lines, 
where, by a singular mistake, a French flag, 
which had been captured, was handed him, he 
being taken for one of their own German forces. 
Thereupon, he put spurs to his horse and started 
like lightning away for the opposite side among 
his friends. His horse was shot by the volley 
sent after him, and he himself badly wounded in 
the leg, sustaining, besides several flesh wounds, 



FERDINAND LINK. 



265 



a fracture of the leg bone. Crawling under a 
corn stack, he managed to escape apprehension, 
and in this way was left for three days before be- 
ing rescued by his own men and taken to hospital 
to have his painful wounds dressed. In the mean 
time, however, he had crawled to the River Katz- 
back to bathe himself, and had kept the old flag, 
which later came safely into Napoleon's hands. 
This episode stamps him as a man not only of 
strong vitality, to withstand such suffering and 
hardships, but also as a heroic soul, of no common 
mould. 

Mr. Laux, in 1840, took his wife and family, 
including those who were married, to America; 
and at this juncture befel a very pathetic scene. 
As they were about to leave France forever, the 
vessel bringing from St. Helena the remains of his 
old general, Napoleon, was coming into port. He 
wept like a child, and exclaimed, "Why art thou 
not alive, that I might again forsake my friends 
and family to follow thee?" With Barbara, his 
wife, he landed upon Chicago soil on the twenty- 
fifth day of August, 1840. They have both 
passed to their eternal rewards, for few of the 
older settlers are longer left to greet us. 

Mrs. Link was born the twenty-fifth day of 
March, 1833, so that she began her blissful wed- 
ded life at the early age of nineteen. One child 
has blessed their union, Ferdinand Eugene Link, 
who was born September 10, 1852. He learned 
his trade of druggist with Mr. Van Derburg, and 
went into the employ of Tollman & King, whole- 
sale druggists, with whom he still remains, his 
services being rewarded with the responsible po- 
sition of manager. He was married, in 1875, to 
Miss Marion Langdon of this city, by whom he 
has three children , Ferdinand (third) , Marion and 
John. 

Politically the subject of this sketch is a Dem- 
ocrat, not an office-seeker, nor fanatic in his views; 
locally, he invariably selects the best man, in his 
candid judgment, for support. 

Physically Mr. Link is not a large man, but 
so engaging in manner that he seems to rise at 
times to the stature of a giant, as he graphically 
depicts interesting experiences he has passed 
through in his varied life of many vicissitudes. 



He is one of the most unassuming, genial men 
it is one's good fortune to run across, hospitable 
and full of good parts. As an instance of the po- 
etic feeling of his soul (a thing somewhat rare in 
our crowding, rushing city) , at an advanced age, 
he bought a fine piano, and started in to learn 
music. He progressed with such amazing rapidity 
that, although he had but six months' lessons, he 
really plays very well, and some difficult pieces 
of classical music, too. Jt is one of the proudest 
recollections of his experience that he was per- 
mitted, on a foreign tour, to play for a few mo- 
ments upon the piano of Frederick the Great, in 
the castle at Potsdam, during which exceptionally 
honored occasion he very touchingly ran through 
the pathetic bars of "Sad Thoughts of Thee." 
One can readily picture this inspiring incident, of 
one returning from a new country, full of honor 
and wealth, to the home of his nativity, to view 
for a season the place that gave him birth. Ah, 
it is a strange world we live in, and strange in- 
deed are the changes which come to us all! 

The incident above related occurred upon his 
memorable tour of the continent in 1892, when 
he felt he must visit again the old endeared scenes 
of his boyhood. Not alone those, but France, Bel- 
gium and England were traversed; and if anyone 
doubts the good use our friend made of his sight, 
let him sit for a while listening to the "logbook," 
as it has been the writer's privilege, and doubt 
would vanish before the perfect light of enrapt- 
ured conviction. It is understood that he is plan- 
ning another trip abroad for the near future, for 
lie is an indefatigable traveler. 

In closing, we must not forget to say, that as 
his earthly life has been correct, and his surround- 
ings beautiful and uplifting, so he has had the 
wise foresight to see to it that his remains after 
death may be in a temporary earthly mansion 
suitable to his wishes. In the family lot at St. 
Boniface Cemetery, he has finished the construc- 
tion of a family tomb, which for exquisiteness of 
design and perfection of execution is unsurpassed. 
There is no finer owned or erected in this city s 
places of burial. The exterior facades are of 
that handsome, durable stone, rock-faced, known 
as Blue Bedford; while the interior rises grace- 



266 



W. W. PHELPS. 



fully and without that sense of oppression so fre- 
quent in low-constructed burial places, being com- 
posed of English Channel fire brick and elegant 
imported Italian marbles. In the center rises the 
catafalque, which will one day contain the last 
mortal remains of our dear friend and his beloved 



spouse. Each one has his themes of delight. Can 
there be a more beautiful wish than to lie securely 
safe after one's earthly existence is over, surround- 
ed by the beauties which, like the hills, pass not 
away until the judgment day? 



WILLIAM W. PHELPS. 



WALLACE PHELPS, one of 
the earliest and most conscientious of our 
business men, was born at Conesville, 
Schoharie County, New York, June 17, 1825. His 
parents were George and Mary (Chapman) 
Phelps. 

Being of the generation of self-made men, he 
started out with a clear, straightforward mind, 
aided by a common-school instruction, to do his 
life work as the Creator foresaw it would come to 
pass. 

First in Oneida, at nineteen years of age, and 
elsewhere in his native State, he waited upon 
customers as a clerk behind merchants' counters, 
and in 1847 went to Catskill, Greene County, New 
York, to clerk for Potter Palmer. It is needless 
to add, he did his humble early duties as faith- 
fully and ably as he bore the later more hon- 
orable and distinguished burdens which time 
demonstrated he was more than equal to carrying. 

Henceforth he was fated to join forces with that 
truly royal man, Potter Palmer, the bare mention 
of whose name thrills the listener with intense 
admiration, and conjures up in his mind the 
rapid achievement of our unrivalled city; in all 
and through all of which none has been more 
modestly conspicuous and helpful than Mr. Pal- 
mer. Along with Mr. Palmer, Mr. Phelps was 
mainly to work out his destiny. It was fitting, 
for they were brothers-in-law; and so long, un- 
ruffled and intimate were their mutual relations 



and regard for each other, that the two men 
actually grew more and more in personal appear- 
ance alike. One glance at Mr. Phelps' face, 
as the artist left it for our delight, and the 
lineaments of his "dear friend Potter" suggest 
themselves. Together they removed, in 1851, to 
Lockport, New York, there engaging in business 
for about one year only, for in 1852 they started 
resolutely for the then Far West, resting their 
weary limbs by the head of the beautiful Lake 
Michigan, in which place fortune had decreed 
they should win honorable names and a goodly 
portion of the desires of this life. One has quite 
finished his labors and is at rest above all earthly 
value. Soon the other will go to his comrade's 
side, while this scene shall know their presence no 
more; but history is the better, and future genera- 
tions, though they may lealize it not, will be the 
happier and better that two such American noble- 
men were among us in our infancy. 

Soon after their advent, Mr. Palmer, having 
some capital at command, entered into the dry- 
goods business, wherein Mr. Phelps was his con- 
fidential friend and financial secretary for long 
years, always in every way satisfactory in his 
discharge of onerous trusts. 

In 1865 Mr. Phelps went for himself into the 
wholesale and retail carpet business with a part- 
ner, under the style of Hollister & Phelps, hav- 
ing purchased the interest of the former partner, 
Mr. Wilkins. He sold out his interest in this 



W. W. PHELPS. 



267 



paying establishment the June preceding the his- 
torical fire of 1871. Thereafter for some six 
months he enjoyed the delights of old Europe, 
with the keen intellectual appreciation so charac- 
teristic of him, combining business with health- 
ful recreation, as he did considerable buying for 
Mr. Palmer, who was furnishing the Palmer 
House, recently built at that time. 

Returning to the United States in good condi- 
tion, he lived the easy life of an ' 'old-school' ' 
gentleman for a period of eight years. But act- 
ive life extended too great temptations to one 
of his temperament; so it is not surprising, when 
Mr. Palmer made him a flattering offer, that he 
found it impossible to resist, and so it is chronicled 
that the last twelve years of his life were spent 
as confidential financial manager of that great 
hostelry, one of the grandest and best known in 
the wide world, the Palmer House. In him Mr. 
Palmer had full and explicit trust and confidence. 
He said: "I can goto California; I maybe gone 
six months; and when I return, I feel I shall 
hear everything has gone on just the same." 

Alas, all must pay the sad debt of nature. Mr. 
Phelps died May 18, 1891, of Bright's Disease, 
and was interred in the family lot at Graceland, 
where a fine monument marks his beautiful final 
resting-place. For many years he was an at- 
tendant at the Plymouth Congregational Church, 
where he held a pew. Bishop Cheney, a warm 
friend, officiated at the funeral obsequies at his 
magnificent mansion house, No. 2518 Prairie 
Avenue. 

Mr. Phelps married, first, Lydia Palmer, sister 
of Potter Palmer, in the fall of 1867. She died 
on the very day of the Fire of 1871 , without issue. 
September 9, 1873, he wedded Miss Cornelia 
Austina Hubbard, of Spring Prairie, Wisconsin. 
In good health, she continues to survive her 
lamented husband, whose memory is sacred in 
her heart and whose worth she delights to exalt 
and honor. How strong under such circumstances 
does the merit of this undertaking appear ! They 
who make for themselves honorable names, but 
are barred by fate against leaving children, must 
herein find their most lasting and fitting monu- 
ment in this record of their good deeds. 



Cornelia A. (Hubbard) Phelps is a daughter of 
Alfred Hubbard and Hannah Steele, of Wind- 
ham, Greene County, New York, being the 
youngest of eight children. Alfred Hubbard was 
a son of Timothy Hubbard and Dorothy Raleigh, 
of Connecticut. Hannah Steele was a daughter 
of Stephen Steele and Hannah Simonds, also of 
Connecticut. 

Mr. Phelps was a stanch Republican, a con- 
scientious Christian, a gentleman and a lover of 
home. Tall and straight of stature, his pale 
blonde face, handsome, yet full of kindly charac- 
ter, firm mouth, prominent eyes, heavy eyebrows 
and massive forehead well denoted the strength he 
possessed. He and Mr. Palmer might have been 
taken for brothers. Their names are indelibly 
associated, and those who, in coming years, when 
the flowers are blossoming over ancient graves, 
shall read the records of the two lives, will un- 
derstand more deeply and solemnly than words 
can depict what this age and this city owe to men 
like Potter Palmer and William Wallace Phelps. 

It is fitting that this work shall record the fol- 
lowing quite full and satisfactory genealogical 
descent: 

Ichabod Phelps, who was a merchant in Eng- 
land, married Betsy Bristol, and, coming to this 
country, in company with three brothers, settled 
at Salisbury, in Litchfield County, Connecticut. 
Later he removed to Wyoming, Pennsylvania, 
where he continued to reside until the historical 
massacre there by the Indians under the notorious 
Brant, upon which event he took a fresh depart- 
ure for Broome, Schoharie Count y, New York, 
where he built and conducted a general store. 
His son, Othniel Phelps, born in 1777, died in 
1856. He was twice married; first, to Polly Fiero, 
and secondly to Hannah Frost, who lived to the 
remarkable age of ninety-two years, dying in 
1876. 

The eldest son by the first marriage was 
George W. Phelps, who was born in 1798, at 
Conesville, Schoharie County, New York, and 
died July 3, 1866. He was twice married; first, 
about the year 1820, to Zerviah Potter, who died 
three years later, leaving two sons, Othniel B. 
and Samuel P. (for a sketch of Othniel B. vide 



268 



C. E. PIPER 



other pages herein) ; second, he married, about 
1824, Mary Chapman, who was born February 
25, 1801, and died January 28, 1879. She was 
a daughter of Samuel Chapman (born January 
13, 1773, died November 30, 1858) and Rhoda 
Cowles, his wife (born September 3, 1775, and 



died in 1801). By this second marriage there 
were eight children: Helen M., John M., Mary 
Z., Catherine, Lucinda M., George C., Abbie 
A. and William Wallace Phelps, the subject of 
this sketch. 



CHARLES E. PIPER. 



QHARLES EDWARD PIPER was bom in 

1 1 the city of Chicago June 12, 1858. His fa- 
\.J ther, Otis Piper, well and favorably known 
to the pioneer business men of Chicago, was of 
English extraction, and traced his descent di- 
rectly to ancestors who arrived in America and 
settled at the town of New Salem in 1782. His 
mother, Margaret (McGrory) Piper, of Scotch- 
Irish lineage, was a native of Prescott, province 
of Ontario, Canada, whither her father removed 
in 1824. 

Otis Piper, with his family, came to Chicago in 
1851, at a time when the struggling town was 
barely beginning to give promise of future impor- 
tance, and cast in his lot with the few fervent- 
spirited citizens whose eyes of faith saw, above the 
alternating sand dunes and swamps of that early 
period, something of the glory of the present me- 
tropolis. Amid the surroundings common to the 
pioneer outposts of civilization in our country, 
Charles Edward Piper, the subject of this sketch, 
first saw the light of day. The foundation of his 
education was laid in the public schools of the 
city, and in the face of many trials and vicissi- 
tudes was, nevertheless, so firmly planted in the 
mind of the young boy that an unquenchable 
thirst for knowledge, and an indomitable deter- 
mination to obtain it, impelled him to successively 
graduate from the high school in 1876, the North- 



western University in 1882, and the Union College 
of Law in 1889, earning, in the mean time, his 
own livelihood and the means to meet his stu- 
dent's expenses. 

After completing his law course, he entered 
upon practice with Mr. Wilbert J. Andrews, un- 
der the firm name of Andrews & Piper, a firm 
which is recognized as one of the leading real-es- 
tate law firms in Chicago. The business of buy- 
ing and selling real estate has naturally grown up 
with the practice of real-estate law, and the sub- 
urban town of Berwyn was founded by and is to- 
day, to a considerable extent, the property of Mr. 
Piper and his associates. Socially Mr. Piper is a 
genial, warm-hearted gentleman, easy in his man- 
ners and a favorite in several social organizations 
with which he is connected, notably the Prairie 
Club, of Oak Park, and the Lincoln Club, of 
West Chicago. In religious matters he is a fol- 
lower of Wesley, and a consistent member of the 
Methodist Church. He is President of the State 
Epworth League and Treasurer of the National 
Epworth League. Politically he is a Republican, 
"dyed in the wool," is President of the town of 
Cicero, and has held the office of Supervisor of 
the town of South Chicago, as well as that of 
member of the Board of Education of the town 
of Cicero. 

August 15, 1882, he married Carrie L. Gregory, 



FRANCIS WARNER. 



269 



daughter of Edwin and Anna S. Gregory, of 
Nauvoo, Illinois, and granddaughter of Robert 
Lane, partner of John Morris, of Philadelphia, of 
Revolutionary fame. The three living children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Piper are: Carrie E., born May 
29, 1884; LuluL.; and Robert G. , December 6, 
1889. 

Mr. Piper vividly recalls the burning of Chi- 
cago on the fatal October 8, 1871, but at that 
time, fortunately, was residing outside of the burnt 
district, and escaped any serious personal dam- 
ages or loss. He is the President of the Method- 



ist Forward Movement of Chicago, and takes 
deep interest in the building of the Epworth 
House, at Number 229 Halsted Street, now in 
process of erection. This house, like its prototype, 
Hull House, is designed to serve as an oasis in 
the desert of poverty and iniquity, and will aid 
greatly in the regeneration of that benighted re- 
gion. He was one of the founders, and is now an 
officer, of the Epworth Children's Home, and is 
at the present time President of the Chicago Meth- 
odist Social Union. 



FRANCIS WARNER. 



F~ RANCIS WARNER, a quiet, worthy citizen 
ry of Chicago, is a descendant of very early 
| English and German yeomanry. He was 
born at Watertown, Massachusetts, January 26, 
1819. His parents, George Warner and Mary 
Salisbury, were natives, respectively, of Pack- 
ington and Ashby de la Zouche, in Leicestershire, 
near the border of Nottinghamshire, England. 
The family name was originally Werner, and was 
brought to England from Germany, after the Re- 
formation of Martin Luther. England had just 
become a Protestant country, and the founder of 
this family on English soil received a grant of 
land near the Welsh border. He had a coat-of- 
arms, the principal objects on which were a castle 
surmounted by a squirrel, with a motto signify- 
ing, " Not for ourselves alone, but for others." 
Mary Salisbury was a lineal descendant of a man- 
at-arms who flourished long before the first 
Werner came to England, and was granted a 
"hide " of land (being all that he could surround 
with an ox's hide cut into strips) by the lord of 
the manor, whose life he had saved in battle. 



Members of the Warner family came to America 
in the early Colonial days, and it is a tradition 
that one settled in each of the colonies of Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. 

George Warner and Mary Salisbury were mar- 
ried in England in 1806, and removed four years 
later to Massachusetts, where eight of their eleven 
children were born. Mr. Warner was a lace 
weaver, and was employed at his trade in and 
about Watertown, Massachusetts, until 1837, 
when he came to Illinois. He engaged in farm- 
ing in Northfield Township, La Salle County, for 
over twenty years, and then went to Iowa, and 
settled on the Soldier River, near the present site 
of Ida Grove. After he retired from farming he 
returned to Massachusetts and died at Ipswich, 
in that State, in 1874, at the age of eighty-nine 
years. Both he and his wife were born in 1785. 
The latter died in Illinois in 1851, age sixty-six. 

All of their seven sons and two of their daugh- 
ters grew to adult life. Samuel, born in England, 
and an upholsterer by occupation , passed most of 
his life in Massachusetts, and died, as the result 



270 



FRANCIS WARNER. 



of an accident, in St. Louis, Missouri. George, 
born in Massachusetts, was a farmer; he died in 
La Salle County, Illinois, in 1882, from the ef- 
fects of a fall. Mary, Mrs. Sanford Peatfield, 
resides in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Alfred is a 
resident of Michigan, and John died in Newton, 
Massachusetts, in 1892, at the age of seventy- 
three. The subject of this sketch is the sixth. 
Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of William 
Powell, a farmer in La Salle County, Illinois. 
Thomas died in California from the effects of 
drinking alkali water; and William is engaged in 
mining in Utah. 

Francis Warner was reared in Newton, Massa- 
chusetts, and was taught to read by his mother. 
His only attendance at a public school was one 
half-day, at which time the teacher was absent. 
At the age of fifteen years he was apprenticed to 
a cabinet-maker, and his articles of indenture 
stipulated that he was to receive $50 per year 
and his board. During this apprenticeship he 
made the most of his opportunities for material 
and mental advancement. He joined several 
others in a plan to secure instruction, and they 
were taught four nights each week, for which the 
teacher received fifty cents per night. So faith- 
ful and diligent was young Warner, that he be- 
came a journeyman at the age of nineteen. He 
immediately went to Boston, where he continued 
to ply his trade until 1843, when he came to Illi- 
nois and took up farming on Somomauk Creek, 
in La Salle County. 

In the spring of 1861 Mr. Warner responded 
to the call for troops to defend the Union. He 
first went out in the three-months service, under 
General McClellan, who was a personal acquaint- 
ance, in West Virginia. He was a participator 
in the battle of Rich Mountain, and was one of 
the detail which accompanied the body of the 
Confederate General, Garnett, to Washington, en 
route to his home in Virginia. 

In 1862 Mr. Warner again joined the Federal 
forces, being attached to the Provost- Marshal's 
department, with the pay and rank of Captain, 
and was chiefly employed in the charge and hand- 
ling of prisoners of war, with headquarters in 
Washington. After the surrender of New Or- 



leans, he joined Colonel Wood's command, the 
First United States Regiment, with which he con- 
tinued until May, 1865, when he was honorably 
discharged. 

While a resident of La Salle County, Mr. War- 
ner was twice elected to the office of Sheriff, and 
demonstrated such superior ability in the capture 
of offenders, that his services were sought by de- 
tective agencies throughout the country. Soon 
after leaving the army he took charge of Allen 
Pinkerton's New York detective agency, where 
he continued a year, removing thence to Chicago, 
where he occupied a similar position until his 
health failed, in 1879, and he was compelled to 
resign. After spending three months at the sea 
shore, on the advice of his physician, he returned 
to Chicago, very much improved in health anc 
strength, and at once, in 1880, took charge of the 
detective service of the American Express Com- 
pany at Chicago. This was his last active em- 
ployment, in which he still holds an honorary po- 
sition. Though now in his seventy-seventh year, 
Mr. Warner exhibits plenty of mental and physi- 
cal vigor, and is still a useful member of society. 

Mr. Warner is a Royal Arch Mason, and was 
for many years active in the order. He is a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church, and a con- 
sistent and stanch Republican in principle, being 
one of the founders of that political organization. 
In 1840 he married Miss Juliette Back, who was 
born in Burlington, Vermont, August 17, 1819, 
and is a daughter of Jasper and Sally (Harring- 
ton) Back. Mr. Back was one of the minute- 
men who served at the battle of Plattsburgh, 
during the last war with Great Britain. Four of 
Mr. Warner's eight children are now living. 
Francis Armstrong Warner, the eldest, is a resi- 
dent of Chicago. Alice, the second, died while 
the wife of Albert Forbes, leaving an infant 
daughter, who was reared by Mr. Warner. Juli- 
ette died at the age of eighteen months, and Isabel 
is the wife of Dr. Edward J. Lewis, of Sauk Cen- 
ter, Wisconsin. Ernest died at three years of 
age, Charles at fourteen, and Gray resides at 
Denver, Colorado. Nellie is the wife of Henry 
B. Gates and resides in Wilmette. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 






LYMAN J. GAGE. 



27 x 



LYMAN JUDSON GAGE. 



I YMAN JUDSON GAGE, President of the 
I C First National Bank of Chicago, is widely 
l~) known as the leading financier of the 
West, as well as an active power in political and 
other movements. As a promoter and active Di- 
rector of the World' s Columbian Exposition, he 
earned and received the good-will of every citi- 
zen of Chicago, as well as of most of the world be- 
side. 

Eli A. Gage and Mary Judson, parents of the 
subject of this biography, were natives of New 
York, of English descent, their ancestors being 
numbered among the early settlers of New Eng- 
land. The student of American history cannot 
fail to note that much of the energy and good 
sense which gave direction to the development of 
the entire northern half of the United States was 
contributed by the New England blood. 

L,yman J. Gage was born at De Ruyter, Madi- 
son County, N. Y., June 28, 1836, and passed 
the first ten years of his life in that village. On 
the removal of the family to Rome, N. Y., in 
1846, he entered the local academy, but left school 
to engage in business life at the age of fourteen. 
For a year, he was employed as clerk in the Rome 
postofHce, and was detailed by the Postmaster as 
mail-route agent on the Rome & Watertown Rail- 
road at the age of fifteen. In 1854 he became 
junior clerk in the Oueida Central Bank at Rome, 
at a salary of $100 per annum. His duties in 
that position were somewhat varied, and involved 
the sweeping of the bank, as well as many other 
duties which are fulfilled by a janitor in larger 
institutions. The ambitious soul of the youth 
who was destined by fate to control in time great 
financial enterprises, could not always be content 
in this position, and after a year and a-half of 



service, with no immediate prospect of advance- 
ment in position or salary, he resolved to try his 
fortune in the growing West. 

On the 3d of October, 1855, young Gage, 
being then a little past the completion of his nine- 
teenth year, arrived in Chicago with a capital 
consisting of brains and energy. He shortly 
found employment in the lumber-yard of Nathan 
Cobb, a part of the time in keeping books, and 
often in loading lumber. He continued in this 
employment until the business changed hands in 
1858. The financial depression of that period 
made many changes, and, rather than remain idle, 
Mr. Gage accepted the position of night-watch- 
man at the same place. At the end of six weeks 
in this service, in August, 1858, he was offered 
and accepted the position of book-keeper in the 
Merchants' Savings, Loan & Trust Company, at 
an annual salary of $500. Here he found field 
for the exercise of his abilities, and his advance- 
ment was rapid. On the ist of January follow- 
ing, he was promoted to the position of paying 
teller, with the accompanying salary of $1,200 
per year. In September, 1860, he became As- 
sistant Cashier at $2,000 per annum, and a year 
later was made Cashier. In August, 1868, he 
resigned this position to accept a similar one in 
the First National Bank. On the re-organiza- 
tion of this institution, at the expiration of its 
charter in 1882, Mr. Gage was elected Vice-Pres- 
ident and General Manager, and became Presi- 
dent January 24, 1891. Thus are briefly related 
the steps of his progress, but they were not the 
result of accident. Back of them were the quali- 
ities which inspired the confidence of his fellows, 
and the ability to make intelligent use of his op- 
portunities. 



272 



O. P. BASSETT. 



Mr. Gage was one of the organizers of the Amer- 
ican Bankers' Association at Philadelphia, in Oc- 
tober, 1876, and was made President of that body 
in 1882, and twice successfully re-elected, a com- 
pliment both to Chicago and the man. He is a 
member of two social clubs of the city, the Chi- 
cago and the Union, an ex-President of the Com- 
mercial Club (an organization limited to sixty 
members) , and a Director and Treasurer of the Art 
Institute. Mr. Gage takes a warm interest in 
all matters affecting the public welfare, and has 
been quite active as a member of the Republican 
organization, because he considers the Republi- 
can party the best exponent of his ideas on the 
conservation of human liberty and general pros- 
perity. While somewhat active in promulgating 
his principles, he is by no means a narrow parti- 
san, and will not tolerate anything which his 
judgment or conscience does not approve, because 
it bears the endorsement of his party. He has 
been frequently urged to accept a nomination for 
some public position, as the spontaneous choice 
of the public urged, but his business interests 
could not be set aside sufficiently to permit. At the 
last regular municipal election he could have been 
almost unanimously elected mayor, had he per- 
mitted the use of his name. In spite of the cares 
of his responsible position, he gave much of his 
energy to the promotion of the World's Fair en- 
terprise, and was made President of the Board of 
Directors at its organization in April, 1890. This 
he resigned on his accession to the bank presi- 
dency, nearly a year later, but continued as an 
active member of the Board. It is no injustice to 



his contemporaries to say that the final success of 
the scheme was in a large measure due to the 
influence and efforts of Mr. Gage. When the 
hostility of New York seemed likely to take the 
location away from Chicago, Mr. Gage was one 
of four local capitalists to guarantee the comple- 
tion of the ten-million-dollar guaranty fund re- 
quired by Congress from Chicago. It was while 
on his way to attend a banquet in New York in' 
honor of this event, that Mr. Gage was stricken 
with a serious illness, which it required a dan- 
gerous operation to overcome, and the whole na- 
tion rejoiced when it was announced that he would 
recover. 

Mr. Gage is a student of rare discrimination, 
and his public speeches show a cultivated taste in 
literature, as well as a mind well stored with use- 
ful knowledge. He has a happy faculty ofim- 
parting information to others, and his occasional 
addresses on financial, political and other topics 
are greeted with wide and careful attention. In 
private life, he is a most companionable gentle- 
man, and gives ear as readily to the request of 
the humble individual as the large investor. He 
has been twice married. In 1864 he espoused 
Miss Sarah Etheridge, daughter of Dr Francis 
Etheridge, of Little Falls, N. Y. She died in 
1874, and he was married to his present wife, Mrs. 
Cornelia Gage, of Denver, Colo., in 1887. Their 
home is on North State Street, near beautiful Lin- 
coln Park, and here Mr. Gage spends most of his 
evenings, ever gathering something from his well- 
selected library. 



ORLAND P. BASSETT. 



| RLAND P. BASSETT, of the Pictorial Print- 
ing House, of Chicago, and the owner of large 
greenhouses in Hinsdale, where he makes 
his home, was born March 31, 1835, in Towanda, 
Pa. His father, John W. Bassett, was a wheel- 



wright of the Keystone State, and in 1872 became 
to Illinois, spending his last days in Chicago at 
the home of his son, where he died at the age of 
eighty-four years. He was a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. His wife bore the maiden name 



J. O. CLIFFORD. 



273 



of Angeline Crocker, and passed away several 
years previous to the death of her husband. Their 
family numbered nine children, of whom four are 
yet living: Henry, John, Orland and Chauncy. 

Mr. Bassett whose name heads this record was 
reared in his native State, and remained with his 
parents until he had attained his majority. The 
greater part of his education was acquired in a 
printing-office. In 1854 he began the printing 
business, which he has followed up to the present 
time, and step by step he has worked his way up- 
ward until now he is President of the Pictorial 
Printing Company, of Chicago. He owned the 
entire business until about four years ago, when 
he sold the controlling interest. It was in March, 
1857, that he came to the West and located in 
Sycamore, 111., where he published a paper, the 
Sycamore True Republican, for nine years. He 
then sold out and removed to Chicago, where he 
carried on a job printing-office until 1874, when 
he bought out the establishment of the Pictorial 
Printing Com pan y, as before stated. 

On the 5th of April, 1858, Mr. Bassett was 
united in marriage with Miss Betsey M. Shelton. 



One child has been born to them, Kate B., wife 
of Charles L. Washburn, of Hinsdale. They 
have one son, Edgar B. 

For many years Mr. Bassett was a supporter of 
the Republican party, but is now independent in 
his political views. In 1887 he removed to Hins- 
dale, where he makes his home, but still does 
business in Chicago. He also has in Hinsdale 
the largest greenhouses to be found in the West, 
does an extensive business in this line, and em- 
ploys a large number of men. When he began 
business in Sycamore he had 110 capital and bought 
his outfit on credit, but he has steadily worked 
his way upward, and the business of the Chicago 
Pictorial Printing Company has at times amounted 
to $1,000 per day. The company is well known 
throughout the United States and Canada, and . 
also in parts of Australia and South America, and 
its success is due in a large measure to the untir- 
ing efforts and good management of Mr. Bassett. 
He is a genial and pleasant gentleman, is very 
popular, makes friends wherever he goes, and is 
justly deserving of the high regard in which he 
is held. 



JAMES ORRA CLIFFORD. 



(TAMES ORRA CLIFFORD was born Decem- 
I ber 8, 1856, at Salem, Kenosha County, 
G/ Wis. , being the son of Emery and Mary Jane 
(Osgood) Clifford. He comes of English ances- 
try, and his forefathers were among the early set- 
tlers of the New England States. His paternal 
grandparents, John and Nancy (Ray) Clifford, 
were born in New Hampshire. They afterward 
settled at Collins, Erie County, N. Y. They were 
the parents of eleven children. Emery, the sev- 
enth of these, was born at Collins, Erie County, 
N. Y., October 21, 1832. In the year 1846 his 
parents removed from New York and settled near 



Salem, Kenosha County, Wis. His maternal 
grandparents, John Sherman and Jane (Orvis) 
Osgood, were natives of Brookline, Windham 
Count}', Vt. They were the parents of five chil- 
dren. Mary Jane, the eldest, was born at Brook- 
line, Windham County, Vt., November 30, 1838. 
In the fall of 1851 they removed from Vermont, 
settling on a farm near Salem, Kenosha County, 
Wis. 

Emery Clifford and Mary Jane Osgood were 
married at Salem, Kenosha County, Wis., on 
February 8, 1856. They settled on a farm near 
Salem, Wis., where their four children were born. 



274 



J. O. CLIFFORD. 



Emery Clifford enlisted in the First Wisconsin 
Heavy Artillery, Company L, and was stationed 
at Arlington Heights, near Washington, D. C., 
guarding the United States capital until the close 
of the civil war, after which he returned and was 
engaged in agricultural pursuits until the autumn 
of 1874, when he sold his farm and removed to 
Delmar, Clinton County, Iowa, where he still re- 
sides. Of his four children, James O. is the eld- 
est. Jennie O. resides with her parents. Lurie 
E. died unmarried in 1882; and Gay Emery, the 
youngest, is married and resides at Arthur, Ida 
County, Iowa, where he is the manager of a lum- 
ber-yard. 

The subject of this sketch entered the public 
(country) schools at the age of eight years. From 
the age of eleven he was employed in assisting his 
father with the farm work during the summer, and 
attending school in the winter, until the summer 
of 1873, at which time he left home, going to 
Delmar, Clinton County, Iowa, where he entered 
the railway service as a messenger boy and ap- 
prentice under his uncle by marriage, William E. 
Roberts, who was agent for the Chicago & North- 
western Railway Company at that station. Here, 
during the following year until October, he learned 
telegraphy and the duties of a station agent 
generally, and has since been in the employ of 
the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company 
consecutively, as follows: October, 1874, to Au 
gust, 1880, at various stations on the Iowa Divis- 
ion as telegraph operator and agent. In August, 
1880, while he was stationed at Montour, Iowa, 
he was appointed to the position of Traveling 
Auditor. In this capacity he traveled over the 
entire Northwestern System. On November 7, 
1887, he was appointed Freight Auditor of the 
Chicago & Northwestern Railway ; Fremont, Elk- 
horn & Missouri Valley, and Sioux & Pacific 
Railroads, with office at Chicago, which position 
he holds at the present time. His long continu- 
ance in this position, where a thorough knowl- 
edge of the intricacies of railway accounting, sys- 
tematic supervision, and accuracy in every detail, 
are essential, attests his executive ability and 
faithfulness. His management in business affairs 
is characterized by a progressive spirit, seeking 



improved methods and higher efficiency in mat- 
ters pertaining to his chosen profession. In har- 
mony with this idea he has been a member of the 
Association of American Railway Accounting Of- 
ficers since its organization, having always taken 
an active and influential part in its deliberations, 
and having been honored by his fellow-members 
with the office of Vice-President of the Associa- 
tion. 

On November 7, 1883, Mr. Clifford married 
Miss May Elizabeth Dannatt, who was born at 
Low Moor, Iowa, June 25, 1859, and who is a 
daughter of Benjamin and Jane (Cortis) Dannatt, 
natives of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, England, 
respectively. In 1851 her grandfather, Samuel 
Dannatt, came from England and purchased five 
thousand acres of land in Clinton County, Iowa, 
giving to the location the name of his old home in 
England, and to his residence the name of Kill- 
inghome Hall, after his English estate. They 
resided at Clinton, Iowa, until October, 1885, at 
which time they removed to Wheaton, 111., where 
they now occupy a pleasant home on Main Street, 
corner of Franklin. To them have been given 
five children. Grace Edith was born at Clinton, 
Iowa, February i, 1885. The other four were 
born at Wheaton, DuPage County, 111. Lewis 
Dannatt on April 17, 1886; Oliveon JuneS, 1887; 
Marshall Emery on February 26, 1892; and Alice 
on April 8, 1893. Mr. Clifford has served two 
terms in the City Council of Wheaton as represen- 
tative of the ward in which he lives, having de- 
clined further honors in that direction. 

Mr. Clifford possesses a fine physique, and has 
the easy, cordial bearing which makes and retains 
friendships. He is of a social disposition and is 
prominently identified with numerous fraternal 
orders, among which may be named the Masonic, 
Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica and National Union. He attends the Epis- 
copal Church, in which Mrs. Clifford is a com- 
municant, and gives his political fealty to the 
Republican party. Mrs. Clifford is a refined and 
amiable lady, who presides over their pleasant 
home with easy grace, and aids her husband in 
making it a hospitable and attractive abode. 



THEODORE HUBBARD. 



275 



DR. THEODORE HUBBARD. 



0R. THEODORE HUBBARD, the first 
Postmaster of Babcock's Grove, and a prom- 
inent citizen of Cook County, was born 
in Putney, Vt. , October 19, 1803, and died in 
Chicago, February i, 1873. His parents were 
Theodore and Dorothy (Wilson) Hubbard. The 
family is descended from Edmund Hubbard, who 
was born in Hingham, England, about 1570, and 
crossed the Atlantic to Charlestown, Mass., in 
1633. He died in Hingham, Mass., March 8, 
1646. One of his sons, Rev. Peter Hubbard, a 
dissenting clergyman, founded the oldest church 
now in existence in the United States, located at 
Hingham. He died there January 20, 1679, in 
the seventy-fifth year of his age, and the fifty- 
second year of his ministry. He was a graduate 
of Magdalen College, of Cambridge, England. 
Among Edmund Hubbard's descendants are num- 
bered many eminent judges, ministers and educa- 
tors, and the present Earl of Buckinghamshire, 
England, is a descendant of the same family. The 
Hobarts, or Huberts, of England came from Nor- 
mandy during the reign of William the Conqueror. 
The earliest known record of the family locates 
them near Dieppe, Normandy, in 1198. They 
were a baronial family in Norfolk, England, where 
John Hobart resided in 1260. One of his de- 
scendants, James Hobart, was made a Knight of 
the Sword by Henry VII. in 1504. They were 
created baronets in 1611. Our subject repre- 
sented the eighth generation in America. The 
names of his progenitors in direct line were Ed- 
mund, Thomas, Caleb, Benjamin, Peter, Sr., 
Peter, Jr., and Theodore. 

Peter Hubbard, Sr., died near Ft. William Hen- 
ry during the French and Indian War, of wounds 
received in that service. His son was an Ensign 
in a New Hampshire company during the Revo- 
lutionary War. The father of our subject was 
born in Keene, N. H., October 25, 1774, and 



died in Hartford, Vt., February 15, 1814. His 
wife died at Babcock's Grove, July 16, 1840, at 
the age of sixty-seven years. 

Doctor Hubbard was the fourth in their family 
of seven children. He was married November 
25, 1828, to Anne Ward Ballou, who was born 
December 29, 1809, in Deerfield, near Utica, N. 
Y. , and was a daughter of Ebenezer and Marana 
(Ward) Ballou. The Ward fataily has an ex- 
tensive genealogical history, which can be traced 
back to 1 1 30. The name is derived from ' 'Gar' ' 
or "Garde." Ralph de Gar, ordelaWarde, flour- 
ished in Norfolk, England, at the time of Henry 
II. 

Returning to the personal history of Dr. Hub- 
bard, we note that he settled in Chicago May 21, 
1836, and about a year later went to DuPage 
County, pre-empting a farm near the present vil- 
lage of Glen Ellyn. A few years later he was 
made the first Postmaster of Babcock's Grove, 
keeping the office in his house and bringing the 
mail from Bloomingdale on horseback. In 1851, 
he returned to Chicago, where he engaged in the 
practice of medicine until his death. He had pre- 
viously studied for the ministry, but later entered 
the medical profession, and as a physician se- 
cured a liberal patronage. He also had an ex- 
tensive knowledge of law, and was a man of more 
than ordinary intellectual ability, although he 
had little opportunity for education while a boy. 
For several years he served as County Commis- 
sioner of DuPage County. 

Of the children of Doctor and Mrs. Hubbard, 
Augustus, a civil engineer, died in Amboy, 
111., in April, 1865. Carlos, manager of a wagon 
factory, died in Chicago at the age of forty years. 
Oscar died in Groesbeck, Tex., in April, 1877; 
Adolphus, who was the founder of the Sons ol the 
American Revolution in 1879, is now connected 
with the California University of San Francisco, 



2 7 6 



NATHAN DYE. 



and is a member of many historical societies. Ed- 
ward Clarence, who '^as a prominent attorney of 
Hartford, Ky., died in Chicago, June 27, 1887, 
at the age of forty-four years. He was a mem- 
ber of the Thirteenth Illinois Infantry during the 
late war. Enlisting April 21, 1 86 1, he was dis- 
charged June 1 8, ^864, after having participated 
in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, 
Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, siege of 
Vicksburg, and other engagements. Ellen, who 
died soon after aer graduation from the Chicago 
High School, pnd Laura complete the family. 

Mr. Hubbard was a life-long Democrat, but all 
of his sons sup port the Republican party. In his re- 
ligious views he was a Universalist. Of the first 
Masonic lodge of Chicago he was a charter mem- 
ber and was made an honorary member previous 



to his death. Prominent in public and business af- 
fairs, he was an honored and highly respected 
citizen, who for many years was connected with 
the leading interests of Chicago. His skill and 
ability as a physician won him an enviable repu- 
tation, and he was widely known as a man of ster- 
ling worth. Mrs. Hubbard is an honorary mem- 
ber of Chicago Chapter of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, and is honorary Vice- Pres- 
ident of the Daughters of 1812. She is also a 
member of the Historic Council, which was estab- 
lished to keep alive the memories of the men who 
gave liberty and fraternity to the western world. 
She now resides in Glen Ellyn with her daughter 
Laura, who is a lady of intelligence and refine- 
ment, and a corresponding member of the Chi- 
cago Historical Society. 



PROF. NATHAN DYE. 



. NATHAN DYE. No mention of the 
LX musical fabric of Chicago and the West can 
1$ be considered complete without a notice of 
Professor Dye, who was endeared to many of the 
early families of Chicago. A man who attained 
the ripe old age of eighty-three years, he was 
beloved by all with whom he came in contact. 
He was a pioneer in his chosen profession, and 
taught both vocal and instrumental music in 
three generations of some families. One of the 
secrets of his great success lay in his love of the 
divine art, and his ability to so simplify his meth- 
ods as to bring them within the grasp of almost 
infantile minds. 

Nathan Dye was born in the town of De Ruy- 
ter, Madison County, New York, June 30, 1808, 
and lived on the homestead farm until he was 
sixteen years of age. The country schoolhouse 
was a mile and a-half away, and the boy attend- 
ed school half of each year from the age of seven 
to ten years, helping on the farm during the in- 
tervals, as was customary with lads of his time. 



After this, he had but three months' schooling, 
although always a student. When he was twelve 
years of age, he met with an accident which 
caused a lameness from which he never entirely 
recovered. He was married, in 1833, to Miss 
Lucy Maria Kinyon, of Milan, New York, and 
four years later they removed to Kenosha, Wis- 
consin, then called Pike Creek, and later South- 
port. 

A few years after coming West, Mr. Dye deter- 
mined to devote his life wholly to music, which 
had hitherto employed but a portion of his time 
and energy. In 1844116 introduced his induct- 
ive method of teaching in Milwaukee, Wiscon- 
sin, by giving a series of concerts there with a 
class of his Kenosha pupils. He continued to 
teach in Milwaukee, with pronounced success, un- 
til 1848, when he settled permanently in Chicago. 
His phenomenal power of teaching children to 
read music at sight attracted wide attention. For 
years his classes, both adult and juvenile, were 
a prominent feature of the musical world of Chi- 



NATHAN DYE. 



277 



cago and adjacent cities. A part of his life work 
which is full of beautiful memories was that con- 
nected with those of his pupils whom he assisted 
in the development of musical powers that must 
have remained dormant but for this generous and 
kindly teacher. How many were placed in con- 
dition of self-support along the line indicated by 
nature's gift, only their helper knew. Several 
of Professor Dye's pupils made brilliant reputa- 
tions on the lyric stage and in great oratorios. 
He numbered in his early classes some of Chica- 
go's most prominent citizens. The well-known 
comic opera singer, Lillian Russell, first started 
on her musical career under his tutelage. In the 
spring of 1880 the Professor was tendered a tes- 
timonial and complimentary benefit concert at 
Central Music Hall, which his old friends and 
pupils made a great success. 

In November, 1843, ^ e was bereaved by the 
death of his wife, which occurred in Kenosha, 
and a year's illness followed this sad blow. The 
loss was somewhat compensated by the survival 
of his three children for many years thereafter. 

His only son, Byron E. Dye, died at Paola, 
Kansas in September, 1883, and his remains were 
taken to Kansas City for burial. His daughters 
are Harriet A. and Frances E., of Chicago, the 
former being the wife of N. Buschwah, and the 
latter the wife of Gen. C. T. Hotchkiss, who won 
his title in the Civil War. This sketch is penned 
in loving memory of Professor Dye by Mrs. Hotch- 
kiss. In 1855 Professor Dye married Miss Cor- 
delia A. Hamlin, daughter of the late Rev. E. H. 
Hamlin, once pastor of the First Baptist Church 
of Chicago. Twin sons were born of this union. 

After thirty-five years of happy wedded life, 
they were separated by death only two months, 
her demise occurring first. He passed away July 
30, 1891, at his home, 383 Park Avenue. He 
had been an invalid about seventeen months, 
though his final illness was a severe attack of 
pneumonia, which his great age made resistless. 
His funeral took place Sunday, August 2, at Cen- 
tral Music Hall, and his remains were interred 
in the family lot at Kenosha, beside those of his 
first wife. The funeral services were conducted 
by Rev. Thomas G. Milsted, of the First Unita- 



rian Church of Chicago, assisted by Mrs. Emma 
J. Bullene, a trance speaker and an old pupil of 
Professor Dye. 

Professor Dye was an advanced thinker in the 
line of religious conviction, investigating fear- 
lessly and impartially new theories, and listening 
gladly to the presentation of truth, as seen by 
Christian or unbeliever. He accepted the tenets 
of spiritualism, after the most careful and can- 
did research, finding satisfaction in its teachings 
as given by the scientific writers in that line of 
thought. He was a great admirer of Rev. Dr. 
Thomas, in whose discourses he found much food 
for reflection. 

Professor Dye was a descendant of old Revolu- 
tionary stock, and imbibed the love of liberty 
with his earliest breath. It is not strange, there- 
fore, that he was identified with the earliest Aboli- 
tion movement, and labored unflinchingly for the 
emancipation of the colored man. Fifteen mem- 
bers of the Dye family served in the Continental 
army, several of them being officers. Among 
the number was Gen. Thomas Dye, a personal 
friend of Washington and La Fayette, who were 
often entertained at his house in Bergen, New 
Jersey, during the memorable winter of 1777-78. 
Daniel Dye, grandfather of the subject of this 
biography, endured the horrors of that winter at 
the Valley Forge encampment, his feet being 
swathed in rags for protection. He often related 
reminiscences of the privations endured by him- 
self and comrades at that time. At one time a 
number of British officers visited General Wash- 
ington under a flag of truce, and such was the 
destitution prevailing in the camp that the only 
refreshment he was able to offer them consisted 
of baked potatoes and salt, which were served on 
pieces of bark, in lieu of plates. Daniel Dye 
was born in Kent County, Connecticut, February 
10, 1744. He enlisted in Captain Beardsley's 
company, Seventh Regiment of the Connecticut 
Line, May 28, 1777, and was under command of 
Col. Heman Sift. He was discharged from that 
company February 17, 1778. Prior to entering 
the regular service, he was a member of Captain 
Fuller's company of militia, and did duty in the 
New York campaign of 1776. He was the father 



2 7 8 



THOMAS TAGNEY. 



of eight children, the eldest of whom was John 
P. Dye, born May 9, 1768. About 1791 he 
moved from Connecticut to western New York. 
His wife's name was Sally Rhodes, and Nathan 
was the tenth of their eleven children. 

Professor Dye was a member of the old Tippe- 
canoe Club, and ever maintained the principles 



upon which that organization was founded. He 
was always thoroughly posted on current political 
events and matters of historical interest. Every 
movement looking toward the moral and physical 
uplifting of humanity in general received his 
cordial support and commendation. 



THOMAS TAGNEY. 



"HOMAS TAGNEY, whose death occurred 
on the seventh day of September, 1894, a * 
897 Seminary Avenue, was one of the early 
settlers of Chicago, having first .visited this city 
in 1836, nearly sixty years ago. He was a native 
of Sheffield, England, born May 15, 1818. His 
father, Thomas Tagney, was a musician in the 
British army, as was also one of his brothers. In 
1833 the elder Tagney migrated with his family 
to Canada, where he taught music, in which he 
was very proficient, for several years. The family 
afterward returned to England, but the subject of 
this sketch preferred to remain in this country, 
and continued for a short time with his uncle in 
Canada. Young Tagney was of a restless and 
roaming disposition, and desired to see other parts 
of the world. He accordingly went into the 
Southern States, and was engaged on different 
plantations in Alabama and Louisiana, in the vi- 
cinity of New Orleans, for several years. Al- 
though only a boy in his teens at the time he 
went there, he rapidly acquired knowledge that 
enabled him to direct plantation work, and he be- 
came an overseer. In this employment he earned 
good wages, a large portion of which he managed 
to save. 

Abandoning that life in 1836, he came direct to 
Chicago, with a small fortune, which he invested 
in North Side property. Two lots, 143 and 145 
Illinois Street, for which he paid $600, he still 



had in his possession at the time of his death, 
and their value had increased to twenty-five thou- 
sand. For several years Mr. Tagney was a steam- 
boat engineer, and sailed all over the Lakes, from 
Buffalo to Duluth On retiring from the lake 
service he settled at Muskegon, Michigan, where 
he resided 'five years, and was engaged as engi- 
neer in the sawmill there. Returning again to 
Chicago, he engaged as mechanical engineer in 
the employ of the Fulton & St. Paul Grain Ele- 
vators. He superintended the construction of the 
former (first known as Munn & Gill's Elevator), 
both in its original construction and when rebuilt 
in 1873. He was continuously in the employ of 
this elevator company for thirty-three years, a 
testimony to his regular habits, ability and devo- 
tion to the interests of his employers. 

At the time of the great fire in Chicago, in 187 1 , 
Mr. Tagney owned houses and lots on Illinois, 
Indiana and Wells Streets, which, of course, were 
consumed by the element which devastated the 
entire North Side. But he had great confidence 
in Chicago, and within three months rebuilt the 
Illinois Street property, selling the other; this 
property being the first house rebuilt. In the 
year 1885, having spent the greater part of a long 
life in active, arduous and useful labors, Mr. Tag- 
ney retired from business and moved to L,ake 
View, where he remained until his death. In 
his later years he bought residence property on 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 




ALONZO J. CUTLER 



(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT) 



A. J. CUTLER. 



279 



Fletcher, Baxter, North Halsted Streets and Lin- 
coln Avenue. In 1847 he was married to Miss 
Alice Steele, daughter of Hugh and Mary Steele. 
She was bora in May, 1828, in Canada, to which 
country her parents had immigrated from the 
North of Ireland, and died in Chicago on the 7th of 
August, 1892, aged sixty-four years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Tagney were the parents of seven children, 
of whom five grew to maturity. Henry Thomas, 
the eldest, was an engineer by profession, and 
succeeded to the place made vacant by his father 
in the Fulton Elevator. He married Miss Ella 
Moore, and died in 1893, leaving a widow and 
three children, Henry T., George and Effie. 

The second son, James William, is a sign-paint- 
er, and resides on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. 
February 27, 1872, he married Miss Kate Casey, 
a native of County Cork, Ireland, daughter of 
Dennis and Mary Casey. They have four liv- 
ing children, Thomas, Charles, Harry and Alice 
Marion. Alice Jane, the third child, was married, 
in 1873, to William Young, and now has two 
children. Hugh, the elder, is a salesman, and 
William, the younger son, is an artist. Mrs. 
Young conducts a prosperous business on Diver- 
sey Street. John E. is an engineer. He married 



Ada Weinberg, and has three children, Willie, 
Charles and Nellie. Charles S., the youngest son 
of Thomas Tagney, is now engaged in the livery 
business. He was married, February' 18, 1893, to 
Miss Hilda Anderson, a native of Sweden; they 
have one child, an infant. 

Mr. Tagney was one of those men whose busy, 
but quiet, lives have been spent in the upbuild- 
ing of the great city of Chicago, and in the ac- 
cumulation of wealth for his posterity. He was 
a man whose temperate life and intensely domestic 
characteristics were fit patterns for imitation of 
those who succeed him. His disposition was 
quiet and undemonstrative, but his impulses were 
generous, and he never refused aid to the needy. 
In politics he was a Democrat, supporting the 
men whom he deemed best qualified for the offices 
which they sought, but never asking for place for 
himself. In his early life he was a member of the 
Baptist Church, but in his later years he cher- 
ished liberal ideas. In his investments he was 
fortunate, in his domestic life happy, always pro- 
viding for his wife and children a comfortable and 
pleasant home. His sterling qualities of head 
and heart attracted to him many friends, who are 
left to mourn his departure from their midst. 



ALONZO J. CUTLER. 



GlLONZO J. CUTLER is widely known as 
I I one of the most daring and successful brok- 
/ | ers operating upon the Chicago Board of 
Trade. His transactions are distinguished by a 
display of exceptional judgment, discretion and 
foresight, which causes his movements to be 
watched and commented upon by the whole field 
of speculators and investors. It is a notable fact 
that the men who have made and retained fort- 
unes on the Board of Trade were all of a kind 
especially endowed with the trading instinct, or 



' made wise in the school of experience; and Mr. 
Cutler can justly be classed under both these 
heads. Every move made by him is carefully 
calculated and planned, and all his financial ar- 
rangements are faithful to well-grounded princi- 
ples of business. 

Mr. Cutler first came to Chicago in the spring 
of 1869, being then but seventeen years of age. 
His cash capital at that time consisted of about 
$20, but this lack of means was abundantly com- 
pensated for by brains, pluck and energy, and he 



280 



A. J. CUTLER. 



immediately set about the task of bettering his 
financial condition. With that end in view, he 
vigorously applied himself to the first employment 
which presented itself. This was the position of 
driver of a wagon for the Singer Sewing-Machine 
Company. A few weeks' experience in this ca- 
pacity demonstrated his capability for employ- 
ment demanding more skill and acumen, and 
within a few months he was promoted to the po- 
sition of head salesman of the Chicago agency. 
It was not long before he was dealing in sewing- 
machines at wholesale, and in a single year 
cleared over $5,00x3 in this way. Such a prac- 
tical demonstration of business ability and apti- 
tude for trade could not fail to attract the atten- 
tion of live business men, and in the spring of 
1883 O. H. Roche, the well-known Board of 
Trade operator, suggested to him that his trading 
talents would find a more extended field in spec- 
ulation. Other friends pointed out the dangers 
and hazards, and advised him to persevere in his 
previous line of business. 

But Mr. Cutler had abundant confidence in his 
own powers, and, after a brief consideration, re- 
solved to enter the speculative field, as a more 
congenial and speedy method of gaining a compe- 
tence. He soon became an active trader in the 
capacity of broker for Mr. Roche, for whom he 
has ever entertained the highest respect, and 
whom he regards as his preceptor in the specula- 
tive field. 

When Mr. Roche retired from business the fol- 
lowing year, Mr. Cutler opened a brokerage office 
for himself, and his rise has been steady and not 
less remarkable than that of the renowned Ed 
Pardridge, whom he has actively represented in 
many great deals. But he has an outside busi- 
ness of his own, and numbers customers by the 
score, who have the utmost confidence in his 
judgment, integrity and ability. One of the most 
active traders on the Board, Mr. Cutler is always 
in the thick of the crowd when there is any ex- 
citement in the wheat pit. He is generally known 
"on "change" as "the man behind Pardridge," 
and his natural instinct and adaptability as a 
trader have made his success no less remarkable 
than that of the great speculator, in whose service 



and under whose tuition his peculiar talents have 
been developed. That these two men, being 
similarly endowed by nature, and having knowl- 
edge of each other's abilities, should have made a 
record unparalleled in successful speculative an- 
nals is not surprising. Their immense daring 
and successful operations have become a part of 
the absorbing and wonderful history of the Chi- 
cago Board of Trade. Some of their boldly and 
cleverly executed plans have evoked the admira- 
tion of the commercial world. The appellation 
of "plunger" is a misnomer when applied to 
either of this pair, for the reason that their move- 
ments, upon analysis and investigation, appear 
plainly to be the results of the most carefully laid 
plans and calculations. None of their deals have 
been reckless, although they have been pro- 
nounced so by persons not familiar with the inner 
details. 

Alonzo J. Cutler was born at Montpelier, Ver- 
mont, March 24, 1852. He is the youngest in 
the family of four children born to David W. 
Cutler and Maria Marshall. The father, who 
was a farmer and ice dealer at Montpelier, died 
of typhoid fever during the infancy of the subject 
of this sketch, who was afterward placed under 
the guardianship of Elon Hammond, of East 
Montpelier. Owing to the incompetence and mis- 
management of this guardian, young Cutler was 
removed to the charge of Hon. Clark King, a 
prominent farmer, in whose home he remained 
until about sixteen years of age. Most of his 
education was obtained by attending a country 
school in winter, and his first money was earned 
by working as a farm hand at $7 per month. Be- 
fore coming West he spent one year as clerk in 
the Pavilion Hotel in Montpelier, but becoming 
dissatisfied with the irksomeness of this position, 
which consumed nineteen hours per day of his 
time, he resolved to seek a change by moving to 
the West. 

The Cutler family in America is of English de- 
scent. The first progenitor of A. J. Cutler in 
America was John Cutler, Senior, who is sup- 
posed to have come from Sprauston, a sub- 
urb of Norwich, England. About 1637 he set- 
tled at Hingham, Massachw ;etts, where he soon 



W. O. TYLER. 



281 



afterward died, leaving a widow and seven chil- 
dren. He and his immediate posterity furnish 
examples of the typical Puritan character. His 
fifth son, Thomas Cutler, who was a farmer by 
occupation, died at Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
in 1683. The next in the line of descent herein 
traced was Jonathan, a tailor by trade, and the 
generations following him are successively repre- 
sented by the following names: David, Jonathan, 
David, and David W., the father of the subject of 
this notice, who died in 1854, aged thirty -nine 
years. His mother was Abigail, daughter of 
Daniel Ca