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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 UBRARY 
 
 f 320.0773 
 
 ILUNOiS HSTOmCAl StMVET
 
 libraky 
 
 OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 COURTESY or HERBERT WELLS FAY, CUSTODIAN- 
 
 LINCOLN'S TOMIl. srUIN(, FIELD
 
 In H^mmiam 
 
 FOUNDERS AND MAKEPvS 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 A Memorial History of the State's 
 Ploncred Dead 
 
 C^ 
 
 This volume prepared for 
 
 By the 
 ILLINOIS MEMORIAL SOCIETY 
 
 S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY, CHICAGO
 
 t 
 
 no.<9773 
 
 X J2 (p 1 ; 
 
 ^n ^Memoriam 
 
 HISTORICAL 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 
 
 The first authentic account of the discovery of the vast region in 
 which the present state of Illinois is comprised is derived from the journal 
 of Father Marquette. In 1673 an exploring party was organized by the 
 French authorities in Quebec and placed in command of Sieur Louis 
 Joliet, accompanied by a Jesuit missionary, James Marquette, with a 
 party of five men in two canoes. The expedition entered the upper 
 Mississippi by way of the Wisconsin River, as related below. 
 
 The lower portion of the Mississippi had been discovered by a Span- 
 iard, Hernando De Soto in 1541, at a point near the present City of 
 Memphis; but this discovery had been wellnigh forgotten at the period 
 of time here spoken of. That a great river existed far to the north of the 
 -:.i region where De Soto found and crossed the Mississippi, was well known 
 
 to the French from the reports made to them by the Indians, vague and 
 fyj indefinite though they were; and these reports excited the imagination 
 
 ■^ and stimulated the ambition of many of the adventurous spirits of the 
 
 4=> time. Nicollet, while descending the Wisconsin River in 1638, reached 
 
 \_r> a point within three days' journey of its mouth before turning back, and 
 
 ~ thus narrowly missed making the discover^' of the great river which was 
 
 reserved for others to make more than a generation later. He supposed, 
 however, that he was within that distance "from the sea," having misun- 
 derstood the information given him by the Indians. Father Allouez, 
 while engaged in missionary labors on the shores of Lake Superior, heard 
 of the Sioux and their great river, the '"Messippi." In the Algonquin 
 language, the name Mississippi, spelled in a variety of ways by the early 
 chroniclers, meant "Great River." 
 
 It does not appear to have been suspected by any of the early French 
 explorers that the "Great River" of which the Indians told them, was 
 one and the same with that discovered by the Spanish explorer, more 
 than a century before. Many conjectures were made as to where it 
 reached the sea, on which point the Indians could give no reliable 
 information. Some thought that it emptied into the "Sea of Virginia," 
 others contended that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, while Frontenac, 
 the governor of New France, was convinced that it discharged its waters 
 
 5 
 
 999648
 
 6 In a3cmoriam 
 
 into the Vermilion Sea. that is the Gulf of California: and that hy way 
 of it a passage might he found to China. 
 
 As the spring advanecd, Joliet and Marquette made the necessary 
 preparations for their journey, the duration of ^s■hi^h they could not 
 foresee. In two hark canoes, manned hy five Frenchmen, hesides the 
 two intrepid leaders, the party emharkcd, '"fully resolved to do and 
 suffer evervthing for so glorious an enterprise:" and on the 17th of 
 May, 1673. the voyage hegan at the mission of Saint Ignace. Father 
 Marquette writes in his journal: '"The joy that we felt at hcing selected 
 for this expedition animated our courage, and rendered the lahor of 
 paddling from morning to night agreeahle to us. And heeause we were 
 going to seek unknown countries, we took every precaution in our power, 
 so that if our undertaking were hazardous, it should not he foolhardy." 
 The journal of Father jMarquette is the principal source of our informa- 
 tion, and is full of detail and written in a simple style. Joliet also kept 
 a record and made a map. but, unfortunately, all his papers were lost, 
 hy the upsetting of his canoe in the Saint Lawrence, while he was 
 returning to Queliec the following year to make a report of his dis- 
 coveries. Thus it happens that Marquette's name is more frequently 
 and prominently mentioned in all the accounts than that of Joliet. 
 
 They were now embarked on the Wisconsin River and soon passed 
 the utmost limits of iXicollet"s voyage on this river made thirty-five 
 years before. "It is very wide," writes Marquette, "and has a sandy 
 bottom rendering the navigation difficult. It is full of islands covered 
 ^vith vines, and on the hanks one sees fertile land, diversified with woods, 
 prairies and hills." Their route lay to the southwest, and, after a voyage 
 of seven days on this river, on the 17th day of June, just one month 
 from the day they started from Saint Ignace. they reached its mouth 
 and steered their canoes forth upon the broad bosom of the Mississippi, 
 "^vith a joy tliat I cannot express," wrote Marquette. 
 
 Steadily they followed the course of the great river towards the south, 
 and on the eighth day they saw, for the first time since entering the 
 river, tracks of men near the water's edge, and they stopped to examine 
 them. This point was near the mouth of the Des Moines River, and 
 thus they were the first white men to place foot on the soil of Iowa. The 
 visitors found that the tracks led to a village of Illinois Indians, by whom 
 they were well received and hospitably entertained. The Illinois Indians 
 lived at this time beyond the Mississippi, whither they had been driven 
 by the fierce Iroquois from their former abode, near Lake Michigan. A 
 few years later most of them returned to the east side and made their 
 abode along the Illinois River. Indeed, as we shall see. Joliet and 
 Marquette found a large village of them on the upper waters of the 
 Illinois, while ascending that river a few weeks later. It may be
 
 ROHERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE 
 From a portrait 
 
 ZOURTESY OF 
 
 ICAL SOCIET 
 
 A REPRESENTATION OF THE OLD FRENCH FORT NEAR PEORIA
 
 LIBRft«Y 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIYERSn/ OF ILLINOIS
 
 jFounPcrs anp C0cikrrs of SUinois 9 
 
 remarked here, hoivever, that the Illinois Indians never fully recovered 
 from the disastrous defeats they suffered from the Iroquois, and held 
 only a precarious possession of their lands along the Illinois River after 
 that time; until a centurj- later, the last broken remnant of them was 
 exterminated at Starved Rock by the Pottawattomies and Ottawas. 
 
 On their departure, the chief of the tribe presented the visitors with 
 "ijelts, garters, and other articles made of hair of bears and cattle 
 (buffalo), dyed red, yellov.- and gray." 
 
 But the chief made them two more gifts which were a valuable 
 addition to their equipment, namely, an Indian lad, the chief's own 
 son, for a slave, and 'an altogether mysterious Calumet {iin Calumet 
 tout mysterieux), upon which the Indians place more value than upon 
 a slave." The possession of this "mysterious Calumet" was the means 
 of placating several bands of hostile Indians, whom they met later in 
 their journey. The chief, on learning their intention to proceed do^vn 
 the river "as far as the sea," attempted to dissuade them on account of 
 the great dangers to which they would expose themselves. "I replied," 
 says Marquette, "that I feared not death, and that I regarded my happi- 
 ness as greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him, who has 
 made us all. This is what these poor people cannot understand." These 
 were no idle words of Marquette's, for before the lapse of two years 
 from that date he died of privation and exposure, a martyr to the cause 
 he had so much at heart. 
 
 On the departure of the party, Marquette promised the Indians to 
 return to them the next year and instruct them. They embarked in the 
 sight of the people, ^vho had followed them to the landing to the number 
 of some six hundred. 
 
 Continuing their journey, the voyagers passed the mouth of the 
 Illinois, without special incident, but when in the \-icinity of the place 
 where the City of Alton now stands, and while skirting some high rocks, 
 they "saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made 
 them afraid." The paintings were "as large as a calf," and were so well 
 done that they could not believe that any savage had done the work. 
 Joutel saw them some eleven years later, but could not see anything 
 particularly terrifying in them, but the Indians who were Avith him 
 were much impressed. Saint Cosme passed by them in 1699, but they 
 were then almost effaced: and when, in 1867, Parkman visited the 
 Mississippi, he passed the place, but the rocks had been partly quarried 
 away and the paintings had entirely disappeared. 
 
 The party in canoes had scarcely recovered from their fears before 
 they found themselves in the presence of a new danger, for they heard 
 the noise of what at first they supposed were rapids ahead of them; and 
 directly they came in sight of the turbulent waters of the Missouri River,
 
 10 31n Cl3fmoriiim 
 
 pouring its flood into the Mississippi. Large trees, branches and even 
 "floating ishinds"'' Avere home on its surface, and its "water was very 
 muddy."' The name "Missouri." which was afterwards applied to this 
 river, means in the Indian hinguage "muddy water," and the river is 
 often spoken of to this day as the "Big Muddy.' They passed in safety, 
 however, and continued on their journey in good spirits and with 
 thankful hearts. 
 
 The explorers continued down past the banks of this part of the 
 river for some three hundred miles from the place where they had met 
 the Indians just spoken of, when they were suddenly startled by the 
 war-whoops of a numerous band of savages who showed everj' sign of 
 hostility. The "mysterious Calumet" was held up by Marquette, but at 
 first without producing any effect. Missiles were flying, but fortunately 
 doing no damage, and some of the savages plunged into the river in order 
 to grasp their canoes; when presently some of the older men. having 
 perceived the Calumet steadily held aloft, called back their young men 
 and made reassuring signs and gestures. They found one who could 
 speak a little Illinois; and, on learning that the Frenchmen were on their 
 way to the sea, the Indians escorted them some twenty-five miles, until 
 they reached a village called Akamsca. Here they were well received, 
 but the dwellers there warned them against proceeding, on account of 
 the warlike tribes below who would bar their way. 
 
 Jolict and Marquette here held a council whether to push on, or to 
 remain content with the discoveries they had already made. They 
 judged that they were within two or three days' journey from the sea, 
 though we know that they were still some seven hundred miles distant 
 from it. They decided, however, that beyond a doubt the Mississippi 
 discharged its waters into the Gulf of Mexico, and not to the east in 
 Virginia, or to the Avest in California. They considered that in going on 
 they would expose themselves to the risk of losing the results of tlieir 
 voyage, and would, without a doubt, fall into the hands of the Spaniards, 
 who would detain them as captives. The upshot of their deliberations 
 was the decision that they would begin the return voyage at once. The 
 exploration of the river from this point to the sea was not accomplished 
 until nine years later, when that bold explorer, La Salle, passed entirely 
 down the river to its mouth, where he set up a column and buried a 
 plate of lead, bearing the arms of France; took possession of the country 
 for the French king, and named it Louisiana. 
 
 The party were now at the mouth of the Arkansas, having passed 
 more than one hundred miles below the place where De Soto crossed 
 it in the previous century, had sailed eleven hundred miles in the thirty 
 days since they had been on the great river, an average of about thirty- 
 seven miles a day, and had covered nine degrees of latitude. On the
 
 "THE UNFORTUNATE ADVENTURES OF MONS. LA SALLE" 
 Reproduced from the London, 1698. Edition of Hennepin's New Discovery
 
 libraky 
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSIY/ OF ILLINO'c
 
 jFounDcr0 anP fakers of Illinois 13 
 
 17th of July they began their return journey, just one month to a day 
 after they had entered the river, and two months after they had left the 
 mission of Saint Ignace. 
 
 The voyage up the river in the mid-summer heat was one of great 
 difficulty, but steadily they "won their slow way northward," passing 
 the mouth of the Ohio and that of the Missouri; until at length they 
 reached the mouth of the Illinois River. Here they left the Mississippi 
 and entered the Illinois, being greatly charmed "with its placid waters, 
 its shady forests, and its rich plains, grazed by bison and deer." At 
 length they reached the upper waters of the Illinois, where, on the south 
 bank, rises the remarkable cliff, since called "Starved Rock." They 
 were thus "the first white men to see the territory now kno^vn as the 
 State of Illinois." 
 
 On the opposite bank of the river, where the town of Utica now 
 stands, they found a village of Illinois Indians, called Kaskaskia, con- 
 sisting of seventy-four cabins. It should here be stated that the Indians 
 removed this village, some seventeen years later, to the south part of the 
 present State of Illinois, on the Kaskaskia River, where it became noted 
 in the early annals of the West. The travelers were well received here, 
 and, on their departure, a chief and a number of young men of the village 
 joined the party for the purpose of guiding them to the Lake of the 
 Illinois, that is. Lake Michigan. A few miles above they passed the 
 place where the present City of Ottawa is situated, and where the Fox 
 River of Illinois flows into the Illinois River from the north. 
 
 The travelers soon arrived at the confluence of the Desplaines and 
 the Kankakee rivers, which here, at a point some forty-five miles from 
 Lake Michigan, unite to form the Illinois River. Under the guidance 
 of their Indian friends they chose the route by way of the Desplaines 
 as the shortest to the lake. They soon arrived at the summit of the 
 "divide," which separates the two great water systems of the West. Here 
 their Indian guides left them, and the party passed over the portage 
 between the Desplaines and the Chicago rivers. As the canoes sailed 
 do^\Ti the latter stream, the explorers noted that its banks were lined 
 with groves of trees, beyond which on either hand extended the open 
 prairies. On the eastern side the prairie lay open to the margin of the 
 lake for a space of some four miles along its shore, extending from the 
 river's mouth towards the south, except that in places there was a 
 scanty growth of trees which found a precarious hold among the sand 
 dunes. This level plain was the only portion of the "Grand Prairie of 
 Illinois," which anywhere reached the shore of Lake Michigan. 
 
 The explorers were not long in coming into view of that splendid 
 body of water which they were approaching, and must have beheld its 
 vast extent with the feelings of that "watcher of the skies," written of 
 by Keats, "when a new planet swms into his kea."
 
 14 111! Q3cnioriam 
 
 No date is given by Marquette in his journal of the arrival of the 
 party at this point, but it was probably early in September of the year 
 1673 that the site of the present City of Chicago was thus first visited 
 by white men. 
 
 The mouth of the river is shown on all the early maps as at a point 
 a quarter of a mile south of the present outlet, owing to a long sand 
 spit that extended out from the north shore of the river near its con- 
 fluence with the lake, which has long since been dredged away. This 
 was Joliet's first and only view of the Chicago River and its banks as 
 he never passed this way again. 
 
 The stimulating breath of the lake breezes which met them as they 
 issued forth upon the blue waters of the "Lake of the Illinois," must 
 have thrilled the explorers with feelings of joy and triumph, having 
 escaped so many dangers and won such imperishable renown. Turning 
 the prows of their canoes northward, they passed the wooded shores 
 still in their pristine loveliness. 
 
 Throughout their journey the voyagers gazed upon scenes then un- 
 known to civilized man, but now familiar to millions of people. They saw 
 the gradual increase in height of the bluffs, reaching an elevation at the 
 present town of Lake Forest of one hundred feet or more above the 
 surface of the lake. No comments are made regarding the events of 
 this part of the journey by Marquette in his journal, and it was, most 
 likely, made without special incident. He closes his narrative by saying 
 that "at the end of September, we reached the Bay des Puants (Green 
 Bay), from which Ave started at the beginning of June."' 
 
 The world renowned voyage of Joliet and Marquette thus ended at 
 the mission of Saint Francis Xavier, Avhere the village of De Pere, 
 Wisconsin, now stands. The explorers had traveled nearly twenty-five 
 hundred miles in about one hundred and twenty days, a daily average 
 of nearly twenty-one miles, had discovered the jMississippi and the Chi- 
 cago rivers, as well as the site of the present City of Chicago; and had 
 brought back their party witliout any serious accident or the loss of a 
 single man. Here they remained during the fall and winter, and in the 
 summer of the following year (1674) Joliet set out for Quebec to make 
 a report of his discoveries to the governor of Canada. It was while 
 nearing Montreal on this journey that his canoe was upset in the rapids, 
 his Indians drowned, and all his records and a map that he had carefully 
 prepared were lost. 
 
 As regards the credit due Joliet for the discovery made, the late 
 Mr. Edward G. Mason in his work entitled. "Chapters from Illinois 
 History-,*' says: 
 
 "Popular error assigned the leadership of the expedition which dis- 
 covered the Upper Mississippi and the Illinois Valley to Marquette, who
 
 URTESY OF CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 HENRI DE TONTI 
 
 From bas-relief in the Marquette Building. Chicago 
 
 l.OlllS JOMET 
 After a bust bv William G. La Favor at the main entrance to the 
 
 Joliet High School, Joliet 
 
 From Gagnon, Ernest: Louis Jolliet, Librarie Beaucliemin, Limilie, 
 
 Montreal, 1913
 
 INIV 
 
 LIBRAKV 
 or THE 
 ^RSIV / OF ILUNOI«
 
 jFounDcrs anP Quakers of Itllinois 17 
 
 never held or claimed it. Every reliable authority demonstrates the 
 mistake, and yet the delusion continues. But as l\Iarquette himself says 
 that Joliet was sent to discover new countries, and he to preach the 
 Gospel; as Count Frontenac reports to the home authorities that Talon 
 selected Joliet to make the discovery; as Father Dablon confirms this 
 statement; and as the Canadian authorities gave rewards to Joliet alone 
 as the sole discoverer, we may safely conclude that to him belongs the 
 honor of the achievement. He actually accomplished that of which 
 Champlain and Nicollet and Radisson were the heralds, and, historically 
 speaking, was the first to see the wonderful region of the prairies. At 
 the head of the roll of those indissolubly associated with the land of the 
 Illinois, who have trod its soil, must forever stand the name of Louis 
 Joliet." 
 
 MOUND BUILDERS 
 
 The mounds that are seen to this day in the region about Cahokia 
 attracted the attention of the early travelers in this region. Mr. Breck- 
 enridge examined the antiquities of the western country as long ago as 
 1817, and wrote that he was induced to think that the mounds which are 
 so conspicuous in the "American Bottom" belong to a period when 
 "there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated 
 the borders of the Nile or Euphrates, or of Mexico." Traces of a 
 numerous population can be found on the east side of the Mississippi 
 at points from the mouth of the Ohio to the Illinois River, as well as at 
 many other points along the river bottoms of the state. 
 
 THE STORY OF STARVED ROCK 
 
 That interesting natural feature situated on the south bank of the 
 Illinois River near the present City of Utica, and which is known as 
 ''Starved Rock," did not acquire this name until after the tragic episode 
 to be related below, which occurred about the year 1770. Before that 
 it was known as "Fort Saint Louis" during a part of the French 
 dominion, and often as the "Rock of Saint Louis." The conflict which 
 ended by the starvation of a band of Illinois Indians, who were besieged 
 by a force of other Indian tribes, had nothing to do with any of the 
 conflicts between the whites and their savage predecessors in the land. 
 Indeed as Parkman writes in his "Half Century of Conflict," the primi- 
 tive Indians were quite able to enact tragedies in which their fellow red 
 men were the victims without the aid of the white man. Before French or 
 English influences had been felt in the interior of the continent, a great 
 part of North America was the frequent witness of lurid conflicts between 
 the tribes on a vast scale of horror.
 
 18 an a3cmoriam 
 
 '"In the first half of the seventeenth ceutury," says Parkman, "the 
 \vhole countn.. from Lake Superior to the Tennessee, and from the 
 Allefiheiiies to the Mississippi, was ravaged by wars of extermination, in 
 whitli tribes, large and powerful by Indian standards, perished, dwindled 
 into feeble remnants, or were absorbed by other tribes and vanished 
 from sight." 
 
 The incidents of the siege which resulted in the extermination of 
 the Illinois Indians who had taken refuge from their enemies on the 
 summit of the Rock of Saint Louis, are principally derived from the 
 account of Judge John Dean Caton, whose article on the subject is 
 entitled ''The Last of the Illinois."' Some doubt has been cast upon the 
 authenticity of Judge Caton's narrative which was based upon the 
 recollections of an Indian who as a boy was present at the siege. The 
 leading facts, however, have been related by other writers who have 
 derived them from other sources, and in the main the events narrated 
 are found to be the same in the different accounts. 
 
 The final event in the history of the Illinois tribe is thus summed 
 up by Mr. Frank R. Grover in his pamphlet entitled "Our Indian 
 Predecessors."' 
 
 "During the eighteenth century," says Grover, "the Illinois, broken 
 in spirit, their courage gone, decimated by drink and disease and scat- 
 tered by their enemies, struggled with waning fortunes, ending their 
 existence in the historic tragedy of Starved Rock, about the year 1770, 
 from which but eleven of their number escaped. An Indian boy, a 
 Pottawattomie, saw the last remnant of this once proud and powerful 
 nation, brave warriors, their women and children, huddled together upon 
 the half acre of ground that crowns the summit of Starved Rock; saw 
 the fierce and warlike Pottawattomies and Ottawas swarm for days 
 around them: and perform by torture of siege and starvation what they 
 could not do by force of arms. 
 
 "When the little stock of food was gone and despair drove the 
 Illinois to make the last brave dash for liberty in the darkness of the 
 stormy night, he heard the yells and clash of the fighting warriors, 
 and the dying shrieks of the helpless women and children. Years 
 afterwards, w'lien this Indian lad, Meachelle, had grown to be the 
 principal chief of the Pottawattomies. he related these incidents to 
 Judge Caton, who embodied them in his well known historical sketch, 
 "The Last of the Illinois."" 
 
 The few survivors of the siege escaped in canoes in the darkness of 
 night, and eleven of them succeeded in reaching Saint Louis. After- 
 wards this feeble rcnniaut of the Illinois became absorbed with other 
 tribes in the southern part of what is now the State of Illinois. "Their 
 name, even now." says Caton, "must be blotted out from among the
 
 SDLEY COLLECTION, KNOX COLLEGE, GALESB 
 
 THE REPRESENTATION OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER, ITS PRINCIPAL PORTAGES 
 AND THE LOCATION OF INDIAN TRIBES, ARE ALL VERY INTERESTING ' 
 From La Fontan, New Voyages. London. 1735
 
 LiBHAnr 
 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ILllNm^
 
 jTounPcrs anP e0akcts of ailinoig 21 
 
 names of the aboriginal tribes. * * * They were once a great and 
 prosperous people, as advanced and as humane as any of the aborigines 
 around them; we do not know that a drop of their blood now animates 
 a human being, but their name is perpetuated in this great state, of whose 
 record of the past all of us feel so proud, and of whose future the hopes 
 of us all are so sanguine." 
 
 ENGLISH RULE 
 
 From the time of the discovery of the Great West in 1673, the 
 country thus vaguely denominated remained in the possession of the 
 French until 1763, when at the conclusion of the "French and Indian 
 War" the whole country was ceded to Great Britain. But it did not long 
 remain under the sway of the English, for in 1778 Colonel George Rogers 
 Clark, at the head of a band of Virginians, captured Kaskaskia and 
 Cahokia, then garrisoned by British soldiers, and it thus actually came 
 into the possession of the Americans. By the treaty of peace concluded 
 in 1782, the American occupation was recognized by the English, and 
 since that time, through many vicissitudes of Indian wars and a later 
 war with Great Britain, it has remained steadily under the sway of the 
 American republic. 
 
 CONQUEST OF THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 
 
 The chief figure in the conquest of the Illinois country was Colonel 
 George Rogers Clark. While the Revolutionary War was in progress 
 Colonel Clark applied to the governor of Virginia, who was the famous 
 patriot and statesman, Patrick Henry, and obtained permission to under- 
 take the capture of the British garrison at Kaskaskia, then the principal 
 town of the western country. 
 
 With a force of seven companies recruited in Virginia and Ken- 
 tucky, Clark proceeded down the Ohio River in boats, and landing at 
 Fort Massac he struck across the country in a northwesterly direction; 
 in due time he arrived in the vicinity of Kaskaskia without the knowledge 
 of the enemy. The Indians met with in the country were mostly in the 
 British interest, and Clark feared that his advance would be reported to 
 the commandant at Kaskaskia before his own arrival, as it was his inten- 
 tion to capture the place by surprise. With great caution he marched 
 over the extensive plains along the route, "much afraid," he wrote, "of 
 being discovered in these meadows, as we might be seen for several 
 miles." 
 
 No information, however, reached the unsuspecting commandant, 
 and on the evening of the 4th of July, 1778, the little army of less than 
 two hundred "Long Knives" (as the Virginians and Kentuckians were
 
 22 an Ct3cinorinm 
 
 called) reached the east hank of the Kaskaskia River, where on the 
 opposite side, some three miles ahove coidd he seen the town. Near 
 it was the fort armed ^vith several pieces of cannon, Avhile from the flag- 
 staff floated the British colors. Not a soldier could he seen anywhere 
 ahout the fort, thus showing that the garrison had no suspicion that an 
 invading force was in the neighhorhood. 
 
 Remaining in concealment until after dark the Americans ad- 
 vanced along the hank of the river, and presently came to a farm house 
 about a mile from the town. They made the family prisoners and from 
 them learned that Philippe de Rochehlave, a Frenchman in the Eng- 
 lish service, was in command of the fort, with a force of four or five 
 hundred men, more than douhle the force of the Americans. 
 
 Colonel Clark was a young man of ahout twenty-five years of age, 
 SLx feet tall, and of commanding presence. He had home a prominent 
 part with Daniel Boone in the numerous conflicts with the Indians 
 while the white settlers were entering upon the occupation of Kentucky. 
 He was resolute and cjuick in his decisions, and finding a good supply 
 of boats at the river side he lost not a moment in transferring his 
 little army safely and silently to the opposite bank. 
 
 Here he divided his force into two parties, one to surround the 
 town while the other advanced toward the gate of the fort. In the 
 narratives of this thrilling adventure, it has often been said that Colonel 
 Clark and his men could hear the sounds of French fiddles and shouts 
 of laughter while a dance was in progress within the fort, and that 
 even the sentinels had deserted their posts, to join the festivities. But 
 the investigations of less imaginative historians have shown that there 
 is no foundation for these tales. Vi'hat they did do was thrilling enough, 
 for while Clark and a small party of about a dozen men were creeping 
 along the river hank behind the fort, they were discovered by the keen- 
 scented dogs, and a great barking was set up. But strange to say this 
 did not disturb the soldiers within the fort. 
 
 Finding the gate open and unguarded they entered the fort and 
 pushed on in the direction of Rochel)lave's house, which was pointed 
 out by their guide. Making the surprised commandant prisoner, they 
 shouted a loud huzza, which was quickly answered by the other party 
 who were close at their heels. The now united Virginians easily over- 
 came the garrison, and in fifteen minutes they Avere masters of the 
 place without firing a gun. 
 
 This brilliant exploit was of far-reaching importance in the settle- 
 ment of the question of possession when the treaty of peace was con- 
 cluded four years later, between Great Britain and the United Col- 
 onies. The Americans retained possession of Kaskaskia and other
 
 LI3RAKY 
 
 Of THE 
 
 ONIVERSIW OF 11MN-'
 
 jTounPcrs anP ^abcrs of SlUnois 25 
 
 posts in the vicinity, notwithstanding persevering efforts were made 
 by the British to recapture their lost possessions. 
 
 We will not pause here to follow the further course of Colonel 
 Clark's victorious march which resulted a few months later in the 
 capture of Vincennes on the Wabash. 
 
 The people of Illinois are proud of the military achievements of 
 George Rogers Clark, and it is fitting that one of the principal streets 
 in the great City of Chicago is named in his honor. A statue was erected 
 to his memory in the City of Quincy, Illinois, in 1909, and a statue or 
 other suitable memorial ought to be placed in Chicago to commemorate 
 one of the early heroes of our beloved commonwealth. 
 
 AMERICAN DOMINION 
 
 When the County of Illinois was formed in 1778, after George Rogers 
 Clark's conquering invasion, the entire western country was included 
 in its boundaries. The new county was established by the Virginia legis- 
 lature under the auspices of which Clark's Expedition had been sent 
 forth. It included "the inhabitants of Virginia north of the Ohio River," 
 but its boundaries were not more definitely described. The State of 
 Virginia finally ceded to the general government its jurisdiction in 1784, 
 and imder the Ordinance of 1787, creating the Northwest Territory, it 
 was subdivided, and Saint Clair County, the first county to be formed 
 within the present limits of Illinois, came into existence in 1790. 
 
 Indiana Territory was organized in 1800, and General William Henry 
 Harrison became the governor. His scope of authority extended to the 
 settlements of the Illinois Country. In 1809, the Territory of Illinois was 
 organized with Ninian Edwards as governor. Nathaniel Pope and Shad- 
 rach Bond were delegates to Congress from the new territory. 
 
 The rapid influx of population into the Illinois country during the 
 territorial period was so great that the inhabitants began to agitate the 
 question of statehood. Seven new states had been added to the original 
 thirteen, among them two from the Northwest Territory, namely, Ohio 
 in 1802 and Indiana in 1816. The Territorial Legislature of Illinois 
 sent a petition to Congress in January, 1818, asking for state government, 
 and the petition was presented by Nathaniel Pope. A bill was reported 
 to enable Illinois to form such a government and to admit the state into 
 the Union. 
 
 THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 There was a period in the legislation preliminary to the admission 
 of the State of Illinois into the Union in 1818, when the boundaries of 
 the proposed state were fixed so that its northern extension went no
 
 26 III G9cmoritim 
 
 farther than an ea?t and west line touchin': the southern end of Lake 
 Michigan. This line had not hecn surveyed, hut it was afterwards de- 
 seribed as forty-one de<;rees and thirty-nine minutes of north latitude. 
 This description was used in the first draft of the Enabling Act when 
 the bill was introduced into Congress, April 7, 1818. While under con- 
 sideration in the committee of the whole, the congressional delegate, 
 Nathaniel Pope, moved an amendment to the bill by striking out that 
 part which defined the boundaries of the new state, and changing the 
 northern boundary from forty-one degrees, thirty-nine minutes, to forty- 
 two degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude. 
 
 FAR-REACHING RESULTS OF THE AMENDMENT 
 
 The effect of Pope's amendment was to include within the limits of 
 the proposed new state of Illinois a strip of country sixty-one miles in 
 width, extending from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, contain- 
 ing an area of eight thousand, five hundred square miles of fertile 
 country- diversified with forests and rivers, within the limits of which at 
 the present time are located fourteen counties with many populous and 
 prosperous cities. Among these may be mentioned the cities of Chicago, 
 Evanston, Waukegan, Elgin, Aurora, Rockford, Freeport, Oregon, Sterl- 
 ing, Dixon, Fulton and Galena. 
 
 In presenting this amendment Mr. Pope explained its object, and 
 urged its adoption for the following reasons, which are summarized by 
 Moses in his history of Illinois, as follows: '"That the proposed new state 
 by reason of her geographical position even more than on account of 
 the fertility of her soil, was destined to become populous and influential; 
 that if her northern boundary was fixed by a line arbitrarily established, 
 rather than naturally determined, and her commerce was to be con- 
 fined to that great artery of communication, the Mississippi, which 
 washed her entire western border, and to its chief tributary on the 
 south, the Ohio, there was a possibility that her commercial relations 
 with the south might become so closely connected that in the event of 
 an attempted dismemberment of the Union, Illinois would cast her lot 
 with the southern states. 
 
 "On the other hand to fix the northern boundary of Illinois upon 
 such a parallel of latitude as would give to the state territorial jurisdic- 
 tion over the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, would be to unite 
 the incipient commonwealth to the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 and New York in a bond of common interest welluigh indissoluble. By 
 the adoption of such a line, Illinois might become at some future time 
 the keystone to the perpetuity of the Union. 
 
 ''The feasibility of opening a canal between Lake Michigan and the 
 Illinois River was admitted by everyone who had inspected the location
 
 THE ARR1\ \L OF THE PIONEERS 
 
 A PIONEER ILLINOIS HOME 
 
 The newcomer^ oiif liuiiclicd \ears a?n settled along the rivers and creeks, unable to hreak 
 
 the prairie sod with their wooden mold-board plows.
 
 or THE 
 L'NIVERSli / OF ILIINO'^
 
 jFounPerg anP Quakers of Ullinoig 29 
 
 and given the subject consideration. If the port of Chicago were included 
 within the boundaries of the proposed state, the attention of the inhab- 
 itants of the latter would naturally be directed to the opening up of a 
 waterway between the river named and the great fresh-water sea, and 
 the early improvement of the entire region. The successful prosecution 
 of such an enterprise would not only open up new channels of trade, but 
 would tend to bind together the East and West by a chain whose links 
 would be welded together not only by friendship but by a community of 
 interest. And thus witli common ties, and interests reaching out to the 
 east as well as the south, an equilibrium of sentiment would be estab- 
 lished, which would forever oppose the formation of separate and inde- 
 pendent confederacies on the north, south, east or west." 
 
 The arguments of Mr. Pope carried conviction with them and the 
 amendment was adopted, without a division, on April 18, 1818, and thus 
 the northern boundary of the state was established where it is today. 
 Moses, in speaking of Pope's action, says: "The securing of the adoption 
 of the above important amendment, fraught with such material results, 
 was of his own motion, and on his own responsibility, without the in- 
 struction or advice of his constituents. ' 
 
 pope's prophetic vision 
 
 When we reflect that the region affected by Pope's amendment was 
 as yet an almost unbroken wilderness, that the advantageous position 
 of Chicago and its contiguous territory was only a matter of speculation, 
 we must recognize in Pope's action in proposing and urging the adoption 
 of his amendment the work of a keen and far-sighted statesman. "No 
 man," says Moses, "ever rendered the state a more important service 
 in Congress than did Nathaniel Pope." That the fixing of the northern 
 boundary of the state where it is today had momentous consequences 
 can be seen in the subsequent history of the state. Had the northern 
 tier of counties included within the sixty-one mile strip become attached 
 to Wisconsin, as it inevitably would have been, the State of Illinois 
 would have lacked, when issues of tremendous moment were at stake, 
 an important element in her legislature at the time of the breaking out 
 of the Civil War, an element that Wisconsin did not require, as the Union 
 sentiment in that state was at all times very strong. 
 
 Whether or not the splendid support given to the Union cause by 
 the State of Illinois was of such importance as to justify Pope's declara- 
 tion, when arguing for his amendment, that the state might become "the 
 keystone to the perpetuity of the Union," may be regarded differently 
 by historians. But the commanding position occupied by Illinois during 
 the Civil War "with one of its citizens in the Presidential chair and an-
 
 30 3ln Cgcmoricim 
 
 other leading its two hundretl and fifty thousand citizen soldiery and 
 the armies of the Union." went far to make •rood the ehiim made hy 
 Pope in his dechiration. The part taken hy Pope in the honndary mat- 
 ter well illustrates what has been called his "almost superhuman saga- 
 city." 
 
 THE BLACK HAWK WAR 
 
 The Black Hawk War created great excitement and alarm among the 
 people of Illinois in 1832, during the time that John Reynolds, the 
 '"Old Ranger," was governor of the state. IMost of the fighting in that 
 war occurred in the northern part of the state, and Black Hawk met his 
 final defeat at a place called Bad Axe on the Wisconsin River. The pres- 
 ence of so many troops, hoth state and national, in the country attracted 
 the attention of great nmnbers of officers and men to the fertility of the 
 sections in which military operations ^\ere conducted, and on their re- 
 turn to their homes in the eastern states they spread reports of what 
 they had witnessed. In the years following there was an immense in- 
 crease in the incoming tide of settlers. Before that time the state had 
 been settled principally in the southern portion by immigrants from 
 southern states, but when the north began to be flooded with settlers 
 they came largely from the New- England and Middle States, thus intro- 
 ducing an element in the population having different traditions and 
 culture from those in the south. 
 
 In the year follo%\ing the Black Hawk War a treaty was concluded 
 with the Indians at Chicago, by the terms of which the tribes agreed to 
 exchange their lands in Illinois for lands west of the Mississippi. They 
 Avere reluctant, however, to leave their lands in Illinois even after the 
 treaty had been duly signed by their chiefs, but eventually they were 
 removed, in the year 1835, to their new reservations, and the country 
 within the limits of the state was henceforth free from the continual 
 turmoil and alarms which existed as long as the Indians remained in the 
 state. The development of the agricultural area then proceeded in a 
 greatly accelerated degree. The population of Illinois increased during 
 the decade from 157,415 in 1830, to 476,183 in 1840. 
 
 PRO-SLAVERY AGITATION IN THE TWENTIES 
 
 The next event of decisive importance in the history of Illinois was 
 the contest to prevent the state from adopting a clause in its constitution 
 authorizing slavery. It seems singular that such an issue ever should 
 have arisen in view of the fact that the Enabling Act passed by Congress 
 had stipulated that the constitution when adopted should not be repug- 
 nant to the Ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery in any of the 
 states that should be formed from the Northwest Territory,
 
 A riO.NEKH 1,()(, UoMl, 
 
 A PIONEER INDUSTRY 
 
 Domestic Science in the early years of Illinois statehood
 
 LIBRAKY 
 
 vOr THE 
 
 UNIVERSn •/ OF ILL1N0!<:
 
 jTounPcis anS fakers of lillinois 33 
 
 The constitution adopted when the state was admitted, declared that 
 "neither slavery or involuntary servitude ' should be introduced into the 
 new state. But the great number of settlers who were of southern birth 
 and who desired to make Illinois a slave state, joined in a demand for a 
 convention to change the constitution in respect to slavery. A lively 
 campaign ensued in the years 1823 and 1824, those opposed to such a 
 change being led by Governor Edward Coles, loyally supported by Daniel 
 P. Cook, Morris Birkbeck and others, and when an election took place 
 August 2, 1824, the proposal for a convention was decisively voted down. 
 
 Thus ended the dream of those who would have been so short-sighted 
 as to sacrifice the permanent interests of the state for a mistaken view 
 of temporary advantage. "With Illinois as a slave state," says Dr. Daniel 
 Berry in a paper printed in the Collections of the Illinois State His- 
 torical Society, "and with a sure prospect of a further spread of slavery 
 in the Northwest, small as the stream of emigration was, it would have 
 ceased coming to the United States." 
 
 ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL 
 
 When Joliet, on his world-renowned voyage of discovery, passed over 
 the Chicago portage from the west to the waters of Lake Michigan, he 
 became impressed with the importance of a waterway to connect the 
 Mississippi and its tributaries with the Great Lakes. "There would be 
 but one canal to make," he wrote, "by cutting only one-half a league 
 of prairie to pass from the lake of the Illinois (Lake Michigan) into the 
 St. Louis River," referring to the Desplaines and Illinois rivers. But 
 when La Salle passed that way, in 1682, he took an unfavorable view of 
 Joliet's suggestion. Among the difficulties would be, he said, that there 
 was not water enough either at the entrance to the Chicago River or 
 in the channel of the Desplaines River; that vessels could not resist the 
 spring freshets in the Chicago River, "much heavier than those in the 
 Rhone," and that periods of low water and freezing up in winter would 
 render navigation impossible for the greater part of the time during 
 the remainder of the year. 
 
 For more than a century after the period of the explorers no con- 
 sideration could be given to improvements in the waterways. Indian 
 wars, wars between the English and the French, and between the English 
 and the Americans, prevented any steps being taken. However, when 
 the Treaty of Greenville, concluded in 1795 between the Americans 
 and the Indian tribes was made, it provided that a tract of land six 
 miles square "at the mouth of the Chikago River" should be ceded to 
 the United States, and that the tribes should allow "the people of the 
 United States a free passage by land and by water through their country,
 
 34 3n C^cmoriam 
 
 alonu; the chain of posts * * from the mouth of the Chikago 
 
 to the commencement of the portage het\veen that river and the Illi- 
 nois." This chiiise may he considered the first official suggestion of a 
 canal across the Chicago divide. 
 
 John C. Calhoun, secretary of war in 1819, in a report to Congress 
 mentioned that a canal was proposed from the Illinois River to Lake 
 Michigan "which the growing population of the state renders very im- 
 portant." Congress passed an act in 1822 authorizing such a caual, at 
 the same time granting a strip of land on each side of the proposed 
 canal. The state Legislature in the following year provided for a board 
 of commissioners to devise a plan and adopt such means as might be 
 required to build a canal. Engineers were employed who examined 
 the route and estimated the cost at $700,000, — an absurdly low estimate. 
 
 This led to the passage of a law by the General Assembly in 1825, 
 to incorporate the '"Illinois and Michigan Canal Association," with a 
 capital of $1,000,000. It was soon seen, however, that this being a cor- 
 poration for pecuniary profit to its prospective stockholders, assistance 
 could not be expected from the general government as was hoped for, 
 and the act was repealed. In 1827 Congress granted to the State of 
 Illinois ''for the purpose of aiding her in opening the canal," the alter- 
 nate sections of the public lands on each side of the canal for five miles 
 in width along its entire route. A new board of commissioners was pro- 
 vided for by the Legislature, and a new survey made Avhich resulted in 
 an estimate of $4,000,000 as the cost of construction. 
 
 Nothing further was done until 18.36 when the Legislature authorized 
 the construction of the canal, and accordingly on the 4th of July in 
 that year the beginning was made at Chicago amid scenes of great re- 
 joicing. A procession of citizens was formed, and the signal for the 
 start was given by firing three cannon shots from Fort Dearborn. After 
 the multitude had assembled at Bridgeport the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence was read and suitable addresses delivered. Colonel \^ illiam B. 
 Archer, one of the commissioners, had the honor of turning the first 
 spadeful of earth. 
 
 At that time Chicago had a population of 3.800. and the town was 
 growing fast. The construction of a canal had been the subject of so 
 much discussion during the years previous that great numbers of settlers 
 bad been attracted to Chicago and its contiguous regions; the prevalent 
 belief being that here was to be the gateway of an extensive commerce, 
 and that the canal would be its principal artery. 
 
 ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 Western immigration received a new impetus now that the construc- 
 tion of the canal was assured, and every avenue of approach and every
 
 ZOURTESY OF THE FINDLEY COLLECTION. KNOX COLLEGE, GALESBURG) 
 
 ILLINOIS AS IT WAS IN 1835 
 From Ezra Strong's map of 1835
 
 LI3RAKY 
 
 0>' THE 
 
 UNIVERSli!' OF IlllNOIS
 
 jfounPcrs aiiD Quakers of Illinois 37 
 
 means of transportation was taxed to its utmost capacity. There were, 
 indeed, other reasons for the great influx of new arrivals in the state, 
 such as the settlement of the Indian troubles, the cheapness and fer- 
 tility of the lands, and the convenient access by the lakes and the Erie 
 Canal to the eastern markets. The canal, however, at this period was 
 uppermost in the thoughts of the people of northern Illinois and of the 
 river valley, just as a few years later the railroads became the object of 
 their hopes. "The canal, which had excited public attention for fifteen 
 years, was to be commenced," said the Democrat when the news was 
 received that the Legislature had authorized its construction. "The cares, 
 labors, anxieties and disappointments of the past were forgotten in the 
 joyful anticipation of the future." 
 
 In the following year Chicago was incorporated as a city, namely, 
 on March 4, 1837. The people of the entire state were seized about 
 this time with a strong desire to enter upon public improvements on 
 a vast scale. "An unregulated spirit of speculation," as Joseph Balestier 
 described it, had taken possession of the people, not only of this state 
 but of many other states as well. An "era of internal improvements" 
 was inaugurated by the state Legislature. Railroads began now to attract 
 public attention. Few of the inhabitants of Illinois had ever seen a rail- 
 road or any of its belongings, but the papers of the day kept them fully 
 informed of the progress of railroad building in the eastern states. The 
 people everywhere saw in the railroad the promise of better conditions 
 in transportation, and became possessed with the desire to see them 
 built throughout the land. Steam navigation on the larger rivers and 
 lakes was already established. Canals were enormously popular where- 
 ever the country was adapted to their construction, and with lines of 
 railroads added to the other facilities markets could be rendered acces- 
 sible for extensive regions. 
 
 It was proposed to issue bonds of the state for the improvements, 
 and though the opposition to such a plan was very strong at first it was 
 made an issue at elections, resulting in a complete victory for the "boom- 
 ers." So eager were the advocates of the fonvard policy that a convention 
 assembled at the same time the new Legislature began its sessions, which 
 appointed a "lobby committee" with instructions to see that members 
 of the Legislature should not shrink from the support of a bill to carry 
 out the purposes of the advocates of internal improvement. 
 
 An editorial in the Chicago American, printed in its issue of Decem- 
 ber 10, 1836, showed that its editor fully shared the leading sentiments of 
 the people in other parts of the state. "It is time," said the editor, "that 
 this state should take a high and commanding position in the general 
 field of internal improvements. Her resources, her great natural advan- 
 tages, her increasing wealth and population, suggest and require it."
 
 38 an C0cmoriam 
 
 The Legislature acconlin^ly early in 1837, authorized a vast system 
 of public improvements. In this measure were the seeds of many finan- 
 cial woes for the jjeople. and later the state eame perilously near a repu- 
 diation of its ohiigations. The great monetary panic of that year was 
 fast approaching though its premonitory symptoms were not yet appar- 
 ent. 
 
 As finally passed the Act authorized the construction of a railroad 
 from Galena to Cairo, usually referred to as the first Illinois Central 
 Railroad, estimated to cost 83.500,000: the Northern Cross Railroad. 
 Sl.8o0.000: the Southern Cross Railroad. Sl.600.000: five other railroads 
 to be huilt from one interior point to another. 82,150,000: improvements 
 of various rivers in the central and southern parts of the state, 8400,000; 
 Great Western Mail Route. $250,000: and 8200.000 to he distributed 
 among the counties in which as yet no improvements were projected. 
 But this appalling total of 810.250.000 was not the limit of expenditures 
 authorized. Other appropriations besides those required for the ''Grand 
 System*' had been made. The state capital was that year removed from 
 Vandalia to Springfield, and 8150,000 for a new state house was pro- 
 vided, and a subscription of 8100.000, previously made to the stock of 
 the State Bank, was increased to 83,000,000. We have then a grand 
 total of 813.400,000 as the liability incurred by the state under these 
 appropriations. 
 
 "As a crowning act of folly," wrote Governor Ford in later years, 
 "it was provided that the work should commence simultaneously on all 
 the roads at each end, and from the crossings of all the rivers." No sur- 
 veys had been made or exact estimates of cost secured, no one knew 
 •where the necessary material for their construction could be obtained, 
 or how^ the money was to be realized from the bonds which as yet had 
 no market. But the optimism of the people was so great that no element 
 of fear entered into the situation. Commenting on the passage of the law 
 the editor of the Chicago American, in its issue of April 22nd. said: 
 "A ball has been set in motion which, we hope, is destined to roll on till 
 our vast country is crossed in every direction by railroads and canals, 
 and our noble rivers are freed from obstructions to commerce. Then we 
 shall indeed be a great people." 
 
 The panic came but before its effects were fully felt, the state had 
 succeeded in disposing of five millions of dollars worth of the bonds, 
 and the various projects were begun in a piecemeal fashion at many 
 different points. The further sales of bonds were attended by increas- 
 ing difiiculties, but at length a piece of railroad twenty-five miles long 
 was completed between Meredosia and Jacksonville. One engine was 
 provided but the income was less than the expenses after one year's 
 operations. The engine was taken off and the road was leased and run
 
 BULL BOATS ON WHICH FIRS WERE BROUCHT DOWN THE ILLINOLS RIVER 
 TO ST. LOUIS
 
 U3RAKY 
 
 }r THE 
 
 UNIVERSli/ OF ILIINO"-
 
 jToiinPcrs anP t^akcrs of Sllinois 41 
 
 by mule power for several years thereafter. The road was eventually 
 sold for a small fraction of its cost. The operations on all the projects 
 were discontinued and the state was face to face with an enormous debt 
 with practically nothing to show for it. Eventually the bonds were re- 
 funded on more advantageous terms, and by increasing the tax levy the 
 debt was completely paid off. 
 
 MORMONS IN ILLINOIS 
 
 "There is scarcely another story in all the history of the State," says 
 Professor George W. Smith, in his "Students' Histon,' of Illinois," "so 
 intensely interesting, so genuinely dramatic, or so politically intricate, as 
 the story of the coming, the short stay, and the departure of the Mor- 
 mons, or Latter Day Saints." This remarkable sect of religious enthusi- 
 asts originated in New York state, but. in 1833, they removed to Missouri 
 where, encountering persecutions, they eventually, in 1839, settled in 
 Nauvoo, in this state. Here the Mormons, under the leadership of 
 Joseph Smith, erected a temple for their purposes, built houses for 
 their people, and by 1844 there were over sixteen thousand people in 
 the city. 
 
 The Mormons, after having settled in Illinois, applied for a charter 
 from the Legislature, and were granted a charter which, viewed from 
 a distance of two generations, seems like a document of remarkable 
 character. One of the sections of this charter gave authorities of the City 
 of Nauvoo the right to form a military organization, to be called the 
 "Nauvoo Legion," the commissioned officers of which constituted a per- 
 petual court-martial. The act conferring the charter also provided that 
 this legion should be "entitled to its share of the state arms and muni- 
 tions of war." In the act the privilege was given the city council of 
 Nauvoo "to make laws antagonistic and superior to the laws passed by 
 the state Legislature." The practice of polygamy, a cardinal doctrine of 
 the Mormon Church, was made lawful by the ordinances of the City of 
 Nauvoo. 
 
 The "Nauvoo Legion" -svas furnished by the state with two hundred 
 and fifty stand of arms and three pieces of artillery. There ensued a 
 growing conviction among the people of the state that severe measures 
 would have to be used to rid the community of Avhat was considered a 
 menace to the peace of the surrounding counties and neighborhoods. 
 Notwithstanding this, after nearly a half dozen arrests of Joseph Smith, 
 who had been elected the principal officer of the legion, he had been 
 released, and was emboldened to attempt the establishment of his author- 
 ity. The seriousness of his pretensions attracted general attention and 
 the governor of the state, at that time Thomas Ford, repaired to the 
 scene and asserted his superior authority. The governor was convinced
 
 42 3n Ct3cmoriam 
 
 that tlic loaders of the Morinoii!; oii^lit to l>e arrested and {tunished for 
 exceeding tlie authority of the s-tate executive, and in this lie was entirely 
 rifiht. Some show of opposition was in evidence, the legion was called 
 out and the City of Nauvoo looked like a military camp. 
 
 Smith and other leaders agreed to accompany the governor to Car- 
 thage, the county seat of Hancock County, where the legion was asked 
 to surrender their arms, which they diil. All the leaders were released 
 except Joseph Smith and his hrother, Hyrani. who were lodged in the 
 county jail. The guards ^vho had accompanied the governor soon after 
 broke into the jail, took possession and murdered the Smith Itrothcrs. 
 
 After further disorders, the Mormons agreed to remove from the 
 state. They went across the Mississippi into Iowa, and, traversing the 
 country towards the west, finally reached the territory of Utah, where 
 they established themselves on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 
 
 In the year 1856 a movement to organize all the various elements 
 that made up the opposition to slavery extension was inaugurated at a 
 meeting held at Decatur. The Morgan Journal, published at Jackson- 
 ville, of which Paid Selby was the editor, proposed an "Editorial Con- 
 vention." Many other papers throughout the state endorsed the sugges- 
 tion, and a call was issued for a meeting at Decatur on February 22, 
 1856. Mr. Seiby was made chairman at the assembling of the convention, 
 and resolutions were adopted as "a basis of common and concerted 
 action, " declaring that "Freedom is national and slavery sectional," that 
 the extension of slavery ''must be resisted, ' ending with a call for a state 
 convention to be held at Bloomington in the following month of May. 
 "There was just a round dozen of us who took part in the proceedings," 
 said Mr. Selby, ''though others came later and were present at the ban- 
 quet given in the evening, which was presided over by Richard J. Oglesby, 
 then a resident of Decatur." 
 
 A state central committee was appointed to take charge of the ar- 
 rangements for the forthcoming convention at Bloomington, which as- 
 sembled accordingly on the 29lh of May. "The convention," says Hern- 
 don, "adopted a platform ringing with strong anti-INebraska sentiments, 
 and then and there gave the Republican party its official christening." 
 Among those who attended the convention was Abraham Lincoln, and 
 after the work of the convention had been concluded, Mr. Lincoln, in 
 response to repeated calls, came forward and made a speech of such 
 earnestness and power that no one who heard it will ever forget the 
 effect it produced. This speech. Hcrndon considers, was the grand effort 
 of his life. "Heretofore, he had simply argued tlie slavery question on
 
 BLACK HAWK 
 From J. B. Paller^on's Autobiography of Black Hawk, 1882
 
 LIBRAKY 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSn/ OF II "►
 
 jFounOcrs anP fakers of Illinois 45 
 
 grounds of policy and the eternal right. Now, he '.vas newly baptized 
 and freshly born; he had the fersor of a new born convert; the smothered 
 flame broke out; enthusiasm unusual to him blazed up; his eyes were 
 aglow with inspiration." 
 
 The speech made by Lincoln on this occasion is often referred to 
 as the 'Lost Speech." The newspaper men present were affected in an 
 extraordinary manner, and their efforts to report the speech were para- 
 lyzed. 'Tt was before the stenographer had become acclimated in Illi- 
 uois," says Miss Tarbeli in her history, "though longhand reports were 
 regularly taken. Of course, all the leading papers of the state leaning 
 towards the new party, had reporters at the convention." Among such 
 was Joseph Medill of the Chicago Tribune, who though a delegate under- 
 took to make a report of the proceedings. 
 
 "T did make a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said in the first eight 
 or ten minutes," said Medill, "but I became so absorbed in his magnetic 
 oratory that I forgot myself and ceased to take notes, and joined with the 
 convention in cheering and stamping and clapping to the end of the 
 speech." W. H. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, afterwards recorded 
 his experiences. "I attempted for about fifteen minutes," said he, "to 
 take notes, but at the end of that time I threw pen and paper away and 
 lived only in the inspiration of the hour." The result was that no re- 
 porter present bad anything for his paper, and the language of the 
 speech has thus unfortunately not been preserved, and it is today referred 
 to by historians as the "Lost Speech." 
 
 LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 
 
 Abraham Lincoln came to Illinois with his father's family, when he 
 was twenty-one years old, and settled near Decatur. In 1834, when he 
 was twenty-five, he was elected to the Legislature and served for eight 
 years. In 1847 he was elected to Congress and ser\ed two years. 
 
 Stephen A. Douglas was four years younger than Lincoln and came 
 to Illinois in 1834, and soon after entered upon the practice of law. He 
 was elected a state's attorney in the same year and thereafter was con- 
 tinuously in politics until his death. In 1843 he was elected to Congress 
 and four years later was elected to the United States Senate. 
 
 In 1858 Douglas was a candidate for re-election to the Senate, and 
 Lincoln entered the field in opposition. This led to a series of debates 
 on the issues of the day, held at various towns in the state. Douglas de- 
 fended the cause of slavery, which it was proposed by the Democratic 
 party should be extended into the new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. 
 Lincoln opposed this view and declared that slavery must not be allowed 
 to go beyond the limits of the slave states. He even went further. He 
 contended that slavery must be exterminated, and declared that the 
 country could not continue to exist "half slave and half free."
 
 46 lln Ct3cmoriam 
 
 The debates, as arranged between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, were 
 comprised in a series of seven meetings, which were held during the late 
 summer and fall of 1858, as follows: August 21st, at Ottawa; August 
 27th, at Freeport; September 15th. at Joncsboro; September 18th, at 
 Charleston; October 7th, at Galesburg; October 13th, at Quincy, and on 
 October 15th, at Alton. The attention of the American people was ar- 
 rested, and they watched with intense interest and devoured every argu- 
 ment of the champions. "Each of these great men, I doubt not," said 
 Isaac N. Arnold, ''at that time sincerely believed he was right; Douglas' 
 ardor, while in such a conflict, would make him think, for the time being, 
 he was right; and I know that Lincoln argued for freedom against the 
 extension of slavery with the most profound conviction that on the result 
 hung the fate of his country. * * * Douglas carried away the most 
 popular applause, but Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting im- 
 pression." 
 
 A passage from one of Lincoln's speeches shows the sledge hammer 
 character of his logic. "Is it not false statesmanship," he asked, "that 
 undertakes to build up a system of policy upon the basis of caring noth- 
 ing about the very thing that everybody does care the most about? Judge 
 Douglas may say he cares not whether slavery is voted up or down, but 
 he must have a choice between a right thing and a wrong thing. He con- 
 tends that whatever community ^vants slaves has a right to have them. 
 So they have, if it is not wrong; but if it is a wrong, he cannot say people 
 have a right to do wrong. He says that upon the score of equality slaves 
 should be allowed to go into a new territory like other property. This is 
 strictly logical if there is no difference between it and other property. 
 If it and other property are equal, his argument is entirely logical; bat 
 if you insist that one is wrong and the other right, there is no use to 
 institute a comparison betAveen right and wrong." 
 
 The argument, indeed, was unanswerable. Douglas himself at length 
 became convinced that he Avas attempting the defense of a losing cause. 
 "However much we may disagree Avith his (Douglas') position on the 
 slavery question," says Judge Carter, "it is clear he Avas against slavery, 
 and took the position he did because he believed it Avas for the best in- 
 terests of the country." Douglas Avas a patriot and believed above all in 
 the integrity of the Union. In the last speech he made, just previous 
 to his death in June, 1861, he aAvoke at last to the true spirit of the pro- 
 slavery party, and denounced the acts of secession Avhich preceded the 
 opening of the tremendous drama of the Civil War. The leaders of the 
 ueAv-born Confederacy, he said, had seized upon the opposition to Sla- 
 very Extension and made it an excuse. "The present secession movement 
 Avas the result of an enormous conspiracy," he said, "in Avhich its lead- 
 ers make use of the slavery question as a means to aid the accomplish-
 
 LORAUO TAFTS MONUMENT OF BLACK HAWK, AT EAGLE'S 
 NEST BLUFF ON THE ROCK RIVER, OREGON, ILLINOIS
 
 LIBRAKY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSli/ OF ILUNOi-
 
 jfounOcrs anP Quakers of auinois 49 
 
 ment of their ends." "Every man mvist be for the United States or 
 against it,'' were his ringing words. ''There can be no neutrals in this 
 war; only patriots — or traitors!" 
 
 Douglas was successful in obtaining the election of himself as sena- 
 tor by the Legislature, but the moral victory was entirely on the side of 
 Lincoln. The newspaper press of the entire country gave extensive space 
 to reports of the debates, while the speeches themselves were regarded 
 as of a high order and of unusual importance; those of Douglas set 
 forth his untenable position and impossible theory in the clearest man- 
 ner, while those of Lincoln stated the arguments of the new Republican 
 party as they had not been outlined before. 
 
 Lincoln's nomination and election 
 
 Following the campaign made by Mr. Lincoln for the senatorship in 
 the fall of 1858, a strong movement was made by his friends in Illinois 
 to bring him forward as the candidate for president at the forthcoming 
 convention of the Republican party in 1860. There were, of course, other 
 candidates in view, the most prominent among them being William H. 
 Seward of New York. The convention was to meet in Chicago, IMay 16, 
 1860, and a building known as the "Wigwam" was constructed for the 
 purpose. At the convention the friends of the various candidates worked 
 for the success of their men. After the platform was adopted the bal- 
 loting began which in the first instance showed that Seward stood in the 
 advance, but with not enough votes to secure the nomination. On the 
 third ballot, however, Mr. Lincoln's strength became fully developed, 
 and he quickly was declared the nominee. With him as running mate 
 was nominated Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. 
 
 The campaign which followed was one of the most remarkable in the 
 political history of the country. At the succeeding election in Novem- 
 ber Mr. Lincoln received the majority of the electoral votes, and was 
 declared elected President of the United States. In due time he arrived 
 in Washington and was inaugurated March 4, 1861. In his inaugural 
 address he said: "I have no purpose directly or indirectly, to interfere 
 with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I 
 have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." He 
 was careful to let it be known that he regarded "the Union as unbroken; 
 and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the constitution ex- 
 pressly enjoins me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in 
 all the states." 
 
 PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 The strength of the Union sentiment in this state is clearly indicated
 
 50 3n g0cmoriam 
 
 in the record of mililary service in the Ci\il War. The total enrollment 
 of troops exceedeil a (juarter of a million of men. In his report made 
 after the close of the war. Adjutant-General Haynic said: "In all the 
 great events of this ^vonderfnl period of our history the sons of Illinois 
 have home their full share, ami now that the record is closed, ready to 
 he written out aiul delivered to posterity, no citizen of the state can have 
 cause to feel other than a just pride in reviewing the achievements of 
 our soldiery." 
 
 On the 15th of April, 1861, President Lincoln issued his first call 
 for seventy-five thousand volunteers. "There was not a state in the 
 North of one million of inhahitants," said General Grant in later years, 
 '"that would not have furnished the entire nuniher." Illinois was asked 
 to furnish six regiments, and the response was so prompt that many 
 more men offered their services than could he accepted. As six regiments 
 had hcen furnished hy the state for the Mexican Yiar in 1846. numliered 
 from one to six, the numbering of the regiments in the Civil War began 
 with the Seventh. 
 
 The history of the Illinois regiments in the war would require a series 
 of volumes. It is enough here to say that their record was a glorious one, 
 and even a general history of the Civil War will necessarily contain fre- 
 quent references to the part taken hy Illinois troops in the various bat- 
 tles and campaigns. The total number of men furnished by Illinois for 
 the armies of the Union was two hundred fifty-five thousand and fifty- 
 seven. The total losses among this great nimihcr by the casualties of war 
 were nearly thirty-five thousand, of which about ten thousand were killed 
 in battle or died of wounds. The remainder, some twenty-five thousand 
 died of various diseases. The proportion of those who died in the service 
 to the whole number of enlistments was therefore about thirteen and 
 two-thirds per cent. 
 
 Writing of the Civil War in the United States, an eminent English 
 writer says: "I believe that all serious wars in or between civilized 
 communities are struggles between right and wrong, and that on the 
 whole and as a rule, it is the cause of right which prevails. The Amer- 
 ican Civil War appears to me to be a striking illustration of this belief. 
 The cancer from which the body politic of the United States was suffer- 
 ing during the first half of the nineteenth century was the institution of 
 negro slavery. The Civil \^'ar was the operation which provided the 
 needed relief." 
 
 In the years subsequent to the Civil War the history of the state de- 
 mands much more extended treatment than can be given in an introduc- 
 tory sketch of this character. A few events may be touched upon in clos- 
 ing the sketch in order to present a background and as a setting for the 
 biographies which this volume will present in its subsequent pages.
 
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 LOVERS" LEAP, STARVED ROCK STATE PARK
 
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 JTotinPcrs anP Quakers of IHIinois 53 
 
 Whether the great men who are thus distinguished are regarded as the 
 cause or effect, they remain the epitome or expression of the age in 
 which they lived, the convenient and concrete examples, with which to 
 illustrate an account of its happenings. 
 
 THE DEATH AND FUNERAL OF LINCOLN 
 
 The death of Abraham Lincoln occurred on the 15th of April, 1865. 
 The people of the North were in the midst of rejoicings over the fall of 
 Richmond and the surrender of Lee's army, when like a thunder bolt 
 the news was flashed over the country that Lincoln had been shot by an 
 assassin. The joy and gladness of the people were suddenly turned into 
 grief and mourning, and the loss was, if possible, more keenW felt in 
 Illinois than elsewhere. ''In Illinois,"' said Dr. Eddy, "the grief was the 
 deeper because Illinois best knew and loved the slain chieftain. He had 
 grown with her growth, he was identified with her history, he had fought 
 the battle of freedom on her prairies, she had given him to the nation, 
 and had sent him with loving benedictions and earnest prayers to the 
 post of responsibility, peril, death." It would be invidious, however, to 
 claim for the Illinois people any greater affection and admiration for 
 the great war president than was felt for him everywhere through the 
 loyal states of the Union. 
 
 The War Department made arrangements for a funeral train to bear 
 the remains of Lincoln to his Illinois home. On its westward journey the 
 train made stops at important cities, and at length arrived in Chicago. 
 Here it was met by an imposing procession and the casket containing 
 the body was placed in the rotunda of the courthouse where it lay in 
 state until the following afternoon, and then placed on a train for Spring- 
 field. While in Chicago it was estimated that over one hundred thousand 
 people passed in solemn procession before the casket. 
 
 Accompanied by a committee of one hundred citizens from Chicago 
 the body was taken to Springfield where it lay in state at the Capitol for 
 one day; and, finally, on May 4th, it was placed in its final resting place 
 at Oak Ridge cemetery. '"Here at the post of a woody knoll," writes 
 Miss Tarbell, "a vault had been prepared, and thither, attended by a 
 great concourse of military and civic dignitaries, by governors of states, 
 members of Congress, officers of the army and navy, delegations from 
 orders, from cities, from churches, by the friends of his youth, his 
 young manhood, his maturer years, was Lincoln carried and laid by the 
 side of his little son. The solemn rite was followed by dirge and prayer, 
 by the reading of his last inaugural address, and by a noble funeral ora- 
 tion by Bishop Simpson. Then as the beautiful day drew towards eve- 
 ning, the vault was closed, and the great multitudes slowly returned to 
 their duties."
 
 54 3n eecmoriiim 
 
 RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The most important event in the railroad history of the state was the 
 grant of 2,600.000 acres of hind to llie Illinois Central Railroad in 185L 
 which rendered possihle the constrnction of that line. By the terms of its 
 charter the road is exempt from taxation, hnt in lien thereof it is required 
 to pay into the state treasury, semi-annually, seven per cent upon the 
 gross earnings of the line in Illinois. Up to April, 1911, the total amount 
 thus paid into the treasury since the heginning is upwards of thirty mil- 
 lion dollars. 
 
 Since 1880 the State of Illinois has had no public debt. The state 
 has a larger railway mileage than any other state in the Union except 
 Texas, amounting in 1909, to twelve thousand two hundred and fifteen 
 miles. Illinois now stands third among the states in point of population, 
 which according to the last census was 7,630,654. It contains within its 
 limits the second largest city in the United States, the City of Chicago, 
 with a population of 3,376,438. 
 
 The average elevation of the state above sea-level is about 600 feet, 
 which is nearly the same elevation as that of Lake Michigan. The drain- 
 age of the state is far better than its low elevation would indicate. There 
 are more than two hundred and seventy-five streams within its borders, 
 \shose waters ultimately reach the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Missis- 
 sippi River. 
 
 THE STATE UNIVERSITY 
 
 As early as 1852 a movement began for an agricultural university, or 
 an industrial university, as it came to be called. Professor Jonathan B. 
 Turner of the Illinois College at Jacksonville was the guiding spirit in this 
 movement, which eventually took the form of an Act of Congress called 
 the "Land Grant Act," passed in 1862. By this act, signed by President 
 Lincoln, four hundred and eighty thousand acres of public lands were 
 granted to Illinois for promoting "the liberal and practical education of 
 the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life. ' In 
 accepting this gift the Legislature established a state university which 
 finally came to be called the University of Illinois. Other states shared in 
 the benefits derived from the Land Grant Act, which made possible the 
 establishment of state universities, many of which have since developed 
 into splendid institutions of learning, and proved of vast usefulness to 
 the people of the country. 
 
 SANITARY CANAL 
 
 One of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the last cen- 
 tury is that of the canal cut through the great Chicago "divide," between
 
 BIRD'S-EYE VIEW SHOWING WHERE ILLINOIS AND FOX RIVERS MEET 
 
 BAILEY FALLS NEAR LA SALLE
 
 LISRAhV 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF liiiNA.q
 
 jFounPcrs anP fakers of lilltnois 57 
 
 the south branch of the Chicago River and the Desplaines River at Lock- 
 port. This canal follo%vs the route in the main of the old Illinois and 
 Michigan Canal, but it is cut much deeper and its dimensions are, of 
 course, on a much larger scale. 
 
 This work was commenced in September, 1892, and was completed 
 in January, 1900. The canal takes its water from the Chicago River 
 and thereby reverses the flow of that stream so that water from Lake 
 Michigan is carried into the valley of the Desplaines. As the sewerage 
 of the City of Chicago empties into the Chicago River it is thus diluted 
 with lake water and carried to the river valley below where it is rapidly 
 oxidized and becomes comparatively pure. 
 
 The Sanitary Canal is twenty-eight miles long, has an average depth 
 of twenty-two feet, and has a width varying from one hundred and sixty- 
 two to two hundred and ninety-two feet. The channel is cut partly 
 through glacial drift and partly through solid rock. The rock cutting 
 extends for fifteen miles, and is of an average depth of thirty-five feet. 
 The amount of material excavated, if deposited in Lake Michigan in 
 forty feet of water, would make an island one mile square, with its 
 surface twelve feet above the surface. The cost of construction work 
 and right of way amounted to thirty million dollars. 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARIES 
 
 There are at the present time about two hundred and fifty free 
 public libraries in this state, the largest of Avhich is the Chicago Public 
 Library. A law was enacted in 1872 under which any community in the 
 state may elect to lay a tax for the support of a public library. Of the 
 one hundred and two counties of the state, seventy-two now contain 
 at least one public library and in many cases more than one. It is gratify- 
 ing to state that one hundred and thirty-one of the libraries of this 
 state occupy buildings of their own, and of this number Mr. Andrew 
 Carnegie has contributed in whole or in part to the construction of 
 eighty-one. 
 
 Many of the buildings, and to some extent the collections of books 
 contained in them, are the gifts of generous citizens, as for instance the 
 Galena Public Library which was built and provided with one thousand 
 volumes by the late Benjamin F. Felt of Galena. Many other instances 
 might be specified. There is a body created by an Act of the Legislatvire in 
 1909 known as the Library Extension Commission, the purpose of which 
 is "to strengthen the libraries already established, to aid in the estab- 
 lishment of libraries, and to promote library interests in general through- 
 out the state." 
 
 The rapid progress made in the course of one generation in the con- 
 veniences of common life is well illustrated in a passage quoted below
 
 58 an Q9cmoriam 
 
 from a history of Sangamon County, printed in 1881. In a comparison 
 which the author makes l)et^veen the period ^^•hen Illinois was yet but a 
 territory, and the period in which the history was written, it is said that 
 "the telephone is placed in thousands of homes, enabling their inmates 
 to converse intelligibly with parties at a distance of several miles.'' 
 
 When one considers that this "wonder story," as it then seemed, be- 
 longs to a past as recent as 1881, the advance in this one branch of mod- 
 ern facilities of communication seems almost beyond belief, and fur- 
 nishes an excellent example of the "fairy tales of science" of which the 
 poet has so eloquently written. 
 
 To illustrate the splendid history of the great State of Illinois, by giv- 
 ing suitable biographical accounts of the "Honored Dead," whose life 
 histories form an essential part of the chronicle, will be the task of one 
 who shall present in the following pages of this volume their names and 
 deeds for the instruction of posterity.
 
 LfBRAKV 
 
 or IHE 
 
 UNIVERSI'i / OF ilUNOK
 
 -^--^^Z^^-^^.^^::tU^^:^t<.^<^
 
 loljii I. 3!litcl)cll 
 
 MAN'S position in the world is determined by the con- 
 sensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen, and 
 thus judged. John J. Mitchell was not only an eminent 
 Chicagoan but one of the foremost American citizens, 
 yet he never figured in public life or sought public 
 attention. On the contrary his modesty and unostenta- 
 tion were known to all, yet few men have exerted an influence so widely 
 felt or have contributed in so large a measure to the substantial develop- 
 ment of this land. As the years passed he demonstrated the possession 
 of superior business qualifications and with it all '"he was a most lovable 
 man," an encomiiun pronounced again and again by those who knew 
 him. One of his lifelong associates said: "In all the years I have kno^vn 
 John J. Mitchell, I never saw him lose his temper." It was this even 
 poise, expressed in justice and fairness, in consideration and helpful- 
 ness to those with whom he came in contact, that made him an inspira- 
 tion to all. 
 
 Illinois will ever place his name high on the roll of her most distin- 
 guished sons. He was born in Alton on the 3d of November, 1853, a 
 son of William H. and Mar\' A. Mitchell. He attended the public schools 
 of his home neighborhood and afterward became a student in an 
 academy at Kents Hill, Maine. His identification with the banking in- 
 terests of Chicago dated from 1873, when at the age of twenty years he 
 became a messenger boy in the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank. Ob- 
 servant, modest, cheerful and capable of unusual and continuous con- 
 centration, ambitious and with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he was 
 always looking ahead to duties superior to those which engaged his imme- 
 diate attention, and without neglecting any present task he was always 
 ready to assume larger responsibilities, desirous ever to broaden the field 
 of his service and his usefulness. When the bank was removed from 273 
 Madison street to a new location on Clark, between Washington and 
 Madison streets, in 1875, Mr. Mitchell had already become teller and was 
 recognized as one of the most popular and thoroughly informed men 
 connected with the institution. In 1878, following the retirement of 
 L. B. Sidway, president of the bank, and the election of his successor, 
 H. G. Powers, Mr. Mitchell was advanced to the position of assistant 
 cashier. The following two years formed a crisis in the afifairs of the 
 bank. The capital stock was reduced from five hundred thousand dol- 
 lars to one hundred thousand dollars, and some of the directors favored 
 
 61
 
 62 Jo\m J. 03irchcll 
 
 dissolution of the institution. Mr. Mitchell brought forward a plan for 
 enlargement of the business on a conservative basis, and owing to his 
 influence in the board rooms, his plans were adopted and the downward 
 tendency was stayed. In 1880 Mr. Powers retired from the presidency. 
 Mr. Mitchell was then twenty-six years of age, but because of the ability 
 he had shown in conducting the bank through its critical period, and in 
 spite of the opposition of his father and a few of the other directors 
 (solely on the ground of his age), he was chosen to the head of the 
 bank's affairs, being one of the youngest bank presidents in the history 
 of Chicago banking. Energetic and unhampered work soon had its 
 residts, and the deposits of the institution reached the million dollars — a 
 wonderful showing for a new bank of those days. In 1888 the business 
 had so increased that larger and more appropriate quarters were de- 
 manded, and the ground floor of the Rookery building was chosen. The 
 capital stock had now increased to two million dollars — a sum twenty 
 times greater than when Mr. Mitchell first became identified with the 
 bank. In 1897 a magnificent structure at the northeast corner of Jack- 
 son boulevard and La Salle street was erected as the home of the Illinois 
 Trust and Savings Bank, which Mr. Mitchell served as president from 
 1880 until 1923, after which time he was at the head of the Illinois Mer- 
 chants Trust Company, representing the merger of the Illinois Trust and 
 Savings Bank, The Merchants Loan and Trust Company and The Corn 
 Exchange National Bank. 
 
 The handsome structure which housed the Illinois Trust and Savings 
 Bank was razed to make room for the home of the Illinois Merchants 
 Trust Company, which is one of Chicago's most impressive buildings. Its 
 t^venty-one stories bulk in massiveness and dignity dominates over the 
 heart of financial Chicago. Nearly a billion dollars is represented in the 
 merged interests having ownership of the ten-million-dollar building. 
 They cater to the biggest family of bank depositors in the west. Their 
 union of forces gives capital, surplus and undivided profits of fifty mil- 
 lion dollars, savings and commercial deposits over three hundred and 
 eighty-five million dollars and trust funds exceeding seven hundred 
 million dollars. More than two hundred thousand savings accounts and 
 over twenty thousand commercial accounts are ser\ed. A directorate of 
 thirty-six leading men of Chicago governs the consolidated banks. The 
 banks thus united have a proud history of constructive effort in the up- 
 building of Chicago and of western financial integrity. The really great 
 men of Chicago and of Illinois helped to found and guide them in past 
 generations. These men worked into the spirit and policy of the banks 
 in the early days a purpose of community helpfulness which has survived 
 and grown stronger with time. The home of the Illinois Merchants Trust 
 Company covers a site one hundred and seventy-four by three hundred 
 and twenty-five feet, of a total area of fifty-nine thousand square feet.
 
 loftn J. C^itcbtll 63 
 
 It looms above Jackson boulevard along the entire block between Clark 
 and La Salle streets, with imposing entrances from each of those thor- 
 oughfares. 
 
 John J. Mitchell's knowledge of business conditions and affairs 
 throughout the west was extensive, gained by many years of participation 
 in financial, commercial and transportation activities. His work aside 
 from banking made him a notable figure. He was a trustee and a mem- 
 ber of the advisory committee of the American Surety Company of New 
 York; director of the Chicago & Alton Railway Company, the Pittsburgh, 
 Fort T^'ayne & Chicago Railway Company, The Pullman Company, the 
 Chase National Bank of New York, the Illinois Trust & Safety Deposit 
 Company, the International Harvester Company, the Illinois Bell Tele- 
 phone Company, the Commonwealth Edison Company, the People's Gas 
 Light & Coke Company and The Texas Company; and trustee of the 
 Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. 
 
 On the 11th of February, 1890, Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage 
 to Miss Mary Louise Jewett of Bristol, Rhode Island, a daughter of James 
 R. Jewett of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mrs. Mitchell was long one of 
 the most prominent figures in the social life of the city, and Pauline 
 Palmer, one of the foremost artists of Chicago, spoke of her as Chicago's 
 most beautiful woman, for hers was not only the beauty of person but 
 of character. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell became the parents of five children : 
 Gwendolyn, the wife of Robert E. Hunter; William H., %vho married 
 Ginevra King: John J., Jr., who wedded Lolita Armour; Clarence B., 
 who married Marjorie King; and Louise J., the wife of John P. Kellogg. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell held membership in the Chicago, Union League, Uni- 
 versity and Mid-Day Clubs, in the Lake Geneva Country Club, the 
 Bankers Club of New York and the INIidwick Club of Pasadena. He 
 maintained his Chicago home at 1550 State parkway — in one of the first 
 cooperative buildings of the city, and his spacious estate at Lake Geneva 
 was called Ceylon Court. The residence was the building erected by the 
 Ceylon government for the ^ orld's Columbian Exposition and afterward 
 purchased by Mr. Mitchell and removed to his country place. He de- 
 lighted to retire to the seclusion of this home and there entertain his 
 countless friends, for there was no man who had a keener appreciation 
 of friendship than Mr. Mitchell. He had the keenest appreciation for 
 the friendly spirit that prompted his associates to fill his room with 
 flowers on his birthdays and on his return from his winter vacations in 
 California. He expi'essed this one day. saying: '"It is fine to have your 
 friends remember you. The trouble about going away is that I miss my 
 friends. I can't meet them every day or so in California. I'm always 
 glad to get back and meet them — and also find out what they have been 
 up to while I couldn't keep my eye on them." 
 
 Mr. Mitchell was deeply interested in everything that pertained to
 
 64 Jolin J. a3itctirll 
 
 Chicago's welfare. He served on the lioard of the Art Institute and he 
 cooperated in all movements that tended not only to uphold high civic 
 standards hut to add to the heauty and attractiveness of Chicago. He was 
 helpfully interested in the World's Colunihian Exposition and the Chi- 
 cago Civic Opera and in the administration of several hospitals. Always 
 genial, he added to his friendliness a keen sense of humor that made him 
 a most delightful companion. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell remained a most active, honored and influential factor 
 in Chicago's affairs until his demise, Octoher 29. 1927. The tragedy of 
 his passing — he and his wife meeting an accidental death with the over- 
 turning of their motor car — is overshadowed many times in the heautiful 
 memory which they have left hehind and which will he enshrined in the 
 hearts of all who knew them for years to come. Countless are the splen- 
 did trihutes which have heeu paid to them. Men foremost in the life not 
 only of Chicago hut of the entire country have expressed their great ad- 
 miration for John J. Mitchell, the hanker, and their love for John J. 
 Mitchell, the man. Samuel Insull, long a close friend, said: "The loss of 
 a man who has played so prominent a part in the community is tremen- 
 dous, but it is on the personal side that so many in all walks of life will 
 feel they have suffered a really individual loss as the result of the deaths 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell."" 
 
 A phase of his character is shown in the words of Circuit Judge 
 Thomas J. Lynch: "I have a summer home at Lake Geneva, not with 
 the colony of millionaires hut a modest cottage. Most of the millionaires 
 %vere strangers to me hut I knew Mr. Mitchell well and so did everyone 
 else up there regardless of their social standing. That tells something 
 of the character of John J. Mitchell." 
 
 Senator Charles S. Deneen wrote: 'T became acquainted with Mr. 
 Mitchell in the fall of 188.5 when I was a law clerk. His achievements 
 as a financier and his high standing in the business world are known to 
 all. He had a high and firm character, great alertness and directness of 
 mind, broad sympathies, keen judgment and unremitting industry and 
 enthusiasm in his work. The country has suffered a great loss in his 
 death." 
 
 Vice President Dawes said: "The loss of Mr. Mitchell is a severe 
 one. For decades he has been a leader in conservative, upright and pro- 
 gressive business methods." 
 
 In the Chicago Evening Post appeared the following editorial: ''Chi- 
 cago is inexpressibly shocked by the tragic death of its foremost financier 
 and his gracious wife; shocked not merely because a business leader of 
 unusual sagacity and broad experience has been taken from the circle 
 which looked to him for counsel and guidance, but because a citizen of 
 public spirit and high integrity and a man of generous and kindly im-
 
 3io5n 3i» Qgi'tcftcll 65 
 
 pulse has been thus suddenly removed, and a burden of double grief 
 laid upon his family and friends. Mr. Mitchell, whose career was in 
 harmony with the best traditions of individual achievement in America, 
 was a man of singular charm. The legendary banker is a hard-fisted 
 curmudgeon, but the actual banker, as personified in John J. Mitchell, 
 departed so far from this fictional type as to wholly contradict it. It 
 may be doubted if anyone of honest purpose ever gained access to him 
 without receiving the impression that he was in the presence of a man 
 of great courtesy and kindness. He could decline a request and leave 
 no feeling of rebuff; he could grant a favor and convey no sense of 
 patronage. And with it all there was a consciousness on the part of 
 those who met him that they were dealing with a personality of power 
 and resource. His career is the story so often told in the annals of 
 American leadership — the story of the small town boy who through in- 
 dustry, thrift and character climbs the ladder of success. He climbed it 
 more quickly than most who make the ascent, but, although his father 
 was a banker and a director of the Illinois Trust, in which the boy en- 
 tered at twenty as a messenger, his achievement of the presidency before 
 he was twenty-seven was not the result of influence, but the reward of 
 his well applied ability. His subsequent record justified fully the dis- 
 cernment of those who startled the world of finance by choosing so young 
 a man for so great a responsibility. He was a national figure, and more. 
 He was well known in Europe. His name was one of those always asso- 
 ciated with Chicago in the minds of those who knew anything of the city's 
 claims to commercial greatness. In spite of advancing years Mr. Mitchell 
 retained a youthful spirit and a remarkable physical vigor. His ambition 
 to live usefully was unabated. It was an ambition he had pursued with 
 modest indifference to fame or publicity. He was never a seeker of self- 
 glory, but there is many a man who has gone to him when in need of help 
 who can bear testimony to the practical nature of his sympathy, and 
 many a cause which has sought his support that can tell of the liberality 
 of his response. There is a real grief felt today by those who had the 
 privilege of knowing him; a grief intensified by the simultaneous death 
 of Mrs. Mitchell." 
 
 The life of such a man cannot he measured even in the terms of busi- 
 ness success, marvelous as it was, in his contribution to art and other 
 ennobling influences, in his efforts for civic advancement. It can only 
 be measured in the influence which he exerted over those with whom 
 he came in contact, in the lives of those who reached out to higher ideals 
 because of his example. In a single sentence the career of John J. 
 Mitchell might be summed up in the words: He shed around him the 
 sunshine of life. 
 
 (Editor's Note — This biography was compiled in November, 1927).
 
 ^eoroc IHortimrr puUmttii 
 
 i;EORGE MORTIMER PULLMAN, the famous originator 
 of the vestibule train, was the organizer of the Pullman 
 Palace Car Company in 1867 and its president through- 
 out the remainder of his life. The following review of 
 his career is reprinted from The National Cyclopedia 
 of American Biography, published by James T. White 
 & Company in 1909. 
 
 George Mortimer Pullman, manufacturer, was born at Brocton, New- 
 York, March 3, 1831. son of James Lewis and Emily Caroline (Minton) 
 Pullman, and the third in a family of ten children. His father, a man 
 of keen intelligence and sterling integrity, was born in Rhode Island; 
 his mother's native place was Auburn, New York. After attending the 
 public schools of Brocton, the son, at the age of fourteen, became clerk 
 in a general store, Avhere he remained one year. At seventeen he assumed 
 a share in the cabinetmaking business of his eldest brother at Albion, 
 New York, but in 1852 the death of his father brought the added care 
 of the widowed mother and four young children. His needs thus exceed- 
 ing the income from the shop, he braved the perils of youth and inex- 
 perience undertaking a contract for elevating the buildings along the 
 line of the Erie canal, and he successfully raised them to the new level 
 required by the canal enlargement then in progress. This occupied about 
 four years, at the end of which time he went to Chicago with a capital 
 of some six thousand dollars. The entire business section of that city 
 was then being raised from the original grade, and Mr. Pullman's experi- 
 ence was put to the test. Fortified by a natural inventive faculty and 
 a grasp of mechanical expedients, however, he was enabled to take 
 advantage of this profitable field, and many large buildings of brick 
 and stone were raised by him to the new level. In 1858 Mr. Pullman's 
 attention was drawn to the sleeping-cars just introduced on the Lake 
 Shore Railroad: and as the first of these carried only fixed berths, he 
 soon conceived the idea of a palace car designed for continuous and 
 comfortable travel over long distances during both day and night. In 
 1859 he remodelled into sleeping-cars two passenger coaches belonging 
 to the Chicago & Alton Railroad; and. though these were far below 
 their inventor's ideal standard of comfort and elegance, when placed 
 in ser\'ice they proved a long step in advance and created the demand 
 for what followed. Having engaged in mining and other enterprises in 
 the west, he was called to Colorado, where he remained until 1863; but 
 
 67
 
 68 ^?rorgf n^ortiiurr li)ullman 
 
 in that year lie rrtiirned to Chicago and resumed the study and con- 
 struction of a pahu'e sleepin<;-car. He ohtained from the Alton Railway 
 Company the use of a repair slied, hired the nio.st skilled workuicn and 
 Itegan the erection of the "Pioneer,"' the first Pullman palace car. which 
 was completed a year later at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars. It 
 was first used in the funeral train which Itore the liody of Lincoln to 
 its hurial. and for this association is still preserved at Pullman. Illinois. 
 In 1867 he orj^anized the Pullman Palace Car Company, of which he was 
 president until his death. It is one of the largest and most successful 
 manufacturing corporations in this country. He adopted the vestihide 
 system in 1887. Thus, from the '"Pioneer," which was first condemned 
 as excessive in both weight and cost, have gradually evolved the solid 
 vestihide trains, costing more than one hundred thousand dollars each, 
 and averaging nearly a tenth of a mile in length. The town of Pullman 
 was founded hy him in 1880, some twelve miles south of Chicago, hut 
 was later emhraced within the corporate limits of that city. Pullman 
 is furnished with hooks, pictures, parks and fountains, for the aim of 
 its founder was philanthropy made practical — business based on the 
 principles of humanity, combined with art, music, refinement, culture, 
 self-respect and temperance. Mr. Pullman made his personality felt in 
 other important business works, the most notable being the erection of 
 the Metropolitan F^levated Railway of New York, where he served as 
 president of the construction company. 
 
 In 1867 he was married to Harriet Sanger, and had two daughters 
 and two sons: Florence, Harriet, George M., Jr., and Walter Sanger. 
 He died in Chicago, Illinois, October 19, 1897.
 
 /.fSRARV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSIl < OF lUINOjS
 
 a^<2-'<^iy7^^>-^^^^*'*-*i' — N
 
 |ame0 pcnuick loroan 
 
 f)HILE the name of James B. Forgan will ever be associated 
 with the history of banking in Chicago and the country 
 at large, the story of his successful achievement will, for 
 an equal period, be a stimulus to the ambitious youth of 
 the land. Like the pioneers, he carved out a path that 
 others may follow — a path that led not only to promin- 
 ence as a financier but that also led to the character development that 
 made his name an honored one wherever his influence extended. More- 
 over, he never allowed his business career, prominent and important as it 
 ^vas, to overshadow or dwarf those kindlier influences which make a man 
 beloved by his associates and which gain for him strong, enduring friend- 
 ships that are among life's choicest blessings. 
 
 In the little city of St. Andrews, Scotland, James B. Forgan was born 
 on the 11th of April, 1852, being the second son of Robert and Elizabeth 
 (Berwick) Forgan. In his native town the father engaged in the manu- 
 facture of gojf clubs and balls, and the youthful experiences of the son 
 were not unusual in character. His early educational opportunities were 
 supplemented by a course in the Madras College of his native city and in 
 Forres Academy at Forres, Scotland. He spent a brief period in a lawyer's 
 oflSce but when a youth of seventeen took his initial step in that field 
 which was to constitute his life's work, becoming at that time an employe 
 in the St. Andrews branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The thorough- 
 ness that characterized his entire career was manifest during the three 
 years which he spent in that institution and he thereby laid a broad 
 foundation upon which to build his later success. That idleness had no 
 part in his makeup was shown in the fact that after working from 9:30 
 in the morning until his duties at the bank were completed for the day, 
 he then acted as secretary of a fish company and was also the organizer of 
 the St. Andrews Ice Company, of which he was chosen secretary. Thus 
 early he learned the value of time and made each moment count for the 
 utmost. His development, too, continued along other lines that led to the 
 upbuilding of a well rounded character, for he became an active member 
 of a literary society, also of a church choir and did considerable copying 
 for a lawyer. 
 
 The ambitious nature of Mr. Forgan, however, could not be content 
 with the opportunities offered in his native city. Having entered the ser- 
 vice of the Bank of British North America, he eagerly availed himself of 
 the chance given him by that institution to fill a clerical position in its 
 
 71
 
 72 Jniucs IrcrUijck f organ 
 
 branrh at Montreal. Canada, and from his advent into the new uorKl he 
 ch)>elv stndied eoiiditions. inetliod- and the advantaires offered. Kaeh ^teI) 
 in his career was a forward one. He eonlinned witli the Bank of British 
 North America in its branches at New York and at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 
 to the time of his marriage. After an interval of a year and a half he 
 became connected with the Bank of Nova Scotia as paying teller and sub- 
 seqnently was advanced to the position of agent of the bank at Liver- 
 pool. Nova Scotia, and later at \^'oodstock. New Brnnswick. His next 
 step bronght him to the United States as a permanent resident, for at that 
 time he established and assnmed the management of the branch of the 
 Bank of Nova Scotia at Minneapolis, Minnesota. His ability in that con- 
 nection won the attention of prominent financiers of that city and he 
 was offered the cashiership of the Northwestern National Bank of Min- 
 neapolis, with which he remained until 1892, when at the request of Ly- 
 man J. Gage, then president of the First National Bank of Chicago, he 
 came to this city and was elected to the vice presidency of the bank. From 
 that time until his demise he was a most potent factor in shaping the 
 financial history of the western metropolis. On the 9th of January, 1900, 
 he succeeded Mr. Gage in the presidency of the bank and the further ex- 
 pansion and growth of the interests of that institution had their basis in 
 his comprehensive and accurate knowledge of financial affairs in all their 
 complex ramifications. He foresaw much of the growth of the city and 
 directed his efforts in accordance with his faith in the future. He became 
 president and a director of the First Trust & Savings Bank, also of the 
 National Safe Deposit Company and chairman of the board of directors 
 of the Security Bank of Chicago. Among his fellow bankers not only 
 of this but of other cities his opinions were largely regarded as the final 
 word. His cooperation was also a directing successful element in many 
 other of Chicago's most important business enterprises, for he became a 
 director of the American Radiator Company, the Standard Safe Deposit 
 Company, the Chicago Title & Trust Company, the Guarantee Company 
 of North America, the Fidelity & Deposit Company of Maryland and the 
 Ecpiitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and also served 
 on the board of control of the Audit Company of New York. He was a 
 man of forceful personality and accomplished what he undertook. His 
 keen business vision penetrated far into the future and he builded not 
 only for his own generation but for the years of Chicago's later develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Forgan not only closely studied the upbuilding of the First Na- 
 tional and the other banking institutions with which he was personally 
 closely allied but he gave earnest consideration to the great problems of 
 national finance — those over which the government exercises supervision 
 and direction — and he was a prominent factor in the development of
 
 31amc0 Igcrtoick Jf organ 73 
 
 American banking which led eventually to the establishment of the Fed- 
 eral Reserve System. That his opinions carried great weight among the 
 bankers of the country is shown in the fact that for many years he was 
 vice chairman of the currency commission of the American Bankers Asso- 
 ciation, with the late A. B. Hepburn of the Chase National Bank of 
 New York as chairman. Following the organization of the Federal Re- 
 serve System, Mr. Forgan was called to the presidency of its advisory 
 council and so continued until 1921, while through a period of six years 
 he was a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. His initiative 
 was further shown following the founding of the First Trust & Savings 
 Bank, in the inauguration of a plan for having the stock of the First 
 National Bank trusteed for the benefit of the stockholders of the First 
 National — a plan that has been used as a model by a number of other 
 similar institutions throughout the country. 
 
 For twenty-five years Mr. Forgan was a member of the Clearing House 
 committee of the Chicago Clearing House Association and for twenty-one 
 years of these twenty-five was chairman of the conunittee. It was during 
 his regime that the system of Clearing House examinations was adopted in 
 1906 and largely due to the carefulness with which this system was in- 
 augurated by Mr. Forgan and his skill in selecting the right kind of exam- 
 iners that the Chicago method of cooperation between banks has been 
 copied by most of the larger cities in the country. In January, 1916, Mr. 
 Forgan retired from the presidency of the First National Bank, accepting 
 the position of chairman of its board of directors and of the First Trust 
 & Savings Bank. To the end of his career, however, he remained an 
 active factor in financial circles and it was characteristic of him that he 
 found keen pleasure in solving the intricate problems of banking. 
 
 It was on the 6th of March, 1873, that Mr. Forgan sailed for the new 
 world and on the 19th of October, 1875, he more permanently established 
 his residence on this side of the Atlantic through his marriage in Halifax, 
 Nova Scotia, to Miss Mary Ellen Murray. They became parents of four 
 children: Robert D., of the First National Bank; Mrs. Jessie Wilhel- 
 mina Ott, wife of John Nash Ott, attorney for the First National Bank; 
 Donald M., connected with the American Radiator Company; and James 
 B., Jr., also of the First National Bank. 
 
 In the later years of his life Mr. Forgan usually spent the winter 
 months in Florida and maintained a summer home at Harbor Point, 
 Michigan. His interest always centered in his own household, yet his 
 friends found him a most likable companion, genial and endowed with 
 a sense of humor. With his family Mr. Forgan attended the services of 
 the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in which he held membership, and he 
 was a director of the Presbyterian Hospital of Chicago. As success came 
 to him, he enlarged the scope of his charitable activities and many be-
 
 74 Jnmcs 13crluicb J^orgnii 
 
 nevoleiit pr^»ject^^ of tlu- cily prolitfd l>y his aiil. He had the Scotsman's 
 love of f^olf and found pleasure and recreation on the links of the Chi- 
 cago Golf Cluh, while the Chicago Cluh, the Commercial, the Union 
 League, the Mid-Day, the Union and the Saddle and Cycle Cluhs claimed 
 him as a valued member. His attitude toward all civic affairs manifested 
 the same progressive spirit that marked his business career and he 
 wrought along definite lines for the upbuilding of Chicago and the better- 
 ment of all those public interests which are of far-reaching import. When 
 the United States became involved in the World war bis activity in behalf 
 of his adopted land correspondingly increased and honors were bestowed 
 upon him by several foreign governments for his tangible service in be- 
 half of the allied cause. In recognition of his work in raising funds for 
 the relief of destitute Serbians he was decorated with the Order of St. 
 Sava in 1918, and France gratefully acknowledged her indebtedness to his 
 aid of the French cause during the period of world conflict by making 
 him an officer of the Legion of Honor in May, 1921. His life span covered 
 more than seventy-two years, and as he towered above many men phy- 
 sically, so he did in the capability and in the strength of character that 
 made for his success and his honored name. 
 
 A contemporary writer has said : ''He was stricken at his desk in the 
 First National Bank, on October 24, 1924. For a few days he seemed to 
 rally and those in attendance hoped for a recovery, but he passed away 
 on Tuesday, October 28th. He died with the same fortitude with which 
 he had lived, and he left, in a sense, nothing incomplete, having lived a 
 full and complete life. Mr. Forgan was physically an unusually hand- 
 some man, attracting attention in any gathering by his height — be was 
 six foot, three — bis beautifully shaped head, his remarkably clear blue 
 eyes. His character left its impress not merely upon his immediate sur- 
 roundings, but upon very wide circles. Even as a younger man in Minne- 
 apolis his career had been such that a quarter of a century after he had 
 left that city one of the leading bankers in Minneapolis in a public ad- 
 dress made the statement that the banks of his city owed their high 
 ethical standards to the precept and example which had been set so 
 many years ago by James B. Forgan." 
 
 In a review of his career it will be seen that his was the dependable 
 nature of bis Scotch forebears, shaped and developed through the oppor- 
 tunities and conditions of the new world. Clear in insight, with an al- 
 most faultless judgment, based upon years of study and experience, strong 
 in his purpose, strong in his honor and good name, James B. Forgan was 
 long an outstanding figure among those who shaped the financial history 
 of America in the first quarter of the twentieth century.
 
 3^Dlai (fiuino Steucuoou 
 
 >DLAI EWING STEVENSON, eminent American states- 
 man, sers'ed as vice president of the United States dur- 
 ing the term of 1893-97. He was born in Christian 
 county, Kentucky, October 23, 1835, a son of John T. 
 and Eliza (Ewing) Stevenson, and received his prelimi- 
 nary education in the common schools of his native 
 county. Later he entered Centre College at Danville, Kentucky, and 
 when he was sixteen years old removed with his father's family to Bloom- 
 ington, Illinois, where he studied law and in 1857 was admitted to the 
 bar. In 1859 he settled at Metamora, Woodford county, Illinois, and 
 engaged in the practice of his profession. Here he remained for ten 
 years, during which time he was master in chancery of the circuit court 
 from 1860 until 1864, and district attorney from 1865 until 1869. The 
 conspicuous ability with which he discharged the duties of these respon- 
 sible offices attracted the favorable attention of the people of the state, 
 and in 1864 he was nominated by the democratic party for presidential 
 elector. In the interest of General McClellan, the nominee of his party 
 for the presidency, he canvassed the entire state, speaking in every 
 county. At the expiration of his term of office as district attorney in 
 1869, he returned to Bloomington and formed a law partnership with 
 J. S. Ewing. The firm had an extensive practice in the state and federal 
 courts and was considered one of the leading law firms in the central 
 portion of the state. In 1874 the democrats of the Bloomington district 
 nominated Mr. Stevenson for the forty-fourth congress (1875-7). The 
 district had been safely republican by an almost invariable majority of 
 three thousand. His opponent was General McNulta, one of the leading 
 republican orators of the state. The canvass was a remarkable one, the 
 excitement at times resulting in intense personal antagonisms between 
 the friends of the candidates. Mr. Stevenson was successful. His ma- 
 jority in the district exceeded twelve hundred. He was in congress during 
 the exciting scenes incident to the Tilden-Hayes contest in 1876. His 
 party renominated him for congress a second time. In this contest he 
 was defeated, but in 1878, having been nominated for the third time, he 
 was again elected, increasing his majority in the district to two thousand. 
 At the expiration of his second congressional term in 1881 he resumed 
 the practice of law in Bloomington. He was a delegate to the democratic 
 national convention of 1884 in Chicago, and after the election of Cleve- 
 land as president of the United States, was appointed first assistant post- 
 75
 
 76 
 
 aoini CUiing ^tcuciisoii 
 
 master-general. An earlier biographer \vrote: "During his incumbency 
 of this cifTue he had charge of all appoinUnents and ably seconded the 
 prcjiident in his civil service reforms, never dismissing a faithful employe 
 for political reasons. His democratic habits and manners, his affability 
 and invariable courtesy created a host of friends for him." After retir- 
 ing from tlic ofiice of the first assistant postmaster-general at the expira- 
 tion of Mr. Cleveland's term, in 1889, Mr. Stevenson returned to Bloom- 
 ington. He was chosen as one of the delegates-at-large to the national 
 democratic convention in Chicago in 1892, and was serving in that 
 capacity when nominated for the vice presidency on the ticket with 
 Grover Cleveland. The democratic candidates were elected, and after 
 the expiration of his term, in 1897, Adlai E. Stevenson was appointed by 
 President McKinley a member of the American commission to visit 
 Europe and endeavor to secure the adoption of international bimetalism. 
 He was again the democratic nominee for the vice presidency of the 
 United States in 1900 and for the governorship of Illinois in 1908. 
 
 On the 20th of December, 1866, Mr. Stevenson married Letitia Green, 
 a daughter of Rev. Lewis W. Green, of Danville, Kentucky. They were 
 the parents of four children, one son and three daughters. Mrs. Steven- 
 son passed away December 25, 1913, and her distinguished husband died 
 June 15, 1914, in his seventy-ninth year.
 
 uh\/^ oQ. Arvy^^^i^-^-^^^
 
 pijtlip llanfortl) Slrmour 
 
 HILIP DANFORTH ARMOUR, merchant and philan- 
 thropist, Avas born at Stockbridge, Madison county. New 
 York, May 16, 1832, son of Danforth and Julia Ann 
 (Brooks) Armour. His father, who was a grandson of 
 ^k "^"^ James Armour, a Scotch-Irishman, who emigrated to 
 this country about the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 removed from Connecticut to New York state in 1825, settling in a region 
 that was still thickly forested. He became a prosperous farmer, but not 
 without the exercise of frugality and unremitting labor in which he was 
 aided by his six sons, of whom Philip was the third. To the training he 
 received from his parents, especially from his mother, who had been a 
 school teacher, Philip Armour owed the development of those traits that 
 showed themselves in marked degree throughout bis life — integrity, 
 thrift, energy, strong common sense, economy of time and speech, and 
 benevolence of heart. In addition to the instruction received under the 
 home roof, Philip secured the few opportunities afforded by a district 
 school, and then was sent to the seminar)' at Cazenovia. As a scholar he 
 showed unusual vigor of mind, and on the playground he was distin- 
 guished for courage and bodily strength. During bis attendance at the 
 academy a strong attachment sprung up between himself and one of his 
 fellow students, and this led to a change in his life, and an eager desire 
 to have a home of his own. Meantime the peaceful community in which 
 he lived was thrown into great excitement — as was every village and 
 town at that day — by the news of the discover^' of gold in California, 
 and inasmuch as young Armour had not the means to pay for a trip 
 thither on shipboard he decided to make his way overland, and accord- 
 ingly started out with several other farmers' sons. The journey consumed 
 six months and was attended with many hardships and pursuits, for much 
 of it was performed on foot owing to the lack of railroads and other 
 methods of transportation, and their route lay through mountain ranges, 
 across desert wastes, and through regions inhabited by Indians; but 
 "Eldorado"' reached, they forgot their past experiences, so engrossed 
 were they in the hard and uncertain life of gold miners. At the end of 
 a year Philips companions returned to the east, but having succeeded 
 in a business venture — the purchasing and developing of a ditch to sup- 
 ply some placer mines — he decided to remain, and pushing on with a 
 determination to make the best of his opportunities, he engaged in simi- 
 lar enterprises until he was in prosperous circumstances. 
 
 79
 
 80 Philip Dnnfortti armour 
 
 In 1856 he rctiirned to his boyhood's home. l)ut the romantic friend- 
 ship formed at the seminary had come to an end; the sj)ell of tlie west 
 was upon him; and the unendinf; round of farm thities: mowing, milking, 
 and following the plough, had heeome distasteful: so after making his 
 parents a short visit, he turned his face toward the setting sun and went 
 to Milwaukee, where an old friend. Frederick S. Miles, was engaged in 
 the wholesale grocer)- and commission business. Mr. Armour became 
 Mr. Miles' partner, and the firm became very prosperous; but in 1863 
 it was dissolved, as Mr. Armour had plans for carrying on another kind 
 of business: the transportation on a large scale of the foodstuffs of the 
 west. Having bought the largest grain elevator in the city, he became 
 interested in the shipment of wheat and also in the pork-packing in- 
 dustry, in which he became associated with John Plankinton of Mil- 
 waukee. This firm was soon dissolved at Mr. Plankinton's suggestion, 
 and a new one organized under the style of Armour, Plankinton & Com- 
 pany, with branches in Chicago and New York, and later in Kansas City, 
 each headed by one of Mr. Armour's brothers. In 1865, Herman 0. 
 Armour, who had in 1862 established himself in the grain commission 
 business in Chicago, removed to New York to manage the branch there, 
 and Joseph F. Armour took his place as head of the house, which still 
 retained its old title of H. O. Armour & Company. Ten years later, 
 Joseph Armour's health gave way. and his brother Philip removed to 
 Chicago to take his place, leaving Mr. Plankinton in charge in jNIil- 
 waukee. The business increased with great rapidity, department after 
 department being added, until the products of the firm became known 
 in nearly every quarter of the globe. Their transactions for the year 
 ending April 1, 1893, exceeded in value one hundred and two million 
 dollars. To transport their goods more than four thousand cars and 
 more than seven hundred horses were required. The employes num- 
 bered eleven thousand, and received in wages over five million, five hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, while over fifty thousand persons, it was esti- 
 mated, were supported from the wages paid in the meat-packing depart- 
 ment alone. Some of the heads of the departments were paid salaries of 
 twenty-five thousand dollars each. It was recorded, at the same time, 
 that Mr. Armour owned more grain elevators than any other man in 
 the world. 
 
 The profits derived from these and other great enterprises were put 
 to the best of uses by him: namely, the improvement, physically, mentally 
 and morally, of his fellowmen. His private charities were large, and 
 when incjuiry is made as to his public beneficences, a sufficient answer 
 is afforded by the Armour Mission, the Armour Flats and the Armour 
 Institute of Technology: institutions so wisely planned, so completely 
 equipped, and so ably managed that one wonders why every man of
 
 Pftilip Danfortl) 3rmout 
 
 81 
 
 wealth does not perpetuate his name by the erection of similar monu- 
 ments. The first named was established by Joseph Armour, who left by 
 his will one hundred thousand dollars for that purpose, a sum that was 
 more than doubled by his brother Philip, who was the executor. The 
 latter gave over one million, five hundred thousand dollars to found the 
 Armour Institute of Technology, and placed at the head of it as president 
 his pastor. Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, who carried out the founder's 
 plans in the most efficient manner. 
 
 Mr. Armour was married, in 1862, to Malvina Belle Ogden, of Cin- 
 cinnati, and had several children, who inherited the sterling qualities 
 and business talent of their father. 
 
 (Editor's note: The above data are taken from The National Cyclo- 
 pedia of American Biography, published by James T. White & Company 
 in 1897. Philip D. Armour died January 6, 1901).
 
 i.'SRARV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSIl/ OF ILMN0I5
 
 ^--x^ri r^ii^i i ci<^^ /(^ 
 
 ■^
 
 Olljaiinccij Ixctp 
 
 HAUNCEY KEEP, prominent in Chicago's business, so- 
 cial and club life for many years and keenly and help- 
 fully interested in all that pertained to public progress 
 along civic, benevolent and cultural lines, passed away 
 in Camden, Maine, August 12, 1929. He was born in 
 Whitewater, Wisconsin, on the 20th of August, 1853, his 
 parents being Henry and Phoebe (McCluer) Keep. His father was a na- 
 tive of the state of New York and removed thence to Chicago, where he 
 reared his family. The son Chauncey pursued a public school education 
 in this city and when a young man of eighteen years secured a position 
 as bookkeeper in the old Commercial National Bank of Chicago. In 
 1874 he went to Europe and after his return from abroad entered the 
 employ of M. D. Keep in the hardware business. In fact he was a man 
 of wide and varied interests in the business world. From 1878 until 
 1883 he engaged in the lumber business in Chicago and until 1897 was 
 vice president of the Raymond Lead Company, which was incorporated 
 in 1880 for the manufacture of lead goods, pipe, sheet lead, shot, etc. 
 He severed his connection therewith upon his retirement in 1903. 
 
 After the death of Marshall Field in 1906, Mr. Keep gave most of 
 his time to his duties as a trustee of the Marshall Field estate but also 
 figured prominently in financial circles. About 1895 he became a director 
 of the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank and of the Merchants Loan & Trust 
 Company in 1903. When these two were consolidated under the name 
 of the Illinois Merchants Trust Company he continued with the new 
 organization and in 1926 became consulting vice president. He was like- 
 wise a director of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway 
 Company, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, the Pullman 
 Company, the Chicago Telephone Company, the Elgin National Watch 
 Company and the Western Union Telegraph Company and was a trustee 
 of the United States Trust Company of New York. He was connected 
 with and substantially interested in the Texas Corporation and numerous 
 other business organizations, all of which regarded his opinions and coun- 
 sel as valuable assets in successful management. 
 
 On the 19th of January, 1888, Mr. Keep was united in marriage to 
 Miss Mary H. Blair, a daughter of Lyman and Mary (De Groff) Blair 
 of Chicago, and they became the parents of three children: Margaret, 
 who is the wife of James C. Hutchins, Jr., of Chicago; Captain Henry 
 Blair Keep; and Katharine F., the wife of Robert A. Gardner of Lake
 
 86 CfacHitifCP Ucrp 
 
 Forest. The son was killed in action in the Argonne during the Vl'orld 
 war. lie was horn Septendier 2.^, 1891, in Chicago, and married Katha- 
 rine Legendre. They had one son, Henry Blair Keep, Jr., horn Octoher 
 1, 1917. Captain Keep entered the first ofTicers training camp at Fort 
 Sheridan, Illinois, and at its close on August 27, 1917, he was commis- 
 sioned first lieutenant. He was then ordered to Camp Greene, Charlotte, 
 Norlli Carolina, and assigned to the Fifty-eighth Infantry of the Fourth 
 Division. In May. 1918. he sailed for France with Company B, Twelfth 
 Machine Gun Battalion, attacheil to the Fourth Division. For a short 
 tiuK' he attended a machine gun instruction camp and in June was trans- 
 ferred to the Tenth Machine Gun Battalion. With this command he went 
 to the front at the beginning of the allied offensive of July 18 at Chateau 
 Thierry. On August 13 he was promoted to the rank of captain. There- 
 after he was almost continuously on the fighting line. He and four of his 
 brother officers were killed by a shell on the night of October 5, 1918. 
 He was a Yale man, and his father made a donation of fifty-four thou- 
 sand dollars to Yale University in his memory. 
 
 Tlie family home of Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey Keep was at 1200 Lake 
 Shore drive and their sunmier home at Camden, Maine, where Mr. Keep 
 was known as a generous benefactor. Everything that tended to promote 
 the welfare and develop the town was of keen interest to him. He insti- 
 tuted various projects for the public good and not only made generous 
 contribution to their support but also gave of his time and personal as- 
 sistance with equal generosity. He was one of four who made possible the 
 acquisition of the village green and he was instrumental in promoting 
 the Old Mount Battie Association, which was incorporated for the pur- 
 pose of preserving Camden's beautiful mountain in its natural state. \^ ith 
 the same thought in mind he aided largely in the purchase of La Salle 
 island, in Penobscot bay, opposite Camden and also Sherman's Point. He 
 was president of the Megunticook Golf Club of Rockport and was a ves- 
 tryman of St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Camden. One of the local 
 papers said: "Though quiet and unassuming in manner, yet he was con- 
 stantly in the forefront of those who Avere anxious and desirous of seeing 
 Canulen develop in a progressive and sound community life. His inter- 
 ests were many, yet he always found time for the many activities that an 
 eflicieut, trusted and respected citizen is called upon to serve. Mr. Keep 
 has made a contribution to our community life that is far-reaching and 
 lasting, and in his death Camden has lost one of her foremost and valu- 
 able citizens." 
 
 In Chicago, where he spent the greater part of the year, Mr. Keep 
 manifested all those sterling qualities which made Camden regard him as 
 a valuable acquisition to her summer population. He was identified with 
 the Chicago Memorial Hospital, the Chicago Home for Incurables and
 
 €l)auncep Hieep 
 
 87 
 
 the Old People's Home of Chicago, and he gave liberally to many worthy 
 and important charitable projects. Politically he was a republican. His 
 club memberships were in the Chicago, University, Chicago Literary, 
 Union League, Onwentsia, Racquet, Chicago Riding, Commercial, Shore 
 Acres, Old Elm, Attic and Mid-Day Clubs of this city and in the Metro- 
 politan and Railroad Clubs of New York. Motivated by high standards in 
 every relation of life, Mr. Keep gained the warm and enduring friend- 
 ship of all with whom he came in contact. He was long accounted one 
 of the representative citizens of Chicago, where his loss is keenly felt.
 
 lames .^. gotten 
 
 HE T^ ORLD — and his activities extended into many sec- 
 tions of it — knew James A. Patten as the wheat king: his 
 home city and the adjoining metropolis knew him as a 
 most public-spirited man and philanthropist; those who 
 came within the closer circle of his acquaintance affec- 
 tionately called him friend. ^ hile his extensive opera- 
 tions as a grain merchant made him most widely known, it was his con- 
 sideration for his fellows, "the human touch," that will cause the memory 
 of James A. Patten to be revered and cherished long after his commercial 
 operations are forgotten. The palatial stone residence at 1426 Ridge 
 avenue, Evanston, sheltered a man who it is said never failed to respond 
 to the call for assistance from the worthy, but he was not always shel- 
 tered in the home of wealth. His birthplace was a modest farmhouse 
 at Freeland Corners on the Galena stage road, four and one-half miles 
 from Sandwich. Illinois, and his natal day was May 8, 1852. He was a 
 son of Alexander Robertson and Agnes (Beveridge) Patten and a de- 
 scendant of the old Patten family, the first record of which is found in 
 Sussex coimty, England, in the year 1119. His father conducted the 
 store at the Corners, and though he died when his son James was only 
 eleven years of age. before his passing he had sold the store and one 
 condition of the transfer of the property was that his son should later be 
 taken into partnership in the little mercantile establishment. In the 
 maternal line his grandfather was George Beveridge, who removed from 
 Washington county. New York, to the southern section of De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, and there in antebellum days he conducted a station on 
 the underground railroad, whereby many an enslaved black man made 
 his way to freedom in the north. It was upon his grandfather's farm 
 that James A. Patten lived from his thirteenth to his seventeenth year. 
 Around him stretched the broad wheat fields which were the indication 
 of early settlement before corn became the chief product of Illinois, and 
 the boy had practical experience in the production and handling of the 
 crop. At the age of seventeen he became a student in Northwestern Uni- 
 versity at Evanston. bis attendance covering a period of two years, in 
 which he made a most creditable record, but because of lack of funds 
 he was compelled to abandon his desire to complete a course in the 
 colleaiate department. His own lack of desired educational training 
 was the source of his great sympathy in later years for college students 
 compelled to earn their own way through school. Returning to his 
 
 89
 
 90 Jnmcs X li^attcn 
 
 nali\e rounly at ihf ajio of nineteen years, he worked for Culver 
 Brothers, liis father's suecessors, in the little store at Freeland Corners 
 until he attained his majority. The succeeding year was spent ui)on the 
 farm of an uncle three miles west of Sandwich, where he worked for a 
 wafTC of twenty dollars per month, and he took active part in plowing, 
 jihuitinj: and harvesting tlic grain and gaining a knowledge of crop pro- 
 duction that enabled him to secure an appointment through the influence 
 of his uncle, Governor John L. Beveridge. to a position in the state grain 
 department in 1874. This brought him to Chicago, then a city of a little 
 more than a half million, when a young man of twenty-two years and 
 during a three and one-half year period spent as a grain inspection clerk 
 he was earning a salary of one hundred dollars per month, then con- 
 sidered a very liberal recompense, '^'ith characteristic insight, however, 
 Mr. Patten recognized that there was no future before him in that line 
 and gave up his position to become an errand boy for G. P. Comstock 
 & Company, grain merchants, Avho were members of the Board of Trade. 
 Copying letters in a letter-press book, carrying small sacks of sample 
 grain from freight cars and elevators to the Comstock office and other 
 similar tasks were among his duties. On one occasion he borrowed the 
 horse and buggy of one of his employers in order to obtain a sample of 
 grain on Eighteenth street. In a traffic jam the buggy was damaged. He 
 frankly stated the situation to his employer, offering to pay for repairs. 
 It was this indication of the character of the young man that led his 
 employer to raise his salary from six to ten dollars a week and some time 
 later to send him east to represent the firm in a business transaction. He 
 was afterward in Montreal as representative for the Comstock interests 
 when the firm failed and he returned to Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Patten himself told the story of how in the earlier period of his 
 residence in Chicago he had boarded among friends who saw to it that 
 the social activities of his life were not neglected, but he found that he 
 was saving nothing in this way and he sought a boarding place on the 
 west side, the man of the house saying that he would accept him as a 
 boarder, but if he were out after ten o'clock he must tell why and where 
 he had been. Mr. Patten related that he never had to explain and that 
 during that period he managed to save one-half of his earnings. 
 
 \^'ith his return from Montreal to Chicago he joined his elder 
 brother, George, and Hiram J. Coon as partners in a grain shipping busi- 
 ness under the firm style of Coon & Patten Brothers. Their combined 
 capital consisted of eleven thousand dollars and their market was New 
 England, the grain being shipped by schooner over the Great Lakes. 
 The new undertaking prospered from the beginning, but while Mr. 
 Patten's profits for the first year anKumted to eight thousand dollars, his 
 expenditures were nine hundred dollars, his frugality enabling him to
 
 3!ames 3- 1.3atten 91 
 
 save the money that led to extensive operations in later years. He 
 observed life at this period as well as carefully managed his business 
 affairs, and seeing that temperance was a valuable adjunct of business, 
 be became a stanch supporter thereof. The development of his business 
 interests was one of slow and steady growth for some years — years in 
 which he was preparing for what assumed manunoth proportions at a 
 later date. He gave much time to familiarizing himself not only with 
 the operations of the grain markets bvit also weather conditions, the de- 
 velopment of rust and of everything that has to do with wheat growing. 
 He gained a knowledge of soil and temperature conditions in the great 
 wheat and grain producing centers of the world and it was this compre- 
 hensive knowledge that he acquired that enabled him to reap a fortune 
 from his operations in later years. The press spoke of his operations in 
 corn, oats and wheat as "cornering the market" but Mr. Patten always 
 contended that there was no such thing as cornering. He said: ''A 
 gambler is a man who creates an unimportant risk that he assumes; a 
 speculator assumes a risk that already exists. A speculator is a gambler 
 only in the sense that we are all gamblers in this narrow margin of the 
 universe we call earth, where the stakes are existence, some measure of 
 happiness, and a lively interest in the struggle. We cannot avoid taking 
 chances ... If any deal I have ever conducted has been a corner, 
 it has also been an accident. I never in my life set out deliberately to 
 corner the market." One of his most spectacular operations was in 
 wheat. Close study brought him the knowledge that insects and the 
 weather are important items relating to the grain trade. Moreover, he 
 knew that in Argentine the wheat crop is gathered in November and in 
 the fall of 1908 he, in common with the entire public, learned there had 
 been a heavy frost in the Argentine. There were conflicting reports as 
 to the extent of the damage to the wheat crop, and finally to his business 
 associates Mr. Patten proposed that they find out the temperature in the 
 Argentine on the night of the frost. A cabled message to correspondents 
 there brought the reply: ''Rosario, 28; Buenos Aires, 26." Mr. Patten 
 knew that wheat could not escape damage in such a temperature and at 
 once proceeded to buy wheat to be delivered in May, 1909. He did not 
 hesitate to circulate his knowledge of conditions and some of his friends 
 followed his example, while others disregarded it. Wheat which he 
 purchased at eighty-nine and three-fourths cents a bushel brought a 
 dollar and thirty-four cents per bushel in May, 1909, at which time 
 Mr. Patten had acquired ten million bushels. There was a phase of this 
 operation that the public did not grasp at the time. Failure of the Avlieat 
 crop in Canada and to the north so lessened the supply that had Mr. 
 Patten not made bis extensive purchases, keeping the wheat in America, 
 a large amount of it would have been shipped to Europe and there would
 
 92 Jcimcs X PcUtcn 
 
 luivo been a \vheat famine in the Lnileil States. The same line of pro- 
 cedure marked his other extensive operations on the Board. Ilis busi- 
 ness association with his brother Georjre continned until the latter"* ill 
 health forced him to the southwest. Then Mr. Patten spent alternate 
 periods of two weeks with his brother until the dread tuberculosis which 
 had carried off his father claimed the brother, as it did also Mr. Patten's 
 son, Thomas. It was perhaps because the family suffered so from this 
 disease that Mr. Patten financed an immense enterprise for research 
 work along that line. It was natural, as the result of his successful 
 operation in the grain trade circles whereby he became known through- 
 out the civilized world, that the cooperation of Mr. Patten should be 
 sought in other fields, and at the time of his demise he was representa- 
 tive of the directorate of the Continental and Commercial National 
 Bank of Chicago, the City National Bank and Trust Company of Evans- 
 ton, the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, the Commonwealth 
 Edison Company, the Chicago Title and Trust Company and the Chicago, 
 Rock Island & Pacific Railway. He was also a silent partner in Bartiett, 
 Frazier & Company following his retirement from active participation 
 in the operations of the Board. He never lost his interest, however, in 
 tlie grain market and still dealt to some extent in those commodities Avith 
 which he had become familiar during his boyhood days. 
 
 On the 9th of April, 1885, IMr. Patten was married to Amanda Louise 
 Buchanan and for forty-three years they traveled life's journey together. 
 Their only suniving son is John Lowrie and the daughter is Mrs. Agnes 
 (Patten) Wilder, of Santa Barbara, California. At the time of the World 
 war Mr. Patten outfitted an ambulance that his son might go to the front. 
 Mrs. Patten was always deeply interested in her husband's philanthropic 
 and civic projects. 
 
 There is no phase of Evanston's civic development with which Mr. 
 Patten was not closely associated. He first became interested in politics 
 during the McKinley administration and from that time forward the 
 great problems which underlie the history of a nation in the making 
 always received a due part of his attention. Only twice did he hold 
 public office. He served for one term as alderman of the seventh ward 
 in Evanston and in 1901 he became the fourth mayor of the city. His 
 administration paralleled his business record in the thoroughness with 
 which he mastered the problems affecting the general welfare and the 
 loyalty which he displayed in the discharge of his duties. One writing 
 of him said: "We recall a golden era in Evanston's history when James 
 A. Patten was mayor and gathered about him a cabinet of kindred souls. 
 They worked for the strengthening of what we are pleased to call the 
 Evanston tradition, and the imprint of that administration still persists." 
 He was always keenly interested in politics and could be called a national
 
 3!ames a. L^attcn 93 
 
 figure iu that respect — not because he held office but because his opinions 
 on vital questions carried great weight among the party leaders, many 
 of whom were his personal friends. He thus did much to mold public 
 thought and action. For years Mr. Patten was a vital force in the citizens 
 committee for the enforcement of the Landis award and for a time was 
 acting head of the organization. In 1922 he gave one thousand dollars 
 to the victim of a bombing in connection with the labor trouble. He 
 was especially active in that year in attacks upon racketeers operating in 
 the name of labor. Mr. Patten also was a member of the Chicago crime 
 commission and the crime commission of Evanston. He was active in the 
 business men's organization that backed Swanson in the recent campaign 
 for state's attorney. 
 
 Both Evanston and Chicago knew Mr. Patten as a philanthropist. He 
 was keenly interested in the work of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion and ser\'ed as a trustee in Evanston for ten years prior to his demise. 
 He assisted greatly in promoting the one-hundred-thousand-dollar anni- 
 versary campaign in 1910, and in the drive for the Association in 1927 
 he gave bonds and stocks that sold for two hundred and twenty-six thou- 
 sand dollars. His gifts for medical education alone exceeded five hun- 
 dred thousand dollars and the Northwestern University was during his 
 lifetime the recipient of gifts that amounted to more than a million and 
 a half. He it ^vas who gave to the university its splendid gymnasium, 
 which will always be known as the "Patten Gym" although it was his 
 desire that his name should not be given to the building. He was keenly 
 interested in the Evanston Hospital and became a member of the board 
 following the death of his brother George, who had previously served on 
 the board. He supplied the funds for the erection of the nurses' home, 
 known as Patten Hall, and one of his last acts of benevolence was to 
 provide new and adequate quarters for the nurses. He made it possible 
 for a contagious hospital to become a unit of the Evanston Hospital, 
 erecting the building and supplying its furnishings. It is said that the 
 hospital has benefited by his liberality to the extent of more than a 
 million dollars and he was also a director of the Presbyterian Hospital 
 of Chicago and the Chicago Fresh Air Hospital, where he regularly sup- 
 ported many cases. St. Luke's Hospital likewise benefited by his gen- 
 erosity and he was one of the leading spirits in the organization of the 
 Central Association of Evanston Charities, aiding its incorporation and 
 serving as one of its directors from its inception in 1910 until his death. 
 He provided generously in his will for the educational and benevolent 
 enterprises in which he was so deeply interested, leaving generous be- 
 quests to the Evanston Hospital Association, the Presbyterian Home of 
 Evanston, the Old People's Home of Chicago, the United Charities of 
 Chicago, the Visiting Nurses' Association of Chicago, the Glenwood
 
 94 James a. Ptittcii 
 
 Munual Training Soliool of Cliicajio ami tin- Chicago Council of Boy 
 Scouts of America, and provided that one-half of his estate shoidd he 
 shared hy these after the death of Mrs. Patten. 
 
 He had reached the age of seventy-six years when he passed from 
 this life and the world chronicled the going of "a man whose ear was 
 always open to hear the crj- of the needy and the call of distress and 
 whose charities knew no race nor creed; a man who gave not only of his 
 means hut gave freely of his time, his energy and advice to all who sought 
 it." He had no use for "society" as the term is usually interpreted, say- 
 ing that to liecome a memher of society usually meant the giving up of 
 many old friends, hut he had keen appreciation for those who had kin- 
 dred spirits and interests ^vith his. He helonged to the Union League 
 Club, the Chicago Club, the ^ estmoreland Cluh. the Evanston Country 
 Club, the Glenview Golf Club and the Evanston Club. His religious 
 faith was that of the Presbyterian Church. With his wife he made the 
 hospitality of the Patten home a noted feature in the life of Evanston. 
 The home is famous for its luxury and its good taste. It was charac- 
 teristic that the Scotch thistle, emblem of an ancestral connection, was 
 used largely as an adornment in that home. At his own fireside he de- 
 lighted to entertain those with whom he was associated in his charitable 
 and benevolent work, those whom he knew in his church and those in 
 whom he found the stimulating influence of true friendship. These con- 
 stituted his society. Of him it was said: " 'Jim' Patten was a friend of 
 all mankind who responded to any call for service. . . . His idea of 
 the relation of wealth to public welfare was one of the controlling ele- 
 ments of his life. He believed that the possession of great wealth im- 
 posed on its owners a duty to the public and that it should be used for 
 the good of mankind. His wonderful wife shared in these views and 
 together they have lightened many burdens of the unfortunate, encour- 
 aged many needy students, increased the service of Northwestern Uni- 
 versity, the church, the hospital, the city. Their great gifts have created 
 lines of influence extending around the world." One of Evanstou's 
 mayors characterized him as '"a man that stood foursquare to every wind 
 that l)lows. fearless in his stand against all kinds of corruption in political 
 and civic life." Another wrote: '"From whatever significant angle we 
 view this Evanston we see there some aspect of the Patten influence. 
 Here in this quickly-grown city which yesterday was a village we knew a 
 different Patten from the picturesque Wheat King who already is on his 
 way to a place among the nation's legendary heroes. Here moved among 
 us the militant, forthright, outspoken citizen whose voice and hand and 
 purse were on the side of civic betterment, who seldom hesitated to 'spill 
 the beans' when called on for a personal opinion — and to telling effect. 
 Here was the hard-headed but generous philanthropist whose aid brought
 
 31ames 3. patten 
 
 95 
 
 into being or quickened schools, hospitals, churches; and whose interests 
 extended to such divers channels as the purchase of uniforms for an 
 underpaid police force and the rescue of a family from want." 
 
 The president of Northwestern University said: "James A. Patten 
 has been the most potent single personality in causing Evanston to de- 
 velop into the city of which we are all so justly proud. Dr. Evans recog- 
 nized churches, hospitals and universities as essential to the progress of 
 civilization. Mr. Patten made these same three institutions his special 
 agencies in carrying out his plans to benefit his fellowmen. Mr. Patten 
 will live on in the hearts of his fellow townsmen and in the services 
 rendered by the institutions that he helped to develop, although the insti- 
 tutions are more in number than even his most intimate friends sus- 
 pected." 
 
 Mr. Patten found his friends among the rich and the poor, the 
 humble and the great. From every station in life came tributes to the 
 man whose earthly activity ended December 8, 1928. They were simple 
 utterances of real appreciation for what he had accomplished and for 
 what he was. Of him his long-time friend. Vice President Dawes, said: 
 "James A. Patten was a friend of all mankind, and his generous heart 
 responded to any call for service, however humble or great. In oiu" 
 home community of Evanston, to which he was a great benefactor, to 
 the city of Chicago, and to his country, his death means a great loss."
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSn/ OF iiMNn..-
 
 CyyO''-7''t/yv ^yy. 'X^ foy^e^^"^
 
 (iDrrin |lcl00n Olartcr 
 
 RRIN NELSON CARTER served on the bench in Illinois 
 for thirty consecutive years, the first twelve years as 
 county judge of Cook county and the remaining years 
 as a justice of the Illinois supreme court. Judge Carter 
 was born in Jefferson county, New York, January 22, 
 1854, a son of Benajah and Isabel (Cole) Carter. He 
 was only two years of age when his father, who sailed on the Great Lakes, 
 passed away. His mother afterward became the wife of James W. Fran- 
 cisco and in 1864 the family removed to a farm in Du Page county, 
 Illinois. He had previously attended the district schools in New York 
 state but after coming to the middle west was self-supporting, and it was 
 his own labors that enabled him later to pursue a course in Wheaton 
 College. He accepted the janitorship of that institution in order to meet 
 the expenses of the course, which he completed in 1877, with the Bach- 
 elor of Arts degree. Some years later his alma mater conferred upon 
 him the degree of LL. D. He took up the profession of teaching, being 
 for a time an instructor in the Dover Academy and later in a normal 
 school in Morris, Illinois, while subsequently he filled the position of 
 superintendent of schools of Grundy county from 1882 until 1884. In 
 the meantime, before completing his academic course in Wheaton, he 
 read law for part of one year in the offices of Judge Murray A. Tuley and 
 General Israel N. Stiles. He was admitted to the bar in 1880. He became 
 associated with and eventually a partner of Judge S, C. Stough and 
 Judge R. M. Wing, leading members of the Grundy county bar, and for 
 five years practiced his profession with them in Morris. He was also a 
 partner of A. L. Doud, of Morris. Judge Wing sought a broader field 
 of labor in Chicago and some time afterward Judge Carter joined him. 
 He had been in Chicago for but a comparatively brief period when he 
 became general counsel for the sanitary district, and during the time 
 when the canal was being constructed he supervised and controlled the 
 legal matters connected therewith. His duties involved the expenditure of 
 more than two million dollars in the purchase of property and he gave 
 to his task the same energy, perseverance and thoroughness that charac- 
 terized eveiything that he undertook. In 1894 he was chosen by the 
 republican party as its candidate for judge of the county court, to which 
 office he was elected. He was reelected in 1898 and 1902. In June, 
 1906, he was elected to the supreme court and served for two terms, 
 retiring in 1924. 
 
 99
 
 100 ©rrin nelson Carter 
 
 Hon. Charles S. Cutting at the memorial services held in honor of 
 Judpe Carter by the supreme court of Illinois, said of his work on the 
 bench: "From the sanitar) district work, witli its midtitude of condem- 
 nations, he plunjied into the conjriomerate jurisdiction of the county 
 court. The county c»iurt of Cook county, like the county courts in all 
 other counties in some respects, is to all intents and purposes an admin- 
 istrative court. The constitution of 1870 provides, after giving certain 
 specific heads of jurisdiction, that the county court shall have 'such other 
 jurisdiction as is or may be provided by law.' This, coupled with the fact 
 that everything about the court is purely local and that the court is always 
 open, has made it the receptacle of all the jurisdictional odds and ends 
 which modern legislation could suggest. If anything in the way of social 
 legislation were passed, the legislators simply tossed the new subject into 
 the hopper of the county court. Therefore in any county in Illinois the 
 county court has new and elaborate administrative duties to perform, 
 while in the county of Cook the single judge allowed by the constitution 
 was overwhelmed with duties, ranging all the way from appeals from jus- 
 tices of the peace to mothers' pensions. Of course, all the other matters 
 are relatively insignificant when compared with the control of the elec- 
 tion machinery of a great city. Considering more than a thousand elec- 
 tion precincts with their judges and clerks, with election commissioners 
 and their multitude of clerks and other employes, all controlled directly 
 or indirectly by the county judge, one may, even omitting the constant 
 contest with fraud, get some faint idea of the multitude of duties then 
 supervised and controlled by the county judge of Cook county. Judge 
 Carter for twelve years so organized these often discordant elements, so 
 fairly and efficiently administered his court, which was, as to its election 
 machinery, the theatre of fierce political contests, that he received not 
 only the approbation of his own party but also Avon the approval and 
 esteem of the most partisan of his political opponents. It may well be 
 doubted if laymen generally, and even those who are directly connected 
 with the administration of justice, fully understand the multiplicity of 
 interests which were centered in that court. Who among the lawyers, 
 even of this state, fully comprehends the fact that that court considered 
 appeals from justices of the peace, tried common law causes not exceeding 
 a recovery of one thousand dollars, had criminal jurisdiction to a certain 
 extent, jurisdiction of special assessments, insanity hearings, the whole 
 subject of the supervision of elections in the city of Chicago, the forma- 
 tion and control of drainage districts, jurisdictions specially given under 
 the civil rights act. jurisdiction to control foul brood in apiaries, the insol- 
 vent debtors act, aid to needy mothers, commitments to the industrial 
 schools, inheritance taxes, the sale of lands for taxes, the adoption of 
 children, and other heads of special and extraordinary jurisdiction?
 
 flPrrin Ji^ctson Carter lOl 
 
 Some of these subjects have now been given to other courts and the 
 tension correspondingly relieved. In this court Judge Carter reigned 
 supreme. His wonderful faculty for organization, his eminent fairness 
 and his indefatigable industry permitted him to carry this burden for 
 twelve years, and his distinguished success was unquestionably the step- 
 ping stone upon which he mounted to the high estate of a justice of this 
 honorable court. 
 
 ''It is more than probable that today the great bulk of the people in 
 Cook county remember with approval the labors of Judge Carter in the 
 county court even more vividly than they do his distinguished services 
 as a justice of this court. So popular was he, not only with his own 
 party but with the chiefs of the opposing organization, that without 
 opposition he was nominated and elected as the member of this court 
 from the great seventh supreme court district. This district is somewhat 
 unique, in that it contains more inhabitants than all the other districts 
 of the state combined; that within its borders originate fully one-half of 
 the causes, numerically considered, and far more than one-half when 
 the amounts and interest involved are taken into consideration. In fact, 
 the seventh district may well be designated, in the picturesque language 
 of our Latin-American friends, 'The Colossus of the North.' From these 
 facts it is evident that the vacation work of a justice coming from that 
 district is much more onerous. Not only are more motions in vacation 
 presented to him from his own district, but the accessibility of Chicago 
 is such that very many matters from outside are brought to a justice who 
 can always be found at a great transportation center. This, in addition 
 to the very strenuous work which falls upon every judge of this court, 
 made the work which fell to Judge Carter peculiarly heavy. It is true 
 that his training in the county court had fitted him to dispose of this 
 outside labor, although he had had no experience in the work of writing 
 opinions, which was to him new, but that same energy, that same faith- 
 fulness to detail, that same honesty of purpose which had characterized 
 all his previous efforts, were brought to bear upon his work as a judge 
 of the supreme court. For eighteen years he labored. Quietly and 
 unostentatiously he pursued the even tenor of his way. His opinions, 
 many of them exceedingly able, will be found in the Illinois Reports, 
 beginning, as has been said, with Volume 223 and ending in Volume 313. 
 Judge Carter wrote very able opinions in a number of important cases, 
 some of which are named hereafter, but perhaps his most important 
 case before this court as a lawyer was heard at a time while he was resid- 
 ing at Morris. As state's attorney he prosecuted for murder two brake- 
 men employed by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany. The express messenger on a west-bound Rock Island train was 
 killed somewhere between Joliet and Morris and these two men were
 
 102 iprrin nelson Carter 
 
 indicted at Morris for the murder. This raised a then novel question in 
 Illinois criminal law. It was impossible to tell whether the murder was 
 committed in Will county or in Grundy county, and as at common law 
 the venue must lie allcjred with particularity and proved with certainty, 
 it was objected that there could be no conviction without determining 
 positively where the messenger was killed. There were, and are, statutes 
 of this state seeking to cover conditions of this kind, but they were 
 attacked as unconstitutional. This court decided that the statutes were 
 constitutional and that the prosecution could be maintained in either 
 Will or Grundy county where it was impossible to determine in which 
 the killing took place. The opinion of this court, written by Justice 
 Bailey, appears in 126 111. 9, under the title of Watt v. People, and was 
 filed at Ottawa in October, 1888. The conviction of the murderers was 
 affirmed. Opinions in two specially notable criminal cases were written 
 by Judge Carter after he became a member of this court. The first was 
 People v. Jennings, reported in 252 111. 531, which is known as the 
 ■finger-print case,' in which it was held for the first time, at least in 
 Illinois, that finger-prints as an identification were properly shown in 
 evidence. The other was People v. Pfanschmidt, 262 111. 411, which is 
 known as the 'blood-hound case,' in which it Avas held by this court, 
 Judge Carter writing the opinion, that the actions and behavior of blood- 
 hounds were not admissible in evidence. 
 
 "Unquestionably the case on which Judge Carter spent the most time 
 and wrote the most elaborate opinion was State v. Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company, 246 111. 188. This case, which occupies one hundred 
 and twenty-nine pages of the volume, contains a most able and exhaustive 
 discussion and determination of the stating of accounts and the practice 
 and procedure in connection therewith. Judge Carter was of a highly 
 nervous temperament, and his sense of duty was so strong that nothing 
 in the way of physical ailment or his private interest was ever permitted 
 to interfere with his work upon the bench. He was exceedingly proud 
 of the great court of which he was a part. Its dignity and honor were 
 close to his heart. He could not entertain the thought of any condition 
 of things which would bring dishonor to or lower the standard of that 
 court. Eighteen years of hard work at last so undermined him physically 
 that he broke under the strain, and though he finished out his term he 
 declined a renomination, which would have been equivalent to a reelec- 
 tion. Wc ordinarily reserve our choicest encomiums for the soldier who 
 falls in battle or receives therein severe and disabling wounds, but if 
 ever there was a soldier who as a slave to duty fell in the conflict of 
 civilized life, that man was Orrin Nelson Carter. The soldier deserves 
 the great place which he holds in the hearts of those whom he has pro- 
 tected, and so, too, does the civil champion of justice and right when he
 
 Qrrin i^clson Carter 103 
 
 falls just outside the breastworks in the great strife which we call 
 civilization. Judge Carter keenly appreciated the fact that the courts 
 of this country, more than any other of its institutions, have the confi- 
 dence of the people, and he strove to bring about conditions which 
 should enlarge and perpetuate that faith. He knew that the courts were 
 the exponents of real civilization and that barbarism mostly lacks such 
 tribunals, but that as man becomes more and more a reasoning being 
 courts are established, which are brought to a high state of efficiency in 
 exact ratio to the education, the refinement and the sense of justice of 
 the people among whom they are established. Never sensational, always 
 calm and judicial, with a masterly sense of justice. Judge Carter pursued 
 the even tenor of his way until he fell. He fully believed that the per- 
 formance of duty to which he had been called by the suffrages of the 
 people was a full and sufficient occupation for him as a jurist. Liberal 
 in his views as to the law, politics and religion, be believed in that golden 
 mean which exists halfway between radicalism and conservatism. It 
 was often stated that he was the ideal citizen. Being human he doubtless 
 made mistakes, but his errors, if any, were always the result of an 
 effort to be right." 
 
 On the 1st of August, 1881, the year after his admission to the bar, 
 Judge Carter married Miss Janet Steven, of Morris, and they had two 
 children, Ruth G. and Allan J., the latter a member of the Chicago bar. 
 After residing in Chicago for many years Judge Carter established his 
 home in Evanston. He was a member of the Union League Club and of 
 the Hamilton Club. His religious faith was that of the Congregational 
 Church and it was said of him: "His faith was constant, his belief simple, 
 and he lived his life without display.*' He and his family were interested 
 in the suppression of the liquor traffic and he labored earnestly and 
 effectively in support of the cause of temperance. He was also one of the 
 first representatives of the Illinois judiciary to openly announce support 
 of the woman's suffrage movement and at times the family home in 
 Evanston was the scene of meetings for the Evanston Political Equality 
 League. Throughout the World war period he served on the Evanston 
 war board and his last public acts, aside from his services on the bench, 
 were largely in connection with the attempted revision of the state consti- 
 tution. He was again and again called upon to deliver public addresses. 
 Judge Carter was keenly interested in the welfare of the colored people 
 and manifested a spirit of helpfulness toward them at all times. On one 
 occasion speaking before the ladies auxiliary of the Eighth Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry-, the colored regiment which had participated so valiantly 
 in the Spanish-American war, on "Loyalty," he said: "Loyalty means 
 in its purest and truest and highest sense, faithfulness to home, to wife, 
 to children, to country; it means all that is true and dear and pure; it
 
 104 f>rrin jr^clsoii Carter 
 
 inrans evorythinj; tliat is iioMo and "zraiid; and if I were to write an 
 epitaph, oiily one word, on a iiioiiiiineiit aii<l raise it to the colored race, 
 I wouhl write the word "Loyalty"." He closed with the words: '"When 
 the long, long roll is called and when my time comes to pay the last debt, 
 I only ask that I may be entitled to have the epitaph written on my tomb- 
 stone that is worthy of being written on the tombstone of every boy in 
 the Eiglith Regiment: 'He was loyal to his duty.' " 
 
 In speaking of Judge Carter's judicial career. Judge Mary Bartelme 
 said: ''He was aware of the sensitiveness and apprehension with which 
 most young lai^^ers enter into their first court hearings and felt that 
 many women continue to have that sense of timidity throughout their 
 professional careers. He knew that women were still an unusual factor 
 in the legal profession, and not always a welcome one, in places hereto- 
 fore controlled and directed solely by men. This realization did not 
 cause him to assume an attitude of condescension or untoward solicitude, 
 nor did he ridicule or cynically belittle the perhaps faltering efforts made 
 by these lawyers, but his fairness and understanding consideration gave 
 to them a sense of safety and self-confidence that enabled them to present 
 their matters as they had planned and to the best of their ability. Judge 
 Carter was well aware that his judicial office was one of power and 
 authority, but his sense of right and justice was such that he never used 
 that power, imperiously or arbitrarily. . . . His court room was so 
 conducted that those who entered left with a feeling that they had en- 
 countered neither arrogance nor austerity, but had come in contact with a 
 judge who understood the responsil)ilities of his office and conducted it 
 with dignity and fairness and whose broad vision enabled him to realize 
 that he was dealing with human values." 
 
 At the memorial service in the supreme court Mr. Justice Dunn said: 
 "Judge Carter was an educated man, of literary tastes, of extensive and 
 varied reading, with an eager, insistent interest in public affairs, in civic 
 improvement, in professional standards and conduct, and in all questions 
 connected with these. During his thirty years on the bench he found 
 time for various activities aside from his judicial duties. He delivered 
 a number of addresses to bar associations of states other than Illinois. 
 He was chairman of the Chicago Charter Convention in IQO.'i and 1906, 
 president of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology 
 in 1912 and 191. "5. and chairman of the judicial section of the American 
 Rar Association from 1913 to 1916. He published a book on the ethic8 
 of the legal profession, and he had a lively interest in all public ques- 
 tions. \^ hatever other public or private interests or questions may have 
 received consideration in Judge Carters active mind, his life work, by 
 which he is most widely known and on which his reputation will stand, 
 was his judicial career of thirty years in the service of the people of the
 
 flPrrin J^clgon Carter 105 
 
 state. It was an unusual, remarkable and distinguished career, beginning 
 with twelve years on the bench of the county court of Cook county, with 
 its immense political importance because of the control of the conduct 
 of all elections, election oflScers and election machinery vested in the 
 county judge by the provisions of the city election law. It was a great 
 tribute to Judge Carter, expressive of the universal confidence in the 
 inflexible honesty of his character and the unquestionable integrity of 
 his conduct in every particular, that after having served eight years in 
 this office he was reelected for a third term without opposition. No 
 shadow of suspicion ever attached to his name in either public or private 
 life. Having thus served nearly twelve years in this important office, 
 with its great responsibilities, he came with a mind informed, broadened 
 and matured by experience and observation, to the completion of his 
 career with his advancement to the highest judicial office within the gift 
 of the state. He enjoyed the universal confidence and esteem of his 
 associates upon the bench, as well as of the bar and of the people. He 
 was equipped for his duty on the bench with a well-trained mind, a broad 
 and liberal education, extensive reading, careful study and close thought. 
 His industry was indefatigable. He was strong in his convictions and 
 courageous to express and defend them in the conference room and else- 
 where. He formed his own judgments, but with gentlemanly courtesy 
 gave careful consideration to the arguments of those who had reached 
 conclusions different from his own. His sole object in the examination 
 and consideration of cases was the proper determination of the facts and 
 the application of the law to them so as to reach the correct legal con- 
 clusion on both the facts and the law and administer both law and 
 justice." 
 
 Following his retirement from the supreme court bench after 
 eighteen years' service, and after refusing a third nomination, be- 
 cause of failing health. Judge Carter went to Glendale, California, where 
 he passed away August 15, 1928, having reached the age of seventy-four 
 years. He was a man of broad education, of wide reading, keenly inter- 
 ested in literature and in the progress of the times. He has been spoken 
 of as the ideal citizen. When he retired from the supreme court the 
 Illinois State Bar Association prepared "An Appreciation" of him, saying 
 in part: "His service on the supreme bench more than fulfilled the 
 promise of his earlier life. Of his technical ability as a lawyer, there 
 was never any question; it is of the highest; his industry has been 
 unusual. Both are witnessed by his long line of cogent and well-reasoned 
 opinions appearing in Volumes 222 to 313, inclusive, of the Illinois 
 Supreme Court Reports. But Judge Carter possesses other qualifications 
 which are quite as essential for a good judge as mere technical pro- 
 ficiency. He had the educational background which irresistibly impelled
 
 106 Orrin Prison Ccirtcr 
 
 him to decide questions along right legal lines, as he saw them. It is this 
 quality in judjics and hnvyers which of itself prevents the profession from 
 degenerating into a mere trade. In addition, his moral leanings have 
 been such that he has always approached any question, whether of prop- 
 erty or human rights, from the angle of pure justice. The fallacious and 
 sophistical arguments of groups or individuals of the anti-social class 
 received no sympathy from him. Not the least tribute to this able and 
 upright judge is the fact that at the end of his first term, without opposi- 
 tion, he was returned to the supreme bench by his metropolitan constitu- 
 ency of Chicago and its environs, a melting-pot of nearly every race, 
 tongue, creed and shade of political opinion. . . . Judge Carter's 
 retirement to private life is a great loss to the bench and bar of Illinois, 
 but we entertain the hope that with increased leisure his health may be 
 restored and that he may find time and strength for many lines of service 
 for which he is so well fitted, less strenuous, but perhaps no less im- 
 portant than his former activities.'' 
 
 At a memorial service held in the First Congregational Church of 
 Evanston, Dr. Ozora S. Davis said of Judge Carter: "The transparent 
 integrity of his daily conduct, his ruling ideas and his discharge of official 
 duty are the glorious heritage which we receive from him this afternoon. 
 Nothing could come to one of higher privilege than the privilege to 
 vindicate during the gracious years of a man's life the realties of justice, 
 truth, honor, sympathy, kindness and love which shed themselves forth 
 in him in the midst of human stress, sometimes obscured by human cir- 
 cumstances, but, by and large, shining clearly through all eternity. 
 Human interest takes on new value and meaning when it is expressed 
 with those sincerities which marked the life of Judge Carter. I think of 
 him in the welcoming kindness of his simple and unaffected relationships 
 ^vith men. His was one of the first welcoming hands reached out to me 
 when I came here, more than nineteen years ago. In all our association 
 it was this simple, friendly, and utterly sincere attitude which won my 
 love and honor, because I was easily persuaded that he cared for me. 
 I turn for a moment to another great outline of his character: The way 
 in which he met and discharged official responsibilities of a high and 
 exacting kind, and did it without the assumption of superiority, and yet 
 did it so that one knew that he was master of the situation; for, it is one 
 thing to affect a position, and it is another thing to honor it by honest 
 worth, and to hold it by the guarantee of personal character. And so 
 he was trustful: trusted with larger responsibilities as the years passed; 
 trusted, and he never failed so far as any false note in his life would 
 lead him astray; and thus he lived within the bounds of human expe- 
 rience that tasted the high joys, the deferred hopes, and the occasional 
 defeats of life, and yet bore himself calmly, bravely, frankly through it
 
 SDrrin i^elson Carter 
 
 107 
 
 all. And, in another broad Hue I must picture him as the Christian 
 gentleman, the accents of whose life ^v•ere faith, courtesy and loyalty, 
 elementary Christian virtues; faith which lays hold of the unseen, com- 
 prehends the spiritual within the physical and knows that the last word 
 has not been spoken concerning our mortality until it is spoken in the 
 language of eternity. . . . Coarseness, vulgarity and boasting were 
 alien to the knightly, chivalrous and courteous character of this man, 
 and when he drew his sword he drew it chivalrously, and when he 
 couched his lance he broke it with a high loyalty to that which was kind, 
 true and beautiful, and loyal to the trust of an official, judicial position, 
 and the responsibilities assumed toward the state and toward his friends 
 and toward his God; loyalty to himself, his comrades and his God."
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 L'NIVERSn / OF ILllNOic
 
 1 
 
 JOSEPH G. CANNON
 
 |00epl) iurncij (Hannon 
 
 OSEPH GURNEY CANNON, noted for his long and dis- 
 tinguished career in the national house of representa- 
 tives, died at his home in Danville, Illinois, November 
 12, 1926. He was born in Guilford, Guilford county. 
 North Carolina, May 7, 1836, a son of Dr. Horace F. 
 and Gulielma (Hollingsworth) Cannon. Both were 
 representatives of old Quaker families dating back through Revolu- 
 tionary times to the days of George Fox. When Joseph John Gumey, 
 a celebrated preacher of the Friends faith, came from England as a mis- 
 sionary he was accompanied by Dr. Cannon on his tour through America 
 and, when the subject of this review was born. Dr. Cannon named his 
 little son Joseph Gumey in honor of his missionary friend. 
 
 Joseph G. Cannon was a little lad of four years when in 1840 he 
 accompanied his parents on their removal to Bloomingdale, Indiana. 
 The days of his youth were passed in a manner similar to that of most 
 farm boys and when he had mastered the studies taught in the district 
 schools he had the benefit of instruction in an academy at Annapolis, 
 Parke county, Indiana, conducted by Professor Barnabas Hobbs. This 
 with a year in Earlham College of Richmond, Indiana, ended his school 
 training. He was only fourteen years of age when his father, in attempt- 
 ing to ford Sugar creek in order to attend a patient, was drowned. Thus 
 he was early thrown upon his own resources and to provide for his 
 support secured a clerkship in a store at Annapolis at a salary of two 
 hundred dollars per year. He was thus employed for five years and 
 managed to save half of his earnings, so that ^vith a capital of five 
 hundred dollars he went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he entered 
 upon the study of law under the direction of John P. Usher, one of the 
 distinguished attorneys of the middle west. He supplemented his pre- 
 liminary reading by a course of study in the Cincinnati Law School and 
 was admitted to the bar in 1858. The following year he located for 
 practice at Tuscola, Douglas county, Illinois, where in March, 1861, he 
 was elected state's attorney for the twenty-seventh judicial district of 
 Illinois, holding this office until December, 1868. During that period 
 he not only proved his ability as a la^vyer but also became so well known 
 that he determined upon another step in the political field. He first 
 became a candidate for congress in 1872 and was elected as a republican 
 to the forty-third and to the eight succeeding congresses, covering the 
 period from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1891. In the year 1878 he had 
 
 111
 
 112 Joscpf) (^urnci) Cannon 
 
 estal)li^hc(l his home in Danville, lUinui.^. He was an unsuccessful 
 candidate for reelection in 1890 to the fifty-second congress, but was 
 elected to the fiftv-third and to the nine succeeding congresses, serving 
 continuously from -March k 189;^. to March 3. 1913. He was chairman 
 of the committee on appropriations in the fifty-first, fifty-fifth, fifty-sixth 
 and fifty-seventh congresses and speaker of the United States house of 
 representatives in the fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth, sixtieth and sixty-first con- 
 gresses, covering the period from 1903 to 1911. He received fifty-eight 
 votes for the presidential nomination at the republican national conven- 
 tion at Chicago in 1908. Hon. Joseph G. Cannon was an unsuccessful 
 candidate for reelection in 1912 to the sixty-third congress but was again 
 elected to the sixty-fourth, sixty-fifth, sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh con- 
 gresses, thus serving continuously from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1923. 
 He declined renomination for congress at the end of the sixty-seventh 
 congress and retired from public life after forty-six years' service in the 
 house of representatives. The writer of a character sketch which 
 appeared in the 'Review of Reviews" described the personality of 
 Joseph G. Cannon as ''unique, peculiar, most interesting and admirable. 
 'Uncle Joe' Cannon he is to all who know him ... a nature that is 
 brimming full of sunshine, of kindliness, of good feeling, of quaint 
 humor, and above all of what ^\e Americans know as plain, common 
 •horse sense.' ... He knows the United States as a chess player 
 knows his board and his pieces." 
 
 In January, 1862, Hon. Cannon was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
 Pamela Reed, of Canfield, Ohio, who died in Danville, Illinois, in De- 
 cember, 1889, leaving two daughters. Miss Helen Cannon and Mrs. 
 Mabel Cannon LeSeure.
 
 (fDmniiD Umiicl !)ulbcrt 
 
 DMUND DANIEL HULBERT left the impress of his in- 
 dividuality upon Chicago in many beneficial ways. His 
 life story is one of successful attainment in everything 
 that he attempted, and his entire career was character- 
 ized by a broad humanitarianism that ever recognized 
 the good in others and the right of every individual to 
 happiness and progress. The spirit of enterprise which has led to the 
 remarkable development of this section of the country Avas ever one of 
 his salient characteristics. Great as were the demands upon Mr. Hulbert 
 through his large banking interests, he could always find time to aid in 
 any movement or project for the benefit and vtplift of his fellowmen and 
 for the advancement of those principles which make for higher ideals in 
 citizenship and in individual living. So fruitful were his labors that it 
 is almost impossible to over-emphasize the beneficence of his life work. 
 He stood as a man among men, his life a stimulating influence to others, 
 and his memory" is a cherished possession to all who came within the 
 circle of his friendship. 
 
 Edmund D. Hulbert, financier and bank president, had attained the 
 age of sixty-five years when he passed away in Chicago on the 30th of 
 March, 1923. His birth occurred on a farm on the Farmington river in 
 Pleasant Valley, Connecticut, March 2, 1858, his parents being Henry 
 Roberts and Emmeline (Stillman) Hulbert, descended from pure 
 colonial stock. The Hulbert family was established in America by 
 Thomas Hurlbut (as the name was then spelled), who in 1635 was 
 stationed as a soldier in the fort at Saybrook, Connecticut. He settled 
 in Connecticut, married and had six sons, and many of his descendants 
 live in that state. Edmund D. Hulbert was of the ninth generation from 
 this early colonial ancestor. The spelling of the name was changed from 
 Hurlbut to Hulbert by Daniel Hulbert, grandfather of Edmund Daniel 
 Hulbert. The maternal or Stillman branch was also deeply rooted in 
 New England soil. Emmeline (Stillman) Hulbert was the daughter of 
 Edmund and Polly (Moore) Stillman, of Colebrook, Connecticut. She 
 was of the sixth generation from that George Stillman who settled at 
 Hadley, Massachusetts in 1685, having emigrated from Steeple Ashton, 
 Wiltshire, England. 
 
 Edmund Daniel Hulbert was educated in the schools of Winsted, 
 Connecticut, and while still a young boy came under the influence of an 
 exceptionally thorough teacher named Hosea Curtis, who gave him in- 
 
 113
 
 114 CDmiiiiD Oanicl Ijulfacrt 
 
 struct ion in niatht'inalics ami sciences after .-cliool hours. At tliis time 
 Mr. Hulhert desired to hecouie a teacher of sciences. l)ut at the wish of 
 his father he entered the employ of the Hurlhut National Bank of Vi in- 
 sted. While not greatly attracted to the work of the hank, it was char- 
 acteristic of him that he in no way let this affect his efforts. He per- 
 formed the tasks assigned to him with such thoroughness and dispatch 
 that promotions came steadily. \^ hen he was only nineteen years of 
 age the hoy whose first inclination had heen to the sciences had already 
 created so favorahle an impression in the hanking field that a director 
 of the Vi iuslcd hank \vho was interested in a hank at Vi inona, Minnesota, 
 offered him a position in that institution; so young Hulhert went to Min- 
 nesota to live. At this time a considerable and lucrative part of the 
 hanking business in that section of the countrj- was the handling of 
 agricultural implement paper, as the fanners of the state were heavy 
 purchasers of agricultural machinery, largely on credit. The hank's 
 customers were largely Germans, and the hank found it advisable to 
 have a German speaking member of its staff attend to this part of the 
 business. This employe left unexpectedly and Mr. Hulhert, while know- 
 ing very little German, aj)plied for and secured the position. Moving 
 into a German boarding house, he set to work to learn German, spending 
 all his spare time in extending his acquaintance among the farmers of 
 the district. An incident illustrating Mr. Hulbert's ability to make a 
 thorough study of a subject in record time occurred soon after he took 
 over these additional duties. One of the largest firms in the implement 
 business sent an official to examine the bank's methods of handling notes 
 taken from the farmers before Mr. Hulhert had a chance to familiarize 
 himself with the details of the work. The bank officials were naturally 
 much concerned over the situation, as they were aware that there might 
 be innumerable questions upon which the youthful head in charge was 
 not informed. Mr. Hulhert managed to defer the appointment for a 
 day and spent the night in studying the details of the business. The 
 residt was after the morning's interview the visitor reported to the bank 
 officials that Mr. Hulhert was the best informed farmers' credit man he 
 had found in the course of his tour of inspection. For years thereafter 
 Mr. Hulhert was accustomed to receive inquiries from this im|)Iement 
 dealer and his associates regarding this branch of banking. For two 
 years he remained in charge of this work. He was then at the age of 
 twenty-one appointed cashier — a difficult position in any bank in those 
 days, owing to the fact that the national bank act permitted banks to 
 discount business paper to an unlimited extent. It was no uncommon 
 practice for men controlling hanks to fill the banks' vaults with the 
 business paper of their own organizations. In the case of the Vi inona 
 hank, its president was the largest stockholder and he was a manufac-
 
 (gPrnunO Daniel ti)ii!ticrt 115 
 
 turer as well and in the habit of asking whatever credit he might find 
 expedient. The young cashier found himself in a trying position. How- 
 ever, he had pledged himself to a businesslike administration of the 
 bank's affairs. Upon assuming office he proceeded to put the president 
 upon the same basis as other customers. When the president asked an 
 extension of credit beyond that which Mr. Hulbert felt the bank was 
 justified in extending, and was refused, there was for a time a strong 
 conflict of wills, but eventually the president yielded and the two became 
 lifelong friends. In 1895 Mr. Hulbert was offered and accepted the posi- 
 tion of vice president of the Merchants Loan & Trust Company of 
 Chicago, one of the foremost banks of the city. He became senior vice 
 president and a director of this institution in 1898 and in 1916 was 
 elected its president. 
 
 At the time Mr. Hulbert became president, the Merchants Loan & 
 Trust Company was the oldest bank in Chicago, having been established 
 in 1857. Although its gro^vth had been steady, it had not been phe- 
 nomenal, and it would have been a bold prophet who could have foreseen 
 that within a few years after Mr. Hulbert accepted its chief executive 
 position he would become the president of three banks Avhich, merging, 
 formed an institution with capital, surplus and undivided profits of fifty 
 million dollars and deposits of three hundred million dollars. Never- 
 theless it was but three years after Mr. Hulbert assumed the presidency 
 of the Merchants Loan & Trust Company that a merger was planned 
 with the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank and the Corn Exchange National 
 Bank, each a well known banking institution in the one hundred million 
 dollar class. Mr. Hulbert was made president of all three banks and 
 lived to see his life work consummated in the merger of these three banks 
 into one, forming one of the largest banks in America, the Illinois Mer- 
 chants Trust Company, with himself chosen as its first president. Known 
 not only throughout the United States but internationally as an authority 
 on banking, Mr. Hulbert was one of those whose constructive aid was 
 invaluable in the difficult days of the war financing and the even more 
 trying days of financial reconstruction after the World war. Mr. Hul- 
 bert was a friend and financial adviser of President Wilson during the 
 war and his influence was felt in the rapid development of the Federal 
 Reserve System. He was asked by President Wilson to become a member 
 of the Federal Reserve Board, but he did not feel he coidd accept; also 
 his name was frequently mentioned in connection with the office of 
 secretary of the treasury. Mr. Hulbert was one of the rare men who can 
 put into a few words the policies upon which he felt that his success was 
 based. He is quoted as saying: "My working policies boil down to four: 
 (first) Pull those below you up; (second) Push those above you up; 
 (third) Delegate responsibility; (fourth) Make friends with the world."
 
 116 (j^DimiiiD Diinicl Diilbcrt 
 
 Ry liis associates Mr. Iliilhrrl's outstaiKiiii^ rharacleristic as an executive 
 ^^as held to he his ahilily to impress |M'oj)Ie witl| his ahsohite integrity. 
 Speakin-r of integrity. Mr. Hulhert u\ntn one occasion said: "Business 
 integrity means that ^vhen a man has given his word he will stand hy it 
 through thick and thin, that he will carry out a husiness promise to the 
 letter, that he will fidfill a contract even though it hrings him to the 
 verge of ruin — or beyond. That. I believe, is the thought of integrity 
 which is essential to business success." It was the kind of integrity upon 
 which Mr. Hulbert"s own success was founded. 
 
 Mr. Hulbert. in addition to his duties as president of the Illinois 
 Merchants Trust Company, served as a director of the Pullman Trust 
 & Savings Bank, director of Marshall Field & Company and a director of 
 the Chicago & North \^'estern Railroad as well as being actively interested 
 in various charitable and civic movements. It was Mr. Hulbert who as 
 president of the American Institute of Banking brought to the associated 
 chapters their first constitution in 1906. It was Mr. Hulljert who in the 
 trying days of 1920-1921 assured financial salvation to the live stock 
 men of America by the formation of a pool which furnished the neces- 
 sary credit to stabilize live stock conditions. He was deeply interested 
 in educational work and was always the generous friend to the boy wlio 
 lacked full opportunity. His time, his money and his active service were 
 given to helping lads who needed help. He gave particularly hearty 
 support to the Boys' Brotherhood Republic, of which he was first presi- 
 dent. The headquarters building of this organization is a memorial to 
 him and a monument to the splendid work he did for the Boys' Brother- 
 hood. During his residence in ^ inona. Minnesota, Mr. Hulbert was 
 treasurer of the city for three terms and for two terms ser\ed as presi- 
 dent of the board of education. In politics he was a democrat, but he 
 never let political prejudice interfere with his sense of justice. He was 
 a member of the Chicago, University, Bankers, Commercial. Glen View, 
 Shore Acres, Onwentsia, \^'ayfarers and Chicago Athletic Clubs and like- 
 wise belonged to the Historical Society and was treasurer of the Society 
 of Colonial \^'ars. In his earlier years he entered into the usual outdoor 
 sports, including hunting, baseball and fishing. His devotion to chess, 
 however, was a lifelong enthusiasm. He found recreation in the game 
 when only a boy and in later life became known as a particularly 
 skillful player. 
 
 Mr. Hulbert was married at \^ inona, Minnesota, July 28, 1897, to 
 Emily Strayer, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel and Nancy Elizabeth 
 Straver. The widow, Mrs. Hulbert, survives.
 
 tlBRARV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ILUNnK
 
 Mu.iseH Puihshlr^ Zcm^a: 
 
 ^ 

 
 loljtt SVlDen ^poor 
 
 iHICAGO for many years honored John Alden Spoor as 
 one of its outstanding capitalists and citizens. His 
 achievements were notable in their breadth and magni- 
 tude and yet there was never in his attitude toward his 
 fellows any indication of the fact that he felt that he had 
 passed beyond the ranks of the many to stand among the 
 distinguished few. He came of an ancestry that traces back to the colonial 
 epoch and the Revolutionary war period in American history, and his 
 record was ever in harmony with that of his distinguished forebears. 
 
 A native of the Empire state, Mr. Spoor was born at Freehold, New 
 York, September 30, 1851, his parents being John and Amanda (Alden) 
 Spoor. His mother was a direct descendant of John Alden of the May- 
 flower. He completed his education by a course in the Hudson River 
 Institute at Claverack. New York, and thus equipped started out in the 
 business world. While he came to rank with the capitalists of the country, 
 there was nothing meteoric in his career, which was characterized rather 
 by that steady progress which indicates the faithful performance of each 
 day's duties and the recognition and utilization of every opportunity pre- 
 sented. Each step in his career was a forward one, bringing him a broader 
 vision and larger chances which he knew how to use to the best advan- 
 tage. The solution of each business problem enabled him to more readily 
 solve the questions of the succeeding days, and something of his strong 
 and eflScient grasp of affairs is shown in the fact that by 1893 he had 
 risen to the responsible position of general manager of the Wagner Pal- 
 ace Car Company, continuing to act in that capacity until 1897, when he 
 became chairman of the board of the Chicago Junction Railway Com- 
 pany, continuing to supervise its affairs throughout his remaining days. 
 A recognition of his worth caused his cooperation to be continuously 
 sought in the management of many other mammoth business concerns. 
 In 1899 he was elected to the presidency of the Union Stock Yard & 
 Transit Company and later, when he desired to put aside the more active 
 control of the interests of that corporation, he was made chairman of the 
 board. He also became chairman of the board of the Chicago Junction 
 Railway and was elected to the directorate of the Chicago City Railway 
 and Connecting Lines, the Chicago Junction Railways and the Union 
 Stock Yards Company of New Jersey. That his interest in sleeping-car 
 construction did not terminate in his young manhood is shown by the 
 
 119
 
 120 John aiDfii ^poor 
 
 fact that ho ^vas for a nuinhcr of years a director of llie Pullman Com- 
 pany. 
 
 It was but natural that Mr, Spoor's assietance should be sought in con- 
 nection with the control of the great financial interests of Chicago and to 
 this end he was elected a director of the First National Bank and the 
 First Trust & Savings Bank, having been responsible for the organization 
 of this institution. He was also a director of the National Safe Deposit 
 Company and the Live Stock Exchange National Bank, all of Chicago, 
 and he was almost equally well known in the great financial circles of 
 New York, for he was a director of the National Surety Company and 
 the Guaranty Trust Company of that city. He also had voice as a director 
 in the management of Montgomery Ward & Company and of the Sinclair 
 Consolidated Oil Company, and he was a member of the Chicago Board 
 of Trade and the Chicago Stock Exchange. 
 
 On the 12th of February, 1889, Mr. Spoor was united in marriage to 
 Miss Frances Samuel, of St. Louis. Their daughter, Caryl, became the 
 wife of Thornhill Broome, an Englishman by birth, residing in Chicago, 
 Illinois, and there are three children of this marriage: John Spoor, Eliza- 
 beth Thornhill and Caryl Broome. In his own home, which for many 
 years was maintained at 1526 North State street, Mr. Spoor was a most 
 courteous, kindly and genial host. His interests aside from business were 
 extremely broad and varied and indicated the breadth of his nature and 
 his attitude toward humanity at large. He gave to the Newberry Library 
 efiBcient service as one of its trustees and was chosen a trustee of the St. 
 Luke's Hospital, later being chosen president of the board. He was a 
 trustee of the Children's Memorial Hospital and furthered every interest 
 that would promote the efficiency of these beneficent projects. The civic 
 spirit was strongly manifest in him and tangible evidence thereof was 
 seen in his support of many measures which were directly beneficial to 
 the city. During the period of the World war he was a member of the 
 State Council of Defense and active in formulating those plans which 
 kept Illinois ever to the fore in its contributions of men, money and ma- 
 terial to the great international strife. He belonged to the Chicago His- 
 torical Society and he honored his ancestry and sought to perpetuate the 
 memorable events in America's annals through his membership with the 
 Sons of the American Revolution, the Society of Colonial Wars and the 
 Society of Mayflower Descendants. He also held membership in the Bib- 
 liophile Society. He voted with the republican party and regarded it the 
 duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen to exercise his 
 right of franchise. His religious faith was that of the Episcopal Church, 
 of which he was practically a lifelong member. His personal popularity 
 was manifest in the cordial greetings always extended him by his fellow 
 members of the Chicago Club, the Chicago Athletic Association, the Mid-
 
 3iol)n aiocn ^poor 121 
 
 Day Club, the Saddle and Cycle Club, the Saddle and Sirloin Club, the 
 Onwentsia, Commercial and Shore Acres Clubs. He also held member- 
 ship in the Metropolitan, Guaranty, Grolier, New York Yacht and Mid- 
 Day Clubs of New York, in the Jekyl Island Club of Brunswick, Georgia, 
 the Wianno Club, the Royal Automobile Club of London and the Travel- 
 lers Club of Paris. He was a man of the most liberal culture, familiar 
 with the old world in all of its art, historic and scenic interests as well 
 as the new world. One of the outstanding features in the career of Mr. 
 Spoor is that he was not only a leader in the business and financial world 
 but was also a well known book collector and most discriminating reader, 
 possessing a private library the collection of which covered a period of 
 forty years and afforded him the keenest pleasure and relaxation outside 
 of his business affairs. He found most congenial companionship in this 
 daily contact with the men of master minds. His collection of beautiful 
 and rare volumes was well known and was especially noted for his valu- 
 able editions of the works of Lamb, Keats, Shelley and other English 
 writers. In 1903 he privately published a bibliography of Charles and 
 Mary Lamb. Mr. Spoor, however, was not merely a collector of books, 
 for his volumes were read and studied, remembered and loved. He passed 
 away October 15, 1926. He stood as a man among men, commanding 
 admiration for what he accomplished in the business world, respect for 
 his methods and esteem for the qualities which he ever displayed in his 
 relations with his fellowmen.
 
 |oI)n (!5rauc0 Si)c5D 
 
 ,F THE CLOCK of time could be moved back but a year — 
 to 1926, one might see a gray-baired man whose face 
 bore the stamp of strong character developed through in- 
 domitable industry, through initiative, farsighted vision 
 and high principles, whose powers had brought him to 
 the management of the largest department store of the 
 world. If the clock of time could be turned back to 1872, this same man 
 could be seen as a youthfid clerk of about twenty-two years, working at 
 a salary of twelve dollars per week, delighted, two years later, at his pro- 
 motion "through merit" whereby the salary was increased to fourteen 
 dollars. The intervening period of more than a half century chronicled 
 his rise to a position of leadership that made his name known in prac- 
 tically every section of the world where mercantile activity has found a 
 place. This record might seem phenomenal and yet an analyzation of 
 his methods and plans shows that he utilized qualities that any might 
 cultivate — only he cultivated them more intensively than the most. 
 
 Back of him was a long line of American ancestors who ever bore 
 their part in the upbuilding of their respective communities from the 
 time when Daniel Shedd settled at Braintree, Massachusetts, about 1640. 
 The direct line of descent was found continuously in New England to 
 the time when in the home of William and Abigail (Wallace) Shedd 
 there arrived on the 20th of July, 1850, as the youngest of eight children, 
 a little son to whom was given the name of John Graves Shedd and 
 whose birthplace was the family farm home in Alstead, New Hampshire. 
 He was a tiny lad of five when the family residence was transferred to a 
 farm near the adjoining town of Langdon and when he had reached the 
 required age of six he became a pupil in the nearby school, his time there- 
 after being divided between the acquirement of a public school educa- 
 tion and work in the fields. Ambition, however, stirred within him at an 
 early age and he felt that his opportunities were hampered by the con- 
 fines of the farm, which gave little chance for business expansion, and 
 the purposeful man of later years was foreshadowed in the step taken by 
 the youth of seventeen who left the old homestead to make his way in 
 the world unaided. It was on the 13th of June, 1867, that he took his 
 place behind the counter of a small grocery store belonging to Solomon 
 Sanders at Bellows Falls, Vermont, who was to compensate him for his 
 labors with board and a weekly wage of a dollar and a half. Thus came 
 his initial mercantile experience and after nearly a year he sought and 
 
 123
 
 124 Jolni >g)rtmc9 ^hcDD 
 
 obtained a position in the jieneral s^tore of Tiniotliy Tufts in his native 
 town of Alstead. there working from the 1st of June, 1868. until Septem- 
 ber, when the business was temporarily closed down on account of fire. 
 It was then that Mr. Shedd became an employe of James H. Porter, an- 
 other freneral merchant of Alstead, with whom he continued until April 
 1, 1870, when he accepted a position in the dry froods store of C. A. Park- 
 hurst & Company. His next employer was B. H. Burt of Rutland, Ver- 
 mont, then owner of the leadiuf; dry goods store of the state. 
 
 Thus for the first time Mr. Sludd left his native New Hampshire and 
 struck out upon a path that was to lead him to the western metropolis. 
 After about a year spent in Rutland he felt that if he still progressed 
 he must seek a broader field and believed this could be found in the rap- 
 idly growing west. He mentally reviewed the opportunities offered in 
 Chicago, which was Init then emerging from the great fire of the previous 
 October. He recognized its advantageous geographical situation and its 
 tendency for rapid and substantial growth. There he believed he might 
 find the chance for which ambition prompted him to seek and the 7th 
 day of August. 1872. saw him installed as a clerk with Field, Leiter & 
 Companv. the firm then controlling the largest wholesale and retail dry- 
 goods establishment in Chicago. The old saying that the boy is father to 
 the man finds its exemplification in the record of Mr. Shedd, whose fidel- 
 ity and ability as a clerk were indicated in the fact that after five months 
 Mr. Field increased his salary from twelve to fourteen dollars "in con- 
 sideration of bis notably good work." In later years Mr. Shedd said: 
 ''This was a tribute which pleased me more than any other subsequent 
 ad^ ancement in the whole course of my business career."' He worked dil- 
 igently, regarding his employer's interests as his own, and thus he was 
 advanced step by step until, leaving the sales department, he was placed 
 in executive positions, each promotion bringing him to a post of larger 
 usefulness and greater importance. In 1882 the business was reorgan- 
 ized under the name of Marshall Field & Company and in 1893 Mr. 
 Shedd was admitted to the firm, from which time forward he was a dy- 
 namic force in shaping the policy and promoting the expansion of the 
 house that for many years has been an outstanding feature of pride to 
 every Chicagoan. \^ith the incorporation of the business in 1901, Mr. 
 Field was elected to the presidency, with Mr. Shedd as vice president, 
 and from that time the former retired more and more from the active 
 management, while the latter became more and more the executive head 
 of the house. The growth of Marshall Field & Company has not only 
 been indicative of the phenomenal commercial development of Chicago 
 but has been the example and the inspiration for other business con- 
 cerns. Soon after its inception it ceased to be a local affair and reached 
 out in its trade relations not only to every part of America but to every
 
 Jcftn 0ra\3cs ^bcDD 125 
 
 section of the world. The best produced in every land could be found 
 within the portals of this great establishment, and Mr. Shedd was largely 
 the directing force that prompted its enterprise and its progressive meth- 
 ods. He succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Marshall Field 
 early in 1906. He had grown Avith the groAvth of the business, grown in 
 all those qualities which make for forcefulness, for ready recognition of 
 the chances of the future and for the development of trade relations. 
 Moreover, he drew about him a personnel characterized by the utmost 
 loyalty to the house, and when on the 7th of August, 1922, was celebrated 
 the fiftieth anniversary^ of Mr. Shedd's association with Marshall Field 
 & Company, there were also present thirty-three other men whose iden- 
 tification with the house had also covered a half century. The following 
 year — January 3. 1923. ^Ir. Shedd retired from the presidency to become 
 chairman of the board of directors and so continued until he passed on 
 October 22, 1926, at the age of seventy-six years. 
 
 Never once in all the long period of his business activity did he devi- 
 ate from the path into which he entered when he left the old farmstead 
 in New Hampshire. Merchandising was his life work and brought him 
 to the pinnacle of fame in that connection. It was natural, however, that 
 his cooperation v.as sought in other fields and his name became almost 
 equally well kno^vn in banking circles, for he was elected to the director- 
 ate of the Merchants Loan & Trust Company and the Illinois Trust & 
 Savings Bank, becoming also a director of the Illinois Merchants Trust 
 Company when the two former were merged with the Corn Exchange 
 National Bank to constitute the new institution. He ser\ed as a director 
 of the Illinois Central Railroad and the Commonwealth Edison Company 
 and the First Slate Pawners Society of Chicago, while his business con- 
 nections in New York made him known as a director of the National 
 Bank of Commerce there and of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. 
 
 It was only six years after Mr. Shedd became a resident of Chicago 
 that he returned to his native state and in Walpole was married May 
 15, 1378, to Miss Man. Roenna Porter, a daughter of Dr. Winslow Bur- 
 roughs Porter, who practiced medicine at Alstead and Walpole. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Shedd became parents of two daughters: Laura Abbie, the wife of 
 Charles H. Schweppe; and Helen May, who is Mrs. Kersey Coates Reed. 
 
 With Mr. Shedd's advent into the west his interests centered in 
 Chicago and from the time of his arrival until his death the welfare of 
 the city was very near to his heart, second perhaps only to his home and 
 his business. His cooperation could be counted upon in any movement 
 of which the city was the beneficiary', and in 1925 his gift of the John 
 G. Shedd Aquarium represented an outlay of three million dollars. He 
 accepted the presidency of the Chicago Association of Commerce and 
 as such builded wisely and well for the city's benefit. His interest in its
 
 126 
 
 John ©rflUcs %bcDD 
 
 moral progress was manifest in many tangible ways and the Chicago 
 Sunday Evening Club, the Young Men's Christian Association and the 
 Young Women's Christian Association numbered him among the direc- 
 tors. He held membership wth the leading clubs and social organiza- 
 tions here, including the Chicago, Union League, Commercial, Univer- 
 sity, Old Elm, Shore Acres. Onwentsia, Saddle and Cycle, South Shore 
 Country and Chicago Yacht Clubs, and he largely found his outdoor 
 recreation in golf. He belonged also to the Metropolitan and Recess 
 Clubs of New York and to the California and Midwick Country 
 Clubs of Los Angeles. \^ idcly traveled, his was a most liberal culture 
 developed through his love of art and beauty and his appreciation of 
 what man had accomplished in the world's work, thus shaping the history' 
 of the nations. The name of John G. Shedd is inseparably interwoven 
 with the annals of Chicago and his record stands before the world today 
 as that of a typical American. 
 
 Written in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-seven.
 
 LIBRARy 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ii(iNai<:
 
 ^//\ CyCoi^ aC.cy-"*-'!/''''-*'-^
 
 lolju IJlatt i(n^crluo0^ 
 
 i)ITH honor and integrity as the basis of all his dealings 
 with his fellowmen, Jonathan Piatt Underwood won a 
 place among the most prominent lumbermen of the 
 country. For many years, he directed his activities from 
 Chicago, although his business interests covered a wide 
 territory and proved a contributing factor to the devel- 
 opment and progress of many localities. He was born in Auburn, New 
 York, the Empire state, September 14, 1849, the son of George and Char- 
 lotte (Piatt) Underwood. His father, a graduate of Hamilton College at 
 Clinton, New York, and a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, was 
 a prominent citizen and lawyer of Auburn, a member of the New York 
 assembly in 1850-1852, mayor of Auburn in 1854 and during Lincoln's 
 administration was closely connected with William H. Seward. Mr. Un- 
 derwood's early education was gained in the schools of his native state: 
 Auburn public schools, Cayuga Lake Academy at Aurora, and Hamilton 
 College, where he became an Alpha Delta Phi as was his father before 
 him. He was numbered among the alumni of 1870, forming friendships 
 there with men who later became leading statesmen of the country. In 
 the fall of 1870, through the influence of Senator Thomas C. Piatt, he 
 journeyed westward to Michigan, making headquarters at Big Rapids, 
 though most of his time and energy were spent in the woods. Here he, 
 a young man of education and cultivation, lived an out-of-door life with 
 rough pioneer companions, but so intent was he on conquering the diffi- 
 cult problems of logging and lumbering, that he grew in mental strength 
 and uprightness of character as typified in the gro^\'th of the vast forests 
 of Mother Nature. He studied the lumber situation thoroughly and made 
 the most of his opportunities, developing into a shrewd and capable busi- 
 ness man with a driving force and dominant character which invites suc- 
 cess and requires it. His interests included general merchandising at Big 
 Rapids, The Tioga Manufacturing Company, The Big Rapids Wagon 
 Works and also timber holdings in Wisconsin, thus increasing his experi- 
 ence and progress. His headquarters were for short periods in Milwaukee 
 and Rhinelander, where pioneer conditions existed, and many were the 
 interesting reminiscences he related concerning the Indians who carried 
 in supplies to the lumber camps during the winters of 1888 to 1890. 
 
 He then became a resident of Chicago, and it is interesting to note 
 that much of the timber taken from his Michigan lands was manufac- 
 tured into lumber used in Chicago shortly after the great fire. Ever 
 
 129
 
 130 John IJ^ItUr nuDcrUiooD 
 
 alert and cnerpctic. Mr. Underwood constantly kept in close touch with 
 the lumber situation as regards the timber supply as well as the manu- 
 facturing end of the business. About this time he concentrated his 
 attention upon vulcanized wood and thoroughly acquainted himself with 
 its merits, becoming one of the first producers of that commodity in the 
 United States. It is now commonly known as creosote dipped timber. 
 When his \^ isconsin holdings were cut over, he turned to the south, 
 where stunipage was clioaper. In the late "90s. he became heavily inter- 
 ested in Louisiana pine lands and was widely known for his extensive 
 holdings in that part of the United States. This led him into many 
 branches of the general land office at Washington and in other depart- 
 ments of the government in the capital city, where he formed the ac- 
 quaintance and became the friend of many men prominent in national 
 affairs. Between 1900 and 1910, he became actively associated with 
 various railroads, steam shovel, raining and oil producing operations, 
 many of which figured prominently at that period, including the Bucyrus 
 Steam Shovel Company at Milwaukee. Wisconsin, and oil interests at 
 Beaumont, Texas. He had extensive timber holdings in Kentucky, but 
 disposed of his property there in 1917. Mr. Underwood also owned large 
 timber holdings in Oregon and varied interests throughout the United 
 States, Mexico, Cuba and South American countries. 
 
 Following his removal to Chicago, Mr. Underwood was married on 
 the 5th of November, 1890, to Miss Caroline Trumbull of this city, 
 daughter of George Trumbull, counsel for the Illinois Central Railroad 
 and niece of Senator Lyman Trumbull. They became the parents of two 
 daughters and a son: Eleanor, who is now^ the wife of Archie M. Andrews; 
 Dorothea, who is Mrs. Henry Palmer Sabin; and Morgan Piatt. The 
 wife and mother passed away on the 10th of March, 1905, while the death 
 of Mr. Underwood occurred January 7, 1927. 
 
 In 1908 Mr. Underwood had purchased the home formerly belonging 
 to Howard VanDoren Shaw at 4843 Lake Park avenue and there resided 
 until his demise, although he spent the last four winters in Pasadena, 
 California. Mr. Underwood held memberships in the Union League 
 Club and Chicago Athletic Association. He also belonged to the Trans- 
 portation and University Clubs of New York and the Misquamicut Golf 
 Club at Watch Hill, Rhode Island. 
 
 It was the dual experience which gave him much of his interest and 
 charm, for when he discussed his experience as a lumberman and in the 
 woods with the rough pioneer type, he could do it with an eye opened 
 by education and training in a way that most men with such experiences 
 could not do. On the other hand, when he sat in his home talking about 
 the ordinary affairs of life, he had an openness and wide view of them 
 which comes to a man from living in the open.
 
 3iO&n l^Iatt anPcrtoooD 131 
 
 A friend who has known many business men of large affairs offers 
 this statement: "There are few, who could with a hard practicality dis- 
 cuss business problems and then turn from them, as Mr. Underwood 
 would do with a smile on his face and a lighting of the eye to a Seymour 
 Haden etching with its quiet views under the trees at Kensington Gar- 
 dens, thus shomng the rare, hidden qualities of charm which made him 
 a friend to all who entered his home." 
 
 Also, one who knew him from his college days and was associated 
 with him in various business enterprises as well as in the home life said 
 of him: "Mr. Undenvood was a man who held the highest ideals of 
 honor and integrity and kept to them in all his dealings with his fellow- 
 men. His associates gave him their confidence and greatly valued his 
 business judgment. His kindness and consideration for others was 
 notable in all his business as well as his social intercourse. He was a 
 loving husband and kind father and a good citizen." 
 
 He delighted in his success, not because it could be measured in 
 terms of wealth, but because it enabled him to provide generously for 
 his family, to assist those in need and to contribute liberally to organiza- 
 tions of philanthropic purpose or of cultural value. He reached the age 
 of seventy-seven years, and the world is richer and better because of his 
 service in business and to humanity.
 
 |lttl|j|j Dan yecl)ten 
 
 CHICAGO sustained the loss of one of its leading financiers 
 and highly respected citizens in the passing of Ralph 
 Van Vechten, who had figured prominently in banking 
 circles of the metropolis for a period covering more than 
 tAvo decades and who occupied the presidency of the 
 State Bank of Chicago at the time of his death in June, 
 1927, when he was in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His birth occurred 
 in Mattav/an, Michigan, on the 29th of August, 1862, his parents being 
 Charles D. and Ada A. (Fitch) Van Vechten. 
 
 Ralph Van Vechten acquired his education in the public schools of 
 Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was a youth of 
 sixteen when in 1878 he entered upon newspaper work in the latter 
 city. He o^vned an interest in the paper and his venture was a success, 
 but two years later, in 1880, he accepted a place as clerk in the banking 
 house of his uncle, G. F. Van Vechten, in Cedar Rapids. In the field of 
 banking, which claimed his energies throughout the remainder of his 
 life, he was destined to attain a position of well earned distinction. On 
 the organization of the Cedar Rapids National Bank, which succeeded 
 to the business of G. F. Van Vechten in 1887, Ralph Van Vechten was 
 chosen cashier of that institution, being at that time a young man of 
 twenty-five. His incumbency in that position covered a period of twenty- 
 three years and in 1910 he was elected president of the bank, which he 
 represented to the time of his death, having been made chairman of its 
 board of directors in 1921. 
 
 It was in 1905 that Mr. Van Vechten became second vice president 
 of the Commercial National Bank of Chicago, of which he was chosen 
 vice president four years later, in 1909. In the following year this insti- 
 tution was succeeded by the Continental and Commercial National Bank, 
 which Mr. Van Vechten represented in the official connection of vice 
 president and director until 1926, when he was chosen president of the 
 State Bank of Chicago. He was also vice president of the Continental 
 and Commercial Safe Deposit Company and a director of the Continental 
 and Commercial Trust and Savings Bank. His thorough understanding 
 and mastery of problems of finance won him an enviable reputation in 
 banking circles of the metropolis. 
 
 In an interview which he gave to a reporter of the Chicago Tribune, 
 Mr. Van Vechten said: 'T didn"t choose banking as a profession. I was 
 drafted into it. For a long time it was drudgery to me, but I stuck and 
 
 133
 
 134 Udlph Pdii Pcchtcn 
 
 ga^e it wliat I liad. If I were ^iviiif: a youii': man advice, I'd say success 
 will come only if he jitick-i to his job." In July. 1926. Mr. Van Vechten 
 expressed his regrets at severing his long association with the Continental 
 and Commercial and cast his lot with the State Bank of Chicago, because, 
 he said, it offered "a splendid opportunity for service, growth, and de- 
 velopment." Under his energetic leadersliip plans for the erection of a 
 new ten million dollar bank building at La Salle and Monroe streets were 
 fiushetl forward. The scope of his interests is indicated by his business 
 afliliations. He was chairman of the board of the Cedar Rapids National 
 Bank and a director of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, 
 the I'nited Gyi)sum Company, the Hanover Fire Insurance Company of 
 New York, the Nickel Plate Railroad, the Bankers Commercial Security 
 Company of New York, the Containers Corporation of America, the El- 
 gin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad, the Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad and 
 the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. 
 
 On the 19th of October. 1887, Mr. Van Vechten was married to 
 Fannie Brownell Maynard. of Tama. Iowa, and they became the parents 
 of a daughter. Duane. The family home is at 2344 Lincoln parkway 
 west in Chicago. 
 
 In politics Mr. Van Vechten might have been termed an independent 
 republican. He never aspired to public office and at all times shunned 
 the limelight of publicity, his generous contributions to benevolent and 
 charitable projects being made quietly and unostentatiously. A man of 
 strong personality, his influence was effectively exerted not only in busi- 
 ness affairs but along cultural lines as well. He was a lover of art and 
 literature and the owner of a very select library. The breadth and scope 
 of his interests were indicated in his membership connections with the 
 Chicago Board of Trade, the Holland societies of New York and Chi- 
 cago, the Michigan Society, the Hawkeye Society and similar organiza- 
 tions, the Chicago Club, the Chicago Athletic Association, of which he 
 was treasurer and a director, the Glen View Club, the South Shore 
 Country Club, the Old Elm Club, the Cliff Dwellers, the Caxton Club, 
 the Attic Club and the Racquet Club. The subjective and objective 
 forces of life were in him well balanced, making him cognizant of his 
 own capabilities and powers, while at the same time he thoroughly un- 
 derstood his opportunities and his obligations. To make his native talents 
 subserve the demands which conditions of society impose at the present 
 time was the purpose of his life, and by reason of the mature judgment 
 which characterized his efforts at all times, he stood as a splendid repre- 
 sentative of the prominent financier and business man to whom business 
 is but one phase of life and does not exclude his active participation in 
 and support of the other vital interests which go to make up human 
 existence.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ILLINOIS
 
 ^^-6^
 
 Htcljar^ (Teller tone 
 
 MORE potent lesson exists for the young man or even 
 for men of mature minds, than that afiforded in the 
 l^vl et recital of the career of a successful business man, 
 -L ^ KL together with the moral and business principles respon- 
 sible for its attainment. The life and deeds of great 
 men of the remote past inspire within the youth worthy 
 impulses and high aims, but the lessons thus presented are merely theo- 
 retical, while the successful battles of modern men, with the same envir- 
 onments, conditions and problems which surround us today are practical 
 examples. One of the most forceful of these examples is afforded in 
 the career of Richard Teller Crane, late president of the Crane Company, 
 whose name is to the iron trade what that of Marshall Field is to the 
 dry goods trade or those of Swift and Armour to the packing industry. 
 Coming to Chicago fifty-six years ago, without education, business experi- 
 ence, money or friends, he established a business which by his own 
 indomitable energy and force of character has become one of the largest 
 in the world. 
 
 Mr. Crane was born at Passaic Falls, Paterson, New Jersey, May 15, 
 1832, a son of Timothy B. and Maria (Ryerson) Crane. His paternal 
 ancestors are traced to the original Mayflower colony, which settled at 
 Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. His father, Timothy B. Crane, 
 learned the carpenter's trade in Litchfield, Connecticut, and became a 
 contractor and builder in New York city, where he erected a mansion for 
 Governor De Witt Clinton, with whom he was intimate. He later removed 
 to Passaic Falls, New Jersey, to engage in the milling business and 
 erected many sawmills and flour mills in that state. 
 
 He first married Miss Teller, a descendant of the original Knicker- 
 bocker colony, from x4msterdam, and later married Miss Maria Ryerson, 
 a sister of the late Martin Ryerson, of Chicago. He died in 1845, and 
 his wife seven years later. 
 
 From his father Mr. Crane inherited mechanical aptitude and ingen- 
 uity and his mother's one desire ^vas that her boys should all learn trades. 
 The family were too poor to send the children long to school, conse- 
 quently at the age of eleven he was obliged to seek self-support. He 
 learned various branches of mechanical work, and in 1847, an uncle 
 procured for him a situation in Brooklyn, New York, where he remained 
 until 1851, by which time he had acquired the trade of a brass and 
 iron worker. He then went to New York city, where be found employ- 
 
 137
 
 138 UirinuD Crllcr Crane 
 
 mint willi si'M'ral |>r<iinin»'nt firms, among them that of R. Hoc & Com- 
 paiiv. The Imsine.ss (Itpii-.-sioii of 1851-S threw him out of employment, 
 ami after some time spent in futile seareh for work, he came to Chicago 
 in the latter year. Here he had an uncle. Martin Ryerson, engaged in 
 the lumher husiness. Shortly after his arrival he decided to start in 
 liusiness for himself, and Mr. Ryerson granting him the privilege and 
 furnishing the means, he erected a small hrass shop in a corner of the 
 hitter's lumhcryard. Here he began the manufacture of finished hrass 
 goods, in a small Avay. and lived in the loft overhead. He had neither 
 capital, business experience nor acquaintance with which to start his 
 enterprise, and but little ability as a salesman, but possessed a fairly good 
 knowledge of hrass foundry work and finishing and was a good machinist. 
 And what is more, he was endowed with foresight, ingenuity, energy and 
 determination. He avoided all deception and trickery, soon won the 
 confidence of all with whom he had dealings, and established a repu- 
 tation for fairness and reliability, which has been his chief pride through- 
 out his entire business career. 
 
 A few months after starting, Mr. Crane was joined by his brother 
 Charles S., with whom he formed a partnership under the name of 
 R. T. Crane & Brother. The business grew rapidly from the start, the 
 variety of their products were gradually increased, and from time to 
 time new quarters were secured to accommodate the growing enterprise. 
 Owing to the small demand, it was necessary for some time to take up 
 any article which was found profitable and they were obliged to manu- 
 facture an enormous variety of goods in order to build up their business. 
 In 18.S8 they began the manufacture of steam heating apparatus (which 
 they discontinued in 1877). In 1860 they established an iron factory, 
 and in 1864 a wrought-iron pipe mill, at the corner of Fulton and Des- 
 plaines streets. In 1865. they built their present works, and added three 
 new branches to their business — a malleable iron foundry, the manu- 
 facture of malleable and cast-iron fittings, and a general machine shop, 
 in which, later, steam engines were made. Their business soon doubled, 
 and a charter was obtained from the legislature, incorporating the con- 
 cern, under the name of the North-Westeru Manufacturing Company, 
 with a capital stock of one million dollars, of which only fifteen thousand 
 dollars was issued. R. T. Crane was the first president and Charles S. 
 Crane the first vice president. At this time, the amount of business 
 annually transacted was five hundred thousand dollars, and the number 
 of employes about two hundred. The higher classes of employes were 
 given an interest in the company's business. In August. 1872. the cor- 
 porate name was changed to Crane Brothers Manufacturing Company, 
 owing to the adoption by other parties of the word "North-Western'' 
 and the consequent danger of confusion. In 1870. more room was
 
 KicftarP Ccllet Crane 139 
 
 required, and a four-story building was erected on Desplaines street, 
 adjoining that on Jefferson street; and during 1871, a four-story wing 
 was added. Charles S. Crane retired from the company at this time, 
 and the business was thereafter conducted by its founder to the time of 
 his death. Previous to this time, the company had commenced building 
 steam freight and passenger elevators, of which hut few were then in 
 use in Chicago none having been, up to that time, constructed in the west. 
 The company's first passenger elevator %vas placed in a hotel on the 
 corner of Michigan avenue and Congress street. In 1874 the manufacture 
 of hydraulic elevators was undertaken, and has since grown steadily, 
 this branch of the business being conducted under the name of the Crane 
 Elevator Company. It, too, has grown to the proportions of leadership 
 in its line and there is today no civilized country on the face of the globe 
 where the Crane elevator has not been introduced. Shortly after the 
 building of steam elevators had been commenced, an accidental discovery 
 showed that the machine was adapted to the hoisting of material for 
 blast furnaces. The company at once set to work to design an apparatus 
 still better suited for this class of work; the result was a great improve- 
 ment over anything theretofore built. In 1880, the pipe manufacture had 
 entirely outgrown the capacity of the mill erected in 1864, and a new 
 mill was erected, on the corner of Canal and Judd streets. Eventually, 
 however, it developed that the fitting business was growing so rapidly 
 that it would be a good line in which to specialize, and Mr. Crane decided 
 to give especial attention to that line; then, as their capacity for manu- 
 facturing became crowded, he gradually dropped one after another of 
 their various outside lines, including steam warming and elevators, feel- 
 ing that the rapid growth of the pipe and fitting business would afford 
 an enterprise sufficiently large for himself and family to look after. It 
 then became his aim to place his plant in advance of all others in the 
 country in the variety and quality of goods, and with this end in view 
 he endeavored not only to carry everything that was called for in this 
 line, but to anticipate the Avants of the trade; that is to bring out, in 
 advance, articles that he could see would be needed, which his experience 
 in the steam-fitting line had for many years enabled him to do. As a 
 result Mr. Crane had a vast number of inventions to his credit covering 
 a wide and varied range of articles. 
 
 From time to time, since 1886, branch offices have been established 
 in other cities throughout the United States where satisfactory arrange- 
 ments could be made with jobbers, thus insuring a steady, reliable outlet 
 for their products. In doing this, however, Mr. Crane at no time pursued 
 an avaricious course, as he believed in the policy "live and let live," 
 but made it a rule not to establish a branch at a point where he was 
 receiving fair treatment from the trade.
 
 140 llirluuD Cdlcr Crniir 
 
 \\ liilc iitt -|u'(ial tflKrl liar, lutn made t(» create a (leinaiid for Crane 
 coddr. «iiitr.i<le the rnited Slates and iheir possessions, for the reason 
 that the eapaeity of the eomitaiiy has heen fully taxed in takinj; care 
 of domestic tieinands. nevertheless they are sold in considerahle quantities 
 in Canada. Great Britain. Denmark. Mexico. South America. South 
 Africa. Australia. Japan. China and Russia, and in smaller quantities 
 in all countries of the world. The company was awarded the only gold 
 medal jiiven at the Paris Exposition, 1900, for exhibits of valves and 
 fittings. 
 
 As the business of the Crane Company grew, Mr. Crane grew. Grad- 
 uallv he actjiiired a valuable bnsiness ac<iuaintance. and a thorough 
 understanding of business methods was added to his thorough mechanical 
 knowledge. His policy from the first was to put his earnings back into 
 the business, and he had sufficient courage to extend the business as 
 rapidly as his means permitted. The panics of 1857 and 1865 both found 
 the company in a greatly expanded condition, and an exceedingly severe 
 struggle was necessary in each case to weather the storm. By 1873 the 
 company had gained such financial strength that the panic of that year, 
 as well as the later panic of 1893, was passed without the business being 
 seriously threatened. Although the company started without resources, 
 and the business has been rapidly extended and many financial difficulties 
 encountered, never, during the fifty years, has the company's paper gone 
 to protest. Very early in his business career, Mr. Crane recognized 
 the value of thorough system, and worked out for himself a system of 
 policies, rules, and regulations, covering every feature of the business. 
 This, in addition to supervising the details of work, not only in the 
 manufacturing departments, but the sales, cost, finances and general office 
 work as well, was a tremendous task, but he finally succeeded and today 
 the firm is one of the most thoroughly systematized and best organized 
 concerns in the world. 
 
 One of the greatest factors in his success was the attitude which Mr. 
 Crane always maintained toward his employes. '"Justice," he said, "is 
 the first thing to be considered in dealing with your men, and justice, 
 in its broadest sense, includes kindness, courtesy, sympathy and genuine 
 interest in the welfare of your employes." Absolute fairness to the 
 employe as the inspiration of fidelity and service, has been the Crane 
 keynote. Always accessible to the lowest of his force, keeping constantly 
 in touch with them all. in their work and their amusements as well, he 
 established and maintained a feeling of regard and loyalty among his 
 employes such as probably no other man has ever enjoyed from so large 
 a force. At its fiftieth anniversary, a number of years ago, the home 
 shops and oflires mustered forty-two employes who had been continuously 
 with the concern from twenty-five to forty years. 
 
 Mr. Crane always believed in a fair distribution of profits, as a
 
 lafcjbarD Celler Crane 141 
 
 practical remuneration of his employes' loyalty. He investigated numer- 
 ous profit-sharing systems in use in this and other countries, some of 
 which he gave a trial without satisfactory results. However, thirty years 
 ago he devised and adopted what is undoubtedly the fairest and most 
 liberal practice ever instituted by any large concern. Every year each 
 employe is presented with a cash Christmas gift from the company. 
 Mr. Crane believed in giving his employes golden dollars in return for 
 the golden dollars they harvested for the company, and was bitterly 
 opposed to the so-called profit-sharing practices in vogue with many 
 corporations by which the employer gratifies a selfish ambition under 
 the guise of charity. Prior to the establishment of a pension system by 
 the Crane Company, Mr. Crane personally pensioned employes whom 
 sickness or old age had overtaken without their having been able to lay 
 by enough to support themselves and their families. Some of the axioms 
 that made Mr. Crane a millionaire are: "Money comes to the man who 
 knows. If you want to lead you must first learn. Learn your business 
 thoroughly and you can get to the head today, as Avell as men could 
 fifty years ago. The only place to learn a business is in the business. 
 To make a success today a man must know a great deal more than in the 
 old days — therefore begin to learn early. The big men in business today 
 were poor boys of yesterday. The big men of tomorrow are to be found 
 among the poor boys of today. There is always room for capable men 
 — big employers can never find enough of them. To be poor is no bar 
 — a poor boy can enter the trades and at twenty-six have acquired the 
 knowledge on which to base a fortune. Lack of college training is no 
 handicap. Get right into the business and learn from the bottom up. 
 I don't know of any man who has made a success in any other way. 
 To develop a perfect organization a man must have a thorough knowledge 
 of the line he is to manufacture, of the best machinery, processes, factory 
 locations and construction, raw material, men, wages, merchandising, 
 manufacturing costs, improvements, business growth, panics and other 
 trade conditions." 
 
 The American business man whose personality dominates every* 
 department of his concern, who himself supplies the brains, initiative, 
 will and supervision for the conduct of a large enterprise and who, more- 
 over, refuses to relinquish his business cares even after his industrial 
 nursling has grown into a massive giant — is becoming rare in these days 
 of hired managers and high-salaried experts. Such a man was Mr. Crane. 
 Although he accomplished such thorough organization in his business 
 as would readily dispense with his personal attention and had reached 
 a ripe old age he was yet unwilling to retire from active service and up 
 to the time of his demise was to be found almost daily at his desk the 
 greater part of the year. 
 
 The development of this vast enterprise would alone entitle him to
 
 142 UirlmrD gTrllcr Crnnc 
 
 recofinition as one of llii' iiio^t |trt)iiiiinnt fatti)r,» in the life of Chicago, 
 but Mr. CraiK' al?o hetaino wicK-K known Ity reason of his activity in 
 pliihintliropic. hcnevolont and hnnianitariaii movements. He always took 
 an active interest in social, economic, political and ethicational affairs 
 and was prominently identified with many important works. lie was 
 a student of and writer upon educational problems. In his articles and 
 pamphlets he placed ^reat emphasis upon the distinction between an 
 educational system adapted to meet the wants of the masses and a system 
 suitable for training a favored few. He laid great stress upon the import- 
 ance and practical value of manual training in the grade schools and 
 was associated with John \^\ Doane, Marshall Field, John Crerar, N. K. 
 Fairbanks. E. \^ . Blatchford and O. Vi . Potter on the pledge of one 
 thousand dollars for the building of the Chicago Manual Training School. 
 In September. 1892. Mr. Crane equipped a manual training room in one 
 of the Chicago grade schools and employed a special teacher to give 
 instruction in woodwork in the higher grades of several of the schools. 
 In 1900, recognizing the success of his first experiment, he provided the 
 necessary means for making possible manual training in the lower grades. 
 In 1905 he provided twenty-four scholarships, of three hundred dollars 
 each per year, to enable young men to prepare themselves as teachers 
 of manual training and provided funds for opening manual training 
 departments in five more grade schools. In recognition of his interest in 
 the public school system the Chicago board of education many years ago 
 named a new school the R. T. Crane Manual Training High School. 
 Many of his practical ideas have been embodied in the conduct of the 
 manual training schools of this city, which found in him a stalwart 
 champion and firm friend. In reply to the question, '"Why he favored 
 manual training?" he gave this answer. It is the answer of an intensely 
 practical man and of one earnestly striving to better the elementary 
 schools after many years' study of the problem: 'T am strongly of the 
 opinion that at present all the money a city or a community can afford 
 to spend on manual training should be devoted to the carrying of this 
 work in the grammar schools; for while manual training may be of some 
 value to high school pupils I maintain that it is not from such that we 
 will get our supply of mechanics but that the foundation of the making 
 of mechanics and inventors is in teaching practical mechanics to the 
 boys in the grammar grades; for they, naturally, are the ones who will 
 get into mechanical lines after leaving school. What is needed with us 
 is training in the lower school grades that will tend to have more practical 
 than theoretical knowledge. The country is very well supplied with 
 the latter class of labor. There is a wide field for the all-around mechanic. 
 Industrial supervision constantly invites him. And the boy who goes 
 from the grammar school to the industrial field with a good general
 
 lRic{)arD Ccllcr Crane 143 
 
 knowledge of the elements of practical mechanics, gained through intelli- 
 gently directed manual training, is the best equipped for advancement 
 to the higher positions. As to the cost of manual training: Should the 
 public be taxed for this feature of public educational work? Why not? 
 If it is proper to furnish free instruction above the grammar grades in 
 art, in music, in a dozen other lines commonly called 'fads' (except in 
 the training of school teachers), surely there can be no question as to 
 the wisdom and justice of free and general instruction in manual training 
 in the grammar grades; for such training must be in the line of public 
 economy as well as highly beneficial to the children; it tends to increase 
 the prosperity of the whole country and to add to the sum of human 
 happiness. What I have said about manual training for boys applies 
 equally to girls. It is just as essential to train girls that they may be 
 good homemakers and homekeepers as it is to train boys that they may 
 support both themselves and their homes. To sum up: Manual training 
 should be a feature of every public grammar school. A generous part 
 of every school day should be devoted to practical instruction in this 
 line. Boys as well as girls should share in it. It should be supported 
 liberally by public taxation. Common sense should be the chief element 
 in its direction. Manual training makes skillful hands. It is the rational 
 cure for truancy. And if it were more liberally given in the public 
 grammar schools the need for truant and reform schools would be very 
 greatly lessened. It gives to the ordinary school studies a new and 
 attractive interest. It has a strong influence on morals. It is the best 
 investment the public can make and will return liberal dividends both 
 in the quality and the quantity of our future citizenship." In a letter 
 urging the importance of manual training in the grades, in another city, 
 he said: "On making inquiry at two of our schools in Chicago I was 
 told that only about twenty per cent of the pupils attending the grammar 
 schools are ever graduated from these schools. It seems to me it is of 
 the greatest importance to discover the cause of this and then see whether 
 there is some remedy for it. I firmly believe that manual training and 
 domestic science will go a very great way towards correcting such con- 
 ditions and the most important thing in connection with this work is the 
 education and the training given to the girls; I have more faith in this 
 department of the work than in any other feature. I do not know of 
 another question of importance on which so little common sense is exer- 
 cised as that of education. Admitting, for the sake of argument, that 
 there may be some merit in higher education, I can imagine no greater 
 piece of inconsistency than for the advocates of higher education to 
 absolutely and unanunously neglect the lower education. The fact 
 remains, however, that practically all educators appear to be aiming 
 to do something for society at the top instead of the bottom, with the
 
 Ill 
 
 UirhiuD CcIIrr Cftine 
 
 rtviilt ihal education such as I am advocating is largely neglected, while 
 nearly every other kind is preatly overdone." 
 
 Willi the exception of Potter Palmer, Mr. Crane was the largest 
 suhscriher to the Chieufio Interstate and Industrial Exposition Company, 
 which was or-ianized in March. 1873, to hold expositions on the lake 
 front. These enntinued for many years, one of the most attractive 
 features in the puMie life of the city, drawing to Chicago hundreds of 
 visitors annually and proving a decided stimulus to trade. Many other 
 instances might he cited of Mr. Crane's kindly spirit and generous nature. 
 To his financial assistance and intelligently devised plans many great 
 movements and organizations owe their success today. 
 
 As a writer Mr. Crane was concise, analytical and forceful. His 
 contrihutions during his last few years were numerous and cover a wide 
 range of topics. Each issue of the "Valve World," his house puhlication, 
 contained one or more editorials from his pen. and noteworthy among 
 these are a scries of biographies of English and American inventors and 
 a series of articles on education,
 
 Sllbcrt |ol)n (Dcljouer, IH, P. 
 
 HERE ARE few men who have made as great and valuable 
 contribution to the world's work in the present gener- 
 ation as did Dr. Albert John Ochsner. Health means 
 efficiency, opportunity and in many cases successful ac- 
 complishment, and this was the gift which Dr. Ochsner 
 gave to his fellowmen. Moreover, the knowledge and 
 ability which other men of the medical profession gained through obser- 
 vation of his methods and through his instruction make his work of ever 
 increasing usefulness. He instituted new methods that will not reach 
 their full fruition until those who came under his influence have ceased 
 to labor in the world. Long this modest man of notable scientific power 
 gave to the world of his best, and no one was more appreciative of what 
 he did than his fellow practitioners, who realized the great worth of his 
 ser\ice. Guy de Chauliac, who is called the father of surgery, said in 
 1365: "Let the surgeon be well educated, skilful, ready, and cautious. 
 Let him be bold in those things which are safe, fearful in those that are 
 dangerous, avoiding all evil methods and practices. Let him be tender to 
 the sick, honorable to men of his profession, wise in his predictions, 
 chaste, sober, pitiful, merciful, not covetous nor extortionate, but rather 
 let him take his wages in moderation according to his work and the 
 wealth of his patient, and the issue of the disease and his own worth." 
 The entire career of Dr. Ochsner was an exemplification of this. 
 
 Wisconsin was ever proud to number him among her native sons, his 
 birth having occurred in Baraboo, April 3, 1858, his parents being Henry 
 and Judith (Hottinger) Ochsner. He began his education in the rural 
 schools near his home and afterward enrolled as a student in the Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Science 
 degree at his graduation as honor man of the class of 1884. In youth 
 he manifested an intense interest in microscopy, which was just then 
 awakening public attention, and this proved of great benefit to him in his 
 later experience as a surgeon. Attracted to the medical science, he at- 
 tended Rush Medical College of Chicago, completing his course there in 
 1886. Through the succeeding two years he studied abroad in the uni- 
 versities of Vienna and Berlin and in 1909 he received from the Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin the LL. D. degree. 
 
 Dr. Ochsner became identified with the medical profession in Chi- 
 cago in 1889 and he rapidly rose to prominence. His knowledge of the 
 microscope led to his appointment as an instructor in histology in Rush 
 
 145
 
 146 ailicrr jTcitni Orhsnrr. 03- D. 
 
 M. ili. ;il College and wli.n Dr. Charles T. Parkes took the chair of sur- 
 ■itTv at Hush. Dr. Ochsncr became liis first assistant and chief of clinics. 
 Viiien Dr. Parkes was succeeded Ity Dr. Nicholas Senn, Dr. Ochsner 
 served under him as chief of staff for five years. He thus had the benefit 
 of close association %vitli the eminent surgeons of an older generation 
 and upon the knowledge there gained he built a success that places his 
 name with the most eminent surgeons of the country. In 1891 he was 
 requested to become chief surgeon of Augustana Hospital, then occupy- 
 ing a small frame building and containing but twenty beds. He contin- 
 uously remained chief surgeon of Augustana and of St. Mary's Hospital, 
 from 18<)6. until his demise, and from 1900 was professor of clinical 
 surgerv in the medical department of the University of Illinois. His 
 ability as diagnostician, operator and teacher quickly made Augustana 
 one of the most notable institutions in Chicago and he built up a great 
 surgical clinic that was of untold benefit to the i)rofession at large. Per- 
 haps no better account of his work in surgery can be given than by 
 quoting from Dr. William J. Mayo, who said: "Few men of Dr. Ochsners 
 generation have equaled him in contributions to the science and art of 
 surgery. The almost intuitive readiness with which he grasped important 
 general surgical principles was one of his most striking characteristics. 
 A fearless crusader for the truth, he was so far in advance of his time 
 and so little interested in attracting attention to himself, that his name is 
 not associated with many of his greatest contributions. 
 
 '•In the early days in Chicago, milk infected by the bovine bacillus of 
 tuberculosis caused a great variety of tuberculous processes, especially in 
 young persons. Tuberculous glands of the neck at that time were called 
 scrofula, and patients were subjected to extensive dissections for their 
 removal. Ochsner, after removing tuberculous glands, would thoroughly 
 remove the tonsils, through which he believed that most of such infec- 
 tions came. At that period the direct relationship of the bacillus of 
 tuberculosis to scrofulosis was not generally recognized. 
 
 '"Early in Ochsncr's clinic it became the usual thing to see him with 
 tooth forceps and root extractor clear up the septic mouths of his patients 
 after operations, because he believed that rheumatism and many other 
 forms of disease might have their origin in bad teeth. He had an ar- 
 rangement with one of the dental schools whereby the poor patients of 
 his clinic were later given the necessary dental reconstruction attention. 
 
 "In the early days of our knowledge of the treatment of hernia, 
 Ochsner used the non-operative procedure with young children of rais- 
 ing the foot of the bed to keep the intestines out of the hernial sac and 
 noted how quickly the average patient was thereby cured. He was the 
 first to point out that in cases of femoral hernia, if the sac was thoroughly 
 freed, ligated, and dropped back, sutures were unnecessary, because the
 
 gi&grt 3iOl)n 0c})6ncr, €0, D. 147 
 
 circular opening would heal to the center if it was not disturbed. He said 
 that the certainty of cure of femoral hernia was in inverse proportion 
 to the length of time consumed in the operation. An operation lasting 
 an hour would usually fail, while one lasting from five to ten minutes 
 would nearly always succeed. 
 
 "The surgical condition with which Ochsner"s name was most closely 
 associated was appendicitis, or rather the treatment of acute spreading 
 septic peritonitis, the result of acute perforating appendicitis. Ochsner 
 early pointed out that sufficient distinction was not made between per- 
 forating appendicitis and its resultant septic peritonitis. He showed that 
 to remove an appendix which had done its deadly work, in the face of 
 an active, spreading, septic peritonitis, often did more harm than good. 
 He made evident that the great factor in tiding the patient over an acute 
 spreading peritonitis was to give nothing by stomach for a few days, in 
 order to stop the spread of the infection by means of intestinal peristalsis, 
 and to supply the patient with water by proctoclysis or hypodermoclysis 
 to maintain adequate elimination. 
 
 "Ochsner was a man without vanity. He was intensely interested in 
 surgery, faithfully attending medical society meetings, reading papers, 
 and participating in discussions. He was the author of a number of 
 valuable treatises on surgery. He received just recognition from univer- 
 sities, both at home and abroad. He was a memlaer of the board of re- 
 gents of the American College of Surgeons from its inception, the presi- 
 dent of the college in 1923, the president of the American Surgical Asso- 
 ciation in 1924, and for twenty-five years, from 1900, professor of clin- 
 ical surgery in the University of Illinois Medical Department." 
 
 He was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and a 
 member of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Society, the Amer- 
 ican Medical Association, the Chicago Medical Society, the Chicago Path- 
 ological Society and the Chicago Surgical Society. 
 
 All that Dr. Ochsner wrote was widely read, for his contribution to 
 the literature of his profession was most valuable. He was the author 
 of "Handbook on Appendicitis," second edition, 1906; "Clinical Surgery 
 for the Instruction of Practitioners and Students," sixth edition, 1917; 
 "Organization, Management and Construction of Hospitals," first edition 
 1907, second edition 1913; "Surgery of Thyroid and Parathyroid 
 Glands," 1910; "Yearbook of Surgery," 1917-23; "Treatise on Surgical 
 Diagnosis and Treatment," (four volumes), 1918; and frequent contri- 
 butions to the medical press. On many occasions he addressed the medi- 
 cal societies in which he held membership. 
 
 At his passing, words of sympathy and of high coimnendation came 
 from men of distinction throughout the entire country. In this connec- 
 tion Dr. Franklin H. Martin wrote: "In the death of Albert J. Ochsner,
 
 148 nibrrt John Oflisiicr, a3. D. 
 
 tlir American College of Surgeons shares with the whole medical world 
 an irr«'paral>h' loss. lie was the first president of the Clinical Congress; 
 one of the founders and a past president of the college, its treasurer and 
 constant sui»p(irter and counsellor from its inception, and one of the 
 editorial staff of this, its oflicial journal. 
 
 "Ochsner tvpified strength in every phase of his intellectual and 
 physical heing. One must have known him and have appreciated his 
 character to understand how a man who so consistently shunned the 
 spectacular, and who possessed his inherent modesty, could attain his 
 eminence and wield his influence in the medical profession and in civic 
 society. The great halance of this man of gigantic accomplishments was 
 his force of character, supported hy a strong physique and a keen intel- 
 lect, which never were impaired or confused by dissipation. His heritage 
 afforded an adecpiate background which was refined by educational ad- 
 vantages, and at the very outset he proved himself a man of vision and 
 of scientific force, as evidenced hy his thesis on microscopical investiga- 
 tions in embryology, based on work which he had done while an under- 
 graduate student, which won for him a Fellowship in the Royal Micro- 
 scopical Society. To his natural advantages he added untiring industry, 
 unyielding perseverance, unerring judgment, and unimpeachable hon- 
 esty: he was devoted to his profession, had a personal interest in his asso- 
 ciates and patients, lent his enthusiastic support to professional and lay 
 societies, and was a lover of art — pictures, sculpture, and music. 
 
 "Ochsner, with his pleasing personality and his love of peace, was an 
 uncompromising foe of all kinds of hypocrisy in living and unethical 
 shifting in the profession. With his scientific mind tuned to accuracy, he 
 was utterly unappreciative of the subtlety of creeds: yet all of his life 
 he worked harmoniously and sympathetically in hospitals controlled by 
 people of the strongest beliefs; and in his personal contact with peoples 
 of all creeds, especially the poor and the helpless, his attitude was that of 
 the Master Himself. The Golden Rule was his guiding principle. 
 
 "The epoch-making anti-fee-splitting pledge of the American College 
 of Surgeons was written by Doctor Ochsner, and he defended it with 
 strong arguments and was in the forefront in the uncompromising en- 
 forcement of it. It is the Sermon on the Mount in medicine of the present 
 and for the future, its meaning is unmistakable, and its language is not 
 obscured by ornamentation. 
 
 "The presidential gown of the American College of Surgeons, in 
 which Doctor Ochsner was laid to rest, was placed upon him by Mrs. 
 Ochsner. who said it was her feeling that this was a fitting tribute to the 
 college in view of Doctor Ochsner's love for, and pride in, the organiza- 
 tion."' 
 
 Those who knew Dr. Ochsner aside from his profession knew yet
 
 aifaert 3iCi&n f)cl)sncr, ^. D. 149 
 
 another phase of his nature. In his own home he was ever kindly and 
 hospitable and delighted in the companionship of his friends. He was 
 married on the 3d of April, 1888, to Miss Marion H. Mitchell, of Chi- 
 cago, and they became parents of a son and a daughter: Albert Henry, 
 identified with agricultural interests in Virginia; and Bertha, a talented 
 writer of plays and of music. Both are graduates of the University of 
 Wisconsin. Dr. Ochsner, too, was interested in farming, owning two large 
 tracts of land, one in Virginia and the other in Mexico. In 1916 he was 
 made a major of the Medical Reser\'e Corps of the United States Army. 
 He felt keen interest in the many activities in which Mrs. Ochsner bears 
 a part and he never ceased to cooperate in movements for the develop- 
 ment and growth of the University of Wisconsin, in which he had re- 
 ceived his collegiate training. No one who met him personally failed to 
 be impressed by his kindliness and consideration. It was a well known 
 fact that the humblest received from him just as thorough care and at- 
 tention as did his most wealthy patients. His practice became of immense 
 volume yet he neglected no element that would in any way contribute 
 to the successful treatment of any individual case. A most beautiful 
 tribute was paid to him by Dr. Mayo, who said : "As my lifelong friend, 
 my companion in traveling both at home and abroad, it is Ochsner, the 
 man, of whom I wish to speak. Honest, sincere, kindly, I never knew 
 him to say a word or do an act that little children might not have 
 heard or seen. An instinctive courtesy and consideration for others, and 
 charity under all circumstances, were his most conspicuous traits. A 
 man of strong convictions and independent thought, he always conceded 
 the same rights to others. He was interested in young men in medicine, 
 and supported and helped to educate a group of grateful students. In 
 the death of Ochsner I feel a great personal loss which words fail me 
 to express. Spiritually, morally, and professionally, I profited greatly 
 from my association with him. Tribute had been paid Dr. Ochsner in 
 universal expressions of regret, and in expressions of sympathy to his 
 family, especially to his wife, who labored faithfully by his side for more 
 than thirty years. A gallant soul has passed from us. His memory will 
 be a sacred heritage to those who had the privilege of knowing him."
 
 LIBRAKV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ Of llfiNO'
 
 Harsljall JiclD 
 
 )0 SAY that Marshall Field \vas the greatest merchant of 
 his clay is to proclaim that he was the most eminent 
 merchant prince in the world's history; and both state- 
 ments are true to the letter. In his boyhood he was 
 Jf^k "W^W" noted for both industry and perseverance, and, carry- 
 ing the same preeminent traits into his mature life, he 
 came to tower above his fellow merchants of the great working world. 
 He penetrated to the possibilities of men and business situations with 
 lightning-like rapidity; the intellectual sweep with which he finally 
 organized a magnificent mercantile house whose scope embraced both 
 the old world and the new, proclaimed the man of vast power, as well 
 as penetration, and the unfailing courtesy and superb endurance of the 
 man carried all before him. The old-time merchants of the Stewart 
 school had these qualities of polished granite, but Marshall Field added 
 to them a world-view, and also the application of artistic genius to mer- 
 cantile affairs and environment. He not only sold goods honestly and 
 gave the people promptly what they wanted, but he educated their tastes, 
 showed them beautiful and new creations for their persons and their 
 homes, and then met their advanced and more refined wants at as reason- 
 able a cost as was compatible with honest goods and fair profits. 
 
 And when Marshall Field had personally progressed from the station 
 of a raw clerk from the country- districts of New England to a world- 
 wide eminence in the field of mastery, he was still a modest, unassuming 
 man. "There have been men," said a local journal on January 17, 1906, 
 (the day after bis death), "whom wealth has made purse proud, arrogant, 
 offensive to their equals and tyrants to their employes. We are glad to 
 say that Marshall Field was not one of them. Riches did not change 
 his manners. He was never aggressive or pompous. There was in him 
 no show of self-conceit in manner or speech. He was reticent, but it 
 was the reticence of modesty, not of pride. His employes were attached 
 to him. He treated them with the courtesy he extended to everybody. 
 He was as quiet or reserved, and as unostentatious, when he was worth 
 a hundred millions as when he was worth a thousandth part of that. 
 He attended strictly to his own business, which he understood perfectly, 
 and did not meddle with that of others. He did not set himself up as 
 the general instructor of the community. He asked people to let him 
 alone as regarded the just conduct of his affairs, and he conceded to 
 others the right he proclaimed for himself. 
 
 153
 
 154 a3tustnill J"iciD 
 
 ■"TluTe was no iium in (iliicago more kindly regarded l»y liis fellow 
 citizens than Mr. Field. There was no one eo conspieuous of whom 
 8o few harsh things were said. His riches made him odious to no one, 
 for the people high and low saw that he was untainted hy wealth, and 
 was always an upright man. fair and even generous in his dealings. He 
 was the first citizen of Chicago when he died, and he has left no one to 
 take his place. He will he sincerely mourned hy the men, women and 
 children of Chicago." 
 
 In explanation of his lifelong inclination to keep himself in the back- 
 grouiul. Mar-hall Field always said frankly that he preferred to work 
 where he could do the most good, which in his case he claimed was remote 
 from public platforms and showy places. When counsel was asked of 
 him, however, either as a member of society or as a citizen of Chicago, 
 he gave it with exceptional power and insight, couching his arguments 
 and his conclusions in straightforward, forceful language. As a citizen 
 he was ever ready to express an opinion, if he felt that it was wanted 
 and would be useful, and not long before his death he analyzed Chicago's 
 fiMancial condition in a masterly manner, pointing out that many of its 
 ills of dirt, decay of public improvements, bad water and imperfect 
 drainage, were due to lack of businesslike handling of available funds. 
 
 Mr. Field's self-poised momentum as a merchant and a man was an 
 especial inspiration to young men, and, without assuming to be a teacher 
 of moral, and even business laws, within the later period of his life he 
 w rote a number of brief and pithy essays for their consideration, advising 
 them of the value of economy, honesty and industry. The practical 
 suggestions set forth may be sununarized as follows: Never give a note. 
 Never buy a share of stock on margin. Never borrow. Never give a 
 mortgage on your holdings. Hold all customers to a strict meeting of 
 their obligations. Do business on a cash basis. Give the best quality for 
 the least money. Sell on shorter time than competitors. Try to sell the 
 same grade of goods for a smaller price. Never speculate. 
 
 Mr. Field enjoyed the personal advantage that his physical appear- 
 ance was in perfect keeping with his high and substantial character. 
 Many noble men and women suffer a serious drawback through life be- 
 cause of physical characteristics which seem a brutal contradiction of 
 the real soul of their being. But Marshall Field was both distinguished 
 and genial in appearance, and all his features were strong and large. 
 \\ itli wiiile hair and mustache, high and broad forehead, and calm yet 
 penetrating gray-blue eyes shadowed by heavy brows, he was a man of 
 marked bearing who at once commanded attention and respect. 
 
 This superb personality originated and was nurtured near the little 
 village of Conway, Massachusetts, the year of Marshall Field's birth 
 bi-ing 18;54. In this locality his English ancestors settled in 1650. The
 
 g0argf)all ficlH 155 
 
 family homestead was about one mile and a half from town, on the 
 summit of a considerable elevation, which had long been known as 
 Field's Hill. Forest-clad hills were all around, and the panoramic view 
 of meadows, brooks, nestling farms and villages, was something to soothe 
 the mind for years after, in the smoke and bustle of great cities. Amid 
 such surroundings were born and reared the four sons and two daughters 
 comprising the Field family, Marshall being the third child and son. 
 ^ hen he was six years of age he commenced to attend winter school, and 
 v.ithin the next few years assumed the lead in such outdoor sports as 
 '"Fox and Hound,'' which called for both speed and endurance. It is a 
 matter of record that Marshall was usually the fox, that position requir- 
 ing ingenuity as well, and old settlers who were boys in the days of his 
 residence recalled a famous run of twenty miles to South Deerfield and 
 return, in which the fox finally came home untouched and unwinded. 
 Ingenuity, speed and endurance; that was Marshall Field — the boy, 
 father to the man. On account of the abandonment of the old road 
 which ran past the homestead and lowered the price of the property, the 
 home farm was sold when Marshall was about fifteen years of age, and, 
 although another was purchased, it was decided that the third son was 
 better fitted for a store clerk than for an agriculturist. It is said that 
 his mates fully subscribed to this decision, complaining that they had no 
 chance to knife trade when Marshall was in the ring. After ser\dng a 
 short apprenticeship in a store at Pittsfield, which served to whet his 
 ambition for a larger field, he decided in favor of the great undeveloped 
 west. 
 
 Mr. Field became a resident of Chicago in 1856, so that the fifty 
 years intervening between his majority and his death he devoted to the 
 development of his house, his character and the upbuilding of the city's 
 name for mercantile, commercial and civic honor. At the time of his 
 arrival in the western citj' Cooley, Wadsworth & Company Avere pro- 
 prietors of its leading dry goods house. The population was estimated 
 anywhere from sixty thousand inhabitants, which then seemed an empire 
 of people to the young Massachusetts man. Although then unformed to 
 city ways, when he said simply and firmly to the "boss" that he was a good 
 clerk and could sell goods, there was that about him which carried convic- 
 tion; he was therefore engaged and in today's vernacular "made good." In 
 January, 1860, he was admitted to the partnership and appointed man- 
 ager of the business, then conducted as Cooley, Farwell & Company, but 
 after his association, as Farwell, Field & Company. In 1860 Levi Z. 
 Leiter also entered the firm, and in January-, 1865, Potter Palmer (who 
 already had been in business for thirty years) approached Messrs. Field 
 and Leiter v.ith the proposition to buy his dr\ goods house, that he might 
 retire and recuperate his broken health. Mr. Palmer's offer of part cash
 
 156 a3arsinill J^irlD 
 
 and notes for the balance was accepted, and the firm of Field, Palmer & 
 LeJter, which was formed Januarj' 11. 1865. transacted a flourishing 
 business until 1867. when the notes were paid and Mr. Palmers name 
 dropped from the style. 
 
 The firm of Field. Loiter & Company was formed in January, 1867. 
 and the following September their business was installed in a large build- 
 ing erected by Mr. Palmer on the northeast corner of State and Yi ashing- 
 ton streets. For four years and one month this was the grand center 
 of the dry goods trade of the northwest, and at the time of the fire of 1871 
 their sales had reached the aggregate of eight million dollars. But the 
 fire swept away the business, entailing a destruction of three million five 
 hundred thousand dollars worth of property, with an insurance of two 
 million five hundred thousand dollars. Before the ruins had ceased to 
 smoke, temporary headquarters were established in the old street car 
 barns, at the corner of State and Twentieth streets, and the business was 
 there conducted until another store was completed on the old site in 
 1873. Meantime a building had been erected on the corner of Market 
 and Madison streets, and a portion of it occupied for retail purposes and 
 known as Retail No. 2, for the benefit of patrons coming from the west 
 and north sides of the city. \^ ith the completion of the State street store 
 in 1873. the retail was separated from the wholesale business and trans- 
 ferred altogether to the State street concern. Fire again visited Marshall 
 Field's State street store in 1877, the loss being seven hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand dollars, but it was reopened in the following year, 
 the business having in the meantime been carried on in temporary 
 quarters. So the development of the gigantic enterprise continued apace, 
 its intricate and powerful machinery hidden from the public, by its con- 
 tinuous expansion indicated by the occupation of new space from year 
 to year. In 1878 Mr. Higinbotham was admitted as a partner, and in 
 1881 Mr. Leiter retired. From the latter year, for a quarter of a century, 
 Mr. Field was the master spirit of the house. 
 
 Mr. Field's public works are numerous and important. In March, 
 1871, he took a leading part in the effort to merge the old Chicago 
 Library Association into the Young Mens Christian Association. After 
 the great fire, he was one of the foremost to inspire hope, courage and 
 confidence in business circles, and make possible the greater Chicago 
 ^v"hich arose from the ruins. His services in the distribution of money 
 and supplies were invaluable. Identified with the Chicago Relief Society 
 from its organization, he was named by A. T. Stewart as first on the 
 committee to control the fifty thousand dollars donated by him for the 
 relief of women and children in Chicago. He was also for years a mem- 
 ber of the Chicago Historical Society, aided in founding the Art Insti-
 
 ^arsftall jFicID 157 
 
 tute, was one of the organizers of the Citizens" League, and one of the 
 charter members of the Commercial Ckih in 1877. In 1881 he aided 
 in the establishment of the Chicago Musical Festival Association and of 
 the Chicago Manual Training School in 1882. To the latter he gave 
 tAventy thousand dollars and to the new Chicago University he devoted 
 a tract of land near the Midway Plaisance, now valued at two hundred 
 thousand dollars, and known as "Marshall Field." He was long a 
 director of the Merchants' Loan & Trust Company, and was otherwise 
 associated with many of the great commercial, financial and industrial 
 enterprises which have made Chicago a world's metropolis. The climax 
 of his public benefactions was the establishment of the Field Museum 
 at Jackson Park, by provisions of his will, eight million dollars being 
 bequeathed for its founding and support. 
 
 The death of Marshall Field, generally pronounced the foremost 
 citizen of Chicago, certainly one of the greatest figures of his day, 
 occurred at the Holland House, New York, where he was staying during 
 an anticipated week's absence from Chicago, on the 16th of Januarj', 
 1906. There were present at his death bed his wife (formerly Mrs. 
 Arthur Caton), to whom he had been married only a few months, Mr. 
 Stanley Field, and Mrs. Marshall Field, Jr. The latter, who was the 
 widow of his only son, recalls the tragic death of Marshall Field, Jr., less 
 than two months before, a blow to the father which he bore with dignified 
 silence, but which is thought by those nearest to him to have broken 
 him in spirit and body. The great bulk of his fortune, amounting to 
 perhaps one hundred millions of dollars, went to his two grandsons, 
 Marshall Field HI, and Henry Field. His only daughter, Mrs. David 
 Beatty, wife of Rear Admiral Beatty, of the British Navy, inherited six 
 million dollars, and Mrs. Delia S. Caton Field, the widow, as an ante- 
 nuptial bequest, the magnificent family residence, with contents and one 
 million dollars.
 
 lerMnaiiD Pijtije Peck 
 
 HE NAME of Ferdinand Wythe Peck stands as a synonym 
 for education, culture, fraternity and humanity. Along 
 those lines his contribution to the world was of notable 
 scope and today some of the finest structures of the city 
 — structures that are indicative of the progress and the 
 ideals of Chicago — stand as monuments to his efforts. 
 The western metropolis was ever proud to number him among her na- 
 tive sons. His birth here occurred July 15, 1848, his parents being Philip 
 Ferdinand Wheeler and Mary (Kent) Peck. Liberal educational op- 
 portunities were accorded him and in 1868 the Bachelor of Arts degree 
 was conferred upon him by the University of Chicago. In preparation 
 for a professional career he entered the Union College of Law and won 
 his LL. B. degree upon graduation with the class of 1869. In the same 
 year he was admitted to the bar and for a time engaged in practice until 
 outside interests claimed his entire attention. He ranked for many years 
 as one of the capitalists of Chicago and had important business inter- 
 ests, but commercial and financial activities at no time claimed his entire 
 effort and attention. On the contrary there is no citizen of Chicago who 
 devoted more of his active life to the public welfare than did Ferdinand 
 W. Peck. Even his business interests were made to serve the public 
 good. He was one of the organizers of the Chicago Atheneum and for 
 more than fourteen years acted as president of that institution, which 
 was formed for the purpose of giving practical education in a philan- 
 thropic manner. He also ser\'ed for many years as a trustee of the Uni- 
 versity of Chicago and his name is inseparably associated with the insti- 
 tution of that movement which resulted in the building of the Auditor- 
 ium, for many years the largest and finest opera house of the world, and 
 of the Chicago Auditorium Association he was president from 1886 until 
 1900. The completion of the structure was one of the notable events in 
 the city's social history, the opera house being opened with a concert by 
 Adelina Patti. 
 
 Mr. Peck was active in formulating the plans that led to holding the 
 World's Columbian Exposition. He became the first vice president of 
 the association and was made chairman of the finance committee, and 
 he never ceased his labors for the development and success of the project 
 until the exposition was closed. It is almost impossible to mention any 
 great project for the educational or cultural benefit of Chicago during 
 the last quarter of the nineteenth and the opening years of the twentieth 
 
 159
 
 160 /crPiiuinP CClPthc \S>cik 
 
 century \vith ^vliich he was not actively and helpfully associated. He was 
 one of the incorporators of the Art Institute and also of the Field Colum- 
 bian Museum. Under appointment of Mayor Carter H. Harrison, Sr., 
 and afterward of Mayor John A. Roche he served as a member of the 
 board of education and for about five years filled the office of vice presi- 
 dent. He was instrumental in organizing the INational Business League, 
 of which he became the first president, and he was the first to advise the 
 erection of the first Confederate monument in the north at Oakwood 
 cemetery, Chicago, an act which arose from his belief that a strong bond 
 of fraternity should exist between the north and the south following the 
 Civil war. His purpose was accomplished in large measure, as shown by 
 the fact that the Confederate generals present at the unveiling of this 
 monument invited citizens of Chicago, accompanied by the entire First 
 Regiment of Illinois, to visit the leading cities of the south, and this invi- 
 tation was accepted, many special trains carrying the Chicago delegation 
 under the auspices of the Southern States Association, of which Mr. Peck 
 was the organizer and the president. 
 
 An outstanding event in the cultural progress of Illinois that resulted 
 from the plans and efforts of Mr. Peck was the Opera Festival held in 
 April, 1885, in a temporary hall which was erected at a cost of fifty 
 thousand dollars on the lake front, occupying the site of the old Inter- 
 state Exposition building. The attendance was so great that the receipts 
 for the first two weeks paid for the building of the hall and all other 
 expenses, and the surplus that accrued from later performances was do- 
 nated by Mr. Peck and his colleagues to charity and to musical advance- 
 ment in Chicago. In 1891 he was named by the national government in 
 recognition of his ability and public service as one of the five national 
 commissioners sent to Europe in behalf of the Columbian Exposition, 
 the other commissioners being chosen one each from Massachusetts, Ohio, 
 Pennsylvania and Kentucky. In 1900 he was made commissioner gen- 
 eral to the Paris Exposition through appointment of President McKin- 
 ley in July, 1898, and during the three years in which he served in that 
 capacity he expended about a million and a half dollars of the govern- 
 ment appropriation and turned back a considerable sum into the United 
 States treasury. His administration of the office was one which reflected 
 great credit upon the United States, and France recognized this by 
 bestowing upon Mr. Peck the decoration of '-Grand Officer" of the Or- 
 der of the Legion of Honor. From the emperor of Germany he received 
 a gold medal in recognition of service rendered to the representatives of 
 that country in connection with the Columbian Exposition, and other 
 honors came to him from foreign countries. 
 
 Mr. Peck was widely known for his charity and philanthropy and 
 withheld his support from no public project which he believed would
 
 JferPinanP £Qptt)c jdcck 161 
 
 ameliorate hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. He became one 
 of the founders of the Illinois Humane Society and at all times was a 
 generous donor to projects seeking the uplift and benefit of his fellow- 
 men. 
 
 On the 17th of November. 1870, Mr. Peck was united in marriage 
 to Miss Tilla C. Spalding, of Chicago, and they became the parents of 
 six children. That Mr. Peck was appreciative of the social amenities of 
 life is indicated in his connection with various leading clubs of his city. 
 He belonged to the Chicago, the Chicago Athletic and the South Shore 
 Country Clubs as well as to the Union League, of which he was president 
 in 1893, and the Calumet Club, of which he was president in 1906-7. 
 His home at 1826 Michigan boulevard was always the center of a warm- 
 hearted hospitality. He combined dignity with cordiality and the out- 
 standing traits of his character commanded for him not only the respect 
 but also won for him the warm and enduring friendship of those with 
 whom he was associated. His career was indeed a beneficent one in the 
 history of Chicago, his successful efforts were an inspiration to those with 
 whom he was associated and his memory remains as a blessed benediction 
 to those who knew him.
 
 L'SSAKV 
 
 or THE 
 
 IJNIVERSH i' OF ILUNOIS
 
 /v^cc/Xeyy^ o^J CO 7^ 
 
 t'^'-
 
 Palter Barker 
 
 >5 MONG Peoria's widely known citizens was Walter Barker, 
 long an outstanding figure in financial circles as the 
 president of the Commercial National Bank. He was 
 born in this city, January 8, 1848, and his life record 
 covered the intervening period to December 28, 1914, 
 when his activities were ended in death. He was the 
 only son of Gardner T. and Helen (White) Barker, who settled in Peoria 
 when it was a small town of little commercial or industrial importance. 
 However, the father soon became identified with its development and 
 for many years ranked with its leading business men. He was one of 
 the founders and promoters of the great distilling industry which has 
 featured so largely in the commercial upbuilding of the city, and he also 
 entered into other fields of business activity which were of far-reaching 
 extent and importance. His contributions to Peoria's business growth 
 were marked, and the city benefited greatly by his progressive spirit. 
 
 Walker Barker was reared in Peoria, was educated in the city schools 
 and received his business training under bis father's direction. Follow- 
 ing his father's death in 1894 he succeeded to all of his business interests 
 and displayed marked ability and enterprise and broad vision in enlarg- 
 ing and developing the interests which thus came under his control. He 
 was called to the presidency of the Commercial National Bank of Peoria, 
 and it was largely through his efforts that a merger of banking interests 
 in this city was effected whereby Peoria gained the present Commercial 
 National Bank, now one of the most stable and reliable as well as one of 
 the largest moneyed institutions in the state, outside of Chicago. Mr. 
 Barker continued as its chief executive officer until his death, and his 
 policy was always one which brought about the further growth and 
 development of the institution and which made it an important factor 
 in the business life of the city through the financial assistance rendered 
 to many conmiercial and industrial enterprises here. Whatever Mr. 
 Barker undertook he carried forward to successful completion, and he 
 seemed to possess unusual ability in coordinating and unifying interests. 
 For many years he occupied the presidency of the Central Railway Street 
 Car system of Peoria and was also president of the Barker Distillery. He 
 was a director and officer of the Allaire-Woodward Company, president 
 and chief owner of the Barker-Wheeler Wholesale Drug Company and 
 an officer in the James A. McCoy Wholesale Grocery Company. He like- 
 wise had official connection with the Clark-Smith Wholesale Hardware 
 
 165
 
 166 ggaltcr X^arkcr 
 
 Company and the Peoria Drill and Seeder Company and was a director 
 in many other of the larger manufacturing and mercantile enterprises of 
 the city. He seemed to possess a dynamic force, his heing the driving 
 power that led to success in the management of many important interests. 
 
 On the 10th of November, 1875, in Peoria. Mr. Barker was married 
 to Miss Mary A. Fuller, a lady of most pleasing qualities combined with 
 commercial sagacity and a keen interest in humanitarian projects that 
 enabled her to aid her husband in his manifold business and philan- 
 thropic activities. She has taken a most active part in charitable work 
 and in carrying out her husband's wishes she expended three hundred 
 thousand dollars constructing and furnishing an addition to the Home 
 for the Friendless, providing necessan,- shelter and care for poor and 
 needy children. In memory of her husband she therefore established 
 and endowed the \^ alter Barker Memorial, and she has carried out not 
 only her husband's ideas but many of her own in philanthropic work. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Barker had an only son, Jesse, who has passed away. 
 
 Besides his business activities Mr. Barker was widely known in 
 Peoria, where he was called upon to serve in many official capacities 
 which were of direct worth to the city. From 1883 he was a member 
 of the Board of Trade and held many offices therein. He was a director 
 of the Chamber of Commerce and for an extended period was treasurer 
 of the Creve Coeur Club. On its organization he became a member of 
 the Peoria Country Clul), and his sociable nature made him a favorite 
 in club circles. It is said that he scorned anything underhanded. \. as most 
 loyal to his friends, and there ^vas not a single strain of hypocrisy in his 
 nature. In business he proved himself astute, far-seeing and brilliantly 
 resourceful and enjoyed his success not for selfish ends but as a source 
 of good that he could do for his fellowmen. He was always ready to 
 assist others and because of his generous spirit his good work goes on 
 through the philanthropies which have been instituted and promoted 
 in his name.
 
 Jeroi) §oDDarD PlnlUci) 
 
 i)EROY GODDARD BINKLEY. president of the Binkley 
 Coal Company and the Pyramid Coal Company, having 
 large holdings in southern Illinois coal fields, was born 
 March 29, 1880, on a farm in Lake Creek precinct, four 
 miles north of Marion, Illinois. He was the fourth child 
 of Thomas Jefferson and Cynthia (Paralee) Binkley. 
 The only surviver of their eight children is Mrs. Harry E. Campbell of 
 Chicago. When Leroy Binkley was an infant the family moved from 
 the farm to Marion, where the father engaged in insurance business in 
 the days when farm insurance was the agent's leading asset, and he be- 
 came the most prosperous insurance man of southern Illinois. 
 
 "L. G.," as he Avas called, spent his boyhood in Marion, attended the 
 public school and for two years was a student at the Ohio State Uni- 
 versity, but on account of the death of his father, he gave up his univer- 
 sity course and returned to Marion to look after the business which his 
 father had established. When he had disposed of this, he went to Alton, 
 Illinois, as agent for gun and blasting powder. From Alton he came to 
 Chicago and for a time was connected vnih the Peabody Coal Company. 
 Deciding to engage in business for himself, he organized the Railway & 
 Mill Supply Company, and through a winning personality, sterling 
 qualities, and judicious management, soon established an extensive 
 enterprise. 
 
 About the beginning of the World Mar he was instrumental in dis- 
 posing of the Virginia mine at a price of about four hundred thousand 
 dollars. This mine had been a "white elephant" on the hands of the 
 Marion banks. Prior to the advance in coal prices at the beginning of 
 the World war, Mr. Binkley had come into possession of two coal mines 
 in Indiana, which with the advance in coal became valuable. He formed 
 the Binkley Coal Company and as its president and largest stockholder, 
 gathered about him several Marion men of much mine experience to 
 look after the company's interests, which included the big strip mine 
 near Pinckney^ille, Illinois, the largest strip producing mine in the 
 world. Mr. Binkley was president of the Pyramid Coal Company, which 
 was for several years managed by Charles Hamilton, who became vice 
 president of the company. The local stripping company of Scottsboro 
 is an arm of the Binkley Coal Company, and its interests are combined 
 with those of the PinckneyA'Ule mine. The total production of the Bink- 
 ley Coal Company is near t^vo million tons annually and besides that the 
 
 167
 
 168 Lcrop aoDDtuD ':5inbleg 
 
 company buys and sells upward of three million, five hundred thousand 
 tons a year, havinfi one of the strongest sales organizations in the country 
 with offices in Chicago and St. Louis. Since 1919, Mr. Binkley had been 
 very active in the coal trade, heiiig largely responsible for the rapid devel- 
 opment of the important companies of which he was the directing genius, 
 
 Mr. Binkley was a member of the Chicago Athletic Association, the 
 Bob O'Link Golf Club, Exmoor Country Club, the Vista Del Lago Club, 
 and of the Masonic Lodge at Marion, Illinois. 
 
 In 1915, before he had really started on the career which led to his 
 great success, romance came into the life of Mr. Binkley, who was the 
 namesake of Leroy A. Goddard, well known banker of Chicago. Mrs. 
 Goddard was the aunt of Helen Elizabeth Clarke of Helena, Montana, 
 and at the Goddard home Mr. Binkley met Miss Clarke, to whom he was 
 married September 1, 1915. Mrs. Binkley is the daughter of Charles 
 Alexander and Ella (Bridenthal) Clarke. Mr. Clarke, a native of Mis- 
 souri, was for some years engaged in the hardware business at Helena, 
 Montana, and later engaged in the dry goods trade there. Mrs. Clarke, 
 sister of Mrs. Goddard, was the daughter of a prosperous miller of Vin- 
 cennes, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Binkley came one daughter, Ann 
 Elizabeth, and twin sons, Leroy and Goddard. The family home is at 
 805 Grove street, Glencoe, Illinois, and there on Saturday, November 16, 
 1929, Mr. Binkley passed from this life as the result of a heart attack. 
 Services were held at the home in Glencoe and on November 20, 1929, 
 the Masonic order paid final tribute to his memoi^ at the Goddard Me- 
 morial Chapel, Rose Hill cemetery, Marion, Illinois.
 
 UBRAHY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ILIINOK
 
 "^^^^^^^z^^^^
 
 |{li)00e0 Simpson (r>rttnt 
 
 LTHOUGH usually accounted a "son of Illinois," because 
 of his residence in this state at the beginning of the Civil 
 
 A a/ war, and whence he entered the service of the army, 
 ^i- General Grant actually resided in the state but eleven 
 months. When the war broke out General Grant was 
 a resident of Galena engaged in business, having re- 
 signed his commission in the army some years before. He was a graduate 
 of West Point and during a portion of his service he was stationed on 
 the Pacific coast, and intended to take up his residence there perma- 
 nently when he left the army. 
 
 General Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822; 
 graduated from \^'est Point in 1843, and served throughout the Mexican 
 war. Grant's account of that war may be found contained in several 
 chapters of his "Memoirs." In 1854. Grant resigned from the army and 
 entered into business at St. Louis, part of the time carrying on a farm 
 near that city. In May, 1860, he removed with his family to Galena, 
 Illinois, and took a position in his father's store. 
 
 "During the eleven months that I lived in Galena," writes Grant in 
 his "Memoirs," "prior to the first call for volunteers, I had been strictly 
 attentive to business, and had made but few acquaintances other than 
 customers and people engaged in the same line of business with myself. 
 When the election took place in November, 1860, I had not been a resi- 
 dent of Illinois long enough to gain citizenship, and could not, therefore, 
 vote. I was really glad of this at the time, for my pledges woidd have 
 compelled me to vote for Stephen A. Douglas, who had no possible 
 chance of election. The contest was really between Mr. Breckenridge 
 and Mr. Lincoln; between minority rule and rule by the majority. I 
 wanted, as between these candidates, to see Mr. Lincoln elected. 
 
 "Excitement ran high during the canvass, and torch-light processions 
 enlivened the scene in the generally quiet streets of Galena many nights 
 during the campaign. I did not parade with either party, but occasion- 
 ally met with the 'Wide Awakes' — Republicans — in their rooms, and 
 superintended their drill. It was evident, from the time of the Chicago 
 nomination to the close of the canvass, that the election of the Republi- 
 can candidate would be the signal for some of the Southern states to 
 secede. I still had hopes that the four years which had elapsed since 
 the first nomination of a presidential candidate by a party distinctly 
 opposed to slavery extension, had given time for the extreme pro-slavery 
 
 171
 
 172 giysscs Simpson &umt 
 
 sentiment to cool down; for the Soutlierners to think well before they 
 took the awful leap which they had so vehemently threatened. But I 
 was mistaken." 
 
 When Fort Sumter was fired on, April 12, 1861, the news created 
 great excitement in the city of Grant's residence, and soon after, the call 
 for seventv-five thousand volunteers was made by President Lincoln. A 
 meeting was called and Grant presided over the meeting on that occasion, 
 for although a comparative stranger in the city he was known to have 
 been a former army officer and had seen service. E. B. Washburn, with 
 whom Grant had no acquaintance at that time, came in and made a 
 patriotic speech. A company was raised and Grant was asked to be 
 captain, but declined, saying, however, that he would aid the company 
 in every way he could, and would be found in the service in some posi- 
 tion if there should be a war. In fact, he accompanied the men to 
 Springfield and remained with them until they were regularly mustered 
 into service. 
 
 At Springfield Grant served on Governor Yates' staff for a time, but 
 was soon appointed colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois 
 Volunteers. This was the beginning of Grant's official military life in 
 the Civil war. a beginning that had a glorious ending within four years 
 Avhen he stood at the head of all the armies of the Union, and had con- 
 quered ever}- foe in the field. The history of Grant's military career 
 covers too large a page to be given here in even an abridged form. It is 
 well known to every intelligent reader. 
 
 After the war General Grant, for he now held the full title of "Gen- 
 eral," created for him by act of congress, served as secretary of war, ''ad 
 interim,'" during the administration of President Johnson. In 1868, he 
 was elected president of the United States, and again in 1872. He never 
 returned to Illinois as a resident, his later life having been spent in New 
 York city. During 1877, and parts of the two following years. General 
 Grant made a tour of the world, and was received everywhere with the 
 highest honors. He died at Mount McGregor, New York, on July 23, 
 1885. His tomb, overlooking the Hudson river, is one of the most con- 
 spicuous objects on Riverside Heights in New York city. A writer in the 
 "Encyclopedia Britannica," says of him, "Altogether, in spite of some 
 shortcomings. Grant was a massive, noble and lovable personality, well 
 fit to be remembered as one of the heroes of a great nation."
 
 |ol)n II ^onmon 
 
 BRILLIANT career was that of John R. Thompson, 
 nationally known as a restaurant owner and an art con- 
 yV kr noissenr. It was characteristic of him that he never 
 -*^^ ^^ stopped short of the successful accomplishment of his 
 purpose. He certainly won and well deserved the proud 
 American title of a self-made man, as his prosperity was 
 the direct outcome and reward of his own labors. His plans were always 
 carefully made and promptly executed and his entire program was a 
 constructive one. He builded for the present and eagerly grasped the 
 opportunities that pointed to future advancement. Moreover, his busi- 
 ness career was the embodiment of the high ideal of service which is 
 being so strongly stressed at the present day. 
 
 Illinois was ever proud to number Mr. Thompson among her native 
 sons. He was born in Vermilion county, November 13, 1865, his parents 
 being John R. and Elizabeth (Wright) Thompson, whose family in- 
 cluded eleven children: Morton W., of Danville, Illinois, now deceased; 
 Lincoln; Anna, the wife of E. J. Boorde of Hoopeston, Illinois; Nellie 
 F., living in Los Angeles; John R., whose name introduces this review; 
 Gertrude, the wife of R. S. Swaim of Wilmette; U. S., living in Homer, 
 Illinois; Maude; Mrs. Francis Littell, of Fithian, who has passed away; 
 Harry, formerly of Los Angeles but now deceased; and Lena R., who 
 became the wife of E. C. Frady and has departed this life. 
 
 The youthful experiences of John R. Thompson were those which 
 usually fall to the lot of the farm-bred boy, for he remained upon his 
 father's farm to the age of sixteen years, after which he supplemented 
 his rural school education by two years' study in the normal school at 
 Danville, Illinois. Thus equipped for the practical duties of life, he 
 started out in the business world by opening a general store in the little 
 town of Fithian, near his home, and the new venture prospered, but he 
 felt that the opportunities in that locality were too limited for one of his 
 ambitious nature. 
 
 In 1891 Mr. Thompson was married and then, having sold his Fithian 
 store, he and his wife came to Chicago to visit the World's Columbian 
 Exposition. He is responsible for the story of his entrance into the res- 
 taurant business. After visiting the fair, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson wan- 
 dered into a restaurant on South State street, where they found the 
 meal not particularly delectable, while the coffee was very bad. "I can 
 make a better cup of coffee than that myself," said Mr. Thompson, to 
 
 173
 
 174 3^o!)n R. Cijompson 
 
 wliicli the proprietor replied: "Mayhe you want to try it." '"Maybe I 
 do, and I will'" wa^ the rejoinder of Mr. Thompson, and the proprietor 
 retorted, "'Buy the place and you can." The result of this was that he- 
 fore Mr. Thompson left the restaurant he had agreed to make the pur- 
 chase and assume the mortgage. Previous restaurant owners had failed 
 in business there, but he started out with the objective of adequate 
 service and it was not long before the public recognized the fact that 
 palatable meals might be secured in that establishment. Almost from 
 the beginning profits accrued and such was the raj)id success of the 
 new venture that in 1894 Mr. Thompson became proprietor of two 
 other restaurants and from that time forward steadily increased the 
 number that be owned, not confining his attention to Chicago alone, 
 although be was proprietor of many "Thompson restaurants'" here, but 
 entering business circles in other cities, where his restaurants met with 
 equal favor and a liberal patronage. The steady growth of the business 
 made him one of the foremost restaurateurs in the United States, in 
 which connection he was controlling business interests that mounted an- 
 nuallv into the millions, owning a larger number of restaurants than any 
 other man in the United States. One of the marked characteristics of 
 his success came through bis ability to judge human nature, so that he 
 was able to select as managers for bis various restaurants men most capa- 
 ble of performing the duties that devolved upon them. It was always 
 his custom to show that he had confidence in them and by his own kind- 
 liness and consideration he won their unfaltering loyalty and support. 
 All who entered his employ bore testimony to his unfailing thoughtful- 
 ness and kindliness toward those in his service. 
 
 Reared upon a farm and being a great lover of horses, bis interest 
 in fine stock never left him and when be could indulge his taste in that 
 direction he established an extensive live stock farm at Fithian in Ver- 
 milion county and o\vned some of the finest horses of the middle west, 
 winning many ribbons and racing trophies as the years went by. 
 
 As stated, it was in 1891 that Mr. Thompson was married. Miss Rose 
 Holloway of Georgetown, Illinois, becoming his bride on the 5th of Au- 
 gust of that year. She is a daughter of Captain George W. Holloway, who 
 was a Virginian by birth and who bad a brilliant Civil war record, serv- 
 ing in the I nion Army in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry. He participated in fifteen different engagements, 
 among which were some of the hardest fought battles of that long and 
 sanguinary struggle, including the battles of Lookout Mountain and 
 Missionary Ridge. .4fter the war he became a merchant at Georgetown, 
 Illinois. John R. and Rose (Holloway) Thompson became parents of 
 three children: John R., Ruth E. and Florence H. The daughters are 
 now Mrs. W. David Owen and Mrs. Harry Thomas. The former has
 
 Joijn X^. Cftompson 175 
 
 three children — Florence Louise, Ruth and David John, while Mrs. 
 Thomas has one child, Cynthia Rose. The son, John R. Thompson, 
 Jr., has become the capable successor of his father in business. He mar- 
 ried Miss Lois Bell, of Chicago, and they have three children: Eleanore 
 Rose, Lois and Pauline. Mr. Thompson took the keenest delight in his 
 grandchildren, who were frequently with him, as his son and daughters 
 both lived near his home in Lake Forest, so that scarcely a day ever 
 passed that he did not spend some time in the companionship of the 
 vounger generation. The family circle was broken by the hand of death 
 when on the 17th of June. 1927, the husband and father passed away. For 
 several years he had been in ill health, had been a patient at Johns 
 Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, had visited the health resorts of New 
 York and of Palm Beach and had also gone for rest in Bad-Nauheim, 
 Germany, but all to no avail, and at his beautiful Lake Forest home 
 he passed away. It had been one of the delights of his life, as his wealth 
 increased, to surround himself with art treasures and he possessed some 
 of the most notable paintings to be found in the Chicago district, his 
 collection being valued at more than a million dollars and containing 
 some of the outstanding works of the old masters. He had a strong love 
 for beauty, manifest in many ways, and at the same time he possessed 
 a dominant civic spirit that sought progress along many lines of public 
 welfare. It was Mr. Thompson who, with a strong belief that revolvers 
 could never serve a useful purpose, advocated laws to abolish their 
 manufacture and sale. A stalwart republican in his political views, he 
 became a member of the count>- central committee of his party and in 
 1907 was elected to the oflSce of county treasurer, filling the four-year 
 term. He was also at one time a candidate for the republican nomination 
 for mayor but afterAvard, at the request of his wife, withdrew from poli- 
 tics. However, he never put aside his keen interest in all those activities 
 which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. Fraternally he 
 was a Mason who attained the Knight Templar degree in St. Bernard 
 Commandery of Chicago and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish 
 Rite in the Oriental Consistory. In a quiet way he gave most liberally 
 to all benevolent and charitable movements, was a generous supporter 
 of churches and helped in every way to advance the city's welfare and 
 the standards of life. One of his closest friends spoke of him as a man 
 of the most indomitable courage and it was recognized by all that he 
 never faltered in the performance of any task to which he set himself 
 nor stopped short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose. He 
 was a man of strong and pleasing personality who easily won friends 
 and retained their friendship because of his appreciation of the good 
 qualities in others. The course of his life was ever that of a high-minded 
 man, imbued with an interest in all that is of cultural value, while at
 
 176 
 
 John U. Cbompson 
 
 the same time his intensely practical nature enabled him to achieve 
 notable success in business affairs, so that his record should have inspira- 
 tional value to all who read it. The circle of his friends included many 
 of the most distinguished resideuts of Chicago and elsewhere, but such 
 was the warmth and breadth of his nature that he never forgot the asso- 
 ciates of his humbler early days. He stood at all times as a man 
 among men.
 
 L.'SfiAKY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSli / OF ILLINOIS
 
 Slrtljur |31aijueij |one0 
 
 ,RTHUR BLAYNEY JONES, who was a director of Mar- 
 shall Field & Company and for many years acted as pri- 
 vate secretary to the late Marshall Field, was born in 
 Llanbadarn-fawr, near Aberystw7th, Wales, October 21, 
 1851. At an early age. after the death of his father, he 
 was reared in the family of his paternal uncle, John 
 Jones, and obtained his early education in his native land. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Jones came to Chicago with another uncle, Richard 
 Jones, and found employment with Andrew J. Brown, a lawyer, and 
 William C. Dow, a real estate man, the two having an office together. 
 It was while thus engaged that Mr. Jones began to gain a knowledge of 
 real estate law which proved of immense value to him in his subsequent 
 career. As he progressed in business he felt the need of a more complete 
 education and for some time he attended classes in a night school. 
 
 It was in the middle '70s that Mr. Jones entered the employ of Mar- 
 shall Field & Company and soon afterward he attracted the attention of 
 Mr. Field, who offered him the position of private secretary. Accepting 
 the offer, he thus served for more than twenty-five years, or until the 
 death of Mr. Field in 1906, and it is probable that no one was more 
 familiar with the interests, the ideas and the ideals of the founder of 
 the world's most gigantic mercantile enterprise than was Mr. Jones. Mr. 
 Field greatly relied upon the financial judgment of his secretary, whom 
 he recognized as a man of keen and clear vision, and under the will of 
 his employer he was made a trustee of the Field estate and served in that 
 capacity for tA\enty-one years. He also had extensive interests as a direc- 
 tor of Marshall Field & Company and was likewise a trustee of other 
 important estates, including that of Joseph N. Field, father of Stanley 
 Field. For many years he was a trustee of the Field Museum of Natural 
 History and he served on the board of trustees of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association of Chicago, to which he contributed liberally. In- 
 terested in all civic enterprises, he was a sponsor of the new Civic Opera 
 House. 
 
 In the spring of 1884 Mr. Jones purchased from the late J. Seymour 
 Currey the old Currey homestead on Hinman avenue in Evanston and 
 there resided for twenty-one years, and there his son, Howard B. Jones, 
 still lives in the house in which he was born. It was in 1905 that Arthur 
 B. Jones purchased the present beautiful family residence at 2204 
 
 179
 
 180 Arthur '13lapncp Jones 
 
 Orrington avenue. He was greatly attached to bis home and found his 
 keenest joy in his family life. 
 
 It was on the 5th of October, 1880, that Mr. Jones was married to 
 Miss Eliza Anne Thomas, a daughter of John Bevan and Anne (James) 
 Thomas, who were early residents of Chicago, whence they afterward 
 removed to a farm on the shore of Lake Michigan, in the vicinity of 
 Racine, Wisconsin. Both the Thomas and James families were of Welsh 
 ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Jones became the parents of five daughters and 
 two sons, of whom Ethel and Delwin died in infancy. Mabel Anne is the 
 wife of Milton W. \^'ilker and resides with her mother at 2204 Orrington 
 avenue in Evanston. Ida Ruth is the wife of Ralph Hayden, of Monterey, 
 California, and has one son, Rufus Lyford. Howard Bevan, of Evanston, 
 married Grace Hayden and has three children: Alice Anne, Howard 
 Bevan. Jr., and Hoyt Llewellyn. Margaret May is the wife of Rudolph 
 Alexander Clemen, of Winnetka, Illinois, and their two sons are Arthur 
 Taylor and Rudolph Alexander, Jr. Florence Kathryn is the wife of 
 Draper Allen, of Birmingham, Michigan, and has become the mother of 
 a son, Thomas Draper. 
 
 Mr. Jones was a man of deeply religious feeling and a leading mem- 
 ber of the First Presbyterian Church of Evanston. He always maintained 
 a deep attachment for his native country and was a liberal supporter of 
 various Welsh organizations in Chicago. With his passing on the 21st of 
 February, 1927, Illinois lost one of her valued and representative citi- 
 zens. He always took the keenest interest in the progress of city and 
 state and was especially helpful toward her charitable organizations and 
 institutions which look toward the benefit of mankind along many lines. 
 Therefore in his will he made liberal bequests, giving ten thousand dol- 
 lars to the Evanston Hospital Association, the Presbyterian Hospital of 
 Chicago and the Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago. The Art 
 Institute of Chicago received an equal amount and to the Young Men's 
 Christian Association of Evanston, the Associated Charities of Evanston, 
 the United Charities of Chicago and the Cambrian Benevolent Society 
 he gave five thousand dollars each, while two thousand dollars was his 
 gift to the Field Museum of Natural History. His was a life free from 
 ostentation and display but it was far-reaching in its influence and its 
 effects. His aid was given where a great majority would benefit. He 
 delighted in those cultural things which make life broader, better and 
 sweeter, and the whole trend of his career was along a constructive line 
 for the benefit of the interests with which he was associated.
 
 Pilliam Jieiuis g0D0kin0 
 
 i)ILLIAM LEWIS HODGKINS long figured prominently in 
 contracting circles of Chicago as president of the 
 
 WkC Brownell Improvement Company, with which he was 
 ^ continuously identified during the last three decades of 
 his life. He was a native son of Chicago, born May 15, 
 1875, his parents being Jefferson and Jennie (Lewis) 
 Hodgkins. His early education was supplemented by a course of study 
 at Purdue University of La Fayette. Indiana, from which he was gradu- 
 ated with the class of 1897. The same year he entered the service of 
 the Brownell Improvement Company of Chicago, contractors for public 
 improvements, of which organization he became president, capably di- 
 recting its extensive operations throughout the remainder of his life. He 
 was a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment, and his execu- 
 tive ability and excellent management brought to the concern ^dth 
 which he was associated a large degree of success. 
 
 On the 24th of November, 1903, in Chicago, Mr. Hodgkins was 
 united in marriage to Miss Mae Press and they became the parents of 
 one son, William Press. Mrs. Hodgkins, who survives her husband, 
 resides at 229 Lake Shore drive, Chicago, and enjoys an enviable social 
 position. 
 
 Mr. Hodgkins exercised his right of franchise in support of the men 
 and measures of the republican party, believing its principles most 
 conducive to good government. His name was on the membership rolls 
 of the Chicago Association of Commerce, the Chicago Historical Society, 
 the Greek letter fraternity Sigma Nu and the University, Builders', Lake 
 Geneva and Racquet Clubs. Golf, motoring and fishing constituted his 
 favorite forms of recreation. Mr. Hodgkins passed away near Little 
 Current. Ontario, Canada, July 6, 1927, when fifty-two years of age, and 
 his death brought a sense of deep bereavement to his large circle of 
 friends as well as to the members of his immediate family, who cherish 
 the memory of a most devoted and loving husband and father. 
 
 181
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSIls' OF ILIINQk;
 
 ^^txy^^i^^
 
 (fjeoroe (fucrell Jlutton 
 
 
 T 
 
 '^^Mi 
 
 
 HE PORTALS of memory open and disclose to us our yes- 
 terdays — days that in the case of George Everell Dutton 
 were fraught with notable achievement, for he hecame 
 one of the outstanding business men and citizens not 
 only of Sycamore, where he made his home, but of Illi- 
 nois. The city in which he lived was proud to number 
 him among her native sons. In the work of Francis Murray Huston and 
 Andrew Russel entitled, '"Financing an Empire — History of Banking in 
 Illinois," published in 1926, the following tribute was accorded to him: 
 "George Everell Dutton, capitalist, lumber merchant and banker, resid- 
 ing at Sycamore, is the representative in the present generation of a fam- 
 ily whose name has ever been an honored one here and his record also 
 reflects credit upon the family history. The financial ability of his father. 
 General Everell Fletcher Dutton, veteran of the Civil war, active in 
 politics and successful as a banker, is possessed by the son, who is con- 
 servative, yet enterprising and up-to-date in his methods and a successful 
 financier of ^v4de experience . . . His life record stands in contra- 
 distinction to the generally accepted fact that the sons of wealthy men 
 are never successful in business. Mr. Dutton, on the contrary, is Avell 
 known as a man of marked energy, displaying excellent capability and 
 management and keen discernment in investments." 
 
 George Everell Dutton was the elder of the two sons of General Ev- 
 erell Fletcher and Rosina Adelpha (Paine) Dutton. The father was 
 born in Sullivan county. New Hampshire, January 4, 1838, and in 1844 
 accompanied his parents, Hon. William P. and Mrs. Dutton, to Illinois. 
 After two years the family home was established in Sycamore, where E. 
 F. Dutton attended the public schools. He also studied in Mount Morris, 
 Illinois, and in Beloit, Wisconsin, and following the removal of the 
 family to Kansas in 1857 he assisted his father in farm work for a year. 
 Returning to Sycamore, he filled the position of deputy clerk until April, 
 1861. Responding to the call for troops at the outbreak of the Civil 
 war, he became a member of the Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry 
 and was chosen first lieutenant of Company F. Then followed the long 
 years of arduous military service, in which he participated in many of 
 the most memorable and hotly contested engagements of the conflict. 
 His loyalty and his efficiency in military service are indicated in the 
 constant promotions that brought him upward to the colonelcy of his 
 regiment, while gallantry and meritorious service in the campaign in 
 
 185
 
 186 aeorgc (g^crcll Diitton 
 
 Georgia and the Carolinas gained for him the brevet of brigadier gen- 
 eral. After a continuous ser\ice of four years and two months he was 
 mustered out in Washington, June 7, 1865. General E. F. Dutton Camp, 
 No. 49, Sons of Veterans, was named in his honor. 
 
 Returning to his home in Sycamore folloAving the cessation of hostil- 
 ities between the north and the south. General Everell Fletcher Dutton 
 was elected clerk of the circuit court of De Kalb county in 1868 and 
 served most acceptably for eight years. In the winter of 1877 he was 
 elected clerk of the house of representatives and the following year was 
 chosen clerk of the northern grand division of the supreme court of 
 Illinois, ser\'ing until December 1, 1884. In the previous year he had 
 become one of the large stockholders of the Sycamore National Bank, 
 of which he was later chosen president, filling the office until his death 
 June 8, 1900. He was also largely interested in other banks and was 
 the owner of ten thousand acres of improved land, principally in Minne- 
 sota and the eastern sections of North and South Dakota. In politics 
 he was ever a stalwart republican and he held membership in the Grand 
 Army of the Republic and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He 
 long ranked as one of the distinguished citizens of De Kalb county, hon- 
 ored and respected by all who knew him. Both he and his wife were 
 members of the Universalist Church of Sycamore. Mrs. Dutton was a 
 native of Herkimer county. New York, and a daughter of Harmon and 
 Clarinda (Van Home) Paine, who in 1853 became residents of Syca- 
 more. Mrs. Dutton's great-grandfather, Thomas Van Home, was a sol- 
 dier of the Revolutionary Avar and thus she became a member of the 
 Daughters of the Revolution. By her marriage she had two sons, George 
 Everell, born May 8, 1866, and William Paine, April 25, 1872. 
 
 George Everell Dutton, following the completion of his studies in the 
 Sycamore schools, attended Lombard College at Galesburg, Illinois, 
 and was numbered among its alumni of 1889. As a college student and 
 also in later years he was much in demand as a singer, for he possessed 
 a splendid baritone voice that contributed to the pleasure of many social 
 and civic gatherings. His business training was received under his father's 
 direction in the Sycamore National Bank. He entered the service of the 
 institution in a humble capacity, practically as a janitor, and was gradu- 
 ally promoted as he demonstrated his fitness for positions of increased 
 responsibility and importance, thus becoming thoroughly familiar with 
 every phase of the banking business. Upon his father's death he suc- 
 ceeded to the presidency of the Sycamore National Bank, of which, he 
 remained the executive head until 1901. In 1912 he purchased a con- 
 trolling interest in the Pierce Trust & Savings Bank, which was renamed 
 the First Trust & Savings Bank of Sycamore in 1925 and of which he 
 continued as president until his life's labors were ended. As manager of
 
 (George Coetell Dutton 187 
 
 his father's estate he conducted extensive and important affairs with 
 marked ability and with an efficiency that largely increased the value of 
 the property. He and his brother were for some time actively engaged in 
 the manufacture of lumber, which they sold to the wholesale trade, own- 
 ing some seventy-five million feet of raw lumber, together ^vith a mill 
 near T^ innipeg, Canada, which had an operating capacity of one hun- 
 dred thousand feet daily. He took keen pride in his extensive farm 
 holdings in Minnesota and the Dakotas and spent several weeks each 
 year in personal supervision of his holdings there. His business inter- 
 ests in Chicago were also large and in everything that he undertook he 
 manifested keen discrimination and sound judgment. He always worked 
 along constructive lines and the results achieved were most gratifying, 
 while at all times his business activities were of a character that con- 
 tributed to the progress, prosperity and welfare of the communities in 
 which he operated. Mr. Dutton was very active in the merging of the 
 Illinois Wire & Cable Company and the Chicago Insulated Wire & Cable 
 Company under the name of the Inland Wire & Cable Company, an 
 Elinois corporation, becoming chairman of the board. Prior to the con- 
 solidation he had been president of the Illinois Wire & Cable Company 
 for a number of years. About the time of his death the Inland Wire & 
 Cable Company was taken over by the Anaconda Copper Corporation 
 and the name was again changed to Anaconda Wire & Cable Company. 
 On the 31st of July, 1901, Mr. Dutton was united in marriage to Miss 
 Jennie M. Wellings of Potsdam, New York, and they became the par- 
 ents of six children two of whom died in infancy. The others are Marion 
 Louise, Mrs. Rose Ida Stiles, George E., Jr., and Mary Jane, all of whom 
 reside in Sycamore, as does Mrs. Dutton. Their home is one of the most 
 beautiful of the city and equally attractive by reason of its hospitality. 
 
 In his later years Mr. Dutton traveled quite extensively in company 
 with his wife and was spending the winter in Miami, Florida, when death 
 called him on the 4th of March, 1929. A feeling of deep sorrow spread 
 throughout the community in which he lived and also throughout the 
 various districts to which his business interests called him. He had al- 
 ways been a progressive and public-spirited citizen of Sycamore and was 
 keenly interested in ever>' project that tended to promote the city's up- 
 building and improvement. He was a generous contributor to the Com- 
 munity Center and some years ago he had built a large section of the 
 mausoleum in the cemetery, dedicating it to the memory of his father 
 and mother. He was commander of General E. F. Dutton Camp, No. 49, 
 Sons of Veterans, which was named in honor of his father. He had an 
 intense interest in young men and was always willing and anxious to 
 assist them in every way. His benefactions were most unostentatious and 
 seldom became known to any save the individuals whom he had helped.
 
 188 (g>rorgr (Cncrrll Ciitton 
 
 One who knew Mr. Dutton long and well said: "Since my arrival in De 
 Kalh county, socially and in business ways I have been associated with 
 George E. Dutton. and nt)t for an instant during all those years has the 
 pleasure of that association been marred. INIr. Dutton was a genial, lov- 
 ing friend, helpful in every human way. anticipating many times the 
 needs or desires of his friends." Tliis iiulicates clearly the characteristics 
 which won for him the enduring regard of all with whom he was asso- 
 ciated. He was an outstanding figure in business circles, capable of 
 command, efficient in controlling mammoth enterprises, but at the same 
 time he had those human qualities which endear the individual to his 
 associates and cause his memory to be cherished and revered for long 
 years after he has passed on. 
 
 The following editorial appeared in The State Messenger, the offi- 
 cial publication of the Illinois Universalist Convention, in its issue of 
 April. 1929: We regret to announce the death of Mr. George E. Dutton 
 of Sycamore, a lifelong Universalist. a graduate of Lombard College and a 
 prominent citizen of Sycamore. The passing of a prominent citizen is a 
 distinct loss to any community and the Universalist denomination has 
 also suffered the loss of a stanch supporter and member in the death of 
 Mr. Dutton. His outstanding achievement as a Universalist was the work- 
 ing out of the bequest of Mrs. Mary E. Stevens, in conjunction with his 
 co-trustees, Messrs Fox and Parkes, which found expression in the estab- 
 lishment of the Community Center of Sycamore. . . . Lombard 
 College can claim some measure of joy and pride in the life of Mr. Dut- 
 ton, one of those graduates who has made himself felt in the community 
 in which he lived, in a substantial way. Yt e can find no more fitting 
 tribute than the editorial of the Sycamore Tribune which we quote in 
 part, and to which we can heartily and sincerely subscribe. 
 
 '"That community can count itself fortunate when its men of affairs 
 and wealth have such a kindly and benevolent personality as that of 
 Mr. Dutton. 
 
 "Only as one has realized what powerful negative influence a man 
 in the position Mr. Dutton occupied can have, may one appreciate how 
 much a personality means to a community. 
 
 "Mr. Dutton was immeasurably more than a successful business man. 
 He entered into the social life of the community and was its benefactor. 
 
 "Fortunately, there is something indestructible about personality. 
 Death cannot entirely take George Dutton from us. His influence is en- 
 graved deeply on the lives of all his acquaintances. The inspiration of 
 his life goes on through them to others. 
 
 "The life of Mr. Dutton affords a remarkable example for leaders in 
 every community. There is no denying the powerful position which a 
 man of wealth and affairs occupies in the life of a city. V^ e repeat, that
 
 @corgc OBucrcll Dutton 189 
 
 the community is iudeed fortunate if it* outstanding leaders are of such 
 admirable type." 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted by the Sycamore Chamber 
 of Commerce at a regular meeting of its board of directors held on Tues- 
 day, March 12, 1929. 
 
 Whereas, death has lately removed from this community, and from 
 our membership, one of Sycamore's foremost citizens, George E. Dutton, 
 and. 
 
 Whereas, by his untimely death in the full maturity of his power and 
 usefulness in the many activities of this community, our people have 
 suffered a great loss which the members of this association most keenly 
 realize. 
 
 Now, Therefore, be it resolved by the Sycamore Chamljer of Com- 
 merce, acting through its President and Board of Directors, that: 
 
 First: In the field of finance George E. Dutton was a master. The 
 high position he had attained as one of the leading financiers of Illinois 
 has long been a matter of great pride to us. 
 
 Second: His knowledge of men and affairs, his sound judgment and 
 strong common sense, and his great experience in business life were 
 very valuable to our organization, and we shall miss the material help 
 which he has so often and freely extended in promoting and assuring 
 the success of many enterprises in which Sycamore has been interested. 
 His unfailing courtesy and kindliness will long be remembered by all of 
 us. 
 
 Third: Be it further resolved that a copy of these resolutions shall be 
 spread upon the records of this organization, and that a copy shall be 
 sent to the members of the family of Mr. Dutton by the Secretary, and 
 a copy delivered to the press. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 W. M. McAllister, 
 President, 
 Attest: John G. Cox, 
 
 Secretary.
 
 (Srsemuo lllorrison 
 
 ^ARQUETTE, prompted by missionarv- zeal, made his way 
 down Lake Michigan in an Indian canoe with a few 
 
 A yr \zy followers to the present site of Chicago. Joliet, coming 
 
 -!-▼-■- I (a. to America for the purpose of extending the commercial 
 connections of France, also visited the site of the city. 
 In the early part of the nineteenth centurj' a few white 
 men had gathered in this region but not until 1807 was there any attempt 
 at that centralization of interests which results in the founding and 
 building of cities. In that year, however. Fort Dearborn was built and 
 became, as it were, the nucleus of the future metropolis. It was on the 
 24th of June of the same year that Orsemus Morrison was born — a child 
 destined in his manhood to play an important part in the development 
 and upbuUding of the city which Avas to spring up almost as if by magic 
 on the shore of Lake Michigan. His life record is that of marked suc- 
 cess in business and of great public usefulness. 
 
 The Morrisons were of a Scotch family of great antiquity. The island 
 of Lewis, the largest and most northerly of the Hebrides, was governed at 
 a very early date by the confederate clans of the MacLeods, Macaulays 
 and Morrisons. In time the adventurous young sons of the chiefs of 
 these clans made their way to England and subsequently to America. 
 John Morrison, who became the progenitor of the family in the new 
 world, was a landholder in New Hampshire as early as 1735 and through- 
 out that century representatives of the name lived in New England and 
 the east. Ephraim Morrison, the father of Orsemus Morrison, was a 
 resident of Cambridge. New York, and in addition to the management 
 of his farming interests he engaged in the manufacture of the real 
 beaver hat — the woolly kind that today is represented as the head cover- 
 ing of the typical Lncle Sam. 
 
 It was Avhile the family were residents of Cambridge that the birth 
 of Orsemus Morrison occurred and his youthful days Avere spent under 
 the parental roof until, desiring a wider field of enterprise than a New 
 York farm offered, he obtained a position as overseer on the construc- 
 tion of the Erie canal. Later he made his way from Buffalo to Chicago, 
 where he arrived in the early part of 1833. He cast in his lot Av-ith the 
 little village, which then contained only about two hundred and fifty 
 inhabitants. His mechanical skill led him to take up carpentering and 
 contracting. Already the importance of the Chicago harbor was becom- 
 ing recognized and with others he took a contract for dredging the mouth 
 
 191
 
 192 SE>rscimi5 a3orri5on 
 
 of the Chicago river, thus institutiii>: the iniproveincnts wliicli in the 
 course of years have made this the greatest fresh water harbor in the 
 ^\orld. His business ability, his enterprising spirit, his straightforward 
 methods and marked devotion to the pidilic welfare all won for Mr. 
 Morrison a position of leadership in the community, and Cook county 
 called him to office as its first coroner. \^'hile filling that position he 
 held an inquest over a man who was found frozen to death in a stretch 
 of woods bounded by what are now the streets of La Salle, \^'ashington 
 and Randolph. This seems to bring the pioneer period close to the 
 present day and indicates how rapid has been the growth of Chicago, its 
 development being worthy to be classed with the "seven wonders of the 
 world." After retiring from the position of coroner Mr. Morrison was 
 elected street commissioner and later filled the position of alderman, 
 discharging the duties of both with the same fidelity which marked him 
 in every relation of life. His early political allegiance was given to the 
 whig parly. He was a believer in the abolition of slavery and to that 
 cause gave practical aid. ^ hen the republican party was formed to pre- 
 vent its further extension into the north he joined its ranks and was one 
 of its most zealous supporters. 
 
 While filling public ofiice Mr. Morrison also conducted business in- 
 terests of considerable importance. He noted the signs of the times, 
 recognized the fact that Chicago lies within a district of rich fertility, 
 besides possessing a splendid natural harbor, and felt that it must in time 
 become a city of large commercial importance. He manifested his faith 
 in its future by investing in real estate, becoming the owner of extensive 
 property holdings, including the site of the present Morrison Hotel at 
 the corner of Clark and Madison streets. This, together with some 
 adjacent lots, he purchased for two hundred and fifty dollars, receiving 
 a title by patent and signed by Andrew Jackson. This property, which 
 has increased in value with each succeeding year, is still in possession of 
 his direct descendants and is one of the few large income-bearing prop- 
 erties that have remained in direct family possession from the original 
 patentee. jNIr. Morrison was also the purchaser of block seven on the old 
 school section, extending four hundred feet on Harrison and four hun- 
 dred and sixteen feet on Halsted streets — the purchase price being sixty- 
 one dollars. Later he sold one-half of this to his brother, while the re- 
 maining half is now owned by bis children. 
 
 !Mr. Morrison was instrumental in bringing his two brothers and his 
 parents to Chicago and they enjoyed with him the business advantages 
 offered by the young and growing city, all becoming successful. His 
 parents became owners of some fine property on Monroe near Halsted 
 street and at their death Orsemus Morrison gave his share in this prop- 
 erty to younger members of the family who were not so well established 
 as himself.
 
 SDrscmus Cgorrison 193 
 
 After coming to Chicago, Mr. Morrison returned to the east for his 
 bride and was married on the 7th of April, 1836, at East Aurora, Erie 
 county. New York, to Miss Lucy Paul. They were survived by two daugh- 
 ters: Hannah, the widow of George W. Spofford, a sketch of whom is 
 to be found in this work; and Lucy, who became the wife of Hon. D. W. 
 Mills, formerly a member of congress. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mills are 
 now deceased. To his family Mr. Morrison was most devoted and yet 
 his kindliness was not limited by the confines of his own household. He 
 gave freely and generously in charity, yet so unostentatiously that at 
 times even the recipient did not know to whom he was indebted. While 
 he seldom or never allowed his name to appear on subscription lists, at 
 the time of the Civil war his aid to the wives and widows of Union 
 soldiers was given on a princely scale. On his deathbed he said: "In 
 all my life I never have injured anyone willfully and I die owing no 
 man anything." He had not passed the prime of life when on the 4th 
 of January, 1864, he was called to the home beyond. The record which 
 he left is indeed an untarnished one and his memory grows brighter with 
 the passing years, standing in contrast to that of many men who selfishly 
 hoard their wealth for their immediate use. Never for a moment did he 
 forget his obligations to his fellowmen nor were his gifts prompted by a 
 sense of duty but rather were the expression of a most kindly and gener- 
 ous spirit — a recognition of the universal brotherhood of man.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSIT'/ OF ILIINO!?
 
 /^^^%-^^^^y/^
 
 NE OF early Chicago's successful men of affairs, of whom 
 she has good cause to be proud, was W. F. McLaughlin, 
 founder and owner of the widely known coffee firm of 
 W. F. McLaughlin & Company. 
 
 Mr. McLaughlin, the second son of Peter and Anna 
 McLaughlin, was born, October 4, 1827, at the family 
 home, Clonnybacon House, Queens county, Ireland. He was educated 
 at home and at the local school, and later entered Carlow College. By 
 the time that his education there had been completed he had decided 
 that, with his ambitious spirit, he could never be content with the easy- 
 going Irish country life, so he determined to come to America. Accord- 
 ingly in 1850, at the age of twenty-three, he arrived in this country and 
 came immediately to Chicago. Here, he soon secured his first, and only, 
 situation, in the retail grocery store of J. M. Arnold. He remained 
 there long enough to learn something of American customs and business 
 methods, and then started in business for himself at the corner of State 
 and Madison streets. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. McLaughlin married Miss Mary Delanty of Chicago, and 
 to this, the most important and fortunate act of his life, may be attributed 
 a large proportion of his subsequent success. Eight years later his health 
 failed and he was told that he had not much longer to live. That in- 
 domitable courage which during his entire life was one of his most 
 prominent traits would not allow him to accept any such doom and he 
 went immediately to Europe to consult physicians there in whom he had 
 more faith. His confidence was justified and after a few months of 
 treatment abroad he returned to America, spent a year in travel and 
 investigation, and then again entered business life by founding the whole- 
 sale coffee house of W. F. McLaughlin & Company, to which he was to 
 devote the rest of his long, successful and honorable life. He died on 
 the 1st of February, 1905, at the age of seventy-seven years, leaving his 
 widow and four daughters: Mary; Anna, a religious of the Order of the 
 Sacred Heart; Mrs. Martin D. Hardin and Mrs. Charles A. Mair; and 
 three sons: George D., Robert and Frederic. 
 
 Mr. McLaughlin's career was unusual. A small beginning at Eldridge 
 court and State street, with little capital and less trade, with few acquaint- 
 ances and no assistance, grew, by his efforts alone, to be the second 
 largest firm of its kind in the world, with mills and warehouses in 
 Chicago, and branches in the principal coffee-growing countries; and 
 
 197
 
 198 eg. J^. a3cLniighlin 
 
 during all that gro^vlh, throughout all its struggles, its credit was ever 
 the highest, and its owner's word and record ever spotless. 
 
 The great pride with which his family prize his record is not based 
 on his financial success alone, but on the highly honorable manner in 
 which this success was achieved. His mighty courage and will, his high- 
 minded conception of a man's duty in his domestic as in his business life, 
 and his quiet and unswerving allegiance to his principles at whatever 
 cost, were, what so specially distinguished him. As an example — Mr. 
 McLaughlin, though not a prohil)itionist, was strongly opposed to the use 
 of alcoholic drinks, and yet during the lean years when a little more or 
 less money was of vital importance, he let property which he owned lie 
 idle and profitless rather than lease it to be used in the liquor trade. He 
 was a man desiring peace but those who forced him into business fights 
 can testify that once started be never sued for peace, nor gave to an 
 opponent anv cause for rejoicing. He had the intelligence to accurately 
 measure his rights and the ability to maintain them. There were many 
 times during his career when failure loomed very near but no one ever 
 saw in him the slightest sign of perturbation. When the Chicago fire 
 wiped out more than half his capital no one in the ruined city went more 
 quietly and cheerfully to work to build up again his injured fortune, and 
 few succeeded better. 
 
 The business which Mr. McLaughlin founded some fifty years ago is 
 still occupying its leading position in the coffee industry, and is. under 
 the management of his sons George and Frederic, being conducted accord- 
 ing to the policies instituted by its founder.
 
 |uD0C S^Dam (!I. (fliffc 
 
 ]\ THE roster of Illinois' most distinguished and honored 
 citizens appears the name of Judge Adam C. Cliffe, who 
 as la\N-\er and la^nnaker conferred honor and dignity 
 upon the profession which he represented and who as 
 a jurist measured up to the highest standards of service, 
 heing recognized as the peer of the ablest who have ever 
 sat upon the bench in this state. He was widely known for the justice 
 and learning of his decisions and his character at all times bore the im- 
 press of sterling. 
 
 Judge Cliffe was a lifelong resident of Sycamore, De Kalb county, 
 his birth having there occurred June 25, 1869. His father, Thomas 
 Cliffe, a representative of an aristocratic family of St. Helens, Lanca- 
 shire, England, was born May 30, 1831, and in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 
 was married to Mary Ann Collins, a native of Ireland, who became a 
 Latin teacher in the schools of Boston. Leaving New England, they 
 established their home in Sycamore, Illinois, in 1856 and Thomas Cliffe 
 became the first maker of shoes in De Kalb county. 
 
 The youthful days of Adam C. Cliffe were largely devoted to the 
 acquirement of a public school education. He took keen delight in the 
 sports of the period, especially in baseball, and had opportunity to 
 become a professional ball player, but earnest consideration as to his 
 future led him to enter upon a course which ultimately brought him 
 prominence and success. He determined to become a member of the 
 bar and enrolled as a student in the Northwestern University Law School, 
 from which he was graduated in 1897 with the Bachelor of Laws degree. 
 Having completed the course, he at once opened an office in Sycamore, 
 and while advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, he soon gained 
 recognition by reason of the thoroughness with which he prepared his 
 cases and the clearness and force of his arguments in the presentation 
 of a cause before the courts. Steadily his practice grew until it had 
 assumed extensive proportions and he became recognized not only as 
 one of the ablest lawyers of Sycamore but of that entire section of the 
 state. 
 
 It is perhaps natural that the lawyer should figure more prominently 
 in legislative circles than any other class of men. His training and activi- 
 ties especially qualify him for framing the laws which he must later 
 interpret, and in 1908 Judge Cliffe was made the candidate of the 
 republican party, of which he was a supporter from the time that age 
 
 199
 
 200 JiiDgr aotim C. Cliffc 
 
 conferred upon him the right of franchise, to the state legislature. His 
 election follo^ved and for two years he was a member of the house of 
 representatives, giving thoughtful and earnest consideratiim to the vital 
 questions which came up for settlement and putting forth every effort 
 in his power to safeguard the interests of the general public. That the 
 people had confidence in him is indicated in the fact that in 1914 he 
 was sent from his district to the state senate, followed by reelection in 
 1918, and twice during his connection with the upper house of the gen- 
 eral assembly he was elected president pro tempore and he acted as 
 governor of the state during the absence of Governor Lowden. His 
 opinions on matters of vital importance were never hastily formed but 
 were the result of due consideration that made him familiar with every 
 possible angle of a public problem. There are few men who have 
 manifested so strongly that patriotic spirit which recognizes the rights 
 of the majority rather than the minority as did Judge Cliffe. His thought 
 was always constructive in character and this was manifest just as strongly 
 in his law practice as in his legislative career. As a lawyer he discouraged 
 rather than promoted litigation and continually attempted to bring 
 about the settlement of cases out of court. Especially in family troubles 
 did he seek reconciliation rather than divorce and peaceful adjustment 
 rather than strife was ever his controlling motive. The same spirit 
 actuated him in his legislative service and thus it was that he drew to 
 himself the attention of the public and was advanced to judicial honors. 
 On the 10th of February, 1920, he was chosen judge of the court of the 
 sixteenth district of Illinois and served with the utmost distinction until 
 Januar>' 4, 1923, when he resigned to accept an appointment from Presi- 
 dent Harding to the office of United States district judge for the northern 
 district of Illinois. He presided over sessions of the court in Freeport 
 and in Chicago and became recognized as one of the fairest and most 
 impartial judges that have represented the government in this capacity. 
 One familiar with his record said: "In all his rulings Judge Cliffe was 
 rigorously fair, and seldom were any of his decisions appealed to a higher 
 court, so great was the confidence reposed in him by bis fellow citizens. 
 During Governor Lowden's administration he served as acting governor, 
 and on several other occasions he acted as chief magistrate of the state 
 during the governor's absence." 
 
 The increase of the business of the courts, largely owing to the viola- 
 tion of the Volstead law, was the cause of the breakdown which occurred. 
 He made every^ attempt to keep the docket clear, although the business 
 of the court increased many times, and at length on the advice of his 
 phvsicians was forced to seek benefit in rest. In the meantime he had 
 continued a loyal follower of republican principles, in which he so 
 firmly believed, although he never allowed political activity in any way
 
 jjuDgc aoam €. CUtic 201 
 
 to interfere %ntli the faithful performance of his judicial duties. His 
 opinions were regarded as most valuable by the prominent leaders and 
 counselors of the republican party and just prior to his death he was 
 chosen a delegate to the national republican convention in Kansas City, 
 which he was unable to attend. 
 
 On the 12th of September, 1900, Judge Cliffe was married to Miss 
 Edna Sitts, of Franklin Grove, Illinois, a daughter of John D. and 
 Eveline (Lincoln) Sitts, both of whom were natives of the state of New 
 York, and the mother was connected with the same family as President 
 Lincoln. In 1853 John D. Sitts removed from New York to Franklin 
 Grove, Illinois, where he conducted a lumberyard and later a grocery 
 store for more than thirty years, being accounted one of the substantial 
 and valued citizens of that community. The family of Judge and Mrs. 
 Cliffe numbered three children: Thomas Sitts, who was graduated from 
 Northwestern University soon after his father's death with the Bachelor 
 of Arts degree and is now a law student in that institution; Edna Mary, 
 attending the Sycamore high school; and Eveline Lincoln, also in school, 
 who is well known for her musical talent. The unfaltering devotion of 
 Judge Cliffe to his family Avas perhaps his most marked characteristic. 
 Whenever personal or public affairs took him away from home, regard- 
 less of distance he always got in touch with the household before he 
 retired, and while the telephone call might come through at an important 
 point in a political conference, neither politics nor anything else was 
 allowed to interfere with his reception of the message which came to 
 him concerning the health and welfare of his wife and children. 
 
 The Judge Avas also Avidely knoAvn in fraternal circles. He became a 
 Knight Templar and Consistory Mason and also had membership in the 
 Mystic Shrine. He Avas in deep sympathy Avith the high principles of 
 the order and had been elected to the thirty-third degree, Avhich Avas to 
 have been conferred upou him in September, 1928, but death intervened. 
 He also had membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 
 Independent Order of Odd FelloAvs, Knights of Pythias, Modern Wood- 
 men of America, Royal Arcanum and the Loyal Order of Moose. His 
 name Avas on the membership rolls of the Hamilton Club of Chicago and 
 he Avas especially proud of his election to honorary membership in 
 Potter Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He and his family Avor- 
 shipped in the Protestant Episcopal Church. From his youth he A\as 
 keenly interested in baseball and in his later years greatly enjoyed Avatch- 
 ing the game. Further rest and recreation came to him in his large 
 library, containing many rare and beautiful voliunes, Avith the contents 
 of which he Avas broadly familiar. His reading kept him in touch with 
 the world thought of the past and the present and he thus kept in close 
 contact Av-ith the leading minds of the age. He Avas ever a generous
 
 202 JuDgc gpam €. Cliffc 
 
 supporter of worthy civic and charitable projects ami during the World 
 war took a most active part in the United "^'ar Work campaign. His 
 citizenship was of a most practical character, his devotion to the public 
 good being manifest in continuous efforts to promote the standards of 
 citizenship and to bring to others a realization of their obligations and 
 opp()rtunities of that character. 
 
 Judge Cliffe was only in his fifty-ninth year when he passed away 
 at his Sycamore home on June 12, 1928. The De Kalb Daily Chronicle 
 of December 4, 1928, said: "Before a court-room fdled with lawyers, 
 judges and prominent men from all over the northern part of the state, 
 the De Kalb County Bar Association met and held impressive and 
 appropriate services in the memory of the late Federal Judge Adam C. 
 Cliffe of Sycamore. With the kindly features of Judge Cliffe smiling 
 forth from the portrait which hangs above the bench from which he so 
 many times in the past expounded justice, his family and near relatives 
 and the hoSt of friends and associates that he had made during his dis- 
 tinguished career listening, Ex-Governor Frank O. Lowden, Judge Harry 
 Edwards of Dixon, Lee county, and Federal Judge Wilkersou of Chicago 
 spoke with quiet eloquence of the life and career of Judge Adam Cliffe, 
 Judge ^ ilkerson saying that a good man covered all the excellencies that 
 the human form can contain and Judge Cliffe was a good man, one of the 
 best he had ever known in any walk of life. He praised the judge's ever- 
 lasting persistency to get at the justice of every case before him. Judge 
 Edwards outlined the life of Judge Adam Cliffe, told of his early days, 
 how he worked, and how he built his career step by step until, with a 
 breadth of knowledge, wide experience, and a wealth of understanding 
 of human nature, he at last reached the pinnacle of his much honored 
 life when he stepped to the rank of a federal judge, and then, with appar- 
 ently many years ahead in which to devote his vast knowledge and 
 ability to the nation he had served so well, he met his untimely death. 
 Closing, Judge Edwards said that the life of Judge Cliffe stood as an 
 example for officials all over the country, and that if the jurists of the 
 nation would pattern their lives and work after that of Judge Cliffe, 
 much of the evils that clog the machinery of government woidd be elimi- 
 nated, and justice uncovered with greater efficiency. Judge \^ ilkerson 
 told of the five years that he had spent in close association and coopera- 
 tion with Judge Cliffe on the federal bench. He told how Judge Cliffe 
 had been appointed to the federal court at a time when it was burdened 
 with duties, many of which were new; how he had labored faithfully 
 and tirelessly many hours a day to accomplish his tasks, and the respect 
 with which his new associates regarded him. Judge Wilkerson stated 
 that what he believed to be the outstanding characteristic of Judge 
 Cliffe's life was his deep appreciation of the responsibilities that rested
 
 JuDgc gpam €. Cliffe 203 
 
 on his shoulders, that he believed that the life and moral fibre of the 
 nation developed upon the efficient and impartial administration of jus- 
 tice, and that all his work was based upon careful thought and considera- 
 tion. 'Judge Cliffe.' said Judge Wilkerson, 'did not look upon a law-suit 
 as a mere battle of wits, but as a complicated and difficult problem of 
 obtaining justice between man and man.' In concluding. Judge ^ ilker- 
 son stated that Judge Cliffe bad been the hardest working jurist he had 
 ever known, that his life was an inspiration to all who knew him, and 
 that his life, while cut short in its prime, was long in the line of accom- 
 plishments, honor, and distinction. . . . Ex-Governor Frank O. 
 Lowden, with whom for twenty-five years Judge Cliffe enjoyed the closest 
 friendship, was the final speaker. During his life Judge Cliffe often 
 visited the Lowden farm near Oregon, and Ex-Governor Lowden was 
 often the guest of Judge Cliffe. Speaking of his departed friend. Mr. 
 Lowden said that he could think of nothing that was especially outstand- 
 ing of his many virtues, and stated that he was, as a man, 'well-rounded 
 and complete.' He stated that character makes a judge, and character 
 was making Judge Cliffe a great judge. Then the ex-governor went on 
 to tell of Judge Cliffe"s work in both houses of the state legislature dur- 
 ing the distress and bustle of the World war. He told of his reliance 
 upon Judge Cliffe because of his absolute confidence in his integrity of 
 character, and because he 'knew that he would face any problem with 
 steadfast honesty.' He then alluded to the life of the great John 
 Marshall, who 'changed the Constitution from a mere treatise on the 
 principles of law to the laws of a great nation.' Mr. Lowden further 
 stated that he had 'known of no man who had grown more in his later 
 years than had Adam Cliffe." Concluding his address Mr. Lowden stated 
 that 'the federal judiciary' is the custodian of the constitution, and that 
 as long as it is in such hands those who fear the future of this great 
 republic need not despair.' He said that the life of Judge Cliffe had 
 been great and beautiful, and that the entire nation had suffered loss in 
 his death. 
 
 "The meeting of the De Kalb County Bar Association was then 
 brought to a close by the adoption of the following resolutions, which 
 were submitted and signed by the committee of the bar association 
 appointed for that purpose. 
 
 "Whereas, The De Kalb County Bar Association has heard with deep 
 sorrow of the death of our brother, Hon. Adam C. Cliffe, late judge of 
 the United States District Court; and 
 
 "Whereas, in the passing of Judge Cliffe his nation has lost an up- 
 right and courageous judge; his state a safe and powerful leader; his 
 county an honored and respected citizen and his family a loving and 
 affectionate father;
 
 204 JiiOgc aPtim €. Cliffc 
 
 "Therefore It Be Resolved, That we express to his family our deepest 
 sympathy in their hereavement; that the clerk transmit a copy of these 
 resolulioiis to the family of the deceased, and that a copy thereof he 
 spread at larjic upon the circuit and county court records of De Kalh 
 county." 
 
 The Sycamore Trihune of Decemher 4, 1928, also puhlished an article 
 descrihing tlie impressive memorial held for Judj^e Cliffe in the circuit 
 court room on the preceding; afternoon. 
 
 At the session of the house of representatives on Thursday, fehru- 
 ary 14, 1929, Mr. Dixon of this district offered the following resolution 
 and asked unanimous consent to suspend the rules for its immediate 
 consideration. The resolution was unanimously adopted by a rising 
 vote: 
 
 "Whereas, We have learned with deep regret of the death of the Hon- 
 orahle Adam C. Cliffe, of Sycamore, Illinois, on June 12, 1928: and 
 
 '■\^4iereas. Mr. Cliffe served as a member of the House of Representa- 
 tives of the Forty-sixth General Assembly and of the Senate of the Forty- 
 ninth, Fiftieth and Fifty-first General Assemblies, was judge of the Cir- 
 cuit Court of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit and judge of the United 
 States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; and 
 
 "\^'hereas, He was regarded by his colleagues as sincere, capable, 
 honest, conservative and fearless in the discharge of his duties, and 
 rendered valued and efficient service to his constituents and to the State 
 and Nation; and 
 
 "Whereas, By means of his numerous enviable characteristics he 
 gained for himself and occupied a place in the affections of all with 
 whom he came in contact and ^vas an honored citizen of this State and 
 the community in which he lived; therefore, be it 
 
 "Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Fifty-sixth Gen- 
 eral Assembly, the Senate concurring herein. That we express our deep 
 regret at the loss, to the State and to his community, of this honored 
 citizen and public servant, and extend our sincere sympathy to the mem- 
 bers of his family; and, be it further 
 
 "Resolved, That this preamble and resolution be spread on the 
 Journal of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and that a suit- 
 ably engrossed copy thereof be forwarded to the family." 
 
 There was scarcely a household in all the section of the state in 
 which he lived that did not feel a sense of personal loss on receiving the 
 news of Judge Cliffe's demise — he had served his people so loyally in 
 public office, had been so faithful in his friendships and so kindly in his 
 contacts with the public at all times. And into the great judicial body of 
 Illiiu»is there came, too, that deep sense of personal bereavement. He 
 was regarded as one of the most respected and courageous judges of
 
 3!UDgc aoam €. Cliffe 
 
 205 
 
 Illinois — a fitting peer of the ablest Avho have sat upon the federal bench 
 — and when he was called home the federal and other courts of the state 
 closed in his honor. Chief Justice Sabath of the superior court said: 
 "He was one of my best friends, was broad-minded and always a humani- 
 tarian." Senator Deneen summed up his opinion of Judge Cliffe in the 
 words: "A fine man, a fine lawyer, and a most highly respected judge." 
 Judge Frank W. Shepherd voiced the sentiment of the bench and bar 
 when he said: "I first had the pleasure of meeting Judge Cliffe in the 
 forty-sixth general assembly at Springfield in 1909. He was a most com- 
 panionable man, not a floor leader, but a fine committee worker and an 
 ideal legislator. When appointed to the circuit bench he made a most 
 enviable record there. He was a man of poise, dignity and patience, and 
 the bench has lost in him a splendid jurist." The measure of a man at 
 last is not expressed in the power and prestige which were his but in that 
 which he takes with him to the grave. Judge Cliffe earned success and 
 earned it more than once. His outstanding qualities were those of loyalty 
 and understanding, of tolerance, sympathy and faith in his fellowmen, 
 and he was followed to the grave by great friendliness.
 
 LtBRARy 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSli'/ Of ILL I NO'S
 
 loljn Cl)n0toy{)er Pucttinocr 
 
 OHN CHRISTOPHER RUETTINGER, noted authority 
 on American construction, was born in Hamilton, Ohio, 
 September 29, 1871, the son of Gottlieb and Kunigunda 
 (Bergman) Ruettinger. The father emigrated from Ba- 
 varia to this country in 1868 and located in Hamilton, 
 Ohio, where he engaged in merchant tailoring through- 
 out the remainder of his life, passing away at the age of eighty-four years. 
 His children ^vere Barbara, John C, Mary and Louise, and of these Bar- 
 bara and Mar}' are still residents of Hamilton, Ohio. 
 
 ^ e quote the follomng appreciation and review of the career of 
 John C. Ruettinger by a contemporarj^ writer: "Beautiful indeed is a 
 life filled with accomplishments and the realization of an unvarying pur- 
 pose. A person whose life has been spent in accomplishments is a never 
 failing inspiration for good to all Avho know him. ^ hat finer accomplish- 
 ments could a man have than architectural monuments in stone and steel 
 which Avere erected under his supervision and guidance? Yet, such a man 
 need not be a scholar; he need not have been born of noble parents nor 
 have been educated in university or college. Indeed, the more humble the 
 beginning, the greater these accomplishments become. 
 
 "Visualize a man born of huml)le parents who lived to be known as 
 one of the foremost builders of his time: a man whose never-tiring energy 
 and foresight made possible the construction of monuments which will 
 stand for all time. Such a man was John C. Ruettinger. The son of a 
 merchant tailor, he was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1871. Early in life 
 he learned the necessity for hard Avork, and in achieving success, he never 
 forgot this lesson. He attended the sessions of the Zion Lutheran School 
 and later the public schools of Hamilton, but early learned that he must 
 work in order to help out the income of the family. There was a builder 
 in toAvn who needed a dependable boy who was willing to work, so 
 Ruettinger went to work for J. F. Bender and Brothers Company as 
 an office boy and later worked up to estimator and draftsman for this 
 firm. 
 
 "However, Ruettinger soon realized that his chances for advancement 
 in Hamilton were rather limited, and like many other young men eager 
 to attain success, he longed to try his luck in a large city, away from home 
 ties and their accompanying restrictions. He did not wait long to carry 
 out this idea, for at nineteen he came to Chicago and went to work for 
 Colonel Shipman, at that time one of Chicago's leading architects, and 
 
 209
 
 210 John Christopher Uurttingcr 
 
 Kuettinger undoubtedly gained some valuable experience through his 
 association with this man. After working for Colonel Shipman for about 
 six months. Mr. Ruettinger secured employment with Grace and Hyde, 
 who were general building contractors in Chicago. His energy and ability 
 were soon recognized, and in 1891 he became general manager of this 
 concern, which position he held for about twenty years. The firm name 
 was changed to the \^"illiam Grace Company and under Mr. Ruettinger's 
 supervision thev built such monuments as the Cook County Courthouse 
 and Rock Island Station in Chicago as well as similar buildings in New 
 York and other large cities. By this time Mr. Ruettinger was known in 
 building circles throughout the country as a leader in his profession.- 
 
 "Ever eager to improve his position, he went to work for John Grif- 
 fiths and Son Company in Chicago in 1909 as general manager. It was 
 with this concern that his greatest accomplishments were achieved. Such 
 structures as the Marshall Field and Company retail store, the Chicago 
 Union Station, the Federal Reserve Bank Building. Soldier's Field Sta- 
 dium, the Sherman and Morrison Hotels, the Chicago Civic Opera House, 
 the Merchandise Mart and the One LaSalle Street Building were built by 
 the Griffiths Company under Mr. Ruettinger's guidance and supervision. 
 "By what genius or turn of circumstances could a man rise from 
 office boy with a small contracting company to the position of superin- 
 tendent and general manager of a concern which built the largest build- 
 ing in the world? Certainly not by influence or social poshion in the 
 case of John C. Ruettinger, but rather by virtue of a God-given gift as a 
 leader and organizer of men, coupled with the ability and willingness to 
 sacrifice many of life's joys and pleasures to hard work. Yet, who can 
 say that the sheer joy of accomplishment is not a joy to surpass that of 
 travel, luxury or a full understanding of the arts? Certain it is that 
 John C. Ruettinger achieved genuine joy and satisfaction from the reali- 
 zation of the accomplishments of his life. He had a tremendous capacity 
 for doing things which was always the marvel of his associates, but withal 
 he was a simple soul at heart. He never forgot the lesson that he had 
 learned early in life — that hard work is after all the one sure prescription 
 for success, and he never failed to follow this prescription. 
 
 "His pleasures were few and simple. Foremost of all his pleasures, 
 perhaps, was the accomplishment of his work itself. Nothing in the line 
 of his work was too unimportant or insignificant for him to learn about 
 and attend to. With most men, this seeking out of apparently unim- 
 portant details leads to their missing the bigger things connected with 
 their work with the result that they seldom master both; this was not so 
 in the case of John C. Ruettinger. He always worked on the theorA- that 
 a man can never know too much about the details of his business, with 
 the result that he apparently took as much interest in a laborer who was
 
 3lof)n Cftristopljer Ructtinge r 211 
 
 digging a trench inefficiently, as he did in the perusal of a twenty-million- 
 dollar contract. But always with that fine sense of their relative values 
 which was so characteristic of this man, he \vas able to consider both w ith- 
 out losing sight of the importance of either. To his mind, both of these 
 interests were part of his business and as such he found time to attend 
 to them. 
 
 ''With all his accomplishments, John C. Ruettinger was a modest man 
 who never sought publicity. Enshrined in his heart were his family and 
 the associates of his early days, and he made yearly trips to Hamilton to 
 visit the scenes of his youth and renew old friendships. Although a stern 
 taskmaster who had no patience with laziness or inefficiency, he never- 
 theless had hundreds of friends among whom were numbered laborers 
 and executives alike. He helped many men without knowing that he had 
 helped them, by the example he set for them to follow. A man of few^ 
 words whose character was inherently dignified and reser\'ed, yet he al- 
 ways found time to give advice and help to those who sought it. His 
 passing has left a place in the hearts of his friends and associates which 
 can never be filled." 
 
 Among the important buildings which were constructed under Mr. 
 Ruettinger's supervision, in addition to those already mentioned, were 
 the National Biscuit Company plant at Philadelphia, Union Station at 
 Omaha, Nebraska, Mandel Brothers and The Hub department stores in 
 Chicago. Other important construction tasks under his direction were all 
 sections of the North Side Sewage Treatment Works at Niles Center, the 
 largest in the world. During the \^'orld war he supervised work in the 
 construction of Camp Dewey at Great Lakes; the marine barracks on 
 Parris Island, South Carolina; and Camp Henry Knox in Stithton, Ken- 
 tucky, which is situated thirty-five miles south of Louisville and has the 
 largest artillery firing station in the world. 
 
 Mr. Ruettinger was a member of the Chicago Athletic Association. 
 Hamilton Club, German Club, the Builders Club and the Hamilton Club 
 of Hamilton, Ohio. He was one of the founders and a director of the 
 National Builders Bank of Chicago. One of the few relaxations of his 
 strenuous business life ^vas found in our national game and he was well 
 known as a baseball fan. 
 
 On the 24th of May, 1898, Mr. Ruettinger was united in marriage 
 in New York city to Pauline E. Frey, daughter of Frederick and Pauline 
 (Grueller) Frey. Mrs. Ruettinger's father was born in Prussia in 1836 
 and passed away in 1906 in Chicago, at the age of seventy. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ruettinger were the parents of three sons, namely: John William, who is 
 connected with John Griffiths and Son Company; and Ernest Joseph and 
 George W., Avho died in infancy. 
 
 The following tribute to the memorv of John C. Ruettinger was ex-
 
 212 Soi)n Cbristopbcr Uucttingcr 
 
 pressed on the day of his dealh Ity the hoard of directors of the Chicago 
 Athletic Association "To his family, the Board of Directors on hehalf 
 of the entire menihership, extends the deepest sympathy and every expres- 
 sion of condolence. Your grief, heavy as it is, may be softened by the 
 knowledge that it is shared by a host of friends whose hearts are one with 
 yours in this hour. It is not for us to enter the home where the drawn 
 curtains hallow that sorrow which none may fully realize save those who 
 have known it, but so far as human speech can express our thoughts we 
 tell you that your grief is ours as your loss is ours. C. B. Spaulding, 
 President, Thomas H. Heneage, Secretary." 
 
 The following is the tribute paid by the Board of Directors of the 
 National Builders Bank of Chicago: 
 
 "In Memoriam 
 
 "Whereas, It is with deep regret that the Board of Directors of the 
 National Buiklers Bank of Chicago learn of the sudden and untimely 
 death of their fellow member, John C. Ruettinger, who has been a con- 
 sistent and staunch supporter of the institution since its inception, and 
 
 "Whereas, In his passing to the great beyond the Bank loses a hard- 
 working, sincere and conscientious associate, one whose sterling charac- 
 ter and ability won for him the confidence and esteem of a legion of 
 friends in all walks of life. Be it therefore 
 
 "Resolved, That the Board of Directors in meeting assembled this 
 21st day of May, 1930, express to the family of the deceased their deep 
 and heartfelt sympathy in their bereavement over the loss of one so dear 
 to them, and 
 
 "Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the min- 
 utes of this meeting and a copy be transmitted to the family of the de- 
 ceased." 
 
 Mr. Ruettinger passed away on the 17th of May, 1930, and three days 
 later, following the funeral service at his home, was laid to rest in Grace- 
 land cemetery.
 
 (fDiuarD gillmttii 
 
 CONSTRUCTIVE program at all times characterized the 
 career of Edward Hillman, one of Chicago's merchant 
 princes. Not only was his a successful career, but kindly 
 fellowship, civic pride, appreciation of literature and 
 love of home were predominant traits in his record. For 
 nearly sixty-five years he was a resident of Chicago, leav- 
 ing the impress of his individuality in notable measure upon the com- 
 mercial history of the city. This period was almost coextensive with the 
 period of his earthly life, for he was but an infant when brought to 
 Chicago by his parents, his birth having occurred in Quebec, Canada, on 
 the 25th of April, 1862. The development and expansion of his powers 
 was coexistent with the gro>vth of the metropolis and his demise, which 
 occurred on the 31st of March, 1927, was a matter of widespread regret 
 throughout the city. At the usual age he began his education in the 
 public schools. His father was engaged in the conduct of a grocery 
 business, in which he was winning substantial success, and he also 
 figured prominently in connection with the political history of the city 
 for a number of years. During the great Chicago fire of 1871, however, 
 he suffered heavy losses and thus at the age of fourteen years Edward 
 Hillman found it necessary' to put aside his textbooks in order to pro- 
 vide for his own support. In his life there were no hours wasted in 
 an attempt to find suitable and congenial employment, for he started in 
 his business career in the mercantile field, where he was destined to 
 win both fame and fortune. He obtained employment as a cash boy in 
 the Boston Store and was soon recognized by the management as a 
 bright, industrious lad with a keen and intelligent interest in his work. 
 At first he was paid a wage of but two dollars per week and gave every 
 cent of this to his mother outside of necessary carfare. Diligent and 
 alert, he soon won the attention of his employer, Mr. Netcher, who took 
 great interest in him, and together at night they studied German, English 
 and mathematics when Mr. Hillman was a youth of sixteen years. He 
 applied himself closely to his studies and became an expert mathema- 
 tician. That he fully mastered every dutj^ and task required of him 
 in the store is sho^v^l by the fact that promotion after promotion came 
 to him and when he was but eighteen years of age he was receiving a 
 salary of six thousand dollars per year. When he severed his connection 
 with the Boston Store in 1899 he was filling the important position of 
 general manager. It was in March of that year that his effort and 
 
 213
 
 214 CDUiarP Dillman 
 
 capahilitv found still broader expression in the founding of Hillman's 
 department store on State street, in which enterprise Charles W. Pard- 
 ridge was associated with him in a partnership relation until 1920, when 
 he became sole owner of the business. Those who know aught of Chi- 
 cago's commercial history know how continuously the store was devel- 
 oped under his guiding hand. Fair dealing and honesty constituted the 
 foundation of his success. He was very methodical in his daily business 
 life, recognizing the value of time as well as of effort, and his judgment 
 was at all times sound and his vision comprehensive. He centered his 
 energies upon the upbuilding of the Hillman store and had no other 
 outside business interests. One of the basic elements of his success came 
 from his recognition of the worth and value of those who ser\ed him. It 
 was his custom to advance the men in his store from the ranks in recog- 
 nition of the business ability and fidelity which they displayed. He did 
 not dismiss an employe because of advancing years and at all times he 
 had the utmost loyalty and cooperation of those in his employ. More- 
 over, he personally had an intimate knowledge of the various depart- 
 ments of the business, combined with a clear understanding of every 
 phase of mercantile activity. After acquiring sole ownership he later 
 admitted his sou to an interest in the business, the latter becoming vice 
 president and so continuing until the store was sold in 1925. 
 
 In early manhood Mr. Hillman was united in marriage to Miss Jen- 
 nie Strauss, who survives him together A\ith their son, Edward Hillman, 
 Jr. The latter was a student in St. John's Military Academy at Delafield, 
 Wisconsin, and soon after his graduation therefrom he joined his father 
 in business. Ruth E. Hillman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hill- 
 man, passed away at the age of twenty-six years. The family residence 
 was at 3156 Sheridan road in Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Hillman was a man of domestic tastes who found his greatest 
 happiness in the companionship of his wife and children, for whom he 
 provided home surroundings of beauty and material comfort. His name 
 was on the membership rolls of the Illinois Athletic Club, the Standard 
 Club and the Ravisloe Country Club, and when business permitted he 
 indulged bis love of nature and outdoor life in camping and fishing 
 trips. Though his educational opportunities in youth had been limited, 
 he was very fond of reading, constantly augmented his knowledge by 
 perusing the best literature and also kept thoroughly informed on busi- 
 ness conditions of the day. Self-made and self-educated, his record may 
 well serv^e as a source of inspiration and encouragement to those who 
 feel themselves handicapped in the battle of life by the lack of worldly 
 possessions. Mr. Hillman cared little for the honors and emoluments of 
 public office but manifested a good citizen's interest in politics, support- 
 ing caiulidates and measures that he deemed would most effectively
 
 CDtoarD Qillman 215 
 
 promote the civic welfare. He felt a justifiable pride in Chicago's gro\\nh, 
 progress and achievements and his cooperation could always be counted 
 upon to further movements for the general good. In a quiet, unostenta- 
 tious way he gave generously of his means to charity and to various ben- 
 evolent organizations. He was a man of the broadest interests, with- 
 holding his aid at no time when he felt that he could assist his fello^v^nen. 
 He was especially helpful to young men and found great delight in teach- 
 ing boys and youths to become good, useful American citizens, holding 
 before them the highest ideals and stimulating them toAvard effective ef- 
 fort in winning an enviable place in public life as well as in the business 
 world. In his will he provided special bequests for the Jewish Charities 
 of Chicago, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's 
 Christian Association and the University of Chicago, giving fifty thou- 
 sand dollars to the last named institution, the income from the Edward 
 Hillman fund being used to aid deserving students of government, agri- 
 culture and political economy. Thus his influence and his good work 
 will live on through the centuries. His life was crowned with the respect 
 and loyalty of his employes and business associates, with the honor of 
 his fellow citizens and with the constant love of those who came within 
 the close circle of his friends, while to his family he left not only a most 
 substantial fortune but also the priceless heritage of an honored name.
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSri / OF ILLINOIS
 
 lolju Sertoli 
 
 OHN SEXTON, founder of the manufacturing wholesale 
 grocery firm bearing his name, was born June 29, 1858, 
 in Dundas, Ontario. Canada, and died January 15, 1930, 
 after a three days' illness of pneumonia at Los Angeles, 
 California. Mr. Sexton was a son of Michael and Ellen 
 (O'Connor) Sexton, natives of Kilnish, County Clare, 
 Ireland, who immigrated to the new world, settling in Dundas, Ontario. 
 Aside from the son, John, they had four daughters: Mrs. Frank Upton 
 and Mrs. Sarah O'Leary of Chicago: Mrs. R. T. Barton of Winneconne, 
 Wisconsin; and Mrs. E. L. Sargent of Dallas, Texas. 
 
 John Sexton was educated in the schools of his native town and at 
 the age of fifteen years began work in a general store at Niagara Falls, 
 Ontario. In 1877 he came to Chicago and clerked in several tea houses, 
 soon becoming a city salesman for a chain of tea and coffee stores. In 
 1883 he formed a partnership with George Hitchcock under the firm 
 name of Hitchcock & Sexton, wholesale and retail grocers, located on 
 State street, north of Lake street. In 1886 Mr. Sexton bought Mr. Hitch- 
 cock's interest in the business and changed the firm name to John Sexton 
 & Company and in 1898, upon the incorporation of the company, became 
 its first president. Mr. Sexton early recognized the possibilities of a 
 specialized service for hotels, restaurants and institutions. He was a 
 stanch advocate of fair dealings and honest, dependable merchandise. 
 He originated a unique delivery service which operates to this day. With 
 an alert, resourceful personality, the vim of an indefatigable worker, he 
 guided the business through its pioneering era to its eminent position of 
 today. In 1908 the business location was changed to the corner of Lake 
 and Franklin streets and on January 1, 1917, was moved into the new 
 building which he erected at 352 ^'est Illinois street, which in 1929 was 
 completed by the new addition with a frontage at 500 North Orleans 
 street, the general offices of the company being moved into that addition. 
 The completed building has a floor space of four hundred thousand 
 square feet, with an unexcelled equipment for carrying on the immense 
 business. The company also carries a stock of merchandise in their ware- 
 houses in twenty-two cities outside of Chicago. Mr. Sexton's universal 
 kindliness, courtesy, and his unassuming sincerity endeared him to ever)' 
 employe and won him a loyalty best evidenced by the astonishing per- 
 centage of employes with twenty years or more service with him. He 
 possessed marked" ability as a judge of men and an organizer, and this 
 
 219
 
 220 John Sertoli 
 
 ability to round out an organization was one of the reasons for his suc- 
 cess. Every officer and department head of the company came up through 
 the ranks on his own merit. On the 10th of Novemher, 1926, Mr. Sexton 
 was elected chairman of the hoard of directors, at which time his son, 
 Sherman J. Sexton, became president of the company. Mr. Sexton main- 
 tained an active interest in the busines? until the end of his life. 
 
 In August, 1886, Mr. Sexton married Annie Louise Bartelmann, 
 daughter of Christian Bartelmann of Chicago, who was a native of Saxe- 
 Coburg-Gotha, Saxony, Germany. To them were horn two daughters and 
 three sons. Helen, the eldest of the family, is the wife of Edmund A. 
 Egan and the mother of seven children: John S., Alfred H., Edmund A., 
 Jr.. Sherman. \^ illiam Q., Franklin and Eugene Egan. Thomas G. Sex- 
 ton, who was educated at Notre Dame University and is a member of 
 John Sexton & Company, married Eleanor Webb, daughter of Thomas 
 J. and Mary VTebb, the former a well known coffee manufacturer of Chi- 
 cago. Their children are Thomas Webb, John and Mary Sexton. Frank- 
 lin Sexton, who was educated at De Paul University and is a member of 
 John Sexton & Company, married Alice Fhilbin, granddaughter of 
 Thomas Mackin, a Chicago pioneer. Their children are John, Mackin 
 and Franklin Sexton. Jr. Sherman J. Sexton, who was educated at De 
 Paul University and is no\v president of John Sexton & Company, mar- 
 ried Alice Conners, daughter of William J. and Mary (Jordan) Conners, 
 the former the publisher of The Buffalo Courier Express and a well 
 known steamship man of Buffalo, New York. Their children are William 
 Conners, Alice and Shirley Ann Sexton. Ethel E. Sexton became the 
 wife of Henry A. Marten of Springfield, Missouri, and now of Wilmette, 
 Illinois, and they have five children: John, Ann Louise, Harry, Made- 
 line and Franklin Marten. Mr. Blarten is a grandson of Henry Kemper 
 Marten, one of Missouri's earliest settlers. 
 
 Mr. Sexton contributed liberally to the Catholic Church, to hospitals 
 and charitable institutions, and to all movements which tended toward 
 civic betterment. Politically he was an independent democrat. He was 
 an active member of the Chicago Association of Coimnerce, the Illinois 
 Manufacturers Association and the Germania Club. His summers were 
 passed at his suburban home at Crystal Lake and his winters in Los An- 
 geles. California. Mrs. Annie Louise Sexton, his widow, resides at 623 
 Laurel avenue, Wilmette, Illinois.
 
 ail)arle0 IrcDcrick 3^lbrccl)t 
 
 , HARLES FREDERICK ALBRECHT, a pioneer commis- 
 sion merchant of Chicago, could also claim to be one of 
 its pioneer citizens, notwithstanding the fact that he 
 was a native son. His birth occurred here March 6, 
 1856, in the family home then located at the corner of 
 Milwaukee avenue and Green street — a residential dis- 
 trict, for the business section at that time centered around the river in the 
 vicinity of Clark street. His parents were Frederick and Wilhelmina 
 (Greuenig) Albrecht. The father was born in Madgeburg, Germany, 
 pursued his education there and afterward learned the machinist's trade. 
 In young manhood he came to Chicago, was here married and for some 
 time maintained his home at the corner of Elston and North avenues, 
 rearing a family of six children, namely: Charles Frederick; William B. ; 
 Rudolph R. ; Robert; George; and Annie, who became the wife of August 
 Harder. Mr. Albrecht was made bridge tender of the North Avenue 
 bridge and his eldest son was assisting him there at the time of the great 
 Chicago fire. 
 
 In his youthful days Charles Frederick Albrecht attended the Burr 
 school on Ashland avenue and in young manhood worked in a foundry 
 at North avenue and Noble street, at the same time assisting his father 
 in operating the North Avenue bridge. During the summer months he 
 built rowboats which he rented to pleasure seekers who rowed on the 
 north branch of the Chicago river, and afterward he operated one of the 
 first steamboats used for excursion parties on the river, this being about 
 the year 1874. His next venture was in the trucking business, in which 
 connection he hauled merchandise for commission merchants engaged in 
 business near the corner of South Water and La Salle streets, devoting 
 twenty years, from 1876 until 1896, to that undertaking. In the latter 
 year he established a commission business of his own at No. 107 West 
 South Water street, and when Wacker drive superseded the original 
 thoroughfare he removed to 81 South Water Market. For many years 
 the business was carried on under the name of C. F. Albrecht & Company 
 and in 1916 he admitted his eldest son, Frederick C, to a partnership 
 under the name of C. F. Albrecht & Son, the business being still carried 
 on under that firm title. No commission merchant of Chicago was so 
 well known to the growers of asparagus at Alton, Illinois, as he. He made 
 friends wherever he went. Mrs. Albrecht usually accompanied him on 
 
 221
 
 222 Chtulcs J^rcDcrifb aifarrcht 
 
 his business trips and they became so popular that one grower fitted up 
 a room for him in his home which was known as tiie Albrecht room. 
 
 It was on the 15th of November, 1890, that Mr. Albrecht married 
 Carolina Haas, a daughter of Paul Haas. She was born in the Black 
 Forest of Baden, Germany, and was the only one of her family who came 
 to America. Her ancestral line in Germany is traced back to the year 
 1200. Mr. and Mrs. Albrecht had a family of three sons — Frederick C, 
 Charles William and William G., but the last named died in his second 
 year. 
 
 The eldest son, who continues the business established by his father, 
 was born October 4, 1891, and was married October 15, 1921, to Ella 
 Wickman, a daughter of August Wickman, and they have become parents 
 of two daughters: Winnifred, born December 5, 1922; and Ruth, Au- 
 gust 18, 1926. 
 
 Mr. Albrecht was not a club man nor a politician. Outside of busi- 
 ness his interest centered in his home and family and he spent his Sun- 
 days and holidays always in the company of his wife and children. He 
 passed away at his home at 2927 Elston avenue, December 27, 1928, and 
 interment was made in Acacia Park. Mr. Albrecht was a man of fine 
 personal appearance and of equally admirable qualities — qualities that 
 won him warm friendships. He deserved much credit for what he accom- 
 plished and could truly be called a self-made man, for he worked his 
 way steadily upward by persistent purpose and the recognition and utili- 
 zation of opportunities, advancing until he had reached a prominent 
 place among the leading and successful commission merchants of the city.
 
 LIBRARy 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ILLINOIS
 
 ^y^S^'7*^ — -C^, <s=X-c~^^c.t^
 
 |0l)n 31. go0ou 
 
 i)OGAN WAS a natural soldier," says Senator Cullom in his 
 recent book. "His shoulders were broad, his presence 
 commanding; with his swarthy face and coal-black hair, 
 'an eye like Mars, to threaten and command,' he was 
 every inch a warrior. There is no question that Gen- 
 eral Logan was the greatest volunteer ofiScer of the 
 Civil war." 
 
 John Alexander Logan was born in Jackson county, Illinois, Febru- 
 ary 9. 1826, the son of Dr. John Logan, after whom Logan county was 
 named, who was a native of Ireland and an early emigrant to Illinois. 
 He had no schooling until he was fourteen; he then studied for three 
 years in a collegiate institution. At the breaking out of the Mexican war 
 he enlisted as a private and was afterward promoted to be a lieutenant. 
 He was elected clerk of Jackson county in 1819, but resigned the office to 
 attend a course in the law department of the Louisville University from 
 which he graduated in 1851. He then formed a law partnership with his 
 uncle. Alexander M. Jenkins, a former lieutenant governor of the state. 
 In 1852, Logan was elected to the legislature and again in 1856. 
 
 Logan was married to Mary S. Cunningham, a daughter of John M. 
 Cunningham, on November 27, 1855. In 1858 and 1860, he was elected 
 to the national house of representatives as a democrat. His sympathies 
 being strongly for the Union cause, he left his seat during the session of 
 1861, and fought in the ranks at the battle of Bull Run though unat- 
 tached and unenlisted. He resigned his seat in congress and returned 
 to Illinois where he organized the Thirty-first Regiment of Volunteers, 
 and was commissioned its colonel by Governor Yates. 
 
 During the four years of the Civil war Logan came to be regarded 
 as one of the ablest officers who entered the army from civil life. In 
 Grant's campaigns, terminating in the capture of Vicksburg, Logan, who 
 now commanded a division, was the first to enter the city with the troops 
 under him, and was selected by General Grant to be the military gov- 
 ernor of Vicksburg. "This was a most exacting and depressing task," 
 wrote Mrs. Logan in a magazine article, "which brought him in contact 
 with the most horrible side of war— the side that made women and 
 children share the dangers and privations of the fighters. He had to 
 police the city, look after sanitation in order to avoid an epidemic, and 
 relieve the hunger and suffering of a population which had been living 
 in caves with starvation fighting on the side of the besiegers. His leniency 
 
 225
 
 226 John g. Logan 
 
 and personal activity in looking after them made him popular with the 
 people."' 
 
 Logan was promoted to the rank of brigadier general after the battle 
 of Fort Donelson where he was constantly engaged and rendered the 
 most valuable service. In the following year he was offered the nomina- 
 tion of congressman-at-large in Illinois. He declined the offer in a letter 
 of which the following was the closing paragraph: "In conclusion, let 
 me request that your desire to associate my name with the high and 
 honorable position you would confer upon me, be at once dismissed, 
 and some more suitable and worthy person substituted. Meanwhile I 
 shall continue to look with unfeigned pride and admiration on the con- 
 tinuance of the present able conduct of our state affairs, and feel that 
 I am sufficiently honored Avhile acknowledged as an humble soldier of 
 our own peerless state." 
 
 The rank of major general of volunteers was conferred upon him. 
 and in November, 1863, he succeeded General Sherman to the command 
 of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and after the death of General McPherson 
 he was in command of the Army of the Tennessee at the battle of Atlanta. 
 He was soon succeeded, however, in command of the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee by General O. O. Howard, who says in his "Autobiography" that 
 "in one of the battles after the taking of Atlanta, Major-General Logan 
 was spirited and energetic, going at once to the point where he appre- 
 hended the slightest danger of the enemy's success. His decision and 
 resolution everywhere animated and encouraged his ofjScers and men." 
 General Logan suffered considerably from disappointment at being 
 obliged to yield command of the corps to General O. 0. Howard, but 
 with the instincts of a true soldier he accepted the situation and resumed 
 his command of the Fifteenth Corps. On the "March to the Sea," Gen- 
 eral Logan rendered most distinguished service. 
 
 In his "Autobiography,'" already referred to, General Howard relates 
 the following interesting episode: "A few days before the Grand Re- 
 view at Washington General Sherman called me into the office of General 
 Townsend, the adjutant-general of the army. We were there by our- 
 selves. General Sherman then said that he wanted me to surrender the 
 command of the Army of the Tennessee to Logan before the review. This 
 caused mc much feeling, and under the pressure of it I replied that I 
 had maneuvered and fought this army from Atlanta, all the way through. 
 Sherman replied, T know it, but it will be everything to Logan to have 
 this opportunity.' Then, speaking very gently, as Sherman could, to one 
 near him whom he esteemed, he said, 'Howard, you are a Christian, and 
 won"t mind such a sacrifice!" I answered, 'Surely, if you put it on that 
 ground, I submit.' "
 
 3Iof)n 3. Logan 
 
 227 
 
 Accordingly General Logan rode at the head of the Army of the 
 Tennessee at the Grand Review on May 24, 1865. General Howard was 
 favored by General Sherman with a position at his side, the two riding 
 abreast along Pennsylvania avenue on that occasion, and thus, as Howard 
 says, '"he sought to allay any irritation I might feel on account of Avhat 
 had taken place." 
 
 When the war closed, Logan once more entered the political arena, 
 and was elected to congress as a republican, serving from 1867 to 1871, 
 and as senator from 1871 until 1877, and again from 1879 until his 
 death. General Logan died at Washington, December 26, 1886. 
 
 John A. Logan was a strong partisan, and was identified with the 
 radical wing of his party. His brilliant war record and his great personal 
 following, especially among the veterans of the war, contributed to liis 
 nomination for vice president in 1884 on the ticket with James G. Blaine, 
 but the ticket suffered defeat in the fall elections. He was the com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic from 1868 to 1871, 
 and as such he successfully advocated the observance of Memorial Day. 
 
 An equestrian statue of General Logan, designed and executed by 
 Augustus St. Gaudens, stands today in Grant Park at Chicago, one of the 
 city's chiefest ornaments. It was unveiled July 22, 1897, which day was 
 declared a holiday by the mayor of Chicago, and the occasion was cele- 
 brated by an immense concourse of citizens, and by an imposing parade 
 of troops of the United States Army, the National Guard of Illinois, and 
 by the Grand Army of the Republic.
 
 (immt |. 13olDmtn 
 
 i)EW RESIDENTS of Peoria were as widely known as Eu- 
 gene F. Baldwin, founder of the Peoria Star and for 
 many years one of the leading journalists of Illinois. He 
 Avas born in Watertown, Connecticut, December 1, 1840, 
 a son of Stephen and Julia (Pardee) Baldwin. He was 
 descended from one of the old European families long 
 established in the new world and both his father and his grandfather 
 were zealous members of the Congregational Church, filling the office of 
 deacon. 
 
 It was in this atmosphere of religious influence and training that 
 Eugene F. Baldwin was reared and thus he early laid the foundation for 
 and molded his character, his life having ever been dominated by those 
 principles which made him honored and respected by all who knew him. 
 He was a youth of but fifteen years when the family removed from Con- 
 necticut to Wisconsin, settling in Milwaukee, where he attended high 
 school, from which he was graduated with honors. He turned to the pro- 
 fession of teaching in 1860 but afterward resumed his studies by enroll- 
 ing as a student in the Illinois Normal School near Bloomington. A little 
 later he joined his father, who had removed with the family from Mil- 
 waukee to Fort Wayne. Indiana, and was there living when in 1861 he 
 responded to the country's call for military aid. He enlisted in the 
 Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantr>', with which he served until 1862, 
 when he was discharged because of ill health. In the meantime he had 
 been captured by the Confederates and was held a prisoner for a con- 
 siderable period. 
 
 When he had sufficiently recovered Eugene F. Baldwin resumed his 
 educational work, becoming principal of a public school at Chillicothe, 
 Illinois, in 1864. Owing to his ability as an instructor he was offered 
 the position of principal of the First Ward school in Peoria. It was 
 following his removal to this city that he turned his attention to journal- 
 istic work, becoming local editor of the Peoria Transcript and thus enter- 
 ing upon a newspaper career that covered a half century. He was con- 
 nected with the Transcript for four years and then removed to El Paso, 
 Illinois, where he purchased the El Paso Journal, while subsequently, 
 in association with Robert J. Burdette and R. A. Sheldon, he established 
 the Peoria Review, which had an existence of three years. 
 
 Later Mr. Baldwin returned to El Paso, where he formed a partner- 
 ship whh J. B. Barnes. In 1878 these two established the Peoria Daily 
 
 229
 
 230 (Cugfiic J^. l?i:ilDtiiin 
 
 Journal, ^vhich became one of the foremost newspapers in Illinois, out- 
 side of Cliicago. Its circulation steadily increased and the paper was an 
 influential factor in nioldinj; puMic thought and opinion. In 1892 Mr. 
 Baldwin withdrew from that partnership to enjiage in the manufacture 
 of patent medicine in connection with diaries H. Powell, who had been 
 associated with him on the Journal, hut this enterprise proved unprofit- 
 able and Mr. Baldwin then devoted his attention to literary work. One 
 of his books, still widely read and quoted, was written in collaboration 
 with Rabbi Eisenberg, a distinguished exponent of the Hebrew faith, and 
 was called "Dr. Carsallo."' In the summer of 1897 Mr. Baldwin and his 
 former associate, Mr. Powell, perfected plans to again enter the news- 
 paper field by beginning the publication of a journal that would meet 
 the demands of the growing city of Peoria. In order to test the possibility 
 of success it was determined to send out solicitors with the announcement 
 that Eugene F. Baldwin proposed to start another paper in Peoria. So 
 widely was he known and so great was the demand for the resumption 
 of his editorial writing that within a very brief period five thousand sub- 
 scriptions bad been obtained for a paper that was not then in existence 
 and for which no name had been selected. Indications therefore pointed 
 to success for the new enterprise and the publishers made arrangements 
 to secure a press. They employed a few printers and the Peoria Star 
 was launched. Almost inunediately its influence was felt in the com- 
 munity. Its policy was progressive and in supporting public projects 
 Mr. Baldwin recognized their value and with remarkable clearness fore- 
 saw the outcome that would follow the adoption of any measure. His edi- 
 torial ability, bis courage and his clearness in discussing public questions 
 soon gave the Star a reputation that placed it in advance of any other 
 paper of the community. Its circulation increased in notable measure 
 until the business attained large proportions and the Star was recognized 
 as one of the most influential papers in central Illinois. Mr. Baldwin 
 belonged to that era in which the editorial policy of the paper was the 
 work of one man and Avas the expression of his ideas, and it was often 
 said that "Baldwin was the Star." He was a man of very liberal educa- 
 tion who read broadly, possessed a natural wit and was quick at repartee. 
 He seemed always to find the right word at the right time and in his edi- 
 torial writings he displayed a comprehensive knowledge of the subject 
 under discussion and a ready recognition of what might be accomplished 
 through the adoption of a given course. 
 
 On the 2.3d of April, 1866, Mr. Baldwin was united in marriage to 
 Miss Sarah J. Frances Gove, of McLean county, Illinois, who succeeded 
 him as president of the Peoria Star Company and publisher of the paper. 
 They became the parents of three children: Ethel, deceased; Frank E., 
 who was a well known physician and surgeon and has also passed away;
 
 (gugcnc JF. 13alDU)ln 231 
 
 and Mildred Sidney, who, like her father, has achieved distinction 
 through her writings. Mrs. Baldwin, too, possesses marked literary gifts 
 and discernment and her executive qualities have been manifest in her 
 successful management of the business interests which she took over at 
 the time of her husband's death. She is a great believer in outdoor life 
 and spends the summers largely in Maine and the winter seasons in 
 Florida in order that she may be in the open. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin was called from this life November 19, 1914. His was 
 indeed a far-reaching influence. He possessed an optimistic faith in 
 Peoria and he labored earnestly for the attainment of the high ideals 
 which would benefit the city in its material upbuilding and civic progress. 
 He was open-hearted, a man of generous impulses and a most entertain- 
 ing conversationalist. He wrote his name large on the pages of history 
 having to do with Illinois journalism. He was widely recognized as a 
 virile writer, clear and convincing in his statements and presenting his 
 cause in a way to win the approval and support of the intelligent class 
 of citizens. His worth was widely acknowledged and his influence is 
 still felt in the example which he set of high standards in newspaper 
 publication and in citizenship.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSI"' / OF ILIINOk:
 
 JW^-, /W'^^ ^-^~~J~e-0X — 
 
 ^-v
 
 gciu'ij !llcaii0 IJiuDcU 
 
 N UNSWERVING devotion to duty manifesting itself in 
 the highest journalistic standards and in loyalty to pub- 
 lic ideals characterized the life of Henry Means Pindell, 
 who for many years was owner and publisher of the 
 Peoria Journal, which he made one of the largest dailies 
 in the state outside of Chicago. It is widely recognized 
 that the press is the most potent force in molding public opinion and at 
 all times Mr. Pindell recognized his opportunity to serve his city and 
 state by guiding public thought and action. A native of Missouri, he was 
 born in St. Joseph, December 23, 1860, his parents being James Morrison 
 and Elizabeth (Means) Pindell. He traced his ancestry back through 
 many generations to Wales, whence Thomas Pindell came to the new 
 world between the years 1686 and 1705, founding the family in America. 
 Since that time representatives of the name have been closely connected 
 with many events which have shaped the trend of history. His great- 
 grandfather, Dr. Richard Pindell, was one of the original members of 
 the Society of the Cincinnati. He had served as a surgeon on the staff 
 of General George Washington during the Revolutionary war and had 
 dressed the wounds of Lafayette when the French patriot was injured 
 in battle. When Lafayette visited the American republic for the second 
 time he was entertained in Lexington, Kentucky, at the home of Major 
 Thomas H. Pindell, the Doctor's son. James Morrison Pindell, father 
 of Henry M. Pindell, was an own cousin of Senator Thomas Hart Benton 
 of Missouri and a warm personal friend of Henry Clay, who was his 
 guardian and with whom he was closely connected through Clay's politi- 
 cal career, Mrs. Clay being his aunt. James M. Pindell made the practice 
 of law his life work, becoming a distinguished member of the legal 
 profession. 
 
 Henry M. Pindell completed his education in De Pauw University at 
 Greencastle, Indiana, as a member of the class of 1884 and devoted his 
 entire life to journalistic work. He was editor of the Wabash (Ind.) 
 Times during the first administration of President Cleveland and after- 
 ward became connected with the Chicago Tribune, while later he re- 
 moved to Springfield, Illinois, becoming city editor of the State Register. 
 During his residence there he was elected city treasurer, serving from 
 1887 until 1889, and in the latter year he established his home in Peoria, 
 where he founded the Peoria Herald. He afterward purchased the Peoria 
 Transcript and the Peoria Times but sold the latter to J. B. Barnes, pro- 
 
 235
 
 236 Qcnrp Queans li)inDcll 
 
 prietor of the Peoria Journal, and consolidated the Transcript and the 
 Herahl under the name of the Herahl-Transeript. On the 13th of July, 
 1902, he acquired ownership of the Journal and in October of that year 
 sold the Herald-Transcript, continuing the publication of the Journal, 
 which he developed along most progressive lines. The policy of the 
 paper was ever characterized by fearlessness. He fought the free silver 
 craze and was instrumental in the defeat of the infamous Allen law 
 which gave corporations the right of the use of the streets for fifty years. 
 He stanchily opposed corporate greed and worked for the interests of the 
 majority as against the minority. He labored to advance progress and 
 improvement along all lines having to do with civic welfare and his 
 efforts in behalf of Peoria were far-reaching, beneficial and resultant. 
 He was officially connected with the Peoria Public Library and was also 
 a director of the Peoria Association of Commerce. He took active part 
 in inaugurating and directing the movement for the commission form of 
 government in the state and Governor Deneeu accorded him credit for 
 putting the law on the statute books of Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Pindell was always a stanch democrat and was a close friend and 
 adviser of President Wilson. He was sent to the democratic national 
 convention as a delegate in 1912 and he was one of the first journalists 
 of the country to declare his newspaper politically independent. In 1912 
 President Wilson appointed him ambassador to Russia. The political 
 enemies of the president strongly opposed this but the appointment was 
 confirmed by the senate. However, Mr. Pindell's health forced him 
 to resign. 
 
 On the 29th of October, 1890, at Bates, Sangamon county, Illinois, 
 Mr. Pindell was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Adelia Smith, daughter 
 of Hon. De Witt and Adelia (McConnell) Smith, of Springfield, the 
 former a representative of a prominent southern family whose members 
 were early pioneers of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Pindell became parents 
 of tAvo daughters: Frances Adelia, born in Peoria, June 5, 1892, who is 
 the wife of Carl Powell Slane, now business manager of the Journal 
 Transcript Publishing Company; and Elizabeth Augusta, born in Peoria, 
 September 17, 1894, who is the wife of the Rev. Howard Davis Talbot. 
 
 Mr. Pindell belonged to the Phi Gamma Delta, a college fraternity, 
 the University Club of New York city, the Lambs Club of New York, 
 the Chicago Club, the Peoria Country Club, the Pevia Country Club, the 
 Athletic Club of Peoria and the R^y Club of Peoria, and was a trustee and 
 member of the board of Bradley Polytechnic Institute of Peoria. It was 
 Mr. Pindell who secured the Carnegie Librarj' for Peoria. A bust of Mr. 
 Pindell was one of the busts of seven journalists which were unveiled in 
 the Hall of Fame in the LIniversity of Illinois in November, 19.30. The 
 high school of Peoria named its journalistic chapter in honor and in
 
 JDenrp Sgeans pinDell 
 
 237 
 
 memory of him. He held membership in the Presbyterian Church and 
 his Christian faith dominated his entire life, guiding him in all of his 
 relations with his fellowmen and directing his public service. Because 
 of the high ideals which he supported his influence was of great benefit 
 to city and state. He ever kept before the people the most advanced 
 standards of citizenship and urged an individual recognition of one's 
 duties and obligations to the commonwealth. He ever fought fearlessly, 
 but always in the open, and though men might oppose his opinions they 
 entertained for him the highest respect and regard. No name that appears 
 on the pages of Illinois' journalistic record is a more creditable or hon- 
 ored one. He died August 8, 1924, in his sLxty-fourth year, at his sum- 
 mer home in Northport Point, Michigan.
 
 Jeon IHaiiDcl 
 
 It 
 
 1 
 
 HE PATH of memory, crossing the portals of the yester- 
 days of Leon Mandel, leads not into the "dim past" but 
 into a past aglow with high purpose, resolute spirit and 
 successful achievement. The casual visitor to Chicago 
 may have thought of him in the terms of commercial 
 success, but to all Chicagoans he Avas a man of much 
 more than business capability — a man who at all times recognized his 
 obligations to his fellows and found keen delight in contributing to their 
 welfare and to their progress. And if one travels that pathway of mem- 
 ory back to the year 1852 they will find Leon Mandel as a lad of eleven 
 years entering the city which he was always to call his home. Chicago 
 at that time had a population of about sixty thousand, with only seven 
 public schools, under the direction of thirty-five teachers, and there was 
 no high school. There were but two railroads to the east and but one 
 to the west and Chicago was just emerging from villagehood to take on 
 some of the aspects and opportunities of city life. 
 
 Leon Mandel was born in the village of Kertzenheim, Germany, Sep- 
 tember 10, 1841, a son of Faber and Caroline (Klein) Mandel, whose 
 family numbered four sons, Solomon and Simon being older and Eman- 
 uel younger than Leon. The father was a dry goods merchant but left 
 only a small business when he passed away, Leon Mandel being at that 
 time a lad of eight or nine years. About that time Simon Klein, the 
 mother's brother, came to the new world and established a dry goods and 
 notions business in Chicago. He was accompanied by his nephew, Solo- 
 mon Mandel, who served for a time as a clerk and then became a partner 
 in the dry goods house of Klein & Mandel. It was three or four years 
 later that Mrs. Caroline Mandel brought her three younger sons to the 
 United States and after a long and tedious voyage and a long journey 
 across the country they arrived in Chicago to be greeted by the elder 
 son, Solomon. 
 
 The family had no financial resources at that time and the necessity 
 of providing for his own support early devolved upon Leon Mandel, who 
 is named in the Chicago directory of 1856 as a "clerk with Greenebaum 
 Brothers, bankers at 45 Clark street." Also in those early days he was 
 for a short time a clerk in the drj' goods store of Rosenfeld & Rosenberg 
 at 180 Lake street. A little later he entered the employ of Ross & Foster, 
 proprietors of a wholesale and retail dry goods establishment at 71 Lake 
 street. This firm later became Ross & Gossage. When he entered the 
 
 239
 
 240 Leon C0anDcl 
 
 senice of Ross & Foster he \vas given the position of cash hoy in what 
 was then the largest dry goods store west of New York at a salary of two 
 dollars per week. Even at that early day he proved diligent, alert and 
 energetic and these qualities attracted the attention of the senior partner, 
 who on numerous occasions invited the hoy to be his guest on fishing 
 trips and in country outings. If he wanted an errand done in connection 
 with the business he called for Leon Mandel, and that he had more than 
 superficial interest in the boy is indicated in the fact that he generously 
 assisted him when, after about five years" experience in the mercantile 
 field. Leon Mandel joined his brother Solomon and his uncle, Simon 
 Klein, in organizing the firm of Klein & Mandel for the conduct of a 
 dry goods business at the corner of Clark and Van Buren streets. The 
 new venture proved a success from the beginning and Leon Mandel, who 
 was made buyer for the firm, went to IN'ew York to purchase stock. He 
 was then only eighteen or twenty years of age, but it is said that he 
 walked into the great house of A. T. Stewart, then the leading dry goods 
 merchant of the United States, and won his friendship. He entered the 
 office of Mr. Stewart and said: "Please tell me how you run your busi- 
 ness." The merchant prince, pleased with the appearance and the qual- 
 ities of the young man, explained much of the system pursued in his store 
 and gave him many valuable suggestions. 
 
 The little business established at Clark and Van Buren streets con- 
 tinued to prosper and in time became the property of Mandel Brothers. 
 In the early days the mother and her sons lived over the store. It was 
 in 1865 that the firm of Mandel Brothers was organized and the estab- 
 lishment of the present is the only dry goods house of Chicago which 
 has continued uninterruptedly imder the same firm name through more 
 than seven decades. The partners, Simon, Leon and Emanuel Mandel, 
 aged respectively twenty-eight, twenty-four and twenty-two years, had 
 been well trained in mercantile methods by their older brother, who had 
 passed away at the early age of thirty, and by their uncle. The establish- 
 ment was at first conducted as a "dry goods and notions store," and in 
 1868 the city directory records "Mandel Brothers, wholesale and retail 
 dry goods."' As they branched out into the wholesale trade Leon Mandel 
 transferred his headquarters to New York as buyer for the firm and there 
 resided for the next two years. It was during the period of his residence 
 there that he married Miss Isabella Foreman, a daughter of Henry Fore- 
 man, then of the firm of Foreman Brothers, wholesale clothiers of Chi- 
 cago, but at that time looking after the manufacturing end of their busi- 
 ness in Philadelphia, where Mr. Mandel frequently paid week-end visits 
 to the Foreman family. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mandel 
 returned to Chicago and established their home at 43 Hubbard court. 
 
 A year later the business of the firm was moved to the northwest cor-
 
 Leon ^anOcl 241 
 
 ner of State and Harrison streets, where they purchased a lot and erected 
 a three-story building fifty feet in width. In October, 1871, came the 
 memorable fire. As the flames swept on over block after block of the 
 city Mr. and Mrs. Mandel, taking their two boys in their arms, started to 
 seek refuge at the home of her father, who was then living on Michigan 
 avenue, just north of Twenty-second street. As soon as his little family 
 was safely bestowed Mr. Mandel returned to look after the interests of 
 the firm. The three brothers, at length securing a conveyance for which 
 they paid five hundred dollars, piled it high with their most valuable 
 goods, which were sent to Mr. Foreman's place. Several trips were thus 
 made and in this way they saved a portion of their stock before their 
 store was destroyed as the fire swept on. Of course their losses were 
 very heavy but with what they had saved they were soon again engaged 
 in business at Twenty-second street and Michigan avenue, Leon Mandel 
 looking after the opening of the store, while his brothers, Simon and 
 Emanuel, started one for Milwaidiee and the other for Detroit to pur- 
 chase goods. They were successful in developing their trade at 22d 
 street but it was their desire to reenter the business center of the city 
 and in 1874 they again opened a downtown store, having rebuilt on 
 their lot at State and Harrison streets. However, fire destroyed that 
 property in 1874 but the firm had weathered the widespread financial 
 panic of the previous year and at the time of the fire they were still 
 young men, possessing indomitable courage, self-reliance and faith in 
 the future of the dry goods business in Chicago. 
 
 After the second conflagration they opened a store at 52 Washington 
 street, between State and Dearborn, at which time they had in view the 
 occupancy of the busiest corner of State street, and in 1875 they rented 
 the property at 123 State street, only fifty feet north of Madison. There 
 the business rapidly developed and the trade became so large that Leon 
 Mandel found it necessary to go to New York as resident buyer, establish- 
 ing an office and his home in that city. The State Street store continued 
 to develop and it was not long before Mandel Brothers took its place as 
 one of the great retail dry goods houses of Chicago. The story of its unin- 
 terrupted success constitutes an important chapter in the commercial an- 
 nals of the city. Leon Mandel remained at the head of the house until 
 his death and ^vas active in the work of erecting at State and Madison 
 streets one of the finest business blocks of the city devoted to the dry 
 goods trade. In the meantime he was studying every method and oppor- 
 tunity for the growth and improvement of the business and again and 
 again his initiative spirit was manifest in progressive steps. After living 
 in New York from 1876 until 1892 he crossed the water and spent two 
 years in making purchases for the house in the leading centers of trade 
 in Europe. That Mandel Brothers have ever held to the highest stand-
 
 242 Lcoii a3tinDcl 
 
 ards in mercIiaiuHsin}; is known to every Chieagoan, and that Leon Man- 
 del was a leading spirit in the continuous progress which has character- 
 ized the estahlishnient none doubts. He was a broad-minded man who 
 looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities of the 
 future and thus was prepared to meet every emergency that arose and 
 was always ready to supply the demands of a constantly increasing trade 
 as the growth of the city and its conunercial development brought about 
 changing conditions. 
 
 The Leon Mandel home was ever one of the most attractive social 
 centers of the city. His interest ever centered in his family, which in the 
 course of years numbered seven children: Frederick L. and Robert, who 
 were born while Mr. and Mrs. Mandel were living at 43 Hubbard court; 
 Fannie, who became the wife of 0. G. Foreman and died in 1914; Ida, 
 who is Mrs. M. H. IVIandelbaum; Blanche, who was married to Jesse L. 
 Strauss; Louise, the widow of J. M. Wineraan; and Florence. 
 
 To his children Mr. Mandel was ever friend and companion as well 
 as father and he found his greatest happiness in the midst of his own 
 household. His circle of friends, however, was a most comprehensive 
 one. A contemporary writer has said: "The qualities which made hira 
 popular Avith his employer when a cash boy gained for him the high and 
 enduring regard of all with whom he came in contact in later life. His 
 great heart reached out in sympathy to all who were unfortunate and 
 he was a liberal contributor to private as well as organized charities." 
 
 While at different periods Mr. Mandel was away from Chicago, he 
 always regarded this city as his home and retained his membership in 
 the Sinai Congregation, of which he was a very prominent representative, 
 serving on the executive board for many years and for several terms 
 as vice president. He was the friend and associate of Rabbi Hirsch, who 
 said of him: "He, a busy man . . . always had time for service on 
 the boards of our religious and philanthropic societies. He was with us 
 heart and soul when we resolved to apply the new method to the financ- 
 ing of our charities. . . . He was with us when we rebuilt our hospital. 
 He was with us at all times in Sinai Congregation. He stood by me un- 
 waveringly. For him our Temple meant something. He certainly, if any, 
 had the right to believe that he knew the contents of the book of life as 
 did few others. He had written his name in the annals of this young 
 giant city's story in letters indelible. . . . Could he not have reasoned 
 with seeming strong justification that such message as our pulpit is called 
 and competent to give was not for him? Yet the great and successful man 
 of affairs was rarely absent from his pew when the hour came around for 
 the loyal sons of Sinai to assemble for study and uplift." 
 
 Mr. Mandel took the keenest interest and manifested a most helpful 
 spirit in the establishment of the Jewish Training School about 1889.
 
 Leon QganPel 243 
 
 This was a school particularly for the children of Jewish immigrants and 
 offered to them splendid opportunities for physical, mental and moral 
 development. He was the first large donor to such an enterprise in the 
 city. The rapid increase in Jewish population in Chicago made it neces- 
 sary to organize the Associated Jewsh Charities and in this great enter- 
 prise Mr. Mandel was keenly interested, serving as one of the directors 
 for a number of years and ever continuing as one of the most generous 
 contributors to the cause. Mr. Mandel aided in maintaining the high 
 standard of benevolent service. He was deeply interested in Michael 
 Reese Hospital, acted as chairman of its building committee, and he and 
 his family were among the largest contributors to the project. He always 
 had a warm place in his affections for the University of Chicago and 
 when the need for a large chapel or assembly hall became most insistent 
 the fact was presented to Mr. Mandel in 1899 with the result that he 
 contributed seventy-five thousand dollars for the erection of the Leon 
 Mandel Assembly Hall and ten thousand dollars for the installation of an 
 organ, the structure being built and occupied about October 1, 1903. 
 This was neither the first nor the last of his gifts to the great university, 
 one of his acts of generosity being the contribution of three thousand 
 dollars toward the erection of Harper Library as a memorial to President 
 Harper. Music and the arts also knew Mr. Mandel as a generous patron 
 and he was active in the movement to establish permanent grand opera 
 in Chicago. It was not because of early training that his tastes in these 
 directions were developed but because of an inherent fineness of nature 
 that led to an appreciation of beauty in sound, in color or in form. As 
 he traveled abroad his love of fine paintings led to the development of 
 his private gallery which contained many canvases of world-famous art- 
 ists, and he frequently placed these on exhibition in the Art Institute that 
 the public might share in his enjoyment of the beauty of works produced 
 by Corot, Gerome, Aima-Tadema, Rosa Bonheur, Schreyer, Breton and 
 others. The social nature of Mr. Mandel found expression in his mem- 
 bership in the Standard, Ravisloe and Lake Shore Country Clubs, but his 
 interest centered in his home more than all else. He reached the age of 
 seventy years, passing away in Atlantic City, New Jersey, November 4, 
 1911. For fifteen years he had spent the winters with his family in Coro- 
 nado, California, and there, as elsewhere, he was greatly appreciated be- 
 cause of his kindness, urbanity and courtesy. One Avritiug of him said: 
 "He made friends with everyone and the attachments then formed were 
 lasting and true. He was the soul of courtesy. . . . Full of humor, 
 quick to respond mth wit and jest, never at a loss to sustain his side of an 
 argument with vigor and effect, Leon Mandel was a most companionable 
 man, a model that others might well pattern after. ' 
 
 Another said: "He was, of course, first and last a business man of
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSli / OF ILLINOIS
 
 -S/x/y^/<dcmy ^^(/ict^e/e^
 
 (JIarleton l!lo0clei| 
 
 TRONG in his ability to plan and perform, strong in his 
 honor and his good name, Carleton Moseley, for many 
 years a member of the firm of Chase & Sanborn, de- 
 veloped one of the most extensive and important tea 
 and coffee enterprises of the country in Chicago. He 
 was at all times actuated by a spirit of progress that 
 manifested itself in close application, thoroughness and persistency of 
 purpose — qualities which brought him substantial success as the years 
 passed on. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, October 26, 1863, he 
 was a son of Frederick Pierce and Mary Eaton (Clark) Moseley and a 
 descendant in the tenth generation of Elder William Brewster, of the 
 "Mayflower," which reached Plymouth Rock in 1620. His ancestral 
 line is as follows: 
 
 (I) Elder William Brewster, who with his wife Mary and two sons 
 came to America on the "Mayflower," which dropped anchor in 
 Plymouth harbor December 16, 1620, was born in 1560 at Scrooby, 
 England. His father, William Brewster, was appointed by Archbishop 
 Sandys, in January, 1575, receiver of Scrooby and bailiff of the manor 
 house in that place belonging to the archbishop, to have life tenure of 
 both offices. Scrooby is in Nottinghamshire. Elder William Brewster, 
 who played such a prominent part in the establishment of Plymouth 
 colony in America, matriculated at Peterhouse, the oldest of the fourteen 
 colleges at that time grouped into the University of Cambridge, Decem- 
 ber 3, 1530, but it does not appear that he remained there long enough 
 to take a degree. He is next found as an assistant to William Davison, 
 secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth. His going to Holland with the 
 Pilgrims in the latter part of 1607, and subsequent voyage on the "May- 
 flower" to Plymouth, are events well known to readers of modern history. 
 He married, before 1593, Mary, born about 1569, who died at Plymouth, 
 April 17, 1627. Elder William Brewster died at Plymouth, Massachu- 
 setts, April 16, 1644. Carleton Moseley's descent from Elder William 
 Brewster is as follows: 
 
 (II) Patience Brewster, born probably at Scrooby, England, mar- 
 ried at Plymouth, Massachusetts, August 5, 1624, Thomas Prence, who 
 was born about 1601 and died at Plymouth, Massachusetts, March 29, 
 1673. She died at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1634. 
 
 (III) Mercy Prence, born at Plymouth, Massachusetts, about 1631, 
 died at Eastham, Massachusetts, September 28, 1711. On the 13th of 
 
 247
 
 248 Ctulcton CQosrIcp 
 
 February, 1649, at Eastham, Massachusetts, she married John Freeman, 
 ^vho was baptized at Billinghurst. England. January 29, 1626, and died 
 at Eastham, Massachusetts, October 28, 1719. 
 
 (IV) Thomas Freeman, born at Eastham, Massachusetts, in Septem- 
 ber, 1652, died at Harwich. Massachusetts. February 9. 1715. He was 
 married in Eastham, Massachusetts, December 31, 1673, to Rebecca 
 Sparrow, who was born at Eastham, October 30, 1655, and died at Har- 
 wich, Massachusetts, February 7, 1740. 
 
 (V) Mercy Freeman, born at Eastham, Massachusetts, October 30, 
 1674, died at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, August 30, 1747. About 1693 
 she married Paul Sears, who was born at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, June 
 15, 1669, and died at Yarmouth, February 14. 1739. 
 
 (VI) Edmund Sears, born at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, August 6, 
 1712, died at Dennis, Massachusetts, August 12, 1796. He was married 
 at Yarmouth, April 7. 1743, to Hannah Crowell, who was born at Yar- 
 mouth, September 9, 1725, and died at Dennis. Massachusetts, June 22. 
 1802. 
 
 (VII) Temperance Sears, born at Yarmouth. Massachusetts, Au- 
 gust 9, 1764, died at Brewster, Massachusetts, October 12, 1859. She 
 was married at Yarmouth, April 28, 1789, to Isaac Clark, who was born 
 at Harwich, Massachusetts. October 10, 1761, and died on the coast of 
 Africa, February 11, 1819. 
 
 (VIII) Lot Clark, born at Harwich, Massachusetts, July 25. 1796. 
 died at Boston, Massachusetts, February 24, 1880. On the 26th of 
 August, 1826, at Boston, Massachusetts, he married Mary Bernard Eaton, 
 who was bom in Boston, October 19, 1803, and died in that city, May 26. 
 1889. 
 
 (IX) Mary Eaton Clark, born at Boston, Massachusetts, May 12, 
 1827, died at Brookline, Massachusetts, October 15, 1914. On the 9th 
 of October, 1851, at Dorchester, Massachusetts, she became the wife 
 of Frederick Pierce Moseley, who was born at Dorchester, September 30, 
 1826, and died in Boston, January 8, 1881. 
 
 (X) Carleton Moseley, who was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts. 
 October 26, 1863, died in Highland Park, Illinois, March 20, 1928. On 
 the 4th of October, 1892, he married Marion L. \^'ilder, of Hoosick Falls, 
 New York. 
 
 (XI) George Clark Moseley, born in Chicago, Illinois, April 5, 
 1894, was married December 7, 1918, to Ethel Maud, daughter of Earl 
 \V infield Spencer, of Highland Park, Illinois. They have three sons, 
 Spencer Dumarcsque. Thomas Wilder, and \^ illiam Brewster. 
 
 (XII) Marion Renwick Moseley, sister of George Clark Moseley, 
 of the eleventh generation from Elder William Brewster, was educated 
 at Brjn Mawr and became interested in the work of Dr. Grenfell in
 
 Carlcton ^osclcp 249 
 
 Labrador. While doing mission work there she met Dr. Stewart B. 
 Sniff en, whom she subsequently married and with whom she now resides 
 at White Plains, New York. 
 
 Carleton Moseley, whose name introduces this review, Avas attending 
 the Boston Latin School, preparing for college, when his father died, and 
 the financial circumstances of the family were such that it was necessary 
 for hun to put aside his textbooks and earn money for the support of 
 his mother and his sister. He obtained a position with Nash, Spaulding 
 & Company, importers and refiners of sugar, with whom he remained 
 from 1881 until 1886, rising to the place of manager of their western 
 business. In 1886. because of lack of sugar for the western trade, they 
 abandoned the western business and gave Mr. Moseley letters of introduc- 
 tion and reconunendation to Chase & Sanborn, who at once placed him 
 in Ohio territory to demonstrate their teas and coffees to the grocery 
 trade. In 1888 they decided to establish a branch office in Chicago and 
 Mr. Moseley obtained desk room in a back office and began receiving 
 coffee and tea in bulk from the east. This he put up in pound packages 
 which he sold throughout Chicago to establish a trade, literally Avorking 
 days, nights and Sundays. From this small beginning he developed the 
 present most efficient tea and coffee factory in the United States with one 
 hundred and sixty-five thousand square feet of floor space and an output 
 of eighty thousand pounds of coffee and eight thousand pounds of tea 
 per day. In 1900 Mr. Moseley became a member of the firm of Chase 
 & Sanborn and Avas the senior partner of the western department. 
 
 In 1895 Mr. Moseley removed from Chicago to Highland Park, Avhere 
 he spent the remainder of his life, covering a period of thirty-three years. 
 He at once manifested an active interest in local affairs, became a mem- 
 ber of the board of trustees of the Highland Park Presbyterian Church 
 and president of the board of education of the Elm Place grammar 
 school. His home life Avas ideal, his career exemplified all that is best 
 in human relations, and he Avas noted for his geniality, sociability and 
 hospitality. His social instinct Avas most Avholesomely developed and be 
 Avas never so happy as Avhen he Avas contributing to the enjoyment of 
 his friends and acquaintances. Mr. Moseley Avas a member of the Chi- 
 cago Historical Society, the Society of the Mayflower Descendants, the 
 NcAv England Society, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Chicago Yacht, 
 Exmoor and Highland Park Clubs. 
 
 George Clark Moseley, son of Carleton Moseley, and a descendant in 
 the eleventh generation of Elder William Brewster, was born in Chicago, 
 Illinois, April 5, 1894, and Avas graduated from Hill School of Pottstown, 
 Pennsylvania, in 1914 and from Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- 
 versity in 1917. He was a member of the all-American football team of 
 Yale in 1916. On the 7th of December, 1918, he married Ethel Maud,
 
 250 CcUlcton Q3cisclci> 
 
 (lau{:liter of Earl ^'infield and Agnes L. (Hughes) Spencer, of Highland 
 Park, Illinois, and they have three sons, Spencer Dumaresque, Thomas 
 Wilder and \^ illiam Brewster Moseley. 
 
 At the time the United States entered the World war George Clark 
 Moseley was a senior in the Shefiield Scientific School of Yale Uni- 
 versity. Receiving assurance from Yale that he would he awarded his 
 diploma, he left the university two months hefore time for graduation. 
 
 He has told the story of his military experience, which brought him 
 the decoration of the Navy Cross, in a most interesting and entertaining 
 volume, compiled largely from letters written home, one under date of 
 April, 1917, saying: "Well, I have had some time trying to get into the 
 Aviation Corps. . . . Kingman Douglass received a telegram 
 Thursday noon, telling him to bring me and report in New York at six 
 o'clock, that we would he accepted. ... I have just sworn two 
 oaths, I had to swear in to the New York Naval Militia and then, as it 
 had been called out by the government I had to swear a federal oath, so 
 now I am a third class carpenter's mate in the U. S. Naval Reserve Corps, 
 aviation section." 
 
 The story of his sen ice is best told in quotations from his published 
 volume : 
 
 "Bay Shore, Long Island, May 26, 1917. 
 
 "T have been working on the engine of the hydro-aeroplane today. 
 , . . . ^ e are trying to get a furlough now for five days beginning 
 Monday to take our tests for the Lafayette Escadrille, the French Flying 
 Corps ... It presents the most attractive proposition which I have 
 been able to find. It seems as though it would be of great value to me 
 to take advantage of any good opportunity which might present itself to 
 go to France. It is there they need men, especially in aviation, and it is 
 there that I could serve my country to the best of my ability." 
 
 "Avord, Cher., France, July 25, 1917. 
 '"Ecole d'Aviation Militaire, 
 
 "At last I have reached the destination for which I started almost a 
 month ago," and on the 30th of the same month, "At last we are in a real 
 aviation school. There are at least nine hundred to a thousand aero- 
 planes here of all descriptions ... I am now flying a Penguin." 
 
 "Avord, France, August 25, 1917. 
 
 "I consider myself very, very lucky to be able to obtain the training 
 I am getting. I will be at least six months ahead of men trained in the 
 United States." 
 
 "Tours. France, September 20, 1917. 
 
 "They told us that we could join the U. S. Air Service if we wanted 
 to do so . . . \^ e will be pilot lieutenants . . . He told the 
 men who wanted to join the U. S. forces to report the next morning for
 
 Caricton Q^osclcg 251 
 
 their examinations. Stuff and I were on deck and both passed perfect 
 examinations. For a Avhile we thought of staying with the French but 
 we have now changed our minds." 
 
 '"Tours, France. October 6, 1917. 
 
 "'Flying is progressing very rapidly now. thank goodness. If the 
 weather continues to be good I think we will be brevetted by the end of 
 this month. . . . \\ e left the Aiizanie class with a fine record and 
 went to the spiral class. In a day both of us finished our high spiral 
 and low spiral . . . The next day we were sent on our 'petit voy- 
 age,' a trip across countiy for nearly forty miles. (Later) I am very 
 sorry that I have not written for over a week, but to tell the truth I have 
 not been on the ground long enough. I did verj' ^vell in the Anzanie 
 class, making such perfect landings that I was sent ahead rapidly. I 
 went from the spiral class to the altitude class. You have to stay above 
 two thousand meters for an hour and a quarter . . . As I have 
 made over fifty landings and have had twenty-eight hours and ten min- 
 utes in the air I was brevetted ... I finished my triangle without 
 any mishap and finished my brevet test. I have not broken even a wire 
 since I have entered aviation. Because of that and because my baro- 
 graphs were good, I have been ordered to report at Avord for Nieuport 
 training . . . Did I tell you that I have 'risen' from common second 
 class soldat. the lo^^est rank in the French Army, to be corporal?" 
 
 On November 10, 1917, from Avord he wrote: ''Flying has been 
 coming along very well. I have finished the 28 meter Nieuport, passed 
 the test on them and am now flying the 23 meter Nieuport." 
 
 "Pan, France. Dec. 4. 1917. 
 
 "This morning was a big morning in my life and one which I will 
 not forget in a hurr)-. I went to what they call 'High School' or where 
 you learn to do tricks. You make two 'tours de piste' in the 13 meter 
 Nieuport with an 80 H. P. engine in it in order to become accustomed to 
 the way in which it flies. Then la vrille and le renversement are ex- 
 plained to you. You go through the motions in a machine on the ground 
 until you understand them and then you are told to do vrille and three 
 or four renversements at an altitude of fifteen hundred meters and not 
 to stay up more than thirty-five minutes . . . \^ hen I landed the 
 monitor complimented me again. Told me that I would be recommended 
 for a monoplane machine and sent to the machine gun school at Cazeau." 
 
 "Plessis-Belleville, December, 1917. 
 
 "We expect to be at the front Christmas day or New Year's, anpvay. 
 We hope to start 1918 right ... I have just heard from the na\y, 
 they have received word from Washington to give us commissions as 
 ensigns and they want to take us over at once."
 
 252 Carlcton Qjosclcj) 
 
 •Paris, February 4, 1918. 
 
 ''I am to be sworn in tomorrow morniiij; at ten o'clock as an ensign 
 in the Navy Reserve Flying Corps. That will end a wild career — first a 
 third class carpenter's mate in the INew York Naval Militia, then a sec- 
 ond class soldat Legion Etrangere, later a caporal pilote and now in the 
 navy ... I am going to try very hard to rise in rank but it will 
 probably take a long time. The second time I crossed the lines the 
 Frenchman who was leading us decided to attack an obser\'ation balloon. 
 He suddenly started 'wagging his tail' — a signal for us to pay attention 
 that something was going to happen. He made a sharp bank to the left, 
 I followed him, watching him just under my wing. Then he banked 
 sharply to the right, I followed, he dived, I kept my position, trying to 
 see what we were after . . . Suddenly the leader's machine gun 
 began to spit tracer bullets which made a white line through the sky 
 toward the ground to a huge yellow balloon, which was very nicely 
 camouflaged and noticed only by an experienced eye. I looked through 
 the sights of my gun and waited for the leader to turn as I was almost 
 directly behind him. He turned quickly to climb. As he did so I 
 squeezed the trigger and my gun started to spray lead into the balloon 
 . . . The men on the ground were shooting at us with shrapnel and 
 machine guns . . . You could see the men jumping from the bal- 
 loon in parachutes and the balloon being pulled down by the Germans 
 . . . We went home low over the German lines and began to climb 
 after we were well in France again and the German planes had left us 
 . I am very happy indeed that before long I will be fighting with 
 the Americans." 
 
 "Paris, February 14, 1918. 
 
 "I put on my ensign's U. S. Navy uniform tomorrow for the first 
 time and leave the French Army for good.'' 
 
 "Near Dunkirk, March 28, 1918. 
 
 "Well, here I am in the place that I have been trying so hard to get 
 to . . . We have fine quarters in a very nice villa right on the 
 shores of the sea. ... All the pilots live here . . . We are 
 going to stand by and if the English need a helping hand in this big 
 drive we are going to fly for them, those of us who have had land train- 
 ing. I have handed in my name, as I would consider it a great honor to 
 fly with the Royal Flying Corps . . . This front has been fairly 
 quiet since the big push farther inland. I certainly do wish I was in it. 
 It is the biggest battle in the history of the world." 
 
 "Near Dunkirk, April 7, 1918. 
 
 "I have just had my first bad accident . . . am sitting in the 
 hospital here at camp. I had crashed to the deck (of an English de- 
 stroyer) after hitting the wireless on top of the mast, breaking the 
 plane to bits."
 
 Carlcton ^osclcp 253 
 
 "Near Dunkirk, April 25, 1918. 
 
 "At last I am flying again. I just went up for a thirty-minute trip to 
 try out my new machine. It certainly is fine to be up again ... I 
 am going to fly every day now so that I will be able to get the old-time 
 confidence and a little skill back again." 
 
 "Dimkirk, May 16, 1918. 
 
 "I have never done more flying. For the last five days I have been 
 in the air on all the patrols, starting at four o'clock in the morning and 
 ending at seven o'clock at night." 
 
 "Paris, May 25, 1918. 
 
 "I did not expect orders to proceed to the day bombing school to 
 come through so quickly as they did. I learned here in Paris that every 
 pilot who has been sent to this day bombing school on land planes was a 
 very carefully selected man and so of course I consider it a great com- 
 pliment — to think of the great bunch of naval flyers in France that they 
 should have chosen me." 
 
 "Clermont-Ferrand, June 20, 1918. 
 
 "I took my observer up for the first time to do camera work. It 
 seems in bombing that it is absolutely necessary to drive your machine 
 in a straight line over the object which you intend to bomb, so that the 
 string of bombs which you will drop Avill be sure and cross the objective. 
 If the plane is not driven in a straight line the bombs will not fall in a 
 straight line, thus accurate bombing would be impossible. The first 
 thing we had to learn was how to find our wind direction after we were 
 in the air, and drive up wind in a straight line, directly over our 
 
 objective." 
 
 "Paris, July 10, 1918. 
 
 "The machines we are driving are very fast and exceptionally good, 
 the best boml3ing machines on the front. We are going out to an Eng- 
 lish squadron right away. We go to Dunkirk first and then we are sent 
 to the squadron situated near Calais. I will have been with nearly 
 every army over here — the French, American Na\7, American Army and 
 finally with the Royal Flying Corps. It has been a very liberal educa- 
 tion to say the least." 
 "Royal Flying Corps— Day Bombing Squadron 218, July 24, 1918. 
 
 "This squadron goes over the lines every day, sometimes twice and 
 bombs the big aumumition dumps, the factories, railroads, troops, etc., 
 far behind the German lines. It is very interesting work as we have to 
 go through a very heavy fire from the anti-aircraft guns and are harassed 
 by the German chasse machines most of the way to our objective and 
 back. The other day this squadron was attacked by German chasse 
 machines. Every one of them was brought down in flames and all of 
 our planes returned although some of them were pretty badly shot up."
 
 254 CcKlrton a3osclciP 
 
 '7uly 27, 1918. 
 
 "I had my first trip over the lines with the English this morning. 
 . . . It was quite a sight — sixteen of these planes, each carrying eight 
 homhs heneath its wings, standing in formation with their huge engines 
 roaring, impatient to get at the Germans . . . \^ hen we got to Zee- 
 brugge we headed in and although another bank of anti-aircraft came up 
 at us, we flcAV through it and the •Mole," a very important target, came 
 into view. I watched it through a hole in my wing ... I pulled the 
 lever which releases the bombs. I heard a yell from George, my observer, 
 and on looking around saw him pointing down. I looked and saw four 
 huge clouds of smoke right on the spot I had aimed at, right on the Mole, 
 where so many supplies and ammunitiou are deposited. Our bombs 
 had gone home. \^ hen I got l)ack I found four or five holes in my 
 wings, made bv the anti-aircraft." 
 
 '•August 2, 1918. 
 
 "I have been over the lines on three raids and for the first time I 
 have feh that I am really doing something that counts. I dropped on 
 these three raids twelve hundred pounds of the highest explosives and 
 saw them reach their mark, a fairly hard shot from fifteen thousand 
 
 feet." 
 
 "August 13, 1918. 
 
 '•I have never been happier since I came to France because we are do- 
 ing very interesting and very effective work, going back into Germany 
 fifty or sixty miles every day when the weather permits. The Germans 
 have been moving a great many chasse machines up to this sector lately. 
 Every day for the last w eek we have met them. We brought down seven 
 of them one day with the help of our chasse squadron. Our objectives 
 are the submarine bases at Ostend. Zeebrugge and Bruges. As they are 
 very important centers, not only for submarines but also for vast dumps 
 of all kinds of supplies, the Germans have fortified them very strongly 
 with huge anti-aircraft batteries and also numerous squads of their fight- 
 ing machines. ... On July 29. I made two raids. In the morning 
 I placed four of my bombs at the poiut where the Mole joins the land 
 and four more farther in the town along the canal . . . That after- 
 noon we bombed Ostend again, mine hitting the railroad yard, which is 
 just south of the town. A very warm reception of anti-aircraft was given 
 to us. The next day, August 11, we bombed the Mole at Zeebrugge. 
 . . . It has been wonderful to be here doing this work. Yesterday I 
 received orders to go immediately to Paris to report to Captain Haura- 
 han. the head of the Northern Bombing Group ... I find that I 
 am to be attached to headquarters for a while . . . The captain has 
 picked me out for this job and although I do not like it — would rather 
 be in the air — I will do the best I can for him."
 
 Carlcton ^osclcp 255 
 
 "Escadrille de St. Pol, Sept. 26, 1918. 
 
 "Talk about a wanderer — I have them all beaten. First I flew with 
 the French Army, then with the American Navy, then the American 
 Army, then the English Navy under directions of their army, and now I 
 am Avith the French Navy on land." 
 
 '•Escadrille de St. Pol, Oct. 2, 1918. 
 
 "The Huns are going — there is no doubt of it. The wonderful victory 
 in the Holy Land, Bulgaria surrendering unconditionally, and a perfect 
 string of victories on this front. It is the beginning of the end." 
 
 '•Escadrille de St. Pol, October 6, 1918. 
 
 "What good news there is in the papers today! Germany, Austria 
 and Turkey want an armistice to talk about peace. It is not peace but 
 it is the beginning of the end." 
 
 "October 9, 1918. 
 
 "We heard some fine news last night. It is rumored that Ostend 
 harbor is entirely blockaded. The Germans have sunk ships in it, thus 
 showing that they are preparing to withdraw from the Belgian coast, and 
 are making the harbors useless as they go — We are doing chasse work 
 in the Ypres sector against a German circus." 
 
 "Escadrille de St. Pol, Oct. 21, 1918. 
 
 "The last two patrols we have been on, we have not been able to 
 find the Huns . . . Their retreat has been wonderful, scarcely a 
 handful of men captured and a surprisingly small amount of material." 
 
 Lieutenant Moseley had received permission to return home on a 
 furlough when the armistice was signed. In February, 1919, he became 
 associated Avith the firm of Chase & Sanborn, of which he was one of 
 the executives for a number of years, or until his resignation in the fall 
 of 1928, since Avhich time he has been resident manager for the firm of 
 Smith, Graham & Rockwell, members of the New York Stock Exchange, 
 Chicago Stock Exchange and associate members of the New York Curb 
 and Produce Exchange. His offices are at 208 South LaSalle street, 
 Chicago. 
 
 His interest in community welfare has been manifest in many tangible 
 ways. He was an alderman of Geneva, Illinois, from 1924 to 1928; was a 
 member of the Geneva board of local improvement from 1925 to 1928; 
 a director of the Adventure School from 1926 to 1928; and for the same 
 period was vice president of the Fox Valley Council of the Boy Scouts 
 of America.
 
 O:i)omtt0 a!l)roiuDcr (n)ambcrlin 
 
 ,HOMAS CHROWDER CHAMBERLIN, scientist and 
 educator, who became one of the original members of 
 the faculty of the University of Chicago and Avhose 
 contributions along various original lines made him one 
 of the most eminent figures in the field of American 
 geology, was born on a prairie farm near what is now 
 the site of Mattoon. Illinois, September 25, 1843. In a conversation with 
 J. V. Nadi in Chicago in October. 1928. he said that his father, the Rev. 
 John Chamberlin, "was left as the eldest son, by the death of his 
 father, in charge of a large plantation near Ogden Mills, the county seat 
 of Camden county, which is the northeast county of North Carolina and 
 south of the Dismal Swamp. He was about twenty-one at that tune. The 
 estate included some five or six slaves but he was not at liberty to set 
 them free. In the course of his experience, however, he made up his 
 mind that slaven, was not right and that the bondspeople shoidd be free, 
 but felt that he was under moral obligation to care for the property 
 entrusted to him in behalf of others. At any rate he was an abolitionist 
 of the old school. As soon as he had disposed of the estate and was thus 
 left free, he went to Tennessee and stayed for a time near Murfreesboro, 
 where his sister and her husband lived. From there he came north to 
 Illinois, desiring to get away from slaver)-, and located at Palestine on 
 the \i'abash. There he married Cecilia Gill, who was born at Lexington, 
 Kentucky. By stages they migrated to the northwest and while residing 
 near Mattoon," said Mr. Chamberlin, "I was born. In my third year my 
 parents moved by prairie schooner to the Rock River valley, locating 
 northwest of Beloh, Wisconsin, and the tradition is that I learned my 
 letters on the way from my mother. My father was a Methodist preacher, 
 though not of the typical sort. When Sunday morning came he would 
 start out on his horse, put his hymn book and Bible in the saddle-bags 
 and off he would go. He preached several times at various points on 
 Sundays, practically for nothing. He died about 1870, when about sixty- 
 five years of age, and my mother lived until eighty-two." 
 
 In 1866 Professor Chamberlin received his Bachelor of Arts degree 
 from Beloit College and then became principal of the high school at 
 Delavan, Wisconsin. The year 1868-69 was spent in graduate study at 
 the University of Michigan. In 1882 both the University of Michigan 
 and the University of \S'isconsin conferred upon him the Doctor of 
 Philosonhy degree and from five universities and colleges he received the 
 
 257
 
 258 Cbonuis ChrotiiDcr Cfaamticrlin 
 
 honoran- degree of LL. D., and from the University of Illinois and the 
 University of Wisconsin the degree of Doctor of Science. 
 
 Beginning in 1869 yonng Chamberlin was professor of natural 
 sciences for four years in the State Normal School at Whitewater, Wiscon- 
 sin, and in 1873 became professor of geology in Beloit College. He was af- 
 terward a member of the teaching staff of Columbian University during 
 his residence in Washington, D. C, as a geologist of the United States Ge- 
 ological Sur^ ey. He occupied the presidency of the University of Wiscon- 
 sin from 1887 until 1892, when he resigned to join the faculty of the 
 newly organized University of Chicago, remaining at the head of its de- 
 partment of geology until 1919, when he resigned and was made professor 
 emeritus. This in brief was the outline of his career but gives no indi- 
 cation of the scope of his activities. While professor of geology in Beloit 
 College his teaching was interrupted by his appointment to the director- 
 ship of the Geological Surrey of Wisconsin, a position Avhich involved 
 the organization and preparation for publication of a geological survey of 
 the entire state, together with the distribution of more than twenty thou- 
 sand geological specimens collected during the course of the survey for 
 distribution to the Wisconsin colleges. His labors resulted in the publi- 
 cation of four monumental volumes, of which Professor Chamberlin 
 himself contributed nine hundred of the printed pages, his articles on 
 the lead and zinc ores being a notable contribution to science along that 
 line. In early manhood he wrote largely on glacial phenomena and in 
 1882 was called to take charge of the glacial division of the United States 
 Geological Survey, occupying that position until 1904, although he gave 
 to the work only partial time after 1887. He was the first to prove a 
 succession of glacial alternations during the Pleistocene, and he spread 
 the knowledge of glacial geology abroad in the land more Avidely than 
 had ever been done. 
 
 His labors as president of the University of Wisconsin led to the 
 reorganization of the school on a modern basis, with a doubled attend- 
 ance, while the university extension system was adopted and placed in 
 successful operation. It was not executive but scientific research work, 
 however, that interested Professor Chamberlin and he therefore eagerly 
 grasped the opportunity of becoming head of the department of geology 
 at the organization of the University of Chicago, continuing to serve in 
 that connection until his retirement in 1919. It was difficult, however, 
 for him to escape altogether from executive work, as into his charge was 
 given the editorship of the Journal of Geology, and he played an im- 
 portant part in the development of the university. That he had oppor- 
 tunity for his loved research work, however, was soon manifest in the 
 increased number of papers which he prepared, producing thirty-two 
 between the years 1893 and 1897. Up to this time he wrote largely along
 
 Cbomas CftroUiDer grftamticrUn 259 
 
 the lines of glacial development but in 1897 he entered upon a new field 
 of scientific investigation and brought forth his paper on "a group of 
 hypotheses bearing on climatic changes," this constituting the initial step 
 toward his world-famous planetesimal hypothesis. In 1898 he wrote his 
 article on "the ulterior basis of time divisions and the classification of 
 geologic history."' This discussion, after continuing for several years, 
 finally culminated in '"Diastrophism as the ultimate basis of correlation" 
 (1909), and "Diastrophism and the formative processes" (1913, 1914, 
 1918), this group of fifteen papers being among his most striking results 
 in j)hilosophic geology. Concerning his work Charles Schuchert said: 
 "His first marked attack on the nebular hypothesis came with the turn 
 of the centun,- — 'An attempt to test the nebular hypothesis by the rela- 
 tion of masses and momenta' (1900), though it is interesting to note that 
 in the first volume of the Wisconsin Survey (1883) he was already find- 
 ing the Laplacian theory unsatisfactory and speaking of 'growth by 
 accretion.' In 1902 he became 'investigator of fundamental problems in 
 geology' in the Carnegie Institute of Washington, and it was his re- 
 searches in this connection, continued vintil his death, that led to the 
 establishment of the planetesimal origin of the sun's family of planets. 
 This field of cosmogonic geology is the one in which Chamberlin was at 
 his best, and it is significant that leading astronomers accept his idea that 
 the solar family had a biparental origin, best expressed in his last book, 
 'The Two Solar Families — The Suns Children,' which appeared only six 
 weeks before his death. . . . He was a brilliant administrator, with 
 a mind of the constructive type; but he possessed, in addition, 'a pro- 
 digious capacity for patient, laborious, consecutive work.' He was a man 
 of indomitable will, of great sincerity, and of strong convictions, which 
 he defended with force and vigor; nevertheless he always maintained an 
 attitude of kindly understanding toward student and colleague. With 
 these attributes it is not surprising that he should have left a permanent 
 impression upon the science of geology, as teacher, as textbook writer, 
 and as promulgator of original and fundamental hypotheses." 
 
 Professor Chamberlin's position in the scientific world is best shown 
 in the comments that were made upon him by many eminent colleagues 
 when he passed away November 15, 1928, at the age of eighty-five years. 
 Professor George L. Collie of Beloit College, speaking of his connection 
 with that school, said: "One of the notable relationships which Professor 
 Chamberlin established here was that which grew up between him and 
 his pupil, Rollin D. Salisbury, a relation not only of friendship, but of 
 co-partner in scientific endeavor. They worked together here; Salisbury 
 followed him into the Federal Survey; then they were together at the 
 University of Wisconsin; and finally their close alliance continued at the 
 University of Chicago, terminated only by Salisbury's death in 1922.
 
 260 Ciiomas ClKoluDcr Cftamfacrlin 
 
 This partnership vas one of the notable features in the history of Ameri- 
 can geology. \^hat either one of these men would have been %\ithout 
 the other it is impossible to say. What they accomplished together is 
 Avell known to the world of science. It forms a lasting monument to the 
 unusual friendship that hound the two together. Not only did they 
 contribute much to our knowledge of geological science through their 
 joint efforts such as their monumental three-volume work on geology, but 
 of equal or greater importance was their training of a remarkable group 
 of students and investigators at the University of Chicago. No one can 
 estimate the value to science of this partnership which began here on 
 the Beloit campus fifty years ago. One of Professor Chamberlin's strik- 
 ing features was his interest in young men and his sincere desire to aid 
 them in finding themselves. 
 
 •Professor Chambcrlin had a strong, rugged, almost severe honesty 
 of purpose. He bought a home on the west side, the large square house 
 of brick that still stands in the rear of the Masonic Temple. The woman 
 from whom he bought it was a widoAv and Avhen he paid her she asked 
 him about the investment of the money. He recommended a bank, in 
 which she invested these funds. The bank afterward failed and she lost 
 this money. Though under no legal obligations to do so, he repaid her 
 out of his meager salary the full amount of her loss. He never mentioned 
 this fact. I learned it only a few days ago from his brother, who resides 
 here in Beloit. This unyielding honesty and integrity served him well 
 in his scientific work, for it is needed there, if anywhere, certainly as 
 much as in financial dealings. He was a deeply religious man. He did 
 not accept many of the orthodox beliefs and creeds — what thinking per- 
 son does? But he Avas none the less a sincere and true-hearted believer 
 in religion in its best sense. 
 
 "The last great work of Professor Chamberlin was devoted to an 
 inquiry into the origin of the solar system and incidentally of all the 
 galaxies of space. It may seem strange to us that a man who had made 
 a secure and lasting reputation as a geologist should leave the earth he 
 knew so well to wander out into space to search for what would seem to 
 be a barren hunt, after an almost insoluble and baffling problem. It 
 was characteristic of his untiring industry to search for ever new truths. 
 He was never satisfied with present attainments. Once having mastered 
 the main facts of the repeated glaciation of the earth, he commenced to 
 investigate the causes of these extensive glaciations. In my college days 
 he taught us a theory, Croll's hypothesis, which explained glaciation as 
 due to astronomical causes. He was dissatisfied with the theory and soon 
 abandoned it and he commenced his hunt for a better one. He found 
 it in the changing and perhaps periodically changing conditions of the 
 earth's atmosphere. To clear up this matter he sought the origin of the
 
 Cljomas CbrotoPcr Cbamfacrlin 261 
 
 atmosphere. A\hich he finally believed originated in the earth. This 
 necessarily led to a search for the origin of the earth. He found begin- 
 ning in the sun and this led to the origin of the solar system, and on 
 back of that to the origin of the universe, so far as we can pierce its 
 mysteries. Out of this great excursion into space he brought back his 
 theory of the two-fold origin of the solar family. I have little question 
 that his hypothesis of the origin of the earth will give way finally to 
 another theory as men come better to understand the chemical and 
 physical problems of matter as it occurs in space, but as the author of 
 an earnest scientific explanation of the earth's origin Professor Cham- 
 berlin's name will live through the centuries. His theory may be re- 
 placed, but it is going to serve as a stepping-stone to a better understand- 
 ing of this fundamental problem. The fuller knowledge of a larger uni- 
 verse, which his efforts have revealed to us, will forbid our ever living 
 again in a narrow, circumscribed world, either of thought or of vision. 
 He has led us out into the great spaces. Our outlook, yea our faith and 
 confidence is infinitely strengthened because he lived and Avrought. His 
 splendid daring in going out to the farthest suns of space and wresting 
 from them their age-long secrets, the sweep of his brilliant imagination 
 as it pictures to us the events that were transpiring billions of years 
 ago, bringing them to our knowledge and attention, — such an intellect, 
 such an imagination, such a service cannot die. The generations will not 
 permit them to perish. And so this son of Beloit is among the few who 
 have attained a place among the immortals." 
 
 Professor Bailey Willis, in an appreciation of his character and at- 
 tainments, said: "Aristotle, 322, B. C. : Copernicus, 1543, A. D.; Galileo, 
 1642: Newton, 1727: Laplace, 1827: Darwin, 1882: Chamberlin, 1928. 
 The names of great original thinkers are milestones along the path of 
 exploration that penetrates the domain of the unknown. Chamberlin's 
 is the latest. He has led into new realms where for awhile others will 
 survey and establish monuments, but whence also another, some great 
 follower of his example, will again strike out in search of knowledge. 
 He was a great Master of Research. Few among living investigators 
 liaA'e demonstrated equal capacity for inquiry. Very few indeed have 
 maintained equal flights of constructive imagination yet kept in touch 
 with the realities. None, in preparing for such flights, has more thor- 
 oughly utilized the resources of advancing science or more rigorously 
 tested the records of altitudes attained. Chamberlin fortunately lived dur- 
 ing an epoch when the sciences were growing vigorously. He kept abreast 
 of them. He was no follower. Neither was he an egotistical leader. Coop- 
 erating closely with competent companions, he advanced always with 
 strong support. In the group of coworkers his was the mind that con- 
 ceived the campaign against misconceptions. His also was the ingenuity
 
 262 Oomas CftrotuDcr Cftamfacrlin 
 
 which suggested critical tests of even' new concept. That leadership was 
 his hecause of his superior capacities: initiative, independence and in- 
 sight. Yet the least exjierienced of his company received considerahle 
 attention and generous appreciation for any valid contrihution. 
 
 ''Born at Mattoon. Illinois, Septemher 25. 1813, Thomas Chrowder 
 Chamherlin was eighty-five at his death at Chicago, November 15, 1928. 
 He was of large build, a vigorous, genial, generous personality. From 
 his father, who practiced farming during six days and preached Biblical 
 philosophy on the seventh, Thomas appears to have inherited his intel- 
 lectual capacity. He himself says: 'I was brought up in theological phil- 
 osophy, but it was not Calvinistic predestination. Individuality, person- 
 ality, responsibility are so strongly ingrained in me that I cannot get rid 
 of them.' Evidently the father, like the son, was within his own sphere 
 an independent, earnest, forceful thinker. That he outgrew that re- 
 stricted sphere of religious tradition Chamherlin attributed largely to 
 his environment as a boy. In a note on 'little things' in his life he com- 
 ments humorously on the fact that his birthplace was on the Shelbyville 
 moraine, an intimation of his future interest in glaciation. More seri- 
 ously he describes the influence of all outdoors upon the growing farm- 
 er's boy. 'The most fascinating things of those days, to a boy of natural- 
 istic bent, were the migrations of the birds, the spring migration in par- 
 ticular. The prairies were usually burnt over in the fall and so were 
 often black and bleak during the winter when not covered with snow. 
 but as the spring advanced the grass began to make them grey and 
 green, the buttercups and violets began to give them color, and then 
 birds in uncounted flocks came from the south, fed upon them and 
 passed on. Blackness and bleakness gave place to color and life. No 
 poor soul in these days of plowed fields and wire fences ever sees sights 
 like those.' A limestone quarry, which he worked with his brothers for 
 stone for the house that replaced an older log cabin, introduced the 
 boy to rocks, also to 'snails' and 'snakes' ('Trenton' fossils). Having 
 been taught Genesis in its most literal terms, he found in these vestiges 
 of creation no questions except as to how the great snakes (orthocera- 
 tites) got down between the layers. To the prairie the 'skies came down 
 equally on all sides' and the boy lived in the center. He watched the 
 northern lights and looked for shooting stars. He grew alert but not yet 
 inquisitive or inquisitorial. In strong contrast with the untrammelled 
 outlook of his natural environment was the limited scholasticism of his 
 school training. Chamberlin's reaction was characteristic. When still a 
 college boy, but taking his first examination for a teacher's certificate, he 
 encountered the gymnastic problem: 'If the third of six is three, what 
 would the fourth of twenty be?' The desired answer might have been 
 an arithmetical calculation which would have shown that a fourth of
 
 Ct)oma0 Cl)rotoDct C&ambcrlin 263 
 
 twenty is seven and a half, but the young student at once refused the 
 fallacy. He replied: 'The fourth of twenty is five under any and all 
 circumstances and is not affected by any erroneous supposition that 
 may be made in respect to a third of six.' 
 
 "It does not appear that his environment developed favorable asso- 
 ciations prior to his entrance into the faculty of Chicago University 
 (1892). ^TiUe at Columbian he was occupied with the more strictly 
 geologic problems of Pleistocene classification. His associates, Gilbert, 
 Dutton and other fellow geologists, thought in the narrower field of 
 terrestrial processes and he with them. He was one of a group of similar 
 thinkers similarly equipped. At Chicago it was different. In that newly 
 organized faculty were leaders in related sciences, and among the stu- 
 dents there appeared from time to time competent aids eager to work 
 with the master of research. Two men stand out as Chamberlin's chief 
 associates, Rollin D. Salisbury and Forest R. Moulton. In different fields 
 each one contributed materially to his work. Salisbury, a student at 
 Beloit, devoted himself loyally throughout his whole career to supporting 
 Chamberlin. He worked with his chief in glacial geology, in the organi- 
 zation and conduct of the department of geology at Chicago, and in the 
 editorial work on the Journal of Geology which they founded, and in 
 the preparation of their comprehensive Manual of Geology. It was for 
 Chamberlin a great good fortune to have drawn to himself a spirit so 
 loyal, a collaborator so competent, a fellow teacher so superior as Salis- 
 bury. Moulton brought to the cooperation ^\-ith Chamberlin the re- 
 sources of a mathematician and astronomer. He was much younger than 
 Chamberlin and during their association developed from graduate stu- 
 dent to mature scientist. Chamberlin's constructive mind grouped facts, 
 originated explanations, suggested tests. He reasoned by 'naturalistic 
 logic' Moulton'^s analytical genius checked Chamberlin's concepts 
 against the principles of terrestrial mechanics and applied critical mathe- 
 matical tests to the dynamical consequences. All hypotheses that wth- 
 stood the tests of the realities were carried on as possible working mate- 
 rial. Yet after twenty-five years of research only one hypothesis of 
 planetary genesis, the Planetesimal, survived. Having failed to find a 
 solution of their problem in the general concepts governing the move- 
 ments and attractions of stellar bodies, Chamberlin and Moulton turned 
 their attention to the specific peculiarities of the solar system, in the hope 
 of finding in them a suggestion of the conditions to which they owed 
 their evolution. The orderly arrangement of the planets nearly in a 
 common plane of orbits, the distribution of masses which contrasts 
 extraordinarily with the distribution of the moments of momentmn, 
 the directions of rotation of the planets and many minor peculiarities 
 were studied. They suggested that two bodies had been concerned in
 
 264 Chomns CfaroluOcr Chflmfarrlin 
 
 the hirth of the planets from the sun — the sun itself and a visiting star. 
 This hint was develoned constructively hy Chamherlin and mathematic- 
 ally hy Moidton. until all the possihilities of a dynamical encounter had 
 been traversed, and that which seemed to suit the actual facts of the 
 solar system had been isolated from the frcneral possihilities. This con- 
 ception and demonstration helonps entirely to Chamherlin and Moulton: 
 they constitute a great original contribution in the field of celestial me- 
 chanics. Directing his attention specifically to the evolution of the earth, 
 Chamherlin postulated the eruption of its mass from the sun as a result 
 of the enormous expulsive activities of the sun, stimulated l)y the attrac- 
 tion of the passing star. This concept he has described as the 'Soul of 
 the Planetesimal Theory.' Chamberlins great contributions to science 
 relate to the two extreme stages of the evolution of the earth — the forma- 
 tion of the planet and the later history of the atmosphere. His research 
 also traversed all intermediate phases of terrestrial history, and he cast 
 a long look ahead. He hopefully forecast the evolution of man to higher 
 and higher possibilities. Avithout limitation of time or intellectual de- 
 velopment. He himself set the example, advancing far and beckoning." 
 Professor Chamherlin held membership in the following technical, 
 scientific and professional societies: Wisconsin Academv of Science. Arts 
 and Letters, of Avhich he was president from 1885 until 1887; Geological 
 Society of America, of which he was president in 1895: Chicago Academy 
 of Science, of which he was president for eighteen years, from 1897 
 until 1915; Illinois Academy of Science, of which he was president in 
 1907; American Association for the Advancement of Science, of which 
 he was president in 1908-9; National Academy of Sciences; American 
 Academy of Arts and Sciences of Boston; Geological Society of Washing- 
 ton; Philosophical Society of \^'ashington: American Philosophical So- 
 ciety of Philadelphia: correspondent of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
 of Philadelphia; and corresponding member of the British Association 
 for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of Edinburgh, 
 the Geological Society of London, the Geological Society of Sweden, the 
 Geological Society of Belgium and the New York Academy of Science. 
 He also belonged to the Greek letter fraternities Sigma Xi and Phi 
 Beta Kappa. The list of honors and decorations conferred upon him is 
 as follows: medal for geological publications, Paris Exposition of 1878; 
 medal for geological publications, Paris Exposition of 1893; Helen Cul- 
 ver medal of the Geographic Society of Chicago; bust of Thomas Chrow- 
 der Chamherlin presented to the LTniversity of Chicago, February 7, 
 1903, ''in recognition of the eminent services of Professor Chamherlin 
 to the science of geology;" portrait of Professor Chamherlin presented to 
 the University of Chicago on June 11. 1918: Haydeu medal awarded by 
 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for distinguished work
 
 Cfjomas CbrotoDer Cfjambcrlin 
 
 265 
 
 in geology, 1920; Penrose medal. Society of Economic Geologists, 1924; 
 and Penrose medal, Geological Society of America, 1927. 
 
 In 1867 Professor Chamberlin ^vas married to Alma Isabel Wilson, 
 whose death preceded his by some years. Their son, RoUin Thomas 
 Chamberlin, is professor of geology at the University of Chicago and 
 editor of the Journal of Geology.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSri .' OF ILLINOIS
 
 IHidjuel diiiDoljij 
 
 (lOGRAPHY finds its justification not only in the fact that 
 it is a memorial to the lives of great and good men but 
 also in the fact that it is an incentive and an inspiration 
 for the young. The record of no Chicago business man 
 perhaps indicates more clearly what can be accom- 
 plished when energy, determination and ambition lead 
 the way than that of Michael Cudahy. Entirely unostentatious and free 
 from pretense, he devoted his life to his business, to his home and to 
 his church, pursuing at all times the even tenor of his way. His quietude 
 of deportment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, 
 with a total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, indi- 
 cated a man ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and 
 courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of 
 things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human 
 activities. The world knew him as a successful man, yet attainment of 
 wealth was never the ultimate aim and object of his life. He rejoiced in 
 his prosperity because it gave him the opportunity to provide most 
 liberally for his family, and to generously aid his fellowmen. Yet he 
 was not always a wealthy man but started in the business world at a 
 salary of six dollars per week. He was born in the historic old town of 
 Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland, December 7, 1841. His mother's peo- 
 ple were for some time residents of Dublin but afterward removed to 
 Callan, where they established a pottery for the manufacture of crock- 
 ery. His grandfather, believing that better opportunities might be se- 
 cured in the new world, brought his family to America in 1849, and 
 soon afterward became a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the age 
 of fourteen, Michael Cudahy went to work for John Plankinton in Mr. 
 Plankinton's packing house in Milwaukee. The father died not long 
 afterward, and the support of the family devolved upon the sons. Mi- 
 chael Cudahy always attributed much of his success to the influence and 
 encouragement of his mother, a most saintly woman, devoted to her fam- 
 ily and counting no personal sacrifice on her part too great if it would 
 promote the welfare of her children. She would often gather them 
 around the table at night and hear their lessons and when school books 
 had to be put aside that they might enter the more diflScult school of 
 experience, she ever stood by them, their friend, their confidante, and 
 their inspiration. 
 
 The industry which had ever been one of Michael Cudahy's marked 
 
 269
 
 270 OdUhiUl CllDilhP 
 
 characteristics ^s•as manifest at the outset of his business career and won 
 him promotion from time to time. He was nineteen years of af:e wlien 
 he accepted a position with Edward Roddis, also a Milwaukee packer, 
 with whom he continued until the business was closed out in 1866. He 
 aftenvard became private meat inspector for the firm of Layton & Com- 
 pany, and at the same time secured the position of meat inspector on the 
 Milwaukee Board of Trade. He went to the packing house of Plankinton 
 & Armour, of Milwaukee, in 1869. at the time when the total investment 
 of the company in their plant, including machinery, would not exceed 
 thirty-five thousand dollars. In the meantime, P. D. Armour was watch- 
 ing the young man who had been made manager of the Milwaukee busi- 
 ness, and in 1875 called him to Chicago, saying that he had a place for 
 him in this city. Mr. Cudahy accordingly removed to Chicago and for 
 seventeen years remained with Mr. Armour, having complete control of 
 the manufacturing end of the business. Most of the modern machinery 
 and methods for utilizing the by-products, without which the packing 
 business of today could not exist, were invented by Mr. Cudahy. ^ hen 
 asked by a friend why he never had secured patents for any of his inven- 
 tions. Mr. Cudahy replied that one year's start on any competitor was 
 all the patent he desired. It is said that no man before or since has had 
 a more thorough practical knowledge of the packing industry. Even- 
 tuallv he became a partner in the firm of Armour & Company. The 
 friendship between Mr. Armour and Mr. Cudahy continued until the 
 former's death. When the latter left him to engage in business for him- 
 self, Mr. Armour offered him a loan if at any time he desired it, but 
 Mr. Cudahy never needed the proffered help. He had in the meantime 
 acquired a thorough knowledge of the business in all of its different 
 phases. He had a strong hold on the cattle men who in dealing with him 
 always considered that they were doing business with an individual and 
 not a firm. It was a current saying among business men that the word of 
 Michael Cudahy was as good as any bond solemnized by signature or 
 seal. On severing his connection with Mr. Armour, Mr. Cudahy took 
 over the Omaha plant, but always continued a resident of Chicago. In 
 1887, the firm of The Armour-Cudahy Packing Company was formed, 
 and subsequently the business was reorganized under the name of the 
 Cudahy Packing Company. The firm soon established packing houses 
 in Omaha and Kansas City, and later in Sioux City. Iowa; Wichita. Kan- 
 sas; and Los Angeles, California; and the scope of the business was fur- 
 ther increased by the organization of branches in every important city 
 of the United States and many cities abroad. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy did not devote all of his attention to the packing busi- 
 ness. During the last fifteen years of his life he was actively engaged 
 in the oil business, — both in the producing of crude oil and in the re-
 
 ^icijacl CuDaljp 271 
 
 fining. He and his brother, John, were the pioneers in the development 
 of the oil fields of the Indian Territory and Oklahoma; and in 1910, he 
 organized the Cudahy Refining Company, which has a large refinery at 
 Coffeyville, Kansas. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy was also a great trader, aUhougli he never approved of 
 nor participated in "cornering" the market. He had a very unusual 
 faculty of anticipating the future, and his trading operations were not 
 confined to articles associated Avith his own business. 
 
 In 1866, Mr. Cudahy was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Sul- 
 livan, a daughter of John Sullivan, a prosperous farmer residing near 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They became the parents of four daughters and 
 three sons: Mrs. William P. Nelson; Mary; Clara; Mrs. John B. Cas- 
 serly ; John P. ; Joseph M. ; and Edward I. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy gave his political support to the democratic party, yet did 
 not hesitate to vote independently if he thought that the best interests of 
 city or country would l^e promoted thereby. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy was a great lover of music, paintings, and books, and 
 devoted a great deal of his spare time to reading. He was a great student 
 of Carlyle, Bacon and Shakespeare, and knew by heart a great portion 
 of Shakespeare's works. 
 
 It was well knoAvn that Mr. Cudahy was a most generous donor to 
 charities, yet the extent of his benefactions will never be known. He 
 rarely spoke of them even to his family, yet various Catholic institutions 
 have received sums of from fifty to one hundred thousand dollars and to 
 Protestant work he also gave liberally. During the last three years of his 
 life, feeling that he had acquired enough of this Avorld's goods for his 
 individual needs and desires, he gave his entire income above that 
 needed for the support of his family to benevolent institutions. One, 
 writing of him said: "Home, religion and business — his devotion to 
 this trinity was the key to the success in life of the late Michael Cudahy. 
 So far as could be learned he had no rule nor set of rules which he fol- 
 lowed. His was too broad a mind to be restricted to a formula from 
 which he could not deviate." There were those who saw him at home 
 who felt that his most active interest in life was his devotion to wife and 
 family; those who knew him as a business man felt that the packing 
 business was ever his first consideration; but his religion and his family 
 were paramount in his mind. He ever held membership in the Catholic 
 Church, being for over thirty years connected with St. James Church, 
 and later he attended St. Mary's. He made provision in his will for the 
 further support of many charities and benevolent institutions. 
 
 The secret of his successful life — and we use the term in its broadest 
 sense — was his ability to concentrate his entire mind on the subject at 
 hand, whether it pertained to religion, home or business. He was always
 
 272 
 
 egicbacl CuDat)i> 
 
 a ino<t approachablt' man. and in the many years in which it was his daily 
 custom to walk from the packinj; house to the stock yards, there were 
 many men who made it their hahit to meet him along the way '"in order 
 to extend a 'good morning" with the 'old man,* " a title which was 
 spoken with reverence when applied to him. Many of his employes 
 could come to him and discuss a situation arising from their connection 
 with the business. He made them feel that they had a right to be heard 
 and that the hearing was his first consideration. 
 
 Public opinion was not divided concerning the life of Michael 
 Cudahy. His business integrity was recognized by all with whom he had 
 dealings and it was well kno\vn that he was loyal to ever>- profession and 
 to every ideal which he advocated. The sixty-nine years of his life were 
 indeed well spent and the world is better for his having lived.
 
 |0l)n fallow prcnnau 
 
 ENERATIONS ago a philosopher said: "Take away the 
 sword — the pen can save the state." The truth of this 
 admonition is many times manifest, for it has long been 
 an acknowledged fact that the press is the most potent 
 force in molding public opinion that has existed for 
 centuries, and the newspaper that holds to high ideals 
 becomes an inestimable influence for good as a factor in advancing public 
 progress and indeed in shaping the history of community, state and 
 nation. It was into this field that John Patton Drennan entered and he 
 long held to the highest standards of journalism in the publication of 
 the Decatur Review. He was born in Mansfield, Ohio, September 6, 
 1861, a son of John Patton and Rebecca (Riley) Drennan. The father 
 was a merchant of Mansfield and during the Civil war served in the 
 Quartermaster's department with the Union Army. He removed with 
 his family to Alton, Illinois, during the very early childhood of his son 
 and namesake and afterward established his home in Roodhouse, Illinois, 
 before the son had reached his teens. The boy attended the public 
 schools there and afterward entered Illinois College at Jacksonville, from 
 which he was graduated with the A. B. degree in 1881, being a fellow 
 classmate and a member of the same literary society as William Jennings 
 Bryan. His lifelong associate in the printing business, Jerry Donahue, 
 was also with him in his college days. After leaving the Illinois institu- 
 tion Mr. Drennan entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor for 
 the study of law, but during his second year there his father's health 
 failed and he was forced to return home and enter business life. 
 
 His school work was marked by the interest he took in writing and 
 while in Jacksonville he was the editor and manager of the college paper 
 known as the College Rambler. During the summer periods at home he 
 and a school-boy friend operated a small job printing plant, so that his 
 career as a printer and publisher really began in his school days. In the 
 early "80s, with a boyhood friend, William T. Mclver, he established the 
 Roodhouse Eye, a daily paper, in a town with about fifteen hundred 
 population, and the little publication had the snap and enthusiasm of 
 papers published in cities many times larger. In 1888 his former college 
 chum, Jerry Donahue, became associated with him in the publication of 
 the Eye and in August of that year they removed to Decatur and pur- 
 chased the interests of R. E. Pratt and A. C. Thompson in the Decatur 
 Review. From that time until his death the history of the paper and of 
 
 273
 
 274 John }i)titton Drcnimn 
 
 Mr. Drennan are synonynious. He gave practically his entire attention 
 to making this a journal worthy of the city. He was always enthusiastic 
 about Decatur's future and was ever planning for a bigger paper that 
 would keep in advance of the development of the city. When he became 
 one of the owners of the Review the plant consisted of a little building 
 about forty feet square on Prairie street, off the corner of Main, and 
 the circulation was less than one thousand. In the job printing depart- 
 ment there were three employes and the paper's staff also numbered about 
 four carriers. In fact there were only from ten to fifteen employes on 
 the entire paper, though it was a daily and one of the four published in 
 the city at that time. Under the able leadership of Mr. Drennan the 
 growth and expansion of the paper was rapid. He met every require- 
 ment of newspaper publication, giving to the subscribers a clean, inter- 
 esting journal which was the champion of every forward-looking move- 
 ment. Its circulation continued to increase until it became a very 
 profitable enterprise. In 1895 a separate company was organized to con- 
 duct the job printing business, under the name of the Review Printing 
 & Stationery Company, and in the same year the first section of the 
 Review building at the corner of North Main and North streets was 
 erected. In this were installed the first perfecting press and the first 
 linotype machines in Decatur and the progress continued from year to 
 year, each annual period seeing some new development in the plant and 
 in the processes of printing. Throughout his entire association with the 
 Review, Mr. Drennan manifested a public-spirited devotion to Decatur's 
 welfare and upbuilding and made the Review the champion of every 
 measure that he deemed essential to the public good. He had an active 
 part in the consolidation of the newspapers of Decatur in 1899, so that 
 there were two dailies instead of four, the two having a strength and 
 influence superior to the greater number. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Drennan was an earnest democrat and in 
 his earlier years was quite active in politics. In one campaign he was 
 the chairman of the democratic county central committee and he labored 
 untiringly to support the principles in which he earnestly believed. He 
 was remarkable in the splendid judgment with which he selected those 
 about him to assist in the work he was directing. He knew men and was 
 an excellent judge of character, being seldom, if ever, at fault in his 
 estimate of any individual. He possessed great power of analysis and 
 a genius for organization and he never stopped short of the successful 
 accomplishment of his purposes. There are today many capable busi- 
 ness men throughout the country as well as many of the older employes 
 of the Review who gratefully acknowledge that they owe their advance- 
 ment in large measure to the early training of "J. P. D."' as be was affec- 
 tionately known by those in his employ and his countless friends.
 
 3lo{)n patton Drennan 275 
 
 On the 6th of September, 1905, in Decatur, Mr. Drennan was married 
 to Miss Winifred G. Elliott, a daughter of George and Marilla (Post) 
 Elliott, of this city. They became parents of two daughters, Dorothy 
 and Carolyn, both of whom are graduates of Oberlin College. Death 
 called Mr. Drennan on the 18th of June, 1919, and the family lost a most 
 devoted husband and father, one who had secured his greatest happiness 
 in ministering to the welfare of those at his own fireside. His humanity 
 was by uo means smothered beneath his business genius. He found a 
 keen pleasure in helping others to help themselves and to develop their 
 inherent talents and powers. His kindly nature prompted him to con- 
 tinually extend a hand of assistance to those who needed it and at all 
 times he displayed a rare thoughtfulness for others and a deep sym- 
 pathy for those in trouble. His acts of charity were many but were 
 never extolled or made public by himself. He held friendship inviolable 
 and exemplified in his life the Emersonian philosophy that "the way to 
 win a friend is to be one." He always found time for the intellectual 
 joys which come in the perusal of good books and the best current litera- 
 ture. His range of reading was very wide. He read rapidly but pos- 
 sessed a very retentive memory and became a man of particularly wide 
 and deep ciilture. This contributed to the interest of his conversation 
 and he was ever a most delightful companion. His dominant traits of 
 character were always stamped sterling and he possessed those qualities 
 of greatness which arise from the steady development of one's innate 
 powers and talents combined with simplicity of nature and lofty idealism 
 as to integrity and dependability in every relation of life. 
 
 Perhaps the best characterization of Mr. Drennan can be given in 
 quoting from the memorial booklet issued by his close associates: "An- 
 other feature of his school days' work, and something carried through 
 his later life was that he had a lively interest in all the studies of the 
 course. One might say that he got enjoyment out of mathematics 
 as well as Greek, out of political economy as well as chemistry. No 
 matter what the study, he had out of it more than mere preparation for 
 recitation. It cannot be said of many that they enjoy school thoroughly, 
 but all who were in Illinois College at the time will report that Jack 
 Drennan did. Because Drennan did not have to give long hours to 
 preparation of lessons, he had much spare time. But his mind was then 
 active and reaching out, and because of this he began to read widely. 
 Anything in print that came his way was grist for his mill ; in the matter 
 of mental taste he was catholic and impartial. One can hardly imagine 
 a line of study of inquiry at which he would not have made marked 
 headway. AH this indicated the man that was to follow. Down to his 
 last day John Drennan had a lively interest in almost innumerable sub- 
 jects, in everything that came his way. Doubtless his mental range,
 
 276 3iobn i2)atton Drcnnan 
 
 including only that in which he was interested in a lively way, was wider 
 than that of any other man in Decatur. Those who knew him well were 
 the ones aware of this, and the only ones, for with John Drennan this 
 was something that was never put on parade. By the time Jack Drennan 
 reached his senior year at Illinois College he was the best liked young 
 man in the class. And by way of emphasis it may be mentioned that 
 W. J. Bryan was a member of that class." 
 
 Something of the universality of his friendships is indicated in the 
 words of another who said: "Mr. Drennan stopped to talk to the flag- 
 man at the railroad crossing. A little girl used to watch for him to pass 
 and told him many things in short talks they had at the edge of the yard. 
 In many ways he was remarkable, in many ways his character was un- 
 usual and beautiful. We are not trying to draw here a picture of perfec- 
 tion, or to deceive ourselves or anyone else as to defects. We are glad 
 we do not care to think of them now. As we look at a massive, rugged 
 mountain, we see only signs of greatness, but as we get closer, we find 
 narrow canyons, where there are hidden away nooks in which there are 
 rare flowers and birds with their music, scenes of beauty that charm. So 
 it is with the character of our friend. Many knew he was big and fine 
 and splendid in big ways. Others, knowing him better, knew he had the 
 charm that comes with gentle thoughts and the finest mind. We are glad 
 that we remember the pleasant; that unlovely things fade away. We 
 read of a spiritual building, that 'house not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens.' It is so with what we have of our friend. The part that 
 felt pain, that grew weary, is not here, but the part that we liked best, 
 the part that helped us, will stay with us and grow more beautiful as the 
 days and years pass. It is here, and real, to become more dear to us. 
 From it we will still learn, and learning, will still grow." 
 
 ''He was one of the most religious men I have ever known," said 
 Professor Weltmer. "He had a peculiar reason for not uniting with 
 any church or any secret order, and that was that if he were to unite 
 with that which was antagonistic to another, he could not in his objective 
 life live as he felt he wanted to live. Instead of belonging to one, he 
 belonged to all and he rendered his contributions and assistance not 
 only to the churches but to every charitable, educational and morally 
 uplifting influence that came before him. He never united with any 
 particular organization and yet he was considered an integral part of 
 all of them. He wanted to be free, and there are very few people who 
 can do that as well as he did it. There was no prejudice in the mind of 
 this man. He believed in universal freedom. When the church bells 
 of this city rang out on Sunday morning, his thought joined with that 
 call to worship, that invitation to prayer, and he sent out on each of 
 those tones a prayer that there might one day be a universal religion."
 
 3Io()n l^atton Drennan 277 
 
 The tribute of Rose E. Elliott was in part as follows: "Intellectually, 
 he was a keen thinker, an insatiable reader, of everything — a sure and 
 rapid sifter of the wheat from the chaff. Science, philosophy, poetry, 
 histor)-, fiction — all held about equal places, though not in rank, in his 
 curriculum of reading, while he never wasted one moment that could 
 have been given to absorbing something more. . . . This knowledge 
 was never stored away in his mental attic for his own selfish use but it 
 was subtly distributed — in his home, his oflBce, anywhere it might do any 
 good, so that everybody unconsciously felt the stronger for every meet- 
 ing with him. Almost a passion was his love of music — not one kind but 
 all harmony. . . . Art was another of his delights. He did not 
 paint, but he loved pictures and his judgment of them was sure and 
 discriminating. He loved beauty in architecture and recognized it. 
 . . . His reverence for things high and pure and holy was perhaps 
 the strongest part of him, and the least understood — because it wasn't 
 voiced often, only lived in his own individual way. His love for nature, 
 especially in all its bigger, grander phases, was another passion, perhaps, 
 coupled with his idea of ser\ ice — his religion. . . . It is easy to see 
 that so free a soul would love vast spaces. He must have spaciousness — 
 in his home, in his work places, in all his environment. Nothing cramp- 
 ing or distorting would do, since the soul as well as the body cannot be 
 free in a narrow, barred cage. He didn't believe in freedom for himself 
 alone, either, but demanded it for everybody, every^vhere — without 're- 
 gard to color, race or previous condition of servitude' — a broadness 
 which made him instinctively object to the narrow sort of patriotism 
 which would regard only 'my country' — to the religion which does not 
 feel in deed as in word, the absolute brotherhood of man — to the fetter- 
 ing restraint that would prevent each soul — child or grown-up — from 
 developing naturally and working out its own salvation in its own way. 
 . . His exquisite attitude toward his own wife and children was 
 possibly the most beautiful phase of his life, though only those few 
 familiar with his home life could know it. To his little daughters, 
 Dorothy and Carolyn, whom he taught to read between the ages of three 
 and four, sitting on his lap of evenings, interspersing the teaching with 
 stories — all a labor of love — always pausing to answer fully their eager- 
 to-know-things queries — always patient of their faults and indulgent of 
 their whims— he must ever remain a glorified memory of a wonderful 
 father. To the family he so whole-souledly made his own he must always 
 seem as the Rock of Ages suddenly removed yet somehow always 
 enduring."
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 r\i: THE 
 L'NIVERSi' ! OF llUNnic
 
 Jlobert l)enri) IJarUiuoon 
 
 HE FOLLOWING resolutions for Robert H. Parkinson, 
 who had attained the age of seventy-eight years when he 
 passed away December 26, 1927, clearly portray his life 
 of usefulness and honor and find appropriate place in 
 this memorial. 
 
 "In the passing of Robert H. Parkinson, the legal 
 profession lost a profound scholar, a forceful expounder of the prin- 
 ciples of the law, and an energetic champion of the right. The general 
 bar, and particularly those who practice in patent and trade protection 
 causes, knew and honored him as one of the foremost authorities in that 
 field. His honors were many and carried responsibilities entrusted alike 
 by clients, courts, the supreme judicial tribunal of the United States 
 and the president. The community which was enriched by the example 
 of his sterling character and by his many benefactions and those who 
 knew him personally have experienced a loss, the depth of which words, 
 while tracing the incidents of his career, can but feebly express. 
 
 "Robert Henry Parkinson, son of the Rev. Royal and Juanna G. 
 Parkinson, was born at Cape Elizabeth, IMaine, on August 10, 1849. He 
 attended the public schools at Bangor, Maine, and prepared for college 
 at Randolph (Vermont) Academy. In 1866 he entered Dartmouth Col- 
 lege, graduating in the class of 1870 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
 He was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity, and was elected to Phi Beta 
 Kappa, the honorary scholastic society. He taught school several winters 
 during his course, and after graduation became the principal of an 
 academy in Maine. He resigned to turn to the pursuit of the law, and 
 studied for a time in the office of Judge Barrett and the firm of Converse 
 & French, of Woodstock, Vermont, and later with Judge Cross of the 
 firm of Cross & Burnham of Manchester, New Hampshire. 
 
 "In 1872 he went to St. Louis, Missouri, and for a short time was a 
 law student in the office of E. V. Adams, later United States circuit judge 
 of the eighth circuit. He took his examination in open court, and was 
 duly admitted to the bar in St. Louis. Beginning the practice of law in 
 that city, he was soon aftenvards made assistant atorney of the Atlantic 
 & Pacific Railroad Company. 
 
 "In 1874 he was invited to enter the ofiice of Colonel S. S. Fisher of 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, former United States commissioner of patents, and 
 then recognized as one of the leading patent authorities in the United 
 
 281
 
 282 nobcrt Ijciui) K^tirbiiison 
 
 Stales. Upon the death of Cohmel Fisher. Messrs. Hatch ami Parkinson 
 estahlished a partnership pursuing the practice of law at Cincinnati, 
 specializing in patent and trade-mark law. This firm continued with 
 signal success, and upon the retirement of Mr. Hatch. Mr. Parkinson was 
 joined hy his twin brother. Joseph G.. and later hy a third brother, 
 George B.. and the firm name was estahlished as Parkinson & Parkinson. 
 
 "In 1893 Mr. Parkinson moved to Chicago and practiced for a num- 
 ber of years with one of his brothers under the same firm name. In 
 1910 a partnership was formed with Wallace R. Lane, in which firm 
 he continued as an active member until his death, at his residence in 
 Chicago. December 26. 1927. 
 
 'Robert H. Parkinson was married in 1878 to Helen B. McGuffey, 
 a daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth McGuffey, of Cincinnati. Her 
 mother was a daughter of Dr. Daniel Drake and a sister of Chief Justice 
 Drake of the court of claims of Missouri, and later United States senator. 
 Two sons and two daughters were born to them: Elisabeth Drake. June 
 Griffin Manierre, Stirling Bruce, and Kelso Steele. The second son, 
 Kelso Steele, perished in a storm on Lake Michigan in 1903. His other 
 three children survive him. 
 
 "He was the author of many articles on legal subjects: was appointed 
 by the United States circuit court of appeals of the seventh circuit as 
 its representative on the committee to assist the United States supreme 
 court in revising its rules for equity practice; and also served, by appoint- 
 ment of President Taft and the secretary of state, as one of the American 
 representatives to the international conference of 1911 held in Wash- 
 ington, relating to hn\s governing industrial property — a conference at 
 which forty nations were represented, and from which an industrial 
 treaty resulted under which we are now operating. 
 
 'Tn 1874, with John E. Hatch, he completed the editing of Fisher's 
 Patent Cases. For a great many years he was chairman of the patent 
 section of the American Bar Association, and served as president of the 
 Patent Law Association of Chicago in 1897. He was also a member of 
 the Chicago Bar Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Illinois 
 Bar Association, the American Patent Law Association, the La^\-yers' 
 Club of New York; and was a member of the bar of the supreme court 
 of the United States, supreme court of Illinois, and many other federal 
 and state courts. He belonged to the Chicago Club, the University Club. 
 Union League Club, Chicago Riding Club, Queen City Club of Cincin- 
 nati, and the New England Society of Chicago. He was a life member 
 of the Art Institute and the Field Museum, and was a contributing mem- 
 ber of the Illinois and Chicago Historical Societies. 
 
 " 'A man of courage is also full of faith.' He was for many years a 
 trustee and vice president of the board of trustees of Central Church,
 
 Ko6crt r;)cnrp lg>arfetn0on 283 
 
 and to him was entrusted the preparation of the masterful and loving 
 tribute to his friend and pastor, Frank W. Gunsaidus. 
 
 "How beautiful was the friendship that existed with Gunsaulus, with 
 the good Bishop Talbot, a classmate of over fifty-seven years ago and who 
 survived him but a few weeks, and with the late Judge Dickinson. 
 
 "During his fifty-five years of practice before the bar, he saw the 
 growth of, and played a most conspicuous part in the development of 
 inventions, their recognition by the government, and their employment 
 in the conunercial and industrial prosperity of the country. He brought 
 to the intricacies of patents and the safeguarding of industrial property, 
 a keenly analytical mind. When working on a case, he was indefatigable, 
 plumbing minutely to the depth every fact and theory. He took nothing 
 for granted. He ascertained for himself. In adherence to his convic- 
 tions was satisfied the admonition of Dante, 'Be steadfast as a tower that 
 doth not bend its stately summit to the tempest's shock.' 
 
 '"The measured cadence of his phrases, the inexorable logic of his 
 contentions, made his briefs formidable. His arguments and addresses 
 were vigorous, stimulating in thought, stately in diction, and majestic in 
 the full glow of logic and reason. 
 
 "During his lifetime, many of the outstanding inventions in agricul- 
 ture and manufacturing were perfected and developed, and his great 
 learning and skill were claimed by inventors and manufacturing interests. 
 
 "Speaking at the presentation of the portrait and resolutions in 
 memory of Judge Francis E. Baker, in 1924, in behalf of the Patent Law 
 Association of Chicago, he said: "It has been my privilege — a privilege I 
 shall greatly treasure as long as I live — to know personally and appear 
 professionally before every circuit judge of this circuit before and since 
 the circuit court of appeals was created, beginning with the venerable 
 Judge Drummond, the first to hold that office, who was still holding 
 circuit court when I began coming here to argue cases before I became 
 a resident of this city. I include in this every justice of the supreme 
 court who has sat in this circuit, beginning with Mr. Justice Davis. I 
 know what manner of men, what accomplished jurists, what patriotic 
 citizens, have been, and are, among them.' 
 
 "However formidable as an adversary, he was in moments of relaxa- 
 tion a delightful recouteur of incidents interesting and epochal. He told 
 Lane, his associate of so many years, of meeting and knowing practi- 
 tioners in patent law in every part of the country and his acquaintance 
 may be said to have encompassed every leading advocate in this field of 
 the last fifty years. 
 
 "Because of his wide experience, coupled with an unextinguishable 
 intensity of purpose, resourcefulness in expedient, firm grasp of the prin- 
 ciples of law, almost uncanny memory for precise citation and applica-
 
 284 Uofarrt Dcncp parhinson 
 
 tion of authorities, and logical presentation of a cause, he was called into 
 considtation Ity clients and la^v7ers throughout the country. The chief 
 justice of the supreme court was wont to speak of him affectionately and 
 reverently as the Nestor of the American patent har. 
 
 "Not only was the chief justice acquainted hoth professionally and 
 fraternally with Mr. Parkinson, hut in 1910, as president of the United 
 States, he received earnest recommendations from eminent practitioners 
 that he he appointed to the hcnch of the supreme court. Among his 
 qualifications were urged his high character, his complete comprehension 
 of our repuhlican theory of government and the principles of jurisjiru- 
 dence. As soon as he learned of these suggestions in his behalf, Mr. 
 Parkinson promptly withdrew his name from consideration on the plea 
 that he preferred to remain at the bar. 
 
 '"He tried cases with George Harding. Within his span of years 
 appeared the mighty transcendaut figures of now almost legal antiquity. 
 His account of the patent case that lifted Lincoln into a presidential 
 candidate was to have formed a prominent chapter of the Life of Lin- 
 coln being written by his friend, Albert J. Beveridge. 
 
 "And the torch he received from these legal and forensic masters 
 of yesterday, he held aloft in a changing world, unwavering in his 
 fidelity to the tradhions of his early associates. 
 
 "The members of this Association will miss his kindly, dignified 
 presence, his courteous consideration, the cordiality of his personal con- 
 tacts, the confidence of his aggressive and courageous champior.ship of 
 principles and measures imbedded in the foundations of the law and Avell 
 ordered society. 
 
 "Those who knew him intimately will tenderly cherish the heritage of 
 inspiration and appreciation expressed in his 'Farewell' to his children — 
 'I entreat my children to live earnestly, honorably, industriously, dis- 
 charging every duty to each other and to mankind faithfully, affectionate 
 among themselves, and devoutly revering and serving God and their 
 country'.' 
 
 "RESOLVED that as a loving tribute to our departed member Rob- 
 ert H. Parkinson, who long and worthily served and genuinely honored 
 this association, this memorial be inscribed on our records and a copy 
 be sent to his family. 
 
 "For the Patent Law Association of Chicago, 
 
 Geo. P. Fisher, 
 Henry M. Huxley, 
 Ralph M. Snyder. 
 Chicago, May 17, 1928." 
 
 Following is the substance of a tribute by Frederick F. Shannon, 
 the minister of Central Church, Sunday morning. January 1st, 1928:
 
 Eobcrt tjtmv 12)arkin5on 285 
 
 "I pause at this point in our serv ice this morning to speak of the passing 
 of Mr. Robert H. Parkinson. For many years a trustee and ^-ice presi- 
 dent of the board of trustees of Central Church, he was loved and hon- 
 ored in this group where he Avas so long a familiar figure. 
 
 "The rootage of Mr. Parkinson goes back to the sturdy New England 
 stock. The son of a Congregational minister, he was nurtured in those 
 principles and ideals which produce a strong and striking individual 
 tvpe. Consequently, he was a marked man. Not only by what he said 
 and did, but by what he was, we were made to feel the impact of a per- 
 sonality distinguished by a ruggedness and simplicity akin to what is 
 sublime in human life. His reverence for the work and memor>^ of his 
 father ^vas only one of the many aspects of his sterling manhood. 
 
 "Born and reared in Ne^v England, he settled in Cincinnati, later 
 coming to Chicago, where he lived for more than a generation. Herein, 
 I think, does geography assert itself in what one might call the biology 
 of character, for the thrift, integrity, and great good common sense Avhich 
 characterize the New Englander at his best were in Robert H. Parkinson 
 beautifully focused with the midwestern sense of democracy, energy, and 
 vision. A splendid specimen indeed is this, and one rarely excelled by 
 any type of nationality. 
 
 "Mr. Parkinson stood at the forefront of his profession in patent law. 
 Once, during a lecture engagement at the University of Michigan. I was 
 the guest of an authority in this particular line of jurisprudence, "^"heu 
 I mentioned the fact that ^Ir. Parkinson was a trustee of Central Church, 
 the scholar's face lit up as he answered: '^Tien we patent la^N-yers get 
 into a corner, it is a kind of truism among us that we send at once for 
 Robert H. Parkinson.' Personally, I happen to know that Chief Justice 
 Taft spoke of him as the Nestor among the law>ers who had chosen 
 patent law as their special field of endeavor. 
 
 "He was a beautiful friend and father. The friendship existing be- 
 tween him and Doctor Gunsaulus was at once lovely and memorable. 
 Some years ago the latter said to me, in the overflowing eloquence and 
 enthusiasm which burst spontaneously from his great heart: "Shannon, 
 many a time has Robert H. Parkinson knocked me down with his gentle 
 club of logic, and I was proud of it!' Mr. Parkinson's genius for friend- 
 ship of this sturdier, nobler type is also reflected in some unforgettable 
 words of Judge J. M. Dickinson. They made a deep impression upon 
 me at the time they were spoken, and I wrote them down. 'Mr. Parkin- 
 son and I do not always agree,' said Judge Dickinson. 'We disagree in 
 many things — in politics, and other matters. But the simple fact is, 
 I think a great deal more of him than I do of many of those with 
 whom I agree.' Thus did the circle of friendship, as drawn by Mr. 
 Parkinson, become large and spacious enough to set the minor things of
 
 286 
 
 Robert Dfiup l^arkinson 
 
 litV in proper relation even as the major things were at the same time 
 duly niafinified. 
 
 ••VI e sliall miss him sorely here in Central Church. His kindly, dig- 
 nified presence, his {icntlenianliness, his faithful attendance, his devotion 
 to the welfare of this Christian institution — these and many other reasons 
 arL'ue that his going away from us leaves a vacancy that is large and a 
 loneliness that is deep. I am sure that you wish to join with me in ex- 
 pressing to the daughters and son and surviving hrothers, our profound 
 sympathy in their mutual loss and ours. He has left us a nohle heritage, 
 ^'e nuist he hetter, more useful during this New Year and all the years, 
 because Rohert H. Parkinson has lived among us. His father's motto, and 
 which this dutiful son had carved upon his father's memorial stone, was: 
 •I wouhl rather be right than seem right.' Let us make it our own, even 
 as our beloved friend had made it his own."
 
 |00cpl) 6ri0iu0lD Oiolcman 
 
 , N HARMONY with the record of a distinguished ancestry 
 was the life of Joseph Griswold Coleman, who hecarae 
 prominently known in the commercial and social circles 
 of Chicago, where he established his home in 1864 — 
 less than thirty years after the incorporation of the city. 
 He ^vas horn September 20, 1847, in Ashfield, a village 
 among the beautiful Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, and was the only 
 son of Loring Eels and Lucinda ( Griswold ) Coleman. The father was 
 a saddler and harness maker and also engaged in the manufacture of 
 leather trunks. His wife was descended from a family the mention of 
 whose name brings to mind many of the historical events which have 
 shaped the annals of New England from early pioneer times. The name 
 is inseparably associated v.ith every stage of the history of Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut, for members of the family have left their impress upon 
 the progress of that section of the country in many ways. The lineage 
 of the family can he traced back in unbroken line to Humphrey Gris- 
 wold, a "lord of the manor," who flourished in the sixteenth century. 
 The Malvern estate came into his possession in 1600 and Malvern Hall 
 is still in possession of the English branch of the family. The American 
 branch of the Griswold family claims as its first known English progeni- 
 tor Matthew Griswold, Esq., of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, an uncle of 
 Humphrey Griswold, the first lord of the manor. He had three sons — 
 Thomas, Edward and Matthew, of whom the youngest and last named 
 was the first representative of the name in the new world. While yet in 
 early manhood he joined a company of pilgrims from Warwickshire, 
 Worcestershire, Somersetshire and Devonshire, who under the leader- 
 ship of the Rev. John Warham left England during the reign of Charles I 
 and landed on the shores of Massachusetts, Decemlier 30, 1630. Nine 
 years later Edward Griswold joined his brother Matthew and the two 
 removed from Massachusetts to Connecticut, Edward settling at Wind- 
 sor. He was born about 1604 and was married before he crossed the 
 Atlantic, being accompanied on the voyage by his wife and five or six 
 children. He lived in Windsor, Connecticut, from 1639 until 1664, when 
 he removed to that part of Killingworth now known as Clinton and gave 
 to the town the name of his old home town in England — Killingworth 
 being a corruption of Kenilworth. His wife, Margaret, died August 23, 
 1670 (old calendar style), and the tombstone which marks her resting 
 place is still seen in the yard at Clinton. The following year Edward 
 
 287
 
 288 Joseph OrisluolD Colcnuin 
 
 Griswold married the widow of James Bemis, of New London, and the 
 same year he passed away. The chihlren of Edward and Margaret Gris- 
 wold were: Edward, Francis, George, John and Sarah, all of whom were 
 horn in England; Ann; [Mary; Dehorah; Joseph; Samuel; and John. 
 
 Lucinda Griswold, daughter of Joseph Griswold of a later generation 
 and mother of Joseph Griswold Coleman, to whom she gave her family 
 name, died in 1852, when the son was hut four years of age, and suhse- 
 quently the father, Loring Eels Coleman, married Eliza A. Packard, who 
 carefully reared the young boy. As soon as he was old enough he entered 
 the graded schools and later continued his education in the Ashfield 
 Academy. He felt that there was little business opportunity in his native 
 town and in youth went from Ashfield to INorthampton, Massachusetts, 
 \vhere he secured a clerkship in the dry goods store of the J. i\I. Kellogg 
 Company, and at the age of sixteen years he came west, making Chicago 
 his destination. This was the year 1864 and in a short time he began 
 clerking for Partridge, Smith &: Streeter, owners of the largest wholesale 
 dry goods store in the then comparatively small city of Chicago. Subse- 
 quently he became a general salesman in the middle west for Field, Leiter 
 & Company and his next business venture was made as a member of the 
 Sherwood School Furniture Company, which several years later sold out. 
 Its successor in the same location at Morris, Illinois, was known as the 
 Ohio Butt Company — a company that used convict labor until the pas- 
 sage of a slate law in Illinois prohibited further employment. In time 
 the Ohio Butt Company was succeeded by the Coleman Hardware Com- 
 pany, organized and promoted by Joseph Griswold Coleman. Through 
 his wisely directed efforts and unfaltering enterprise in the succeeding 
 years this company became one of the most widely known manufacturers 
 of sash pulleys of all kinds, screen door hinges, gray iron castings and 
 many other specialties. The business covered a wide territory, for with 
 the passing years notable success attended the enterprise, Mr. Coleman 
 ranking as one of the foremost representatives of manufacturing and 
 commercial interests of the middle west. 
 
 In young manhood Mr. Coleman married Leonora B. Cobb and they 
 became parents of four children, but the first-born, Walter Cobb, died in 
 infancy. Silas Cobb, the second son, married Daisy Derby and their 
 children Avere Leonora and Catherine. Mary Louise became the wife 
 of Jarvis Hunt and they have two children, Jarvis, Jr., and Louise. 
 Joseph Griswold, Jr., married Agnes Almy and they had four children: 
 Agnes, Joseph Griswold Coleman (III), Leonora and Walter Cobb. His 
 second wife was Ruth Shaw Kennedy Prime. The second wife of Joseph 
 Griswold Coleman was Anna Hand Wilkins, a native of Philadelphia, 
 and the son of this marriage, Loring Wilkins Coleman, continues as his 
 father's successor in business as the head of the Coleman Hardware 
 Company.
 
 Joscpf) aristoolD Coleman 289 
 
 In his political views Joseph G. Coleman was a stalwart republican, 
 and in 1887 he was commissioned clerk of election in the fifth precinct 
 of the third ward, this commission being signed by Henry Wulff, then 
 clerk of the county court of Cook county. He figured prominently in the 
 social life of Chicago, becoming one of the founders of the Calumet Club 
 and a member of the old Union Club. He held the twenty-third stock 
 certificate of the Chicago Golf Club at Wheaton, was a member of the 
 Casino Club and he and his wife were among the first forty members 
 of the Saddle and Cycle Club. For fourscore years Mr. Coleman en- 
 joyed excellent health and Avas active in business life to the end, which 
 came suddenly February 15, 1929. Throughout his entire life his salient 
 traits of character had commanded for him the respect, confidence and 
 good will of all who knew him and those who came within the closer 
 circle of his acquaintance entertained for him the warmest friendship 
 as well as the highest regard. His life was purposeful and resultant and 
 at all times the highest standards of honor dominated his career. 
 
 Loring Wilkins Coleman, the only son of Joseph Griswold and Anna 
 Hand (Wilkins) Coleman, was born in Chicago, November 23, 1892, and 
 his preparator)' education was received in St. Mark's School at South- 
 boro, Massachusetts, after which he entered Harvard and won his A. B. 
 degree in 1916. Immediately he entered the Coleman Hardware Com- 
 pany, thus becoming identified with the business which had been estab- 
 lished by bis father many years before. He made it his purpose to 
 master every phase of the business and therefore soon qualified for ad- 
 ministrative direction and executive control, becoming a worthy suc- 
 cessor of his father in the management of what has long been one of the 
 foremost commercial interests of this section of the country. 
 
 On the 29th of April, 1917, Mr. Coleman married Christine Snelling, 
 of Boston, Massachusetts, and they have two children: Loring Wilkins, 
 Jr., born April 27, 1918; and John Linzee Snelling, born January 13, 
 1923. 
 
 After the United States entered the World war Loring W. Coleman 
 enlisted December 1, 1917, as a private, first class, in the Aviation 
 Section Signal Reserve Corps, U. S. A. He reported for active dutj- at 
 Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, December 8, 1917, and entered Class 
 No. 13 in the Ground Ofiicers Training School. He was transferred to 
 the School of Military Aeronautics at Columbus, Ohio, January- 18, 
 1918, was commissioned second lieutenant in the Aviation Section Signal 
 Reserve Corps, S. 0. No. 50, March 1, 1918, and reported for duty at 
 Scott Field in Belleville, Illinois, on the 8th of March. He received 
 appointment as assistant post supply ofiicer S. O. No. 45, serving from 
 March 8 until April 8, 1918. He Avas then transferred to the Aerial 
 Gunnery School at Wilbur Wright Field in Fairfield, Ohio, where he 
 remained from April 13 until June 8, 1918, and from June 15 until
 
 UBRARy 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn ^ OF ILIIN0'<:
 
 Arthur S. Hook
 
 %xt\}\\x Scl)crmcii)0rn gook 
 
 F WEALTH could be measured by friendship and respect, 
 Arthur Schermerhorn Hook was one of Chicago's 
 weahhiest citizens, for few indeed are so well established 
 in the affectionate regard of associates as was he. In 
 business circles, too, he proved a forceful factor whose 
 labors overcame difficulties and obstacles and success- 
 fully solved intricate commercial problems, so that in his later years he 
 ranked with the well known representatives of manufacturing interests in 
 the middle west. Illinois was proud to number him among her native 
 sons and throughout his entire business life he was identified wth the 
 material development of the state brought about through industrial and 
 commercial activity. 
 
 Arthur Schermerhorn Hook was born August 3, 1868, in Ottawa, La 
 Salle county, Illinois, son of Charles and Anna (Schermerhorn) Hook. 
 His boyhood and his early school days were passed in Ottawa. He made 
 his initial step in the business world when a youth of fifteen years by 
 entering the employ of the First National Bank in Ottawa, and fidelity 
 and ability won him successive promotions there. The recognition of his 
 worth and efficiency also led to his selection for the office of city treasurer 
 and after his retirement from that position he also left the bank with 
 which he had so long been associated and accepted executive connection 
 with the Moline Plow Company, which necessitated his removal to Mo- 
 line, Illinois. Ottawa, however, again claimed him as a citizen when he 
 entered into active association with the J. E. Porter Company, manufac- 
 turers of farm implements, of which corporation he became treasurer, 
 and when he resigned from that office it was to take a further step for- 
 ward in his business career by accepting the secretaryship of the Inland 
 Steel Company, with headquarters in Chicago. He thus became identified 
 with the metropolis in 1902 and from that time forward until his demise 
 was an outstanding figure in industrial, manufacturing and financial cir- 
 cles of the city. In 1907 he severed his connection with the Inland Steel 
 Company to participate in the organization of the Calumet Steel Com- 
 pany, in which connection he was associated Avith J. H. Porter and S. S. 
 Porter. Upon the completion of the organization he was elected vice presi- 
 dent and treasurer of the company and until his demise he proved a force- 
 ful figure in controlling its affairs and developing its trade connections, 
 making it one of the chief enterprises of this character not only in Chicago 
 
 293
 
 294 Jirthur ^rt)crmcrt)orn V)oob 
 
 ;iiul the middle west but of the entire country. In all of his business career 
 he made it a point to study values and his judgment was seldom, if ever, at 
 fault in determining the true worth of a business situation or of the op- 
 portunities presented. The substantial prosperity of the Calumet Steel 
 Company was attributable in large measure to this characteristic of Mr. 
 Hook's business career. The recognition of his powers on the part of 
 colleagues and contemporaries was shown in the fact that he was regarded 
 as a leader in the American Society for Testing Materials, organized for 
 the purpose of establishing standards for the steel business based on the 
 best scientific information obtained through exhaustive research. The 
 Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Chicago Heights Manufac- 
 turers Association also elected him to their directorates. 
 
 Mr. Hook was united in marriage in 1892 to Miss Annie Lens Porter, 
 daughter of Joseph E. and Margaret (Hossack) Porter, and she survives 
 him together with their son. Joseph Porter Hook, born in Ottawa. Illinois, 
 March 27, 1901. He attended the Oak Park high school and graduated 
 from the University of Wisconsin in 1923 with the degree of Bachelor 
 of Arts. In the fall of that year he entered the employ of the Calumet 
 Steel Company, learned the business as a workman and as salesman on 
 the road and after the death of his father was made treasurer of the 
 company. On the 9th of October, 1928, he married Esther Lindsten, 
 daughter of Edward and Clara Lindsten of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph 
 P. Hook reside at 1033 Ontario street. Oak Park. Harmon Porter Hook, 
 elder son of Arthur S. and Annie Lens (Porter) Hook, was born in 
 Ottawa, Illinois, January 31, 1897. He prepared for college at the Oak 
 Park high school. In February, 1917, he left his classes at the University 
 of \^'isconsin to engage in Avork for the Calumet Steel Company. In the 
 summer of 1917 he enlisted in the Ambulance Corps to serve in the 
 World war but was soon transferred to the aviation service and Avas sent 
 to Riverside Field, California. The following year, while flying there, 
 he had a ''bump'' but was not injured seriously. However, he was sent 
 home on a furlough. The "flu" epidemic was at its worst, and while 
 home he was stricken with the disease and passed away December 15, 
 1918. 
 
 Five years after becoming a factor in the business life of Chicago, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hook established their home in Oak Park and their beauti- 
 ful residence at 514 Linden avenue was ever open for the reception of 
 their many friends. Mrs. Hook is widely known in club as well as social 
 circles as president of the Nineteenth Century Club. In the men's organ- 
 izations of the suburb Mr. Hook was well known, being identified with 
 the Oak Park Club, while of the Oak Park Countn,- Club he was one of 
 the founders and for four terms served as its president. He also belonged 
 to the Westward Ho Club and for three terms ser\-ed as hs presiding offi-
 
 artljur ^cfjcrmcrborn Uook 
 
 295 
 
 cer. In the Chicago Athletic Association he did important work as a direc- 
 tor and as chairman of various of its leading committees. He became one 
 of the founders and was president of the Illinois Senior Golfers Associa- 
 tion and he held membership in the Mid-Day Club and was ever loyal to 
 the teachings and purposes of Masonry from the time when he was in- 
 itiated into Occidental Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Ottawa. He ever delighted 
 in clean sports and healthful pastimes and was particularly responsive to 
 the social amenities of life. Those who knew him — and few men have 
 had so extensive a circle of warm friends — ever delighted in his compan- 
 ionship, his unquenchable fund of humor and his cordial attitude toward 
 those with whom he was brought in contact. After an illness of almost a 
 year, in which a winter spent in Florida brought no improvement, he 
 passed away on the 9th of May, 1927, but the world is richer because he 
 lived, because of his business prowess crowTied wth successful achieve- 
 ment, because of his stimulating influence on the lives of those who 
 served with and under him, because of his devotion to the ties of friend- 
 ship and mostly because of his unfailing loyalty and love displayed at 
 his own fireside.
 
 Joljii |ranci0 Smnblu 
 
 , HE ACTIVITIES of John Francis Smulski touched life at 
 many points and to the betterment of every project with 
 which he became associated. His work as a banker 
 made his name a familiar one in financial circles and 
 he was closely identified with government affairs in a 
 manner that gave him high rank as a statesman. He 
 Avas regarded as the leading citizen of the new world of Polish descent, 
 and while holding to the traditions of his ancestors, he manifested the 
 notably progressive spirit which has brought about the present-day de- 
 velopment of the United States. 
 
 Mr. Smulski was born in Posen, Poland, February 4, 1867, a son of 
 William and Euphemia (Balcer) Smulski. He was a lad of fourteen 
 years when he crossed the Atlantic in 1881 to join his father, who had 
 first come to the new world in 1869. Previously he had attended the 
 public and military schools of his native city and after reaching Chicago 
 he became a pupil in the public schools here. He likewise spent two 
 years as a student in St. Jerome's College at Berlin, Canada, and then 
 having determined upon the practice of law as a life work, he matricu- 
 lated in NortliAvestern University at Evanston and mastered the branches 
 that constituted the law curriculum. He was twenty-three years of age 
 when admitted to the bar and at once entered upon the active practice of 
 law, forming a partnership as a memlier of the firm of David, Smulski 
 & McGaffey. That relation was maintained until 1905 and Mr. Smulski 
 made continued progress as an attorney. He also acceded to the desire 
 of his father that he continue in the newspaper business and for many 
 years was the publisher of '"Dziennik Narodo\\-y," a Polish daily printed 
 in Chicago. In 1906 he entered the financial field by organizing the 
 North-Western Trust & Savings Bank, which developed with the pass- 
 ing years until it was the largest bank in the city outside the central 
 business district. Through its foreign department and securities depart- 
 ment activities, its influence and enviable reputation were extended to 
 all parts of the United States and central Europe. Even this did not 
 constitute the scope of Mr. Smulski's labors, for he became prominent 
 in the organization of various other financial institutions, including the 
 Second North-Western State Bank, the Marshall Square State Bank, the 
 Inland Trust & Savings Bank and the Fullerton State Bank, and in each 
 he was a director and of some was chairman of the board. Different 
 corporations sought his cooperation and in all with which he became 
 
 297
 
 298 Jobn J^rancis ^mulski 
 
 affiliated he proved a contributing factor to growth and success. His 
 judgment in business affairs was notably sound and keen and his enter- 
 prise carried him into important connections. 
 
 So comprehensive was his business in its purpose and scope that it 
 would seem that Mr. Smulski could have taken care of few other inter- 
 ests, and yet he left the impress of his individuality and ability upon 
 many lines of activity which had to do with Chicago's greatness and 
 development. In 1898 he was chosen to represent the old sixteenth ward 
 in the city council and for three terms filled that office, giving careful 
 consideration to all the vital problems which came up for settlement. 
 \^'hen he passed away the city council held a special meeting at which 
 public recognition was made of his many accomplishments while a mem- 
 ber of that body. In 1903 he was elected city attorney and fearlessly 
 discharged his duties, his activity in this field resulting in breaking up a 
 combine of unscrupulous lawyers who had been defrauding the munici- 
 pality out of millions of dollars through crooked damage suits and settle- 
 ments. The local political field, however, did not altogether claim his 
 attention, for in 1905 his party named him as the candidate for state 
 treasurer and he was elected for a two years' term, in which he brought 
 about many and worth-while financial reforms in connection with 
 handling the state funds. Chief among these Avas the practice which he 
 instituted of turning back into the state treasury all interest received on 
 state funds deposited in various banks. Early in 1908 Mr. Smulski was 
 appointed a member of the West Chicago Park Commission and con- 
 tinued to ser\'e as its president until 1909, remaining a member of the 
 board until 1913. In 1917 he was again appointed president of the West 
 Chicago Park Commission and held that office until 1921. There was 
 no phase of public sei-vice with which he became associated that he did 
 not study thoroughly from every angle and from every standpoint and 
 thus was able to render needed assistance or institute various plans of 
 progress and improvement. In 1911 he was elected vice president and 
 treasurer of the Chicago Association of Commerce and filled that dual 
 position until 1914. He likewise rendered valuable service as a member 
 of the executive committee of the Chicago Plan Commission, continuing 
 on the board from 1909 until 1927 and taking helpful part in securing 
 the adoption of many projects for beautifying and improving the city's 
 streets, boidevards and parks. 
 
 On the 7th of June, 1889, Mr. Smulski was united in marriage to 
 Miss Harriet Mikitynski, who has occupied a notable position in musical 
 circles and in connection with the charitable and social activities of 
 Chicago. In 1913 Mr. and Mrs. Smulski adopted twin children, John F., 
 Jr., and Harriet Smulski, who are now sixteen years of age. 
 
 One of the outstanding chapters in the life record of Mr. Smulski con-
 
 3iot)n jFcanci0 ^mulsfei 299 
 
 cerns his work for the rehabilitation of Poland and the reestablishment 
 of a United Poland following the World war, and his labors in that 
 connection were far-reaching and resultant. He was active in the organ- 
 ization of the Polish National Department in America, which was a 
 central society composed of representatives of Polish communities and 
 organizations in each part of the United States. Millions of dollars were 
 subscribed for the work, to which Mr. Smulski was a most generous con- 
 tributor not only of his means but also of his time and efforts. This 
 department recruited twenty-two thousand Poles residing in America 
 ^vho were not yet admitted to citizenship and were therefore exempt 
 from draft into the United States regular army. The department paid all 
 of the expenses of recruiting and shipping these soldiers to training 
 camps established at Niagara Falls, from which point the trained army 
 was sent to France, winning distinction at the front, where it was known 
 as the Haller army. When the Peace Conference was in session, the 
 Polish National Department was active in furthering the interests of the 
 new Poland, and when the republic of Poland was finally established, 
 the organization that Mr. Smulski had promoted took up the task of 
 advancing relief work in connection with countless thousands of Polish 
 families who had been rendered destitute by the ravages of the war and 
 the Bolshevik invasion. Contributions poured in until the sum reached 
 millions of dollars, which were expended for food, clothing and other 
 relief work. During all this period Mr. Smulski labored for the organ- 
 ization in its high purposes and he also rendered invaluable aid in 
 furthering the diplomatic relations between the new Polish government 
 and the government of the United States until the Polish legation and 
 consulates in America were organized and functioning. The difficult 
 financial problems of the new Polish government, especially in their 
 relation to the floating of Polish government bonds in America, were also 
 part of his many labors in behalf of his native land. 
 
 Not alone were Poland and the United States cognizant of what Mr. 
 Smulski was doing, for other countries as well recognized the worth and 
 scope of his labors in the World war and afterward, and the French 
 government conferred upon him the Cross of Chevalier in the Legion of 
 Honor, while the government of Poland conferred upon him the decora- 
 tion of Polonia Restituta. When the emergency just following the World 
 war had passed, Mr. Smulski took great interest in establishing sound 
 economical and commercial relations between the United States and 
 Poland and for many years was a director and vice president of the 
 American Polish Chamber of Commerce in New York city. 
 
 Mr. Smulski was long an honored and valued member of the Press 
 Club of Chicago, the Union League Club, the Chicago Athletic Club and 
 various civic organizations, and all who knew him esteemed John F.
 
 300 Jobn /"rcinfis ^miilski 
 
 Smulski, the man, as well as John F. Smulski, the statesman and suc- 
 cessful banker. After many months of weakness and suffering which 
 involved three major surgical operations he passed from this life on the 
 18th of March. 1928. and Vice President Dawes voiced a general feeling, 
 nation-wide, when he said: '"Mr. Smulski has been one of the finest 
 contributions of the Polish people to our citizenship."' His fellow coun- 
 tr>inan, Ignace J. Paderewski, who like Mr. Smulski had given time, 
 effort and capital to save his loved native country, said: "While serving 
 his adopted country with the utmost loyalty and patriotism, he never 
 forgot the sufferings and needs of his native land. My personal feelings 
 for him, my high appreciation of his noble character, my profound 
 affection and sincere gratitude cannot be translated into words, nor can 
 I attempt to express the whole extent of my sorrow and pain. I mourn 
 the loss of one of my dearest friends, a friend who for several momentous 
 years, assisted me with unfailing devotion by his sagacity and fortitude, 
 unmoved by opposition, unshaken by adversities, always strong, generous 
 and fearless, always a hero of honor and duty."' 
 
 From every walk of life were heard the words that commended the 
 activhies and fruitful labors of Mr. Smulski. Men high in social, busi- 
 ness and government circles honored him for what he had accomplished. 
 The president of the American Polish Chamber of Commerce. F. De St. 
 Phalle. said: ''In the death of John F. Smulski, this country has lost an 
 outstanding citizen, especially dear to Americans of Polish descent, 
 whom he served and led so faithfully and well through many years. 
 Poland by his passing has been deprived of one of her loyal sons who 
 proudly contributed toward her restoration." 
 
 Julius Rosenwald expressed a universal opinion in saying: ''Both 
 his native as well as his adopted country had cause to be proud of John 
 F. Smulski. Chicago had no finer, more loyal, more useful citizen.*' 
 
 Frank 0. Lowden, former governor of Illinois, voiced his opinion as 
 follows: "He was closely associated with my administration as governor 
 of Illinois and I then learned to have the highest regard for both his 
 ability and character. His death will be a great loss to Chicago because 
 he was one of its most loyal citizens." 
 
 "I have kno^vn John F. Smulski for more than twenty years,"' said 
 George M. Reynolds, chairman of the board of the Continental National 
 Bank & Trust Company of Chicago, 'and have been impressed with his 
 alertness as a business man and the care and conser\ ativeness exercised 
 by him in the management of the bank over which he presided. He will 
 be missed as an outstanding exponent of the proprieties in public office." 
 
 From His Excellency Jan Ciechanowski, minister of Poland to the 
 United States, came the message: "He will be mourned by all Poles. 
 He was one of the foremost champions of Poland in her hours of need 
 and a true patriot."
 
 3iot)n ifraiuis ^miil0ki 
 
 301 
 
 The president of France and others equally eminent sent messages 
 expressive of their regret at the passing of one who had made such val- 
 uable contribution to the world's development. Dr. Graham Taylor 
 said: "Though silenced so strangely, the voice of John F. Smulski still 
 rings his own clarion call for a citizenship worthy of the home life he 
 exemplified, for a party loyalty attested by its supreme devotion to 
 patriotism, for a civil ser^'ice tested by merit, not by pull upon spoils 
 patronage, for honor to the foreign-born equal to that of the native-born 
 citizen, and for an America which served itself the best by serving the 
 world the most." 
 
 John F. Smulski was indeed a man who possessed the qualities of 
 greatness and of leadership. His vision was world-wide in its scope and 
 his activities touched the history of nations, yet he regarded it as equally 
 essential to assist an individual, and there are countless stories concerning 
 his kindliness and his generosity, yet these stories were never repeated by 
 John F. Smulski. He gave generous assistance and also that kindly advice 
 which enabled another to take up the duties and responsibilities of life 
 with renewed courage. He is an outstanding example of a patriotic and 
 public-spirited citizen who loved alike his native land and his adopted 
 country and who served the greatest and the least with equal fervor and 
 loyalty.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILilNOic
 
 iimotlji) Pearl) Ijlarkotone 
 
 BUILD up rather than destroy was the broad policy 
 upon which Timothy Beach Blackstone builded his 
 business career. He attacked everything with a con- 
 tageous enthusiasm and at all times his progressive- 
 ness was tempered by a safe conservatism that prevented 
 unwarranted risks or failures. He was for thirty-five 
 years the president of the Chicago & Alton Raihsay Company and pre- 
 vious to that time was connected for a brief period with other railway 
 interests of the middle west. His birth occurred at Branford, Connecti- 
 cut, March 28, 1829, and he traced his ancestors to William Blackstone, 
 or Blaxton, as the name was sometimes spelled, who, according to 
 authentic local records, was a resident of Boston as early as 1623. He 
 owned and cultivated a small farm lying partly within the boundaries of 
 what is now Boston Common. This William Blackstone was born in 
 England in 1595 and arrived in New England about 1622, settling first 
 in what is now Charlestown, Massachusetts. He had in England sold 
 lands which had been held by at least eleven generations, having been 
 handed down from another William Blackstone, who died in England in 
 1349. The American bearer of that name was married in Boston in 
 1659 to Mrs. Sarah Stevenson, widow of John Stevenson, the ceremony 
 being performed by Governor John Endicott of the Massachusetts Bay 
 colony. William Blackstone died in 1675 at Lonsdale, Rhode Island, to 
 which place he removed soon after his marriage, and his grave is marked 
 by an appropriate monument erected by manufacturers, who owned the 
 land in later years. His only son, who was born in 1660, removed from 
 Rhode Island to Connecticut and purchased land at Branford, whereon 
 he died many years later. It was at the ancestral home there that 
 James Blackstone was born and reared. He married Sarah, daughter 
 of Asa Beach, of Branford, and he provided for his family by following 
 the occupation of farming. 
 
 Timothy Beach Blackstone, son of James and Sarah Blackstone, de- 
 voted his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of an 
 education, but early displayed special aptitude in his studies so that his 
 parents sent him to one of the best known academies in the state. Ill 
 health prevented the completion of his course and in 1848 he sought 
 outdoor employment, becoming an assistant in a corps of engineers then 
 engaged on the survey of the New York & New Haven Railroad. In this 
 connection he displayed notable energy and perseverance and built up 
 
 305
 
 306 CimothP ^?CiKti '^^IcKkstonc 
 
 his phvsical manhood through outdoor life and labor. He was employed 
 as rtxhiian for a year and in the interval devoted himself to the study 
 of civil engineering ere he became assistant enfiineer of the Stockbridge 
 & Pittsfield Railway, built in 1819 and now a part of the Housatouic 
 Railroad. He was variously employed in the east, his position being con- 
 stantly of increasing importance until 1851, when he became chief en- 
 gineer of the Illinois Central Railroad and came to the west, being 
 placed in charge of that portion of the projected line between Blooming- 
 ton and Dixon. For a number of years he was a resident of La Salle, 
 Illinois, and when his surveys for the road were completed he superin- 
 tended its construction. In 1856. two years after the Joliet & Chicago 
 Railroad Company had secured a charter, Mr. Blackstone was appointed 
 chief engineer and in this connection personally supervised both the lo- 
 cation and building of the entire line, which operated in connection 
 with other local roads of the state, success attending the branch of which 
 Mr. Blackstone had charge although other lines with which it affiliated 
 were not as prosperous. He superintended the laying out and building 
 of the Joliet & Chicago, which was completed in 1857, and in 1861 he 
 was chosen its president. At length it seemed necessary to reorganize 
 the different railway lines of the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago and by legis- 
 lative enactment a commission was created for that purpose, which in 
 due time purchased the bankrupt portions of the line and perfected a 
 new organization under the name of the Chicago & Alton Railway Com- 
 panv. In 1864 this corporation leased the Joliet & Chicago Railroad and 
 Mr. Blackstone was elected to the directorate. Soon after his colleagues, 
 recognizing his efficiency, initiative and unfaltering enterprise, chose him 
 for the presidency of the company, of which he remained the head from 
 1864 until 1899. He acted for a quarter of a century as president without 
 salary or reward of any kind, although he was frequently offered a salary 
 by the board of directors. He seemed to grasp every detail of the situa- 
 tion as well as the great business principles involved, and under his 
 presidency the road kept pace with the progress of the times and rapid 
 growth of the great middle west. In a series of articles entitled "The 
 Railroad Men of America" mention was made of Mr. Blackstone as 
 follows: 
 
 "\^hilc several of the men now at the head of great railroad systems 
 in the United States have, like Mr. Blackstone, climbed to their present 
 position from the lowest round of the ladder he has, perhaps, no con- 
 temporarj who has for so long a time had so much to do with shaping 
 the policies and controlling the destinies of a single corporation or who 
 has retained so long the implicit confidence and good will of so large 
 a body of shareholders in any similar enterprise."
 
 Cimotfjp 13cac!) Uglackstonc 307 
 
 Another biographer said, while Mr. Blackstone was still an active fac- 
 tor in the world's work: 
 
 "It is not too much to assert, that Mr. Blackstone's business qualities 
 would have earned him success in any undertaking and prominence in 
 any community. Like many another who has risen to eminence, acci- 
 dental circumstances seem to have guided his early steps. Yet, by adopt- 
 ing the principle of doing with all his might whatever his hand found 
 to do, he progressed steadily upwards: and at length, with a mind 
 trained by study, observation and experience for greater things, he ar- 
 rived at a higher goal than even his youthful ambition dreamed of, and 
 one more replete with responsibility than many distinguished political 
 positions. A quality possessed by many of the world's most successful 
 men he has had in a marked degree, viz: that of quickly judging of the 
 merits of his associates and assistants. His subordinates are all carefully 
 selected as being the very best, each in his respective department. Merit 
 is always recognized and in proper time receives its due reward. The 
 most humble employe of the company does not work half so hard as its 
 honored president, who regards himself as its chief ser^'ant as well as its 
 chief executive officer, and labors assiduously and conscientiously to 
 further its interests and to give a good account of his stewardship." 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Blackstone was married to Miss Isabella Farnsworth 
 Norton, a native of Norwich, Connecticut, and a daughter of Henry B. 
 Norton. In public affairs Mr. Blackstone was deeply interested although 
 he never sought to figure prominently in political relations. In the early 
 days of his residence in La Salle, however, he was elected mayor of the 
 town in 1854 and retired from the office as he had entered it, with the 
 confidence and good-will of all. He always stood for progress and im- 
 provement during the period of his residence in Chicago, cooperating in 
 many important municipal projects. He was a most just and a most 
 unselfish man, and much of his time in later years was devoted to aiding 
 others. He built to the memory of his father probably the finest monu- 
 ment in America, expending more than a million dollars on it. This mon- 
 ument is in the shape of a beautiful library and music hall, in Branford, 
 Connecticut, which he endowed so that it will be maintained for all time, 
 and yet in this memorial to his father and gift to the town he com- 
 pletely effaced himself, there being not a mark on the building to indi- 
 cate that it was erected through the generosity and filial love of T. B. 
 Blackstone. His father's face and form, however, are perpetuated in 
 marble and upon canvas in the building, showing to this and future 
 generations the likeness of the man who was prominent and honored in 
 that town. 
 
 The death of T. B. Blackstone occurred on the 26th of May, 1900, 
 and his widow has since erected the beautiful Blackstone Memorial
 
 308 
 
 CimotbP ^^CiU\) 'l^hukstonc 
 
 Library building wbich stands on Forty-nintli strctl and Lake avenue. It 
 >vas built in classical style of arcbitccture and is a fitting monument to 
 him who ever maintained a deep interest in the welfare of his fellow 
 citizens. Mrs. Blackstone later turned this over to the Chicago Public 
 Library, so that it remains a radiating force in the culture and education 
 of the people. Simple and unostentatious in his habits, remarkably 
 genial and cordial in manner and open-hearted toward all benevolent 
 projects, Timothy Beach Blackstone was indeed a useful, high-minded 
 citizen.
 
 Itlalter llccueo 
 
 ^0 \^ ORD of praise or eulog:\\ no sentence of criticism can 
 
 N^^^_, alter the life record of one who has gone; but the story 
 vJ truly told contains a lesson that others may learn and 
 [Q± profit by. If it be the stor>' of an honest man Avhose 
 natural gifts are used for the betterment of his home 
 community or, in a wider sphere, for the benefit of his 
 country, it may serve to encourage and inspire others, indicating the 
 possibilities that lie before the individual and demonstrating what may 
 be accomplished through personal effort and ambition intelligently 
 directed. Such a career was that of Walter Reeves, termed by many 
 who knew him as Streator's foremost citizen. He aided in molding the 
 history of state and nation, traveling the path of usefulness and honor. 
 His start in life was most humljle. His parents had little but respecta- 
 bility. They were poor in this world's goods and the farm upon which 
 they lived gave but scanty subsistence to the family, so that without any 
 special advantages to aid him at the outset of his career Walter Reeves 
 worked his way upward by the sheer force of merit and ability. 
 
 He was born at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, September 25, 1848, 
 a son of Harrison and Maria (Leonard) Reeves, who were also natives 
 of the same locality. The father was of Scotch English lineage, while 
 the mother came of German and Welsh ancestr\\ Harrison Reeves 
 made farming his life work and in the year 1856 removed westward 
 with his family, settling on a farm in Livingston county, Illinois, near 
 Odell. Subsequently he removed to Iowa and continued a resident of 
 the southwestern part of the state until his death several years later. 
 In his family were six children : John, a retired farmer residing at Villisca, 
 Iowa; ^ alter; Ella, the wife of John Frey, a retired farmer of Trenton, 
 Nebraska; Ann, the wife of Miles Share, a farmer of New Market, Iowa; 
 Norval, of New Market, Iowa, where he has held various local ofiices, 
 including that of postmaster; and one who died in childhood. 
 
 Walter Reeves accompanied his parents on their removal first to 
 Illinois and later to Iowa and attended the public schools, pursuing his 
 studies through the winter months and working upon the farm through 
 the summer seasons after going to loAva. It was through following the 
 profession of teaching that he was enabled to advance his own education. 
 His parents were in straitened financial circumstances and he worked 
 as a farm hand for his father and in the employ of others. The first 
 sixt}' dollars he ever earned was turned toward the support of the family. 
 
 309
 
 310 caaltcr Ucciics 
 
 All through his youth and early manhood he had an unquenchable thirst 
 for learning and displayed notable aptitude in mathematics. On one 
 occasion he entered the school after the class had made considerable 
 progress in algebra and yet he was the only member of the class to com- 
 plete the algebraic course that term. Turning his attention to the 
 profession of teaching, he followed it in Varna, Illinois, and studied to 
 educate himself the while. Later he attended the school at Normal, 
 Illinois, and subsequently became a teacher in graded schools. He 
 regarded this, however, merely as an initial step to other professional 
 labor, for it was his ambition to prepare for the bar and he began reading 
 law. His studies were pursued at times without a preceptor and again 
 he read under the direction of A. P. Wright of Odell. As the weeks and 
 months passed on he mastered the principles of jurisprudence and finally 
 was admitted to the bar. He had pursued his law^ studies while continu- 
 ing his teaching and thus gave evidence of the elemental strength of his 
 character, which as the years passed by placed him in an eminent position 
 in relation to affairs of state and nation. Upon admittance to the bar 
 be opened in 1875 a law office in Streator. He did not seek to benefit 
 by the influence and aid of a partner but entered upon his chosen life 
 work resolved to win success through individual merit. He was there- 
 after an active representative of the bar at Streator to the time of his 
 election to congress. He was indeed well trained in his profession and 
 displayed notable ability in the preparation and presentation of his 
 causes. He was retained on one side or the other of nearly every 
 important litigation heard in the courts of his district. His mind was 
 naturally analytical, logical and inductive and he readily saw the relation 
 of cause and effect. He possessed an extremely retentive memory and his 
 knowledge of the law and of precedent constantly excited the surprise 
 of his professional colleagues. He became attorney for many corporations 
 and for various prominent individual interests, acting for the foremost 
 banking institutions, for the bottle works and for the railroad company. 
 
 As the years passed on Mr. Reeves also became a factor in business 
 circles of the city, making investments in various companies controlling 
 industrial or manufacturing interests. After his return from Washington 
 he became identified with the company or corporation formed for the 
 development of a tract of coal land. He was a man of sound judg- 
 ment and unfaltering enterprise and improved many opportunities which 
 others passed heedlessly by, so that he won a substantial measure of 
 success. 
 
 On the 27th of June, 1876, Mr. Reeves was united in marriage to 
 Miss Marietta Cogswell, who was born in New Milford, Connecticut, 
 a daughter of Lucius T. and Catharine (Warner) Cogswell, who were
 
 malttt Rcctics 311 
 
 natives of Litchfield county, Connecticut. In early life the father was 
 associated with the marble works at New Milford and continued in that 
 business until 1849, when, attracted by the discovery of gold in Cali- 
 fornia, he crossed the plains to that state and engaged in mining. He 
 became an expert in testing ore and other departments of the work and 
 was connected with a mine that has since become very valuable, contin- 
 uing in the business to the time of his death about 1880. His wife had 
 passed away several years before. They were the parents of four chil- 
 dren: Anna, the wife of Sherman Woodruff, of Washington, Connecticut; 
 Weston, who joined the army at the age of eighteen years as a private 
 of the Eighth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and was promoted to the 
 rank of sergeant but died a few months later at New Bern. North Caro- 
 lina; Mrs. Reeves; and one who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Reeves 
 were members of the Park Presbyterian Church of Streator, in which 
 Mr. Reeves served as a trustee. Mr. Reeves attained the Knight Templar 
 degree in Masonry, his membership being in the Streator commandery. 
 He was true to the teachings of that craft, recognizing the brotherhood 
 of mankind. He stood for high ideals in every relation of life but came 
 more prominently before the public as a citizen whose career was char- 
 acterized by a lofty patriotism combined with marked ability. He was 
 always a stanch republican and a protectionist and in 1894 was the 
 republican candidate for congress from the eleventh Illinois district. He 
 was given a plurality of nearly five thousand votes and in the three suc- 
 ceeding elections received increased majorities — a fact indicative of his 
 personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him. Regarding him- 
 self as a public servant whose duty it was to advance the best interests 
 of those he represented, he began devoting his energies to the work of 
 internal improvement in the country and was appointed a member of 
 the committee on rivers and harbors. His work in that connection was 
 most effective, indicating his thorough mastery of the situation and the 
 country will for years to come reap the benefit thereof. He was instru- 
 mental in securing the passage of the river and harbor bill by the fifty- 
 fourth congress whereby between eight and nine million dollars was 
 secured from the federal government for improvements in the state of 
 Illinois. He maintained the position that in the midst of exceedingly 
 hard times the laboring people should be assisted by providing work on 
 these internal improvements and that the farmers and business men 
 would be benefited by the internal development of our country. Thus 
 he accomplished more for the internal improvements of the state by the 
 federal government than had been accomplished for a score of years. 
 He also prepared and introduced a bill in congress to control the patent 
 systems of the United States ami while it was under consideration a
 
 312 canltcr Ucrucs 
 
 leading labor paper of New York said that if the bill passed it would 
 ac-couiplish more for the laboring people of the United States than any 
 other ever introduced in congress. Mr. Reeves always favored progress. 
 He disapproved of useless expenditure but he equally disapproved of 
 that close retrenchment which hampers advancement, knowing that with 
 the nation as with the individual — there is no standing still, it must be 
 either progression or retrogression. Mr. Reeves was ever a man of action 
 rather than of theory and utilized practical ideas and plans in the accom- 
 plishment of the ideal. At different times he was prominently spoken 
 of and supported for the positions of United States senator and governor 
 and in fact was regarded as one of the leaders of the republican party 
 of the state. He enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the eminent men 
 at \^'ashington and was at different times offered high presidential prefer- 
 ments but always declined. He felt that the pursuits of private life were 
 in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts and after his retire- 
 ment from congress he concentrated his energies upon his law practice, 
 which was extensive in its scope and importance. While in congress he 
 delivered a notable address on the subject of civil government for the 
 Philippine Islands, after which he received a personal letter from Secre- 
 tary Hitchcock and others commending the course which he had 
 advocated. 
 
 Death called Mr. Reeves suddenly. He did not go unprepared, how- 
 ever, for each day and hour of his life had been worthily used and he 
 could not have accomplished more in the same period. One of the local 
 papers said of him: "Mr. Reeves was connected with so many interests 
 in Streator that he was like the keystone of an arch. His support went 
 out in many directions. He was attorney for leading corporations, for 
 the Union National Bank, a trustee of the Presbyterian Church, a Mason 
 of high rank and a member of the Streator Club. As president of the 
 Streator Improvement Association he was active in building up the 
 material interests of the town. It was his admitted fairness and sense 
 of justice that made him the unanimous choice for this position. It is 
 perhaps the highest encomium that can be passed to say that no detractor 
 will be found to call in question Mr. Reeves' personal honor in the multi- 
 fold transactions of his public or private life, and there is no one that 
 will not cheerfully pay tribute to his scrupulous conscientiousness and 
 the absolute cleanliness of his life as a man and a citizen. After a career 
 of strenuous industry, with opportunities that would have dazzled smaller 
 men, he achieved only a moderate competency and was content to retire 
 on it." The accinnulation of wealth was never the end and aim of his 
 life. He felt that there were higher things — things of greater importance, 
 and to such he turned his attention. \^ hat he did for Streator can never
 
 malm Ucc\3cs 313 
 
 be adequately told in words, for the interests of the city were ever close 
 to his heart and he was continually doing some service, either small or 
 great, that benefited city and county. He was largely instrumental in 
 securing the establishment of the rural free delivery system out of 
 Streator, thus greatly benefiting the surrounding districts. The La Salle 
 County Bar Association paid tribute to his memory in a memorial meet- 
 ing, in which it was said in part: "Honored as a representative from 
 his congressional district for four successive terms, he greatly honored 
 the office awarded him by his political party, whose principles and whose 
 platforms he supported with signal ability and with unswerving fidelity. 
 Active in all the legislation enacted while he was a member of congress, 
 he accomplished more in the way of securing appropriations for public 
 improvements in our county and state than had been accomplished in a 
 score of previous years. Our brother was ever in love with the life that 
 now is, and so entered upon its duties and assumed its gravest responsi- 
 bilities with singleness of purpose and nobleness of heart. It is the 
 shame of our time that so many of our loved profession and of all callings 
 are given to high living and low thinking. But of Walter Reeves it may 
 be most truly said that he was ever given to plain living and to high and 
 ennobling thinking. Because of his love for knowledge he acquired 
 knowledge, and by reason of his love for culture and for the beautiful 
 and true in literature and in life he became a truly cultivated man and 
 enjoyed companionship of the prophets and the seers of the past and the 
 present. When a writer of the New Testament scriptures would most 
 praise his friend he said of him simply : 'He Avas a good man.' And no 
 better nor kinder thing can be said of our brother than that he was a 
 good man. While we love to recall his ability and his industry as a 
 laAv^er — love to recount his patriotic and effective labors in the congress 
 of our nation — his broad and discriminating knowledge and generous 
 culture — standing now, as it were, with tear dimmed eyes and with un- 
 covered head beside his newly made grave — we love more than all else 
 to recall and tell over his uniform courtesy and frankness toward oppos- 
 ing counsel in the trial of cases and his never failing fairness and gentle- 
 manly demeanor towards the presiding judge. And so with his pleasing 
 presence and graceful address, with his industry and ability as a lawyer, 
 his power to achieve, will ever be associated, in the memory of all who 
 knew him, his manly courtesy to the bench and bar. 'Justice,' said Daniel 
 Webster, 'is the great interest of man on earth.' And it was ever the high 
 purpose and pleasure of our brother to assist in the administration of 
 this justice. Though warned by failing health of approaching and early 
 dissolution, our brother worked on with a courage born of an abiding 
 faith, and on the very day of his demise was earnestly engaged in the
 
 314 enaltcr Rcc\3CS 
 
 labor of a great trust that had been imposed upon him and which he 
 was endeavorinfi with fidelity to discharge. The light of Easter falls 
 athwart every human grave, and it was given to our brother to pass into 
 the shadow of the tomb in the beautiful Easter time. And it is sweet 
 to know that 
 
 " 'Sustained and soothed 
 By an unfaltering trust, he approached his grave 
 As one who draws the drapery of his couch 
 About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.' " 
 
 Another wrote: "For the greater part of his business career Mr. 
 Reeves has been a living integral factor in the life of the city; a man 
 human, not without his faults, but whose virtues and whose ability were 
 so strong that they will leave their impress on the city, an example of the 
 self-made man and a lesson that character, energy' and ability are the real 
 roads to success. For these reasons the announcement of his death came 
 as a shock to the city, and for these reasons Ave take pleasure in paying 
 tribute to a life well spent. We speak of Mr. Reeves as a citizen; as 
 one of us. Strong and vigorous in his personality, clean and moral in 
 his habits, he commanded a vast respect in the state where he was known 
 as a public man, and in the nation enjoyed the esteem of the greatest 
 men in his party. His strongest characteristics were resolution, fearless- 
 ness and independence, the qualities that are recognized in leaders more 
 than in friendly sociability." 
 
 Of Walter Reeves it might have been written: 
 
 "An honest man — a man without pretense, 
 Modest but brave — though silent, full of sense; 
 His highest fancies are substantial facts 
 And his best thoughts translate themselves in acts. 
 A mind that in beginning sees the ends. 
 Explores, compares, weighs, gauges, comprehends. 
 A calm and lofty courage that can cope 
 With direst perils, hoping against hope. 
 Such are the traits that mark our chosen man — 
 Note him, oh world, and match him if you can."
 
 LIBRAKV 
 
 or THE 
 
 tJNIVERSil / OF ILLINOIS
 
 loiseyl) (fucrctt |)aDen 
 
 OSEPH EVERETT PADEN, former mayor of Evanston 
 and an attorney in Chicago from 1890 until his death 
 thirty-eight years later, was born January 22, 1861, in 
 Litchfield, Montgomery county, Illinois, a son of Samuel 
 A. and Polly M. (Scherer) Paden. He was a descendant 
 of Scotch-Irish ancestors who arrived in America prior 
 to the Revolutionary war. Mr. Paden's father, a native of Kentucky, 
 removed to Litchfield, Illinois, and engaged in farming. 
 
 Joseph E. Paden was educated in the graded schools and high 
 school at Litchfield, and later taught school there for two years. Choos- 
 ing the legal profession as his life work, he studied law at the University 
 of Minnesota and the Union College of Law in Chicago. After his admis- 
 sion to the bar in 1885 he practiced in Litchfield until 1890, when he 
 moved to Chicago and. became senior member of the firm of Paden & 
 Gridley, his associate being Martin M. Gridley, who later became judge 
 of the circuit court. The two continued in partnership for a decade and 
 then Mr. Paden became a partner of William H. Mylrae, former attorney 
 general of Wisconsin, under the firm name of Paden and Mylrae. They 
 were thus associated professionally until the fall of 1902, when Mr. 
 Mylrae retired from the firm to enter the lumber business, and Mr. 
 Paden was soon afterward joined in the practice of law by Oscar A. 
 Kropf under the style of Paden & Kropf, with oflfices at 175 West Jack- 
 son boulevard. As a lawyer Mr. Paden drafted many appeals in the 
 interest of citizens of the state and urged their passage by the legislature. 
 He prepared and obtained the adoption of many bills affecting general 
 public interests. Before becoming mayor of Evanston he served as 
 corporation counsel, from 1899 to 1903, under Mayors James A. Patten 
 and Thomas Bates. His mayorship of Evanston was for three terms, 
 from 1907 to 1913, and has been described as "an administration of 
 progress and reform." He was known as a remarkable presiding officer. 
 As mayor, attorney and philanthropist, he was actively engaged for 
 many years in public affairs and was widely known for his humanitarian 
 interests. One of his most notable contributions to the life of the city 
 was the organization of the Central Association of Evanston Charities, 
 which he conceived to coordinate all of the charitable bodies of the city. 
 He served as its president from the date of its founding in 1911 until 
 1926, when his health forced him to give it up. One of the most im- 
 portant civic steps taken under his administration was the installation 
 
 317
 
 318 Joseph (Oucrctt Li)aDcn 
 
 of the filtration plant for which Evanston ha? now heconic widely known. 
 Hi? policy also carried forward the paving of streets begun under an 
 earlier administration. He was president of the Illinois Mayors Asso- 
 ciation for two terms, and was active in the organization of the City 
 National Bank of Evanston, the Sheridan Trust & Savings Bank in 
 Chicago and the First National Bank of Chicago Heights. He also occu- 
 pied the presidency of the Northampton Emery Wheel Company of 
 Northampton, Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. Paden was a member of the American, Illinois and Chicago Bar 
 Associations, associate member of the Chicago Real Estate Board, mem- 
 ber of the American, Illinois State and Chicago Historical Societies, the 
 Union League, Bankers and Evanston Clubs, and was active in and 
 president of the Chicago Alumni Association of the University of Minne- 
 sota. A forceful and pleasing public speaker, he delivered addresses on 
 "Pioneers of Illinois,'' ''Abraham Lincoln," "Municipal Administra- 
 tions" and other historical subjects and pertinent questions of the day. 
 
 In 1891 Mr. Paden was married in Litchfield, Illinois, to Charlotte, 
 daughter of Dr. John Dennison Colt and Susan McAllister Colt. Dr. Colt 
 was one of the ablest surgeons of his day and lived to the age of eighty- 
 four years. He was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Con- 
 necticut, John Colt, who came with Dr. Hooker to America in 1638, 
 settling in Hartford. Connecticut. He was also a descendant of the 
 Connecticut Dennisons, who sprang from an ancient English family 
 traceable to the time of the Crusaders. 
 
 To Joseph E. and Charlotte (Colt) Paden were born four children, 
 all of whom were given the advantage of university educations. David 
 Sheldon Paden, of Evanston, Illinois, married Margaret Desmond. Den- 
 nison Colt Paden also resides in Evanston, Illinois. Elizabeth Paden 
 first married Donald H. Dawson and had a son, David Dennison Dawson, 
 and afterward became the wife of Lieutenant Colonel James Kennard 
 Tracy, in charge of the naval prison at Portsmouth, New* Hampshire. 
 Philip, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, married Elizabeth Root and has 
 one daughter, Margarett Colt Paden, and a son, James Root Paden. 
 
 For many years the Paden home was at 1554 Asbury avenue, Evans- 
 ton, but Mr. Paden's fondness for outdoor life led him to remove some 
 time ago to a beautiful estate on the outskirts of Buchanan, Michigan. 
 \^ ith a great love for flowers, he made this one of the most attractive 
 places in that section of the state, and there he passed away on the 9th 
 of August, 1928. A good citizen, a devoted father, an industrious and 
 capable lawyer, a Avarm and loyal friend, it may be truly said of him 
 that his life was an example worthy of emulation.
 
 (loocpl)) IllcMll BIciTormifk 
 
 ^OSEPH) MEDILL McCORMICK, distinguished journalist 
 and legislator, was senior United States senator from 
 the state of Illinois at the time of his sudden death in 
 Washington, D. C, February 25, 1925. He was born 
 in Chicago, May 16, 1877, a son of Robert Sanderson 
 and Katharine Van Etta (Medill) McCormick. In 1900 
 he Vv-as graduated at Yale University with the A. B. degree, and in 1923 
 the LL. D. degree was conferred upon him by Monmouth College of 
 Illinois. He became vice president and publisher of the Chicago Daily 
 Tribune and also served as president of the City Press Association. He 
 opposed William Lorimer and was one of the leaders in the movement 
 to oust the latter from his seat in the United States senate. In 1912-14 
 he served as vice chairman of the progressive national committee and 
 supported Roosevelt's candidacy for the presidency at the Chicago con- 
 vention of 1912. In the same year Mr. McCormick was a member of a 
 committee of his party which went abroad to study social legislation. 
 He was twice elected to the general assembly of Illinois and was a 
 member of the sixty-fifth congress, 1917-19, as congressman-at-large from 
 Illinois. On the 5th of November, 1918, he was elected United States 
 senator for the term ending March 4, 1925, so that he had only a few 
 more days to serv e when his career was cut short by death. 
 
 On the 10th of June, 1903, Mr. McCormick married Ruth Hanna, 
 daughter of the late Senator M. A. Hanna, of Cleveland, and he was sur- 
 vived by his wife and three children. He was a valued member of the 
 Chicago, Commercial, City, University and Hamilton Clubs of Chicago 
 and the University Club of New York. 
 
 319
 
 mtimiit W, InUcr 
 
 ,MONG THE men of Illinois who have risen to eminence 
 the name of Melville W. Fuller is enrolled near the 
 head. Coming to Chicago in 1856, he carried on the 
 practice of his profession as a la\vyer for thirty-two 
 years, and until his appointment by President Cleve- 
 land to be chief justice of the United States supreme 
 court m 1888. 
 
 Melville Weston Fuller was born February 11, 1833, at Augusta, 
 Maine. He received his education at Bowdoin College, and entered 
 upon the study of law in Bangor, and, according to the custom of the 
 time, in the office of a practicing lawyer. During his legal studies he 
 spent a year at the Harvard Law School, then under the direction of 
 Joel Parker, Theophilus Parsons and Emory Washburn, excellent law- 
 vers and great teachers. 
 
 In an address before the Chicago Bar Association, Judge Edward 0. 
 Brown said: "But though in the office and law school young Fuller had 
 received the technical legal education, the development of which there- 
 after was to place his name on the roll of fame, it was in his previous 
 academic course at Bowdoin College, if we may trust his own words 
 thirty-five years later at a commencement dinner, that the foundations 
 of his character and general culture were firmly laid. Speaking then 
 of his teachers at Bowdoin he said: 'They labored to ground the student 
 in the eternal verities, which ^voukl enable him when rains descended, 
 and winds blew, and floods came, to withstand the storm as only one can 
 finally do whose feet are planted on that rock.' 
 
 '"Well did this gentle and courageous soul — this kindly,' patient, 
 much-enduring man exemplify in after years the spirit in which he had 
 taken his teachers' lessons. Tried by griefs which tore his heart asunder 
 in the midst of worldly success, be faced good and ill fortune alike with 
 heart undaunted and faith in God and his fellowmen unabated. In 
 1856, he had begun to practice law in his native city of Augusta. He 
 had always a keen relish and taste for participation in public affairs, and 
 at the outset of his career he combined with his budding practice editorial 
 writing for a democratic newspaper, and became a member and presi- 
 dent of the city council of Augusta. 
 
 "But the call of the west was even stronger then for eastern youths 
 than now. Thinking perhaps of the wonderful success which twenty 
 years before his political leader Douglas had won in the decade after 
 
 321
 
 322 ggclliillr CCI. riillcr 
 
 his iiirival in Illinois, Mr. Fuller came to Chicago before his first year 
 at the har had ended. He entered the oflice of the late S. K. Dow, a 
 former townsman and acquaintance, at a salary of six hundred dollars 
 a year. 
 
 "The rapid and spectacular rise to eminence and power of his 
 leader and his future close friend, Douglas, Fuller did not have, but 
 a little more than thirty years afterward, speaking of himself to his 
 comrades at the bar, he could say: 'It has come to pass that as the star 
 of empire moving westward hangs fixed and resplendent above the 
 glorious vallev of the Mississippi, a member of this bar and a citizen of 
 Chicago has been designated to the headship of the mightiest tribunal 
 upon earth. Of that tribunal, or the grave and weighty responsibilities 
 of that office, it does not become me now to speak, nor could I, if it 
 were otherwise appropriate, for I am oppressed with the sadness inevi- 
 table when one after long years of battle puts his armor off and retires 
 from the ranks of his comrades.' " 
 
 Judge Brown, in his address, spoke of the fact that at the time of 
 his appointment Fuller was comparatively an unkno^vTi man. Concern- 
 ing this he said: "If he had not sooner achieved distinction in the world 
 of politics and statesmanship, and thus become more widely known 
 throughout the countrv', it was because during his rise at the bar the 
 political party of his choice and deep conviction was out of poAver in 
 state and nation. He had been a leader and wise counsellor in that 
 party here at home, as we who were connected with it all know: repre- 
 senting it in the constitutional convention of 1861, and the legislature 
 of 1862, and becoming, in a succession of national conventions, a leading 
 figure among its Illinois delegates. I remember in his later years his 
 deploring to me, that because of his intense interest in securing among 
 the declarations of the national democratic platform of 1864 one in favor 
 of the Monroe doctrine and against the European usurpation in Mexico, 
 he had allowed to stand without sufficient protest that pronouncement 
 of the convention concerning the failure of the Federal arms in the Civil 
 war, that its candidate General McClellan so promptly repiuliated." 
 
 In the course of his address Judge Brown referred to Fuller's law 
 practice while in Chicago. "It is enough to say," he continued, "that 
 ^vith ardor and success he devoted himself to the duties of advocate 
 and counsel for his public and private clients, and that although offered 
 the most important and desirable of permanent corporation employments, 
 he would bind himself for no continuous service to one client or set of 
 clients, preferring the free hand and the life of the lawyer of the elder 
 time. Through all his life he was in his profession as in other things 
 a high-minded conservative, doing the best to make the law a noble 
 and ennobling profession and no mere huckstering trade. Prudent and
 
 ^clliillc m. JFulIcr 323 
 
 thrifty as every man ought to be, and abhoring debt, he was never 
 mercenary, avaricious or grasping. 
 
 "And now we turn from the rising lawyer, the successful advocate 
 and wise counsellor, to regard a clear-brained, simple, strong, single- 
 hearted man, a patient, upright self-restrained, quietly dignified judge 
 who for almost a quarter of a century filled the most exalted judicial 
 seat of the world. He was the eighth chief justice of the United States. 
 I do not intend to indulge in fulsome eulogj-. I will not say that he 
 equalled John Marshall in scope of intellect and keenness of appreciation 
 of the great principles of jurisprudence, but I will say that in that great 
 place he was no unworthy successor in the line. . . . That the late 
 chief justice or any other judge who ever sat in high place was, in the 
 performance of his duties, always and ideally wise and great, were a 
 vain and foolish thing to say. Chief Justice Fuller will not, either in 
 the decisions which he formulated for his brethren or in those in which, 
 faithful to his high convictions of duty, he dissented from the majority 
 of the court, be adjudged always right by the new age fast driving upon 
 us its new aspirations, and its new standards of thought and social ethics. 
 Some of them will stand the test of time as some of those of his prede- 
 cessors have done; others of his, as of theirs, as time sweeps on, will 
 doubtless be but historical marks that show the line at which the flood 
 then rested." 
 
 Chief Justice Fuller died on the 4th of July, 1910, at his summer 
 home near Bar Harbor, Maine. He was seventy-seven years old at the 
 time of his death. 
 
 Of the opportunities of such a position as that held by Chief Justice 
 Fuller for a period of almost twenty-two years, the New York World 
 said editorially: ''To be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme 
 Court is to wield a power that no other judge in all the world wields, 
 and the man who holds that great office for twenty or thirty years leaves 
 his indelible seal upon the life of the nation."
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 ^ 
 
 ^/^ i?9'T5/:2^^>-^-o--*-^
 
 5^ljoma0 loseyl) lorofljuer 
 
 HOMAS JOSEPH FORSCH?sER, nationally known con- 
 tractor and prominent Catholic leader, was born in 
 Cleveland, Cuyahoga county. Ohio, August 7, 1866, a 
 son of Charles and Theresa (Kempter) Forschner. who 
 emigrated to this countrj^ from Germany. Charles 
 Forschner became a well known builder in Cleveland 
 and for a time was county clerk of Cuyahoga county. 
 
 Thomas J. Forschner was reared on the home farm of the family on 
 the outskirts of Cleveland and in the acquirement of an education 
 attended the district school and the public schools in Cleveland. \^ hen 
 his textbooks were put aside he began what proved to be his lifetime 
 occupation by engaging in construction work in Indiana. He then came 
 to Chicago and was employed on the construction of the old drainage 
 canal. Reversing the oft quoted advice of Horace Greeiey to "go Avest. 
 young man, go west," he went east to Springfield, Massachusetts, and 
 there engaged in construction work under his own name, building the 
 Moon Island sewerage basin in Boston. He soon became identified with 
 great construction projects throughout the east and middle west. In 
 Vermont he was one of the contractors in the building of the Rutland 
 Railroad; in Washington, D. C, he was one of the contractors who took 
 government contracts and built the Massachusetts Avenue bridge and in 
 the construction of the Connecticut Avenue bridge his company did the 
 building, which is the largest concrete bridge ever built without rein- 
 forcement. His work on the water supply system for New York city 
 included the New York Watershed Hemlock Dam at Croton Falls and 
 similar work in Putnam and Dutchess counties and other parts of the 
 Hudson River Valley. 
 
 In 1911, returning to Chicago, he organized the T. J. Forschner Con- 
 tracting Company, of Avhich his brothers, Anthony J. and "^ Uliam P. 
 Forschner, were members. Business was carried on imder the firm name 
 of Cogan Brothers and Forschner in Boston and in Washington under 
 the name of the District Construction Company, while in Illinois the firm 
 was always known as the T. J. Forschner Contracting Company. The 
 great projects completed by him in the vicinity of Chicago were the Calu- 
 met Sag channel, the Halsted Street sewer into Blue Island, the One Hun- 
 dred and Twenty-seventh Street pumping station, the Calmnet Sewage 
 Plant pumping station at Ninety-fifth street, and the West Side Sewage 
 Treatment Works at Stickney, near Cicero, for the sanitary- district. Earl- 
 
 327
 
 32S grhomds Joseph J'orschiicr 
 
 ier in hi? career he owned and operated one of the fir?t coal-tipping mines 
 in the midwest, near Linton. Indiana. In 191 1. while on a visit to this 
 mine, he met \\-il\i a serious accident, being caught between two cars and 
 breaking a leg. So great was Mrs. Forschner's solicitude that she per- 
 suaded him to dispose of the mine before he was able to be out of bed. 
 
 Mr. Forschner was noted for his liberality in public benefactions and 
 tor the interest he manifested in promoting the welfare of the Catholic 
 (Zhurch. After the close of the World war he paid all the expenses of 
 four young men while they were studying for the priesthood in Gernian\ 
 and Austria. He assisted liberally in financing the Benedictine Convent 
 at Mundelein, Illinois. During the Eucharistic congress in Chicago he 
 was host to Cardinal Michael de Faulhaber. for whom he bad a private 
 chapel built in his beautiful home at 4800 Ellis avenue. In Februai>. 
 1927. Mr. Forschner was made a Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester 
 by Pope Pius in recognition of his charilble work in the archdiocese of 
 Chicago. He was much interested in outdoor life and held memberships 
 in the Broadview Club, the Midland Club. \ ilia Spiros. and the Smoky 
 Lake Golf Ouh at Phelps. Wisconsin, the Illinois Athletic, the Lake 
 Shore Athletic, the Calumet Commercial and Oivmpia Fields Countrv 
 Clubs. 
 
 On the 22d of July, 1905. Mr. Forschner was married at Milwaukee. 
 Wisconsin, to Grace M. Dempsie and for many years they made their 
 home at 4800 Ellis avenue. On the 12th of December. 1930. after 
 attending a bazaar at St. .Ambrose Church near his home. Mr. Forschner 
 jiassed to the future life from a sudden heart attack. The surviving 
 members of his family were: Mrs. Grace M. Forschner: one sou. .Alfred 
 J.: a granddaughter. Eleanore Grace: tliree sisters, Mrs. Eumia Lakius 
 and Sister M. Benedicta of Benedictine Convent at Mundelein. Illinois, 
 and Mrs. Rose Schumann, of Cleveland. Ohio: and four brothers. An- 
 thony J., of Chicago. Charles. John and Frank of Cleveland. Ohio. On 
 Monday morning. December 15th. the funeral ser\"ice was conducted at 
 the home and at St. .Ajnbrose Church, with interment at Holy Sepulchre 
 cemetery-, Bishop B. J. Sbiel attending.
 
 luDac IlrtuiD Jliiui! 
 
 DIE IS the nia*ter artist that paints the history of the 
 world and the perspeetive of the years plaees each 
 occurrence and each actor in their relative position. 
 Occupying a central place was Judge David Davis, his 
 position being with the foremost jurists and statesmen 
 that America has produced. The record of few men 
 in public life has extended over a longer period and none has been 
 more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation. 
 Those qualities which men admire and commend were his in superlative 
 degree. America has produced many la\\-].ers of marked ability and 
 statesmen of wide grasp of affairs but the superiority of Judge Davis' 
 powers and talents placed him beyond the successful and among the 
 eminent. Born on the 9th of March. 1815. in Cecil county. Maryland, 
 he was descended from the ancestry represented in that locality for more 
 than a century. He passed away in Bloomiugton. June 26, 1886, at the 
 age of seventy-one years and there remain as a monument to his memory 
 the grateful remembrance and appreciation of his fellow citizens 
 throughout the entire country Avho recognized his valuable contribution 
 to the world's work. He attended Kenyon College of Ohio, from which 
 he was graduated at the age of seventeen, and among his associates as 
 pupils in that institution were Edward M. Stanton and others \\lio have 
 won distinction in connection with our national history. He was not 
 ground down by biting poverty nor enervated by the expectation of 
 wealth. His father at death left to him a fair patrimony but through the 
 technicalities of the law and the greed of a guardian this was lost and 
 the future distinguished jurist faced the necessity of providing for his 
 own support but had as the foundation of his success and advancement 
 an excellent educational training. In the latter part of 1835 when 
 twenty years of age. he came to Illinois, settling at Pekin. but in conse- 
 quence of illness \vhich he thought was occasioned by too close prox- 
 imity to the river be removed in the spring of 1836 to Bloomington and 
 that city thus gained one of her most distinguished and honored citizens. 
 For more than a half century he resided there, participating in the early 
 pioneer development as well as in the later progress and leaving the im- 
 press of his individuality, his ability and his progressive public spirit 
 upon the history of the state. He is described at the time of his arrival 
 in Bloomington as a "young man, buoyant with hope, restless with 
 energy and inspired with the forthcoming of that destiny which awaited 
 the county and state of his adoption." It was his innate character and 
 
 329
 
 330 JiiDgc DauiD Dauis 
 
 ability that won him reco-iinition for he had no acquaintance in Bloom- 
 ington nor financial resources at the time of his arrival. He had early- 
 come to a recognition of the eternal truth that industry wins and he had 
 determined to give of his best to the profession which he had chosen as 
 a life work, holding ever to the highest standards. It was a rural com- 
 munity into which he made his entrance — a frontier district in which 
 there was not a single railroad and very few evidences of the planting 
 of the seeds of the civilization known to the older east. He entered 
 actively upon the work of his profession but never in his entire career, 
 even at the outset, did he give undivided attention to his law practice. He 
 felt that there were other duties in life — duties that he owed to his fellow 
 townsmen and duties of citizenship that he owed to the state at large. 
 and even while he was establishing himself as an able lawyer by reason of 
 his careful consideration of his cases and his clear and comprehensive 
 presentation of his cause before the courts he was also promoting in 
 every possible way the welfare and progress of his city and state. Appre- 
 ciative of what he was doing his fellow townsmen made him a member 
 of the constitutional convention of 1818 and sitting as a member of that 
 body he preserved for McLean county the outlines which it now has, 
 making it the largest county in the state and reserving for it thereby a 
 tract of land which is unexcelled in fertility in Illinois and probably in 
 the entire country. Many other phases of his public activity might be 
 cited and as the years went on his increasing ability led to bis selection 
 for positions of still more far-reaching importance. 
 
 It was in the early years of his residence in Bloomington, too, that 
 Judge Davis established a home of his own in his marriage, in 1838, to 
 Miss Sarah W. "talker, a daughter of Judge '^ alker, of Lenox, Massa- 
 chusetts, a lady whose beauty of character and ability well qualified her 
 for the high position which she occupied as a life companion of one of 
 America's most eminent jurists. Many tales of her goodness, her charity, 
 her sympathy are still told. The poor found in her a friend and the deep 
 sorrow felt at her passing by those ^vhom she bad aided was one of the 
 richest tributes that could be paid to the memory of anyone. \^ itli his 
 newly established home to work for Judge Davis bent his energies to his 
 professional duties and it was soon recognized that he was a strong 
 advocate and a wise counselor. Marked analytical power characterized 
 his practice of the law and as few men have done he seemed to grasp 
 every point in a case and give to it its due relative value. While steadily 
 advancing in his profession he was also coming more and more to the 
 front in the political life of the state. That was an era when the success- 
 ful business or professional man did not hold himself aloof from politics 
 but felt that participation therein was a part of his duty of citizenship. 
 From the early period of his residence here, therefore, Judge Davis was
 
 31uDgc DaniP Datiis 331 
 
 closely connected with political activity. He first visited Bloomington 
 during the memorable campaign of 1836 in which Van Buren was elected 
 to the presidency as the successor of General Jackson. Judge Davis, 
 however, was a supporter of General Harrison, thus adhering to his whig 
 principles. He earnestly advocated his political sentiments as an ad- 
 herent of the whig party and worked untiringly in his support of its 
 candidates. It was characteristic of him throughout his entire life that 
 he labored much more earnestly to secure the election of his friends 
 than he did to promote his own interests in a political way. In fact in 
 early life he seemed to possess no ambition Avhatever in that direction 
 but talents such as his could not remain hidden and in 1840 the whig 
 party made him its candidate in the Bloomington district for state sena- 
 tor. His party, however, Avas largely in the minority and he was defeated 
 by Governor John Moore, at that time and for many years thereafter one 
 of the most distinguished citizens and popular men of the state. 
 
 In following his profession he was diligent and his devotion to his 
 clients' interests became proverbial. He regarded the pursuits of private 
 life in themselves as abundantly worthy of his best efforts and felt the 
 most unfaltering devotion to his profession, realizing its high mission as 
 the protection of the rights and liberties, the life and property of the 
 individual. He gave proof of his power to rank with the ablest men of 
 the state in the professional field including Lincoln, Douglas, Stephen T. 
 Logan, Baker, Trumbull and others. They felt his power, acknowledged 
 his ability and honored him for what he accomplished. He declined to 
 fill the office of clerk of the court though it would have given him four 
 times the annual income that he was then deriving from his practice, 
 and continued an active representative of his profession. His clientage 
 grew gradually and for twelve years he maintained a high position at the 
 bar to which he had risen through his capability, professional integrity 
 and the keen discernment that enabled him to apply with absolute 
 accuracy the principles of law applicable to the points in litigation. He 
 had aided in framing the laws of the state as a member of the legislature 
 following the election of 1844 and the clearness and force of his views 
 enabled him to have a commanding influence in the committee room. 
 That experience further qualified him for the splendid work which he 
 did in the constitutional convention of 1848. In the proceedings of that 
 body he took an important part, especially in the work relative to the 
 judicial department of the state government. Upon the adoption of the 
 new constitution there arose the necessity of reorganizing the judiciary 
 and at the first election that followed he was chosen circuit judge in a 
 district composed of fourteen counties extending from Woodford on the 
 northwest to Edgar on the southeast. In the early years of his practice 
 and during his initial service on the bench he became closely associated
 
 332 JiiDgc Damp DiiDis 
 
 with Abraham Lincohi and the kindred natures of these men of master 
 minds drew them together in a strong friendship that existed until the 
 death of the president. One of the strong characteristics of Judge Davis 
 was his unerring judgment concerning men, their dominant qualities and 
 ability. He recognized in Mr. Lincoln intellectual and moral (lualities of 
 the highest order and became one of those men active in indorsing his 
 candidacy. 
 
 When Judge Davis took his position on the circuit court bench not 
 a suney had been made in preparation for the building of a railroad, 
 go that he had to ride over the country in visiting the fourteen different 
 counties on his circuit in which he had to hold two sessions of court each 
 year. Again we quote from one of his earlier biographers who said: 
 '"The clearness and quickness of his mind, his preparatory education at 
 college and in the la\s and his twelve years of practice had fully capaci- 
 tated him to discharge with promptness the various and arduous duties 
 of the profession. In some of the qualities of a jurist he had few if any 
 superiors in the long line of eminent judges who have graced the courts 
 of the state. His administration of the law as circuit judge was most 
 eminently satisfactory to the people of the district and to the members 
 of the bar. But few appeals were taken from his decisions and his dis- 
 patch of business partook of the energy and industry which marked his 
 entire career." Judge Davis Avent upon the bench in 1849 and wore the 
 ermine until February, 1877, when without solicitation on his part he 
 was chosen to represent Illinois in the United States senate. The favor- 
 able opinion which his fellow citizens entertained for him at the begin- 
 ning of his judicial career was strengthened and augmented as the years 
 went by, for he discharged his duties in a way that more than justified 
 the most sanguine expectations of his supporters. In 1862 when a 
 vacancy occurred in the supreme court of the United States in the circuit 
 including Illinois he was the first mentioned as the most suitable candi- 
 date for the position. The power of appointment to this office was in the 
 hands of Lincoln who for many years had practiced in the court over 
 Avhich Judge Davis presided and who recognized the strength of his 
 intellect, the trend of his ability and his notable power in the interpreta- 
 tion and application of the law. The supreme court during the time of 
 Judge Davis' services was engaged in settling questions growing out of 
 the war and incident to the reconstruction. His appointment came to 
 him from his old-time friend, President Lincoln, and as a representative 
 of that high tribunal he made a record which places his name among the 
 foremost of those whom history regards as America's most eminent 
 jurists. 
 
 When he had served in the courts for nearly thirty years he was 
 called to aid in framing national legislation in his selection to the United
 
 3luDge DauiP Datii0 333 
 
 States senate, where his standing as a judge gave him important prestige. 
 He was placed on the judiciary committee ^vith men of national reputa- 
 tion and renown, serving there as a colleague of Thurman, Edmunds, 
 Conkling, Bayard and Carpenter. The experiences which he had in the 
 state courts of Illinois and in the United States supreme court had given 
 him a hreadth of learning and experience which enabled him to at once 
 win the regard and confidence of the entire senate, so that when a 
 vacancy occurred in the office of vice president he was selected to preside 
 over the senate which he did for nearly two years. Thus in another 
 field he left the impress of his ability upon the history of the nation. 
 ^ ith his retirement from office he returned to his old home in Blooming- 
 ton to pass there the quiet evening of life, traveling the journey with 
 undiminished honor and respect until its close. Though his activities 
 had been of the greatest importance to the nation he did not regard it 
 as beneath him to take active and helpful interest in municipal affairs 
 and aided in guiding the destiny of the city which he called his home. 
 
 Upon his retirement from the senate. Judge Davis was married, in 
 1883, to Miss Addie Burr, of North Carolina, a lady of many estimable 
 qualities. His home life was most attractive in its simplicity and its 
 comfort and in its atmosphere of high intellectual attainment. To those 
 %\ho knew him in his home city Judge Davis was friend and neighbor. 
 While his record graced the annals of the country he held himself as 
 not above those with whom he was associated in the earlier years of his 
 struggle for success and advancement and it is said that no one of his 
 locality and generation performed more acts of individual kindness. To 
 those who did him a favor or showed him friendship it was returned 
 fourfold. It is only a great nature that can turn aside from the mo- 
 mentous things of life to participate with sincerity in the humbler 
 activities. The man in Judge Davis, with all of his grave interests and 
 responsibilities, was never lost. He ^vas a statesman and jurist of emi- 
 nent power but he was also a man in those qualities which make for 
 strong friendships and which remember kindnesses. It might well have 
 been of Judge Davis that the Avords were penned: 
 
 "He leaves a patriot's name to after times, 
 Linked with a thousand virtues and no crimes."
 
 LltSH-.i.r 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 /i^
 
 gon. loljii gai) 
 
 NE OF the counselors and advisers of Abraham Lincoln 
 during his presidential administration and forty years 
 later secretary of state under President Roosevelt and 
 all through the intervening period active and prominent 
 in affairs of government, there are few men who have 
 exerted as strong an influence in shaping the destiny of 
 the nation without occupying the executive chair as did the Hon. John 
 Hay. He was in the early twenties when Lincoln called him to \^ ashing- 
 ton to ser\e as confidential messenger and he stood very close to the 
 president in his knowledge of the momentous questions decided during 
 the Civil war. He was never afterward allowed to retire altogether to 
 private life, as his opinions ^vere constantly sought by the nation's leaders 
 and both in public office and in the field of journalism he exerted a 
 most strongly felt influence in meeting the problems which successive 
 years brought forth. John Hay has made the name of Warsaw, Illinois, 
 one familiar to American people throughout the length and breadth of 
 the land, for in that town the period of his boyhood and youth were 
 passed. He was born in Salem, Indiana, October 8, 1838, but was only 
 three years of age when the family removed to \^ arsaw. where he pur- 
 sued his early education in a little brick schoolhouse, there conning his 
 lessons until he reached the age of thirteen. His father instructed him 
 in Greek and Latin and when, at the age of thirteen, he went to Pitts- 
 field. Illinois, to attend a private school for a year and a half and later 
 entered Brown University at the age of fifteen, he passed his entrance 
 examinations so creditably in both Greek and Latin that the examiner 
 made special inquiry as to where he had received his preparation. He 
 answered with great pride — from his father. At various times his college 
 course was interrupted but as opportunity offered he continued his 
 studies and throughout life remained a student in the school of experi- 
 ence and the post-graduate school of affairs. Early financial losses which 
 his father sustained made it necessary for John Hay to provide for his 
 own support at a tender age and he became newspaper carrier with the 
 Warsaw Signal, in which appeared his first literary production, the editor 
 encouraging his Avriting. He was graduated from Brown University in 
 1858 and during his college days he wrote poems and various articles 
 which brought him fame in authorship in later years. Several decades 
 had passed, however, before he would consent to publishing his WTitings 
 in book form. In his early manhood he showed some tendency toward 
 
 337
 
 338 Don. John bag 
 
 entering; the niinistn- but family persuasion influcncctl him to take up 
 the study of law. Prior to this, however, he spent some time in Pittsfiekl, 
 Illinois, where John Nicolay had a newspaper office, and while there he 
 not only formed the acquaintance of Mr. Nicolay hut also of General 
 Clark E. Carr. of Galeshurf:. afterward minister to Denmark, thus enter- 
 inj; upon connection with distinguished citizens of the state. He hecame 
 a law student in the office of his uncle, Milton Hay, a prominent la^vyer 
 who was associated in practice with Abraham Lincoln at Springfield, and 
 while pursuing his law studies there John Hay formed the acquaintance 
 of the martyr president. The story of the friendship thus begun has 
 become a matter of history. He was invited to continue his preparation 
 for the bar in Mr. Lincoln's office and he entered heartily into the work 
 of supporting the Illinois presidential candidate during the campaign of 
 1860. That Mr. Lincoln was appreciative of his services is shown by the 
 fact that after going to Washington he invited Mr. Hay to become as- 
 sistant secretary to John G. Nicolay. From that time forward he ren- 
 dered much able assistance to Mr. Lincoln, performing important tasks 
 that had direct bearing upon the administration and the nation's welfare. 
 He was often entrusted to carry messages too momentous to commit to 
 paper. 
 
 Although a warm admirer of President Lincoln, it was with reluctance 
 and regret that Mr. Hay turned from his chosen profession of the law 
 to enter the political field, but Lincoln had recognized his discernment, 
 his judgment, his tact and his discretion and realized that his services 
 might be of the utmost value to the administration in Washington. He 
 was constantly with the president in close conference throughout the four 
 years of his term save for the brief period when he served, more as the 
 president's personal representative, on the staffs of Generals Hunter and 
 Gilmore, after which he was brevetted lieutenant colonel. Speaking of 
 this period of Mr. Hay's life, Grandon Nevins has written: "No man in 
 the president's official household was more overworked than the young 
 major. He slept when he could and ate when he had the chance, and 
 when he was not at the front he lived at the White House, always at the 
 call of the president." Mr. Hay was but twenty-six years of age at the 
 time of Lincoln's assassination, but so thoroughly had he proved his worth 
 that it was decided to retain him in the government employ and he was 
 sent abroad to become secretary of the legation at Paris under Minister 
 Bigelow, in which capacity he ser\'ed from 186S until 1867. In the 
 succeeding year he became charge d'affaires in Vienna and later Avas 
 secretary of the legation at Madrid under Minister Sickles, there re- 
 maining until 1870. He refused a very advantageous offer from Horace 
 Greeley, then editor of the New York Tribune, saying that he did not 
 think it proper to turn his work over to other hands until it was com-
 
 Uon. Jobn Qap 339 
 
 pJetetl. The same spirit of loyalty and fidelity to duty characterized his 
 entire life, ^'i hen he returned to the United States, free to accept the 
 position, he became an editorial writer for the New York Tribune. In 
 the meantime he was for a few months connected with the Springfield 
 (111.) Journal, after which he succeeded Charles Dana as editor of the 
 Republican at Chicago, Illinois. For five years he \vas connected with 
 the New York Tribune and demonstrated his right to rank with the 
 leading American journalists. He also became known as an author of 
 considerable literary merit and ability. He brought forth a volume of 
 poems, including Jim Bludso, Little Breeches and many others, which 
 were published under the name of the Pike County Ballads. 
 
 On severing his connection with the New York Tribune, Mr. Hay 
 went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for some years. He declined 
 a position as editor in chief of the New York Herald, then published by 
 James Gordon Bennett. He was afterward again for a brief period con- 
 nected with journalism, having charge of the New" York Tribune in 1881, 
 during a brief absence of the late Whitelaw Reid in Europe. Much of 
 his time during fifteen years was devoted to writing, in collaboration with 
 John G. Nicolay, a history of Abraham Lincoln, ^vhich is beyond doubt 
 the most exhaustive, accurate and authentic biography of the war presi- 
 dent. Mr. Hay's writings altogether have embraced a wide field, for he 
 was the author of various works, political and otherwise, and many at- 
 tribute to him the authorship of a novel which appeared anonymously 
 in 1893 under the title of The Bread Winners. 
 
 After retiring to Cleveland Mr. Hay was again called to public office, 
 in 1879. to serve as assistant secretary of state under Evarts and continued 
 in that position until the end of the administration. Sixteen years passed 
 and he was once more in office, having in March, 1897, been appointed by 
 President McKinley ambassador to England. His diplomatic service con- 
 stitutes an interesting chapter of American history. He managed inter- 
 national affairs during the Spanish-American war with a delicacy and 
 tact, combined with force and discretion, that gained for our govern- 
 ment the support of England, and that country held in check the other 
 powers of the world. Near the close of the war he returned to the 
 United States and became secretary of state in the cabinet of President 
 McKinley, in which position he was continued by President Roosevelt, 
 thus serving to the time of his death, which occurred July 1, 1905, when 
 he was nearly sixty-seven years of age. 
 
 In 1874 John Hay was married to Miss Clara L. Stone, a daughter 
 of Amasa Stone, a prominent citizen of Cleveland, Ohio. They became 
 the parents of four children. Mr. Hay passed away at the summer home 
 of the family at Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire. Of him it has been 
 written: "There was perhaps no man in Washington or in diplomatic
 
 340 
 
 Don. John Dap 
 
 circles more greatly loved, owing to his personal traits, and no man at 
 the nation's capital was the object of more general affection that he 
 . . . No man in puhlic life has had so few enemies. Even those op- 
 posed to him politically entertained for him the warmest personal regard 
 and admiration. It is said that he never forgot a friend; the playmates of 
 his boyhood, the associates of his early manhood, those with whom he 
 labored in diplomatic circles, in journalism and in the department of 
 state were alike remembered through all the years, with their added 
 responsibilities and honors."
 
 S^lbert Pacl)oiU0lu 
 
 )EW NAMES during the past half century have been more 
 indelibly stamped upon the memories of the Polish- 
 American citizens of Chicago than the one introducing 
 .^^.■, __ __ this biography. Albert Wachowski, president of two 
 jjfW m" m" banks, organizer of building and loan associations and 
 so prominently connected with Polish civic work in 
 Chicago that he was considered the successor of the late John F. Smulski 
 in leadership of his people, was born in Posen, Poland, March 15, 1858, 
 son of Frank and Josephine Wachowski. Of the threescore and ten 
 years of life allotted to him, fifty years were spent in active, useful work 
 in Chicago. His early education was obtained in Posen and there he 
 learned cabinetmaking. In 1878, following the mother's death in 
 Poland, Frank Wachowski brought his family to the United States, com- 
 ing at once to Illinois, and here Albert Wachowski worked at the cabinet- 
 maker's trade for a few years. Subsequently he became a salesman for 
 the wholesale grocery house of Henry Horner & Company, covering the 
 trade in Chicago from 1888 until 1900. Turning his attention to the real 
 estate business, Mr. Wackowski soon became interested in and organized 
 many building and loan associations, and by reason of the numerous 
 addresses which he delivered before such associations became well known 
 throughout the state. In 1903 he organized and became president of the 
 Albert Wachowski Loan and Savings Company, located at 3032 West 
 Twenty-second street. Deposits soon grew so large that it was not long 
 before he formed The Albert Wachowski Savings Bank. Business con- 
 tinued to increase and out of this institution there eventually developed 
 the present Marshall Square State Bank. 
 
 The Marshall Square State Bank, located at 3113-15 West Twenty- 
 second street in Chicago, was organized in May, 1920, by Albert 
 Wachowski, Leon A. Wachowski and Xavier A. Czonstka with a capital 
 of one hundred thousand dollars. Its officers at the beginning were: 
 John F. Smulski, chairman of the board of directors; Albert Wachowski, 
 president; Leon A. Wachowski, vice president; William H. Schmidt, vice 
 president; and Xavier A. Czonstka, cashier. The Marshall Square State 
 Bank has devoted particular attention to the expansion of its savings de- 
 partment. Its statement of condition on the 12th of April, 1926, showed 
 capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars, surplus and undivided 
 profits amounting to fifty-six thousand, two hundred and seventy-nine 
 dollars and forty-one cents and deposits of one million, five hundred and 
 
 341
 
 342 aitjcrt CcUuhoUiski 
 
 sixteen thousand, five hundred ami forty-nine dollars and fourteen cent*. 
 Its resources on the ahove date totaled one million, eight hundred and 
 one thousand, three hundred and forty-three dollars and sixty-six cents. 
 The Marshall Square State Bank of Chicago is an affiliated mcmher of 
 the Chicago Clearing House Association. The statement of condition 
 June 30, 1928, showed a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars and resources of two million, fifty-three thousand, five hundred 
 and thirty-nine dollars and seven cents. 
 
 The Brighton Park State Bank, of which Alhert \^'achowski served 
 as president, was organized in Chicago in 1922 hy John F. Sm-.dski, 
 Alhert X'i'achowski, Leon A. Wachowski and William H. Schmidt with a 
 capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars and surplus of twenty-five 
 thousand dollars. Its doors were opened for business December 12, 
 1922, with the following officers: John F. Smulski, chairman of the board 
 of directors; Albert \^'achowski, president; Leon A. Wachowski, vice 
 president; Xavier A. Czonstka, vice president; William H. Schmidt, vice 
 president; and Albert V. Tenczar, cashier. During the first eighteen 
 mouths of its existence the institution conducted business at 43 12 Archer 
 avenue, whence removal was made to a modern bank and office building 
 at ISos. 4363 and 4365 Archer avenue, near Kedzie, which was completed 
 on January 1, 1923. and which it had erected at an approximate cost 
 of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Of the many building and loan associations which Mr. Wachowski 
 founded, the one at Gary, Indiana, still bears the name of The Albert 
 Wachowski Savings and Loan Association. Outside of real estate, build- 
 ing and loan and banking interests, Mr. Wachowski was prominently 
 identified with civic work among his people. He was one of the founders 
 of the Polish Roman Catholic Union, of which he was a director for 
 many years, and was also the founder of the Polish Welfare Association. 
 In national affairs he was a republican. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Wachowski was married, in Chicago, to Constance Kor- 
 geniewsky, also a native of Poland, and to them were born nine children. 
 Jeanette, the eldest, is the wife of Xavier Czonstka, cashier of the Mar- 
 shall Square State Bank, and the mother of three children: Regina, 
 Joseph and Norbert. Veronica is the wife of A. H. Policy and the 
 mother of two sons, Eugene and Anthony. Leon A., a la\\">er by pro- 
 fession, married Gertrude Jendrzejek and has two children, Lucretia and 
 Leroy. Marie is the wife of W. L. Wyndham and the mother of four 
 children: Louis, Virginia, Marie and Alberta. Stanley A., secretary of 
 the Albert Wachowski Loan and Savings Company, married Florence 
 Satkae. Eugene L., of the Marshall Square State Bank, married Rose 
 Klawikowski. Casimir R. is engaged in law practice. Theodore is a 
 medical student at the University of Illinois. Gertrude is the youngest 
 of the familv.
 
 gifaert macftotoski 343 
 
 Mr. Wachowski was a man of domestic tastes and his home life, with 
 a family of nine children and eleven grandchildren, was an ideal one. 
 He had always enjoyed the best of health until the early part of Septem- 
 ber, 1928, when it was necessary for him to undergo an operation for a 
 ruptured appendix. \^ hen it was believed he was on the road to re- 
 coven*-, he suffered a relapse, passing away September 18, 1928, at the 
 age of seventy years. His life was one of loving devotion to his family 
 and of valuable service to thousands of his fellowmen. Among the many 
 trilnjtes to his memory, the following letters from W. B. \^ hitlock, secre- 
 tary of the Building Association League of Illinois, show the esteem in 
 which he was held by that association: 
 
 September 18, 1928. 
 Mr. Stanley A. \^ achowski. 
 
 Secretary— Albert T\ achowski Loan and Savings Company, 
 Chicago, m. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Upon my return to the office today, I find your letter advising me of 
 the critical illness of your father. I regret this verj- much, and hope 
 that you will keep me advised as to his condition. I shall be glad to fur- 
 nish this information to the readers of the American Building Associa- 
 tion News. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 W. B. Whitlock, Secretary, 
 
 OFFICE OF SECRETARY 
 
 V. B. Whitlock 
 
 701 Ridgely-Farmers Bank Building 
 
 Springfield, 111. 
 
 Mr. Stanley Wachowski, 
 
 3032 West Twenty-second St., 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Dear Mr. Wachowski: 
 
 I wrote you that I expected to attend your father's funeral, but a 
 severe cold prevented me making the trip. I want to extend to you and 
 your father's entire family my deep sympathy in your loss. The build- 
 ing and loan associations, especially those in Chicago, will very much 
 miss the wise counsel and advice that he has always given them, and his 
 service to this organization has been of much value. He will be missed 
 both at Chicago and state meetings. 
 
 I shall be glad to have you send me a short sketch of his life, so that 
 I can use it for publication. 
 Building Association League of Illinois, 
 Organized 1880. 
 
 W. B. Whitlock, Secretary,
 
 tIBRARV 
 
 ^ir THE 
 
 L'NIVERSIl .' OF ILilMOK
 
 Paul (fmil §cr0cl)el 
 
 ^g^l OME YEARS ago a young German boy, fourteen years of 
 """ age, arrived in Chicago. He was a lad with no knowl- 
 
 edge of the English language or the customs of the 
 people among whom he was casting his lot, but he pos- 
 sessed a splendid physique and, besides, he had a capital 
 of three dollars with which to start out in the new 
 world. He came to see America and to find out what the country- had to 
 offer him. Two of his brothers had previously crossed the Atlantic and 
 were working in West Pullman. 
 
 Of an energetic, ambitious nature, the boy soon found a job in a soap 
 factory, earning three dollars per week, but he had to pay that 
 amount for board, so he made a little extra by holding horses while 
 their owners enjoyed an hour or two in a cafe. His next job in a bottle 
 factory brought him more money and selling papers gave him a little 
 extra. It was about this time that the two brothers removed to Peoria 
 and Paul Herschel joined them here. He found work in a grocery store 
 sweeping out, waiting on trade and staying with the children of the 
 family in the evenings. One day the yearning to travel and learn through 
 experience started him on his way to Mexico. Proceeding as best he 
 could, beating his way, he Avelcomed a job as handy boy in a general 
 store, and to begin his day's work cooked the breakfast for the family of 
 his employer. But a few weeks of the southern climate began to make 
 inroads on his health and upon the advice of an Indian he was thrown 
 into a yellow fever camp for ten days. He survived this, however, and 
 as soon as he was released he made his way northward again. But he 
 had gained something in the way of knowledge. He brought with him 
 a soap root found growing in that country, showed it to a Peoria business 
 man and the result was that the first bar of Amole soap was made in the 
 man's kitchen. Thus it was that the young boy found his trade as a 
 salesman for the Amole Soap Company. His first destination was Henry, 
 Illinois, and his sample case was a bandanna handkerchief in which were 
 tied a few bars of soap. Soon, however, the unlimited west became his 
 territory and the alkali dust of the country responded well to his brand 
 of soap. His next venture was with an advertising troupe in Kansas — 
 an old stage coach, a singer, comedian and Paul Herschel as the master 
 of ceremonies, selling soap, notions, electric belts, "all warranted or 
 your money refunded." 
 
 On one of his trips home Mr. Herschel met the girl of his choice and 
 
 347
 
 348 li)niil Ciuil Dcrschcl i 
 
 decided to find work nearer Peoria. It seemed propitious at this time I 
 
 when his older brother Robert suggested establishing a farm implement | 
 
 repair business on a small scale, believing there were great possibilities | 
 
 for such an enterprise in the middle west. They met on Sunday after- 
 noon almost a half century ago and decided on a location in the basement 
 of Kinsey & Mahler's store on Adams street in Peoria, and each invested 
 his savings of two hundred dollars, Robert taking charge of the manu- 
 facture and Paul of the sales. Again traveling became the young man's 
 lot and he spent most of his time away from his home and family for 
 fourteen years. His father, mother, two sisters and a brother-in-law had 
 joined the brothers already in Peoria, so it was a complete family that 
 watched the growth of this small beginning of a business. Three brothers 
 and a brother-in-law were now in the firm. A removal to another build- 
 ing was made, but this was razed by fire, forcing them to change. Un- 
 daunted, they secured temporary quarters in a building farther up-town, 
 but it soon proved inadequate and, looking about for a location, they 
 foresaw the future of East Peoria and determined to build across the 
 river, though highly criticized at that time. It has been one of their 
 great pleasures to watch the gro^vth and development of the newer city. 
 From its inception, the business of the company has constantly increased. 
 The acquisition of a large site in East Peoria made unlimited expansion 
 possible. A modern plant Avas erected and from time to time, owing to 
 the growth of their patronage, this has had to be enlarged until it is now 
 the largest of its class in the world. A few years ago the Herschel com- 
 pany purchased the entire knife and section business of the Whitman 
 & Barnes Manufacturing Company of Akron, Ohio, which had taken 
 "over the business of the Steier company and had thereby thrown the 
 Herschel brothers out of employment. It has often been said that the 
 enormous growth of the company's sales resulted from the firm founda- 
 tion laid in the salesmanship of Paul Herschel, backed up by the high 
 quality of the company's products. Few have ever achieved such results 
 as followed his early work in the trade field. His unfaltering integrity 
 won him the confidence of patrons and his pleasing personality made 
 him verj- popular with all with whom he had business relations. In 
 later years when he was an executive of the mammoth concern that had 
 been developed he adhered to the same policy which be instituted in 
 the beginning, requiring his employes to follow the same course. For 
 forty years Paul Herschel remained in the implement manufacturing 
 business, contributing in notable measure to the development of the 
 R. Herschel Manufacturing Company until it became one of the impor- 
 tant industries of the middle west. His versatility and enterprise were 
 also manifest in other connections, for he became a director of the Com- 
 mercial National Bank of Peoria, president of the Southern Implement
 
 ]^au\ emil Ocrsct)cI 349 
 
 Supply Company of Dallas, Texas, a director of the Maple City Stamp- 
 ing: Company of Peoria, and a director of the Avery Power Machinery 
 Company. 
 
 Long years before Paul Herschel had inaugurated a happy home life 
 in his marriage at Peoria, April 21, 1891, to Miss Mary K. Juelg, a 
 daughter of William and Mary Juelg. They became parents of a son and 
 a daughter. The former, Paul E. Herschel, Jr., who is connected with 
 the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company, married Jean Nicol, daughter 
 of William and Anna Nicol of Peoria, and has two children, Mar\' Jean 
 and Paul E. (HI). Emma Herschel became the wife of Edward H. 
 Woltzen, of Benson, Illinois, who is also connected with the plant of 
 the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company. Mr. and Mrs. Woltzen are 
 the parents of two children, Herschel and Jano S. 
 
 Mr. Herschel's love for his adopted country was deep and sincere. 
 He rendered splendid service during the ^'orld war as a member of the 
 industrial regional board, took an active part in promoting Liberty Loan 
 drives and gave generously of his time and money to further American 
 interests. He was a popular member of the Creve Coeur Club, the 
 Country Club of Peoria and the Minnesota Athletic Club of Minneapolis. 
 He attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Masonry and 
 belonged to Mohammed Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He also had mem- 
 bership with the Association of Commerce, was a director of the Child 
 Welfare League, the Peoria Chapter of American Red Cross and the 
 Peoria Public Library board. His response to any call for public 
 service was immediate, hearty and helpful. He enjoyed travel and de- 
 lighted in taking his family to places and scenes of interest. He enjoyed 
 the love and esteem of those iu his employ and those whom he met in 
 everj' relation of life. It is said that he experienced the greatest moment 
 of his life, Avhen in 1927 he invited his entire family of ten — wife, chil- 
 dren and grandchildren — to step inside his old home in Niederhaslich, 
 where he was born on July 22, 1866, to see the hillside where he tended 
 garden as a child, the old tile stove in the corner of the living room and 
 the same old stone steps leading upstairs, well worn by footsteps. The 
 immigrant boy of thirteen wlio had made his way to the new world 
 returned to the land of his forefathers a most prosperous and prominent 
 business man. A year later, on the 8th of Septemlier, 1928, he passed 
 away but the world is richer and better because he lived, for he con- 
 tributed to the material, civic and cultural development of his adopted 
 city and state and because of a genial nature he had shed around him 
 much of the sunshine of life.
 
 Ollarence %Mt\} Junk 
 
 LARENCE SIDNEY FUNK, for many years a resident 
 of Oak Park, Illinois, and distinguished in manufactur- 
 ing, commercial, civic and educational affairs of Chi- 
 cago and the state of Illinois, was born August 14, 
 1866, in Scales Mound, Illinois, a son of Sidney Brit- 
 ton and Frances A. (Covven) Funk. His father, Sidney 
 Britton Funk, was an honored veteran of the Civil war. He enlisted 
 April 26, 1863, in the Ninety-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, received a bullet wound in the head in battle and many years 
 later died of the effect of this injury. 
 
 Clarence Sidney Funk was educated in the public schools of Scales 
 Mound, Illinois, Alton, Illinois, Apple River, Wisconsin, the Jacob Beid- 
 ler grammar school and the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Chi- 
 cago. He became proficient in law through study at home at night but 
 never sought admission to the bar. In 1885 he began his business life as 
 a clerk with Warder, Bushnell & Glessner, manufacturers of harvesting 
 machinery, and in 1901 was made sales manager. When the business 
 was taken over by the International Harvester Company in 1903, Mr. 
 Funk was made assistant to the president, and from 1906 to 1913 he 
 was general manager of the corporation. From 1913 to 1916 he was 
 president of the M. Rumely Company of Laporte, Indiana, and after 
 1916 for several years managed the Miami corporation handling the 
 Deering holdings. In 1925 he organized and became president of the 
 Agricultural Bond & Credit Company in the Engineering building at 
 205 Wacker drive. Surrounding himself with an able corps of oflScials, 
 he soon made this company an outstanding figure in the financial affairs 
 of the middle west. 
 
 Mr. Funk was a director of the Universal Training League, a direc- 
 tor of the Chicago Theological Seminary and of the Oak Park Young 
 Men's Christian Association, and a trustee of the First Congregational 
 Church of Oak Park. In his political activity he was a republican, 
 and he was a frequent contributor to magazines on business and gen- 
 eral topics. He held membership in the Union League Club, the City 
 Club, the Press Club, the Oak Park Country Club and the Lawyers 
 Club of New York city. 
 
 '"Mr. Funk's interests and activities reached far beyond the narrow 
 range of his business," said a contemporary writer. "One of the most 
 significant of his avocations was the service that he rendered to the 
 
 351
 
 352 Clnrciuc ^iOiici) J^tink 
 
 Chii-a^o Theological Seminary duiiii!: a term of nineteen years, ^vhen 
 he was a memher of the hoard of tlirectors, of the exeeutive committee, 
 of the finance committee, and finally of the huildin^ committee, of 
 which he was chairman. He hegan in a quiet way, with characteristic 
 thoroughness and sagacity, to study and quickly to master the organiza- 
 tion, the prohlems, and the administration of the seminary. He assumed a 
 larger place in the governing hodies of the institution as the years passed, 
 until he was the trusted adviser and friend of all seminary teachers 
 and officers. In the seventy-five years of its history, the Chicago The- 
 ological Seminary has enlisted the interest and support of business men 
 in Chicago, who have served on its various hoards and committees, 
 such as Philo Carpenter, Charles G. Hammond, Eliphalet W. Blatch- 
 ford and David Fales. to record only a few representative names. Among 
 all these no one man has rendered so fundamental and lasting service 
 as Mr. Funk, according to Dr. Davis and others associated with him. 
 He gave his time without stint when prohlems arose which needed his 
 personal help in their solution. The great opportunity for the use of 
 Mr. Funk's unique talents came when the seminary began its expansion 
 and building program in 1923. Large sums of money were needed: the 
 success of the movement was finally assured when the bequest of V ictor 
 F. Lawson became available in 1926. A building project involving the 
 expenditure of more than a million dollars was launched under Mr. 
 Funk's leadership. These buildings were dedicated in June, 1928. 'Ev- 
 ery essential item passed under Mr. Funk's careful and discriminating 
 review; he was not merely a chairman occupying a nominal position; he 
 was the generous and farsighted leader in the shaping and execution of 
 the plans,' said a tribute from the seminary board. The board of direc- 
 tors expressed their appreciation of his leadership by naming the Clar- 
 ence Sidney Funk Cloisters in his honor. These are considered by au- 
 thorities the most beautifully decorated and characteristic unit in the 
 group of buildings which includes structures visited by thousands of 
 people every year since they were dedicated. Every department of the 
 seminary was kept clearly and constantly in Mr. Funk's mind. He spoke 
 often before groups of business men during the progress of the campaign 
 for funds. His familiar line of argument was characteristic: 'Religion 
 is the back-log of civilization in America; religion must come to expres- 
 sion through institutions; these must be guided by strong men; the 
 preparation of such leadership demands schools commensurate with 
 West Point and Annapolis in the service of religion.' He wanted every 
 graduate of the seminary to bear the hall-mark of cultivated and efficient 
 personality. 'His gift to the religious life of the middle west will never 
 be fully realized until coming generations have entered fully into his 
 ideals and labor." said Dr. Davis.
 
 LIBRAKV 
 
 or THE 
 
 L'NIVERSn / OF ILLiNO'S
 
 U(A&6/A/-^ca^co^. 
 
 c
 
 .HARLES NICOLAS STROTZ, for many years vice presi- 
 dent and head of the manufacturing department of the 
 American Tobacco Company, was born in Chicago, Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1868, a son of Nicolas and Katharine (Scharle) 
 Strotz. His father, a partner in the firm of Cradle & 
 Strotz, was one of the early manufacturers of tobacco in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Charles N. Strotz acquired his education in the schools of Chicago 
 and in young manhood became identified with the business established 
 by his father, expanding its operations to such an extent that the Ameri- 
 can Tobacco Company bought the factory, of which he continued as 
 manager for a year. In 1900 he took charge of the manufacturing plants 
 of the corporation in New York city and two years later, in 1902, was 
 made head of the production of the entire American Tobacco Company. 
 Subsequently he became secretary and later vice president of the com- 
 pany. In 1906, on account of ill health, Mr. Strotz retired from business 
 and thereafter spent several years in travel. From 1909 until 1920 he 
 made his home in Winnetka, Illinois. In 1916 he bought Swann's Point 
 plantation at Spring Grove, Surry county, Virginia, where he passed 
 away April 13, 1928, at the age of sixty years. 
 
 Mr. Strotz was married in Chicago to Clara A. Heinemann. Mrs. 
 Strotz and their three children, Harold C, Sidney N. and Kay, all survive 
 him. 
 
 The chief characteristics that lead Mr. Strotz to outstanding success 
 were his genius for organization and power for clear and direct thinking. 
 After his retirement from business, and during his residence in Chicago 
 and Virginia, leading business men, knowing his capacity for organization 
 and for good business practice, constantly sought his counsel. Thus it 
 was that during the World war, the Liberty Loan committee of Chicago 
 turned to him to undertake the vast task of organizing the wards of 
 Chicago. Despite the obstacles presented by all the racial and religious 
 differences that are found in a great city, Mr. Strotz developed and held 
 together, during the four Liberty Loan drives, a unified army of eflficient 
 and enthusiastic workers. No war service was ever given with a deeper 
 measure of devotion, than was this man's contribution to his country's 
 needs. The many hundreds of men and women who served with him in 
 this great work will remember him always for the personal inspiration 
 that he gave to them. 
 
 357
 
 358 ChiUlcs J^icolas ^tron 
 
 After the elof^e of the war Mr. Strotz hecanie more and more ahsorbed 
 in the development of his Virginia estate. Here, as in all other periods 
 of his life, he was called upon to adapt his business efficiency to the many 
 problems at hand. Under his direction and with his financial hacking, a 
 cooperative dairy was established in Surry county for the benefit of all 
 farmers in that community. This, together with his untiring efforts in 
 getting good roads and his unfailing and practical interest in civic and 
 educational interests, made him a well beloved man in his adopted state. 
 
 Both in Illinois and Virginia, he was a member of, and a liberal con- 
 tributor to many charitable societies and a financial guarantor of the 
 Ravinia and Chicago Opera Companies. He was a director of St. John's 
 Military Academy at Delafield, Wisconsin; he was a member of the Sko- 
 kie Country Club, Glencoe, Illinois, and of the Mid-Day Club of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Strotz was a man well equipped for leisurely living as well as for 
 business activity. He had a genius for friendship and strong family ties. 
 His quick understanding of spiritual needs, his capacity for fairness and 
 loyalty, his swift and subtle humor, were all qualities that brought him 
 manv close human relationships. He had resources within himself that 
 enriched all his years; he was a patron of the arts; he was well known 
 as a collector of early American furniture. His mental interests, which 
 a catholic taste in reading and years of travel brought to him, were many 
 and varied. Up to the time of his death he retained a youthful energy 
 of body and spirit that made him combine a thoughtful mental life with 
 a keen appreciation of the out-of-doors. From his quiet home with its 
 background of reflection, he came and went in the larger world of action, 
 with the surety of the man of affairs, the born cosmopolitan.
 
 Pilliam IHartin (Eoimcnj 
 
 jILLIAM MARTIN CONNERY, pioneer ancestor of the 
 family so well known in the business and political life 
 of Chicago since 1862, was born in Tipperary, Ireland, 
 in 1831 and was there educated. In early manhood he 
 and his brother, Thomas Connery, left the home land 
 for the new world. On the same boat came John Tobin 
 and his family, which included a daughter, Ellen, who became the wife 
 of Thomas Connery in Rhode Island, and there they spent their remain- 
 ing days. 
 
 On the 6th of November, 1853, William Martin Connery was mar- 
 ried in Warren, Rhode Island, to Mary, daughter of John Tobin. The 
 early years of their married life were passed in Bristol, Rhode Island, 
 where five of their children were born, while the younger members 
 of the family were natives of Chicago. There were fourteen children 
 in all: William Martin, who was born January 29, 1855, and died 
 January 25, 1911; Thomas, who was born in 1857 and died in 1858; 
 Robert, who was born in 1859 and died in 1861; John Tobin, born 
 January 10, 1861; Michael Morgan, who was born in Bristol, October 
 5, 1862, and died June 3, 1923; James P., who was born in Chicago, 
 May 5, 1865, and died June 30, 1929; Francis Daniel, born April 12, 
 1867; Ellen, born in January, 1869; Joseph F., born March 2, 1871; 
 Helena, born December 14, 1872; Henry, who was born September 22, 
 1874, and died October 31, 1927; Catherine A., born December 21, 
 1875; Vincent, born January 22, 1878; and Elizabeth, born October 
 21, 1879. 
 
 William Martin Connery, following his removal to Chicago in 1862, 
 worked for a time on the construction of a pier in the Chicago river 
 and later engaged in the work of bridge building on the Kansas City, 
 Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad. The early home of the family in Chicago 
 was on Desplaines street and Grand avenue. The father conducted a 
 grocery store at the corner of Grand avenue and Desplaines street and 
 was engaged in business there at the time of the memorable Chicago 
 fire of 1871. Shortly after the fire he established a retail coal business 
 in the same block in which his grocery store was located. In 1881, 
 however, feeling that he would like to have his children grow up in the 
 country, he bought a farm near Jewel Junction, Iowa, about fifty miles 
 north of Des Moines. In 1883 illness induced him to return to Chicago 
 for medical treatment and here he passed away August 27, 1883. In a 
 
 359
 
 360 OTilliam Q3nrtin Coiincry 
 
 short time the family, with the exception of the son Mioliael. returned to 
 make their home in Chicago and after the Iowa farm had heen traded 
 for a l)iiiUHng on West Lake street near Ashland avenue, Michael also 
 returned to this city. 
 
 Yi illiain Martin Connery. Jr.. the eldest son of William Martin and 
 Mary (Tohin) Connery. was horn in Bristol, Rhode Island, January 
 29. iSriS. He attended school in Chicago, assisted his father in husiness 
 and for some years was certified neighman for the board of trade and 
 city weighmaster in the weighing of coal. \iil!iam Martin Connery, 
 Jr.. married Emma Duggan and had one daughter, Charlotte. In 1904 
 he and his brother. John T. Connery, organized the Miami Coal Com- 
 pany, of which William Martin Connery, Jr., became treasurer. 
 
 John T. Connery, the fourth son of William Martin and Mary 
 (Tobin) Connery, was born in Bristol, Rhode Island. January 10, 
 1861, and was educated in public and private schools of Chicago and 
 in the Chicago Athenaeum. In 1876, when fifteen years of age, he 
 went to work as yard clerk for E. L. Hedstrom & Company, coal mer- 
 chants, and for more than fifty years has been identified with the coal 
 industry. From 1881 until 1884 he was cashier and bookkeeper for the 
 Silver Creek & Morris Coal Company and was its secretary from 1884 
 until 1894. From 1894 until 1904 he was manager of the Youghiogheny 
 & Lehigh Coal Company and since June 1, 1904, has been president of 
 the Miami Coal Company, which has its offices in the McCormick build- 
 ing at 332 South Michigan avenue. He has also been president of the 
 Edgewater Beach Hotel since 1919. 
 
 In January, 1922, John T. Connery was appointed by President 
 Harding a member of the president's council on unemployment. This 
 does not mean that Mr. Connery is a republican, for on the contrary he 
 has been a lifelong democrat. He is a communicant of the Catholic 
 Church, a meml)er of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Order of 
 Foresters, the Chicago Athletic Association, the Edgewater Golf Club, 
 and the Congressional Club at Washington, D. C. 
 
 On the 9th of June, 1886, John T. Connery was married to Mary 
 E., daughter of Bryan Daly, of Chicago, and their children were: Mae 
 E., deceased, who was the wife of Joseph E. Bidwell, Jr.. deceased; 
 Margaret, who has also passed away; Lillian, who is Mrs. Charles Mar- 
 tin: and John, Jr. 
 
 Michael Morgan Connery, fifth son of William Martin and Mary 
 (Tobin) Connery, was born in Bristol, October 5, 1862, was educated 
 in the schools of Chicago and was with the Silver Creek & Morris Coal 
 Company of Chicago until it was merged with the Consumers Company. 
 He then became identified with the Edgewater Coal Company, with 
 which he was associated until his death June 3, 1923. He had married
 
 COilUam ggartin Connctj) 361 
 
 Mary Murnane and their children were: William M., Mary Frances, 
 Josephine, John M., Henry, Elizabeth, Aileen, and Lucille. 
 
 James P. Connery, sixth son of William Martin and Mary (Tobin) 
 Connery, was born in Chicago, May 5, 1865, attended school here and 
 for some years was connected with the Silver Creek & Morris Coal 
 Company. In 1911, following the death of his brother, William M., he 
 became secretary of the Miami Coal Company and so continued during 
 the remainder of his life. He was at one time a business associate of 
 Will Hays, who at that time was attorney for Indiana coal interests. 
 Although he did not participate in political affairs, Mr. Connery was a 
 close friend and associate of many leaders in democratic circles in 
 Chicago and Cook county. He was chiefly known for his untiring ap- 
 plication to his business interests and for his gifts to charity. 
 
 James P. Connery married Maria T. O'Donnell in 1885 and their 
 children are: William J.; Loretta, who is Mrs. Boetius Sullivan; Helen, 
 the wife of Dr. James J. McCarty; and Gertrude, who was married to 
 Emmett J. Fallon. Following an illness of three months, James P. Con- 
 nery passed away at his home, 3400 Sheridan road, June 30, 1929. 
 The following newspaper paragraph appeared under date of August 18, 
 1929: 'A number of Chicago political leaders will attend a memorial 
 service tomorrow morning in the Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic 
 Church, Riverside, Michigan, for the late J. P. Connery, who died 
 three months ago. Mr. Conner^', who was one of the stockholders in 
 the Edgewater Beach Hotel, was a founder and trustee of the Lady of 
 the Lake parish. The Rev. Wendell Phillips Corcoran will conduct 
 the mass." 
 
 Francis Daniel Connery, seventh son of William Martin and Mary 
 (Tobin) Connery, was born in Chicago, April 12, 1867, and was edu- 
 cated in St. Stephen's parochial school, in St. Patrick's Commercial 
 Academy, both of Chicago, and in the district school in Hamilton 
 county, Iowa. He began business life as a clerk for the King & Bogle 
 Company in 1883, was cashier for the Silver Creek & Morris Coal 
 Company from 1884 until 1889, and was clerk and assistant secretary 
 of the James W. Thatcher Coal Company at Omaha, Nebraska, in 1889. 
 The following year he became dock superintendent for the Silver Creek 
 & Morris Coal Company at ^'i est Superior, Wisconsin, serving until 
 1891. From 1892 until 1907 he '(vas traveling salesman, dock superin- 
 tendent and purchasing agent for the Peabody Coal Company of Chi- 
 cago and from 1907 until 1909 was purchasing agent of the Miami Coal 
 Company. From 1901 until 1903 and again, from 1907 until 1909, he 
 was alderman from the twenty-eighth ward in Chicago and in the latter 
 year was elected city clerk, serving until 1915. During the two succeed- 
 ing years he was comptroller of the sanitary district of Chicago and in
 
 362 Cailliiim a3iirtin Conncrp 
 
 1917 resumed his conneetion with the Miami Coal Company. He is a 
 member of tlie Catholie Chureh. the Knights of Cohimhus. the Colum- 
 bian Knifihts. the Knights of The Maeeabees. the Loyal Order of Moose, 
 the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Illinois Athletic Club and the 
 Iroquois Club. 
 
 On the 26th of November, 1891, Francis D. Connery was married to 
 Ellen Gertrude Osborne, of Chicago, and they became the parents of 
 the following children: Ellen Marie, who is the wife of F. J. Muraig- 
 ban and has four children — John, Rosemary, Marjorie and Francine; 
 INIarie Jeannette, who married H. M. Bruns and has two sons, Herbert 
 and James; Francis Daniel. Jr., who married Margaret Bresnan; Vivian, 
 who is the wife of R. E. Gallery and has one son, Robert: Dorothy: and 
 John Joseph, who died at the age of nine years. 
 
 Ellen M. Connery, the eldest daughter of William M. and Mary 
 (Tobin) Connery, was born in Chicago, in Januan,-. 1869. She mar- 
 ried James J. Riordan and has five children: William M., Helen M., 
 James P., Joseph F. and Vincent. 
 
 Joseph F. Connery, eighth son of "William M. and Mary (Tobin) 
 Connery, was born in Chicago, March 2, 1871, was educated in a gram- 
 mar school and the ^'i'est Division high school. He makes his home with 
 his sisters. Helena B., Catherine A. and Elizabeth M., and his brother. 
 Vincent A., at 5228 Sheridan road. He started in the business world 
 with the Silver Creek & Morris Coal Company. Later he became book- 
 keeper for the trustees of the Graceland Cemetery Improvement Fund, 
 of which he is now secretarj. He is also manager of the George C. 
 \^'alker estate and secretary and treasurer of the Graceland Corpora- 
 tion. Like others of the family, he has taken an active and prominent 
 part in political affairs and from 1912 until 1916 was recorder of deeds 
 of Cook county. He served as secretary of the Chicago District Ice Asso- 
 ciation in 1916-17, and in June, 1924, was appointed fire commissioner 
 of Chicago by Mayor Dever. Mr. Connery is a member of the Knights 
 of Columbus, the Columbian Knights, the Illinois Athletic Club, the 
 EdgeAvater Golf Club and the Edgewater Beach Yacht Club. 
 
 Vincent A. Connery, ninth son of William Martin and Mary (Tobin) 
 Connery, was born in Chicago, Januan- 22. 1878. He pursued his 
 education in the Holy Cross, public and West Division high schools and 
 gained his initial business experience as cashier of the Youghiogheny 
 & Lehigh Coal Company. Subseciuently he served as assistant treas- 
 urer of the Pittsburg Coal Company and as treasurer of the Pitts- 
 burg Coal Company of Illinois, resigning to become genera! manager 
 of sales of the Miami Coal Company, which is his present connection. 
 No history of Chicago would be complete without extended refer- 
 ence to the Connery family, so important has been the part which its
 
 eailliam Martin Connerj? 
 
 363 
 
 members have played in the commercial, financial and political life of 
 the city. They have done much toward shaping its progress in many 
 ways, giving their aid and influence to further projects looking to the 
 material, civic and moral welfare of the city. They are prominently 
 known, not only by reason of ^vhat they have achieved, but also by rea- 
 son of those social qualities which have gained them the warm friend- 
 ship of all with whom they have come in contact, including many of 
 the leading and representative residents of the Illinois metropolis.
 
 Of THE 
 UNlVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 0)tto IJoituo 
 
 CENTRAL figure passed from the stage of earthly activ- 
 ity in the death of Otto Yoimg. He had played well the 
 role of life assigned him and his advancement had been 
 <,»<fx ■■ m continuous from the time that he started upon a mer- 
 •0 k m w cantile career in the new world at a salary of three dol- 
 lars per week, until he stood as one of the foremost 
 business men of Chicago. Success to him meant not only the attainment 
 of wealth but the opportunity for helpfulness toward his fello'.vmen. As 
 he prospered he gave generously to various philanthropies yet he spoke 
 as little of his benevolences as he did of his business affairs to those who 
 were not directly interested and connected with him in such under- 
 takings. 
 
 Mr. Young was born in Elberfeld. Germany. December 20, 1844. a 
 son of Johann C. and Marie (Von Wingeuder) Young. The father, who 
 was an architect, died when his son Otto was but nine years of age. The 
 fact that he had relatives living in New York and that favorable reports 
 reached him concerning the opportunities offered in America, influenced 
 him to come to the United States, '^^'hen he arrived here his relatives 
 decided that he needed a little more education than the country schools 
 of his native laud had offered him, so that for a year and a half he studied 
 hard at the military academy at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson. He then ac- 
 cepted a clerkship in a cigar store in the Gilsey House in New York at 
 a salary of three dollars per week. Such a condition made frugality and 
 economy a necessity and developed in him habits which constituted the 
 foundation of his business success in later years. He returned to Ger- 
 many in 1861 but the following year again came to the United States. 
 On his return he engaged in business on his o^\ti account as a dealer in 
 fancy goods and jewelry. Success attended him in this venture as it did 
 in almost ever}- undertaking of his life. His judgment was seldom if 
 ever at fault regarding the worth of a business transaction and the 
 value of an opportunity. In 1867 he went upon the road as a traveling 
 salesman for Hecht Brothers, owners of a New York house in the same 
 line of business. All through his life he eagerly availed himself of every 
 opportunity that offered for advancement and for investment. His work 
 brought him into the west and it so happened that business interests had 
 called him to Chicago just before the great fire of 1871. After the con- 
 flagration, recognizing the spirit of the city, he realized the fact that 
 
 367
 
 368 a>tto goiing 
 
 there ^volll(l be splendid chances here for the merchant and business 
 man and in 1872 he purchased an interest in the wholesale jewelry 
 house of W. B. Clapp & Company at Nos. 149 and ISl State street. 
 From that time forward until his death he was continuously connected 
 with the wholesale trade of the city. In 1879 he purchased Mr. Clapp's 
 interest in the business, which was reorganized under the name of 
 Otto Young & Company. In 1886 he made his initial step in the dry 
 goods business when he became a stockholder and managing director of 
 The Fair. It was in connection with that establishment that he won 
 much of his fortune. The business had been organized by E. J. Lehmann 
 as a small department store in 1875 on its present site on State, Adams 
 and Dearborn streets. The trade increased year by year, necessitating 
 the enlargement of its quarters from time to time until a new building 
 was erected, covering a half block between State and Dearborn along 
 Adams. The business was incorporated in 1886, Mr. Young taking over 
 a half interest. From the beginning he assumed the management of the 
 business and such was the increase in trade that in 1890 the capital stock 
 was increased to one million dollars. His original investment later 
 brou-ht to him a return of millions. Mr. Young directed the interests of 
 that great emporium for years but in 1905 sold out to the heirs of the 
 Lehmann estate, saying that his fortune was as large as he cared to have 
 it and he was willing that others should have the opportunity of winning 
 success through the conduct and control of The Fair. However, he re- 
 tained an interest in the real estate occupied by the business house. All 
 through the years he had made investments in property and at the time 
 of his death was the third largest owner of realty in the central district 
 of Chicago. He had various holdings, prominent among which is the 
 fee occupied by the Reliance building at State and Washington streets. 
 He had equally prominent leasehold interests, including the southeast 
 corner of State and Madison streets, where the Carson, Pirie, Scott & 
 Company's store new stands, and the Heyworth building. Very few peo- 
 ple knew the details of Mr. Young's business transactions. He was 
 quick to see the possibilities of every proposition and he had unswerv ing 
 faith in the commercial greatness of Chicago, but he did not discuss his 
 plans nor his business activities with those whose interest was merely 
 that of curiosity. To those who had a right to know his words were always 
 clear and decisive, expressing exactly the situation, and no one left him 
 in doubt as to his position or the correctness thereof. 
 
 In 1868, in New Orleans, Mr. Young was united in marriage to Miss 
 Ann Elizabeth Murphy, a native of Virginia. They were the parents of 
 a son and four daughters: William, who died several years prior to the 
 death of the father; Mrs. Walter L. Wickes; Mrs. Joseph De Korwin; 
 and Mrs. Samuel K. Martin, all of Chicago; and Mrs. L. G. Kaufman, of
 
 ffl)tto goting 369 
 
 Marquette, Michigan. Mr. Young had a city home on Cahimet avenue 
 and erected at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, one of the finest country homes 
 in all the United States. It is surrounded hy beautiful grounds, attractive 
 principally on account of its native beauty. Mr. Young was very fond 
 of nature and the supervision of his large farm was a great pleasure to 
 him and constituted one of the sources of recreation and interest in his 
 later years. 
 
 Mr. Young always manifested a public-spirited devotion to Chicago 
 and her welfare. Perhaps the event of his life that pleased him more 
 than anything else was the raising of the five-million-dollar guarantee 
 fund that won the World's Fair for the city against the rival bidding of 
 New York. He was credited %vith securing the exposition for Chicago and 
 it was ever a matter of personal satisfaction that he accomplished this. 
 He was secretary-treasurer of the World's Fair Association and to the 
 close of the exposition he took a deep personal interest in the enterprise. 
 He was also a liberal patron of charity, being actively interested in sev- 
 eral philanthropies. Those activities which became known to the world 
 were the erection of a wing to the Chicago Home for Incurables, at 
 Fifty-sixth street and Ellis avenue, a building for the Chicago Orphan 
 Asylum and the donation of an immensely valuable south side property 
 for a home for the aged. The wing for the Home for Incurables was 
 erected in memory of his son William and was planned largely for tu- 
 bercular patients. He bore the expense of that branch of the institution, 
 costing him annually a large sum, and every Christmas he gave to each 
 one of the patients a five-dollar gold piece. His private charities, too, 
 were extensive and yet he never discussed these. He was entirely free 
 from ostentation or display in such matters and he ahnost literally fol- 
 lowed the injunction "not to let the left hand know what the right hand 
 was doing." He belonged to the Union League, the Calumet and the 
 South Shore Country Clubs. He was unassuming in manner, cared little 
 for society and was noted for his dislike of shams. He greatly valued 
 life's experiences, its contacts and its opportunities, for his own career 
 had taught him how to judge of each. He was in the sixty-second year 
 of his age at the time of his death, on the 30th of November, 1906. The 
 unexpected ending of his career shocked the business and financial Avorld 
 of Chicago. Tributes to his memory and business ability were paid him 
 by many leading citizens. All who knew him entertained the highest 
 respect for him because of his genuine worth. He was like a young sturdy 
 tree of the forest that reaches ever upward to the light, expanding and 
 growing as it towers and grows above its fellows. Strong personality, in- 
 dividuality and laudable ambition were his possessions. His start in the 
 new world was that of a humble youth, but the recognition and utiliza- 
 tion of each opportunity that came to him brought him to a commanding
 
 370 
 
 SDtto goung 
 
 position where success ami lionors were multiplied unto him and he 
 stood with those whom the worhl instinctively respects because of their 
 attainments and the manner of their accomplishment. At death he left 
 large sums to Chicago charitable organizations, the largest being four 
 hundred thousand dollars to the Chicago Home for Incurables, an insti- 
 tution in which Mr. Young took great interest.
 
 Pilliam |. (!:alIjoun, |1. 1. %. 
 
 ICHLY endowed with all those qualities which make for 
 honor, success and distinction, Dr. William F. Calhoun 
 left an indelible impress upon the history of Illinois. 
 A veteran of the Civil war, an able member of the 
 dental profession, an editorial writer and financier, effi- 
 cient in every field into which he entered, he perhaps 
 reached the climax in his career in his service as speaker of the house 
 of representatives. No one has ever occupied that position in a more 
 creditable manner or discharged the duties thereof with greater justness 
 and fairness, and under his leadership much constructive legislation was 
 enacted. 
 
 Dr. Calhoun was born November 21, 1844, in Perry county, Penn- 
 sylvania, being one of the five children of John and Catharine Calhoun. 
 He had two brothers and two sisters: Winfield Scott, Jennie, John Dill 
 and Ellen. Speaking of his early youth, Dr. Calhoun once said: "Had 
 our present income tax law prevailed then and had the net income of my 
 parents been computed for the entire fifteen-year period of their married 
 life, they would not have been assessed a penny. But they had an 
 inheritance which was superior to all earthly goods — one which they 
 carried out of the world into the everlasting kingdom above, namely, love 
 for God and their fellowmen." The children of the household attended 
 school for about four months in the winter, using the New Testament as 
 a reader. There was no church nearer than five miles, but on Sunday 
 mornings the mother would lead her flock to a near-by hill, where they 
 would stand about her and listen reverently to the sound of that far-off 
 church bell. The father was a carpenter and contractor, devoting his 
 time to the building of Great Pennsylvania bank barns and dwellings in 
 the summer and to making bedsteads, chests and other articles of furni- 
 ture in the winter months. 
 
 The atmosphere in which Dr. Calhoun was reared was one of in- 
 dustry and of Christian belief and his early training was always manifest 
 in his high qualities throughout his entire life. About 1857 the Evan- 
 gelical Lutherans built a church within a mile of the family home and 
 the parents joined that society and the children were baptized in that 
 faith. 
 
 Never was Dr. Calhoun afraid of hard work and it is told of him that 
 when nearing his tenth birthday he happened into a farmer's barn when 
 
 371
 
 372 CCIillinm f. Cnllioiin, C>.0.^. 
 
 he was makiiif; ready to thresh his wheat. One man was required to 
 oi)eii the hands that hound the sheaf and hoist it to a hi<:h tahle from 
 whieh it was fed into the niaehine. ^'i hen all was ready they discovered 
 that they had no man to open and hoist the sheaves. At length W. F. 
 Calhoun ventured: "I can do that for you." The men smiled at the 
 idea hut finally decided to let the hoy try. 'Without pausing: he fed that 
 machine for three days and was paid the munificent sum of three silver 
 quarters, which was the first money he ever received for any lahor. The 
 following spring he hegan working on farms for his hoard and clothing 
 and after three summers thus spent he began to receive wages, spending 
 six years in that way save for one summer when he attended a select 
 school. He was only thirteen years of age when his father died June 5, 
 18S8. As soon as possible after the funeral the mother gathered her 
 children around her. talked the situation over in a business way and they 
 resolved that the family should keep together. Dr. Calhoun at once 
 resumed his farm work, which he followed until he sustained an injury 
 in his right hip when seventeen years of age. It was a little later that 
 he passed the required examination and secured a teacher's certificate, 
 after which he was employed to teach the Manassas Gap school, to which 
 he walked daily from his home — a distance of five miles. Later he 
 taught a private subscription school, but after two months there he re- 
 sponded to the call for troops for service in the Civil war. General 
 McClellan had met defeat in the Peninsular campaign near Richmond, 
 Virginia, and more men were needed. Dr. Calhoun was assigned to 
 Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer 
 Infantry, and the regiment moved to Newport, where he for the first time 
 saw a railroad train. The regiment traveled by train to Harrisburg for 
 equipment and in less than thirty days after enlisting Dr. Calhoun 
 j)articipated in the second battle of Bull Run, two weeks later in the 
 battle of Autietam and subsequently in Fredericksburg and Chancellors- 
 ville. On the expiration of his first term of enlistment he was mustered 
 out but immediately reenlisted in Company K, Twentieth Pennsylvania 
 Volunteer Cavalry, the regiment being sent to the Shenandoah valley and 
 later attached to General Sheridan's command. He went through all of 
 the hardships and privations of war with that army and following the 
 surrender of the Confederate forces at Appomattox on the 9th of April, 
 1865, he returned to the north, was mustered out and reached home in 
 June — then in his twentieth year. 
 
 In October. 1865. Dr. Calhoun came to Illinois, settling near Ottawa, 
 where an uncle of his was living. A little later he was joined by his 
 mother and her family. Teaching school in the winter seasons to provide 
 for his support, he took up the study of dentistry and in 1867 began prac- 
 tice in Seneca. While there residing he met and married Miss Blanche
 
 CanUam jr. CaIt)oun, D.D,^. 373 
 
 Derthick, the Avedding being celebrated in 1869, when they located tem- 
 porarily in Champaign. In 1870 they removed to Farmer City and 
 Dr. Calhoun, who through the influence of his wife had joined the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, there became superintendent of the Sunday 
 school. He practiced in Farmer City until 1879, when he opened an 
 office in Clinton, and there again he was chosen Sunday school superin- 
 tendent, in which capacity he served for twenty years or until his removal 
 to Decatur. He continued active in the practice of his profession for 
 about twenty-two years but on establishing his home in Decatur in 1889 
 turned his attention to newspaper publication. He was also postmaster 
 of the city for sixteen years, from 1896 until 1912, and in addition to 
 the duties of the office he continued as editorial writer for the papers 
 with which he was identified. When he entered the journalistic field 
 Decatur had four papers. He began the publication of the Despatch, 
 which he consolidated after a few months with the Herald and then 
 transferred his interests to the Republican, of which he became editor. 
 There were still, however, too many papers for any one of them to be 
 successful and in 1899 the Herald and Review bought out the Republican 
 and discontinued it, while Dr. Calhoun became a stockholder in the 
 Herald-Despatch. Later the Herald and Review purchased the News, 
 formerly the Bulletin, and discontinued that publication. The Review 
 then became an evening paper and the Herald-Despatch a morning 
 journal. Later the paper became known as the Herald, with Dr. Calhoun 
 as editor, and he continued writing for the paper during his incumbency 
 as postmaster. In 1920, then well advanced in years, he retired from 
 the newspaper field. A local publication said of him: "He wielded a 
 forceful pen. His phraseology was colored largely by the King James 
 version of the Scriptures, of which he never ceased to be a student. Con- 
 vinced of the righteousness of the cause for which he fought, his articles 
 always had a moral ring." 
 
 It was natural that Dr. Calhoun should have become a leader in the 
 republican organization and it is said that at one time he and the late 
 Sherry Tuttle were able to dictate nominations in the county. He was a 
 stanch advocate of McKinley, with whom his acquaintance dated back to 
 Civil war days, and the friendship continued until death separated them. 
 It was while practicing dentistry in Clinton that he was elected to the 
 thirty-third general assembly and entered upon a political career which 
 was one of eminent honor and distinction. In the thirty-fourth assembly 
 he was one of the managers that brought about the election of General 
 John A. Logan to the United States senate. In his first term he promoted 
 an appropriation for a monument in Chicago to the gallant Colonel James 
 A. IMuiligau of the Thirty-third Illinois Infantry. In the thirty-fifth 
 assembly he was elected speaker of the house and proved an excellent
 
 374 caillinm J^. Calftoun, D.t?-^. 
 
 parliamentarian. The Chicago Journal said of him at this time: "Speaker 
 Calhoun is in ever>' respect a gentleman. He is a sincere Christian. His 
 character is unquestioned for morality, integrity, cleanliness of speech 
 and other desirable virtues. He has nothing of the dogmatic and harsh 
 qualities sometimes thought desirable in a presiding officer, hut he 
 possesses a dignity of manner and cool presence that draw the line over 
 which audacity dare not step." The Inter-Ocean said editorially: "The 
 new speaker is a man of middle life, gentlemanly hearing, almost clerical 
 cut in dress and manner, and dignified and cheerful in his intercourse 
 with men. He is by profession a dentist, holding diplomas from colleges 
 of dental surgery and practicing when not in politics at his home in Clin- 
 ton. Illinois. He is a practical Christian of Methodist antecedents and 
 his reputation for integrity and honorable dealing is such as to bespeak 
 for his administration all that fairness and preciseness which marks the 
 character of the man in his everyday life." After his retirement from 
 office the press generally said that he made one of the best speakers the 
 general assembly has ever known. D. W. Lusk, in his "History of 
 Politics and Politicians of Illinois," says: "There was a sharp contest 
 for speaker in the republican caucus between Messrs. Calhoun. Fuller, 
 Littler and Messick. Each had strong friends and admirers, but the 
 struggle resulted in the selection of Mr. Calhoun for speaker and Mr. 
 Messick for temporar>- speaker. Mr. Calhoun filled the difficult and 
 trying position with an impartiality and ability that won for him the 
 universal respect of either political party. Not infrequently was he 
 called upon to decide intricate points betAveen contending parties, but in 
 no instance did he fail to be equal to the emergency. Mr. Calhoun's 
 rulings may not always have met the approval of the members, yet they 
 were accepted as right, because they believed him incorruptible; he was 
 never suspected of exercising improper methods, either in opposing or 
 favoring measures, but held everyone alike to a strict observance of the 
 rules. . . . Taking the character of the laws enacted by the thirty- 
 fifth general assembly as our guide, it is fair to say that it was one of the 
 most useful of all the assemblies that have ever met in the state under 
 either of the three constitutions. There may have been, at diffrent times, 
 a few men more distinguished in legislative councils, but there was never 
 an assembly of lawmakers that came so near doing the will of the people 
 as did this. There was little of what is known as corrupt legisla- 
 tion, and, therefore, there were no grave charges of scandal in either 
 house or in either party." Dr. Calhoun never ceased to feel the deepest 
 interest in vital political problems and remained an active worker in the 
 party until after the campaign of 1912. He was a %varm admirer of 
 Richard Oglesby and John A. Logan, both of whom he knew personally, 
 and a warm friendship existed between Logan and the Doctor.
 
 milliam S". Calfaoun, D.D.^. 375 
 
 A great sorrow came to him in the death of his wife in August, 
 1918. They had traveled life's journey together for almost a half 
 century and had carefully reared their family of five children, who are 
 now: Mrs. Elmer K. Towle of Rushville, Illinois; Mrs. Frank S. Dodd 
 of Richmond, Indiana: Mrs. Catherine Bell of Chicago; Dr. J. C. Cal- 
 houn of Decatur; and Richard B. Calhoun of Indianapolis. The family 
 circle was again broken by the hand of death when Dr. Calhoun passed 
 a^^ay June 10, 1929. In his later years, following his retirement from 
 business, he had concentrated his attention upon reading, study and 
 Grand Army affairs. He had repeatedly been elected commander of 
 Dunham Post and in 1916, when the annual G. A. R. encampment was 
 to be held in Decatur. Dr. Calhoun's friends in this and adjoining 
 counties were determined that in the birthplace of the order the Doctor 
 should be elected commander. He won a majority over his opponent 
 of t^vo hundred and four votes and thus became head of the organ- 
 ization in Illinois. In the year of his inciunbency a beautiful com- 
 mander's badge set with seven diamonds was presented to him in Bloom- 
 ington. He always felt the keenest interest in the welfare of his com- 
 rades of Civil war days and he entertained the highest admiration for 
 Generals Grant, Sheridan and other distinguished leaders. Throughout 
 his life he gave much time to the study of the Bible and his was a prac- 
 tical Christianity that reached out in kindly ministration and assistance 
 to his felloAVTuen from his early manhood to the time of his demise. If 
 one ever questioned the strength of Christian teaching in these later 
 years. Dr. Calhoun would reply that religion was practiced more today 
 and expounded less than it was years ago, that Sunday schools were 
 better now and that there were other sources of religious teaching be- 
 sides the Bible. To the end of his days he kept in touch with the trend 
 of modern thought and progress and his influence was ever on the side 
 of right, reform and improvement. His life was one of kindly ser\ice 
 to his fello\\Tnen and of beautiful and loftj- devotion to high ideals.
 
 or THE 
 
 cNlVCRSi"; / Of ILLINOIS
 
 Henry L. Stern
 
 gcuri) geuij Stern 
 
 E?vRY LEVY STERN, for thirty years a prominent mem- 
 ber of the bar of Illinois, was born in St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri, July 7, 1875, a son of Levy and Babette Stern. 
 The father was interested in the cattle business in the 
 south and southwest for many years. Henry L. Stern 
 was educated in the schools of St. Louis and in 1895 re- 
 ceived the degree of A. B. from Washington University. He then ma- 
 triculated at Chicago University, graduating in 1896. Of him Professor 
 Freund said that he had one of the finest legal minds and was his most 
 brilliant student. Mr. Stern continued his professional training in the 
 Columbia Law School and following his graduation therefrom in 1898 
 came at once to Chicago, being admitted to the Illinois bar in the same 
 year. After a short time spent in the office of Sigmund Zeisler he became 
 a member of the law firm of Gardner & Stern, his partner being Henry 
 A. Gardner. Subsequent changes in the personnel of the firm led to the 
 adoption of the name of Gardner, Stern & Anderson and then Gardner, 
 Stern, Anderson & Davis. In 1914 Mr. Stern became a member of the 
 law firm of Newman, Poppenhusen, Stern & Johnston. He confined his 
 practice to civil cases and corporation law and gained an enviable repu- 
 tation in this connection. Aside from his professional activity he was a 
 stockholder in Hillman's department store, the Tebbetts & Garland store 
 and the department store of Becker, Ryan & Company. Moreover, he 
 was a director of the Bank of America and the Greenebaum Sons Invest- 
 ment Company and a member of the Chicago Stock Exchange. 
 
 In state and national politics Mr. Stern was a republican, considering 
 the principles of the party most conducive to good government. For 
 many years he was a member of the board of trustees and the recording 
 .secretary of Sinai Congregation. A devotee of golf, he was frequently 
 found on the links of the Lake Shore Country Club and the Ravisloe 
 Country Club, while he was also a member of the Standard Club. 
 
 On the 20th of June, 1901, Mr. Stern was married in Chicago to 
 Cora, daughter of Max and Fanny (Berg) Weinberg and granddaughter 
 of David Berg, founder of the stockyards packing house of David Berg 
 & Company. Mr. and Mrs. Stern became the parents of a daughter and a 
 son, namely: Elizabeth Babette, the wife of Allan M. Loeb, of Chicago; 
 and Gardner Henry, a graduate of Yale University, who is connected 
 with the Stop & Shop grocery store. He married Hanchen, daughter 
 
 379
 
 380 brnrt) Lcup ^tcrn 
 
 of Joseph and Augusta Strauss of Chicago, and has one son, Gardner 
 H., Jr. 
 
 While traveling in California in Fehruarj. 1928. Mr. Stern, who had 
 always enjoyed excellent health, was taken suddenly ill from an infection 
 and died in Pasadena on the twenty-second day of the same month. Ser- 
 vices were held Monday, Fehruarj- 27, at Sinai Temple, and he was laid 
 to rest at Rosehill. Among his salient attrihutes were his strong sense 
 of justice and high conception of duty and honor. He was a hard and 
 untiring worker and when he played he played just as hard as he 
 worked. Early in his professional career he gained financial success. 
 To so live throughout the years of life that when one is gone a pleasant 
 memory is left in the minds of associates and friends, is to achieve the 
 greatest success that the world gives. That Mr. Stern won this in marked 
 degree is evidenced by the resolutions passed by the boards of directors 
 of the Bank of America and the Greenebaum Sons Investment Company 
 and by the board of trustees of the Chicago Sinai Congregation. 
 
 '"Mrs. Henry L. Stearn: At a joint meeting of the boards of directors 
 of the Bank of America, of Chicago, and Greenebaum Sons Investment 
 Company, held on March 12, 1928, the passing away of Henry L. Stern, 
 a member of said boards, was considered with deepest sorrow and re- 
 gret. Mr. Stern's unusually keen intellect, his quick grasp of affairs, his 
 earnest and unselfish labor in the interest of said institutions, his high 
 ideals of honesty and fairness, and withal his kindly and compassionate 
 attitude towards his coworkers, endeared him to his fellow directors, who 
 regarded his death as a great loss to themselves and both companies. 
 
 "The directors at said meeting requested me to express to you their 
 grateful appreciation of the privilege of having known Mr. Stern inti- 
 mately and for his priceless service to said companies, and to assure 
 you and the members of your family of their sincere sympathy in your 
 bereavement. 
 
 Moses E. Greenebaum, 
 
 chairman of the board of directors of 
 the Bank of America and president of 
 Greenebaum Sons Investment Com- 
 pany." 
 At a regular meeting of the board of trustees of the Chicago Sinai 
 Congregation, held March 3, 1928, the following resolutions were unani- 
 mously adopted: "It is with a sense of deep personal loss and sorrow 
 that the board of trustees of the Chicago Sinai Congregation learns of 
 the death of a fellow trustee, Henry L. Stern. The passing of Henry L. 
 Stern is a loss not only to his many friends and to his community, but to 
 his congregation, to which he was so whole-heartedly attached and which 
 he faithfully served with untiring devotion as recording secretary and
 
 I!)enrp Lctip ^tern 
 
 381 
 
 trustee through many eventful years. In sparing himself no effort in 
 the furtherance of the cause of Sinai, he gained the highest esteem of 
 his fellow trustees. In every relationship of life in which he found him- 
 self he gave unstinted, loyal and highly intelligent service. In his chosen 
 life work as a la^vyer, his professional attainments were such as to be 
 recognized as worthy of emulation. He had a high sense of civic duty and 
 it was his pride and joy to aid in all that made for a finer and better 
 community. His was a keen understanding of problems and purposes as 
 they had a bearing on life. The dynamic qualities of his temperament 
 were marked elements in his character, making him a forceful influence 
 in the lives of others. His frankness of speech and hatred of sham and 
 hypocrisy marked him as a man of honor and without guile. They who 
 knew Henry L. Stern were glad to call him friend. He merited and re- 
 ceived the outspoken, affectionate regard of all who came in contact with 
 him. As a husband and father he lived an exemplary life, offering to 
 his children a worthy ideal. Sinai Congregation will ever cherish the 
 memory of Henry L. Stern. As a memorial of pride in a noble life well 
 lived and in the deep and abiding sense of the irreparable loss of his 
 passing, these resolutions will be inscribed upon the records of the con- 
 gregation. To the nearest and dearest of Henrj' L. Stern, the board of 
 trustees extends in the fellowship of grief their heartfelt sympathy. 
 
 Moses E. Greenebaum, President 
 Walter S. Baer, Secretary."
 
 fameron £. Pilleii 
 
 HE RECORD of Cameron L. Willey is the record of a 
 strong individuality, sure of itself, sta'ule in purpose, 
 quick in perception, swift in decision, energetic and per- 
 sistent in action, and tlius he came to be an outstanding 
 figure in connection with the hardwood lumber and ven- 
 eer business of the world. His association with Chicago 
 covered a period of twenty-six years. His youth and early manhood were 
 passed in the east, his birth having occurred in Dansville, Livingston 
 county. New York, in 1855. He came of a family long associated with the 
 lumber industry. His father was for many years a leading figure in lum- 
 ber operations in Ncav York and Pennsylvania, and when Cameron L. 
 Willey had completed his studies in the public schools and in the Russell 
 Institute at Leroy, Ncav York, he entered his father's employ in 1871, then 
 a youth of sixteen years, working in a sawmill at barren, Pennsylvania. 
 He thoroughly mastered every phase of the business ha^^ng to do with 
 the purchase of the raw material and the manufacture and sale of the 
 finished product, and in 1877 he engaged in the lumber business on his 
 own account at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Gradually he developed and 
 expanded his interests, establishing an unassailable name for integrity 
 and honor in trade circles as well as a patronage which contributed to 
 a constantly growing success. He studied the trade thoroughly, and be- 
 lieving that a profitable field might be found in concentration upon the 
 veneer business, he made plans to thus specialize with Chicago as the 
 center of his activities. This was in 1890 and he opened a plant at 
 Thirty-fifth and Iron streets. The new concern grew in popular favor 
 and its business steadily developed until it was unequaled in volume else- 
 where in the country. For a time Mr. Willey handled veneers that were 
 manufactured for him under contract at the Astoria sawTiiills in Long 
 Island City, New York, but several years later he decided to enter the 
 manufacturing end of the business himself and not only maintained in 
 Chicago the largest veneer plant in the United States but also at Mem- 
 phis, Tennessee, owned and operated one of the finest hardwood mills 
 of the south for many years, disposing of the latter, however, some time 
 prior to his death. He specialized in mahogany, although manufacturing 
 various other veneers, and it is said that no one else possessed his expert 
 ability in judging the real value of a mahogany log. It was Mr. Willey 
 who donated the mahogany for the Marquette Cross. His reputation as 
 a veneer manufacturer w as w orldwide and all men in the lumber industry
 
 384 Camrron L. dCliUcv 
 
 had tlie utmost confidence in his judgment and opinions. Year by year 
 his operations increased in volume and importance until his prosperity 
 rated him with the capitalists of Chicago. 
 
 While a resident of the east Mr. ^'illey married Rose Leonard. Their 
 son, Charles Berdine, became his father's associate in business. Mr. 
 Willey ever found bis greatest happiness at his own fireside and his 
 keenest joy in promoting the welfare and comfort of bis wife and son, 
 vet be was a man of social nature and an eagerly welcomed member of 
 various leading clubs of Chicago, including the Union League, the Chi- 
 cago Athletic Association, the Lumbermen's Exchange, the South Shore 
 Countrv- Club, the Chicago Yacht Club, the Real Estate Board Club and 
 the Chicago Automobile Club. That he was a stockholder in both the 
 National League and the American Clubs of Chicago was indicative of 
 his fondness for the national game of baseball, and he was equally enthu- 
 siastic in support of golf. He beld membership in the Royal Automobile 
 Clubs of London, Paris and Berlin, and although touring continental 
 Europe in bis Renault at the outbreak of the European war in 1914, he 
 bad no trouble in returning to London, although many other American 
 travelers were being detained and their cars commandeered. Mr. Willey's 
 machine was taken by the French while he was making the trip from 
 Baden to Switzerland but was returned to him in Chicago in good repair. 
 He was a supporter of many outstanding civic projects in his adopted 
 city and of him it has been said: "The character of Cameron L. Willey 
 was the positive expression of a strong, loyal and steadfast nature, and 
 in following the course of his sane, distinct and productive life there is 
 no need for indirection or puzzling, for interpretation follows fact in a 
 straight line of derivation. He was buoyant, genial and kindly; he won 
 the stanchest of friends among all sorts and conditions of men, and was 
 entirely free from bigotry and intolerance, — a true and loyal American 
 citizen and veritable captain of industry. He played an unassuming but 
 large and benignant part in Chicago industrialism and commanded the 
 confidence and high esteem of all who came within the sphere of his 
 immediate influence. He was the American par excellence, but yet was 
 definitely cosmopolitan, as he had traveled extensively both in his own 
 country and abroad, ever combining business with pleasure and getting 
 the best out of both." Death called Mr. Willey November 28, 1916. He 
 left his impress for good upon every field of activity in which he bad 
 operated and Chicago mourned the loss of one of her most honored and 
 representative citizens.
 
 ail)arlc0 3txh\nc Pillei) 
 
 i)EW MEN v.-hose life span covers but thirty-seven years 
 leave so deep an impress upon the community in Avhich 
 they reside or upon the lives of those with whom they 
 are associated as did Charles Berdine Willey. It is true 
 that in his commercial career he had the advantage of 
 entering upon a business already established, but a man 
 of less capability and less resolute spirit would have failed in carrying 
 the enterprise forward to further and enlarged successes. Business, how- 
 ever, was but one phase of his character. He was particularly gifted in 
 making warm friendships and back of this was his innate recognition of 
 the good qualities in others. Few men are loved as was Charles B. 
 Willey among his associates. Almost his entire life was passed in Chi- 
 cago, his birth, however, having occurred at the family home of his 
 parents, Cameron L. and Rose (Leonard) Willey, on the 11th of June, 
 1883, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a lad of but seven years 
 when in 1890 his parents removed to Chicago and here his preliminary 
 education was acquired as a public school pupil. Later he entered Shat- 
 tuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota, and completed his course 
 by graduation with the class of 1901. His father had long been promi- 
 nent in lumber circles and was engaged in the manufacture of hardwood 
 veneer, specializing in mahogany. He advised his son to go abroad on 
 leaving school in order to acquaint himself with every phase of the 
 mahogany industry, and following this advice the young man spent about 
 two years in the important markets of Liverpool and of Hamburg, gaining 
 comprehensive and valuable knowledge concerning the purchase of the 
 raw material to be converted into the finished product in his father's 
 mammoth veneer plant in the United States. With his return to his 
 native country he assumed charge of his father's business at Memphis, 
 Tennessee, directing the affairs of the domestic hardwood plant there for 
 a period of about five years. In 1912 his father appointed him to the 
 superintendency of the manufacturing interests in Chicago and at his 
 father's death in 1916 he became the head of the business, which he 
 wisely and successfully directed until his own demise. 
 
 On the 24th of January, 1912, was celebrated the marriage of Charles 
 B. Willey and Miss Lula Emily Herman, of Antioch, Illinois. One who 
 knew them well said their home life was ideal, the devotion of husband 
 and wife amounting almost to worship. They had no children of their 
 
 385
 
 386 
 
 Charles 13crDinc UiiUcv 
 
 own but, with groat fondness for children, cherished as an own daughter 
 a child of Mrs. Willey's sister who spent much time in their home. 
 
 Charles B. Willey was widely known in Masonic circles, holding mem- 
 bership in Sequoit Lodge. A. F. & A. M.; in Oriental Consistory, S. P. 
 R. S.; and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Slirine. He was also widely 
 known in the club circles of Chicago, having membership in the South 
 Shore Country Club, the Illinois Athletic and the Chicago Athletic Asso- 
 ciations, the Union League Club and the Chicago Automobile Club. 
 Therein were cemented many of the friendships which were an outstand- 
 ing feature of his life. He found great pleasure in out-of-door sports, 
 hunting big game, in fishing, in motoring and in golf. He died while on 
 a hunting trip November 27, 1920. The years had ever dealt kindly with 
 him and he merited all that came to him, for his life measured up to 
 high standards and at all times showed an appreciation for the opportuni- 
 ties which were his, the opportunities in business, in citizenship and in 
 those social relations whereby the world was made happier because he 
 had lived.
 
 Of THE 
 L'NIVERSn/ OF ILIINO'S
 
 r> 
 
 TruuisJjil.cf\j u o^l.fyn.^iiCjLX
 
 JrcDerick Brcnbcl, III. i. 
 
 j)OR NINETY-TWO years, six months and twenty days. Dr. 
 Frederick Brendel traveled life's journey. He was a phy- 
 sician, meteorologist, naturalist, poet and nature lover 
 and his contribution to the intellectual and cultural life 
 of Peoria was profound. There are today various valu- 
 able institutions and organizations which owe their ex- 
 istence to his high ideals and practical service to mankind. One who 
 knew him well said: "Among all the gifted and ardent philosophers and 
 scientists who wrought their own personalities and thoughts and efforts 
 into the early history of Peoria and in so doing so solidly advanced her 
 interests and ours, no one figure stands out with more clean-cut distinct- 
 ness than that of Dr. Frederick Brendel. . . . He left a deep impress 
 upon the life of his time, and when at last he left a world whose mysteries 
 had always been to him a subject of profound, enlightened and passionate 
 interest, he bequeathed to posterity a meteorological record extending 
 over more than half a century the value of which can hardly be overesti- 
 mated." 
 
 Dr. Brendel was born in Erlangen, Bavaria, January 20, 1820, and 
 possessed that kindly nature which has so characterized the Bavarian 
 in distinction to the Prussian spirit. His family figured prominently in 
 the life of the university city and he was accorded most liberal educa- 
 tional opportunities, enjoying university training and gaining that 
 broader knowledge outside of books which comes from contact with the 
 world and that interest in all the great problems which affect the welfare 
 of mankind. In early life he was prominent in the revolutionary move- 
 ment which sought to establish a republican form of government in Ger- 
 many and it was his activity in this connection that caused him to flee 
 his native country and with many others prominent in that movement 
 for larger liberties for mankind, seek a home in the new world. 
 
 Crossing the Atlantic. Dr. Brendel visited Eberhard Faber a short 
 time and made his way to St. Louis, Missouri, but a little later came to 
 Peoria, where he arrived in 1852, in company with Carl Feinse, an at- 
 torney, and both became leaders in the German life of this city. Having 
 qualified for the practice of medicine. Dr. Brendel took up the active 
 work of the profession in association with Dr. R. Roskoten with ofiBces 
 on Water street. Peoria was at that time a little river town and the acqui- 
 sition of a citizen of Dr. Brendel's intellectual caliber was of much sig- 
 nificance to the community. He practiced successfully for many years. 
 
 389
 
 390 JFrcDrrich '!3rcnDcl, C^.D. 
 
 He had proved a brilliant as well as a hard working student and had been 
 graduated with high honors from the medical department of Erlangen 
 University when twenty-three years of age. He immediately joined the 
 Erlangen Rurschensohaft and was rapidly winning fame in his native 
 country when he fled to America and for a year he practiced as a surgeon 
 in St. Louis, so that his success in Peoria was built upon thorough knowl- 
 edge and considerable experience. He ever remained a close and earnest 
 student of his profession and conscientiously adhered to its ethical stan- 
 dards. He was also regarded as a diagnostician of extraordinary skill and 
 if he had given his undivided attention to his profession probably would 
 have gained wealth in that field, but he regarded many other things as 
 more important than wealth. All science made appeal to him, and par- 
 ticularly those branches which have to do with plant and animal life. He 
 became one of the most widely known naturalists of the west through his 
 wide research and incessant obser\'ation. He wrote many brochures on 
 natural history and a number of his articles upon subjects of that kind 
 appeared in the leading magazines of the country and have formed the 
 basis for various standard text-books on botany and entomology. He also 
 exchanged specimens all over the world. He studied astronomy and his 
 researches in meteorology, with subsequent publications on that subject, 
 won him the appointment of official meteorological observer and recorder 
 for the Smithsonian Institution in this region. The public library of Pe- 
 oria today has his local weather record covering a period of nearly half a 
 century, in which is minutely recorded the temperature, weather and 
 meteorological phenomena every day in that period. He received no com- 
 pensation for his work of that character — it was purely a labor of love 
 and was never neglected, no matter what might be the pressure of his 
 interests and duties in other directions. 
 
 Dr. Brendel also kept a record of all the different disease epidemics 
 which visited Peoria and this section of the state and he was a regular 
 contributor to medical and scientific journals. His love for plant life also 
 was one of the dominant interests of his active career. With the earliest 
 warm days of spring he would make his way into the woods to welcome 
 the wild flowers and it was he who discovered the yellow water lily on 
 Peoria Lake, recognizing it as the sacred lotus flower of Egypt. It was 
 also Dr. Brendel who first found the penstemon flower and later became 
 the organizer of the Penstemon Club, which became one of the large and 
 prominent organizations of Peoria. He was one of the founders of the 
 Peoria Scientific Society and for many years served as its curator. He 
 established the Peoria German Library and was one of the promoters and 
 chief supporters of the old German school which has long since passed 
 out of existence. His published works include "Flora Peoriana" and
 
 JFrcDcrick IgrcnOcl, 09. D , 391 
 
 "An Historical Sketch of the Science of Botany in North America from 
 1635 to 1858." Copies of both of these are now in the Peoria Library. 
 
 In 1861 Dr. Brendel entered upon a very happy married life, wedding 
 Miss Elizabeth Mueller, a daughter of Frederick George and Katherine 
 Mueller, and they became the parents of a large family. Those still living 
 are: Mrs. E. G. Wagishauser; Mrs. H. R. Herschel; Mrs. E. B. Wykle; 
 Mrs. Richard Wieting; Mrs. Edwin Best; Mrs. Clara L. Miles, of Glen- 
 dale, California; and Frederick Brendel, of East St. Louis. 
 
 Ninety-two years, six months and twenty days had been added to the 
 cycle of the centuries during the lifetime of Dr. Brendel and then he 
 passed on to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler 
 returns. The press bore high tribute to his life and work, one writer say- 
 ing: "The gentle, kindly savant lived to a great old age. I remember him 
 in his last years — a mild, bearded, spectacled old man with the absent look 
 of those whose minds are too full of real things to bother with the petty 
 details of life. ... I like to think of Dr. Brendel as I like to remem- 
 ber many others who lived among us in the pleasant days of simple, old- 
 fashioned things — and to take comfort from the thought that those who 
 set us so fine and inspiring an example as to what was best worth while 
 in life did not live in vain." Beautiful is the memory of Dr. Brendel, 
 scholar by training, scientist and poet by nature, making his trips into 
 the woods for sheer love of the beauties which he there found and giving 
 his sersices at all times for the benefit of mankind that life might be 
 richer, fuller and deeper in all those possessions which are lasting and 
 therefore worth while.
 
 LIBRAKV 
 
 3r THE 
 
 CNIVERSIl / OF ILLINOIS
 
 .^■^. 6^'v>«4y^«x-»-*t->«>«--^::^
 
 |. ilobert ^gerecljel 
 
 , HERE are countless thousands who are content to plod 
 along with no vision as to the future, no recognition of 
 opportunity and therefore no notable progress. But 
 now and again there are men who become outstanding 
 W ^4 "^"^ in their respective communities because they dream 
 dreams and have that practical ability which enables 
 them to make their dreams a reality. Such a man was H. Robert 
 Herschel, who for years was president of the R. Herschel Manufacturing 
 Company of Peoria. He was born near Dresden, Germany, October 16, 
 1359, a son of Robert and Emilie Herschel. His boyhood and youth 
 were spent in his native land and in 1880, when twenty-one years of age, 
 he came to the United States, making his way to Chicago, where he 
 worked for a time as a file cutter, a trade which he had learned in 
 Germany. 
 
 A little later Mr. Herschel came to Peoria, where he obtained employ- 
 ment in a small shop owned by Louis Steier, who was an expert in the 
 manufacture of sections for mower and reaper knives and who obtained 
 his patronage from the farmers of Peoria and adjoining counties. As 
 the business began to grow it attracted the attenion of the Whitman & 
 Barnes Manufacturing Company, at that time leaders in the production 
 of cutting parts. This company purchased the Steier business, which was 
 removed to Akron, Ohio, and thus Mr. Herschel was out of employment. 
 In the meantime he had saved about two hundred dollars from his meager 
 earnings and resolved to engage in business for himself in the manufac- 
 ture of sections and knives. His original '"factory" was in the basement 
 of the building occupied by the Kinsey & Mahler Company and he initi- 
 ated the new enterprise under the name of the Peoria Saw & Sickle 
 Works in 1886 at which time Mr. Paul E. Herschel, Sr. became a partner 
 and which in 1887 was changed to the name of R. Herschel & Co., but in 
 1893 adopted the name of the R. Herschel Manufacturing Company. The 
 business was incorporated in 1893. At the outset they employed five 
 people and the brothers, H. R. and Paul, also took a most active part in 
 the work of the new enterprise. Their trade began to develop and after 
 a short time they erected a factory at the corner of Persimmon street and 
 South Washington, where they gave employment to twenty people. Year 
 by year the business expanded until they were obliged to seek another 
 location which would give them added space. This they secured in East 
 Peoria and there they developed a plant covering twelve acres and em- 
 
 395
 
 396 D. Robert >3crsct)cl 
 
 ploying six hundred people in the manufacture of cutting parts for mow- 
 ers, reapers, self-binders and grain headers. Long since their business 
 ceased to be a local one and covered not only the North American con- 
 tinent but many foreign countries as well, shipments often being made 
 to many parts of the world. The R. Herschel Manufacturing Company 
 acquired the entire knife and section business of the Whitman & Barnes 
 Manufacturing Company which had left the brothers out of employment 
 years before by the purchase of the Steier interests here. Theirs became 
 one of the chief industrial enterprises of Peoria, the house ever sustain- 
 ing an imsuUied reputation for integrity and reliability as well as for 
 excellent workmanship in its manufactured products. Mr. Herschel al- 
 ways had the full cooperation, respect and support of his employes be- 
 cause of his considerate and generous treatment of them. Resting upon 
 a sound basis, the business developed steadily under the wise guidance 
 of the Herschel brothers. In addition to his interests as president of the 
 R. Herschel Manufacturing Company, H. Robert Herschel was also presi- 
 dent of the Cream Products Company and had various other important 
 business associations. 
 
 Mr. Herschel was married twice. He first wedded Emilia, a daugh- 
 ter of Nicholas and Rosie Spicer, of Peoria, and the children of this 
 marriage are Mrs. Fred W. Evans, of Los Angeles, California; Robert 
 H.; Mrs. Irma Pierce; and Arthur D. On the 1st of June, 1899, Mr. 
 Herschel was married to Miss Emilie Brendel, a daughter of Dr. Frederick 
 and Elizabeth (Mueller) Brendel, the former an early and distinguished 
 Peoria citizen who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. Of the second 
 marriage there is a daughter, Helen, an accomplished and talented young 
 lady. 
 
 Mr. Herschel loved the great outdoors. Plants and flowers made strong 
 appeal to him and he loved to wander through the woods and note the 
 blossoms that greeted him on his way. Fishing was his chief hobby. In 
 matters of citizenship he always maintained a most loyal attitude and 
 ever sought to further the Avelfare and progress of the city in which he 
 so long made his home, giving his active cooperation to all projects of 
 vital worth and benefit to Peoria. He was particularly well known in 
 Masonic circles, having membership in Schiller Lodge, No. 335, F. & A. 
 M., while in the Scottish Rite he attained the thirty-second degree as a 
 member of Peoria Consistory. He was likewise identified with Moham- 
 med Temple of the Mystic Shrine and he was accorded the highest Ma- 
 sonic honors when he was laid to rest, the funeral services being held in 
 Moslem Temple, while the lodge conducted the ceremony at the grave. 
 To few men was accorded the warm friendship that was given Mr. Her- 
 schel by all who knew him, his employes, his business associates, his 
 fellow lodge members and those whom he met through the social activities
 
 1^. mobert lUcrscftel 
 
 397 
 
 of life. He was always genial and his good nature was traditional in 
 Peoria. He never allowed business to warp his kindly nature nor dwarf 
 his interest in the welfare of his fellowmen. He believed in the posses- 
 sion of good qualities by each individual and he believed, moreover, that 
 it was his duty in so far as possible to seek out those good qualities. He 
 gained the enduring friendship of young and old, rich and poor, and his 
 passing on the 29tli of April, 1925, was the occasion of deep and wide- 
 spread regret. His life proved what can be accomplished when determin- 
 ation and enterprise point out the way. He won a notable measure of 
 success but he gained more than that — the love and esteem of all with 
 whom he was associated, and many years will come and go ere the mem- 
 ory of H. Robert Herschel ceases to be a kindly and inspiring influence 
 in the lives of those who knew him. 
 
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 Irank %. looter 
 
 )N THE records of American business there often appears a 
 tale as thrilling as that produced in fiction — a story of 
 achievement, of initiative — something out of the usual, 
 and which awakens the keen interest of all who know 
 of it. Such is the story of Frank S. Foster, who was 
 called the "feather king." His was the pioneer spirit 
 in that he passed beyond the roads that others had traveled and carved 
 out a new path of activity and achievement. He recognized possibilities 
 that others had passed heedlessly by for centuries, — the utilization of 
 poultry feathers that had hitherto been regarded as useless. 
 
 Mr. Foster was born in Springfield, Illinois, January 10, 1865, a son 
 of Charles M. and Hannah (Pearson) Foster. He attended the schools 
 of his native city, afterward went to Chicago and at the age of sixteen 
 entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad, with which he re- 
 mained until he removed to Wyoming, Illinois, where he joined his 
 brother, taking charge of a poultry dressing and packing plant. The 
 poultry was brought in by farmers and prepared for market, while the 
 feathers were tossed aside and later destroyed. It seemed a useless waste 
 to Mr. Foster and he began to save feathers. He soon realized that the 
 different kinds of feathers could be graded into two general classes or 
 groups — those feathers used in the bedding trades and the like, and those 
 feathers which could be used for fancy trimmings and special orders. 
 There are special kinds of feathers from the chicken, duck, goose, guinea 
 and turkey that have been in demand at some time or other. Mr. Foster, 
 however, soon learned that it was the turkey that supplied most of the 
 fancy feathers. It must be borne in mind that Mr. Foster specialized 
 in the fancy feathers. That is, he devoted his energies to sorting and 
 grading feathers that could be used by the different manufacturers in 
 their business, and who did not want to buy all the feathers from a fowl 
 just to get one or two special kinds of feathers that they could use. In 
 order to assure himself of a well-rounded business, he had to enter the 
 bedding end of the feather business so as to sell what soft feathers he 
 could not sort. He therefore bought the feathers from the chicken, duck, 
 goose, guinea and turkey. He employed women to sort all of the turkey 
 feathers. He also had them select certain grades of feathers from the 
 chicken, duck and goose — feathers that he could sell. Recognizing that 
 there was a great future in the business, he began to develop it, first as 
 a side-line to the chain of poultry houses which he owned. Before long 
 
 399
 
 400 J^rank ^. J^ostcr 
 
 the demand for feathers ^vas greater than the Foster plants could supply, 
 and he was importing feathers from Iowa and Missouri as well as buying 
 all that he could gel in Illinois. As the business grew Mr. Foster devoted 
 more and more of his time to it until his chain of poultry houses became 
 the side-line and the feather business became his vocation. He clung to 
 his original chain of poultry houses until the press of other business 
 forced him to give them up. and he finally disposed of the last of his 
 poultry houses five years before his death. The feather enterprise had 
 its real inception when after sorting feathers for size and color he sent 
 them as samples to a New York millinery jobber, asking if there was not 
 some use for them. In a few days the samples were returned with some 
 valuable suggestions, one being that the soft, downy feathers from the 
 thighs of turkeys might be useful in the manufacture of marabou trim- 
 ming, then ver)- popular. At that time most of the marabou was im- 
 ported from Africa. Mr. Foster acted on the suggestion, and gathering 
 a few pounds of the best down he could select, he sent it to a manufac- 
 turer who dealt in marabou and in return received an order for a thou- 
 sand pounds. It takes a ton of turkey feathers to yield sLxty pounds of 
 the down, which meant that he had to sort over thirty-three thousand 
 pounds of turkey feathers to meet the order, Avhich was to be filled 
 immediately. He had no experienced help, but he set to Avork and in 
 the required time shipped the thousand pounds of down, putting upon 
 it a price of fifty cents. Immediately he received a larger order at the 
 same price, but he soon learned that he was getting a low financial re- 
 turn and at one time was paid fifteen dollars per pound for dark downs. 
 From that time forward until his death Mr. Foster continued the business 
 of sorting and classifying feathers until the plumage from a single Christ- 
 mas turkey was divided and subdivided into fifty varieties. 
 
 The trade underwent many changes as styles and demand changed. 
 Aside from the down used in marabou or woven into dusters for polish- 
 ing fine furniture, the short tail feathers were made into small feather 
 dusters, the long wing pointers used for archery arrows, the long tail 
 quills for deep sea fishing tackle, the lieaAy quills for feather-boning in 
 whips, and all worthless parts sent to the chemical facton.-. where they 
 were converted into commercial fertilizer. All through the years Mr. 
 Foster was developing new ideas. He found it possible to make a splen- 
 did imitation of a bird of paradise by using the long tail quills of a black 
 or Avhite rooster, tearing out certain flues or barbs to give it an uneven 
 appearance, then softening and bending the quill to give it grace; and 
 the most expert customs inspector could not tell it from the imported 
 paradise feather. Feathers have been sent to Paris in large quantities 
 and returned to America as genuine "coque." He perfectly imitated the 
 aigrette until imitation of the foreign aigrette was prohibited by law. He
 
 J^ranfe ^. J^ostcr 401 
 
 received shipments of feathers from all over the United States in sacks 
 containing ahout one hundred and fifty pounds. He developed a plant 
 by utilizing buildings at Wyoming in %shich the feathers were graded to 
 be converted into the various commercial products which found ready 
 i-ale. He shipped feathers by car-loads to Germany, Switzerland and 
 Spain for stuffing feather beds and pillows; to Detroit for automobile 
 cushions; to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, or Dowagiac, Michigan, to be 
 used for bass or trout flies; to California and the east for arrows; to Paris 
 for millinery; to Italy to be used on the helmets of the police officers; 
 and to New York for marabou trimming. An unusual thing about Mr. 
 Foster's business was that he did not advertise, published no catalogues 
 or price lists and had no salesmen on the road, yet he built up a business 
 which utilized eight sorting buildings, three warehouses and a steam 
 plant in Wyoming and which reached out into many sections of the 
 world, carried on under the name of Foster's Feather Works. When he 
 was asked concerning his success he always modestly replied: "Well, I 
 did something different," but it remained to him to see the opportunity 
 in this different line and to develop his idea into one of the important 
 commercial assets of Illinois. Mr. Foster also operated a large modern 
 farm. In the last ten years of his life he became actively interested in 
 the banking affairs of his community, acting in the capacity of president 
 of the National Bank of Wyoming. 
 
 It v/as on the 28th of March, 1901, that Mr. Foster was united in 
 marriage to Miss Edith Blanche Whitcher. of Wyoming. He perhaps 
 found his greatest joy in his success in that it enabled him to provide for 
 his family all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He had 
 on Moss avenue one of the most beautiful homes of Peoria. The family 
 numbered a daughter and two sons: Florence, who was graduated from 
 the University of Wisconsin in June, 1926; Frank S. and Charles Miller, 
 also graduates of the same school. Mrs. Foster is a member of the Peoria 
 Women's Club and is very popular in the social circles of the city. A 
 worthy exemplar of the teachings and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, 
 Mr. Foster had membership in Peoria Commandery, K. T. ; Peoria Con- 
 sistory, A. A. S. R.; and Mohammed Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. He was 
 also a member of Peoria Court, No. 40, Royal Order of Jesters, and of 
 the Creve Coeur Club, the Mount Hawley Club and the North Shore 
 Countr)' Club. His death occurred November 15, 1927, and there 
 passed from the scene of earthly activities one who had occupied a 
 unique place in business circles and one who at all times had commanded 
 the respect and confidence of his fellows, while by his kindly nature and 
 genial disposition he had endeared himself to all who came within the 
 closer circle of his friendship.
 
 or THE 
 CNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
 
 3ilira!)am gincoln 
 
 FEW months before Mr. Lincoln's nomination to the 
 presidency he was asked for a sketch of his life by the 
 republican state committee. He complied with this re- 
 quest by sending a brief autobiography, with a few apol- 
 ogetic remarks. "There is not much of it," he wrote, 
 '•for the reason, I suppose, that there is not much of 
 me. If anything is made out of it I wish it to be modest, and not go beyond 
 the material." 
 
 "One of the best ways to get acquainted with Abraham Lincoln," 
 says Dr. Henry Johnson, "is to read his own words. There are two rea- 
 sons for this. In the first place, while he was called upon in the course of 
 his life to deal with some of the most difficult questions that have ever 
 been discussed in America, what he said and wrote was so simple, so 
 direct, and so clear that almost anybody could understand him. In the 
 second place, his letters, speeches, and state papers bear everywhere the 
 stamp of that quality which, when he was twenty-four years old, had won 
 for him the homely frontier title of 'Honest Abe.' " 
 
 The autobiography, consisting of about six hundred words, worthy of 
 a place in the shortest notice of this great man's life, is as follows: 
 
 "I was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky. My 
 parents were both born in Virginia of undistinguished families— second 
 families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth yf^ar, 
 was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in 
 Adams, and others in Macon county, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, 
 Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham county, Virginia, to 
 Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where a year or two later he was killed 
 by the Indians, not in a battle but by stealth, when he was laboring to 
 open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to 
 Virginia from Berks county, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them 
 with the New England family of the name ended in nothing more definite 
 than a similarity of Christian names in both families such as Enoch, 
 Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham and the like. 
 
 "My father, at the death of his father was but six years of age, and 
 he grew up literally without education. He removed from Kentucky to 
 what is now Spencer county, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our 
 new home about the time the State came into the Union. It was a wild 
 region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There 
 I grew up. There were some schools, so called, but no qualification was 
 
 405
 
 406 afartihiim Lincoln 
 
 ever required of a teacher lieyond 'reading writin", and ciplierin"," to the 
 rule of three. If a stra-ijiler tiujiposed to underi-tand Latin happened to 
 sojourn in the neiirhhorhood. he was looked upon as a w izard. There was 
 absolutely nothing: to exeite andiition for edueation. Of course. Avhen I 
 came of a';e I did not know nnich. Still, somehow, I could read, write 
 and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. I have not been to 
 school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education 
 I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. 
 
 "T was raised to farm w(irk, which I continued till I was twenty-tAvo. 
 At twenty-one I came to Illinois, Macon county. Then I got to New 
 Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard county, where I re- 
 mained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. 
 
 "Then came the Black Hawk war; and I was elected a captain of 
 volunteers, a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had 
 since. I went through the campaign, and afterwards ran for the Legisla- 
 ture in the same year (1832), and was beaten — the only time I ever 
 have been beaten by the people. The next and three succeeding biennial 
 elections I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate after- 
 ward. During this legislative period I had studied law, and removed to 
 Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was once elected to the lower House 
 of Congress. Was not a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, 
 both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever before. Always 
 a ^'i big in politics; and generally on the ^ hig electoral tickets, making 
 active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise aroused nie again. ^ hat I have done since then 
 is pretty well known. 
 
 "If any personal description of me is thought desirable it may be said 
 I am. in height, six feet four inches, nearly: lean in flesh, weighing on 
 an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with 
 coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected. 
 Springfield, December 20, 1859." 
 
 At this period Mr. Lincoln had been in law practice, with an office 
 in his home city, for over twenty years. He had won a high place in his 
 profession, had taken a notable part in the politics of the state, but was 
 still in moderate circumstances as the following statement of his affairs 
 will show. 
 
 After the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 had passed into history the 
 subject of expenses came up in the republican state committee. His 
 reply throws light on the state of his own affairs. "I have been on expense 
 so long without earning anything."' he wrote, "that I am absolutely with- 
 out money now to pay for even household expenses. Still, if you can put 
 in two hundred and fifty dollars for me towards discharging the debt of 
 the Committee, 1 will allow it when you and I settle the private matter
 
 a&rabam ILincoht 407 
 
 between us. This, with what I have already paid with an outstanding note 
 of mine, will exceed my subscription of five hundred dollars. This, too, 
 is exclusive of my ordinary expenses during the campaign, all of which 
 being added to my loss of time and business, bears pretty heavily upon 
 one no better off than I am." This was addressed to Norman B. Judd. 
 
 At this time he owned the house and lot where he lived in Spring- 
 field, and his income from his profession did not exceed three thousand 
 dollars per year. Arnold says, '"he was not then worth over ten or fifteen 
 thousand dollars altogether." 
 
 While in New York daring the day on the evening of which he made 
 his address at the Cooper Institute, he met an old acquaintance from 
 Illinois, whom he addressed with an inquiiy as to how he had fared 
 since leaving the west. 'T have made a hundred thousand dollars, and 
 lost all," was the reply. He then asked, ""How is it ivith you, Mr. Lin- 
 coln?" "Oh, very well," said he, "I have the cottage at Springfield and 
 about eight thousand dollars in money. If they make me vice president 
 with Seward, as some say they will, I hope I shall be able to increase it 
 to twenty thousand; and that is as much as any man ought to want. 
 
 In one of his addresses when a candidate for the legislature in the 
 earlier days of his career he said: "I go for all sharing the privileges of 
 the government who assist in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go 
 for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear 
 arms (by no means excluding females). If elected, I shall consider the 
 whole people of Sangamon my constituents, as Avell those that oppose as 
 those that support me. While acting as their representative I shall be 
 governed by their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of 
 knowing what their will is: and upon all others I shall do what my o^vn 
 judgment teaches me will best advance their interests." 
 
 An incident in one of his campaigns is related. A whig politician by 
 the name of Forquer about this time changed his party allegiance and 
 became a democrat, receiving the appointment as register of the land 
 office. Forquer's house was the finest one in Springfield, and was dis- 
 tinguished by a lightning rod, the first that had been seen in that city. 
 At a political meeting Lincoln spoke, and when he had done, Forquer an- 
 nounced that "he would have to take the young man down." Lincoln 
 sat by and listened to the attack to which he made a spirited reply, con- 
 cluding: "The gentleman has seen fit to allude to my being a young man, 
 but he forgets that I am older in years than I am in the tricks and trades 
 of politicians. I desire to live, and I desire place and distinction, but I 
 would rather die now than, like the gentleman, live to see the day that 
 I would change my politics for an office worth three thousand dollars a 
 year, and then feel compelled to erect a lightning rod to protect a guilty 
 conscience from an offended God."
 
 408 afarabnm Lincoln 
 
 On the lllh of February, Mr. Lincoln with his family left Springfield 
 for ^^'ashinglon, never again to return to the west alive. The day pre- 
 vious to his departure he went to his office and taking a final glance over 
 his papers he said to Herndon: "Billy, how long have we been together?" 
 "Over sixteen years," answered Herndon. He then started to go, but 
 before leaving he requested that the signboard which swung at the foot 
 of the stairs should remain. '"Let it hang there undisturbed," he said, 
 "give our clients to understand that the election of a president makes no 
 change in the firm of Lincoln and Herndon. If I live, I am coming back 
 some time, and then well go right on practicing law as if nothing had 
 happened." 
 
 Judge Gillespie remarked to Mr. Lincoln a few days before his de- 
 parture, that he thought it would do him good to get down to Washing- 
 ton. "'I know it will," replied Mr. Lincoln, "I only wish I could have got 
 there to lock the door before the horse was stolen. But when I get to 
 the spot I can find the tracks." He referred to the traitorous actions of 
 some of the members of Buchanan's cabinet, in removing arms from 
 northern to southern arsenals, and transferring troops and warships to 
 distant stations. 
 
 On the platform of the car he turned to the multitude of neighbors 
 and friends who had gathered at the station to bid him farewell, and ad- 
 dressed them as follows: "My friends, no one, not in my situation, can 
 appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the 
 kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter 
 of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my 
 children have been born, and one is biuied. I now leave, not knowing 
 when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than 
 that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that 
 Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that as- 
 sistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain 
 with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all 
 will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers 
 you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farcAvell." 
 
 In regard to the Cooper Institute speech Horace Greeley had this to 
 say: "I do not hesitate to pronounce Mr. Lincoln's speech at Cooper 
 Institute, New York, in the spring of 1860, the very best political address 
 to which I ever listened — and I have heard some of Webster's grandest. 
 As a literary effort, it would not, of course, bear comparison with many 
 of Webster's speeches; but regarded simply as an effort to convince the 
 largest possible number that they ought to be on the speaker's side not 
 on the other, I do not hesitate to pronounce it unsurpassed." Mr. Lincoln, 
 he added, was "the foremost convincer of his day — the one who could 
 do his cause more good and less harm by a speech than any other living 
 man."
 
 abraftam Lincoln 409 
 
 In the preface to a pamphlet containing the address in full, it is 
 said: "The address is characterized hy wisdom, truthfulness and learn- 
 ing. . . . From the first line to the last, from his premises to his 
 conclusion, the speaker travels with a swift, unerring directness that no 
 logician has ever excelled. His argument is complete and is presented 
 without the affectation of learning, and without the stiffness which usu- 
 ally accompanies dates and details. ... A single simple sentence 
 contains a chapter of history that has taken days of labor to verify, and 
 that must have cost the author months of investigation to acquire." 
 
 No former effort of the kind had ever required on his part so much 
 time and thought as this one had done. "The historical study which it 
 involved." says Holland, "study that led into unexplored fields, and fields 
 very difficult of exploration, must have been very great: but it was inti- 
 mate and complete. Gentlemen who afterwards engaged in preparing 
 the speech for circulation as a campaign document were much surprised 
 by the amount of research that it recjuired to be able to make the speech, 
 and were very much wearied with the work of verifying its historical 
 statements in detail. They ^vere weeks in finding the works consulted 
 by him." Herndon says that Lincoln obtained most of the facts of his 
 Cooper Institute speech from Elliott's "Debates on the Federal Constitu- 
 tion." 
 
 While in New York Mr. Lincoln was photographed by Brady, whose 
 portraits of the distinguished men of the time have since become famous. 
 It was a frequent remark of Lincoln's that this portrait and the Cooper 
 Institute speech made him president. 
 
 The story of Lincoln's career would occupy much more space than 
 can be allotted to the subject in this volume. The story has been so often 
 written and is so well known that but a few episodes can be given here. 
 Lincoln is too well known to attempt a detailed biography which would 
 naturally occupy a great space, and has already been presented by many 
 able writers. 
 
 While engaged in practice, passing from one county seat to another, 
 Lincoln encountered such men as Leonard Swett, Stephen T. Logan, Ed- 
 ward D. Baker, 0. H. Browning, Richard J. Oglesby and John M. Palmer. 
 In the spring and fall of each year the lawyers Avent out on the circuit 
 in the train of Judge David Davis, then on the bench of the state supreme 
 court. Lincoln was a favorite with Davis, and when he arrived at a tav- 
 ern he would inquire "Where's Lincoln?" Lincoln's stories were often 
 told during the proceedings of the court when it was in session, among 
 a knot of men about him in the courtroom. The effect was such that 
 the presiding judge was forced to say on one occasion, "Mr. Lincoln, I 
 can't stand this; there is no use trying to carry on two courts; I must 
 adjourn mine or you yours." A few minutes later the judge would beckon
 
 410 atirtititim Lincoln 
 
 one of the groiij) to the hetich, and ask. "^ hat vas that story Lincoln 
 was telling?" 
 
 His hnmor indeed Avas near akin to his hrooding melancholy, and 
 redeemed every situation in a life he knew so deeply as to feel its tragedy. 
 "It was not for his stories that men loved him," says Brand \^hitlock, in 
 a sketch of Lincoln's life, "it was for his kindliness, his simplicity, his 
 utter lack of self-consciousness. Of course there was the mysterious in- 
 fluence of his personality, and the fascination of a nature that seemed 
 complex only hecause in the mid^t of many complexities, it was, after 
 all. so simple. All his life long he strove to make things clear; and to 
 men, to juries, to statesmen, diplomats, and whole peoples he was ever 
 explaining, and he told his stories to help this purpose. Thus he drew 
 interested groups ahout him. on the piihlic square, in the courtroom, in 
 the tavern." 
 
 Lincoln was married in Springfield, on the 4th of Novemher. 1842, 
 to Mary Todd, who hore him four sons, of whom the only one to grow 
 up was the eldest. Robert. While his wife was rather less than medium 
 stature Lincoln himself was unusually tall, six feet and four inches in 
 height. Abstemious in his habits, he possessed great physical endurance. 
 His patience was inexhaustible; in manner he was simple, direct, void of 
 the least affectation, though entirely free from mere oddity or eccen- 
 tricity. A writer in the Encyclopedia Britannica thus sums up his char- 
 acteristics: "His mental qualities were — a quick, analytic perception, 
 strong logical powers, a tenacious memory, a liberal estimate and toler- 
 ance of the opinions of others, ready intuition of human nature: and per- 
 haps his most valuable faculty was rare ability to divest himself of all 
 feeling or passion in weighing motives of persons or problems of state." 
 
 An instance of Lincoln's tender-hearled consideration for those suf- 
 fering from bereavement is given in the following letter written by him 
 to Mrs. Bixby. It is dated November 21, 1864. "I have been shown in 
 the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of 
 Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died glori- 
 ously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any 
 words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a 
 loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the 
 consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they 
 died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish 
 of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the 
 loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid 
 so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was president four years, one month and ten 
 days. He had entered upon his second term in the presidential chair 
 when on the 14th of April, 1865, he was struck down by the hand of
 
 atirabam Lincoln 411 
 
 an assassin, thus cutting short the career of the wisest man that our na- 
 tion has produced. 
 
 The funeral exercises were of the most elaborate description. A 
 special train bore the remains from Washington to Springfield, stopping 
 at manv cities where in each the body was permitted to lie in state for a 
 few hours. Arriving in his home city the iDody of the lamented president 
 was borne to its last resting place. In later years a beautiful monument 
 was erected to his memon.-, which is now under the care of the state. 
 
 The poem by Walt Whitman deserves place in any account of Lin- 
 coln's life and its tragic close. The following verses, printed in a volume 
 of Whitman's poems, entitled ''Leaves of Grass,"' sound the depths of 
 the grief and woe into which every truly loyal heart was plunged when 
 the dreadful news of Lincoln's untimely end was flashed over the country. 
 
 CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 
 
 Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done. 
 The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, 
 The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, 
 While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; 
 But heart! heart! heart! 
 
 O the bleeding drops of red. 
 Where on the deck my Captain lies. 
 Fallen cold and dead. 
 
 O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; 
 Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills. 
 For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths — for you the shores a-crowding, 
 For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; 
 Here Captain! dear father! 
 
 This arm beneath your head! 
 It is some dream that on the deck 
 YouVe fallen cold and dead. 
 
 My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still. 
 My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will. 
 The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done. 
 From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; 
 Exult shores, and ring O bells! 
 
 But I wth mournful tread 
 Walk the deck my Captain lies. 
 Fallen cold and dead.
 
 412 
 
 aiiCiibam Lincoln 
 
 "The world looks with amazement," writes Judge Cunningham, who 
 as a youn-; man knew Lincoln well, "upon the career which I have only 
 imperfectly told of here; hut it also adores the memory of Freedom's 
 greatest hero. While it glorifies his great deeds, it loves to remember that 
 he came from the common people, and that he never ceased to love the 
 common people." 
 
 One of the sayings of Lincoln, inscribed on the walls of Lincoln Hall 
 at Urbana, is here given: "Let us have faith that right makes might, 
 and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand 
 it."
 
 ieor0e f eaktn i^ta^^ 
 
 aEORGE LEAKIN CRAGG, prominent as a patent attor- 
 ^ ney and an outstanding figure in church, scientific and 
 
 GvL art circles of Chicago, was born February 24, 1872, in 
 ^ Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Cragg was of English an- 
 cestry. His grandfather, a sheep farmer in England, 
 many years ago came to the United States and founded 
 a new home in Baltimore, Maryland, where he became one of the pioneer 
 builders of railway cars for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Henry 
 Cragg, father of George L. Cragg, was born in BaUimore, Maryland, and 
 after receiving a thorough education he engaged in teaching and became 
 principal of one of the schools. He was married in Baltimore to Mary 
 Elizabeth Edwards, a lineal descendant of Jonathan Edwards of New 
 England. In 1882 he came with his family to Chicago and engaged in 
 the printing business with the Gunderson Company, but business re- 
 mained a secondary consideration in his career. He remained a student 
 throughout his life, and when his son began the study of law at Kent 
 College, he attended the classes with him, was graduated and passed the 
 bar examination but never entered the practice of law. 
 
 George L. Cragg was educated in the schools of Chicago, and at the 
 old Manual Training School became an expert draughtsman. While pur- 
 suing his work as a draughtsman in an architect's office, he attended the 
 evening classes of the Kent College of Law, graduated and was admitted 
 to the bar in 1895. He was first associated in practice with George 
 Barton and later became a partner of Charles A. Brown. In 1903 he 
 engaged in practice alone and he soon became known throughout the 
 middle west as one of the foremost patent attorneys of his generation. 
 The knowledge of the patent lawyer must be thorough as to patent law, 
 and he must have an analytical mind and a familiarity with the arts and 
 sciences. Mr. Cragg made a specialty of patent law as applied to elec- 
 trical and radio devices. He took out patent rights for more than a hun- 
 dred appliances which he originated, and these he turned over to clients 
 who were engaged in the manufacture of similar contrivances. For thirty 
 years he was counsel for the great Duncan Company of La Fayette, 
 Indiana, and was a director of that corporation. He was counsel for 
 many of the large manufacturing concerns, including the Kellogg Switch- 
 board Company, Neely Printing Press Company, Cardwell Gear Coupling 
 Company, Airmotor Company, Zenith Radio Company, etc. A list of his 
 clients would almost seem to be a manufacturing directory. He was a 
 
 413
 
 414 (gcorgc Lctihin Cragg 
 
 member of the American Bar, Illinois Bar, Chicago Bar and Patent Law 
 Associations. 
 
 Outside of his professional life his interests were varied. He was 
 interested in art, histor>' and science, and was a life member of the Art 
 Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Galleries, the Chicago Historical So- 
 ciety, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Arts Club and the 
 Archeological Society. He was a member of the Laymen's Missionary 
 Movement, was greatly interested in the Crossman School in the moun- 
 tains of North Carolina and was an elder of the Kenwood Church. In 
 memory of his mother. Mr. Cragg furnished and maintained a room in 
 the new Passavant Memorial Hospital. 
 
 On the 9th of November, 1904, Mr. Cragg married Miriam Thomas, 
 daughter of Professor George W. Thomas, of the department of Greek 
 and Latin of the old University of Chicago, and granddaughter of Judge 
 Jesse B. Thomas of the supreme court of Illinois. Mrs. Miriam Cragg is 
 also a great-grandniece of Judge Jesse Burgess Thomas, who prior to the 
 year 1802 had been for several years speaker of the legislature of Indiana 
 Territory, which convened at the old town of Vincennes. Indiana Terri- 
 ton,- Avas then a vast and unwieldy tract of land out of which were finally 
 formed the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. In 1927 
 Miriam Thomas Cragg wrote the beautiful story of ''Kaskaskia," which 
 was published in booklet form by the Daughters of the American Revolu- 
 tion, and from this we quote the part Jesse Burgess Thomas played in 
 the founding of Illinois: 
 
 "The settlers in what is now Illinois began to complain that they 
 were too far away from the seat of government. They wished to form a 
 separate territory with a capital of their own. With this end in view 
 they set about to find someone who would present their case in Washing- 
 ton. This person they found in Jesse Burgess Thomas. He had been 
 serving for several years as speaker of the Indiana legislature. The 
 broader field of politics in Washington appealed to him and he promised 
 to serve Illinois if he was elected senator with their aid. It was a very 
 close fight and Thomas won the senatorship by one vote. Since each 
 one voted for himself, it was his own vote which carried him to Wash- 
 ington. Once there, he was true to his pledge to his supporters and 
 worked with might and main to carry out their wishes. Besides a sepa- 
 rate capital, the Illinoisans wished the northern boundary of their terri- 
 tory pushed farther north to give them an outlet on the shores of Lake 
 Michigan. All this Senator Thomas accomplished. Illinois Territory 
 was organized with Kaskaskia as its capital and (most important of all) 
 with many a long mile on Lake Michigan. That fact alone changed the 
 history of the United States. Illinois before this had been practically 
 a part of the south. Most of the settlers had come from Kentucky and
 
 @eotgc Leakin Ctagg 415 
 
 Virginia, bringing slaves and a slave tradition with them. Now by giving 
 the territory another point of ingress, northerners began to flock in by 
 way of Lake Michigan, bringing their ideas of equality and freedom. 
 Soon their influence was predominant. Had Illinois remained southern 
 in its sympathy, it never would have supported Lincoln. Without that 
 support Lincoln would not have been president, and who can say what 
 would have been written as the history of our United States! A bit of 
 irony comes in with the fact that Thomas himself was an advocate of 
 slavery and southern in all his sympathies. Yet his own vote (the vote 
 he cast for himself) opened a train of events which led eventually to the 
 abolition of slavery. It is well known that the destinies of nations have 
 been changed by minor events. Yet it is unusual to find so clearly indi- 
 cated the results which emanated from such an unimportant occurrence 
 as the casting of one vote. All this happened in 1809. Thomas dared 
 not return to Vincennes, for the people there were incensed against him 
 for his action in establishing Illinois as a separate territory. In fact, 
 they had indignation meetings against him and burned him in efiigy. So, 
 he secured a territorial judgeship from President Madison and settled 
 down in Illinois. Both he and the newly appointed Governor Ninian 
 Edwards lived on country estates just out of Kaskaskia. During the 
 next few years that followed peace between England and America, people 
 flocked to fertile Illinois. Improvements and comforts came also. The 
 first newspaper in Illinois, the 'Illinois Herald,' was published in Kas- 
 kaskia. The inhabitants felt that their progress and numbers warranted 
 statehood. Congress granted their petition and in 1818 a convention 
 assembled at Kaskaskia to draw up a state constitution. Judge Thomas 
 was elected presiding officer over the assembly. Later, the constitution 
 having been adopted and the territory formally admitted as a state, 
 Edwards and Thomas were chosen as senators to represent Illinois at 
 Washington." 
 
 The names of Edwards and Thomas, founders and makers of Illinois, 
 are perpetuated in the names of two of the three sons of George L. and 
 Miriam Thomas Cragg: George Thomas, Henry and Richard Edwards 
 Cragg. The father passed away August 17, 1930, when fifty-eight years 
 of age.
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSIl .' OF ILLINOIS
 
 i^-n^ooi/t (yPLLceyOCeyT^-
 
 #t 
 
 J)l)ilip Mntlkt 
 
 ,HILIP MUELLER was in the sixty-ninth year of his age 
 when his life's labors, were ended. In a review of his 
 career there are certain facts which stand prominently 
 forth. He was a forceful and capable business man, 
 possessed of inventive skill which he used for the bene- 
 fit of the trade in which he was ever active. At the 
 same time he was a lover of music and culture and was ever a friend of 
 his fellowmen. His was a true nobility of character and thus it is that 
 Philip Mueller has been greatly missed in the business, social and home 
 circles in which he moved. 
 
 Mr. Mueller was born at Decatur, October 16, 1859, a son of Hier- 
 onymus and Anna F. (Bernhardt) Mueller, whose family numbered 
 seven children, six sons and a daughter, Philip being the second in order 
 of birth. Both parents came from Germany, the mother from Linden. 
 The father was born in Mannheim and crossed the Atlantic when about 
 seventeen years of age, while Mrs. Mueller was a maiden of twelve 
 summers when she came to the new world. They were married in 
 Chicago and soon afterward settled in Decatur, where Mr. Mueller opened 
 a gun shop, having the only gun and locksmith business in this section 
 of the state. He possessed considerable mechanical genius, being able 
 to do almost anything along mechanical lines. He became one of the 
 founders of the Decatur City Water Works and he invented a tapping 
 machine for tapping water and gas mains under pressure that is now 
 manufactured in Decatur by the IMueller Company and is sold in every 
 civilized country of the world. With the establishment of the water 
 works in Decatur, Hieronymus Mueller entered the plumbing business 
 and for a long period was closely associated with commercial and indus- 
 trial activities here. 
 
 Philip Mueller attended the Decatur schools and then served an 
 apprenticeship in gas-fitting and installing engines, while later he learned 
 the trades of plumbing and water and steam fitting. In 1886 he was 
 admitted to a partnership by his father, who was then engaged in the 
 plumbing business at 249 East Main street. Five years later the Decatur 
 Plumbing & Heating Company was formed as an expansion of the plumb- 
 ing business started by the father and Philip Mueller was connected with 
 the new organization. After the death of his father he and his brothers 
 carried on the plumbing business and were accorded a liberal patronage. 
 They soon recognized the great need for better quality and for improve- 
 
 419
 
 420 yphiUy cgticllcr 
 
 ment in plumbing fixtures and supplies and in a small way began tbe 
 manufacture of plumbing goods in connection witb their business already 
 establij^iied. The new department grew so rapidly that it was soon 
 necessary- to concentrate their entire time and attention upon their man- 
 ufacturing interests, so that they disposed of the plumbing business. In 
 1893 the H. Mueller Manufacturing Company was organized, with Philip 
 Mueller as a member of the firm. He possessed a high degree of engi- 
 neering, inventive and mechanical ability which was intensified by his 
 years of active work in those lines and he earned the reputation of being 
 an expert in bis trade. He was instrumental in producing many of the 
 great improvements in plumbing goods whjch have been brought out by 
 the Mueller Company. He worked at an idea until it reached a practical 
 fruition and his labors constituted a most important element in the suc- 
 cess of the business. The good plumbing now in use, tending toward 
 more complete sanitation, is due in no small measure to the genius of 
 Philip Mueller. He represented the company at trade conventions, 
 where because of his rare personality and thorough knowledge of the 
 plumbing business he made hosts of friends and won high admiration 
 for his achievements. He filled the office of first vice president of the 
 Mueller Company to the time of his death, which occurred January 23, 
 1928. He belonged to various scientific and trade societies, including 
 the American Society of Inspectors of Plumbing and Sanitary' Engineers, 
 the American Brass Founders Association and the Illinois Master 
 Plumbers Association, of which he was one of the organizers and the first 
 treasurer. 
 
 On the 22d of May, 1883. Mr. Mueller was married in Decatur to Miss 
 Mar\- Elizabeth Shorb, a daughter of William H. and Mary M. (Berger) 
 Shorb, of this city. They became parents of eight children, of whom a 
 son, Harry, and a daughter, Mrs. Phyllis Cozad, have passed away. Three 
 sons have followed in the father's footsteps and are active in the Mueller 
 Company, these being: Robert H., who is now superintendent of ma- 
 chinery: Lucien W., who is works manager; and Frank H., an engineer. 
 The other son is Clarence S. The two surviving daughters are Mrs. Fred 
 W. Kaiser and Mrs. A. V. Brownback, both of Decatur. 
 
 Mr. Mueller had always had high regard for friendship and greatly 
 enjoyed the social activities of tbe Decatur Club, South Side Country 
 Club and Sunnyside Country Club, in all of which he held membership. 
 He was also a loyal member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
 Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a life member of 
 the Loyal Order of Moose. In his earlier years be was a musician and 
 when only a boy belonged to one of the first orchestras sponsored by 
 Professor A. Goodman, who was a very noted musician of this section of 
 Illinois, while later he became a member of the original Goodman Band.
 
 l^bilip ^ucllcr 
 
 421 
 
 He was always a lover of the out-of-doors, enjoyed nature in her various 
 phases, found hunting and fishing most congenial sports and "roughing 
 it" was his favorite diversion. As a lifelong resident of Decatur he 
 watched the city grow from a small town and was ever keenly interested 
 in its welfare and supported all measures of civic virtue and of civic 
 pride. There are few men so free from ostentation and display as was 
 Philip Mueller. He possessed a sympathetic nature, displayed a keen 
 understanding of the other fellow's problems and was always ready to 
 extend a helping hand. The various interests and activities of his life 
 were well balanced, but notwithstanding his outside affairs he derived 
 his greatest enjoyment from the companionship of his wife, children and 
 grandchildren, his keenest joy coming to him in his own home. He was 
 a devoted husband, a loving and helpful father, and the priceless heritage 
 of an untarnished name he handed down to his children, together with 
 the substantial rewards of a life of intelligently directed labor.
 
 \ARIOUS business interests successively claimed the atten- 
 tion of Hon. D. W. Mills, and success attended his ef- 
 forts, bringing him to a prominent position in business 
 circles. Many public duties were also intrusted to him 
 and his activity in the field of politics and his promi- 
 nence in fraternal and social circles constituted a well 
 balanced character, to which opportunity served as the entrance way to 
 a field in which his efforts were forceful, resultant, influential and 
 beneficial. 
 
 It has been said that to know an individual one must know something 
 of his ancestry. D. W. Mills, who was born upon a farm near Waynes- 
 burg, Warren county, Ohio, came of Quaker lineage and in his life of 
 strongly marked characteristics there was found this ancestral influence 
 as manifested in his unassailable integrity and his consideration for the 
 rights of others. There came to him also as an inheritance from his fore- 
 bears a strong constitution and an alert mind. Both of his parents, David 
 and Susanna (BrowTi) Mills, were identified with pioneer life in Ohio. 
 His paternal grandparents were Joseph and Lydia (Jay) Mills. His 
 grandfather was a native of South Carolina and came to Ohio at a very 
 early day, taking up congress land on the present site of Cincinnati, for 
 which he paid one dollar and a quarter per acre. 
 
 Our subject's father was reared upon a farm whose boundaries almost 
 touched the corporation limits of the city of Cincinnati. Indian raids 
 were common enough in those days, and while in the third year of her 
 age Mrs. Susanna Mills was for a time held captive by savages who 
 roamed through the forests that skirted the Ohio river. She was a grand- 
 daughter of Joseph Brown, one of the band of English Quakers who 
 accompanied William Penn to this country in 1680. In early woman- 
 hood she married and after a few years was left a widow in straitened 
 financial circumstances. 
 
 The limited resources of the family made it imperative that D. W. 
 Mills should assume many of the responsibilities of manhood when but 
 a boy in years. He worked on different farms near the old home and 
 the urge of necessity prevented him from devoting much time to the 
 acquirement of an education, although he availed himself of every oppor- 
 tunity to attend school and had mastered the course taught in the village 
 of Raysville before he had finished his nineteenth year. In the post- 
 graduate school of experience, however, he learned many lessons, con- 
 
 423
 
 424 bon. D. eg. 031115 
 
 etantly broadening his knowledge through association and contact with 
 mankind, through keen ohservation and from reading and research 
 whereby be became acquainted with the vital questions of the day. \^ ben 
 only eighteen years of age he accepted a position as clerk in a general 
 store. Realizing that industry and economy are the basis of all honor- 
 able success, he carefully saved his earnings and on attaining his majority 
 had a sum that, with the assistance received from Oscar Wright, a rich 
 Quaker gentleman of Waynesburg, Ohio, he was enabled to engage in 
 business on bis own account. Mr. Wright recognized the ability and 
 trustworthiness of the young man and gladly aided him so that be found 
 it possible to open a general store at Corwin, Ohio. His experiences were 
 those which usually come to the country merchant who handles all lines 
 of goods needed on the farm and takes in exchange the produce which 
 the farmer has raised. He extended the scope of his business by engag- 
 ing in pork packing and was not long in establishing a good trade which 
 seemed to promise success, but national interests claimed his attention. 
 
 The difference of opinion concerning the question of slavery lead- 
 ing at length to the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union found 
 Mr. Mills on the side of the federal government and not hesitating to 
 sacrifice his business interests, he offered his aid to the Union and went 
 to the front as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Eightieth 
 Ohio Volunteer Infantry with which he served until the close of the war, 
 his loyalty and ability winning him promotion from the ranks to a cap- 
 taincy. He participated in many important battles and the records show 
 that he never faltered in the performance of any military duty, inspir- 
 ing and encouraging his men by his own bravery and loyalty. 
 
 His officer's pay, with close economy, enabled him to save about five 
 thousand dollars and with that capital Captain Mills came to Chicago in 
 the spring of 1866. In the intervening years to his death he was closely 
 associated with the business development of this city. He first turned his 
 attention to the manufacture of candy and built up a good trade in that 
 connection. He was aftenvard engaged in lake shipping interests and 
 then, realizing that the real estate field promised large returns he engaged 
 in the purchase and sale of property which brought to him substantial 
 success, bis keen discernment enabling him to anticipate appreciation in 
 values, owing to the rapid settlement of the city and be therefore placed 
 his investments so that later he reaped a handsome profit from his sales. 
 
 The duties of citizenship, notwithstanding his business grew apace, 
 were never neglected by Captain Mills who proved as true and loyal to 
 his country in days of peace as in times of war. He stood on the firing 
 line when the weapon was the ballot box, and never retreated an inch 
 from the position which his judgment and conscience sanctioned as right. 
 His natural qualifications for leadership made him a strong factor in the
 
 IDon. D. m. 99ms 
 
 425 
 
 politics of the city and on a number of occasions he was called to public 
 office. He served as warden of the Cook County Hospital from 1877 
 until 1881, and was one of the best officers ever at the head of that insti- 
 tution. He was twice elected to represent the old twelfth ward in the city 
 council and was also chosen to represent the fourth Illinois district in 
 the fifty-fifth congress. In the national law-making body he gave grave 
 consideration to each question which came up for settlement and ever 
 placed the national welfare before partisanship. 
 
 The social qualities of Captain Mills made him a favorite wherever 
 he was known. He was never happier than when dispensing the hospi- 
 tality of his own home to his many friends. On the 25th of December, 
 1871, he wedded Miss Lucy Morrison, a daughter of the eminent phi- 
 lanthropist, Orsemus Morrison, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in 
 this work. It was to his home that his thoughts oftenest turned and his 
 satisfaction over his business success arose from the fact that it enabled 
 him to surround his wife with those things which add to the comfort 
 and happiness of life. He held membership in the Loyal Legion and 
 Columbia Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and in Masonry gained 
 the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite, and the thirty-second de- 
 gree of the Scottish Rite. He held membership in the Illinois, Menoken, 
 Hamilton and Lincoln Clubs and his companionship was prized by those 
 who knew him because of his genial nature, his sound judgment and his 
 kindly disposition. Coming to Chicago a young man of twenty-eight 
 years, he entered fully and actively into the life of the city, in hs munici- 
 pal connections, its business and political interests and its social activi- 
 ties, and in each line left the impress of his individuality for good.
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSr. / Or ILLINOIS
 
 $01110 iliicckl)cim 
 
 TRONG and honorable purpose and intelligently directed 
 energy were the outstanding qualities in the life history 
 of Louis Rueckheim, who for many years was closely 
 associated with the business development of Chicago. He 
 passed away October 15, 1927, and because of his sterl- 
 ing character and lovable qualities his death was the 
 occasion of deep and widespread regret. It was Mr. Rueckheim and his 
 brother Frederick who established the Cracker Jack manufacturing busi- 
 ness, in which connection they built up one of the foremost enterprises of 
 the city, giving to the public a confection that is known throughout not 
 only the length and breadth of this land but in foreign countries as well. 
 Mr. Rueckheim was born in Japenzin, Germany, September 30, 1849, 
 and had therefore passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey 
 when called to the home beyond. He was a son of John and Maria (Zan- 
 der) Rueckheim and while spending his youthful days under the parental 
 roof acquired a public school education, after which, in conformity with 
 the law of his native land, he served in the German Army from 1868 un- 
 til 1871 and participated in the war with France in 1870. 
 
 With the close of his military career Mr. Rueckheim came to Amer- 
 ica, settling in Chicago, where he arrived on the 9th of October, 1871, the 
 day on which the memorable conflagration swept over the city, only to 
 be allayed two days later, leaving a great portion of Chicago in ruins. 
 Mr. Rueckheim took a position with his uncle on a farm located near 
 what is now Halsted and Eighty-fifth streets, today a part of the city. His 
 elder brother, Frederick, who came to Chicago in October, 1869, had 
 established a little candy business in the spring of 1872 and in November 
 of the same year Louis Rueckheim joined his brother Frederick in the 
 conduct of this venture, and from that time until 1898 the business was 
 conducted under the firm style of F. W. Rueckheim & Brother. Under 
 their able guidance the business steadily grew and developed, and they 
 were joined in 1898 by Henry G. Eckstein. In June, 1902, they incor- 
 porated their interests under the name of Ruecklieim Brothers & Eck- 
 stein, Louis Rueckheim becoming vice president, in which office he con- 
 tinued until his death. As manufacturers of Cracker Jack the company 
 became widely known. They brought out a confection that was at once 
 popular and its slogan, '-The more you eat the more you want" found its 
 verification in the steady growth of a business that became one of mam- 
 moth proportions. Louis Rueckheim displayed sound judgment and keen 
 
 429
 
 430 Louis Uiicrkticim 
 
 discrimination in the management of this growing enterprise and to his 
 labors the success of the business was attributable in large measure. 
 
 On the 29th of November, 1877, Mr. Rueckheim was married in Chi- 
 cago to Miss Margaret Hangartner, who survives him. They enjoyed al- 
 most fifty years of happy wedded life together and their marriage was 
 blessed with five children: Estelle, the wife of Fred P. Warren; Flor- 
 ence, the wife of Richard T. \^'hite; Lillian C; Arnold, who died in 
 young manhood; and Herbert, who died in infancy. After residing for 
 many years on the south side the family removed to 618 Sheridan square 
 in Evanston. Mr. Rueckheim, however, had friends in every section of 
 the city and its suburbs and was a valued member of the Illinois Athletic, 
 the Diana Hunting and Chickaming Country Clubs. He was also for many 
 years a member of the South Shore Country Club, severing his connection 
 therewith on his removal to Evanston. He greatly enjoyed the out-of- 
 doors, finding much pleasure in fishing and hunting. He spent several 
 weeks or mouths each year in Michigan, Minnesota or Wisconsin, hunt- 
 ing game birds or fishing for muscallonge and black bass, and he also 
 fished for tarpon in the gulf waters of the south. He mounted some fine 
 specimens of each kind. He was a man who enjoyed life, and while most 
 efficient in business, he knew how to play — a quality which is too often 
 lacking in the American business man. He gave liberally to churches and 
 charitable projects and in a quiet way to the poor whom he personally 
 knew needed financial help. In his giving he was entirely free from 
 ostentation or display and often only the recipients knew of his bounty. 
 He was a great lover of home, delighting to entertain his many friends 
 at his own fireside and finding the keenest pleasure in the companionship 
 of those of his own household. He was a great lover of music, for years 
 being a subscriber and season ticket holder of the Chicago Civic Opera. 
 He owned a summer home at Lakeside, Michigan, and greatly delighted 
 in spending his leisure hours there, for he was particularly fond of the 
 country and was extremely happy in being by the side of Lake Michigan, 
 enjoying its various moods and equally enjoying every phase of outdoor 
 life. For many years he rode horseback daily and kept close to nature 
 in all of his recreation. A man of strong and engaging personality, he 
 won friendship and attracted the confidence of all with whom he came 
 in contact. Throughout his life he was actuated by the highest sense of 
 honor, was proud of his good name, and it was said of him that his word 
 was ever as good as his bond. \^'hile he won success, it was never the 
 end and aim of his life but a means to that enjoyment which came to 
 him from entertainment of his friends and from liberal provision for his 
 wife and daughters. His entire career was an inspiration to those who 
 were associated with him in business or social connections.
 
 |ol)n PiUiam larleij 
 
 ■^^^^-^ OR MORE than forty years John William Farley was well 
 known in the business circles of Cook county as a con- 
 tractor, largely engaged in the construction of sewers, 
 tunnels and water works. He was born in HaverstraAV, 
 Wife "^"^1^ New York, February 12, 1861, a son of Charles and 
 Jane (Bartley) Farley. The father was a native of 
 Dublin, Ireland, and in that city studied chemistry as applied to textile 
 manufacture. In young manhood he became a resident of Fall River, 
 Massachusetts, a city of more than one hundred cotton mills, and there 
 continued his chemical work for a number of years. He afterward 
 removed to Haverstraw, New York, and in 1861 came to Chicago, where 
 he formed a connection with the steel mill at Ashland and Archer ave- 
 nues, of which he was made superintendent. He was thus actively con- 
 nected with the business interests of the city for a long period and 
 passed away at the age of eighty years. His wife, who was born in 
 Manchester, England, died in Chicago at the age of sLxty-seven years. 
 
 The family residence was maintained in the Hyde Park district of 
 Chicago, where John W. Farley attended the grammar and high schools. 
 In young manhood he entered the employ of Armour & Company but 
 subsequently learned the brickmaking trade and to the end of his life 
 kept his Union card in that organization. In 1887 he took up contract- 
 ing on his own account and continued to follow the business throughout 
 his remaining days. In 1892, upon being awarded a contract for the 
 original sewer in La Grange, he estalilished his family here in a home at 
 the corner of North Catherine and Bell avenues, now occupied by Dr. 
 J. A. Linnell, whence in 1897 a removal was made to the present family 
 residence at 111 Seventh avenue. From 1894 until 1900 Mr. Farley was 
 the head of the contracting firm of Farley & Green, his associate in the 
 undertaking being John Green. From 1900 imtil 1912 he conducted 
 business independently, with office at one time in the Chamber of Com- 
 merce building in Chicago, later in the Oxford building and afterward 
 at 166 West Jackson boulevard. In 1912 he admitted his son, Charles 
 W., to a partnership and the relation was maintained until Mr. Farley 
 was called to put aside the labors of life. 
 
 On the 18th of December, 1889, in Chicago, he was married to Miss 
 Mary Ross Willmott, a daughter of Judge Henry Willmott, and they 
 became parents of two sons, Charles Willmott and John William, Jr., and 
 a daughter, Katheryn, all residing in La Grange. The elder son married 
 
 431
 
 432 
 
 Jol)!! COillitim J^arlcp 
 
 Dorothy, daughter of F. F. Miles of La Grange, and has two daughters, 
 Dorotliy Jane and Patricia Miles. 
 
 Mr. Farley was one of the charter menihers of the Suburban Club 
 and also one of the early menihers of the Edgewood Valley Country Club. 
 For some years he had membership in the La Grange Country Club and 
 he was a member of Marquette Council of the Knights of Columbus in 
 Chicago. Early in life he became actively interested in state politics and 
 before attaining the age of twenty-five years was elected to the legislature 
 from the Hyde Park district, serving in the thirty-fifth Illinois general 
 assembly. In later years, after establishing his home in La Grange, he 
 was elected to represent the seventy-first district and served through the 
 sessions of the forty-third and forty-fourth assemblies. During his legis- 
 lative term he was a strong supporter of the Mueller bill, which was 
 passed at the time and which provided for municipal ownership of street 
 railways in Chicago. He also took active part in framing the original 
 sanitary district bill and throughout his life maintained his interest in 
 local, state and national affairs and was recognized as one of the leaders 
 in the councils of the democratic party of Illinois. Among his close 
 associates in La Grange were F. D. Cossitt, Sr., John T. Allison, John A. 
 Murphy, James McDonald and others who were actively interested in the 
 early development of the town. I\Ir. Farley at all times bore his part 
 in the work of general progress and improvement there. On the morn- 
 ing of January 5, 1929, while discussing a trip to Miami, Florida, with 
 Mrs. Farley on which they were to leave later in the day, he was suddenly 
 stricken and at the age of sixty-seven years passed away, a useful life 
 being thus brought to a close. He deserved much credit for what he 
 had accomplished. He started in the business world without special 
 advantages and through his capability, determination and the innate 
 force of his character worked his way upward, achieving success by 
 methods which neither sought nor required disguise.
 
 LIBRAKY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 ^ fyi^'^t^~<-'^-<-''-2/^*-''-^
 
 N A SMALL blank book found among the private papers 
 of Senator Douglas was Avritten an account of his own 
 life. The oldest son of Mr. Douglas, Judge Robert M. 
 Douglas, of Greensboro, North Carolina, sent a transcript 
 of this autobiography, in 1908, to a friend residing in 
 Evanston. In a note accompanying the transcript Judge 
 Douglas says: "It is in his own handwriting, hastily written and evi- 
 dently never revised or continued. It is dated September 1st, 1838, when 
 he was only twenty-five years of age, and does not extend beyond his 
 service in the Legislature. It was evidently never intended for publica- 
 tion but may now have some public interest as the candid statement of 
 the boyhood and early manhood of a young man who had bravely and 
 successfully faced life's battle; and who was wrhing frankly purely for 
 his own future information, and at a time when the circumstances were 
 yet fresh in his mind. Autobiographies are generally carefully written 
 in old age when the circumstances of early youth have grown dim, and 
 perhaps unconsciously colored by the struggles and experiences of 
 after life." 
 
 As will be observed Douglas even at that time in his life was pos- 
 sessed of a good style and narrates the events of his early life in excellent 
 and straightforward language. "I this day," he begins, "commence this 
 memorandum or journal of passing events for the purpose of refreshing 
 my mind in future upon subjects that might otherwise be forgotten. It 
 may be well to turn my attention to the past as well as to the future, 
 and record such facts as are within my recollection or have come to my 
 knowledge, and may be interesting or useful to myself or others 
 hereafter." 
 
 He relates that he was born in Vermont on the 23d of April, 1813. 
 He was named after his father. Dr. Stephen A. Douglas, a physician by 
 profession, a graduate of Middlebury College, who died when he was 
 but two months old. His mother took her child and went to live with a 
 brother who had no family of his own, and where young Stephen reached 
 the age of fifteen living the life of a farmer's boy. He was provided with 
 a good common-school education, but became anxious for a more inde- 
 pendent position than he then occupied, and so determined upon leaving 
 home and finding employment "in the wide world among strangers." 
 
 Accordingly he left his mother and uncle and engaged to learn the 
 cabinetmaking trade with one Nahum Parker who had a shop at Middle- 
 
 435
 
 436 Stephen X Douglas 
 
 bury. "I have never," he says, "been placed in any situation or been 
 enjraged in any butiiness vhicli I enjoyed to so great an extent as the 
 cabinet sliop. I then felt contented and happy, and never aspired to 
 any other distinction than that connected with ray trade." But a change 
 gradually took place. "Towards the end of the year," he continues, "I 
 became dissatisfied with my employer in consequence of his insisting 
 upon my performing some menial services in the house." This resulted 
 in his leaving his place and returning to his uncle's. Soon after, how- 
 ever, he obtained employment in another cabinet shop where he re- 
 mained another year. 
 
 Young Douglas had developed a fondness for reading as he grew 
 older, his interest being especially engaged with works of political writers. 
 Even at this time he had become a strong adherent and supporter of 
 Andrew Jackson, and remained throughout his life a believer and 
 admirer of "Old Hickory." He says that from this moment his politics 
 became fixed, and all subsequent reading, reflection and observation con- 
 firmed his early attachment to the cause of democracy. His health failed 
 him at length and he was obliged to give up his situation. 
 
 He commenced now to attend the Academy in his native town, but 
 his mother having married a man living in New York state, he followed 
 her to her new home. He then became a student in the Academy at 
 Canandaigua and devoted himself zealously to the study of Greek and 
 Latin, mathematics and so forth. When he was twenty years old he left 
 the Academy and entered a law office as a student, thus at last making 
 a beginning in the profession in which he ultimately won distinction 
 and renown. 
 
 "I pursued my law studies diligently five days in the week," he writes, 
 "and the sixth I spent in reviewing my classical studies, until some time 
 in the month of June in that year (1833). Finding myself in straitened 
 pecuniary circumstances, and knowing my mother's inability to support 
 me through a regular course of law studies, which would continue about 
 four years longer according to the statutes of New York requiring a 
 course of seven years' classical and legal study before admission to the 
 bar, I determined upon removing to the Western country and relying 
 upon my own efforts for a support henceforth. My mother and rela- 
 tives remonstrated, urging that I was too young and inexperienced for 
 such an adventure; but finding my resolution fixed and unchangeable, 
 they reluctantly consented, and kindly furnished me with three hundred 
 dollars, the last of my patrimony, with which to pay my expenses. 
 
 "On the 21th of June, 1833, (being twenty years of age), I bid 
 farewell to my friends, and started alone for the 'great West,' without 
 having any particidar place of destination in view." Arriving at Cleve- 
 land he presented some letters of introduction and was well received.
 
 ^tcpt)cn 3. Douglas 437 
 
 Entering a law office at tliis place it then seemed that his career was 
 fairly inaugurated. But an attack of fever unfortunately kept him con- 
 fined to the house for some months, and after his recovery he determined 
 to leave the place and push on farther west. His fortune Avas now 
 reduced to but forty dollars, and by the time he had reached St. Louis, 
 by way of the Ohio river, he was nearly at the end of his resources. He 
 found that he must immediately engage in some employment which 
 would defray his expenses, or go to some place not far distant Avhere 
 he could do so. 
 
 'My first effort,' he continues, "was to obtain a situation in some 
 law office in the city where I could write and perform office labor suffi- 
 cient to pay my expenses, and during the rest of the time pursue my 
 law studies." But in this he was unsuccessful, and soon after he left 
 the city. We now see the future statesman on the threshold of his 
 residence in the state of his adoption and the arena of his nationwide 
 fame. His first point of arrival was at Jacksonville. Illinois, where he 
 found himself with one dollar and twenty-five cents in his pocket. "One 
 of my first acquaintances at Jackson\411e," he says, "was Murray Mc- 
 Connell, Esq.. a la^v^er of some reputation, Avho advised me to go to 
 Pekin on the Illinois River and open a law office. I informed him that 
 I had never practiced law, had not yet procured my license, nor had 
 I any library. He informed me that he would furnish me with a few- 
 books, such as I woidd stand in need of immediately, and wait for the 
 pay until I was able to pay him, and did so to the amount of thirty 
 dollars' worth, which I received and subsequently paid him for. He 
 told me that a license was a matter of no consequence, that I could get 
 one at any time I desired to do so. I concluded to take his advice, and 
 consequently packed up my things and went to Meredosia on the Illinois 
 River to take a steamboat to Pekin. 
 
 "Arriving at the river, I waited one week for a steamboat, and then 
 I learned that the only boat which was expected up the river that season 
 had blown up at Alton, and consequently there would be no boat until 
 the next spring. What was now to be done? After paying my bill at 
 the tavern I had but fifty cents left. I could find nothing to do there, 
 and had no money to get away Avith. Something must be done, and 
 that soon. I inquired as to the prospect of getting a school, and was 
 told by a farmer residing in the country' a few miles that he thought I 
 could obtain one at Exeter, about ten miles distant; and if I would go 
 home with him that night, he would go to Exeter with me the next day. 
 I accepted his invitation, left my trunk at Meredosia, rode behind the 
 farmer on the same horse to his home, and the next day we both went 
 to Exeter. 
 
 "He introduced me to several citizens who were very polite and
 
 438 Stephen J. r>oiighis 
 
 kind: Imt did not lliink a school could be obtained there; hut if I would 
 po to Winchester. eiji;ht or ten miles further, they had no doubt I would 
 succeed in ohtainin-: one. ... I therefore determined to go to 
 \^inrhester and make another effort. Accordinjrly I parted with my 
 friend, the kind-hearted. hos{)itahle farmer, and taking my cloak on my 
 arm, went to Winchester on foot that night. Arriving in the town, I went 
 to the only tavern in the place, introduced myself to the landlord and 
 told him I wished to stop a few days with him, to which he readily as- 
 sented. The landlord introduced me to the citizens generally, who 
 seemed pleased with the idea of a new school in their little town, and in 
 a few days obtained for me a subscription list of about forty scholars. 
 "In the meantime there was on the second day after my arrival, an 
 administrator's sale, at which all the personal property of a dead man's 
 estate was to be disposed of at auction, and the administrator applied to 
 me to be clerk at the auction, make out the sale bills, draw the notes, 
 and so forth; which I very cheerfully consented to do and performed 
 the duty in the best style I knew how, and received five dollars for two 
 days' labor therein. About the first of December I commenced my school, 
 and closed it about the first of March, having during the whole time a 
 goodly number of scholars, and giving as I believe general satisfaction 
 to both scholars and parents. During this period I attended to consider- 
 able law business before justices of the peace, and formed an extensive 
 acquaintance with the people in that part of the county. There Avas con- 
 siderable political excitement growing out of the veto of the United 
 States Bank and the removal of the deposits by General Jackson, or 
 rather the removal of the Secretary of the Treasury because he would 
 not remove the deposits, and the appointment of Mr. Taney in his place, 
 who did remove them from the vaults of the United States Bank. 
 
 "One evening at the Lyceum, Mr. , a lawyer of some dis- 
 tinction from Jacksonville, made a speech denouncing the leading meas- 
 ures of General Jackson's administration, and especially the veto and 
 removal of the deposits. He characterized the first of these acts as ar- 
 bitrary and tyrannical, and the last as dangerous and unconstitutional. 
 Being a great admirer of General Jackson's public and political char- 
 acter and a warm supporter of the principles of his administration, 
 I could not remain silent when the old hero's character, public and 
 private, was traduced and his measures misrepresented and denounced. 
 I was then familiar with all the principles, measures and facts involved 
 in the controversy, having been an attentive reader of the debates in 
 Congress and the principal newspapers of the day, and having read also 
 with great interest, the principal works in this country; such as the 
 debates in the convention that formed the Constitution of the United 
 States, and the convention of the several states on the adoption of the
 
 ^tcpftcn g. Douglas 439 
 
 Constitution; the Federalist, and other works. I had read all of them 
 and many other political works with great care and interest, and had 
 my political opinions firmly established, I engaged in the debate with 
 a good deal of zeal and warmth, and defended the administration of 
 General Jackson and the cause of the Democratic party in a manner 
 which appeared highly gratifying to my political friends, and which cer- 
 tainly gave me some little reputation as a public speaker; much more 
 than I deserved. 
 
 '"When the first quarter of my school expired I settled my accounts, 
 and finding that I had made enough to pay my expenses, I determined 
 to remove to Jacksonville, the county seat of the same (Morgan) 
 county, and commence the practice of the law. In the month of March 
 I applied to the Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood, one of the Justices of the 
 Supreme Court, and after a short examination obtained a license, and 
 immediately opened my office, being then less than twenty-one years of 
 age. During the first week of my residence at Jacksonville some mem- 
 bers of the Whig (alias the Federal) party called a county meeting, 
 and made speeches and passed resolutions denouncing the administration 
 in the severest terms, and more especially in relation to the Bank and 
 currency question. The next week the Democrats called a meeting, one 
 of the most numerous and spirited I have ever witnessed in that county. 
 It was composed principally of farmers and mechanics, men who were 
 honest in their political sentiments and who felt a deep interest in the 
 proper administration of the public affairs, although but few of them 
 were accustomed to public discussion. 
 
 "It so happened that at that time out of twelve members of the 
 bar there was not a Democrat among them. This meeting I attended, 
 and at the earnest solicitation of my political friends (for personal 
 friends I had not then had time to form) I consented to make a speech. 
 The excitement was intense, and I was rather severe in my remarks upon 
 the opposition ; so much so as to excite the bitter hostility of the whole of 
 that party, and of course the warm support of my own party. The next 
 week the Patriot, the organ of the opposition, devoted two entire columns 
 of that paper to me and my speech, and continued the same course for 
 two or three successive weeks. The necessary consequence was that I 
 immediately became known to every man in the county, and was placed 
 in such a situation as to be supported by one party and opposed by the 
 other. This notoriety acquired by accident and founded on no peculiar 
 merit, proved highly serviceable to me in my profession; for within one 
 week thereafter I received for collection demands to the amount of thou- 
 sands of dollars from persons I had never seen or heard of, and who 
 would not probably have known that such a person as myself was in 
 existence but for the attacks upon me in the opposition papers.
 
 440 Stephen J. Douglas 
 
 "So essential was the service thus rendered to nie by my opponents 
 that I have sometimes douhted whether I was not morally bound to pay 
 the editor for his abuse according to the usual prices of advertisements. 
 This incident illustrates a principle which it is important for men of the 
 worhl, and especially politicians, to bear in mind. How foolish, how im- 
 politic, the indiscriminate abuse of political opponents whose humble 
 condition of insignificance prevents the possibility of injury, and who 
 may be greatly licnefited by the notoriety thus acquired! I firmly believe 
 this is one of the frequent and great errors committed by the political 
 editors of the present day. Indeed, I sincerely doubt whether I owe most 
 to the kind and efficient support of my friends, and no man similarly 
 situated ever had better and truer friends, or to the violent, reckless 
 and imprudent opposition of my enemies. Certain I am that without 
 both of those causes united, I never could have succeeded so well as I 
 have done." 
 
 The autobiography, thus quoted from, is continued at considerable 
 length beyond the period mentioned. It is enough to say that, in 1838. 
 l\Ir. Douglas made a visit to Chicago, and that he made a speech in that 
 city. '"It was there," says John Vi'entworth in one of bis historical ad- 
 dresses, "where Stephen A. Douglas and John T. Stuart, candidates for 
 congress, had a public discussion." 
 
 In the early part of 1841, "a law was passed reorganizing the judi- 
 ciary of the State, abolishing the circuit courts, increasing the member- 
 ship of the Supreme Court from four to nine, requiring Supreme Court 
 Judges not only to attend to Supreme Court duties, but as individual 
 members of the court to hold circuit court in the various circuits. The 
 Legislature appointed to these five new places on the Supreme Bench, 
 Thomas Ford, the next year elected governor, Walter B. Scates, for 
 many years after leaving the bench one of the prominent lawyers of 
 Illinois, Samuel H. Treat, afterward United States Federal Judge, Sid- 
 ney Breese, one of the most noted judges of this State, and Stephen A. 
 Douglas." 
 
 Thus Douglas became a member of the highest court of the state 
 when he was yet under twenty-eight years of age, and "less than seven 
 years from the lime be had come here a friendless adventurer." In his 
 busy career he had not been able to devote much time to study or in- 
 vestigation, but while on the bench an opportunity was afforded him to 
 become well grounded in the fundamental principles of the law. During 
 the time that he was a supreme court judge he wrote twenty-two opinions. 
 "There was little in any of these cases," says Judge Carter, "that tested 
 his capacity as a judge: enough, however, to justify the conclusion that 
 had he given his life unreservedly to the legal profession he would have 
 been known as an eminent la^vyer and judge.
 
 ^tgpf)cn g. Douglas 441 
 
 "In view of his subsequent connection with the slavery question it 
 is interesting to note that he was a member of the Supreme Court of 
 Illinois when a majority of that court of his own political faith held in 
 a case in which Shields and Trumbull were opposing counsel. Judge 
 Scates Avriting the opinion, that the presumption of law in this State 
 was in favor of liberty and every person was supposed to be free with- 
 out regard to color. Douglas, while on the Bench, wrote an opinion as to 
 the adoption of the common law in this country, which has been fre- 
 quently referred to with approval in other decisions. In it he said: 'The 
 common law is a beautiful system, containing the wisdom and experience 
 of the ages. Like the people it ruled and protected, it was simple and 
 crude in its infancy, and became enlarged, improved and polished as the 
 nation advanced in civilization, virtue and intelligence. Adapting itself 
 to the condition and circumstances of the people, and relying upon 
 them for its administration, it necessarily improved as the condition of 
 the people was elevated. . . . The inhabitants of this country al- 
 ways claimed the common law as their birthright, and at an early period 
 established it as the basis of their jurisprudence.' " 
 
 '"Douglas resigned as judge of the Supreme Court to run for Con- 
 gress in June, 1843, after serving two years and a little over three months 
 on that bench: he was elected representative and twice reelected; shortly 
 after his third election the Legislature of Illinois elected him to the 
 United States Senate, and he ser\'ed as a member of that body until his 
 death. ... A public prosecutor before be was twenty-two, leading 
 counsel in some of the most important cases heard in the State during 
 the next few years, a Supreme Court judge at twenty-seven, Douglas' ca- 
 reer at the Illinois bar has few parallels for brilliancy in the annals of 
 history." 
 
 Stephen A. Douglas was too broad a man to be judged solely by the 
 part taken by him in the United States senate during the several stages 
 of the repeal of the ^Missouri Compromise. Even the course he pursued 
 during the exciting \veek in Chicago in the fall of 1850, or even the de- 
 bates with Lincoln in 1858. do not afford sufficient ground for an unfa- 
 vorable verdict upon his character and public serv ices. Eventually Doug- 
 las showed himself to have the true spirit of a patriot, and hesitated not 
 to sacrifice himself and his political standing Avith his southern friends, 
 when it became apparent to him, as it did at length, that such Avas his 
 duty. 
 
 The reader avIio Avishes to understand the character of Douglas may 
 profitably peruse the volume by Hon. Clark E. Carr, published in 1909, 
 in Avhich the career of Douglas is fully set forth and its results estimated. 
 In vieAV of the fact that he A\as at one time the champion of a losing 
 cause, the author feels that ''his nobility and purity of character, his
 
 442 ^tcuhcii g. Douglns 
 
 suhliiuo patriotism and transcendant abilities, have not been appreciated 
 as tliey deserve to be." The <:randeur of the character and achievements 
 of Lincohi "became so exalted as to overshadow, for a time, the work 
 of the fireat senator: but the patriotic people of America," says Carr, 
 "should never forj;ct the public services of Senator Douglas. Great as is 
 the fame of Mr. Lincoln, it may be doubted whether bis name would 
 ever have been known to any considerable degree beyond the limits of 
 the state of Illinois, but for his proving himself to be able to meet and 
 successfully cope with the senator in what are knoAvn as 'The Lincoln- 
 Douglas debates." and it may also be doubted whether President Lincoln 
 could have been successful in the mighty work of maintaining the integ- 
 rity of the nation but for the timely support of Senator Douglas. 
 
 It was Douglas" ambition to become president of the United States, 
 but it is to his glory and honor that when the peril of disunion was 
 clearly perceived he came to the support of his great opponent, and ut- 
 tered words of patriotic loyalty to the Union. Himself a defeated candi- 
 date, he called on ]Mr. Lincoln, just after Fort Sumter had been fired 
 on. and pledged his most earnest and active cooperation toward putting 
 down the rebellion. He sent a telegram to his supporters in Illinois call- 
 ing upon them to come forward and help save the Union. 
 
 On the occasion of his last piddic speech at the Wigwam in Chicago 
 Mr. Douglas made an eloquent appeal to all loyal citizens to stand by 
 the Union then threatened \vith dissolution. This speech was delivered 
 only a month before his dying day. The closing words of this memorable 
 address were as follows: '"It is a sad task to discuss questions so fearful 
 as civil war; but sad as it is, bloody and disastrous as I expect it will be, 
 I express it as my conviction l)efore God that it is the duty of every 
 American citizen to rally round the Hag of his country." 
 
 "As he stood before that vast assemblage in Chicago," says Carr, 
 "Senator Douglas was the mightiest and most potential figure in the 
 galaxy of American statesmen. . . . Here patriotic men of every 
 shade of opinion and of every political party listened with breathless 
 interest for every word that fell from his lips, and vied with each other 
 to do him honor. Such enthusiastic greeting, such rapturous applause, 
 had never been accorded to another public man since the days of the 
 fathers. Every one who took part in the great demonstration felt that 
 the Senator's utterances were the expression of the emotions of all the 
 patriotic people of the great nation, from ocean to ocean. . . . Pa- 
 triotic men who then saw the great Senator, for the last time, recalled 
 in later days the splendors of that great ovation: and as they realized 
 that he had been withdrawn forever from their view, and that they 
 would never again see his familiar face and form, they felt that they 
 had witnessed his transfiguration.""
 
 ^tcpt)cn a. Douglas 443 
 
 Thereafter the name of Douglas, as well as his glowing words of loy- 
 alty, were fully identified with the Union cause. He did not live long 
 to render the invaluahle aid which he could have given throughout the 
 coming struggle, for when he left the scene of his triumphant ovation, 
 he did so never to return to the public gaze. The strain upon his physical 
 and mental faculties had been too severe, and from the great hall of 
 the \^ igwam he was driven to the old Tremont House, which was his 
 home when in Chicago. In a few days thereafter, he breathed his last, 
 on the 3d of June, 1861. His message to his children was in these words: 
 "Tell them to obey the laws and support the Constitution of the United 
 States," and these were his last words on earth. 
 
 The remains of Senator Douglas are in Chicago, and rest in a marble 
 sarcophagus placed within a cn.pt under a lofty monument of granite. 
 Surmounting the shaft is a bronze statue of the statesman, the total 
 height to the top of the statue being ninety-six feet. Upon the sarcopha- 
 gus is an inscription giving the dates of his birth and death, and the 
 words of his last message. The monument is situated on rising ground, 
 overlooking the lake, and is surrounded by an ample lawn space adjoin- 
 ing the right-of-way of the Illinois Central Railroad, at Thirty-fifth street. 
 
 Mr. Adlai E. Stevenson gave this estimate of Douglas. '"He was, in 
 very truth," he said, '"imbued with little of mere sentiment. He gave 
 little time to discussions belonging solely to the realm of the speculative 
 or the abstract. He was in no sense a dreamer. What Coleridge has de- 
 fined as wisdom — 'common sense in an uncommon degree' — was his. In 
 phrase the simple and most telling he struck at once at the very core of 
 the controversy. . . . Positive and aggressive to the last degree, 
 he never sought 'by indirections to find directions out.' In statesman- 
 ship — in all that pertained to human affairs — he was intensely practical. 
 \^'ith him, in the words of Macaulay, "one acre in Middlesex was worth 
 a principality in Utopia'."
 
 ?^RANK X. RYDZEWSKL Sr., an emiuent leader of Polish- 
 American activities in the midwest metropolis and 
 widely kuo\\-n throughout the state of Illinois, was for 
 more than four decades a prominent figure in political 
 and financial circles of South Chicago. A native of 
 Suwalki, Poland, he was horn Januarj 17, 1867, a son 
 of ^ incent and Catharine Rydzewski. His early education was acquired 
 in the parochial schools of his native town, which he left when a youth 
 of sixteen years to try his fortune in the new world. Soon after his 
 arrival in the United States he obtained employment with the Illinois 
 Steel Company of Chicago and began attending night school in order 
 that he might more quickly familiarize himself with the language and 
 customs of his adopted land. His laudable ambition to make the best 
 possible use of the advantages and opportunities here afforded early 
 manifested itself. After a few years he became manager of the Fred 
 Miller brewing interests, and though one would naturally not expect 
 a man in this position to be a total abstainer, it is a fact worthy of note 
 that Mr. Rydzewski never partook of any intoxicating beverage. He 
 was a temperate man in all things. He early became interested in real 
 estate development on the south side and was soon a political leader 
 among the democrats of South Chicago, where for more than forty years 
 he figured prominently not only in public affairs but also in the field of 
 finance. At one time he was head of the election commissioners of Cook 
 county, and he served on the board of local improvements under the 
 administrations of Carter H. Harrison and William E. Dever, being vice 
 president of the board under the latter's administration. During the last 
 year of the Dever administration Mr. Rydzewski was chosen to succeed 
 John Sloan as president of the board, in which connection he completed 
 the Wilson avenue sewer system and the famous Wacker drive. A half 
 million dollars of the appropriation set apart for \^ acker drive was 
 turned back by him into the city treasury. He also served as jury com- 
 missioner of Cook county for two terms. 
 
 Mr. Rydzewski was one of the founders and the president of the 
 South Chicago Building & Loan Association and was a member of the 
 board of directors of the Hegewisch State Bank, the Ogden State Bank 
 and the Calumet National Bank, while for four years he occupied the 
 presidency of the Interstate National Bank. 
 
 During the World war Mr. Rydzewski took an active part in the 
 
 445
 
 446 fnmk X. UpD>cUiski\ ^r. 
 
 Lilierty Loan drives and aided the government for a time as a lieutenant 
 in the secret service of the United States. Though he held membership 
 in the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Knights of Columbus and all the 
 local church organizations of the Catholic Church. Mr. Rydzewski was 
 best known to his friends as a home-loving man. His favorite recreation 
 in the outdoors was the care and cultivation of his beautiful garden at 
 7839 South Shore drive. 
 
 Mr. Rydzewski was married in South Chicago to Anna Furman, 
 daughter of Albert Furman, a native of Posen, Germany, and an old 
 settler of South Chicago. They were the parents of five sons and four 
 daughters: Frank X.. Jr., who was an all-American football star at Notre 
 Dame and is now in the real estate business in South Chicago; Edward; 
 Joseph; John; Vincent; Miss Marie Rydzewski: Mrs. Hattie Japczynski; 
 Mrs. Catherine Palicki; and Mrs. Lillian Boreczky. 
 
 Soon after the completion of Wacker drive, Mr. Rydzewski was 
 stricken with Bright's disease, and when the illness became acute, his 
 physicians advised that he go to Florida, hoping that a change of climate 
 would improve his condition. With him went his wife, Mrs. Anna 
 Rydzewski. who remained by his side to the end, for the trip was in 
 vain and INIr. Rydzewski passed away at the hospital in Coral Gables, 
 Monday, January 30, 1928. On Monday, February 6, his remains were 
 taken from St. Michaels Church at Eighty-third street and South Shore 
 drive to Holy Cross cemeter}-, Calumet City. Bishop Paul Peter Rhode, 
 formerly auxiliarj* bishop in Chicago, now bishop of Green Bay, Wiscon- 
 sin, and a lifelong friend of Mr. Rydzewski, officiated at the services. 
 Resolutions were passed by the board of local improvements of the city 
 of Chicago, the South Chicago Building & Loan Association and the 
 various banks of which Mr. Rydzewski was a director, attesting the high 
 esteem in which he was held by his associates of many years. On the day 
 of his funeral the board of local improvements suspended business. He 
 was a loyal citizen of his adopted land, an able and judicious leader of 
 the Polish-American people in financial and political affairs, widely 
 known for his benefactions in his section of the city, and best of all. in 
 his household he was a loving, indulgent and devoted husband and 
 father.
 
 LIBHAHY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 lltaltcr Dcrmnmi fiirk 
 
 N PROFESSIONAL circles of Peoria the name of Walter 
 Hermann Kirk, attorney and counselor at law, was 
 widely kno^vn. In all of his activities he held to the high- 
 est ethical standards of the profession and his keen intel- 
 ligence was constantly manifest in the able manner in 
 which he handled the litigated interests entrusted to his 
 care. \^'hile the greater part of his life was passed in Peoria, he Avas a 
 native of Baxter Springs, Missouri, his birth haA-ing there occurred De- 
 cember 5, 1870. His parents. John E. and Laura (Sevier) Kirk, Avere 
 also natives of that state and there the father engaged in the cattle trade 
 and in the grain business for a number of years in the vicinity of Kirks- 
 ville, which city was named in honor of his ancestors, who had removed 
 from Virginia and from Tennessee to Missouri at an early period in the 
 settlement of the last named state. In the maternal line Walter H. Kirk 
 was a descendant of the Sevier family, one of the well knoAvn and re- 
 nowned families among the early residents of Tennessee. On leaving 
 Missouri, John E. and Laura (Sevier) Kirk went to San Jose, California, 
 but about 1876 returned to Missouri, where a little later Mr. Kirk pur- 
 chased the patent of a hay-stacking device from James R. HUl. This he 
 perfected, manufactured and sold, making his headquarters at Salisbury, 
 Missouri, until the lack of facilities wherewith to carr}' on manufacturing 
 interests caused him to seek another location. Accordingly in 1881 he 
 removed to Peoria, where he organized the Acme Hay Harvester Com- 
 pany, of which he became president and general manager, continuing in 
 that official connection until his health failed in 1890 and he disposed of 
 his interests in the company. From that time forward he was not actively 
 engaged in business except for the care and supervision which he gave 
 to his extensive land interests in California, in which state he passed away 
 in March, 1898. 
 
 Walter H. Kirk was a youth of ten years when the family home was 
 established in Peoria and here he acquired his education, passing through 
 consecutive grades until he was graduated from high school. He next en- 
 tered the University of Michigan in preparation for a professional career 
 and was graduated from the law department in June, 1894. It was during 
 his college days that he became a member of the Phi Kappa Psi frater- 
 nity. With his return to Peoria he opened an office and entered upon the 
 practice of law as a member of the firm of Kirk & Shurtleff and was 
 soon widely recognized as one of the most brilliant attorneys of the 
 
 449
 
 450 CCIaltcr Dcrnuinn Kirk 
 
 state. He was widely sought in council and was seldom, if ever, at fault 
 in the application of a leiral principle. He readily recognized the value 
 of a business situation and wisely counseled the course to pursue, know- 
 infr just what restrictions were placed upon it by legal procedure and what 
 chances there were for legitimate expansion and control. Men eminent 
 in business circles sought his advice, finding it at all times sound and 
 logical. His knowledge of the law was comprehensive and exact and his 
 corporation practice was of a most extensive and inii)orlant character. 
 
 Mr. Kirk was united in marriage to Miss Pearl Matthews, a daughter 
 of Newton Matthews, a prominent attorney, and his wife, Anna Matthews, 
 of Peoria. Mr. and INIrs. Kirk had one child, Evangeline, who is now 
 Mrs. George B. Pattison and has two lovely little daughters, Mary Louise 
 and Anne Elizabeth. They occupy a beautiful home on Grand View 
 drive, living with Mrs. Kirk. 
 
 It was on the 18th of September, 1924, that Peoria was called upon 
 to mourn the loss of Walter H. Kirk. He had long occupied a prominent 
 place in the public life of the community, not only by reason of his 
 ability in his profession but also owing to his qualities of leadership in 
 other connections. He was a prominent and influential factor in republi- 
 can politics and filled a number of offices, serving as assistant supervisor 
 from 1901 until 1903 and as city attorney from 1903 until 1905. He was 
 a mendicr of the various Masonic bodies, including the Knight Templar 
 Commandery and the Mystic Shrine, and the rules that governed his 
 conduct and shaped his relations with his fellowmen were furthermore 
 shown in his membership in the Presbyterian Church, in which he served 
 in several official capacities, acting as superintendent of the Sunday-school 
 for a number of years. His social nature found expression in his mem- 
 bership in the University, Creve Coeur and Peoria Country Clubs. A 
 love of nature was ever one of his dominant characteristics and he estab- 
 lished for his family a handsome residence, known as "Vallenview%" on 
 Grand View drive in Peoria, affording a fine view of the Illinois River 
 valley, and in this beautiful home he always felt great pride. He was 
 active in various societies for the preservation of the beauties of nature, 
 loving the wild flowers, the trees, the birds and ail that expressed the 
 care of the Omnipotent. In private as well as in public life he was dis- 
 tinguished for his upright character. He possessed a charming person- 
 ality that always expressed itself in gentle kindliness to a host of friends 
 and in unfaltering devotion to his wife and daughter. Those qualities 
 which men most admire were his in large measure.
 
 ^t 
 
 |ol)ii Bcl)rmniiu 
 
 ^^^S'^-^ MQNG THE notable business men of Chicago was John 
 Behrmann, who passed away June 15, 1927. He was a 
 man of forceful character, of broad vision and unfalter- 
 ing determination, and as the years passed he won suc- 
 cess in large measure as the result of his intelligently 
 directed effort. His birth occurred in Bremen, Germany, 
 June 24, 1883, and there he acquired a good practical education, after 
 which he began working in a delicatessen store. The opportunities of 
 the new world attracted him, however, and in 1904 he sailed for Amer- 
 ica, settling in New York city, where he began work as a clerk for four 
 dollars a week. While thus employed in a delicatessen store, in which 
 his capability won him promotion, he carefully saved his earnings and 
 after a few years was able to establish business on his own account, 
 which he began in a small way but which he developed as time passed 
 and his trade increased. In 1919 he came to Chicago and founded the 
 business that was to bring him fame and fortune as the manufacturer 
 of the Blue Ribbon mayonnaise. This enterprise, too, was begun in a 
 small way but it grew phenomenally until it became one of the important 
 manufacturing interests of the city. His first plant was a small one- 
 story building at Lake street and Kedzie avenue, and at the time of his 
 death he was owner of an extensive plant at 4550 Jackson boulevard 
 and his business had reached the sum of two million dollars annually. 
 He studied closely to perfect the product in quality and make it a com- 
 modity that would be in universal demand, and today the output is sent 
 to every part of the country. Mr. Behrmann possessed in strong meas- 
 ure those qualities which for want of a better term have been called 
 the commercial sense. Determination, perseverance, broad vision and 
 indefatigable energy entered into his make-up and the results which he 
 achieved carried him far beyond the ranks of the many till he stood in 
 a notable place among the successful few. 
 
 On the 8th of August, 1912, Mr. Behrmann was united in marriage 
 to Wilhelmina Osterholtz, who survives him. Both having great fond- 
 ness for children, they adopted a boy and a girl, John Marvin and Mar- 
 garet, giving to them the same loving care, attention and opportunities 
 that they would have bestowed upon children of their own. 
 
 Mr. Behrmann was never ambitious to hold public office and in the 
 exercise of his right of franchise cast an independent ballot, voting for 
 men and measures rather than party. One of his outstanding charac- 
 
 451
 
 452 John 'I?rt)rmtinn 
 
 teristifs was his spirit of philanlhropy. He gave generously of his means 
 to many worthy charitahle organizations, constantly extending a helping 
 hand where aid was needed, and he exemplified in his life the true 
 spirit of Christianity in giving rather than receiving at the holy season. 
 lie found great happiness for many years in supplying to numerous in- 
 dividuals and families a Christmas hasket or other needed supplies and 
 rejoiced in the recipient's delight and pleasure. He took great interest 
 in Masonic work, attaining the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, 
 and also belonged to the Mystic Shrine. He greatly enjoyed reading good 
 literature and many of his happiest hours were spent in the companion- 
 ship of the men of master minds in his own librarj-. One of his splendid 
 qualities was his loyalty to his friends. He was a believer in the Emer- 
 sonian philosophy that the way to win a friend is to be one, and he and 
 his wife delighted to entertain their many friends at their own fireside, 
 where they accorded to all a warm-hearted hospitality. Mr. Bchrmann 
 also had the greatest appreciation for nature and out-of-door life, and 
 so many were his sterling qualities that those who knew him counted 
 his friendship as a most prized possession. He had, too, a warm appre- 
 ciation for the social opportunities that came to him through his mem- 
 bership in the Mcdinah Countr)-, the Illinois Athletic, the Chicago Yacht 
 and the Midwest Athletic Clubs, the Oak Park Elks Club, the West To^vn 
 Chamber of Commerce and the Westward Ho Golf Club. He resided at 
 337 Keystone avenue. River Forest, but it was a coincidence that he 
 passed away in the land of his birth. He had gone back to Germany 
 for the benefit of his health and had spent eight months there when 
 death called him, his remains being laid to rest, therefore, in his native 
 land. To his countless friends on this side of the Atlantic his demise 
 came as a great blow. His business associates honored him as one who 
 had truly earned the proud American title of a self-made man, having 
 worked his way upward from obscurity to prominence by methods which 
 at no time sought or required disguise; his social acquaintances esteemed 
 him because of his kindly spirit, his cordiality, his geniality and his true 
 hospitality; the recipients of his bounty remember him with gratitude 
 because of his generosity, and in his home his position was that of the 
 ideal husband who places the duties, the privileges, the opportunities 
 and the happiness of home life above all other things.
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSnv' OF lUINO'S
 
 s- 
 
 <2^
 
 DWARD D. MOENG, for fifty-seven years connected ^<nth 
 the engraving and printing business in Chicago, was born 
 in the midwest metropolis on the 5th of November, 
 1856. a son of Diedrich and Dora (Degenner) Moeng. 
 The father, a native of Liineburg, Germany, and a cab- 
 inetmaker and expert wood carver by trade, came to 
 Chicago when a young man and established a home at the corner of Madi- 
 son and La Salle streets. By his first marriage he had two daughters 
 and a son who attained maturity, namely: Mar}-, who married Peter 
 Stauff; Carrie, who became the wife of Henry Bruggeman; and Henry. 
 To Diedrich Moeng and his second \viie Avere born three sons and one 
 daughter who reached mature years: William, now living in Chicago; 
 Edward Diedrich, of this review; Louis, who resides in Chicago; and 
 Enuna, the deceased wife of William Droege. 
 
 Edward D. Moeng was educated in the public schools of Chicago and 
 in 1871 began his business career as an errand boy ^vith the house of 
 Zeese & Rand, pioneer electrotypers, while after the Chicago fire he 
 continued with A. Zeese, successor to the former firm. On February 2, 
 1872, he left Mr. Zeese to learn the plumbing trade and at the end of 
 four years, in 1876, returned to his old employer to serve an apprentice- 
 ship as an electrotyper. Six years later, in 1882, he discontinued his 
 connection with Mr. Zeese to accept the superintendency of the electro- 
 type foundry of Blomgren Brothers, by whom he was thus employed 
 until 1889. He then became superintendent for A. Zeese & Company 
 and filled that position through the succeeding decade, during which 
 period the concern was organized as the Franklin Engraving & Electro- 
 typing Company and its capital stock was increased from sixty to one 
 hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Mr. Moeng served as manager of 
 the company for two years, from 1899 until 1901, when he became its 
 president. In 1902 the capital stock was increased to two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars on account of the purchase of the Marsh and Grant printing 
 plant. On the 1st January, 1905, the corporate name was changed to 
 The Franklin Company and Mr. Moeng remained the active head of the 
 business as president and general manager until 1920, when he was 
 made chairman of the board, retaining that official title to the time of 
 his death. Under his wise and able direction The Franklin Company 
 developed an extensive business in designing, illustrating, engraving, 
 electrotyping, commercial photographing, embossing, printing and bind- 
 ing work. 
 
 A man of high ideals and great business and executive ability, Mr. 
 
 455
 
 456 (CDUituD O. a3ocns 
 
 Moeng led an active and useful life, and though he never took part in 
 local politics, he was a stanch republican in state and national issues. 
 He was an ardent lover of outdoor life, finding his chief sources of recre- 
 ation in motoring and golf and in his garden. Artistic in temperament, 
 his individuality displayed itself in the home which he built in 1903, 
 on the shore of Lake Michigan, at 1054 Columbia avenue, where he 
 passed away June 23, 1928. This handsome residence, with its beautiful 
 garden, is of unusual architecture, the exterior being built of small 
 stones, worn smooth by the action of the waves, which Mr. Moeng had 
 employed a man to gather from the shore for a period of two years 
 before he began to build. He bequeathed this fine home to a public 
 charity and made many other generous gifts to religious and philan- 
 thropic organizations. Mr. Moeng joined the Pilgrim Church, which 
 later became the famous Central Church at Orchestra Hall, and was a 
 personal friend of Dr. Frank Gunsaulus, its founder and pastor. At the 
 time of Mr. Moeng's death, Dr. Shannon, now pastor of Central Church, 
 was absent from the city, and the funeral ser\ices were conducted by 
 Dr. John, a lifelong friend. He was laid to rest in the mausoleum which 
 he had been building in Graceland cemetery and which was completed 
 just one day prior to his death. In his life he exemplified the teachings 
 and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, to which he belonged, and his 
 name was also on the membership rolls of the Royal Arcanum and the 
 Chicago Athletic Club. 
 
 On the 9th of December, 1886, Mr. Moeng was married to Helen 
 Jahn. daughter of Henry and Alvina (Luening) Jahu. Henry Jahn was a 
 youth of sixteen when he arrived in Chicago, having crossed the Atlantic 
 from Germany, and though he lived to reach the age of but forty-one 
 years, he had become one of the leading and prosperous grain merchants 
 on the Board of Trade. Mrs. Jahn, member of a highly cultured German 
 family, came to Chicago when a maiden of fifteen years as a guest of her 
 uncle, Rudolph Schloesser, and was forty-nine days in crossing the At- 
 lantic. Mrs. Moeng is justly proud of the fact that her mother was 
 responsible for the education of the children of her family. She was 
 herself a music teacher and reads and writes German fluently. There 
 were five children in the family of Henry and Alvina (Luening) Jahn, 
 namely: Mrs. Louise (Jahn) Mohrmann, Mrs. Helen (Jahn) Moeng, 
 August, Selma and Adolph. The last named, now deceased, was practic- 
 ally the owner of the engraving business of the firm of Jahn & Oilier. 
 
 Mr. Moeng willed five thousand dollars to Graceland cemeten,- for 
 perpetual care and an additional thousand dollars for the fund of his 
 father and mother, who were also interred there. In the bequest of the 
 home to the Infants Yi'elfare Society, a suitable bronze tablet is to be 
 kept on the building for twenty-five years.
 
 ^om0 (^iecuDratl) 
 
 HE NAME of Louis Eisendrath stands well to the fore in 
 the list of Illinois' honored dead as a pioneer merchant 
 and hanker of Chicago, where he passed away as a re- 
 tired capitalist on the 11th of November, 1927, when 
 seventy-four years of age. He was horn in Germany, 
 October 16, 1853, and in the early '60s was brought to 
 Chicago by his parents, Levi N. and Helen (Felsenthal) Eisendrath. 
 Early in the succeeding decade he began his business career as a travel- 
 ing salesman and in 1878 became a member of the firm of Kahn. Nuss- 
 baum & Company. It was in 1885 that he organized the corporation of 
 Strouss, Eisendrath & Company, manufacturers of ladies' and children's 
 clothing, of which he remained at the head as president until his retire- 
 ment from active business thirty years later, in 1915. During this period 
 he developed an enterprise of extensive and profitable proportions and 
 became widely recognized as a business man of keen sagacity, sound 
 judgment and progressive spirit. For a decade prior to his death he was 
 identified with financial interests as vice president of the Franklin Trust 
 & Savings Bank of Chicago. 
 
 On the 2d of June, 1874, Mr. Eisendrath was united in marriage to 
 Hannah Strouss, of Chicago, who passed away in 1913. Their only living 
 son is Joseph L. Eisendrath, vice president and treasurer of the Chicago 
 bond and mortgage firm of Baer, Eisendrath & Company. In 1916, Louis 
 Eisendrath was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Henry 
 Kahn. 
 
 Mr. Eisendrath was a trustee of Sinai Congregation and a director of 
 the Je^v'ish Charities of Chicago and was long identified with Jewish 
 philanthropies. He also served as vice president of Levi Memorial 
 Hospital at Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was highly esteemed among his 
 fellow members of the Standard, City, North Shore and Covenant Clubs 
 of Chicago and indeed enjoyed a most enviable reputation among his 
 associates in the varied relations of life. A resident of Chicago from 
 boyhood, he was widely and favorably known here and in his passing 
 the metropolis sustained the loss of one of its respected and valued 
 citizens. 
 
 457
 
 L'BRakV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSI'i ;' OF ILLINOIS
 
 RICHARD J. OGLESBY
 
 Jlirl)arD $, (Dolcsbi) 
 
 ICHARD J. OGLESBY, three times governor of Illinois, 
 a distinguished military leader and statesman, was born 
 iu Oldham county, Kentucky, July 25, 1824, and was 
 of Scotch lineage. In 1833 his parents, Jacob and Isa- 
 bella (Watson) Oglesby, together with two of their 
 children, were victims of a cholera epidemic. Richard 
 Oglesby, then nine years of age, went to live in the home of his uncle, 
 Willis Oglesby, Avho in 1836 removed to Decatur, Illinois. When 
 fourteen years of age he went to the home of his sisters, Mrs. Prather 
 and Mrs. Peddicord. in Decatur. In early youth he worked on a farm, 
 but at length he decided to return to Kentucky and learn the carpenter's 
 trade. He had previously attended school in Decatur and made the best 
 possible use of his educational opportunities, which, however, were 
 limited owing to the fact that JIacon county was then a frontier district. 
 \^ hen nineteen years of age he decided that Illinois was the place to farm 
 and not to build houses, and in connection with Lemuel Allen he rented 
 a tract of land. The venture proved unsuccessful, however, and it Avas 
 not until the later years of his life that Governor Oglesby again turned 
 his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
 
 He first entered actively in politics at the time of the debates between 
 Lincoln and Douglas. In later years he became a warm personal friend 
 and adviser of President Lincoln, and being in ^ ashington at the time 
 of the assassination he was one of the first at the bedside of the martyr 
 president. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Oglesby took up the study of law under Silas \^ . Rob- 
 bins, of Springfield, and upon his admission to the bar settled in Moultrie 
 county, where he practiced successfully until the outbreak of the Mexi- 
 can war in 1846. He volunteered at the age of twenty-one and was 
 elected first lieutenant of Company D, Fourth Illinois Regiment, com- 
 manded by Colonel E. D. Baker. The regiment marched more than 
 seven hundred miles through the interior of Mexico, participating in the 
 battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. In the latter Lieutenant Oglesby 
 commanded the company, and he displayed the military qualities which 
 made him afterward a distinguished officer of the Civil war. On his 
 return to Illinois he settled in Decatur, where he resumed the practice 
 of law, but the discovery of gold in California attracted him to the west 
 and in the summer of 1849 he was one of a party of nine who started 
 for the mines. He was fairly successful in his search for gold, returning 
 
 461
 
 462 UichtUD J. £)glcsbp 
 
 home with a considerable sum of money after two years spent in 
 California. 
 
 On his admission to the bar Mr. Oglesby began to cultivate the art of 
 public speaking, for which he had much natural talent. He was recog- 
 nized as a promising orator in the campaigns of 18!P) and 18.')2, and was 
 again manifest in his work at the bar. to which he devoted his attention 
 from 18.^1 until 18.S6. In April of the latter year he carried out a long 
 cherished desire of going abroad, visiting many points of interest, both 
 historical and modern, in Europe and then making a trip to Egypt and 
 the Holy Land. He visited a number of points of interest in western 
 Asia and then went to Constantinople and to Athens, returning to this 
 country after a visit to the more interesting Italian cities. He arrived 
 home in December, 1857, and delivered several lectures on his trips 
 abroad. He entered actively into the campaign of 1858, one of the 
 most critical in the history of the country, and was nominated on the 
 republican ticket for congress in a district very strongly democratic. His 
 speeches in the campaigns in which he participated captivated the atten- 
 tion of the crowd and excited their admiration for the man, if not for 
 the principles he advocated, and he succeeded in largely reducing the 
 democratic majority although, like his friend Lincoln, he had to wait 
 until 1860 for a personal triumph. In 1860 he became republican can- 
 didate for the state senate in a district containing eight counties, but 
 the most sanguine hardly dared to expect his election because of the 
 normal democratic vote there. He had shown, however, the elements 
 of a popular leader and carried his district by a larger vote than was 
 accorded Lincoln. He sat in legislative session from January 7 until 
 February 21, and then after Fort Sumter was fired upon Governor Yates 
 called the assembly in special session. On the last day of that session 
 the Eighth Illinois Regiment unanimously chose Mr. Oglesby as its 
 colonel. Without a moment's hesitation he repaired to Camp Yates. He 
 had no taste for war beyond the requirements of patriotic duty, but to 
 that duty, with all the determination of his soul, he exchanged his seat 
 in the senate for the camp of the soldier. His military history is too well 
 known to need minute recounting. He was ordered to the command of 
 Cairo and participated in a number of the early battles of the war. In 
 1862 he was appointed brigadier general by President Lincoln for gal- 
 lantry at Fort Donelson. At Corinth he commanded a brigade and on the 
 afternoon of the first day fell upon the field, dangerously wounded. Six 
 months of intense suffering and danger passed before he was able to 
 leave home, and all of the surgeons who attended him despaired of his 
 life, but fate had decreed that there was still great work for him to do. 
 In 1863, in consideration of his meritorious service. President Lincoln 
 appointed him major general, and though still suffering from his wound
 
 RicftarD J. Oglrsfap 463 
 
 be returned to active duty, but oAving to bis pbysical condition was 
 forced to resign in July, 1863. His resignation was not accepted, but be 
 was granted a leave of absence and returned borne. After a sbort time 
 be was detailed as president of a general court martial whicb sat in Wash- 
 ington from Decemljer. 1863, to May, 1864, trying some of tbe most 
 important cases tben pending in tbe militarj' service. 
 
 In the spring of 1864 the predominant question was Avho should be 
 the republican candidate for governor, and popular opinion trended so 
 strongly in his favor that when the convention met be was nominated 
 on the first ballot, being elected by a majority of more than thirty thou- 
 sand. The newspapers of the time spoke of him as ''a liberal hearted 
 administrator of the high and sacred trust imposed upon bun as the 
 official bead of a great commonwealth, showing himself eminently faith- 
 ful, competent and able, combining in an admirable degree tbe qualities 
 of a very" man among men.'' His term as governor continued until Jan- 
 uarj-, 1869, and bis record won high encomiums. 
 
 Another of bis important public services A\as as president of the 
 National Monument Association, which raised the means to erect an 
 enduring memorial to tbe martyr president, and when tbe statue of 
 Lincoln was unveiled, October 15, 1874. Governor Oglesby delivered the 
 dedicatory address. At the close of his first term as governor he retired 
 to private life, but in 1872 was again nominated and was elected by over 
 forty thousand majority. When tbe next legislature convened be was 
 elected to the United States senate for a full term of six years, serving 
 until March 4, 1879. He served on various important committees, par- 
 ticipated in tbe general business of congress, and was one of its promi- 
 nent members. In 1884 he was again candidate for governor, and though 
 some opposed him on the ground of a "third term," tbe people felt that 
 his previous service had made him worthy of all trust and again he was 
 elected, entering upon bis third term in January, 1885. At its close be 
 retired to a beautiful farm near Elkhart, in Logan county, determined 
 to quit public life, but in the election of 1888 he was again active in 
 campaign work. His opinions as long as he lived carried weight in tbe 
 councils of his party. The people knew and trusted — nay more, they 
 loved him, and bis name stands out on tbe pages of Illinois' history, 
 together with those of Lincoln, Grant, Douglas and others of fame and 
 eminence. 
 
 In 1859 Governor Oglesby married Miss Anna E., daughter of Joseph 
 White, of Decatur. She died in May, 1868, leaving two children, Robert 
 and Mrs. Olive Snyder. In 1873 Governor Oglesby married Mrs. Keyes, 
 the eldest daughter of John D. Gillett, of Elkhart, and they became the 
 parents of a daughter, Emma Louise, and three sons. Richard, John and 
 Jasper. Governor Oglesbys speech at the Har\ est Home banquet of tbe
 
 464 UicharO J. Oglrsfau 
 
 Fellowship Cluh in Chicago. Septenihcr. 1894. is regarded as a master- 
 piece. A paragraph from this remarkahle address is as follows: 
 
 '•Aye, the corn, the Royal Corn, within whose yellow heart there is 
 of health and strength for all the nations. The corn trinmphant, that with 
 the aid of man hath made vict«)rious procession across the tufted plain 
 and laid foundation for the social excellence that is and is to be. This 
 glorious plant, transmuted by the alchemy of God, sustains the warrior 
 in haltlc. the poet in song, and strengthens everywhere the thousand arms 
 that work the purposes of life. Oh that I had the voice of song, to 
 strengthen everywhere the thousand arms that work the purposes of life. 
 Oh that I had the voice of song, or skill to translate into tones the har- 
 monies, the symphonies and oratorios that roll across the soul, when 
 standing sometimes hy day and sometimes by night upon the borders of 
 this verdant sea. I note a world of promise, and then before one-half 
 the year is gone I view its full fruition and see its heaped gold await the 
 need of man. Majestic, fruitful, wondrous plant! Thou greatest among 
 the manifestations of the wisdom and love of God, that may be seen in 
 all the fields or upon the hillsides or in the valleys!" 
 
 Governor Oglesby's military and official service are matters of his- 
 tory. They are iutenvoven with the very web and woof of the annals 
 of Illinois. No one has stood for higher standards of citizenship or 
 labored more earnestly and courageously to secure their adoption. He 
 died at Elkhart. April 24, 1899. A contemporary biographer wrote of 
 him, prior to his death: "The people of Illinois are to be congratulated 
 upon the character of such splendor of development, such elevation and 
 purity of purpose and such devotion to the highest and best interests of 
 the state as are exhibited in the private and public life of Richard J. 
 Oglesby."
 
 |en0 (r)rc0cr0en 
 
 THE upbuilding of Chicago ever)- field of business is 
 represented, and among those ^vho have been most active 
 and prominent in developing the dain," interests of the 
 metropolis was numbered Jens Gregersen. president and 
 founder of the Clover Leaf Milk Company. It has often 
 been said that the man of foreign birth has keener ap- 
 preciation for the opportunities and advantages offered in the new world 
 than those who have had their nativity in this land. Jens Gregersen was 
 among those who came from Denmark, where his birth occurred March 
 10. 1856. His youthful days were passed on a farm and he acquired a 
 good education in the schools of his home locality. He also attended 
 the Danish dairy schools, which are similar to the agricultural colleges 
 of America, and thus he acquired an intimate and scientific knowledge 
 of the business to which he devoted his attention during the remainder 
 of his life. After leaving school he was employed by a dairy corporation 
 owning a chain of dairies, to inspect cattle and dairies, and thus he 
 added still broader knowledge and experience to his preparation for the 
 successful career which awaited him after his arrival in the new world. 
 Considering the possibilities for advancement in his own land, he be- 
 lieved that he might have still better opportunities on this side of the 
 water and in 1890 made the voyage to the United States. He did not 
 tarry on the eastern coast but came at once to Chicago and rented a 
 farm at what is now Sixty-sixth street and Western avenue in Englewood, 
 there making his start in the dairy business. He began in a small way 
 but gradually increased his interests as his means permitted, reinvesting 
 his profits in the business, so that at the time of his death he owned two 
 main distributing stations and two creameries in the country. He was 
 acknowledged by dairymen not only in Illinois but elsewhere as one of 
 the foremost representatives of this business in the country, not only 
 from the practical but also from the scientific standpoint. He always 
 closely studied the most advanced methods of handling dairy products 
 and the excellent quality of milk which he handled, together with his 
 reliable business methods, brought him to a prominent position among 
 the successful dairymen of his adopted city. 
 
 In 1892 Mr. Gregersen was united in marriage to Miss Karen Krogh 
 and they became parents of seven children, the living being: Helga, 
 who is the wife of Bowman Hinckley, of Moline, Illinois; and two sons, 
 Thonvald and Gunnar, who were associated with their father in busi- 
 
 465
 
 466 
 
 Jens v?>rcgcrscn 
 
 ness. The wife and mother passed away in 1916 and on the 11th of 
 November, 1919, Mr. Gregersen wedded Miss Petra Hoigard, of Chi- 
 cago, who survives him. Mr. Gregersen was a great home man, finding 
 his truest happiness in the companionship of his wife and children, and 
 therefore he never sought to figure prominently in any public relation. 
 He possessed a strong personality and a stranger at once realized that 
 he was a man to be trusted and respected. He was generous of his 
 means, giving liberally to charitable organizations, and he constantly 
 reached out a helping hand to those who needed assistance. He was 
 proud of his American citizenship, having lived for nearly forty years 
 in Chicago, and he was keenly interested in all that pertained to the 
 progress and upbuilding of the city, where he had directed his labors 
 to such avail that success in substantial measure rewarded his efforts. 
 He was truly a self-made man, owing his advancement entirely to his 
 industry and determination, and he was long numbered among the 
 substantial and valued citizens of Chicago. He made many friends, so 
 that when he passed away on the 26th of October, 1927, his death was 
 the occasion of deep and widespread regret.
 
 LIBRARy 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSli ^ OF ILLINOIS
 
 Ly^Cv^ ^.-e^^^^^^^^
 
 loljii Sommer 
 
 N THE records of those men who have contributed to mak- 
 ing Illinois history, mention should be made of John 
 Sommer, one of the founders and promoters of one of 
 the large enterprises of the state. He displayed marked 
 business capacity and power that enabled him to readily 
 meet any emergency and any opportunity. He took a 
 most active part in the development of the Keystone Steel and Wire 
 Company and his inventive genius found expression in many of the im- 
 provements which from time to time marked the gro\v'th of the business. 
 John Sommer was born in Morton, Illinois, December 29, 1865, being 
 the eldest son of Peter and Mary (Breisacher) Sommer, who are men- 
 tioned at length on another page of this work. His father was at that 
 time employed in connection with wagonmaking and blacksmithing at 
 Morton, but a few years later he removed to a farm in the vicinity of 
 Fairbury, where he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits until 
 1880. He then established the family home at Tremont, where he con- 
 tinued farming until 1889. In the meantime the necessity of building 
 eighty rods of fence annually upon the farm which he had leased, turned 
 his attention to the subject of making wire fencing. This he attempted 
 by a process which he soon learned had already been patented and yet 
 was not entirely satisfactory. He and his sons, John and Peter W., began 
 studying the problem with great thoroughness and it was John Sommer 
 who one day brought to his father a twisted wire which he believed 
 might be utilized in fence manufacturing and which has since become 
 known to the world as the Keystone twist. A little later a machine was 
 developed for making fencing of this character and in 1889 a small 
 plant was established, where the business steadily grew until the demand 
 for larger quarters, increased facilities and better shipment led to a 
 removal to Peoria. From the beginning, John and Peter W. Sommer 
 were associated with their father in the enterprise. In 1895 they opened 
 a larger plant in Peoria, but after a brief period found this also inade- 
 qiiate to the demands of the trade which had been built up. A much 
 larger plant was established at South Bartonville, a Peoria suburb, where 
 the business has since been carried on ^\ith frequent enlargement of the 
 shops. Today a mammoth enterprise is there maintained covering many 
 acres and furnishing employment to hundreds of workmen. 
 
 John Sommer was closely associated with the business until 1901 
 when he removed to Tremonton, Utah, because of his health, there re- 
 
 469
 
 470 John ^ommcr 
 
 maining until 1915, (luriii<: which time he devoted hie attention to farm- 
 ing:, to the nianufaoture of drain tile and to the drainage business. Upon 
 his return he resumed active connection with the Keystone Steel and 
 \\ ire Company, of which he was vice president at the time of his death. 
 He had also extended the scope of his activities by becoming president 
 of the Mid-States Steel and Wire Company, which has its main ofiBces in 
 Crawfordsville, Indiana, and was the result of a merger of the Crawfords- 
 ville Wire and Nail Company of Crawfordsville, Indiana, the Dwiggens 
 Fence Company of Anderson, Indiana, and the Adrian Wire Fence Com- 
 pany of Adrian, Michigan. His duties in relation to the new organiza- 
 tion required many trips between the various plants and he was giving 
 a large amount of his attention to the company's affairs when death 
 called him. 
 
 Mr. Sommer was a member of the Apostolic Christian Church and 
 his religious belief guided him in every relation of life, making him a 
 man whom to know was to esteem and honor. The sterling worth of his 
 character was recognized by all w ith whom he came in contact and those 
 who had business relations with him found him a most dependable as 
 well as a most capable man. He was thorough in everything that he 
 undertook and his ability contributed in substantial measure to the suc- 
 cess of the mammoth enterprise which was built up by John Sonmaer, 
 his father and his brothers and which remains one of the foremost 
 industries of Peoria. Among his employes, Mr. Sommer was always 
 approachable, looking carefully after their welfare and he enjoyed to 
 the fullest extent the respect and high regard of those who served him, 
 while throughout the section of the state in which he long lived he had 
 the friendship of a legion of people who knew him well, many from his 
 boyhood days until his life's labors were ended. He found his greatest 
 contentment in his home, in the presence of loved ones, and was to them 
 a thoughtful husband, father and companion. 
 
 John Sommer married, on October 21, 1891, Eliza Schmutz of Tre- 
 mont, daughter of Christian and Louise Fredericka (Spahr) Schmutz, 
 natives of Germany, who settled near Tremont upon a farm when they 
 came to this country. Mrs. Eliza (Schmutz) Sommer survives her hus- 
 band and continues to reside in Peoria, Illinois. Of this union were 
 born the following: Daniel P., who married Winifred Baker, and is the 
 father of two children, Lucille and John Daniel, succeeded his father 
 as vice president and director of the Keystone Steel and Wire Company; 
 Samuel C. who married Edna Johnson and is the father of Curtis, Vir- 
 ginia and Betty Jean: Louise, wife of V. J. Mueller and mother of 
 Marilyn and John; Edwin J., who married Sophia Koch and is the 
 father of Edwin J., Jr., Murray and Sylvia: Alvin H.. who married Lina 
 Stuber and is the father of Miriam and William; Esther, wife of Walter
 
 3Ioi)n ^ommcr 471 
 
 Baer; Lester B. ; 0. William; and John R. The two youngest children 
 are students. Mr. Sommer was also survived by two younger brothers 
 not heretofore mentioned: B. L. Sommer, president of the Keystone Steel 
 and Wire Company, who died in Februani% 1929, and W. H. Sommer, 
 then vice president and general superintendent of the works, who has 
 since succeeded his brother, B. L. Sommer, as president. 
 
 Mr. Sommer died April 7, 1928, at the age of sixty-two years. As 
 previously mentioned he had done considerable strenuous traveling in 
 the interests of the wire company of which he Avas president, and this 
 perhaps taxed his heart. It is said, moreover, that the shock attending 
 the death of his mother, who died only a few days previously, was a con- 
 tributing cause. His brother, P. W. Sommer, with whom he had long 
 been associated in the steel and wire business died exactly four years 
 before, to the date and almost to the hour. A double funeral was held 
 from the residence in Peoria for Mr. Sommer and his mother. Services 
 were read in the First Baptist Church and interment was in the family 
 lot at Springdale cemetery. 
 
 Death came to Mr. Sommer quietly in the night, closing a most 
 worthy career replete of good to man. That which he accomplished in 
 his three score and two years will continue to be of value to many, for he 
 inspired all those with whom he came in contact and through the souls 
 of those Avho sur\-ive him this inspiration toward an ideal ^vHl be con- 
 veyed to others and others in turn will pass it on until the nation and 
 the world are the better for one life well lived.
 
 >RCHELAUS SOUTHARD TERRILL was long a promin- 
 ent figure in the investment securities business in Chi- 
 cago, where he organized the firm of A. S. Terrill & 
 Company in 1894, while as the organizer of the United 
 States Lumber & Cotton Company he represented ex- 
 tensive timber and land interests in the south. He was 
 in the sixtv-third year of his age when he passed away November 16, 
 1927, at his home at 305 North Euclid avenue in Oak Park, where he 
 had maintained his residence for a quarter of a century. His birth oc- 
 curred at Pichton, Ontario, Canada, December 18, 1864, and he was a 
 young man of about twenty years when he crossed the border into the 
 United States and came to Chicago, immediately making application for 
 citizenship. It Avas a decade later, in 1894, that he organized the firm 
 of A. S. Terrill & Company for the purpose of dealing in investment 
 securities. Under his wise and capable control this developed into one of 
 the largest investment securities houses in Chicago, with branch oflSces 
 in New York and London, England. In the year 1906, extending the 
 scope of his operations, Mr. Terrill organized the United States LumlDcr 
 & Cotton Company with extensive timber and land interests in Ala- 
 bama and Mississippi. Many prominent Englishmen were interested in 
 this enterprise, and until the outbreak of the world war Mr. Terrill 
 spent considerable of his time in England, maintaining a residence in 
 that country as well as in the United States. He retired from active 
 business in June, 1926, and was called to his final rest about a year and 
 a half later. 
 
 In 1892 Mr. Terrill was united in marriage to Miss Helen Maud 
 Johnston, of Pichton, Ontario, and they became the parents of a daugh- 
 ter, Ruth, and a son, Clarence A. Terrill. The latter has two children, 
 Clarence A. Terrill, Jr., and Helen Shirley. Three brothers of A. S. 
 Terrill survive him, namely: Alfred, of Calgarj', Alberta, Canada; Wil- 
 liam, a resident of Chicago; and John, who lives in Seattle, Washington. 
 At all times appreciative of the social amenities of life, Mr. Terrill 
 joined the Chicago Athletic Association on the 12th of August, 1904, 
 and also held membership in the South Shore Country Club, the West- 
 ward Ho Club, the Oak Park Club, the Westchester-Biltmore and Bank- 
 ers' Clubs of New York and the Royal Automobile Club and Devonshire 
 Club of London, England. A worthy exemplar of the teachings and 
 
 473
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSii ■! OF ILLINOIS
 
 (__--^ ^(y. ^'^^^-'z-^t--T-T,-i-->-^
 
 T 
 
 jHctcr Pilliain Sommcr 
 
 HERE IS perhaps no record in Illinois where family coop- 
 eration has been so thoroughly the basis of notable suc- 
 cess in the building up of a mammoth enterprise as in 
 the Sommer family, founders and promoters of the Key- 
 stone Steel & Wire Company. In this connection Peter 
 William Sommer bore his full part, as with his father, 
 Peter Sommer, he aided in the early work of developing the first wire 
 fence which they produced, although he was at the time but a young lad. 
 From that point forward he took active and prominent part in furthering 
 an enterprise which became one of the chief productive industries of the 
 state, and he was not only a man of notably sound judgment and keen 
 insight into every feature of the business but he had, too, that genial, 
 kindly nature which prevented him from ever regarding his employes as 
 mere machines in the operation of a mammoth plant. Interested in their 
 welfare and kindly in his treatment of them, he had their thorough co- 
 operation, their high respect and unfaltering loyalty. 
 
 Peter W. Sommer was born in Fairbury, Livingston county, Illinois, 
 September 10, 1869, a son of Peter and Mary (Breisacher) Sommer. His 
 early youthful days were spent upon his fathers farm with the usual 
 experiences of the farm-bred lad. His father, owing to successive crop 
 failures resulting from wet weather at a time Avhen the use of drain tile 
 was unknown, had much difficulty in making both ends meet for a time 
 and the boy learned the value and virtue of work, also learned obedience 
 to those in authority and developed characteristics which made him an 
 outstanding man of his community. The prairies of Illinois did not af- 
 ford a great amount of timber and there was long felt a demand for 
 fencing material, as it was difiicult to secure an adequate supply of rails, 
 then used in fencing. It was this that led the father and his sons to pon- 
 der the question of producing a wire fencing and in course of time their 
 study and experiments resulted in the production of what is known as 
 the Keystone twist. Neighboring farmers recognized its value and placed 
 orders with them. The story of the development of the enterprise is 
 given in connection with the sketch of Peter Sommer on another page of 
 this work. Their manufacture of the product was continued successfully, 
 leading to the organization of the Keystone Steel & Wire Company of 
 Peoria in 1907. Charles W. LaPorte, on the occasion of the unveiling 
 of a tablet in memory of Peter and Peter W. Sommer, speaking of the 
 latter said: "His honesty of purpose with words or with men you could 
 
 477
 
 478 l^ctcr CCtillitim ^ommcr 
 
 never (juestion — so niiicli so. tliat his motto could have heen expressed in 
 the words of Van Dyke: "Help me to deal very honestly with words and 
 with people, for they are hoth alive. Show me that as in a river, so in a 
 writing, clearness is the hest quality, and a little that is pure is worth 
 more than much that is mixed.' To 'P. W.' and his hrother John much 
 credit is due for their untiring help and the encouragement they gave 
 to the early efforts of the father to build a practical farm fence, which 
 resulted in the splendid testimonial of hrick and mortar, throlihing ma- 
 chines and hundreds of employed men and women surrounding us today. 
 The administrative work fell to the lot of "P. W.' and John managed the 
 shop work, until the continued growth of the business required other 
 minds and more diversified efforts and then from time to time came 
 into the business others of the family of Peter Sommer — Joe, B. L. and 
 W. H. . . . It was during these latter years from 1893 that I knew 
 •p. W.' best and these were also his most productive years. No one 
 knew him or was associated with him but loved and respected him. 
 Friendship and charity were the two great qualities by which he was 
 known to his friends, and he was generous to a fault. There are those 
 here today who could testify to his great friendship and generousness and 
 who would say, if asked, that in their greatest hour of need 'P. W.' was 
 their best friend. My attention was called the other day to a blotter 
 issued by the company several years ago, on which Avas printed 'A Plea' 
 by "P. W.' for fairness and sympathy in our daily associations and as it 
 expresses in a large measure those qualities which be had I hand it on 
 to you. 'Wherever men are associated together in their endeavors for 
 the advancement of a common cause, whatever it may be, there is always 
 opportunity for growth of those human virtues which carry life to a 
 higher plane, and, alas, for the development of those human frailties 
 which spring up like weeds in a fair garden of flowers or fall like a 
 blight on the joy of life. This is a plea for fairness and sympathy in all 
 aflfairs of our daily lives. If we had a multitude of square stones piled 
 up in the form of a beautiful building, it would be nothing more than a 
 dangerous pile of stones. If, however, each stone is carefully embedded 
 in mortar, the dangerous pile is transformed into a permanent and use- 
 ful building, a monument to the builder, and what is far more important, 
 it becomes a comfort and a joy to our fellowraen. These square blocks 
 of stone represent fairness in our relation to each other, and sympathy is 
 the mortar which builds the multitude of stones into a solid building. It 
 is that rare virtue which compensates for our imperfections; it crowns 
 our lives with success and makes us a joy to our fellowmen. He who is 
 not fair is a big failure. He who is fair and unsympathetic is not a 
 success. He who combines these two virtues in their proper proportions 
 is a true builder, a joy to others — a success. Be fair and be sympathetic' "
 
 Peter MilUam ^ommcr 479 
 
 On the 5th of November, 1893, in Tremont, Illinois, Peter W. Soni- 
 mer was married to Miss Elizabeth Getz, a daughter of Henry and Han- 
 nah (Wenger) Getz. Her father, who was a native of Wurtemljerg, Ger- 
 many, came to the United States at the age of eighteen years and made 
 his way to Peoria on the first Rock Island train into the city. For two 
 years following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sommer remained in Tre- 
 mont and then removed to Peoria in 1895, at which time the business 
 was there established. They became the parents of eight children: Mary 
 Hannah, now Mrs. William C. Erkert; Henry Getz; Reuben Edward; 
 Verna Lillian, who is deceased; Mark Alvin; Emily Hazel; Ruth Eliza- 
 beth, who has passed away; and Helen. The surviving members of the 
 family reside in Peoria. The sons have all followed in the family foot- 
 steps and hold executive positions with the Keystone Steel & Wire Com- 
 pany, Henry G. being vice president and treasurer and Reuben E. vice 
 president in charge of sales. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Sommer was a republican but never took 
 active part in politics, his interest centering in his family and his busi- 
 ness. He was, however, a member of the Creve Coeur Club. His splendid 
 Christian character as a devout member of the Apostolic Christian 
 Church was recognized by all. He took very active part in the church 
 work, serving as its elder, and was also an untiring worker in the Sun- 
 day school. He passed away in that faith April 7, 1924, and while noth- 
 ing can measure the loss to wife and children, it is safe to say that few 
 employers have ever been missed so greatly by those in their service as 
 has P. W. Sommer. The narrow and petty things of life seemed not to 
 touch him. He had a broad sympathy for all mankind and a hand ever 
 down-reaching to uplift those with whom he came in contact. He found 
 keen pleasure in helping others and keen joy in his association with his 
 fellowmen, and throughout his entire career, by his kindly spirit and 
 genial nature, he shed around him much of the sunshine of life.
 
 (Tljnrlcs ^. Qxitkom 
 
 1862 
 
 ^HARLES T. LUCKOW, a lifelong resident of Chicago 
 and one of its respected and representative citizens, was 
 a pioneer in the lanndry industry here and became 
 widely known as president of the Globe Laundry Com- 
 pany, developing one of the largest enterprises of the 
 kind in the metropolis. He was born in Chicago, May 2, 
 and here made his home until his death, which occurred Febru- 
 ary 9, 1927, when he Avas sixty-three years of age. He was actively 
 engaged in the laundrj- business for more than four decades and in 1893 
 established the Globe Laundrj' Company, of which he remained at the 
 head until the time of his last illness. "The Cherry- Circle," in its issue 
 of March, 1927, said: "Mr. Luckow's ability won recognition for him 
 in the business world outside the scope of his own company, notably in 
 banking and real estate circles. Until his death he was a director of the 
 Reliance State Bank and of the Madison Square State Bank." He was 
 elected to resident membership in the Chicago Athletic Association on 
 December 14, 1923, and was also a member of the Illinois Athletic Club 
 and the Steuben Club. 
 
 Mr. Luckow was survived by his widow, Mrs. Rosa Luckow, and six 
 children, namely: Mrs. George L. Brannen, of Winnetka; Mrs. Aubrey H. 
 Pember, of Janesville, Wisconsin; Russell Q., who succeeded his father 
 in the presidency of the Globe Laundry Company of Chicago; and Ur- 
 sula, Grata and Charles, Jr., of Chicago. 
 
 481
 
 ■ LiSHAHY 
 ir THE 
 UNIVERSli / OF ILUNOK
 
 ienjamiit g. Sommer 
 
 i)ITH THE passing of Benjamin L. Sommer on the 8th of 
 February, 1929, the Keystone Steel & Wire Company 
 TTT' ^ lost another one of its representatives of that generation 
 y y y^ who founded and developed the business, with every 
 phase of which he was thoroughly familiar. While the 
 enterprise was started in 1887 by his father and elder 
 brothers, John and Peter W. Sommer, he had gone into the plant in his 
 youth, had acquainted himself with every detail of operation and had 
 long given his attention to management, filling various executive posi- 
 tions, including that of president, while at the time of his death he was 
 chairman of the board of directors. Not only Peoria but the entire state 
 mourned the loss of a representative citizen and one who in every relation 
 of life measured up to the highest standards. 
 
 Mr. Sommer was born in Fairbury, Illinois, January 17, 1880, a son 
 of the late Peter and Mary (Breisacher) Sommer, who were natives of 
 Tazewell county, Illinois, and of Germany, respectively. Extended men- 
 tion of them is made on another page of this work. From the pioneer 
 epoch in the history of Illinois the Sommer family has figured in con- 
 nection with its agricultural and industrial development. Through the 
 need of fencing upon his own farm the father, Peter Sommer, invented 
 a wire fence the practical utility of which was at once recognized and 
 led him and his sons to take up the Avork of manufacturing such fencing. 
 Many of the first appliances used in the manufacturing of their product 
 were invented by Peter Sommer and his sons John, Peter W. and Joe. 
 In later years the other two sons, Benjamin L. and William H., helped 
 in the work, and the last named is the only one still living. The steady 
 and substantial growth of the enterprise led to the removal of the plant 
 from the farm near Tremout, where operations were first carried on, to 
 Tremont, but still they found facilities inadequate there and in 1895 
 established their business in South Peoria, where it was possible to secure 
 materials in much less time and to make shipments. Finally the Keystone 
 Steel & ^ire Company moved to its present location near South Barton- 
 ville in 1901 and the plant was brought to completion in 1916. The 
 business was being conducted at Tremont when Benjamin L. Sommer 
 began working with the organization as a spooler. Indolence and idleness 
 were ever foreign to his nature. He applied himself closely to the tasks 
 at hand and worked his way upward through the various departments, 
 
 485
 
 486 benjamin L. ^ommcr 
 
 gaining an intimate and accurate kiiouleil-ic of the business, so that he 
 was well qualified to direct the labors of others when he was called to 
 executive position, his final connection with the enterprise being that of 
 chairman of the board. Those associated with him in the business speak 
 in the highest terms of his ability and keen sagacity. He found ready solu- 
 tion for intricate and involved problems of manufacture and, moreover, 
 he had the ability to correlate seemingly diverse interests into a unified 
 and harmonious whole. Broad vision enabled him to see the possibilities 
 of any situation and his habit of delving to the root of any matter en- 
 abled him to understand fully the value of any plan or proposition pre- 
 sented. He served for some time as secretary-treasurer of the company, 
 later became its president and eventually chairman of the board, but in 
 whatever relation he sustained he was held in the highest regard by his 
 employes and his fellow officials. The business ranks of Peoria indeed 
 lost a prominent and valued representative when he passed away. 
 
 On the 17th of June, 1923, Mr. Sommer was married to Sara Irene 
 Sova, her parents being Frank and Fannie (Kolleda) Sova, of Peoria, 
 the former a shoe merchant. Frank Sova, a native of Czechoslovakia, emi- 
 grated to the United States in early youth and in this country married 
 Miss Kolleda, who was born in Austria Hungary. Mr. and Mrs. Sommer 
 had four children: Thelma Irene, Benjamin Lloyd, Thomas Peter and 
 Rosalie Mary. 
 
 Mr. Sommer's interest centered in his family and he found his great- 
 est happiness in providing for the welfare of those of his own household. 
 He maintained an attractive winter home at Coral Gables and it was 
 there that he passed away, his death resulting from a heart attack from 
 w hich he had suffered at intervals for a considerable time. It was said of 
 him that his life was successful not only in material but in spiritual 
 things. He was an active member of the Apostolic Christian Church and 
 he was governed by principles that he endeavored to instill into his men. 
 Charles W. LaPorte, long closely associated with him in business and also 
 in the closer ties of friendship, said: "I am sure that from the character 
 of the man we can reach no other conclusion than that he wanted us to 
 be straightforward in all our undertakings; to put into every undertaking 
 the best that is in us; not to shirk our responsibilities; to be as consider- 
 ate in the treatment of our fellowmen as we would expect from them and 
 finally that we have sincere belief in ourselves and apply ourselves to our 
 daily duties in the honest belief that our work merits our best efforts. 
 \S hat tribute can we pay to Mr. Sommer better than that exemplified by 
 the life he lived. A lovable character and a Christian. A genial and com- 
 panionable associate. Generous to a fault. Alive to the needs of the com- 
 munity in which he lived and ever ready and willing to aid in its devel- 
 opment and succoring its institutions of whatever character or kind they
 
 13cnfamin L. ^ommet 
 
 487 
 
 may be. An example of industry. A good husband and father and untir- 
 ing and unselfish in his devotion to his family and friends, and ever mind- 
 ful of the needy and a desire and willingness to give of his means to add 
 cheer and happiness to those about him. He will be missed and aside 
 from his immediate family, none will miss him more than those of us who 
 have labored with him down through the years which have gone."
 
 3iDM00n (flmer llnnacr 
 
 ^OR MORE than forty years Addison Elmer Yauger was 
 identified with hnikling operations in Chicago, his 
 activities featuring prominently in the improvement of 
 the city in which the greater part of his life was passed. 
 His youthful days were spent in Ohio, his birth having 
 occurred on the old homestead farm near Kenton, Ohio, 
 on the 9th of September, 1864, his parents being William and Joanna 
 (Weldin) Yauger. His grandfather was a native of Holland and in 1836 
 came to the new world, taking up a farm near Kenton, Ohio, where he 
 built a log house, which is still in possession of the family. At the time 
 of the arrival of the family in the Buckeye state William Yauger was an 
 infant. The farm has now been in possession of the family for ninety- 
 five years and it was upon this place that William Yauger passed away 
 May 15, 1925. His wife had died there in 1922, at the age of eighty- 
 two years, and thus both were long associated with the history of Ohio, 
 dating their residence in that state from pioneer times. In their family 
 were five children: Addison Elmer; Sophronia, Avho became the wife of 
 the Rev. William Haynes, a Congregational minister mIio filled various 
 pastorates in Ohio; Edward J., of Kenton; Jesse T., who lives on the 
 home farm near Kenton; and Cora, the wife of Harry Halsey, who is 
 engaged in farming and also resides in the vicinity of Kenton. 
 
 Addison E. Yauger, the first of the family, spent his boyhood days on 
 the home farm in the Buckeye state and his experiences were those that 
 usually fall to the lot of the farm-bred boy who works in the fields from 
 the time of the early spring planting until the crops are harvested in late 
 autumn and who devotes his winter months to the acquirement of an 
 education in the district school. However, as he grew up he determined 
 to learn a trade and entered upon an apprenticeship to a carpenter. 
 When he had become somcAvhat proficient in that work he built a new 
 house on the home place so that the family might abandon the log cabin 
 in which they had so long lived. He afterward erected the little red brick 
 schoolhouse in the neighborhood, about three miles from the farm. 
 
 On attaining his majority, or in 1885, Mr. Yauger came to Chicago 
 and soon afterward was made secretary of the firm of Garthwaite & Com- 
 pany, being employed in that capacity in Louisville, Kentucky, and Nash- 
 ville, Tennessee. Later he was admitted to a partnership in the business 
 under the firm style of Garthwaite & Company and for a considerable 
 period he maintained offices of his own in Des Moines, Iowa. From 1900 
 until 1903 he superintended the erection of many fine buildings in 
 
 489
 
 490 JDDison (Clmrr rmugcr 
 
 Birmingham, Alabama, one of the notable ones being a marble hank 
 building. In the latter vear. ho^vever. not desiring t(» he away from home 
 (SO much, he engaged in construction work in Chicago under the name 
 of Yauger & Company, having an office in the old Chamber of Commerce 
 building at 313 \^est Yvashington street, and he was later in the Conway 
 building at 111 West \^ashington street, making a specialty of remodel- 
 ing large buildings. He was accorded a liberal patronage and was widely 
 known in building circles of the city. 
 
 On the 12th of June, 1901, Mr. Yauger was married in Waterloo, 
 Illinois, to Miss Margaret S. Cramer, a daughter of Oscar and Elizabeth 
 (Jehling) Cramer. Her father was born in Hermann, Missouri, a son 
 of Dr. Edward and Margaret Cramer, and was educated in the Christian 
 Brothers College. Her mother was a daughter of John Frederick Jehling, 
 an Illinois pioneer, who bought land in Monroe county for one dollar 
 per acre. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Yauger resided for about 
 six years in Chicago and in 1907 came to Evanston to live in the new 
 home which he had built on Hartzell street. They became the parents 
 of four children: Addison Cramer. Elizabeth M., Muriel J. and Ruth M. 
 
 Mr. Yauger was a member of Evanston Lodge, No. 1060, F. & A. M. ; 
 Oriental Consistory, S. P. R. S.; and Medinah Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. 
 At one time he was president of the Builders and Traders Exchange of 
 Chicago. He held membership in the Northminster Presbyterian Church 
 of Evanston, serving for several years as president of its board of trus- 
 tees and for two years as an elder in the church. He also supervised the 
 construction of the new church. Mr. Yauger was a great lover of 
 flowers and had planned to go to Michigan with his family to attend the 
 yearly flower show when he was suddenly taken ill and passed away 
 May 14, 1929, leaving to his family and his multitude of friends the 
 memory of one who had fulfilled the highest ideals of manhood, of good 
 citizenship and of love for God and man.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 WILLIAM H. WAGNER
 
 lUilliam J)cnn) lUnouer 
 
 ISTORY convinces one that the Teutonic element has 
 been a most potent force in bringing about modern 
 civilization, in promoting progress and advancing to 
 another stage of development the activities which have 
 brought about present day conditions. Among the sons 
 of Germany residing in central Illinois, William Henry 
 Wagner, of Freeport, was prominent. He was perhaps best known by 
 reason of his journalistic career as senior member of the firm owning and 
 publishing the Deutscher Anzeiger. In this connection he exerted a 
 broad and beneficial influence over the readers of his paper and held 
 before them the high standards of American manhood and citizenship. 
 Mr. Wagner was born in Gersbach, in the district of Schopfheim, Baden, 
 March 14, 1841, a son of the Rev. \^ illiam Wagner, who was born in 
 1803. The latter was one of the students at the University of Heidelberg 
 and became a minister of the gospel, preaching in Baden from 1836 until 
 1849, when he was obliged to leave the country on account of his opposi- 
 tion to oppressive government measures that brought on the revolution 
 of 1848. He arrived in the United States in 1851 and was joined by his 
 family the following year. His wife bore the maiden name of Friederike 
 Odenwald. 
 
 William Henry Wagner was in his twelfth year when the family 
 crossed the Atlantic. Up to that time he had pursued his education in 
 German and English in the village schools of Brombach and Neckar- 
 zimmern. For eight months after his arrival in Freeport he attended 
 the public schools here, but the straitened financial condition of the 
 family, omng to the heavy losses which the father sustained in Germany, 
 made it necessary that the boy should go to work, providing for his own 
 support and contributing as far as possible to the support of the family. 
 His first work was in a harness-making shop but later he became a clerk 
 in a cigar store, and when in 1853 his father began the publication of a 
 German paper called the Deutscher Anzeiger, the son entered the office 
 and learned the printer's trade, showing such ability in that direction 
 that he was given entire charge of the mechanical department when but 
 eighteen years of age. In 1863 he was admitted to a partnership under 
 the firm style of William Wagner & Son, a connection that was main- 
 tained until the father's death in November, 1877, when William H. 
 Wagner became sole proprietor, and in 1880 he admitted three of his 
 sons to a partnership. The father led a very busy life in which there 
 
 493
 
 494 CGilliiUu Dciup CCIagncr 
 
 wen- ft'w li-isure iniuiiciit,-;. He gave the l)est of his talents and his 
 ahility to the puhlicatioii <tf tlie paper and as chief editor he displayed 
 a truth-lovin}: spirit that manifested itself in his editorials. He ever 
 desired to he just and would say only what he considered to he right. 
 If he helieved in a certain course, however, he defended it without fear 
 or favor. He was ahsolutely sincere and he possessed, moreover, iron 
 energv and will power. His paper stood for reform, improvement and 
 advancement and Freeport has been benefited greatly by the influence 
 which he exerted. 
 
 Mr. \^ agner was married in May, 1861, to Miss Wilhelmine Seyfarth, 
 who came from Germany to America in 1850 and removed from St. 
 Louis to Freeport in 18.53. They became the parents of the following 
 children: Albert F., who married Julia Jungkunz; Otto, who wedded 
 Marie Walz; Herman D., who married Lillie Kupper; Paul, who married 
 Kate Kraft and passed away several months prior to the demise of his 
 father: Oscar; Frederick, who married Emma Gund; and William, who 
 married Jessie "^'irts. The family are widely and prominently known 
 in social circles and Mr. \^'agner exerted much influence among the 
 musical societies of the city. In 1863, when only twenty-two years of 
 age. he became a director of the Saengerbund and filled that position 
 until the end with few interruptions. He gave impetus to many of the 
 successful concerts and entertainments which were held by that organiza- 
 tion. At one time he was president of the Northwest Saengerbund and 
 he belonged also to the Germania Verein, the German Mutual Benefit 
 Association, the German Press Club of Illinois and the Press Association 
 of the \^'est. 
 
 In politics Mr. \^ agner was a stanch democrat and the appreciation of 
 his fellow townsmen for liis patriotic citizenship and devotion to the 
 general good was several times manifest in his election to office. He was 
 city treasurer in 1871 and assistant super^■isor in 1876 and 1877. In 
 1881 and 1882 he represented the third ward as a member of the city 
 council and in 1895 was chosen president of the board of education for 
 a year and again for an unexpired term in January, 1910. He passed 
 away November 27, 1910. Of him it was said: "He was a noble man, 
 noble in thought and action." He stood at all times for those things 
 which are highest and best in the life of the individual and in the com- 
 munity and was a splendid type of the German citizen who fuses the 
 best of his Teutonic nature into the American citizenship with results 
 that are far-reaching and beneficial to the community in \vhich he lives.
 
 ienjamin Harlino S^noiiisl) 
 
 }p ENJAMIN DARLING ANGUISH, for fifty years one of 
 the best known commission merchants in Chicago, was 
 born in Chittenango. Madison county. New York. No- 
 va^^gx HI HI vember 2, 1848. In 1806 his grandfather, Henry 
 ^Z . T . T • "Roguish, moved with his family from Canajoharie, in 
 the beautiful Mohawk valley in New York, to Madison 
 county and devoted his attenion to farming near Chittenango. His son, 
 Andrew Anguish, was born on the homestead farm in 1814. He married 
 Mary Skellinger, a native of Connecticut, and their family numbered six 
 sons and two daughters, all of whom were born on the Madison county 
 farm, namely: William Furman, Andrew Marvin, Henry Gustavus, Ben- 
 jamin Darling, Marj Elizabeth, James Austin, Hobart Skellinger and 
 Cora. 
 
 In March, 1868. Andrew Margin and Benjamin Darling Anguish, 
 following the advice of Horace Greeley — "Go west, young man, go west" 
 left home with the intention of making Omaha, Nebraska, their destina- 
 tion. Crossing the Mississippi river at Clinton. Iowa, they found a 
 delay in train serv ice which would cause them to remain there over night. 
 The next morning Benjamin Anguish, leaving his brother to pack up 
 their luggage, started down the street to see the toAvn. At Second street, 
 opposite the Lafayette Inn, he entered into conversation with a merchant 
 who had a small general store there, and when the latter found that 
 Benjamin and his brother were about to go on farther west, looking for a 
 business location, he suggested that Clinton was a good town and that 
 he might sell his store and stock to them, also pointing out the fact that 
 Clinton was the headquarters of extensive lumber interests and the home 
 of many Avealthy lumbermen and that it was one of the most prosperous 
 towns in the Mississippi valley. The brothers decided to purchase the 
 store with money which they had saved when in the east and engaged in 
 business in Clinton for four years. In 1872 Andrew M. Anguish opened 
 a haberdashery in Clinton, while Benjamin D. Anguish engaged in the 
 wholesale grocery business on First street. At the time of the wide- 
 spread financial panic of 1873, however, he, like many others, failed in 
 business; but his credit remained good and he used his opportunity of 
 reentering the mercantile field by opening up a number of stores — one in 
 Tipton, Iowa, another at Maquoketa, a third in Morrison, Illinois, and 
 thus became a pioneer in the chain store movement. These establish- 
 ments under his careful guidance prospered, so that he was soon able to 
 
 495
 
 496 ^ciiuimiii DcUliiig Jiiguist) 
 
 pay to his creilitors every cli)llar wliieli lie owed them when caught in the 
 panic of 1873. He extended his operations by establishing other stores 
 from time to time and in 1879, finding that he could buy merchandise 
 for these stores to better advantage if he were located in Chicago, he 
 came to this city and for a number of years conducted a large establish- 
 ment at the southeast corner of State and Kinzie streets. While operat- 
 ing at ISos. 17 and 19 North State street he issued an April Price List in 
 1881. It was in book form, with pages about four by six inches, and is 
 reputed to be the first mail order catalogue ever issued. It listed lines of 
 merchandise from seeds to pipes and tobacco and contained the follow- 
 ing: "The Main Object of this book is to get business down on a cash 
 basis. It not only does away with the middleman's profit, but places the 
 consumer on the same footing as a country merchant. Instead of selling 
 your produce such as butter, eggs, hides, etc., for them to realize a large 
 profit on, you have the same chance to get as much for it as they do and 
 have the same chance to buy goods as cheap as they can. Talk this thing 
 up with your neighbors and send a trial order which will prove for itself. 
 I am constantly closing out lines, and different numbers of goods and 
 when I receive orders for a certain number of tea or coffee and have sold 
 all of the line, I match it as nearly as possible and ship it at my own risk, 
 subject to return if not entirely satisfactory." 
 
 Over this store where the mail order catalogue originated, Mont- 
 gomery & \^ ard had an office, selling paints and oils, and from that small 
 beginning developed the great mail order house now known from coast 
 to coast. The business of Mr. Anguish steadily developed until he soon 
 became recognized as one of the leading commission merchants of 
 Chicago. From North State street he removed to South Water street in 
 1893 and subsequently to the Ogden building at the corner of Clark and 
 Lake streets, where his business became known as a car-lot trade. When 
 the South \^ ater street markets had to give way to Wacker drive, Mr. 
 Anguish removed to 216 South Yi'ater Market, Produce Exchange build- 
 ing. The years marked a constant increase in his trade and a constant 
 expansion in his business relations. He was the pioneer importer of 
 Holland cabbage seed in 1892, sending a man across the seas to select 
 and buy this merchandise for him. For forty-six years Mr. Anguish 
 continued a most active representative of the commission business in 
 Chicago and one whose name was a synonym for progressiveness and 
 reliability. In 1925, because of a stroke of paralysis, he retired from 
 business as much as possible and, not being a real invalid, took the 
 keenest joy in his home life and in his travel, while the business which 
 he had established was continued under his name, being managed by 
 V. L. Hanson, who was associated with Mr. Anguish for many years. 
 
 There are two interests which usually constitute the chief phases of
 
 ISenjamin Darling gngiifgt) 497 
 
 life for a man, his business and his home, and when not occupied with 
 the cares of commercial management Mr. Anguish found the keenest 
 joy at his own fireside. He was married February 28, 1872, to Nellie 
 F. Kerwin. Mr. and Mrs. Anguish became parents of two daughters: 
 Nelle, who married Roswell C. Bogue, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and has 
 two children, Eunice and Benjamin ; and Maude D. Anguish, who makes 
 her home with her mother in Evanston, where the family has resided 
 for thirty years. 
 
 In a review of the commercial history of Chicago it will be seen that 
 few merchants were as well known throughout the middle west as Ben- 
 jamin D. Anguish and none was held in higher esteem. A man of kindly 
 social nature, he enjoyed his eighty years of life to the full, having keen 
 appreciation for the best that is in others and of the pleasures of com- 
 panionship. On the night of March 12, 1929, he retired to a sleep from 
 which he did not waken on the following day. It was a fitting ending to 
 a beautiful life. As the day with its morning of hope and promise, its 
 noontide of activity, its evening of completed and successful effort, end- 
 ing in the quiet rest of the night, so was the life of this good man. Not 
 only was he an outstanding figure in commercial circles but was also 
 the possessor of those qualities which called forth the best in others and 
 were of inspirational value to those with whom he came in contact. 
 Funeral services were held in the First Presbyterian Church in Evanston 
 and Mr. Anguish was laid to rest in Clinton, Iowa, where he began his 
 business life so many years ago. Through all those years which men 
 have termed old age it could be said of him: 
 
 "While the snows of winter are on his head, 
 The flowers of spring are in his heart."
 
 LIliKAHV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn i Of ILLiN0!<5
 
 z^ ^<}(J.
 
 |ork00n ]^em}jfr Jlerino 
 
 ACKSON KEMPER BERING, for nearly forty years iden- 
 tified with the coal business in Illinois, was born at 
 Darlington, Wisconsin, August 1, 1870, a son of Fred- 
 erick and Ellen E. (True) Dering. He was named for 
 Jackson Kemper, Episcopal bishop of Wisconsin, an old 
 friend of the family. Mr. Dering acquired his educa- 
 tion in the schools of Darlington, Wisconsin, and when a youth of six- 
 teen years went to Des Moines, Iowa, where he obtained employment with 
 a railroad company. He came to Chicago at the age of eighteen years 
 and here engaged in the coal business in association whh his elder 
 brother, Charles Lewis Dering, until 1894, while during the three suc- 
 ceeding years he acted as general sales agent for the Consolidated Coal 
 Company and the Riverton Coal Company. In 1897, Mr. Dering em- 
 barked in the coal business on his own account, and from February 1, 
 1905, until March 4. 1909, was vice president of the Dering Coal Com- 
 pany. During the last thirteen years of his life, from June 1, 1912, 
 until his death on the 6th of July, 1925, he occupied the presidency of 
 the J. K. Dering Coal Company. He was also vice president and general 
 manager of the Oak Hill (Indiana) Coal & Mining Company from the 
 year of 1904, and general manager for the receivers of the O'Gara Coal 
 Company of Harrisburg, Illinois. Aside from his mining interests Mr. 
 Dering operated a large farm at Lake Villa, Illinois, where he began 
 raising Jersey cattle about 1912. gaining prominence as a breeder of fine 
 stock. About 1916 he began the raising of Hackney ponies and saddle 
 horses which were exhibited throughout the country with marked suc- 
 cess. At the time of the outbreak of the hoof and mouth disease, he 
 was instrumental in preventing the slaughter of prize cattle at the Stock- 
 yards cattle show. Mr. Dering was a lifelong member of the Horse Show 
 committee and sened as its chairman for two years, while for many 
 years he was in charge of the exhibition of horses at the National Dairy 
 Show. He was a director of the Lake Villa Bank from the time of its 
 organization. 
 
 In 1919 Mr. Dering went to Mexico to assist in the refinancing of the 
 United Sugar Companies, located at Los Mochis, Sinaloa, on the west 
 coast, near the port of Topolobampo, and in the following year became 
 vice president. In 1922 he aided in the organization of the Mexico & 
 Pacific Railway, a subsidiary of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient, of 
 which he became a director about 1925 and was also vice president. The 
 
 501
 
 502 
 
 31acb0on l^empct Dering 
 
 J. K. Dering Coal Company still owns Mr. Dering's interests in these en- 
 terprises. Mr. Dering was a personal friend of General Obregon, at 
 whose home he was a welcome visitor. 
 
 On the 15th of October, 1896, Mr. Dering married Edith Stouffer, 
 daughter of Charles Robert and Helen (Boggs) Stouffer. They had one 
 son, Jackson Kemper Dering, Jr., whose wife is Mildred Lucas, daughter 
 of the late A. Stanley and Ethel (Yeager) Lucas of Evanston, Illinois. 
 Mr. Dering was a member of the Chicago Club, Union League Club, 
 Chicago Athletic Association, Chicago Yacht Club, Fox Lake Yacht Club, 
 Mid-Day Club and South Shore Country Club. His Chicago home was at 
 924 Hvde Park boulevard.
 
 in, irat) iroton 
 
 GRAY BROWN, for more than half a century one of the 
 leading real estate dealers in Chicago, was born in Lan- 
 iAAT |C caster, Kentucky, May 19, 1848, a son of Judge Eph- 
 raim and Nancy M. Gray Brown. Mr. Brown's paternal 
 ancestors were early pioneers of Kentucky, and his 
 maternal grandfather, William Gray, was born in Phila- 
 delphia, Pennsylvania, of Scotch ancestors, but spent the greater part of 
 his life in Lancaster, Kentucky. 
 
 W. Gray Brown was educated in the schools of Lancaster and in his 
 boyhood determined to leave his birthplace for a wider field of endeavor, 
 for which purpose he began saving his money. In 1867 he asked Judge 
 Michael Owsley of Lexington where to go, and the Judge replied that 
 there was a very prosperous city growing up on the shore of Lake Michi- 
 gan, in Illinois, and it was called Chicago. In 1868, therefore, at the age 
 of twenty years, he came to Chicago and found employment with a col- 
 lecting agency at eight dollars weekly, which salary was eventually raised 
 to twenty-five dollars per week. Not content with this work, he opened 
 an office in the old Reaper building and engaged in buying, selling and 
 renting real estate, adding to this a growing insurance business. After the 
 Chicago fire he took up the work of fire insurance adjuster. Perceiving 
 the opportunities offered by reason of Chicago's rapid growth, he later 
 changed his business office to the 2000 block on West Madison street, 
 where he remained for more than fifty years and clients in real estate, 
 renting and insurance reached him from near and far. Realtors by the 
 hundreds came and went, but W. Gray Brown remained, his reputation 
 as a square dealer and a southern gentleman growing steadily with the 
 years. He radiated kindness and good humor and was generous in all 
 good causes, and while he contributed at all times to all things which 
 tended to the betterment of Chicago, he also maintained a deep interest 
 in the town of his birth and in October, 1926, gave to Lancaster the deed 
 of a piece of property for a hospital for Garrard county in memory of 
 his parents. After a time the property was returned to him, as the pro- 
 ject of raising the money to remodel the large old residence and equip 
 it seemed too great for the town to undertake, which was a keen disap- 
 pointment to Mr. Brown. 
 
 Throughout his life Mr. Brown had varied interests and was a great 
 reader and a patron of educational and artistic affairs. He %vas a member 
 of the Chicago Real Estate Board, the Chicago Athletic Association, the 
 
 503
 
 504 CG. Ortit? "L^roUni 
 
 British Empire Association, the Field Museum, the Art Institute of Chi- 
 ca<;o, the Chicago Historical Society anil the Chicago Geographical So- 
 ciety. Fraternally he >vas afiiliated ^\ith the following Masonic hodies: 
 RIair Lodge. A. F. & A. M. ; Wiley M. Egan Chapter, R. A. M.; Chicago 
 Commandery, K. T.; Medinah Temple. A. A. O. N. M. S.; and the Ma- 
 sonic Veterans Association. His religious faith was indicated hy his 
 memhership in the First Congregational Church of Oak Park. 
 
 Though eighty-two years of age, Mr. Brown remained continuously 
 active in husiness until April, 1930, when he gave up his Chicago office 
 on Madison street, near Rohey, which he had occupied for half a cen- 
 tury and where he had hecome an outstanding figure for integrity and 
 sterling qualities which made for true success and made men say of him: 
 "His word is as good as his hond." After his retirement he kept busily 
 engaged in supervising the remodeling of some of his properties, going 
 daily until a cold he had contracted took a critical turn and developed 
 into bronchial pneumonia, from which he passed away Thursday, No- 
 vember 13, 1930, at his residence, 212 South Grove avenue, Oak Park, 
 where he had resided for the past eleven years. The funeral ser\ices at 
 the First Congregational Church, Oak Park, Saturday afternoon, Novem- 
 ber 15th, were largely attended, present being members of the British 
 Empire Association and many Daughters of the British Empire, of which 
 his widow, Mrs. Lotta Manuel Brown, had been the state president for 
 two terms. Dr. Albert E. Coe, the new pastor, was assisted by the close 
 friend of Mr. Brown, Dr. Ernest Bourner Allen of Pilgrim Congrega- 
 tional Church, who paid a sincere tribute to the long and useful life just 
 ended. He reviewed Mr. Brown's unique business career of sixty-two 
 years, told of his stainless record and his constant civic and philan- 
 thropic activities, the sincerity and rugged strength of his convictions, 
 his deep loyalties to the things that were worth while and his happy 
 married life of eighteen years with an ideal mate. Wiley M. Egan Chap- 
 ter of the Chicago Commandery, Knights Templar, conducted the beau- 
 tiful and impressive Commander}' serA-ice, the response sung by the 
 Commandery Male Quartet. The jiallbearers were men from the old 
 Union Trust Bank, which recently merged wth the First National and 
 of which Mr. Brown was the oldest depositor and a large stockholder, and 
 from the People's Securities Company. Mr. Brown's surviving relatives 
 are his widow. Lotta Manuel Brown, two daughters by a former marriage, 
 Mrs. Florence Stegaman and Mrs. Edith Bates of Long Beach, California, 
 and three sisters: Mrs. Mary Royston of Lancaster, Kentucky; Mrs. 
 George Bruce of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania: and Mrs. Mattie Lake of 
 Terre Haute. Indiana. J. Rice Brown, a brother of W. Gray Brown, 
 passed away October 31. 1929. Another brother died January 23, 1927, 
 at Leavenworth, Kansas, and a sister, Mrs. Lavinia Park, passed away 
 in Columbus, Mississippi, March 15, 1924.
 
 Ui. ©rap 13rotun 
 
 505 
 
 The following memorial to i\Ir. B^o^v^l brings this memoir to a close: 
 "Tribute to the Memory of W. Gray Brown from the Board of Direc- 
 tors of the Chicago Athletic Association, November 13, 1930. 
 
 "To his family, the Board of Directors on behalf of the entire mem- 
 bership extends the deepest sympathy and every expression of condo- 
 lence. 
 
 "Your grief, hea^'^' as it is, may be softened by the knowledge that it 
 is shared by a host of friends whose hearts are one with yours in this 
 hour. 
 
 '"It is not for us to enter the home where the drawn curtains hallow 
 that sorrow which none may fully realize save those who have known 
 it, but so far as human speech can express our thoughts we tell you that 
 your grief is ours as your loss is ours. 
 
 C. B. Spaulding, President 
 Thomas H. Heneage, Secretary."
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 J^-. 
 
 -> 
 
 7.
 
 ^Ijomo0 ^eubrook Hobcrts 
 
 BRAHAM LINCOLN said: "There is something better 
 than making a living — making a life," while a modern 
 philosopher has written: "Not the good that comes to 
 ns. but the good that comes to the world through us is 
 the measure of our success." Thomas Tenbrook Rob- 
 erts may well be judged by such standards. He was a 
 capable business man, but he was much more than that. He felt that 
 character building was the essential thing in life and he was a most 
 generous contributor to schools and churches and to all agencies which 
 he believed would contribute to the desired end. He gave freely to the 
 world of his means and of his efforts and he sought continuously the 
 good of his fello^vTnen. 
 
 Mr. Roberts was born in eastern Tennessee, March 1, 1839, and was 
 the ninth in order of birth in a famUy of seven sons and three daugh- 
 ters. During his early childhood he was brought to Illinois by his par- 
 ents, who settled on a farm near Charleston, and there he was reared, 
 having the usual experiences and opportunities of the farm-bred boy 
 of that early period. His only chance for an education was that offered 
 by the country schools, but all through his life he studied men and 
 events and learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience. In 
 1862 he answered the call of his country for military service, enlisting 
 as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantrj-, and remained with that command until the close of 
 hostilities between the north and the south. He was wounded in the arm 
 in one of the last battles of the war — that of Selma, Alabama, which 
 occurred April 2, 1865. 
 
 Following his discharge from the army in July of that year, Mr. 
 Roberts returned to Illinois and after a brief visit with relatives came to 
 Decatur, where he secured a clerkship in his brother's drug store. Due 
 to his army serv ice, however, he was in poor health and the confinement 
 of the store proved detrimental, so that he was obliged to give up that 
 position. In fact his family almost despaired of his life but the deter- 
 mined spirit which always characterized him made him cling tenaciously 
 to life and in time he regained his health and strength, living for many 
 years to play an important part in the material, intellectual and moral 
 development not only of this community but of other sections as well. 
 In 1872 he established the firm which afterward became the Decatur 
 Cofiin Cpmpany and which is still a successful, thriving concern of this 
 
 509
 
 510 Cbomtis Ccn brook Roberts 
 
 city. At the outset he was associated in the enterprise with 0. Z. Greeue 
 and Captain R. P. Lytle in a partnership relation. A few years later, 
 however. Captain Lytle retired from the firm hut the partnership he- 
 tween Mr. Roherts and Mr. Greene continued until the death of the latter 
 a few years hefore Mr. Roherts was called from this life. Starting with 
 little capital, Mr. Roherts had a hard struggle to gain a financial foot- 
 hold. He woidd go upon the road, sell the products of their factor)-, and 
 often when the towns were not too far apart he would walk from one to 
 another. In later years, as he prospered, it became a matter of interest 
 to him to trade in farm lands and not only did he successfully control 
 hi* manufacturing enterprise hut also won substantial success in acquir- 
 ing and selling farm property. At his death he was the owner of more 
 than two thousand acres of valuable farm lands in Illinois. He was con- 
 sistently successful in his business affairs owing to his close application, 
 his reliability and his determined purpose. 
 
 Mr. Roberts' salient characteristic, however, was his willingness to 
 help every good cause, provided he could do so quietly and without 
 ostentation. He always followed the Biblical injunction not to let the 
 left hand know what the right hand doeth, but he contributed most 
 generously to all the institutions for good in Decatur. Every church, 
 regardless of creed, had the aid of T. T. Roberts and the hospital, the 
 Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian 
 Association were all materially assisted by him. The schools and 
 churches among the mountain people in the southern states likewise re- 
 ceived liberal contributions from him. He realized the value of educa- 
 tion in character building and knew that with a broader mental outlook 
 the individual might reach a point of sound judgment concerning the 
 worth of things in this world. His philanthropy was wide reaching and 
 he was constantly extending a helping hand to ameliorate the hard condi- 
 tions of life for the needy and unfortunate. He believed too in giving 
 the youth of the country an opportunity for progress and he became one 
 of the founders of Milliken University of Decatur and served for many 
 years on its board of trustees. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Rachel Musgrove, of Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, and they became the parents of two children: Margaret, 
 now the wife of Arthur Du Mont, of Detroit, Michigan ; and Anna, who 
 is Mrs. Robert P. Vail, of Decatur. The wife and mother passed away in 
 1882 and four years later, in 1886, Mr. Roberts married Miss Anna H. 
 Jack, of this city, a daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Herron) Jack. 
 The eliildren of this marriage were: Jane Herron, now deceased; Ruth, 
 the wife of R. C. McMillen, of Decatur; and Thomas Tenbrook, Jr., now 
 of Detroit, Michigan. Mrs. Roberts resides at 631 West ^X'illiams street 
 in Decatur.
 
 Cf)omas Ccn&rook Hoeerts 
 
 511 
 
 Mr. Roberts, by reason of bis military service, became a member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, connected with the post in Decatur, 
 and took an active interest in its work. In politics he was a republican 
 and he was also one of the first and most consistent opponents of the 
 liquor traffic in any form. He became a member of the board of alder- 
 men in 1883 and voted Decatur into the "no license" class. He always 
 felt that the use of intoxicants was extremely detrimental to physical, 
 mental and moral progress and did all in his power to further the cause 
 of temperance. He came of Scotch Presljyterian ancestry, was reared in 
 that faith, and was long an active member of and worker in the First 
 Presbyterian Church of Decatur, serving for many years as one of its 
 elders. In a word, his was an earnest, sincere Christian life and one that 
 reached out along constantly broadening lines of usefulness and service 
 to his fellomnen. ^liile successful in business, he will always be remem- 
 bered, not by reason of his prosperity, but by reason of his philanthropy, 
 and such were his benefactions that his memory will for many years be 
 enshrined in the hearts of those who knew of his good work.
 
 |c00e SpalMuG 
 
 ESSE SPALDING, for more than forty years one of the 
 most extensive himber manufacturers in the middle 
 west, was born at Athens, Bradford county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, April 13, 1828. He early began lumbering on the 
 Susquehanna and at the age of twenty-three began deal- 
 ing on his own account. In 1857 he removed to Chicago 
 and soon after bought the property of the New York Lumber Company at 
 the mouth of the Menominee river in Wisconsin, where with dififerent 
 partners and finally practically alone he carried on the business of the 
 Menominee River Lumber Company, with offices at Menekaunee, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Lumber interests did not, however, prevent him from giving his 
 attention to current affairs. During the war of the rebellion he was a 
 zealous supporter of the government and rendered valuable aid in the 
 construction and equipment of Camp Douglas and the barracks at 
 Chicago for the returning soldiers. In 1881 he was appointed, by Presi- 
 dent Arthur, collector of the port of Chicago and in 1889 received from 
 President Harrison an appointment as one of the directors of the Union 
 Pacific Railway. He was associated with William B. Ogden and others 
 in the project for connecting Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay by ship 
 canal, which was completed in 1882, and on the death of Mr. Ogden 
 succeeded to the presidency of the canal company, thus serving until 
 1893, when the canal was turned over to the federal government. 
 
 Mr. Spalding was also identified with many other public enterprises 
 which were intimately connected with the development and prosperity of 
 Chicago and in July, 1899, became president of the Chicago Union 
 Traction Company, having control of the North and West Chicago Street 
 Railway Systems. 
 
 During his lifetime Mr. Spalding's liberality in helping all worthy 
 causes was well known. Throughout the years the town where he was 
 born and spent his boyhood days grew ever dearer to his heart. On 
 March 12, 1897, just two years after the organization at Athens, Penn- 
 sylvania, of the Tioga Point Historical Society, it was announced in the 
 annual meeting of the society that Mr. Jesse Spalding of Chicago, a native 
 of Athens, had promised to erect a fireproof building for the use of said 
 society, also for a public library. On August 11, 1897, the cornerstone 
 was laid for this building with Masonic ceremonies by members of the 
 grand lodge of Pennsylvania, Hon. H. W. Williams of Wellsboro offi- 
 
 513
 
 514 Jesse ^ptilDing 
 
 ciatiiig. The Spalding Memorial Library is a stately looking two-story 
 stnuture, built of brick with antique stone trimmings. The building is 
 of the folonial style of arehitccture and has a handsome portico supported 
 by four magnificent Ionic columns. The ground where the building stands 
 is full of historic associations. It is the narrow neck of land between the 
 Susquehenna and Chemung rivers which was the place of the war coun- 
 cils of the Algonquin and other Indian tribes and where General Sulli- 
 van's fort was erected in his campaign against the western Indians in 
 1779. In the reception hall is a bronze tablet bearing this inscription: 
 In Loving Memory 
 
 1872— Robert L. Spalding— 1895 
 
 This Building was Erected by 
 
 His Father, Jesse Spalding, 
 
 As a Gift to the Inhabitants of 
 
 Athens Township. 
 
 —1897— 
 On each side of the tablet hang bronze bas-reliefs of Mr. Spalding and 
 his son, in whose memory the building was erected. On June 8, 1898, the 
 completed building was formally dedicated, and Judge Henry M. Shepard 
 of Chicago, also a native of Athens, in his opening address said in part: 
 '"This splendid youth whose seemingly untimely death furnished the 
 inspiring source of this building, will live in good deeds long after brick 
 and stone shall crumble, if the high objects to which these walls are de- 
 voted shall grow and expand in the characters of the inhabitants of this 
 region. So, also, shall the quiet, good man who has administered this 
 noble deed, for his son's sake, live with him in the hearts of this 
 people." 
 
 Here in Illinois, in the year 1928, the Jesse Spalding Hall was erected 
 and endowed for the Glenwood Manual Training School at Glenwood, 
 Illinois, by Elizabeth Spalding McElwee, in niemor)- of her father, whose 
 useful life had closed March 17, 1904. 
 
 Mr. Spalding married Adelphia Moody and had six children, three 
 sons and three daughters, namely: John, Robert L., Charles F., Mrs. 
 Elizabeth S. McElwee, Mrs. Eleanor S. Harris and Mrs. Jessie S. Landon.
 
 IHcnill gcroij Ijarri) 
 
 ERRILL LEROY HARRY, 'a friend to everyone" and 
 
 M^Yj/l one of the best known and most loved citizens of Illinois, 
 vJ passed from this life October 11, 1929. He had gained 
 '^ notable prominence in business circles, had had far- 
 reaching influence along many lines, but it is M. L. 
 Harry, the man, who will be remembered for years to 
 come — remembered because of his kindly spirit, his helpfulness, his 
 ready smile, his warm greeting, his appreciation for the good in others 
 and his devotion to high ideals. He rarely spoke of these ideals, but they 
 were embodied in his everyday living and created in him that warmth of 
 heart that so endeared him to high and low, rich and poor. 
 
 Bay City, Michigan, may well be proud to number M. L. Harry among 
 her native sons and Illinois was ever proud to claim him as a citizen. He 
 was born on the 8th of June, 1878, his father, Charles Harry, being at 
 that time engaged in the operation of a sawmill. A little later, however, 
 he established an electric plant and afterward inaugurated a street car 
 system in Bay City. The son pursued his education to the age of seven- 
 teen years, when he left school and began working for his father in 
 connection with the street car system. While he was never a college man, 
 throughout his life he was an apt student of men and events and was 
 continually broadening his knowledge by reading, observation and con- 
 tact with others. 
 
 From the time when he made his initial step in the business world 
 Mr. Harry was continuously identified with public utilities and first be- 
 came connected with the William B. McKinley interests in 1894, when 
 the Illinois utilities man took over the Bay City property. The Harry 
 family then removed to Kokomo, Indiana, where the father operated 
 a railway and light plant. During the seven years which M. L. Harry 
 spent in that city he suffered a serious accident by a fall from a trolley 
 wagon and for a year thereafter was unable to work. At the end of that 
 time he went to Danville, Illinois, where he again became connected wnth 
 the McKinley interests, which had just taken over the utility properties 
 there. He obtained his position through L. E. Fischer, now vice presi- 
 dent and general manager of the Illinois Power & Light Corporation, 
 who after interviewing the young man said, "I'll give you forty dollars 
 a month," but almost immediately added, "No, you're so big I'll give 
 you fifty dollars" — a story that Mr. Harry always told with keen enjoy- 
 ment. He was assigned to the task of reading meters and doing other 
 
 515
 
 516 a3t'rrin Lcrop barn) 
 
 odd jobs for tlif company in Danville, but it was soon manifest that he 
 knew considerable about the utility business and, moreover, he displayed 
 excellent <|ua!i(i(ations that very soon brought him advancement, so that 
 he was holding the position of assistant to Mr. Fischer in Danville when 
 at the age of twenty-five years he was chosen manager of the street car 
 property in Decatur at the time the lines were purchased by W. B. 
 McKinley, who already had the gas and electric business of the city. 
 This was in August, 1903, and on the 1st of January of the following 
 year Mr. Harry arrived to take up the responsible duties of manager of 
 the i)ublic utilities at this point. Electric lighting Avas then a compara- 
 tively new thing to Decatur and Mr. Hariy undertook the task of develop- 
 ing the business with results that are well known. He was introduced 
 to his ne^\ duties by his superiors. \^ . B. McKinley, and L. E. Fischer, 
 who accompanied him to Decatur for the purpose. Their trust in him 
 was fully substantiated by the record which he made. At the time of his 
 arrival the first interurban lines were being built and w ith the completion 
 of the road between Decatur and Carliuville the duties of supervisor 
 were added to his duties as general superintendent of Decatur properties. 
 After the completion of the Decatur-Bloomington line he was placed in 
 charge of operation, having previously been in charge of construction, 
 and in 1907 his duties were further increased when he took over the 
 sujjervision of the Springfield-Lincoln line. In the meantime the Spring- 
 field-East St. Louis line had been returned to his supervision, so that he 
 Avas now managing two hundred miles of traction lines in addition to the 
 public utilities of Decatur. However, the gas, light and street railway 
 business of the city grew rapidly under his management and demanded 
 more and more of his attention, so that he was relieved largely of his 
 duties in connection with traction problems, but no important moves 
 were made aftecting the traction system on which his advice was not 
 sought. He was holding the important and responsible position of 
 manager of the Decatur Railway & Light Company ^vlien the McKinley 
 interests sold to the North American interests in 1923 and the Illinois 
 Power & Light Corporation came into existence. He filled the position 
 of division manager at Decatur until 1926, when he was advanced to the 
 position of general manager of the Central Illinois group of properties 
 of the corporation, his territory including Decatur, Clinton, Bloomington, 
 Peoria, Jacksonville, Monticello, Champaign, Urbana and Danville. 
 From that time fonvard he was almost constantly on the road, visiting 
 these properties, and no matter when an emergency interrupted or threat- 
 ened to interrupt continuous service to customers he was on the job, 
 seeing that everything was kept in running order and that the best pos- 
 sible service was rendered to patrons. He had the faculty of winning 
 the entire loyalty and support of those who were employed under him.
 
 Qgcrrill Lcrop Darrg 517 
 
 Mr. Harry was six feet four inches in height, well proportioned and with 
 strength equal to his splendid physique, but he realized that all men 
 were not blessed with his powers of strength and endurance and he was 
 particularly watchful over the welfare of his employes. He never occu- 
 pied a private office but always had his desk in the open and was ever 
 accessible to those working under him and to the public at large. One 
 of the local papers said: "He was immensely proud of the public utility 
 business he represented and delighted in taking acquaintances to Power- 
 ton to marvel ^dth him at the magic efficiency of the power plant com- 
 pleted there a few years ago." In a business way he accomplished what 
 fcAv men could do in the amount of service which he rendered to the 
 corporation and he always gave the best that was in him to the company 
 which he represented, knowing just how much high efficiency meant in 
 time and comfort to those who Avere the patrons of the public utilities 
 which he represented. 
 
 On the 17th of Februan,-. 1909. at Springfield. Illinois, Mr. Harry 
 was united in marriage to Mrs. Mildred Robinson O'Hara. of Buffalo, 
 Sangamon county. Illinois, and they became the parents of a son and a 
 daughter: John Robinson Harry, who is at home with his widowed 
 mother; and Man,- Frances, deceased. To his stepson, Dr. Howard 
 O'Hara of West Palm Beach. Florida, he gave the love of a father, as he 
 did to an adopted daughter, Georganne. His interests centered at his 
 own fireside, and while he always found keen pleasure in friendship, 
 his greatest joy came to him in the companionship of his ^dfe and 
 children. He was widely known in fraternal and club circles and few 
 there are who have so fully exemplified the beneficent spirit of the 
 Masonic order as did M. L. Harry because of his belief in the brother- 
 hood of man and the fatherhood of God. He held membership in Ionic 
 Lodge. No. 312, A. F. & A. M.: Macon Chapter, IN'o. 21. R. A. M.: and 
 Beaumanoir Commanderj-. K. T.. and when be passed away the funeral 
 rites were held in the Masonic Temple. He also belonged to the Benevo- 
 lent and Protective Order of Elks and the Loyal Order of Moose. He was 
 an esteemed member of the Union League Club of Chicago and there 
 was no more popular man in the Decatur, Decatur Countrj, South Side 
 Country and Sunnyside Golf Clubs. He ever held to the high standards 
 of civic service inculcated by the Rotary Club, to which he belonged, 
 and in matters of citizenship his attitude was always progressive and 
 constructive. In the game of politics he took keen delight and while he 
 was never a candidate for public office he labored most earnestly in 
 support of William B. McKinley, of whom he was not only a business 
 associate but always a close personal friend. The same keen insight 
 which made for success in his business career enabled him to recognize 
 the real value of any political situation and his advice on political
 
 518 q^crrill Lcrop Darrp 
 
 matters was hifihly ratc<l. In 1921 he aeei»mi>anicd Senator McKinley 
 and a jiroup of other senators and congressmen on a Caribbean lour, 
 whieh was his first real vacation in eighteen years. 
 
 Death came to M. L. Harry through an automobile accident. ''INo 
 man was chtser to the heart of Decatur and never was there sorrow in 
 more homes of all classes," wrote one of the local papers. "The well-to- 
 do sorrowed with the poverty stricken and they stood side by side in the 
 line which passed the bier and in the foyer of the Masonic Temple as 
 services were in progress." At a meeting of the Rotary Club after he 
 had passed on, its president said: "We have all been thinking the last 
 few days about M. L. Harry. As I think of him, I think of these words of 
 Kipling's: 
 
 " 'If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue. 
 Or walk with kings nor lose the common touch. 
 If neither foe nor loving friend can hurt you. 
 If all men count with you but none too much; 
 If you can fill the unforgiving minute 
 With sixty seconds worth of distance run, 
 Yours is the world, and all there is in it 
 And, which is more, you'll be a man.' 
 
 That was M. L. Harry." 
 
 On the same occasion Rev. E. W. Clippinger said: "Merrill Leroy 
 Harry — Did you ever hear the full name before? No one who knew 
 him well ever said 'Mr. Harry.' It was always 'M. L.' He knew almost 
 everybody in the city, and almost everybody in the city knew him. He 
 was everybody's friend, and everybody was his friend. Anybody could 
 approach him when he was in his office; for that office was not an office 
 where he hid, and could be reached only through a secretary. His office 
 was in the open room, and if you had reason to see him, all you had to 
 do was to make it known you were there. He was big of body, but he 
 was also big of heart. He was generous with his money, but he was also 
 generous with his sympathies. He was tireless in body, and just as tireless 
 in his zeal for the success of his work. He was sometimes bluff, almost 
 abrupt in his speech, but with a laugh that took away any sting in his 
 remarks. If he was busy, he was never too busy to see you. He did not 
 keep you waiting. No matter how hard the task at hand, he always had 
 time for a chuckle and a good story. He was big enough in brain to 
 lead but he was also big enough to know that he could not achieve any 
 great thing without the help of others. He was big enough to inspire 
 loyalty in his employes, but he was also big enough to appreciate that 
 loyalty when given to him. He was big enough to have new responsi- 
 bilities committed to him, but he was also big enough to successfully 
 meet those responsibilities when he faced them. He was big enough to
 
 Qgcrti'I! Herop IDarrp 519 
 
 make friends, but he was also big enough to hold those friends after he 
 had made them. He was big enough to know that small courtesies some- 
 times cost the giver much, but he was not too big to receive them as 
 though they were the greatest of gifts. He was big enough to be the 
 associate of the highly educated, and the intellectual leaders, but he was 
 not too big to be the associate of the common man. He could meet with 
 equal ease the most distinguished and the most ordinary of men. He was 
 enthusiastic over what he had already accomplished, yet never content 
 with the achievements of today. He was not an inventor of machinery, 
 yet he was quick to see the worth of the new discoveries in electricity, 
 and new applications of it in his business. He knew how to do big things 
 without show, and yet how to do little things with big motives. He was 
 tremendously masculine in figure, in strength, and in attitude of mind, 
 yet almost feminine when his heart was touched by the story of some- 
 one's poverty, or suffering. He never appeared to be serious, yet he was 
 always planning for the business with which he was identified. He was 
 companionable as a man, and likeable even when you differed with him. 
 He was a factor in the civic life of Decatur for more than a quarter of a 
 century, with people having an increasing appreciation of him with 
 every year he lived among us. He was faithful to the interests of the 
 company he represented, yet I am sure that he always wanted to play 
 fair with the people of the community in which he lived. This, I think, 
 is the M. L. Harry that we knew here in Rotary. We shall miss him here, 
 but we are only a very small minority of the people of this city who 
 will miss him. He had a place in so many organizations in Decatur, and 
 made himself felt in so many worthy institutions, that both here and 
 there, there is regret and mourning over his untimely going from our 
 midst. We can only say 'Farewell M. L. May we find an able successor 
 to you, with a heart and a sympathy as big as yours, and who will make 
 for himself as affectionate a place in our hearts as you made.' " 
 
 Countless are the instances related of the kindly helpfulness of 
 Mr. Harry. The Daily Review said: "In losing him Decatur has lost 
 more than an unusual executive of an important business. It has lost 
 more than a good citizen. It has lost a friend to everyone. Tolerant of 
 everything but insincerity, believing in his fellows as it was given them 
 to see life, extracting from the hard knocks through which he had passed 
 the joy of living and of giving joy to others, M. L. Harry was an outstand- 
 ing figure in the life of this community. To few men has the blessing 
 of friendship of all — rich and poor, white and black, of high degree and 
 of low degree, been given in such rich measure as to M. L. Harry. To 
 few men has the reward for this lifelong habit of helping others been so 
 well deserved." It is said that on one occasion he entered a Pullman 
 en route for Chicago and found the porter of the car very ill. Mr. Harry 
 had the last berth on the car, but he insisted that the porter be placed
 
 520 egcrrill Lcrog Darrp 
 
 in it and it was not until two o'clock, with the arrival of the connecting 
 train, that he was ahle to secure a berth for himself. This was charac- 
 teristic of the man. Countless illustrations could be given showing the 
 same spirit, in which connection an editorial said of him: "All around 
 town today scores are telling of thoughtful, helpful, generous acts of 
 his, most of them unknown until now even to his most intimate asso- 
 ciates. They were inspired by the pure unselfishness of a big heart. He 
 was a mixer, he used his tact and shrewdness in his business, but he was 
 always giving of his own means, of himself, where there would never be 
 any gain to himself or his company. No one did that to the extent he 
 did. Everyone in Decatur knew him. Everyone recalls some personal 
 favor he had done. All others were criticized at times. Even when 
 there were complaints about his company, for him there were only kind 
 words. It is for these reasons that we say the going of no one would 
 leave as big a gap as we all now see and feel in the loss of M. L. Harry." 
 His friendships were the kind that gripped men's souls and one of 
 his close associates. Dr. Mark E. Penney, said of him: "Decatur is 
 infinitely richer because he came. The word 'friendship' has a richer 
 and finer meaning for all of us who knew him. Friendship is the baring 
 of one's soul — the opening of one's inner life. Friendship is loyalty, 
 love, kindness, tolerance. He, more than any man I have ever kno^v^l, 
 incarnated those words, transfigured them by the power of his person- 
 ality. He had set for himself not one but many goals and he reached 
 them to the extent that any man can reach his goals. I'm talking of a 
 friend whom I knew and loved. I'm talking of realities revealed to me 
 through my acquaintance with him. He had a keenness of mind seldom 
 seen. He had the ability to go to the heart of things. He had a phi- 
 losophy of life which interested me Avhen he talked. He was not trained 
 in the logic of schools — it was better that he was not, for he had a way 
 of going to the heart of problems which confronted him. In conversation 
 with him when he expressed himself rather freely, I quoted the words 
 of a Latin sage — 'The free man thinks of death least of all things; his 
 wisdom is a meditation not of death but of life!' Afterward, he asked 
 me to write it down for him. That is the type of man whose memory 
 we have come to honor and whose memory we will long continue to 
 honor. He never told me his conception of God, but he did tell me what 
 he thought of man. You tell me what you think of man, of the helpless, 
 of children, the poor and the crippled, and I'll tell you what you think 
 of God. He was a friend of God and God was a friend of his. I like to 
 think that when the time comes and we go beyond the stars, he %vill meet 
 us at the gate with outstretched hand. And there, he will say, 'Come, 
 meet my friends.' "
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSn/ OF ILLINOIS
 
 ^'^^v-t^a^ oU /^^:^'-^^->^->-»-^^
 
 lauiD iirkcij Sabin 
 
 ) MONG THE men who maintained for Illinois a high stand- 
 ard of citizenship because of the efforts which they put 
 forth for the moral, intellectual and material progress 
 of the communities in which they lived and the com- 
 ■fp¥ WW monwealth at large, David Dickey Sabin deserves promi- 
 nent mention. As a business man he was resourceful, 
 sagacious and enterprising, but his activities did not stop with his 
 accomplishments in the business world although they were most credit- 
 able. He stood for all that was highest and best in citizenship in its 
 broadest sense, seeking to promote civic virtue and civic pride, endeavor- 
 ing to awaken in others a recognition of man's responsibilities to his 
 fellowmen and seeking also to instill those Christian principles and 
 teachings which find their exemplification in the lives of those whom 
 the world most highly honors. David D. Sabin stood as a man among 
 men and all who knew him felt a sense of personal bereavement when 
 he was called from this life. He was born in Spencer, New York, Decem- 
 ber 31, 1830, and acquired his education in the schools of the east. He 
 arrived in the middle west in young manhood and entered commercial 
 circles in connection with the drj' goods trade at Janesville, Wisconsin. 
 He afterward became a factor in business circles of New Oregon, now 
 Cresco, Iowa, but it was evident that he had not then found the place 
 which he wished to make his permanent abode, for a few years later 
 he returned to Illinois and in 1865 formed a partnership with his cousin, 
 P. R. Sabin, for the conduct of a dry goods business at Belvidere. The 
 new venture proved successful from the beginning. It was based upon 
 a progressive policy tempered by safe conservatism and the utmost care 
 was exercised in choosing the personnel of the house, in establishing its 
 business standards and in maintaining a service that met the demands of 
 the general public. With the retirement of P. R. Sabin from the firm 
 he was succeeded by H. B. Sykes, who remained in the partnership until 
 1886. Upon Mr. Sabin's retirement from the business the store was 
 taken over and conducted by his sons, who maintained the most honor- 
 able policy established by the father. In all of his business dealings 
 Mr. Sabin never deviated from a course which he believed to be right 
 and just between his fellowmen and himself, but held to the highest 
 standards of conunercial ethics and ever endeavored to follow the Golden 
 Rule. Prosperity attended him because his methods had their root in 
 energy, sound judgment and irreproachable business integrity. He 
 
 523
 
 524 DtiuiP OickCD ^afain 
 
 extiiuled his activities to the field of banking and for many years was 
 president of the Second iSational Bank of Belvidere, of which he re- 
 mained a director until his demise. 
 
 It was on the 26th of March, 1856, that Mr. Sabin was united in 
 niarriajie to Miss Frances M. Avery, who passed away in October. 1894. 
 The children of this niarriage were: Eugene F., a resident of Belvidere; 
 Luther G.. who died in infancy; Sidney A., who died in Denver; Mrs. 
 J. C. Anderson, living in Auburn, New York; and Mrs. Fred K. Houston, 
 of Rockford. Mr. Sabin ^vas devoted to his family and found his greatest 
 liappiness when with the members of his own household. In April, 1907, 
 he married again, his second union being with Miss Harriet Foote, a 
 daughter of a distinguished citizen, John J. Foote. Mrs. Sabin survives 
 her husband and is prominent in social circles of Belvidere. Mr. Sabia 
 was well known as an exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity and 
 became one of the charter members of Kish^vaukee Chapter, No. 90, 
 R. A. M. He believed in the teachings and tenets of the craft concerning 
 the brotherhood of mankind and ever followed its principles of mutual 
 helpfulness and brotherly kindness. He adhered, however, to principles 
 still higher than the moral teachings of Masonry and found the motive 
 springs of his conduct in his Christian faith. He was a most active and 
 helpful factor in church and Sunday school work and for more than 
 forty-five years was a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church and 
 one of its elders for two decades. He was also at one time Sunday school 
 superintendent and for many years president of the Boone County Sun- 
 day School Association. He felt that one of the most essential features 
 in the higher civilization ^vas the training of the young and hence his 
 unflagging zeal and interest in Sunday school work. He did not neglect 
 his duties of citizenship in any particular and during his residence in 
 Iowa represented his district in the general assembly. Following his 
 return to Illinois he was made a member of the board of trustees of the 
 Illinois University at Urbana and through appointment of the Hon. 
 Jesse Hildrup became Deputy United States marshal for the northern 
 district of Illinois. With him a public office was a public trust and it is 
 a well known fact that no trust reposed in David D. Sabin was ever 
 betrayed in the slightest degree. Following the death of Mr. Sabin in 
 December, 1909, the directors of the Second National Bank passed a 
 series of resolutions in which they bore testimony to the high character 
 of one who '"entertained close business and social relations with the 
 members of this community for a period of over forty years" and voiced 
 "their recognition of the careful and conscientious service performed 
 by their late associate in wisely and prudently discharging the duties 
 devolving ui)on him." This was but one of many expressions of respect 
 entertained for Mr. Sabin by all who knew him. One of the local papers 
 
 \
 
 DauiD Dickcp ^abin 525 
 
 wrote: "He was always prominent as a business man and member of the 
 community through the many years of his residence in Belvidere. He 
 was by nature a leader, invariably optimistic and striving for the better- 
 ment of things. His genial personality made him many friends, the 
 circle continuously widening and the ties becoming more and more 
 strengthened. He was among the foremost to support any project to 
 advance the best interests of the city and county and contributed largely 
 in various ways to fonsard and maintain them. His uprightness, con- 
 spicuous ability in the positions he was called to fill and high ideals 
 formed a character that exerted a powerful influence for good. He was 
 another of those passing on who can illy be spared from the activities 
 of business, church and social life in any community. ' Reliable and 
 progressive in business, loyal and determined in citizenship, faithful in 
 public office, holding friendship inviolable and regarding the relations of 
 home and family as most sacred — the salient elements in the life record 
 of David D. Sabin were such as placed his name high on the roll of 
 Illinois' most valued and honored citizens. There was nothing spectacu- 
 lar in his career but his worth was recognized by all and his example 
 is one which cannot be easily forgotten.
 
 artljur |o0cpl) ^applm 
 
 N THE PAGES of Peoria's commercial history the name 
 of Arthur Joseph Tapping stands prominently forth. He 
 was long closely associated with the drug trade of the 
 city, becoming secretary of the Churchill Drug Com- 
 pany, although his start in life was made in an obscure 
 position as errand boy. It was the worth of his char- 
 acter and the development of his native powers that carried him steadily 
 forward and made his record a creditable chapter in Peoria's mercantile 
 annals. He was born in this city January 18, 1862, a son of Jacob and 
 Nancy Tapping, who came of fine English stock. His parents came to 
 America in early life and soon afterward settled in Peoria. 
 
 Arthur J. Tapping pursued his education in the public schools here 
 and when his textbooks were put aside began earning his living as an 
 errand boy in the wholesale drug house of Singer & Wheeler. There he 
 applied himself closely to the mastery of the tasks assigned him and his 
 capability and fidelity won him recognition that resulted in various pro- 
 motions from time to time. When P. J. Singer withdrew from the busi- 
 ness and the firm name was changed to Barker & Wheeler, Mr. Tapping 
 was made manager of the wholesale house, continuing to act in that 
 capacity until the firm of Barker & Wheeler merged with that of Colburn 
 & Birks under the name of the Churchill Drug Company. It was then 
 that he was elected secretary of the corporation and thus served until his 
 death. Step by step he had advanced until he reached official connection 
 with one of the largest and most important commercial interests of the 
 city. Loyalty to the firms which he had represented and unfaltering 
 industry constituted the basic principle of his success. He deserved 
 much credit for what he accomplished and at all times he commanded 
 the full confidence and respect of those who knew him. At last uninter- 
 rupted application to his duties caused a break-down in his health from 
 which he never recovered, and in his passing Peoria lost one of her 
 valued and representative merchants. 
 
 It was on the 5th of September, 1888, that Mr. Tapping was married 
 to Miss Anna Hawley, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, a daughter of Theodore and 
 Augusta (Johnson) Hawley. They became the parents of three children: 
 Theodore Hawley, now of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Charles Hawley, of 
 Peoria ; and Arthur, who died in infancy. 
 
 It was on the 17th of October, 1918, that Mr. Tapping passed away. 
 He left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name. He 
 
 527
 
 528 gnhiir Joseph Capping 
 
 had long been an active and faithful member of the First Baptist Church 
 and served in a number of its offices, ^vhile at all times he was untiring 
 in his efforts to promote its growth and extend its influence. Fraternally 
 he was connected with the ^lasons and socially with Creve Coeur Club 
 and the Optimists Club. Peoria ever found him a public-spirited citizen 
 in the best sense of the term. He cooperated in all projects that are a 
 matter of civic virtue and of civic pride and did all in his power to 
 uphold the city's fair name. His devotion to the welfare of his family 
 was one of his most marked characteristics, his chief interests in life 
 being his business, his family and his church. The qualities which ever 
 dominated him were such as make for honorable manhood and upright 
 livin", and in his home, in his clubs and in his business he was ever the 
 Christian gentleman.
 
 LIBRAKV 
 
 or THE 
 
 L'NIVERSn / OF ILLINO'S
 
 LyLicAcLocl ^u. ^ ^^fvn-e/t'&'U'
 
 liicljarD Hobcrt HomicUcii 
 
 ^ ROM THE time of Johannes Gutenberg, a German printer 
 who lived from 1397 to 1463 and was the reputed 
 inventor of movable type, to the birth of Richard 
 Robert Donnelley in 1837, various changes were made in 
 the art of printing, but the greatest advance in that art 
 has been attained in the period following the birth of 
 Mr. Donnelley down to the present. Business classification named him 
 as a printer, which Webster defines as "one who sets type or runs a 
 printing press; one who is engaged in the trade of typographical printing; 
 one who prints, stamps, impresses, or transfers copies of anything as a 
 business; one who owns a printing establishment and employs printers." 
 As we follow the career of Mr. Donnelley from his humble entrance into 
 the business world in Canada to the end of his illustrious and successful 
 career in Illinois, we find that this definition fits him perfectly, as he did 
 all of those things, reaching at length the position of head of one of the 
 largest and most important printing establishments not only of Chicago 
 but of the country. 
 
 Richard Robert Donnelley was born in Hamilton, at the western end 
 of Lake Ontario, in the province of Ontario, Canada, November 15, 1837, 
 and was the only child of John and Jane (Elliot) Donnelley. The father, 
 a native of Belfast, Ireland, became a resident of Hamilton, Ontario, in 
 young manhood, and there engaged in the wholesale dry goods business. 
 The mother, who was also born in Ireland, was a woman of strong 
 character, and though for many years totally blind, she was the patient 
 teacher of her son and the great factor in the formation of his character. 
 She was a direct descendant of Sir John Eliot, English orator and states- 
 man, who entered Oxford at fifteen years of age, became a member of 
 parliament when a young man of twenty-two and was leader of the house 
 at the age of thirty-four years. Because he "refused to yield an inch in 
 submission to the king" (Charles I) he was imprisoned and died in the 
 Tower of London, November 27, 1632, when forty years of age. The 
 Encyclopedia Americana says "Eliot was not republican in his views, but 
 believed rather that the ideal state was a constitutional monarchy in 
 which the powers of the king would be strengthened and interpreted by 
 parliament. The king's treatment of Eliot was one of the causes of the 
 unpopularity of that monarch which led to his downfall." 
 
 Richard R. Donnelley was educated in the schools of Hamilton and 
 in early youth, before completing his education, worked in a newspaper 
 
 531
 
 532 nifharP Uo&rrt Oonncllcg 
 
 liriiitiii}: oflice there, pursuing his stiulies at night and later attending 
 hij;h school. The influence of a jrood home life upon his character is 
 shown hy the fact that at the early age of fifteen years he voluntarily 
 signed a pledge not to use licpior or tohacco and to this pledge he loyally 
 adhered throughout his later life. 
 
 In 1860 Mr. Donnelley went to New Orleans, Louisiana, to take 
 charge of the job printing department in the newspaper office of the 
 True Delta, hut his stay there was short, for when the Civil war broke 
 out he did not consider it a good place for a non-combatant Canadian 
 who did not believe in human slavery. Accordingly he returned to his 
 old home in Hamilton and there established a general job printing office, 
 which proved a successful venture. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1863, at Brantford, in Brant county, 
 Ontario, Mr. Donnelley was married to Naomi Anne Shenstone, a daugh- 
 ter of Thomas S. and Mary (Lazenby) Shenstone. Her father was born 
 in London, England, and was married December 31, 1843, in Woodstock, 
 Canada, to Mary Lazenby, whose birth occurred in York, England, and 
 who was christened in Yorkminster. Thomas S. Shenstone was the first 
 registrar of Brant county, an office which carries a life tenure and in 
 which he served for forty years. The family were adherents of the 
 Baptist faith and the Baptist Missionary Society was organized in his 
 home, Mr. Shenstone serving as treasurer thereof throughout his remain- 
 ing days. Such was the early home environment of Mrs. Donnelley, who 
 since coming to Chicago in 1864 has ever been a leader in the First Bap- 
 tist Church of this city and in all of those activities which have tended to 
 the betterment of life here. Richard Robert and Naomi Anne (Shen- 
 stone) Donnelley became parents of three sons and a daughter. 
 
 (I) Reuben Hamilton Donnelley is mentioned elsewhere in this 
 work. 
 
 (II) Thomas Elliot Donnelley was born in Chicago, Illinois, August 
 18, 1867, and was graduated from Yale University with the Bachelor of 
 Arts degree in 1889. He at once became connected with the business 
 established by his father, seeking not for executive control at the outset 
 but serv ing as a workman in all departments and thus gaining an intimate 
 and accurate knowledge of the business of which he was to assume con- 
 trol upon the death of his father in 1899. Since that date he has been 
 president of the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company and thus is chief 
 executive of one of the leading printing establishments of Chicago. He 
 is also president and treasurer of the Lakeside Press Building Company 
 and a director of the Chicago Directory Company. He married Laura 
 Gaylord of Chicago and their children are Clarissa, Elliot and Gaylord. 
 
 (III) Benjamin Shenstone Donnelley was born in Chicago, Octo- 
 ber 18, 1871, and died August 12, 1922. He attended the Kenwood
 
 RictarD Robert DonncIIcp 533 
 
 public school, afterward a private school in Woodstock, Illinois, and 
 then entered Princeton University, where he took a leading part in 
 athletics, playing on the football team, where he became recognized as 
 one of the fastest ends of his day. After leaving Princeton he became 
 football coach at Purdue University in Indiana. Returning to Chicago, 
 he served an apprenticeship in all the departments of R. R. Donnelley 
 & Sons Company. Throughout his business life he maintained his in- 
 terest in athletic sports and Avas often called upon to act as referee in 
 boxing matches. He was himself an able boxer and in 1916 he won the 
 Olympic championship for trapshooting in England. He married Kath- 
 erine Ranch and had two sons, Richard Robert (II) and Benjamin Shen- 
 stone Donnelley, Jr. 
 
 (IV) Naomi Donnelley was born in Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 It was in 1864 that Richard Robert Donnelley became a resident 
 of Chicago. Early in the year, through the report of a mutual friend, 
 Edward Goodman and Leroy Church of Chicago became interested in the 
 young Canadian printer and in August of that year sent for him to come 
 to Chicago to see their printing oflSce. After he had returned to his home, 
 Mr. Goodman made a trip to Hamilton to inquire among the people of 
 his town concerning Mr. Donnelley, with the result that on October 22, 
 1864, Mr. and Mrs. Donnelley, bringing with them their infant son, 
 Reuben Hamilton, arrived in Chicago. Mr. Donnelley became a member 
 of the printing firm of Church & Goodman, which later became the firm 
 of Church, Goodman & Donnelley, then located in a building at 57 La 
 Salle streeet, where aside from doing a job printing business they also 
 printed the Christian Messenger. Chicago was then a city of one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand people and the lake front then bordered 
 Michigan avenue. T^'ith the growth of the city Mr. Donnelley developed 
 his interests, keeping pace with the progress of the metropolis. He 
 formed his independent printing company in 1867 and then began the 
 erection of the Lakeside building at the corner of Clark and Adams 
 streets. The great conflagration of 1871 destroyed his printing plant, 
 the Lakeside building and also his home. After the fire he went to New 
 York, Avhere he purchased new presses and all kinds of equipment. His 
 reputation for honesty was so great that the firms with which he dealt 
 not only gave him full credit but paid the freight on all goods which he 
 ordered. Following his return from the east he continued business in 
 a temporary building at Monroe and Canal streets, where be remained 
 until the Lakeside building was reconstructed. Later his firm moved to 
 Monroe street, between Clark and La Salle streets, and in 1897 Mr. Don- 
 nelley erected the large structure at 731 Plymouth court. When the 
 business outgrew these quarters, an entire block was purchased on Calu- 
 met avenue, between Twenty-first and Twenty-second streets, a location
 
 534 UiclitUD Rolicrt Oonnrllci) 
 
 ofifering splendid railroad facilities. The plant there was built at three 
 diflcreiit times and was finally completed in 1929. seventeen years after 
 Imildinj: operations were first begun. It is considered by the Architec- 
 tural Society to be one of the most beautiful factory buildings in the 
 entire country. The R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, printers, binders, 
 engravers and lithographers, have an equipment which it would be diflS- 
 cult to surpass. 
 
 For more than forty years the family home of the Donnelleys has 
 been at 4609 Woodlawn avenue. Always interested in civic affairs, Mr. 
 Donnelley was one of the charter members of the Municipal Voters 
 League and he and his son, Reuben Hamilton Donnelley, and \^ illiam 
 Kent were repul)licau leaders in that part of the city. In early life 
 Mr. Donnelley was a member of the Methodist Church, but after coming 
 to Chicago he attended the Baptist Church with his family. He had 
 belonged to a debating society in Canada, was a great reader and was 
 exceptionally well informed on all subjects. When he passed aAvav on 
 April 8. 1899. at the age of sixty-two years. Chicago lost one of her most 
 substantial, prominent and progressive pioneer business men. He had 
 won a substantial fortune but never at the cost of the interests and wel- 
 fare of others. His powers, developing through the exercise of effort 
 through the years, made him a most capable man. an excellent executive 
 and one whose knowledge covered every detail of the printing business 
 and expressed its highest standards. In every relation of life he meas- 
 ured up to the highest qualities of that manhood which is expressed in 
 the individual who keeps himself physically fit, mentally vigorous and 
 spiritually sensitive.
 
 LIBRARV 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSli / OF ILLINOIS
 
 CtuxArJSt^i 
 
 ^^^■c^uuCO^i
 
 Seuben gamilton ionnelleti 
 
 jARIOUS traits of character gained Reuben Hamilton Don- 
 nelley a place among Chicago's most distinguished and 
 honored citizens. Not only did he belong to one of the 
 leading families of the metropolis but in his own 
 make-up were combined those qualities which caused 
 him to be ranked as an outstanding figure in connection 
 with the great industrial interests of the city and as a representative of 
 those forces which have to do with civic progress, with social activity and 
 with the moral development of the community. If those who knew him 
 were asked to name one of his dominant traits there are many who would 
 say his loyalty to his friends, while others would name his inherent 
 honesty, which caused him, although cleared of financial obligation by 
 the court, to assume and pay off a moral obligation which with its twenty- 
 two years' interest amounted to approximately seven hundred thousand 
 dollars. Such was the man whom death called February 25, 1929, after 
 a busy and useful life in Chicago of more than sixty years. 
 
 Reuben Hamilton Donnelly was born August 20, 1864, in Brantford, 
 Brant county, Ontario, Canada, a son of Richard Robert and Naomi 
 Anne (Shenstone) Donnelley. He was given the middle name Hamilton 
 in honor of the birthplace of his father. On his mother's side he was 
 descended from the same family as William Shenstone, the famous Eng- 
 lish poet of the eighteenth century. On the 22d of October, 1864, Avhen 
 but two months old, he was brought by his parents to Chicago, where his 
 boyhood was passed. He pursued his early education in the public 
 schools, graduating from the Hyde Park high school, afterward attended 
 a private school for boys in Alton, Illinois, and later continued his 
 studies in the old University of Chicago to the end of the junior year. 
 In 1884 he became connected with the Chicago Directory Company in a 
 minor capacity but worked his way upward, afterward becoming a stock- 
 holder and subsequently secretary and treasurer, in which dual capacity 
 he served until elected to the presidency of that corporation. From 1887 
 until 1895 he was business manager of the directory company and 
 through the following decade he engaged in the stock brokerage business 
 in partnership with Newell Clark Knight imder the firm name of 
 Knight, Donnelley & Company. In 1905, however, the company failed 
 and twenty-two years later, without making his intentions known to rela- 
 tives or friends, Mr. Donnelley assumed the indebtedness of the company 
 as a moral obligation and paid approximately seven hundred thousand 
 
 537
 
 538 RciifaCM Damilton OonncllP 
 
 dollars to those who suffered h)sse3 at the hands of the company, making 
 a payment of one hundred cents on the dollar, with twenty-two years 
 interest, to three hundred persons. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Donnelley had again hecome an active factor 
 in connection with the printing husiness. He returned to the R. R. Don- 
 nelley & Sons Company, of which he hecame vice president and later he 
 organized the Reuhen H. Donnelley Corporation, with a puhlishing oflSce 
 at 2241 Indiana avenue, for the purpose of puhlishing telephone direc- 
 tories. He was president of this company and was the originator of the 
 classified telephone directory, a work that has heen of great value as a 
 convenience and time-saver. He also became the founder of the Adver- 
 tising Club of Chicago and president of the Associated Advertising Clubs 
 of the World, for he was a recognized leader in advertising circles and 
 instituted many effective new ideas in that field. From 1899 until 1900 
 he was vice president of the Chicago Stock Exchange and its president 
 from 1901 until 1903. He was also a member of the Chicago Board of 
 Trade and of the New York Stock Exchange, and the extent and scope 
 of his activities made him not only a leader in the husiness life of Chi- 
 cago but a well known figure in national trade circles. 
 
 It is doubtful if anyone will ever know the extent of Mr. Donnelley's 
 helpfulness to his friends in need during his lifetime, but it is well known 
 that he took great pleasure in extending assistance to them at all times 
 and in his will he charged his son and his daughter on all opportune 
 occasions to ''give to worthy objects as liberally as your circumstances will 
 allow and I know you will derive the same pleasure therefrom as I have." 
 There were eighty-three legatees listed in his will and it was characteristic 
 of him that in the main his bequests were made to relatives, to associates 
 in business and to employes of the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company 
 and the Reuben H. Donnelley Corporation. 
 
 Politically Mr. Donnelley was a repidilican and for many years, with 
 his father and with \^ illiam Kent, was a leader in local political affairs. 
 He became one of the organizers of the Chicago Athletic Club and was 
 a member of the Union League, Chicago, South Shore Country, Casino, 
 Racquet, Onwentsia. Old Elm, Shore Acres, Grand Island Lodge and 
 Delta Duck Clubs and the old Midlothian Club. 
 
 On the 9th of October, 1891, R. H. Donnelley was married to Miss 
 Laura Thorne, daughter of George R. Thorne, one of the founders of 
 Montgomery, Ward & Company. She passed away in 1918. Their only 
 son, Thorne Donnelley, is an official of the companies founded by his 
 father and his grandfather, while the only daughter. Eleanor, is the wife 
 of Professor Calvin Pardee Erdman, professor of Biblical history in Oc- 
 cidental College at Pasadena, California. 
 
 Mr. Donnelley had been in ill health for several years and passed
 
 Reuben !Dami'Iton Donncllp 
 
 539 
 
 away suddenly of a heart attack in his apartment in the Blackstone Hotel, 
 Februan,' 25, 1929. funeral services being held in his Lake Forest resi- 
 dence three days later. His memor\- is enshrined in the hearts of all 
 who knew him. His life record was one which would ever bear the 
 closest investigation and scrutiny and he embodied in his career those 
 characteristics which make for warm friendship, for high regard, for 
 respect and honor.
 
 |eH0 (Uarl ^^mmn 
 
 I OR A PERIOD of more than forty years Jeus Carl Hansen 
 was associated with banking interests of Chicago and 
 came to be recognized as one of the foremost financiers 
 of this city — a city that has given the opportunity to 
 many men who have risen from obscurity to leadership 
 and who in wisely directing their personal affairs have 
 also been contributing factors to the advancement and upbuilding of the 
 metropolis. Though born across the water, Mr. Hansen was essentially 
 a Chicago product, having been brought to the United States in 1872 by 
 his parents. Christen and Henrietta (Madsen) Hansen. He was then a 
 tiny lad of about three years, his birth having occurred September 9, 
 1869, in the village of Sommersted, Denmark. His father, who followed 
 the carpenter's trade in Denmark in early life, continued work of that 
 character after his arrival in Chicago in 1872, while subsequently he 
 embarked in the dry goods business on Erie street. On reaching the 
 fiftieth milestone on life's journey Christen Hansen withdrew from com- 
 mercial affairs and thereafter lived retired until his demise on the 11th 
 of January, 1929, at the venerable age of eighty-eight years, having long 
 survived his wife, who died in 1906. Before coming to this country Mr. 
 Hansen took part in the war between Denmark and Germany in 1864. 
 He was presented with a gold medal by the king, was knighted and given 
 a piece of land on which to build a castle, but refused the land grant 
 because he felt that Denmark had greater need of it. 
 
 At the usual age Jeus C. Hansen began his studies, becoming a pupil 
 in the Carpenter school, and subsequently he attended the evening ses- 
 sions of the Bryant & Stratton Business College, but ere that was accom- 
 plished he had started out in the business world. In 1882, when a lad 
 of thirteen, he was employed in the auditing department of the Illinois 
 Central Railroad and there remained for five years, gaining considerable 
 knowledge of financial affairs that proved a stepping-stone to his later 
 banking experience. In 1887 he entered the banking house of Peterson 
 & Bay, with whom he continued until 1888, after which he devoted three 
 years to carrying on an independent business venture. He became 
 associated with the First National Bank of Chicago in 1889 and there 
 continued for fifteen years, being constantly advanced to positions of 
 larger importance, demanding greater executive ability, until at length 
 experience and ability justified him in engaging in banking indepen- 
 dently. He formed a partnership with James B. Forgan in 1906 in 
 
 541
 
 542 Jens Carl Oanscii 
 
 orpanizin;: the Security Bank of Chicago, of which he became cashier 
 and a director, vhile in 1911 he was elected to the vice presidency, and 
 in Noveniher. 1914. was chosen president. He was thus active in control 
 of one of the strong moneyed institutions of the city and in 1916 further 
 extended the scope of his activity in financial circles by becoming presi- 
 dent of the Second Security Bank, organized in 1911. He was also 
 chosen the chief executive head of the Standard Safe Deposit Company 
 and these three banking institutions profited by his well defined plans, 
 his clear vision and his spirit of unfaltering enterprise and progress to 
 the time of his demise. His colleagues and his contemporaries in finan- 
 cial circles entertained for him the highest respect and confidence. 
 
 Mr. Hansen's home life had its inception in his marriage on the 16th 
 of October. 1895, to Miss Johanna Rasmussen, of Chicago, and his para- 
 mount happiness was found at his own fireside in the company of his 
 wife and the four sons who blessed their marriage. The eldest of these, 
 Edward C, wedded Jacqueline, daughter of George A. and Lelia Rysdale 
 of Grand Rapids. Michigan, and he and the three younger sons — Martin 
 C, Robert C. and James C. — all continue their residence in Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Hansen was a Lutheran in his religious faith and his standards 
 of life were still further indicated in his loyalty to the high moral teach- 
 ings of the Masonic fraternity, his aSiliation being with Lincoln Park 
 Lodge, No. 611, F. & A. M.; Oriental Consistory of the Scottish Rite; and 
 Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was interested in all that had 
 to do with the welfare of humanity and because of this he accepted the 
 vice presidency of the board of trustees of the Morgan Park Military 
 Academy, in which position he served most efficiently. He worked untir- 
 ingly in behalf of the academy and in recognition of his efforts the new 
 dormitory, dedicated in the fall of 1928, was named Hansen Hall in his 
 honor. In 1917 he was appointed west park commissioner by Governor 
 Lowden and continued to act in that capacity for four years. Deeply 
 interested in all progressive civic movements, he was largely instrumental 
 in putting through the Ogden Avenue project, for which he had labored 
 earnestly and systematically for many years. He served as president 
 of the retirement board of the Policemen's Benefit and Annuity Fund in 
 192-1 and 1925, holding the latter office under appointment of Mayor 
 Dever, although Mr. Hansen was a stalwart republican in his political 
 views. He was also secretary and treasurer of the Mount Olive Cemetery 
 Association. He thus filled various positions of a public and semi-public 
 character and no trust reposed in him was ever betrayed in the slightest 
 degree. Mr. Hansen was called to the presidency of the Dania Society, 
 a Danish organization with which he was connected for many years, and 
 he likewise held membership with the Chicago Athletic Association and 
 the Press Club of Chicago, having many friends both within and without
 
 Jens Carl Hansen 
 
 543 
 
 these organizations. He passed away April 27, 1927, funeral services 
 being held at the Oriental Consistory'. His life was entirely ^dthout 
 sham or pretense. He was a manly man who enjoyed the full trust of his 
 colleagues and contemporaries in financial circles and the good-will and 
 warm friendship of those whom he met through social activities. With- 
 out special advantages he rose to distinction through the inherent force 
 of his character and through the utilization of those principles which he 
 made the guide of his life.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSn / OF ILLINOIS
 
 (y 'lXc:'-^^-<-^ Jo 
 
 y <;^-N--«-'^-^v--^
 
 Cl^rlttnDo Poiucr0 
 
 T 
 
 HE LIFE of Orlando Powers spanned ninety years. Mar- 
 velous were the changes which occurred in that period, 
 covering the nineteenth century, which was preemi- 
 nently the age of invention. He was always deeply 
 interested in those things which contributed to public 
 advancement and improvement and in his home city 
 of Decatur his efforts were put forth along lines which promoted the best 
 interests of the community as well as advanced his individual success. 
 A contemporary biographer has Avritten of him: "Today there is no 
 name spoken in Decatur with greater honor and reverence than that of 
 Orlando Powers. His business ability was proven in the wonderful 
 success which he achieved; his honor in the rectitude of the methods 
 which he followed; his patriotism in his support of municipal and 
 national projects for the general good; his charity in the generous 
 division which he made of his wealth to the unfortunate." 
 
 Orlando Powers was born near the village of Charlton, Saratoga 
 county. New York, May 21, 1812, and through the period of boyhood 
 he pursued his education in the public schools during the winter months, 
 while the summer seasons were given to farm work, he early becoming 
 familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. 
 He was a youth of sixteen when he started for Havana, Cuba, at the 
 request of his brother, William, who wished Orlando to become his 
 assistant in business there. He embarked at New York on the schooner 
 Helen which three days later encountered a severe storm and was 
 wrecked. The rescue of Mr. Powers seems almost miraculous. He and 
 Captain Tucker, who commanded the vessel, together with three of the 
 sailors, drifted upon the open sea for eleven days, clinging to the dis- 
 abled hulk, part of which was out of water. They subsisted upon a scanty 
 supply of sea biscuit and raw potatoes and a very short allowance of 
 fresh water. When nearly famished because of lack of food and almost 
 crazed by want of drink they were picked up by a French brig bound 
 for Bordeaux and eventually landed at La Rochelle, whence they were 
 taken on to Bordeaux by land. Mr. Powers had no money and no cloth- 
 ing save that which he wore and was even wthout a hat, but he found 
 a kind friend in an English gentleman who relieved his immediate wants 
 and cared for him until the opportunity came for him to return home. 
 Once more he embarked on the Atlantic, this time, however, with New 
 York as his destination and through the assistance of business acquaint- 
 
 547
 
 548 SDrlcinPo |i)oUicrs 
 
 jiiKf.. and his older hrotlu-r he was ahle to promptly discharge the 
 iiidehtechiess wliieli it had l)een necessary for him to incur. His people 
 liad fiivcn him up for lo?t and it was with great surprise as well as joy 
 that tiu'V welcomed him upon his return. He did not again attempt to 
 go to Cidta hut when he once more left New York it was with Mohile, 
 Alahama, as his destination. Business interests in association with his 
 hn)thers and hrother-in-law. Chauncey Wilkinson, kept him in Alahama 
 and Mississippi for some lime, heing located at different periods in 
 Mohile. Tuscaloosa. Prairie Bluff and Aherdeen. 
 
 In 1819, however. Mr. Powers turned his face toward Decatur and 
 from that time until his death was numbered among its valued citizens. 
 He had visited Decatur two years before, his mother and brothers, 
 George and Samuel, having for some time been residents there. The 
 town was of comparatively small size and business importance but it was 
 splendidly situated in the midst of a rich farming country. He continued 
 a resident of Decatur from that time until his death, save for a brief 
 period passed in Jacksonville, Illinois. At the time of his arrival here 
 his experiences had already covered a wide range and had developed in 
 him the power of quick and accurate judgment and keen discrimination. 
 He began the operation of a grist and sawmill which he conducted for 
 some time but afterward figured in commercial circles as the owner of a 
 boot and shoe store. Success attended his efforts in that connection and 
 won for him a place among the prominent business men of the city — 
 a position which he never forfeited. He was always regarded as a leader 
 and his opinions were eagerly sought in regard to many business trans- 
 actions as well as public affairs. For many years he was the owner of 
 the only set of abstract books in Macon county. From time to time he 
 invested largely in real estate until his holdings became extensive and 
 brought to him a substantial financial return. At different times he 
 develoi)ed and imj)roved his property and when the opportunity came 
 for a profitable sale it was placed upon the market. He was the builder 
 of the Decatur Opera House in 1889 and he was closely associated with 
 many public and private interests which have been of direct benefit to 
 the city. Any step which he made in business was never hasty or ill- 
 advised. He carefully considered every project and his course was the 
 result of sound judgment and a thorough understanding of the situation. 
 
 The story of Mr. Powers' family connections has been written as 
 follows: "The year which witnessed Mr. Powers' arrival in Decatur also 
 chronicled his marriage. Miss Charlotte E. Given, of Smithland, Union 
 county. Kentucky, becoming his wife. He had formed her acquaintance 
 two years before in traveling on horseback from Mobile, Alabama, to 
 Decatur, and the friendship which then had its inception, ripened into 
 love and was consummated in marriage. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Powers 
 were born two daughters and two sons. Alice, the eldest, born Septem-
 
 SDrlanPo 19oU3cr0 549 
 
 ber 30, 1856, died on the 22d of April. 1878. Charles G. Powers, the 
 elder son, was born in Decatur, June 30. 1861. In the public schools 
 of this city he mastered the elementary branches of learning, afterward 
 attended the Illinois College of Jacksonville, and also pursued a com- 
 mercial course in Brown's Business College. He was only thirteen years 
 of age when he went to Jacksonville in company ^\ith his sister Annabel, 
 who entered the Deaf Mute Institute there because of her hearing. For 
 eight years he remained in that city. He entered upon the study of law 
 in Decatur under the direction of the firm of Crea & Ewing, attorneys, 
 but was not admitted to the bar, his object in studying law being to gain 
 enough knowledge of legal principles to enable him to manage his 
 father's business. In 1884 the family returned to Decatur from Jackson- 
 ville and Charles G. Powers took charge of the estate, which he yet super- 
 vises. In this connection he displays keen insight, sound judgment, 
 unfaltering enterprise and progressive methods. The Powers estate is 
 one of the largest in this section and covers many business and residence 
 properties in Decatur. On the 21st of June. 1887, Charles G. Powers 
 was married to Miss Effie Rogers, a daughter of Jason Rogers, of Decatur, 
 and they have one child, John Howard, born August 23, 1895. The 
 parents are meml^ers of the First Presbyterian Church and are prominent 
 in social circles of the city. Mr. Powers also belongs to the Decatur Club 
 and the Country' Club, bis recreation largely coming to him through his 
 connection with those organizations. Howard W. Powers, the second 
 son, was born in Decatur. June 20. 1864. and completed his education 
 in the schools of Jacksonville, being a graduate of the Illinois College 
 of that city. He joined his brother in the management of the estate left 
 by the father and they have since been associated in business under the 
 name of C. G. & H. W. Powers. They are recognized as gentlemen of 
 excellent business sagacity and keen foresight and in the supervision of 
 extensive property interests have shown marked discrimination com- 
 bined with an aptitude for successful management that is evidenced in 
 the excellent results which attend their labors. On the 19th of Decem- 
 ber, 1903, Howard ^ . Po^vers was married to Miss Mabel W. Durfee, a 
 daughter of Captain George Durfee, of Decatur, and they have three 
 children: Howard William, born March 8, 1905; Given Durfee, April 20, 
 1909; and Robert Charles, June 29, 1910. Howard W. Powers has a 
 home at Palm Beach, Florida, where he spends the winter months, while 
 the summer seasons are passed in the north. He, too, is a member of 
 the Decatur Club, the Elks Club and the Country Club. Annabel Powers, 
 born in Decatur, August 8, 1867, lost her hearing when five years of 
 age through spinal meningitis, and two years later the family removed to 
 Jacksonville for the purpose of educating her at the Deaf and Dumb 
 State Institution, remaining in that city for ten years. She was married 
 June 17, 1890, to Charles Kerney, of Evansville, Indiana, who died in
 
 550 SDrlaiiDci li)oUicrs 
 
 Dfcatur. Aii-ru^t 1, 1902. leaving a daiii:liter. Charlotte Wright, horn 
 January 1. 18<>,'i. Mrs. Kerney was married again on the 26th of May, 
 \mn. h.-ioniing the Avife of William C. Tilley. of San Francisco, where 
 they now reside. Mrs. Tilley owns a heautiful home of her own at 
 Tilieron. across the hay north of San Francisco." 
 
 Mr. Powers voted with the whig party in early life hut in 1860 gave 
 his support to Ahraham Lincoln, after which he remained a stalwart 
 repuhlican. He did not seek nor desire office, however, regarding the 
 pursuits of private life as in themselves abundantly worthy of his best 
 efforts. He sought the moral development and progress of the com- 
 munity in his active cooperation in the work of the First Presbyterian 
 Church of Decatur, of which he was long an active member. He gave 
 to its missionarv societies and to the other branches of church work and 
 he was the founder of the scholarship in the Presbyterian Theological 
 Seminary in the northwest. His chief characteristics have been summed 
 up in the following: "He never made religion a thing apart from his 
 life — a Sunday observance as it were — hut found in the teachings of the 
 church the principles which guided his conduct and shaped his relations 
 with his fellowmen. A tale of sorrow or distress awakened his ready 
 sympathy and when it was in his power to render assistance he did so. 
 If a census could !)e taken of Decatur's citizens whom he has helped in 
 one way or another, the number would reach a large figure. Business 
 firms and individuals alike received his assistance in hours of need 
 and his unostentatious method of giving aid makes it certain that many 
 were the recipients of his bounty of whom the public have no knowledge. 
 \^ hen a public project was instituted for the benefit of Decatur, he was 
 among the first to espouse the cause, and his citizenship was characterized 
 by an unfaltering loyalty. He was ever devoted to the welfare of his 
 familv and the close companionship which existed between himself and 
 his wife made theirs largely an ideal relation. The death of Mrs. Powers 
 occurred May 3, 1897. For five years more Mr. Powers trod life's path- 
 way, and on the 1st of July, 1902, was called to the home beyond. His 
 were 'the blest accompaniments of age — honor, riches, troops of friends.' 
 It was his to preserve the precious prize of keen mentality to the closing 
 hours of life, and when the end came, it was as 'one who wraps the drap- 
 ery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.' "" Such 
 in brief is the history of one whose life record covered ninety years, 
 indicating most clearly that success and an honored name may he won 
 simultaneously, as business progress and Christian manhood are not 
 incompatible. He was one of the real promoters and builders of De- 
 catur, a man without pretense or ostentation, a man in whom the simple 
 weight of character and ability constituted the forceful elements that 
 carried him forward into important relations.
 
 l^oberf garufij Illc(fhuec 
 
 OBERT HAR\TY McELWEE was born at Lexington, 
 Rockbridge county, Virginia, January 28, 1858, his par- 
 ents being William M. and Annie (Harvey) McEIwee, 
 the former a native of Yorkville, South Carolina, who 
 removed to Lexington, Virginia, about 1850. The latter, 
 of Scotch-Irish descent, Avas born at Lexington, in the 
 Virginia valley. Members of the Harvey family settled on the frontier 
 of \ irginia in early days and engaged in the furnace business, operating 
 in the iron ore of that section. William McElwee, great-great-grandfather 
 of Robert H. McElwee, settled in Pennsylvania in 1750 and thence re- 
 moved to South Carolina in 1766. Ancestors of our subject in both the 
 paternal and maternal lines served in the Revolutionary war, his great- 
 great-uncles being held prisoners by the British forces. The grandfather 
 of Mrs. Annie (Harvey) McElwee held the rank of captain in the Con- 
 tinental Army, while another of her forebears was a general. 
 
 Robert H. McElwee was educated at the Lexington schools, under the 
 shadow of Washington and Lee University. When a youth of seventeen 
 years he entered the banking house of A. D. Hunt & Company at Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky, where he mastered the elementary principles of the 
 business. Three years later, having left that position, he came to Chicago 
 and was employed by the Merchants National Bank, with which institu- 
 tion he continued for five years. During this eventful period in his 
 career he acquired much valuable experience in commercial methods 
 which proved of great use to him in his subsequent business enterprises. 
 He was appointed treasurer of the Spalding Lumber Company in 1883, 
 the year of its incorporation. His long service for that company, the 
 trust reposed in him and his faithful discharge of every duty proved his 
 ability and high character and special fitness for positions of responsi- 
 bility. In 1885 he formed a partnership with W. J. Carney under the 
 name of McElwee & Carney. They purchased the business of H. G. Bill- 
 ings at 244 South Water street and became at once one of the largest 
 lumber commission firms in Illinois. With praise-worthy efforts they 
 reached out for a large share of the constantly expanding trade and suc- 
 ceeded, amid sharp competition, in greatly widening their field of opera- 
 tions and measurably increasing their profits and prestige. Mr. McElwee 
 became the senior member of the firm of McElwee & Company, manu- 
 facturers of lumber at Marinette, ^ isconsin, and also president of the 
 Menominee River Lumber Company. 
 
 551
 
 552 Hofacrt OariicD a^ceuucc 
 
 In June, 1882. Mr. MoElwrc iiiariicd Elizabeth Spalding, daughter 
 of Jesse and Adelphia (Moody) Spalding. Their only daughter, Nancy 
 A., passed away in girlhood, in 1896. 
 
 INIr. McKiwee made life a success while still young. His integrity and 
 intelligence carried him from school into a Kentucky hanking house, 
 thence to a leading hank in Chicago, and later into the lumher circles of 
 Chicago and Wisconsin. In every position the interests of his employers 
 or associates were studied as his own and in winning success for them he 
 huilt up his own reputation. As a financier and able man of business his 
 name became widely known and his opinions on finance and lumber were 
 always highly valued. He was a director of the Continental & Commercial 
 National Bank, the Hibernian Banking Association, the Continental Trust 
 & Savings Bank and the First National Bank of Lake Forest. 
 
 Appreciative of the social amenities of life, Mr. McElwee held mem- 
 bership in the Chicago. Old Elm. Onwentsia and Shore Acres Clubs and 
 in the Midwick Country Club of Monterey, California. He passed away 
 June 26. 1927. During his lifetime Mr. McElwee remembered the place 
 of his childhood days with a substantial gift, endowing the Bethseda 
 Church at Rockbridge Baths, Virginia; he also made a considerable gift 
 to \vashington and Lee University the income from which is to help 
 worthy students and especially those preparing for the ministry. By his 
 will large sums were left to the Home for Destitute Crippled Children of 
 Chicago and to the Chicago Nursery and Half Orphan Asylum. 
 
 On April ,"^0, 1930, it was announced that a gift of five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars toward the construction of a surgical pavilion to form a part 
 of a complete medical unit in connection with the Presbyterian Hospital 
 and Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago had been made by 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Spalding McElwee, in memory of her husband, the late 
 Robert Harvey McElwee. Mrs. McElwee stipulated that provision be 
 made in the surgical pavilion to care for charity cases, persons of limited 
 means and wealthy patients and that the pavilion be devoted not only 
 to the care of patients but to medical research and medical education. 
 On the same date the cornerstone of the Nancy Adele McElwee Memorial 
 ■for crippled children was laid on the University of Chicago Medical 
 Quadrangle. This three-hundred-thousand-dollar structure will contain 
 fifty beds, and was given by Mrs. McElwee as a memorial to her daugh- 
 ter.
 
 LISRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSri / OF ILLINOIS
 
 oti/^^t-c. >l^^^^^
 
 Joljii P!l00n 
 
 i)ITH THOSE pioneer events which shaped the early history 
 of Peoria and laid the foundation for its present pro- 
 
 WH^ gress and prosperity the name of John Wilson has been 
 AT closely associated. He contributed in notable measure 
 to the early development of the city and was regarded 
 as one of its most prominent, influential and honored 
 residents. The story of his life constitutes an important chapter in the 
 annals of this section of the state. 
 
 Mr. Wilson was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, June 7, 1826, and 
 was of English lineage, his parents having come from England to America 
 in the early part of the nineteenth century, establishing their home in 
 Westmoreland county. New York. Their family numbered nine children, 
 namely: Elizabeth, Jane, Richard, Henry, Martha and Sarah, all of 
 whom were born in England; and John, Mary and William, who were 
 born in the state of New York. It was in 1835 that the father of this 
 family decided to emigrate to the then far western state of Illinois. 
 Stories had reached him concerning the fertility of the soil, although it 
 was definitely known that the state was sparsely settled at that period. 
 The family started in a one-horse sleigh, driving from their New York 
 home to a point on the Allegheny river, after which they floated down 
 that stream to the Ohio river on a raft to Louisville, Kentucky, from 
 which place they proceeded by steamer in a necessarily circuitous route 
 to Peoria. Long since the snow over which they had traveled by sleigh 
 at the first stage of the journey had melted and the summer sun of June 
 shone upon them Avhen they reached their destination in 1835. They 
 lived for a short time at the corner of Main and Washington streets, where 
 the First National Bank now stands, but following the destruction of 
 their home by fire they moved to Rock Glen, in Limestone township, 
 where John Wilson of this review remained to the age of sixteen years. 
 John Wilson had the usual experiences of the farm-bred boy Avho 
 devotes the winter months to acquiring an education in the district school, 
 while from the early spring planting until late autumn his attention 
 was given to the cultivation of the land and the care of the crops. Even 
 as a youth he displayed ambition, broad vision and determination. He 
 wished to see something of the world and returned to Peoria, where he 
 entered upon a two years' apprenticeship at the cooper's trade, for which 
 he was to receive seventy-five dollars. His term of indenture ended, he 
 
 555
 
 556 John CCiilson 
 
 started for New Orleans in rom|iaiiy ^^illl liis hrolher Vi'illiam, paying his 
 way on the hoat down tlie Mississippi hy doing odd johs. His stay in the 
 south covered three years and on the expiration of that period he again 
 came to Peoria, hut following the discovery of gold in California he 
 started for the Pacific coast in 1850. His long journey ended, he hccame 
 a gold miner and met with considerahle success in his search for the 
 precious metal, hut life there was lonely and monotonous and he felt 
 that companionship and friends were worth more to him than the at- 
 tainment of wealth in the mines. Accordingly he made his way to San 
 Francisco and hy steamer proceeded south to the Isthmus. He walked 
 across to the eastern shore, thence hoarded a boat for New Orleans and 
 from the Crescent city continued his journey northward to Peoria. He 
 and his brother began the return to this city on foot but finally flagged 
 a boat, on which they worked as coopers. The captain was so well pleased 
 with their efforts that they made several trips up and down the river in 
 this way. 
 
 John Wilson embarked in the meat business in a small way, doing 
 his own slaughtering and delivering. Throughout his life it seemed that 
 success attended his every undertaking, the reason for which was found 
 in his diligence, perseverance and careful management. In the year 
 1853 he made his second trip to California with a herd of cattle to sell 
 to the early settlers, but Peoria always seemed the lode star that drew 
 him back and he was again in this city in 1854. From that time forward 
 he concentrated his efforts and attention upon the cattle trade, during 
 which he built up a business of mammoth proportions, handling enor- 
 mous herds of cattle on various ranches, of which he became the owner 
 in various states of the west. Again his sound judgment was manifest 
 in the conduct of his cattle-raising interests, which brought him a very 
 gratifying financial return. As the years passed he likewise became in- 
 terested in other business enterprises of Peoria and for a considerahle 
 period was president of the \^ ilson Grocery Company and a director and 
 stockholder in many of the banks and trust companies of the city. His 
 cooperation was considered a valuable asset in the conduct of any 
 enterprise with which he was associated. He occupied the presidency of 
 the Cave Valley Land & Cattle Company, a large and wealthy organiza- 
 tion doing business in southern Illinois, was the president of the Elk 
 Grove Land & Cattle Company of Kansas, the president of the American 
 Distilling Company of Pekin, Illinois, and the chief stockholder in the 
 street railway company of Topeka, Kansas. His activities thus contrib- 
 uted in substantial measure to the material development and progress of 
 many localities and states and his worth as a business man was widely 
 recognized, for in matters of judgment he was seldom, if ever, at fault 
 and his progressive spirit enabled hiin to outdistance many of his fellow
 
 Joftn cailson 557 
 
 travelers on life's journey in the pursuit for well earned and honorable 
 wealth. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's interest always centered, hoAvever, in Peoria. It was 
 the city in which he maintained his home and where his close friends 
 were found, although he had friends in every conmiunity in which he 
 carried on business affairs or was known in any way. In 1855 he 
 wedded Miss Emily J. Woodruff, who was born in Worthington, Ohio, 
 January 9, 1833, and was but two years of age when her parents estab- 
 lished their home in the west. She departed this life April 20, 1907, 
 when seventy-four years of age. Mr. Wilson passed away March 19, 
 1905, when he was in the seventy-ninth years of his age. He was sur- 
 vived by five sons, namely: Arthur, Everett W., John A., Charles L. and 
 Frederick L. Some of the number have since passed on and two others 
 of the family died in infancy. The family home was at 216 Pecan street 
 where they went to housekeeping, where all the children were born and 
 where both John Wilson and his wife spent their last days. Although ill 
 health incapacitated Mr. Wilson to a degree in his later years, he never- 
 theless continued his connection with business affairs, manifesting untir- 
 ing industry and laudable ambition. He was one of the world's workers, 
 active, consistent, progressive and reliable. His life was crowned by suc- 
 cessful achievement and his name deserves to be placed high on the roll 
 of those men who opened up the west to civilization and brought the 
 opportunities of this great country before the public. The extent and 
 importance of his business affairs were a vital element in Peoria's de- 
 velopment, not only in its pioneer epoch but in its later period of pro- 
 gress and growth, making it the second city of the state and one of the 
 most important commercial and industrial centers of the Mississippi val- 
 ley.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSI'I i' OF ILLINOIS
 
 Cl)arlf0 geonarD Pilooii 
 
 HARLES LEONARD WILSON bad attained the age of 
 nearly sixty-five years when he passed away May 4, 
 1928. The end was sudden and thus he was active in 
 the affairs of life almost to the close. His name was a 
 familiar one in connection with the distilling interests 
 and with the hanking business of the state and he was 
 widely known throughout the northern section of Illinois, where his 
 friends were legion. He was born in Peoria, August 6, 1863, a son of 
 John and Emily J. (Woodruff) Wilson. The father, who is mentioned 
 at length on another page of this publication, was one of the early pio- 
 neers of the city, having arrived here in 1835. 
 
 In his youth Charles L. Wilson attended Peoria's public schools and 
 acquired the intellectual training which qualified him for the practical 
 and responsible duties of life. He had reached the age of eighteen when 
 in 1881 he accompanied his elder brother, A. W. Wilson, to Burrton, 
 Kansas, where they established a department store and continued active 
 in its conduct until 1888. when they disposed of their mercantile interests 
 and Charles L. ^ ilson returned to Peoria. It was then that he became 
 connected with the American Distilling Company of Pekin, of which his 
 father was the head, and to the interests of this business he devoted the 
 remaining forty years of his life. He long filled the offices of secretary 
 and treasurer and was a forceful executive, managing his business affairs 
 with decision, firmness and ability. Just ten days before his demise the 
 Pekin plant of the company, in which he was the largest stockholder, was 
 sold to the American Commercial Alcohol Corporation of Baltimore, 
 Maryland. The extent and breadth of his business activities is further 
 indicated in the fact that he was financially interested in the Wilson 
 Grocery Company of Peoria, the Wilson Packing & Provision Company 
 of Peoria and in three banks of the city, while for many years he served 
 as a director of the American National Bank of Pekin. He was also a 
 member of the Peoria Board of Trade and among his associates he ranked 
 high as a man of unusual business acumen, keen foresight and unfalter- 
 ing enterprise who never hesitated to venture where favoring oppor- 
 tunity offered. 
 
 On the 11th of December, 1889, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage 
 to Miss Georgia Easling, eldest daughter of Dr. P. W. and Priscilla E. 
 (Troutmau) Easling. Her paternal grandparents were Minor and Char- 
 lotte (Proper) Easling, the former a native of Hector, New York, and 
 
 561
 
 562 (CbtUlcs LcoiuicD CGilson 
 
 a representative of an old Holland family, many of whose members 
 fought for the American cause in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Minor Easling became pioneer settlers of Bonaparte, Iowa, journeying 
 across the country in a covered wagon from Ithaca, Tompkins county. 
 New York. There was yet no Peoria when they passed the site of this 
 now populous city, but in the distance they glimpsed a little settlement 
 known as Pekin. They bravely met and conquered the hardships and 
 trials of frontier life, eventually becoming the owners of a large and 
 highly productive farm in Van Buren county, Iowa. Their son, Dr. P. W. 
 Easling. wedded Priscilla E. Troutman and the couple reared a family 
 of four children, as follows: Georgia, who is the widow of Charles L. 
 Wilson; Mina E., the wife of Earle C. Greenman; Daisy M., who is the 
 wife of Robert P. Van Deusen; and Newton P., who married Martha 
 Heilman. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson maintained their home in Pekin for about 
 twenty-one years and then removed to Peoria, where they became widely 
 known in social circles of the city. In 1912 they built a ten-room house 
 at 1652 Glen Oak avenue, one of the finest residences on the east bluff, 
 in which they lived for fourteen years and then sold because it was too 
 large, erecting the dwelling at 1505 Columbia terrace in which Mrs. 
 ■V^'ilson now lives. Their daughter, Mrs. Edith (Wilson) Albertsen, was 
 born in Pekin, Illinois. October 31, 1890, and there completed the work 
 of the grammar grades and also attended high school for two years. She 
 then entered St. Mary's College of Knoxville, Illinois, of which she is a 
 graduate. It was at 1652 Glen Oak avenue in Peoria that she was 
 married and gave birth to a son, in 1921, named Wilson F. Albertsen, 
 remaining at that address until the latter was five years of age. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Albertsen have since resided in Pekin. Mrs. Georgia Wilson is 
 one of the Daughters of the American Revolution, tracing her ancestry 
 back to John McClelland, who was an aide to Washington and a repre- 
 sentative of a very famous family. Her husband found in her an able 
 helpmeet and always credited her with much of his success. Mr. Wilson 
 was a popular and prominent member of the Creve Coeur Club, the 
 Tazewell Club and the Pekin Country Club. Those who knew him — 
 and he had a wide acquaintance — found him a genial, courteous gentle- 
 man, one who highly prized sincere friendships and who gave to his 
 friends consistent and continuous loyalty. By reason thereof his demise 
 was a matter of deep and widespread regret and his memory is enshrined 
 in the hearts of many who knew and loved him.
 
 Pilliam Diibcrt |0ne0 
 
 i)HEN William H. Jones passed from the scene of earthly 
 activities he left behind him the memory of certain 
 
 W^ splendid and substantial qualities — qualities that had 
 AT made him a capable and progressive business man, a 
 loyal citizen and a faithful friend. He was born on a 
 farm near Maroa, Illinois, October 10, 1869. His par- 
 ents, Sylvester S. and Susan B. Jones, were natives of Ohio, whence they 
 came to Illinois in early life, establishing their home in Macon county. 
 Their sou, William H. Jones, attended the public schools of Maroa 
 until graduated from high school and then went to Dixon, Illinois, where 
 he pursued a business course, acting as a book agent and making sales 
 from house to house in order to earn the money for his education. His 
 first experience in the business field was in a hardware store at Maroa, 
 where he worked without pay in order to learn the tinsmith's trade and 
 the hardware business. He aftenvard removed to Arthur, Illinois, where, 
 in partnership with Robert Snyder, he opened a tin shop, but a little 
 later he purchased the interest of his partner and carried on the business 
 independently. It was not long afterward that he became a hardware 
 merchaut in partnership with T. T. Warren and C. F. Jenne but eventu- 
 ally he sold his interest there and located in Cisco, Illinois, where, in 
 partnership with his father, he established a hardware and furniture 
 store. Again he became sole owner of the business by the purchase of 
 his partner's interest, and to his stock he added a line of implements. His 
 trade grew rapidly, the business assuming proportions that made it 
 a profitable commercial enterprise. Mr. Jones was regarded as one of 
 the leading business men and progressive citizens of Cisco. He took an 
 active part in all movements for the good of the town and, moreover, 
 he was a notable figure in connection with Christian work there. The 
 present modern Presbyterian Church of Cisco is largely a monument 
 to his untiring efforts. He sought earnestly to promote the moral progress 
 of his community and at the same time he was keenly interested in ev- 
 erything that worked for the upbuilding of the town along any lines 
 of service that would beuefit his fellowmen. In business affairs, too, 
 he held to high ideals and his name was ever synonymous with integrity 
 and uprightness. As the years passed he expanded his activities by open- 
 ing branch houses at White Heath and Argenta, Illinois, and these he 
 placed upon a substantial basis. Mr. Jones afterward became interested 
 in the automobile business in connection with George H. Bopp and 
 
 563
 
 564 cailliam Dufacrt Jones 
 
 opeiH'd a Reo afiency in Decatur iiiuh^r the name of the Reo Motor Sales 
 Company, with .Mr. Jones as president. They started in a small way and 
 developed one of the leading automobile agencies of this section of the 
 state. As their business grew Mr. Jones disposed of his interests in Cisco 
 aiul in January. 1920. removed to Decatur, where he gave much of his 
 time and attention to the conduct of the business, which proved a most 
 profitable undertaking. In time the company outgrew its original quart- 
 ers and sought larger space, leasing the entire building at Franklin and 
 \\ illiam streets. Aside from his activities as an automobile dealer Mr. 
 Jones was the owner and manager of the Sangamo Oil Company and had 
 other business connections. Due to his failing health, he disposed of 
 his interests in the automobile agency in January, 1928. Seeing the 
 need for improvement in the transportation system of Decatur, Mr. 
 Jones was instrumental in establishing the bus system of the city, for 
 while he did not operate it, he influenced others to take up the task and 
 he sold the first buses used here. 
 
 On December 14, 1893, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Emma War- 
 ren, a daughter of Timothy T. and Mary L. Warren, of Arthur, Illinois. 
 Mrs. Jones was always an able helpmate to her husband in his ventures, 
 giving him her sympathy and encouragement, and theirs was largely an 
 ideal married life. The death of Mr. Jones occurred October 4, 1928. 
 He had been a loyal exemplar of the teachings of Masonry and had at- 
 tained the thirty-second degree in the order, while of the Mystic Shrine 
 he was also a member. He belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America 
 and was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club. He was likewise identi- 
 fied with the Decatur Club and was a charter member of the Sunnyside 
 Golf Club. Throughout the greater part of his life he was a Presbyterian 
 and with his removal to Decatur became a member of the First Presby- 
 terian Church of this city. He gave generously to its support and labored 
 to promote its growth and extend its influence. He always worked along 
 constructive lines and his efforts were far-reaching and effective, whether 
 in the field of business, in public service or in other connections. He had 
 the (piaiities of leadership, which made him an outstanding citizen in the 
 conununities in which he lived, and he made valuable contributions to 
 progress along many lines.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSl'i < OF ILLINOIS
 
 7"'"'^7^'
 
 icoroe P, ^pofforD 
 
 iMONG the men who have occupied outstanding positions 
 in connection with Chicago's development was George 
 W. Spofford, who through his business activity and his 
 public service contributed in substantial measure to the 
 city's welfare and upbuilding. He ever displayed the 
 substantial qualities of a sterling New England ancestry, 
 which had its rise in a family of Saxon lineage, the name appearing in 
 England prior to the time when William the Conqueror invaded that 
 isle. In 1638 John Spofford and his wife, who in her maidenhood was 
 Elizabeth Scott, sailed for the new world, establishing their home in 
 Georgetown, Massachusetts. Through succeeding generations the family 
 figured prominently in New England and a pass in the White mountains 
 has been called Spofford's Gap, so named because it separated the farms 
 of two brothers, Eldad and Abijah Spofford. The latter was the great- 
 grandfather of George W. Spofford and the father of Amos Spofford, who 
 for seven years fought for American independence as a soldier of the 
 Revolutionary war and participated in the battle of Yorktown, witness- 
 ing the surrender of Cornwallis, which was the practical termination of 
 the war and the acknowledgment of America's freedom from the tyran- 
 nical yoke of England. The same spirit of patriotism was manifest in 
 Ira Spofford, who participated in the War of 1812. He married Miriam 
 Atwood, a native of Chester, Vermont, and they established their home 
 in Peterboro, New Hampshire. Through many generations in England 
 the family had borne a coat of arms upon which was the motto : "Rather 
 deathe than false of Faythe." The spirit of that motto has been manifest 
 by many who have borne the name through all the years down to the 
 present and it was a spirit that at all times characterized the life and 
 activity of George W. Spofford. 
 
 At the Peterboro home in New Hampshire, on the 9th of August, 
 1831, George W. Spofford first opened his eyes to the light of day. His 
 New England training well qualified him for the duties and responsi- 
 bilities that came to him in later years. He benefited by Boston's ex- 
 cellent public school system and then entered Phillips Exeter Academy, 
 where he completed the course. He afterward became a law student 
 under E. S. Cutler, then county solicitor in New England, and in his 
 early twenties he heard the alluring call of the west. It was in the decade 
 that preceded the Civil war that George W. Spofford arrived in Chicago. 
 A man of liberal education, he was identified with educational work here 
 
 567
 
 568 Ccorgc CG. ^pofforD 
 
 for some years aud in 1836 was appoiiiled principal of the Foster 
 school, the district then emhracing all tlie territory between the river on 
 the east and \^ estern avenue on the west, with Jackson boulevard and 
 the north bank of the river constituting the north and south limits of 
 the district. He proved one of the most capable educators of the city 
 throu};!! a period of a decade and a half and durini; the Civil war was 
 selected to carry the stand of colors sent from Chicago to the ''Teachers' 
 Regiment." He was retained as principal of the Foster school until 
 June 1, 1870. when he retired from educational activity in order to con- 
 centrate his efforts upon real estate dealing. He correctly noted the trend 
 of the times, for Chicago was entering upon a period of rapid and sub- 
 stantial growth. He opened offices in the Morrison Hotel and also in 
 Englewood and from that time until his death was one of the prominent 
 real estate men of the city. He placed correct valuation upon property 
 and negotiated many imj)ortant realty transfers. Four times under his 
 direction was the building now known as the Morrison Hotel at the cor- 
 ner of Madison and Clark streets l)uilt and rebuilt, ^'i ith others he suf- 
 fered heavy losses in the memorable conflagration of 1871, but so wisely 
 and carefully did he manage his business affairs that he nevertheless 
 attained a very substantial measure of success. He earned and justly 
 merited the unqualified confidence of all with whom he had business 
 relations and his progressive spirit carried him steadily forward, en- 
 abling him to make wise use of his time and opportunities. 
 
 Mr. Spofford is also remembered because of his valuable public ser- 
 vice. He was an earnest supporter of the republican party and was for 
 many years recognized as a most influential factor in its ranks in this 
 city. He did not seek any public office for profit but accepted many 
 positions of public trust whereby he could promote the general welfare. 
 In 1877 he was elected county commissioner and was again called upon 
 to fill that office in 1888. It was during his first incumbency that the 
 county courthouse was erected. As a commissioner he served as chair- 
 man of the committee in charge of the Dunning poorhouse and asylum, 
 also having supervision over the entire system of outdoor relief service. 
 A contemporary writer, speaking of this phase of his life, said: "He 
 brought to his public duties the same spirit of judicious economy and 
 enterprise which are manifest in the work of every successful business 
 man. By his untiring efforts great reductions Avere made in the running 
 expenses of the departments which came under his supervision, while at 
 the same time the quality of food, clothing and medicine furnished to 
 deserving objects of charity was improved greatly." In 1891 Mr. Spofford 
 attended the Fanners" Congress at Montgomery, Alabama, at the request 
 of Governor Fifcr and through his influence secured the votes of seven 
 hundred delegates in support of Chicago as the site for the World's Co-
 
 ecorgc m. ^pofforp 569 
 
 lumbian Exposition against seventeen votes for New York. He also did 
 good work in this connection through Texas and Mississippi, nor did he 
 ever seek financial compensation for his labors. He took keen pride in 
 the city, which he lived to see emerge from small-town proportions and 
 take on all of the advantages and improvements that constitute features 
 of a metropolitan area. The rapid growth and the beauty of Chicago 
 were ever to him a source of pride. He had a wide acquaintance outside 
 of the city and one of his warm personal friends was General Phil Sheri- 
 dan. 
 
 Mr. Spofford was married in Chicago, December 24, 1859, to Miss 
 Hannah Morrison, a daughter of Orsemus Morrison, one of the honored 
 and prominent residents of Chicago of an early day and one who gave 
 notable impetus to the city's growth and progress. Not only did he figure 
 prominently in the business life of the community but also as one of the 
 city's notable philanthropists. Mr. and Mrs. Spofford became the par- 
 ents of five children: Lucy, who died at the age of seven years; Jessie, 
 who died when four months of age, while her twin died in infancy; 
 Percy Morrison, who married Miss Emily Dahmke and died leaving a 
 wife and tivo children, Jessie and Clarence El Roy; Florence Myrtle, 
 well known in the social and athletic circles of the city. 
 
 Death entered the family circle January 10, 1909, on which day the 
 life labors of George W. Spofford ended. His death was the occasion of 
 deep and widespread regret. He was warmly esteemed in the Masonic 
 fraternity, having memliership in St. Bernard Commandery, K. T., and 
 in Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was a director of the 
 Menoken Club and a member of the Illinois and Ashland Clubs, all 
 prominent social organizations of a generation ago. He was likewise 
 identified with the Presbyterian Church in which he was a Sunday school 
 teacher and a deacon, and his life was ever governed by high and honor- 
 able principles that called forth the respect, admiration and esteem of all 
 with whom he came in contact. He ever held friendship inviolable and 
 regarded his home ties as a most sacred relation. The many sterling 
 traits of his character as well as his business ability gave him high place 
 in Chicago, where for more than half a century he made bis home. He 
 brought with him the highest and best traditions of New England and 
 implanted them firmly on western soil, where they flourished as factors 
 in Chicago's business development and civic improvement.
 
 Palter (TlijDc |0nc0 
 
 ^AN"S POSITION is usually determined by the consensus of 
 opinion concerning him on the part of his fellowmen, 
 ^/l y<^ and judged by this standard Walter Clyde Jones was one 
 ■*- ■*- ICcL of the foremost representatives of the American bar. He 
 was likewise numbered among the laAvinakers of Illinois 
 and he did much toward shaping public thought and 
 opinion on questions of vital importance to city, state and nation. 
 Throughout his life he was the exponent of right for the many rather 
 than privileges for the few. 
 
 A native of Iowa, Mr. Jones was born at Pilot Grove, December 27, 
 1870, his parents being Jonathan and Sarah (Buffington) Jones. The 
 father was a native of Harrison county, Ohio, whence he and his brothers 
 removed to Iowa in 1833, there preempting a tract of land upon which 
 he later laid out the town of Pilot Grove. The ancestral line shows the 
 family to be of Welsh origin and connected with the Society of Friends 
 or Quakers. The mother, Mrs. Sarah (BufiBngton) Jones, also was a 
 representative of an old Pennsylvania Quaker family that came of Eng- 
 lish ancestry, both the Jones and the Buffington families having been 
 founded in America in the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
 
 Walter Clyde Jones was not yet three years of age when the family 
 home was established in Keokuk, Iowa, where he entered the public 
 schools, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. Later he 
 enrolled as a student in the Iowa State College, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1891 with the degree of Mechanical Engineer. There is no doubt 
 that if he had directed his energies along that professional line he would 
 have attained distinction and success. After his graduation he engaged 
 for a time in designing machinery and installing electrical apparatus, 
 assisting in the installation in the iron mines of Michigan of the first 
 electric lighting system used in mines. Going to Chicago, he was em- 
 ployed as an electrical expert and already was known as a contributor 
 to electrical and scientific journals. In 1893 there was accorded him a 
 prize for an article entitled ''Electricity at the World's Fair" by the 
 Electrical Engineering Magazine, and another of his contributions, "Evo- 
 lution of the Telephone," is regarded as a classic in its line. 
 
 While thus pursuing his electrical engineering work Mr. Jones was 
 devoting his evening hours to the study of law and won the LL. B. degree 
 at the Chicago College of Law at Lake Forest University in 1895. The 
 same year he was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon practice, 
 specializing on patent law. For a time he remained alone and in 1897 
 
 571
 
 572 caaltcr €\vli<: Jones 
 
 became the junior parliur in tlic firm of Ludington & Jones, while in 
 1800 he formed a partnership with Keene H. Addington under the firm 
 style of Jones & Addington. Subsequently other well known lavv7ers 
 joined the firm, which became Jones, Addington, Ames & Seibold, with 
 offices in Chicago and in New York and now embracing a score of law- 
 yers. Many large corporations retained the services of Mr. Jones as 
 counsel and his ability was especially in demand in cases involving elec- 
 trical, chemical and patent questions, in which field his engineering ex- 
 perience proved of inestimable value. In 1898 he was retained by sev- 
 eral automobile companies to maintain the right of motor cars to use 
 the streets of Chicago. The South Park commissioners had passed an 
 ordinance debarring automobiles from the use of the boulevards and 
 parks because of the danger to the public caused by frightened horses. 
 The suit was most l)itterly contested in the courts, but Mr. Jones won a 
 signal victory, succeeding in having the ordinance set aside. This was 
 perhaps the firrt judicial decision which established the right of auto- 
 mybiles to use the public highways. 
 
 Throughout his entire life Mr. Jones retained a deep interest in 
 questions having to do with electrical engineering and was vice president 
 and director of the Benjamin Electric Mamifactiiring Company of Chi- 
 cago, while in 1896 he aided in organizing the Chicago Electrical Asso- 
 ciation, of which he afterward ser\'ed as president. 
 
 In 1896 Mr. Jones was married to Miss Emma Boyd of Paullina, 
 Iowa, and they became parents of three children: Walter Clyde, Jr., 
 who was married June 12, 1929, to Emily Watt, a daughter of Mr. and 
 Mrs. William Watt of Evanston; Helen Gwendolyn; and Clarence Boyd. 
 The family residence was maintained at 1637 Judson avenue, in Evans- 
 ton, and there Mr. Jones passed away. For about fifteen years members 
 of the family have spent the summer seasons at Gull Lake, near Battle 
 Creek, Michigan, in a beautiful home built by Mr. Jones, who there 
 kept a stable of fine bred saddle horses and found great pleasure in riding 
 over the countryside. A most enthusiastic horseman, he could be seen 
 in the saddle the year 'round. He held membership in the Chicago 
 Equestrian Association, of which he was president for one term, was 
 also the organizer of the Evanston Saddle Club and successfully advo- 
 cated the laying out of bridle patlis in the forest preser\'e. 
 
 From early manhood Mr. Jones had been keenly interested in vital 
 public problems and he never hesitated to support his honest opinions 
 upon any question relative to the welfare of city, state or nation. On the 
 occasion of the visit of President McKinley and his cabinet to Chicago 
 to attend the fall festival in 1899, Mr. Jones was appointed chief aide 
 to the president and the following year was appointed to a similar 
 po-itlon in connecti<ui with the Grand Army encampment at Chicago, 
 thereby becoming a friend of President McKinley. In 1906 the fifth
 
 malm Clpsc Jones 573 
 
 district of Illinois chose him as its representative in the state senate and 
 he continued thus to serve until 1914, becoming floor leader of that 
 body. The direct primary law of Illinois owes its existence to Mr. Jones, 
 who was its author and gave to it unfaltering support until it was placed 
 on the statute books of the commonwealth. He also promoted the law 
 limiting to ten hours a day the number of hours ^vomen may be employed 
 in Illinois. The enactment of reform rules for legislation in Illinois, in- 
 suring majority control, largely resulted from his efforts and he was, 
 moreover, a leader in the movement for civil service reform. During his 
 connection with the general assembly he served at various times as chair- 
 man of the republican steering committee and also of the rules and the 
 executive committees. In 1912 he became candidate for governor on 
 the progressive ticket and largely aided in organizing the party in Illinois. 
 He formed a friendship ^v•ith President Roosevelt that lasted until the 
 death of the former chief executive, whom he frequently visited in the 
 offices of the ''Outlook'' and at his Long Island home. Sagamore Hill. 
 Among Mr. Jones' cherished possessions was a photograph of Theodore 
 Roosevelt and a letter which the progressive leader wrote to Mr. Jones, 
 saying: "In this great fight for elementary justice and decency, for fair 
 play in industry no less than in the political world, and for honesty every- 
 where, there is a body of men to whom I feel peculiarly grateful, not 
 only personally but for what they have done for the people as a whole; 
 you come high among them." 
 
 Mr. Jones' contributions to the literature of his profession were 
 Avidely accepted as authoritative statements. He was joint author and 
 editor, with the late Keene H. Addington, of "Jones and Addington's 
 Annotated Statutes of Illinois," a work that was published in six volumes, 
 also of "Illinois Notes or Cyclopedia of Illinois Law" in fifteen volumes 
 and "Appellate Court Reports of Illinois" in seventy volumes. He was 
 long regarded as one of the most honored and distinguished members of 
 the Chicago Bar Association and the American Bar Association and he 
 likewise held membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engin- 
 eers and the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. In club circles he was 
 widely known, belonging to the Union League, University, Hamilton, 
 City and Press Clubs of Chicago; the Evanston Golf Club, Evanston 
 Country Club and Evanston University Club; the Lawyers Club and the 
 Engineers Club of New York city; and the Cosmos Club of Washington, 
 D. C. Where men of learning were met in the discussion of vital and 
 interesting problems he was often in their midst and his opinions were 
 always accepted as authoritative. He passed away March 28, 1928, and 
 when laid to rest three days later forty-eight distinguished jurists and 
 lawyers paid tribute to Walter Clyde Jones by acting as honorary pall- 
 bearers. Thus was ended a life of great usefulness and one of far-reach- 
 ing effect.
 
 LISRAKV 
 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSn i OF ILllNOf<;
 
 Potter Palmer 
 
 'The man who creates never dies. The shell of his body 
 may be taken aAsay, his voice be lost, the clasp of his 
 hand be missed, but what he has accomplished, and, yes, 
 what he has attempted and failed in, remain forever as 
 stirring examples to courage, industrj- and virtue."' 
 
 — Ruskin. 
 
 5 HE GREATEST achievements which the history of the 
 world records, bear the imprint of great men — the 
 master minds. Even though the task be of such stupen- 
 dous magnitude as to require the labor of generations, 
 4^k "^"^ the finished work will be found to owe its very existence 
 to the foundations planned and laid by that one who, 
 of all his fellows, possessed the superhuman clearness of vision which 
 enabled him to peer through the unborn centuries and see the capstone 
 laid upon the completed structure. It is seldom that the real worth of 
 such a life is fully understood and appreciated by contemporaries. Large 
 projects mature slowly and cannot be measured until placed in proper 
 perspective. 
 
 It is but simple justice to accord to Potter Palmer the foremost posi- 
 tion among the great citizens of Chicago the second city of the ^ estern 
 Hemisphere. Although over two generations have passed since he began 
 the task of which he so confidently foresaw the outcome, each passing 
 year brings additional proof of the perfect wisdom of the plans and pol- 
 icies by which his lifetime of service to this metropolis was guided. 
 
 The ancestry and early training of Mr. Palmer peculiarly fitted him 
 for just such conditions as he found when he made his first venture in 
 Chicago. His ancestors were self-reliant men. capable, energetic, per- 
 sistent in well doing, and holding to the integrity of the family. They 
 were of the blood descent that has given to the Republic a distinctive 
 American type. Their ideals were strong, simple and unvarying — fear 
 of God, love for freedom and country, admiration for toil and thrift, 
 patience with all untoward conditions and persistence in well doing. 
 Such has been the Quaker blood in all parts of the world, and of such 
 blood was Mr. Palmer. 
 
 His family were founders in shaping the early history of the colonies. 
 The line of descent is traced down from Walter Palmer Avho was a com- 
 panion of John Endicott, colonial governor of Massachusetts in 1629, 
 
 577
 
 578 Potter Palmer 
 
 and who exercised an advisory voice in the affairs of the colony. He af- 
 terwards hecame a resident of Wequetiquock Cove, near Stonington, 
 Connecticut, where the present day reunions of the Palmer family are 
 held. The family later removed to IVcw Bedford, where many of its mem- 
 hers engaged in maritime trade hoth with American and foreign ports. 
 That they were well to the fore in extending the commerce of the new 
 land ii proven hy the fact that in one year, seven memhers of the family 
 were lost at sea while acting as captains or super-cargoes of colonial 
 vessels. This mortality was so distressing that ]\Ir. Palmer's grandfather 
 decided to leave the seacoast and to remove inland so that his sons might 
 not be tempted to trust themselves to this treacherous element. He de- 
 cided upon Albany county. New York, where there was a prosperous 
 Quaker conununity in the Catskill mountains, near Rensselaerville. Here 
 he bought four farms and engaged in stock farming, and here, after a 
 prosperous life, his son Benjamin succeeded him and he also became a 
 man of character and influence in the community. Benjamin Palmer 
 was married to Rel)ecca Potter, daughter of Samuel and Deborah Potter 
 (of the well known and distinguished Potter family), and to the fourth 
 son, born May 20, 1826, was given the mother's family name. 
 
 The foundations of Mr. Palmer's commercial training Asere com- 
 menced at the age of seventeen, when he secured a clerical position in 
 an establishment at Durham, New York, which combined the functions 
 of country store, post office and hank. It is significant as a hint of his 
 future achievements, that at the end of two years while still only nine- 
 teen vcars of age, he was given entire charge and control of this business. 
 Up to this time, Mr. Palmer's efforts had been devoted to securing the 
 thorough training which he considered necessary before his conscience 
 would allow him to accept his father's offer to establish him in a busi- 
 ness of his OAvn. Soon after this, however, feeling that he had demon- 
 strated his ability to handle a commercial enterprise, he founded a drj- 
 goods concern at Oneida, New York, afterwards removing to Lockport 
 on account of its larger opportunities. 
 
 So pronounced was his success that the advisability of seeking a new 
 and practically limitless field for his activities soon grew into a Conviction. 
 Naturally, New York, on account of its nearness, received first considera- 
 tion. His selection of Chicago as the scene of his future efforts was 
 reached only after he had given to the question the careful study, delib- 
 eration and forethought which characteri.-^ed all his activities. Indeed, it 
 Avas said that the young Palmer Avas even better acquainted Avith the 
 condhions existing in Chicago and the middle west than those A\ho had 
 lived there since the country was first Avrested from the Indians and the 
 Avilderness. In 18.i2, Mr. Pahner after disposing of his Lockport inter- 
 ests shipped a stock of goods from New York and opened an establish-
 
 lg>ottcr j[i)almcr 579 
 
 ment at 110-12 Lake street, which thoroughfare was then the retail center 
 of the cit^". 
 
 Few- people now- living, have any conception of the conditions under 
 which the retail trade was carried on at that period. The maxim, Caveat 
 emptor, "let the buyer beware," was the universally accepted rule and 
 converted everj- transaction into a battle of wits between the merchant 
 and customer, founded on distrust created by past experiences. A fixed 
 schedule of prices was almost unknown and much haggling was resorted 
 to before a sale was made. Once the purchase price was paid, however, 
 the deal was irrevocable. The idea of refunding a customer's money or 
 consenting to an exchange if the goods were not satisfactory, or, not as 
 represented, was simply an unthinkable one. 
 
 Such a policy was absolutely at variance with the high and un- 
 swerving ideals which characterized Mr. Palmer. He was what the 
 Greeks called "straight minded." That is, he considered everj- act, not 
 as to the profit or renown which it might bring him. but as to its abstract 
 justice — its right or wrongful character. Mathematically the Greeks rep- 
 resented justice as a straight line and no better symbol could possibly 
 be chosen for the public and private career of Mr. Palmer throughout 
 his entire life. It was with him always — the single idea — the justice 
 which he owed his fellowmen and the justice due him from them. Yet, if 
 the justice which was his due. was denied, it in no respect influenced him 
 to alter his own course. Naturally, with such governing motives, Mr. 
 Palmer could not tolerate any adlierence to or even compromise w'ith 
 the then universal standards of business dealing. His instinctive love of 
 fair and generous dealing led him speedily to originate and to introduce 
 regulations which were not only ethically correct but proved to be sound 
 business principles even though they revolutionized existing methods. 
 
 Potter Palmer originated and introduced the custom of sending goods 
 "on approval"' to the homes of his customers, to be inspected at leisure, 
 and returned if unsatisfactory: Also of exchanging articles or goods, if 
 not desired after delivery-; also of taking back and refunding the pur- 
 chase money upon request, Avithout question or quibble: also a fixed 
 standard of prices was established and strictly adhered to, and even,' piece 
 of merchandise in the store bore its selling price in plain figures. The 
 slightest tendency on the part of any of his employes toward misrepresen- 
 tation was followed by instant dismissal. It Avas probably only natural 
 that the public should for a time, remain incredulous as to the sincerity 
 of these revolutionary methods. Very soon, however, it learned by ex- 
 perience that every single promise was followed by perfect performance, 
 and the business of the Potter Palmer store began to grow at an unprece- 
 dented rate. 
 
 But this was onlv the beginning, Mr. Palmer was the first to inaugu-
 
 580 Ii)ottcr Palmer 
 
 rate the plan of delivering goods to the homes of his customers without 
 charge: '"bargain day" had its inception with him; also the custom of 
 setting aside certain days for the sale of certain articles or classes of 
 goods originated in his establishment. He was the first to make extensive 
 use of display advertising and the first to demonstrate the tremendous 
 value of this mighty force in retail merchandising when intelligently 
 and judiciously directed. Those who had been loudest in their scoffing 
 and jeering at these drastic reforms, soon discovered that they must per- 
 force adopt the same policies or see all of their trade lost to this new 
 and rapidly growing concern. 
 
 The keenest interest was manifested in these innovations by mer- 
 chants in all parts of the country. The old firm of Macy & Company of 
 New York was the first to send a special agent to Chicago to investigate 
 the working of the system and methods in vogue, at that time, only at 
 the Potter Palmer establishment. On receiving his report, the New York 
 house immediately decided to adopt largely the Potter Palmer system and 
 in a very few years the same plans were put into effect not only in every 
 leading establishment in America but they spread abroad and are now 
 in force in Paris, London, Berlin and other commercial centers of 
 Europe. 
 
 These reforms, like all others, whether of greater or lesser magnitude, 
 were inevitable in the course of time. But it is characteristic of Mr. 
 Palmer that he of all the world possessed the pre-vision which enabled 
 him to foresee and anticipate this natural development, the courage and 
 will to shape his policies into concrete form, and the ability to carry them 
 through to the success which resulted in their world-wide adoption. It 
 can be understood what confidence was felt in the business house of Pot- 
 ter Palmer and what popularity and prestige it gave him throughout the 
 entire west and why the name and fame of Potter Palmer became a 
 household word. 
 
 Single handed, quietly and unostentatiously Mr. Palmer worked 
 along new lines, his being the moving spirit, the master mind which con- 
 ceived and executed; and on the foundations he laid down was speedily 
 built up the largest business in the northwest. Western buyers who had 
 gone previously to New York stopped in Chicago to deal with this reliable 
 house. The result was that in eight or nine years Potter Palmer had cre- 
 ated absolutely alone a business which reached an annual gross sum of 
 from eight to ten million dollars with a line of New York credits con- 
 siderably in excess of a million dollars. 
 
 It was frequently remarked by ]\Ir. Palmer's associates that he seemed 
 to be absolutely untiring. He worked without seeming effort, quietly, 
 rapidly and with absolute surety. But at length, however, his health 
 began to show signs of breaking down under the strain of his great busi-
 
 l^ottcr t^almcr 581 
 
 ness. A severe cough developed and he was finally informed by his phy- 
 sician that if he wished to preserve his life he must immediately retire 
 from active business. To any man possessed of Mr. Palmer's unflagging 
 energy and boundless ambition, such a sudden sentence must have come 
 as a paralyzing shock. Its effect on him then, at the age of forty-one, at 
 the very height of his success, must have been the crudest, bitterest 
 disappointment. Yet he accepted the verdict cheerfully and without a 
 single word of complaint or repining, began at once to search for a 
 method of disposing of his establishment. Consider his difficulties: No- 
 where in all the middle west was there a man or even a group of men 
 with the necessary capital and ability to take over the gigantic business 
 which he had created. An outright sale was entirely out of the question. 
 To close up an enterprise to whose upbuilding he had devoted the very 
 best years of his life was, to him, impossible. In this emergency, Mr. 
 Palmer selected two young men, both of whom were engaged in mercan- 
 tile work, and made to them a proposition which for sheer, magnificent 
 generosity has seldom, if ever been equalled in the commercial history 
 of the world. 
 
 Marshall Field, the elder of the two young men referred to, had for 
 some time been an employe of one of Mr. Palmer's wholesale competi- 
 tors, known as Cooley, Farwell & Company, and a short time previously 
 had been given a minor interest in the profits of the concern. Upon 
 Mr. Cooley's retirement, Levi Z. Leiter was also taken in on a similar 
 basis. Both Messrs. Field and Leiter were kno^vn only to a very limited 
 circle of business acquaintances. Almost unkown, untried, practically 
 without capital or credit they could give little other than time notes to 
 Potter Palmer for the immense values he turned over to them. It was 
 necessary not only to furnish the capital to run the business, but further 
 in order to give them the advantage of his eastern credits and standing. 
 Potter Palmer was obliged to leave his name as a guarantee with the 
 new firm which was then styled Field, Palmer & Leiter. Mr. Palmer, 
 however, was in no sense an actual partner for he left at once for a 
 prolonged absence in Europe. In reality he never had a partner in any 
 business, because he preferred to be absolutely independent and able to 
 decide all questions for himself as his judgment dictated. 
 
 To these two young men came out of the blue this unprecedented 
 opportunity, a going business of millions, sustained by the largest capital 
 then engaged in any mercantile enterprise in the west and the protection 
 and prestige gained by the ability, character and reputation of Potter 
 Palmer. They were literally made masters of a fortune created by 
 another hand and provided with capital and resources with which to go 
 forward. With the momentiun already given the business, and with the 
 prestige and the line of credit which Mr. Palmer's name commanded the
 
 582 jdottct \3a\mcx 
 
 new firm continued to advance. Mr. Field and Mr. Leiter, however, 
 were not aide after two years to meet their notes and these were extended 
 until suflicient payment could he made, when Potter Palmer withdrew 
 even nominal memhership in the firm, serene in the confidence that the 
 business he had founded could be carried on successfully and with every 
 assurance of permanence. It was ahvays a matter of peculiar gratifica- 
 tion to him that he had judged so wisely in selecting these two capable 
 successors. 
 
 It is interesting and significant of the development of public opinion 
 after the inauguration of Mr. Palmer's reforms in business practice that 
 when Field and Leiter decided to discontinue certain of his innovations 
 such as the sending out "on approval," exchanging goods, etc., on the 
 ground that it made extra bookkeepers necessary, public dissatisfaction 
 forced their reinstatement. Ever since they have been the boasted per- 
 manent policy of the store, the proprietors making virtue of the necessity 
 which Mr. Palmer's foresight had brought upon them. 
 
 Three years of rest in New York and Europe brought Potter Palmer 
 back to Chicago restored and reinvigorated, free and with a large fortune, 
 but be could not remain idle. He saw much to be done to push forward 
 the growing town which he always so greatly loved. It was not diflScult 
 for this well balanced mind, endowed with clear vision and broad out- 
 look to turn to a larger and more important field of action. With perfect 
 simplicity of purpose and unflagging energy the great merchant became 
 the great citizen. His ability and public spirit quickly found an oppor- 
 tunity to manifest itself. 
 
 Potter Palmer bad long seen that the main retail center. Lake street, 
 was inadequate, off to one side, running in the wrong direction and away 
 from the lines of public conveyance. He addressed himself to the 
 gigantic task of correcting this radical mistake and undertook to create 
 a suitable channel for the enormous retail business of the great city 
 which he foresaw. 
 
 State street, then narrow, ill paved, below the city grade, with 
 irregular jogs and pavements which were lined by squalid one story 
 frame buildings, occupied by saloons, blacksmith shops, second-hand 
 dealers, boarding houses for laborers, etc., presented a most forbidding 
 aspect. It was one of the longest streets in the city, however, running 
 from the north through the entire south division and upon it were 
 already centered several lines of street cars. To this street Potter Palmer 
 turned as the future natural artery of business. To rescue it, raise, 
 widen and build it up into the handsome thoroughfare which the city 
 would require became the master motive of this great constructive citizen 
 and to this strenuous work he devoted his capital, his talent, his energy 
 and his time for ten absorbing years.
 
 Potter jgalmer 583 
 
 Did one citizen unaided and voluntarily ever attempt and accomplish 
 more than this? 
 
 The beginnings of the present day State street were not announced 
 with a blare of trumpets. A time came when real estate and business 
 men woke up to the fact that Mr. Palmer was in possession of about a 
 mile of State street frontage, north of Twenty-second street — every foot 
 paid for in cash. The earliest intimation Chicago people had of coming 
 changes was the introduction of an ordinance in the city council provid- 
 ing for widening a few blocks of the street at the north. A man of quiet 
 persistence and fighting blood was pushing this ordinance. Is it neces- 
 sary to relate that the opposition was determined, even violent? Men 
 of means are conservative. In every decade there exist only a few who 
 can see far enough into the future to realize the value to themselves of 
 progressive action. Because of this enormous opposition, the ordinance 
 for widening could only apply to a block or two at a time. The owners 
 had then to be labored with and the effort made to prove to them that 
 by giving twenty-seven feet from the front of their lots to add to the 
 width of the great thoroughfare planned, their holdings would be more 
 valuable than before. The members of the council had also to be talked 
 to and convinced that they were doing a service to their city in helping 
 to provide such a needed channel for business, and to this end for years 
 this far seeing citizen labored without aid from anyone. Mr. Palmer 
 was almost alone in his championing of the ordinance. But the ordi- 
 nance passed. Nor was the proceeding tainted with the slightest sugges- 
 tion of unfair methods. 
 
 Then buildings began to appear on various pieces of this mile of 
 frontage. In every instance they were set back on the lots to allow for 
 the legal width of State street established by the new ordinance. Still 
 Mr. Palmer seemed to stand alone. Other property owners ignored the 
 ordinance. State street presented a peculiar, almost ridiculous, zigzag 
 of broken building line. It was the battle of the old and the new — of 
 foresight and sightlessness. Not only were these new buildings conform- 
 ing to the new ordinance but to the higher law of architectural beauty. 
 They commanded what seemed exorbitant rents — yet the renters pros- 
 pered. More buildings appeared, substantial — eye-pleasing. This man 
 who had gazed ahead was prospering. 
 
 One of the first buildings put up by Potter Palmer was at the corner 
 of State and Washington streets, the marble for the front of which was 
 imported from Vermont. Being the handsomest business block in the 
 city it was immediately rented to Field & Leiter for fifty thousand dollars 
 a year (an enormous rent in the young city and on the new street) 
 because they could not afford to allow a rival firm to occupy that 
 strategic position. Another new building was leased to Charles Gossage,
 
 5&4 ti)ottcr li)almcc 
 
 then the second firm in the retail trade of the city, and, one by one, he 
 huih and let fine hu.*iness houses on this street, until the most important 
 firms were located there. 
 
 Ten years later the visitor to Chicago as he walked in State street 
 might have refused to believe that any other thoroughfare had ever held 
 its prestige. The changes in that ten years had been radical. The stream 
 of trade flowed into a newer, better, more natural channel, because one 
 man so willed. How well he judged and acted may be decided by the 
 result. In this year, nineteen hundred and thirty-one, State street is still 
 growing in importance and usefulness. When one sees today the crowds 
 that throng this favorite thoroughfare, cars, automobiles and teams, with 
 sidewalks solid with foot passengers, it is unthinkable that they could 
 be crowded into the old narrow street, and thus, one can realize what 
 has been accomplished by the great foresight and strenuous personal 
 efforts of one citizen. 
 
 Before the great fire of 1871, Potter Palmer was reputed the 
 wealthiest man in Chicago. In one night thirty-two buildings represent- 
 ing an investment of over three million dollars, returning an income of 
 three hundred thousand dollars were annihilated. Nothing remained 
 but debris which represented further expense before it could be removed 
 and rebuilding started. This was the work of the flames. But Fate had 
 not reckoned with her victim. She had not crushed him. Even this 
 second great blow failed to upset the life work of this strong man. Men 
 say that no word of complaint was heard from Mr. Palmer. He had 
 time for action and nothing else. He still had his land and although 
 he abhorred debt and had never before mortgaged any of his holdings, 
 he immediately borrowed from the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance 
 Company the sum of one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars, the largest individual loan ever made in Chicago up to that time. 
 Once more his buildings began to appear on State street. It was neces- 
 sary for him to rebuild for he was forced to help retain the center of the 
 city where it had been to preser\'e values. Everyone had to be encour- 
 aged in the strenuous effort of recreating the city, for this was a perilous 
 moment of doubt and danger. One effect of the fire, however, must 
 have given him peculiar satisfaction. Not only his own, but all the other 
 structures, were set back on the building line established by the ordi- 
 nance. A newer, more magnificent street was assured. For the time 
 Chicago kept step with this pioneer spirit who did her thinking for her — 
 the man who did the thing that must be done — the man whose wealth 
 might almost be considered a by-product, a subsidiary result of his effort 
 in behalf of a great municipality. 
 
 Later when Potter Palmer wished to build a home for himself he 
 could not find a location that pleased him. The Lake front south of
 
 potter palmer 585 
 
 Lincoln park was then a succession of sand dunes and ponds, Irat 
 Mr. Palmer dreamed a dream. He saw it transformed into a residence 
 district of wonderful beauty and he changed his vision into a fact. The 
 Lake front was filled in, the waste space utilized, the drive laid out and 
 ornamented, the side streets cut through, a new residence neighborhood 
 created and thus %vas added to the city new values and the most beautiful 
 and popular and greatly needed residence quarter of Chicago. This look 
 years, but the work was willingly done. Here Potter Palmer built his 
 own home, which was a center of hospitality and adorned with the art 
 treasures of which he was an indefatigable and intelligent collector. He 
 pictured the South Park System with its connecting boulevards, and then 
 worked for years as a South Park commissioner to aid in perfecting it in 
 its realization. The dream of a World's Exposition more beautiful, more 
 perfect than any preceding, fascinated him and he aided largely in 
 making that dream concrete. It is generally conceded to have been the 
 high tide of such achievements. 
 
 Potter Palmer's clear vision, masterly conceptions, mental lucidity 
 and great energy made his course absolutely simple and self-evident. 
 When he saw what ought to be done he did not think of holding back, 
 and he saw largely and sanely; saw further than other men and felt 
 called to do the work. He did not do it for profit; he enjoyed working 
 for his city. He never talked of what he had done — it was a matter of 
 course to him — he never expected praise and in fact few realized what 
 he was doing. No public-spirited project of his time was without his aid 
 either financial or personal — or both. A Chamber of Commerce, an 
 Academy of Fine Arts, a public library, a driving club, a public improve- 
 ments organization, a World's Exposition — numberless interests felt the 
 beneficent effects of this man's power. 
 
 The civic spirit of Potter Palmer was manifested also in a very un- 
 usual direction, by his pleasure in paying his taxes and all special assess- 
 ments for the benefit of the city. He was called by the city administra- 
 tion the banner tax payer, not only paying them as soon as due, and 
 without protest, but many times he voluntarily added to the list sums 
 for taxes on unassessed values, especially on the growing art collections 
 in his home. The same qualities which made Mr. Palmer the great 
 commercial and civic spirit of his generation, would have earned for 
 him equal success and probably greater personal reward and public 
 recognition had he chosen to devote them to political or diplomatic work 
 or some other of the many broad fields of endeavor which lay open 
 before him. It is significant and characteristic that the thought of self- 
 aggrandizement never swayed or influenced him an iota. His chosen 
 field lay in the upbuilding of his city and for this he labored to the end. 
 He refused to be tempted by offers of political honors. Neither a cabinet
 
 586 Potter l^almcr 
 
 position under President Grant nor the proffered mayoralty moved him. 
 His work lay elsewhere. 
 
 The latter part of his life was a succession of accomplishments, which 
 were exemplifications of the guiding spirit of his existence. He merely 
 realized and answered a necessity hefore others knew that the necessity 
 existed. There was a work to he done. He did it. Others might have 
 performed it in time. He did not wait for them. Beneath his outward 
 calm and content existed a vast impatience with things as they were — 
 when ihey could be bettered. That great motto of a later genius — 
 "always unsatisfied never dissatisfied" — was a perennial motive 
 principle. 
 
 It has been well said that it is as easy to think big as to think small 
 — but that it takes more courage. This man had the courage for big 
 thoughts. His clear vision, masterly conceptions and mental grasp, made 
 his course absolutely self-evident and simple, no matter to what he 
 turned his attention. He never talked of what he had done or sought or 
 expected praise for any effort for the general good. 
 
 Of his home life, which meant everything to a man whose existence 
 was so essentially simple and rational, much could be said in praise. 
 Yet it is to be questioned whether his accomplishment seems less great 
 because of the perfect understanding and sympathetic aid he received 
 from his domestic life or greater because of his choice of a helpmate. 
 Mrs. Palmer was amply qualified for that social position at home and 
 abroad to which Mr. Palmer's wealth of achievement entitled her. 
 Present dav society is only beginning to take full account of the womanly 
 influence that must be back of any great man's life. Yet in this instance 
 acknowledgment had been given in the form of social leadership enjoyed 
 by few women of this country. 
 
 Appreciation of a man may beget enthusiasm and enthusiasm pre- 
 cludes calm, unprejudiced consideration. Let us forget the eulogies of 
 friends and the press. Lay aside the praises of uncounted beneficiaries. 
 May we look upon the work done and pass judgment. Let us think of 
 him in connection with that work. Surelv such a man would ask no
 
 'Jf THE 
 UNIVERSIl / OF ILLINOIS
 
 Y^2j<i^^s^*^c-u -^/ c>/
 
 (fii0cuc Scplcr 
 
 ,ROMINENT among the representatives of commercial ac- 
 tivity in Peoria, Eugene Kepler was numbered. Start- 
 ing out in the business world in a humble capacity, he 
 became recognized as one of the foremost representa- 
 tives of the shoe trade in America and no one ever 
 grudged him his success, so worthily was it won and 
 so worthily used. His life story should serve as a source of inspiration 
 and encouragement to others, showing what can be accomplished when 
 untiring effort is guided by laudable ambition and sound judgment. 
 
 Mr. Kepler was born in Litchfield, Illinois, March 23, 1872, the only 
 son of Andrew and Frances Kepler, whose family also numbered a 
 daughter, Grace. The parents were early residents of Illinois and the 
 mother died when her son was but six years of age. The father was a 
 harness-maker of Litchfield but for two years prior to his death was an 
 invalid. When only eight years of age Eugene Kepler sold sandwiches 
 and newspapers at the trains in order to get money for the needs of the 
 family. He early learned the value of industry, perseverance and hon- 
 esty and these qualities dominated his entire business career. "When 
 a youth of fourteen he went to Springfield, Illinois, where he pursued 
 a business course, and at the same time he held a position in a shoe store 
 of that city, being employed as clerk at a weekly wage of fifteen dollars. 
 While thus working he attracted the attention of a Mr. Burns, a shoe 
 dealer of Peoria, Illinois, who offered him employment and brought him 
 to this city in 1891. Something of his capability and his dependability 
 is shown in the fact that after six months he was made manager of 
 the store. 
 
 Mr. Kepler carefully saved his earnings and in 1902, at the age of 
 thirty years, had acquired sufficient capital to enable him to open a small 
 store of his own at 403 South Adams street. His investment consisted 
 of only four hundred dollars. He could not put in a large stock for 
 lack of capital and credit and so after closing the store for the day 
 he would ride in a day coach, sitting up through the night, to Chicago 
 and bring back with him as much additional stock as he could afford to 
 buy. It was this kind of courage and determination that enabled him 
 to overcome difficulties and win success. Steadily his trade grew. His 
 store was enlarged and in the course of years he became one of the lead- 
 
 589
 
 590 C-iigciic Uculcr 
 
 inj; shoe merchaut? of the United State?. Hi* rire wa? rapid and hi? 
 fame was widespread. His ability and what he accomplished made him 
 known from coast to coast and he was quoted in magazines devoted 
 to the shoe industn.. being termed the "Shoe King." He continued to 
 carr}.- on the business on South Adams street until 1915. when he 
 opened another store at 121 South Adams street, declared at that time 
 to be the finest shoe store in the state, outside of Chicago. In 1923 he 
 also established a shoe store in Lincoln. Illinois, known as Kepler's 
 Stvle Shop, which he conducted successfully for some time and then 
 sold. Not long before his demise Mr. Kepler closed out his store at 
 403 South Adams street, disposing of the entire stock by sale. He long 
 occupied a prominent and honored position among the shoe merchants 
 of the country and in 1926 was elected president of the Illinois Shoe 
 Retailers Association, which office he filled for a year. He likewise filled 
 the presidency of the National Shoe Retailers Association for two terms 
 and he made valuable contribution to the shoe trade in that he put 
 forth manv new ideas which proved to his competitors and colleagues 
 a source of business expansion. He developed his individual interests 
 along practical and progressive lines and his labors were at all times 
 attended by substantial and gratifying residts. 
 
 Mr. Kepler was married in early manhood to Miss Minnie Gloeckel. 
 of Peoria, who died in 1915. On the 8th of August. 1921. he married 
 Mrs. Edna Worden Stark, of Grand Rapids. Michigan, a daughter of 
 William H. and Charlotte ( Shafifer l Worden of that city. They traveled 
 life's journev happily together until Mr. Kepler passed away September 
 25. 1927. bein^ instantlv killed in an automobile accident which occurred 
 in the early morning of that day. when he and his ^'die, accompanied by 
 friends, had traveled only a short distance from Peoria on a contem- 
 plated motor trip to New York cit>-. In his passing Peoria lost one of 
 her valued and representative citizens and his life in every respect 
 conunanded the confidence and good-%\'ill of all who knew him. He was 
 a stanch supporter of all those projects which make for ci>-ic progress 
 and labored imtiringly for the welfare and benefit of Peoria. He also 
 did much in a charitable way but his benefactions were quietly be- 
 stowed and he avoided all publicity- in this connection. Mrs. Kepler, in 
 full sympathy with his work along that line, still supports the charities 
 which he fostered. In politics Mr. Kepler was a republican but neither 
 held nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies and atten- 
 tion upon his business interests. He took a keen and active interest in 
 all manly outdoor sports and was a member of the Illinois ^ alley 
 Yacht Club and Canoe Club. He also belonged to the Optimists Club, 
 the Creve Coeur Club, the Mount Hawlev Countrv" Club and the North
 
 Cugene IReplet 
 
 591 
 
 Shore Country Club. Fraternally he was connected with Temple Lodge, 
 No. 46, F. & A. M., Peoria Consistory of the Scottish Rite, Mohammed 
 Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and Peoria Lodge, No. 20, B. P. O. E. 
 He was long an outstanding figure in business and social circles of 
 Peoria and '"Gene" Kepler, as he was known, was loved and respected 
 bv all and his friends were legion.
 
 lolju ConraD Poelflc 
 
 N A HISTORY of those who have contributed to the com- 
 mercial development of Peoria, John Conrad Woelfle 
 must find mention, for through many years he was 
 closely associated wdth the jewelry trade in this city, 
 developing his interests in keeping with the steady 
 growth and progress which transformed a little western 
 city into one of the metropolitan centers of the Mississippi valley. 
 
 Mr. Woelfle was a native of Baden, Germany, born January 16, 1843. 
 His parents, John Jacob and Agnes (Kienzle) Woelfle, were also natives 
 of Baden, where they passed away, leaving their son, John C, an orphan 
 in early youth. He was reared in Germany, attended the common 
 schools there and then entered upon an apprenticeship at the watch- 
 maker's trade, which he followed in his native country to the age of 
 eighteen years. Then came to hun the opportunity of establishing his 
 home in America, where broader and better chances for business ad- 
 vancement were to be secured. In the autumn of 1861, accompanied by 
 his sister, Anna Marie, he sailed for the United States, where he joined 
 his brother, John J. Woelfle, who three years before had become a resi- 
 dent of Peoria. 
 
 Unacquainted with the English language, it was some time before 
 John Conrad Woelfle was able to make much headway in the business 
 world, but he filled such positions as he could and finally became a 
 watchmaker at Pekin, Illinois. Later, however, he returned to Peoria, 
 where he secured a position in the line of his trade with John C. Wieting. 
 He carefully saved his earnings until his industry and economy enabled 
 him to carry out a long cherished plan of engaging in business on his 
 own account. On the 1st of December, 1871, he resigned his position 
 and established a store at 122 Adams street, where he began mth a small 
 stock that, however, represented the wise investment of his funds in an 
 attractive display of holiday silverware and jewelry. He had previously 
 become known as an expert watchmaker and jeweler and it was not long 
 before his trade had assumed gratifying proportions. For thirty-two 
 years he remained at his original location and then removed to 112 
 South Adams street, where he carried on business with continued and 
 substantial success until May 8, 1911, when he sold his store to Welte & 
 Wieting and retired. His was the second oldest jewelry business in 
 Peoria at that time and throughout the years of his connection with 
 commercial interests he had enjoyed an unassailable reputation as a 
 
 593
 
 594 John CoiiraD CClocIfle 
 
 thoroughly dependahle and reliable merchant and one who in the con- 
 duct of his interests had displayed a most progressive spirit. He had 
 gained trade by fair prices, by honorable dealing and enterprising 
 methods and was long the proprietor of one of the leading jewelry houses 
 of the city. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1888. Mr. Woelfle was married to Miss 
 Eniilie Hosier, a native <tf Peoria and a daughter of August Hesler, an 
 early settler here. Mr. and Mrs. \^ itelfle became the parents of a daugh- 
 ter, Emilie, who was educated in the Bradley Polytechnic Institute and is 
 now the wife of Jennings B. Theis, of Peoria. 
 
 Mr. Woelfle held membership in the Lutheran Church, and was 
 identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He gave 
 his political support to the democratic party and he was always keenly 
 interested in everything of a civic nature that promised to promote public 
 welfare. He gave hearty cooperation to every project that he deemed 
 vital to the community and at all times was accounted one of Peoria's 
 most public-spirited citizens. He was called to his final rest December 4, 
 1919. and in his passing the city mourned the loss of one of her esteemed 
 and honored men. Coming to the new world while still in his teens, 
 practically the entire period of his manhood was passed in Peoria and at 
 all times he displayed those substantial qualities which win respect and 
 friendship. His family still resides in this city, making their home at 
 113 INorth University street.
 
 /.IBRAKV 
 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSIf / OF ILriNOK-
 
 a 
 
 |00cpl) (f. Ilauooan 
 
 ISTORY has shown various periods in which art has lan- 
 guished and others in which notable advancement has 
 been made. Strong and unafraid, an artist in vision and 
 a master craftsman in workmanship, Joseph E. Flana- 
 gan made notable contribution to the development of 
 art glass and the lead framework which constitutes some 
 of the finest windows and doors to be seen in the entire country. He 
 brought his manufactured product up to a point of highest standard and 
 of most decorative quality, the results winning the highest commenda- 
 tion of connoisseurs and of the laity as well. It is doubtful if anyone has 
 contributed in so large a measure to the results accomplished in this 
 field of art as did Mr. Flanagan, who was the organizer of the Stained 
 Glass Association of America and for more than twenty years editor of 
 The Bulletin published by that association, while his position of leader- 
 ship in his chosen field was uncontested for a half century. 
 
 Since heraldry is a symbol of service and noble ancestry, Joseph E. 
 Flanagan's ambitious spirit and strong determination could easily be 
 traced to the Flanagan coat of arms with its meaningful motto Certavi-et- 
 Vici. 
 
 Mr. Flanagan, who was named after his paternal grandfather, was 
 born, with the other members of the family, in New Albany, Indiana, 
 February 15, 1858, and was the second eldest son in a family of six 
 children whose parents were Mr. and Mrs. Matthias Flanagan. Mr. Flana- 
 gan's father was born in TuUamore, Kings county, Ireland, January 1, 
 1813. and his mother, whose maiden name was Anastasia Gleason, was 
 born in Nenagh, Tipperary county, Ireland. Besides Mr. Flanagan two 
 of the number have passed away, Mrs. Edward Russell and a half brother, 
 Thomas G. Russell, those still living being: Mrs. Edward F. Niesen, of 
 Chicago; James G., living in St. Louis, Missouri; and Matthias M., also 
 of Chicago. 
 
 Like the great majority of notably successful and thoroughly efficient 
 American men, Joseph E. Flanagan was early thrown upon his own re- 
 sources. When but twelve years of age he began to earn his living and his 
 first position foreshadowed the success of his later life, for he obtained a 
 job with a plate glass concern of New Albany, Indiana. His task, how- 
 ever, was a most humble one, consisting of cleaning glass and carrying 
 water to the men. After remaining there a few years he found employ- 
 ment with an art glass firm in Louisville, Kentucky, and there served 
 
 597
 
 598 Joseph C j^hiMcigan 
 
 his apprenticeship, remaining in that connection until he reached the 
 age of eighteen, when the line of his activity changed, for he became a 
 fireman on the Monon Railroad. In later years, when success and fame 
 were his in large measure, he delighted in recounting his experiences 
 in stoking locomotives on freight trains between Louisville and Chicago. 
 
 A few years in that line convinced him that be preferred other em- 
 ployment and, moreover, desiring to know something of the country, he 
 decided to visit distant parts of the United States, obtaining employment 
 in various cities as he traveled from place to place. His was an open 
 mind and a retentive memory and from each experience of life he gained 
 the lessons therein contained. He passed through the strikes in the mines 
 of Leadville, Colorado, where on numerous occasions he narrowly 
 escaped death. On leaving that state he made his way to Chicago, where 
 he obtained employment as a glazier with George A. Misch & Companv, 
 with whom he continued for about a year, when he accepted a position 
 as foreman with McCully & Miles in their art glass department, but after 
 a brief period he decided to engage in the art glass business on his own 
 account. 
 
 \^'ith Mr. Flanagan "To will was to do," and he at once set about 
 carrying out his purpose. In 1878 he formed a partnership with the 
 late William C. Biedenweg, under the firm style of Flanagan & Bieden- 
 weg. with offices and factory at 210 Kinzie street. In a short time the 
 business was placed upon a substantial basis and in 1883 was incorpo- 
 rated under the name of the Flanagan & Biedenweg Company, at which 
 time a removal was made from Kinzie street to 312-320 West Illinois 
 street, where the factory is still located. After the death of bis partner 
 on April 20. 1914. Mr. Flanagan purchased the interest of Mr. Bieden- 
 weg"s heirs and became sole owner of the business. He was a man of 
 marked executive ability and notable initiative, combined with high 
 ideals as to the art features of his business, and by reason of these 
 qualities the Flanagan & Biedenweg Company prospered and became 
 known from coast to coast and even in European countries. Steadv im- 
 provement characterized the conduct of the business until the highest 
 ideals of art glass manufacturing found embodiment in the output of the 
 plant, and as president of the company Mr. Flanagan was awarded the 
 Gold Medal by the International Jury of Artists at the Louisiana Purchase 
 Exposition held in St. Louis in 1904. 
 
 Mr. Flanagan's contribution to the development of the glass industry 
 would alone entitle him to mention as one of the foremost men of 
 Chicago yet his activities did not cease there. Few have had a keener 
 conception of the duties and obligations of citizenship and at no time 
 was his support withheld from any object which he deemed of value to 
 the community. He became president of the Orleans and Franklin Street
 
 jjoscpl) (g» JTlanagan 599 
 
 Bridge Association, the efforts of which resuhed in opening the bridge 
 to the public on the 23d of October, 1920. In appreciation of the work 
 done by Mr. Flanagan and others who were responsible for shaping 
 public opinion and thus making the improvement possible, their names 
 were placed on a bronze tablet erected on the east side of the bridge by 
 the city council of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Flanagan served with distinction on the board of county com- 
 missioners for two terms, from 1900 until 1904, and he was also chair- 
 man of the war board, representing the art glass profession in the United 
 States during the period of the World war. 
 
 He became connected with others in founding the Stained Glass 
 Association of America and remained one of its most faithful and loyal 
 members, never missing a meeting or failing to attend its conventions. 
 Through the darkest years in its existence he continued one of its most 
 faithful workers and supporters. He was persistently, courageously and 
 effectively a foremost champion of its best interests. It is due to the 
 late Karl Stewart, Charles C. Jacoby and his father, J. J. Jacoby, and 
 Joseph E. Flanagan, that the association stands Avhere it is today. When 
 the society decided to issue a publication Mr. Flanagan was offered the 
 editorship of The Bulletin, a position which he occupied to the time of 
 his death. He conducted it in a dignified manner, advocating the highest 
 standards of glass manufacture, and the publication under his guidance 
 was ever a credit to the association. In this work he was ably assisted 
 by his faithful secretary. Miss Elizabeth Dillon Durr, who was his busi- 
 ness associate for thirty-seven years. When the association decided to 
 adopt a seal for its membership and for the president it was at the same 
 time decided to present to Mr. Flanagan the first of these medallions as 
 a token of public esteem for his work in the society. Unfortunately he 
 passed away before the presentation could be made, but the medallion 
 was presented to the family at the convention held in June, 1928, at the 
 Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago. 
 
 Friday morning. May 14, 1926, Mr. Flanagan with a number of 
 prominent members of the stained glass craft, left New York on the 
 steamer Ohio for a six weeks' European tour. It was the first itinerary 
 ever offered the association to visit the stained glass treasures of western 
 Europe and see the windows that made cathedrals of England and France 
 famous. Mr. Flanagan looked forward with the keenest pleasure to the 
 trip which would mean his first real vacation — a climax to years of hard 
 work in the art glass craft. He was eager to make it not only for the 
 wealth of experience that such an itinerary affords for the betterment of 
 the craft as a whole, but the added advantage of an opportunity — not 
 soon to be forgotten — a visit to Ireland where his parents were born. We 
 quote the following from the July, 1926, Bulletin: "Our editor did not
 
 600 Joseph €. rhiiuigan 
 
 return with the other inemhcrs of the party, because he felt that his trip 
 >vas incomplete. To use liis own words: 'I cannot turn down an oppor- 
 trinity \\lien it means the ciihnination of a lifes cherished wish — a visit 
 to the birthplace of my father and mother — a visit to the Emerald isle.' 
 When he stepped on Irish soil in the early morn of July 4th he expe- 
 rienced the keenest pleasure and his ten days' sojourn there, which 
 included a trip to the beautiful Killarney Lakes, was enjoyed to the very 
 fullest. Mr. Flanagan sailed on the Orbita July 16th and is expected 
 home about August 1st." 
 
 Mr. Flanagan was married July 5. 1881. to Miss Margaret Carlin, in 
 the Cathedral of the Holy Name in Chicago, by Monsignor Fitzsimmons. 
 Of this marriage were born eleven children, of whom one, Anna Frances, 
 died in infancy, while three sons, in the flower of young manhood, gave 
 their lives as a sacrifice to the cause of humanity in the World war. The 
 eldest of the surviving sons is Matthias C, who married Anna May Tolan. 
 The second son. Joseph E., graduated from the Ravenswood high school 
 and afterward attended De Paul University of Chicago and the Christian 
 Brothers College at St. Louis. Missouri, winning distinction as a scholar, 
 a linguist and an athlete. He volunteered for service in the navy during 
 the \^ orld war and was drowned in the Potomac river, August 1, 1919. 
 Grace Eperva. the third of the family, is the wife of Edwin R. Shrosbree 
 and their children are Joseph Edward. Edwin Robert, Mary Ann and 
 Joan Margaret. Gertrude became the wife of Howard S. Michael and 
 they have six children: Margaret Ada: Ella Belle: John and Howard S., 
 Jr.. twins; Mary Alice: and Catherine Teresa. James R., who married 
 Grace Luby, in his youth assisted his father in the studio, later became 
 a salesman for the firm and finally was elected vice president of the 
 Flanagan & Biedenweg Company. During the World war he was a 
 machine gunner in the Twentieth Machine Gun Battalion of the Seventh 
 Division and saw service in the front line trenches in France. He died 
 May 24, 1923, in the John B. Murphy Hospital of Chicago, of injuries 
 sustained during his military service. \^ illiam C, who married Florence 
 Irene Wroby, has two children, William Columbus, Jr., and Joseph 
 Edward. He enlisted in September, 1917, in the machine gun battalion 
 of the Thirty-third Division, and while on duty drew the maps for the 
 Meuse-Argonne machine-gun barrage for the Thirty-third Division. He 
 returned to the United States in May, 1919, and became his father's 
 associate in business. Alice, the next of the family, is the wife of John F. 
 Barrett and their children are: John Francis, Anthony Joseph, Thomas 
 Carlin and William Carlin. John Dewey Flanagan donned the uniform 
 of the United States INavy February 15, 1917. the anniversary of his 
 father's birth, and on the 13th of April, 1918, the father received word 
 from L. C. Palmer of the Bureau of Navigation that 'the navv collier
 
 Joscpt) C j^Ianagan 601 
 
 Cyclops, on which your son. John Dewey Flanagan, is seaman, is overdue 
 since March 13th." Days, months and years passed, but no word from 
 the Cyclops ever came. Marie became the wife of William F. Kellner 
 and they have two sons, William Frederick, Jr. and James Frederick. 
 Thomas C. married Helen Marie Kellner and their children are: Joseph 
 Edward; and Emily Helen and Mary Margaret, twins. 
 
 To his family Mr. Flanagan was ever a devoted husband and father 
 and his joy in his success came to him because it enabled him to provide 
 liberally for those of his own household. Those who knew Mr. Flanagan 
 regarded him as a really remarkable man. Responsibilities were thrust 
 upon him early in life and he soon realized that there was little to be 
 gained from doing things which have no difficulties and exact no concen- 
 tration of effort and purpose. He realized that the individual grows 
 when his strength is developed through the obstacles he must overcome 
 aud the hardships which he meets. Accordingly he early developed per- 
 sistency of purpose, a determined will and high standards. While his 
 educational opportunities were limited, his mind was naturally quick 
 and receptive and he thus became a man of broad knowledge. He took 
 as his motto the three W's, "Work, Will, Win," and he forged ahead in 
 business and in public life. Moreover, he early had the insight to rec- 
 ognize that while work is essential to prosperity, it is just as essential to 
 make friends. The success which came to him and which was credited 
 to his ability as a business man also came because he had made influential 
 friends, and this he could only do through the development of a strong 
 and pleasing personality. He possessed a lovable disposition, always 
 recognized the good qualities in others, and in his life he expressed the 
 Emersonian philosophy that the way to win a friend is to be one. He 
 was gentle and kindly and he never neglected an opportunity to do good 
 to others. His acts of charity were many yet unostentation characterized 
 all his benevolence and he never spoke to others of any generous act 
 which he had done. In the field of his chosen life work his accomplish- 
 ments were beyond those of most representatives of the calling. He 
 made the uplifting of the stained glass craft his chief concern and many 
 are the artists who sought his advice and assistance, which were always 
 cheerfully given. When he passed away on the 30th of May, 1928, the 
 following was A\Titten of him: 'Tt is the sad duty of The Bulletin to 
 inform its readers that the Angel of Death has again broken another link 
 in the ranks of our Association. On Decoration day, our beloved editor, 
 master and friend. Joseph E. Flanagan, suddenly passed away at the 
 home of his daughter, Mrs. ^ illiam F. Kellner, in Edison Park, Chicago. 
 Mr. Flanagan organized the Stained Glass Association. He was the 
 father of the organization. Since its inception he never missed attending 
 a convention. He did everjthing in his power to make a success of the
 
 602 Joseph €-. J^lcuuigan 
 
 craft, and his zeal for its progress warrants us to carry forward his untir- 
 ing efforts for a bigger and greater Association. Mr. Flanagan has been 
 editor of The Bulletin continuously for the past twenty years and the 
 evening before his death he partly compiled this issue. No words can 
 express the high appreciation for the work he did for The Bulletin and 
 the craft. His many good works and lovable character endeared him to 
 everybody and will stand as a monument to his memory. We have lost 
 a stanch friend." 
 
 Interment was in Calvary cemetery by the side of his wife, who 
 passed away May 26, 1912. Thus were ended the life activities of Joseph 
 E. Flanagan, but who can measure the extent of his influence for the 
 betterment of the particular field of business in which he labored, for 
 the improvement and progress of the city and most of all the influence 
 which he exerted for good on the lives of those with whom he was closely 
 associated? His standards of manhood and of citizenship were of the 
 highest and his example will remain an inspiration to those who knew 
 him for years to come.
 
 gcnrii goucks 
 
 ENRY LOUCKS, who became a nationally known figure 
 in insurance circles and whose acti\-ities were always 
 directed along constructive and constantly expanding 
 lines of usefulness, was vice president of the Peoria Life 
 Insurance Company from Februarj', 1922, until his 
 death, assuming the duties of that office after years of 
 service and experience with the corporation. 
 
 Illinois claimed Mr. Loucks as a native son, for he was born in De 
 Kalb county on the 24th of December, 1862. His parents, Hon. Hiram 
 and Amanda Loucks, were pioneer residents of the state. His father 
 was a man of brilliant attainments and of genuine ddistinction. His char- 
 acter and ability brought him prominently to the front in public life and 
 he ser\ed as a member of the state legislature for two terms, while at 
 other periods he held high offices in the commonwealth. Both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Loucks were natives of New York but early left the Empire state 
 and became residents of De Kalb county. Hiram Loucks engaged in 
 farming and was rated among the most progressive agriculturists of that 
 district. He purchased a half section of land in Iowa when his son 
 Henr)- was eighteen years of age, sending the latter there to develop the 
 tract, which he cultivated for two years. 
 
 It was in Iowa that Mr. Loucks was united in marriage to Miss 
 Sevilla Smith, who died a year and a half later, after which he returned 
 lo De Kalb county and again settled on the homestead farm, on which 
 he remained for sixteen years. About 1901 he removed to Sandwich, 
 Illinois, where he established his family, and then entered the insurance 
 field as an agent for the National Life Insurance Company. His rise 
 was rapid and he became known as a prominent figure in insurance 
 circles. The corporation which he represented soon recognized his 
 ability and transferred him from Sandmch to Peoria, where he was 
 given the position of field manager. In 1908 he withdrew^ from that 
 connection and became identified wth the Peoria Life Insurance Com- 
 pany, being given charge of the Avork of organizing the agency forces. 
 He undertook this task with his usual notable energy and foresight and 
 results important and beneficial were at once manifest. In 1910 he was 
 made superintendent of agents for the Peoria Life Insurance Company 
 and in February-, 1922. was elected to the vice presidency. He was 
 unusually gifted with the ability to judge men and to train them in this 
 particular line of work and many of the present agents of the company 
 
 603
 
 604 brnrt) Loiirbs 
 
 were developed under liis aide direction and admit that they owe no 
 .small share of their iiuccess to his assistance. He seemed to call out the 
 hest of those in his employ. He always gave the representatives of the 
 company his full cooperation and inspired them with his own zeal and 
 interest in the business. He was at all times persistent in carrying 
 forward to a successful issue anything that he undertook and thus step 
 l»y step he advanced to prominence and distinction in his chosen field. 
 In 1921 the feeling of loyalty and affection which he had inspired in the 
 men imder him found expression in the installation in the home office 
 of a bronze tablet dedicated to Mr. Loucks and donated by the sales 
 force. He was also active and prominent in the national gatherings of 
 insurance executives and for many years he held membership in the Life 
 Agency Officers Association and in other leading insurance organizations. 
 While he became an outstanding figure in insurance circles of the coun- 
 try, he also achieved prominence in other lines of business, becoming 
 one of the vice presidents of the Bank of Peoria and vice president of 
 the Pere Marquette Hotel Company. 
 
 On the .3d of February, 1887, Mr. Loucks was married to Miss Lila 
 Quilhot, of De Kalb county, a daughter of Peter Van Allen and Frances 
 Mary Quilhot, who were among the pioneer settlers of Illinois. Her 
 father drove a stage coach between Galena and Chicago in the early days 
 before there were any railroads in that section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Loucks became the parents of two children: lone Amanda, now the wife 
 of ^ alter E. May, vice president of the Peoria Life Insurance Company; 
 and Helen Arlouine, the wife of William J. Bruninga, a special agent 
 of the Peoria Life Insurance Company. There are also two grandchil- 
 dren, Henry W. Bruninga and Clifford Irving Hirt, Jr., the latter a son 
 of Mrs. May by a former marriage. 
 
 Mr. Loucks Avas a member of the Creve Coeur Club and the Automo- 
 bile Club and was affiliated with the Congregational Church. He died 
 July 16, 1926, and it seemed that he could scarcely be spared. In 
 matters of citizenship he always maintained a most progressive attitude 
 and his activities for civic good were far-reaching, while his business 
 ability had gained him enviable prominence as a representative of insur- 
 ance interests in America.
 
 LIBRARV 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSIT/ OF ILLINOIS
 
 Pilliam Wallace Simball 
 
 HE WORLD has long acknowledged America's supremacy 
 in the production of machinery and utilitarian devices 
 of all kinds, but it remained to William Wallace Kim- 
 ball to largely establish the reputation of this land as an 
 art center in the production of fine musical instruments. 
 He it was who invaded European markets with the 
 American product, placing his pianos and organs in the greater number 
 of the cities of any size on the continent and in Great Britain. And the 
 story of the development of his great manufacturing industry is one that 
 reads almost like a romance, for a tireless brain and remarkable insight 
 planned and upbuilt a gigantic enterprise that made the name of Kimball 
 known almost throughout the civilized world. In his business career 
 he never regarded any position as final but rather as a starting point for 
 still larger accomplishments and achievements. 
 
 Mr. Kimball passed away December 16, 1904. Maine numbered him 
 among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Oxford county in 
 1828. The family had resided in that locality from the close of the 
 Revolutionary war. The ancestral line in America, however, is traced 
 back through twelve generations to Richard Kimball, of Ipswich, Massa- 
 chusetts, a town named in honor of his old home town of Ipswich, 
 England, whence he emigrated to the new world in 1634. The name of 
 Kimball has figured prominently on the pages of America's history since 
 that time, its representatives being leaders in military circles as well as 
 in the pursuits of business life. This number included Moses Kimball, 
 grandfather of W. W. Kimball, who defended the interests of the colonies 
 in the war for independence, and David Kimball, his son, who served 
 with equal distinction through the War of 1812. When the colonies had 
 gained their liberty Moses Kimball removed to Oxford county, Maine, 
 where he followed the occupation of farming. 
 
 In the district and high schools of that county W. W. Kimball pur- 
 sued his education and in early manhood divided his time between teach- 
 ing and clerking in a store. His natural predilection was toward com- 
 mercial pursuits and when he attained his majority he went to Boston, 
 where he secured employment with a mercantile house. Going upon 
 the road as a traveling salesman, he did business first in New England 
 and later in the middle, southern and western states. This brought him 
 comprehensive knowledge of business conditions existing in various sec- 
 tions of the country and led him eventually to establish his home in 
 
 607
 
 608 (laiHiam CGallafc lAtmfaall 
 
 Cliicago. He first visited this city in 1857, then a frontier town, hut 
 full of the spirit of enterprise and progress, which has led to its later 
 rapid growth and development. To the casual ohserver, however, it 
 would have offered little inducement for one who desired to engage in 
 business along musical lines. Its business houses were mostly concerned 
 with supplying the needs of frontier settlers who had no time for art in 
 any form when necessity demanded that they build homes and improve 
 farms. Mr. Kimball, however, recognized the fact that Chicago was 
 advantageously situated and that it would one day become the center of 
 a great trade territory. Remarkable prescience showed him, too, that 
 kvhen the necessity for providing immediate shelter was over and when 
 the land was transformed into productive tracts, there would come that 
 leisure in which the individual might cultivate love of music. It was 
 this that led him to become connected wit'a the music trade of a frontier 
 city and the wisdom of his opinion %vas demonstrated after a few years 
 had passed. He was at first content with the sale of musical instruments 
 to the local trade but by 1864 he had successfully established a wholesale 
 piano house and the growth of his business justified his removal to more 
 commodious quarters in the famous Crosby Opera House on Washington 
 street. There business was carefully conducted luitil 1871, when he 
 suffered heavy losses in the disastrous fire which broke out on October 9 
 of that year. Forty-eight hours after the flames had been subdued he 
 was ready to resume business, having converted his residence on Michi- 
 gan avenue into a musical warehouse, with a billiard room for an office 
 and the barn for a shipping department. Soon, however, removal was 
 made to larger quarters at the northwest corner of Wabash avenue and 
 Thirteenth street, and in 1873 he removed to the southeast corner of 
 State and Adams streets, each removal being occasioned by the necessity 
 of providing more extensive housing for a growing business. In 1882 the 
 Kimball musical interests were recognized under the corporate name of 
 the W. \^ \ Kimball Company and a few years later store and factory 
 were established at the southeast corner of State and Jackson streets. 
 In the spring of 1891 another removal was made to 147-157 Wabash 
 avenue, where had been erected a splendid new building elaborately 
 planned and constructed for the perfect accommodation of all the dif- 
 ferent departments of the business that had then come to be represented 
 by a thousand branches and which covered an extensive tributary terri- 
 tory. In addition to the salesrooms and Avarehouse of the company, 
 mammoth factories were owned and conducted by the Kimball house in 
 the production of their musical instruments. It was Mr. KimbalKs 
 desire to place upon the market instruments which in superiority of 
 workmanship and excellence of tone would surpass all others, and at the 
 same time he carefully studied the question of conserving the cost of
 
 gailliam mmact IRimtiall 609 
 
 manufacture in a degree that would bring the price of fine instruments 
 within the reach of the majority of American families. These problems 
 claimed his earnest attention and efforts, resulting at length in the erec- 
 tion of a great organ factory in the year 1881. By that time the sales 
 of the house covered all the western and northwestern territory and he 
 believed that the hour was ripe for him to begin the manufacture of the 
 Kimball parlor organ, which in five years' time was being sold not only 
 throughout the United States and North America but in many foreign 
 cities as well. He had invaded the European market with an instrument 
 which for price, workmanship and tonal qiiality outclassed all com- 
 petitors. When this branch of the business had been firmly and substan- 
 tially established Mr. Kimball further extended the scope of the business 
 in 1887 to include the manufacture of pianos. A mammoth plant Avas 
 erected corresponding to the vast organ factory, the two covering a floor 
 space of a quarter of a million square feet. Effort and enterprise on the 
 part of Mr. Kimball always seemed to spell success and his name soon 
 became as synonymous with the piano trade of the country as it had with 
 organ building. 
 
 One of the elements in his advancement and success was the keen 
 pleasure which he derived from the solution of intricate business prob- 
 lems and the careful control of complex business interests. Competition 
 made him keenly alert, obstacles called forth his strong will and determi- 
 nation and he eagerly grasped every opportunity to combine and coordi- 
 nate forces so as to unite seemingly diverse interests into a great, har- 
 monious and productive whole. There was no phase of successful busi- 
 ness management that seemed to escape him and he early recognized 
 that the secret of success is the attainment of maximum result through 
 minimum effort; and while he eliminated all useless expendhure of 
 time, money and material, his employes ever found him a just and even 
 generous employer who had their loyalty in remarkable degree. In all 
 the years in which he controlled a growing business that eventually 
 brought him wealth he sustained an unsullied reputation because of his 
 close conformity to the highest standard of commercial ethics. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Kimball was married in Chicago to Miss Evaline INI. 
 Cone, a daughter of Hubbell B. Cone, of this city. They long maintained 
 a prominent position in social circles here. One of Mr. Kimball's most 
 marked traits was his love for and appreciation of art. He had a fine 
 discriminating taste as is indicated by his selection of pictures. His 
 collection contained some of the finest specimens of modern artists and 
 the works that adorned his home were of great interest to true art lovers, 
 showing specimens of different schools of painting. It was a matter of 
 keen joy to Mr. Kimball to add to his collection of master pieces of art. 
 He was a lover of society in the better and higher sense of the term and
 
 610 
 
 ^ailliam CGnllacc Kimball 
 
 he also enjoyed club relationships. He was himself quick in repartee 
 and possessed a jovial, genial spirit that was appreciative of the worth of 
 others. He had a rich fund of stories and anecdotes which lent charm- 
 ing color to his conversation and made him an ever entertaining comrade. 
 He learned well the lessons of life and never allowed hardships, diffi- 
 culties or ohstacles to emhitter him. The judicial cast of his mind 
 cnahled him to maintain ever an even balance. He recognized the fact 
 that there were troubles, sorrows and sins in the world but he saw, too, 
 the happier phases of life — its joys, its pleasures and its goodness. While 
 his life record became an integral and important part of the mercantile 
 history of Chicago he regarded business as a means to an end and the 
 attainment of wealth was never the permeating motive of his life. Suc- 
 cess came to him because of his splendidly managed interests, his execu- 
 tive ability and his administrative power, and as he prospered he gave 
 generously to assist the individual and also to aid organized charity. 
 There were in his life record many traits of character that rendered him 
 popular — traits that were so honorable and so commendable that they 
 gained for him the respect and good-will of humble and great alike.
 
 ailjarlc0 gcnri) IlinsMekcr 
 
 I N ACTIVE, busy and useful career, crowned with success- 
 ful acbievenieut, made Charles Henry Duisdieker one of 
 the prominent and substantial citizens not only of Pekin 
 but of that section of the state. His sterling worth was 
 •4^k "^"^If" recognized by all who knew him not only in industrial 
 circles but also in connection with the civic interests and 
 moral progress of the community in which he lived. He was born in 
 Westphalia, Germany, July 21, 1851, a son of Henn- and Sophia Duis- 
 dieker. He pursued his education in the schools of his native country 
 and at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war responded to the call for 
 military ser\ice, enlisting as a hussar. He served for two years and par- 
 ticipated in many important engagements, including the battle of Metz. 
 In 1874 Mr. Duisdieker came to the United States and soon afterward 
 established his home in Pekin, where he was first employed as clerk in 
 a grocery store. He aftenvard became a bookkeeper in the John Stoltz 
 Flour Mill and soon, in recognition of his ability and fidelity, was ad- 
 vanced to the position of manager. Under his immediate control the mill 
 prospered, the business being carried on along the most efficient lines, 
 productive of substantial results. In 1886 he became associated with the 
 Voth & Sackenreuter Foundry & Manufacturing Company and later ac- 
 quired an interest in the business, while subsequently he purchased 
 Mr. Smith's stock in the concern, of which he became sole owner, con- 
 ducting it under the name of the Duisdieker Foundry & Manufacturing 
 Company. In this connection he built up a substantial business, his 
 foundry being one of the largest and most important manufacturing 
 plants of Pekin. His trade steadily increased as a result of the high class 
 work which he turned out and his reliability in all commercial transac- 
 tions. He was also from the start one of the directors of the Keystone 
 Steel & Wire Company of Peoria, which now controls a mammoth in- 
 dustrial plant. 
 
 Mr. Duisdieker also figured prominently in the public life of his 
 community and was first called to public office when elected alderman in 
 1884. At a later date he was recalled to that office and as a member of 
 the city council he gave thoughtful and earnest consideration to all muni- 
 cipal problems. In 1889 he was elected city treasurer and by reelection 
 was continued in office for two terms. The year 1895 brought him elec- 
 tion to the mayoralty and in 1911 he was again chosen for that office, 
 becoming the first mayor under the commission form of government. He 
 
 611
 
 612 CtiiUlcs onup OuisOichcr 
 
 was actinp; in that capacity Avhcn the street railway was purchased by 
 the city and his administration was remarkahly progressive and puhlic- 
 spirited. In large measure he was responsihlc for the successful work- 
 ing of the new form of city government. He Itrought practical business 
 ideas to bear in the discharge of his public duties and what he accom- 
 plished for Pekin can scarcely be over-estimated, for he was always striv- 
 ing for the betterment of the city and its people, whom he loved and 
 who loved him in return, giving him their highest respect and kindliest 
 regard. He was one of the first park commissioners here and did much 
 to establish and improve the park system. Although not a strong partisan, 
 he usually voted with the democratic forces and for many years served 
 on the city and county committees, frequently acting as chairman. 
 
 Another phase of life made strong appeal to Mr. Duisdieker — that 
 which promotes moral development. He held membership in St. Paul's 
 Evangelical Church but was widely known for his readiness to aid any 
 church or religious body regardless of creed. He held high rank in the 
 Masonic order and was a member of the Mystic Shrine and Iran Grotto. 
 He was also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 On the 25lh of ]May, 1876, Mr. Duisdieker was married in Pekin to 
 Miss Martha Rosalie Voll, a daughter of August and Paulina Voll, of 
 Pekin. One of Mr. Duisdieker"s marked characteristics was his loyalty 
 to his friends, his home and his family. He delighted in promoting the 
 welfare of the members of his own household and in advancing the hap- 
 piness of his wife and children. It was largely an ideal relation that per- 
 vaded his home because of the close companionship and kindred inter- 
 ests of husband and wife, who shared together the difficulties and the 
 prosperity, the joys and sorrows which make up the sum total of human 
 existence. It was on the 12tli of December, 1925, that the family circle 
 was broken by the hand of death and Charles Henrj' Duisdieker passed 
 on. His life work was worthily performed. He had proven a man of 
 high standards, of capability in business, of fidelity in citizenship, and 
 most of all, he was a devoted and tender husband and father.
 
 LISoAKV 
 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSn ( OF ILLINOIS
 
 /^a/nzycA^ J iyrJf'rAn
 
 |amf0 losfyl) pcsicka 
 
 AMES JOSEPH PESICKA, who for thirty years v.as iden- 
 tified with the banking interests of Chicago, during 
 which period his capability and his loyalty to the high 
 standards of the banking business gained him promin- 
 ence in financial circles, was born in this city August 
 28. 1879. a son of Joseph and Mary (Hejna) Pesicka. 
 The father Avas a native of Bohemia and on emigrating to the United 
 States settled in Chicago, ^vhere his death occurred January 11, 1889. 
 His wife was also born in Bohemia and after losing her husband she 
 provided for her eight children, planning for their education and supply- 
 ing them with all the necessities of life. She passed away in Chicago, 
 June 20, 1910. 
 
 James Joseph Pesicka pursued his education in St. Procopius school 
 at Eighteenth and Allport streets in Chicago and in St. Procopius Col- 
 lege, then in Chicago. He began providing for his own support, however, 
 when but thirteen years of age. becoming a messenger boy in the ofiBce 
 of Max Henius, a chemist, in 1892. There he was employed for three 
 years and in 1895 he became a salesman in the L. Klein department store 
 at Fourteenth and Halsted streets. From the outset of his business career 
 he advanced steadily step by step, Avinning successive promotions and 
 positions of continuously greater responsibility. In 1897 he became a 
 bookkeeper in the Industrial Savings Bank and thus made his initial 
 step in financial circles. His capability and fidelity are shown in the 
 fact that he continued with that bank until 1907, when he secured the 
 position of note teller with the Merchants Loan & Trust Company, with 
 which he was associated until 1913. In that year he assisted in organizing 
 the Depositors State Bank at Forty-seventh street and Ashland avenue, 
 w hich opened its doors for business on the 28th of July. For fifteen years 
 he labored untiringly, faithfully and efficiently to build up the bank to 
 its present high standing. He became its cashier at the outset, was after- 
 ward advanced to the ofiice of vice president and from 1919 imtil his 
 demise December 6, 1928. was its president. The bank today largely 
 stands as a monument to his capability, his laudable ambition, his reliable 
 methods and his determined purpose. Mr. Pesicka organized the Dunaj 
 Building and Loan Association in 1907 and held the office of secretary 
 from that time until his death. He was a recognized leader in the com- 
 munity in which he lived. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1911, Mr. Pesicka married Miss Lucia C. 
 
 615
 
 616 Jamrs Josrtiti li)rsifka 
 
 Stech, a daughter of Kaspar and Anna (Cada) Stech, who were natives 
 of Bohemia. Her father organized the New City Coal Company of Chi- 
 cago, Illinois, in 1895 and was its president until his death in 1925. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Pesieka heeame the parents of a daughter, Lucia Marie. 
 
 In his religious faith Mr. Pesieka was a Catholic, giving generous 
 support to the Church. His political allegiance was given to the repub- 
 lican party and he was interested in all that had to do with public wel- 
 fare. His activity in the Avar work campaigns of 1918 is attested in the 
 following letter, which was found among his papers: 
 
 CHICAGO UNITED WAR WORK CAMPAIGN 
 
 November 21, 1918. 
 Mr. James J. Pesieka, 
 
 4633 South Ashland Ave., 
 Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 My Dear Mr. Pesieka: 
 
 While I fully realize that you do not feel that you have done more 
 than your duty and are not looking for any thanks, yet I would be un- 
 grateful if I did not again sincerely thank you for the splendid part you 
 had in again putting the twenty-ninth ward "over the top" in the United 
 War Work Campaign. 
 
 It has come to be recognized that any Avork of this kind given to the 
 twenty-ninth Avard Avill be done and the credit is due to the loyal men 
 and Avomen Avho have made the results possible. 
 Yours very truly, 
 H. C. Laycock, 
 Chairman of the Twenty-ninth Ward. 
 
 Mr. Pesieka Avas also particularly active in the fight made for the 
 Avidening of Ashland avenue and his activities Avere far-reaching and re- 
 sultant in behalf of the Avelfare of the community in Avhich he lived. The 
 family residence is at 7357 Merrill avenue and Mr. Pesieka Avas devoted to 
 the happiness and Avelfare of the members of his household. He recog- 
 nized the value of cultural development and Avas a life member of the Art 
 Institute of Chicago. He Avas also Avell knoAvn in club circles here, having 
 membership in the Hamilton, Press, Bankers, and Saddle and Sirloin 
 Clubs. His associates in these organizations recognized in him a man of 
 splendid personal Avorth as Avell as of marked business ability. He held 
 to high standards throughout his entire life and his record is one Avhich 
 reflected credit and honor upon his native city.
 
 i)ITTLE did the parents of Albert Rostenkowski dream that 
 in future years, in a land beyond the seas, the youngest 
 of their family would become one of the best kno^vTi 
 leaders of the great state of Illinois, of which, perhaps, 
 they had never even heard. Albert Rostenkowski was 
 born April 23, 1878, in Posen, Poland, also the birth- 
 place of the late John F. Smulski of Chicago, nationally kno^NTi leader of 
 his people in this country. Albert and Mary (Jednoralski) Rosten- 
 kowski, parents of Albert of this review, passed away when he was a little 
 lad of six. Until he was nine years old he attended school in Posen. In 
 1887 he was brought to the United States by his oldest sister, and made 
 his home with his older brother Peter in what was then the sixteenth and 
 is now the thirty-third ward of Chicago. For the next five years he at- 
 tended St. Stanislaus school and at the early age of fourteen began to 
 make his own way in the world, for some years finding employment in a 
 bicycle establishment which later became the Mead factorj. Through 
 the influence of Mr. Smulski, he was chosen deputy collector and deputy 
 assessor of taxes in Cook county and held these offices for a number of 
 years. With widening contact with the people, he soon became the recog- 
 nized leader of the republican party in his section of Chicago and in 
 1912 was elected from the twenty-seventh senatorial district as its repre- 
 sentative in the forty-eighth general assembly of the house of represen- 
 tatives in the state of Illinois. In 1914 he was elected to the forty-ninth 
 general assembly and from 1922 to 1926 served in the fifty-third and 
 fifty-fourth general assemblies. During the last fourteen years of his life 
 he served as deputy factory inspector in the state of Illinois, his office 
 being in the Transportation building at Harrison and Dearborn streets. 
 Mr. Rostenkowski was one of the prominent members of St. Stanis- 
 laus Roman Catholic Church, serving on the parish committee for twenty- 
 eight years. Many years ago he founded the St. Joseph Building & Loan 
 Association at 1237 Noble street, where he also built up a large real estate 
 and insurance business. Of late years this business has been capably man- 
 aged by his son Edward. He was actively identified with Polish club and 
 society affairs. When eighteen years old he was the organizer of St. Flori- 
 an's Society. He was one of the organizers of the Foresters, was a member 
 of the Polish Roman Catholic Union, the Polish National Alliance and 
 the Royal Arcanum, also joined niunerous civic organizations and served 
 as president of the Polish American Republican Club. 
 
 617
 
 618 gifarrr UostcnkoUiski 
 
 On the 10th of July. 1901, Mr. Rostenkowski was married in the six- 
 teenth ward of Chicago to Frances Lijewski, daughter of John and Eva 
 (Siekierski) Lijewski. Her father was a young man of twenty-eight years 
 when he emigrated from Poland to America, settling in Illinois, while the 
 motluT came to this country with her parents when a little maiden of nine 
 summers, the family home heing estahlished in La Salle, Illinois, where 
 Mrs. Rostenkowski was horn, reared and educated. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rostenkowski were horn two sons and two daughters, namely: Emily, 
 who is the wife of Roman Grochowina and the mother of a son, Roman 
 Joseph; Edward, who married Miss Lillian Kujawa and has a daughter, 
 Mary; Alhert, Jr.; and Frances, who is the wife of John Pawlikowski, 
 cashier of the Division Street State Bank. 
 
 Mr. Rostenkowski passed away at his home May 28, 1929, following a 
 hrief illness. Funeral ser\'ices were held at St. Stanislaus Church on 
 Saturday, June 1st, and he was laid to rest in St. Adalhert"s cemetery. 
 The following house resolution. No. 165, was introduced hy Representa- 
 tive Joseph Trandel in the fifty-sixth general assemhly of the legislature 
 of Illinois: 
 
 "Whereas, we have learned of the death of the Hon. Albert Rosten- 
 kowski, of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, on May 28, 1929, and 
 
 "Whereas, he served as member of the house of representatives in 
 the forty-eighth, forty-ninth, fifty-third and fifty-fourth general assem- 
 blies from the twenty-seventh senatorial district, and 
 
 '"Whereas, he came to this country from Poland in 1887, became an 
 influential citizen of the city of Chicago, and served as deputy collector 
 and deputy assessor of Cook county, and by his services won the respect 
 of all with whom he came in contact, now be it 
 
 "Resolved by the house of representatives of the fifty-sLxth general 
 assembly of the state of Illinois that we take this opportunity to express 
 our regret at the loss to his state and his community of this great public 
 servant and honored citizen, and our sincere sympathy to his family, and 
 be it further 
 
 "Resolved that this preamble and resolution be spread upon the Jour- 
 nal of the House and a suitably engrossed copy thereof be forwarded 
 the family of the late Albert Rostenkowski, and as a further mark of 
 respect to his memory that the House do now adjourn."
 
 OF THE 
 UNIVFRSn/ OF ILllNnK:

 
 Irtiino H, (fIjauMcr 
 
 MAN S life is not always measured by a span of years 
 but more often by %vhat he accomplished in a period 
 of activity that leaves its impress upon the business de- 
 velopment or progress of his conununity in any way. 
 While Irving D. Chandler was but fifty-two years of 
 age at the time of his death, he had accomplished much, 
 winning substantial success as a member of the real estate brokerage firm 
 of Chandler & Montague, while at the same time his unusual charm and 
 vital force gained for him friendship that made him a loved companion 
 and causes his memory to be cherished in the hearts of all with whom he 
 was associated. 
 
 Mr. Chandler was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on the 23d of July, 
 1874, and his early educational opportunities were supplemented by 
 study in the Lniversity of Wisconsin, after which he made his initial 
 step in the business world as a newspaper writer in Chicago. Constantly 
 alert to the opportunities that offered, he later entered the real estate 
 field in 1905 with J. H. Van Vlissingen & Company, and for twenty-two 
 years specialized in industrial real estate. He was associated with the 
 Van Vlissingen organization until 1912 and gained broad and valuable 
 experience which constituted the foundation upon which he built his 
 later success. In 1913 he entered into partnership with Samuel H. Hodge 
 under the firm style of Hodge & Chandler, which, with the admission of 
 a third partner, became Hodge, Chandler & Nicholson, so continuing 
 until the firm was dissolved in 1923. At that time Mr. Chandler was 
 instrumental in organizing the firm of Chandler & Montague, his asso- 
 ciate being Orlo 0. Montague, and the relationship was maintained until 
 the death of the senior partner. He was well known throughout the 
 central manufacturing district and foremost in a great many large deals. 
 He was interested in the Central Storage Forwarding Company and a 
 stockholder in the Central Manufacturing Bank. During the World war 
 he was active in securing buildings for the government, giving his ser- 
 vices free of charge. 
 
 His colleagues and contemporaries in business entertained the strong- 
 est admiration for his ability and sound judgment and he became a valued 
 member of the Chicago Real Estate Board and the National Association 
 of Real Estate Boards, being active in the industrial division of both 
 organizations. His progressive methods, his enterprising spirit, his close 
 application and unfaltering energy enabled him to build up a business 
 
 621
 
 622 Urging £>. ChanPlcr 
 
 of substantial proportions and thus to leave his family in comfortable 
 financial eircumstances. 
 
 The Journal of Commerce said of him: "He was one of the outstand- 
 ing industrial real estate brokers of Chicago. . . . His equitable 
 business policies and integrity of purpose secured for him an enviable 
 place among the real estate fraternity as well as a warm and sincere 
 friendship in the various walks of life." 
 
 It was in 1910 that Mr. Chandler was united in marriage to Miss 
 Helen Dawson of Memphis, Missouri, who at the time was a student in 
 the Art Institute of Chicago. Three children came to bless their union: 
 Helen, now eighteen years of age; Marcia, who died in 1918, at the age 
 of four years; and Irving D., aged fourteen years. 
 
 The family occupied an attractive home at 212 Linden avenue in 
 Oak Park and in the social and club circles of that suburb Mr. Chandler 
 was a prominent and popular figure. He held membership in the Oak 
 Park Club and also in the Midland Club and the Union League Club 
 of Chicago. That his life Avas ever actuated by high and honorable 
 principles is indicated in the fact that he was a most loyal and consistent 
 friend and supporter of the First Methodist Church of Oak Park, and 
 when he passed away on the 16th of March, 1927, his funeral serA'ices 
 held in that church were most largely attended. He was loyal and whole- 
 hearted in every relation of life and it was with a feeling of infinite re- 
 gret that his host of friends and acquaintances in business and social 
 circles looked upon bis completed life work. He was a vital force in 
 every organization or in every movement with which he was associated. 
 His strong personality dominated gatherings and it was a domination 
 that others were glad to follow. All who knew Ir\'ing D. Chandler and 
 came within the influence of his unusual charm counted his friendship 
 as a valuable asset. His liberal culture, his appreciation for all that 
 adds to the beauty and richness of life was manifest in his daily inter- 
 course with others and at all times he quickly recognized the good qital- 
 ities in others. His hiunanity was an outstanding characteristic in his life 
 and his influence remains as an inspirational force not only to bis imme- 
 diate family but to that almost countless number in every walk of life 
 who had known and loved Irving D. Chandler.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Albrecht, C. F 221 
 
 Anguish, B. D 495 
 
 Armour, P. D 79 
 
 Baldwin, E. F 229 
 
 Barker, Walter 165 
 
 Behrmann, John 451 
 
 Binkley, L. G 167 
 
 Blackstone, T. B 305 
 
 Brendel, Frederick 389 
 
 Brown, W. G 503 
 
 Calhoun, W. F 371 
 
 Cannon, J. G HI 
 
 Carter, O. N 99 
 
 Chamberhn, T. C 257 
 
 Chandler, I. D 621 
 
 Cliffe, A. C 199 
 
 Coleman, J . G 287 
 
 Connery, W. M 359 
 
 Cragg, G. L 413 
 
 Crane, R. T 137 
 
 Cudahy, IVIichael 269 
 
 Davis, David 329 
 
 Dering, J. K 501 
 
 Donnelley, R. H 537 
 
 Donnelley, R. R 531 
 
 Douglas, S. A 435 
 
 Drennan, J. P 273 
 
 Duisdieker, C. H oil 
 
 Dutton, G. E 185 
 
 Eisendrath, Louis 457 
 
 Field, Marshall 153 
 
 Farley, J. W 431 
 
 Flanagan, J. E 597 
 
 Forgan, J. B '1 
 
 Forsehner, T. J 327 
 
 Foster, F.S 399 
 
 Fuller, M. W 321 
 
 Funk, C. S 351 
 
 Grant, U. S 171 
 
 Gregersen, Jens 465 
 
 Hansen, J. C 541 
 
 Harry, M. L 515 
 
 Hay, John 337 
 
 Herschel, H. R 395 
 
 Herschel, P. E 347 
 
 Hillman, Edward 213 
 
 Hodgkins, W. L 181 
 
 Hook, A. S 293 
 
 Hulbert, E. D 113 
 
 Jones, A. B 179 
 
 Jones, W. C 571 
 
 Jones, W. H 563 
 
 Keep, Chauncey 85 
 
 Kepler, Eugene 589 
 
 Kimball, W. W 607 
 
 Kirk, W. H 449 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham 405 
 
 Logan, J. A 225 
 
 Loucks, Henry 603 
 
 Luckow, C. T 481 
 
 McCormick, MediU 319 
 
 McEiwee, R. H 551 
 
 McLaughlin, W. F 197 
 
 Mandel, Leon 239 
 
 Mills, D. W 423 
 
 Mitchell, J. J 61 
 
 Moeng, E. D 455 
 
 Morrison, Orsemus 191 
 
 Moseley, Carleton 247 
 
 Mueller, Pliilip 419 
 
 623
 
 624 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Ochsner, A. J 145 
 
 Oplesby, R. J 461 
 
 Paden, J. E 317 
 
 Palmer, Potter 577 
 
 Parkinson, R. H 281 
 
 Patten, J. A 89 
 
 Peck, F. W 159 
 
 Pesicka, J. J 615 
 
 Pindell, H. M 235 
 
 Power8, Orlando 547 
 
 Pullman, G. M 67 
 
 Reeves, Walter 309 
 
 Roberts, T. T 509 
 
 Rostenkowski, Albert 617 
 
 Rueckheim, Louis 429 
 
 Ruettinger, J. C 209 
 
 Rydzewski, F. X., Sr 445 
 
 Sabin, D. D 523 
 
 Sexton, John 219 
 
 Shedd, J. G 123 
 
 Smulski. J. F 297 
 
 Sommer, B. L 485 
 
 Sommer, John 469 
 
 Sommer, P. W 477 
 
 Spalding, Jesse 513 
 
 Spofford, G. W 567 
 
 Spoor, J. A 119 
 
 Stevenson, A. E 75 
 
 Stern, H. L 379 
 
 Strotz, C. N 357 
 
 Tapping, A. J 527 
 
 Terrill, A. S 473 
 
 Thompson, J. R 173 
 
 Underwood, J. P 129 
 
 Van Vechten, Ralph 133 
 
 Wachowski, Albert 341 
 
 Wagner, W. H 493 
 
 Willey, C. B 385 
 
 WiUey, C. L 383 
 
 Wilson, C. L 561 
 
 Wilson, John 555 
 
 Woelfle, J. C 593 
 
 Yauger, A. E 489 
 
 Young, Otto 367