LIBRARY OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 Q920.077 
 B52 
 
 I.H.S. 
 

 
 _ 
 
 ftinlei in I!5t2. at the Sourf ofTMllip II. Spin.hy Sir Antoniolforo.fiojntwomiiiaftiies in 
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 A 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY 
 
 WITH 
 
 PORTRAITS 
 
 
 OF 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREflT IE8T 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN STEEL. 
 
 MANHATTAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 1894.
 
 9.10.6 
 
 DONOHUE <fe HENNEBERRY, 
 
 PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 
 
 CHICAGO.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT IS with pleasure that the publishers present to the public this volume, embracing carefully pre- 
 pared sketches of PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. Neither time, labor, nor expense 
 has been spared to cover the entire field, and it is believed that the men selected for these pages 
 are representative in the. best sense. All professions and lines of business have been drawn upon 
 for the material, and in the construction of the various biographies it has been the aim of the com- 
 pilers to submit pen photographs of the various subjects which are true to life; avoiding on the one 
 hand fulsome praise and on the other a mere dry schedule of facts and dates. 
 
 The permanent value of such a work, necessarily containing a history of events as well as 
 men, can scarcely be fully estimated now, but cannot fail to find increasing appreciation as the years 
 roll by and the actors here portrayed have passed from the stage of action, leaving the important 
 achievements of their lives as a legacy to their children. 
 
 It is with particular satisfaction that the publishers call special attention to the execution of 
 the portraits presented, as they are specimens of the work of the most prominent engravers to be 
 found on this continent; and are all from steel plates, in mezzo and stipple work, of the most 
 artistic character; they have been vouched for in nearly all cases by the subjects themselves, as 
 faithful counterparts of the originals. 
 
 With thanks to the many friends whose kind assistance has aided us in bringing this volume to 
 a successful issue, we submit the work to the impartial judgment of a generous public.
 
 THE 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF TME GREAT WEST. 
 
 LYMAN J. GAGE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LYMAN J. GAGE, one of the best known bankers 
 and financiers in the United States, was born at 
 De Ruyter, Madison county, N. Y., June 28, 1836. 
 His parents, Eh A. and Mary Judson Gage, were both 
 of English descent, their immediate ancestors having 
 been among the earliest settlers of New England. 
 The}' also were natives of the State of New .York. 
 
 When Lyman was ten years old, the family removed 
 to Rome, N. Y., where he entered the Kome Academy, 
 which was established about that time. Leaving school 
 four years later, he entered actively upon a life of 
 industry and enterprise, which has been characterized 
 bv an undomitable will and high standard of integrity, 
 and a tireless perseverance which could scarcely fail to 
 result in the eminent success which he has achieved. 
 His first employment was as clerk in the Rome post- 
 office, and when he was fifteen years old, he was de- 
 tailed by the postmaster as mail route agent on the 
 Rome & Watertown Railroad, and served in that 
 capacity until the postmaster-general appointed regular 
 agents for the route. 
 
 In 1854, when eighteen years of age, he entered the 
 services of the Oneida Central Bank at Rome, as junior 
 clerk, at a salary of one hundred dollars per year, and 
 faithfully discharged all the duties of the position, 
 from counting cash to sweeping out the bank. His 
 employers, being unable to meet his request for an 
 advance of his modest salary, at the end of a year and 
 a half of service, Mr. Gage determined to seek a wider 
 field of usefulness. He saw that the great new West 
 was then offering much better opportunities for a 
 young man of energy and ability than were readily 
 obtainable in the conservative East, and in the fall of 
 1855, he set out for Chicago, where he soon found 
 employment in Nathan Cobb's lumber yard and planing 
 mill, at the corner of Canal and Adams streets. His 
 duties here were of a varied character, ranging from 
 book-keeping to driving team and loading lumber. 
 In this employment he remained three years. 
 
 In 1858, a time of great business depression, a 
 change in the management of this establishment 
 
 resulted in his leaving its service. Owing to the 
 general dullness of business he was unable to find such 
 employment as his abilities warranted him in seeking. 
 But he had no inclination to spend a single day in 
 idleness, and, with the same cheerfulness he had ex- 
 hibited in accepting his first position on his arrival in 
 Chicago, he became a night-watchman for the same 
 establishment. This period of probation, however, did 
 not last long, for such ability, industry and application 
 as characterised the young man had not failed to 
 attract attention, and the way was soon opened for 
 their full exercise. He had only held the post of night- 
 watchman at Cobb's for about six weeks, when the 
 opportunity offered for him to start upon that career 
 which has made him famous in the world of finance. 
 He was then offered and accepted the position as 
 book-keeper in the Merchants' Savings, Loan and Trust 
 Company, at a salary of $500 per year. Entering upon 
 the discharge of the duties of this position, in August, 
 1858, he had only to' wait till the beginning of the 
 following year for advancement, being at that time 
 made paying teller, at a salary of 1,200. In the 
 spring of 1860, he was appointed assistant cashier, at 
 a salary of $2,000, and a year later he became cashier 
 of the bank, which office he held until August, 1668, 
 when he was offered a. similar position in the First 
 National Bank of Chicago. He accepted this offer, 
 and has been identified with that great financial 
 institution ever since. 
 
 During the period of his connection with the 
 Merchants' Savings, Loan and Trust Company, Mr. 
 Gage studied the intricate problems of finance, and 
 laid the foundation for the brilliant career which has 
 culminated in placing him at the head of one of the 
 greatest and best known banks in the world. 
 
 The old charter of the First National Bank expired 
 in 1882, when the institution was re-organized, Mr. 
 Gage being chosen as vice-president and general 
 manager. On the 24th of January, 1891, Mr. Gage 
 became president of the bank, which position he still 
 holds. Under his supervision and control the First
 
 8 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT 
 
 National has become the leading bank of the North- 
 west both as to capital and the volume of its 
 transactions. 
 
 His high standing as a banker and financier was 
 fully recognized by the American Banker's Association, 
 which was organized at Philadelphia on October 4, 
 1876, its membership being composed of the leading 
 bankers and financiers of the country. In 1882 this 
 association elected Mr. Gage its president, and so ably 
 did he fill the office that he was re-elected twice in 
 succession, the onlyman on whom this honor has been 
 conferred. 
 
 After the panic of 1873 there was a general totter 
 among the smaller institutions, and the wave of disaster 
 engulfed one national bank in Chicago after another, 
 causing the greatest consternation among mer- 
 cantile men. Throughout this trying period, the 
 First National stood firm and unshaken. The high 
 standing and great influence which it holds so justly 
 in the estimation of the community and banking 
 circles, not only in this country, but of Europe, are 
 evidence of the integrity and prudence which have 
 characterized the management of its affairs. 
 
 From the earliest inception 'of. the World's Fail- 
 movement in Chicago, the name of Lyman J. Gage 
 has been associated with it, and his guiding spirit has 
 directed every step that has been taken in furtherance 
 of this great enterprise. During the early agitation 
 of the subject he was prominent, especial!}- in the 
 organization of the committee to whom was entrusted 
 the formulation of plans for bringing the Fair to 
 Chicago. When the opposition to Chicago, led bv 
 Senator Hiscock, of New York, took the form in the 
 Senate committee of a lack of confidence that Chicago 
 would carry out her pledge to provide ten millions of 
 dollars towards the expense and preparation for the 
 Fair, it was a written assurance of Mr. Gage and three 
 other financial men of this city that finally overcame 
 all objections and led to the bill being approved 
 by the Senate. The three others were J. J. P. Odell, 
 president of the Union National Bank ; J. W. Doane, 
 president of the Merchants' Loan and Trust Company, 
 and Wirt Dexter, Esq. 
 
 When the local corporation known as the World's 
 Columbian Exposition was organized, in which work 
 he played a most important part, and the choice of an 
 executive became necessary, he was the only man who 
 appeared to be acceptable to the directors without a 
 dissenting voice, and was unanimouslv elected to the 
 presidency of the Chicago Board of Directors, on 
 the 30th of April, 1890. He accepted the honor 
 with reluctance, because he had been for some time 
 the acting president of the First National Bank, and 
 his duties in connection with the bank absorbed so 
 much of his attention that he doubted his ability to 
 give to the business of the Fair the degree of atten- 
 tion which he considered indispensable. Pie was there- . 
 fore unwilling to jeopardize the interests of the great 
 undertaking by assuming the position of its executive 
 
 head, but, having accepted, he took the enterprise in 
 hand with all his characteristic energy and sagacity. 
 All through the stormy days of the first year of the 
 history of the undertaking his wisdom and courage was 
 the sustaining force that carried through the great 
 work. 
 
 When the question of the site of the Fair was under 
 discussion and factional feeling reached a point which 
 bid fair to bring disaster, each division of the city 
 having its advocates among the members of the local 
 board, Mr. Gage stood at his post bravely and calmlv, 
 and held in check the turbulent spirits that might 
 have ruined all to accomplish a certain purpose. Dav 
 by day he thought and labored for the Exposition, 
 always wise always progressive. 
 
 On the 24th of January, 1891, he resigned the 
 presidency of the board of directors, having been 
 elected president of the First National Bank, of which 
 he had been for a considerable time the actual head, 
 owing to the absence of the president, Mr. S. N. Nick- 
 erson. His retirement from the post of chief executive 
 of the Fair was universally regretted, but Mr. Gage 
 still continued to act as one of its directors. He felt 
 he had no other alternative than to resign, as the 
 interests of the bank required his whole attention. 
 
 The retiring president of the bank, Mr. Nickerson, 
 publicly explained the situation at the time : " That 
 Mr. Gage should take the presidency of the bank," he 
 said, " is a step that has been contemplated for some 
 time past. During my frequent absences he has been 
 acting president and I have only waited to resign in 
 favor of Mr. Gage until such time as he would be re- 
 leased from other duties and be able to give the bank's 
 affairs the undivided attention they demand. For 
 twenty-three years he has been associated with the 
 bank, and his advancement is in line with a policy long 
 before decided upon." The entire press of the city 
 joined in a chorus of praise for Mr. Gage and depreca- 
 tion of his retirement. " The news will be received 
 with great regret," said one, "not only by the com.- 
 munity, but also by the National Commission and all 
 concerned in the great undertaking." Another said: 
 "During his occupancy of this important position he 
 exhibited a knowledge of its details, a sound clear 
 judgment and a capacity to harmonize conflicting 
 elements; a full and comprehensive view of affairs and 
 an executive ability which it would be hard to find in 
 any one who might be named as his successor." 
 
 Mr. Gage refused to accept the compensation voted 
 to him by the directors. Since that time to the close 
 of the Fair he continuously gave valuable services to 
 the board, and it was while on his way to attend a 
 banquet at Delmonico's, in New York, given by the 
 National Commissioners of that State, to bring to- 
 gether the representatives of the various industries of 
 the country in the interest of the Fair, that Mr. Gage 
 was stricken down with illness which necessitated a 
 very critical operation and which it was at one time 
 thought would have a fatal termination. Throughout
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 the entire country there was general rejoicing at the 
 assurance of his recovery. 
 
 Mr. Gage is a dignified, thoughtful man,. possessed 
 of an inherent reserve force, which is obvious to all who 
 know or come in contact with him. At the same time 
 his courteous demeanor make him one of the most 
 accessible of our public men and few enjoy so wide 
 a popularity among all ranks and classes of the commu- 
 nity. He extends to the humblest citizen who seeks 
 his advice the same patient attention that he would 
 give to the wealthiest. He is alive to all the great 
 public questions of the day, and has especially made 
 his influence felt on those questions which divide differ- 
 ent classes of the community. He has always taken a 
 great interest in the labor problem, and was a prime 
 mover in a series of "Economic Conferences" which 
 were lately held in this city. The purpose of these 
 conferences was to discuss economic questions fairly 
 and without reserve, from the standpoint of the labor- 
 ing man as well as the capitalist. The discussions took 
 a wide range, embracing the tariff as looked at by the 
 free trader on the one hand and the protectionist 
 on the other, with all the phases of the revenue 
 reform that lie between these opposite ideas : the 
 single tax theories of Henry George, and various 
 social diseases, suggesting equally various legislative 
 remedies. The primary object was to bring the 
 representatives of labor and capital together, face 
 to face, to speak fairly and frankly their whole minds 
 upon the matter under discussion. It was a great and 
 beneficial movement to unite for the moment on a com- 
 mon platform the rich and poor, the man of clubs and 
 the representatives of trades unions, to talk over matters 
 of vital importance to all. 
 
 Mr. Giige took an active part in the movement, 
 and was one of its leadiug spirits while the conference 
 lasted. It was a movement that fell in with his own 
 desire to bring about equal dealing between all classes, 
 and he gave it the benefit of his help, and became 
 chairman of the executive committee. His personal 
 influence was sufficient to secure the co-operation of 
 other men like-minded with himself, and among these 
 who took part in the discussion were such men as 
 Franklin MacA'eagh. Henry D. Lloyd and Mr. Gage, 
 as representing one end of the social ladder, and 
 George Schilling and Thomas Morgan as spokesmen 
 for the other. Mr, Gage delivered at least two 
 addresses before these conferences, one of them on the 
 subject of banking. In many of the discussions his 
 voice was heard always on the side of the fullest 
 concession to the fair claims of the laboring classes, 
 
 always with some helpful suggestion towards bettering 
 their condition. 
 
 Mr. Gage is a lover of freedom and equal rights 
 for all citizens, irrespective of race, color or social 
 condition. He believes, however, more in men than 
 in party ; that is to say, he is of independent thought, 
 and objects to the disagreeable features of caucuses 
 and ' machines." His patriotism takes the form of 
 'Republicanism because his sympathies find in that 
 party their most fitting exponent, but" he would not 
 countenance unjust or wrong acts because it happened 
 to be the outcome of Republican legislation. 
 
 He is known everywhere as the friend of fair 
 dealing and he has the ability and force of character 
 to make his opinions felt and respected. He is a 
 logical and forcible speaker, and his range of subjects 
 is wide, he being equally at home, whether treating of 
 the question of labor or capital, or discussing the arts. 
 He is not aggressive, as that term is generally under- 
 stood, but. his mind once made up, he will defend his 
 views with vigor and earnestness, and generally suc- 
 ceeds in impressing them upon others. Such a man 
 naturally takes a prominent place in the social life of 
 the city. 
 
 Mr. Gage is a member of two of the leading social 
 clubs of Chicago; the Chicago and the Union Clubs. 
 He has also been president of the Commercial Club, 
 the membership of which is limited to sixty, represent- 
 ing the most important branches of business and the 
 most enterprising industries of the city. He is also a 
 director and treasurer of the Art Institute of Chicago. 
 Though he has been a busy man all his life, Mr. 
 Gage has found time to devote to the pleasures of 
 literature. He is a diligent student and an omnivorous 
 reader. His private library is one of the choicest in 
 the city. "He does not," says one of his friends, 
 " waste hrs time, money and energy collecting worth- 
 less editions of worthless books, in extra illustrating 
 or in any similar way. He spends his days in business, 
 and his nights with the classics. I suppose there is 
 not another man in Chicago who can compare with 
 him in the extent, variety and accuracy of his knowl- 
 edge." Those who have noticed the style of Mr. 
 Gage's public utterances, must have been struck with 
 the fact that he has formed it upon good literary 
 models. 
 
 Mr. Gage has been twice married; first in 1864, to 
 Miss Sarah Etheridge, daughter of Francis B. Ethe- 
 ridge, of Little Falls, New York. She died in 1874. 
 In 1S87 he was married to his present wife, Cornelia 
 Gage, of Denver, Colorado.
 
 10 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 SAMUEL E. GROSS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 SAMUEL E. GROSS was born November 11th, 
 1843, at the '' Mansion Farm'/' on the banks of 
 the Susquehanna, near the town of Dauphin, Pa., and 
 is the son of John C. and Elizabeth (Eberly) Gross. 
 He is a descendant of Captain John Gross,of Huguenot' 
 ancestry, a captain in the Revolutionary War Captain 
 Gross was our subject's great grandfather, his captain's 
 commission bearing date November 25th, 1776. Captain 
 Gross, after the war. settled in Dauphin county, where 
 he owned a large farm and milling properties. 
 
 On his maternal side he is a descendant of a 
 sturdy German family, who settled in Lancaster 
 county, Pa., in 1726, and who have contributed so 
 much to the building up and general welfare of the 
 State. In 1845, Samuel's parents moved from Dauphin 
 county, Pa., to Bureau county, 111., and later to Carroll 
 county, in which places he received his early educa- 
 tion, common school and academic. 
 
 In 1861, when but seventeen years of age, Samuel 
 enlisted in the Forty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 but was shortly mustered out on account of his being 
 under the limit of age for enlistment. In 1863, while 
 he was attending Whitehall Academy, Pennsylvania, 
 Confederate armies invaded that State. His inheri- 
 tance of patriotic ardor from Captain Gross of revolu- 
 tionary fame inspired him to re-enlist, this time in 
 Company D. of the Twentieth Pennsylvania Cavalry, 
 in which he was commisioned first lieutenant, June 
 29th. 1863, one of the youngest holders of that rank in 
 the Union service. He served in the pursuit of Lee, 
 after the battle- of Gettysburg, and in special detached 
 service, cavalry scouting and guerilla fighting, through 
 the remainder of 1863. On February 21st,- 1864, he 
 was promoted to the captaincy of Company K. in the 
 same regiment, and served with his command through 
 Virginia, in 1864-5, taking active part in the battles 
 of Piedmont, Lynchburg, Ashby's Gap, Winchester 
 and many other battles, and was mustered out at the 
 close of the war. July 13, 1865. 
 
 For a man of his nature and training, no place 
 seemed to offer such attractions as Chicago, which, 
 though yet in its infancy, was rapidly developing, and 
 Captain Gross moved there in 1865, entering the Union 
 College of Law, whence he was graduated and admitted 
 to the bar in 1866. Even earlier than this, however, 
 he had begun investing in real estate by buying a few 
 lots, the opening of a business which afterwards 
 expanded to huge proportions. Without abandoning 
 his law practice, he gave more and more attention to 
 realitv. and in 1868-9 he took an active part in the 
 establishment of the immense park and boulevard sys- 
 tem which is a unique feature of Chicago. 
 
 At the time of the great fire of 1871 Mr. Gross had 
 an office at the corner of Clark and South Water 
 streets. During the terrible night of the 8th and 9th 
 
 of October he held his office as long as it was tenable, 
 then gathered up his legal and business papers, abstracts 
 of title, etc., crossed the river in a row boat and- depos- 
 ited them on board of a tug boat which evaded the 
 flames and returned the precious documents safely 
 three days later. Even before he recovered the papers 
 he had with characteristic courage, enterprise and 
 activity, recommenced his real estate business. 
 
 From 1873 to 1879, dullness in real estate reigned 
 in Chicago. Mr. Gross practiced his profession, studied 
 science, art, literature and political economy, and 
 wrote articles which were an important contribution to 
 the literature of these subjects. He also gave some 
 attention to mechanics and took out several patents 
 for mathematical instruments, improvements in street 
 paving, etc. But real estate was his favorite subject. 
 He had an abiding faith in the future of his adopted 
 city which his later experience has more than justified. 
 The purchase of agricultural lands and their transform- 
 ation into city lots became a pursuit almost a passion. 
 "New City" in the southwestern suburbs; ".Gross 
 Park" in the north; "Brookdale," "Calumet Heights" 
 and " Dauphin Park " in the south ; " Under the Lin- 
 den " in the northwest ; "Hollywood" in the west these 
 are only a few of his enterprises. Not content with 
 merely staking out town sites, he built upon them, and 
 houses by the thousand, from cottage to mansion, owe 
 their construction to him. He also made many orna- 
 mental and useful improvements of unique character. 
 
 In 1889 he capped the climax to his enterprise by 
 his institution of " Grossdale," west of the city limits, 
 where he transformed overlive hundred acres of land 
 (nearly a mile square) from farm to city. Samuel E. 
 Gross will need no finer monument than this to carry 
 his name to posterity. Thirty thousand lots sold, seven 
 thousand houses built, sixteen separate suburban towns 
 and cities instituted and built these are his trophies. 
 His success is due primarily to his own natural 
 qualities, secondarily to his reliance on the desire 
 which exists in every true American to own a home, a 
 desire which Mr. Gross has done perhaps more to 
 gratify than has any other man of any age or country 
 He has not done this service without reaping the de 
 served reward, his fortune being estimated to-day 
 (1894) at $5,000,000 or more. 
 
 He is engaged in many business and social enter- 
 prises, being a member of the Chicago, Union, Iroquois 
 Athletic, Marquette, Washington Park and Twentieth 
 Century Clubs, and a patron of the Art Institute, the 
 Humane and other benevolent societies. He is also a 
 member of the Chicago Union Veteran Club, the 
 Grand Arm}' of the Republic (U. S. Grant Post No. 
 28), the Western Society Army of the Potomac and 
 the Sons of the American Revolution. 
 
 He has traveled extensively in Europe and in
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CHEAT WEST. 
 
 Mexico, as well as all over his own loved land. In 
 1889 he was nominated by the united workingmen's 
 societies as their candidate for mayor of Chicago, but 
 declined, in view of the magnitude and pressing nature 
 of his engagements. 
 
 Mr. Gross married, in 1874, Miss Emily Brown (of 
 English parentage), a lady of personal attractiveness 
 and sterling worth. They live in a beautiful residence 
 at the corner of the Lake Shore Drive and Division 
 street, now the fashionable quarter of Chicago. 
 His personal deportment is most genial and 
 popular. 
 
 It can be trulv said of Mr. Gross that he is the 
 
 architect of his fortune, as he is a 'self-made man. Few 
 men are more prominent or more widely known in the 
 great city of Chicago than- he; his transactions are on 
 an immense scale, and his popularity well deserved, as 
 in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbend- 
 ing integrity, unabating energy and industry that 
 never flags. He is public spirited and thoroughlv in- 
 terested in .whatever tends to promote the moral, 
 intellectual and material welfare of Chicago. Broad 
 and liberal minded, he is ever willing to aid those who 
 are less fortunate in life. He has carved for himself a 
 name that will ever be identified with the history of 
 Chicago. 
 
 DR. BOERNE BETTMAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 DR. BOERNE BETTMAN was born in Cincinnati, 
 Sept. 6th, 1856. His parents, Dr. Abraham and 
 Sarah Bettman, came to this country from Bavaria in 
 1846. 
 
 Young Bettman received his early education in the 
 public and high schools, then taking a course in the 
 Miami Medical College, after which he assisted Dr. G. 
 Williams, the first and most eminent dentist west of 
 the Allegheny mountains. Later he became assistant 
 to the celebrated Dr. Knapp, eye and ear surgeon of 
 the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute, with 
 whom he studied a year and a half. During a portion 
 of this time he acted in the same capacity with Dr. 
 Frank Bosworth, professor of Laryngology and Rhin- 
 ology to the Bellevue Medical School. In 1878 he went 
 to Europe, there to continue his special line of study. 
 A half year was devoted to Vienna attending to the 
 clinics of Alt. Stellwag, Yaeger, Mantheurr, Pollitzer, 
 Gruber, and other noted men, and after a trip through 
 the Tyrol, part of Italy and southern Germany, he 
 arrived in Heidelberg in the fall of 1879, where he was 
 soon made the second assistant of of Prof. Becker, the 
 teacher of ophthalmology, in that famous seat of learn- 
 ing. The doctor not long after became first assistant 
 which position he retained until the fall of 1880. While 
 in Heidelberg he did his first original work, which was 
 published in Knapp's Archives, under the heading: 
 " Two Cases of Pernicious Anaemia, with Fatal Termi- 
 nations ; An Investigation of its Pathology." Several 
 trips through the Black Forest, Switzerland and North 
 Germany were made-during that period. During July 
 and August, 1880, he visited the clinics of the Parisian 
 occulists, De Wecker, Panas, Galazowski, Meyer, etc. 
 A few weeks sojourn in London, during which time he 
 attended the International Medical Congress, and a 
 short trip into Ireland, completed his European educa- 
 tion and wanderings. He opened an office late in the 
 same year (1880) in Chicago, at the corner of Adams 
 Clark streets. 
 
 Dr. Bettman soon became connected with the Illinois 
 
 Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary as assistant surgeon, 
 soon after as surgeon, and has held that position ever 
 since. In 1882 he founded the Chicago Society of Opthal- 
 mology and Otology, which has lately been re-organized 
 under the name of the Chicago Opthalmological and 
 Otological Society. He was the first lecturer on oph- 
 thalmology and otology in the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons. For the last two years he has occupied 
 the chair as professor of these branches. He is also 
 professor of opthalmology' and treasurer of the Post- 
 Graduate Medical School; occulist and aurist to the 
 Michael Reese and German Hospitals; member of the 
 American Medical Association, of the Chicago and 
 State Medical Societies, and a member of the Medico- 
 Legal Society; also of the Tri-State Medical Society 
 and the Microscopical Society. He is also a member 
 of the Practitioner's, Doctor's, Standard, Union 
 League and Schiller Clubs. For a time he acted as 
 assistant surgeon, with rank of captain, to the Second 
 Regiment Infantry, Illinois State Militia. He married 
 Miss Clara Snydacker, the eldest daughter of Godfrey 
 and Hannah Snydacker, in 1888. His two children, 
 aged five and two years, are Ralph and Louise. 
 
 The following publications have been written bv 
 Dr. Bettman: " The Operative Treatment of Epister- 
 itis," " Blindness Following Hemorrhage," "Treatment 
 . of Strabismus," "A New Operation for the Ripenino- 
 of Cataracts," "Removal of a Piece of Steel from the 
 Eye with a Magnet," " Treatment of Blenorrhoea Ne- 
 onatorum," " Subvolution, a New Pterygium Opera- 
 tion," "Peroxide of Hydrogen in Aural Therapeu- 
 tics." Many other of his writings are found scattered 
 throughout opthalmic literature. 
 
 In May, 1893, Governor Altgeld appointed Dr. 
 Bettman, commissioner of Public Charities for a term 
 of five years. His colleagues elected him president of 
 the board. In his public capacity he has inspected the 
 institutions all over the State. Recently he has 
 accepted the editorship of the eye and ear department 
 of the North American Practitioner.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 JOHN ANDERSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN ANDERSON, son of Andrew and Laura 
 Anderson, was born at Voss, Norway. Both 
 parents were Norwegians.. Mr. Anderson arrived in 
 Chicago on July 2, 1845, where he received a common 
 school education in the public schools of the city, and 
 at fifteen years of age began learning the printers' 
 trade, and as a journeyman set type on the Chicago 
 Tribune when that paper was but a small publication, 
 lie has clung to his business and made a close and 
 thorough study of it in all its branches, both from a 
 mechanical and literary point of view. Mr. Anderson 
 was possessed of that energy and ambition which would 
 not permit him to labor long for others, accordingly 
 twenty-seven years ago he began the publication of 
 the Skandinai'ean, a paper which has become a power 
 among the Norwegians of this country. Mr. Anderson 
 has uniformly conducted the enterprise with consumate 
 skill and ability. In politics he has always been a 
 strong Republican, and that party has every reason to 
 feel grateful to Mr. Anderson for the influence he has 
 wrought among the Norwegians of the United States; 
 no other influence, it may be said, would have been so 
 strong to hold them in allegiance to the party he 
 
 supports. Mr. Anderson's early training made him a 
 staunch abolitionist, and he showed his freedom of 
 thought and courage to utter it in bold, outspoken 
 words at a time when it was considered a crime 
 to express a sentiment adverse to the slave 
 power. 
 
 In connection with his paper, Mr. Anderson has 
 also established a job printing office, and book bindery, 
 which ranks high among the best and most extensive 
 in the country. Personally, he has always been 
 identified with everything helpful connected with 
 printers and printers' interests. He was treasurer 
 of the ''Chicago Typographical Union" for five sue 
 cessive years, and is at the present time president of 
 the " Old Time Printers' Association," for the third 
 successive term ; he is also president of the Norwegian 
 Old Settlers' Society. In his religious affiliations he is 
 a Lutheran. 
 
 In 1859 he was married to Maria C. Frank, who 
 died in 1873. He was married the second time 
 nineteen years ago to Julia Sampson ; has one son, 
 Frank S. Anderson, by his first wife, and three 
 children by his second wife. 
 
 JAMES BURRILL ANGELL, 
 
 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN. 
 
 JAMES BURRILL ANGELL, son of Andrew A., 
 and Amey (Aldrich) Angell, was born at Scituate, 
 Rhode Island, on the 7th day of January, 1829. On 
 his father's side he is a lineal descendant from Thomas 
 Angeli who came to Providence with Roger Williams 
 and settled there, and on his mother's side is also de- 
 scended from a family who were among the earliest 
 settlers. As a boy he attended the public schools, 
 together with good preparatory schools, and later 
 entered Brown University, from which he graduated 
 at the head of his class in 1849. Studious by nature, 
 he devoted as much time as was possible to his 
 books, and after graduating from Brown University 
 he spent some time prosecuting his studies in 
 Europe. 
 
 In 1853 he became Professor of Modern Languages 
 at his Alma Mater, and in 1860 he took editorial charge 
 of the Providence Journal, the leading newspaper in 
 Rhode Island. He remained in this position for six 
 years, and then in 1866 bade farewell to the editorial 
 profession, and accepted the Presidency of the Univer- 
 sity of Vermont, which position he retained until 1871, 
 when he resigned to accept the position he now holds, 
 as President of the University of Michigan, at Ann 
 Arbor. He has not held this office continuously, how- 
 ever, for in 1880 he obtained leave of absence to 
 
 accept the appointment offered him by President Hayes 
 as United States Minister to China and chairman of the 
 Commission to negotiate treaties with that country. 
 The work of the Commission accomplished and the 
 treaties signed, Mr. Angell resigned his commission as 
 Minister to China and returned to his place at the Uni- 
 versity at Ann Arbor. In 1887, President Cleveland 
 appointed him a member of the Commission to settle 
 the Fisheries question between the United States and 
 Great Britain and Canada. For many years, President 
 Angell has been a frequent and well known contribu- 
 tor to the leading magazines and his articles have 
 always been widely commented upon by the reading 
 public. He has been connected with the Congrega- 
 tional church since his early manhood and takes an 
 active interest in the welfare of that church. 
 
 On the 26th day of November, 1885, Mr. Angell was 
 united in marriage to Miss Sarah S. Caswell, daughter 
 of the late Alexis Caswell, President of Brown Univer- 
 sity. Three children have blessed this union. The 
 eldest son, A. C. Angell, is a lawyer in Detroit, and a 
 Professor of Law in the University of Michigan ; the 
 daughter is the wife of A. C. McLaughlin, Professor of 
 American History in the same University, and the 
 younger son, James R. Angell, is instructor in Philos- 
 ophy at the University of Minnesota,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA r WEST. 
 
 WALTER CYRUS ARNOLD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WALTER CYRUS ARNOLD, who is at the head 
 of the importing house of D. H Arnold & Co. 
 of New York and Chicago, is a fair representative of the 
 younger class of business men who have material!}' aided 
 in the progress of Chicago. His father, D. H. Arnold, a 
 native of Terre Haute, Ind.. was of Hebrew extraction. 
 The subject of this sketch was born November 5, 1858. 
 When he was two years old his father settled in New 
 York city, and established the importing house of 
 D. H. Arnold & Co. Walter received his education 
 chiefly at the Columbia School of Mines in New York 
 city. In 1882 the business of D. H. Arnold & Co. had 
 so increased that it was necessary to establish a western 
 branch. Chicago being selected for its location, our 
 subject assumed the entire control of its interests, and 
 under his management the business has constantly 
 increased, until now the firm of D. H. Arnold & Co. 
 is one of the largest importers of dry goods and 
 clothing supplies in the entire country. The firm deals 
 exclusively in high grade goods, and imports in large 
 quantities, and to this may in some degree be attrib- 
 uted its almost phenomenal prosperity. 
 
 In all his business relations Mr. Arnold is prompt 
 and honorable, justly valuing his own self-respect and 
 the deserved esteem of his fellow men. Mr. Arnold's 
 success is the result of his own efforts. Though an 
 American in the fullest sense, yet he inherits that 
 shrewd business sagacity which has long characterized 
 the Hebrew people and placed them in the foremost 
 ranks of the world's successful business men. 
 
 Mr. Arnold is social and genial in his manner, and 
 is a member both of the Manhattan Athletic Club of 
 New York city ,and of the Standard Club of Chicago. He 
 has made frequent trips abroad, visiting nearly every 
 European country, and has'traveled extensively in his 
 own country. He is dignified and refined in manner, 
 and a gentleman of high moral instincts and intel- 
 lectual attainmets. 
 
 He is slightly above medium height and of command- 
 ing presence, and with the wide range of knowledge 
 gathered from his extensive travels and study of men 
 and events, he is a most agreeable companion. All 
 who know him. esteem him for his genuine manly 
 virtues. 
 
 HON. JOSEPH M. BAILEY, 
 
 FREEPORT, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HON. JOSEPH M. BAILEY, son of Aaron and 
 Maria (Braman) Bailey, was born at Middlebury, 
 Wyoming county, N. Y.. June 22, 1833. His father 
 was a farmer and native of New York St.ate. His 
 paternal grandfather was a native of New Hampshire, 
 and his mother's parents were natives of Connecticut. 
 Young Bailey attended the public school in Middle- 
 bury, N. Y., until he was admitted to the Middlebury 
 academy, where he studied for a while. He then 
 entered the University of Rochester, at Rochester, N. 
 Y., graduating from that institution in 1854, taking a 
 full classical course. During the time he spent in col- 
 lege and in one or two vacations he commenced read- 
 ing law. After graduating at the University he made 
 a trip West, and upon returning to Rochester, entered 
 the office of Ethan A. Hopkins to study law, being 
 admitted to the bar November 4, 1855, at Rochester. 
 
 In July, 1856, h left Rochester and soon after- 
 ward went West, to Freeport, 111., arriving there 
 August 15, 1856. A short time after his arrival in 
 Freeport he opened an office for the practice of his 
 profession, and lias since made that city his home. 
 
 He was elected a member of the legislature in 1866 
 and 1868, in the State of Illinois, serving in the sessions 
 of '67 and '69. He again resumed and continued his 
 practice of law until August, 1877, when on the first 
 
 Monday of that year he was elected judge of the First 
 Judicial Circuit Court of the State, to fill an unexpired 
 term created -by the statutes organizing the Appellate 
 Court and remodeling the circuits of the State. In 
 1876 he served as presidential elector. In June, 1879, 
 he was again elected as a Circuit Court judge, and 
 again in June, 18S5. 
 
 In January, 1878. Judge Bailey was assigned by 
 the Supreme Court to the duties of a member of the 
 Appellate Court of the first district, held in Chicago, 
 and by successive assignments he filled that position 
 until June 3, 1888, when he resigned his position as 
 judge of the Circuit and Appellate Courts, and on the 
 following day was elected one of the justices of the 
 Supreme Court for a term of nine years, which position 
 he yet holds. For the year following June, 1892, he 
 held the position of chief justice of the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 In 1879 the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon 
 the Judge bv the University of Chicago, and also by 
 the University of Rochester, N. Y. He is a member 
 of the Masonic fraternity, and has received all the 
 degrees, including the thirty-third, which is the last 
 and highest obtainable. He is a Republican, and one 
 who believes in the principles of that party. lie has 
 travelled in Europe and other foreign countries, and is
 
 i6 
 
 PKOMIA 7 ENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 a member of the Baptist church, which he attends 
 regularly. 
 
 Judge Bailey was united in marriage to Miss Anna 
 Olin, February 2, 1859, at Perry Center, Wyoming 
 county, N. Y. Miss Olin was the daughter of a promi- 
 nent farmer of Wyoming county. They have had five 
 children, four sons and one daughter, of whom but two. 
 Charles O, and Anna M. are living. Charles O. Bailey, 
 the oldest son, is a lawyer, practicing his profession at 
 Sioux Falls, S. Dak.; Anna M. Bailey is living at 
 home with her father. The second son, Joseph M. 
 Bailey, Jr., who died about two years ago, was ap- 
 pointed at the age of 23, territorial treasurer of 
 Dakota, and \vas also at the same age president of 
 the Minnehaha National Bank at Sioux Falls, S. Dak., 
 which position he held at the time of his death 
 in 1891. 
 
 Judge Bailey traces his ancestry on his mother's 
 side to one of the officers on the Mayflower, and his 
 ance tr\- on the side of his father is of New England 
 stock. His maternal grandfather was a Baptist clergy- 
 man, while his father was a man highly esteemed by 
 his neighbors, and was for many years a deacon in the 
 Baptist church, of which he was a member. 
 
 Judge Bailey practiced at the bar before going on 
 
 the bench, and was often retained in important cases 
 in many States and counties of the Northwest. His 
 written opinions, which are widely cited, appear in the 
 first twenty-seven volumes of the Appellate Court 
 Reports and in the Supreme Court Reports of Illinois, 
 commencing with Volume CXXVI. 
 
 His learning and ability are appreciated by the 
 members of the bench and the bar throughout Illinois, 
 and the Northwest. He is a member of the board of 
 trustees of the University of Chicago, and president of 
 the board of trustees qf the Chicago College of Law, 
 and Dean of its Faculty. The growth and standing of 
 this latter organization is largely due to his thorough 
 and systematic work, and his wide experience at the 
 bar and on the bench enable him, by his terse, perti- 
 nent and lucid exposition of the law, to clear the mind 
 of the student of much that is to them uncertain and 
 ambiguous, and stimulates a desire on their part to 
 further research and inquiry into what Lord Coke 
 terms " the gladsome light of jurisprudence." 
 
 In appearance, Judge Bailey is a man of more than 
 the average height, of handsome physique, and is a 
 man of high scholarly attainments, affable, pleasing 
 and courteous toward all, and in every sense of the 
 word a most genial gentleman. 
 
 DELOS ABIEL BLODGETT, 
 
 GIIAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. 
 
 DELOS ABIEL BLODGETT, son of Abiel D. and 
 Susan (Richmond) Blodgett, was born in Otsego 
 county, N. Y., on the 3d day of March, 1825. He is 
 of .New England parentage and ancestry. 
 
 When he was four years of age the family removed 
 from Otsego county to Erie county in the same State, 
 where they settled on a farm. From then until he was 
 twenty years of age (a period not marked by any 
 special event), he resided with his parents, assisted in 
 the farm work, and attended the district and select 
 schools. This comprised his opportunity for educa- 
 tion. 
 
 At the age of twenty Mr. Blodgett left home, and 
 seeking employment as a raftsman and boatman 
 worked his way down the Alleghany, Ohio and Mis- 
 sissippi rivers, and finally landed in New Orleans. 
 Here his health failed him, and he decided to return 
 North, going to Me Henry county. 111., to which point 
 his parents had in the meantime removed. 
 
 In the fall of 1848, having in the meantime regained 
 his health, he started for western Michigan, then just 
 coming into notice as an important lumbering State. 
 He landed in Muskegon, and immediately got employ- 
 ment in the lumber woods in that vicinity. Two years 
 later he entered into the logging and lumber business 
 on his own account, and from that time his career has 
 
 formed a large part of the history of the develop- 
 ment of western Michigan. He has been continually 
 and extensively engaged in lumbering, as well as farm- 
 ing, banking and real estate. He still has large hold- 
 ings of timber lands in Michigan, Washington, Oregon, 
 and most of the Gulf States, and is largely interested 
 in real estate in Grand Rapids and Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Blodgett has never been a candidate for any 
 public office, nor a member of any secret society. 
 Politically, he affiliated with the Whigs until the for- 
 mation of the Republican party, of which he has since 
 been an active \vorking member. 
 
 On the 9th day of September, 1859, Mr. Blodgett 
 was united in marriage to Miss Jennie S. Wood, of 
 Woodstock, 111., who, after over thirty years of happy 
 wedded life, passed away in October, 1890, leaving 
 a son, John W. Ijlodgett, and a daughter, Mrs. Edward 
 Lowe, both of Grand Rapids. On June 3d, 1893, Mr. 
 Blodgett was again married this time to Miss Daisy 
 A. Peck, daughter of the late Professor William Henry 
 Peck, the author, of Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 One who has long known him says : " Mr. Blodgett 
 is is a man of about five feet eight and one-half inches 
 tall, spare but well developed frame, a blonde, with 
 bright, merry blue eyes, the natural accompaniments 
 of a nervous, sanguine temperament, and has a friendly
 
 
 ^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 kindly nature. Though far from robust in physique or 
 health, he has been an indefatigable worker all his life, 
 a man of great activity and surprising energy in what- 
 ever his hands, his head or his heart have found to do. 
 To his marvelous industry, as well as his business 
 sagacity and superb courage, is his marked business 
 success due, a success that has left no rancor in the 
 minds of his employes or competitors; a success that 
 has never been at the expense of anyone else ; that has 
 never changed his manners or his kindliness toward 
 others. Mr. Blodgett is an agnostic in matters of reli- 
 gious opinion, a Eepublican in political faith, and a 
 capitalist with very many interests to consider and to 
 maintain ; but these interest have never closed his ears 
 or his hands to the needs of his fellow-man as individ- 
 uals or as communities. He has made his great wealth 
 the means of conferring benefits and happiness on 
 
 others, no matter what their religious or political creeds 
 might be, and a worthy cause, no matter in what 
 department of charitable, religious, social, educational 
 or political work, is sure of his prompt and generous 
 assistance. He is a close observer, a student, a man 
 who appreciates the scientific and other progress of 
 humanity in an unusual degree, especially when it is 
 remembered that he had no opportunity for a higher 
 education, and has always been so actively and exten- 
 tensively engaged in business. His library is a favor- 
 ite resort for him. He is a rare friend, firm, reliable, 
 faithful, a man who gives his friends his confidence, 
 and who wins implicit confidence in return. Such a 
 man, with an overflowing share of the milk of human 
 kindness, is of necessity a thoughtful, generous, loving 
 husband and father, for with hirn family is first, friends, 
 his community, his country, and the world next." 
 
 HON. J. J. BROWNE, 
 
 SPOKANE FALLS, WASHINGTON. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is one of the self-made 
 men of the great West, who by h'is industry, 
 energy, ability and perseverance has made for himself 
 an enviable reputation, and carved out a career of 
 which any man might be justly proud. He is a native 
 of Ohio, the State noted for producing eminent men, 
 having been born at Greenville, Stark count3 r , on 
 April 28, 1843. His father was a sturdy farmer and 
 blacksmith, and his mother, a woman of great excel- 
 lence, died before he was two years old, when he went 
 to live with his grandparents at Columbia city, Ind. 
 where his early education was received in the common 
 schools. At the age of eighteen, however, he gratified 
 his desire for more extended educational advantages 
 by entering Wabash College, where he paid his way 
 by working nights and mornings, and during the 
 summer vacations, by which he acquired those habits 
 of self-reliance, economy and independence which laid 
 the foundations of his future success. Later he entered 
 the law department of the Michigan University, at 
 Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in 18^8. He 
 then went to Oswego, Kan., and entered upon the 
 practice of the law, where he remained until 1874. 
 when he removed to Portland, Ore. Here he con- 
 tinued the practice of his profession until 1878, meantime 
 serving (in 1876-78) as county superintendent of schools 
 (of Multnomah county), to which office he was elected 
 by a majority of 100, though the general ticket of the 
 opposite party was elected by more than 800 majority. 
 In the year last above named, Mr. Browne located at 
 Spokane, Wash., where he built up a remunerative 
 practice, extending over Eastern Washington and into 
 Idaho, worth about $5,000 a year. 
 
 Early seeing the peculiar advantage of Spokane for 
 a city site, with its tremendous water-power, timber 
 
 and mines to the north, and the rich and productive 
 agricultural valleys to the south, he "set about at once 
 to help build a city. After investigating thoroughly 
 the resources of the surrounding country, he purchased 
 a one-fourth interest in the town, which then contained 
 but fifty-four inhabitants, and located a homestead 
 claim where his home now stands, and which is now 
 in the heart of the best part of the city. His private 
 interests gradually became so large that he was obliged 
 . to relinquish his extensive law practice, and to devote 
 'his whole time to his business affairs. Together with 
 .Mr. A. M. Cannon, he built the Auditorium Theatre 
 block, the handsomest structure in the city, and one of 
 the finest in the State. 
 
 After Washington was admitted as a State, although 
 Mr. Browne was in the East at the time the Conven- 
 tion was held, he was nominated, without his knowledge, 
 as a member of the Constitutional Convention, and was 
 elected. He was a prominent member and leader in 
 that body, which was naturally composed of the ablest 
 men in the State. He was chairman of the committee 
 on State, County and Municipal Indebtedness, and the 
 article under that heading in the State constitution 
 was adopted, almost verbatim, as originally written 
 by him, and it is safe to say that no other State has a 
 constitutional provision upon this subject better calcu- 
 lated to protect the interest of the people against 
 extravagant or dishonest officials, and at the same time 
 sufficiently elastic and liberal to meet the growing 
 needs of the progressive people of a great State. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Browne is a staunch Democrat, and 
 has served his party in various capacities, with dis- 
 tinction and ability. He was delegate from Kansas to 
 the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore, in 
 1S72, and was also a delegate to the National Conven-
 
 2O 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 tion at St. Louis in 1888, serving as a member of the 
 committee on platform and notification. . He is presi- 
 dent of the Browne National Bank, president of the 
 Spokane Investment Company, ex-president of the 
 Spokane Mill Company, and editor and proprietor of 
 the Spokane Chronicle. 
 
 He is a man of close observation and liberal views, 
 practical in all things and of unimpeachable integrity. 
 Although largely occupied with business and commer- 
 cial affairs, he has found time to take a deep interest in 
 public matters and has done much to advance the 
 interests of education and good government. He has 
 served many years as school director, and has been a 
 prominent factor in building up, at Spokane, a system 
 of public schools second to none in the country. 
 He is also chancellor of the "Washington State Univer- 
 sitv, located at Seattle, in which institution he takes a 
 
 * ' 
 
 deep interest. 
 
 He owns a farrti of about two thousand acres some 
 five miles from Spokane, where he spends all the time 
 
 he can spare from his other enterprises. He gives it 
 his personal supervision, arid derives a great deal of 
 pleasure from his farming operations, perhaps more 
 pleasure than profit. 
 
 As remarked in the outset, Mr. Browne is pre- 
 eminently a self-made man. His parents and grand- 
 parents were poor and unable to give him many advan- 
 tages, yet he obtained an education in the face of diffi- 
 culties that but few boys have the courage or ability to 
 overcome. Without means or influential friends he 
 has moved forward and upward, step by step, until he 
 has become one of the leading business men and finan- 
 ciers of the Northwest, and at the same time he stands 
 high as a writer and public speaker. He is classed to- 
 day as one of the wealthiest men in the State, as he is 
 certainly one of the most influential. His love of learn- 
 ing and his literary tastes may be inferred from the 
 fact that he possesses the largest private library west 
 of St. Paul, in which he spends all of his leisure 
 time. 
 
 HERMAN D. CABLE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HERMAN D. CABLE, son of Silas and Mary 
 Cable, was bo,rn in Walton, Delaware county, 
 New York, on the 1st day of June, 1849. His 
 parents were natives of Connecticut, and descendants 
 of the early settlers of New England. Both families 
 moved to New York State, where the paternal grand- 
 father of our subject was one of the earliest settlers of 
 Delaware county, and his maternal grandfather built 
 the first grist mill in the county, which enterprise was 
 highly appreciated by the farmers of the surrounding 
 country, as is attested in the " Histor}' of Delaware 
 County," written and published by the late Jay Gould, 
 who was also a native of that county. This work, of 
 which Mr. Cable owns a copy, is interesting owing to 
 the prominence of the author and publisher, and to his 
 earnest endeavor to suppress the entire edition, exceed- 
 ingly rare, giving it on that account a considerable pe- 
 cuniary value. Mr. Cable's father was engaged in 
 both agricultural and commercial business and bore an 
 enviable reputation of the highest integrit\ T . 
 
 Mr. Cable's first school days were at a country dis- 
 trict school, though at an early age he entered the 
 academy of his native town, and later attended the 
 Delaware Literary Institute, at Franklin, N. Y. He 
 passed through the different grades of this school with 
 marked distinction, and then feeling a desire for direct 
 contact with the business world, went to New York 
 city, where he entered the employ of the great book 
 publishing house of A. S. Barnes & Co. At first h e 
 was engaged as correspondence clerk, and later he rep- 
 resented the interests of the house on the road. By 
 strict attention and steady application to his work, he 
 
 soon gained the entire confidence of his employers, and 
 they trusting implicitly in his adaptability and faith- 
 fulness, and the excellence of his judgment, in 1870, 
 assigned him to their branch house in Chicago. In this 
 position he remained for ten years, his success in it 
 being highly gratifying to his employers and himself. 
 Then seeing that a much greater success was to be 
 gained in a manufacturing business, he resigned in 
 1880 and organized the Chicago Cottage Organ Co. 
 The beginning of this company was small, but it has 
 since been constantly growing, and now the enterprise 
 is capitalized for $1,000,000. Mr. Cable at first 
 assumed the position of treasurer of the company, but 
 did not remain in that position long, for he was soon 
 elected president, which position he has since occupied, 
 guiding the company to its unparalleled success. 
 
 Mr. Cable is a member of the Masonic fraternity 
 and a Knight Templar; a member of the Country 
 Club of Evanston and the Union League Club of Chi- 
 cago. Politically, he is a Eepublican, but takes no 
 further interest in politics than the casting of his vote 
 with that party, which he believes best serves the 
 interests of the public. 
 
 In 1883, Mr. Cable was united in marriage to Miss 
 Alice A. Hutchins of Chicago,- a daughter of one of 
 our well known physicians, and three children have 
 blessed the union, all of whom add much to the 
 brightness of their beautiful home at Evanston. 
 
 As a man and a citizen none stand higher in the 
 community than does Herman D. Cable. In every 
 public enterprise he is a staunch worker and a liberal 
 contributor, and in private charity no appeal is
 
 <%
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 addressed to him in vain. His success in the business 
 world has been remarkable and can only be fairly 
 judged by the following brief history of the organ and 
 piano industry with which he has been connected. 
 
 The history of the organ antedates that of the 
 piano by several centuries. As far back as classical 
 times literary allusions were made to wind instruments 
 involving the use of pipes and channels and reservoirs 
 of air. Later notices do not make the construction 
 and operation of early so-called "organs" clear to the 
 reader. The first keyboard is said to have been intro- 
 duced into the organ in the cathedral at Magdeburg, 
 about the close of the eleventh century. As to the 
 precise time and conditions under which the keyboard 
 assumed its present form, however, nothing is known. 
 The reed organ is an American invention, by 
 Aaron M. Peasley, about 1818. The earlier forms of 
 this instrument were called "seraphines" or " melo- 
 deons." American ingenuity has produced an instru- 
 ment superior to all others, and great numbers of this 
 class of organs are exported. Formerly it was a 
 custom of kings, princes and nobles who were students 
 or patrons of music to keep large collections of musical 
 instruments, and to keep them, too, not for mere 
 ornament, but to be played upon, and thus contribute 
 their share toward the entertainment of guests and to 
 furnish the domestic and festive music of their courts. 
 It was to keep such a collection in playing order that 
 Prince Ferdinand de Medici employed Bartslomme 
 Christofori, a Paduan harpsichord maker; and it was 
 that man of genius who is accredited with the invention 
 and production of the piano forte. In 1709, Chris- 
 tofori had completed four-keyed psalteries with soft 
 and loud three of them being of the long or usual 
 harpsichord form. The most ready suggestion of a 
 piano forte would have been a dulcimer with keys, 
 and it may be supposed that there had been many 
 fruitless attempts to put a keyboard to a dulcimer, or 
 hammers to a harpsichord before Christofori success- 
 fully solved the problem. To this ingenius experi- 
 menter the pianoforte is indebted, not only for its power 
 to play piano and' forte, but for its infinite variations 
 of tone; hence, it appears that the piano forte was 
 produced by Christofori practically complete in all 
 its essential principles. 
 
 Though Frederick, an organ builder and musical 
 instrument maker of Gera, in Saxony, is said by 
 German writers to have invented the square or table- 
 shaped piano about 1858-60 no square piano of his 
 make is known to be extant, but there is a Frederick 
 "upright grand" which bears date 1745. Germans 
 appear to have done much from this time on toward 
 the development of the piano forte. The first square 
 piano made in France is said to have been constructed 
 by a young Alsatian, Sebastian Erard, in 1776. Ten 
 years later, Erard went to England and founded the 
 London manufactory of harps and piano fortes bearino- 
 his name. Quite early in our history the piano forte 
 maker established himself in America. In 1833 
 
 Conrad Meyer of Philadelphia, was successful in 
 producing a single casting resistance frame which he 
 applied to a square piano which was exhibited at the 
 Paris Exposition in 1878. Meyer's idea was improved 
 upon by a Boston inventor who applied it also to the 
 grand piano, and established by it the independent 
 construction of the American piano forte, of which 
 now more than 75,000 are made annually in the 
 United States. 
 
 The manufacture of musical instruments in the 
 West has, during the past few years, grown with 
 remarkable rapidity. Eastern manufacturers have 
 been accustomed to say that it would be a long time 
 before thoroughly high grade instruments would be 
 made in the West, and for some years their assertions 
 had considerable weight with the public. It is now 
 universally conceded, not only that Chicago is making 
 first-class instruments, but that by the amount of 
 capital invested in their manufacture here, by the high 
 'character of the men concerned in it, and by the 
 tendency of the business to concentrate here, Chicago 
 bids fair, at no distant date, to rank as the musical 
 instrument manufacturing center of the United States. 
 The development of this branch of industry in Chicago 
 is well illustrated by the work and progress of the 
 Chicago Cottage Organ Company, which is one of the 
 most prominent music trade institutions in the country. 
 It is but little more than a decade since the advent of 
 its managers in the music trade as manufacturers, .and 
 now, when the corporation is rated in the million 
 dollar scale, it is profitable to contemplate the enormous 
 business that has been evolved by it in such a short 
 time. The inference to be drawn from this success is 
 that when those at the helm start to accomplish any 
 given end. they never cry halt until that object is 
 accomplished. The number of manufacturers in their 
 line is quite large, and the operations of some of them 
 date back from thirty, forty, and fifty years, yet this 
 company, scarcely yet in its teens, can substantiate its 
 olaim that it manufactures one-fifth of all the reed 
 organs made in the United States. Its factories turn 
 out a Chicago Cottage Organ every nine minutes, and 
 it is the only company in the world capable of such a 
 feat. These instruments, it is believed, have proved 
 themselves to be as near perfection as human skill and 
 ingenuity can make them. The great satisfaction 
 they have given to purchasers, and the unqualified 
 endorsements they have received from eminent musi- 
 cians, determine their status beyond question. While 
 building up this enormous business in the manufacture 
 of organs, the company interested itself in the wholesale 
 piano trade, and made it an unqualified success, its 
 piano business being a gigantic affair in itself, without 
 considering its manufacture of the Conover piano at all. 
 The argument so long directed against the possi- 
 bility of Chicago soon taking rank as the seat of man- 
 ufacture of high grade pianos, was that the medium 
 grade instruments are more easily disposed of in the 
 West. There is, very likely, not a piano maker in
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Chicago but will claim that he makes the very best 
 instrument, but be that as it may, the Conover piano 
 is now a Chicago piano, manufactured by Chicago 
 capital, and is being pushed forward with all the 
 energy of successful Chicago business men. The 
 Conover piano, manufactured in New York, was a 
 first class instrument, according to universal conces- 
 sion, and the Conover piano manufactured in Chicago 
 is even better, wherever improvement was possible- 
 Early in 1892, the Chicago Cottage Organ Company 
 bought the patents, patterns and everything apper- 
 taining to these widely known pianos, and removed 
 the entire establishment to Chicago, where a new 
 plant was provided for their manufacture. At the 
 warerooms of the company, 215 Wabash avenue, are 
 handsome specimens of the Conover grand piano, en- 
 cased in English oak, and mahogany. It is a beautiful 
 instrument, of liquid tone, immense volume, delicate 
 action, and a scale as even as one could desire. In 
 design and finish, it is in harmony with its remarkable 
 tone. A more notable illustration of the exercise of 
 American energy, ability, integrity, and superior skill 
 has rarely been known than that exhibited by this 
 
 enormous piano and organ company, which has 
 achieved an international reputation and by its able 
 management and steady development has secured to 
 Chicago, the supremacy as regards the manufacture of 
 a superior grade of instruments. The great capacity 
 of this company is tested to its fullest extent supplying 
 an unparalleled trade, extending throughout the 
 American continent. By this new departure is simplv 
 added another branch to an already large institution ; 
 but it is not substituted for any thing before in hand. 
 That is to say, the pianos already being handled at 
 wholesale by the company with such wonderful suc- 
 cess, will be sold as before and receive the same ener- 
 getic, business like treatment. Thus the Chicago Cot- 
 tage Organ Company demonstrates its high position in 
 the music trade. It has put itself into history as the 
 largest manufacturer of reed organs in the world, but 
 is evidently looking for new worlds to conquer, and 
 with its perfected organization now seems determined 
 to also be known as the largest manufacturer of pianos 
 in the world. In all this success, Mr. Cable has been 
 the moving force and has won an enviable reputation 
 thereby. 
 
 CHARLES PATTON CRAIG, M. A., LL. B., 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 /-CHARLES PATTOX CRAIG, son of William 
 \-J Thompson and Katherine (Patton) Craig, was 
 born in the town of Greenville, Clarion county, Penn., 
 on July 4th, 1858. His father \vas a native of the same 
 place, but his ancestors from both sides were from 
 Scotland, the great grandfather, "William Craig, com- 
 ing to this country about the time of the Revolutionary 
 War, and having a liberal education, he engaged in 
 educational work, in which he continued until old age 
 incapacitated him for labor. The great grandmother 
 was a descendant of a Scotch Presbyterian minister. 
 His grandfather was a successful merchant and manu- 
 facturer, noted for his integrity and honesty of 
 purpose. 
 
 His father, William Thompson Craig, following in 
 the footsteps of the grandfather, was a man of advanced 
 ideas, who by shrewd foresight made for himself a 
 reputation for great business ability, being highly 
 esteemed in the community in which he resided. His 
 mother was the daughter of Thomas Patton, born in 
 Chester, Penn., in 1807. The latter was a promi- 
 nent merchant of Greenville, Clarion county, Penn., 
 and one of its first settlers. He was a man of 
 strict business principles, perhaps most fitting^ 
 described by an obituary at the time of his death, 
 in which it was stated that " Promptness, 
 fidelity and- integrity was ever characteristic of 
 the man." 
 
 Young Craig began his college preparatory studies 
 at Elders' Ridge Academy, Indiana county, Penn., in 
 1877. He then entered La Fayette college, and in 1883 
 completed his classical course and took the degree of 
 B. A. Upon leaving college he entered the office of the 
 Hon. Benjamin Harris Brewster, attorney-general of 
 the United States under President Arthur, and began 
 the study of the law. Later he entered the law 
 department of the University of Pennsylvania, and 
 there, in 1886, he took the degree of LL. B., shortl\ r 
 after which time he was admitted to the bar at Phila- 
 delphia, his college conferring upon him the honorary 
 degree of M. A. In the latter part of the same year, 
 Mr. Craig removed to Duluth, and seems here to have 
 found conditions favorable for the exercise of his 
 abilities. He began the practice of law, which he 
 continued for three years, meeting with marked suc- 
 cess, but was finally compelled to give up his close 
 study, being absorbed b} T a business life and its neces- 
 sary cares and activities. Recognizing the impossibility 
 of his doing justice to himself and his clients, he gradu- 
 ally withdrew from the practice of his profession, and 
 gave his whole time and attention to business enter- 
 prises. His rapid prosperity since then has been sur- 
 prising. Although he is one of the young men of 
 Duluth, he occupies an enviable position in the business 
 world, his counsel being much sought after and regarded 
 as sound on all business ventures and financial matters.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 His strong characteristic is his indefatigable pursuit of 
 all he undertakes, and this being one of the most neces- 
 sary qualifications for a business life, has resulted in 
 placing him at the head of the list of promising young 
 business men, who recognize in Mr. Craig brilliant 
 possibilities. 
 
 That his executive ability is of a rare quality, is 
 demonstrated by the fact that he holds at the present 
 time, the following offices in important business enter- 
 prises, to each of which lie gives conscientious and 
 successful attention : He is a director in the Chamber 
 of Commerce, having been elected to that position the 
 second year after his arrival at Duluth and holding the 
 position up to the present time; he is also director and 
 the secretary and treasurer of the "Penn"Land and Loan 
 Company, which has a capital of $100,000.; vice- 
 president and a director of the National Bank of 
 Commerce, of Duluth, capital $200,000.; president and 
 a director of the Clyde Iron Company, Capital $100,- 
 000.; vice-president and a director of the Highland 
 
 Improvement Company, capital $2,000,000, and also 
 one of the proprietors of the Duluth Evening Herald. 
 He is a regular attendant at the Presbyterian church, 
 to which faith he has alwa3 T s belonged. In politics he 
 is a Republican on national issues, reserving the right, 
 being no pronounced partisan, to vote as his conscience 
 dictates in local elections, casting his ballot for the 
 man he thinks best fitted for the contested office. 
 
 Mr. Craig was united in marriage December 10th, 
 1890, to Florence, daughter of William Hector 
 Cameron, of Inverness, Scotland, of the Lochiel Clan, 
 a lady possessing many attractions of mind and person, 
 and one who is well fitted b}' nature to preside over the 
 pleasant home of which she is mistress. 
 
 Mr. Craig is a man of fine personal attainments and 
 possesses the secret of making, and the more valuable 
 one of keeping, friends, not only in business, but in 
 social circles. Of medium height and fine appearance, 
 he is a man who commands attention and respect wher- 
 ever he jjoes. 
 
 THOMAS B BRYAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WHEN the great "World's Columbian Exposit- 
 ion " finally closed its doors, and when its 
 history shall have been written for the gratification of 
 succeeding generations, no name amongst the many 
 prominent ones so closely connected with that enter- 
 prise will appear to better advantage or command 
 greater admiration than will that of the Hon. Thos. B. 
 Bryan. 
 
 The citizens of Chicago are deeply indebted to Mr. 
 Bryan for the valuable services he rendered through 
 his constant and tireless labors, and for the great 
 energy and devotion he displayed in obtaining for 
 Chicago the location of the great Exposition. Mr. 
 Bryan has been a leading spirit in the matter from the 
 commencement. In fact, it was he who framed the 
 resolutions presented at the first citizens' meeting, 
 held in the Chicago common council chamber on 
 August 1st of 1891, the result of which was that 
 Chicago became a candidate and ultimately a 
 victor in one of the keenest competitions ever entered 
 into by American cities. Mr. Bryan's ardent cham- 
 pionship of Chicago's claims, his eloquent appeals 
 throughout the country, and his masterly and unanswer- 
 able reply to New York's advocate and champion, the 
 great and only Chauncey Depew, before the Senate 
 committee at Washington, will be long remembered, 
 and undoubtedly did more than almost anything else 
 to secure the prize. His presentation of Chicago's 
 claims was so effeclive and so adriotly put, that the 
 result was electrical, and even New York, with all her 
 boasted superiority of social distinction and commercial 
 enterprise was forced to yield. 
 
 Thomas B. Bryan was born at Alexandria, Va., on 
 December 22, 1828; being the son of Daniel and Marv 
 (Barbour) Bryan. His parents, both on his father's and 
 mother's side, were people of considerable culture and 
 influence. His father served in the senate of Virginia, 
 and two of his mother's brothers, James and Philip 
 Barbour, held the highest official positions under the 
 government of that day such as those of Cabinet Min- 
 ister, speaker of the National House of Representatives, 
 Judge of the United States Supreme Court, Minister to 
 England, and Governor of Virginia. Our subject 
 graduated from the law school of Harvard University 
 in 1848, and shortly afterwards entered upon the prac- 
 tice of law in Cincinnati, O., forming a partnership 
 with Judge Hart of that city in 1849. In 1852 Mr. 
 Bryan came West, settling in Chicago when the citv 
 was little more than an overgrown village, and shortly 
 afterwards forming the law firm of Mather, Taft & 
 Bryan, subsequently changed to Bryan & Borden, and 
 still later to that of Bryan & Hatch. He has made 
 office counselling his specialty, and for forty years, 
 more or less, Mr. Bryan has resided the greater part of 
 his time in Chicago, with the exception of some years 
 spent in Washington, Colorado and in European travel. 
 He succeeded Governor Shepherd as one of the commis- 
 sioners (together with Governor Denison) of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, in which his administration was 
 marked by the same abilit\ r , honesty and prudence in 
 expenditure that always governed his actions. His 
 withdrawal, voluntarily, from this office was made the 
 signal for a spontaneous memorial from the citizens, 
 headed by the philanthropist Corcoran, and signed by
 
 28 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 the bankers and prominent business men of the capital, 
 and this was presented to him on his vacation of the 
 office to resume his duties in his adopted city. The 
 founder and promoter of many public enterprises, Mr. 
 Bryan's work has always been crowned with success. 
 A detailed list, even of his public enterprises, would fill 
 more space than we can give to what is, at the best, 
 but a general sketch. There are, however,-one or two 
 which deserve more than a mere passing notice. 
 
 He was the originator and sole proprietor (formerly) 
 of Graceland Cemetery. Mr. Bryan purchased this tract 
 of land, having found that the population of the North 
 Side was inevitably encroaching on the old cemetery 
 (which now forms part of Lincoln Park), and, if only 
 from a sanitary point of view, this was extremely 
 undesirable. Graceland alone (with its beautiful laid- 
 out and well-kept walks and shrubs, etc.) would be a 
 worthy memorial of his public enterprise and regard 
 for the prosperity and health of the community at large. 
 
 He also built " Bryan Hall " (the sight of which is 
 now occupied by the Grand Opera House), and here 
 many a memorable meeting has been held, as well as 
 innumerable entertainments for patriotic objects. 
 
 Mr. Bryan was also president of the great North- 
 western Fair for the relief of soldiers of the Union in 
 1865, for, though a Southerner by birth, all his affilia- 
 tions and sympathies had ever been with the cause of 
 the Union. As the direct result of his presidency, the 
 Fair yielded over $300,000 to the invalid soldiers' fund, 
 such was the trust placed in his integrity, and in his 
 
 faculty of harmonizing the conflicting interests of the 
 various officers and committees. 
 
 If still yet another monument to his patriotism and 
 loyalty were required, the Soldiers' Home, built under 
 his direction and with money advanced by him, is that 
 monument. For many years its president, his work 
 on its behalf was. and is, unflagging. In fact his dis- 
 tinguished and arduous services during the war were 
 such that no honors were esteemed too great ; amongst 
 others accorded him was that of being elected a mem- 
 ber of the Loyal Legion, etc. 
 
 It was to Mr. Bryan's forethought and enterprise 
 that Chicago owed the Fidelity Safe Depository which 
 passed, unscathed, through the flames of 1871, and 
 was the means of saving many millions to the ci'tizens. 
 
 As a speaker, Mr. Bryan is vigorous, eloquent and 
 convincing ; one who controls his audience, and rarely 
 fails to carry his points, and, in addition, one who 
 seldom speaks unless he has something to say well 
 worth the hearing. His banquet and other public 
 speeches unpremeditated as many of them are- 
 bristle with eloquent phrases and happy allusions, 
 while they are marked with that good sense and gen- 
 eral culture which is, and always has been, so charac- 
 teristic of the man. 
 
 As first vice-president of the " World's Columbian 
 Exposition," unanimously elected to that office, he was 
 devoted to its welfare, and no man has worked more 
 assiduously for its good, or with better results, than 
 has the subject of this sketch. 
 
 JOSEPH ARTHUR CORAM, 
 
 LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 JOSEPH AKTHUR COEAM, son of George and 
 Ann (Bond) Coram, was born at St. John, New 
 Brunswick, on the 30th day of April, 1852. On his 
 father's side he is a descendant of Sir Thomas Coram, 
 who was the first exporter of timber from America to 
 the Old World, and who donated to the ity of Lon- 
 don the Foundling's Hospital and left one of the 
 largest estates in Europe to his heirs. On his mother's 
 side he is a descendant of the Old Scottish " House of 
 Bond." He acquired his education in the schools of 
 St. John, N. B., and graduated from the Gage School, 
 after which he entered the employ of the Northwestern 
 Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, representing 
 that company in the lower provinces of Canada. He 
 remained with this company for one year and then 
 resigned to go into the lumber business with his father, 
 soon becoming a member of the firm, which was known 
 as G. & J. Coram. They operated their mills through- 
 out Nova Scotia, and shipped the product to Europe. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Coram left Canada and came to the 
 United States, locating in Bangor, Maine, where he 
 established a. large plant for the manufacture of soaps. 
 
 Here he remained for eighteen months, and having 
 been obliged three times during that period to increase 
 the capacity of his plant, he concluded to go to Lowell, 
 Mass., where he established a large factory, and where 
 he has since made his home, being at the present time 
 interested in three of the largest factories in that place. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Coram went to Grafton count}', New 
 Hampshire, and organized a mica mining company, but 
 sold his interests a year later and went to Minneap- 
 olis, Minnesota, where he was engaged in the real 
 estate busines. Representing himself and five associ- 
 ates, he bought and improved real estate, doing a very 
 large business, erecting in one season sixty houses. 
 
 In the fall of 1886 he went to Butte City, Montana, 
 to investigate an enterprise then under consideration 
 which involved an outlay of two and one half millions 
 of dollars. After a careful investigation he decided 
 against the project, and so advised his associates. 
 While on this trip Mr. Coram carried letters from 
 several large foreign bankers authorizing him to draw 
 on them for any amount up to $5,000,000 to be invested 
 in anything that appealed to his judgment as a good
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 investment. Shortly afterward he organized the Butte 
 & Boston Mining Company, whose first outlay 
 amounted to $5,680.000. Since that time he has in- 
 vested for himself and for his business associates in the 
 west more than twenty million dollars, being connect- 
 ed with and owning lands in many of the leading towns. 
 He is a director of the Butte & Boston Mining 
 Company, the Butte City Water Company, the Butte 
 & Montana Commercial Companv, the Kahspell Town 
 Site Company, and is president of the Globe National 
 Bank of Kalispell, of the Kalispell Water and 
 Electric Light Company, of the Libby Town Site Com- 
 pany, and is besides connected with many street rail- 
 way and mining companies, owning much land and 
 water power and rights. In all of the above 
 named enterprises Mr. Coram was the originator, and 
 raised the capital employed by each and every one of 
 them. 
 
 In the spring of 1886 he made a visit to Europe 
 with his family, and while there he introduced several 
 valuable patents pertaining to the purification of ores 
 and minerals, iron, steel, etc. 
 
 He has traveled extensively in Europe and in the 
 United States, Canada and Mexico. Politically he is 
 a Republican, conservative in voting, and allowing his 
 judgment to decide for whom his ballot shall be cast, 
 without strict regard to party lines. He has been 
 from his youth a member of the Baptist church, and 
 though his many and diversified business interests keep 
 him constantly on the move from one place to another, 
 he does his share of church work, being ever ready to 
 respond to the calls of charity. 
 
 Mr. Coram, as yet a young man, has shown himself 
 in business and financial ability to be second to none ; 
 he is of nervous temperament, quick and active in his 
 movements, forms an opinion quickly and is as prompt 
 to act, and an opinion once formed by him is usually 
 found to be the correct one. He has earned and de- 
 serves the fullest confidence and esteem of his friends 
 and business associates, and that they are amply 
 accorded to him is proven by the immense interests 
 that are constantly being committed to his charge. 
 To him and to others of similar character the West is 
 indebted for the rapid advancement that it has made 
 
 during the past few years, and the great amount of 
 good done by and through him will be long and 
 gratefully remembered in that section of the country 
 in which the good work has been done. 
 
 Mr. Coram was married to Miss Cora E. Work at 
 Bangor, Me., on the 9th day of August, 1877. The 
 result of -this union has been four children, three sons 
 and one daughter. 
 
 To those who merely meet Mr. Coram in a social 
 or business way, he appears to be a bright, energetic 
 business man of sound judgment and the courage to 
 act according to his convictions, but the real depth of 
 his character can only be known by those who have 
 the pleasure of a better acquaintance. His friends 
 kuow him to be a leader of men, and that he posesses 
 a genius for organization that may be called greatness. 
 As pertinent in this connection, we quote an extract 
 from a letter written by his life-long friend, Dr. E. W- 
 Trueworthy, of Lowell, Mass., who says: 
 
 " To illustrate his courage, self-reliance and strength 
 of character, allow me to make 'the following state- 
 ment: 
 
 " When the monetary stringency of this present 
 season was at its height, currency at a preminm of 
 from three to ten per cent., many banks closing their 
 doors, millionaires making assignments and operators 
 in general curtailing or suspending their works. MY. 
 Coram went to Butte, Montana, bought copper property 
 to the amount of $250,000, shipped the gold there to 
 pay for it, increased the forces in his various enter- 
 prises, and also the output of his mines, for the sole 
 purpose of restoring confidence, aiding others, and 
 checking the panic which threatened disaster to the 
 business interests of Montana,, the result of which 
 enables the various enterprises in which he was inter- 
 ested to carry on their operations with renewed energy 
 and at a handsome profit. This I consider a bold 
 move, and but few men would have had the fore- 
 sight to see the result, the courage to undertake, or 
 the ability to execute. Many men are great financiers 
 in good times ; but in hard times only Napoleons 
 come to the front. Mr. Coram came to the front ! 
 Personally he is social, unostentations, very generous 
 among his friends, and cpnscientious in all his dealings." 
 
 ANDREW J. COOPER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ANDREW J. COOPER was born at Burlington, la., 
 December 20, 1837, and was educated in the 
 common schools. At the age of twenty he went to 
 Cincinnati, where he speculated in real estate in a 
 small way. When the war broke out Mr. Cooper 
 owned a steamboat on the Mississippi, which he sold to 
 the Government, and immediately bought two more, 
 and afterward another. During the war he ran 
 
 these boats on the Ohio, Mississippi and Red rivers, 
 carrying supplies for troops and conducting a general 
 transportation business. At the same time he carried 
 on a general merchandising business, having stores at 
 Nashville, Little Rock and Memphis, and was surveyor 
 for the Seventh Army Corps at Little Rock. After 
 the war he disposed of these interests and went to 
 Mexico, where he remained until 1868, when he re-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CKEA T WEST. 
 
 turned to this country and located in Chicago. Fore- 
 seeing the opportunities for profitable investment, he 
 went into the real estate business, and by the exercise 
 of sound judgment has accumulated a handsome 
 property. He has been connected with very many 
 of the largest transactions in real estate for many 
 years. 
 
 Several of the notable business blocks of Chicago 
 have been the product of his enterprise, and have 
 added greatly to the reputation and elegance of the 
 city. He has not, however, confined his building oper- 
 ations to Chicago, but has extended them to other 
 places. A notable instance of this is the construction, 
 in connection with Stephen D. Hatch, of New York, of 
 
 a ten-story fire-proof building on the corner of Fourth 
 and Olive streets, in St. Louis, costing a half million of 
 dollars. Mr. Cooper is a typical western man, full of 
 energy, replete with the quick and keen appreciation 
 of the salient points of a proffered transactiop, and 
 possessed of indomitable perseverance. It is such men 
 who become leaders and acquire great wealth in any 
 large city. 
 
 Mr. Cooper was married on September 14, 1881, to 
 Miss Abbie Abercrombie, of Chicago. He is a mem- 
 ber, of the Washington Park Club, a companionable, 
 pleasant gentleman everywhere, and an honor to the 
 city which has witnessed his enterprise and in which 
 his success has been wrought. 
 
 ALBERT L. COE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ALBERT L. COE, president of the Royal Trust 
 Company Bank, is a gentleman to whom Chicago 
 points with pride as being one of her representative 
 citizens. 
 
 Mr. Coe was born at Talmage, O., about thirty-five 
 miles southeast of the city of Cleveland, and is the son 
 of Kev. David Lyman Coe, who came to the Western 
 Keserve in 1818, soon after graduating from Williams 
 College, Mass., and of Polly (Hayes) Coe, the daughter 
 of Colonel Richard Hayes, who with his family left 
 Hartford, Conn., in the spring of 1804. Colonel Hayes 
 led a colony of some twelve families who located in 
 Hartford, Trumbull county, O., which town, together 
 with a number of surrounding ones, they named after 
 the various New England places from which they 
 came. The colonel recruited a regiment of infantry 
 from the very sparsely settled country of northern 
 Ohio, and took part in the War of 1812; afterward 
 becoming a prosperous merchant, owning a large 
 store, mills, stage line and other industries. He died 
 about 1840, leaving quite a large fortune for those 
 days. His family and that of ex-President Hayes 
 were distantly related, being in fact, of the same blood- 
 In 1837 occurred the death of Rev. David L. Coe, and 
 in 1839, Mrs. Coe was married to Dr. Orestes Kent 
 Hawley. 
 
 Receiving his early education in the district school, 
 young Coe subsequently attended the academy at 
 Painsville, O.. for some two years, and at Grand River 
 Institute, in Austinburg, Ashtabula county, leaving 
 there at the age of seventeen to engage in the business 
 of life. 
 
 Our subject's stepfather, Dr. Hawley, was a noted 
 Abolitionist, and his house was one of the stations 
 along the celebrated " Underground Railway," and 
 young Coe drove many a load of runaway slaves up to 
 the different, points on Lake Erie, at and near Ashta- 
 
 bula, securing passage for them to the Canadian shore, 
 the trip being oftimes made at night. His selection for 
 this position was owing to the good qualities he pos- 
 sessed as a horseman, and his energy and fearlessness, 
 unusual for a boy of his age, as in those days threats 
 of^personal violence were freely made by the pro-slav- 
 ery element under protection of the infamous " Fugi- 
 tive Slave Law." This service continued from his 
 ninth to his fourteenth year. Joshua R. Giddings and 
 Benjamin F. Wade, both of abolition fame, were res- 
 idents of the same county, and in the same circle of 
 friends. It is therefore not suprising that young Coe 
 took delight in visiting them, and naturally derived 
 much patriotic inspiration therefrom. 
 
 When about eighteen years old he decided to seek 
 a wider field for his energies, and eventually settled in 
 Chicago, in 1853. In February, 1854, he engaged in 
 the coal business, under the firm name of T. R. Clarke 
 & Co., thb firm consisting of Thomas R. Clarke, Benja- 
 min Carpenter and Albert L. Coe. Three years later 
 Mr. Clarke retired and the firm was then changed to 
 that of Coe & Carpenter, which firm was continued 
 until the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. 
 
 In September, 1861, Mr. Coe, aroused by the patri- 
 otism which had characterized his early boyhood, 
 enlisted in the Fifty-first Illinois Infantry (raised in 
 Chicago) as a private, serving over four years, or during 
 the war. But, before leaving the recruiting camp, he 
 was commissioned second lieutenant, and soon after 
 entered the field as first lieutenant, serving most of 
 the time with the Army of the Cumberland. He was 
 under Generals Pope, Rosecrans, Sheridan, Thomas, 
 Grant and Sherman, and did detached service at the 
 headquarters of the First Brigade, Fourteenth Army 
 Corps, and also of the Second Division of the same 
 Corps; participated in the capture of Island No. 10, was 
 at Pittsburg Landing, the battle of Mission Ridge,

 
 Of ^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 35 
 
 took part in the Atlanta campaign, and was one of 
 those who marched with Sherman to the sea; also from 
 Savannah, through the Carolinas, to "Washington, and 
 was in the grand review at the close of the war. He 
 received a captain's commission, but was never regu- 
 larly mustered in that rank, owing to the continued 
 active operations in the field of the Fourteenth Corps. 
 He was mustered out of service in November, 1865, at 
 Springfield, 111., having served over four years. Sub- 
 sequently he became a member of and helped to organ- 
 ize the Illinois National Guards, and from 1875 to 
 1880 served as major on General A. 0. Ducat's staff, 
 and was on duty during the riots in this city in 
 
 1877. 
 
 Upon returning to civil life, Mr. Coe decided to 
 engage in the real estate business. In January, 1868, 
 he formed a partnership with Mr. A. B. Mead, under 
 the firm name of Mead & Coe, which firm still con- 
 tinues to be one of the most enterprising and best 
 known, and one of the oldest firms engaged in the 
 business in Chicago. The firm possesses an extensive 
 clientage, and in fact, does an amount of business 
 equaled by few. 
 
 Mr. Coe was married in. March, 1864-, to Miss Char- 
 lotte E. "Woodward, a daughter of Joseph Woodward, 
 a prominent merchant of Mansfield, Conn. 
 
 One of the organizers of the Union League Clubv 
 
 he has been among its most active and efficient mem- 
 bers, serving as director, or officer for a number of 
 years, and previous to 1891, he was its vice-president 
 for three years. A member of the Loyal Legion and 
 of the George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., he is also a 
 director and an active member of the Citizen's League, 
 and has been a director of the Auditorium Association 
 since the first year of its establishment. He was for 
 five years treasurer of the City Missionary Society and 
 is still a member of its directorate. He was one of 
 the incorporators of the Royal Trust Company Bank, 
 and has served as its president since organization. He 
 has also been fora number of years a trustee of the 
 Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago, and at 
 the last election was elected vice-president of its board 
 of trustees. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Coe is of medium height and of 
 commanding presence, being extremely genial and 
 affable in manner. He is of a generous disposition and 
 very popular. It would, perhaps be difficult to name 
 any man who has a more just claim to the honor of 
 being considered one of Chicago's representative busi- 
 ness men than Albert Lyman Coe, for he has always 
 been identified with the best ipterests of the city, and 
 has always taken an active part in its general welfare 
 and there are, perhaps, few men more esteemed or 
 more highly respected by the citizens than he. 
 
 O. W. CRAWFORD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE convening of the "World's Real Estate Congress 
 was an epoch in the history of real estate events 
 of the world. Numerous ideas were discussed and 
 plans suggested. It forms an essential feature of the 
 education which must precede practical reform. The 
 accomplishments of that congress will start a revolu- 
 tion in the usual procedings in real estate matters. 
 Among the men who were very active in their efforts 
 to assemble this congress, was Mr. O. W. Crawford, 
 the secretary of the National Real Estate Association. 
 
 Mr. Crawford was born in Columbus,- Ohio, in 
 1851. During his childhood, his parents moved to 
 Missouri, where he was reared. He received his edu- 
 cation in the common schools and the State University. 
 After leaving college, he pursued his legal studies until 
 lie was admitted to the bar, but his nervous and ardent 
 temperament soon sought more active fields of opera- 
 tion, and he abandoned all thoughts of the law. 
 
 In 1871 he joined the flood of emigrants and ''home- 
 steaded" 16(i acres of Uncle Sam's rich land in Kansas. 
 A few years later he went to Texas, and was led into 
 the real estate business bv the wonderful opportunity 
 for dealing in cheap land. It was only necessary to 
 make known the infinitesimal price and the superior 
 quality of the land, to do business. He decided that 
 
 the modern improvements in transportation and inter- 
 communication made it possible to take profitable 
 advantage of the natural riches of the country, 
 wherever they were to be found, and in this belief he 
 explored mines in Mexico, mahogany forests in Central 
 America, sugar plantations in the "West Indies, and 
 timber areas in Canada. 
 
 Success in advertising his own business induced the 
 people of Houston, Texas, to offer him the secretary- 
 ship of the Commercial Club, which position he filled 
 with great profit to the city and honor to himself. He 
 'advanced the interests of Houston to such an extent 
 "that when he resigned in July, 1891, he was compli- 
 mented by being made an honorary member for life. 
 
 He resigned to accept the position of general agent 
 and manager of advertising for the Brazos River Chan- 
 nel and Dock Company, a syndicate which had secured 
 deep water at the mouth of the Brazos river, and 
 founded the now important seaport of Velasco. So 
 successful were his methods and his work, that in six 
 months the company sold over a million dollars worth 
 of town lots, and built a town of more than 2,000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the National Real Estate 
 Association in 1892, he was elected secretary. He is
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 a member of the executive committee of the National 
 Mining Congress, and is permanent secretary of the 
 Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress, and is also 
 an active member of the Chicago Heal Estate 
 Board. 
 
 At present- Mr. Crawford is advertising manager 
 and exclusive rental agent of the Masonic Temple, and 
 has demonstrated his ability by increasing the revenue 
 of the observatory four-fold, since he assumed his pres- 
 ent position. For instance, he commenced on Septem- 
 ber first, with the revenue only $434 per day, and dur- 
 ing the first twenty days of October, had increased the 
 daily receipts to $1,167. He has made the phrase "302 
 feet above the sidewalk" a household word, and has 
 added one more link to his chain of successes in judicious 
 and profitable advertising. 
 
 Mr. Crawford is an energetic and enthusiastic advo- 
 
 cate of reform in real estate forms and transfers His- 
 comprehensive criticism is trenchantly stated by him 
 in one sentence " The system which requires in forty- 
 five States eighty-four separate and differing acknowl- 
 edgements to legalize exactly the same act, is indefen- 
 sible." He believes that the continuity and prosperity 
 of the country depends upon development, and that 
 development depends upon completion and ownership 
 of the Nicaragua Canal, increased north and south 
 Trans-Mississippi traffic, and electrical transmission of 
 power. As an after dinner speaker,Mr. Crawford ranks 
 with the best in the Trans-Mississippi country, and has 
 probably the largest list of personal acquaintances of 
 almost any single individual in the West.' He is a man 
 of genial and kindly disposition, and counts among his 
 extensive acquaintances a large circle of fast personal 
 friends. 
 
 JOHN CUDAHY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN CUDAHY, a member of the well known firm 
 of Cudahy Brothers, is of one of the most promi- 
 nent and highly respected families resident in Chicago. 
 The Cudahys, through their connection with the pack- 
 ing industry, are known the world over as self-made 
 men and founders of their own fortunes. It would be 
 difficult to mention the name of any one who would 
 better serve as an example of what perseverance, in- 
 domitable energy and determination to succeed (often 
 in the face of seemingly insuperable difficulties) can do, 
 than does the name of John Cudahy. Gradually 
 rising, step by step, each position increasing in respon- 
 sibility, their fortunes becoming proportionately ad- 
 vanced, until they are numbered among the million- 
 aires of this great city, the brothers Cudahy are able 
 to look back upon their successful careers with com- 
 mendable pride, for theirs is a record the emulation of 
 which would be honorable, and its results beneficial to 
 the public at large. 
 
 John Cudahy was born at Callan, County Kil- 
 kenny, Ireland, November 2, 1843. He is the son of 
 Patrick and Elizabeth (Shaw) Cudahy. His father ' 
 was a native of Callan, while his mother's people, the 
 Shaws, were residents of Dublin, afterward removing 
 to Callan, where they established pottery works. Be- 
 lieving this country to offer better advantages for the 
 bringing up and giving a start in the world to a young 
 family, in 1849 John's parent's came hither, and, after 
 a short time spent in the East, they removed to Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., in the public schools of which city, 
 working occasionally between times, young Cudahy 
 received his education. When between fourteen and 
 fifteen years of age, he entered the packing-house of 
 Ed. Roddis, remaining in his employ until about nine- 
 teen years of age, when he entered the emr.'oy of John 
 
 Plankinton, afterward Plankinton & Armour, remain- 
 ing in the latter position about one and one- half 
 years. At the age of twenty-one he became engaged in 
 the nursery business with Mr. Thomas Gynne, of Mil- 
 waukee, dealing in fruit and ornamental trees, etc., occu- 
 pying the position of foreman for three seasons, at the 
 end of which time lie made a proposition of purchase 
 to the proprietors, the terms of which and their 
 acceptance give evidence of the great confidence in 
 which he was held, not only by his former employers, 
 but by his neighbors in general, while, at the same time, 
 it illustrates his complete self-reliance and confidence 
 of success. He purchased the nursery, its stock, 
 wagons, horses, etc., paying but a small sum down. 
 Continuing this business three years, during which 
 time he cleared every vestige of the debt, in addition 
 to making no small sum, this was the first venture in 
 which he made money, and from this date his success 
 continued, though in a varying degree. 
 
 Returning to the packing industry, he was emploj'ed 
 by Lay ton & Co., packers, for 'the three years fol- 
 lowing. During this period ties of friendship were 
 formed between employer and emplove which time 
 has served to strengthen rather than weaken, and Mr. 
 Cudahy takes pleasure in expressing his appreciation 
 of the kindness shown him by Mr. Layton. While 
 still in the employ of Layton & Co. he was appointed 
 Board of Trade provision inspector for the city of 
 Milwaukee, after being foreman and Board of Trade 
 inspector of Van Kirk & McGeough. occupying these 
 joint positions some two years. In the spring of 1875 
 he purchased an interest in John Plankinton's packing 
 house,but he soon after decided that he wanted a wider 
 field of operation, and through the intercession of his 
 brother, Michael, between whom and Mr. Plankinton
 
 *WW
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 39 
 
 there has always existed strong ties of friendship, he 
 was released from the contract, and in July of the same 
 year removed to Chicago and formed a copartnership 
 with E. D. Chapin, under the style of Chapin fe Co., 
 packers, and so remained for two years. Then the 
 firm name was changed to Chapin & Cudahy, this 
 partnership continuing altogether for about five years, 
 when Mr. Chapin withdrew, since which time 
 Mr. Cudahy has continued the Chicago business alone, 
 being also in partnership with his brother Patrick 
 (Cudahy Bros, packers, Milwaukee), they having suc- 
 ceeded three years before to the business of John 
 Plankinton, who retired from business. 
 
 Prominent in social affairs, he is a member of the 
 Washington Park Club, the Union League Club, the 
 Chicago Club, and the Columbus. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy has been twice married ; first, on Oct- 
 ober 1, 1873, to Miss Mary Nolan, of Bridgeport, 
 Conn., the issue of this marriage being four girls, two 
 being deceased, while the remaining two, Misses Bessie 
 and Julia, are at present being educated atManhattan- 
 ville, N. Y. He was married again (in 1882) to Miss 
 Margaret F. O'Neill, daughter of Mr. John O'Neill, a 
 prominent citizen, and one of Chicago's oldest settlers, 
 and who died some three years ago. -Two children 
 have been the issue of this marriage, John K., ten, and 
 Gerald C., nine years of age. 
 
 Posseseing a host of friends, amongst the most 
 prominent of Chicago's citizens, and many admirers 
 amongst the poorer classes (many of whom he has 
 repeatedly befriended), we can not do better than state 
 what has been said of him by one of our most promi- 
 nent citizens : 
 
 " Quick and shrewd to detect a fraud or sham, he is 
 prompt and outspoken in his condemnation, yet he is 
 genuine and sincere and thoughtful of his friends. As 
 
 a business man, he is bright and clear in judgment, of 
 quick perception, prompt and unhesitating in action. 
 The fact of his having accumulated so handsome a for- 
 tune, and while yet in the prime of life, is ample proof 
 of the correctness of his general business methods and 
 characteristics. At his home, where the furnishings 
 and appointments are luxurious, and betoken much 
 taste and mature judgment, his wife presides and aids 
 her husband in dispensing a hospitality open-hearted 
 and whole-souled on his part, and truly graceful and 
 generous on hers. 
 
 "He is a large contributor to all public enterprises 
 for the improvement and advancement of the coin- 
 
 4 * 
 
 munity at large. His own and his wife's list of chari- 
 ties would be far too large to enumerate here, for 
 probably no private "individual contributes more fre- 
 quently or more generously to the advancement of 
 religion and for the benefit of the poor, for the 
 thousand and one charitable orders and charitable 
 enterprises which are fostered by the church to which 
 he belongs; but his generosity is by no means confined 
 to those of- his own faith, but every good and com- 
 mendable effort to aid those who need it, finds in him 
 a generous support and a practical sympathizer. His 
 summer home on Mackinac IsJancl is beautifully sit- 
 uated, and, like his home in the city, is a center of 
 hospitality for all friends who may happen to be on 
 the island during the season. 
 
 "Personally, all the Cudahy brothers are magnificent 
 specimens of manhood, being large, well-proportioned, 
 handsome men, and John Cudahy is no exception. A 
 typical Irishman of the better class, he is a valuable 
 citizen of this city and State, and a useful and influen- 
 tial member ,of society; a man who is esteemed and 
 respected, not only by a large circle of friends, but by 
 the community at large." 
 
 ELMER E. BABCOCK, M. D., 
 
 "CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ELMER E. BABCOCK, son of Justin Dewayne 
 Babcock, and Ruth L. (Richards) Babcock, was 
 born at Platteville, Grant count} 7 , Wis., June 8, 
 1859. He is of Scotch-English parentage. His great- 
 grandfather, Gideon Babcock, was an officer in the war 
 of 1776, enlisting from Coventry. He traces direct 
 lineage to Robert Babcock, of Puritan stock. His 
 mother's father, Daniel Richards, left New York in 
 1828, settling in Platteville Wis. -.and engaging in 
 mining interests. His father, Justin D., was a man of 
 considerable prominence in the State and served 
 through the civil \var as lieutenant of Company F, 
 Third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. 
 
 Young Babcock attended the cofhmon and high 
 schools at Fond du Lac, Wis. He a f terward 
 
 engaged in farming in Kansas until he was nineteen 
 years of age, then going to Lincoln, Neb., where he 
 engaged in civil engineering and surveying, until 1881, 
 when he laid the transit aside and ook up the scalpel 
 and study of surgery, under Drs. Bowen and Hart. 
 
 He next attended the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, of Chicago, from which institution he gradu- 
 ated, March 11, 1884. He spent the ne"xt two years as 
 surgeon in the Cook County Hospital, receiving its 
 diploma in the spring of 1886, when he commenced the 
 private practice of his profession, which has grown to 
 be a large one. 
 
 In 1888 and 1889 he filled the chair of lectureship 
 on surgical anatomy in the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, in Chicago. In 1890-91 he lectured on sur-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 gical pathology in the same college. In 1891 he \vas 
 elected to the professorship of surgical anatomy, and in 
 the same year was made recording secretary of the 
 above named institution. In 1893 he was made attend- 
 ing surgeon to the Cook County Hospital, which posi- 
 tion he now holds. 
 
 Dr. Babcock is a member of several medical societies, 
 among them being the Chicago Medical Society, the 
 Medico-Legal Society, the Doctors' Club, Cook County 
 Hospital Clinical Society, the Chicago Pathological 
 Society, and the Illinois State Medical Society. He is 
 a member of the Congregational church, and has been 
 since 1880. He is a Republican, and while he believes 
 in voting with his party, he reserves the right to vote 
 locally for the man he thinks best fitted for the office. 
 
 Dr. Babcock was married in Lincoln, Neb., to Miss 
 Ida A. Dobson, April 20, 1886. Mrs. Babcock is a 
 
 daughter of Mr. Isaac Dobson, a prominent citizen of 
 that place. 
 
 In person, Dr. Babcock is of good height and robust 
 physique, with a refined and scholarly appearance. In 
 manner he is cordial, and in disposition friendly and 
 sympathetic, qualities which easily command respect 
 and win friends. Sincerity is one of his most marked 
 characteristics and is manifested in a disposition to 
 spare no pains to render to those who give to him their 
 confidence the best and most conscientious service, 
 whether professionally or otherwise. Dr. Babcock is 
 recognized as an actively growing man, studious and 
 progressive, and one who has already acquired an 
 enviable position in his profession ; while as a medical 
 teacher he uniformly enjoys the confidence and esteem 
 of his classes, and the cordial approbation of his col- 
 leagues. 
 
 COL. FRANCIS T. COLBY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 C RAN CIS T. COLBY, son of Andrew J. and Mary 
 1 (Whelan) Colby is a native of Chicago and was born 
 on September 27, 1860. His father is a descendant of 
 a prominent New England family and was an early 
 settler of Chicago, having located in this city in 1850. 
 
 He received his early education in the public schools 
 of Chicago, graduating from the high school in 1876. 
 In 1877 he entered the Chicago University, taking a 
 special course and graduating therefrom in 1880, with 
 the honors of his class, reading law in the meantime 
 with Judge James Goggin of Chicago. He immedi- 
 ately entered upon the practice of law, upon the com- 
 pletion of his studies, in which he has since been 
 engaged, until lie is now known to the profession as a 
 highly successful realty and probate lawyer, and recog- 
 nized as an able advocate and counselor. 
 
 He has always been identified with the fraternal and 
 benevolent societies, having held high offices in the 
 Catholic Order of Foresters, Benevolent and Protective 
 Order of Elks, Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
 Independent Order of Foresters, Catholic Benevolent 
 Legion. Royal Arcanum, Royal League and United 
 Irish societies. In 1889 he was appointed inspector of 
 rifle practice, with rank as captain, in the Hibernian 
 Rifles, subsequently being elected colonel, and was 
 ajrain elected to the same position in January 
 1893. On the 21st of June. 1893, when the reg- 
 iment was mustered into the service of the State 
 as the 7th Infantry I. N. G., he was unanimously 
 elected colonel, and duly commissioned by Gov. John 
 P. Altgeld. He is now senior colonel of the First 
 Brigade I. N. G., the 7th Infantry having the right of 
 the line. 
 
 In 1892 he was elected supreme commander of the 
 Uniform Rank Catholic Order of Foresters. He has 
 also been active in societies connected with his pro- 
 fession, and for a number of years has been a member 
 of the American Bar Association, Chicago Bar Asso- 
 ciation, and the Chicago Law Institute. 
 
 Colonel Colby has been particularly successful in 
 that department of law, which relates to examination 
 of titles to real estate and probate matters. He is a 
 staunch Democrat, but never has been a candidate for 
 any public office, never taking an active part in politics. 
 He was, however, in 1388, nominated by the working- 
 men's party for State's Attorney, and though he 
 declined the nomination in writing, they retained his 
 name upon the ticket and more than 12,000 votes were 
 cast for him. 
 
 He has traveled considerably in his own country 
 and in Europe. Col. Colby was united in marriage 
 November 27, 1882, to Miss Rose L. Sullivan, of 
 Chicago. They have had six children, Everett, Beat- 
 rice, Rosita, Evelyn, Genevieve and Imogene. Everett 
 and Rosita have died; the others still survive. 
 
 The Colonel is a man of fine personal appearance, 
 of magnificent physique, and upright soldierly bearing; 
 a man who will attract attention in any gathering, and 
 one who has many friends, not only in Chicago, but 
 elsewhere. Although connected with so many societies, 
 and an active member of the Columbus Club, he is by 
 nature a domestic and home loving man, and never is 
 happier than in the bosom of his family. 
 
 By the judicious investment of his professional 
 income, Col. Colby has acquired considerable property, 
 which is rapidly increasing in value.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 JOSEPH FORREST CASS, 
 
 SUMNER, IOWA. 
 
 43 
 
 JOSEPH FORREST CASS, son of Stephen Forrest 
 and Martha J. (Wilcox) Cass, was born in Vernon 
 county, Wisconsin, July 31, 1863. His father was a 
 cousin of Gen. Lewis Cass, ex-governor of Michigan, 
 and in 1848 the Democratic candidate for the presi- 
 dency of the United States, and on his mother's side 
 he is a descendant from Ira Wilcox, a pioneer minister 
 of Wisconsin, and from Timothy Dwight, who was for 
 many years president of Yale College. 
 
 When he was two years of age his parents moved 
 to Bremer county, Iowa, settling in Sumner township 
 and in the town of Sumner then just laid out, in 1875. 
 Young Cass received his education in the district and 
 village schools of Iowa, and while not a college gradu- 
 ate, is a man very well read and competent to discuss 
 matters of business and political importance with 
 unusual intelligence and ability. As a youth he always 
 showed a determination to go to the bottom and 
 thorough!}' understand different questions as they 
 came up, and this trait has clung to him since and has 
 proven of incalculable value to him in his business 
 career. 
 
 After leaving school he became a telegraph operator 
 and at the age of fifteen was employed as such at 
 Brestow, Iowa. A year later he was appointed rail- 
 road agent at Tripoli, Iowa, when he took entire 
 charge of the freight and passenger business at that 
 place. 
 
 At the age of eighteen he. with his brother, as- 
 sumed a half interest inageneral merchandise business, 
 at Sumner, Iowa, under the title of Cass Brothers & 
 Littel'l. In connection with this business he made 
 several trips to Chicago, where, becoming acquainted 
 with the officials of the First National Bank, and be- 
 
 fore he reached the age of twenty, he was employed 
 in the service of that institution as a clerk, while dur- 
 ing the evenings of his four years in Chicago he acted 
 also as treasurer of Grenier's Lyceum Theater. At the 
 end of four years' service, as stated, young Cass re- 
 signed to accept the office of vice-president of the Bank 
 of Sumner, owned and controlled by his father. Here 
 he has since remained and now owns one-third of the 
 bank's stock. He is also manager of the Cass Opera 
 House at Sumner. 
 
 Politically Mr. Cass is a good Republican, though 
 not active as a politician, being usually content with 
 casting his ballot. He is a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias and has hetd many important positions in that 
 order. He takes an active interest in all public enter- 
 prises, and has been a notary public for the past seven 
 years. 
 
 In June, 1887, he was married to Mrs. Florence B. 
 Royal, a young widow with whom he had become ac- 
 quainted while residing in Chicago, and a lady of fine 
 musical ability. They have two children, both daugh- 
 ters. Mr. and Mrs. Cass have traveled extensively 
 over the United States and have visited nearly every 
 point of interest in the country, especially that portion 
 lying east of the B/>cky Mountains. 
 
 Mr. Cass is still a young man, being under thirty, 
 and is to-day considered one of the best financiers in 
 Iowa. Of sound judgment and business tact, his busi- 
 ness is uniformly done in a business-like manner. With 
 the wonderful capacity for handling large enterprises, 
 as already shown, he bids fair to make a record not 
 often exceeded in brilliancy by any of the noted men 
 whose records adorn the pages of the business history 
 of the West. 
 
 HUMPHREY BARKER CHAMBERLIN, 
 
 DENVER, COLORADO. 
 
 HUMPHREY BARKER CHAMBERLIN, son of 
 Robert and Eliza (Barker) Chamberlin, was born 
 in Manchester, England, on the 7th day of February, 
 1847. 
 
 His parents came to America when he was seven 
 years of age, and after residing for a time in Ne\v 
 York city, finally located at Oswego, N. Y., where 
 young Chamberiin received a good education, graduat- 
 ing from the Normal school in 1862. He then entered 
 the employ of the New York, Albany & Buffalo Tele- 
 graph Company (now the Western Union), and was 
 afterwards appointed by General Eckert to a position 
 in the department of the Military Telegraph Corps, U. 
 S. A., where he rendered faithful service during the 
 
 last two years of the war at the headquarters of Gen- 
 erals Schofield, Howard, Palmer and Terry. At the 
 close of the war he entered the drug business in the 
 employ of James Bickford & Co., of Oswego, N. Y., 
 and in the following year was admitted to partnership 
 as a reward of merit. He continued in the drug bus- 
 iness at Oswego, Fulton and Syracuse until 1876, when 
 lie was chosen general secretary of the Y. M. C. A. of 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. He retained this position until 1879, 
 when ill health, caused by over-taxation of energy, 
 forced him to resign that position. 
 
 In 1S80 he sought the mountains of Colorado, and a 
 year's rest there made h.m feel so much better that he 
 concluded to remain permanently, and he accordingly
 
 44 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 settled in Denver. There he entered into the real 
 estate business, and his keen foresight, which revealed 
 to him the marvelous possibilities of Denver's future, 
 has made him a fortune. Mr. Chamberlin is to-day 
 one of the recognized authorities in the West on all 
 matters pertaining to real estate values. He has been 
 the originator and promoter of many of the most im- 
 portant enterprises that have been brought before the 
 public in Colorado since his residence there, among 
 which the Chamberlin Investment Company, of which 
 he is president, has the remarkable record of having 
 never lost one penny for a client. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain has been and is now connected 
 with many enterprises. He was president of the Den- 
 ver Beaver Brook Water Company, president of the 
 Denver, Colorado & Pacific liailroad Company, vice- 
 president of the Kibber Stove Company, vice-president 
 of the Denver Insurance Company, president of the 
 State National Bank, a director of the State National 
 
 Bank, and ex-president of the Denver Chamber of 
 Commerce. At the International Convention of the 
 Y. M. C. A., held at Philadelphia, in 1890, he was chosen 
 president of that organization. He is the founder of 
 the Chamberlin Observatory at University Park, on 
 which he expended over $60,000, and which now forms 
 a Department of the University of Denver, and which 
 is under the direction of Dr. H. A. Howe. 
 
 Mr. .Chamberlin came to Colorado less than a score 
 of years ago with sadly impaired health; the favorable 
 climate has restored that to him, and he in return has 
 more than repaid the score in the good done by him 
 since. Modest and unostentatious in his benevolence, 
 he is ever ready to respond to the cry of suffering hu- 
 manity and to promulgate the cause of Christianity, in 
 which cause he has worked with untiring zeal from his 
 early youth. Taken all in all, Mr. Ohamberlin is a 
 representative western man, in the best sense, and hon- 
 ored by his fellow citizens. 
 
 JOHN V. CLARKE, JR., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 HPHE subject of this sketch is notably a Chicago man, 
 1 having been born in this city on- October 15, 18C3, 
 where he has already become a prominent factor 
 in the promotion of sound banking interests. He is 
 the son of John V. and Elizabeth Bertrand Clarke, the 
 former a native of Cork, Ireland, and the latter of 
 Kingston, Canada. His father was the founder of the 
 Merchants' Banking Association, of Chicago, in 1867, 
 afterwards, in 1869, changed to the Hibernian Bank- 
 ing Association, and was the president of the institu- 
 tion from its first organization until his death, which 
 occurred on August 8, 1892. He was widely known 
 for his business ability and sterling integrity. 
 
 John V. Clarke, the son, received his early educa- 
 tion in the Chicago public schools, afterward attending 
 St. Ignatius College and Barne's Academy, where 'he 
 received a thorough commercial training. After leaving 
 school young Clarke, at the age of eighteen, entered 
 his father's bank as messenger, was soon promoted to 
 a clerkship, and steadily worked -his way up through 
 all the various positipns in the institution, until, upon 
 the death of his father, in 1892, he succeeded him in 
 the presidency of the bank ; at that time, and now 
 (1894), the second largest savings bank in Chicago. 
 
 How well Mr. Clarke is fitted for the responsible 
 position which he occupies has been shown by the 
 masterly manner in which, so soon after he assumed 
 control of the bank, he carried it so safely through 
 the perilous panic of the summer of 1893, when every 
 savings bank in Chicago had, or was threatened with, 
 a serious run. It is high praise to say that just prior 
 to the close of the panic, Mr. Clarke was openly com- 
 
 plimented as being at the head of the strongest bank 
 in the city at that time. It is also much to his praise 
 to say, that, notwithstanding his conservative course 
 with customers at this time he lost none worth keep- 
 ing, but retained the good will and business of all the 
 patrons of the bank. This experience thoroughly 
 tested the judgment and tried the nerve of the youth- 
 ful president, but found him fully equal to the emer- 
 gency. It is scarcely too much to say that there is no 
 man of his age in Chicago banking circles who is better 
 fitted, or who has so forcibly demonstrated his quali- 
 fications for the responsibility and trust which he bears 
 witli such characteristic modesty. In all his business 
 affairs, Mr. Clarke has shown, among his character- 
 istics, cool conservatism, caution without timidity, and 
 calm judgment and iron nerve combinations which 
 win victory in any pursuit in life. 
 
 In his social life, Mr. Clarke is deservedly popular, 
 as has all through his life been evidenced, not only by 
 his connection with many social organizations, of vari- 
 ous kinds, but by the choice of official positions therein 
 which has fallen upon him by the unanimous verdict 
 of his associates. He is a gentleman who makes 
 friends readily, and his friendships are of that kind 
 which grow stronger with time as those with whom he 
 is associated learn to know his great personal worth 
 and integrity. In his religious views, Mr. Clarke is and 
 has always been a Roman Catholic, a loyal adherent to 
 the faith in which he has been reared. Politically he is 
 classed with the Democratic party, confining his inter- 
 ests in politics, however, to the casting of his vote, never 
 having been an aspirant to any public civic position.
 
 c* s 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 W. FRANKLIN COLEMAN, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 47 
 
 W FRANKLIN COLEMAN was born in Brock- 
 ville, Ont. His paternal great-grandfather was 
 among those who, upon the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence by the revolting colonies in 1776, remained loyal 
 to the British crown and made a home in Upper Can- 
 ada. From him " Coleman's Corners" derived its 
 name and noted enterprise as a manufacturing center. 
 He is described as "a man who shared the municipal 
 honors of his day, and left his impress upon the local 
 legislature of his time." The liberal number of eight 
 sons and four daughters gave evidence of the good old 
 way in which he helped to man the ship of State. His 
 grandson, Billa (father of the subject of this sketch), 
 with his father and two brothers, were large manu- 
 facturers at Coleman's Corners, which, about 1855, was 
 named Lyn. Billa Coleman married Ann Eliza "Will- 
 son, born in New York State, but of English descent. 
 She was noted as a woman of saintly virtues and rare 
 beauty. She went to rest, beloved by all who knew 
 her, two weeks after the birth of her first-born child, 
 William Franklin.. 
 
 During early infancy W*. Franklin Coleman was. 
 nolens volens, moved to Coleman's Corners, where from 
 the age of six to twelve his governness and various 
 village schoolmasters thrashed out a fair crop of wild 
 oats, and an av*erage one of three "It's" and allied 
 products. The years from twelve to fifteen were spent 
 at .the Brockville Grammar School, where he and a 
 chum were wont to be on exhibition as "first in math- 
 ematics." The following three years were spent at the 
 Pottsdam Academy, N". Y., then the resort of many 
 Canadians. 
 
 The study of medicine was begun at McGill Col- 
 lege, Montreal, in 1856, and continued.for three winters, 
 while during the corresponding summers he received 
 instruction from the late Dr. Reynolds, of Brockville. 
 Over zeal in the dissecting room induced an attack of 
 typhoid, which converted the ardent student into such 
 a thing of shreds and patches, that for two succeeding 
 years physic was "thrown to the dogs." His medical 
 studies were resumed at Queen's College, Kingston 
 Canada, and after two years a diploma, with honors 
 was awarded. 
 
 The serious business of advising, dosing and 
 dieting humanity was begun in his native village of 
 Lyn, where, for seven vears, the young doctor gained 
 wisdom by experience in the varied practice of a 
 country physician. With years, love of study and 
 desire for more thorough knowledge and skill in one 
 special branch of his profession, induced Dr. Coleman 
 to turn his attention to the treatment of the eye and 
 ear. Desirous of greater clinical advantages than this 
 continent then afforded, he went to England, where a 
 year was spent at Moorefield s Eye Hospital and the 
 London Hospital, after which the examining board of 
 
 the Royal College of Surgeons, England, was pleased 
 to enroll him as a member of the college. 
 
 Returning to Canada, he settled in Toronto, and 
 there formed a partnership with Dr. A. M. Rosebrugh, 
 an oculist and aurist of established reputation. He was 
 appointed surgeon to the Toronto Eye and Ear Infirm- 
 ary, which position he held during his seven years' 
 residence in that city. Although devoting most of his 
 time to his favorite branch of medical science. Dr. 
 Coleman, during these years, also practiced general 
 medicine, but finally decided to limit his attention to 
 his work as an oculist and aurist. With a view to 
 acquiring stiil further knowledge in his specialty, he 
 again went abroad, and spent a year in the clinics of 
 Vienna and Heidelberg, under the guidance of such 
 men as Jaeger, Schnabel, Politzer, Gruber and 
 O'Becker. 
 
 Upon his return to Canada, Dr. Coleman selected 
 St. John, New Brunswick, by the seaside, as his field 
 for special practice, and here another seven years' 
 service -won him a Rachel and goodly wages. But the 
 oculist's ambition soon outstripped the confines of the 
 quiet Canadian city, with its cramping limitations and 
 its lack of companionship in scientific research, and 
 having, in addition to a large private practice, gained 
 a rich harvest of experience from his position as sole 
 oculist and aurist to the Provincial Hospital, he again 
 ' turned westward. 
 
 With the encouragement of some of the prominent 
 . physicians in Chicago, to whom Dr. Coleman was 
 known by his articles in medical journals, as well as by 
 introductory letters from professional men in the East, 
 he decided to settle in Chicago, the leading city of the 
 West. Skill gained from large experience, a mind well 
 trained in scientific research, a steady, persevering 
 attention to details have, in a few years, earned for 
 him the well deserved reward of a good practice and 
 wide reputation. 
 
 Finding here no school for graduates in medicine, 
 such as is provided in various cities in the East, Dr. 
 Coleman undertook the task of convincing the profes- 
 sion in Chicago of the need of such an institution, and. 
 after a year of persevering labor, succeeded in organiz- 
 ing the Chicago Polyclinic. The management of this 
 institution proving unsatisfactory to himself and some 
 of his colleagues, they decided to establish another 
 school, by the constitution of which the controlling 
 power should vest in the Faculty. This latter, known 
 as the Post-Graduate Medical School, of Chicago, has 
 recently been erected, on West Harrison street in a 
 commodious building, which is also the home of the 
 Chicago Charity Hospital. 
 
 Dr. Coleman is a member of the Chicago Ophthal- 
 mologicai Society, and of the Illinois State Medical 
 Society. He is oculist and aurist to the Chicago Hos-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 earlier manhood frequently served his party in an 
 official capacity. Thus he served two terms in the 
 common council of Chicago, from 1862 to 1866, 
 and did good service for his constituents, being for 
 two years chairman of the finance committee. In 
 1868, he was one of the presidential elec ors from 
 Illinois, and in 1871, was again elected to the city 
 council, serving for two years, during a part of which 
 he was acting mayor of Chicago. Mr. Bond also 
 served two terms as a member of the State legislature, 
 and it was during his second term of service that he 
 performed what has since so greatly redounded to his 
 credit, and to the advantage of that portion of Chicago 
 lying west of the river. The issue during the campaign 
 had been on the establishment of the South Side parks, 
 and the West Side delegation, consisting of Mr. Bond 
 and two other gentlemen, was elected on 'the anti-park 
 ticket, and went to Springfield with the expectation of 
 fighting to the bitter end the proposed legislation to 
 establish the South Side park system. Early in the 
 contest Mr. Bond saw that they were entering upon a 
 useless struggle, and being determined to at least 
 secure as much for the West Side as he could, he called 
 his two friends into his private room, and laid before 
 them his views on the matter; they concurred with 
 him, and after a conference with their late opponents, 
 they pushed through with the "South Side Park Bill'' 
 thus giving to the West Side the magnificent parks 
 that it now has. This action, Mr. Bond believed, 
 would for a time place him under a cloud with his 
 constituents, but he was willing to make the sacrifice: 
 knowing that the wisdom of his course would not fail 
 to be justified later. Subsequent events have proven 
 the correctness of his views, and to him West Chicago 
 largely owes the establishment of her magnificent park 
 system. After serving his second term in the legisla- 
 ture, Mr. Bond saw that his political service was 
 interfering too much with the business of his office, 
 and so concluded to give up politics, and devote his 
 entire attention to his legal business. This decision he 
 has never regretted, for his business has shown a 
 gratifying increase each year, and to-day the firm of 
 which Mr. Bond is the head is one of the best known 
 patent law firms in the country. 
 
 On the 12th day of October, 1856, Mr. Bond was 
 united in marriage to Miss Amy S. Aspinwall, daughter 
 of the Rev. N. W. Aspinwall, of Peacham, Vermont, 
 and a lineal descendant of Peregrine White. They 
 have one daughter, Laura, who is now the wife of Mr. 
 John L. Jackson, a member of the firm of lawyers of 
 which Mr. Bond is the senior member. 
 
 Mr. Bond has been for years affiliated with the M. 
 E. Church, and has ever been a liberal contributor to 
 all objects tending to advance the church's weal, and a 
 generous, open-hearted Christian in answering the 
 appeals of the distressed. He has been a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity for many years, is a 32d degree 
 Mason, a past-commander of the Commandery of 
 Knights Templar, and a member of the Consistory, 
 A. A. S. R. 
 
 He has visited nearly every point of interest in the 
 United States, having traveled over every State in the 
 Union, excepting two or three in the extreme North- 
 west, and has made two voyages to Europe, where he 
 visited the principal cities. 
 
 He is a member of the Union League, the Illinois 
 and the Ashland Clubs, and is popular alike with the 
 members of each. In personal appearance Mr. Bond 
 is a magnificent specimen of physical manhood, being 
 slightly over six feet in height and weighing in the 
 neighborhood of 270 pounds. In manner he is pleas- 
 ant and readily makes friends, and, what is of more 
 importance, keeps them. He is deservedly popular 
 with all classes, and only his decision, made many years 
 ago and since so strictly adhered to, has kept him out 
 of public office. 
 
 During the short time that he served the public in 
 an official capacity, he made an admirable record, giv- 
 ing equal satisfaction as alderman, member of the 
 board of education (which office he held for four 
 years), and as legislator. As a lawyer, he stands 
 high with the profession, while in his special 
 branch he has no peer. He has kept up the honor- 
 able record made by the family, and the roster from 
 the time of John Bond to the present dav shows no 
 truer man or better citizen than our subject, Lester 
 L. Bond. He is the pioneer patent lawyer of the 
 Northwest. 
 
 THOMAS BRENAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THOMAS BRENAN, son of Martin and Elizabeth 
 Brenan, was born in Nova Scotia, where he 
 obtained his early education. He -later attended 
 school three years at Boston, Mass. In 1849 he came 
 to Chicago with his parents, and here his first employ- 
 ment w r as in a hardware store, where he served as 
 errand bov and later became a clerk. When the war 
 
 broke out, young Brenan joined the Twenty-Third Illi- 
 nois regiment with which he served during the war, 
 taking part in many engagements, his regiment being 
 a part of the famous Mulligan brigade. At the close 
 of the war, Mr. Brenan returned to Chicago where he 
 engaged in business. He has been an active factor in 
 both city and county politics, and has held many posj- 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 *T URBANA CHAMPAIGN
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 tions of honor and trust. In 1869 he was made cashier 
 in the city collector's office, and after holding this posi- 
 tion for several years, he retired until 1879, when he 
 became cashier in the office of the city treasurer. He 
 served in this capacity through several successive 
 administrations, and then accepted a similar position in" 
 the office of County Treasurer Seipp. In 1887, he was 
 appointed a member of the county board to fill a 
 vacancy, and was twice elected by the people to 
 succeed himself, receiving the vote of both political 
 parties. It was also in 1887 that he was appointed by 
 Archbishop Feehan to a position of great financial 
 responsibility in the diocese, which he has held since. 
 Mr. Brenan has been a member of the Chicago school 
 board for upwards of seventeen years, having been 
 reappointed each time as his term expired. He has 
 
 taken a great interest in the public schools, and has 
 served successively as chairman of all the standing 
 committees, and for the past twelve years as chairman 
 of the school management committee. He has ever 
 been a true friend to all connected with the school 
 system, especially the teachers, who have ahvavs found 
 in him a helper untiring in his efforts in their behalf. 
 
 Mr. Brenan is a member of the well known real 
 estate firm of Cremin & Brenan, and as a public 
 official or a business man, none stands higher in the 
 estimation of the citizens of Chicago. 
 
 Personally, he is of commanding appearance, and 
 one who would be readily picked out as a leader of 
 men. His life has been a busy one and its hours have 
 been well spent; a life which has won for him the 
 love of many and the respect of all. 
 
 GEORGE PHILIP BAY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EORGE PHILIP BAY, son of Soren Andreas 
 and Henriette A. (Pfaff) Bay, was born in the 
 city of Wiborg, Denmark, on the 9th day of July 
 1830. He is a descendant of a family who are well 
 and prominently known in Denmark, his father hav- 
 ing been an officer of the city of Wiborg, his grand- 
 father a burgomaster and so, back for more than a cen- 
 tury, members of the family have constantly held 
 offices of honor and of trust under the Danish govern- 
 met. In his youth he received a liberal education in 
 the public and private schools of his native city, and 
 was then apprenticed to learn the trade of wood-turner. 
 He worked at his trade in Denmark until 1852, at 
 which time he came to America and locating in 
 Chicago worked at his trade in the furniture business 
 for some years. 
 
 In 1861 he concluded to embark in mercantile life 
 for himself and engaged in the grocery business, carry- 
 ing besides groceries a general line. He was exceed- 
 ingly successful as a merchant and carried on a very 
 prosperous business until 1873, when be retired from 
 the grocery trade and with Mr. Andrew Peterson, 
 started the private banking house of Peterson & Bay, 
 with the intention of dealing in real estate and securi- 
 ties, which business has been carried on under the 
 above designation up to the present time. The first 
 office of the firm was located at 36 South Clark street, 
 but the rapid growth of the business has necessitated 
 several changes and in 1890 they moved into their 
 present spacious quarters on the southwest corner of 
 LaSalle and Randolph streets. 
 
 It is needless to enter in detail upon the career of 
 Peterson & Bay since their start together in 1873, for 
 during the past twenty years they have been one. of 
 the most prominent firms in their line in the city, and 
 have been identified with nearly even' large real estate 
 transaction in Chicago since the great fire. They not 
 
 only conduct a bank of deposit, but do a general loan 
 and discount business, aud deal extensively in local 
 stocks and securities. As bankers they enjoy the 
 fullest confidence aud esteem of the public and take a 
 leading rank among similar institutions in thecitv. As 
 a firm and individually, Messrs. Peterson & Bay have 
 actively interested themselves in the various enter- 
 prises that have done so much during the past decade 
 to promote the material welfare of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Bay is a member of the Real-Estate Board and 
 served one term as its treasurer. He is a life member 
 of Kilwinning Lodge of the Masonic fraternity, a 
 member of Corinthian Chapter, and of Englewood 
 Commandery Knights Templar. Politically he is a 
 Republican, though always reserving the right to use 
 his own judgment in casting his ballot. A member of 
 the Universalist church at Englewood, he does his full 
 share of church and charitable work, and turns a will- 
 ing ear to the unfortunate, always doing what he can 
 to relieve their distress. He usually devotes two or 
 more months of each year to travel, and has seen all of 
 the points of interest and the principal cities of the 
 United States, with the exception of the extreme 
 Northwest. He was married to Miss Clara T. Buck, 
 daughter of Mr. R. Buck, of Me Henry, Ills., on the 
 30th day of October, 1855. Of the eleven children 
 born to them, eight, four sons and four daughters, are 
 now living, the eldest son being engaged in business at 
 Marshalltown. la., and the next in age, Hiram II., is 
 an expert bflok-keeper now engaged in Chicago. Per- 
 sonally, Mr. Bay is one of the most affable of men, 
 venerable in appearance, the weight of his years resting 
 lightly upon him. He is still the energetic, capable 
 business man that he was twenty years ago. Domes- 
 tic by nature, he finds his truest pleasure in the com- 
 pany of his family and the society of his friends, of 
 whom be has a large and ever increasing list.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 CHARLES ADAMS, M. D. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 55 
 
 I1ARLES ADAMS, son of John and Eliza (Clark) 
 Adams, was born at Floore, Northamptonshire) 
 England, May 29, 1847. His parents came to America 
 in 1856, going first to Woodstock, 111., and then 
 settling in Milwaukee. His father started in the 
 packing and live stock business in Milwaukee, and in 
 1861, came to Chicago and engaged in the same 
 business. His parents' ancestors were of the old 
 English yeomanry. 
 
 Young Adams attended school in England, com- 
 mencing in his second year, until 1856, when, being 
 nine years of age, he accompanied his parents to 
 America. He attended school in Milwaukee until 
 1861, at which time the family moved to Chicago, and 
 here he continued in school for one term, and in 1862 
 went into his father's office. He stayed here until 
 1869, then being twenty-two years of age, when he 
 left his father's business and commenced the study of 
 medicine in the Hahnemann Medical College, from 
 which he graduated in 1872. He attended lectures 
 in the hospital for eighteen months, and in 1873, made 
 a trip to Europe, spending six months in London 
 attending surgical lectures. 
 
 In the fall of 1873, Dr. Adams returned to Chicago, 
 and became professor of surgical pathology in the 
 Hahnemann Medical College, which position he held 
 until 1876, at which time he was appointed to the 
 chair of Principles and Practice of Surgery and Clinical 
 Surgery, at the Homeopathic College. In this position 
 he remained until 1883, when he had to resign on 
 account of the pressure of his personal business i 
 having by this time built up a large practice. Much 
 pressure, however, was brought to bear, and he 
 returned to the college in the fall of 1893, occupying 
 
 the same position which he holds to the present dav. 
 From 1881 until 1886, he was attending surgeon to 
 the Cook County Hospital, and for two years was 
 secretary of the State Microscopical Society. In 1882, 
 he was made assistant surgeon .of the First Infantry, 
 and in November of the same year became major and 
 surgeon in the same regiment. He resigned this posi- 
 tion in 1891, on account of ill health, but in January, 
 1892, was re-appointed assistant surgeon, and in Novem- 
 ber, 1893, was again made major and surgeon. 
 
 The Doctor's taste for natural history led him into 
 the Academy of Sciences and the Microscopical Society. 
 He is a great lover of outside sports, and a great 
 admirer of blooded stock, being particularly fond of 
 blooded dogs. He is a member of the Chicago Literary 
 Club, of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and Fellow 
 of the Royal Microscopical Society of London, and an 
 active member of the Association of Military Surgeons 
 of the United States. For the past ten years Dr. 
 Adams has been surgeon to the Chicago Half-Orphan 
 Asylum. 
 
 Doctor Adams was united in marriage, in 1875, to 
 Miss Mary Curtis, of Wellingborough, England. They 
 have had two children, of whom a son survives, 
 Cuthbert Clarke Adams. His wife died in July, 1888, 
 and in September, 1889, he was again married, this 
 time to Mrs. Elizabeth Gaylord, widow of Henry 
 Gaylord, of Chicago. 
 
 In appearance Dr. Adams is of medium height, 
 lightly built, but carries himself with military style, 
 and has the reputation of being one of the most 
 pleasant gentlemen of Chicago whom one can meet. 
 He has many friends in the city of his adoption, and a 
 large and lucrative practice. 
 
 DANIEL HUDSON BURNHAM, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DANIEL II. BURNHAM, Chief of construction 
 of the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, is a 
 native of Henderson, Jefferson count}', N. Y. He 
 was born Sept. 4,- 1816, the son of Edwin and Eliza- 
 beth Burnham, who were natives of Vermont. The 
 great-grandfather was an officer in the Revolutionary 
 War. His mother's paternal ancestors were for many 
 generations clergymen. She was a great-granddaugh- 
 ter of the celebrated Samuel Hopkins, of Revolution- 
 ary times, and a cousin of the late Mark Hopkins, of 
 California. His father, Edwin Burnham, removed to 
 Chicago with his family in 1855, and was a wholesale 
 merchant until his death in 1874. He was president of 
 the old Merchants' Exchange. 
 
 Young Burnham was a pupil in Prof. Snow's private 
 school, located on the present site of the " Fair, " on 
 Adams street, and afterwards attended the old Jones 
 School, and the Chicago High School. Later he spent 
 two years under private instruction at Waltham, Mass., 
 and one year with Prof. T. B. Hay ward (previous!}' of 
 Harvard University) at Bridgewater, Mass., as his sole 
 pupil. Returning to Chicago in the fall of 1867, he 
 spent the following year and a half in the office of 
 Messrs. Loring & Jenney, architects. lie then went to 
 Nevada, and for one year was engaged in mining, after 
 which he returned to Chicago and entered the office of 
 L. G. Laurcau, architect, where he remained one and 
 one-half years.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 After the fatal fire of October 8th, and 9th, 1871, 
 he entered the offices of Messrs. Carter, Drake & 
 Wight, where he made the acquaintance of Mr. John 
 W. Root, with whom, in the spring of 1873, he formed 
 a co-partnership, which lasted until Mr. Root's decease, 
 in January, 1891. 
 
 Among the buildings planned and constructed by 
 Mr. Burnham are the National Bank of Illinois build- 
 ing, Chemical Bank building, Montauk block, ten stories 
 high; the Rialto, the Rookery buildings, twelve stories 
 high; the Insurance Exchange, the Phenix, the Coun- 
 selman building, C. B. & Q. general office building, 
 Rand McNally building, Calumet building, Woman's 
 Temple, sixteen stories high ; Masonic Temple, twenty 
 stories high ; the Great Northern Hotel, sixteen stories; 
 the Monadnock, sixteen stories; the Herald building, 
 on Washington street; St. Gabriel's Catholic church, 
 Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian), and the ne\v 
 Methodist and Presbyterian churches at Evanston. In 
 Cleveland, O., he constructed the Society for Savings, 
 Western Reserve andCuyahoga buildings; at KansasCity 
 the Midland Hotel, Board of Trade and American Bank 
 buildings; at Topeka, Kas., the A. T. & Santa Fe gen- 
 eral office building; the Phoenix Hotel at Las Vegas 
 Hot Springs, N. M., and the Chronicle and Mills build- 
 ings in San Francisco, the latter being the finest office 
 
 building in America. Also, he constructed a large 
 office building at Atlanta, Ga., the Equitable building, 
 ten stories high. 
 
 Mr. Burnham was one of the organizers of the 
 Western Association of Architects, and was its first 
 president. He is also a member of most of the city 
 clubs, genial in disposition and deservedly popular. 
 
 In October, 1890, Mr. Burnham was appointed by 
 the directory of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 chief of construction and supervising architect, and 
 he was later given the additional power and title of 
 director of works. Under him all designing and con- 
 struction was done. He also organized and had control 
 of all the forces in the Exposition. 
 
 The buildings of this Exposition covered fifty per 
 cent, more ground than did those of Paris, and the 
 enclosed grounds were three times greater than those 
 ever before occupied for a like purpose. The Exposi- 
 tion surpassed anything of the kind ever before 
 attempted, in the magnificence of its buildings, its 
 equipments and the marvels of its exhibit; the plan- 
 ning of the whole of it was under Mr. Burnham and 
 the management of its execution was in his hands. 
 
 He is now the president of the American Institute of 
 Architects, and both Yale and Harvard have conferred 
 degrees upon him. 
 
 JOHN BUEHLER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography was born in Germany, 
 in the city of Dornhan(Wurtemburg), on August 
 19. 1831, his father being John Buehler, a merchant, and 
 his mother Christine (Leutze) Buehler. The father died 
 when young Buehler was eleven years old. His edu- 
 cation was gained in the common schools of his native 
 place, which he attended until he was fourteen, when he 
 became a clerk in a mercantile house, and where, with 
 the exception of a few months spent learning the shoe- 
 maker's trade, he remained till of age. At the end of his 
 apprenticeship, young Buehler spent two years in 
 making a tour of Switzerland and adjacent countries, 
 when he came to the United States, first landing in 
 New York in the fall of 1S54, where he remained 
 about five months, thence coming to Chicago in April, 
 1855. 
 
 Soon after arriving in Chicago, Mr. Buehler entered 
 the boot and shoe store of Spring & Sons, on Lake 
 street, with whom he remained three years. He then 
 engaged in business for himself in the grocery and 
 provision line on Milwaukee avenue. In 1864 he sold 
 out this business and started a malt house in the same 
 vicinity, which was successful, and which, with one 
 exception, enjoyed the distinction of being the only 
 establishment of its kind which escaped destruction in 
 
 the great fire of 1871. He was also in the grain and 
 commission business, and for several }"ears a member 
 of the Board of Trade. 
 
 In 1867, Mr. Buehler was active in the organization 
 of the Union Insurance & Trust Company, which did 
 both a banking and insurance business until 1870, when 
 the insurance risks were transferred to another com- 
 pany, though the banking feature was retained, the 
 name of the organization being changed to that of the 
 "Union Trust Company." Mr. Buehler was the 
 principal manager of the branch of the institution on 
 Milwaukee avenue for two years. Jn 1873 he started 
 a banking business exclusively of his own on Milwaukee 
 and Chicago avenues, and since that time has continued 
 as a prominent independent banker, his enterprise 
 culminating in the Garden City Banking & Trust 
 Company, now located on the corner of Randolph and 
 La Salle streets, which does an extensive business. 
 During all these years be has also been interested in 
 real estate, in which many profitable investments have 
 been made, as the result of wise foresight and good 
 judgment. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Buehler is a loyal Republican and 
 has been a prominent figure in its history, both in the 
 city and in the State. He has served his constituents
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 59 
 
 for several terms in the Chicago common council, first 
 being elected thereto from the old fifteenth (now the 
 fourteenth) ward, in 1866, and serving continuously 
 until 1872. He was thus a member of the council in 
 1871. when the great fire occurred. He lias also 
 served in the Illinois Legislature, with distinction, 
 having been elected in 1874 as State senator for a four 
 years' term. He was an active member, and among 
 other things formed and introduced a bill, which he 
 strongly urged, for the taxing by the State of all church 
 property. The social as well as the business side of Mr. 
 Buehler's nature, is well developed, as is shown by his 
 connection with many fraternal and social organizations. > 
 Among these Masonry and Odd Fellowship have 
 claimed much of his attention. In the former order he 
 holds membership in D. C. Cregier Lodge, in Washing- 
 ton Chapter, in Chicago Commandery, and in Oriental 
 Consistory, 32nd degree. He is also a member of the 
 Mystic Shrine. Religiously, he is decidedly of the 
 Protestant faith. 
 
 He was married in 1856 to Christina Schwartz. Six 
 children have been born to them, of whom but two are 
 living a son, John William, now cashier of the Garden 
 City Banking and Trust Company, and a daughter, 
 Louisa, married to Otto Peuser. In 1868 his wife, 
 Christina, died while Mr. Buehler was absent, in 
 Germany. In 1889 he married a second time taking 
 for his wife 'Rose Schoppe. the widow of Erdmann 
 Schoppe. 
 
 During the thirty-five years of his residence in 
 Chicago, John Buehler has been an important factor in 
 its growth and prosperity, and has earned the esteem 
 of his fellow-citizens, which he enjoys. He has become 
 widely known in business circles as a man of keen 
 insight, rare judgment, great energy and strict integrity; 
 while in the walks of private life he is known for his 
 simple tastes and habits, his benevolence, and his 
 attachments for his friends, of whom he has a 
 large number and who are heartily glad of his large 
 
 D 
 
 success. 
 
 WALLACE CAMPBELL, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 WALLACE CAMPBELL, vice-president of the 
 bank of Hill, Sons & Company, Minneapolis, 
 Minn., was born at Waverly, Tioga County, N. Y., Sept. 
 8. 1863. He is the son of Solomon C. Campbell and 
 Mary Aurelia Farwell Campbell, who, with their imme- 
 diate ancestors, were among the oldest and most sub- 
 stantial residents of Steuben count}', N. Y., where 
 they settled in .what was then a wilderness. The town 
 of Campbell, in that county, was named in honor of 
 his paternal great-grandfather, and the town of Knox- 
 ville in honor of his maternal great-grandfather, who 
 was the uncle of Hon. C. B. Farwell and of J. V. 
 Farwell, two of Chicago's best-known citizens. 
 
 Young Campbell first attended public school and 
 then entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, 1ST. Y., 
 where he graduated in the class of 1883. Here he gave 
 particular attention to classics and literature, and was 
 appointed upon his graduation one of the six competi- 
 tors for the well-known Clark Prize, given for excel- 
 lency of oration and its delivery. 
 
 After graduation he accepted the position of instruc- 
 tor in the Polytechnic Institute at Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 This position was accepted for the experience it would 
 give and the advantages to be derived from access to 
 the libraries and facilities for further study. He re- 
 signed this position and took a course in Columbia 
 College law school, from which he soon graduated and 
 entered upon the practice of law with Hon. Robert W, 
 Todd, of New York. Here he con'tinued until failing 
 health forced him to take a southern trip, where he 
 spent the winter. He returned to New York city, 
 
 but finding that the climate disagreed with him 
 he removed in 1886 to Minneapolis, and com- 
 menced the practice of law with Mr. Henry C. 
 Steyker, under the firm style of Steyker & Camp- 
 bell. The firm soon acquired a large and lucrative 
 practice. Mr. Campbell resigned in 1891, however, to 
 accept the position of vice-president of the bank of 
 Hill, Sons & Company, of Minneapolis, which position 
 he now holds. 
 
 Mr. Campbell is an able speaker, and did noble 
 service in the Republican cause during the first Harri- 
 son campaign, for which service he was highly compli- 
 mented by both State and National committees. He 
 is also a frequent contributor to legal journals, and his 
 contributions have appeared in the North American 
 Review. Mr. Campbell appeared as counsel before the 
 Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee, and after a 
 long and spirited argument obtained the passage of the 
 present act with reference to the rights and personal 
 liberty of married women. During his professional ca- 
 reer he was counsel for many corporations, and enjoyed 
 the confidence of clients engaged in large mercantile 
 enterprises. During the panic of 1893 the president of 
 the bank of which he is vice-president, was absent on 
 account of illness, and the active management of 
 its large business affairs during that trying time 
 devolved upon him. During the most acute period 
 of that now famous panic when depositors seemed 
 have suddenly become insane and vicious rumors were 
 abroad as to the solvency of all banks, it was decided 
 that some active step should be taken to silence these
 
 6o 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 detractors, whereupon the bank of Hill, Sons & Co. 
 published notice that it was reach', able and willing to 
 meet all demands which could possibly be made upon 
 it, and warned all persons to cease the circulation of 
 rumors to the contrary. This was followed by legal 
 proceedings taken by another banking house against 
 one circulating slanderous rumors. These two decided 
 movements, instituted in the first instance by Mr. 
 Campbell, did much to end the trying scenes of the 
 bank runs at that time in Minneapolis. 
 
 Mr. Campbell has traveled much in his own country, 
 believing that thorough familiarity with the United 
 States is a necessary preliminary to foreign travel. 
 Although not a member of any religious organization, 
 Mr. Campbell is a regular attendant of the Westminster 
 Presbyterian church, in which faith he was reared by 
 his parents. In accordance with not only family tra- 
 ditions, but as well with his firm convictions, he has been 
 an unswerving adherent of the Eepublican party, with 
 which he has uniformly acted, although reserving to 
 
 himself the right to support such local candidates as he 
 might believe best lilted for the positions to be 
 filled. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was married on October 12, 1886, at 
 Chicago, to Miss Minnie Virginia Adams, daughter of 
 Hugh Adams, one of the best known and highly 
 respected of Chicago's old citizens. She is niece of Mr. 
 Cyrus H. McCormick. Mrs. Campbell, while a most 
 devoted mother and domestic in her tastes, isadmirablv 
 fitted by birth and training and social traits for the 
 position she so well fills. One child has blessed this 
 union, Mary A'irginia Campbell. 
 
 Mr. Campbell has a pleasing and frank address, with 
 a keen appreciation of humor, and the faculty of 
 obtaining and retaining warm friendships. He is a firm 
 believer in heredity and the effects of early training, 
 and has uniformly attributed whatever of success h:is 
 attended his career to his fortunate parentage, and the 
 kindly care and devotion of his parents, to whom he is 
 particularly attached. 
 
 HENRY T. BYFORD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THERE are few men, whatever be their talents or 
 profession, whose efforts and achievements 
 Chicago watches with more inlerest than she gives to 
 Henry Turman Byford. Nor is this interest felt simply 
 because he is the son of a great man, but because, by 
 his own worth, he has won a place in the hearts of his 
 fellow-citizens. The late William H. Byford, 'M. D., 
 LL.D., was, at the time of his decease, one of Chi- 
 cago's most famous surgeons, and it is by individual 
 endowment of the highest order that the son is advan- 
 cing to fill the father's place. 
 
 The Byford family came originally to America 
 many generations ago from Suffolk, England. The 
 branch of the family in which we are interested gradu- 
 ally drifted towards the interior of the country, where 
 William H. Byford was born at Eaton, Ohio. His wife, 
 Mary Ann Holland, was the daughter of Hezekiah 
 Holland, a noted phvsician of Kentucky. Five chil- 
 dren were the result of this union. Henry T. Byford, 
 who is the only surviving son, was born in 1853, 
 in Evansville, Ind. His brother, Dr. William H. 
 Byford, Jr., who died in 1883, was, in his specialty, the 
 foremost surgeon of Minneapolis. Three sisters are 
 referred to in the sketch of Dr. W. H. Byford, Sr., 
 found in another part of this volume. 
 
 In the matter of education, Dr. Byford, the subject 
 of this sketch, has been the recipient of superior 
 advantages. The early years of his school-life were 
 spent in Chicago in the public schools and in the private 
 academy of Dr. Quakenboss. When he was eleven 
 years of age he was placed in school in Germany, 
 
 taking a classical course. At the end of three years he 
 was graduated, receiving the prize for the best compo- 
 sition (German) in the highest class of the high school 
 in Berlin. Returning to this city, he spent one term 
 in the University of Chicago. In the fall of 1868 he 
 began a course of very earnest study at Williston 
 Seminary, graduating from the scientific department 
 with high honors in 1870. The same year he matri- 
 culated at the Chicago Medical College,and was gradu- 
 ated in 1873. He was elected valedictorian of his 
 class, and in the examination ranked perfect in all 
 branches excepting one. Extraordinary as was this 
 record, it was rendered even more so by his extreme 
 youth. Dr. Byford, at the time of his graduation, was 
 but nineteen years of age, and accordingly not entitled 
 to the privileges of the diploma for nearly two years to 
 come. 
 
 While yet a student, he had, by competitive exam- 
 ination, secured the position of interne at Mercy 
 Hospital. He was, however, obliged by the illness of 
 his brother to forego the benefits of a full term in tin's 
 capacity, as well as the pleasure of attending the 
 valedictory address. Dr. William H. Byford, Jr., 
 whose later career in Minneapolis was at once so 
 brilliant and so pathetic, was, at this time, suffering 
 from lung trouble, for which he sought relief in 
 southern travel. There had always been a very 
 affectionate intimacy between the brothers, and now 
 that a nurse and companion was needed for the elder, 
 it was with unhesitating devotion that the younger 
 relinquished his studies to accompany him. They
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 61 
 
 traveled for some months in the South, and spent a 
 vear in Denver, our subject returning to Chicago 
 in 1874. 
 
 Twenty years have passed, and to-day Dr. Henry T. 
 By ford stands in the front ranks of his profession. 
 Recognized not only as a most skillful practitioner, 
 but as a man of advanced, original thought and wide 
 research, the number of his public engagements is 
 limited only by the demands of an enormcus practice. 
 Dr. By ford was one of the founders of the Chicago 
 Post-Graduate School in which, from its inception, he 
 has occupied the chair of gynaecology. He is professor 
 of gynaecology in the Collegeof Physicians and Surgeons 
 of Chicago; clinical professor of gynaecology in the 
 Woman's Medical College; gynaecologist to St. Luke's 
 Hospital, and surgeon to the Woman's Hospital. He 
 was formerly curator of the museum, and lecturer on 
 diseases of children in the Chicago Medical College, as 
 \vell as lecturer on obstetrics in Rush Medical College. 
 He was obliged to resign both of these trusts owing to 
 the pressure of private work. As a clinical lecturer, 
 Dr. Byford has won well-merited reputation, -reports 
 of his lectures being solicited by the leading medical 
 periodicals of thecountry. Hiscontributions to medical 
 journals are numerous, and are characterized by 
 original matter and practical interest, some of them 
 having been published in Europe. lie was co-editor 
 with his father, the late Dr. William H. Byford, Sr., 
 of the last edition of " By ford's Diseases of Women." 
 He is a charter member and ex-president of the 
 Chicago Gynaecological Society, active member of 
 the American Gynaecological Society, of the Chicago 
 Medical Societv, the Chicago Medico- Legal Society, the 
 Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical 
 Association. 
 
 Dr. Bvford has twice visited Europe, first in 1865- 
 66, and again in 1879-80. He has made an exhaustive 
 study of nervous diseases, in connection with gynaeco- 
 logical practice, in the hospitals of London, Edinburgh, 
 Heidelberg and Paris. 
 
 Not satisfied with the fulfillment of the many 
 duties which come to him in the regular practice of 
 his profession, Dr. Byford has added to it another 
 and a very valuable and important form of activity, 
 which has gained him imperishable renown that of 
 invention. He has invented numerous new methods of 
 operation, many of which are associated in medical lit- 
 erature with his name. Thus he was the first to advise 
 and perform operations for shortening the sacro-uter- 
 ine ligaments for retroversion of the uterus; inguinal 
 suspension of the bladder for cystocele ; vaginal fixa- 
 tion of the stump in abdominal hysterotomy ; bilateral 
 denudations for anterior colpocele and crystocele ; sub- 
 cutaneous perminax>tomy. etc. He has also brought 
 to its present state of perfection the operations called 
 vaginal oophorectomy and vaginal ovariotomy, having 
 performed over forty operations without a death. \Ve 
 have further evidence of his originality and ingenuity 
 as an inventor in a multitude of instruments devised 
 
 by him, the most important of which are his broad 
 ligament forceps for the removal of the uterus through 
 the vagina, his hysterotomy clamp forceps, trocar for 
 vaginal ovariotomy, probe-pointed fascia scissors, peri- 
 naeotomy tenetome, uterine elevator, improved needle 
 forceps, retroversion pessary, uterine hook, uterine 
 curettes, various forms of haemostatic forceps for use 
 in vaginal section, etc., etc. " He possesses" (quoting 
 the words of one eminently qualified to speak with 
 authority on the subject), "a degree of mechanical 
 ability not often found among those who have chosen 
 to follow the practice of medicine as a profession. He 
 may justly be proud as the author of a large list of 
 surgical instruments that have not only been an assist- 
 ance to his fellow-practitioners, but a great benefit to 
 the public as well." And further: "We feel safe in 
 saying that but few men engaged in the practice of 
 any trade or profession, in this or any other age, have 
 obeyed the dictates of conscience or felt the weight of 
 their duties and responsibilities more fully than has 
 Dr. Henry T. Byford," 
 
 He is a Republican, though not a politician, subor- 
 dinating everything to his chosen work. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Church, and has, throughout his 
 life, been strongly influenced by the teachings of his 
 mother; a woman of deep religious sensibilities. 
 
 Dr. Byford is a man of fine physical proportions, a 
 thorough athlete and a great pedestrian. He has ex- 
 plored on foot the Hartz Mountains, the English Lake 
 country, Northern Wales, the Black Forest of Germany 
 and the mountains of Switzerland, as well as the moun- 
 tain regions of his own country. From early youth he 
 has evinced great artistic ability. He spent some time, 
 during his residence at Paris, in the famous Julien 
 studio, doing good work in drawing and crayon. It 
 is, however, as a water color artist that he excels. 
 
 Blessed in so many ways, it only needs the addition 
 of a happy home to make his life complete, and this is 
 not denied him. Mrs. Byford, whose maiden name 
 was Miss Lucy Larned, is the daughter of Frederick 
 Sylvester Larned, who was Assistant Paymaster of the 
 United States Army during the late civil war Col. 
 Larned, who was a graduate of West Point, is an ac- 
 complished linguist, a man of superior education, and 
 has traveled twice around the world. Mrs. Bvford is 
 a lady of most admirable and pleasing qualities. She 
 is domestic in her tastes, a devoted mother and to her 
 husband a great source of cheer and inspiration in his 
 work. Amiable, talented and exceedingly winnin"- 
 and gracious in her manner, she is very popular in 
 social circles, and is the ruling spirit in the cordial in- 
 fluence that pervades her home. Their four children 
 are: Miss Genevieve Larned Byford, a very graceful 
 and attractive girl and a musician of rare gifts; Marv 
 Lina Byford, aged six years; Heath, a little boy, aged 
 four, who bears a marked resemblance to his distin- 
 guished grandfather, the late Dr. William II. Byford, 
 and William Holland Byford, born March 5, 1891, at 
 Chicago.
 
 62 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 CORNELIUS K. G. BILLINGS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, Cornelius K. G. Billings, 
 was born at Saratoga Springs, New York, Septem- 
 ber 17, 1862. the son of Albert M. and Augusta S. 
 (Farnsworth) Billings. His parents were both natives 
 of Vermont, whence they removed to New York, and 
 after a residence there of two years, removed to 
 Chicago in 1864. 
 
 The father of our subject was president of the 
 People's Gas Light & Coke Company of Chicago prior 
 to 1887, in which year he was succeeded in that office 
 by his son, Cornelius K. G. ; who received his early 
 education in the public schools of Chicago, and in 1873 
 entered the grammar department of the Racine Col- 
 lege, Racine, Wis.- He spent the succeeding six years 
 in passing through the various courses of study in that 
 institution, and was graduated with the class of 1879. 
 Returning to Chicago, he entered the business of which 
 his father was president, his first position being that of 
 errand bov, and successively passed through the vari- 
 ous stages and departments, until, upon the retirement 
 of his father from the office, he was elected his suc- 
 cessor. By thus commencing at the lower round of the 
 ladder and working up through the various grades, 
 voung Billings gained a thorough practical and intimate 
 knowledge of all the details of this great corporation's 
 affairs,a knowledge that must prove of inestimable value 
 to him in his responsible position. It may be safely 
 asserted that his knowledge of gas, its properties and 
 manufacture, is unsurpassed by that of any man in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Billings is a director of the Chicago National 
 Bank, also the Home National Bank, and the Home 
 Savings Bank, and is one of the West Chicago Park 
 Commissioners. He was also a director of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, having been elected to this 
 office by the stockholders at their meeting in April, 
 1890. He has been a trustee of the Illinois Club for 
 five years, governor of the Chicago Atheletic Associa- 
 tion, and is a member of the Chicago, the Union 
 League, the Washington Park Driving Association and 
 a numerous other prominent clubs of Chicago. He is 
 not identified with any church organization, but is, 
 however, a Congregationalist in religious belief. In 
 politics he is a staunch Republican, taking an active 
 interest in political affairs, both local and state, and 
 through his party was appointed West Park Commis- 
 sioner, as above stated. 
 
 He was married in 1885, to Miss Blanche McLeish, 
 daughter of Andrew Mcl^eish, of Chicago, of the dry 
 goods firm of Charles Gossage & Company. They 
 have one child, a daughter, now seven years of age. 
 
 Mr. Billings is a man of medium height, of robust 
 build and light complexion, having a fine appearance 
 and pleasing address. He is genial and sociable, court- 
 eous and affable and, withal, open-hearted and gener- 
 ous, contributing liberally to all worthy objects. He 
 is a thorough business man and has great capability for 
 work, and as. president of the People's Gas Light & 
 Coke Company is widely known and most highly 
 respected for both business and social qualities. 
 
 GEN. FRANCIS MARION DRAKE, 
 
 CENTERVILLE, IOWA. 
 
 FRANCIS MARION DRAKE was born in Rush- 
 ville, Schuyler county, Illinois, December 30, 
 1830. He was the second son of John Adams 
 Drake and Harriet Jane O'Neal, who were natives of 
 Nash county, N. C. John Adams Drake was of Eng- 
 lish descent and traced his relationship back to Sir 
 Francis Drake, as also to the distinguished Adams 
 family. He learned the carpenter's trade, which he 
 followed until 1830, when having acquired a sufficient 
 capital, he entered the mercantile business, afterwards 
 engaging in that of banking, which he followed to the 
 close of life with much credit and success. 
 
 He removed from Rush ville to Fort Madison, Iowa, 
 i in 1837. and during his nine years' residence there.he was 
 elected and served as Probate Judge of Lee county. 
 Again in 1846 he .removed to Davis county, same State, 
 where he founded the thriving and substantial village 
 of Drakeville, established a general store, and together 
 with his two sons, Francis Marion and John Hamilton, 
 
 built up a large mercantile, packing and milling busi- 
 ness, which was continued for man}' years and was 
 quite successful. He commenced the banking busi- 
 ness at Drakeville in 1866, and ten years later removed 
 to Centerville in Appanoose count} 7 , where, while 
 president of the Centerville National Bank, he died in 
 May, 1880, at the age of 78 years. He was a member 
 of the Iowa State Legislature, representing Davis 
 county, in 1852-3, elected on the Whig ticket. He was 
 a friend of the famous Alexander Campbell, was one 
 among the early reformers and died in the Christian 
 faith. His wife was a woman of superior intelligence 
 and Christian character. She was the devoted mother of a 
 large family of children, one of whom, William Henry 
 Harrison Drake, was killed in the battle of Fort Don- 
 elson in the charge of the Second Iowa Regiment. 
 She died in Centerville, Dec. 5, 1885, at the age of 70 
 years. 
 
 Francis Marion Drake, the subject of this sketch,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 received a good business education and has led an 
 active and successful business life. At the age of 16 
 he entered his father's store as a clerk, in which employ- 
 ment he continued until he became of age, when, during 
 the gold excitement in California, he decided to work 
 out his own fortune. He crossed the plains to Sacra- 
 mento in 1852 with an ox train, taking with him two 
 ox teams and five men. After crossing the Missouri 
 river in flat-boats at Gainesville (now Council Bluffs), 
 he organi/ed a small train, called the Drakeville train, 
 of which he was chosen the captain. At the crossing 
 of Shell Creek, Neb., in command of twenty men he had 
 a severe engagement with about 300 Pawnee Indians, 
 defeating and inflicting upon them heavy loss in killed 
 and wounded. His venture to "California proving quite 
 successful, he again crossed the plains in 1854, taking 
 with him a drove of cattle and some horses and oxen, 
 reaching Sacramento with them in excellent condition 
 and with a small percentage of loss. On his last return 
 from California he was a passenger on the ill-fated 
 steamer, "Yankee Blade," which was wrecked and 
 totally lost Sept. 30, 1854, off Point Aguiila on the 
 Pacific Ocean, from which he narrowly escaped and 
 was picked up on a barren coast five days later. 
 
 On his return home he entered into the mercantile 
 business with his father and brother (John Hamilton) 
 under the firm name of Drake & Sons, in which he 
 successfully continued until January 1, 1858, when he 
 drew out, taking in part as his assets the milling inter- 
 ests of the firm. He continued in the milling business 
 until the fall of 1859. when, having succeeded in put- 
 ting the property on a paying basis, he disposed of it 
 and established a general mercantile and stock business 
 at the village of Unionville in the the adjoining county 
 of Appanoose, which he profitably continued until the 
 outbreak of the Civil War. In 18C1 he enlisted and 
 was commissioned captain of a company, which was 
 organized into Colonel Edwards' Independent Iowa' 
 Regiment, of which he was elected major, and with 
 this command served through the critical times of 1861 
 in Missouri, driving the forces under General Patton 
 from the northern part of the State. lie was assigned 
 by General Prentiss to the command of St. Joseph, 
 holding the position at the time of Col. Mulligan's sur- 
 render to General Price at Lexington, and defending 
 the attack on St. Joseph soon afterwards. 
 
 At the organization of the 36th Iowa Infantry, in 
 1S62, he was made lieutenant colonel, and in the mili- 
 tan r history of the three years' hard and efficient ser- 
 vice of that regiment, his name stands conspicuous. 
 He took prominent part in the campaign of General 
 Steele from Little Rock to reinforce General Banks on 
 his Red River expedition in Louisiana in 1SG4, and 
 rendered important service. His gallant defense at 
 Elkins' Ford on the Little Missouri river, while in com- 
 mand of a detachment of five hundred men, against 
 General Mannaduke's division of three thousand, result- 
 ing in holding the ford after a severe engagement last- 
 ing from daylight in the morning until near noon, was 
 highly commended by his superior officers, and he was 
 
 soon after placed in command of his brigade. On the 
 25th of April, 1864, at the "bloody battle of Marks' 
 Mills, while in command of his brigade of less than 
 1,500 men, and arrayed against the combined cavalry 
 forces of Kirny Smith, about 6,000, commanded bv 
 Major General Pagan, he was severely wounded in the 
 left thigh and fell into the hands of the enemy. The 
 wound was pronounced mortal, the thigh bone being 
 slightly fractured by a Belgian ball weighing one and 
 a halt' ounces, the bone splitting the ball and the pieces 
 being afterwards extracted from different parts of the 
 bodv, excepting about a drachm of lead (juried in. the 
 bone, where it still remains. Owing to the severity of 
 the wound he was not held a prisoner, and after a con- 
 finement of near!}' six months, his wounds being suf- 
 ficiently healed, he in October following, by the aid of 
 crutches, rejoined his command at Little Rock. He 
 was soon afterwards recommended for promotion on 
 account of special gallantry, hard and efficient service, 
 and brevetted brigadier general of United States vol- 
 unteers and assigned for duty commensurate with his 
 rank. He relieved General Thayer of his command 
 at St. Charles on White river, and later commanded a 
 brigade in the division of General Shaler and the post 
 of Duval's Bluffs, Ark., until his muster out of service 
 in 1865. 
 
 After the war he resumed the mercantile business, 
 but by reason of his wounds was unable to give it his 
 active personal attention," and became associated with 
 Judge Amos Harris in the practice of law, with whom, 
 and afterwards with General A. J. Baker, he success- 
 fully practiced the legal profession for about six years. 
 He acquired the reputation of being a good criminal 
 lawyer, and though having retired from practice, was 
 prevailed upon in 1879 to engage with General Baker 
 n defense of the notorious Bill Young, of Missouri, 
 who was accused of murdering the Spencer family, 
 and who after aquittal was lynched by the infuriated 
 citizens who believed him guilty. 
 
 For the past twenty-five years General Drake has 
 been engaged in the railroad and banking business ; 
 has projected and constructed and put in operation 
 five railroads. He is president of the Indiana, Illinois 
 & Iowa Railroad and Albia & Centerville Railroad 
 Companies ; a director of the Keokuk & Western Rail- 
 road Company, and president of the Centerville 
 National Bank. He is also president of the board of 
 trustees of Drake University, Des Moines, la., which 
 bears his name as one of its founders and its most lib- 
 eral benefactor. He has also been a liberal contributor 
 to other educational institutions, to the building of 
 scores of churches, to the missionary societies and 
 church extension fund of the Christian or Disciple 
 church, with which he stands prominently connected, 
 and is now serving his fifth yearly term as president of 
 the Iowa State board. He has been honored with the 
 presidency of the national board for the term of one 
 year. In the spirit of public enterprise and improve- 
 ment in his town, county and State, he has not only 
 been a leader, but one of the most liberal contributors.
 
 66 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 He is kind hearted and a true friend to the poor, 
 the afflicted and the persecuted. 
 
 He has been an Odd Fellow since 185-i ; is a Past 
 Noble Grand and a member of the encampment. lie 
 has been a Mason since 1859, ranks as Sir Knight and 
 is a member of the Mystic Shrine. In both Odd Fel- 
 lowship and Masonry he is held as an honorary mem- 
 ber, exempted from dues in the lodges to which he 
 belongs because of his liberal benefactions in freeing 
 them from indebtedness incurred in the building of 
 their halls. 
 
 general Drake is a Republican in politics, and 
 although he has been one of the prominent leaders of 
 that party in Iowa in the support and advocacy of its 
 principles, he has not been an aspirant for official 
 position. He has been honored as a delegate from 
 Iowa to three Republican national conventions and as 
 many more national conventions of the Republican 
 League. 
 
 He was married December 24, 1855, to Mary Jane 
 Lord, of Ohio, (although born in New Brunswick, 
 Canada,) and who died at Centerville, Iowa, June 22, 
 1883. Mrs. Drake was a woman of superior intelli- 
 gence ; a leader in society and in the church. Her 
 character for sincerity was especially marked as was also 
 her kindness and liberality, and she was universally 
 loved and admired by her associates. She was the 
 mother of seven children, six of whom are now living, 
 
 George Hamilton having died at the age of twenty- 
 two months in 1870. The living are two sons, Frank 
 Ellsworth and John Adams Drake, and four daughters, 
 Amelia ('-Milla''), Jennie, Eva and Mary, all of whom 
 are married except the latter. 
 
 Frank resides in Centerville; is president of the 
 Centerville Coal Company and extensively ensraged in 
 the production and merchandise of bituminous coal. 
 He was married to Flora Bissett at Momf>nce, Illinois, 
 in 1883 and has. one son, Francis, about four years of 
 age. John is a resident of Chicago; is the secretary 
 and treasurer of the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa R. R. 
 Co., and was married on the 26th of January, 1893, to 
 Dula Heisel Rae, the adopted daughter of Col. Robert 
 Rae of Chicago. Milla tesides in Chicago; is the wife 
 of T. P. Shouts, general manager of the Indiana, 
 Illinois & Iowa -Railroad. They were married in 
 1881 and have two daughters. Marguerite and Mary 
 Theodora, aged respectively eight and six years of age. 
 Jennie is the wife of Dr. J. L. Sawyers, an eminent 
 physician and surgeon, and resides in Centerville. 
 They were married in 1883 and have two daughters, 
 Mary and Hygiene, aged respectively, eight and six 
 years. Eva is the wife of Henry Goss a boot and shoe 
 merchant of Centerville. They have one son, Joseph 
 Marion, seven years of age. Mary is the youngest 
 child now twenty years of age and makes her home 
 with her father at Centerville, Iowa. 
 
 HON. JOHN COMSTOCK, 
 
 HUDSON, WISCONSIN. 
 
 JOHN COMSTOCK, son of Elkanah and Sarah 
 (Greene) Comstock, was born in Owasco, Cayuga 
 count}', New York, on the 19th day of december, 1812. 
 His father was a Baptist minister who, in 1S2J-, was 
 appointed by the Baptist Convention of New York, to 
 preach in Michigan and was the first minister of that 
 denomination to preach in that State. . His mother 
 was adescendant of General Nathaniel Greene, the hero 
 of Revolutionary fame. 
 
 Young Comstock attended the public schools in 
 New York until his twelfth year, and after that time at 
 Pontiac, Michigan. From his earliest youth he dis- 
 played a marked talent for mechanics and after leaving 
 school was apprenticed to a carpenter and cabinet 
 maker for three years. He worked at this trade until 
 1813, when he went into the mercantile and millin^ 
 
 o 
 
 business at Commerce, Michigan, where he carried on 
 a prosperous and highly successful business until 1856, 
 when he went to Hudson, Wisconsin, and engaged in 
 contracting and in the sale of real-estate. When the 
 First National Bank of Hudson, was organized, in 1863, 
 
 Mr. Comstock was elected a member of the board of 
 directors and in 1870 was made president, which posi- 
 tion he held until his death, which occurred on January 
 3rd, 1S90. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Comstock was a staunch Republican 
 and served his party in office on several occasions, chief 
 of which were two terms as mayor of Hudson and one 
 term as a member of the General Assembly of Wisconsin. 
 He was active in church and charitable work and in early 
 life became connected with the Presbyterian church, 
 but later adopted the views of the Baptists, though 
 never formally uniting with that denomination. 
 
 On the 15th of October. 1841, Mr. Comstock was 
 united in marriage to Mrs. Lydia F. Seymour, a 
 daughter of Hon. Theodore Booster of Rhode Island, a 
 prominent lawyer, and for thirteen years a member of 
 the Senate of the United States. This sketch cannot 
 be better closed than in the words of Judge Humphrey, 
 a personal friend of Mr. Comstock and one who knew 
 well his many good qualities and sterling worth: 
 
 " Hon. John Comstock was not only a very able
 
 *p 
 
 
 ***
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 man, but was also possessed of varied abilities. Possess- 
 ing excellent judgment his advice was sought in all 
 departments of business. The merchant, the farmer, 
 the banker, the lawyer, the contractor, the projector 
 of railroads and other large enterprises, sought his 
 views and placed much reliance on his judgment. Slow 
 and deliberate in all matters of moment, when his con- 
 clusion was reached it stood as his judgment in the 
 case; and seldom, if ever, did he have reason to modify 
 or change it. He was a successful business man, far- 
 sighted, energetic and uns'werving. His benefactions 
 will never be known ; his liberality and large hearted- 
 ness were proverbial. There was no enterprise which 
 looked to the advancement of his city that did not 
 command his attention, and if necessary his time and 
 
 69 
 
 
 
 money. He never deviated from the path of duty, and 
 could not bear with patience those that did. To young 
 men he was ever ready to give counsel and to give aid 
 if needed and they merited it. Organizing the First 
 National Bank, in 1863, he was its president (with the 
 exception of two years) to the time of his death, and 
 to-day it is numbered among the most substantial in 
 the country. As his impress is left on that institution 
 so did he leave his impress on every undertaking with 
 which he was connected. None ever failed ; all were 
 highly successful. This can be said of but few men. 
 Mr. Comstock possessed rare abilities, unnumbered 
 virtues, and his adopted city reveres his memory and 
 holds him in sacred remembrance as her mavor, 
 represenative, citizen and friend." 
 
 HON. THEODORE W. BURDICK, 
 
 SAULT STE MARIE, MICHIGAN. 
 
 THEODORE W. BURDICK was born Octobet-7,1836, 
 at Evansburg, Crawford county, Penn., and spent 
 his boyhood days on the farm, meantime attending 
 the public school and academy. In 1853 he was 
 fitted for college, and a scholarship purchased for him 
 at Oberlin College, Ohio. His father, however, decided 
 to move West and young Theodore was obliged to 
 stifle this ambition. He accompanied his father to 
 Winneshiek county, Iowa, and assisted him in opening 
 up a new farm near Decorah. In the winter of the 
 same vear he was appointed teacher of the first public 
 school opened in the village of Decorah. 
 
 The following year his father was made treasurer, 
 and recorder of the county, and he appointed his son 
 Theodore, then eighteen years of age, as'deputy, which 
 position he filled until he was twenty-one, when he 
 himself was elected to both offices. He gave such 
 general satisfaction that he was elected to the offices 
 for three successive terms. Shortly after the com- 
 mencement of his third term, he resigned to enlist for 
 the War of the Rebellion, being the fifth of his 
 brothers to volunteer. He served three years as cap- 
 tain in the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, and was honorably 
 discharged in the fall of 1865; three of his five 
 brothers having in the meantime given their lives for 
 their country. 
 
 In February, 1866, Mr. Burdick was elected cashier 
 of the First National Bank of Decorah, in which office 
 he remained until 1881, when he was made vice-presi- 
 dent. The bank under Mr. Burdick's administration 
 was very prosperous, and he soon became connected 
 with other financial institutions, one of which was the 
 Savings Bank of Decorah, established in 1873. 
 
 In connection with lion. Howard Graves and 
 others, Mr. Burdick incorporated and established the 
 Esthervilie State Bank of Iowa, of which institution 
 he is vice-president and director: He also aided in the 
 
 incorporation of the Bon Ilomme County Bank in 
 South Dakota, of which he is still a large stockholder. 
 He has from time to time made profitable investments 
 in real estate in Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. He 
 is one of the incorporators and a director of the North 
 Dakota Coal Mining Company, which owns valuable 
 coal lands and mines in McLean county, N. Dak. 
 
 Mr. Burdick is not a man of political ambition, 
 nevertheless, in 1876, he was nominated for Congress 
 for the third (then Dubuque) district of Iowa by the 
 Republicans of that district. At the time of his nomi- 
 nation the district was represented by a Democrat and 
 was considered as a strongly Democratic district. Mr. 
 Burdick was elected by an unprecedented majority 
 after one of the most thorough canvasses of the district 
 ever made. He served his constituents with abilitv and 
 gave such general satisfaction, that he was tendered a 
 renomination without opposition, by his party, which 
 on account of business interests he declined. In 1884, 
 Mr. Burdick was elected State senator from the Win- 
 neshiek county district, again overcoming a strong 
 Democratic majority. 
 
 Mr. Burdick went to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich, in the 
 spring of 1887, attracted by the evident advantages 
 that place enjoys, and invested largely in real estate. 
 In company with Mr. James H. Easton, of Decorah, 
 la., and several of the leading business men there, he 
 organized the Sault Ste. Marie National Bank, with a 
 paid-up capital of $100,000, of which he was elected 
 cashier and executive officer, later becoming president, 
 a position he now holds. Like all men of great ability 
 Mr. Burdick is modest and unassuming, and his agree- 
 able manners and reputation for sincerity and integrity 
 make him very popular wherever known. 
 
 He has been twice married. His first wife was the 
 youngest daughter of Hon. Gay lord Graves, of White- 
 water, Wis., who died in 1889. The children of this
 
 ;o 
 
 fROMfNENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 marriage were three sons and three daughters, of 
 whom two sons and two daughters are now living. 
 His eldest son, Nelson A. Burdick, is assistant cashier 
 of the Sault Ste. Marie National Bank, and is a 
 voung man of fine ability and great promise. The 
 youngest son, Weld. T., is now in college. The eldest 
 daughter, Mary A., married Charles T. Bailey, Esq., 
 of Decorah, la . late cashier and manager of the New- 
 berry Bank, of Newberrv. Mich. His youngest daugh- 
 ter, Harriet E., is married to Charles C. Younglove, a 
 prominent and prosperous merchant of Newberry, 
 
 Mich. Mr. Burdick's second wife, now living, is the 
 youngest daughter of the late Judge Burnham. of 
 Concord, N. H., and widow of the late John II. More, 
 Esq., of "New York City. Mr. Burdick has always been 
 extremel-v happy in his domestic and family relations. 
 He is a member of the Congregational church ; is 
 open-handed in all charitable and benevolent enter- 
 prises, popular with his friends, and taken all in all, an 
 excellent specimen of a distinctively Western self-made 
 man of great force of character and acknowledged 
 personal worth. 
 
 JOSEPH DEAN, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 JOSEPH DEAN, son of John and Mary Dean, was 
 born near the city of Enniskillen, County of 
 Fermanagh, in western Ireland, on the 10th day of 
 Januarv, 1826. When he was still but a child his 
 
 ' 
 
 father emigrated to the New World, and settled for a 
 time in the vicinity of Sherbrooke, Canada, where the 
 family remained until 1836, when they moved to 
 Belvidere, 111. Here Joseph passed his boyhood days 
 and grew to manhood, working upon a farm and 
 learning the carpenter's trade, making the most of his 
 few opportunities for obtainingan education in the pub- 
 lic schools. He worked at his trade in various places, a 
 part of the time in the city of Chicago, and in 1850 
 located in Minnesota. Isaac Atwater, Edward Murphy, 
 Allen Harman, Joel B. Bussett and W". W. Wales 
 located in Minnesota in the same year. Most of 
 these gentlemen settled in Minneapolis, but Mr. Dean 
 went to Oak Grove (now called Bloomington) on the 
 Minnesota river, where he engaged .in running a 
 ferry, and two years later took a claim there. Besides 
 his business at Oak Grove, Mr. Dean devoted much 
 time to other business. During the summer of 1851 he 
 superintended the building of a store at St. Anthony 
 for John H. Stevens and Franklin Steele, and 
 was also employed by Mr. Steele to oversee building 
 operations at Fort Snelling. 
 
 When Hennepin county was organized in October, 
 1852, Mr. Dean was elected, with two others, unani- 
 mously, to the board of county commissioners, which 
 board located the county seat and entered upon the 
 records of the location the name of ' ; Albion." This 
 name proved unsatisfactdr}', and after much discussion 
 the name "Minneapolis" was decided upon and the 
 records altered accordingly. Mr. Dean served upon the 
 above board for three years, was a member of the first 
 grand jury of Hennepin county, impaneled in 1853, 
 and was appointed upon the Whig committee for the 
 precinct of St. Peter (now known as Bloomington.) In 
 the act incorporating the Hennepin county Agricultural 
 Society, passed February 20, 1S53, Mr. Dean was 
 named as one of the incorporators. On the first day of 
 
 January. 1854, he received the appointment of post- 
 master of Bloomington, which was the first post-office 
 established in Hennepin county, outside of Fort 
 Snelling, preceding the establishment of that at Minne- 
 apolis by only a few days. 
 
 In the Spring of 1856, Mr. Dean moved to Minne 
 apolis, where he engaged in business as a contractor 
 and builder, and shortly afterwards purchased the 
 planing mill, and sash and door factory at the Falls, 
 which he operated in connection with his business as 
 a builder. He continued in this line of business until 
 1863, when he became associated with T. A , H. G. 
 and Win. M. Harrison, under the firm name of Joseph 
 Dean & Co., in the lumber business. This venture 
 was a decided success, and was carried on until they 
 retired from business, as a firm, in 1877. Their first 
 purchase was the Stanchfield saw mill at the mouth of 
 Bassett's Creek, which they enlarged, rebuilt, and 
 operated until- it was burned, when they purchased 
 the large mill known as the Pacific mill, on the 
 west bank of the river, just above the suspension 
 bridge. This was one of the largest and most complete 
 saw mills in that section, and thev operated it until 
 1877. 
 
 In the summer of that year, Mr. Dean was appointed 
 cashier of the State National Bank, which position he 
 filled until the business was merged into that of the 
 newly organized Security Bank of Minnesota, when he 
 became cashier of the latter institution, and was a 
 member of its board of directors. This enterprise was 
 a pet scheme of 3fr. Dean's, to succeed the long and 
 pleasant partnership of Joseph Dean & Co. When 
 the Security Bank of Minnesota was first organized, 
 almost the entire stock was held by T. A. Harrison, 
 II. G. Harrison and Joseph Dean, the then surviving 
 partners of Joseph Dean it Co. Thomas A. Harrison 
 was president of the bank, and H. G. Harrison its vice- 
 president, and its rapidly -acquired popularity and 
 success fully demonstrated the wisdom of the under- 
 taking. Mr. Dean remained with the bank as cashier 
 until the summer of 1882, when he was compelled to
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 resign owing to ill health. He afterwards returned for 
 a time as its general manager, and was afterwards its 
 vice-president., but continued ill health compelled him 
 to finally retire from all active work for the bank, and 
 seek relaxation in travel. 
 
 In the spring of 1850, Mr. Dean was united in 
 marriage to Miss Nancy II. Stanley of Belvidere, 111. 
 Seven children blessed this union and of them four 
 survive, who are to-day well known and successful 
 business men, enjoying the honor and respect of the 
 entire community. Mrs. Dean died in 187-1. and in 
 1876 Mr. Dean was again married, this time to 
 Miss Elizabeth Stevens of" Baileyville,' III., a highly 
 accomplished and lovable woman, who survives 
 him. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Dean was at first a Whig and 
 afterwards a Republican. His immense business 
 interests would not permit of his active participation 
 in politics, although in the fall of 1859 he was elected 
 treasurer of Hennepin county, having allowed his 
 name to be used only after much solicitation from his 
 personal and political friends, lie was a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, and from 1856 was 
 
 73 
 
 of that church, and always liberal; was one of the 
 church's chief supporters, and a generous friend of 
 every project advanced for the relief of the unfortunate 
 and distressed. 
 
 Mr, Dean's death occurred while he was awav from 
 home. He had gone to Eureka Springs, Ark., in the 
 hope of re-establishing his health, which had been 
 failing for some time, and on the 20th day of May, 
 1890, he peacefully passed away. Mr. Dean will lono- 
 live in the memory of his old friends in Hennepin 
 county, where, after assisting at the county's birth, he 
 watched and helped its development until the time 
 of his death. He owed his prosperity to his own 
 earnest endeavor and his naturally great business 
 ability. He started in life with a clear brain and a 
 pair of willing hands, and any success achieved by 
 him was directly connected with his own hard work. 
 Instead of building his fortune upon the misfortunes 
 of others, he -was chiefly noted for his ever ready 
 assistance to any man who was willing to make the 
 most of it. Modest and unostentatious in demeanor, 
 he was ever ready to do his part, and his quiet 
 liberality and charity will cause him to be long 
 
 actively and prominently connected with the work . remembered as a noble man. 
 
 JOHN P. DAVIDSON, 
 
 NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS. 
 
 JOHN P. DAVIDSON, son of Lamer B. and 
 Hariett B. Davidson, was born on a farm in 
 Limestone county, Ala., on the 19th day of September. 
 1842. His father was a prosperous 'farmer, and gave 
 his son a good education in the public schools of Texas, 
 to which State the parents moved when he was seven 
 years of age, locating in Nacogdoches county, where, 
 with the exception of four years in the city of Gal- 
 veston, and three years in Dallas, Mr. Davidson's home 
 has been up to the present time. 
 
 , When young Davidson left school he entered the 
 ranks of the Confederate army, and served until the close 
 of the war, and then at the age of twenty-two he entered 
 the ranks of the great army in the battle of life, with no 
 capital save a pair of willing hands, a clear and calcu- 
 lating brain, and an earnest determination to succeed. 
 He commenced as driver of an ox-wagon between 
 Nacogdoches, Tex., and Shrevesport, La. This work 
 he continued for a few months, and then, with the 
 small capital that he had saved from his earnings, he 
 married, and devoted himself to agriculture, raising 
 corn and cotton. By working rt'ith his laborers, and 
 by the closest economy, he saved enough monev to 
 commence his commercial career, and in September, 
 1869, he inaugurated his first business enterprise by 
 starting a small general store in Cherokee county, 
 Tex. Since that time he has been continuously in the 
 business, which has increased perceptibly in volume. 
 
 He also conducted the only bank in Cherokee at that 
 time. In 1883, he went to Galveston, where he 
 became a member of the firm of Hamilton, Longine & 
 Co., wholesale dealers in gentlemen's furnishing goods, 
 hats, caps, etc., with which he continued for three 
 years, and then sold out his interest and went to Dallas, 
 where he and Captain B. N. Boren formed a partner- 
 ship, and started a wholesale grocery business under 
 the firm name of Boren & Davidson. From the first 
 this firm has handled a large and continually growing 
 business, and is at the present time one of the most 
 prosperous in the West. In 1890, Mr. Davidson 
 withdrew, and returned to Nacogdoches, the home of 
 his youth, and there organized the first National Bank 
 of Nacogdoches, of which he was elected president. 
 He also conducts a large general merchandise business 
 in Nacogdoches, and now, in the prime of his manhood, 
 can look back on a successful and highly honorable 
 business life. With many years presumably yet before 
 him, and judging by the results of his past career, Mr. 
 Davidson can scarcely fail to add still more laurels to 
 the crown of his success. 
 
 At the outset of his career, or as soon as he had 
 saved what he deemed sufficient to justify him in so 
 doing, he was united in marriage to Miss Mariah A. 
 Sutphen, one of the sweetest flowers that bloomed on 
 the soil of the Lone Star State, on the llth of January, 
 1866. She has ever since been to him a loving wife
 
 74 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 and a valuable helpmate, materially aiding him both 
 in his social life and business career. 
 
 Mr. Davidson is, in every sense of the term, an 
 active, energetic business man. Socially lie is a genial 
 
 his glowing personality gives a genuine satisfaction, 
 softens the asperities of life, and induces one to forget 
 for a time the hurried process of money-getting. 
 These qualities have made him hosts of friends, every 
 
 and agreeable gentleman, one whom it is a true pleasure one of whom delight to do him and his estimable 
 to meet. To shake his hand, and feel the warmth of wife honor. 
 
 JOSIAH LEE DABBS, 
 
 UVALDE, TEXAS. 
 
 JOSIAH LEE DABBS, son of J. W. and Sarah E. 
 Dabbs, was born in Titus county, Texas. He 
 attended the public schools of Texas, and later entered 
 Eastman's National Business College, at Poughkeep- 
 sie, N. Y., from which he graduated before he reached 
 his twentieth year, and immediately entered the arena 
 of business life, as a member of the firm of Dabbs 
 Brothers, who were doing a large business in each of 
 the three towns, Sulphur Springs, Black Jack and 
 Commerce, Texas,.and with which firm he remained un- 
 til 1889, when he became connected with the City 
 National Bank of Sulphur Springs, being a director in 
 1891 and 1892. 
 
 When the National Bank of Uvalde was organized 
 in 1891, he was elected to the presidency, thus becom- 
 ing a bank president at the age of twenty four. He 
 
 has since acted in that capacity, and the rapid growth 
 of the business of the bank has amply justified the 
 wisdom of the stockholders in placing the management 
 of its affairs in his hands, notwithstanding his extreme 
 youthfulness. The bank's net earnings since its organ- 
 ization, less than three years ago, have reached 
 forty-eight per cent, of the capital stock, and this 
 accounts for the fact, which is not a surprising 
 one, that it is impossible to find any of the stock for 
 sale. 
 
 Judging entirely from the rare business sagacity and 
 able management shown by him thus far. Mr. Dabbs 
 evidently has a brilliant future before him, and having 
 in mind his past record, it is safe to predict that he will 
 in the future rank second to none in the West as an 
 able financier. 
 
 LOUIS BRUNI, 
 
 LAREDO, TEXAS. 
 
 LOUIS BRUNI, son of Signer Matteo and Dominica 
 (Eugalli) Bruni, was born in 1849 in Bedonia, a 
 beautiful and picturesque city situated at the foot of 
 the Apennine mountains in the ancient Ducade of 
 Parma and Placencia, in Italy. Both of his parents 
 were descended from old and highly respected families, 
 and were universallv esteemed by their neighbors and 
 fellow-citizens. The father was remarkable for his 
 extreme frankness and liberality, and thus, though it 
 endeared him to his friends, the attention of the Gov- 
 ernment,, remarkable only for its tyranny and despot- 
 ism, was drawn to him, and to avoid his enemies he 
 was obliged to take up his residence in France. He 
 went alone, leaving his young wife and family in Ital\ 7 , 
 and took up a formal residence in Artemps, Department 
 of Aisne, where he engaged in mercantile business, in 
 which he remained for more than twenty years, visit- 
 ing his wife secretly and at uncertain intervals, as he 
 was forced to exercise the greatest caution to avoid 
 awakening the suspicions of his enemies. 
 
 Young Louis remained at home with his mother 
 until he was nine years of age, when he was placed in 
 
 the house of one Gaetano Bianchini, an old friend of 
 his father, who was at that time a priest and a school 
 teacher. In the home of this good priest our subject 
 was given his first insight into the knowledge taught 
 by books, and for the next three years he was dili- 
 gently at work striving to excel in his studies. He 
 was then taken to France by his father, who placed 
 him in the celebrated college " Brunei's de Saint 
 Quentin." The wars of 1858 and 1859 of Piedmont 
 and France against Austria and Hungary, and those of 
 '60 and '61 of Garibaldi, by which Italy was set free, 
 enabled the elder Bruni to return to his native country. 
 This he did, but. unfortunately, he contracted a fever, 
 and after a long illness, died in May, 1864-, leaving his 
 wife and three young children to mourn his loss. Louis 
 Bruni was the eldest of the children, and his mother, 
 wishing to give him a better education, sent him to 
 Parma to complete his studies, but the war between 
 Italy and Austria broke out soon afterwards, the schools 
 were all closed, and he was forced to suspend for a 
 time the completion of his education. After the war 
 was over he went to Florence, where he attended the
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 75 
 
 ''Real Technical Institute." When the heroic General 
 Giuseppe Garibaldi organized the famous expedition of 
 Mentana, taking for his motto those memorable words, 
 " Rome or death," young Bruni, with many other 
 students, cast his books aside in order to follow the 
 great leader, Duce. After the unfortunate battle of 
 Mentana, he returned to Florence, whence, after several 
 years spent in study, he returned to his native city, 
 determined to remain with his mother as long as she 
 lived. This was in 1870, and two years later the 
 mother was called to join her husband, leaving Louis 
 with a younger brother to provide for, his sister having 
 been married. After turning the matter over in his 
 own mind and carefully studying all the circumstances, 
 he determined to leave his native land and come to 
 America in search of fortune, hoping that new faces 
 and scenes in the land of the free might make him at 
 least partially forget his great loss. According!}', early 
 in the vear of 1873 he and his brother, Antonio, took 
 passage at Havre on a steamer bound for New Orleans, 
 from which city they traveled by rail and stage to San 
 Antonio, Tex., where the brother found employment 
 in a mercantile establishment owned by an uncle in 
 that town. Louis then went to Mexico, and, after a 
 minute and careful study of that country, her customs 
 and people, he wrote and published a book in the 
 Italian language, "Attraverso il Messico," which was 
 well received and widely read throughout Europe. 
 
 Being fond of archa? >logical studies, Mr. Bruni 
 made quite a collection of relics of the Ancient Aztecs, 
 one of which, a particularly beautiful specimen, he 
 sent, as a present, to the Ethnological Museum at 
 Rome. When the Diaz revolution took place in Mexico, 
 he held a position as lieutenant under Generals Cleto 
 Felcon and Ipolito Charles, but after Saltillo was taken 
 and Monterey had surrendered, he resigned his com- 
 mission and returned to the United States, where by 
 chance he met his brother in Laredo, Texas. This 
 meeting was a surprise to him as he thought his brother 
 was still with his uncle in San Antonio. But the 
 meeting was not the only coincidence, for both brothers 
 had gone to Laredo with the intention of starting in 
 business there, so after expressing their natural joy at 
 the meeting, they talked over their affairs, and decided 
 to go into business together. Accordingly in 1877, they 
 opened a small dry goods store in Laredo, and from 
 this small beginning they have, by hard work and 
 great economy, amassed their present fortune. Their 
 first extension was in 1880, when they opened a branch 
 store in Laredo, Mexico, and since 'they so extended 
 their business that now they own many buildings in 
 Laredo, Texas, besides being the possessors of three 
 large ranches ; i. e. " The Basaneno," " The Baeosito " 
 and the "Pearl." These ranches are situated in Zapata 
 and Tusinal counties, Texas, about thirty miles from 
 Laredo. The "Pearl" is by far the largest of these, 
 and the best appointed. It has 50,000 acres of fine 
 land, square in shape, and surrounded by a good wire 
 fence. The house is of brick, two stories in height, 
 and comfortably equipped. The water used upon the 
 
 ranch is drawn by machinery from the Rio Grande 
 river, and every kind of improved agricultural machin- 
 ery is to be found upon the place. The ranch is in a 
 very high state of cultivation, and among, other things 
 it has the finest vineyard planted in that part of Texas. 
 It was from this vineyard that the grapes exhibited at 
 the World's Fair at Chicago, May 15, 1893, came. 
 They were the first grapes to reach the Fair, and were 
 greatly admired. The other two ranches are smaller 
 in size than the " Pearl" and are used to raise horses 
 and cattle, of which they sold in the month of May, 
 1893, nearly 9,000 head of different ages. In their 
 stores the brothers sell in each a different line of goods, 
 and in one they keep everything that is used upon a 
 ranch. 
 
 Such has been the business life of Louis Bruni, one 
 that has been a credit alike to himself and to the home 
 of his adoption. His start, a small one^ was made not 
 many years ago, and his present prosperity is due to 
 his own efforts and great economy, and ali of his deal- 
 ings with men have been characterized by fairness and 
 unfailing integrity. In this his life is like that spent 
 by his father, who, on returning from France to his 
 native land, after an exile of more than twenty years, 
 left none who could complain of unfair or unscrupulous 
 dealings, but on the contrary, left many friends who 
 loved him, and who respected him for his honor and 
 commercial integrity. 
 
 Young Bruni's trials began at. the early age of 
 twelve when he crossed Mount Cenis on foot, and five 
 years later he crossed the Great St. Bernard in the 
 same way, and visited en route the beautiful convent 
 that was founded by the first Napoleon, and where he 
 saw for the first time specimens of the noble breed of 
 dogs that take their name from the mountain. Later 
 he visited Egypt and Palestine, and made himself 
 familiar with the different cities of those countries,par- 
 ticularly Alexandria in Egypt and Jerusalem in Pales- 
 tine. In Europe he visited all the more noted cities 
 and places before coming to America. After reaching 
 this country, he, with his brother, crossed the San 
 Gotardo, experiencing cold so intense that his brother's 
 foot was frozen, notwithstanding the heavy wrappings. 
 He afterwards traveled all over the land of the Ancient 
 Aztecs, gathering material for his book, and later in the 
 year 18814 went from Laredo, Texas, to San Luis Potosi, 
 taking with him only two men as servants. At that 
 time the trip took twenty days, as the railroad was as 
 yet unknown in that region. In 1886 he returned to 
 Europe, visiting England, 'France, German}' and Italy. 
 
 Mr. Bruni on the 6th of August, 1886, was honored 
 by a decree making him a " Gentleman of the Cross of 
 the Crown of Italy," which honor was conferred upon 
 him for his many acts of benevolence, and in 1890 he 
 was made a" Gentleman Salvador of First Class of the 
 Areopago of Nice," Maratine Alps, France. He is a 
 member of many benevolent societies and many clubs, 
 both in Italy and America, and since an early age he 
 has been allied to the Fraternity of Liberal and 
 Accepted Masons of the R. E. A. and A., in which
 
 76 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 order he has taken thirty degrees. In this order he has 
 acted in various official positions, and was at one time 
 "Venerable '' of the Red Lodge No. 8, of Laredo, 
 Mexico. 
 
 Besides his great business success, Mr.Bruni isquitea 
 well-known figure in the world of letters The book 
 published by him shortly after coming to America cre- 
 ated a widespread and favorable impression, and since 
 that time many publications in America and Europe 
 have been enriched by articles from his pen. His life 
 has been an eventful one, and he has passed through 
 everv ordeal with credit and honor. No important 
 duty of man has he slighted,exce;)ting tliat of leaving to 
 the world children to carry on his good work, for in his 
 busy life he never married. 
 
 Looking back over his life. Mr. Bruni regards as 
 the most precious friendships that have been his, those 
 of Guiseppe Garibaldi and Ceasar Cantu, two men 
 whose names shall live in history, and of whose friend- 
 ship any man might well be proud. 
 
 Mr. Bruni early learned after landing upon Ameri- 
 can soil that though this was a country grand in all 
 things, the man of business was of more importance 
 than any other and thus he concluded to abandon the 
 pen of the writer for the golden pencil of the merchant. 
 To reach the top round of the ladder and to gain the 
 best possible position in the country of his adoption, he 
 substituted for the sweet language of the "muses" 
 mathematical calculations, and though this change was 
 not congenial to one of his spirit, he has kept it and 
 
 gained his point. However, he has not ever quite 
 abandoned " Belles Lettres," but occasional!}' has put 
 on paper some beautiful gems of thought as they occur- 
 red to him and we cannot better close this sketch of his 
 life than by quoting a poem in the French language 
 written on the occasion of the visit of the French fleet 
 to Genoa, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Christo 
 pher Columbus. 
 
 RECONNAISSANCE AUX FRANCAIS. 
 
 Sur vos vaissaux aili-. 
 De France en ITALIE 
 Volez. Francais ! volez, 
 Et de votre Patrie, 
 A GENES, notre soeur, 
 Apportez les hommages ! 
 Pour vous bat noire coeur ; 
 Un seront nos langages. 
 
 FidtMes messigers 
 
 D' une time libre et fiere, 
 
 Allez, mes vers, h'-gers, 
 
 Dire a ce peuple fiere 
 
 Que nous sommes heureux, 
 
 Sine ores patriotes 
 
 De ses vaisseanx nombreux 
 
 Qui sinnollent noscotis. 
 
 Du mot divin de paix 
 Sachons sentir les charmes, 
 - Et, lies a j-imais. 
 Mclone encor nos armes. 
 Gardens le souvenir 
 D'un passe plein de gloire, 
 Car rien ne doit ternir 
 Nos deux noms dans 1' HISTOIBE. 
 
 ALBERT F. DICKINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ALBERT F. DICKINSON, son of Justus Dickinson, 
 was born June 28, 1809, at Hawley, Franklin 
 county, Mass. He received a common school educa- 
 tion in his native county, and as soon as he had ad- 
 vanced far enough, taught school at Savoy and Adams, 
 Mass. He then served as clerk in a dry goods store at 
 Adams for a while, and later went to Curtisville, Mass., 
 and became agent for two cotton factories located 
 there. He made the necessary trips to New York to 
 purchase the raw cotton for the mills and to sell the 
 manufactured goods. 
 
 It was in 1840 that he first visited the West, com- 
 ing to Chicago, and continuing his journey into Wis- 
 consin. Upon his return to Massachusetts he pur- 
 chased a grist mill at Curtisville (Berkshire county) 
 which he operated for some years. During his resi- 
 dence in Massachusetts, Mr. Dickinson, was elected jus- 
 tice of the peace, selectman, and held other town 
 oftices. He was also postmaster, and later, in 1848, 
 was elected a member of the State Legislature by the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 In 1852 he moved to Albany, N. Y., and engaged 
 
 in the flour and commission business. Shortly after- 
 wards he disposed of this business and removed to 
 Buffalo, where he formed a partnership with Chester 
 Hitchcock in the same business, which partnership was 
 dissolved in 1855. 
 
 In 1854, Mr. Dickinson came to Chicago (Mr. 
 Hitchcock continuing in the Buffalo, N. Y. business), 
 and his family followed in September, 1855. He soon 
 commenced to deal in the grain and commission bus- 
 iness, which he continued until 1872, when, on account 
 of his health, he transferred his business to his eldest 
 son, Albert. In the previous year the great fire of 
 1871 occurred, destroying his warehouse and nearly 
 paralyzing his business, his insurance being worthless. 
 This left him in debt, which, after several years' hard 
 work by the family, was, however, paid in full. 
 
 In the early days of the Board of Trade he became 
 a member, when the membership fee was only S5.00. 
 He died in 1881, and on that occasion the Board of 
 Trade passed the following resolution of respect: 
 
 "Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Albert F. 
 Dickinson this association has lost a member who, in.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 79 
 
 his long intercourse with us as a business man, always 
 commanded our sincerest respect as a man of excep- 
 tionally high sense of commercial honor, and whose 
 integrity was never questioned in the many transact- 
 ions in which he was engaged during his residence in 
 the city." 
 
 Mr. Dickinson was married in Adams, Mass., in 
 183G, to Miss Ann Eliza Anthony, daughter of Hum- 
 phrey Anthony and Hannah (Lapham) Anthony. Ten 
 children blessed this union, six of whom are now liv- 
 
 ing, viz. : Hannah, now Mrs. Charles C. Boyles ; Mel- 
 issa, Albert. Nathan, Fanny (Dr. Dickinson) and 
 Charles Dickinson. Albert, Melissa, Nathan and 
 Charles still continue together in the business started 
 by their father, which his son, Albert Dickinson, 
 changed into an exclusive seed business, and under 
 their joint management it has developed wonderfully, 
 so that now they have the largest trade in their line 
 in the country. 
 
 SENECA D. KIMBARK. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 SENECA D. KIMBARK is one of -the pioneers of 
 the great iron and steel trade in Chicago, having 
 been actively engaged in that business since 1853. 
 
 Mr. Kim bark is a native of New York State, born 
 at Venice, Cayuga county, March 4, 1832. His educa- 
 tion was a thorough one for those days, and was 
 obtained by his own efforts. After graduating from 
 the district school he attended the Geneseoand Canan- 
 daigua academies, and at the age of seventeen paid his 
 tuition with money earned by teaching in the country 
 schools. "When he was eight years old, his parents 
 moved to Livingston county, N. Y.,and four years later 
 he was set to work on his father's farm. With the 
 exception of the time spent in attending and teaching 
 school in the winter months, he worked on the farm 
 until he was twenty-one years old, or in the autumn of 
 
 1852, when Mr. Kimbark celebrated the event by 
 removing to Chicago, where he engaged in the iron 
 business, and soon became junior partner of the firm 
 of E. G. Hall & Co. in the iron trade. In 1860 the firm 
 name was changed to Hall, Kimbark & Co. In 1873 it 
 was changed to Kimbark Bros. & Co., and in 1876 
 S. D. Kimbark became the sole proprietor of the im- 
 mense business. In the great fire of 1871 he was a 
 heavy loser, but his business energy and tact brought 
 him through difficulties that would have permanently 
 hampered men of less courage and sagacity, and to-day 
 his establishment is one of the largest of the kind in 
 Chicago. During all the years since its founding, in 
 
 1853, its commercial integrity and high standing have 
 been preserved. Some years ago Mr. Kimbark estab- 
 lished a large factory for carriage woodwork in Michi- 
 gan, which was, in 1891, removed to Elkhart, Ind., 
 where conditions were more favorable. It is now one 
 of the largest and most successful factories of its 
 kind in the United States. The factory proper is two 
 stories high, 400x80 feet, and the engine house and 
 bending room is 180x40 feet. Both are equipped with 
 the finest machinery in the trade, most of which is 
 original. In all his business career Mr. Kimbark has 
 worked hard for the best interests of the iron trade, 
 and his voice is potent for good in national assemblies 
 where the iron interest is made a subject for investiga- 
 
 tion. His notions of business honor are so broad that 
 he never makes a disiinction between commer- 
 cial and moral integrity and the "tricks" of th e * 
 trade have never found a place in his transactions. 
 
 Mr. Kimbark was one of the three commissioners 
 appointed to locate the South Park system, and it was 
 fortunate for the future of Chicago that such a man 
 was embraced in the commission. The park was 
 located upon his notions of future necessity, though it 
 is just to state that the other commissioners were in 
 full accord with his views. 
 
 Mr. Kimbark is in no sense a politician, but takes 
 an active interest in every question of municipal reform. 
 "While he is a Republican he is not a partisan. In his 
 early life he was a Democrat, and was a warm advocate 
 of the annexation of Texas. The repeal of the Missouri 
 Compromise, however, made him an ardent aboli- 
 tionist, and on the formation of the Republican party 
 he became actively identified with it. While one of 
 his partners was in active service in the field, during 
 the civil war, his brother, George M. Kimbark, at that 
 time also a partner, was engaged in the organization of 
 volunteer companies, notably the "Kimbark Guards." 
 The business of the firm of Hall, Kimbark & Company 
 was meantime conducted by its senior members, 
 Elbridge G. Hall and Seneca D. Kimbark, anil furnished 
 its full share of the sinews of the war which saved 
 the Union and the Constitution! Mr. Kimbark has 
 always refused all tenders of political preferment, and 
 declined many nominations offered him. 
 
 He is a man of kindly and hospitable impulses. He 
 has a charming home circle, and is also prominent in 
 Chicago's club history. He has been identified with 
 the Union League Club almost since its organization, 
 and has taken a lively interest in its affairs and 
 advancement. He was one of the original members of 
 the Chicago Club, a charter member of the Washington 
 Park Club, and an influential member of the Calumet 
 Club. 
 
 Mr. Kimbark was married September 25, 1856, to 
 Miss Elizabeth Pruyne, daughter of Peter Pruyne, at 
 one time State Senator of Illinois, and a colleague of 
 Stephen A. Douglas. Mrs. Kimbark's mother is a
 
 8o 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CKEA T WEST, 
 
 widow of the late Thomas Church, one of Chicago's 
 pioneers, and a man of great personal worth. Mrs. 
 Kimbark is one of Chicago's oldest daughters, whose 
 birthday was inauguration day of its first mayor. She 
 is a woman of good attainments, genial presence and 
 engaging manners. Her name but seldom appears in 
 current society news or in connection with public insti- 
 tutions; but her charities have been generous and con- 
 tinuous, and bestowed by her own hand. Four children 
 have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kimbark two daugh- 
 ters aud two sons. The eldest son, Charles A. 
 Kimbark, is now financial manager of his father's 
 business, and a young man of great promise in the 
 business world. The younger son, Walter, of equal 
 promise, is at the head of the carriage goods depart- 
 ment of his father's establishment. Mr. Kimbark's 
 younger brother, Daniel A., who was a member of the 
 
 firm of Kimbark Brothers & Company, died March, 
 18S6. He came to Chicago at the close of the civil 
 war, and up to the time of his death was identified 
 with the above named house. Prior to 1882 he held 
 office in the Apollo Commandery, Knights Templar, of 
 Chicago, in which he had a host of warm personal friends; 
 but ill health forced him into comparative retirement. 
 He married, in 1801, Miss Eliza Underwood, of Auburn, 
 N. Y., who, with five sons, survives him. 
 
 The history of Seneca D. Kimbark is not an unusual 
 one in Chicago, and yet it can be r,ead with profit by 
 all young men. It is a record of a poor country bov, 
 who by pluck, integrity and steadfastness of purpose 
 and business ability has become one of the most influ- 
 ential and successful merchants in a great city. He 
 has attained wealth and position, and is honored and 
 respected wherever his name is known. 
 
 HON. JAMES R. DOOLITTLE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JAMES E. DOOLITTLE, was born during the 
 presidency of James Madison, the third successor 
 of Washington. Living through the successive terms 
 of the last nineteen presidents, engaged in calling 
 conventions, forming parties and writing platforms, 
 when Elaine, Garfiekl and Cleveland were boys, he 
 stands to-day as lawyer, jurist and statesman at the 
 ripe old age of seventy-nine, one of the few surviving 
 links of our earlier with our present national history. 
 Eanked amongst the ablest lawyers in the forties, 
 appointed judge in the fifties, elected United States 
 senator in 1857, and re-elected in 1863, he holds an 
 honored place in the history of this country. Active 
 during two generations in making and administering 
 law, earnest in the development of the vast resources 
 of the country, and enthusiastic in the defense of con- 
 stitutional liberty, Judge Doolittle enjoys the honor, 
 esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 He was born January 3. 1815, at Hampton, Wash- 
 ington county, N. Y. His father, Eeuben Doolittle, 
 upon migrating to Genessee county, in western New 
 York, became a farmer, mill owner, and merchant in 
 prosperous circumstances. His mother, Sarah (nee 
 Eood), was an estimable lady, who devoted herself to 
 domestic duties and to the education of her children, 
 instilling into their minds the principles of honor and 
 virtue. James E. was the eldest son in a family of four 
 boys and two girls. After the usual preliminary edu- 
 cation, he was sent to Geneva College, western New 
 York, and early began to show that ability which dis- 
 tinguished him in after years. Gifted with a retentive 
 memory and a clear understanding, combined with a 
 genius for hard work and diligent application, he easily 
 led his class and graduated with honors. 
 
 Having chosen the law as a profession, young Doo- 
 
 little studied its theory and practice with the Hon. 
 Harvey Putnam, at Attica, N. Y., and with the 
 Hon. Isaac Hills, of Eochester, N. Y., and was admitted 
 to practice by the Supreme 'Court of New York in 
 1837. It was not long before the young lawyer was 
 recognized as one of the coming men of the profession. 
 His thorough knowledge of the principles of common 
 law and his facility in applying them, aided by an 
 extensive and varied cours.e of reading, a pleasing and 
 musical voice and an easy and fluent delivery, marked 
 him as one destined for certain and rapid preferment. 
 
 About this time he removed to Warsaw, Wyoming 
 county, N. Y., where his ability was soon recognized 
 and rewarded ; and although a Democrat, he was 
 elected district attorney by a Whig constituency. 
 Having discharged the duties of that important office 
 with satisfaction to the people and credit to himself, 
 Mr. Doolittle, in 1851, removed to Eacine, Wis., where 
 he practiced his profession, and in a short time was 
 ranked among the ablest lawyers of that State, and 
 retained by Governor Farwell in cases involving the 
 interests of the commonwealth and intricate questions 
 of law. It is unnecessary to say that his practice 
 became large and lucrative, and that experience 
 developed the legal ability already recognized. 
 
 In 1852, Mr, Doolittle was elected judge of the 
 First Judicial Circuit in Wisconsin. No higher or 
 more pleasing tribute can be paid to a lawver than his 
 elevation to the bench. As such, Judge Doolittle 
 accepted it and applied all his knowledge and expe- 
 rience to the discharge of his duties. In this case the 
 office sought the man, and, what is more, sought 
 the right man. For three years he discharged the 
 important duties of his trust with ability, simplicity 
 and dignity. He had the rare power of combining the

 
 
 4 
 
 c 
 
 ^-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 suaviter in modo fortiier in re. When he resigned, in 
 March, 1856, he received the highest encomiums from 
 the press, the people and the profession. But no_ 
 sooner had Judge Doolittle laid down one honor than 
 another was given to him. In January, 1857, the 
 Legislature of Wisconsin elected him United States 
 senator, and re-elected him in 1863 to the same 
 office. The period during which he was in the Senate 
 during the administrations of Buchanan, Lincoln and 
 Johnson, was the most momentous since the founding 
 of the republic; and, may be divided into three 
 epochs: First, before the war, when the question was 
 the extension of slavery ; second, during the Civil War, 
 the period of secession; third, after the war, when 
 the issue was reinstatement or reconstruction. As a 
 member of the "committee of thirteen,'' appointed by 
 the Senate to devise a plan to prevent disruption, he 
 labored for that object with all his powers of mind and 
 body. When war became inevitable, he used his 
 whole strength to defeat the rebel arms. When the 
 war was over, he, as a representative of the people, 
 counseled moderation and maguanimity in reconstruc- 
 tion. He was also chairman, while in the Senate, of 
 the joint committee appointed to inquire into the 
 condition of the Indians in Kansas, Colorado and New 
 Mexico. The published report of this committee is 
 the most exhaustive and valuable that has ever been 
 compiled on the subject. 
 
 It would be trespassing on the domain of history 
 to recount here the calls to conventions written, the 
 speeches delivered, the public men with whom he has 
 worked, and the political issues he has originated or 
 supported. It is only necessary to add that Judge 
 Doolittle's life has been busy, honorable and useful ; 
 and, as expressed by a friend of his: " Like a clear 
 limpid stream wherein you can see the form and color 
 of the pebbles at the bottom and tnrough whose 
 meandering course no sediment appears." 
 
 Judge Doolittle is a man of fine physical develop- 
 ment. Even now, at the age of nearly four-score, he 
 is a man of powerful physique, with pleasing and 
 expressive features. His voice is still strong and 
 sonorous. When a younger man he had the " powers of 
 speech which stir men's blood," and he retains that 
 power still. The annexed portrait is a good likeness of 
 the Judge at the present time, and from it one may 
 
 83 
 
 conjecture what he was half a century ago. Yet it is 
 not alone the features, the voice or the figure that 
 challenges attention ; but there is a force of character 
 that impresses, an influence that impels, and a magnet- 
 ism that attracts. Few men during the past fifty vears 
 have addressed larger masses of people, or have 
 addressed, on political subjects, as many people. He is 
 a master of the art of rhetoric. His language is clear, 
 simple and graceful, and he leads his auditors through 
 a long argumentative path, decked with classic allusions 
 that, like flowers on the border cf a stream, seem to be 
 native there. 
 
 Ever since Judge Doolittle retired from the Senate 
 in 1869, though retaining his homestead and citizenship 
 in Wisconsin, he has b?en engaged in the practice of 
 law at Chicago. His first parnership was with Mr. 
 Jesse O. Norton, under the firm name of Doolittle & 
 Norton. After the great fire of October, 1871, he 
 formed a partnership w.th his son, under the firm name 
 of J. R. Doolittle & Son. In 1879, Mr. Henry McKey 
 was admitted as a partner in the business, and the firm 
 name became Doolittle & McKey. After the death of 
 Mr. James R. Doolittle Jr., which occurred in 1889, 
 Mr. Edgar B. Tolman became a member of the firm of 
 Doolittle, McKey & Tolman. In January, 1891, Mr. 
 McKey died. In June, 1892, Mr. John Mayo Palmer 
 became a member of the firm of Doolittle, Palmer & 
 Tolman. They have a large general practice. 
 
 Judge Doolittle suffered one of the great afflictions 
 of his lifetime in August, 1889, when his son, James 
 E. Jr., died. At the time or his death he was a mem- 
 ber of the law firm of which his distinguished father 
 is the head. He was an active member of the Chicago 
 board of education, and devoted himself unsparingly 
 to the interests of the city and suburban schools. He 
 was a man of great ability as a lawyer, highly accom- 
 plished as a scholar, and his kindly gentle nature en- 
 deared him to all. By his early death the bar of Cook 
 county lost one of its prominent members, the school 
 board one of its most progressive and active workers. 
 
 After a pure, honorable and useful life, actuated by 
 unselfish motives, prompted by patriotism and guided 
 by truth and justice, Judge Doolittle ma}' in old age 
 rest in the assurance that the people of thiscountr}' are 
 not unmindful of those who have devoted themselves 
 to their interests. "Palmam qui meruit ferat." 
 
 GEORGE HARRISON BARBOUR, 
 
 DETROIT, MICHIGAN. 
 
 EORGE HARRISON BARBOUR, son of Samuel 
 vj and Phoebe Barbour, was born at Collinsville, 
 Conn., on the 26th day of June, 1843. His first 
 experience in the world of business was in his father's 
 store,- which he entered at the age of fourteen years. 
 He worked in the store early and late, attending school 
 at each available opportunity, the salary earned by 
 
 his first year's work amounting to the munificent sum 
 of $50. 
 
 A few years later, his father retiring from active 
 business, turned the store over to George and a young 
 man about to become his brother-in-law. The estab- 
 lishment was conducted under the firm name of 
 Goodman & Barbour. After a few years Barbour
 
 8 4 
 
 bought oat bis partner and conducted the business alone. 
 At the age of twenty-nine years he sought for greater 
 opportunities than were afforded in a small town, and 
 accepted the position as secretary of the Michigan Stove 
 Company, of Detroit, Mich., which had just been 
 organized. Disposing of his old business interests, he 
 promptly entered upon a more extensive mercantile 
 career in his new position. The business rapidly 
 increased, and he quickly attained a prominent position 
 among merchants throughout the West. 
 
 Mr. Barbour soon became vice-president and general 
 manager of the Michigan Stove Company, now become 
 the largest establishment of its kind in the world ; a 
 director of the Peoples' Saving Bank, of the Dime 
 Savings Bank, the Union Trust Company, the Michigan 
 Fire & Marine Insurance Company, and the Buck's 
 Stove & Kange Company, of St. Louis, Mo. He was 
 also a director and first president of the Chamber of 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Commerce, and president of the Detroit Club for a 
 period of two years. 
 
 Mr. Barbour is an active Democrat, and was for two 
 years a member of the Detroit Board of Aldermen, and 
 its president for one year. He is a genial and agreeable 
 man in all his business and social relations, a hard 
 worker, popular in the trade and held in high esteem 
 by his associates and subordinates. He was president 
 of the National Stove Manufactures' Association for 
 two years, from 1888, being active in its organization, 
 and was a National Commissioner of the World's Fail- 
 in 1893, having reason to be proud of his appointment 
 by a Republican governor. 
 
 Mr. Barbour was united in marriage to Miss KateL. 
 Hawley, daughter of Wm. II. Hawley, of Collinsville, 
 Ct., on the 23d day of June, 1869, and as a result of 
 the union they have four children, two sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM. RUSH MERRIAM, 
 
 ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. 
 
 WILLIAM BUSH MERRIAM was born at the 
 village of Wadham's Mills. Essex county, N. 
 Y., in July, 1849. On the paternal side his ancestors 
 were Scotsmen. The progenitors of his family in 
 America emigrated to this country in the early part of 
 the seventeenth century, first settling in New Eng- 
 land. Their descendants dispersed themselves among 
 the colonies and eventually the members of the par- 
 ticular branch of the family to which Governor Mer- 
 riam belongs, located in northern New York, where 
 many of them became prominent and well known citi- 
 zens. His father, John L. Merriam, was also born in 
 Essex county. He was a merchant at Wadham's Mills 
 when his son was born, was somewhat extensively 
 engaged in the iron trade, and was at one time 
 treasurer of the county. His wife, the mother of 
 the subject of our sketch, was Mahala Delano, who 
 came of French ancestry. The Merriam family has 
 numerous representatives among the citizens of the 
 county of Essex, which, it may be stated, is or.e 
 of the most important counties in northwestern New 
 York. It is not only noted for its beautiful and 
 picturesque scenery and its great mineral wealth, 
 but is renowned for its historic associations. Certain 
 members of the Merriam family have been well known 
 proprietors of mineral lands, iron forges, furnaces, 
 etc., in this county. 
 
 It is somewhat embarassing to write of the career 
 of a living man standing at the meridian of his man- 
 hood, whose life so far has been one complete success, 
 whose future is so full of promise and of whom nothing 
 but good words can be said. Governor Merriam passed 
 his childhood days in his native village, a place of 
 about eight hundred population, containing a number 
 
 of iron mills and manufactories, and whose citizens 
 were, in the main, industrious, intelligent, and fairly 
 thrifty. In 1861, when he was but twelve years of 
 age, his father came to Minnesota, with his fam- 
 ily locating at St. Paul; and it is this city 
 where Governor Merriam has grown from boy- 
 hood to manhood, where he has accomplished his 
 life work thus far, and where among those who 
 have known him longest and best, he has won his 
 greatest successes and risen to his chief distinction. 
 His early life, although uneventful, was one of promise. 
 In St. Paul, as a boy, he was regarded as unusually 
 bright and intelligent, and a career of usefulness and 
 distinction was predicted for him by his intimates, even 
 when he was of tender years. In 1864, at the age of 
 fifteen, he was sent to school at Racine, Wis. 
 After a preparatory course at the academy he entered 
 the Racine College, and his academic and collegiate 
 courses comprised a period of about seven years. In 
 college he was well known. Assiduous and devoted as 
 a student, he was at the same time always animated and 
 buoyant, fond of sport and diversion, and not averse to 
 participating in an occasional "lark" or escapade. At 
 the close of every college year he stood at the head of 
 his class in general proficiency; and at the same time 
 had been one of the leaders in college recreations and 
 sports, his fellows having chosen him captain of a 
 cricket eleven. His was a sound mind in a sound and 
 active body. He cultivated almost equally his mathe- 
 matics, and his muscle, was equally proficient in cal- 
 culus and cricket, and to uniformly perfect recitations 
 in the classics and sciences he added superior attain- 
 ments in athletics, being alike a favorite with the 
 faculty and his classmates. In 1871 he was graduated,

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 standing first in his class in the order of general merit, 
 and receiving the chief honor in being assigned to the 
 delivery of the valedictory address. 
 
 Returning to St. Paul after his graduation, he at 
 once commenced his business career, engaging as clerk 
 in the First National bank at a salary of $50 per 
 month. His success was marked from the start. He 
 soon mastered his duties and discharged them with 
 such fidelity and acceptance that his talents and capa- 
 bilities attracted attention and secured for him the 
 high commendation of the officers of the bank, and the 
 business men with whom he came in contact. He 
 continued an employe of the First National Bank 
 until the year 1873. Soon after the Merchant's 
 National Bank of St. Paul commenced business, and 
 he was selected as its cashier. There are no royal 
 roads to preferment in such institutions ; advancement 
 comes by desert, hence it was no small compliment to 
 W. E. Merriam that he was elected cashier. So rapidly 
 did the rare business qualities possessed by him 
 develop, that in 1880 he was chosen vice-president 
 and in 1882 became president of the same institution, 
 which position he yet holds. Of the value of his 
 services to the Merchants National Bank, one inti- 
 mately acquainted with the history of the institution 
 says: "It is due to his work, his care, his constant 
 and faithful attention, and his knowledge of the 
 immense details of the business, that the bank has 
 grown to be one of the largest institutions of the kind 
 in the northwest." In commercial circles Governor 
 Merriam is regarded as a clear-headed, sagacious busi- 
 ness man, thorough in method, quick to discern and 
 prompt to decide. 
 
 He has ever taken an active interest in the affairs 
 of the city of St. Paul, whose youth was his youth, and 
 whose maturitv was contemporary with his maturity. 
 Always taking note of current events, keeping well 
 posted in public affairs, and never without a decided 
 opinion upon the many issues of the day, he was led, 
 even early in life, to manifest an interest in political 
 matters. Governor Merriam has always been a Re- 
 publican. His first vote was cast for General Grant 
 for President upon his second election, in 1872. He 
 identified himself with various Republican clubs and 
 other political associations at home and throughout 
 the State, and through his active participation in 
 various campaigns, he came to be regarded as one of 
 the leading young Republicans in the city and State. 
 In 1882, he was nominated by his party, and elected 
 by a good majority to represent his ward in the State 
 Legislature of 1883. The district from which he was 
 chosen then the 27th was composed of the 2nd. 3rd, 
 4th and Gth wards of the city. His colleagues were 
 Hons. Charles H. Stahlman, W. D. Cornish and O. O. 
 Cullen. The representatives from the other St. Paul 
 districts, the 26th, were Hons. Conrad Gotzian, James 
 Smith, Jr. and P. Bohland. In the legislature of 1883, 
 he was a member of the committee on finance and 
 banks, and was chairman of the committee on public 
 
 87 
 
 expenditures. He took part in the movement which 
 resulted in the election of Hon. D. M. Sabin to the 
 United States Senate, and made a most excellent legis- 
 lative record. He was described as a " quiet, but very 
 earnest worker," and in due time acquired large 
 acquaintance and reputation. 
 
 For the two years succeeding the session of 1883, he 
 gave his time entirely to business and private affairs, 
 but in 1886 he was again elected a representative from 
 St. Paul, this time from the 26th district. Upon 
 the assembling of the legislature of 1887 he was 
 chosen by his party caucus as its nominee for speaker 
 of the house, and upon the organization of that body 
 was duly elected. As presiding officer over the popu- 
 lar branch of the legislative body, a position requiring 
 qualities of intelligence, address and discernment, as 
 well as executive abilities of a high order, he attained 
 high distinction. His decisions were rarely questioned, 
 and his conduct was uniformly fair and in all regards 
 commendable. In making up the committees he gave 
 to the farmers of the State a most liberal representa- 
 tion, served their interests carefully, and at the close of 
 the session was personally thanked by numerous repre- 
 sentatives of the agricultural element for his services 
 in their behalf. Connected somewhat intimately with 
 that interest owning and conducting a large number 
 of farms in different portions of the State he well 
 knew what was required in its favor at the hands of 
 the legislature, and used his opportunity wisely and 
 well, but without unjust discrimination against any 
 other interest. His administration of the duties of 
 speaker, on the whole was well nigh universally popu- 
 lar, and added very largely to his growing reputation, 
 politically, throughout the State. 
 
 At the State convention of the Republican party of 
 Minnesota, held at St. Paul in the early part of Sep- 
 tember, 1888, he was nominated as its candidate for 
 governor, on the fourth regular ballot. He had 
 engaged to stand for the nomination at the solicitation 
 of legions of his friends, mainly as the representative 
 of the young and progressive element of his party and 
 of the agricultural interests of the State. The contest 
 for the nomination had been long and exciting, and to 
 those who saw through a glass darkly, it promised to 
 be protracted in the convention. Delegates in favor 
 of other gentlemen had been chosen from St. Paul and 
 Minneapolis, and the outlook for the selection of the 
 young ex-speaker as the standard bearer of the party 
 was, to the vision of many, very doubtful. But when 
 the convention began to ballot, the rural districts were 
 heard from, and Merriam led in the contest from the 
 first. County after county joined his column, and on 
 the fourth ballot he was triumphantly nominated over 
 all opposition. His nomination was mar.ifestlv the 
 work of the plain people, the farmers and agriculturists 
 of the State. Out of 270 votes he received on the 
 decisive ballot, all but ten came from country delegates. 
 The successful general is he who relies mainly upon 
 the bravery and fidelity of his common soldiers; and
 
 88 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 in this republic of ours no man may safely hope for 
 important political preferment unless he have the yeo- 
 manry of the country at his back. In accepting the 
 nomination Gov. Merriam said he did so without a per- 
 sonal pledge or obligation of service to any individual. 
 He was simply the candidate of the great Republican 
 part}'. 
 
 In the canvass which followed, the gubernatorial 
 nominee took an active working part. Under the 
 instruction of the authorities of his party, he took the 
 field, speaking in various parts of the State for the 
 Republican cause at large, making special exertions for 
 the election of the congressional candidates, and con- 
 tributing very substantially to the complete victory 
 which was won at the pojls in November. When, 
 after the election, the votes were counted his plurality 
 over his Democratic competitor, the Hon. E. M. 
 Wilson, of Minneapolis, a most worthy gentleman of 
 recognized ability, and a very popular and strong 
 candidate was in excess of 24,000. The vote he 
 received (134,355) exceeded by more than 25,000 that 
 ever before given for any gubernatorial candidate in 
 the history of the State. From the position of bank 
 clerk to that of governor, from an office stool to the 
 chair of State is a good distance to be compassed by a 
 young man in seventeen years. 
 
 Upon his inauguration, Governor Merriam at once 
 addressed himself earnestly to his duties. The 
 occasions have been very rare in the history of Ameri- 
 can commonwealths, when the people of a great State 
 have chosen as their governor a young business man, 
 without much previous public and official experience, 
 and in this instance the action of the voters of Minne- 
 sota was regarded by many as somewhat experimental. 
 But Governor Merriam rose to the occasion, and from 
 his accession has fulfilled the highest expectations of 
 his most ardent and hopeful friends. He brought to his 
 high office an intelligent conception of its requirements 
 and responsibilities, a knowledge of the history, condi- 
 tion and resources of the State wherein the greater 
 portion of his life had been passed; a natural adaptation 
 for executive duties; a mind vigorous, clear and com- 
 prehensive; purposes broad and liberal, and above all, 
 a determination to adhere to the letter of his sacred 
 official oath to take care that the laws should be faith- 
 fully executed. His inaugural address to the legisla- 
 ture of 1889, made manifest his qualifications for his 
 position. Its recommendations were all practical and 
 salutary. Many of his sentences read like axioms. 
 Written with an unaffected spirit of patriotism, there 
 was naught of suggestion in it that did not contemplate 
 the promotion of the general welfare and the advance- 
 ment of the future destiny of the State. Said its 
 author in concluding: ''Let the fame of. Minnesota 
 still further spread ; further and wider let it become 
 known that .her laws are humane and just; that her 
 educational and civilizing influences are carefully 
 guarded and fostered ; that her people as individuals, 
 are amply protected in their homes and in their 
 
 vocations; that industries, manufactories and corporate 
 enterprises are heartily encouraged, yet firmly with- 
 held within those limits beyond which they became 
 oppressive, and the future we hope for is assured to 
 us." 
 
 The administration of Governor Merriam was in all 
 respects for its own credit and for the benefit of the 
 people, successful to a pre-eminent degree. There were 
 no ruptures in its councils, only the gentlest criticisms 
 of its policies, and not a word of impeachment of its 
 high character. The laws enforced, the people pro- 
 tected, all interests subserved. The governor himself 
 pursued an unvarying course of plain purpose and 
 honorable conduct. His action in the asylum investi- 
 gations was prompt, fair and thorough, and was uni- 
 versally commended. His appointments to office have 
 all been received with great general favor. His exer- 
 cise of the pardoning power was discriminative and 
 careful, just and merciful, but controlled by the prin- 
 ciple that the most exact justice is oftentimes the truest 
 mercy. His multifarious and exacting duties in con- 
 nection with the details of the State government, were 
 always promptly and intelligently discharged. He has 
 given his personal attention to matters commonly en- 
 trusted to subordinates. There was never an instance 
 of unreasonable delay in the transaction of his official 
 business. His table was regularly cleared each day of 
 its accumulations. He was uniformly accessible, frank 
 and unreserved toward everybody, absolutely without 
 affectation or assumption of a false dignity, and the 
 humblest visitor at the executive office was always 
 accorded an audience and his business given most re- 
 spectful attention. He mingled freely with the people 
 in all parts of the State, in response to their invitations, 
 and no man had a larger acquaintance with them, or 
 understood their sentiments and condition better. 
 Next in years to the youngest governor in the Union, 
 and the youngest the State of Minnesota has ever had, 
 Governor Merriam is one of the most popular ; and it 
 is not too much to say, that his administration may 
 await with unconcern the approach of the future his- 
 torian of Minnesota, and rest satisfied with his estima- 
 tion of its character and with his judgment upon its 
 influence and general worth. 
 
 Among the citizens of St. Paul, Governor Merriam 
 has ever been regarded as one of its worthiest and 
 most valuable. He was treasurer of the board of edu- 
 cation during the years 1887 and 1888. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Chamber of Commerce, a vestryman of St. 
 Paul's church, and has been connected with various bus- 
 iness enterprises and associations. Quietly, and avoiding 
 notoriety and publicity of every and any sort, he has 
 been a most liberal contributor to the various charitable 
 institutions and organizations of the city, notably to 
 the Orphan Asylum, St. Luke's hospital, the Y. M. C. 
 A., and to numerous churches. His private benefac- 
 tions have been and still are most frequent and liberal, 
 and indigent, suffering humanity has no more earnest 
 sympathizer or better friend than Minnesota's noble
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 89 
 
 young ex-governor. For many years past. Governor 
 Merriara has been prominently interested in agricul- 
 tural matters. As previously stated, he owns a num- 
 ber of farms in the State, which he has managed quite 
 successfully. He was vice-president "of the State Ag- 
 ricultural Association in 1886, and in 1887 and 1888 
 was president. The successful fairs and exhibitions of 
 the Association in 1887-88 were attributed by his asso- 
 ciates and others largely to his methods and manage- 
 ment. 
 
 Personally, Governor Merriam is a typical Ameri- 
 can citizen of the present age, and of the civilization of 
 the last decade of the nineteenth century. He is 
 earnest, self-reliant and confident, and has never been 
 identified witli a failure. His nature is a combination 
 of the ideal and the substantial. His tastes may be 
 aesthetic, but all iiis ideas and his conduct are entirely 
 practical. Of a scholarly and literary turn of mind, 
 he is unexcelled as a business man, and thoroughly 
 informed on all questions of trade and commerce. He 
 is of a genial and social temperament, fond of field 
 and athletic sports and diversions, was one of the first 
 presidents of the Minnesota Boat Club, is an admirer 
 and owner of good horses, and enjoys life sensibly and 
 thoroughly. His ambition has been to acquit himself 
 of his life's duties honorably before all men, to improve 
 his capabilities and opportunities, and become of use 
 in the world, and it is this spirit, mainly, which made 
 the schoolboy of St. Paul, the governor of Minnesota. 
 
 Governor Merriam has a beautiful and happy home, 
 presided over by his estimable and accomplished wife, 
 
 nee Laura Hancock, to whom he was married in 1872, 
 while he was a bank clerk, in St. Paul. Four children 
 have been born to their union. Mrs. Merriam is a 
 native of Philadelphia. She is a daughter of John 
 Hancock of that city, and the distinguished soldier, the 
 late Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, was her 
 father's brother. The governor is devoted to his family, 
 subordinates every other consideration to the felicity 
 and well being of his home and household and 
 
 To make a li<ippy fireside clime 
 
 For weans and wife 
 Is the true pathos and sublime 
 
 Of human life. 
 
 Governor Merriam was re-elected in 1890. the oppos- 
 ing candidates being Thomas Wilson, Democrat, and 
 II. M. Owens, alliance, and his second term in office 
 added new laurels to the brilliant record made in his 
 first term. Upon his retirement from office on the first 
 of January, 1893, he took with him into private life the 
 commendation and heartfelt good wishes of the entire 
 people of Minnesota. He immediately returned to the 
 duties in the bank which h.e had laid down four years 
 previously to direct the ship of State, and while now 
 but a private citizen he has only to signify his willing 
 ness to again serve his fellow citizens in office to have 
 them lay the best that they can offer at his feet. Not 
 withstanding his present intentions such a man cannot 
 long remain away from public life, and we may soon 
 look to see him again in the field and again serving 
 those whom he has served so well in the past. 
 
 JOSEPH BOND, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOSEPH BOND was born at Ware, Mass., on the 
 13th day of February, 1852. He is the son of 
 Benjamin and Louisa (Eaton) Bond and a descendent 
 of one of the earliest families that settled in Massachu- 
 setts. They occupy a position in all of the early 
 records of that State, and the old Bond homestead, 
 which still stands at Ipswich, was built only about a 
 decade after the landing of the "Pilgrim Fathers," and 
 is one of the historic landmarks of the State. 
 
 Joseph Bond was born and spent his early life on a 
 farm, attending the public schools for which Massachu- 
 setts is so justly famous,and later took acourse at Kimball 
 Union academy, at Meriden, N. H. His studies were 
 pursued with the sole object of fitting himself for a 
 commercial life, for which he felt that he was pecu- 
 liarly suited, and the correctness of his views have 
 been amply demonstrated by his subsequent career. 
 Even during his life on the farm, though the conditions 
 there were very favorable for comfort and enjoyment, 
 they were not congenial, and his desire and aptness 
 
 for all things pertaining to commerce found frequent 
 expression both at home and at school. 
 
 After graduating from the academy, in order to 
 get a start in his commercial career and also in order 
 to have something to rely upon in the event of future 
 misfortune, he learned the trade of mason. He worked 
 at this trade until 1872, when he went into a stove store 
 at Ware, Mass., as clerk, remaining one year,then going 
 toWaltham, Mass., where he occupied a similar position 
 with Richardson Brothers until 1875, when he became 
 a partner, the firm being known as Richardson & Bond. 
 He remained in this business until 1880, when, on 
 account of impaired health, he retired from the firm 
 and from business until 1881, in which year he went to 
 Buffalo, N. Y., and engaged in the manufacture of 
 heating apparatus with J. B. Peirce, until the spring of 
 1882, when the Peirce Steam Heating Company was 
 organized. The business of this company grew very 
 rapidly, and in March, 1889, was incorporated with a 
 capital of $150,000, Mr. Bond being elected treasurer.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 This position he held until January 1, 1892, when the 
 business was sold to the American Radiator Company, 
 Mr. Bond being then elected president of this company, 
 which position he still holds. They do the largest 
 business in their line in the world, having offices located 
 in New York, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, St. Paul 
 and Chicago, the general offices being located at 111- 
 113 Lake street, in the latter city, and the works at 
 Detroit and Buffalo. 
 
 Mr. Bond has traveled extensively in the United 
 States, having visited the principal cities both for 
 pleasure and business, and in 1889 he and his wife 
 made a trip through Europe. 
 
 He was reared in the Baptist faith and has always 
 adhered to his early teachings, being active in church, 
 Sunday school and charitable work, not alone from a 
 
 sense of duty, but because of a genuine interest in the 
 welfare of others. Politically he is conservative, 
 casting his ballot for the man that bethinks best fitted 
 for the position sought, though leaning toward the 
 candidates of the Republican party. He was married 
 June 18, 1879, to Miss Mary Adelia Olney, at Waltham, 
 Mass. They have two daughters. 
 
 Joseph Bond is one of Chicago's self made men. 
 Instinctively choosing the career for which he was best 
 fitted, he has pushed every opportunity to a successful 
 ending, and has made the farmer's son of twenty years 
 ago, one of the best known business men of the country 
 to day. Retiring, in everything but business, he finds 
 his truest enjoyment in the society of his family and in 
 doing what he deems to be his duty in advancing the 
 cause of Christianity. 
 
 CHARLES FREDERICK GUNTHER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the men who have visited most quarters of 
 the globe and made use of the artistic, scientific and 
 practical knowledge that they have thus obtained, 
 for the benefit of their fellowmen, none is more favor- 
 ably known nor has made better use of the advantages 
 thus obtained for the city of Chicago and its inhabi- 
 tants, than has the subject of this biography. He was 
 born in Wildberg, a beautiful town located in the cele- 
 brated " Black Forest. " district of Wurtemberg, South 
 Germany, on March 6, 1837. When a lad of five years, 
 his parents immigrated to the United States, the ocean 
 voyage occupying fifty-two days between Havre and 
 New York. They finally settled at Columbia, Lancas- 
 ter county, Penn. In 1848, the family moved to the 
 mountain district in Somerset county, and it was here 
 and in the place of their previous residence that Charles 
 obtained his elementary education, by attending private 
 schools. He, early in life, showed those traits of inde- 
 pendence, and love of adventure and travel that have 
 characterized his later life, and when but a mere child 
 he made daily journeys over the mountains, carrying 
 the United States mail. His daily trip wa twenty 
 miles and return. For this service he received twenty- 
 five cents per diem. 
 
 In the spring of 1850 the family removed to Peru, 
 Illinois, journeying by the Pennsylvania canal to Pitts- 
 burg thence by the rivers to St. Louis, and thence up to 
 the headwaters of the Illinois river. Here young Gun- 
 ther attended private and public schools, and at an 
 early age began his business career in a general store, 
 at the munificent salary of $2.50 per month and board, 
 which he soon left to accept a position in a drug store. 
 He became a competent drug clerk, and also studied 
 the rudiments of medical science. His next position 
 was in the post-office at Peru, where he became 
 manager of the office. Following that he became an 
 
 employe in the bank of Alexander Cruikshank, who 
 represented the famous banking house of George 
 Smith, & Co., of Chicago. He remained with this firm 
 five years, and after three years in their employe, was 
 made cashier of the bank. In those days Peru was a 
 great ice-packing depot, whence large quantities of this 
 commodity were shipped to Southern cities. Young 
 Gunther, though his business relations, became intima- 
 tely acquainted with prominent business men of the 
 South, which at that time offered great opportunities 
 to an ambitious young man. Resigning his position in 
 the early fall of 1860, he went thither and after visiting 
 all of the leading cities of the Southern States, settled in 
 Memphis, accepting a position with Messrs. Bohlen, 
 Wilson & Co., the leading ice firm in the South. The 
 opening of the War of the Rebellion about this time 
 paralyzed mercantile business in the South. After the 
 firing upon Fort Sumter and the proclamation by 
 President Lincoln closing the ports of all Southern 
 cities, a majority of the population of the South 
 enlisted in the Confederate army, and many of the 
 " sons of the North " fled from the Southern territory. 
 Not so with Mr. Gunther; he believed, with many 
 others in the South, that the trouble would be short- 
 lived, and remained faithfully at his post. When the 
 blockade became effective and all mercantile pursuits 
 practically dead, he accepted a position on the Arkan- 
 sas river steamer " Rose Douglas," in the service of 
 the Confederate Government, as purchasing steward 
 and subsequently as purser. He navigated all of the 
 southern rivers tributary to the Mississippi, transport- 
 ing troops, conscripts and supplies. By the capture of 
 Memphis and New Orleans, this steamer, while up the 
 Arkansas river, was blockaded, and afterward was 
 captured and burned at Van Buren, Ark., by General 
 Blunt's army, consisting principally of Kansas troops.
 
 Blag Pub Co CtacM"

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 93 
 
 Mr. Gunther, upon being liberated, was courteously 
 entertained at the headquarters of the commanding 
 general, and also at the headquarters of his successor, 
 General Scofield. lie next journeyed northward to 
 Fort Scott, and thence to Fort Leavenworth, traveling 
 partly on horseback and partly on a captured coach, 
 there being then no railroads in that part of Missouri 
 and Kansas. Eeturning to his old home in Peru, he 
 remained there three days and then accepted a position 
 for a short time in a bank at Peoria, made vacant by 
 the temporary illness of an employe. 
 
 He next accepted a situation as traveling salesman for 
 the wholesale confectionery of C.W. Sanford, of Chicago, 
 and became one of the first representatives of Chicago 
 to sell goods throughout the South and East. He placed 
 large amounts of goods in the cities of the reconstructed 
 South, and he also represented the firm in the States 
 of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia and Ken- 
 tucky. It was while employed as a traveling salesman 
 that he made his first trip to Europe and so familiar- 
 ized himself with European languages and customs 
 that he was afterwards enabled to converse fluently 
 with those of his customers who had been reard on the 
 other side of the Atlantic. Tempted by an increased 
 salary, he next entered the employ of Thompson, 
 Johnson & Co., wholesale grocers on South Water 
 street. He represented the house in the West for two 
 years, but finding the business uncongenial, he re- 
 turned to the line in which he had become so promi- 
 nent, and became the Chicago representative of Messrs. 
 Greenfield, Young & Co., the leading New York 
 confectioners, for whom his travels covered the New 
 England, Middle and Western States. 
 
 In the fall of 1868 he opened a retail store at No. 
 125 Clark street, Chicago, on his own account, it being 
 the first establishment opened in Chicago introducing 
 high grade confections. Mr. Gunther was the first 
 confectioner to manufacture and introduce the famous 
 caramels as now made and sold throughout the United 
 States and Europe,a fact in which he takes a justifiable 
 pride. The general conflagration of 1871 totally 
 destroyed his establishment and left him absolutely 
 without resources, but with characteristic enterprise 
 he immediately reopened business in a small way, and 
 soon recuperated his losses, and was rewarded with 
 great subsequent success. 
 
 Mr. Gunther has a decided inclination for adven- 
 ture and travel and has visited all the expositions of 
 note in Europe since 1867, and he has traveled in every 
 country from the land of the " midnight sun" to Con- 
 stantinople and Damascus ; he has also journeyed to 
 the Holy Land, through Egypt', Syria and the countries 
 lying adjacent to the Mediterranean, including Mor- 
 occo, Algeria, Tripoli, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Tur- 
 key. He speaks French, German and Spanish fluently, 
 and is perfectly at home in all the capitals of Europe. 
 In 1879 Mr. Gunther was one of the commission organ- 
 ized to make a tour of Mexico with a view to opening 
 trade relations between the two republics that up to 
 that time had been very inconsiderab.'e. On that tour, 
 
 which was one continual ovation, he acquired much 
 useful information. The result of the commission's 
 work was to call the attention of our merchants to the 
 advantages derivable from trade relations with this 
 sister republic, which at that time had no railroad con- 
 nections with the United States. 
 
 Mr. Gunther has indulged his innate love for his- 
 torical and scientific research to the fullest extent, and 
 has secured the finest historical collection in the United 
 States. This collection comprises manuscripts of the 
 most ancient writings of the world, from the stone 
 rolls of the Assyrian of the Babylonian period, and in 
 fact, parchments and writings on papyrus from the 
 days of the earliest Pharaohs down to modern times. 
 He undoubtedly possesses the rarest and finest col- 
 lection of Bibles in the world, including the famous 
 Martha Washington Bible, also that of Washington's 
 sister Betty, also the first New Testament printed in 
 the English language at Worms, Germany, by Tindal, 
 about 1528, and all of the first Bibles printed on 
 the American continent, including the Elliott Indian 
 Bibles, and the first German Bible, by Sauer, 1743, 
 and the first American Bible, by Atkinson, 1782. He 
 also owns historical manuscripts of all nations of many 
 centuries past, including an autograph of Shakespeare, 
 and original manuscripts of Goethe, Schiller, Tasso, 
 Michael Angelo, Gallileo, Moliere, and many others; 
 also original manuscripts of all the world's famous 
 writers, poets, musicians, kings, queens, clergymen 
 and politicians, including the original manuscripts 
 of "Home, Sweet Home," "Old Lang Syne," "Old 
 Grimes," and " Lead Kindly Light." He also has the 
 earliest maps of America from 1507 up, and the first 
 edition of the Cosmographie of Martin Waldsemuller, 
 which was the first book that gave the name of 
 America to the New World ; also a large number of 
 relics of George Washington, covering his entire career, 
 as well as of Abraham Lincoln, and of all other American 
 historical characters. His collection also includes the 
 famous portrait of Columbus by Sir Antonio Moro, 
 painted about 1552, from two miniatures then in pos- 
 session at the Palace of Pardo, Spain. Washington 
 Irving pronounced this the best and truest likeness of 
 Columbus extant, and used an engraved copy of it as 
 a frontispiece for his second revised English edition of 
 his " Life of Columbus." The collection also contains 
 six original portraits of Washington, including the first 
 ever made of him. by the elder Peale, and the only 
 portrait in existence of Washington's sister Betty and 
 her husband ; also the portrait of Benj. Franklin, by 
 Kobert Fulton. 
 
 One of the greatest attractions that is at present 
 on exhibition in Chicago, and one that will doubtless 
 excite the interest of the many thousands who visit 
 the city, is the War Museum contained in the cele- 
 brated Libby Prison, that was several years ago 
 removed to Chicago from Jiichmond, Va. This vast 
 undertaking was successfully accomplished by Mr. 
 Gunther, associated with Mr. W. H. Gray, and other 
 public-spirited men of Chicago, and to them Chicago
 
 94 
 
 is indebted for the finest collection of war relics on 
 the American continent. The great collection of in- 
 teresting and historical war relics with which the 
 Libby Prison is filled is the private property of Mr. 
 Gunther, and is loaned by him to the association. 
 
 Mr. Gunther is president of the Libby Prison War 
 Museum Association, also a prominent member of the 
 Chicago Historical Society, and a trustee of the 
 Academy of Science. He is a member of the Union 
 League and Iroquois Clubs. He became a Master 
 Mason in Peru, 111., in 1860, and during his thirty-one 
 years' membership he has passed through many 
 degrees, including the Knights Templar, Oriental Con- 
 sistory (thirty-second degree), and Sovereign Grand 
 Inspector General of the thirty-third and last degree 
 of the Northern Jurisdiction, U. S. A. He is also a 
 member of the Mystic Shrine. 
 
 In 1869. he was married to Miss Jennie Burnell, of 
 Lima, Ind. They have two sons Burnell, now a stu- 
 dent at Berlin, Germany, and Paris, twenty-one years 
 old; and Whitman, aged nineteen. Mrs. Gunther is 
 a highly educated and refined woman, active in char- 
 
 MEN OF THE GREA T IVEST. 
 
 itable and religious work. Mr. and Mrs. Gunther are 
 active members of Grace Episcopal church. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Gunther had been for many years 
 affiliated with the Republican party, but being fully in 
 sympathy with Mr. Cleveland's views on the tariff, 
 supported that gentleman for the presidency. lie be- 
 lieves in "tariff for revenue only." 
 
 As a business man Mr. Gunther has been enterpris- 
 ing, energetic, and always abreast of the times, and 
 has been rewarded by an ample fortune. His business 
 motto has always been, " Not how cheap, but how 
 good?" He undoubted!}' has the largest retail trade 
 in fine confections of an} 7 house in the United States, 
 and his store is not surpassed in beauty or arrangement 
 by that of any of its kind in the world. Mr. Gunther 
 lias attained to a position of prominence through his own 
 exertions, and may justly be proud of what he has 
 wrought. He is a man of generous impulses and gives 
 liberally of his time and money to all worthy causes, 
 and in everything that he does he tries to make the 
 world brighter and better. He is loved by his friends 
 and highly esteemed by his fellow citizens. 
 
 NATHAN DICKINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 NATHAN DICKINSON, treasurer of the Albert 
 Dickinson Cornpany, the large seed firm on the 
 corner of Clark and Sixteenth streets, Chicago, is the 
 son of Albert F. Dickinson and Ann Eliza (Anthony) 
 Dickinson, and \Vas born at Curtisville. Berkshire 
 county/ Mass., in 1848. His father was the son of 
 Justus Dickinson, a prominent man of Hawley, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 The Dickinson family came to Chicago in 1855, 
 where young Dickinson received a common public 
 school education. He afterwards attended high 
 school, but left before graduating, as he was needed 
 in his father's store, where he entered upon the 
 duties of clerk under the instructions of his father. 
 Here he remained until 1871, when the great fire 
 swept over Chicago and left nothing of their 
 business. After the fire, Mr. Dickinson, Sr., retired 
 from the business, his eldest son, Albert, brother to 
 the subject of this sketch, continuing the same. Mr. 
 Nathan Dickinson, together with his other broth- 
 ers and sisters, determined to aid their elder 
 brother in his laudable undertaking, of attempt- 
 ing to bring the firm back to its old standing by 
 paying all the outstanding debts. The insurance 
 carried at the time of the fire proving worthless, 
 their loss was a total one, and it badly crippled 
 them. The failure to collect this insurance, as was 
 the case with so many other unfortunate Chicagoans 
 
 on their destroyed property was a severe blow, hard 
 to withstand. 
 
 Mr. Nathan Dickinson continued as partner and 
 helper to his brother Albert until 1888, when the 
 business was incorporated, and he was chosen treas- 
 urer, with h'is brother Albert as president, Charles as 
 vice-president, and his sister, Melissa, as secretary. 
 
 The house, since its incorporation, has done a large 
 and constantly growing business ; and it is now generally 
 recognized as one of the largest seed houses known 
 anywhere in that business. 
 
 Although he is of liberal views politically, Mr. 
 Dickinson affiliates with the Republican party, and is 
 uniformly found voting to sustain its principles. Mr. 
 Dickinson has been a hard worker all his life, and that 
 his labor has not been in vain is shown by results, for 
 success has attended his efforts, and that it ever ma}' 
 continue to do so, is the expressed wish of his many 
 friends. His life has been ever manly and sincere, and 
 his manners unaffected and pleasant. He has not only 
 many friends in Chicago, but throughout the entire 
 West. In appearance, Mr. Dickinson is of medium 
 height and weight, affable, kind and courteous toward 
 all, and of gentlemanly deportment. 
 
 He was married on July 17,1889, to Miss Louisa H., 
 daughter of George J. W. Boyd, Esq., of Wisconsin. 
 They have one daughter, Ruth, and a pleasant home at 
 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS DRAKE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 95 
 
 JOHN ADAMS DRAKE, son of General F. M. 
 Drake and Mary (Lord) Drake, was born atCenter- 
 ville, la. His father, General Drake, is president of the 
 Centerville National Bank, president of the Indiana, 
 Illinois & Iowa railway, and its principal owner. The 
 General also endowed the Drake University, at 
 Des Moines, and he stands as sponsor to that 
 institution. 
 
 Young Drake, after attending public school, 
 entered the high school at Centerville, Iowa, where, 
 after graduating, he took a scientific course at Drake 
 University, graduating therefrom in 1886. In 1887 
 he attended the Eastman Business College, at Pough- 
 keepsie, N. Y., and finished his education there. 
 
 Upon leaving school, Mr. Drake's first position was 
 that of general superintendent of the Centerville Coal 
 Company, at Centerville, la. Later he accepted the 
 
 position of private secretary to the general manager 
 of the Indiana. Illinois & Iowa railway, with offices at 
 Chicago, and was still later appointed secretary and 
 treasurer of the same road, which position he holds at 
 the present time. 
 
 Mr. Drake is a lieutenant under General II. II. 
 Wright, brigadier general of the first brigade of Iowa. 
 He is still a member of the regiment. He has traveled 
 quite extensively both in the United States and Cuba. 
 Mr. Drake is a loyal Republican, in politics, and is 
 usually found voting with the party of his choice. 
 
 He was married on January 26, 1893, to Miss Dula 
 H. Rae, daughter of Col. Robert Rae, one of Chicago's 
 leading attorneys. Mr. Drake is of medium height, of 
 genial and pleasant manner, and a man whom it is truly 
 a pleasure to know. Those who know him best testify 
 to his energy, activity and business enterprise. 
 
 HENRY W. KING. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is among the foremost 
 business men of Chicago. A native of Martins- 
 burg, Lewis county, N. Y., he was born on December 
 18, 1828. He received his early education in the pub- 
 lic schools, and later graduated from the State Acad- 
 emy at Lowville, N. Y., preparatory to entering Ham- 
 ilton College. After leaving the academy, however, 
 he changed his purpose, and instead of entering college 
 accepted a position in his father's store at Martins- 
 burg, where he remained until 1854. 
 
 During that year, being then twenty-six years of 
 age, he removed to Chicago and began that business 
 career in which he has achieved a most enviable suc- 
 cess and made for himself a reputation of which any 
 man might justly be proud. Mr. King was first .asso- 
 ciated with S. L. Barrett and P. V. Kellogg, under 
 the firm name of Barrett, King & Co.. and opened a 
 wholesale clothing house at 189 South Water street. 
 In 1857 the business was removed to Nos. 205-207 
 South W^ater street, and three years later to Nos. 25- 
 27 Lake street. In 1863 the firm name changed to 
 King, Kellogg & Co., by the withdrawal of Mr. 
 Barrett. This firm continued until 1868, when it was 
 dissolved by mutual consent, and Mr. King associated 
 himself with Messrs. W. C. Browning and Edward W. 
 Dewey, of New York, under the style of Henry W. 
 King & Co., opening a store at the corner of Lake 
 street and Michigan avenue. Since 1868 the name and 
 personnel of the firm have remained unchanged. Dtir- 
 ing the great fire of October 9, 1871, the house sus- 
 tained a loss of $550,000; but, through the courtesy of 
 the late Mr. Wirt Dexter, then solicitor for the Michi- 
 
 gan Central Railroad Company, who placed at their 
 disposal a train of freight cars, they were enabled to 
 save a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stock, which 
 they shipped to Michigan City and stored. With 
 characteristic enterprise, while the. ruins of the burned 
 city were still smoking, the firm secured temporary 
 quarters at the corner of Canal and Washington 
 streets, and re-shipping the goods from Michigan City 
 and bringing others from their large manufactingestab- 
 lishment in New York city, they were enabled at the 
 end of two weeks after the fire to reopen their business. 
 The business was removed in the following year, 
 1872, to the Farwell block on Market street, and was 
 continued there until 1875, when it was changed to the 
 southeast corner of Madison and Franklin streets. The 
 house is now located at the corner of Adams and Market. 
 From the beginning the volume of the business has 
 steadily grown, and during the ten years last past the 
 firm has established flourishing retail houses in New 
 York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Minne- 
 apolis, St. Paul, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis and 
 Chicago. These branch houses are conducted under 
 the firm name of Browning, King & Co., and their 
 annual business, with that of the wholesale house, 
 aggregates about $5,000,000. Mr. King's original 
 firm in 1854 did an annual business not to exceed 
 8150,000. 
 
 Mr. King has been called to many positions of 
 trust. For twenty-five years he has been one of the di- 
 rectors of the Commercial National Bank, of Chicago, 
 and has been called to act as executor in many large 
 estates. Aside from his business, Mr. King has taken
 
 9 6 
 
 an active interest in all public matters relating to the 
 welfare of his cit}', and been closely identified with 
 many public enterprises. From 1871 to 1873 he was 
 president of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, which 
 disbursed during that time the enormous sum of 
 $5,000,000, mostly contributed for the relief of those 
 who suffered in the great fire. The ability and fidelity 
 displayed in the distribution of this magnificent and 
 timely bounty attracted attention far and wide, and 
 the Chicago society became the model for societies of 
 a similar character in many parts of the world. Since 
 1873, Mr. King has served as treasurer of this society. 
 He is also vice-president of the Chicago Nursery and 
 Half-Orphan Asylum, and one of the directors of the 
 Old People's Home. He is also a director in several 
 commercial institutions. 
 
 In his religious faith, Mr. King is a Presbyterian, 
 and is a leading member of the Fourth Presbyterian 
 church, of Chicago, and president of the board of 
 trustees of the McCormick Theological Seminary. He 
 takes an active part in all the affairs of his church 
 and in charitable, benevolent and philanthropic enter- 
 prises generally, ever standing ready to contribute 
 generously of his time, energy and money. 
 
 In political sentiment he is a Republican. Though 
 in no sense a politician, and invariably declining the 
 honors of official positions, he takes an earnest and 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 active part in the proper conduct of public affairs, and 
 in casting his ballot often votes for a candidate who 
 differs from himself in political faith, if he believes 
 him better qualified for the office sought than the can- 
 didates of his own party, his belief being that men and 
 principles are higher and should carry more weight 
 in deciding one's course in such matters than loyalty 
 to party. 
 
 Mr. King was married in 1858 to Miss Aurelia 
 Case, a daughter of Mr. John R. Case, one of Chicago's 
 early citizens, now deceased. They have one son and two 
 daughters, viz., Francis, now associated with his father 
 in business; Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. Cyrus Bentley, 
 an attorney at law, of Chicago, and Christine, the wife 
 of Mr. S. H. Pomeroy, of Pittsfield, Mass. 
 
 In closing this sketch, it is but. just and fitting to 
 say that Mr. King has achieved his remarkable success 
 by patiently and persistently following a fixed purpose 
 in the line of his business, never entering on the alluring 
 field of speculation. Conservative in his ideas, he has 
 yet kept pace with the progress of events, and wher-' 
 ever known, has been recognized as a man of unusual 
 energy, clear foresight and unwavering business fidel- 
 ity. He is a man of fine personal qualities, kind- 
 hearted, genial and companionable, and enjoys the 
 high regard and esteem of many warm personal friends 
 and the confidence of all who know him. 
 
 CYRUS HALL MCCORMICK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HALL McCORMICK, son of Robert and 
 Mary Ann (Hall) McCormick, was born in Rock- 
 bridge county, Va., on the 15th day of February, 
 1809. His parents were both natives of Virginia, and 
 people of wide influence. They were of Scotch-Irish 
 descent, and their strong, self-reliant characters were 
 early impressed upon and developed in their seven 
 children, of whom Cryus H. was the eldest. 
 
 Robert McCormick, the father of Cyrus, was a farmer, 
 and a man of great mechanical skill, and no small 
 development of inventive genius. His son received 
 every possible advantage to be derived from the avail- 
 able country schools, as well as many not to be had in 
 any school. Upon ^he farm was a blacksmith and a 
 carpenter shop, in which such work as was necessary 
 on the farm was done, and in these shops young Cyrus 
 showed his aptness for mechanical and inventive work. 
 When only fifteen years of age he made with his own 
 hands a cradle which enabled him to keep pace with 
 grown men in the harvest fields, and seven years later 
 he constructed a plow, after an original design, for use 
 in plowing upon steep hillsides. This plow, patented 
 in 1831, was so made that it could be changed from a 
 right to a left hand plow at the will of the operator. 
 Its superiority, however, was completely overshadowed 
 
 by another plow called the self-sharpening horizontal 
 plow, invented and patented in 1833. This plow was 
 strong, simple and easily operated, and could *be used 
 with like good results on either level or hill}' ground, 
 and even had Mr. McCormick not invented his reaper. 
 this plow would have made for him name and fame as 
 an inventor. The invention of a reaper by which grain 
 could be more easity garnered had long been experi- 
 mented upon, and Mr. McCormick's father was one 
 who had given a great deal of study to this problem. 
 In 1816 he made a machine for this purpose which was 
 tried in the harvest fields; found not equal to the task 
 that it was designed for, and was consequently aban- 
 doned. Thus it was not strange that young McCor- 
 mick's mind should turn in that direction, and though 
 urged not to waste his time in a useless undertaking, 
 he studied out the reasons for the failure of his father's 
 effort, and conceived the idea of the horizontal blade 
 operated back and forth through the standing grain. 
 He carefully studied out the details of his plans, and 
 with his own hands shaped each part of his first 
 machine, which consisted of a vibrating blade to cut, a 
 platform to receive the falling grain, and a reel to 
 bring the grain within reach of the blade. The machine 
 was first tried upon a field of oats near the McCormick

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 99 
 
 homestead in the slimmer of 1881, and on that day of 
 trial, young McCormick demonstrated that he had made 
 it possible for the United States to take its present 
 leading rank among the grain-producing countries of 
 the world. Mr. McCormick did not at once commence 
 the manufacture of his machines, but entered into a 
 partnership in the iron smelting business, and continued 
 in the business of reducing irons until 1837, when the 
 panic of that year forced him to suspend business, and 
 all of his property, including the farm given him by 
 his father, had. to be sold to make good his share of the 
 indebtedness. 
 
 He then turned his attention to the manufacture 
 and introduction of his reaper, the first patent on 
 which had been granted in 1834. The first reapers 
 were made on the McCormick farm in Virginia, that 
 is, all of the parti were made there, excepting the 
 sickles, and these were made at a point twenty miles 
 distant, and delivered to the McCormick's in lots of a 
 dozen or less. In 1846, '47 and '48, the machines were 
 manufactured by parties in Brockport, N.Y., who 
 paid Mr. McCormick a royalty on each one sold, and 
 in 1846, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he manu- 
 factured his machines in increased quantities. Many 
 valuable improvements were made which added greatly 
 to the value of the reaper, and its popularity increased 
 more and more each year. Foreseeing that Chicago 
 was destined to become the metropolis of the West, 
 Mr. McCormick came to this city in 1847, and during 
 the following year he erected in Chicago substantial 
 reaper works, in which were built during that year 700 
 machines, and in 1849, 1,500 machines were turned 
 out. This, of course, was not much of an output as 
 compared with the great works of to-day, but taking 
 into consideration the fact that at that time there was 
 none of the present improved machinery for working 
 wood and iron, the output was large, and one that 
 would have been impossible for a man who was not 
 endowed with Mr. McCormick's supemr business 
 ability and indomitable will. Having thoroughly 
 established the success of his invention at home, Mr. 
 McCormick turned his attention to introducing it to 
 agriculturists abroad, and in 1851, his reaper was ex- 
 hibited at the World's Fair in London. It was sub- 
 jected to the most severe tests in England in the 
 harvest fields, and though at first it was not highly 
 thought of, it fulfilled the claims made for it so well, 
 that it commanded general admiration, and the Grand 
 Council Medal was awarded to the inventor, on the 
 ground " of the originality and value of the reaper." 
 From that date the history of the McCormick reaper 
 is one long list o'f triumphs., and it has received the 
 highest awards at every great exposition since that 
 time, the latest addition to this list of laurels having 
 been bestowed by the "World's Columbian Exposition 
 of 1893. From the very beginning, Mr. McCormick 
 had to fight a hard battle for his just rights and the 
 success of his inventions, and though the obstacles 
 encountered were many, and such as would have 
 
 deterred most men, he pushed steadily forward, and 
 his triumph was complete. 
 
 Although Mr. McCormick is best known to the 
 world as an inventor and manufacturer, he would be as 
 widely known had he never built a single reaper; as 
 such men are brought to notice no matter what their 
 achievements in any one line of life may be, and though 
 the invention of the McCormick reaper was so great a 
 boon to humanity, the inventor was a man truly 
 great in many other fields of usefulness. A firm be- 
 liever in the precepts taught by the immortal Sage of 
 Monticello, he stood high in the councils of his party. 
 He was a delegate to the Democratic convention held 
 in Baltimore, and was one of the strongest opponents 
 of the dismemberment of the party which so shortly 
 afterwards proved to be such an unparalelled disaster. 
 For many years he was elected a delegate to the Demo- 
 cratic national conventions, and was chairman of the 
 State central committee of Illinois, when his friend 
 Samuel J. Tilden was a candidate for the Presidency, 
 lie also took an active. and prominent part in religious 
 and educational matters and many institutions of such 
 character have been benefited by his donations. The 
 Theological Seminary of the Northwest was founded 
 by him and he also endowed a professorship in Wash- 
 ington College, Virginia, and the Union Theological 
 Seminary of Virginia, besides making many gifts to 
 other similar institutions. A member and steadfast 
 friend of the Presbyterian church, his efforts to extend 
 the influence of that church were untiring, and no man 
 is more gratefully remembered for the good that he 
 has done. 
 
 In 1858, Mr. McCormick was united in marriage to 
 Miss Nettie Fowler, daughter of Melzar Fowler, of 
 Jefferson county. N. Y., and a niece of Judge E. 
 G. Merrick, of Detroit, Mich. Seven children, four 
 sons and three daughters, blessed the union, and 
 all survive excepting one son and one daughter, who 
 died in infancy. In Mr. McCormick's death on the 
 13th day of Ma} 7 , 1884, one of humanity's best friends 
 passed to the better life. 
 
 The Cross of the Legion of Honor, and his election 
 to the French Academy of Sciences, as a corresponding 
 member, were fitting expressions of the regard in 
 which he was held abroad, and the reason given for 
 conferring these honors upon Mr. McCormick was that 
 " he had done more for the cause of agriculture than 
 any other living man." Early in his career as a manu- 
 facturer, Hon. Iteverdy Johnson said of him, that to 
 Mr. McCormick and to his invention the country owed 
 an annual increase of $55,000,000 to her income, and 
 that that amount must increase each year as time went 
 on. There is no successful harvesting machine built 
 to day, in any part of the world, that does not contain 
 the essential elements of the first McCormick reaper, 
 and the annual increase spoken of by Mr. Johnson has 
 accrued to the whole world, not only in material pros- 
 perity, but in a lightening of the labors of the husband- 
 men that has made him their great benefactor.
 
 IOO 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 EDWARD S. DREVER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDWARD S. DREYER, son of August and Louisa 
 (Piper) Schoettelnclreyer, was born in Bukeburg, 
 Schaumburg, Lippe, Germany, on the 5th day of 
 August, 1844. By an act of the Illinois Legislature and 
 by order of the court, the name was changed for 
 the subject of this sketch from Edward Schoetteln- 
 dreyer to Ed ward S. Dreyer. His father's family held 
 the hereditary right to the title of government forester, 
 to which Edward was entitled to succeed upon reach- 
 ing his majority. His mother had also come from a 
 family that had gained honor and distinction under the 
 old kingdom. On account of the prominence of the 
 family to which he belonged, young Dreyer though 
 left an orphan at an early age, received a liberal edu- 
 cation at Hameln in Hanover, the government paying 
 the expenses thus incurred. Until he had attained the 
 age of fifteen years he lived with relatives and spent 
 his time hard at work in school. When his education 
 was nearing completion, he, in accordance with the 
 law of the land, learned a trade, choosing that of 
 carriage trimmer. 
 
 When twenty years of age, Mr. Dreyer determined 
 to visit America in search of a desirable place in which 
 to pass the remainder of his life, and casting aside all 
 the hereditary honors that were his, he took passage 
 for New York, where he landed in 1864. He did not 
 spend any time in that city, however, but came directly 
 to Chicago, where he had an aunt living, and immedi- 
 ately set about learning the language and customs of 
 the country, and acquiring a business education. Two 
 years sufficed for this, and, according!}', in 1866, he 
 entered the employment of Knauer Bros., real estate 
 dealers, in whose service he remained until January 
 1st, 1870, when, as a reward of merit, he was taken 
 into the firm as a partner. For over three years Mr. 
 Dreyer continued as a member of this firm, when, 
 severing his connection with it, he established an 
 independent real estate business under the name of E. 
 S. Dreyer & Co. His first office was located at 72 
 Dearborn street, but the rapid growth of the business 
 soon made it necessary for him to remove to more 
 commodious quarters, and he went to 98 Dearborn, 
 and then to 88 Washington street, where he remained 
 until 1878, when his business forced another removal, 
 and he occupied his present spacious quarters, on the 
 northeast corner of Dearborn and Washington streets. 
 From the time that he established an independent 
 business, in 1873, Mr. Dreyer has exhibited a marked 
 aptitude for predicting future trade conditions, and 
 for making profitable investments and disposals. He 
 always carefully studies the real estate market, and 
 allows nothing to escape his attention. He watches 
 with great care the interests of investors, and 
 has ever been quick in arriving at his decisions 
 and at closing a bargain. lie has grown steadilv 
 in wealth and popular favor, and his reputation 
 
 for both honor and good judgment is of the highest. 
 During the time that he has been in the business helms 
 invested for others over $100,000,000. It may be 
 stated as most creditable to Mr. Dreyer's firm that 
 during its entire business career, it has never allowed 
 an investor to foreclose a mortgage and take the prop- 
 erty. The firm has ever stood between mortgagor and 
 mortgagee, and, protecting the interests of both 
 parties, has neither allowed the one to foreclose nor the 
 other to prove finally delinquent. This record is one, 
 it is safe to assert, that cannot easily find a parallel in 
 Chicago. Mr. Robert Berger is a partner of Mr. 
 Dreyer, and has been since 1878. In 1877, Mr. 
 Dreyer started his mortgage banking business in con- 
 nection with his real estate business and it has since 
 grown to enormous proportions, extending not only to 
 all parts of the United States, but to parts of Europe 
 as well. The real estate business is correspondingly 
 large, and lately the firm has been handling only its 
 own property. It has managed and owned many 
 valuable acre tracts of city property, many of which 
 have been subdivided and sold. At present it owns 
 valuable property in all portions of the cit3 7 , and 
 since the year 1873 has built over two hundred build- 
 ings in different parts of Chicago. The firm was 
 prominently identified with the company which erected 
 and prepared the panorama of the Battle of Gettys- 
 burg, -which was the first exhibition of its kind in the 
 West and one of the first in the world. 
 
 In Januar\ r , 1892, Mr. Dreyer was elected president 
 of the Chicago real estate board, an organization in 
 which he has taken the greatest interest. He has also 
 taken a conspicuous part in the movement having for 
 its object the establishment of a national real estate 
 association, and was one of the most active workers 
 among the men to whose efforts Chicago owes the 
 location of the World's Fair. 
 
 In politics. Mr. Dreyer is a strong Democrat, and 
 stands high with the leaders of his party, but his great 
 business interests will not permit him to actively enter 
 the political arena, although at times he has consented 
 to the demands of his friends, and served the public in 
 an official capacity. Thus, in December, 1884, Mr. 
 Dreyer was selected from among thirty-two candidates 
 for the position of collector of taxes of North Chicago, 
 and, being appointed, readily gave the required bond 
 of $2,800,000. In 1888, he was appointed school 
 treasurer of Lake View, which position he continued 
 to occupy until the annexation of that suburb to 
 Chicago. He was a member of the Cook County 
 board of equalization for some time, and is now 
 director and vice-president of the public library board, 
 and a member of the building committee of the new 
 public library. 
 
 During the campaign in the spring of 1885, when 
 Carter II. Harrison was elected mayor, Mr. Dreyer
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 IO' 
 
 was president of the Democratic campaign committee, 
 and so skillfully and successfully managed the cam- 
 paign, that as a partial recognition of his services, 
 Mayor Harrison, in July following, appointed him a 
 member of the city board of education. This honor- 
 able position he was forced to decline, however, as he 
 has declined man}' others of similar or greater import- 
 ance, owing to the pressing needs of his business 
 interests. Mr. Dreyer has for many years taken a 
 deep interest in all enterprises having for their object 
 the amelioration of the sufferings of humanity, and 
 has given not a little of his valuable time, as well as 
 his generous contributions in money, toward the 
 support of local charitable institutions. lie is treasurer 
 of the State Institute for the Blind, and was one of the 
 founders of the German Old People's Home, at Oak 
 Park. He is also treasurer of the State Bank Associa- 
 tion, vice-president of the State Banker's Association of 
 Illinois, and a director and treasurer of Chicago 
 Heights. He was also one of the first subscribers to 
 the projects for building the Auditorium, the Schiller 
 Theatre and the German Club Building, and has been 
 connected with many other enterprises, both public and 
 private in their character. He was appointed terminal 
 -commissioner on the 4th day of March, 1893, by Mayor 
 
 Washburne. He was one of the originators of the 
 Schiller monument, at Lincoln Park, and the Reuter 
 monument, at Humboldt Park, besides taking a most 
 prominent, part in the erection of the Grant monument. 
 
 On the 26th day of August, 1870, Mr. Dreyer was 
 united in marriage to Miss Augusta Billingman, of 
 'Keokuk, Iowa. They have four children, Addie, Lot- 
 tie, Edward S., Jr.. and Florence, who make the beau- 
 tiful home near Lincoln park even more beautiful by 
 their presence. 
 
 A spirit of. independence led Mr. Dreyer, when a 
 boy of twenty years, to leave behind him his birth- 
 right in Germany and to seek the building of his own 
 fortune in the land of the free. He reached this, the 
 city of his adoption and choice, friendless, unacquainted 
 with the prevailing language, and in debt, but went 
 immediately to work, and, by his own efforts, has risen 
 to his present position of affluence and prominence. 
 To him alone is the credit due. In business and pri- 
 vate circles he has no lack of friends, who, well ac- 
 quainted with the man and his career and character, 
 delight to do him honor. Socially, Mr. Dreyer is pop- 
 ular, and is a member of several clubs, among them 
 the Union League, the Iroquois, Germania and the 
 North Shore clubs. 
 
 ALBERT DICKINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ALBERT DICKINSON, president of the Albert 
 Dickinson Company, dealers in seeds, son of 
 Albert F. and Ann Eliza (Anthony) Dickinson, was 
 born at Curtisville, Berkshire county, Mass., in 1841, 
 where he received a common school education. He 
 afterwards attended the high school at Chicago for a 
 time, after the removal of his parents to that city in 
 1855. After leaving high school he was employed in 
 his father's store in Chicago until he entered the army in 
 1861, enlisting in Company B, Chicago Light Infantry. 
 He enlisted as private and was later made corporal in 
 the same company. He was sworn into the United 
 States service on July 16, 1.S61, and served three 
 years. His company was known as " Taylor's Battery." 
 He took part in the battles of Donelson, Vicksburg, 
 Shiloh, and many other important engagements. The 
 company was mustered out July 1, 1864. 
 
 After leaving the army he commenced business at 
 Durant, Iowa, but, on account of the failing health of 
 his father, he had to change his plans, and returning to 
 Chicago, resumed his former duties in his father's office, 
 where, with the exception of a time spent in Iowa 
 buying grain, he continued until the Chicago fire, being 
 at that time the general manager of the business. 
 
 After the fire, Mr. Dickinson, Sr. turned over the 
 business entirely to his son, ill-health necessitating the 
 
 step. The fire had made a clean sweep of the territory 
 where Mr. Dickinson's business was located, and when 
 Mr. Albert Dickinson took charge of the business he 
 found the assets merely nominal and the liabilities heavy. 
 He decided, however, to take upon himself the respon- 
 sibility of clearing up the debts, with the co-opera- 
 tion of his brothers and sisters, who, though not pre- 
 pared to assume any financial risk, agreed to help, the 
 business being conducted in tbemuneof Albert Dickin- 
 son. By their combined efforts and withagood deal of 
 hard work, with virtually no capital, but having excellent 
 credit, the business was put upon a solid foundation, and 
 in a comparatively short time Mr. Dickinson had realized 
 his praiseworthy ambition, paying all the outside debts 
 of his father. By this time he found himself with a 
 well-established and paying business, and, deciding to 
 make it his life work, he has successfully continued in 
 it the principal figure ever since. There was no change 
 made until 1888, when the company was incorporated, 
 with Albert Dickinson as president, Chas. Dickinson as 
 vice-president, Nathan Dickinson as treasurer, and his 
 sister, Melissa Dickinson, as secretary. This house is 
 now recognized as one of the largest seed houses in the 
 world. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson is a Republican, and though he 
 believes in voting with his party, yet reserves the right
 
 104 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 to vote on local issues for such candidates as are in 
 his opinion best fitted for the offices to be filled. 
 
 ried. He is a man of medium size and weight, of good 
 personal appearance, affable in manner, and one whose 
 
 Mr. Dickinson is a member of the Geo. II. Thomas society is much prized by his large circle of friends, 
 Post, G. A. R. He is a bachelor, having never mar- with whom lie is deserved!}' popular. 
 
 SAMUEL ANDERSON MCWILLIAMS, A. M., M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the many men devoted to medical science 
 who have risen to prominence in Chicago, during 
 the last quarter of a century, the name which heads 
 this sketch easily takes a leading place. Dr. McWil- 
 liams comes of excellent stock, his father, David 
 McWilliams, being a brainy Irish Presbyterian, who 
 studied for the ministry and taught school until failing 
 health compelled him to engage in trade. Newtownards, 
 County Down, Ireland, was his home, and here the 
 subject of this sketch was born on the 7th of February, 
 1837. His mother was Margaret Black Anderson, of 
 Gilnakjrk, in the above county, and the daughter of a 
 thrifty and intelligent farmer. His mother is still 
 living at the advanced age of eighty-five, hale and 
 hearty, though the father died when Samuel was com- 
 paratively young. He is an only child. In his early 
 youth his mother secured for him the advantages 
 offered by the best schools, where he made rapid 
 progress, standing at the head of his classes and bear- 
 ing off the prizes when ten years of age. At the age 
 of twelve he was placed upon a model farm near Saint- 
 field, in his native county, where he remained for 
 nearly two years, devoting one half of his time to 
 farm work and the other half, to the study of mathe- 
 matics, thus securing the development of both body 
 and mind. 
 
 On the 26th day of May, 1851, at the age of fourteen, 
 young McWilliams left Belfast for America alone, first 
 settling at Marysburg, Prince Edward county, Ontario, 
 in Canada. After working for a year on a farm, he 
 served for a time in a dry goods store in Picton, and 
 afterwards in a grocery store in Milford. Subsequently 
 he taught school for four successive winter terms in the 
 same township, working during the summer months as 
 a carpenter and in the harvest field. In the spring of 
 1857 he attended the high school at Picton and took 
 the first prize for scholarship. In July of the same 
 year he visited his mother, then living at Pinckney- 
 ville, in southern Illinois, and on October 1, entered 
 the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. Here he 
 remained four years, graduating from the classical 
 department in 1861, receiving the degree of Bachelor 
 of Arts. In 1864 he also received from the University 
 the degree of Master of Arts. On leaving the Univer- 
 sity in 1861, he entered upon the study of medicine 
 with Dr. E. L. Griffin, at Fond du Lac, Wis., and 
 for a year, during his studies, taught school at Tay- . 
 cheedah, near Fond du Lac. During the winter session 
 of 1862-63, he attended the medical department of the 
 
 University at Ann Arbor, and in the spring of 1863 
 completed a full course in analytical chemistry, toxico- 
 logy, and urinary analysis. Immediately after we 
 find this industrious young man back at Taycheedah, 
 Wis., teaching the summer term of school, and after- 
 wards, for two years, serving as principal of the South 
 Division high school at Waupun, Wis. 
 
 In June, 1865, Mr. McWilliams came to Chicago, 
 where he entered the office of Prof. N. S. Davis, M. D., 
 proving to be a satisfactory assistant to that gentleman. 
 Meantime he attended lectures at the Chicago Medical 
 College, then near the corner of State and Twenty- 
 second streets, graduating there from on March lst,1866, 
 and receiving the prize offered for the best thesis upon 
 a medical subject. Previously, Dr. Davis made Mc- 
 Williams a proposition to take him into partnership in 
 his 'practice, which was accepted, the partnership 
 continuing for two years. Afterwards he engaged in 
 practice on his own account, which has been continued 
 uninterruptedly, without loss of a day by sickness, in 
 twenty eight years. His office, at 166 State street, 
 southwest corner of Monroe, being burned out in the 
 great fire of 1871, Dr. McWilliams opened an office at 
 64 West Randolph street, corner of Clinton, until the 
 burned district had been rebuilt, when he established 
 himself at 70 State street, southwest corner of Ran- 
 dolph. 
 
 Immediately after his graduation from the Chicago 
 Medical College, (now known as the Northwestern 
 University 'Medical School) he lectured for several 
 years during the spring term in that institution on 
 physical diagnosis and renal diseases. He also assisted 
 Professor J. S. Jewell in anatomy, from 1867 to 1869, 
 completing his lecture course for the professor when 
 he went to Europe. From 1869 to 1871, Dr. Mc- 
 Williams assisted Professor R. N. Isham in the chair 
 of operative surgery. When, in 1870, the Woman's 
 Medical College was founded, he became professor of an- 
 atomy, performing the duties of the position with great 
 credit to himself and with profit to the institution, 
 serving also as secretary to the faculty. On March 5, 
 1867, he assisted in the organization of the Alumni 
 Association of the Chicago Medical College, was its 
 first secretary and afterwards its president. Several 
 years were given as clinical teacher on throat and 
 chest diseases in the dispensary connected with the 
 Chicago Medical College, and in July, 1878, he was 
 appointed an attending physician to the Cook County 
 Hospital, serving in that capacity until 1888. During
 
 PROMINENT MEN CF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 105 
 
 those ten years Dr. McWilliams gave clinics in the 
 large amphitheater of the hospital to many large 
 classes of medical students. 
 
 During the summer of 1881 he was active in found- 
 ing the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, 
 moving the adoption of its name, and purchasing for 
 $5,000 the site (97x100 feet) on the corner of West 
 Harrison and Honore streets. The plans adopted for 
 the college building were his, and to the details of its 
 construction he personally attended, until its comple- 
 tion, in October, 1882. He was one of the first 
 board of directors and vice-president, elected October 
 11, 1881. In December of the same year, he was 
 elected professor of clinical medicine, diseases of the 
 chest and phvsical diagnosis. All of the above posi- 
 tions he held until June 11, 1891. On September 9, 
 1881, Dr. McWilliams obtained also a charter for a 
 dispensary for the gratuitous treatment of deserving 
 poor and for the clinical instruction of medical students. 
 This charity took the name of the West Side Free 
 Dispensary, and was located on the main floor of the 
 above named college building. So popular did this 
 institution become under his management during ten 
 years, that the poor flocked to its doors for relief, and 
 students from other medical colleges sought admission 
 to its clinics, arousing the jealous}' of the students of 
 the college to such an extent, however, that the faculty 
 were obliged to prohibit the attendance of those from 
 other institutions. 
 
 In 1S86, Dr. McWilliams helped to establish the 
 Chicago Polyclinic, at the corner of Chicago and La 
 Salle avenues, donating $100 thereto and becoming 
 one of its first clinical instructors on diseases of the 
 heart and lungs. Some years later, Dr. McWilliams 
 and Dr. John E. Harper conceived the idea of estab- 
 lishing a medical college and hospital in Chicago, in 
 which clinical instruction would be given for thirty- 
 six months before graduation. A site was selected, 
 and a charter obtained on March 18, 1892, under the 
 name of the Clinical College of Medicine and Specialty 
 Hospital. Of this college Dr. McWilliams is professor 
 of clinical medicine, diseases of the chest and physical - 
 diagnosis, and also vice-president, secretary and 
 a director. Still later, feeling the need of a new dis- 
 pensary where the poor might have superior advan- 
 tages of treatment by physicians of long experience, 
 who devote their time to special diseases, the doctor 
 called a meeting at his residence on November 21, 
 1893, which was attended by fifteen well known phy- 
 sicians. It was agreed to establish such an institution, 
 under the name of the Clinical Dispensary and Hos- 
 pital. It has now in its treasury $300 in excess of all 
 indebtedness. 
 
 Dr. McWilliams has long been an active member of 
 the various medical societies and associations, such as the 
 Chicago Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical 
 Society, the American Medical Association, the Ameri- 
 can Academy of Medicine, the Ciiicago Medico : Legal 
 Society, and the Doctor's Club of Chicago. He is also a 
 member of the Indiana Club of this city. He is prom- 
 
 inent in the Masonic fraternity, being in all the various 
 bodies the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Commandery and Con- 
 sistory of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. 32nd 
 degree, in which body he has been presiding officer, 
 lie was one of the charter members of Miriam Chapter, 
 No. 1, of the Order of the Eastern Star, an order 
 whose membership is confined to Masons, their wives 
 and daughters. The doctor has served in the highest 
 office, that of " worthy patron " of the chapter for 
 seven different years. He is also a member of the 
 Ancient order of Foresters, of the Knights of Pythias, 
 and of the Independent Order of Good Templars, a 
 temperance organization of prominence. He has 
 always been a strong temperance man. keeping invio- 
 late all his life the pledge taken when a lad seven or 
 eight years old. lie has been presiding officer for 
 several terms, first of the Star of Hope Lodge of Good 
 Templars, and later of New Covenant Lodge, to which 
 he transferred his membership, as being nearer his 
 home. The doctor is also very strongh' opposed to 
 the use of tobacco, and outspoken in denunciation of 
 the habit. Dr. McWilliams has been twice married, 
 first at Waupun, Wis., to Amelia Mary Hobkirk, eldest 
 daughter of William Hobkirk,- on February 28, 1869. 
 Three children were the result of this union, one boy 
 and two girls, all of whom are dead. The boy, Willie, 
 died October 3, 1870; the third child, Janet Imri, 
 July 23, 1880, and the second daughter July 2, 1893, 
 at a little over eighteen years of age. The mother of 
 these children died on December 31, 1881. His second 
 marriage was contracted with Bertha Scheibel,. eldest 
 daughter of Mr. Frank Scheibel, of Chicago, and took 
 place on January 2, 1884. Four children have been 
 born, two girls and two boys, all of whom are living, 
 viz.: Grace Maud, Estella Margaret, Samuel Anderson 
 and Edwin Frank. 
 
 The religious affiliations of Dr. McWilliams are 
 with the Presbyterian church, of which he is a member, 
 as were his parents and maternal relatives. His 
 mother, a woman of great religious devotion, early 
 directed his education with a hope that he would 
 become a minister, but as lie approached maturity, the 
 bickerings he witnessed in church circles led him to 
 reject the sacred calling. Later, he was advised to 
 become a lawyer, but chose instead the more humani- 
 tarian and beneficient, if less remunerative, calling of 
 the physician. In politics he was led, while listenino- 
 to the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. 
 Douglas, and noting their respective followers, to 
 admire the principles enunciated by the former, to 
 which he has remained loyal ever since. 
 
 In personal appearance the doctor is above the 
 average height, rather slender, of average weight, with 
 light hair and expressive blue eyes, and of a generally 
 attractive appearance. He has a kindly, genial dis- 
 position, a warm social nature, firm convictions of 
 duty, and is recognized by his colleagues as an earnest, 
 conscientious instructor and able practitioner, while 
 all his acquaintances esteem him as agentleman, whom 
 it is a pleasure to know.
 
 io6 
 
 PROMINENT MEK OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM E. MASON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the representative men of Chicago, whose 
 positions are due solely to their own efforts, none 
 deserves more honorable mention than Williain E. 
 Mason. He was born in the village of Franklinville, 
 Cattaraugus county, N. Y., on the 7th day of July, 
 1850. His parents were Lewis J. and Nancy (Winslow) 
 Mason, his father being, at the time of William's birth, 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was a man of high 
 character and verv active in politics, and in his early 
 manhood was identified with the abolitionists. Upon 
 the organization of the Republican party, he became 
 an enthusiastic member of that body, and was an 
 ardent adherent of John C. Fremont for the presidency, 
 in 1856. 
 
 In 1858 the family removed to Bentonsport, Iowa, 
 and lived there until the death of the father in 1865. 
 William was thus, at the age of fifteen, practically 
 thrown upon his own resources and left to battle with 
 the world. He had received the rudiments of his 
 education in the public schools of Franklinville, and 
 later at Bentonsport. He had also studied two years 
 at Birmingham College, and was making fair progress 
 in the way of a liberal education, when called upon to 
 make his own way in the world. This shouldering of 
 the responsibilities of life developed in the boy a self- 
 reliance and strength of purpose which have been dis- 
 tinguishing characterises of the man. He began 
 teaching school and devoted himself alternately to 
 teaching and studying until 1868. During the next 
 two years he taught in the public schools of Des 
 Moines, Iowa. He then began the study of law in the 
 office of Hon. Thomas F. Withrow, an eminent cor- 
 poration lawyer, who was, soon after this time, ap- 
 pointed general solicitor of the Chicago, Rock Island 
 and Pacific Railroad Company, and removed to Chi- 
 cago. Our subject accompanied him, and remained in 
 his office one year, when he b.egan to study in the 
 office of Hon. John N. Jewett, where he finished his 
 preparation for admission to the bar. ". 
 
 For several years he remained in the office of his 
 distinguished preceptor, leaving it to form a partner- 
 ship with Judge M. R. M. Wallace, in 1877. He soon 
 became known as a good lawyer and safe counselor, 
 and especially as an able and eloquent advocate. Upon 
 separating from Judge Wallace he became the senior 
 member of the firm of Mason & Ennis, with which he 
 is still associated. 
 
 Mr. Mason has always been a staunch-Republican, 
 and, as his record will show., an enthusiastic and effec- 
 tive worker in the interests of that party. Before he 
 was thirty years of age he was a member of the General 
 Assembly of Illinois, and in 1882 was sent to the State 
 Senate from the Ninth Senatorial District of Illinois. 
 In both the lower house and the senate he was conspicu- 
 ous for his ability, his devotion to the interests of his 
 constituency, good judgment in the consideration of 
 
 proposed legislation, and close attention to business at 
 all times. 
 
 In 1888 he was elected to Congress from the Third 
 Congressional District of Illinois,and as a member of this 
 popular branch of the national legislature won honor 
 for himself and reflected credit upon those who elected 
 him by becoming, in a comparatively short time, one 
 of the most serviceable members of that body. Possess- 
 ing oratorical powers of a high order, a ready wit and 
 a broad knowledge of public affairs, he distinguished 
 himself on the floor of the house on numerous occa- 
 sions. He was noted for brevity, conciseness and 
 pointed ness of statement, and in the debate on the 
 location of the World's Columbian Exposition, made 
 the following five-minute speech, which is a model of 
 its kind, and for which he was highly complimented by 
 all, the Speaker (Mr. Reed) expressing his opinion that 
 it was the best five-minute speech he had ever listened 
 to: 
 
 MR-. SPKAKKR: When I think of the many things 
 that could be said in favor of the city that I have the 
 honor, in part, to represent, and of the few moments in 
 which I have to say it, I feel much like the boy who 
 sat down on the inside of a sugar barrel and said, " Oh, 
 for time and a thousand tongues, to do this thing jus- 
 tice. (Laughter.) 
 
 Five minutes in which to speak of the- greatest city 
 in the world ! I wish I had time to call your attention 
 to the constitution of the State of New York ; most of 
 you have read that. I wish I had time to refer to the 
 eloquent speech of the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
 Flower), who yesterday told us about the display that 
 was to be made in the New York harbor, and of the 
 Italian and Spanish ships of war. I would like to 
 invite him and my colleagues here to that great inland 
 sea on which rides a large fleet, for there are more 
 arrivals and clearances in the port of Chicago than in 
 anv other port in the United States of America, not 
 excluding New York; more tonnage and more arrivals 
 and departures not a fleet of war but a fleet of peace, 
 of peaceful commerce commerce between American 
 citizens, the profits thereof remaining at home. 
 
 It is one of the grandest things to contemplate 
 that the discovery of Christopher Columbus has led to 
 the development on this soil of a nation resting on the 
 principles of self-government, a nation that needs no 
 army and navy; for if every gun we have were spiked, 
 and every ship were sunk, no nation on the face of 
 God's earth would dare to strike a blow at our colors 
 . or invade our soil (applause). We cannot invite you 
 to see a fleet of war ships, but we invite you to witness 
 the victories of peace, greater than those of war. You 
 invite us to see the Spanish and Italian ships of war, 
 not a color of which from any mast stands for human 
 liberty; we invite you to see the commercial fleet of 
 peace* (larger by far than that), manned by American 
 citizens, and from everv mast flying the colors that we 
 love (applause). I would like to say one thing further 
 during my five minutes, and that is all I ha've to say. 
 My brethren on the other side, you have charged the 
 Republicans on this side of the house with most unfair 
 and ungenerous criticism in matters of politics. The 
 gentleman from Texas. (Mr. Mills) discussed at great
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ICQ 
 
 length this morning the fact that the negro has a right 
 to vote in the South, and has no right to vote in the 
 District of Columbia. It is true that in the heat of 
 politics we indulge in things of that kind. But is it 
 not also true that you have criticised us, and have 
 given us back, with interest, what we gave you? 
 
 But what is the best way to avoid such things? How 
 can we do better in future for the people we represent 
 and whose prosperity we should consider from a united 
 standpoint? How can we do better than meet upon 
 common ground, at that great central city of Chicago, 
 for a common purpose? Come to Chicago in 1892. my 
 friends, and see whether our hospitality differs from 
 the hospitality for which you are so justly noted in 
 Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi. Come, I say and 
 with the shoulder touch, let us march, in 1892, to a 
 better understanding. Come, and warm your hearts at 
 the forges of the North as we melt the ores of the 
 South, and, with the anvil and hammer of personal 
 contact, let us beat out a better friendship for the 
 North and the South (applause). Bring your looms 
 from New England, bring your cotton from the South, 
 weave it into cloth in the presence of the world, and 
 into the web and woof of that cloth we will weave a 
 new song for a better and more permanent union of 
 the States. 
 
 Eighteen .hundred and ninety-two will be a famous 
 year, my friends, famous for the advancement of the 
 arts and sciences, famous for the advancement of agricul- 
 ture, famous for the advancement of everything that 
 makes us great and glorious, but, better still, famous 
 because we will begin to tear down the walls that have 
 kept us apart; famous because we will draw the North 
 and the South and the East closer and nearer and more 
 truly together. Drinking from the same fountain, 
 drawing our inspiration of patriotism from a common 
 source, we will not be confined to the old couplet : 
 
 " In fourteen hundred and ninety -two, 
 Columbus crossed the Ocean blue," 
 
 But with less poetry and more sentiment, we will say : intelligent children. 
 
 " In eighteen hundred and ninety-two, 
 We will unite the gray and blue." 
 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 Mr. Mason is a man of the people, and from exper- 
 ience knows their needs, their hopes and their ambi- 
 tions, and enters heartily into any movement calculated 
 to better their condition. Personally, Mr. Mason was 
 one of the most popular men in Congress, being under 
 all circumstances a most genial and affable gentleman. 
 The courtesy which has characterized "him in his polit- 
 ical and social life has won for him, in addition to the 
 respect and admiration which men of genuine ability 
 always command, the kindly regard of his associates. 
 In the presidential campaigns of 1888 and 1892, Mr. 
 Mason became widely known as an effective and con- 
 vincing political speaker, and in the campaigns of Ohio, 
 Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mass- 
 achusetts, Wisconsin and Iowa, in which he partici- 
 pated, he won renown as a campaign orator who sel- 
 dom failed to carry conviction to the minds of his 
 auditors. 
 
 Since Mr. Mason's retirement from public life he 
 has again entered into the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession, and the sturdy stock of his ancestors is attested 
 by the analytical mind, executive ability and great 
 legal acumen of one of the most illustrious of his 
 family. 
 
 In 1873, about the time he completed his law 
 studies, Mr. Mason was married to Miss Edith Julia 
 White, the accomplished daughter of Mr. George 
 White, a prominent citizen of Des Moines, Iowa, and 
 now, twenty years after their marriage, they are sur- 
 rounded by a beautiful family of seven bright and 
 
 DR. NATHAN S. DAVIS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DR. N. S. DAVIS, son of Dow Davis and Eleanor 
 (Smith) Davis, was born at Greene, Chenango 
 county, N. Y., in 1817. He received his medical 
 education in Fairfield, N. Y., and at the age of twenty 
 years, or in 1837, we find him a practicing physician 
 at Binghamton, N. Y. Nine years later he removed to 
 New York city, and was soon made lecturer on medical 
 jurisprudence in the College of Physicians and Sur- 
 geons. It was in 1849 that he came to Chicago, for in 
 that year the faculty of Rush Medical College offered 
 him the chair of physiology and pathology, which he 
 accepted. The year after his arrival in Chicago he 
 lectured upon city sanitation, and the plans he sug- 
 gested for the water supply and the sewerage system 
 were those which were afterwards practically adopted 
 by the city. Dr. Davis is. one of the founders of the 
 Washingtonian Home; one of the first movers in the 
 origin of the Chicago Medical Society ; a member of 
 
 the board of Reform School commissioners, and one of 
 the earliest trustees of the Northwestern University. 
 
 He took an early interest in the Chicago Medical 
 College, and was a large factor in the founding of that 
 institution, being a member of its first faculty, and to 
 his efforts may be partly traced the existence of the 
 Mercy Hospital. The money he made from his first 
 public lecture was given toward paying for one of the 
 first twelve beds given to the Illinois General Hospital 
 of the Lake, which afterwards became the Mercy. Dr. 
 Davis is the founder of the American Medical Asso- 
 ciation, and whenever that important body meets Dr. 
 Davis' name is more honored than all the rest. The 
 idea of forming the association originally occurred to 
 him in 1846, when even then Dr. Davis was a noted 
 physician. To have seen the association grow into its 
 present greatness is a reward the like of which is given 
 to few founders of institutions.
 
 I IO 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Dr. Davis has been a member of the Methodist 
 church since his sixteenth year, and is an uncom- 
 
 Jr.j who has also become a prominent physician and 
 has an office with his father. Dr. Davis has been an 
 
 promising advocate of temperance. In 1838 he was untiring worker since his early youth, and his name 
 
 married to Miss Anna Maria Parker, daughter of John 
 Parker of Vienna, N. Y. Three children have blessed 
 
 has become well known through his great ability in 
 medical science. It is safe to say that every physician 
 
 this union one only now living, viz., Dr. N. S. Davis, in America knows Dr. N. S. Davis of Chicago. 
 
 CHARLES HENRY FARGO, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 /"MIARLES HENRY FARGO, son of Samuel and 
 V_^ Eliza (Buell) Fargo, was born at South Tyringham, 
 Berkshire count}', Mass., on the 9th day of November, 
 1824. His father, Samuel Fargo, was a merchant at 
 South Tyringham, and, considering the times and size of 
 the town, had a magnificent business in general 
 merchandise; and it was in this store, where, from an 
 early age. he helped his father, that young Charles 
 first acquired the knowledge of mercantile affairs, 
 which was afterwards so valuable to him. 
 
 He first entered the store at the age of twelve 
 and from that time on until he was eighteen was there 
 continuously, excepting the time spent in attending the 
 public schools. At the age of eighteen he entered 
 Westfield Academy with the intention of becoming a 
 physician, but remained only a short time, it becoming 
 necessary for him to return home to help hip father in 
 the store, of which he, but a short time afterwards, 
 tooklalmost entire charge. Though thus compelled to 
 give up all thoughts of the profession of his choice, 
 it was largely through this training that he acquired 
 the valuable knowledge that has contributed so largely 
 to the success since achieved. Upon attaining his 
 majority, young Fargo was admitted to partnership 
 with his father and continued as such for two years, 
 when he went to Great Barrington, Mass., and engaged 
 in the general merchandise business as junior partner 
 in the firm of Buell & Fargo, the firm afterwards being 
 known as Fargo, Gibbs & Lawrence. Mr. Fargo 
 entered into this business with the same push and 
 energy that has been characteristic of him throughout 
 his entire career, the result being that in a short time 
 his firm had become the leading one in that place, and 
 handled the largest trade in that city. He remained 
 in Great Barrington until the winter of 1855, when 
 he sold his interests and pushed out for the We'st, 
 locating in Chicago, in which place he made his home, 
 and where he has built up the magnificent business 
 that has made the name of Charles II. Fargo 
 known in every place in the country where shoes are 
 worn. 
 
 From the time that he began business in the East, 
 Mr. Fargo was determined to be thoroughly informed 
 in regard to the various lines of goods in which lie 
 dealt, and finding this impossible with so many kinds 
 as were represented in a general country store, he 
 
 came to Chicago intending to devote himself hence- 
 forth to one branch and to push that branch to the 
 highest point of success. The boot and shoe business 
 being one of the most important lines, he selected it 
 as the business of his life. Soon after his arrival he 
 opened a boot and shoe store on Soutli Water street, 
 in the Laflin Block, with two other gentlemen as 
 associates. For the first year the firm was known as 
 Bill, Fargo & Kellogg, after which it was Fargo fe 
 Bill for five years, then until 1870, it was Fargo, Fales 
 & Co. and since that time it has been C. H. Fargo & 
 Co. During this entire time, Mr. Fargo had never 
 allowed his attention to become engaged bv any other 
 business, but devoted his entire energies to the develop- 
 ment of his chosen line. 
 
 
 
 In 1859 he commenced to manufacture, in a small 
 way. the best grades of heavy goods handled by him, 
 thus coming into direct competition with the manu- 
 facturers of the East, who had heretofore had a 
 monopoly of the business. He created the first 
 demand for western' made goods, and thereby 
 compelled other boot and shoe houses doing business 
 in Chicago to commence manufacturing also, in order 
 to retain their western trade. It can, therefore, be 
 said, with truthfulness, that to Charles H. Fargo and 
 his busines associates is due the entire credit of 
 inaugurating, in Chicago, this great industry. They 
 constitute the oldest house in Chicago now in business 
 in their line. From the first the advance of the firm 
 has been rapid, and it has risen steady in wealth and 
 public confidence, until at the present it ranks second 
 to no firm not only in the West, but in the entire 
 country. In 1870 this firm manufactured about 20 per 
 cent, of the goods sold by them, but this percentage 
 has increased year by year, and now over 60 per cent, 
 of the goods sold by them are of their own make. 
 
 When the great fire occurred, in 1871, the firm was 
 on Randolph street, near Wabash avenue, and, not- 
 withstanding the excitement of the time, the} 7 suc- 
 ceeded in removing about sl.5,000 worth of their stock 
 from the burned district and down to Mr. Fargo's 
 private residence, where they were read}', on the fol- 
 lowing morning, to fill orders for goods. The balance 
 of the stock, worth about $150,000, was a complete 
 loss, on which was, however, recovered about 60 per 
 cent, of the insurance.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 I II 
 
 Tlie firm, though enterprising, has always been 
 conservative in its ventures, and, during the critical 
 times experienced in all lines of business at the begin- 
 ing of the civil war, it was obliged to exercise great 
 care in making each venture, but, by treading care- 
 fully and on sure ground, it rapidly (though cau- 
 tiously) widened its field of operations and improved 
 its facilities for manufacturing. The results of Mr. 
 Fargo's confining himself to one line of business are 
 clearly apparent, and the great proficiency and wide 
 experience gained by him in his many years of active 
 business life were appropriately recognized by the 
 Boot and Shoe Manufacturers Association, when that 
 bodv elected him as its president. 
 
 The same consideration that led him to devote him- 
 self to one business line to the exclusion of all others 
 forbade his taking any active part in politics; all his 
 energies were devoted to the perfection of his manu- 
 facturing facilities, always striving to bring each 
 department up to the highest state of perfection. 
 
 On the 5th of December, 1848, Mr. Fargo was 
 married to Miss Eveline Sweet, daughter of J. W. 
 Sweet, Esq., of Tyringham, Mass. For twenty-three 
 years she was the loving companion of his joys and 
 sorrows, and, then, passing away, left three sons, (the 
 fourth, Fred L.. having died in childhood) to help their 
 father bear his great loss. 
 
 In his earlier years, Mr. Fargo was of rather slight 
 build and not as strong as might be wished, but, with 
 his forty-fifth year, his general health began to 
 improve materially, and, from that time to the last 
 few months of his life, he enjoyed continued good 
 health, and he was, during this period of his life, wont 
 to remark that he was the youngest man in the 
 family. 
 
 Socially he was very popular, especially so with 
 ladies, always having a smile and a pleasant greeting 
 for his friends and acquaintances whether at home or 
 abroad, and was equally sought after by old and young, 
 all alike recognizing his congeniality. His will power 
 was great, and this, coupled with his thorough knowl- 
 edge of his business in every branch, helped him not a 
 little in building up and directing his great establish- 
 ment with the remarkable success that attended it 
 from the very beginning. In the Fall of 1890 he was 
 attacked by the malady la grippe, and though he 
 seemed to recover from it he experienced another at 
 tack a year later and on the 26th of December, it de- 
 veloped into pneumonia. His condition became so 
 critical that his son, Frank M. was sent for and hastened 
 home from Denver. He found his father improved 
 somewhat, which improvement continued throughout 
 January, and early in Febuary he felt able to travel 
 and with his youngest son started South. They 
 stopped for a time at Jacksonville, Florida, and 
 then went further South to Leesburgh, where thev 
 found comfortable and pleasant quarters with Mr. and 
 Mrs. Walter Mclntyre, who were old friends of the 
 family. Here Mr. Fargo failed to improve as much as 
 he had expected and his son, F. M. Fargo, joined him at 
 
 Leesburgh, to aid his brother in determining upon what 
 had best be done. For a short time he seemed to be 
 getting better, but the improvement was only tempor- 
 ary: for on the 29th of March he took a sudden turn 
 for the worse and his eldest son was hurriedly sent for, 
 but reached Leesburgh too .late, his father having 
 passed away between 11 o'clock and midnight on the 
 29th of March, 1892. 
 
 While not a member of any denominational body, 
 Mr. Fargo was a regular attendant of the Second Pres- 
 byterian Church of Chicago, and a quiet, unostentatious 
 Christian, who did all that lay in his power to 
 help those in need, with either his monev or his 
 advice. 
 
 To each of his sons he gave a good education and 
 then took them into his business. The eldest, Charles 
 E., was six years of age when his father came to Chi- 
 cago, and acquired his early education in the public 
 schools, afterwards attending the Chicago University 
 and completing his education at Williams College. He 
 entered his father's business in 1871 and was elected 
 president of the company in 1892 to succeed his father, 
 who had been president of the company since its incor- 
 poration in 1889. 
 
 Frank M. Fargo was born in Chicago in 1859. He 
 too, attended the public schools of Chicago, was pre- 
 pared for College at Adams Academy, Quincy, Mass., 
 and entered Yale College, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1881. He had quite an extended tour through 
 Europe with his father in the summer of 1879, and in 
 the summer of 1881 he entered the employ of C. H. 
 Fargo and Company, and was admitted to partnership 
 two years later. He is now vice-president and treasurer 
 of the company. 
 
 Edward A. Fargo, the third son, was born in Chi- 
 cago in 1865. He also attended the public schools, 
 was prepared for college at Adams Academy, and 
 entered Harvard College in 188i. After leaving col- 
 lege he spent some time in special study at Paris, and 
 in 1886 made a tour through Europe with his father, 
 visiting among other places the " land of the midnight 
 sun." After his return home he, too, entered the 
 employ of his father's firm, and is now secretary of 
 the company. Thus did Charles H. Fargo rear his 
 sons. After giving them the best educational advan- 
 tages that the country affords, he took them into his 
 own business, and by precept and example has made of 
 them safe, conservative business men, progressive to a 
 marked degree, and to day classed among Chicago's 
 most valued citizens. With such training and such an 
 example they may be safely trusted to climb still higher 
 up the pathway marked out for them, by him who 
 planted the seed -and under whose fostering care the 
 tiny business plant has become a vigorous tree. 
 
 Mr. Fargo \vas a man of cheerful disposition, sound 
 judgment, and the strictest integrity. Ambitious and 
 hopeful bv nature, he maintained a steady perseverance 
 through all obstacles, and as the word " fail" had been 
 early stricken from his vocabulary, he met difficulties 
 bravely and firmly, and in almost every case compelled
 
 I 12 
 
 PKOM1NENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 success. Although an earnest business man, devoting 
 his whole daily time and attention to the further 
 development of his business, he never allowed the pur- 
 suit of wealth to warp his kindly nature, but preserved 
 his faculties for intellectual enjoyment and the warmth 
 
 of his heart, being to the end of his life a kindly, genial, 
 and friendly gentlemen with whom it was a pleasure to 
 meet and converse, and dying left behind a large circle 
 of friends who loved and esteemed him for his worth 
 of character. 
 
 LEMUEL CONANT GROSVENOR, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LEMUEL Conant Grosvenor, the eldest son of Dea- 
 con Silas N. and Mary A. (Conant) Grosvenor, was 
 born at Paxton, Mass., in 1833. His father was 
 a leading business man of Paxton. His mother was 
 the daughter of the Kev. Gaius Conant who, for twenty- 
 five vears was the pastor of the Paxton Congregational 
 Church. She was a woman of rare piety and-great strength 
 of character, sparing no pains in educating her children 
 in the ways of right and virtue. It was her special de- 
 sire that her eldest son should follow in the steps of his 
 eminent grandfather, between whom and the son there 
 existed a strong attachment. This, however, was not to 
 be, the bent of the boy's mind being in another direction, 
 and, true to his instincts, he decided to fit himself for 
 the practice of medicine. 
 
 Prior to his thirteenth year, young Grosvenor atten- 
 ded the Williston Seminary, at East Hampton, Mass., 
 but, upon the removal of his family to Worcester, in 
 1864, he entered the high school in that city, where he 
 remained for four years. Here he was especially active 
 in the literary societ\ T and developed that taste and ta- 
 lents for public speaking and literary pursuits that have 
 so signally marked his subsequent career. 
 
 At the age of seventeen his parents moved to Sauk 
 county, Wisconsin, an event \> hich had much to. do 
 with shaping the subsequent course of his life. Soon 
 after settling in Wisconsin he taught the first winter 
 school held at West Point, Columbia county, and here at- 
 tained great success as a teacher, following the pioneer 
 custom of boarding around among his pupils. For this 
 winter's work he received $60 in gold, an amount 
 which to him seemed a small fortune. At the end of 
 the winter's school term, he obtained his father's con- 
 sent, still being in his minority, and started off to make 
 his own way in the world, with a pack on his back, walk, 
 ing 100 miles to Milwaukee, and from thence going to 
 Worcester, his old home. He re-entered the high 
 school and pursued a course in higher mathematics, sup- 
 porting himself by manual labor, afterwards by teach- 
 ing school in the evenings. In this way his time was 
 fully occupied, until the following winter, 1849, when 
 heentered in earnest upon his life as a teacher, continuing 
 in it for ten yeirs. He taught in the district school of 
 Scituate, then in a select school at Rutland, the Union 
 High School at Scituate Harbor, from which position 
 he was called to the principal ship of the South Iling- 
 ham Grammar School. After two successful years there, 
 
 he received the appointment as head master of the old 
 Mather School, in Dorchester, the oldest free school in 
 America. 
 
 He held this position seven years, during which time 
 he was a member of the American Institute of Instruc- 
 tion, and for three years secretary of the Massachusetts 
 State Teachers' Association. It was while here that he 
 made it his fixed purpose to devote the rest of his life 
 to the study of medicine, it having for him a peculiar 
 fascination. 
 
 In order to fully prepare himself for his chosen 
 profession, he declined an invitation to a chair in the 
 Brooklyn Polytechnic School, and returned to the 
 West, where he pursued his medical studies, graduating 
 at the Cleveland Medical College,, with the degree of 
 M. D., in 1864. He was then thirty-one years of age, 
 and soon opened his first office for practice at Peoria, 
 111., 'remaining there three years. When fairly estab- 
 lished he again went East, and married Miss Ellen M. 
 Prouty, of Dorchester, Mass.. a daughter of Lorenzo 
 Prouty, and grand-daughter of David A. Prouty, 
 inventor of the first iron plow ever made. Her mater- 
 nal grandfather was John Mears, Sr, the inventor of 
 the center-draft plow, which was awarded the first 
 premium at the World's Fair, at London, England. 
 All her immediate ancestors were noted agriculturists, 
 and members of the old firm of Prouty and Mears. 
 Mrs. Grosvenor, a decided brunette, was not only a 
 woman of great personal beauty, but had. coupled 
 with this, those womanly graces and virtues that go to 
 make up the model wife and mother. She died in 
 1874, leaving two sons, Lorenzo N. and Wallace F., 
 and one daughter, Nellie. 
 
 From Peoria, Dr. Grosvenor went to Galesburg, 
 111., and built up an extensive practice there among 
 the wealthy families of that prosperous city. In 1870, 
 however, desiring a broader field for operation, he took 
 up his residence in Chicago, where he found ample op- 
 portunity for the exercise of his abilities. In 1S71 lie 
 was the only physician in his neighborhood on the 
 North Side whose house was not burned, it being left 
 on the very edge of the fire line, and at that dreadful 
 time he rendered to the suffering and destitute people, 
 services that demand a lasting gratitude. Day and 
 night, without thought of remuneration, he ministered 
 to those whose homes had been swept away by the flood 
 of flames that had passed over the city, and who were
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 suffering from exposure and the nervous strain incident 
 to that terrible ordeal. Through his personal efforts, 
 many needy and 'suffering ones were placed within 
 what improvised shelter could be hastily constructed, 
 in tents, in school houses, meeting houses, police sta- 
 tions' or wherever (he necessary cover could be found 
 from the inclement elements. He would daily go his 
 round of patients, and was compelled to pick his way 
 through the blackened debris and broad fields of ruin, 
 which, while the sight was one of a melancholy 
 grandeur seen by few, was to the pedestrian and 
 citizen at once inconvenient and agonizing. The task 
 undertaken by him was truly Herculean, and, had it 
 not been for his magnificent physique, forceful will 
 power and determination, he would have been over- 
 powered by that great strain upon his mental and 
 physical forces. The memory of his good work will 
 live long in the memory of the many who were subjects 
 of philanthropic aid, and the account of his deeds of 
 heroic kindness during that period of demoralization 
 would well fill a large volume. 
 
 From the time Dr. Grosvenor established himself 
 in Chicago, he was freely given the confidence of the 
 people, and he was regarded as one'of Chicago's most 
 meritorious physicians. His superior abilities were also 
 recognized b} 7 his professional colleagues, and when the 
 new Chicago Homoeopathic College was com pleted a new 
 chair of sanitary science was created for him, it being 
 the first full professorship in that department create^ 
 by any college, and it may be well said of Dr. Grosve- 
 nor that he was the pioneer in that department of 
 medical science, which is to-day considered the most es- 
 sential and the underlying principle of modern hygiene. 
 He, with characteristic force has brought the result of 
 many years careful research and study into sanitary 
 subjects before the colleges of the country, by virtue of 
 his appointment as professor of that subject in the 
 college where the department had been especiallv cre- 
 ated for him, and when it is remembered that no com- 
 plete college is to-day without that chair, we can real- 
 ize the importance of the achievement of Dr. Grosve- 
 nor. Hi lectures on sanitary science of the home, the 
 sick room, the lying-in-room, and especiallv those on 
 infant hygiene and sanitary and hygienic conditions 
 of maternity, have won for him world-wide renown. 
 Mothers credit him with having done more to alleviate 
 the sufferings of infant life and to reduce the drudgery 
 of motherhood, than has been accomplished by any 
 other man. The "Gertrude suit," an invention which 
 takes the place of the old method of swaddling the 
 babies, which mothers all over the world are just now 
 praising without stint, and which the most dignified 
 medical journals have thought it worth their while to 
 commend, originated with this well-known Chicago 
 physician and his amiable wife, who takes a deep inter- 
 est in matters pertaining to her husband's practice. 
 This emancipation dress is not only popular at home, 
 but has also found a warm welcome even in England, 
 
 "5 
 
 Australia, India and South Africa, and is highly com- 
 mended in the medical journals of the continent. 
 
 For twenty-two years, Dr. Grosvenor has been a 
 member of the Chicago Academy of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, and has three times been elected its president. 
 He was for three years president of the American 
 Paedological Society, and for many years has been 
 connected with the American Institute of Homeopathy. 
 He excels as a speaker, and his public lecture's and 
 parlor conversations are highly prized. His diction is 
 simple, pure and concise ; his style fluent, his manner 
 graceful and his thought and argument convincing. 
 He has always taken the deepest interest in voung 
 people, and has delivered several lectures for their 
 benefit, among which may be mentioned: "Our Boys," 
 "Value of a Purpose," "Stimulants and Narcotics," 
 'Our Girls," "Koses without Cosmetics," and enjoys 
 nothing more than his class lectures, because of their 
 helpfulness to young men. He is a man of sanguine 
 temperament, exalted hope, and never recognizes the 
 possibility of failure. He holds membership in the 
 Lincoln Park Congregational church, and was for 
 several years president of its board of trustees. He is 
 also a charter member of the Congregational Club. In 
 political sentiment he is a Republican, believing firmly 
 in the principles expounded and championed bv that 
 party. 
 
 Three years after the death of his first wife, the 
 doctor was united in marriage with Miss Naomi 
 Josephine Bassett, of Taunton, Mass., a highjy educated 
 lady, with unusual literary tastes and talents, and many 
 charming accomplishments, and withal, a rare good 
 sense and Christian virtues. There has been born to 
 this marriage four children, of whom two, Inez and 
 Gertrude, died, at the age of two and three vears 
 respectively. The two surviving ones, David and Lucy 
 Ella, the former now in his 12th year, and the latter in 
 her 10th, are two beautiful and interesting children, 
 and add their sweet influence to the home of the doctor 
 and his wife. 
 
 The eldest son, Dr. Lorenzo N. Grosvenor, born at 
 Galesburg, in 1868, received his preliminary education 
 in the schools of Chicago, attending the Chicago High 
 School, and afterwards Oberlin College. He then 
 pursued a course of study in the Chicago Homeopathic 
 College, and graduating in 18S9, took a post-graduate- 
 course in 1892, and is now practicing in Edgewater, a 
 beautiful suburb of Chicago. He is a young man of 
 high character, scholarly and refined. The second son, 
 Wallace F. Grosvenor, born at Galesburg, January 4, 
 1870, graduated in the class of '92 from Oberlin 
 College, and also is a matriculate of the Chicago 
 Homeopathic Medical Coliege. Ho is a young man of 
 much promise, and in scholarship ranks among the first 
 in his class, whose honors he carried off in the sopho- 
 more year. He is now, 1894, in the third year of 
 his studies in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical 
 
 College.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WF.ST, 
 
 PROFESSOR ELISHA GRAY, 
 
 HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS. 
 
 PEOF. ELISHA GRAY, son of David and Christina 
 (Edgarton) Gray, was born near Barnesville, 
 Belmont count}', O., August 2, 1835. His father, 
 David Gray, a native of Pennsylvania, was of Scotch- 
 Irish ancestry, and his mother was a native of 
 North Carolina, of English descent. His parents were 
 Quakers, living on a farm, in what is termed in rural 
 communities, moderate circumstances. When young 
 Gray was but twelve years of age, he had received 
 three or four years of district schooling and the usual 
 industrial training given to farmers' lads of his age 
 and condition of life. 
 
 Over forty years ago his father died, leaving Elisha 
 in a large measure dependent upon his own resources 
 for a living. When fourteen years of age he appren- 
 ticed himself to a blacksmith, and partly mastered 
 that trade, but his strength being greatly over-taxed, 
 he was forced to give it up and joined his mother, who 
 had removed to Brownsville, Pa. Here he entered the 
 employ of a boatbuilder, serving three and a half years' 
 apprenticeship, learning the trade of ship-joiner. At 
 the end of this time he was a first-class mechanic, and 
 began to give evidence of his inventive genius. He 
 was handicapped, however, by the meagerness of his 
 education, and was little more than able to experiment 
 with the simplest contrivances. The testimony of orte 
 who knew him intimately at this time, however, indi- 
 cates that he had a consciousness of his own resources, 
 and was of the belief that nature had destined him to 
 accomplish some important work in life. He had a 
 great desire to acquire that fundamental knowledge 
 which would open for him the way to intelligent 
 research, investigation and ultimate achievements. 
 
 While working as an apprentice he formed th'e 
 acquaintance of Professor II. S. Bennett now of Fisk 
 University then a student at Oberlin College, Ohio, 
 from whom he learned that at that institution excep- 
 tional opportunities were afforded to students for self- 
 education, and immediately after he had completed his 
 term of service he set out for the college with barely 
 enough money in his possession to carry him to his 
 destination. He arrived in Oberlin jn the summer of 
 1857, at once going to work as a carpenter, and sup- 
 ported himself by this means during a five-year's 
 course of study in the college. As a student, he gave 
 special attention to the physical sciences, in which he 
 was exceptionally proficient, his ingenuity being 
 strikingly manifested from time to time in the con- 
 struction of the apparatus used in the class room 
 experiments, his cleverness in constructing these various 
 appliances making him a conspicuous character among 
 the students. While pursuing his cbllege 1 course he 
 was not fully decided as to what profession he would 
 take up, and at one time is said to have contemplated 
 entering the ministry, finally deciding, however, not 
 to do so. Perhaps the course of his life was decided 
 
 by a remark of the mother of the young lady who 
 afterwards became his wife, though said in a joking 
 spirit, to the effect that it would be "a pity to spoil 
 a good mechanic to make a poor minister." In fact, 
 to this casual remark the now famous inventor has 
 declared himself to be, in a great measure, indebted 
 for what he has since accomplished. Trulv, the 
 worthy lady must have been of a sound and discrimi- 
 nating judgment, to discover the hidden worth of the 
 young man and she doubtless, more than anyone else 
 in his earlier days, fanned the latent sparks of genius 
 into the flame which, in later days, revealed to his 
 brain the contrivances which have made his name 
 famous and which have proved of inestimable value to 
 civilization. 
 
 From 1857 to 1861, the professor devoted himself 
 to unremitting toil and study, and the result was that 
 his naturally delicate constitution was impaired by the 
 great strain upon his mental powers. In 1861, just 
 when the future was brightening with promise of suc- 
 cess crowning his arduous labor, and when he thought 
 his days of struggling were past, he was stricken with 
 an illness from which he did not recover for five years 
 After his marriage, in 1862, to Miss Delia M. Sheppard, 
 of Oberlin, and, with a view to the betterment of his 
 health, Mr. Gray devoted himself for a time to farming 
 as an occupation. This experience was disappointing, 
 both in its financial results and in its effects upon his 
 health, and he returned to his trade, working in Trum- 
 bull county, Ohio, until he was again prostrated by a 
 serious illness. Following this came two or three years 
 of struggle and privation; of alternate hope and disap- 
 pointment, during which he experimented with various 
 mechanical and electrical devices, but was prevented 
 by his straightened circumstances from making any 
 headway in profitable invention. Pressed by his 
 necessities, he was once or twice on the point of giving 
 up his researches and investigations entirely and devot- 
 ing himself to some ordinary bread-winning industry; 
 but he was stimulated by his faithful and devoted wife 
 and her mother, both of whom had an abiding faith in 
 his genius, and who aided him in his work with all the 
 means at their command, and to whose influence was 
 largely due the fact that he continued his efforts in the 
 field of invention. 
 
 In 1867 a more prosperous era dawned on him, with 
 the invention of a self-adjusting telegraph relay.wbich, 
 although it proved of no practical value, furnished the 
 opportunity of introducing him to the late Gen. Anson 
 Stager, of Cleveland, then general superintendent of 
 the Western Union Telegraph Company, who at once 
 became interested in him and furnished him facilities 
 for experimenting on the company's lines. Professor 
 Grav then formed a co-partnership with E. M. Barton, 
 of Cleveland, for the manufacture of electrical appli- 
 ances, during which time he invented the dial tele-

 
 PROMINENT MEff Ct< THE C,REA T WEST. 
 
 graph. In 1869 he removed to Chicago, where he con. 
 tinned the manufacture of electrical supplies, General 
 Stager becoming associated with him. Here he per- 
 fected the type-printing telegraph, the telegraphic 
 repeater, telegraphic switch, the annunciator, and many 
 other inventions which have become famous within the 
 short space of a few years. About 1872 he organized 
 the Western Electrical Manufacturing Co , which is 
 still in existence, and is said to be the largest establish- 
 ment of its kind in the world. 
 
 In 1874 lie retired from the superintendency of the 
 Electric Company, and began his researches in tele- 
 phony, and within two years thereafter gave to the 
 world that marvelous product of human genius the 
 speaking telephone. Noting one day, when a second- 
 ary coil was connected with the zinc lining of the bath 
 tub dry at the time that when lie held the other end 
 of the coil in iiis left hand and rubbed the lining of the 
 tub with his right, it gave rise to a sound that had the 
 same pitch and quality as that of the vibrating con- 
 tact breaker, he began a series of experiments which 
 led first to the discovery that musical tones could be 
 transmitted over an electric wire. Fitting up the nec- 
 cessary devices, he exhibited this invention to some of 
 his friends and the same year went -abroad, where he 
 made a special study 'of acoustics and gave further 
 exhibitions of the invention, which he developed into 
 the harmonic or multiplex telegraph. While perfect- 
 ing this device, in 1875, the^ea of the speaking tele- 
 phone suggested itself, and in 1876 he perfected this 
 invention and filed his caveat in the patent office at 
 Washington. That another inventor succeeded in 
 incorporating into his own application for a telegraph 
 patent an important feature of Professor Gray's 
 invention, and that the latter was thereby deprived of 
 the benefits which he should have derived therefrom, 
 is the practically unanimous decision of manv well 
 informed as to the merits of the controversy to which 
 conflicting claims gave rise; and the leading scientists 
 and scientific organizations of the world, according to 
 a certain periodical, have accredited to him the honor 
 of inventing the telephone. In recognition of his dis- 
 tinguished achievements, he was made a Chevalier of 
 the Legion of Honor, at the close of the Paris Exposi- 
 tion, of 1878. and American colleges have conferred 
 upon him the degrees of Doctor of Laws and % Docto>- 
 of Science. 
 
 For several years after his invention of the tele- 
 phone he was connected with the Postal Telegraph 
 Company, and brought the lines of this system into 
 Chicago, laying them underground. He also devised 
 a general underground telegraph system for the citv, 
 and then turned his attention to the invention of the 
 ' Telautograph," a device with which the general 
 public is just now becoming familiar through the 
 published accounts of its operation. On March 21, 
 1893, the first exhibitions of the practical and success- 
 ful operation of this wonderful instrument were given 
 simultaneously in New York and Chicago, and on the 
 same day the first telautograph messages were passed 
 
 over the wires from Highland Park to Waukegan, 111. 
 The exhibitions were witnessed by a large number- of 
 electrical experts, scientists and representatives of the 
 press, who were unanimous in their opinion that Prof. 
 Gray's invention is destined to bring .about a revolu- 
 tion in telegraphy. 
 
 One of the beauties of electrical science is the 
 expressiveness of its nomenclature, and among the 
 many significant names given to electrical inventions, 
 none expresses more clearly the use and purpose of the 
 invention to which it is applied than the term " telau- 
 tograph." As its name signifies, the instrument ena- 
 bles a person sitting at one end of the wire to write a 
 message or a letter which is reproduced simultaneously 
 infac sun He at the other end of the wire. It is an 
 instrument which takes the place of the skilled operator 
 and the telegraphic alphabet. Any one who can write 
 can transmit a message by this means, and the receiv- 
 ing instrument does its work perfectly, without the 
 aid of an operator. The sender of a message may be 
 identified by \\\e facsimile of his hand-writing which 
 reaches therecipient,and pen and ink portraits of persons 
 may be as readily transmitted from one point to another 
 as the written messages. In many respects the telauto- 
 graph promises to be more satisfactory in its practical 
 operations than the telephone. Communications can 
 be carried on between persons at a distance from 
 each other with absolute secrecv. and a message 
 
 > ' O 
 
 sent to a person in his absence from his place of 
 business will be found waiting him upon his 
 return. These and many other advantages which 
 the telautograph seems to possess, warrant the pre- 
 diction that in the not very distant future telauto- 
 grapliy will supplant in a measure both telephony and 
 telegraphy. The transmitter and the receiver of the 
 telautograph system are delicately constructed pieces 
 of mechanism, each contained in a box somewhat 
 smaller than a type-writer machine. The two machines 
 are necessary at each end of a wire, and stand side by 
 side. In transmitting a message an ordinary feed lead 
 pencil is used, at the point of which is a small collar, 
 with two eyes in its rim. To each of these eyes a fine 
 silk cord is attached, running off at right angles in two 
 directions. Each of the two ends of this cord is 
 carried round a small drum supported on a vertical 
 shaft. Under the drum, and attached to the same 
 shaft, is a toothed wheel of steel, the teeth of which 
 are so arranged that, when either section of the cord 
 winds upon or off its drum, a number of teeth will 
 pass a given point, corresponding to the length of cord 
 so wound or unwound. For instance, if the point of 
 the pencil moves in the direction of one of the cords 
 a distance of one inch, forty of the teeth will pass any 
 certain point. Each one of these teeth and each space 
 represents one impulse sent upon the line, so that 
 when the pencil describes a motion one inch in length, 
 eight electrical impulses are sent on the line. The 
 receiving instrument is practically a duplicate of the 
 transmitter, the motions of which, however, are con- 
 trolled bv electrical mechanism. The perfected device
 
 I2O 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 exhibited by Professor Gray, and now in operation, is 
 the result of six years of arduous labor, an evolution 
 to which the crude contrivance used in his earliest 
 experiments bears little resemblance. The manufac- 
 ture of the instruments will be carried on by the Gray 
 Electric Company, a corporation having offices in New 
 York and Chicago, and a large manufacturing estab- 
 lishment just outside the limits of the suburban village 
 of Highland Park, 111., of which place Professor Gray 
 has been for many years a resident. Here, in addition 
 to his workshop and laboratory, the renowned inventor 
 has a beautiful home, and his domestic relations are of 
 the ideal kind. 
 
 The title by which Professor Gray has been known 
 for so many years came to him through his connection 
 with Oberlin and Ripon (Wis.) Colleges, as non 
 resident lecturer in physics, and his general appear- 
 ance is that of the college professor or the profound 
 student. He has none of the eccentricities which are 
 the conspicuous characteristics of some of the great 
 inventors of the age, and when not absorbed in his 
 professional work is delightfully genial and compan- 
 ionable. 
 
 When the World's Congress of Electricians assem- 
 bled in the new Art Institute, in Chicago, on the 21st 
 of August, 1893, there assembled the most noted 
 electricians of all parts of the world. The congress 
 was divided into two sections, one of which termed 
 the official section was composed of representatives 
 designated by the various governments of Europe and 
 the Americas, and was authorized to consider and 
 pass upon questions relating to electrical measurement, 
 nomenclature, and various other matters of import to 
 the electrical world. To the other section of the 
 congress were admitted all professional electricians who 
 came proper!}' accredited, and they were permitted to 
 attend the sessions and participate in the deliberations 
 of the congress,although they were not allowed to vote 
 on the technical questions coming before it. 
 
 A couple of years since, when it was determined 
 that the convening of international congresses of 
 various kinds should be made one of the leading 
 incidental features of the Columbian Exposition, a 
 body, which became known as the World's Congress 
 
 Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition, was 
 organized for the purpose of promoting and making 
 all necessary preparations for these gatherings. To 
 Professor Elisha Gray, of Chicago, this body assigned 
 the task of organizing the "Congress of Electri- 
 cians," and placed upon him the responsibility of formu- 
 lating the plans and making all initiatory preparations 
 for what was, unquestionably, the most important and 
 interesting convention of electricians ever held in this 
 or anv other country. While the professor called to 
 his assistance many distinguished members of his pro- 
 fession, by virtue of his official position, he has been 
 the central and most attractive figure in this great 
 movement. 
 
 Professor Gray is a member of the Union League 
 Club, of Chicago. Politically he is a Republican. He 
 has traveled extensively, not only in this country, but 
 throughout Europe. He is now in bis 57th year, and 
 he stands as an illustrious example of the general rule, 
 for, although not yet an old man, he is one of the few 
 prominent in the early days of electrical development, 
 who maintained their prominence and added to their 
 reputation in the rapid strides which have been made 
 during the last decade. But few of the early workers 
 in the electrical sciences have maintained their promi- 
 nence in the later development. This is undoubtedly 
 due to the la.ck of plasticity, which is usually attributed 
 to maturer years, the possession of which in younger 
 men often gives him the advantage in tne rush for 
 supremacy in new adaptations and under ever chang- 
 ing conditions. Where, however, this plasticity has 
 been preserved during maturer years, as has been the 
 case with the subject of this sketch, the maturer judg- 
 ment and riper experience which those years have en- 
 abled him to bring to bear upon the newer problems 
 have in many cases resulted in inventions and improve- 
 ments of the utmost importance to mankind and the 
 cause of civilization. Prof. Gray is a man of fine per- 
 sonal appearance, pleasing address, commanding bear- 
 ing, and a man who will attract attention in any assem- 
 bly, and, who on account of his great electrical skill, 
 and general scientific attainments, and because of his 
 pleasing and affable manner has won for himself many 
 friends and admirers. 
 
 ROSWELL ZENAS HERRICK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MANY of the hardy sons of Maine, who have made 
 Chicago their home, have become honored and 
 repected citizens. Among those that have attained a high 
 position in the business community, Roswell Z. Herrick 
 is conspicuous. He >vas born in East Corinth, Maine, 
 on December 28, 18-46. His parents, Joshua M. and 
 Betsy (Stinchfield) Ilerrick, were both descendants of 
 old colonial families. The paternal ancestor from 
 whom the Herricks in the United States are descen- 
 
 ded, was Henry Herrick who settled in Beverly, Mass., 
 about the year 1629. He was born in 1604 and was 
 the fifth son of Sir William Herrick. a celebrated gold- 
 smith and money-lender of London. Sir William was 
 born in 1557. He was a member of Parliament from 
 1601 to 1620. and was knighted by King James I, in 
 1605. His son Henry, who was delegated to investi- 
 gate his mercantile affairs in the Colony of Virginia, 
 finally located permanently in Beverly, Mass. Our
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 121 
 
 subject is a descendant of Sir William in the tenth 
 generation. The grandfather of Roswell settled in 
 East Corinth, Maine, in 1807, being one of the pioneers 
 of that place. Here Joshua M. Herrick, our subject's 
 father, a hearty, healthy old gentleman of 76, still 
 resides. The Herricks are known as a family of 
 prominence in England even now, and Beaumanor 
 Park, Leicestershire, England, the abode of the English 
 branch of the family, is an object of interest to the 
 European tourist. The celebrated British poet, Her- 
 rick, was a nephew of Sir William Herrick. Our sub- 
 ject's maternal ancestors, the Stinchfields, were promi- 
 nent residents of Cumberland county, Maine, and they 
 can also trace their descent from the ancient Anglo- 
 Saxons. 
 
 Roswell obtained his earlier education in the 
 academy at East Corinth, Maine. His first experience 
 with the business world was in a minor position in the 
 office of the register of deeds at Bangor, Maine, where 
 he entered as copying clerk, and before retiring had 
 charge of the office. In the winter of 1868 and 1869 
 he was engaged by the firm of Dwinel & Dennett, 
 lumber dealers at Bangor, for office work, but in May, 
 1869, he removed to Chicago, where he has resided 
 ever since. Upon his arrival in Chicago he obtained a 
 position as messenger in the Union Stock yards 
 National Bank, which had been organized iu 1868, 
 with Mr. S. M. Nickerson, as president, and the late 
 Mr. E. S. Stickney as casbier. He adapted himself to 
 his new surroundings, and soon became book keeper, 
 and later pay ing -teller 
 
 He occupied the latter position for fourteen years, 
 and then became general man around the bank, being 
 able to fill any position in the institution. Upon the 
 organization of the National Live Stock Bank, which 
 succeeded the older institution on March 1, 1888, he 
 became cashier, and in .January, 1890, was elected a 
 director of the bank; both of which positions he has 
 filled satisfactorily ever since. Mr. Herrick has inter- 
 ested himself but very little in matters outside the 
 bank, but was one of the organizers, however, of the 
 Drexel Building and Loan Association and its presi- 
 
 dent. He is a member and trustee of the Forty-first 
 street Presbyterian church. 
 
 He is a prominent Mason, having joined the Olive 
 Branch Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Charleston, Maine, 
 in 1868. He has always taken a deep interest in the 
 craft and is now a member of Home Lodge, on the 
 south side, of Chicago Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, 
 and Chevalier Bayard Commandery, Knights Templar. 
 In all of these bodies he has held the highest official 
 positions. He also takes the deepest interest in his 
 home and family life, and does not care to appear 
 prominently in social circles. However, he is a mem- 
 ber of the Oakland Club, Bankers' Club, and one of 
 the directors of "The Society of the Sons of Maine." 
 
 Politically, Mr. Herrick is a Republican, and for 
 two years, 1880 and 1881, he was elected by his party 
 treasurer of the village of Hyde Park. He was presi- 
 dent of the Hyde Park board of education for two 
 terms, when hi^s office was discontinued on account 
 of the annexation of the village to the city of 
 Chicago. 
 
 ' On October 28, 1873, he was married to Miss 
 Martha E. Thurston, daughter of Mark Thurston, of 
 Bangor, Maine. The Thurston family is one of the 
 oldest and most respected in New Hampshire, where 
 they have been prominent residents for more than two 
 hundred years. The couple are blessed with one child, 
 a daughter named Gertrude T. 
 
 Mrs. Herrick is an esteemed lady of refinement; 
 she was educated in the high school of Bangor, Maine, 
 and is possessed of those many charms that are so 
 desirable in a model wife and mother. 
 
 That Mr. Herrick stands well in the community is 
 evidenced by the fact that he is now cashier of one of 
 the largest financial institutions of Chicago, and in 
 which he has filled positions of trust for nearly a 
 quarter of a century. He has always endeavored to v 
 treat others as he would have them treat him, and 
 besides enjoying in a high degree the conlidence and 
 esteem of both stockholders and patrons of the bank, 
 he is respected as an honorable, upright man by all 
 who know him, and the number is large. 
 
 LISTON HOMER MONTGOMERY, A. M., M. D. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LISTON HOMER MONTGOMERY, A. M., M. D., 
 is a lineal descendant on the paternal side of Gen- 
 eral Richard Montgomery, of American Revolutionary 
 fame. The latter was born at Convoy House, near Rap- 
 hoe, Ireland, December 2, 1736. His death is a matter 
 of history, he having given up his life for his adopted 
 country before Quebec, December 31, 1775. His father 
 was a member of parliament for Lifford. Richard was 
 educated at Trinitv College, Dublin, and entered the 
 army at the age of 18, fighting under Wolfe, at the 
 siege of Lomberg, in 1756, winning the honor of 
 
 approval from the commander. After its surrender 
 his regiment formed a part of Araherst's force that was 
 sent to reduce the French forts on Lake Champlain. in 
 
 1759. Montgomery became adjutant of his regiment in 
 
 1760, was under Col. Haviland in his march upon Mon- 
 treal, when that city was surrendered. In 1762 Mont- 
 gomery was promoted to a captaincy and served in the 
 campaign against Havana in the same year. After 
 that he resided in this country a while, but revisited 
 England. In 1772 he sold his commission and came to 
 America, and the following year he bought an estate
 
 122 
 
 PROMINENT MSN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 at 111) inebeck, on the Hudson, and married a daughter of 
 R. R. Livingston. .... 
 
 He \v;is slain by grape shot at twilight from a masked 
 battery while in the act of mounting the breastworks 
 overlooking the city of Quebec. lie was brave, 
 humane, and generous, well liked and respected 
 throughout his life, and after death in such a heroic 
 manner, was buried in the city where he fell, but in the 
 year of 1818 his remains were removed to New York 
 citv and depositd near the monument which the United 
 States had erected to his memory in front of St. Paul's 
 church, on Broadway. Montgomery county, Ohio, is 
 .named in honor of him. Listen Homer is great grand- 
 nephew of the celebrated genera], or the fifth genera- 
 tion from Richard. 
 
 William Clayton Montgomery, the grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch. Liston II. Montgomery, and 
 a grand-nephew of General Richard Montgomery, was 
 a native of Red Stone, at that time a small town in 
 western Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1794. 
 He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and helped to build 
 Fort Meigs the present site Perrysburg, Ohio; Fort 
 Stevenson, now Fremont; Fort Ball, Tiffin; Fort Defi- 
 ance, Fort Wayne, Indiana, etc. He was also a soldier 
 in the Mexican war. In 1819 he was married to 
 Elizabeth Gregg, of Jefferson count}', Ohio. Thirty 
 years after this, after retiring in perfect apparent health, 
 one night, and falling into a slumber which comes to 
 those of health, hesuddenly awoke and exclaimed to his 
 wife: " Oil Betsy, my heart has burst. " It was thus 
 he passed away, leaving ten children, among whom 
 was John Montgomery, the father of the subject of our 
 sketch. Mrs. Elizabeth Gregg Montgomery, wife of 
 William Clayton Montgomery, was born in Lancaster 
 county, Penn., February 21, 1800. She emigrated 
 with her parents to Jefferson county, Ohio, where 
 .she was married. Their honeymoon consisted of 
 a ride on horseback to the frontier, to a pleasant 
 place just south of Mount Gilead, where they endured 
 the hardships incident to pioneer life, building them- 
 selves a home where they lived long and happily, and 
 one which was ever open to the young folks, who fre- 
 quently gathered there to enjoy the hospitality of the 
 popular family. Though the house was the social 
 center of the community it was indeed a perfect type 
 of the pioneer period, from the puncheon floor to its 
 clapboarded roof and oil-paper windows. Four cows 
 and two hogs composed the list of their live stock. 
 Between the occupations of clearing the farm of timber, 
 hunting and some farming on the part of Mr. Mont- 
 gomery, and spinning and weaving by his wife, they 
 were enabled to bring up the family of children which 
 blessed their union. There were ten of these, three of 
 whom only survived their mother John, a respectable 
 and well-known physician at Adrian, Seneca county; 
 Sarah H., now Mrs. W. R. Creigh, of Johnsville, and 
 Jane, now Mrs. Jenks Williams of Cardington, Ohio. 
 Mrs. Montgomery died at the residence of her daughter, 
 Mrs. Creigh, at Johnsville, where she had, during the 
 last year of her life, been living calmly and peacefully 
 
 in her old age. She died September 1, 1883, thirty- 
 four years after the death of her husband, at the good old 
 age of eighty-three years, six months and eleven davs. 
 The funeral services were held in the Methodist church 
 of Mount Gilead, where a large number of bereaved 
 friends assembled to pay the last tributes of respect to 
 her memory. Many were p'resent who remembered 
 her as one whose efforts were of material aid in the 
 organization and establishment of the early Christian 
 church of the town. 
 
 Liston Homer Montgomery was born at McCutch- 
 enville, Wyandotte county, Ohio, August 21, 1848. He 
 was the second son of John Montgomery, M. D., and 
 Harriet (Newell) Willard. Liston's father was born 
 in Marion count}-, now Gilead township, Morrow 
 county, Ohio, May 21, 1822. He was the eldest son of 
 William Clayton Montgomery, and the recently 
 deceased Mrs. Elizabeth Gregg Montgomery. The 
 following authentic necrology and history was very 
 carefully prepared and published in the Tiffin Trilntne, 
 February 5, 1885, and Mount Gilead papers of same 
 date, regarding Johannes Montgomery, at the time of 
 his death. 
 
 "A man's best epitaph is written in his deeds. The 
 emphasis of this truth finds expression in the subjoined 
 eulogistic remarks and a brief history of Dr. John 
 Montgomery, who died at his residence at Adrian, 
 (Seneca county, Ohio), on the morning of January 29, 
 JS85, aged sixty-two years, eight months and eight 
 days. The family is traced down through a long line, 
 ennobled by race and deed. General_ Richard Mont- 
 gomery, who was born in the year 1736, and killed at 
 Quebec in 1775, while in command of the American 
 forces during the War of the Revolution, was his 
 grandfather's uncle. His parents removed from 
 western Pennsylvania (previously referred to) to 
 Marion county, Ohio, in 1819. They lived in a log 
 cabin, where he was born, and often was he rocked to 
 sleep with a mother's lullaby in a sugar-trough cradle. 
 His youth was surrounded by hardships and vicissitudes 
 known only to early frontier life. His father, the late 
 William Clayton Montgomery', while serving the 
 United States Government under General William 
 Henry Harrison, was absent from home during his 
 early youth and manhood, and much devolved upon 
 the son, who was the great factor in the clearing of the 
 forest of their new home, and which was subsequently 
 completed by younger sons, his brothers, the late 
 Samuel and George Washington Montgomery, who 
 have since been transported to their father. The sound 
 of the elder son's axe awakened new echoes within his 
 breast. He honored this life of toil, however, which 
 awakened in his veins new impulses and inspired him 
 to seek higher attainments, for at an early age, he pos- 
 sessed a love for study, and, by the light of tallow dips, 
 after many a hard day's work, achieved, not only a 
 good English education, but a knowledge of Latin. In 
 the pursuit of the latter study, he was greatly aided by 
 liis personal friend, Erasmus Phillips, long years ago 
 deceased."
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 123 
 
 " Dr. John Montgomery chose the profession of 
 medicine, and, at the age of twenty years, commenced 
 its study, and at once applied himself with zeal. With 
 the earning saved by his manual labor, he was enabled 
 to attend his first course of lectures at the Western 
 Reserve Medical College, at Cleveland, Ohio, during 
 the winter sessions of 1844-45. To this school of 
 medicine he walked the distance of ninety miles, from 
 his father's home, near Mt. Gilead, Ohio, as, at that 
 early date, railroads had not been constructed in 
 central Ohio. Soon after the close of this term of 
 lectures, in March, 1845, Mr. Montgomery, although 
 an undergraduate, began the practice of the healing 
 art at West Millgrove. Wood county, Ohio, where he 
 soon acquired a lucrative practice, at least, what he so 
 considered at that time. At that village he met Miss 
 Harriet Newell Willard, daughter of John Griswold 
 Willard and Melissa Peabody Willard, to whom he 
 was wedded May 19, 1S46, and who was his faithful 
 Christian wife until his departure to "that lourne 
 ii-ln in-, n<> ti'iii't-ler return*." He practiced his pro- 
 fession as an undergraduate until October, 1850, when 
 he re-entered the same college to attend a second 
 course of lectures and to receive the degree of Doctor 
 of Medicine, and, on February 9th, 1851, was 
 graduated at the above named institution. He then 
 resumed the practice of the healing art, and located at 
 McCutchenville, Wyandotte county, Ohio, where he 
 remained several years before he removed to Adrian, 
 in the adjoining (Seneca) county. After residing in 
 this village for a generation, in the Spring of (April 
 28) 1866 he removed to Apple river, a place located 
 in almost the extreme northwestern portion of Illinois, 
 where, during a residence of several years, he labored 
 with a steadiness of purpose equaled by very few in 
 any calling. Prior to this, however, during the years 
 1861-65, he rendered his country faithful service in 
 administering to the wants and otherwise alleviating 
 the suffering of disabled and sick soldiers and their 
 families. Never, so it has been said of him, did lie 
 make a charge for his professional services in this 
 direction. His health not permitting him to enter on 
 the field of active service, he felt it his duty to aid and 
 assist those that were left behind. Numerous kindly 
 reminiscenses of him have been told, and can be 
 vouched for by several of his old time neighbors, who 
 have been spared to survive him. Although nobody 
 will know how much good he did for the widows and 
 orphans, he was brave as any soldier that went forward 
 in that fearful strife of the days of 1861-65, and often 
 was he summoned to render them his professional aid. 
 It was during his residence in the West that many of 
 his friends desired his professional services and pre- 
 vailed upon him to return to Adrian. This request he 
 acceded to in December, 186i>, and there he continued 
 to practice until the time of his fatal illness." 
 
 'He was a man of pure character, of broad culture, 
 and was always deeply impressed with the responsibil- 
 ities of his profession. lie was a diligent student to 
 the end of his life. He loved truth, worth and learn- 
 
 ing, and denounced show, pretense and quackery with 
 quixotic vehemence. In the study of history he never 
 wearied. In the literature of medicine he was a dili- 
 gent searcher and a profound scholar. In some of the 
 branches, of which he was particularly fond, was the 
 
 , nervous system and surgery. An extensive practice 
 made his duties at times very onerous, and, although 
 often greatly fatigued, he was ever ready to respond 
 to a call for the benefit of a sick patient. To the 
 indigent sick he was especially an ever welcome bene- 
 factor, and with this class particularly will his death 
 
 - be deeply mourned." 
 
 "In February, 1882, Dr. Montgomery suffered from 
 a severe attack of pneumonia, from which he never 
 fullv recovered. And, though often importuned to 
 avoid inclement weather, he braved the storm and 
 elements, with fidelity in the faithful discharge of his 
 duties in the daily pursuit of his calling. Nearly one 
 year ago (January 11, 1885) he had a second attack of 
 pneumonia and laryngitis. The disease, although fully 
 developed, after the lapse of a fortnight, gave evidence 
 of subsiding, and his recovery was looked forward to, 
 but its invasion was insidious, and had taken a deeper 
 hold than was at first thought, and resulted, with com- 
 plications in a prolonged and painful struggle of the 
 sufferer. Knowing fcr months that he was the victim 
 of an incurable malady, he kept steadily and calmly 
 on in the usual routine of his life, seeing patients and 
 pursuing his studies until a short time before his death. 
 Loving hands and sympathetic friends left nothing 
 undone in their power to prolong his life o f usefulness, 
 but the venerable physician passed away while yet in 
 the harness, a patient, weary sufferer, whom it was sad 
 to look upon. One whose once fine physique and 
 activity, now bo.th departed, reminds us of the inevit- 
 able. He was a man who possessed an excellent voice 
 and an exceptional command of language. He had a 
 memory of unsurpassed excellence, and we have lost, 
 as has been said of him, a firm and steadfast friend. 
 
 ''He leaves a widow, two sons and three daughters. 
 The latter are married and live in remote sections from 
 the old homestead, in this and other States. Their 
 names and residences are: Mrs. Lillie Melissa Brayton, 
 Leipsic, Ohio; Mrs. Harriet Agusta Presler, Tiffin, 
 Ohio, and Mrs. Elizabeth Victoria Hall, Los Angeles, 
 Cal. Of his sons, it may be stated that upon 
 one Liston Homer ths professional mantle has 
 fallen. He is a popular and well-known physician of 
 Chicago. His brother. Eugene Willard Montgomery, 
 
 o CT D r ' 
 
 is a resident of Galena, 111., where he is engaged as 
 a successful banker and lumber merchant. Both these 
 gentlemen were present at their father's demise." 
 
 'The obsequies were held in the Evangelical church, 
 at Adrian, on Saturday, January 31st, conducted by 
 Rev. Mr. Dustman, of Carey, Ohio, assisted by the 
 village pastor, Rev. Mr. Ilowey. A large concourse of 
 friends were in attendance from Tiffin, Fosioria, 
 Findley, West Millgrove, Johnsville, Carey, Carding- 
 ton, La Porte, Indiana, and elsewhere, to listen to the 
 eloquent words of condolence and wisdom from the
 
 124 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 worthy ministers. When the last opportunity was 
 given the sorrowing friends to view for the last time 
 the face of their departed neighbor and physician, and 
 whose mortality will be known no more, the remains 
 were interred in theBrayton cemetery, two miles south 
 of the village where the deceased had resided for t\vo 
 score years. His two sisters, Mrs. Sarah Harriet 
 Creigh, of Johnsville, and Mrs. -Jane Williams, of 
 Cardington, survive him. Vale to all that was mortal 
 of Johannes Montgomery, M. D." 
 
 On his maternal side Listen is a descendant of 
 Major Simon Willard, who was born at Horsmonden, 
 England, in the year 1605, and baptized at St. Mar- 
 guerite's (Episcopal) Chapel, at Horsmonden, April 7, 
 1605.' The Willards for many generations lived in 
 England (traced back to the tenth and eleventh centu- 
 ries). 
 
 The immediate ancestor of Simon Willard resided 
 in the southwestern part of Kent, in the hundred 
 of Brenchley and Horsmonden. Simon Willard, it is 
 supposed, beyond a doubt, descended from William 
 or John Willard, who resided at Hailsham, in Sussex, 
 in the reign of Edward the III (1341). Richard Wil- 
 lard was a ' ; Baron of Cinque Ports, 1 ' probably in the 
 reign of Richard II. Richard Willard, Sr.. died at 
 Horsmonden, England, in June 1577. Elizabeth, his 
 widow, died September, 1592. Of his sons one was 
 named Richard, and now, casting aside for the present 
 all speculation as to preceding generations, we arrive 
 at a determinate point in the latter part of the six- 
 teenth century, when we find Richard Willard, Jr., (II), 
 established in the pleasant and secluded village of 
 Horsmonden, married and giving hostages to fortune, 
 and there residing until the time of his death, in Febru- 
 ary, 1616. His will was proved March 14th following. 
 He was buried February 20lh. This corresponds to 
 March 2, 1617, new style. 
 
 While at Horsmonden he had gathered around 
 him a considerable family. At least ten children, 
 seven of whom survived him. He was thrice married, 
 his last wife surviving him only a few days, and was 
 buried on the 25th of the month at the same place. Of 
 his children who came to New England, Margery and 
 Simon were of the second and George was of the third 
 marriage. 
 
 This brings us now to Simon, who, as above stated 
 was born at Horsmonden, probably early in the year 
 1605. The record of his baptismal consecration, as 
 recorded in the parish register, runs thus: 
 
 "Anno Dni. Anno 3 R. Jacobs. 
 1605 The VII day of April, Simon Willarde, sonne 
 of Richarde Willarde, was christened. 
 
 Edward Alchine, Rector." 
 
 Baptism in the Episcopal church follows pretty 
 closely on birth. We may reasonablv infer that Simon 
 was born early in 1605. Parting from his rural village 
 and ancestral associations impressed upon him by a 
 thousand memories, he crossed the perilous ocean to 
 
 the forest-covered and savagely-populated continent, 
 establishing for himself new relations, and surrounding 
 himself with nature's own solitude and dreariness, when 
 neither the spirit of adventure or desire for wealth 
 cheered the heart or influenced the mind. When 
 he was twenty-nine years of age he took upon himself 
 this great step, which, when repeated, laid the founda- 
 tions for this great nation. His wife was Mary Sharpe, 
 born at Horsmonden in 1614, baptized October 16, 
 ^ 1614, at that place. Mrs. Willard was twenty years 
 of age when she accompanied her husband to 
 America. 
 
 Simon Willard and his wife, Mary, in company with 
 his sister, Margery, and her husband, Captain Dolor 
 Davis, embarked from England in April, 1634, and ar- 
 rived at Boston about the middle of May. Major Simon 
 Willard was father of Rev. Samuel Willard, who, for 
 twenty-seven years, was pastor of the old South church, 
 in Boston, and who, succeeded Cotton Mather. He 
 was for several years also the first vice-presi- 
 dent of Cambridge University, during which time he 
 was the acting president of this great institution of 
 learning. 
 
 As written in the preceding pages, Listen Homer 
 Montgomery on his maternal side is a direct descendant 
 (twelve generations intervening) of Major Simon Wil- 
 lard. Major Willard was the father of seventeen chil- 
 dren, having three wives, and it may well be said of him 
 that he was the progenitor of the Willard family in the 
 new world. 
 
 Harriet Newell Willard, mother of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born April 22, 1831, at Holland Patent, 
 Oneida county, N". Y. She came with her parents, 
 when a mere child to the wilderness, to a town which 
 even to-day merits only the dignity of a, small village, 
 in Wood county, Ohio. She died in her residence at 
 Adrian. Seneca county, Ohio, September 11, 1889, aged 
 fifty-eight years, four months and nine days. As 
 stated before she was the daughter of John 
 Griswold Williard, deceased February 28, 1858, 
 and of Melissa Peabody Willard. Her immediate 
 ancestors on her mother's side descended from 
 the old Peabody stock, well known in advanced 
 educational circles, and formerly connected with the 
 colonial history of Massachusetts. Mrs. Melissa 
 Peabodv Willard was a venerable Christian lady 
 and departed this life on January 5, 1894, at her 
 daughter's rural village home in Ohio, aged 90 
 years. Her remains were interred in the family lot 
 beside her husband, Sunday, January 7th, following. 
 
 The town of Liston Homer Montgomery's birth 
 (already mentioned), when he first saw the light of day, 
 was a small unimportant village, situated near the San- 
 el usky river, and a few miles from Broken Sword and 
 Tvmoctee Creeks and Crawford's Run. It has since 
 grown to be a thriving town on the line of the Toledo 
 and the Ohio Central Railroad. He moved with his 
 parents from his native village when under five years of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 He was under a rigid anil careful 
 time he attained ten years of 
 
 age to Adrian, Ohio, 
 training up to the 
 age. 
 
 The rudiments of his education he had already 
 received, and the three years following he attended 
 the Mount Gilead high school. At the expiration 
 of this period he entered Heidelberg College at 
 Tiffin, where he took a literary course of two years, 
 leaving Heidelburg in November, 1863. His liking 
 for medicine manifested itself at an early period of 
 his life by the unmistakable fondness for the read- 
 ing and study of the literature of medicine, and of 
 kindred sciences. 
 
 While he was in attendance at the high-school above 
 mentioned, he lived with his grandmother, and she 
 often, at late hours of the night, found him engaged 
 perusing and studying her works, on" Domestic Medi- 
 cine," " The Family Doctor,"etc., on which occasions she 
 would administer a slight chastisement and send her 
 studious grandson to bed. He afterwards became 
 acquainted with other sources from which he obtained 
 books on medicine. His happiest times were when he 
 was poring over some work of worth. . 
 
 The first of December, 1863, young Montgomery 
 engaged himself as teacher in a country school for a four 
 months winter term, adjacent to his native place, and 
 soon won the reputation of triumphing over J,he larger 
 and older boys than himself, who had in former terms 
 ruled the teachers. At the close of th is term he returned 
 to Tiffin, where on the following April a situation was 
 tendered and accepted by him as clerk in a dry goods 
 store. Although the position was in the largest dry 
 goods store in the city, the remuneration did not exceed 
 $3 a week, and he remained there less than one month, 
 for on May 2, 1864, he surprised his employers and 
 friends by enlisting in Company G. 164th Regiment 
 Ohio Volunteer Infantry, to serve during the remainder 
 of the war. 
 
 At the time of his enlistment he was fifteen 
 vears old. It was his third, though first successful, 
 attempt to enter the service, being rejected the two 
 previous times, on account of his evident extreme 
 youth. He saw active military service in the army of 
 the Potomac, during the few months following his 
 enlistment, and was mustered out with an honorable 
 discharge. August 27, 1864. It was said of him that 
 he faithfully performed his duties as a soldier, and was 
 known as the smallest and youngest of his regiment 
 throughout the entire brigade. In addition to his 
 honorable discharge he was the recipient of an hono- 
 rarium, for meritorious service from the captain of the 
 company, A. V. Shetterly, now a resident of West 
 Lodi, Ohio. 
 
 In the Autumn of this same year he again became 
 a teacher in a country school near Carey, Ohio. Here, 
 as at the preceding school, he was successful in quell- 
 ing the beligerent spirit of the older and larger boys. 
 Perhaps this is best illustrated by the relation of an 
 
 125 
 
 incident. A short time after he had taken hold of the 
 school a new member, a son of one of the directors, 
 was added to the list of scholars. The particular 
 boast of this young gentleman was that he always 
 " licked the teacher. " Before a fortnight had passed 
 the young man and the teacher had "clinched," but it 
 did not result so favorably to the young man, for he 
 was very quickly ejected by the forceful young teacher, 
 and landed in a very undignified position in the road. 
 This so angered the father that he threatened the dis- 
 organization of the school. To prevent this youno- 
 Montgomery handed in his resignation, but a subscrip- 
 tion paper was promptly raised and he was requested 
 to continue the rest of the term. This request he 
 complied with, refusing, however, to accept the ejected 
 scholar as a pupil, which position was approved by the 
 other directors and other scholars. The fatherthen 
 visited the school to administer a lesson to the voim^ 
 
 V O 
 
 school master, but as a result he received a sound 
 "drubbing" from Montgomei^y. The school then 
 proceeded to a successful termination, without any 
 further interference from the father or son. 
 
 In April, 1865, he entered the employ of the P. F. 
 W. & C. R. R. Co., at Crestline, Ohio, remaining in 
 its service until the autumn of that year, when he 
 again engaged as the teacher to teach in the "Frv" 
 District school, as it was known at that time, located 
 one-half mile east of Crestline in Rich land county. 
 He taught here for four months, when he was called 
 home to take charge of his father's financial affairs, 
 who was preparing to remove to the northwestern 
 portion of Illinois. After a short stay with his folks 
 he went to Pittsburgh, Pa., and secured an appointment 
 in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 
 filling his position in a thoroughly satisfactory manner 
 to his superior officers, when after a few months, he 
 made his first visit to Chicago, from there going 
 through the northwestern portion of Illinois and Wis- 
 consin, being employed for three years in the various 
 capacities of farmer, teacher, druggist, etc., in south- 
 western Wisconsin. During this time he also took up 
 the study of medicine in Northern Illinois. His 
 last term of school teaching was begun on the 16th 
 day of November, 1868, in School District No. 5, in 
 the township of Monticello and White Oak Springs, La 
 Fayette county, Wis., and closed February 25, 1869. 
 During the preceding summer, he had charge of the 
 drug store at Shullsburg, Wisconsin, which belonged to 
 Dr. M. A. Fox, -of that town anil a personal friend of 
 Mr. Montgomery's. 
 
 On the 80th of September, 1869, after having 
 spent some time at his home, Apple River, Illinois, in 
 the preparation of his studies in medicine, he returned 
 to Chicago and matriculated at the (as it was then 
 known) Chicago Medical College, the medical depart, 
 ment of the Northwestern University, since which 
 time its -name has been changed to ''The North- 
 western University Medical College." In addition to
 
 126 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 what has been said he had incessantly pursued his 
 medical studies a goodly portion of the time since his 
 boyhood. After attending the prescribed course of 
 lectures, he was graduated at the age of 22 from his 
 Alma Mater, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine 
 March 14, 1871. Not feeling sufficient assurance to 
 establish himself in practice he immediately accepted an 
 appointment for one year as resident interne surgeon, 
 after undergoing a competitive examination for the 
 same, and soon after was made senior resident physican 
 in Mercy Hospital. At this institution he rendered 
 efficient service at the time of the destruction of 
 Chicago by fire, October 9, 1871. He administered 
 to many patients suffering from burns and other 
 injuries, and more than one pathetic incident and rem- 
 iniscence has he been known to recite of the terrible times. 
 November 20th, the same year, however, Dr. Mont- 
 gomery resigned his position at the hospital, nnd lo- 
 cated in the city of his adoption as a general practicing 
 surgeon, physician and sanitarian. Soon after this, 
 during the winter of 1871-72, he had large experience 
 in the treatment of small-pox, which was especially 
 prevalent at that time. His services at this time 
 prove the truth of the statement that he chose the 
 profession of his heart's prompting, and follows it not 
 for the money consideration, but because he finds 
 therein the opening and opportunity -to help his fellow- 
 men who are afflicted by disease. This has brought 
 about the establishment of a well deserved lucrative 
 practice, and the making of many friends. 
 
 Dr. Montgomery, soon after locating became an 
 active member of the Chicago Medical Societv, and in 
 the winter following, 1872-73, assisted in organizing the 
 Chicago Society of Physicians and Surgeons, and was 
 one of its first officers. This society was two years 
 afterwards merged into the Chicago Medical Societv, 
 of which Ite subsequentl\ T served several successive 
 terms as secretary. In June, 1877, he became a perma- 
 nent member of the American Medical Association, 
 and, at its annual meeting held ten years later, (1887), 
 at Chicago, was elected as assistant secretary of that 
 body, lie was reappointed to the position June 9, 
 1892, at the annual meeting held in Detroit, for the 
 44th annual session that was held at Milwaukee, June 
 6-9, 1S93. In May, 1878, he was elected a member of 
 the Illinois State Medical Society. Dr. Montgomery 
 has frequently been sent as delegate to various scien- 
 tific organizations, especial!}' to the annual meeting of 
 the American Public Health Association, at Nashville, 
 Tenn., in November 1879; at New Orleans, in Decem- 
 ber, 1880; Indianapolis, in October, 1882; Detroit, No- 
 vember, 1883; St. Louis, in October, 1885; and Wash- 
 ington, D. C., in December, 1886. At several of these 
 meetings lie reported the proceedings for a number of 
 of eastern medical journals. In November, 1884, he 
 was a delegate to the sanitary council of the Missis- 
 sippi Valley, held at Memphis, Tenn , at that time. lie 
 had, previous to this, had a good deal of experience in 
 the investigation and study of yellow fever at several 
 of the southern cities of the United States, notably at 
 
 Paducah, Ky., Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, Mobile, 
 Alabama and Pensacola, Florida. He was one of the 
 founders of the Chicago Medico-Historical Society, 
 (organized April 28, 1874) and for several years one of 
 its officers. He was also a charter member of the 
 Chicago Medico-Legal Society, organized in the winter 
 of 1888-89, for the investigation, study and advance- 
 ment of the science of medical jurisprudence, and was 
 one of the first to become a member of the Illinois 
 Army and Navy Medical Association, organized four 
 years ago. 
 
 At the St. Louis and Nashville meetings of the 
 American Medical Association, held respectively in 
 May, 188.6, and May, 1890, he was elected a delegate to 
 the British Medical Association. He was a member 
 of the Ninth International Medical congress, that was 
 held at Washington, D. C., September 5-9, 1887, as 
 well as to the Tenth International Medical congress, 
 held in Berlin, August 49, 1890, and as such was the 
 bearer of invitations from the municipal government of 
 the city of Chicago and the World's Congress Auxiliary 
 of the World's Columbian Exposition, to make Chica- 
 go the next place of meeting, to be held (us was then 
 anticipated) in October, 1893. Chicago was the only 
 American city that sent an invitation and it was only 
 declined because the Latin languages were not in com- 
 mon use there. St. Petersburg, Rome, Florence, Paris, 
 Madrid, and London had sent invitations for the Eleventh 
 International Medical congress to convene in those 
 cities, but to Rome was awarded the honor for the rea- 
 son above stated; but, in consequence of the unsanitary 
 condition of the European States at the time, the scien- 
 tists had to say at home to do what the}' could to bet- 
 ter the situation, _ind at a subsequent meeting, it was 
 decided to postpone the congress until April 5, 1894. 
 Dr. Montgomery is a profound believer in the ethi- 
 cal codes of all the societies of which he is a member, 
 his desire in this respect being marked by assiduous dili- 
 gence not to wound intentionally the feelings of any 
 professional brother. In politics he is an earnest and 
 consistent Republican, being an ardent admirer of that 
 champion of protection, Governor McKinley, of Ohio. 
 June 1, 1885, Dr. Montgomery was appointed medi- 
 cal inspector for the northwestern division of the 
 city of Chicago, a position which he held with honor to 
 himself and credit to the city until May 10, 1893. 
 At this time his resignation, which had been offered April 
 28th, preceding, was accepted. In the various branches 
 of municipal government, and numerous branches of 
 State, as well as national government, he is a believer 
 in genuine civil service reform, and is greatly opposed 
 to the present spoils system. He is a member of various 
 literary and social clubs and other societies. Among 
 the latter may be mentioned George II. Thomas 
 Post No. 5. G. A. II., Department of Illinois, the largest 
 G. A. R. Post in the Union, and of which he lias been 
 surgeon during the past six years, lie is a member 
 and helped to organize the "Western Society of the 
 Armv of the Potomac," (organized October 31, 1S89) 
 and during the first two years of the organization was
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 127 
 
 its surgeon, when he was elected as one of the vice- 
 presidents of the body. He is also a member of the 
 "Ohio Veteran Association of Illinois," organized Dec. 
 10-11,-18S9 at Bloomington, 111; and was the first sur- 
 geon of this body. At present he is vice-president, rep- 
 resenting the third congressional district of Illinois 
 for this association, which has enrolled upon its roster 
 about 3,200 names. He is past sachem of Sagamore Tribe 
 No. 41 Improved Order of Red Men, of which he is a 
 charter member. He is an active member, having 
 held many offices, in Chicago Lodge No. 4 Benevolent 
 and Protective Order of Elks; acharter member of Jus- 
 . tus Lodge No. 390, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 of Chicago; a member of Ashlar Lodge No. 308, A.-F. 
 & A. M., and also of Oriental Consistory, S. P. R. S. 
 32nd degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley 
 of Chicago. He is also medical examiner for some 
 of our representative accident and life insurance 
 companies. 
 
 Among the literary, social and politico-social clubs 
 that he holds membership in, may be mentioned the 
 LaSalle, Ashland, Lincoln, and Grant Clubs, of the lat- 
 ter of which he has-been secretary continuously since 
 August, 1888. He was one of the promoters and founders 
 of the Ohio Society of Chicago, date of organization 
 April 29, 1890 and held the position of secretary of 
 the organization during its first three years, having 
 recently resigned on account of other pressing matters. 
 He was one of its charter members, and has seen it grow 
 and surpass in every respect, socially, all other State or- 
 ganizations of the city. He was a member of the Aux- 
 iliary Association of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 and an active member of the committee of the depart- 
 ment of medicine, as well as of the general committee 
 of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the International 
 Congress on Public Health, that convened in Chicago 
 in the Memorial Art Palace, in connection with the 21st 
 annual meeting of the American Public Health Asso- 
 ciation, held from October 9th to 14, 1893. Dr. 
 Montgomery was a memberof the previous International 
 Sanitary Congress, the first of these so-called congresses 
 ever held on this side of the Atlantic, and was in at- 
 tendance at the 20th annual meeting of the American 
 Public Health Association, held in the old historical 
 City of Mexico, November 28th to December 4, 1 892, and 
 as such was delegated to represent the department of 
 health of the municipal government of Chicago at said 
 meeting, and was also chosen to represent the Journal 
 of the American Medical Association at said meeting, 
 of which he published quite an elaborate report of the 
 proceedings of the scientific business, embracing se- 
 veral printed pages of the issues of the Journal on 
 December 24th and 31, 1892. 
 
 At the forty-fourth annual meeting of the American 
 Medical Association held in the city of Milwaukee, 
 June 6-9, 1893, besides discharging the duties of assist- 
 ant secretary, as well as that of a member of the 
 executive committee of the meeting, he was also secre- 
 tary of the section of Surgery and Anatomy, the two 
 positions, we believe, never before having been filled 
 
 by one gentleman at the same time. For this double 
 official recognition probably, he was appointed a dele- 
 gate to attend the forthcoming or eleventh Inter- 
 national Medical Congress, which, as above stated, 
 convened at Rome, in April, 1894. A.t this meeting, 
 also, Dr. Montgomery was appointed a member of the 
 special committee, which originally consisted of three 
 members that had reported at the meeting of the asso- 
 ciation in Detroit in June, 1892, as well as at Mil- 
 waukee, to petition Congress to create a department 
 and a secretary of Public Health, as he had for several 
 years looked toward the establishment of a national 
 sanitary bureau, and the appointment of a medical 
 secretary of same, with equal rank of other secretaries. 
 It is needless to say that his efforts as coadjutor in this 
 direction have been in hearty co-operation with the 
 views of his able and judicious fellow-committeemen, 
 of whom Professor C. G. Comegys, M. D., of Cincin- 
 nati, is the efficient chairman, and from which much is 
 looked for at the deliberations of the 53d Congress, 
 looking to the establishment of this much desired 
 bureau. 
 
 For a period embracing several years, Dr. Mont- 
 gomery was a frequent contributor to American and 
 foreign medical journals, namely by reporting the 
 proceedings of the scientific business that was trans- 
 acted by various local and national scientific bodies. 
 
 The surnames of our worthy subject are derived 
 from the late great Irish teacher, Surgeon Listen, of 
 Dublin, and the Greek poet, Homer, names historically 
 known throughout the civilized world. In manner he 
 is courteous and genial, and his success in life has been 
 achieved by his own personal worth and efforts, as well 
 as his industrious habits. 
 
 Dr. Montgomery was first married January 25, 
 1883, at the age of 34, to a lady well-known and highlv 
 esteemed in literary and musical circles. By this union 
 Esther Harriet, an ingenious little girl, was born No- 
 vember 16th of the same year. 
 
 His second marriage was a most auspicious one, to 
 Mrs. Olive Branch Jack Motherspaugh, a very charm- 
 ing and accomplished lady in every respect, and was 
 consummated on September 10, 1893. She was a 
 resident for many years of Ohio, but a native of 
 Metropolis City, 111. She is the daughter of the 
 late Hon. and Mrs. Jedediah Jack, whose father was 
 for many years a personal friend and adviser of the 
 great emancipator and martyr, Abraham Lincoln, and 
 a man resembling Lincoln in personal appearance, of 
 whom John A. Logan had often remarked that he also 
 resembled the assassinated president in statesmanship 
 and executive ability, as well as great endowments of 
 character. Her mother, whose maiden name was Miss 
 Elizabeth Courtney Tayler, was a lineal descendant of 
 the owners and lords of the Castle of Montgomery, 
 Scotland, and subsequently of English descent. She 
 was a cousin of Jane Swishelm, who at one time was 
 historically regarded as one of the noblest and most 
 intellectual women of this country. Miss Olive Branch 
 Jack was wedded to Marshall D. Motherspaugh, who
 
 128 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 died September 5. 1890, leaving, beside his estimable 
 wife, a most precocious and interesting daughter. Flor- 
 ence Bernise, to whom as well also as to his own 
 talented daughter previously mentioned, Dr. Mont- 
 gomery is sincerely attached. He has not any decided 
 religious preferences, and never has been baptized in 
 any faith, but claims that he is equally ready to em- 
 brace any of the following three denominations: Con- 
 gregational, Methodist or Presbyterian. 
 
 Dr. Montgomery has traveled extensively in portions 
 of Europe, including Great Britain, and on the conti- 
 nent, besides being well traveled in his native land and 
 having visited nearly all the States. He has also been 
 
 in old Mexico, and portions of British Columbia. At 
 this writing he contemplates a visit to the Golden Gate 
 on the Pacific. He is a firm believer in the maxim, 
 "Life is worth living," and of course believes in one of 
 its cardinal principles, namely. " the Golden Eule." His 
 ambitions for wealth, therefore, cannot be compared to 
 his desire to be spared many years for a life which he 
 hopes to make worthy of emulation and commendable 
 to those who survive him. And may the finis prove to 
 be words, as golden as an evangel's tidings. Dr. Mont- 
 gomery is yet in the prime of life, and what he most 
 aspires to, is to enjoy many years of useful and honor- 
 able service in the practice of his noble calling. 
 
 CHARLES ELI JUDSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CHARLES ELI JUDSON, the president and 
 engineer of the Chicago Economic Fuel Gas* 
 Company of Chicago, was born at Prattsburg, N. 
 Y., December 21, 1843, and is the son of Aaron and 
 Sophronia (Mason) Judson. 
 
 He is descended from William Judson, who with 
 his family left Yorkshire, England, in the year 1634, 
 and settled in Stratford, Conn., where some of 
 his lineal descendents still reside on the old homestead. 
 William Judson was closely identified with the early 
 history of Harvard College. During the past twenty- 
 five decades the Judson family has contributed many 
 sons to the Christian ministry, notably the Rev. Dr. 
 Adoniram Judson, the missionary to Burmah. 
 
 Mr. Judson was about five years of age when his 
 father, a Presbyterian clergyman, accepted a call to 
 the Second Presbyterian church of Oswego, N. 
 Y. He was strongly anti-slavery and pro-temper- 
 ance in his views, and identified himself prominently 
 with the leaders of both causes, lecturing through the 
 country and writing forcible articles for the papers in 
 defense of his convictions. He was noted as an 
 eloquent and convincing speaker. He died August 21, 
 1852, before he could witness the abolition of that 
 system of slavery which he had so strongly denounced 
 in the pulpit, on the platform and in the press. He 
 left his widow and two sons in only moderate circum- 
 stances. In the following spring, young Judson was 
 sent to a boarding school at Sand Lake, N. Y.^ and in 
 four years was ready to enter college, but owing to his 
 youth was denied admission until the following year, 
 1858, when he entered the sophomore class of Union 
 College at Schenectady, N. Y., and graduated in July, 
 1861, in his eighteenth year. His favorite studies in 
 college were engineering and chemistry, and these 
 preferences undoubtedly had much to do with his later 
 business experiences. 
 
 Immediately after graduation, Mr. Judson returned 
 to Oswego and engaged in the drug business. Six 
 
 month's experience of this, however, was enough, and 
 the spring of 1862 found him a member of the firm of 
 Bolles and Judson, located at Albany, JS". Y., 
 engaged in the manufacture and wholesale jobbing of 
 paper. They conducted this business successfully until 
 the fall of 1865, when the firm sold out and engaged 
 in the drilling of oil wells at Pithole, Penn. 
 They met with success in this, but dissolved partner- 
 ship in January, 1866, and Mr. Judson went to 
 Savannah, Georgia, where he organized the Southern 
 Wrecking and Submarine Company, became its vice- 
 president and engineer, and made a contract with the 
 city of Savannah for the removal from the Savannah 
 river of the obstructions which had been placed there 
 during the late civil war. This contract was very 
 profitable in its early stages, but owing to a disagree- 
 ment arising between the United States Treasury 
 Department and the municipal authorities of Savan- 
 nah, the company suspended operations and sold out 
 at a great personal loss. 
 
 In the fall of 1866, Mr. Judson went to Scranton, 
 Penn., and accepted the position of treasurer 
 and engineer of the Scranton Gas and Water Company, 
 where he remained uninterruptedly for seventeen 
 years. In the fall of 1883 he was tendered the 
 position of president and engineer of the Con- 
 sumers' Gas, Fuel and Light Company, of Chicago, 
 just then completing its plant. He accepted the 
 position and moved to Chicago. On the failure of this 
 corporation he was appointed its receiver, and subse- 
 quently became the president and engineer of the Con- 
 sumers' Gas Company, which succeeded to the 
 property of the former corporation. In the spring of 
 1887 he became president and engineer of the Hyde 
 Park and Lake Gas Companies also. On the 1st of 
 August, 1892, he resigned his official connection with 
 all the above companies and became the president and 
 engineer of the Chicago Economic Fuel Gas Company, 
 the new corporation then about to engage in the intro-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 duction and distribution of natural gas in Chicago. 
 In the fall of 1872, Mr. Judson associated himself 
 with Thomas J. Fisher, of Laramie, Wyo., under the 
 firm name of Judson & Fisher, in the cattle and sheep 
 raising business, and has since that time, under different 
 firm names, had an interest in the same business. He is 
 undoubtedly entitled to recognition as being one of 
 
 the earliest established ranchmen in that portion of 
 Wyoming. Mr. Judson was married August 23, 1877, 
 to Miss Mary Spencer Black, only daughter of Eobert 
 T. Black, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In religious mat- 
 ters Mr. Judson is a Presbyterian, and in politics a Re- 
 publican. He has. never held public office, however, 
 preferring to give his undivided attention to business. 
 
 CHARLES LAWRENCE HUTCHINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 NE of the greatest marvels of this age is the amount 
 of work for good or ill that ma} 7 be accomplished 
 by one man. That one intellect can be the motive power 
 of countless enterprises any one of which may work 
 incalculable weal or woe to thousands of fellow-beings, 
 and bring each and every one to a successful termina- 
 tion, awakens our wonder and respect. Such an intel- 
 lect is that possessed by Charles Lawrence Hutchinson, 
 the subject of this sketch, who was born in Lynn, 
 Mass., on the seventh day of March, 1854. 
 
 When he was two years of age his parents came 
 west, settling in Chicago, and this city has since been 
 his home. His education was acquired in the public 
 schools of Chicago, and his business career commenced 
 immediately after his graduation from the high school 
 in 1873. At the age of nineteen we find him asso- 
 ciated in business with his father, Mr. B. P. Hutchinson, 
 and having no time and but little inclination for boyish 
 sports, he early developed habits of industry and the 
 closest application to business. 
 
 Mr. Hutchinson is a great lover of art, and has one 
 of the finest private collections in Chicago to-day, or 
 for that matter, in the entire West. The old masters 
 represented in his gallery are Cuyp, Palamedes, Van der 
 Neer and Teneirs. From the Demidorf collection he 
 secured a gem by Franz Hals, and his Rosetti is 
 considered a great prize. In short, he is one of the 
 few men who can rely on the truth of his own percep- 
 tions in judging the merits of a work. From the noble 
 work being done by the Art Institute and its instruc- 
 tors we turn naturally to the men who, by their public 
 spirit, their generosity, and their love of art have estab- 
 lished the institution itself. First and foremost among 
 these is Mr. Hutchinson, who, by his personal effort, his 
 counsel, his business ability and his means has sus- 
 tained the cause of the institution of which he is presi- 
 dent through many trials and brought it to its present 
 high standing. He is very sanguine as to its future 
 and continues in its behalf the efforts which, it may be 
 said, have given to it its greatest impetus. His interest 
 in the development of art and its future in the West is 
 very deep indeed,-ancl as chairman of the Fine Arts 
 committee of the World's Fair he has been exceedingly 
 active, laboring hard to make the art exhibit one of 
 the very best. The success of his efforts is patent to 
 
 all who have visited that striking department of the 
 Fair. He was the Royal Greek Commissioner and Greek 
 Consul for Chicago and was a member of the World's 
 Congress Auxiliaries of Artists. 
 
 Mr. Hutchinson is also a zealous and active worker 
 in the cause of education, being especially vigilant in 
 looking after the interests of the Chicago University, 
 of which institution he is a director, an active member 
 of the finance committee, and its treasurer. He has 
 been from the first a large contributor both of his time 
 and means to the cause of the university and to its ad- 
 vancement. In church and charitable work he quietly 
 does all that he can to relieve those in need, and though 
 exceedingly unostentatious in giving he never turns a 
 deaf ear to those who are in distress. He has been for 
 twelve years superintendent of St. Paul's Universalist 
 Sunday-school and gives to his duties in that position 
 the same careful attention that he has always given to 
 anything committed to his charge. 
 
 In any and every enterprise looking to the ad- 
 vancement of the business interests of Chicago the 
 name of Charles L. Hutchinson is sure to be found 
 close to the head of the list of those having it in charge. 
 Ever since the location of the World's Fair at Chicago 
 he has been actively identified with the management, 
 having been a director from the first and a member of 
 the executive committee since its organization, besides 
 the great work that he has done as chairman of the 
 Fine Arts committee. When the Auditorium Associa- 
 tion was organized he was one of the leading spirits of 
 the enterprise and has been a director and the treas- 
 urer of the Association ever since its organization. In 
 1879, when the Corn Exchange Bank was reorganized, 
 Mr. Hutchinson was elected president, which office he 
 still holds. He is also vice-president of the Northern 
 Trust Co., a director of the State Bank of Chicago, and 
 of the Traders Insurance Co. Ever since his first 
 entrance into the business world he has been in active 
 sympathy with the Board of Trade, having served 
 several terms as treasurer of that body, one year as 
 view-president and as president in 1888. 
 
 In 1881 he was married to Miss Frances M. Kinsley, 
 daughter of Mr. II. M. Kinsley of Chicago. He has 
 traveled extensively having made special visits to 
 England, to Holland, to Spain, and to Egypt, with the
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 object of increasing his already extensive knowledge of 
 the art that he loves. Such is a brief description of one 
 of Chicago's most valued citizens, a man yet young in 
 years, though old in experience and business ability. 
 Accustomed from his early manhood to the society of 
 men on whose action depends in a great measure the 
 
 country's financial status, his quick perception and un 
 erring judgment make him a man of mark in any coin- 
 pan}'. Modest and unassuming in dress and demeanor 
 he is one of " nature's noblemen." and well deserves the 
 love and admiration that is so freely accorded him b\ r 
 his fellow- men. 
 
 EUGENE STAFFORD ELLSWORTH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 EUGENE STAFFORD ELLSWORTH, son of Or- 
 lando and Almira Shaw (Hinds) Ellsworth, was 
 born in Milwaukee count}', Wis., on the 2nd day 
 of November, 1848. His father, Orlando Ellsworth, 
 was a son of Stukley Stafford Ellsworth, a native of 
 Otsego county, N. Y., and quite a prominent fig- 
 ure in the commercial and political history of that 
 State, having served for many years in the New York 
 State senate. Orlando Ellsworth was reared and mar- 
 ried in Otsego county, N. Y., but came West and 
 was one of the earliest settlers of Milwaukee county, 
 Wisconsin, having arrived there in the summer of 
 1836. He occupied a prominent position in the early 
 history of the county, and served in the legislature of 
 1857-58, having been elected by the Republican party, 
 of which he was a member. At the outbreak of the 
 Civil War he raised a company of volunteers and was 
 elected captain. The company was assigned to the 
 Twenty-fourth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, and 
 was known as Company " K." The regiment was 
 ordered to the front in September, 1862, as part of the 
 Army of the Tennessee, and the subject of this sketch, 
 then a lad of thirteen, went with it as drummer boy of 
 his company, and stayed with the company until an 
 attack of severe sickness compelled him to go into 
 the hospital, and, not entirely recovering his health, he 
 was eventually compelled to quit the service and go 
 home. Capt. Ellsworth, the father, served until the 
 close of the war, when he went to Iowa Falls, la., 
 where he resided until his death, which occurred June 
 27, 1872. 
 
 Young Ellsworth attended the public schools at 
 Milwaukee until he went to the front with his father's 
 company, and after his return he took a short course at 
 Bayliss Commercial College at Dubuque, la. In 1863 
 he went to Iowa Falls, la., and engaged in teaming, 
 hauling lumber, supplies and goods of all kinds to Iowa 
 Falls from the nearest railroad station. This business 
 he carried on for about two years, and then abandoned 
 it to go into the real estate business, and though 
 the country was then new and sparsely settled, 
 witli such energy did he attend to his business that he 
 soon saw his efforts crowned with great success. 
 Besides the business of real estate that he carried on on 
 his own account he also did a very extensive business 
 in loaning money for Eastern investors on Iowa 
 
 improved farms, and he can be justly proud of the 
 magnificent record that he made in his more than a 
 quarter of a century of active business in this line; for, 
 during his entire career in this line of business, not a 
 single dollar of any investor was lost through him nor 
 did a single piece of real estate bought by him prove 
 unsatisfactory to the purchaser. In 1880 he was elected 
 secretary and treasurer of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa 
 Falls, and North Western Land and Town Lot Com- 
 pany, an organization created for the purpose of pur- 
 chasing lands and town sites on the line of the B. C. 
 R. & N. Railway, and during the time that he had the 
 entire management of that company's business in his 
 sole charge, more than thirty of the best towns in Iowa 
 were brought into existence. Owing partially to the 
 rapid development of Iowa, his business assumed such 
 immense proportions as to be beyond the management 
 of one man. and consequently in 1884 he took as a 
 partner Mr. L. E. Jones of Iowa Falls, who had been 
 for seven years prior to that time his confidential clerk. 
 This partnership is still in existence. They have offices 
 in Iowa Falls and in Chicago, Mr. Jones having charge 
 of the former and Mr. Ellsworth of the latter. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Ellsworth was elected vice-president of 
 the First National Bank of Iowa Falls and still holds 
 that position. From 1881 to 1892 he was a director of 
 the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway. 
 Politically he is a Republican, and served his party as 
 mayor of Iowa Falls from June 15, 1876, until March 
 5, 1877, and was a member of the town board of trus- 
 tees continuously from 1877 to 1888. He has always 
 taken a strong interest in educational matters and Ells- 
 worth College, which was established in Iowa Falls in 
 1890, was named for him. Though it is still young it 
 is already known as one of the most flourishing institu- 
 tions in the West. 
 
 On July 1, 1893, Mr. Ellsworth started a private 
 bank on the North Side, in Chicago, on Division streef, 
 near Sedgwick, believing that as, at that time, there 
 was but one bank the Lincoln National Bank on Clark 
 street a good field offered for such an institution. 
 
 lie joined the Masonic fraternity in 1878 and has 
 taken all of the degrees of Masonry up to and 
 including the 32nd. lie is a Knight Templar and on the 
 18th of September, 1887, was chosen Eminent Com- 
 mander of St. Elmo Commandery, number 48, of Iowa
 
 tf
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 135 
 
 Falls, holding the office until November 1888. He is Collegicite Institute at Chicago. Mr. Ellsworth, thouo-1 
 
 also a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- 
 men and of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic 
 Shrine. He has traveled extensively in all pnrts of the 
 United States, and in 1878 made an extended visit to 
 England. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Continental 
 Europe, repeating the trip in 1891, when he spent 
 several months abroad. He was married in September, 
 1872, to Miss Hattie A. Northrop, of Otisville, Franklin 
 county, Iowa. They have two children, the eldest, 
 Ernest Orlando, a youth twenty years of age and a 
 graduate of Shattuck school at Faribault, Minnesota, 
 and Carrie Pearl, who is at present attending Grant 
 
 still a young man in the prime of life, can now look back 
 on a business record of which any man might well be 
 proud. In building up his own business he has been in- 
 strumental in building up numerous industries each of 
 which has added its full share to the general welfare. 
 A business man at the early age of seventeen, he has 
 been engaged in active business ever since, and to the 
 efforts of himself and his colleagues, Iowa owes many 
 of her most prosperous and growing towns. Modest 
 and unassuming, with attractive social qualities, a 
 kindly nature and quick, energetic business habits. Mr. 
 Ellsworth is a valuable acquisition to any community. 
 
 JOHN H. S. QUICK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is a well-known and justly 
 eminent member of the Chicago bar. He is not 
 one of the many who have risen from obscurity into the 
 blaze of ephemeral prosperity, but he has risen to a high 
 position as a lawyer and a citizen by. gradual and 
 constant advances, every successive step having been 
 wisely and happily taken ; a career no less honorable 
 to himself than useful to others. 
 
 Mr. Quick is a native of New Jersey and was born 
 on the 13th day of January, 1837. His father was John 
 S. Quick, formerly an enterprising and prosperous 
 merchant of New York city, and his mother was Mary 
 (nee Roberts) a lady of many womanly virtues. Young 
 Quick received the rudiments of his education in the 
 grammar school of Columbia College, New York, and 
 later attended the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire, 
 Conn. He entered Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., 
 and there pursued his higher studies in literature and 
 the languages, graduating with honor in the class of 
 1858. He was for several years the president of the 
 Alumni Association of that college, and is now one of 
 its permanent trustees. 
 
 Full of a desire for learning and to rank in the 
 highest branches of culture and education, he went to 
 Europe and attended lectures at the University of 
 Leipsic, Germany. Returning to New York, he read 
 law with the firm of Messrs. Scudder & Carter, com- 
 posed of Henry J. Scudder and James C. Carter. He 
 finished his course in jurisprudence and was admitted 
 to the bar in New York city in 1862. He practiced 
 law there with success for some time and then removed 
 to Chicago, where he practiced alone until 1871. He 
 then entered into partnership with George Herbert, an 
 able and well-known lawyer. These gentlemen col- 
 lected a magnificent law library, but this together with 
 the well chosen and extensive private library of Mr. 
 Quick was consumed in the great fire of 1871. This 
 partnership continued doing a very large and lucrative 
 law business until 1876, when Mr. John S. Miller was 
 
 admitted, the firm rame becoming Herbert, Quick & 
 Miller, and so continuing until the demise of Mr. Her- 
 bert. The firm continued under the title of Quick & 
 Miller until within a few years; since then Mr. Quick 
 has practiced by himself. He is a well and widely 
 read lawyer, who is patient in research of authorities, 
 possessed of an analytical mind and sound reasoning 
 logical in discourse, and with a profound knowledge 
 of the details and intricacies of his profession. In the 
 Chicago Law Times of July, 1888, Judge C. V. Wa'ite 
 writes of him as follows : 
 
 " Though Mr. Quick has always avoided an active 
 participation in public affairs, yet without solicitation 
 on his part he has been much talked of in his own 
 party as an eligible candidate for Congress, owing to 
 his high standing in his profession as a lawyer of com- 
 manding ability; as a prominent member of the Iro- 
 quois Club and of the county democracy, and as one of 
 the pillars of Grace Church, a power in social and 
 business circles, and an active and energetic man." 
 
 Mr. Quick has passed to the Knight Templar's 
 degree in Masonry, and is a much respected member of 
 that organization, being a past eminent commander 
 of Montjoie Commandery, of Chicago. In social life 
 he is polished and refined, yet plain and unostentatious 
 in his manner, a great favorite with the members of 
 the bar, and indeed with all classes. 
 
 His great erudition, his pure professional and social 
 ethics and his conversational powers render him a 
 welcome and interesting guest in every circle. Mr. 
 Quick has a fine presence, is of medium size and height, 
 with high, broad forehead, blue eyes and a luxuriant 
 growth of auburn hair, tinged by the hand of time with 
 silver. He was married to Miss Henrietta B. Carter, 
 the esteemed and accomplished daughter of the late 
 H. Kendall Carter, of Hartford, Conn., and they have 
 an interesting family, consisting of one daughter and 
 three sons. 
 
 As before stated, the fine private library of Mr.
 
 136 
 
 Quick was largely destroyed by fire, but he immedi- 
 ately set to work gathering together a new one, and 
 to-day there are probably few in Chicago who possess 
 such an extensive and varied collection of choice, rare, 
 antique and modern works as he. The collection is the 
 work of years, and contains some ra,re books of 
 immense value, and Mr. Quick is naturally proud of 
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of-' THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 his collection. Being also a lover of art, he has 
 managed to secure a fine collection of beautiful 
 paintings of both the old and modern school, which 
 adorn his home ; and it might be truly stated that 
 outside of his professional life, it is in the quietude of 
 his home and library that he takes the keenest delight 
 and enjoyment. 
 
 CHARLES MATHER HENDERSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the well-known men who are and have 
 been part and parcel of Chicago's history during 
 the past quarter of a century there is no one whose 
 name is familiar to a greater number of people, both 
 in Chicago and the entire West, than Charles Mather 
 Henderson. 
 
 He is the son of James F. and Sebrina (Marsh) 
 Henderson, and was born at New Hartford, Litchfield 
 county, Conn., on the 21st of March, 1834. His paternal 
 grandmother was a member of the family of Cotton 
 Mather, a man whose name is familiar to all students 
 Of American history, while, from his mother's side he 
 is a descendant of Roswell Marsh, a soldier who gained 
 fame in the war of the Revolution. 
 
 Mr. Henderson's early education was acquired in 
 the public schools of his native State, and the "little 
 red school house," in which he first studied, has been 
 gratefully remembered and is now known throughout 
 the West as the brand on one of the best lines of chil- 
 dren's shoes known to the trade. 
 
 In 1853, when he had nearly attained his nineteenth 
 year, young Henderson came to Chicago, obtaining 
 employment in the boot and shoe house of his uncle, 
 C. N. Henderson, the firm being known as C. N. Hen- 
 derson & Co. Here he passed through and made him- 
 self thoroughly familiar with every part of the business, 
 so that when the death of bis uncle occurred, in 1859, 
 he had mastered every part. He soon reorganized the 
 company, under the title of C. M. Henderson & Co., 
 and under that title the business has been carried on 
 up to the present time. 
 
 In 1863 his brother, Wilbur S. Henderson, was 
 admitted to partnership, and the business was carried 
 on at 32 Lake Street until 1868, when fire broke out 
 and destroyed their plant. They then resumed busi- 
 ness at 58 and 60 Wabash Avenue, where they had 
 been located but three years when fire again overtook 
 them, and the terrible calamity of October 8 and 9, 
 1871, left them, as well as many others, with little but 
 ashes of what, had been a magnificent business. 
 Nothing daunted by this terrible blow, however, they 
 immediately set to work and were one of the first 
 firms to resume business after the fire. Since that 
 time they have steadily pushed on; the business has 
 attained enormous proportions, and it is said to be now 
 
 without exception the largest boot and shoe manufact- 
 uring and jobbing house in America, if not in the world. 
 At present the company have three large factories 
 in active operation-Mane in Chicago and two in Dixon, 
 111., in which many thousand people are employed. 
 Their Chicago offices and salesrooms are at the corner 
 of Adams and Market streets, where an army of 
 clerks are kept busy in attending to the large business 
 transacted. 
 
 Though the yearly growth of his business has 
 necessitated almost his entire attention, Mr. Hender- 
 son has found time to largely interest himself in every 
 effort that has been made for the betterment of Chi- 
 cago's municipal government and her material welfare. 
 In 1874 he was one of the founders and organizers of 
 the Citizens' Association, an organization of a large 
 number of the most prominent of Chicago's citizens 
 for the purification of her government. He was 
 repeatedly urged to accept the presidency of the asso- 
 ciation, but always declined, although he gave material 
 aid in the adoption of the present city charter; and, 
 having always been a firm believer in an honest and 
 well-managed city government, has expended large 
 sums of money at various times to help bring about 
 the desired result. He has also been much interested 
 in the Chicago Fire Department, and was largely 
 instrumental in its reconstruction and in bringing it to 
 its present high' state of perfection. 
 
 Mr. Henderson is a well-known and popular member 
 of the Union League, the Commercial, the Chicago and 
 the Calumet clubs and is also very popular socially. 
 In religious matters he has taken a very active part, 
 having been a member of the First Presbyterian 
 church for more than twenty years, for fifteen years 
 president of the young people's mission association, for 
 ten years superintendent of the Rail-Road Chapel and 
 for two years president of the Young Mens' Christian 
 Association. He has always been a liberal contributor 
 to all charitable enterprises and though quiet and 
 unostentatious in giving never turns a deaf ear to the 
 appeals of the distressed. He is one of the trustees of 
 the Chicago Home for Incurables, and also of Lake 
 Forest University. 
 
 Politically, he is a member of the Republican party, 
 and though he has often been urged to accept positions
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 of honor and trust in the gift of his party he has 
 invariably declined, the stress of his private business 
 interests and his none to robust health having required 
 this course. In 1858 Mr. Henderson was united in mar- 
 riage to Miss Emily Hollingsworth, daughter of James 
 Hollingsworth, of Chicago. Three daughters, Florence 
 H., Grace and Bessie, have been born to them, and 
 now add greatly to the attractiveness of the home and 
 to the social popularity of Mr. Henderson and his 
 charming wife. 
 
 Such is the brief sketch of a man whose name is 
 
 known by his work, not only in the city of his adop- 
 tion, but in the entire West. In Chicago he is best 
 known by the quiet though effective work done bv 
 him for the benefit of his fellows and for his just and 
 honorable treatment of all who in any way transact bus- 
 ness with the large establishment that his energy and 
 business sagacity have built up. He is a good repre- 
 sentative of the best class of Chicago's citizens, and no 
 list of names representing the most prominent of that 
 class can be complete without the name of -Charles 
 Mather Henderson. 
 
 WILLIAM FESSENDEN MERRILL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM FESSENDEN MERRILL was born 
 at Montague, Mass., July 14, 1842. He is the 
 son of James H. and Lucia W. (Griswold) Merrill, the 
 father being a Congregational clergyman, who preached 
 in Massachusetts for forty years, and whose ancestors, 
 natives of England, came to this country as early as 
 1632, and settled near Salisbury, Mass. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated in 
 Punchard free school, Andover, Mass., and entered 
 Amherst College in the autumn of 1859. In the 
 summer of 1862 he left college to enter the army. 
 He enlisted with the First Massachusetts Heavy Artil- 
 lery (and was afterwards commissioned in an unat- 
 tached company of heavy artillery), which was al- 
 most entirely made up from men working in the 
 United States Arsenal at Springfield, Mass., and that 
 company was afterwards consolidated with other com- 
 panies of like character into the Third Massachusetts 
 Heavy Artillery. The company into which he was 
 commissioned did duty during its entire service in the 
 engineering corps. Mr. Merrill's first c6mmission was 
 that of second lieutenant, later being promoted to first 
 lieutenant in the regiment, holding that position when 
 he was mustered out of service early in June, 1865. 
 After January 1, 1865, he served as personal aid, 
 until about a month prior to leaving the service, 
 to Brigadier-General Thomas, of the 25th Army 
 Corps. 
 
 Shortly after leaving the service of the army he 
 entered the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge, 
 Mass., and studied civil engineering for a year. In 
 the summer of 1866 he came to Chicago and was 
 engaged in the engineer's office of the city until Janu- 
 ary of 1867, when he entered the service of the C., B. 
 & Q. Railroad Company as assistant civil engineer, and 
 was sent to Burlington, lawa, to assist in the construc- 
 tion of the bridge built by that company across the 
 Mississippi river. He continued in the service of the 
 C., B. & Q. Company and the B., & M. R. Railroad in 
 Iowa (which was afterward consolidated with the C., 
 B. & Q. road) until the spring of 1873, with the excep- 
 
 tion of one year, when he was assistant engineer of the 
 C. M. & L. S. Railroad. For two years thereafter he 
 was resident engineer of the Erie Railway, and stationed 
 at Buffalo, having charge of the construction and im. 
 provements then in operation on the western portion 
 of its lines. In the summer of 1875 he became con- 
 nected with the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad as 
 assistant civil engineer and served in that capacity 
 and as secretary to the receiver and purchasing agent 
 until July of 1878, when he was appointed chief engi- 
 neer and general superintendent. In the fall of 1880, 
 he was made general superintendent of one division of 
 the Wabash Railroad, which position he held until the 
 spring of 1882, at which time he was appointed gen- 
 eral superintendent of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. 
 
 Leaving the Chicago and Alton Railroad in the 
 spring of 1883, he accepted the position of superintend- 
 ent of the Iowa lines of the Chicago, Burlington and 
 Quincy Railroad, with headquarters at Burlington, 
 Iowa. He continued in this position until January 1, 
 1887, when he was sent by the company to St. Joseph, 
 Mo., as general manager of the Hannibal and St. Joe, 
 Kansas City and St. Joe and C. B. railroads. He 
 remained at St. Joseph until August, 1890, when he 
 was transferred to Chicago as general manager of 
 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. 
 
 For three years Mr. Merrill has been a member of 
 the Loyal Legion. He was united in marriage to Miss 
 Eliza Grosvenor Fessenden on the 17th day of October 
 1872. Mrs. Merrill is' a highly accomplished lady 
 and the daughter of lion. Samuel C. Fessenden, of 
 Stanford, Conn., whose father was General Samuel Fes- 
 senden, of Portland, Maine. They have two children, 
 Clement Fessenden Merrill, born October 8, 1877, and 
 Ellen Lincoln Merrill, born November 27, 1880. 
 
 Mr. Merrill is a man of medium height and weight. 
 In his manner he is retiring and unostentatious, cour- 
 teous to all, genial among his friends, of whom he has 
 a host, not only in Chicago but throughout the East 
 and West, and altogether a gentleman of superior 
 worth and abilitv.
 
 138 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 NAPOLEON B. VAN SLVKE, 
 
 MADISOH, WISCONSIN. 
 
 NAPOLEON B. VAN SLYKE, president of the 
 First National bank of Madison, Wis., was 
 born in Saratoga count} 7 , N, Y., December 21, 1822. 
 
 His father, Daniel Van Slyke, born in Onondaga 
 county, N. Y., in 1800, was the son of Gerret and 
 Catherine (Wooleaver) Van Slyke, born in Herkimer 
 county, N. Y., both of whom were of Holland 
 descent. 
 
 The mother of Napoleon B., Laura (Mears) Van 
 Slyke, was a native of Montgomery county, N. Y. 
 Her parents were James and Louis (Sprague) Mears, 
 both natives of Vermont, but who subsequently removed 
 to Montgomer\ r county, N. Y., then to Onondaga 
 county, and finally followed their children to Madison, 
 Wis., where they died at the advanced age of 
 eighty-five and ninety years respectively. 
 
 Daniel Van Slyke was a civil engineer, first 
 engaged in the construction of the "lower aqueduct" 
 of the Erie canal in 1822, then the Delaware and Hud- 
 son canal, the Erie and Ohio canal, and with Dewitt 
 Clinton, Jr. in the Savannah and Qgeechee ship canal, 
 connecting these rivers in Georgia. His last work 
 was in charge of that part of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
 canal from Georgetown to Harper's Ferry, Maryland. 
 Here he contracted consumption and returning to his 
 native county, there died at the early age of thirty- 
 one years. His widow, Laura, died in the same county 
 eleven years later. 
 
 The subject of our sketch, an orphan without 
 brother or sister, with a common school education, 
 commenced his adult life upon a farm in 1844, in 
 which year he married Laura Sheldon, the only child 
 of Judge Elisha W. Sheldon of Sennet, Cayuga county, 
 N. Y. By this marriage there are two surviving 
 children, Laura V. Hawley and Elisha W. Sheldon. 
 His wife dying in 1857, Mr. Van Slyke married Annie 
 Corbett, daughter of Cooper Corbett of Corbettsville, 
 N. Y., by whom there were two children, Maie, 
 born in 1861, the wife of Dr. John M. Dobson, and 
 who died in 1887, and James M., born in 1865. 
 
 Leaving the farm, our subject in 1850 entered into 
 the salt trade at Salina near Syracuse, N. Y., continu- 
 ing the same for three years, when he removed to 
 Madison, Wis., and at once organized the Dane County 
 Bank, now the First National Bank of Madison, of 
 which since 1865, he has been president. He is also the 
 president of the Wisconsin State Bankers' Association; 
 an electric light and power company ; a gas company 
 and three or four other corporations ; also a member of 
 the executive council of the American Bankers' 
 Association, and vice-president of the Savings Loan 
 and Trust Company of Madison. 
 
 During the civil war he was assistant quarter- 
 master general of Wisconsin, until the government 
 took charge of the furnishing of military supplies, 
 when he, more as a business manager than a military 
 officer, was put in charge of providing all the clothing, 
 camp and garrison equipage, and quartermaster stores 
 for Wisconsin soldiers, in the State, with the successive 
 ranks of captain, major and lieutenant-colonel being 
 mustered out when the war ended with the brevet 
 rank last named. 
 
 The University of Wisconsin was reorganized inl 866. 
 Mr. Van Slyke was resident regent of its board, and as 
 chairman of its executive and finance committees, 
 served in that capacity for twelve years. As a member 
 of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for forty 
 years, he has for a long time been one of its board of 
 curators and is chairman of its finance committee. 
 
 Being independent in politics, he has held no office, 
 except a postmastership under President Polk, and a 
 few other unimportant positions. He is a member of 
 no secret or political associations, a member of no 
 church, he is an agnostic in religious matters. He has 
 traveled extensively over this country, but prefers 
 home and to be at work at his desk, and as he 
 expresses it: "Wants to die in the harness." For a man 
 now seventy-one years of age he possesses remarkable 
 vigor and he gives promise of a still long and useful 
 career. 
 
 CHARLES DICKINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HARLES DICKINSON is the son of Albert F. 
 and Ann Eliza (Anthony) Dickinson, and was born 
 at 139 Wabash avenue, Chicago, on May 28, 1858. 
 His father's family came to Chicago three years earlier, 
 in 1855. Young Dickinson was educated in the public 
 schools of Chicago on the West side, including the high 
 school, where he studied about two years. After the 
 great fire, in 1871, when but thirteen years of age, he en- 
 
 tered the store of Charles Gossage & Co., at one dollar 
 and fifty cents a week, but gradually worked up to a 
 higher salary. He staid one year with the firm, going 
 to school in the forenoon, and working in the afternoon 
 and evening. He then went with Albert Dickinson, 
 his brother, into the seed business, and here he has 
 remained ever since. During the years 1887 and 1888 
 the firm was incorporated under the name of "The
 
 S* .^' 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 141 
 
 Albert Dickinson Company," with Albert Dickinson 
 as president; Charles Dickinson as vice-president, 
 Nathan Dickinson as treasurer, and Melissa Dickinson 
 as secretary. The business has rapidly increased in 
 magnitude, and no\v is recognized as the largest of its 
 class in the world. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson resigned in 1890, as vice president of 
 the above company, bat retained his interest and is now 
 (1894) a director. In 1891 he entered the Chicago 
 Medical College, to take a three or four years course 
 in medicine,but unforeseen circumstances prevented the 
 carrying out of this plan. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson is a director in the Chicago Dock 
 Company, and president of the Chicago Talking- 
 Machine Company. He has some investments in 
 
 Florida, owning several orange groves there. He is a 
 member of the Sunset and Athletic Clubs. In religious 
 association he is a member of the Society of Friends. 
 He is a bachelor; having never married. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson has traveled in nearly every State 
 in the Union, east of the Rocky Mountains, and has 
 made three trips to Europe, spending considerable time 
 in England, and making a short stay in Egypt, France, 
 Germany, Russia, Denmark, etc., visiting Tunis, Cairo, 
 Athens, Constantinople, Odessa, Vienna, and other 
 cities of the old world. 
 
 He is a man of medium height and weight. In his 
 habits he prefers a quiet life, and though unostenta- 
 tious has always shown himself to be a pleasant friend 
 and a willing helper where help is needed. 
 
 DR. EDWIN M. HALE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is one of the prominent 
 pioneers of homeopathy in Chicago, indeed one 
 of its leading professors in the great West. He was 
 born in the village of Newport, N. H., in 1829. Dr. 
 Hale's earliest American ancestors came to this coun-try 
 from Hertfordshire, England, about the year 1637. 
 Following the advice of Gov. Winthrop, to whom he 
 brought letters, he settled at Newbur\ T port, Mass. One 
 branch of the family David Hale moved to New 
 Hampshire and settled in Alstead. Among the sons of 
 David Hale was the Hon. Salrna Hale, of Keene, N. H., 
 at one time United States Senator from that State. 
 Another, David Hale, Jr., was the husband of Sarah 
 Josepha Hale, formerly well known in the early Amer- 
 ican literary world as editor of "Godey's Lady's Book." 
 The sixth child, Syene, was the father of Dr. Edwin 
 M. Hale. He studied medicine and took his degree of 
 M. D. from the medical department of Dartmouth 
 College. 
 
 Dr. E. M. Hale commenced the study of home- 
 opathic medicine in 1848, and for two years was the 
 pupil of the late Dr. A. O. Blair, of Newark, Ohio. In 
 1850 he entered the Cleveland Homeopathic College, 
 just beginning its career, where he soon distinguished 
 himself among his fellow-students. At the end of the 
 session he located in the little village of Jonesville, 
 Mich. There were not more than a dozen other home- 
 opathic physicians in all Michigan at that time. Dr. 
 Hale was among the most energetic of those, who, 
 beginning in theyear 1855. worked for a representation 
 of their medical school in the University of Michigan. 
 When some years later this was finally achieved, and a 
 Homeopathic Department was added to the University, 
 he was offered the chair of Materia Medica and Thera- 
 peutics. He was obliged to decline this honor as he 
 had been called to the same chair in Hahnemann Med- 
 
 ical College at Chicago, in which he afterwards lectured 
 eighteen years. 
 
 He early began to write on subjects connected with 
 his profession, supplementing with valuable additions 
 the then scanty literature of his school. In I860 he 
 published "A Monograph on Gelsemium Sempervir- 
 ens," a drug then but little known, but now extensively 
 used. About this time he accepted a position on the 
 editorial staff of 'the North American Journal of 
 Homeopathy, published in New York. A few years 
 later, his now well-known work, "The Materia Medica 
 and Therapeutics of New Remedies " was given to the 
 world. It treated almost entirely of our indigenous 
 plants used in medicine. When, in 1861, Dr. Hale 
 accepted the chair in the Hahnemann College and 
 came to Chicago, he entered into partnership with 
 Prof. A. E. Small. This was dissolved five years later, 
 at which time he entered in practice with his brother, 
 Dr. Parker H. Hale, who had followed him to Chicago. 
 
 Dr. Hale's pen was kept continually busy during 
 his occupancy of the chair of Materia Medica, with 
 lectures, contributions to periodicals and treatises on 
 all subjects connected with his profession notably a 
 work on " Diseases of Women Causing Sterility." He 
 has for many years devoted especial attention to dis- 
 eases of the heart and is considered a high authority 
 in such cases. His work " Lectures on Diseases of 
 the Heart" has passed through four editions and is 
 the only text-book on that subject in the colleges of 
 his school. He also wrote a popular treatise, " The 
 Heart, and How to Take Care of It." In 1876 he 
 visited Europe, where his writings were well known, 
 meeting in every country with a cordial reception. On 
 his return, having severed his connection with Hahne- 
 mann Medical College, he accepted the chair of Materia 
 Medica and Therapeutics in the newly organized
 
 14* 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Chicago Homeopathic College. This he held for five 
 years, and when he retired from this position he was 
 made Emeritus Professor. 
 
 His winter vacations he now passes at the orange 
 grove which he owns on the beautiful Lake Monroe, at 
 Enterprise, Florida. 
 
 For twenty-five years Dr. Hale has lived on the 
 corner of Twenty-second Street and Prairie Avenue. 
 This is now one of the most elegant residence neigh- 
 borhoods of the city, but when he first built there it 
 was the outskirts of the straggling town. He is an 
 honorary member of many home and foreign associa- 
 
 tions ; a member of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, 
 and the American Institute of Homeopathy. He 
 belongs to the Calumet Club and is one of the earliest 
 members of the Chicago Literary Club. His present 
 high position is a well merited reward for a life of 
 self-sacrifice and hard work. He is more liberal in his 
 practice than the majority of his school, as his 
 "Practice of Medicine," now in press, will show. 
 
 Personally, Dr. Hale is marked by dignity and 
 gravity of demeanor, and that quality which, for want 
 of a better name we call " magnetism " the power of 
 inspiring interest, confidence and respect. 
 
 HON. HARVEY B. HURD, 
 
 EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
 NO citizen of Chicago has labored more earnestly to 
 advance the material interests of the city than has 
 Harvey B. Hurd. For nearly half a century he has 
 been a resident of the city and its beautiful suburb of 
 Evanston, and during many years he has been a pow- 
 erful factor in moulding the destiny, not only of 
 Chicago and of Illinois, but of the entire West. He was 
 born at Huntington, Fairfield county, Conn., on 
 the 14th of February, 1828. His father, Alanson 
 Hurd, was of English descent, and his mother was of 
 mingled Dutch and Irish stock. If ever it could be 
 said of any one that he made his way in life from 
 poverty to a high and honorable station, it is true of 
 the subject of this sketch. It is said of him that when 
 he left home to seek a fortune for himself, he carried 
 all his possessions tied in a handkerchief, and that when 
 some years later he arrived in Chicago, his total wealth 
 was half a dollar. Yet this poor boy was, in after 
 years, to act a part which had no small influence upon 
 the career of two States^ and to mold the preliminary 
 studies of a generation of young American lawyers. 
 Until he was fifteen years old, young Harvey worked 
 upon his father's farm during the summer months, and 
 in winter attended school. On the first of May. 1842, 
 he took leave of home and parents and walked all the 
 way to Bridgeport, Conn., where he obtained employ 
 ment as an apprentice in the office of the Bridgeport 
 Standard, a Whig newspaper. 
 
 In the fall of 1844 he emigrated with a company of 
 ten other young men to Illinois, and entered Jubilee 
 College, in Peoria county, then presided over by the 
 Rev. Samuel Chase. Some disagreement occurred 
 between him and the principal after he had been at the 
 college about a year, and he went to Peoria, where he 
 looked in vain for employment. He therefore took his 
 passage on a baggage stage for Chicago, where he soon 
 obtained work in the office of the Evening Jorinil, 
 then published by Wilson & Geer, and afterward on 
 the Prairie Farmer. In the fall of 1847 he began the 
 study of law in the office of Calvin DeWolf, and was 
 admitted to the bar in 1848. His first law partner was 
 
 Carlos Haven, afterward State's Attorney, and his next 
 Henry Snapp, afterward congressman from the Joliet 
 district. From 1850 to 1854 he practiced in partner- 
 ship with Andrew J. Brown. The firm had large 
 transactions in real estate, and were owners of 248 
 acres of land, which they laid out as part of the village 
 of Evanston. Mr. Hurd was one of the first to build 
 in that suburb. He commenced to build the house he 
 now lives in in the summer of 1854, and moved into it 
 in September, 1855. At that time it occupied a block 
 of ground, and is now one of the finest homes in that 
 beautiful town. He enjoys the distinction of having 
 been the first president of the village board. 
 
 Mr. Hurd was first married in May, 1853, to Miss 
 Cornelia A. Hilliard, daughter of the late Captain 
 James Hilliard, of Middletown, Conn., and by this 
 marriage had three daughters: Eda, married to 
 George S. Lord ; Hettie, who died in 1884, and Nellie, 
 married to John A. Comstock. On November 1st, 
 1860, he married Sarah, widow of the late George 
 Collins; she died in January, 1S90. In July. 1891, he 
 married Miss Susannah M. Van Wyck, a lady highly 
 esteemed in social circles in Evanston. 
 
 Mr. Hurd was an ardent abolitionist, and took an 
 active part in the stirring events that occurred in Chi- 
 cago before and after the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
 promise in 1854. The immediate consequence of this 
 action of Congress was to throw the fertile soil of 
 Kansas open as a prize to be contended for, both by 
 the free and the slave States. The slaveholders of 
 western Missouri crossed the border, driving out many 
 of the free State settlers and killing others, pre-empted 
 lands and turned back emigrants from the free 
 Northern States through Missouri, who sought to reach 
 the territory by way of the Missouri river, compelling 
 all emigrants from the North to take a more circuitous 
 route through Iowa and Nebraska. During the spring 
 and summer of 1855, Kansas was the scene of con- 
 tinual conflict between these parties, the " border 
 ruffians" of Missouri endeavoring to drive out the free 
 settlers by murder and arson, and the free State settlers
 
 vV*
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 retaliating. The cry of " bleeding Kansas " echoed 
 through the North, and emigration societies were 
 formed in the free States to aid, arm and protect free 
 State settlers. A convention was held in Buffalo, N. Y., 
 in the spring of 1856, at which a national Kansas 
 committee was formed; and Mr. Hurd, who was a 
 member of the convention and of the committee on 
 plan of organization, became secretary of its executive 
 committee, with headquarters at Chicago. He had for 
 his assistant secretary Horace White, afterward editor 
 of the Chicago Tribune, now of New York city. 
 
 In 1856 the crops of Kansas fell short, owing to the 
 depredations of the contending factions. In anticipa- 
 tion of there being a lack of seeds for the planting in 
 the coming spring, the committee which met at New 
 York in February, 1857, passed a resolution instructing 
 the executive committee in Chicago to purchase and 
 forward the necessary seed, and at the same time ap- 
 propriated $5,000 to John Brown for the organization 
 and equipment of the freesoil settlers into companies 
 for self-protection. Mr. Hurd found, on returning to 
 Chicago, that the funds in the hands of the treasurer 
 were not sufficient to meet both requirements. He 
 therefore decided to buy and send on the seed. One 
 hundred tons of seeds were bought and forwarded to 
 Kansas. When Brown applied for the money appro- 
 priated to him he found the committee's treasury 
 empty. At first Gerritt Smith and other friends of 
 Brown were inclined to find fault with the action of 
 Mr. Hurd. But in the meantime the free settlers had 
 been waiting anxiously at Lawrence, Kas., for the 
 seeds. They had been forwarded by a small steamer 
 which was to ascend the Kansas river to Lawrence, 
 where the settlers assembled to receive them. The 
 steamer was delayed two weeks by low water, and 
 when at last it did arrive the settlers were so overjoyed 
 that the wisdom of Mr. Kurd's course was amply vindi- 
 cated. Had not this timely provision for raising a 
 crop been made, settlers would have been obliged to 
 leave Kansas. As it was, the tide of emigration from 
 the free States kept on increasing, and the pro-slavery 
 men. finding themselves overmatch'ed, soon gave up the 
 contest. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Hurd formed a partnership with Hon. 
 Henry Booth, and at the s^me time accepted the posi- 
 tion of lecturer in the law department of the University 
 of Chicago, which Mr. Booth had helped to organize 
 three years before, and of which he was the dean. 
 This firm was dissolved in 1868, Mr. Hurd retiring 
 from active practice. In April, 1869, he was appointed 
 by Governor Palmer one of three commissioners to 
 revise and rewrite the general statutes of the State of 
 Illinois. His colleagues were Messrs. William E. 
 Nelson, of Decatur, and Michael Schaeffer, of Salem, 
 both of whom withdrew in a short time, leaving the 
 burden of the work upon Mr. Hurd. He completed 
 his task after the adjournment of the twenty-eighth 
 General Assembly, in April, 1874, and was appointed 
 by that body to edit and supervise the publication, 
 which he accomplished to the entire satisfaction of the 
 
 people of the State. The labor which Mr. Hurd 
 performed in this revision is such as only lawyers can 
 fully appreciate. He had not only to compile into one 
 homogeneous whole the various laws which from time 
 to time had been enacted by the biennial meetings of 
 the Legislature, but to adapt them to the new State 
 constitution of 1870, discarding old provisions which 
 were in conflict with it and constructing new ones in 
 conformity to it. The success of his work was imme- 
 diate. "Kurd's Revised Statutes" is an indispensable 
 work in every law office throughout the State and in 
 many public offices. The State edition of 1874, of 
 15,000 copies, was soon exhausted, and Mr. Hurd has 
 been called upon to edit eight editions since, all of 
 which have received the unqualified commendation of 
 the bar. 
 
 In the summer of 1876 he was again elected to a 
 chair in the law school, which had become the Union 
 College of Law of the University of Chicago and the 
 Northwestern University, and is now professor of 
 pleading, practice and statutory law in that institution, 
 it now being the law department of the Northwestern 
 University. He has here an occupation which is thor- 
 oughly congenial to him. He has always been a 
 careful student, and his arguments of cases before the 
 higher courts were always models of clear and accurate 
 statement of legal propositions and logical reasoning. 
 In his academic work he displays the same invaluable 
 qualities, imparting to his classes a thorough under- 
 standing of principles and training them to systematic 
 and methodical habits. At the special election for 
 a judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois, on the llth 
 of December, 1875, Mr. Hurd was nominated by the 
 Republicans, but was opposed by T. L. Dickey, then 
 corporation counsel of the city of Chicago. Mr. 
 Dickev was a Democrat, and had the entire support of 
 that party; he had, moreover, the whole influence of 
 the city administration, and, to crown all, he had the 
 backing of the railroad corporations, who were dis- 
 posed to revenge themselves upon Mr. Hurd for the 
 stringent measures of railroad legislation which the 
 General Assembly had enacted, which were contained 
 in " Kurd's Revised Statutes," and with the framing 
 of which he had much to do. By the aid of this 
 powerful combination Mr. Hurd was defeated. Just 
 before the election- a defamatory pamphlet against him 
 was published by a member of the same church to 
 which Mr. Hurd belonged, and though of too slight 
 importance to influence the result, it was not a matter 
 to be overlooked bv Mr. Hurd, who had always borne 
 an irreproachable character. The author was tried 
 and convicted of slander and un-Christian conduct by 
 a church court and received its formal censure. Mr. 
 Hurd made many friends by his forbearing and 
 Christian conduct toward his defamer. 
 
 Since that time he has not appeared before the 
 public as a candidate for any office, but seems to prefer 
 the honorable retirement which he has so well earned, 
 finding sufficient occupation in his academic duties 
 and employing his leisure in the pursuits of a scholar
 
 146 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 Mr. Hurd was one of six gentlemen selected to fill the 
 vacancy in the board of county commissioners of Cook 
 county created by the conviction of members of that 
 board for defrauding the county. 
 
 He has the credit of being the father of the new 
 drainage system of Chicago, by which the sewerage of 
 the city, instead of being, as now, discharged into 
 Lake Michigan, the source of the water supply, is to be 
 carried into the Illinois river by means of a channel 
 across what is known as the "Chicago divide." While 
 Mr. Hurd does not claim the credit of having first sug- 
 gested such a channel indeed it had long been talked 
 of he is without a doubt the author of the plan of 
 creating a municipal district of the city of Chicago 
 the Chicago sanitary district and leading the move- 
 ment which resulted in its adoption. Until he suggested 
 this plan it was generally conceded that there was no 
 way of raising the necessary money to construct the 
 channel without an amendment to the constitution, 
 the city of Chicago having reached the limit of its 
 borrowing and taxing power. It was through Mr. 
 Kurd's suggestion of this plan to Mayor Harrison that 
 the drainage and water supply commission, known as 
 the Hering commission, was raised. He was the 
 friend and adviser of that commission, and was the 
 author of the first bill on the subject introduced into 
 the legislature in 1886, known as the Hurd bill, which 
 resulted in a legislative commission to further investi- 
 gate the subject and present a bill. Th bill reported 
 by that commission passed in 1887; although it differed 
 in some respects from the original Hurd bill, it was in 
 the main the same, and . was supported before the 
 legislature by him and his friends, and after 
 its passage he conducted the proceedings for its 
 adoption by the people of the district. It was 
 adopted at the November election in 1887, by an 
 almost unanimous vote. His residence outside of the 
 district at Evanston although not a legal disqualifica- 
 tion, has, in the minds of politicians, ruled him out as a 
 candidate for trustee; still he has not ceased to devote 
 his energies to its success. The construction of the 
 channel as outlined is now far advanced. The time 
 
 fixed for its completion is 1895. When it is done, it 
 will be regarded as one of the greatest accomplish- 
 ments of the age. It will at one stroke give to Chicago 
 an excellent system of drainage, pure water and a 
 magnificent water-way, connecting the great lakes 
 with the Mississippi river and its tributaries and with 
 the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Mr. Hurd has for several years been at the head of 
 the committee of law .reform of the Illinois State Bar 
 Association. The able reports of that committee, and 
 the able papers read before the World's Congress were 
 by bim, in favor of extending the American policy of 
 breaking up large estates, and thus creating greater 
 equality of social conditions through the operation of the 
 laws of descent and wills, by so changing the laws 
 as to limit the amount one may take by descent or 
 will from the same person, and in favor of a system 
 of registration of titles which will make transfers 
 of real estate as simple, inexpensive and secure as 
 the transfers of personal property. His efforts in 
 behalf of the latter of these reforms have already borne 
 substantial fruit in the shape of a commission to con- 
 sider the matter of transfers of title which was created 
 by the action of the General Assembly of 1891, of 
 which Mr. Hurd was made chairman. That commission 
 made its report on December 10, 1892, recommending 
 a system of registering titles substantially embodying 
 the essential principles of the Australian or Torrens 
 system. The bill recommended by the commission 
 passed the Senate by an almost unanimous vote, but 
 was defeated in the House, as it is believed through the 
 opposition of persons interested in perpetuating the 
 uncertainties and expensiveness of the present system. 
 Since the adjournment of that legislature the cause has 
 made rapid progress in other States as well as in Illinois. 
 
 Among the charities which have received Mr. 
 Hurd's attention and aid are the Children's Aid Society 
 of Chicago, whose work is the seeking out of homeless 
 children, and placing them in family homes; and the 
 Conference of Charities of Illinois, an organization 
 composed of all charitable societies. He is at this 
 writing president of both of these societies. 
 
 FERDINAND W. PECK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE life and work of him whose name heads this 
 biography is inseparably associated with many of 
 the public enterprises that have made his native city a 
 metropolis, known alike for her unparalleled business 
 activity and as the homeof higher education and art. 
 He was born in Chicago, in 1848, the son of Philip F. 
 W. Peck and Mary Kent (Wythe) Peck, and is the 
 youngest of a family of seven sons, three of whom are 
 living and rank among Chicago's enterprising and 
 public-spirited citizens. The father died in 1871. The 
 mother is still living and resides in Chicago. At the 
 
 time of our subject's birth his father's residence and 
 garden covered the present site of the Grand Pacific 
 Hotel. Growing up with the growth of the city, his 
 life reaching back nearly to her beginning, he early 
 imbibed her spirit, and loyal to her welfare and inter- 
 ests, has devoted himself with commendable zeal to the 
 development of her highest and best resources. 
 
 He was educated in Chicago, graduating first from 
 the high school. He afterwards graduated from the 
 literary department of the old University of Chicago, 
 and later pursued a course of study in the Union Col-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEAT WEST. 
 
 '47 
 
 lege of Law, being then still in his minority, when he 
 received his diploma and was admitted to the bar at 
 just twenty-one years of age. Although he has never 
 entered actively into the practice of law as a profes- 
 sion, Mr. Peck has found in the control of vast busi- 
 ness interests practical application for his legal learning 
 that has been invaluable tp him. 
 
 Besides looking after his private affairs, he and his 
 brothers have managed the Peck estate, one of the 
 largest and best controlled Estates in Chicago. Mr. 
 Peck has always been a man of intense activity, known 
 for his unusual executive ability, and has taken a just 
 pride in using his talents and influence to further those 
 public and private enterprises which reflect honor upon 
 his native city. He is or lias been president of the 
 Chicago Athenaeum, president of the Chicago Audit- 
 orium Association, president of the Chicago Opera 
 Festival Association and president of the Chicago High 
 School Alumni Association. He served four years as a 
 member and was vice-president of the Chicago board 
 of education, having been twice appointed to that 
 position by the mayor. He was also first vice-presi- 
 dent and chairman of the finance committee of the 
 World's Columbian Exposition, is vice-president of the 
 Illinois Humane Society, and one of the trustees of the 
 new Chicago University. 
 
 While taking a just pride in all of these and other 
 organizations, the Auditorium may rightly be called 
 his crowning work. This vast enterprise had its incep- 
 tion at the time of the celebrated Opera Festival in 
 April, 1885, in which Mr. Peck was a prime mover, 
 and the success of which not only strengthened public 
 sentiment and developed public taste for popular enter- 
 
 tainments of that character, but also revealed the 
 necessity of a great music, hall where great musical 
 productions could be properly presented. The idea 
 originating in the fertile brain of Mr. Peck, gave him 
 no rest until the grandly magnificent structure known 
 as the Auditorium was wrought to completion and 
 dedicated to its noble purpose, the building alone 
 costing $3,500,000. While it is true that in the carrying 
 out of his purpose he had the financial and moral co- 
 operation of many other of Chicago's public-spirited 
 men, yet to him must be attributed the chief honor. 
 The idea of the promoter of this great undertaking 
 was to popularize music, of which he is an ardent 
 lover, and give to the people the benefit of its elevating 
 and refining influence. He thoroughly believes in 
 music as a refiner of the masses and an educator of 
 public taste. He finds his highest enjoyment in de- 
 voting his abilities, money and influence to those 
 objects and causes intended to better his fellows. His 
 taste is simple and unpretentious, and he has done 
 much to encourage a severe and stable type of archi 
 tecture. 
 
 In personal appearance Mr. Peck is tall, with clean, 
 clear-cut features, a dark complexion, black hair, and 
 a black moustache, and ordinarily bears himself with 
 an air of studious thoughtfulness. He is a man of 
 pleasing address, courteous and kind, and withal has 
 an abundance of genial good nature. 
 
 He was married in 1870 to Miss Tilla Spalding, a 
 daughter of W. A. Spalding, of Chicago, and a woman 
 esteemed and loved for her many womanly virtues. 
 They have an interesting family of four sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 DANIEL KIMBALL PEARSONS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE history of the man whose name heads this 
 sketch is that of one whose success is measured 
 by its usefulness, and of a life that has made the world 
 better and brighter through his great philanthropy. 
 Dr. Daniel Kimball Pearsons now has the .love, grati- 
 tude and admiration of the friends of Christian educa- 
 tion, wherever his gifts have been made known. He 
 has also proved an inspiration and an example to men 
 of wealth, and has played an important part in inaug- 
 urating a new era of benevolence among the rich men 
 of Chicago. He is a self-made man, and his life dem- 
 onstrates the fact that the most successful men of this 
 country are not those "whose cradles were rocked by 
 hired nurses and who never knew an ungratified wish 
 as children." The majority, and the ones deserving 
 greater laurels, are those who, when boys, " did chores 
 for their keep," chopped wood for twenty-five cents a 
 cord, laid stone walls, plowed rough fields, ad fairly 
 fought their way through college, poorly clad, housed 
 
 and fed. Such were the early experiences of young 
 Pearsons. 
 
 Daniel Kimball Pearsons was born at Bradford, 
 Yt., April 14, 1820. His father, John Pearsons, settled 
 in Vermont over 100 years ago as a farmer. His 
 mother, Hannah, was one of the Putnam family, a 
 connection of General Putnam, of Revolutionary fame, 
 and her father was a soldier in the same war. being one 
 of the "Green Mountain Boys," noted for their sturdy, 
 strong and courageous disposition. She lived to the 
 age of ninety-three, dying at Holyoke, Mass., in full 
 vigor and physical health up to the last. She was 
 always proud of the fact that she set a good example 
 for industrious habits to her nine children, herself 
 spinning the yarn and weaving the cloth for her family. 
 These industrious habits, good constitution and amia- 
 ble qualities descended to her son, the worthy subject 
 of this sketch. 
 . The doctor's early education was acquired in the
 
 148 
 
 vicinity of his homestead, and, at the age of sixteen, 
 he began teaching to acquire the means necessary to 
 support himself at school. After five years he accu- 
 mulated sufficient to enable him to enter the medical 
 department of Dartmouth College, where he took a two 
 years course. He then pursued his studies at Hanover, 
 N. H., and Woodstock, Vt., where he acquired a 
 thorough medical education, graduating and taking the 
 degree of M. D. He met with gratifying success in 
 his practice, but was not satisfied, his ambitions and 
 aspirations leading him to seek a broader field for the 
 exercise of his abilities. He came to Chicago in 1860, 
 entering the real estate business as an agent. He sold 
 lands, chiefly for Michael Sullivan, known as " the 
 Farm King of the West ;" also for the Sturges estate, 
 and the Illinois Central Railroad Company, both of 
 which were owners of many hundreds of thousands of 
 acres in the West. His sales in the State of Illinois 
 alone cover 1,000,000 acres. His contact with the 
 farmers, and the necessity of finding the means to aid 
 them, from time to time, when requiring loans, sug- 
 gested to him the advisability of arranging for capital 
 to make advances by way of loans on farm property. 
 He extended his real estate business into that of a loan 
 agent, and, as the representative of eastern companies 
 and capitalists, negotiated loans to the amount of more 
 than $1,000,000 per year, for a period of ten years. 
 The business was not only remunerative to him, but 
 this vast amount of money, being distributed through- 
 out the farming community, was of incalculable benefit 
 in developing the country. 
 
 Dr. Pearsons had made profitable investments from 
 time to time and his private interests had so increased 
 that, in 1887, they required his individual attention 
 and entire time. He has been a large dealer in timber 
 land in Michigan and elsewhere, which investments 
 have resulted profitably. He had unbounded faith in 
 the future of Chicago. He is the owner of upward of 
 one hundred fine houses, which are well located and 
 always occupied, and yield him a large revenue. His 
 investments are, however, not all in real estate. He 
 is a director in the Chicago City Railway Company, 
 the American Exchange National Bank, and has large 
 money interests in other financial corporations, but he 
 takes no part in their management, preferring to have 
 his time to use in philanthropic work, and in this way 
 enjoys life in a manner which few other moneyed men 
 do. He was twice elected alderman for the first ward 
 of the city, and proved himself a most useful member 
 of the finance committee of the council. His prospects 
 were bright for political honors, but, after the, second 
 term in the city council, he refused to allow his name to 
 be put in nomination, and has pursued the same course 
 in reference to all political preferences. 
 
 While Dr. Pearsons was a member of the city 
 council, the city credit was impaired, by reason of its 
 having borrowed more than the constitutional limits, 
 and also because the validity of corporation certificates 
 was questioned, their validity then being on trial in 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA '. &?. 
 
 court. When capitalists refused to advance more 
 money, Dr. Pearsons went to New York city, saw the 
 capitalists from whom the city looked for assistance in 
 the way of future advances, assured them that the 
 certificates would be paid, whether they were declared 
 void or not by the courts, and backed his assurance bv 
 pledging his entire fortune jn support of the credit of 
 the city. By this prompt action and public spirited 
 conduct, he was able to negotiate the loan wanted, and 
 that, too, on exceedingly favorable terms. Subsequent 
 to his intervention, he appealed on behalf of the city's 
 credit, and raised $500,000 in Chicago, to save it from 
 bankruptcy. His services were not unappreciated, and 
 when he retired from the council a committee of 
 citizens, without regard to politics, waited upon him 
 to express their appreciation for his acts, and, by way 
 of memorial, they embodied the regard of their fellow- 
 citizens and themselves in resolutions handsomely 
 engrossed, acknowledging the good he had done, the 
 effective work performed, and the valuable nature of 
 his influence in procuring the advance and conserving 
 the interest of the public. 
 
 Great as has been Dr. Pearsons' success in business, 
 and as a financier, and valuable as have been his public 
 services, that which most distinguishes him and in 
 which he takes the greatest satisfaction and pride, is 
 his system of practical philanthropy. To him money 
 is valueless except as it is put to some good use. and he 
 has most wisely decided to be the almoner of his own 
 bounty. To attempt to enumerate all who have been 
 subjects of his benevolence were a hopeless task. 
 Their names are legion. But, without making mention 
 of his hearty responses to the calls of men and women 
 in need, it may be stated that his public gifts during- 
 the last six years have amounted to over one million 
 dollars. His acts and contributions are always coupled 
 with such business conditions that the good which he 
 himself does is multiplied by like acts in others. His 
 good business qualities are manifest in all his benefac- 
 tions, as he clearly indicates the purpose to which his 
 donation is to be applied, and couples it with such con- 
 ditions as guard it from being squandered. 
 
 Among the most praiseworthy and highly philan- 
 thropic acts of Dr. Pearsons are his donations to Beloit 
 College, to which he has been a great friend. The new 
 dormitory building is his gift and named by him 
 " Chapin Hall," in memory of Rev. A. L. Chapin, who 
 was for many years president of the institution. This 
 building is directty for the use of those with narrow 
 means, and poor boys taking advantage of the oppor- 
 tunity can possess themselves of a college education, 
 living in the meantime in comfortable manner on $2 
 per week, with the privilege of bath-room, gymnasium, 
 etc. The doctor has also set aside $150,000, the interest 
 on which is to be loaned to poor students at 3 per cent 
 to enable them to complete their course in college, and 
 to be paid back by the student after having graduated 
 and when he has earned the money. Science Hall is 
 another magnificent building which the doctor gave to
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 149 
 
 Beloit, which cost $60,000, and is endowed with 
 $100,000. It is one of the finest equipped buildings of 
 its kind in the world. The name of Beloit has clung to 
 Dr. Pearsons as a precious remembrance of his youth. 
 In his speech at commencement exercises of 1893, he 
 said: i( Away back in 1836, as I was standing in my 
 father's yard in Vermont one June day, four covered 
 wagons passed tilled with people, among them four 
 beautiful girls just blooming into womanhood. They 
 attracted my attention and I began to ask questions. 
 I found they were all bound for Beloit, Wisconsin, and 
 they were the first emigrants to leave Vermont. May, 
 1851, my wife and I visited the West, coming as far as 
 Elgin on the cars the end of the road, then taking a 
 mud wagon for Wisconsin, a hard ride. Henry Sawyer 
 was the driver of a tall, stout pair of black horses. As 
 we approached Beloit we had grave doubts about cross- 
 ing the river, there being no bridge, but the noble horses 
 plunged into the stream and brought us safely across 
 and up to a wooden tavern. On leaving Beloit a stout 
 stranger was our companion, and, as we drove 
 through the campus, I asked him what the build- 
 ings were for. " Oh ! " he said, some east- 
 ern cranks have established a college here." 
 The stranger argued at a great length against acade- 
 mies and colleges ; I did my best to defend them ; he 
 became very warm and, finally, as we parted, I gave 
 him a rubber, saying to him that in a few years I 
 should come West to live and should become verv rich, 
 and that as soon as I had money in hand I should build 
 up the academies and colleges of the West. I had my 
 eye on this very Beloit College at the time, and the 
 first college I helped was Beloit. The echo of that 
 prophetic argument, on that chilly night in May, 1851, 
 struck you for $200,000, and will continue to reach 
 others as long as a kind Providence allows me 
 to live." 
 
 In the course of President Eaton's address during 
 the same exercises, he referred to Dr. Pearsons' gifts 
 and the great interest he had taken in Beloit. After 
 Dr. Pearsons had accepted the honorary membership 
 of the class of '93, the president said it was customary 
 when men were enrolled in a class that some degree 
 should be attached to their name. " There are some 
 honors thrust upon men which they can decline to 
 accept ; others are theirs inevitably as the fruitage of 
 their life. Such has come to Dr. Pearsons, and I but 
 indicate the degree which is universally and gracefullv 
 acknowledged to be his when I record him as having 
 attained the degree not of A. B., but of C. B. COLLEGE 
 BUILDER. Long may you (Dr. Pearsons) and Beliot 
 College, live and work together in this great field of 
 Christian education." 
 
 Among others of Dr. Pearsons' magnificent gifts 
 may be mentioned as worthy of special note " Ward 
 Hall,'' at Yankton College, named by him in memory 
 of James Ward, first president of Yankton College. 
 His other principal donations are : Lake Forest Uni- 
 versity, $100,000; Beloit College, $200,000; Knox 
 
 College, $100,000; Chicago Theological Seminary, 
 $230,000; Presbyterian Theological Seminary, $50,000; 
 Presbyterian Hospital, $60,000; Young Men's Christian 
 Association, $40,000 ; Women's Board of Foreign 
 Missions, $'20,000 ; Drury College, Missouri, $50,000 ; 
 Yankton College, $50,000 ; Colorado College, Colorado 
 Springs, $50,000; Fargo College, $50,000; Chicago 
 Art Institute, $15,000 ; and to many other smaller 
 institutions smaller amounts. All these sums are 
 invested with the best judgment and in such manner 
 as to insure a permanent income. The doctor is also a 
 constant contributor to the different charitable institu- 
 tions in Chicago, and has been most liberal in private 
 acts of benevolence. 
 
 One of the shrewdest business men, he devotes the 
 same attention to his benevolence that he does to his 
 business, and has not left to others the delicate work 
 of seeing that his gifts are administered after his estate 
 has been in litigation for years and part of it dissipated 
 by lawyers. He began five years ago to administer on 
 his own estate. It is an open secret that " the more he 
 has given the more he has prospered," and he has 
 proven himself the best friend to each of his benefactors 
 by raising up. through his methods of benevolence, a 
 large number of friends and contributors. His givings 
 are always spontaneous and never the result of requests 
 made to him. He has, in fact, made it a rule never to 
 advance a dollar to any institution or individual who 
 requests it from him. He gives his personal attention 
 to searching out those most deserving of generosity, 
 and his gifts are, for that very reason, a surprise to 
 those who receive them. 
 
 ' Mrs. Pearsons, who was Miss Marietta Chapin, one 
 of the well-known Massachusetts family of that name, 
 is in active sympathy with her husband, joining heart 
 and soul with him in all good work. They have both 
 traveled extensively, seeing every part of the United 
 States; have three times visited Europe, and spent the 
 winter of 1890 in Egypt. 
 
 Dr. Pearsons was one of the founders of the " Sons 
 of Vermont Society," and one of the first presidents of 
 the organization. He is also an active member and 
 liberal contributor to the Illinois Historical Society, 
 but he has no desire for prominence in club or social 
 life, his affections being in his home, and his ambitions 
 being to do good. He lives at Hinsdale, a delightful 
 suburb of Chicago, where he and his wife are beloved 
 by everyone. The children, especially, seem to con- 
 sider the doctor their special friend. His unassuming 
 manners and general good nature render him a most 
 interesting companion and friend. 
 
 The doctor is a man of strongly marked personality, 
 deliberate in his judgments, firm in his convictions, and 
 resolute in his determinations. Physically he is well 
 preserved, and though sevent} r -four years of age, he 
 has the appearance of being much younger. Erect in 
 form, he walks with a sturdy step and bears himself as 
 a man conscious of the dignity and nobility of true 
 manhood. Such is the outline of his life, and while it
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 may not disclose all that lias contributed to his remark- 
 able success, one who reads it must be impressed with 
 the fact that a genius for hard work has been no small 
 factor in his ultimate triumph. His life has been 
 
 his actions sincere, his manner unaffected and 
 his speech from the heart. In a word, it has been a 
 life full of good work and furnishes an example worthy 
 of emulation. 
 
 DR. JOHN E. GILMAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN E. GILMAN, was born at Harmer, Ohio, a 
 suburb of Marietta, in 1841, and comes of the old 
 Puritan family, which a somewhat noted historian has 
 said "influenced for a century and a half the political, 
 ecclesiastical, social and financial history of New 
 England." It was in 1638 that the first Gilman came 
 over from England, and became the American pro- 
 genitor of this noted family. Beginning with Nicholas 
 Gilman, who was a moving spirit in the American 
 Revolution, the Gilmans of New England have ever 
 since been prominent in public life. For eleven suc- 
 cessive years, John Taylor Gilman was governor of New 
 Hampshire, just before the close of the last century, 
 and for three successive years at the beginning of the 
 present century he occupied the same position, making 
 in all fourteen years that he served the people of his 
 State in the capacity of chief magistrate of the com- 
 monwealth. " At the same time his brother, Nicholas 
 Gilman, was serving as a member of the Continental 
 Congress, and later as a United States Senator from the 
 same State. President D. C. Gilman, of Johns Hopkins 
 University, and Dr. Chandler Robbins Gilman, an 
 author of note, have been the members of the family 
 most prominently before the public within the last 
 quarter of a century. 
 
 On the mother's side, Dr. John E. Gilman is 
 descended from the Fays, another old Massachusetts 
 family. His mother and the late Horace Maynard, of 
 Tennessee, who was postmaster-general in President 
 Hayes' cabinet, and before that minister to Russia, 
 were born on the same day, on adjoining farms, near 
 Westborough, Mass., in 1814, at a time when the fath- 
 ers of both were absent from home, serving in the sec- 
 ond war with Great Britain. 
 
 There were eleven children in the Fay family and 
 three of the daughters married physicians. It was a 
 sister of Dr. Gilman's mother who inaugurated the 
 movement to build and maintain at the public expense 
 the homes for the orphan children, which are now so 
 prominent a feature of the public charities of Ohio and 
 other States. This lady, Catherine Fay by name, was 
 for many years a missionary among the Choctaw 
 Indians, and when the missionaries were driven out of 
 the Choctaw country shortly before the late War of the 
 Rebellion, she returned to Ohio and, at her own expense, 
 built the first orphan home in that State, at the town of 
 Lawrence, on the Little Mtiskingum river, in Washing, 
 ton county. She afterwards induced the legislature to 
 
 take action, which led to the building of similar insti- 
 tutions in almost, if not all, the counties in Ohio. 
 
 As Dr. Gilman's more remote ancestors had been 
 among the earliest settlers of New England, his imme- 
 diate ancestors were among the first to find their way 
 into what was then the wild West, the unbroken wilder- 
 ness on the banks of the Ohio river, where the first 
 settlement was made in the Buckeye State. His 
 grandfather settled at Belpre, opposite Blennerhassett's 
 Island, the picturesque spot which was supposed to 
 have served as the headquarters for those turbulent and 
 restless spirits engaged in Aaron Burr's conspiracy. 
 Afterward he removed to Kentucky, where some mem- 
 bers of the family still reside ; his son, Dr. George 
 Gilman, having been for many years a prominent 
 physician of of Lexington. 
 
 It was within a few miles of Belpre that the subject 
 of our sketch was born ; but when he was five years 
 old he returned with his father, Dr. John C. Gil- 
 man, to Westborough, Mass., where the latter en- 
 gaged in the practice of his profession. It was the 
 intention of the father that his three sons should follow 
 in his footsteps, so far as the choice of a profession was 
 concerned, and he shaped their studies to that end. 
 
 Two of the sons drifted into the profession which 
 had been chosen for them, but the third engaged in 
 railroad business, in which he has been decidedly suc- 
 cessful. William L. Gilman, an elder brother of the 
 subject of this sketch, after practicing medicine for 
 some years, entered the ministry, and is now a pastor 
 of a church in Denver, Col. 
 
 There was nothing irksome to John E. Gilman as a 
 boy about the calling chosen for him by his father. 
 His studies were to him a source of pleasure, and the 
 assistance which he was called upon from time to time, 
 to give his father in his surgical and other practice, 
 increased his interest in what he looked forward to as 
 his life work. When he was seventeen years of age 
 his father died, and he afterwards studied with his 
 brother, then practicing medicine at Marietta, Ohio, 
 and also under the direction of Dr. George Hartwell, 
 of Toledo, Ohio. He finished his course of study in 
 Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, and immedi- 
 ately thereafter commenced the practice of medicine 
 in this city. 
 
 The measure of his success as a practitioner has 
 already been alluded to. And it is only necessary to 
 add to what has been said, that as a writer and an edu-
 
 o' ' Wtstav .'""
 
 Q - 
 
 V- 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 153 
 
 cator he has become equally prominent, iiis contri- 
 butions to journals and periodicals have covered a wide 
 range of subjects and have been by no means confined 
 to the field of medicine. He has literary talent of a 
 high order, and as an art critic has been prominently 
 identified with the Chicago press. Notwithstanding 
 the multiplicity of his professional duties, he lias found 
 time to devote himself, quite extensively, to art 
 matters, and some years ago was one of the leading 
 spirits in building up and maintaining the Crosby 
 Opera House Art Gallery, one of the finest art galleries 
 Chicago has ever had ; at the same time he edited, in 
 company with Mr. Joseph Wright, the Chicago Art 
 Journal. Hahnemann Medical College, the most noted 
 of all the homoeopathic educational institutions west of 
 the Allegheny mountains, has recognized his ability as 
 a physician bv selecting him in 1884 to fill the chair of 
 "Physiology, Sanitary Science and Hygiene," a posi- 
 tion which he has since held, until 1893, when he was 
 chosen to the chair of Materia Medica, which position 
 he now holds. 
 
 In 1860 Dr. Gilman was married to Miss Mary D. 
 Johnson, who although residing in the West at the 
 time of her marriage, was like her husband, a Puritan 
 as to lineage. The farm upon which Mrs. Gilman was 
 raised at Westborough, Mass., was acquired by pur- 
 chase from the Indians by the Johnson family, and 
 descended from father to son until her father, having 
 no sons to hand it down to, allowed the old place to 
 pass out of the family. 
 
 Although not a drop of anything but Puritan 
 blood runs in the veins of the Gilman family, the 
 Chicago representative of the old New England stock, 
 while revering the general nobility of character of his 
 ancestry, and the class of God-fearing, liberty-loving 
 men to which they belonged, is by no means blinded 
 to their faults, and some clever criticisms, in verse, of 
 their old-time creeds and customs, have been among 
 the products of his pen. 
 
 [The above sketch is mainly from the Magazine of 
 Western History, September, 1890, Vol. XII, No. 5, 
 and over the signature, Howard Louis Conrad.] 
 
 CHARLES HENROTIN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CHARLES HENROTIN was born in 1844, in 
 Brussels, and settled in Chicago in 1848. His 
 father, Dr. Henrotin, who in the early days was known 
 in the neighborhood of Chicago as "the French doctor," 
 had been for many years a surgeon in the Belgian army, 
 and from 1857 to 1876 held the position of Belgian 
 Consul in Chicago. 
 
 Young Henrotin entered the Chicago high school 
 in 1856, and afterward studied in his native country,* 
 attending the University of Tournai, from 1856 to 
 1861, when he returned to Chicago, and entered the 
 employ of the Merchants' Loan and Trust Co. In 
 1866 he was elected cashier of that bank, as successor 
 to Mr. L. J. Gage, who became vice-president of the 
 First National Bank of Chicago. In the great fire of 
 1871 the books and papers of the Merchants' Loan & 
 Trust Company were lost, and Mr. Henrotin accom- 
 plished the remarkable feat of re-establishing all the 
 accounts of the bank, and satisfying all the demands 
 of its customers without any interruption of its regular 
 business, and without loss to the bank, all of which he 
 did within three weeks from the time of the fire. 
 
 In 1876, Mr. Henrotin resigned his position as 
 cashier to engage in his present line of business, viz.: 
 banking and brokerage. At the outset, his time was 
 devoted principally to the introduction into the Chicago 
 stock market of railroad bonds a business which from 
 1876 to 1883 assumed enormous proportions. He also 
 rendered notable service to the city and county in suc- 
 cessfully handling nearly all of their loans made at that 
 time. He bought the Cook County Court House 5 per 
 
 cent, loan of $1,200,000, and took practically all the 
 city script, which, in her then embarrassed position, 
 had to be issued for current expenditure. 
 
 Mr. Henrotin's ability as a financier had by this 
 time become pretty widely known and confidence in 
 him well established. It only required the insight, tact 
 and daring of his next enterprise to give him a name 
 as a financial leader throughout the country. We 
 refer to his splendid work in the creation of the Chi- 
 cago Stock Exchange, which has been so great a source 
 of convenience and profit to the commercial and 
 financial institutions of Chicago and has won a more 
 than national repute. Chicago bad long needed just 
 such a commercial medium, and now that it has proven 
 so signal a success a large share of credit must be given 
 to Mr. Henrotin, to whom was due its original concep- 
 tion and subsequent realization. He was elected its 
 first president in 1880 and his own successor in 1881. 
 In 1886 he was again made president and in 1889 and 
 1890 was elected a third and fourth time. Mr. Hen- 
 rotin is also a member of the New York Stock 
 Exchange. 
 
 One of the numerous ventures in which he was 
 foremost was the builditig of the Chicago Opera House 
 of which company he has been vice-president since its 
 origin. The panorama of the Battle of Gettysburg 
 was also secured to the city through his influence and 
 sold by him to a syndicate of Chicago capitalists. Of 
 late years he has been largely interested in Chicago 
 horse and cable railway matters and is a director in 
 the North Chicago Street Railway Company.
 
 '54 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 "Within the last few years Mr. Henrotin has devoted 
 much time to managing English syndicate business in 
 the West. He was the American broker in the success- 
 ful placing of the securities of the Chicago Brewing 
 and Malting Company, and the Junction railways and 
 Union Stock Yards and the Milwaukee and Chicago 
 breweries securities amounting in the aggregate to 
 some $38,000,000. In the organization of the London 
 & Chicago Contract Corporation he took the leading 
 part, being for a time the official broker of this corpo- 
 ration, as well as of the City of London Contract 
 Company, of England. 
 
 In 1.876, Mr. Henrotin was appointed consul to 
 Belgium to succeed his father, and, with the sanction 
 of the Belgian Government, was also appointed consul 
 for the Ottoman Empire, both of which positions he 
 still retains. He has distinguished himself by his very 
 fine and exhaustive reports on the export and import 
 trade of Belgium, and in 1889, in recognition of valuable 
 consular services, he was knighted by the King of 
 Belgium, with the decoration of " Chevalier of the 
 Order of Leopold." And in 1893 he was also decorated 
 with the order of Commander of the Meclzidie and 
 promoted to the rank of Consul General of Turkey for 
 the Northwest. He has been for the last two years a 
 director of the World's Fair, occupying a position on 
 several leading committees. 
 
 In politics Mr. Henrotin is a Democrat, not at all 
 inclined to partisanship, but a very liberal-minded and 
 unbiased thinker. He is socially active as a member 
 of the Chicago, Union, and Washington Park Clubs, of 
 the German iaMannerchor,. and the Nineteenth Century 
 
 Club. In his domestic life Mr. Henrotin has been espe- 
 ciallv felicitous. Mrs. Henrotin, who is the daughter 
 of Mr. E. Bryan Martin, a descendant of the English 
 family of Byam Martins, and a resident of Maine, is a 
 lady of unusual talent and attractiveness. Highly 
 educated, possessed of unusual literary tastes and 
 habits, she is conversant with both the German and 
 French languages, from the latter of which she has 
 made several important and valuable translations. She 
 is a member of many societies of women, filling many 
 offices. Through her exertions the work of industrial 
 education among the teachers was taken up aj^d she 
 has done much in various ways for the advancement of 
 her sex. Mrs. Henrotin has been a very prominent 
 member of the Woman's Club, Chicago, and of the 
 Fortnightly and Nineteenth Century Clubs, and is 
 probably the finest extemporaneous woman speaker in 
 Chicago. She has given the work of the Kitchen 
 Garden Association her personal attention ever since 
 its organization. With Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. Hen- 
 rotin went to Washington, D. C. , to speak before the 
 National Council of Women, to present the claims of 
 the Woman's Board of the Columbian Exposition for 
 recognition. She was vice-president of the woman's 
 branch of the World's Congress Auxiliarv and among 
 the leading spirits in the work, and she. has gained a 
 world wide reputation in carrying it to a successful end. 
 She was also chairman of the general committee, which 
 had general supervision of all branches of the work. 
 Many valuable essa\ r sfrom her pen have gained a wide 
 circulation. Mr. and Mrs. Henrotin have three sons, 
 Edward. Charles and Norris. 
 
 WILLIAM DEERING, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch finds an appropriate 
 place in the history of the men of business and 
 enterprise in the great West, whose force of character, 
 sterling integrity, fortitude amid discouragements, 
 control of circumstances, and whose marked success in 
 establishing great industries and bringing to completion 
 plans for the betterment and comfort of mankind 
 have contributed in such eminent degree to the solidity 
 and progress of the entire country. 
 
 William Deering was born in Oxford county, Me.. 
 April 2-t, 1836. His father and mother were James 
 and Eliza (Moore) Deering. His ancestors immigrated 
 from England in 1634, and in all the histories of New 
 England from that time the name of Deering finds 
 most honorable mention. Elwell's History of Maine, 
 Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, Cushman's New 
 England and Williamson's Genealogy of New England 
 all devote honorable notice to the Deering family. 
 William's education consisted of the course of studies in 
 vogue at that time in the common and graded schools 
 
 and was finished in the high school of Kedfield, Me. 
 He went into business while yet in his " teens," and in 
 early manhood he assumed for a time the duties of his 
 first important position, that of manager of a woolen 
 mill in Maine. He discharged every trust reposed in 
 him to the entire satisfaction of his directors and after 
 the termination of his labors there he engaged in 
 various business enterprises, which afforded that 
 training which has developed a rare genius in handling 
 manufacturing details. 
 
 In 1871 he became interested in the manufacture of 
 the Marsh harvester, in which he had unlimited confi- 
 dence, and in 1873, removed with his family to Evans- 
 ton, near Chicago. The confidence Mr. Deering had 
 placed in the merits of this machine was not misplaced, 
 for the demand for harvesters increased so rapidly in 
 the first few years of his management, that it became 
 necessary to remove to a point having greater railroad 
 facilities, and accordingly, in 1880, he removed the 
 entire harvesting machine works to Chicago. The
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 '55 
 
 thirteen years intervening since that removal has 
 amply demonstrated the wisdom of it. It has not only 
 placed Mr. Deering in the first rank of manufacturers 
 in the United States, but has afforded steady employ- 
 ment for thousands of men, and made the name of the 
 harvester a household word throughout the agricul- 
 tural world. Mr. Deering's interest in his employes and 
 his great sympathy finds fitting place as a factor of 
 success in his business life. A good judge of men, he is 
 not afraid to trust them, and the confidence thus 
 reposed in his employes inspire them with strong at- 
 tachments to his person and his fortunes. Their fidelity 
 and devotion to his interests always meet with ample 
 reward. 
 
 In. politics, Mr. Deering is an old-school Republi- 
 can, ever faithful to the patriotism of that party, and 
 ever unchanging in his belief in its principles as the 
 basis of security to the rights and privileges of man- 
 kind, lie has never sought nor accepted office, with a 
 single exception, when he was in the council of 
 Governor Perham of Maine, during that gentleman's 
 incumbency. 
 
 Mr. Deering is a liberal subscriber to public and 
 private charities, and to many of Chicago's most thriv- 
 ing public institutions. He is a trustee of the North- 
 western University and also interested, as a philan- 
 thropist,* in several other institutions ; but is not 
 associated with any secret society, political or social, 
 either as a member or patron. 
 
 Mr. Deering has been twice married, his first 
 marriage being to Miss Abby Barbour, of Maine, 
 daughter of Charles and Joanna (Cobb) Barbour, 
 October 31, 1849. Born to this union was one child, 
 Charles, born in 1852, and now the secretary of the firm 
 of Wm. Deering & Company. Mr. Deering's second wi fe 
 was Miss Clara Hamilton, also of Maine, daughter of 
 Charles and Mary (Barbour) Hamilton. This marriage 
 took place December 15th, 1857, from which there 
 were two children, James and Abby Marion, both born 
 in Maine, the former in 1859 and the latter in 1867, 
 James is treasurer and general manager of the Deering 
 firm. 
 
 Personal! y, Mr. Deering is tall, sparely built and of 
 more than average weight. He is modest and retiring, 
 and rather given to seclusion during business hours, 
 but out of the office and when not engaged in evolving 
 some new improvement for the advancement of his 
 vast business, he is the soul of affability and good 
 cheer. 
 
 Mr. Deering's business career has been singularly 
 free from the troubles involved in the relation of capital 
 to labor. The attachments and friendships that cluster 
 around him must be a grateful inheritance as thoughts 
 of age steal in upon him. The highest relations that, 
 man can sustain to society and to his race have been 
 his, and all is told ^ T orth the telling when it is said 
 that William Deering has always been a Christian 
 gentleman and a manly man. 
 
 WILLIAM MCINTIRE HARSHA, A. B., M. D. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 VyiLLIAM M. HARSHA, son of William B. and 
 Rachel (Mclntire) Harsha, was born in Harsha- 
 ville, Ohio, on the 15th day of June,. 1855. His 
 grandfather, coming from Washington, Pa., was one 
 of the first settlers in this part of southern Ohio and 
 from him the village took its name. 
 
 Young Harsha acquired his early education in the 
 district schools of Ohio and later attended the North 
 Liberty Academy, and still later took the degrees of 
 B. S. and A. B. at the National Normal University of 
 Ohio. After a short experience as a teacher in Texas 
 he entered upon his medical studies in the University 
 of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1875, but grad- 
 uated in Cincinnati in 1878 and then went to Florida, 
 where he practiced his profession for one year in the 
 town of De Land. lie then moved to Cerro Gordo, 
 111., and after four years of successful practice came to 
 Chicago, where he graduated from the Chicago Medi- 
 cal College in 1883, and then located at Decatur, 
 111., where he succeeded in building up a creditable 
 reputation as a skillful and successful practitioner. 
 
 In 1889 he came to Chicago for a still wider field 
 and has here built up a large and successful practice in 
 
 general surgery and medicine, in which he is kept busy 
 at all times. 
 
 In 1890, Dr. Harsha was elected assistant to the 
 chair of Practice of Medicine, in the College of Physi- 
 cians and Surgeons, and in 1891 he was elected lecturer 
 in surgery in the same institution, in which position he 
 is serving at the present time. He is a member of the 
 American Medical Association, the American Academy 
 of Medicine, the Illinois State Medical Society, the 
 Chicago Medical Society.the Practitioners' and Doctors' 
 Clubs of Chicago, and other local societies and associa- 
 tions. 
 
 He was chiefly instrumental in organizing the 
 Columbus Medical Laboratory, which is a new depart- 
 ure in medical progress in this country, rendered neces- 
 sary by the increasing demand for greater (scientific) 
 accuracy in diagnosis of disease through the aid of 
 microscopical and chemical investigation. On this lino 
 he last year inaugurated university extension methods 
 of study in "laboratory medicine," designed to bring 
 the more recent teachings in bacteriology and micros- 
 copy into easy reach of busy practitioners. This plan 
 was adopted by the Post-Graduate Medical School, of
 
 156 
 
 Chicago, under the efficient management of Professor 
 Adolph Gehrman, and it has received the endorsement 
 of leading medical journals. 
 
 On the 1st day of June, 1880, Dr. Harsha was united 
 in marriage to Miss Adelia S. Hutchinson, daughter of 
 the late Thomas J. Hutchinson, a prominent citizen of 
 Lebanon, Ohio. Three children have blessed this union: 
 Edith Mary. William Thomas and Edward Houston 
 Harsha. Personally, Dr. Harsha is of medium height, 
 and impresses one as being a man of nervous tempera- 
 ment, and great bodily and mental activity. To those 
 who meet him, whether socially or professionally, he is 
 courteous and genial, making many warm friends 
 without apparent effort, the result being attained by 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 an unostentatious display of natural characteristics. In 
 his profession he takes rank among the leading physi- 
 cians of the daj 7 . He has done a great deal for the ad- 
 vancement of the profession by his plan inaugurating 
 university extension methods in medical study and 
 by organizing the Columbus Medical Laboratory. By 
 means of the extension methods many busy physicians 
 are enabled to acquire knowledge they otherwise would 
 only obtain by a great loss of time and corresponding 
 detriment to their practice. From the laboratory much 
 is expected not only in doing practical work in diag- 
 nosis for physicians but also in contributing to the 
 solution of the greatest of all problems in modern 
 medicine, namely, that of prevention. 
 
 WASHINGTON PORTER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WASHINGTON PORTER, one of the forty-five 
 directors of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 and a member of the ways and means committee, was 
 born in Boone county, Illinois, October 26, 1846. His 
 parents, Thomas W. and Charlotte (Lane) Porter, 
 immigrated from England about 1830, locating at Buf- 
 falo, N. Y., where his father engaged in merchandis- 
 ing. They came to Illinois in 1838 and bought a farm 
 in Boone county, where they lived until the death of 
 the husband and father, which occurred when he was 
 seventy-nine years of age. Mrs. Porter died at the 
 age of seventy-three. The couple had nine children, 
 six boys and three girls, all of whom are now living) 
 except Fred. C., who died July 15, 1885, and Miss Anna, 
 who died some years previous to the demise of her 
 parents. 
 
 Washington Porter remained on the farm and went 
 to school until he was sixteen, when he enlisted in 
 Company B, Ninety-fifth Regiment 111. Volunteer 
 Infantry, and served as a private with General Grant 
 in the West. He was in many hard-fought battles, 
 among others, those of Champion Hills and the siege 
 of Vicksburg, and underwent the hardships of the Red 
 river expedition. He was wounded in the shoulder by 
 a minie ball at the battle of Guntown, Miss., which 
 sent him to the hospital for a month. A furlough of 
 sixty days was then given him, and upon his return he 
 was placed on detached service at Memphis, where he 
 remained until his term expired. 
 
 In May, 1865, he was mustered out of service and 
 returned to the home farm in Illinois. The following 
 winter he attended school in Belvidere, and soon began 
 his successful business career. He engaged in fanning 
 for three years, and then purchased a business in Bel- 
 videre, which he sold, after conducting it for one year, 
 at a handsome profit. 
 
 Prompted by a spirit of enterprise, he went west 
 prospecting, and upon his return endeavored to organ- 
 ize a colony to locate in Kansas. The people were 
 
 reluctant to invest in the enterprise and it was aban- 
 doned. The wisdom of the movement as proposed by 
 Mr. Porter has since been well demonstrated in tfte . 
 fact that the city of Newton now stands where it was 
 proposed to locate the colony. During this time he 
 and his brother, F. C. Porter, started a California fruit 
 trade. They were the pioneers in this line, shipping 
 the first full car of fruit in 1869, the year of the com- 
 pletion of the transcontinental railroad. This business, 
 which they began with a very small capital, has grown 
 to enormous proportions, supporting branch houses in 
 Omaha, Minneapolis and New York city, besides 
 packing houses in various towns and cities of Califor- 
 nia, with a main office in Chicago. The yearly increas- 
 ing profit of their fruit trade has made them both 
 wealthy. January 1, 1885, the business was incor- 
 porated under the name of Porter Brothers Company, 
 with Mr. Washington Porter as president, which office 
 he still holds. It is the largest concern of its kind in 
 the United States, if not in the world. 
 
 Mr. Porter was one of the most valuable members 
 of the committee sent from Chicago to Washington to 
 urge the advantages and claims of the western metrop- 
 olis as a site for the World's Columbian Exposition in 
 1893. He has the credit of having done most effective 
 work at that heated contest, and the earnest labor and 
 untiring interest that he showed in advocating their 
 cause will be long remembered by Chicagoans. An 
 extract from the letter of an eminent man says of him: 
 " He remained in Washington nearly all last winter,at 
 his own expense, in the interest of Chicago. It is im- 
 possible to estimate the value of his services in this 
 connection. He did all that any one could do, and was 
 specially fitted for the work in hand." A prominent 
 officer of the National Commission writes: ''It gives 
 me great pleasure to say that from my personal knowl- 
 edge Mr. Porter rendered invaluable aid to Chicago in 
 that memorable contest. There were very few men 
 who did as effective service for Chicago as he. A
 
 ^ 
 
 ^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 159 
 
 prosperous man, with suave and pleasant manners such 
 as he possesses, is bound to be a power in whatever he 
 undertakes, and I often heard Director-General Davis 
 say last winter in Washington, during the great con- 
 test for the location of the Fair, that a man like 
 Washington Porter, for good effective service, was worth 
 a dozen ordinary men whom I know and whom I regard 
 as highly." From a fellow-member of the Chicago com- 
 mittee: "I know Mr. Porter well; he is one of the bright- 
 est business men that I have ever met. Public-spirited 
 and well informed, he spent several months in Wash- 
 ington during the contest before Congress on the 
 location of the World's Fair. He was earnest and 
 untiring in his advocacy of Chicago, and rendered 
 valuable service. He should be gratefully remembered 
 by Chicago for his efforts in securing the World's 
 Fair." Another, in speaking of Mr. Porter's efforts, 
 said : "Mr. Porter was called to Washington early in 
 December, and from that time until the final action of 
 Congress his time and service were freely given to the 
 committee. His large and favorable acquaintance with 
 the senators and members of Congress of the Pacific 
 States and Territories made his services valuable, and 
 to him more than to any other member of the commit- 
 tee Chicago is indebted for the favorable action and 
 practically unanimous vote of the senators and con- 
 gressmen of the Pacific coast. In all the work of the 
 committee in Washington he was at all times zealous 
 and effective, and all his friends in this city thoroughly 
 appreciate his valuable services." A well-known and 
 able congressman writes : " Without detracting one 
 jot from others on the committee to secure the World's 
 Fair, I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the 
 claims of Chicago were presented by no one more ably 
 and zealously than by Mr. Porter. His genial manner, 
 his terse business way of talking, coupled with his great 
 knowledge of the country and his love for Chicago, 
 made many converts. He enlisted me long before the 
 session commenced. His personal friend for years, 
 I made his cause mine. Chicago owes him a debt of 
 gratitude, which I know she will delight to repay. Too 
 much honor cannot be given him." 
 
 Upon his return from a trip to Europe, he was 
 elected a member of the directory of the World's Col- 
 umbian Exposition, and was re-elected a director, serv- 
 ing through the entire period of the Fair. After the 
 
 opening of the Exposition Mr. Porter originated the 
 idea of curtailing expenses, and accordingly the direc- 
 tory appointed a Finance Committee, consisting prac- 
 tically of Mr. Kerfoot, Mr. Winston, and Mr. Porter, 
 in order to bring about a reduction of expenses which 
 at that time was an amount entirely too large. Through 
 the efforts of this committee the expenses were very 
 materially reduced, to the gratification and satisfaction 
 of the stockholders and the entire community. 
 
 After the close of the Exposition Mr. Porter's next 
 proposition was to remove the Manufacturers and Lib- 
 eral Arts Building to the Lake front, fully realizing 
 that Chicago is in need of a large public hall for the 
 purpose of holding national conventions, public meet- 
 ings, horse shows, athletic sports, etc. This movement, 
 though not yet accomplished, commanded thoughtful 
 and widespread interest. 
 
 It may not be out of place to insert here a little in- 
 cident serving to illustrate how his companions, when 
 he was a young man, understood and appreciated Mr. 
 Porter's jovial and pleasing disposition. When twenty- 
 one years of age he was elected to the lowest office 
 that could be conferred upon an American, viz., that of 
 path-master on a road leading up to the residence of 
 two young ladies, where a grand banquet was to be 
 given. The envelope containing the invitation to the 
 banquet was addressed in the following novel wa\' : 
 
 "To a modest young path-master true, superfine, 
 Who never drinks anything stronger than wine, 
 Who's proud of his office and somebody's curl, 
 Carries a lantern, goes home with a girl: 
 This letter is posted in greatest of haste, 
 The news is important, with no time to waste. 
 So hand this to Porter, whose first name is Wash, 
 Garden Prairie, Boone County, Illinois, by gosh," 
 
 Mr. Porter has made several investments in real 
 estate and owns some of the choicest and most desir- 
 able property in the city. He is a member of several 
 of the most prominent clubs of the city, and is also a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity. His travels abroad 
 have been very extensive. A charm of manner, 
 together with a world-wide knowledge, make him a 
 man to command the respect of all who know him. 
 He was married at Chicago on June 11, 1891, to Miss 
 Frances Pauline Lee. Two children, Pauline C., born 
 April 22, 1892, and Washington, Jr., born December 
 29, 1893, have blessed this union. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM E. QUINE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM E. QUINE, son of William and Mar- 
 garet (Kinley) Quine, was born in the Isle of 
 Man, February 9, 1847, and removed with his parents 
 to Chicago six years later. He was educated in the 
 public schools and is a graduate of the Central High 
 School of Chicago. 
 
 After leaving school he devoted himself to the 
 
 study of pharmacy and materia medica. Later 
 he entered the Chicago Medical College, from 
 which he was graduated in 1869. Immediately 
 after taking his degree he was elected to the 
 professorship of rnateria medica in his Alma Mater, 
 but as he had also been appointed an interne in Cook 
 County Hospital, he did not enter upon the discharge
 
 Up ^ \
 
 'CO* vv 
 
 
 X
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 identified with most of the benevolent and charitable 
 institutions of the city, and was always ready to assist 
 by advice and contributions all organizations for the 
 relief of the unfortunate and suffering, and was a 
 liberal supporter of all moral and religious enterprises. 
 To his generosity the city of Concord is indebted for 
 the fine bell which hangs in the tower of the board of 
 trade building. The large and handsome organ which 
 fills the First Baptist church with its melody, is a gift 
 from him and his son, Charles A., both gentlemen 
 being at that time members of the church. He was 
 active in instituting the Centennial Home for the 
 Aged, at Concord, and made large contributions to aid 
 in putting it in operation, and was a member of its 
 board of trustees; he also contributed largely to the 
 Orphans' Home, in Franklin, and was one of its 
 trustees. Mr. Pillsbury for several years was a member 
 of the city council of Concord; was elected mayor in 
 1876, and re-elected the following year. During the 
 year 1871-2 he represented Ward Five in the legisla- 
 ture, and in the latter year was made chairman of the 
 special committee on the apportionment of public 
 taxes. In 1876 the Concord city council appointed 
 him chairman of a committee of three to appraise all 
 of the real estate in the city. The position was a very 
 delicate one, requiring the exercise of sound judgment 
 and great patience, and the report of the committee 
 gave general satisfaction. 
 
 Having determined to leave Concord, in the spring 
 of 1878 complimentary resolutions were unanimously 
 passed by both branches of the city government and 
 by the First National Bank, the latter testifying 
 strongly to his integrity, honesty and superior business 
 qualities. Resolutions passed by the First Baptist 
 church and society were ordered to be entered upon 
 the records of both organizations. The Webster Club, 
 composed of fifty prominent business men of Concord, 
 also passed a series of resolutions expressive of regret 
 for his departure from the State. A similar testimo- 
 nial was presented to him, subscribed by more than 300 
 of the business men of the city, among whom were 
 all the ex-mayors then living, all the clergymen, all 
 the members of both branches of the city government, 
 all of the bank presidents and officers, twenty-six 
 lawyers, twenty physicians and nearly all of the 
 business men of the city. On the eve of their depart- 
 ure Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury were presented with an 
 elegant bronze statuette of Mozart. Such tributes, 
 spontaneously bestowed, only indicate the great esteem 
 in which he was held by his fellow-citizens. 
 
 After leaving the east Mr. Pillsbury did not forget 
 the places of his early residence. "The year 1890 was 
 made memorable by three gifts of loving remembrance, 
 viz, to Concord a free hospital at a cost of $72.000, 
 named in honor of the companion of his life, "The 
 Margaret Pillsbury Hospital ; " to Warner a free 
 public library ; to Sutton a soldier's monument. In 
 erecting the hospital he brought his own architect, 
 
 163 
 
 selected and purchased the lot and personally superin- 
 tended the work. The Sutton biographer says in 
 reference to Mr. Pillbury's many charities : " In his 
 many generous gifts he has gone far beyond the limits 
 of ordinary benevolence, and in his furtherance of 
 great schemes for the support of religion and education 
 he has attained to the height of philanthropy. And 
 yet, with all his great success, no poor man that he 
 meets will say that he ever received from Mr. Pillsbury 
 a haughty or cruel word to remind him of the great 
 difference in bestowal of the gifts of fortune." 
 
 Mr. Pillsbury was sixty-two years of age when he 
 settled in Minneapolis. With an ample fortune, a 
 lucrative business and a record of over forty yea'rs of 
 active and successful business life, he might well have 
 concluded that the time had arrived when he could 
 enjoy in retirement the fruits of his industrious life. 
 But the event proved that he had only entered a wider 
 field of opportunity, and his indomitable energy, unaf- 
 fected by years which usually affect the activity of 
 mind and body, improved it. 
 
 Soon after his arrival in Minneapolis he was elected 
 to the school board and to the city couneil, of which he 
 was made president. In 1884 he was nominated by 
 the Republican city convention as its candidate for 
 mayor. A popular Democrat had long been at the 
 head of the city government, and vehement public 
 sentiment called for a change. It seemed a " forlorn 
 hope," Mr. Pillsbury being pitted against the mayor 
 then in office. The canvass was brief, but energetic, 
 on both sides, Mr. Pillsbury being elected by some eight 
 thousand majority a change from the last preceding 
 city election of more than six thousand votes. His 
 administration to the city government was character- 
 ized by devotion to detail, economy in expenditure, and 
 rigid control of unruly elements. Not the least 
 pleasant feature of his public duties was the graceful 
 manner with which he received and welcomed the city's 
 guests. His public addresses were as eloquent, and 
 only a little less elegant, than those which have given 
 President Harrison so much favor. As mayor he was 
 ex-officio member of the park and water- works boards, 
 as well as head of the police department. The ances- 
 tral motto of the family found in him a truthful 
 exponent "Labor, constant and concentrated, con- 
 quered all." Among the corporate and quasi public 
 trusts which he has filled are president of the Board 
 of Trade, of the Homeopathic Hospital, of the Free 
 Dispensary, Chamber of Commerce, Pillsbury & 
 Ilurlburt Elevator Company, vice-president of the 
 Minnesota Loan & Trust Compan\ r , director and presi- 
 dent of the Northwestern National Bank, of the Min- 
 neapolis Elevator Company, and of the Northwestern 
 Guaranty Loan Company. 
 
 He had also served as president of the St. Paul and 
 Minneapolis Baptist Union.ofthe Minnesota State Bap- 
 tist Convention, as trustee of the Chicago University, 
 and, in 1888, at the annual meeting of the American
 
 164 
 
 Baptist Union, he was elected its president. This or- 
 ganization has its headquarters in Boston and has 
 charge of all the foreign missionary work of all the 
 northern and some of the southern States, distributing 
 annually nearly half a million dollars for mission work 
 in foreign fields by the Baptist church. In 1885 Mayor 
 Pillsbury was chairman of the committee to build the 
 Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, one of the finest 
 buildings of its kind in the Northwest, and in which 
 more actual wheat is bought than any other place in 
 the world. The following year he was chairman of 
 the building committee of the First Baptist Church of 
 Minneapolis, for the erection of the third edifice for that 
 growing church, which, when completed, was the 
 largest and most costly church building of any denom- 
 ination west of Chicago. At its completion Mr. and 
 Mrs. Pillsbury, with their two sons, placed in the 
 church, at their own expense, the largest and 
 best organ then in the city. The Minnesota 
 Academy, located at Owatonna, a school open' to 
 all, but under the patronage of the Baptist 
 State Convention, has been a beneficiary of Mr. Pills- 
 bury's bounty. In 1886 he built, at the cost of $30,000, 
 a ladies' boarding hall. It is 128 feet long, has three 
 stories above the basement, is heated by steam and 
 contains parlors, dormitory, boarding department, 
 bath-rooms and gymnasiums, and furnishes to young 
 ladies the comforts of a well appointed Christian home. 
 In recognition of this magnificent gift the Legislature 
 changed the name of the institution to Pillsbury 
 Academv. Three vears later the institution was 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 again favored by its generous patron by the erection, 
 at a cost of $40,000, of a new academic building. It is 
 122 feet long, three stories high above the basement, 
 with a tower 140 feet high. It contains recitation 
 rooms, library and reading room, chapel and a spacious 
 auditorium. He also contributed $25,000 towards an 
 endowment fund. In 1892 Mr. Pillsbury built also a 
 beautiful music hall at an expense of about $25,000 ; 
 also a drill hall which cost about $10,000. 
 
 This enumeration of the deeds and labors of a bus}' 
 life will indicate the qualities of the man from whom 
 they have proceeded There is at the bottom a robust 
 constitution, inherited from the line of temperate, re- 
 ligious and hardy ancestors, developed and strength- 
 ened by active life among the rough hills of New 
 Hampshire, under the shadow of old Kearsarge ; a 
 mind stored with diversified knowledge and directed 
 by practical common sense, a judgment strong and 
 well balanced. 
 
 To indefatigable industry and application to a 
 degree seldom rivaled by men of business, by paying 
 the greatest attention to matters of smallest detail, 
 his success is attributed. 
 
 He well deserves a place in the front rank of phi- 
 lanthropists, for he has done much towards the better- 
 ment of his fellowmen, both for their moral improve- 
 ment and worldly condition. His life has been one of 
 pure humanitananism, moved to a higher and better 
 sphere by the religious sentiments inculcated in him by 
 his devout ancestors, and up to which he has ever 
 lived with a strictness characteristic of the man. 
 
 PHILO FOSTER PETTIBONE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography, well-known as the 
 head of the firm of P. F. Pettibone & Co., 
 printers and stationers, of Chicago, was born at Mercer, 
 Pennsylvania, on April 28, 1841, his parents being 
 liev. Philo C. Pettibone, a Congregational minister, 
 and Louisa (Foster) Pettibone, of Andover, Mass. The 
 father was a native of Stockholm, New York, whose 
 ancestors were from Wales, and who settled first in 
 this country at Simsbury, Connecticut. 
 
 Young Pectibone's education was acquired suc- 
 cessively in the public schools at Stockholm, N. Y., at 
 St. Lawrence Academy, Potsdam, N. Y., and at Beloit 
 College, Wis., from which latter institution he grad- 
 uated in 1862. Casting about for some congenial 
 employment upon leaving college, the young man 
 formed a connection with the then prominent stationery 
 and printing house of Culver, Page &> Hoyne, of 
 Chicago, in 1863, for whom he traveled for some time, 
 and later was employed in a responsible position in the 
 house. In 1868 Mr. Pettibone was given an interest 
 in the profits of the firm, and, three years later, in 
 
 1871. when the-business was incorporated, he became a 
 stockholder and a director. This connection continued 
 until ten years later when (in 1881) Mr. Pettibone 
 withdrew from Culver, Page, Hoyne & Co. to become 
 a member of the new firm of Brown, Pettibone & 
 Kelly, printers and stationers. The firm afterwards 
 became Brown, Pettibone & Co., and is now P. F. 
 Pettibone & Co. 
 
 In his early life the subject of this sketch was for- 
 tunate in having the best of home training, and though 
 his environments were such as belonged to a secluded 
 country life in the Eastern Stares many years ago, 
 involving much labor, with limited opportunities for 
 finished education, yet they served to fix those habits 
 of industry, self-reliance and integrity which have 
 been such prominent characteristics in the successful 
 achievements of his life. Mr. Pettibone is known 
 not only as a man of ability of the most reliable kind, 
 but for his liberal culture, enabling him, whenever 
 occasion demands, to write with ease and grace and to 
 speak with eloquence and force.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 In social and religious circles he is active and 
 popular, and well known as a promoter of charitable 
 enterprises. He is a member of the Union League and 
 Chicago Clubs, on the board of management of the 
 Chicago Belief and Aid Society, and a member of the 
 executive committee of the Central Relief Association. 
 From his youth he has been connected with the 
 Congregational church, and is a prominent member of 
 the Union Park Church of that denomination. He 
 has a keen relish for yachting, and is found with his 
 friends and. family each summer cruising with his 
 yacht " Bon Ami " on Lake Michigan. 
 
 In the promotion of the best interests of the business 
 with which he is identified, Mr. Pettibone has been 
 
 active. He took a prominent part in the formation 
 both of the Chicago Typothetae and of the United 
 Typothetae of America, organizations designed to ele- 
 vate the standard and advance the interests of the 
 printing and publishing business. 
 
 In politics he is a Republican, ever loyal to the 
 principles which gave birth to the party. Of his 
 attachment to his country he gave evidence by 
 shouldering a musket, for a time, during the war of 
 the rebellion, as a member of Company A, 134:th 
 Illinois Volunteers. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Pettibone was married, to Miss Mary 
 C. Talcott, daughter of the late Hon. Wait Talcott, of 
 Rockford, 111. 
 
 LAURIN PALMER MILLIARD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LAURIN PALMER HILLIARD was born at 
 Unadilla Forks, Otsego county, N. T., October 11, 
 1814. His parents were Isaiah and Keturah (Palmer) 
 Hilliard. His father, whose ancestors were among the 
 early settlers of Connecticut, was left an orphan in 
 early boyhood, and soon entered on a somewhat 
 adventurous career as a "sailor-boy," first in the cabin 
 and finally as a fully-equipped seaman. With other 
 sailors he paid his twenty-five cents to inspect Robert 
 Fulton's original little steamer, and joined in predict- 
 ing the results, wise and otherwise. His " protection 
 paper," No. 3,123, U. S. A., to insure against seizure 
 and impressment by the British on the high seas, is in 
 the possession of Edward P. Hilliard, of Chicago. 
 Upon attaining his majority, he left New York city 
 and invested his savings in unimproved land near 
 Unadilla Forks, where he soon afterward married Miss 
 Keturah, daughter of his neighbor, Jonathan Palmer. 
 Mr. Palmer also was of New England ancestr}', which 
 is traced to Walter Palmer, who came to America in 
 1629, from Nottinghamshire, England. He built the 
 first dwelling in Charlestown, Mass. In 1653 he moved 
 to Stonington, Conn., where he died in 1661, and was 
 buried at Wequetsquok Cove. In 1881 a reunion of the 
 Palmer family was held at Stonington. and nearly two 
 thousand of the descendants were present. At that 
 gathering the origin of the family name was traced to 
 the Crusades. Many pilgrims to the tomb of Christ, 
 from the days of Peter the Hermit to the close of the 
 fourteenth century, on their return, wore palm-leaves in 
 their hats or carried staves from palm branches; hence, 
 it is said, they were called "palm-bearers" or "palm- 
 ers." In Spencer's "Fairie Queene," and in Shakes- 
 peare, these allusions to the palmers are found. 
 Jonathan Palmer was ef the sixth generation from 
 Walter, which places our subject, Laurin Palmer 
 Hilliard, in the eighth. 
 
 Young Laurin's boyhood was spent on his father's 
 
 farm. He was educated in the public schools and at 
 Hamilton College. When about eighteen years of age 
 he entered the store of Charles Walker, at Burlington 
 Flats, near his native place, receiving no salary for the 
 first year and fifty dollars for the second. His success 
 led to a partnership in a new establishment at Unadilla 
 Forks. While there Mr. Walker's brother took a stock 
 of goods to Chicago, and the good report of the 
 venture then impressed Mr. Hilliard with the advan- 
 tages of that place. He closed out his business and 
 with a few hundred dollars started west via canal boat, 
 stage and steamer, from Utica to Buffalo, thence to 
 Dunkirk and Detroit and reached Chicago in the 
 spring of 1836. His first night was spent at a log 
 tavern on the West Side, but he afterward stayed at 
 the " Green Tree Hotel." He visited various towns 
 in Illinois and Wisconsin and on invitation of an old 
 friend .who was interested in' projecting a town at 
 Manitowac river, he joined the equipped party on the 
 schooner " Wisconsin," and was present at Ihe time 
 the original town site of Manitowac was laid out. 
 
 Returning to Chicago, he started a little store, 
 taking produce in exchange for goods. He went back 
 east in the fall of 1836 and a brother-in-law of Mr. 
 Walker, his former partner, took charge of the store 
 and shipped east the country produce, one of the 
 earliest ventures in Chicago's great specialty. The 
 following spring Mr. Hilliard returned to Chicago. He 
 entered first the employment of Peter Cohn, an old 
 French trader, then that of his successors, Taylor, 
 Breese & Co. He was afterwards with Clifford S. 
 Phillips, a leading merchant. During the summer of 
 1837 he made a trip on horseback into Wisconsin to 
 report on lands to eastern investors. He found the 
 town site of Madison, the present capital, with few 
 finished improvements, boasting a log boarding house 
 and plenty of wild game about the Four Lakes, which 
 made it a '' hunter's paradise."
 
 1 66 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 After having for several years the main charge of 
 Mr. Phillips' large business, he again joined his former 
 partner, Mr. Walker, who had begun merchandising in 
 Chicago. Money was still scarce, but the business 
 prospered and increased by the exchange of goods for 
 country produce, which was shipped East. The firm 
 also started ship-building, first buying a disabled 
 schooner, which they repaired and christened the " C. 
 Walker." They next, as part owners, built the "Inde- 
 pendence,"' said to be the first propeller constructed on 
 Lake Michigan. Her first trip was made in March to 
 Green Bay, whither she went after ice, the winter 
 having been an open one. While there, cold weather 
 gave Chicago plenty of ice, and the propeller was 
 frozen in and loaded with ice cut to give her a channel 
 for the return trip. The schooner " Maria Billiard " 
 also was built by the firm. Mr. Hilliard afterward 
 succeeded to the business, and continued both branches 
 until 1849, when his store, at the corner of Lake and 
 Franklin streets was burned. The following year he 
 organized the firm of Hilliard & Howard, and occupied 
 yards in the lumber business where the James H. 
 Walker & Go's wholesale house lately stood. With the 
 exception of a few years in public office, he continued 
 in the lumber trade until 1873. The financial disasters, 
 then general, forced a suspension of trade. Fortu- 
 natelv, he had invested in a large tract of land twelve 
 miles south of Chicago, and having wisely planned for 
 railroad connection with his farm, he removed his 
 family thither when his city residence was destroyed in 
 the great fire of 1871. By concerted action with other 
 property-owners, their efforts resulted in the suburban 
 village of Washington Heights, Longwood, Beverly 
 Hills, etc., all now within the city limits. So the city 
 went out to Mr. Hilliard's home, absorbed his " farm," 
 and is giving him increasing wealth and comfort to 
 crown his long and useful career. 
 
 Mr. Hilliard was virtually a " charter member " of 
 the Republican party, and was conscientiously active 
 for its success against the aggressions of slavery. In 
 1861, he was elected clerk of the Cook County Court, 
 and served the four year's term with great acceptance. 
 
 He, with other patriotic citizens, issued the first call for 
 a public meeting in 1861 to aid the government in 
 suppressing the great Rebellion, and served on the 
 financial committee then appointed. 
 
 In 1848, he was active in securing the organization of 
 the Chicago Board of Trade, and when accomplished 
 in April he was made a member of the first board of 
 directors, and in 1853 was chosen secretary and treas- 
 urer of the institution. In those days the board had 
 neither the fascination nor wealth of to-day, and it is 
 said that to secure even a respectable attendance the 
 secretary was accustomed to set out, at noon, a luncheon 
 of crackers and cheese! Mr. Hilliard was also a 
 director for several years of the Chamber of Commerce, 
 and identified with many other important public enter- 
 prises. He was general agent of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad Company, when Mr. C. B. Wright was 
 president; and Mr. H. E. Sargent general manager,and 
 did much to send emigration into the Red River Valley. 
 
 In religious faith he has been a consistent Episco- 
 palian, and in 1844, he, with about twenty old settlers, 
 organized Trinity Episcopal Church. He became a 
 member of the board of trustees, was also vestryman 
 and warden, and active for its prosperity until his 
 change of residence necessitated change in his church 
 relations. 
 
 He was initiated into the Oriental Lodge of Masons 
 in 1845. He long held its offices, became an honorary 
 life member in 1874, and is now its senior member. He 
 was made a Knight Templar in 1854, and has taken 
 thirty two of the Consistory degrees. 
 
 In 1843 he married Mrs. Maria E. Beaubien. She 
 was the daughter of John K. Boyer, who was widely 
 known in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois as a public 
 works contractor. He settled in Chicago in 1833. His 
 son, Dr. Valentine A. Boyer, began the practice of 
 medicine in the city that year, and was the oldest resi- 
 dent physician when he died in 1890. Two sons cheer 
 the advanced years of Mr. and Mrs. Hilliard. Edward' 
 P. is a resident of Chicago, and succeeds to the real 
 estate business of his father. William P. has made a 
 home at St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 DAVID G. HAMILTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DAVID G. HAMILTON is pre-eminently a Chi- 
 cago man. He comes of a sturdy race, and is 
 the son of Polemus D. and Cynthia (Holmes) Hamilton. 
 Hisfather was a native of Wales, in Erie county, N. Y., 
 and in 1834. while yet he was a single man, settled in 
 Chicago. He was a carpenter by occupation, and plied 
 his trade with other pioneer builders of that city " not 
 despising the day of small things." In 1836 he re- 
 turned to his native place where, on May 12th of the 
 following year he was married. He at once returned 
 
 to Chicago and was there joined by his young wife and 
 his father's family on August 11, 1838. A 'skillful 
 workman, there were constant!}' increasing demands in 
 the aspiring young city for his services. Besides con- 
 structing buildings he employed his handicraft to 
 supply the needs of navigation, and built the first 
 vessel launched on Lake Michigan, at Chicago. He 
 had a genius for meeting new demands, and became 
 one of the leading builders of the city. He died at 
 Chicago in 1891. His wife's decease occurred in 1872.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 Our subject's grandfather., David Hamilton, was a 
 native of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, whence he 
 went, when a boy. to Massachusetts, subsequently 
 residing in Cayuga county, N. Y.,'and during the 
 exciting times attending the settlement of the " Holland 
 Purchase " he located in Erie county, where Polemus 
 D. was born. Both he and our subject's maternal 
 grandfather came of patriotic, revolutionary stock, and 
 both were engaged in the war with England in 1812. 
 
 David G. was born in Chicago on January 10, 
 1842, in a house located on the premises now known as 
 No. 126 South Clark street, where afterward for many 
 years he had his place of business. The virgin mud in 
 front of his father's door at that date would have 
 rivaled tli.it of many unpretentious Illinois towns. 
 Beo-inning life in the very heart of the city, David felt 
 its great 'pulsations with his first knowledge of the 
 world. His education was begun in private schools, 
 and upon arriving at mature boyhood he entered the 
 Chicago High School, from which he was graduated in 
 1862 prepared to enter college. In September, 1862, 
 he entered the freshman class of Asbury University, 
 since changed to DePauw University, at Greencastle, 
 Ind., and was graduated in 1865. He received the 
 degree of A. M. in due course. Returning to Chicago, 
 he began the study of law in the law department of 
 the University of Chicago in 1866 and was graduated 
 in 1867. He was afterward president of the board of 
 trustees of this university. During all these early 
 years of study he spent his vacations with his father, 
 and he not only mastered the carpenter's trade but also 
 the methods of systematic business in contracting large 
 enterprises a training as important and practical and 
 useful for his future success as much of that which he 
 obtained from the curriculum of the schools. His 
 proficiency and skill led to business association with his 
 father before completing his studies, and together they 
 carried out many important building enterprises. 
 
 Following his graduation in 1867, he opened a law 
 office on the very spot where he was born (126 South 
 Clark street) and continued there for nearly twenty 
 years. His office was destroyed in the great fire of 
 1871, but he returned to the same location a few 
 months later, on the completion of a new building. In 
 his law practice Mr. Hamilton's specialty was the ex- 
 amination of titles and managing estates and trusts, a 
 branch of business for which his careful and exact 
 business training pre-eminently fitted him. In 1868 he 
 coupled with his law practice the business of mortgage 
 investments, and was joined by Mr. R. K. Swift in 
 this department, under the firm name of D. G. Ham- 
 ilton & Co. This partnership was dissolved in 1871, 
 and Mr. Hamilton has since continued the same busi- 
 ness, removing his office, in 1885, to 94 Washington 
 street,and later, when the sixteen-story Title and Trust 
 building. 100 Washington street, w r as completed he 
 moved to that building, where he still is. 
 
 In 18SO he became president, in the nature of receiver 
 
 167 
 
 of the Anglo-American Land and Claim Association, a 
 corporation organized for colonization of lands in 
 Texas, and also for the construction of railroads in that 
 State. It had partially completed a line of railroad 
 there, which subsequently became a part of the Atch- 
 isou, Topeka & Santa Fe system. After successful! v 
 closing up the affairs of the association, he gave his un- 
 divided attention to matters in Chicago. 
 
 In J885 he became identified with the street railway 
 interests of Chicago, and has taken an active part in 
 their management, having been a director in the 
 Chicago City Railway for years. He is now (1894) 
 president of the board of directors of five of the leading 
 street railway companies of St. Louis, as well as 
 manager of other industries employing a large force of 
 men and millions of capital. Although he has applied 
 himself closely to study and business ever since his 
 boyhood, Mr. Hamilton early learned that ' ; it is not all 
 of life to live" even in the mighty whirl of Chicago 
 business. A wise and pious mother early took him to 
 the First Methodist Church Sunday-school (close by his 
 birthplace). The bible truths were accepted by his 
 keen intelligence, and loved for the sake of the truth 
 and of humanity as he grew to maturity. The same 
 devotion as to study and business was given lo Sunday- 
 school work, and he became active in pushing the mis- 
 sionary enterprise into the suburbs then at Clark and 
 Twelfth streets. Subsequently to" the great fire he 
 united with the Michigan Avenue Baptist Church, out 
 of which grew the Immanual Baptist, under the direc- 
 tion of Rev. George C. Lorimer, D. D. He has been 
 connected with its business management almost from 
 its organization, and is chairman of its board of trustees. 
 As a Mason, he has taken all the degrees in the York, 
 and all but one in the Scottish Rites. He filled the 
 different chairs in the York Rite. For pleasure and 
 observation he has made four visits to Europe, and 
 traveled extensively on that continent. He started on 
 his last trip in January, 1894, with his wife and daugh- 
 ter. In politics he cast his first vote for Abraham 
 Lincoln, and has always been a Republican on national 
 questions. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage December 9, 
 1870, to Mary Jane Kendall, daughter of Dr. Lyman 
 Kendall, of Chicago. Mrs. Hamilton is a native of 
 Montpelier, Vt. She subsequently resided at Wor- 
 cester, Mass., whence her father removed to Chicago 
 in 1857. She was educated here and graduated from 
 the high school in 1863. She united with the Second 
 Baptist Church, where she was active in Sunday-school 
 and missionary work, and is now connected with the 
 Immanual Baptist Church. Two children bless this 
 marriage Bruce, eighteen, and Adelaide thirteen years 
 of age. Mr. Hamilton, now in the prime of life, rich 
 in the wisdom of experience and managing large busi- 
 ness interests requiring much travel, still has sympathy 
 with every good cause, and a gentlemanly' 
 all who properly seek his attention. 
 
 regard 
 
 for
 
 1 68 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 GENERAL GREEN B. RAUM, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 AMONG the distinguished men of the United States, 
 General Green B. Raum, of Illinois, whether 
 regarded as a lawyer, a soldier of long and gallant 
 service, a member of congress or as the chief executive 
 officer of the two most important bureaus of the govern- 
 ment, takes high rank. He has served his country 
 faithfullv and honorably, both in the field and in the 
 civil service for a period of sixteen 3 7 ears, and his lofty 
 patriotism, firmness of purpose anil fertility of resources 
 in a marked degree fitted him for the important posi- 
 tions he was called upon to fill at critical periods in his 
 country's history. 
 
 Gen. Kaum's ancestors came to America before the 
 Revolution. His paternal great grandfather, Conrad 
 Raum, was a native of Alsace, and emigrated to the 
 Colony of Pennsylvania in 1741, settling near Hum- 
 melstown, now in Dauphin county, where he became 
 the father of a large family. Among his sons 
 was Melchoir, who lived for many years at 
 Harrisburg, being at the same time a man 
 of much influence and popularity in his commun- 
 ity. His son, John Raum, the father of Gen. Rau.m, 
 removed west and settled at Shawneetown, 111.', in 
 1823, and three years later removed to Golconda, 
 where he resided until his death, in 1869. John Raum 
 served three years in the war of 1812, and was first 
 lieutenant when he left the service. He also served in 
 the Blackhawk war as brigade major. He was after- 
 ward elected as State Senator in 1833, and from 1835 
 to the day of his death, a period of thirty-four years, 
 he was clerk of the court of Pope county, 111. He was 
 a man of good education, excellent ability and great 
 probity of character. In 1828 he was united in mar- 
 riage to Juliet C. Field, daughter of Green B. Field. 
 Mr. Field was a man of prominence in his portion of 
 the State and was among the first settlers of Golconda. 
 He served in the war of 1812 and represented Pope 
 county in the first Legislature of Illinois. Mr. Field 
 married Mary E. Cogswell, a daughter of Dr. Joseph 
 Cogswell, a citizen of Kentucky, who served as a sur- 
 geon in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 The mother of Gen. Raum was widely known and 
 highly respected, and there was no more hospitable 
 roof in Southern Illinois than her home. Mrs. Raum 
 was first in every good work. When the war of the 
 Rebellion broke out she exercised great influence in 
 the support of the Union cause. Both her sons Gen. 
 Raum and Maj. John M. Raum being in the army, 
 she visited them at Corinth, Memphis and Vicksburg, 
 alwavs taking with her large quantities of valuable 
 supplies for the relief of the soldiers. She died in 1872, 
 lamented by a large circle of friends. 
 
 At an early day the family united with the Presby- 
 terian Church at Golconda, which was established 
 about 1820. 
 
 In 1868, General Raum, with his wife and four 
 
 children, visited his mother and father at Golconda, 
 where his grandmother was living with them at the 
 time. Thus four generations of the family were 
 assembled under the same roof. 
 
 Green B. Raum was born at Golconda, Pope county, 
 on December 3, 1829. He received" his early education 
 in the public schools, and had the advantage of a good 
 library in his father's house. When of suitable age, he 
 entered upon the study of law, being admitted to the 
 bar in 1853. Three years later, in 1856, he removed 
 with his family to Kansas, where, in the stormy times 
 of the period, he allied himself with the "Free-State" 
 party, return fng, however, after a year, to Illinois and 
 locating at Harrisburg. In the memorable political 
 campaign of I860, Mr. Raum was a zealous advocate 
 of the candidacy of Stephen A. Douglas, and attended 
 the convention at Baltimore which nominated him for 
 the presidency. When, following the election of 
 Abraham Lincoln to the presidency, secession became 
 the question of the hour, Mr. Raum declared himself 
 unalterably opposed to the Southern movement and 
 unqualifiedly in favor of the preservation of the Union, 
 and when Fort Sumter fell he promptly announced him- 
 self in favor of maintaining the Union bv force of arms. 
 When the circuit court of Massac county convened a 
 few days later at Metropolis, and secession and com- 
 promise speeches were made at a public meeting, he 
 was announced to speak on the following day. In his 
 speech of more than two hours duration, on that occa- 
 sion, Mr. Raum pleaded eloquently and vigorously for 
 the perpetuation of the Union, and an undivided coun- 
 try from the great lakes to the gulf. He declared that 
 Illinois and the great Northwest would never allow the 
 Mississippi river to be controlled at its. mouth by any 
 hostile power. He warned the Kentuckians present 
 that if their state failed in its loyalty to the Union her 
 fair fields would become the theater of war. Though 
 in the campaign an opponent of Lincoln, he declared 
 his purpose to sustain his administration in its effort to 
 save the country. This address, which was the first 
 Union speech delivered in southern Illinois, had a most 
 important effect, convincing most of his auditors that 
 patriotism and future safety called upon every one to 
 rally around the old flag. The meeting at Metropolis 
 occurred on the day that Senator Douglas made his 
 famous war speecli before the Illinois legislature. 
 Showing his faith by his deeds, Mr. Raum enlisted in the 
 Union army, and was made major of the 56th Illinois 
 Infantry, rising successively to the ranks of lieutenant 
 colonel, colonel, brevet brigadier-general and brigadier- 
 general. He served under General Grant at the capture 
 of Vicksburg, and under General Sherman at the capture 
 of Savannah. He was at the siege of Corinth, the 
 battle of Corinth, in the campaign of central Missis- 
 sippi and Yazoo Pass, in the campaign against Vicks- 
 burg. and commanded a brigade at the siege and capture
 
 0^0*
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 171 
 
 of that stronghold, and marched from Memphis to the 
 relief of Chattanooga. At the battle of Corinth Gen. 
 Raum led the charge that broke the Confederate left 
 and captured a battery. At Missionary Eidge he took 
 an active part in Gen. Sherman's assault upon the 
 rebel line. His brigade lost very heavily in that 
 battle and Gen. Raum was severely wounded while 
 repulsing a severe attack by the enemy. During the 
 Atlanta campaign he commanded his brigade and in 
 September and October commanded the division. He 
 held the line of communication from Dalton to Ack- 
 worth and from Kingston to Rome, Ga. The railroad 
 was put in a complete state of defense and was success- 
 fullv held against the periodical assaults of the rebels, 
 so that Gen. Sherman's army of 100,000 men and as 
 manv animals was always, thoroughly provisioned. 
 Gen. Raum discovered the raid of Gen. Joseph 
 Wheeler and gave such information that forces were 
 sent from Chattanooga to Dalton, where they met 
 and repulsed that distinguished rebel cavalryman. It 
 was while General Raum garrisoned the railroad that 
 General Hood made his famous march north, to break 
 up Sherman's line of communication. Foreseeing that 
 Allatoona and Resaca would probably be attacked, 
 he caused the fortifications at these places to be 
 strengthened ; he sent out scouts to observe the 
 movements of Hood's army, and gave orders for the 
 concentration of all the troops in the neighborhood of 
 Resaca, in case that place should be attacked ; and he 
 communicated with General Corse, at Rome, request- 
 ing him to hold himself in readiness to reinforce 
 Allatoona, if it was attacked. General Raum was fully 
 informed of the movements of General French against 
 Allatoona, and furnished General Corse railroad trans- 
 portation to move his forces from Rome to Allatoona, 
 in time to save the place. General Raum was also 
 informed when General Hood crossed the Corsa river, 
 and he urged General Sherman to make a forced 
 march to Resaca, expressing the opinion that he 'would 
 meet Hood at that place. General Sherman thought 
 otherwise, but so well satisfied was General Raum 
 that Hood's intended move was to attack Resaca, that 
 he gathered together three railroad trains at Kingston, 
 and reinforced Resaca with General Tilson's brigade, 
 who reached the place at two o'clock in the morning, 
 and found that General Hood had demanded the sur- 
 render of the place around which he had already estab- 
 lished his lines,with his right and left resting on the river. 
 Gen. Watkins' brigade and the 56th 111. Volunteers had 
 already arrived. Gen. Raum assumed command of 
 the forces and offered such a resistance that the rebel 
 forces, although they pressed hard upon the Union 
 lines, did not make an assault. A million rations were 
 in store here and much ammunition. On his arrival 
 Gen. Raum wrote to Gen. Sherman, detailing the 
 situation, and assured him that he would hold the 
 place until the latter could arrive with his arm}'. Gen. 
 Sherman made a forced march to Resaca, but on his 
 arrival Hood had drawn off from the siege. Gen. 
 Sherman personally thanked Gen. Raum for his ser- 
 
 vices in this affair. Gen. Raum commanded a brigade 
 of the Fifteenth Army Corps in the celebrated march 
 of Gen. Sherman to the sea. He was also in command 
 of a division of infantry in the Shenandoah Valley, 
 under Gen. Hancock, in May, 1864, when he resigned 
 as brigadier general of volunteers. 
 
 In all the army movements Gen. Raum performed 
 responsible duties assigned to him with bravery and 
 discretion. In 1863, after the capture of Vicksburg, 
 he was granted a leave of absence to visit his home. 
 During his stay he made a number of speeches to large 
 assemblies endorsing the emancipation proclamation 
 and the arming of the negro. He advised all citizens 
 who favored the preservation of the Union to join 
 heartily together in politics in support of the Lincoln 
 administration. He identified himself with the Repub- 
 lican party and was a delegate to many of its conven- 
 tions, presiding over the Illinois Republican State con- 
 ventions of 1866, 1876 and 1880. He was also a dele- 
 gate at large to the Republican National conventions 
 of 1876 and 1880, and was one of the famous " 306 " 
 who supported Gen. Grant in the convention of 1880. 
 In the Illinois State convention of 1874 Gen. Raum was 
 a member of the committee on resolutions and was 
 strongly influential in the adoption of the resolution in 
 favor of the resumption of specie payments and free 
 banking, as against a greenback inflation platform. He 
 has made political speeches in many States, always 
 advocating the doctrines of protection, sound money 
 and fair elections. The speeches of 1878 and 1882 
 were widely published, and their statistics became 
 standard campaign material. 
 
 After the war, Gen. Raum resumed the practice of 
 law at Harrisburg. In 1866 he was elected to congress 
 as a Republican, defeating the Hon. William J. Allen, 
 in a district befqre overwhelmingly Democratic. He 
 served on the committee on military affairs, with Gen. 
 Garfield as chairman. At his time of service in con- 
 gress, the questions growing out of the war were prom- 
 inent. He advocated the fourteenth amendment to 
 the constitution in his canvass, voted in congress for 
 the fifteenth amendment, the reconstruction laws, for 
 the impeachment of the president, and many other 
 important measures, including the appropriation for the 
 purchase of Alaska, making the closing speech in the 
 debate upon the constitutionality of the Alaskan 
 treat_v. 
 
 In 1867, he engaged in an enterprise for the con- 
 struction of a railroad through the town in which he 
 lived, and largely promoted the building of the Cairo 
 and, Vincennes Railroad, of which he was the first 
 president. 
 
 In the fall of 1876, there was a strong feeling of 
 uneasiness at the National Capitol, in regard to the 
 outcome of the pending presidential election, and 
 President Grant felt it desirable to call around him, in 
 civil capacities, some of his old army associates, upon 
 whose prudence, pluck and discretion he knew he 
 could rely in an emergency. Accordingly, General 
 Raum, among others, was summoned to Washington
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE ORE A T WEST. 
 
 and was tendered and accepted the position of com- 
 missioner of internal revenue. The office, under the 
 conditions then prevailing, was a difficult one to fill 
 successfully. The heavy taxes imposed upon distilled 
 spirits and tobacco, and the imperfect methods at that 
 time in force for maintaining proper accountability of 
 officers, and for the collection of the tax, had fostered 
 frauds, and broken down public confidence in the 
 honest administration of internal revenue affairs. 
 Even the best disposed tax-payers, by reason of their 
 belief that fraudulent preferences bad been given to 
 others, were inclined to be hostile to the whole system 
 of internal revenue taxation. To suppress frauds, and 
 to bring honest tax-payers into harmonious relations 
 with the government, were among the first things that 
 confronted the new commissioner. Recognizing that 
 the initial step towards securing honest taxation was 
 to secure honest tax-collection, General Raum brought 
 into play his army experience, by inaugurating a 
 system of inspection and reports by competent revenue 
 agents as to the entire revenue force of the country. 
 In regard to all officers having financial responsibility, 
 he established a system of periodical examination and 
 versification of their accounts. All possibility of 
 partiality or collusion in these reports was avoided by 
 a continuous rotation of the inspecting officers. During 
 his term, $850,000,000 were collected, and $30,000,000 
 disbursed, without the loss of a single dollar by defal- 
 cation. Under the firm, just, honest and humane 
 administration of the laws thus established, based upon 
 the theory that the -tax laws were devised to raise 
 revenue, and not to oppress the tax-payer, or to 
 harshly punish him for trivial or technical violations 
 of the law, where no fraud was intended, a feeling of 
 mutual confidence and respect between the larger tax- 
 payers and the officers of the government was estab- 
 lished, and an important moral aid was thus thrown 
 on the side of the observance of the laws. 
 
 But a most difficult task yet remained to be 
 accomplished the suppression of the illicit manufac- 
 ture and sale of whisky and tobacco in the mountain 
 districts of the Southern States, by which not only 
 great loss was inflicted upon the revenue, but whole 
 communities were demoralized and kept in a constant 
 condition of lawlessness, and of almost open insurrec- 
 tion against the laws of the United States. An 
 embarrassing feature of the problem was that the law- 
 breakers had, to a considerable extent, the sympathy 
 of the State officers, and others of authority amongst 
 them. In one year (1879), the commissioner was 
 called upon to report no fewer than one hundred and 
 sixty-five internal revenue officers of the United 
 States as having been prosecuted in the State courts 
 for acts done in their official capacity. To break 
 down this vicious and mistaken public sentiment, and 
 to bring about a peaceful and orderly enforcement of 
 the laws in all sections of the country alike, General 
 Raum concluded that the first requisite was to put 
 down forcible resistance by superior force. He made 
 requisition on the war department for breach-loading 
 
 arms of the most approved pattern, which were 
 promptly supplied, and placed in the hands of the 
 collectors for use. The " squirrel guns," and old- 
 fashioned smooth-bore rifles and shot-guns, with which 
 the "moonshiners" had been accustomed, with im- 
 punity, to pick off suspected revenue officers from 
 ambuscade, were thus met by the weapons of a longer 
 range and greater accuracy in the hands of brave and 
 determined men, with the law on their side. A very 
 few skirmishes sufficed to bring about a realizing sense 
 of the changed orders of things. The struggle was 
 protracted and desperate, but in the end the supremac} 7 
 of the law was vindicated, and whole communities 
 began to sue for terms of surrender. Then came into 
 play a policy of judicious leniency. After meetings 
 had been held, addressed by United States senators 
 and members of Congress, in some of the infected 
 districts, counseling obedience to the laws ; after 
 similar expressions of sentiment had been received in 
 writing from the highest officers of some of the States, 
 accompanied by a promise not to attempt to further 
 harrass the officers of the government, an agreement 
 was entered into that if those who had been guilty of 
 violation of the laws would surrender to the United 
 States courts within a given time, and plead guilty, 
 the government would ask that sentence be suspended 
 during good behaviour, and that they should be 
 discharged on their own recognizances. In many of 
 the worst districts the illicit distillers availed them- 
 selves of this conditional amnesty by the hundreds. 
 A wholesome revolution was thus affected in public 
 sentiment. 
 
 The morals of the service throughout the country 
 were still further improved by the promulgation by 
 the commissioner of a civil service order prohibiting a 
 practice which had grown up in a number of districts, 
 of collectors distributing their subordinate offices 
 among their own relations. Very strong pressure was 
 brought to bear to break down this rule, but it was 
 consistently maintained, with beneficial results, which 
 became more and more apparent. 
 
 While these improvements were being effected in the 
 service at large, important changes and modifications 
 were introduced in the department at Washington. 
 The exercise of the immense powers conferred by law 
 upon the commissioner of internal revenue, in regard 
 to the abatement and refunding of taxes, was wisely 
 restricted by a regulation, providing that "ex-parte " 
 affidavits should no .longer be regarded as proof, but 
 that evidence in regard to these claims must be taken 
 on notice, with the opportunity given to the counsel 
 for the United States to appear and cross-examine. 
 Important recommendations were made as to the 
 terms of official tenure, and the conditions which 
 should govern appointments, promotions and removals; 
 and, as far as law allowed, these principles were put in 
 practical operation in the internal revenue bureau. 
 In 1882, the excess of revenue over the actual needs of 
 the government, and the constant temptation thus 
 presented to extravagance in appropriations was
 
 PROMINENT MEN OP THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 173 
 
 forcibly brought to the attention of Congress by Com- 
 missioner Raum, and a plan for the reduction of about 
 forty millions of dollars upon certain objects of taxa- 
 tion was suggested, and was adopted by Congress 
 with scarcely any modification. 
 
 Abuses in the administration of justice, in connec- 
 tion with internal revenue cases, resulting from the 
 practice of compensating United States marshals and 
 district attorneys by fees, early attracted the attention 
 of Gen. Raum, and in his annual report, dated Novem- 
 ber, 1879, he exposed the evils inflicted by this system, 
 and recommended that marshals and district attorneys 
 be paid fixed salaries. This recommendation was 
 renewed in still more vigorous terms in subsequent 
 reports, and has now been adopted by the department of 
 justice and was favorably recommended by President 
 Cleveland in 1893. During his career as commissioner 
 of internal revenue, Gen. Raum prepared a plan for a 
 reform of the civil service, which was laid before 
 Congress in his annual report. He recommended the 
 adoption of a tenure of four years for the clerical force, 
 appointments to be made upon six months probation, 
 after careful examinations, and no removals to be made 
 except for such misconduct as should be fixed by law. 
 lie argued that the success of an administration in the 
 departments depends largely upon the loyalty and 
 enthusiasm of the empioyes, and that the public at 
 large were not favorable to the establishment of an 
 office-holding class at the National capitol. His idea 
 of civil service reform related to an actual improve- 
 ment in the methods of transacting the public business, 
 and the securement of diligent and faithful service, 
 instead of a system which deprives the heads of depart- 
 ments from exercising any discretion in making ap- 
 pointments, but requiries them to fill all vacancies and 
 make appointments from lists of strangers. He was 
 the first to propose taking off the duty on sugar, as a 
 just measure for reducing revenues, and cheapening 
 one of the prime necessities of life, and recommended 
 giving bounty to American producers, as a means 
 of protection and encouragement. These recommen- 
 dations, which met with the greatest favor by his 
 party, were finally enacted into law in the famous 
 measure known as the McKinley Bill. On April 30, 
 1888, General Raum voluntarily resigned the office of 
 commissioner of internal revenue to resume the 
 practice of law. He at once gained a large and 
 lucrative practice, from which he retired to accept the 
 office of commissioner of pensions, at the request of 
 President Harrison. During his term Congress 
 enacted what is known as the " disability-pension- 
 bill," and increased the official officers of the pension 
 office to 2,000 persons. Besides this force, there were 
 
 employed in the service 450 persons at the pension 
 agencies, and 4,200 physicians and surgeons in the 
 various medical boards, making a total of 6,650 persons 
 employed in this service. The amount of labor imposed 
 upon the pension office during General Raums' incum- 
 benc}' was far beyond anything that had ever occurred 
 in the history of the government. Over 900,000 
 claims were presented. His long service in the 
 treasury department had gained him a large experi- 
 ence in bureau management. Under his orders the busi- 
 ness of the pension office was most thoroughly system- 
 atized, and more work per capita was performed by 
 the official force than ever before. The pension 
 office management became a matter of congressional 
 investigation, but, after months of inquiry and 
 searching examinations, not a single case could be 
 found which had been allowed in violation of the laws, 
 or taken up and disposed of as the result of prejudice 
 and favoritism. During this administration 860,000 
 pension certificates were issued under the various pen- 
 sion laws to soldiers, and their dependants, for services 
 in all the wars of the country, from the Revolution 
 down. Gen. Raum filled this difficult and responsible 
 position to the entire satisfaction of President Harri- 
 son and the secretary of the interior, as is shown by 
 their messages and reports, and in his annual reports 
 he earnestly and courageously presented the claims of 
 old soldiers to the gratitude of the nation. It seems 
 proper to state that it has fallen to the lot of but few 
 men in the history of the world to administer laws for 
 the collection of $850,000,000 and for the disbursement 
 of $500,000,000. This was done by Gen. Raum, and 
 the printed reports of this stupendous work show that 
 he was complete master of the subjects with which he 
 had to deal. Upon the inauguration of President 
 Cleveland, Gen. Baum, on March 7, 1893, tendered his 
 resignation, which was accepted March 15, 1893. He 
 then returned to his native State and resumed the 
 practice of law in Chicago. The terse vigor of Gen. 
 Raum as a writer is evinced by his bureau reports, by 
 letters and magazine articles, which he frequently has 
 given to the public, and in a more marked degree 
 by his work, published in 1884, entitled " The Exist- 
 ing Conflict between Republican Government and 
 Southern Oligarchy." 
 
 Gen. Raum married Maria Field, in October, 1851. 
 Miss Field was a daughter of Daniel Field, who emi- 
 grated from Kentucky to Golconda, 111., in 1820, and 
 although of the same name was not related to Gen. 
 Raum's grandfather. Gen. and Mrs. Raum have 
 raised a family of eight children, five daughters and 
 three sons, all of whom are now (February, 1894) 
 living.
 
 174 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ISRAEL PARSONS RUMSEY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE records of the Rumsey family show it to have 
 been of ancient origin, and wherever known it 
 has been noted for high honor, sterling integrity and 
 unblemished repute; and, as a consequence, for its 
 positions of usefulness and prominence. In the United 
 States some of the Rumseys enjoyed the confidence 
 and personal friendship of one of the most illustrious 
 of men General George Washington. The liumsey 
 family is scarcely less ancient than the countries 
 where the name has been found, and has been honored 
 by the public and rewarded by distinction from alli- 
 ances with the first families of the country. It would 
 seem that from the earliest period the predominant 
 traits of character found in the family, with a few 
 exceptions, were an inflexible spirit of truth and a uni- 
 form, serious sense of religious duty and obligation. 
 Many of the name have filled, with distinction, legisla- 
 tive and judicial seats. In the early period of the 
 American revolution, Benjamin Rmnsey, of Maryland, 
 was entrusted with political powers which could have 
 been given to no one with safety unless to one possessed 
 of sound judgment and of stable firmness and integrity. 
 In scientific and inventive genius, exhibited under 
 circumstances of great difficulty, one of this name has 
 won a world- wide reputation, viz., James Rumsey,. the 
 inventor of the steamboat. 
 
 Upwards of 700 years ago, in the reign of Henry II, 
 of England, the family of Rumsey took their name 
 from the ancient town of Romsey. or Rumsey, in Hamp- 
 shire, or rather the town took its name from the family. 
 From a work entitled "Collectanea Topographica and 
 Genealogtca," it would appear the Rumseys had, as 
 early as the reign of Edward II, Anno 1253, been 
 settled in Wales. Of those who emigrated to America 
 the exact date does not appear, but, from inference, it 
 may be presumed to have been between the years 1620 
 and 1650. It is only known that the original ancestor, 
 Robert Rumsey (or Rumsie) settled in Fairfield, Fair- 
 field county, Conn., sometime between the years 1639 
 and 1664, when his name appears in the records of that 
 town, January 23, 1664, as the purchaser of land of one 
 Roger Knapp. The family tree then spreads its 
 branches to Yermont, New York. Maryland, and 
 thence to the various States as they were thereafter 
 formed. 
 
 Israel Parsons Rumsey, son of Joseph E. and Lucy 
 M. (Ransom) Rumsey, was born on a farm in the town 
 of Stafford, Genessee county, IN. Y., February 9, 1836. 
 His father, Joseph E. Rumsey, was born in Ilubbardton, 
 Vt., in the year 1800. His grandfather, Col. William 
 Rumsey, moved with his family in 1801 to the Holland 
 land purchase, Genessee county, N. Y., and located in 
 the town of Stafford, three and a half miles east of 
 Batavia, the county seat. Col. Rumsey was an influ- 
 ential member of the New York Legislature about 1815. 
 He died in 1820, leaving three sons and seven daugh- 
 
 ters, of whom Joseph E. Rumsey was the eldest son 
 and upon him fell the great responsibility of the family 
 and the debts. He only accomplished the payment of 
 these after a hard struggle, but managed to save the 
 timbered farm to the mother and ten children. In 1822 
 Joseph rode on horseback to Colchester, Conn., and 
 married Lucy Mather Ransom. After the marriage 
 both returned in the same manner, and began house- 
 keeping on his portion of the farm. Besides helping 
 to educate his brothers and sisters, he worked bis farm 
 of 123 acres, and brought up a family of five sons and 
 four daughters, of whom the subject of our sketch was 
 the sixth child. Joseph E. Rumsey was, as were all hts 
 brothers and sisters, a strong advocate of temperance. 
 Lucy Ransom, his mother, was a warm-hearted Christ- 
 ian woman, whom all loved for her deeds of kindness 
 and sympathy. These fine traits of character manifest 
 themselves in the son, as well as traits of patriotism 
 and philanthropy, inherited from his father. 
 
 Israel P. Rumsey, the subject of this sketch, 
 received his early education at the district school of his 
 native town, until he was thirteen years of age, when 
 he was sent to the Bethany Academy at Bethany 
 Center, Genessee county, N. Y., where he was 
 graduated at the age of seventeen. Upon leaving 
 school he desired to become a farmer, but his father 
 had different views for him, and in 1853 secured him a 
 position in the wholesale and retail dry -goods house of 
 Howard & Wbitcomb, at Buffalo, N. Y. His salary 
 for the first year was $25 and board and his work was 
 from 6 a. m. until 9 p. m. and often, during the busy 
 seasons, as late as 11 p. m. He continued in this posi- 
 tion until he reached his majority, but on a gradually 
 increased salary, until, the last year of his stay, 1857, 
 he received $400, out of which, however, he had to pay 
 his own board. 
 
 In the spring of 1857, he left Buffalo for Keokuk, 
 Iowa, where he found a growing, enterprising town 
 at this time doing a large wholesale business with the 
 country west of it. This spring was the beginning of the 
 panic, so well remembered. Employers seemed to have 
 scarcely enough work for their regular help. Neverthe- 
 less, he found a position in a hardware store, at a salary 
 of $125 a year. Shortly after this the firm found itself 
 unable to meet "bills payable." Fearing his services 
 would no longer be needed, he bought for $100 the 
 delivery route of the principal morning paper of the 
 town and delivered the papers between one and seven 
 each morning. This was hard work, but his determina 
 tion was to do anything honorable rather than re-cross 
 the Mississippi river. One month later some new 
 parties bought the stock of hardware from his old 
 employers, and sending for him (Mr. Rumsey), engaged 
 him at a salary of $400 per year, putting him in charge 
 of the store. His first move was to engage his former 
 employers as clerks. In the spring of 1858 the new
 
 >,

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 177 
 
 owners ordered him to remove the stock to Chicago. 
 In the fall of this year he secured a situation in the 
 commission house of Flint & Wheeler, where he 
 remained until the breaking out of the rebellion, when 
 he enlisted in his country's cause, against the wishes 
 and advice of his employers, who claimed that army 
 life unfitted a man for business thereafter. This caused 
 him to make the resolve that if he returned from the 
 war alive it would be his aim to disprove the theory. 
 Mr. Rumsey enlisted April 23, 1861, taking an active 
 part in the organization of Taylor's Chicago Batten^. 
 They left Chicago in May, that year, with Ezra Taylor, 
 captain, S. E. Barrett, senior first lieutenant, Levi "W. 
 Hart, junior first lieutenant, P. II. White, senior second 
 lieutenant, and I. P. Rumsey, junior second lieutenant. 
 During the summer of '61 they were stationed at 
 Cairo, 111., and Bird's Point. Mo. The battery was en- 
 gaged in the battle of Belmont, November, 1861, 
 where Mr. Rumsey met with a somewhat peculiar 
 experience. The battery was loaded on the steamer 
 ''Champion " and the fleet steamed down the Mississ- 
 ippi river, part way to Belmont, and tied up for the 
 night. His bed that night was a table in the cabin. 
 The unbuckling of the belt which held his sword and 
 pistol was all the preparation necessary for retiring. 
 He arose before daylight the next morning, being 
 officer of the day, and, still wearing his heavy cape 
 overcoat, top-boots and spurs, went on deck to find the 
 bugler and have him sound the feed call. The bow of 
 the boat was loaded with the guns and caissons of the 
 battery, and seeing, what he thought was the clear deck 
 beyond, he stepped into the Mississippi river ! There 
 was nothing left but to swim or drown. Being a good 
 swimmer he made the shore, and was forced to accept 
 the captain's loan of a suit, cap and all, which made 
 him look like a uniformed " butternut reb." In this 
 dress he did his part at the battle of Belmont. In 
 reloading the battery, in the face of the enemy, he was 
 the last man to step on board. Two steps short would 
 have left him in the hands of the enemy, and in that 
 dress he would have met sure death as a spy. 
 
 When reviews were held at Bird's Point, Mo., or 
 expeditions were made while Gen. W. H. L. Wallace 
 was in command, he generally sent for Rumsey to act 
 on his staff, and when the troops were organized for 
 the Fort Donelson, Tenn., campaign, he was appointed 
 acting assistant adjutant-general, from which time he 
 was near General Wallace night and day, from Bird's 
 Point to Fort Henry, thence to Fort Donelson, thence 
 to Savannah and Shiloh, where General Wallace was 
 killed on the 6th of April, 1802. After accompanying 
 the general's remains to Ottawa, 111., where they were 
 laid to rest, Lieutenant Rumsey returned to the bat- 
 tery at which time he was promoted to the rank of 
 senior second lieutenant. He commanded the center 
 section of the battery, then part of Gen. W. T. Sher- 
 man's division, afterwards made the 2nd division of 
 the 15 corps of the "Army of the Tennessee." General 
 Sherman first commanded the division, then the corps, 
 and then the "Arm of the Tennessee." The course 
 
 of this army also indicates the movements of the bat- 
 tery, in which young Rumsey was an officer. To the 
 siege of Corinth, to Holly Springs, to Jacksonville and 
 to Memphis, for the early part of the winter of 1862-3. 
 Later in the winter, down the Mississippi river to 
 Chickasaw Bayou, thence up the Arkansas river to 
 Arkansas Post, and back to Young's Point, opposite 
 Vicksburg, camping on the line of " Butler's Ditch," 
 in reach of the Southerners' long range guns, so placed 
 as to rake the whole line of the ditch. The battery 
 then went with General Sherman in Grant's campaign 
 around Vicksburg. During this campaign he was ap- 
 pointed to the captaincy of Battery B., 1st Illinois 
 Light Artillery, better known as Taylor's Chicago 
 Battery. This battery constituted a part of General 
 Sherman's army, that marched from Vicksburg to 
 Memphis, and thence to Chattanooga, Tenn., taking 
 part in the battle of Missionary Ridge. It afterwards 
 formed part of the troops selected by General Sher- 
 man and taken to the relief of General Burnside, at 
 Knoxville, Tenn., later returning to Chattanooga and 
 from there going to Larkinsville, Ala., for winter 
 quarters, in 1863 and 1864. Here the government 
 issued them a new battery of 12-pound Napoleons. 
 During this winter Captain Rumsey had a short leave 
 of absence (the only one he took while in the service) 
 and visited his parents, in New York State. 
 
 During Sherman's campaign from Chattanooga to 
 Atlanta, in the spring and early summer of '64, Capt. 
 Rumsey commanded his own battery, and was most of 
 the time chief of artillery of his division. During this 
 time he participated in many hard fought battles, 
 among which were those of Dallas, Resaca and Kene- 
 saw Mountain. The principal battles in which he par- 
 ticipated were November 7, 1861, Belmont, Mo., 
 February 13-15, 1862, Fort Donelson, Tenn.; Shiloh, 
 Tenn., April 6, 7; siege of Corinth, Tenn., from April 
 30 to May 30; Chickasaw Bayou, Vicksburg, December 
 28-30; Arkansas Post, Ark., January 10 and 11, 1863; 
 Gen. Grant's campaign against Vicksburg, which 
 included Cliampion Hills, May 16th; Black River, May 
 17th; Richmond, La., June 15th, and the siege from 
 May 18th to July 4th. In October and November he 
 traveled nearly 1,000 miles with General Sherman's 
 command, from Big Black River to Vicksburg, thence 
 by boat to Memphis, from there marching to Chatta- 
 nooga and Missionary Ridge, from November 23 to 25; 
 Snake Creek Gap, Tenn., May 8, 1864; Resaca, 
 May 13-16; Dallas, May 25th to June 4th; Kenesaw 
 Mountain, from June 9th to 30th, and Niukajack 
 Creek, July 5th. The Union army was victorious in 
 all but two of the above, viz.: Belmont, Mo., which 
 was a drawn battle, and Chickasaw Bayou. 
 
 Upon the 12th of July 1864, the time of enlistment 
 expiring, Captain Rumsey received orders to take his 
 command to Springfield, to be mustered out, having 
 faithfully and courageously served his country for 
 over three years. Battery A, of Chicago, whose term 
 expired at the same time, accompanied Captain Rum- 
 sey's battery. The first lieutenant was Captain
 
 7 8 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Ramsey's brother, who was wounded while in com- 
 mand of his battery at the battle of Resaca. After 
 the "muster out'' the two companies came to Chicago, 
 and were the recipients of a grand welcome from the 
 citizens, who were very proud of the work done. 
 Company A went to the front immediately after the 
 firing on Fort Sumter, and Captain Rumsey's battery 
 followed soon after. 
 
 In the fall of 1864, Captain Rumsey entered the 
 employ of Spruance, Preston & Co., commission mer- 
 chants, Chicago, taking charge of their flour depart- 
 ment, and remained with them one year, during which 
 time he lost all he had, $2,500, in the oil excitement at 
 Port Huron, Mich. He commenced business for him- 
 self as flour broker, on the Board of Trade, in 1865, 
 and soon established a remunerative trade. Later he 
 formed a partnership with bis brother, under the firm 
 name of I. P. & J. W. Rumsey. At the end of three 
 years, having accumulated $10,000, they took in with 
 them as partner, John Williams, carrying on a general 
 flour commission business under the firm name of 
 Rumsey, Williams & Co. Their business prospered 
 exceedingly, until it became one of the largest flour 
 receiving firms on the Board of Trade. In 1877, Mr. 
 Williams retired, 'and the Rumseys associated with 
 them George Bartelot, formerly of Philadelphia, under 
 the style of I. P. Rumsey & Co. Later the firm was 
 caught in the John B. Lyon "wheat corner," in which 
 Munn & Scott were so largely concerned. Wheat 
 broke sixty cents in two days, and, as they were 
 unable to collect of their customers, or to margin 
 their trades, they were obliged to make a settle- 
 ment. Within one year, however, they paid every 
 dollar they owed. Mr. I. P. Rumsey, nothing 
 daunted by the disastrous culmination to his 
 hitherto successful career in the brokerage business, 
 associated himself with William B. Walker, under the 
 firm name of Rumsey & Walker. This partnership 
 continued prosperously for seven years. Mr. Walker 
 then retired from the business, Mr. A. C. Buell taking 
 his place, the firm name being changed to Rumsey & 
 Buell. They did a large and rapidly increasing busi- 
 ness until 1889, making considerable money. In this 
 year Mr. Rumsey decided to retire from business on 
 the Board of Trade and sold his interest in the firm to 
 his partner, Mr. A. C. Buell, at the time agreeing to re- 
 main out of the grain commission business for two years. 
 During those two years he tried several manufacturing 
 enterprises, all of which were failures and in which he 
 lost heavily, which convinced him that a man should 
 not abandon the business of his life training and en- 
 ter upon an entirely new line after he had passed 
 his fiftieth year. In April, 1891, he started the "firm 
 of Rumsey & Latta, with Mr. W. Jack Latta, to do a 
 general grain commission business. At the end of a 
 year Mr. Rumsey settled with Mr. Latta and consoli- 
 dated his business with that of M. C. Lightner & Co., 
 under the firm name of Rumsey, Lightner & Co., 
 which business has continued up to the present time. 
 In connection with J. C. Schaffer, Mr. Rumsey se- 
 
 cured the option for the Indianapolis Street Railroad, 
 in 1888, and associating others with them, they bought 
 the same which proved to be a good investment. In 
 1885, he, with O. C. Foster, bought the Chicago 
 Photogravure Company, and carried it at a loss 
 until 1892, when he bought Mr. Fosters stock, placed 
 it under different management, and since that time the 
 business has been successful from a monetary stand- 
 point, as well as from others. In Clay county, la., he 
 owned 1,800 acres of land and a town site, taken in 
 payment of money advanced in business. In 1884, he 
 sold to A. W. Sleeper a one quarter undivided interest 
 in this property and together they organized and 
 started a bank with $20,000 capital in the town, 
 which the}' named Everly. They put up a fine 
 house and barns adjoining the town, stocking the 
 farm in a modern manner. They also put up substan- 
 tial buildings in the town. This property is now 
 valuable and advancing yearly. 
 
 Mr. Rumsey at various times has held offices in the 
 Board of Trade. He was on the arbitration and 
 appeals committees, and was a director in the Board 
 management in 1871-72, at the time of the great 
 Chicago fire. He is a member of the Union League 
 Club. He has been one of the executive committee of 
 the Citizens' League, for the suppression of the sale of 
 liquor to minors and drunkards, since its organization, 
 in 1877, and its president since the first president, Mr. 
 E. F. Elmendorf, died, in 1885, and has been instru- 
 mental in guiding it through its many successes. He 
 is also a member of the Chicago Citizens' Association, 
 the Loyal Legion, the Society of the Army of the 
 Tennessee, and the Geo. H. Thomas Post, G. A. R. 
 
 In 1859, Mr. Rumsey was associated with George 
 W. Perkins in the organization of the Foster Mission 
 Sunday School, and was connected with it until the 
 breaking out of the rebellion. It was then one of the 
 largest missions in the city, having between 1,000 and 
 1,200 scholars. In 1867. he was instrumental in 
 organizing the Ninth Presbyterian church, on Ellis 
 avenue, and later assisted in the organization of the 
 Grace Presbyterian church, on Vincennes avenue. He 
 also took an active part in consolidating the two into 
 the present Sixth Presbyterian, at the latter location, 
 and the erection of the fine stone edifice was largely 
 due to his agitation and efforts. He was a trustee in 
 all three churches, and an elder in the Sixth Presby- 
 terian. After moving to Lake Forest; 111., in 1887, he 
 was elected elder in the Lake Forest Presbyterian 
 church, which position he at present holds. 
 
 Mr. Rumsey was united in marriage to Mary M. 
 Axtell, of Batavia, N. Y., daughter of the Rev. Henry 
 Axtell and Juliet (Lay) Axtell, on June 12th, 1867. 
 They have had six children, five of whom are now liv- 
 ing, one having died in infancy. The eldest daughter. 
 Juliet Lay, is married to Rev. Grant Stroh, now 
 preaching in Del Norte, Colorado. The eldest son, 
 Henry Axtell, is in his senior year at Williams College. 
 The two younger daughters and one son are now at 
 home attending the schools in Lake Forest.
 
 PKQMWEtfT MEW OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 179 
 
 In politics, Mr. Rumsey finds his principles cham- 
 pioned by the Republican party, and at times he has 
 taken an active part in political campaign work. He 
 was present at an indignation meeting held in his 
 ward (the fourth) on account of irregularities in the 
 primaries, and, satisfied as to the facts, took part in 
 nominating an independent candidate, after which he 
 was forced to take the chairmanship of the campaign 
 committee. The contest resulted in his nominee being 
 the victor by a large majority over the regular candidates 
 of both the Republican and Democratic parties. In 
 1882 he took an active part in the mayoralty contest, 
 originating a high license campaign, regardless of 
 party, during which the Chicago Tiws, then the 
 principal Democratic organ, stated one morning that 
 
 ' the political world is revolving still around Rumsey." 
 General I. N. Stiles was the leading representative of the 
 Democrats in the movement. After the nomination of R. 
 T. Crane for mayor, the Republicans offered to adopt the 
 high-license platform if Mr. Crane would withdraw in 
 favor of Judge Gary, which was agreed to, and only 
 fraud at the polls, it was claimed at the time by the 
 Republicans, prevented his being seated as mayor. In 
 1886 Alderman O. D. "Wetherell, not receiving a 
 renomination, Mr. Rumsey took great interest in his 
 re-election, which was accomplished, much to the 
 surprise of the ward workers. Mr. Rumsey is a man of 
 more than average height, carrying himself with mili- 
 tary dignity and with an uprightness which tells how 
 lightly the years of life lie upon him. 
 
 JOHN J. MITCHELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN J. MITCHELL, the president of the Illinois 
 Trust and Savings Bank, son of W. H. Mitchell, 
 was born in Alton, 111., November 2, 1854. It may 
 truly be said that Mr. Mitchell is a banker both by 
 education, birth and instinct. His father before him 
 was president of the first National Bank of Alton, 111., 
 for twenty-nine years, and now, at the age of seventy- 
 six years, he holds the position of second vice-president 
 of the institution presided over by his son. Mr. 
 Mitchell, Sr., is also one of the directors of the Chicago 
 and Alton railroad, and is largely interested in that 
 enterprising corporation. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his early educa- 
 tion at home, and then went to the Union Wesleyan 
 Seminary, at Kent's Hill, Me., and subsequently to 
 the Waterville Classical Institute in the same State, 
 where he graduated in June, 1873. Coining immedi- 
 ately to Chicago, to join his parents, who removed 
 from Alton to Chicago in that year, he entered the 
 service of the newly-organized Illinois Trust Savings 
 Bank as messenger. He rose rapidly through the 
 grades of individual book-keeper, general book- 
 keeper, and teller, to the rank of assistant-cashier. 
 The bank started in the year 1873, with a capital 
 of $500.000, and essayed to do an exclusively 
 savings bank business. The period from 1873 to 
 1876 was disastrous to the savings banks of Chicago, 
 and in 1878 the Illinois Trust cut its capital from 
 $500,000 to $100,000, and its shareholders thought 
 seriously at that time of winding up its affairs and 
 adandoning the field as unprofitable. Deposits had 
 run down to $100,000, and the outlook was gloomy. 
 Young Mitchell thought he could pull the bank 
 through, and at the age of twenty-four he was put at 
 the helm and told to go ahead, lie was called the " boy 
 president," but he soon demonstrated that for a boy he 
 was " phenomenal " in a financial way. His first move 
 
 was to make a rule never to loan money except on 
 collateral. "Name paper" did not go at his bank, un- 
 less there were quick assets to back up the names. This 
 rule has never been deviated from. The bank drooped 
 at first, but soon began to expand. In 1880 the capital 
 was increased to $200,000, in 1884 to $500,000, in 1888 
 to $1,000,000, and in 1890 to $2,000,000. Now it has 
 $2,000,000 capitalization and a surplus of $00,000, 
 while its deposits, which were $100,000 in 1878 now 
 reach the enormous sum of $22,000,000. It is now 
 rated as the second largest banking institution in the 
 West. It is an admitted fact that the enormous and 
 wonderful growth of this institution is largely attribu- 
 table to the sagacious management of its affairs by the 
 subject of this sketch, who now, at the age of thirty- 
 nine, finds himself surrounded by a group of the 
 strongest men in the city, whose confidence in his 
 ability seems to be without limit. They include 
 many of the most successful merchants and financiers 
 of this country, whose united wealth represents manv 
 millions. Mr. Mitchell is vice-president of the Traders' 
 Insurance Company, a director of the Union Stock 
 Yards and Transit Co., also in Milwaukee and Chicago 
 breweries, the Hyde Park Mutual Gas and Fuel Co., 
 and the Chicago Stock Exchange. 
 
 He is president of the First Infantry Army Associ- 
 ation, and is a member of the Chicago Union League 
 and Hyde Park Clubs, although he is seldom seen at 
 any of the clubs, most of his leisure time being spent at 
 home in his elegant residence on Woodlawn avenue. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage to Miss Jewett, 
 of Cambridge, Mass., a woman of many charms, about 
 three years ago. They have one child, a little girl 
 baby. 
 
 In appearance, Mr. Mitchell is of medium height, 
 well built, has a strong face and pleasing manners. 
 He dresses plainly and is methodical in his habits,
 
 i8o 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 never appearing in too great haste. Care and respon- 
 sibility have worn no wrinkles in his face or frosted 
 his head. He is well known in banking circles all over 
 the United States and is as popular with his business 
 associates as with his assistants and employes. lie is 
 
 a man of genial and companionable nature, friendly 
 and kind to all with whom he comes in contact. His 
 true social pleasures are found in his home, and there 
 he passes most of his time not taken up by the exact- 
 ing duties of business. 
 
 POTTER PALMER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 A DISCRIMINATING writer, speaking of Potter 
 Palmer, for more than forty years a familiar 
 figure in the history of Chicago, well says: "He began 
 his remarkable career there when what is now the 
 second city in the United States was but a village, and 
 has grown with its growth until his name and reputa- 
 tion are as far reaching as those of the city. His life 
 has been one of untiring activity, and has been crowned 
 with a degree of success attained by the comparatively 
 few. He is of the highest type of business men, and 
 none more than he deserves a fitting recognition 
 among the men whose hardy genius and splendid 
 abilities have achieved results that are the wonder and 
 admiration of the world." 
 
 Of English ancestry, the family to which Mr. 
 Palmer belongs was first represented in this country in 
 early colonial times. His grandparents removed to 
 New York State about the beginning of the present 
 century, from New Bedford, Vt., and settled on a 
 farm in Albany county, on the west bank of the 
 Hudson. They were members of the Society of Friends, 
 and Potter Palmer's father held to the same faith. He 
 was a farmer and a man of considerable influence in 
 his community. He was the father of seven children, 
 of whom our subject was the fourth. Potter passed 
 his boyhood on his father's farm and received a good 
 common English education. Not satisfied with a 
 farmer's life, at the age of 18 he sought a position in a 
 country store and bank at Durham, in Green county, 
 N. Y. Such was his industry and aptitude for 
 the business that at the end of three years he was 
 placed in charge of the establishment. Soon after 
 coming of age, he started in business on his own 
 account, first in Oneida county, and afterwards remov- 
 ing to Lockport, in both places meeting with gratifying 
 success. 
 
 He was constantly planning, however, for a wider 
 field of operations, and with that foresight that has 
 been a marked characteristic of his life, he selected 
 Chicago as the place destined to become the metropo- 
 lis of the then undeveloped West. At that time Lake 
 street was Chicago's principal thoroughfare, and there, 
 upon his arrival, Mr. Palmer opened up a large retail 
 dry goods store, investing his entire capital. It was not 
 long before his store was a center of attraction, and the 
 leading retail establishment of Chicago. Enlarging 
 his facilities to meet the demand of his increasing 
 
 trade, he finally added to his business a wholesale 
 department, winch rapidly grew to great magnitude 
 under his skillful management. 
 
 During the thirteen years of his active participation 
 in his business, before resigning it to his partner and 
 successors, the volume of its trade increased from $70,- 
 000 to $7,000,000 per annum, and it had no rival in the 
 United States outside of New York. Mr. Palmer 
 retired from mercantile life in 1865, being then forty 
 years of age, with a large fortune, the result of his 
 foresight and business tact. 
 
 The last years of his mercantile career were during 
 the civil war, when public confidence wavered and when 
 strong men were losing heart and predicting ill. Not 
 so, however, with Potter Palmer. With a firm faith in 
 the ultimate triumph of the Union cause, he came to 
 its aid with devoted loyalty, and, while others hesitated 
 he was active ; when men less loyal withdrew or more 
 timid withheld their capital from trade, he showed the 
 courage of his convictions by investing in an immense 
 stock of goods. While this course stimulated trade and 
 inspired commercial confidence, it at the same time 
 increased his pecuniary profits. 
 
 Mr. Palmer did not by any means retire from active 
 business; he only changed the direction of his energies. 
 He soon entered upon an era of real estate improvement 
 which transformed a portion of State street from 
 the appearance of a straggling street in a country 
 village to a business thoroughfare of solid proportions. 
 With the double desire to improve the architectural 
 appearance of the city, and at the same time profit 
 thereby, he boldly, and yet with rare good judgment, 
 purchased, within about six months, nearly three-quar- 
 ters of a mile of frontage on State street, at that time the 
 principal retail street of the city. With the exception 
 of two blocks, it was narrow and filled in with only the 
 commonest structures. Mr. Palmer at once set to work 
 to widen the street, moving back existing buildings to 
 a new street line and filling in vacant lots with new 
 structures on the new line. The work was attended 
 with great difficulties, for many persons were obstinate, 
 and submitted to the new order of things only when 
 compelled to by legal measures. But in four years the 
 work was accomplished, and the transformation that 
 had taken place between Madison and Twelfth streets, 
 a distance of a mile, was a great one, and entitled Mr. 
 Palmer to the gratitude of all public spirited citizens.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 181 
 
 Among the dozen or more buildings which Mr. Palmer 
 erected, was the first " Palmer House," and a marble- 
 front building for mercantile purposes, built at a cost 
 of $100,000. At the time of the great fire of 1871, he 
 was one of the largest property owners in Chicago, and 
 suffered greater loss than any other single person. No 
 less than thirty-five buildings, which yielded him an 
 annual rental of $200,000, were swept away and he 
 found the accumulations of years consumed in a single 
 night. With characteristic courage and still unlimited 
 faith in Chicago's future, Mr. Palmer went to work 
 with his old-time energy to retrieve his fallen fortunes 
 and to lead in the van of heroic men who, like himself, 
 would not consent to stay ruined. 
 
 An army of men were put to work to clear away 
 the smoldering debris of his ruined buildings. Years 
 of honorable dealing had given him unlimited credit, 
 which now served to procure, on his own terms, ample 
 building material, and, as if by magic, new structures 
 arose, surpassing in beauty and utility anything that 
 Chicago had witnessed. The spirit shown by Mr. 
 Palmer was manifested by others; new capital sought 
 investment, new industries were started, fresh enter- 
 prises sprung up, and before many months a new city 
 rose from the ashes of the old, inspired with life and 
 bustling with activity before unknown, 
 
 To recount all of Mr. Palmer's achievements ih a 
 sketch of this character is impossible. Among the many 
 achievements in which he takes just pride, is the 
 palatial hotel that bears his name and nothing has 
 been spared to make it worthy of the world-wide 
 reputation which it has. When the " Lake Shore 
 Drive" was laid out, in 1873, he quickly divined its 
 future as the leading fashionable avenue of the city, 
 and, true to his instincts, invested largely in property 
 bordering on it, erecting thereon costly residences in 
 various styles of architecture. Here, too, at the south- 
 ern extremity of Lincoln Park and overlooking Lake 
 
 Michigan, he built his own home, wherein is embodied 
 the splendid triumphs of modern architectural skill; and, 
 with its broad lawns and well kept gardens and luxuri- 
 ous furnishings, it presents a model of completeness. 
 
 Colossal fortunes impose vast obligations, and no 
 man is more alive to this fact than Potter Palmer. His 
 means have been used not alone in public enterprises, 
 which, while benefitting his city, would at the sarrie 
 time increase his millions. Mr. Palmer is among the 
 foremost and most liberal givers for public institutions 
 and charitable objects. He was active in securing the 
 location of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chi- 
 cago, and from its inception was untiring in his zeal, 
 and unsparing in his money and time in furthering its 
 interest and enabling it to be the colossal success it has 
 been. In all the plans and deliberations of its 
 managers, he has been an earnest adviser and helpful 
 coadjutor. 
 
 In July, 1870, Mr. Palmer married Miss Bertha 
 Konore, daughter.of Mr. Henry H. Honore, of Chicago. 
 Mrs. Palmer is a woman of superior intelligence, and 
 with her versatile talents and generous culture, and 
 true womanly virtue, gracefully adorns the high station 
 in life she has been called to fill. Not only does she 
 enter heartily into the most ambitious projects of her 
 husband, aiding with her counsels, but she also has her 
 own field of action. She takes an active part in 
 charitable enterprises, and with her ample means makes 
 wise use of her opportunities of doing good. Her 
 labors in behalf of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 have been great, and no one has done so much as she 
 to interest in its behalf the women of our own and 
 foreign lands, and in history her name will be insepar- 
 ably linked with that great enterprise. Her selection 
 as president of its board of lady managers, was a fitting 
 recognition of her unselfish devotion to what is to her 
 a patriotic service. Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer have 
 two sons, Honore and Potter. 
 
 FRANCIS P. OWINGS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MR. OWINGS is a native of Illinois, having been 
 born at Alton, on September 23, 1857. His 
 father was David F., and his mother Mary (Blandina) 
 Owings, he being one of seven children. The father 
 was a gentleman of liberal education and of excellent 
 business ability, and during the boyhood of young 
 Francis was engaged in the banking business. The 
 mother was a woman of exalted character and lovable 
 qualities. It was to her he largely owed his success in 
 life, and to her welfare at all times and her comfort in 
 old age he was affectionately devoted. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his early educa- 
 tion in the St. Louis public schools, afterward gradua- 
 ting from the high school at the age of eighteen. He 
 
 cojnmenced active life as a clerk in the agency of the 
 Wood Reaper Co., at Alton, 111., at a small salary, 
 which, however, in recognition of his faithfulness and 
 aptitude in business, was doubled at the end of six 
 months, and later resulted in admitting him to an 
 interest in the agency. Later, still, young Owings 
 engaged in the seed trade business at Alton, which he 
 conducted with success, until 1879. While in this 
 business he had occasion to visit Chicago for the first 
 time, during which visit he was so impressed with the 
 wonderful growth and enterprise of the western 
 metropolis that he decided to make it the theater of 
 his future operations. He accordingly disposed of his 
 Alton business, and with $16,000 came to this city.
 
 182 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 As a beginning, be invested about a thousand dol- 
 lars in agricultural machinery business, which, however, 
 proved to be a failure. Not discouraged, the young 
 man proceeded to form a company for refining sugar 
 by a new process, with a nominal capital of one million 
 dollars. This venture, like the previous one, resulted 
 in the loss of all the money invested. After a few 
 months, however, he became associated with a pre- 
 tended refiner of syrups, and with him opened a 
 refinery on Des Plaines street, where a large business 
 soon gave promise of great profit, the demand at times 
 exceeding the company's ability to supply. Very soon, 
 however, wholesale complaints from customers poured 
 in, goods were thrown back upon their hands, and 
 again failure had to be looked in the face. Other 
 unsuccessful ventures followed, until all but a few 
 hundred dollars of the money with which he came 
 to Chicago was gone, when he took the position of 
 accountant in a type foundry for a short time. Mr. 
 Owings then invested a part of the $1,800 he had left, 
 in a lot on Oakley avenue, and built thereon a cottage, 
 the whole investment amounting to $1,100. This was 
 soon sold at a profit of $600, and was the beginning of 
 those transactions in real estate in Chicago which have 
 proved to him so remunerative. During this and the 
 succeeding year he bought lots and built thereon six 
 houses, all of which he sold at an aggregate profit of 
 $6,700^ 
 
 From this time onward, Mr. Owings has been promi- 
 nently known in large real estate transactions, and as 
 a real estate operator, both on the West Side and in the 
 down town business center. Among his first buildings 
 on the West Side was the Princess Opera House, on 
 Madison street, near Ogden avenue. A fair idea of his 
 
 extensive building operations in the city. will be formed 
 by the statement that these operations include two 
 theatres and twenty-five other buildings. In the down 
 town business district Mr. Owings lias erected and 
 owned a large number of substantial buildings on such 
 streets as Adams, Jackson, Monroe, Clark, Franklin, 
 Third avenue, etc, the most noted of which is, perhaps, 
 the '' Owings Building," on the southeast corner of 
 Adams and Dearborn. It is fourteen stories in height, 
 with a tower having an altitude of 228 feet, and is an 
 architectural beauty. It cost $350,000, and yields an 
 annual rental of about $77,000. 
 
 Such, in brief, is the business history of a man 
 whose enterprise has been equaled by few, and to whom 
 Chicago owes much of its material prosperity. To 
 but few men has come such unusual success in so few 
 years, for Mr. Owings is still a young man. That he 
 is a man of great nerve and unwearied persistence, as 
 well as exceptional ability, is apparent to all, while fair 
 dealing and sterling integrity have from the first been 
 acknowledged elements of his character. * 
 
 Personally, Mr. Owings is a gentleman of fine 
 appearance, and of pleasing address; genial and of 
 kindly disposition, and much esteemed among his many 
 friends. 
 
 Married, in 1887, to Miss Jeanette A. Lewis, daugh- 
 ter of Mr. Geo. A. Lewis, of New Orleans, Mr. Ow- 
 ings' domestic relations have been pleasant. His wife, 
 one of the belles of her native city, and still an 
 acknowledged beaut}' of great personal charms, has 
 been a faithful and cheering helper in the days of 
 adversity, as well as a loving companion and counselor 
 in the days of prosperity. One bright daughter, 
 Eugenie M., has been the result of this happy union. 
 
 LYMAN EVERINGHAM, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LYMAN EVERINGHAM, who is so widely and 
 favorably known among the business men of 
 Chicago and of the Northwest, was born at Geneva, 
 N. Y., in 1831, and is the son of Rev. J. S. Everingham, 
 a Baptist clergyman, who for fifty years filled several 
 pulpits in central and western New York, and who 
 was considered one of the most progressive and strong- 
 minded preachers of the day. 
 
 The early life of the subject of this sketch was 
 passed at various points in the Empire State, where 
 his father was settled as pastor. He is the oldest of 
 eight children, four brothers and four sisters, all of 
 whom are still living. At the age of twenty he left 
 school to take a clerkship in the general offices of the 
 Buffalo, Corning and New York Railroad Company, 
 where feeling conscious of possessing ability and eager 
 to begin life for himself, he performed his duties with 
 the same enthusiasm which has characterized his entire 
 
 life. His unflinching perseverance and industrv, 
 together with iron-clad principles and sterling worth, 
 were very soon recognized, and within two years he 
 was promoted to the position of auditor of accounts 
 and pay-master, which position he filled with great 
 credit to himself for three years. 
 
 Being anxious to come West and grow up with the 
 country, he resigned his position in March, 1858, and 
 accepted the position of freight agent of the LaCrosse 
 'and Milwaukee Railroad, with his office at Milwaukee, 
 where he remained for nine years, the line of road men- 
 tioned being embraced in the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
 St. Paul system during the time. He was known as the 
 " model agent," and, being courteous and gentlemanly 
 under all circumstances to the patrons of the road, he 
 was exceed ingly popular with the public, and when 
 he resigned, in 1865, he was requested by the directors 
 to remain and name his own salary. In 1865 he
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 entered into partnership with Mr. E. P. Bacon, who re- 
 signed as general ticket agent of the same road at the 
 same time, to engage in the general commission busi- 
 ness at Milwaukee, under the style of Bacon & Ever- 
 ingham. Great success characterized their business 
 from the first, but in 1874 Mr. Bacon retired from the 
 firm, since which time Mr. Everingham has conducted 
 it under the name of L. Everingham & Co., moving to 
 Chicago in 1880 to take charge of their rapidly in- 
 creasing business in this city. 
 
 Upon the organization of the Columbian National 
 Bank, of Chicago, in February, 1891, Mr. Everingham 
 was unanimously elected as its first president. This bank 
 very soon became a popular institution and was con- 
 spicuously prosperous during the brief term of his 
 management. A pressure of business interests in 
 other lines, however, compelled him to resign as presi- 
 dent in October, 1892. 
 
 Mr. Everingham's business record has been one that 
 any man would be proud to possess. Beginning at the 
 very bottom round of the ladder, he- has advanced 
 steadily, step by step, until he is now occupying a po- 
 sition of prominence and trust reached by very few 
 men. Through his entire business career he has been 
 looked upon as a model of integrity and honor, never 
 having met with set-backs or making any engagement 
 
 185 
 
 that lie has not performed, and he stands to-day an 
 example of what determination and force, combined 
 with the highest degree of business integrity, can 
 accomplish for a man of natural ability and force of 
 character. 
 
 He is a member of the First Baptist church, of 
 Chicago, of which he has been a deacon for many 
 years. He was formerly a trustee and a member of 
 the executive board of the Chicago University. He has 
 been greatly interested in Sunday-school work, having 
 had large experience as superintendent in the mission 
 and the home schools of the First Baptist- church of 
 Milwaukee, and of the First Baptist church of 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Everingham is very active in all Christian and 
 benevolent work, which extends not only to personal 
 effort, but to financial aid as well, he having on several 
 occasions, by prompt and generous impulse, been instru- 
 mental in saving church property when seriously em- 
 barrassed. He is a man of cheerful countenance, and 
 benignant appearance, having a friendly word, a kindly 
 smile, and sympathetic heart for all. He is respected 
 by the community at large and honored by his busi- 
 ness associates. He is admired for his innate honor 
 and Christian spirit by a large circle of acquaintances, 
 all of whom he can safely call his friends. 
 
 MARSHALL FIELD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 TO say of him whose name heads this sketch, that 
 he has risen unaided from comparative obscurity 
 to rank among the millionaire merchant princes of the 
 world, is a statement that seems trite to those familiar 
 with his life. Anything like an adequate history of 
 his life would involve the history of the various 
 business interests and philanthropies with which he 
 has been connected since he began his active career. 
 
 Marshall Field is a native of Massachusetts, and 
 was born in 1835. A^t the age of twenty-one years, or 
 in 1856, he began his business life in Chicago as a 
 clerk in the dry goods house of Coole}', Wadsworth & 
 Co., then located on South Water street, and engaged 
 in both the wholesale and retail trade. In the follow- 
 ing year the house removed to Wabash avenue, the 
 firm name was changed to Cooley, Farwell & Co., and 
 the business confined to the wholesale trade. In 1850, 
 Mr. Field became a partner in the business, and four 
 years later the firm name was changed to Farwell, 
 Field & Co., Mr. L. Z. Leiter becoming also a partner 
 at that time. In 18C5, Messrs. Field and Leiter with- 
 drew from the business and associated themselves with 
 Mr. Potter Palmer, who was then conducting a 
 prosperous dry goods business on Lake street, which 
 he had established in 1852, the firm name becoming 
 Field, Palmer & Leiter. The business continued under 
 
 this firm until January, 1867, when Mr. Palmer retired, 
 and the firm name was changed to Field, Leiter & Co. 
 In the fall of 1868 the business was removed to the 
 northeast corner of State and Washington streets 
 where it continued to prosper until swept away by the 
 general conflagration of Oct. 8 and 9, 1871. 
 
 At the time of this disaster, the business of the firm, 
 amounting to $8,000,000 a year, was carried on in a 
 single building. The value of its property destroyed 
 was estimated to be $3,500,000 on which $2,500,000 
 of insurance was collected. Field, Leiter & Co. at once 
 resumed business in the old street railway barn at the 
 southwest corner of State and Eighteenth streets and 
 at once proceeded to replace the destroyed edifice at 
 the corner of State and Washington by an elegantly 
 planned structure, to be thereafter devoted exclusively 
 to the retail trade. A commodious building was erected 
 at the corner of Madison and Market streets for the 
 accommodation of the wholesale department. The 
 wholesale department was afterwards, in 1887, removed 
 to its present location on Adams street, occupying the 
 massive stone structure covering an entire block, and 
 built expressly for it, and which is regarded as among 
 the finest models of commercial architecture to be 
 found anywhere. Upon the completion of the new 
 structure after the fire, the retail department occupied
 
 1 86 
 
 PKOMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the old site, and thenceforward the business has shown 
 a marvelous growth, the sales having increased from 
 $8,000,000 a year, before the great fire, to the enor- 
 mous sum of $35,000,000 in 1891. and since then largely 
 increased. In 1881, Mr. Leiter retired from the firm 
 and the business has since been conducted under the 
 firm name of Marshall Field & Co., well known 
 throughout the world. The retail business has so grown 
 that recently the large building adjoining the original 
 store, on the east, has been also occupied by the 
 firm. 
 
 It certainly is not asserting too much to say of one 
 who can direct and control a business of such magni. 
 tude, extending as it does, from the Alps to the Rocky, 
 mountains for it involves branch houses in England 
 France and Germany that he must possess, aside from 
 mercantile foresight and sagacity, the happy faculty of 
 reading and judging men, unusual powers of organiza- 
 tion and executive ability of a high order, in a word 
 that his must be a master mind. And yet, if one shall 
 seek in Mr. Field's career the causes that have led to 
 his success, they will be found along the lines of well- 
 tried and old-time maxims. Honesty and fair dealing, 
 cash purchases, short credits, promptness, truthfulness, 
 fidelity, all these are strictly enforced and adhered to. 
 Faithfulness on the part of employes is promoted by 
 the knowledge that good service means advancement 
 as opportunity opens, and that neglect of duty will not 
 be tolerated, and is further enhanced by the interest 
 taken by the employer in the personal welfare of the 
 deserving. While estimates of the size of great fortunes 
 are often times matters of guess work, it is gratifying 
 to know that his strict adherence to correct business 
 principles has brought to Mr. Field a fortune that is 
 placed by his close friends at from thirty-five to forty 
 millions. 
 
 A particularly noticeable trait of Mr. Field's charac- 
 ter is modesty. He is of a retiring disposition, and 
 shrinks from newspaper notoriety. Anything like 
 ostentation in charity he studiously avoids. Though 
 
 he contributes freely to worthy "objects, he has pro- 
 nounced views in the matter of giving, and is careful 
 not to add to the indiscriminate benevolence that often 
 does more harm than good. His policy is to avoid any 
 responsibility, by unwise giving, for checking self- 
 reliance or for encouraging idleness. He assists in 
 practically all the commendable movements of a public 
 character in his city requiring funds. Among his many 
 gifts may be noted large donations to the Chicago 
 University and to the Manual Training School of this 
 city, which has been so successful. His list of personal 
 beneficiaries is very large, and no one who has any kind 
 of real claim upon him is disregarded. The extent of 
 what he does in this respect the world will never know, 
 for it is not his practice to figure conspicuously at the 
 head of subscription papers, or to be personally con- 
 spicuous anywhere, but his gifts of all kinds in the 
 course of a year amount to a large aggregate. The 
 most noted and truly princely donation of Mr. Field 
 for Chicago institutions is the gift of a million dollars 
 since the close of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 for the establishment of a great museum, in which shall 
 be preserved the most valuable of the curious exhibits 
 there displayed. In honor of the principal donor, the, 
 museum is to be called " The Field Museum." 
 
 Mr. Field is a member of many of the principal clubs, 
 but cannot be called a club man. Thoughtful, and per- 
 haps somewhat reserved in manner, he is kindly, genial, 
 and entirety approachable, and there is nothing about 
 him to indicate that his personality is at all affected 
 by his extraordinary wealth and commanding position. 
 Mr. Field is a gentleman of prepossessing appearance, 
 presenting a countenance refined, thoughtful and intel- 
 ligent. His figure is somewhat spare and slightly above 
 the medium height and his whole appearance denotes 
 well trained nervous energy and the possession of un- 
 limited reserve force. He was married, in 1863, to 
 Miss Nannie Scott, daughter of Mr. Robert Scott, a 
 prominent iron-master of Ironton, O. They have one 
 son and one daughter, both of whom are married. 
 
 GAGE E. TARBELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 GAGE E. TARBELL, the third vice-president of 
 the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New 
 York, was born at Smith ville, Chenango county. New 
 York, September 20, 1856. He is the son of Chas. 
 P. Tarbell, and Mabel (Tillotson) Tarbell, well-known 
 residents of their state. 
 
 Young Tarbell attended public school for a time, 
 and then entered the Clinton Liberal Institute in New 
 York, from which he graduated with honor. After 
 teaching school for a year he studied law for a time, 
 and was admitted to the bar at Ithaca, N. Y., in 1880. 
 It was while practicing that profession that he did his 
 
 first insurance work, giving some of his time at this 
 period to securing applications for the Equitable "on 
 the side." Finding the insurance business a lucrative 
 one, he disposed of his law interests and arranged to 
 give all of his attention to life insurance, and from the 
 time that he made that decision he made rapid strides 
 in the advancement of himself in his chosen calling. 
 
 In 1884 he was made manager of the Equitable for 
 the Southern New York department. In 1888 he 
 became their general manager for Wisconsin and 
 Northern Michigan, with headquarters at Milwaukee, 
 where he did a phenomenal business up to the time he
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 came to Chicago, which was in January, 1889, when he 
 accepted a third interest in the management of the 
 Northwestern department of the Society. A year later 
 he was given a half interest in the same department, 
 and in 1891 he was made resident secretary of the 
 Society at Chicago, and since that time up to Septem- 
 ber 1st, 1893, has had charge of the Chicago branch 
 office, which is, without doubt, the largest single 
 life insurance agency in the United States. That he 
 filled the position with entire satisfaction to the Equi- 
 table must be understood from the enormous business 
 he wrote for the company in 1891, having produced 
 from the State of Illinois alone over $14,000,000 of 
 business in that year. As a personal solicitor Mr. 
 Tarbell has achieved remarkable success, having written 
 in one single year about $3,000,000 of business, and 
 his personal business for the past five years exceeds 
 $10,000,000. As the manager of an agency he has 
 displayed rare tact in handling bis men so as to get 
 their best efforts. They have invariably imbibed his 
 enthusiasm, and become not only willing workers for 
 the Equitable, but staunch adherents of Mr. Tarbell as 
 well. Mr. Tarbell was elected third vice-president of 
 the Equitable September 1st, 1893, and now has charge 
 of all the company's agencies in the United States. We 
 quote from the Chicago Independent in its issue of 
 September, 1893, which speaks as follows in an article 
 on this latest appointment of Mr. Tarbell : 
 
 "The election of Gage E. Tarbell to the office of third 
 vice-president of the Equitable will be gratifying, not 
 only to his friends and acquaintances, but to all those 
 who feel that the field-worker in life insurance ought to 
 be recognized by home offices. He received his training, 
 made his record, and established his claim to promo- 
 tion in the field, where he was one of the most active 
 and successful individual solicitors as well as an enter- 
 prising and liberal manager. Instead of preferring some 
 favorite or relative for such a position, which means 
 full charge of the company's agency work, of the sales 
 department, President Hyde and his coadjutors have 
 wisely chosen to give the place as a reward of merit 
 where alone merit of that sort is to be found, among 
 field-workers. 
 
 "It is especially fitting that such a selection 
 should be made by the Equitable and by Henry B. 
 
 187 
 
 Hyde ; for Mr. Hyde was himself an agent, and his 
 company's origin ivas from his revolt as an agent 
 against the high handed autocracy of home-office 
 managers. The new company was founded by an 
 agent, and because of an agent's grievance, and it was 
 by agency activities that its founder hoped to rival the 
 already great Mutual Life from which he seceded. * * 
 In promoting Mr. Tarbell, he is indicating his 
 preference for his own successor in his chosen sphere 
 of activity. He evidently relies upon the younger man 
 proving equal to the task of continuing the Equitable 
 in its eminence as the agent's company. He certainly 
 made a good selection. The reports of his prowess as 
 a solicitor in Wisconsin I had already heard, but I was 
 prepared by my previous acquaintance with ' lightning 
 solicitors,' to see a diplomatic, toneless individual, 
 rather than one remarkably virile and open-faced. 
 
 * He liked soliciting ; it was exhilarating to him. 
 In view of these things, .the promotion of Mr. Tarbell 
 is more significant for rebate-reform than the resolu- 
 tions of agents or even companies against rebating 
 when unaccompanied by a reform in agency contracts. 
 A more remote but none the less direct result should 
 be an abiding community of interest between agent 
 and company and a lessening of the temptation to 
 misrepresent, and an increase in the dignity of the office 
 of an agent." 
 
 Mr. Tarbell is a member of several clubs, among 
 which are the Union League, Chicago Athletic, and 
 Washington Park clubs. He has traveled over all the 
 United States, and now under the new regime he must 
 travel much of the time throughout the country. 
 
 Mr. Tarbell was married December 21, 1881, to Miss 
 Ella Swift, daughter of Geo. L. and Louise (Hunt) Swift, 
 of Marathon, New York. Two children bless this 
 union, Swift and Louise Tarbell. 
 
 Mr. Tarbell is a man of fine appearance, robust in 
 constitution, and moves in a quick, energetic way, and 
 it is said the amount of business he can dispatch in a 
 day is certainly marvelous. A marked characteristic 
 throughout his life has been his ready adaptation to 
 circumstances and his ability to make the most of every- 
 thing. 
 
 In his business as well as social habits he is 
 singularly genial and cordial in his manner, and his 
 sincerity, kindness and uniform courtesy have endeared 
 him to his friends. 
 
 ALEXANDER N. FULLERTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 A LEXANDER N. FULLERTON, son of Nathaniel 
 r\ Fullerton, was born in Chester, Vermont, in 1804. 
 His father, who died in Chester in 1878 at the advanced 
 age of ninety-seven years, was a man of prominence in 
 Southern Vermont, having been for half a century 
 president of the Bank of Bellows Falls, and also one of 
 the directors of the Rutland and Burlington Railroad. 
 Young Alexander acquired his earlier education in 
 the public schools of his native State, and later entered 
 
 Middlebury College from which institution he gradu- 
 ated in due course. He then entered the famous 
 Litchfield Law School at Litchfield, Connecticut, and 
 after graduating was admitted to the bar. He com- 
 menced to practice his profession in Troy, N. Y., as a 
 partner of the late Judge Buell. In 1833 he came to 
 Chicago, where he engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession, having as his partner Grant Goodrich, Esq. 
 Being possessed of what was in those days considered
 
 i88 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 a large amount of money, Mr. Fullerton invested the 
 larger portion of it in real estate in Chicago and its 
 suburbs, which he afterwards improved until his estate 
 comprised some of the most valuable realty in the city. 
 
 Soon after leaving college, Mr. Fullerton was united 
 in marriage to Miss Julia Ann Hubbell at Champlain, 
 N. Y., a daughter of Judge Silas Ilubbell of that place, 
 with whom he lived a happy though brief period of 
 married life until her death in 1844, leaving two 
 children. In 1858 Mr. Fullerton was again married, 
 this time to Mrs. J. E,. Hill, a lady of tine education 
 and accomplishments, and a member of a distinguished 
 family of Midland, England. In 1867, being in poor 
 health, Mr. Fullerton paid a visit to Europe, remaining 
 abroad about eighteen months, and spending the larger 
 part of the time in Southern France, Italy and Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Politically, he was first a member of the Whig 
 
 party, and affiliated with that party until the forma- 
 tion of the Republican party, after which he cast his 
 vote for that party's candidates. 
 
 In the city of his adoption few men ranked higher 
 than did Mr. Fullerton, and in every project having 
 for its object the advancement of the city's material 
 interests he was one of the most active participants, 
 taking in all such a leading part. He was the owner 
 of much valuable city property in and about Chicago, 
 and Fullerton Avenue as well as the Fullerton Block 
 was named for him. His busy life drew to a close in 
 September, 1880, and there are many who even to this 
 time mourn his loss. 
 
 Of the three children born to him two died in 
 infancy, and the third, Mr. Charles W. Fullerton, 
 survives him and takes, as did his father, a very 
 high rank in the business and professional circles of 
 Chicago. 
 
 JOHN EDWIN OWENS, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN EDWIN OWENS, M. D., is recognized as one 
 of the leading authorities in the surgical and med- 
 ical profession in Chicago, having attained a degree of 
 eminence which is given to but few men. A distin- 
 guished gentleman who has known Dr. Owens long and 
 closely says: "Dr. Owens stands in the front of his 
 profession, in which he is conceded to be not onl}' a 
 leader in Chicago, but to rank amongst the eminent 
 surgeons of this country. He is an indefatigable worker 
 and an enthusiast in his profession, devoting to it his 
 ripe experience, his untiring energy and his great skill. 
 He is a man of broad reading, liberal culture and keen 
 perceptions, to whom travel in this country and abroad 
 has been a potent factor in storing with knowledge a 
 receptive and reflective mind. He is a clear thinker, 
 a logical reasoner, and speaks well and to the point on 
 any subject under consideration. He is genial in dis- 
 position and social by nature, possesses generous im- 
 pulses combined with deliberate judgment, and has a 
 large circle of warm friends and admirers, both within 
 and outside of the medical fraternity." 
 
 Dr. John Edwin Owens is the son of a Maryland 
 planter and was born on his father's farm at Charles- 
 town, Cecil county, in that State, on October 16, 1836. 
 His parents were John and Martha (Black) Owens. 
 The former although a graduate of Dickinson College 
 at Carlisle, Pa., and in every way fitted for a profes- 
 sional avocation, preferred the life of a farmer. He had 
 an extensive plantation, and, as was the universal 
 custom in the South in those days, was a large slave- 
 holder. Soon after the close of the war Mr. John 
 Owens removed to Baltimore, where he died in 1874. 
 The Owens family originally came from Wales, the 
 American branch having been established by Dr. 
 
 Owens' great grandfather, Jonas Owens, who came to 
 this country early in the present century. The subject 
 of this sketch passed his boyhood on the farm in 
 Charlestown, and his first schooling was received in the 
 private schools of that section. He next attended the 
 West Nottingham academy and afterwards was a 
 student at the Elkton academy. 
 
 His. education was completed under the direction of 
 Edwin Arnold, LL. D., at Mount Washington, Md., 
 and shortly thereafter, he began the stud}' of medicine 
 at Elkton with Dr. Justice Dunnott and his son, Dr. 
 Thomas J. Dunnott, the former at that time being 
 considered the most skillful surgeon in that section of 
 Maryland. One year of study under Drs. Dunnott 
 was followed by two full courses at the Jefferson 
 Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he grad- 
 uated in 1862. While at the college Dr. Owens took a 
 special course in surgical anatomy and operative 
 surgery with Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, the distinguished 
 surgeon of Philadelphia, and made' rapid progress in 
 his profession. For years it had been the practice in 
 Maryland families, in accordance with the teachings 
 and desires of their parents, for the sons, even when 
 educated to one of the professions, to settle in their 
 native county. Dr. Owens, under other conditions, 
 might have followed this rule, but the opportunities 
 afforded in Cecil county for advancement in his pro- 
 fession were too limited to meet with the approval of 
 a man of his strong ambition and liberal views. Soon 
 after his graduation he was elected resident physician 
 at Blockley Hospital, in Philadelphia, and there he 
 remained thirteen months. Dr. Owens tendered his 
 services to the hospital branch of the medical depart- 
 ment of the Union army early in 1863, and was sent to
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Chicago and assigned to duty in the military hospital 
 there. Shortly after he was placed in charge of the 
 newly-organized St. Luke's Hospital, and is still 
 senior surgeon of that institution. 
 
 Dr. Owens has been a prominent instructor in 
 Chicago medical colleges for many years. His first 
 connection as a teacher with any medical college was 
 as lecturer on the surgical diseases of the urinary 
 organs, from 1867 to 1871, in Rush Medical College. 
 In the same institution he lectured on the principles 
 and practice of surgery in the spring course from 1871 
 to 1882. He was also appointed professor of " Ortho- 
 paedic Surgery" in 1879 and resigned in 1882. He was 
 appointed professor of " Principles and Practice of 
 Surgery" in the Woman's Medical College in 1877 and 
 resigned in 1883. In 1882 he severed his connections 
 with Rush Medical College to accept the chair of 
 "Operative Surgery and Surgical Anatomy in the 
 Chicago Medical College the medical department of 
 the Northwestern University. In the fall of 1891 he 
 was transferred from the chair of Operative Surgery 
 and Surgical Anatomy to that of the principles and 
 practice of surgery and clinical surgery in that college. 
 Dr. Owens is a member of the American Medical 
 Society, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Chicago 
 
 189 
 
 Medical Society, the Chicago Medico-Historical Society, 
 the Medico Legal Society and a Fellow of the American 
 Surgical Association. For twenty years he has been 
 the superintending surgeon of the Illinois Central 
 Railway, and has been for a number of years the chief 
 surgeon of the Chicago & North western Railway. In 
 addition to these positions, he was the medical director 
 of the "World's Columbian Exposition, his commission 
 bearing date June 1, 1891. 
 
 Dr. Owens combines excellent executive and admin- 
 istrative ability with his great professional skill, and 
 these characteristics have contributed to his success in 
 the organization and supervision of the surgical depart- 
 ments of the great corporations by whom he is 
 employed. The possession by this gentleman of these 
 organizing and administrative qualities led to his 
 selection for the important and prominent position of 
 medical director of the World's Columbian Exposi- 
 tion, which has afforded him a wide field for the 
 display of his powers of mind, his skill and executive 
 ability. 
 
 Dr. Owens was married on December 30, 1869, to 
 Miss Alethia S. Jamar, the daughter of Reuben D. 
 Jamar, of Elkton, Md. They have one child, a daugh- 
 ter, Miss Marie Girvin Owens. 
 
 ISAAC N. CAMP, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ISAAC N. CAMP was born in Elmore, Lamoille 
 county, Vermont, on December 19, 1831. He is the 
 son of Abel and Charlotte (Taplin) Camp, both of 
 whom were natives of the Green Mountain State. His 
 father was. a farmer, and one of the leading men and 
 postmaster in the town in which he lived. He also 
 had charge of a large tract of land left to the Univer- 
 sity of Vermont by Guy Catlin, and among his privi- 
 leges in connection therewith was that of a scholarship 
 at the above named University, placed at his disposal 
 by Mr. Catlin, to use in whatever way he thought fit. 
 Mr. Camp died December 22, 1890. aged ninet}' years. 
 His father, grandfather and great-grandfather also 
 lived to extreme old age. 
 
 Young Camp prepared for college at Bakersfield 
 Academy, Vermont, paying for his- board by teaching 
 music. At the age of twenty he entered the Univer- 
 sity of Vermont, and, to his credit be it said, earned in 
 his spare time the money required to meet his current 
 expenses. After four years of hard study he was 
 graduated with the class of 1856. At the conclusion 
 of his college course he was offered and accepted a. 
 position as assistant principal in the school where he 
 had prepared for college, viz., Barre Academy (trans- 
 ferred from Bakersfield). He remained there, teach- 
 ing mathematics and music, until I860, when he became 
 principal of the high school at Burlington, Vermont, a 
 
 position which he filled until his removal to Chicago, 
 in 1868 (April 20). Forming a partnership with Mr. 
 II. L. Story, under the style of Story & Camp, this 
 partnership continued until the spring of 1884, when 
 the Estey Organ Company purchased Mr. Story's 
 interest in the business, and the firm became Estey and 
 Camp, under which style it continues until the present 
 time (1894). The business was commenced with a 
 small capital, but by energy, perseverence and enter- 
 prise the firm became one of the most substantial and 
 reputable in the city of Chicago, and at the time of 
 Mr. Story's withdrawal their capital exceeded half a 
 million dollars, he receiving as his portion two hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars. The capital of the firm 
 to-day amounts to something over one million dollars. 
 
 Mr. Camp is and has been prominently connected 
 with public enterprises, being a director in the Chicago 
 Theological Seminary, and of the Chicago Guar- 
 antee Life Association, and also of the Royal Safety 
 Deposit Company. In April, 1891, he was elected a 
 director of the World's Columbian Exposition, and was 
 a member of its committee on Agriculture and Liberal 
 Arts. _ 
 
 Though a Republican in politics, he is by no means 
 a politician,and rarely takes any active part in political 
 matters more than to perfi rm his duties as a citizen. 
 
 In religious belief he is a Congregationalist, and a
 
 190 
 
 member of Union Park Congregational church, being 
 also president of its board of trustees. He is also a 
 member of the Illinois and Union League Clubs. 
 
 Mr. Camp was married January 1, 1S652, to Miss 
 Flora M. Carpenter, daughter of the Hon. Carlos 
 Carpenter, of Barre, Vt. They have had four children, 
 three of whom are now living. The daughter is Mrs. 
 M. A. Farr; the eldest son, Edwin M., is in business 
 with his father; while the joungest, William C., is now 
 preparing for college. 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Mr. Camp has traveled extensively with his family, 
 both in Europe and the United States. In personal 
 appearance he is of medium height,with fair complexion 
 and of robust physique, has a pleasing presence and 
 address, and is social and genial in manner. He is a 
 man of generous impulses, and contributes generously 
 to church, charitable and benevolent enterprises. The 
 architect of his own fortunes, he has built up a large 
 and solid business, and as a citizen of Chicago he is 
 deservedly popular and highly esteemed. 
 
 DEMPSTER OSTRANDER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 F^EMPSTER OSTRANDER was born inOnondaga 
 l_y county, New York, November 20, 1834, being 
 the son of Jas. H. and Asenath (Sheffield) Ostrander. 
 He was descended on his father's side from an old 
 Dutch family, prominent in the early history of New 
 York. His mother's ancestry was of English origin, 
 of the old name of Sheffield, and her father was a sol- 
 dier in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Young Ostrander, at the age of seven years, was 
 brought to the wild and unsettled wilderness of Wis- 
 consin, coming across the prairies of Indiana and Illi- 
 nois by team, in company with his parents. He passed 
 through Chicago, then nothing but a little frontier 
 town, hidden in the muddy swamp which surrounded 
 it on all sides, save .to the east, where stretched the 
 vast expanse of the great lake. The pioneers crossed 
 the Chicago river by means of a ferry, or float bridge, 
 which had been established for the use of the strag- 
 gling traffic which was in those days so irregularly 
 kept up towards the western wilderness. When his 
 father settled in Wisconsin, there were not more than 
 half a dozen other settlers upon the adjacent 600 square 
 miles, which to-day are so thickly populated. Here, in 
 this wilderness, visited only at rare intervals by white 
 men, and on friendly terms with the roving bands of red 
 men, the early life of Mr. Ostrander was spent. His 
 school until he reached the age of ten years, was na- 
 ture's vast domain, and his teacher was experience. 
 Year by year, however, there had gathered around the 
 lonely farm of Mr. Ostrander a community of hardy 
 pioneers, and it was finally decided that a school house 
 should be constructed and maintained for the instruc- 
 tion of the children. This was done, and young Os- 
 trander. who had some preparation in the way of 
 " book learning" from his father, received his first 
 school education in this primitive structure, entering 
 school at the age of ten. At theige of twenty with 
 much effort and personal sacrifice on the part of his 
 father, he was placed in the University of Wisconsin, 
 at Madison. 
 
 At the age of thirty-one (in the year 1865) Mr. 
 Ostrander became connected with the manufacturing 
 
 business at Jefferson, Wis. Through all the intervening 
 time, he has retained a silent interest in this enterprise. 
 He has been connected, more or less, since 1855, with the 
 insurance business, in which he has become quite a 
 prominent figure. He studied law, and in 1861 he was 
 admitted to the bar at Jefferson, Wis., but he has 
 never taken up the practice of the profession. 
 
 Mr. Ostrander is a man of decided literary tastes 
 and ability. When he has returned from the day's toil 
 in his office, it is his greatest pleasure to repair to his 
 library, and there, among the famous works of Hugo, 
 Spencer, Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Macaula}', 
 Adam Smith and Bui wer,gi ve himself up to their perusal. 
 He has been, for some time past, a contributor to the 
 journals and magazines of this country, and has given 
 more to the public concerning insurance law than 
 perhaps any other man of the day. 
 
 Mr. Ostrander was united in marriage on the 24th 
 of December, 1856, to Miss Sarah E. Manville, of 
 Jefferson, Wis. To her cheerful aid and sympathy, in 
 the performance of the duties which have fallen to his 
 lot, Mr. Ostrander attributes much of his success. 
 About seven years ago he came to Chicago, from Mil- 
 waukee, where he had resided for many years with his 
 family. They have three children: Frank, not yet 
 thirty-two, and a well-known business man of West 
 Superior; Minnie, married to W. H. Mylrea, a leading 
 lawyer of Wausaw, Wis., and Belle, who is the wife of 
 Theodore Starrett, architect and builder of this city. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Ostrander is affiliated with the 
 Republican party, and although he has never taken a 
 prominent part in politics, it may be mentioned that he 
 was, before the war, a warm advocate of anti-slavery 
 principles, and took great interest in the campaigns 
 which were waged on the slavery question. He has 
 never held any public civic offices, however, and is 
 content to fulfill his obligations to his party by the 
 casting of his ballot. He is a member of the Unitarian 
 society and is an ardent follower of Ralph Waldo Em- 
 erson's teachings. His interest in religious and char- 
 itable enterprises takes a practical form in open-handed 
 giving.

 
 o 
 
 I.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 193 
 
 In personal appearance Mr. Ostraader is a man of 
 more than the average height, of pleasing and genial 
 manner, and one who makes friends of all with whom he 
 comes in contact. He is popular with his business 
 associates and esteemed highly in the social circles in 
 which he moves. 
 
 "When Mr. Ostrander was invited by the writer to 
 relate the most important events of his life, he replied : 
 " There is nothing but a 'distinguished littleness' in 
 everything with which I have had to do. Aside from 
 the unimportant part I had in the Civil War, I have 
 never experienced nor even witnessed anything tragic 
 or heroic; there has been but little that I can recall 
 that can be said to have been even impressive. Inci- 
 dents have been rare that were important enough to 
 interest any one outside of the narrow circle of personal 
 friends. In all this there has been nothing that 
 concerns the public. From eight years of age I have 
 earned my daily bread. Even during my school days 
 I was not excused from manual labor. Afterwards, 
 when the liberty was given me to indulge the higher 
 aspirations, this privilege, too, was so persistently 
 qualified by the limitations of opportunity, so encum- 
 bered by the struggle for existence, that in most cases 
 I was compelled to accept unsatisfactory compromises 
 where much had been hoped for. There is not one line 
 of poetry or romance in any page of my experience. 
 The duties which I have been appointed to perform 
 have all been severely commonplace. They have been 
 of an order generally useful and seldom aesthetic. My 
 pathway, even in dreams, has never led to any paradise 
 of beauty, to no ' dizzy heights ' of power. While the 
 companions of my life have frequently- turned aside to 
 find pleasure or distinction, I have been whipped forward 
 
 by a necessity which has given me no opportunity to 
 choose between pleasure and duty." 
 
 In this respect Mr. Ostrander's experience is not so 
 exceptional as to arrest attention. Nature is not capri- 
 cious in her giving, for she exacts full compensation for 
 every benefit bestowed. The Emersonian saying, " if 
 you want a thing, pay the price and take it," declares 
 the rule. Labor and self-denial are full-weight coin, 
 and have the highest purchasing qualities. Out of the 
 deprivations and economies of early life and the inces- 
 sant and sustained application of later years, has come 
 the toughened mental and moral fiber that gives to 
 ripened manhood its chief honor and greatest power. 
 The noblest gift of genius is the capacity to work ; to 
 him who has this possession all other things are pos- 
 sible. There are no rules for building characters. 
 Science can analyze, but can no more construct a char- 
 acter than it can a flower or a tree. As the elemental 
 and fructifying forces of nature combine to produce 
 the oak, so are the moral, intellectual and sympathetic 
 forces of man developed, trained and organized into 
 characters. The processes in one case are no more 
 mysterious and '' past finding out " than in the other. 
 We know that the oak grows in particular soils and 
 climates, and that certain influences produce particular 
 types of character, and that neither is a hot-house pro- 
 duct. In Mr. Ostrander's character there is something 
 which he has found in the little log school house, with 
 slab roof and earth floor, which he has brought down 
 from the early forties, and to this have been added the 
 later accretions of knowledge which he has gathered 
 from books and experience, and the whole has been 
 crystallized into a substantial form, that gives to his 
 influence a power that is far reaching and permanent. 
 
 SAMUEL J. JONES, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 O AMUEL J. JONES, a native of Bainbridge, Penn.. 
 O was born on March 22, 1836, the son of Dr. 
 Robert H. and Sarah M. (Ekel) Jones. The father, who 
 died in 1863, was of Welsh descent, although himself a 
 native of Donegal, Ireland. He was a practicing 
 physician in Pennsylvania for thirty-three years. The 
 mother, of Swiss and Huguenot descent, belongs to one 
 of the oldest families of the old town of Lebanon, in the 
 above State. In early life the son enjoyed good edu- 
 cational advantages, and, having finished his prepara- 
 tory studies, he entered, at the age of 17, Dickinson 
 college, at Carlisle, Penn., graduating with the degree 
 of A. B. in 1857, being then 21 years of age. 
 
 Three vears later he received from his alma mater 
 
 f 
 
 the degree of A. M., and in 1884 the same institution 
 conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL. D. He 
 early decided to fit himself for the medical profession, 
 and upon leaving college, and with that purpose in 
 
 view, spent three years in study under the preceptorship 
 of his father, and in 1858 attended his first course of 
 lectures in the medical department of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, graduating in 1860, just thirty years 
 after the graduation of his father from the same insti- 
 tution. Being attracted to the United States naval 
 service by reason of its many advantages for the young 
 practitioner, both professionally and otherwise, he sub- 
 mitted to a competitive examination for the position of 
 assistant surgeon, and, having been successful, received 
 his appointment just before the beginning of the war 
 of the Rebellion. In April, 1861, he was ordered to 
 the United States steam frigate "Minnesota," which 
 sailed under sealed orders from Boston on Ma}' 8, 1861, 
 as the flagship of the Atlantic blockading squadron. 
 Dr. Jones participated in the naval battle at llatteras 
 Inlet in August, 1861, which resulted in the capture of 
 the confederate forts, and ended the troublesome
 
 i 9 4 
 
 blockade-running at that point, and in which fifteen 
 hundred prisoners were taken. It was the first naval 
 battle in history in which steamships were used and 
 kept in motion while in action. 
 
 In January, 1862, he was temporarily detached 
 from the "Minnesota," and detailed as surgeon of 
 Flag-Officer Goldsborough's staff on the Burnside and 
 Goldsborough expedition against Eoanoke Island. 
 After its capture, he was assigned to duty as the staff- 
 surgeon of Commander Rowan, in the expedition which 
 resulted in the capture of Newbern, Washington, and 
 other important points on the inner waters of North 
 Carolina. Later he accompanied Lieutenant Gushing, 
 of " Albermarle " fame, and Lieutenant Lamson, in 
 iheir operations on the Nansemond river for the relief 
 of the Union forces then shut in by General Long- 
 street, at Suffolk, Va. In the spring of 1863, Dr. Jones 
 was assigned to duty at Philadelphia, and there passed 
 a second examination and was promoted to the grade 
 of surgeon. He was next assigned to duty at Chicago, 
 where, in. addition to his other duties, he was examin- 
 ing surgeon of those desiring to enter the medical 
 corps for the naval service on the Mississippi river. 
 While on that duty he visited four of the Western 
 military prisons, and examined and passed over three 
 thousand Confederate prisoners, who had asked to be 
 shipped into the government naval service. 
 
 In 1864 he was ordered to the sloop-of-war " Ports- 
 mouth," of Admiral Faragut's West Gulf blockading 
 squadron, but soon thereafter was assigned to duty as 
 surgeon of the New Orleans Naval Hospital. In the 
 fall of 1865, the war having closed. Surgeon Jones was 
 sent to Pensacola, Fla., as surgeon of the navy yard 
 and naval hospital, and remained there until again as- 
 signed to duty at Chicago, in 1866. When the marine 
 rendezvous there was closed, in 1867, he was ordered to 
 the frigate ; ' Sabine," a practice ship for naval appren- 
 tices cruising along the Atlantic coast. 
 
 In 1868, desiring to engage in private practice, he 
 tendered his resignation, which was accepted on the 
 first of March of that year, and his connection with 
 the nav}' closed, after eight years of active, and, during 
 much of the time, hazardous service. 
 
 Upon leaving the Government service, Dr. Jones 
 returned to Philadelphia, and was sent as a delegate 
 from the American Medical Association to the meet- 
 ings of the medical societies of Europe, being at the 
 same time commissioned by Governor Geary, of Penn- 
 sylvania, to report upon hospital and sanitary matters 
 in England and on the continent. He attended meet- 
 ings of noted European medical societies at Oxford. 
 Heidelberg and Dresden, and at the last named place 
 participated in organizing the first otological congress 
 ever held. This was in September, 1868. He spent 
 the remainder of that year visiting the various parts of 
 Europe, extending his investigation in medical sanitary 
 affairs, and giving special attention to the subject of 
 diseases of the eye and of the ear. He returned to the 
 United States and established himself at the end of 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 1868 in private practice at Chicago. During the next 
 year he was elected president of the Board of Examin- 
 ing Surgeons for United States Pensions at Chicago 
 and was also made a member of the medical staff of 
 St. Luke's Hospital, and he there established a depart- 
 ment for the treatment of the eye and of the ear, with 
 which he has been connected since its establishment. 
 In 1870 he was again accredited a delegate from the 
 American Medical Association to meetings of European 
 associations, and while abroad spent several months in 
 research and investigation. During the same year he 
 was appointed to the chair of ophthalmology and 
 otology, just established in the medical department of 
 the North western University (Chicago Medical College), 
 a professorship which he has continued to hold ever 
 since. He also established an eye and ear de- 
 partment at Mercy Hospital and another at the 
 South Side Dispensary, and had charge of them for 
 some ten years, and for a number of years he was one 
 of the attending staff of the Illinois Charitable Eye and 
 Ear Infirmary, located at Chicago. 
 
 Dr. Jones has applied himself to the acquirement of 
 knowledge pertaining to the special department to 
 which he has devoted himself for the past twenty-five 
 years, and is recognized as authority on matters per- 
 taining to ophthalmology and otology. He has always 
 stood high in the esteem of his fellow practitioners, and 
 has been active and influential in their councils and 
 deliberations. In 1876 he was a delegate from the 
 Illinois State Medical Society to the Centennial Inter- 
 national Medical Congress, at Philadelphia. In 1881 
 he represented the American Medical Association and 
 the American Academy of Medicines at the Seventh 
 International Medical Congress, at London, England. 
 Again, in 1887, at the Ninth International Medical 
 Congress, held at Washington, D. C., as president of the 
 section of otology, he was ex-officio member of the execu- 
 tive committee,whose duty it was to arrange the prelimi- 
 nary organization of the congress. In 1889, at its 
 Thirteenth Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Dr. Jones 
 was elected president of the American Academy of 
 Medicine, whose objects, as stated in its constitution, 
 are : " First, to bring those who are alumni of 
 collegiate, scientific or medical schools into closer 
 relation with each other. Second, to encourage young 
 men to pursue regular courses of study in classical and 
 scientific institutions, before entering upon the study of 
 medicine. Third, to extent the bounds of medical 
 science, to elevate the profession, to alleviate human 
 suffering and to prevent disease." 
 
 Being himself a man of broad culture and extensive 
 knowledge of the principles and practice of medicine, 
 Dr. Jones has labored untiringly to raise the standard 
 of medical education to the highest plane, both by his 
 work in the various societies and associations with 
 with which he is connected, and by his writings, which 
 frequently have appeared in the medical journals. He 
 was for several years editor of the Clicago Me<l!>-nl 
 Journal and Examiner, one of the leading medical
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 195 
 
 periodicals of this country. He is an active participant 
 in local, state, national and international medical organ- 
 izations. He has been for twenty-five years a member 
 of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, and is a member 
 of its board of trustees. 
 
 Dr. Jones is a man of fine physical proportions, 
 with a rugged constitution. He is a man of fixed 
 
 opinions, with a decided will-power and strong deter- 
 mination, and by nature a leader. Courteous in manner, 
 genial and generous, yet dignified in bearing he has 
 attracted to himself a wide and influential clientele, in 
 the special department to which he has devoted himself, 
 and enjoys the reward of his painstaking and conscien- 
 tious work. 
 
 EDWIN WALKER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE father of Edwin Walker was a native of New 
 Hampshire, but removed to New York State 
 when eighteen years of age. He was a man of strong 
 character and strict integrity, and enjoyed the fullest 
 confidence of all who knew him. He was a farmer, 
 and a soldier in the war of 1812. He died in the year 
 1887, at the rare age of ninety-two. 
 
 Edwin was born in Genessee county, New York. 
 He received a thorough academic education, and at an 
 early age adopted the law as his profession. He pro- 
 secuted his professional studies in Batavia, N. Y., and 
 was admitted to the bar in the city of Buffalo in 1854. 
 Soon after his admission to the bar he made his way 
 westward, locating in Logansport, Ind., where he 
 commenced the practice of his profession, remaining 
 there until 1865, and becoming a recognized leader of 
 the bar of that State. 
 
 During this time, in 1860, he was appointed general 
 solicitor of the Cincinnati, Richmond and Logansport 
 Railroad Company, which in 1865 was extended to 
 Chicago, under the name of the Chicago and Great 
 Eastern Railroad Company, at which time his office, 
 together with the general offices of the company, was 
 removed to Chicago. From that date he has been a 
 resident of this city, and in active prosecution of his 
 profession. In 1870 this road was merged with and 
 made a part of the Pennsylvania system. Mr. Walker 
 retaining his connection with the legal department 
 until the year 1883. In 1869 he was appointed general 
 solicitor of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Rail- 
 road Company, and in 1870 the Illinois solicitor of the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Company, 
 with which road he has been intimately connected for 
 more than twenty years. He is also special counsel for 
 several insurance companies and other corporations. 
 
 Mr. Walker has been so long and so prominently 
 connected with railroads that he is most widely known 
 as a corporation lawyer, and his reputation as such is 
 of' the highest character. He has prominently ap- 
 peared in most of the important railroad litigation in 
 the State and Federal courts, and his skill and ability 
 are attested by so many reported cases that he has 
 become an authority upon all the varied and intricate 
 questions of corporation law. ID general practice he 
 has a large clientage. He is popular with the bar, and 
 has the confidence of the bench wherever he appears. 
 
 While he has been thoroughly devoted to his profes- 
 sion, he has been connected with many business enter- 
 prises. More than twenty years ago he formed a co-part- 
 nership with Col. W. P. Rend, in the coal and transpor- 
 tation business. The firm of W. P. Rend & Co. is one 
 of the best known in the West, and is an extensive 
 operator in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The relations 
 between these two men have been of the most intimate 
 character. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Walker has ever been a Republican, 
 but, while shrinking from political office and party 
 strife, he has always been ready, regardless of politics 
 when circumstances seemed to warrant it, to join with 
 independent citizens in movements to secure the cor- 
 rection of the local abuse of political power. 
 
 He has been prominently identified with the 
 World's Fair from its inception. He was chairman of 
 the first sub-committee on legislation, having charge of 
 the work in Washington while Congress was considering 
 the selection of a location; and when Chicago was 
 finally chosen, he was one of the committee selected to 
 frame necessary and proper legislation. He was elected 
 a director, made chairman of the committee on legisla- 
 tion, and was a member of the executive and con- 
 ference committees. 
 
 In the year 1857 Mr. Walker was married to Miss 
 Lydia Johnson, daughter of Col. Israel Johnson, a 
 prominent citizen and successful merchant of Logans- 
 port. She lived but two years after their removal to 
 Chicago, but during the few years of their married 
 life she became endeared to a large circle of friends 
 and promoted in every possible way the success of her 
 husband. Of this union three sons were born the 
 two eldest, Edwin C. and J. Brandt are married, and 
 have pleasant homes in Chicago. They are associated 
 together in business under the firm name of Walker 
 & Company, and are successful commission merchants. 
 The youngest son, Wilmer Earl, a boy of great promise, 
 died in his twenty-first year, at the commencement of 
 his senior year at Yale College. His attainments were 
 of a high order, and he was being carefully educated 
 and trained for the legal profession. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Walker married Mrs. Desdemona 
 Kimball, daughter of Major Samuel Edsall, one of the 
 oldest and best known citizens in the public and social 
 life of Fort Wayne, Ind. Few women in Chicago
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 have a larger circle of social and admiring friends than 
 Mrs. "Walker, and none could more worthily preside 
 over the pleasant home of the successful lawyer, made 
 more attractive by the presence of her two daughters, 
 Alma L. and Louise E. Kimball. 
 
 Mr. "Walker is a member of the Grace Episcopal 
 Church of Chicago, and during the past seventeen 
 years has been an active officer of the church, either 
 vestryman or warden. Though past the prime of life, 
 his physical health is such that his friends may reason- 
 
 ably anticipate many more years of active and useful 
 work. 
 
 Although a member of many prominent social 
 clubs of the city, he best enjoys himself with his family 
 and friends in his attractive home on Michigan avenue, 
 participating in such social events as his professional 
 and other duties will permit. Fond of travel, he seeks 
 each summer some place of rest and pleasure, either in 
 this country or in Europe, constantly forming new 
 friendships and associations. 
 
 CHARLES D. HAMILL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CHARLES D. HAMILL, son of Dr. Robert C. and 
 >^> Eliza (Davisson) Hamill, was born at Blooming- 
 ton, Ind., on the 14th day of November, 1839. His 
 father, who was a physician of the highest standing, 
 was born at Xenia, Ohio, in 1808 and died in Chicago 
 in July, 1886. His mother was also born in Xenia, 
 Ohio, and is now in her 84th year. She lives with her 
 son in Chicago. 
 
 The first eight years of Charles D. Hamill's life 
 were passed in Bloomington, Ind., when he came to 
 Chicago with his parents and for one term attended 
 the private school of Rev. A. M. Stewart, which was 
 held in the basement of the old Presbyterian church, at 
 that time a frame structure that stood on Clark, near 
 Washington street. He then returned to Bloomington 
 where he remained until 1852, when his parents came to 
 Chicago to live permanently. 
 
 Charles was placed in the well-known dry goods 
 house of L. D. Olmstead & Company, then at 140 Lake 
 street, where he received $50 for his first year's work. 
 He then entered the employ of T. B. Carter & Co., with 
 whom he remained for two years, attaining to the posi- 
 tion of cashier, after which he took a position as clerk 
 in the Bank of Commerce. He left in about a year to 
 accept the position of paying teller in the bank op- 
 erated by the Western Marine Insurance Company of 
 Chicago. With this company he remained for seven 
 years and the experience thus gained has had no small 
 influence upon the financial success that has since 
 attended his business transactions. 
 
 In 1863, Mr. Hamill first engaged in the packing 
 business as a member of the firm of Singer & Co. 
 From that date until 1873, he was actively engaged in 
 the Board of Trade, where he represented the interests 
 of his own firm and part of the time managed also the 
 enormous business of Howard Priestly. During this 
 time he made many of the largest grain deals known 
 in the history of the trade, but the continuous mental 
 straiu and too close application to business so impaired 
 his health, never too robust, that by the advice of his 
 physicians he gave up business for a time and went 
 abroad, spending nearly two years in easy traveling in 
 
 search of rest and recreation. He returned in 1875 
 with his health fully restored and formed the commis- 
 sion house of Van Inwagen & Hamill. The partner- 
 ship continued until 1882. when it was dissolved and 
 for two years Mr. Hamill continued the business alone. 
 In January, 1885, he and Mr. George J. Brine formed 
 a co-partnership under the name of Hamill & Brine, 
 which continued for three years, after which to the 
 present time Mr. Hamill has had associated with him 
 his son, Mr. Robert W. Hamill. Having been for 
 many years prominent as a member of the Board of 
 Trade, Mr. Hamill was in 1892 nominated by his 
 friends as a candidate for the presidency in opposition 
 to Mr. J. G. Steever, the regular caucus nominee, and 
 after an exciting contest that brought out the largest 
 vote known in the history of the board, he was elected 
 and is now serving his second term, having been re- 
 elected at the expiration of the first term. Notwith- 
 standing the pressure of his business interests Mr. 
 Hamill has found time to devote to his inborn love for 
 music and the fine arts, and with others of congenial 
 tastes he has done much to educate and foster the 
 public interest in this direction. 
 
 In 1858 Mr. Hamill was a delegate to the first 
 musical convention ever held in Chicago, and was one 
 of the leading spirits in the formation of the Mendels- 
 sohn Society of which he was a charter member. He 
 also took an active part in several other musical 
 societies. Very early in the history of the famous 
 Apollo Club he took a prominent part in its manage- 
 ment, and for many years, or until 1882, was chairman 
 of its music committee, when he resigned his member- 
 ship in order to give more of his attention to perfecting 
 the arrangements for the great musical festival of that 
 year, which, under the direction of Theodore Thomas, 
 was such a brilliant success that it was repeated in 
 1884. The result of this and other projects of similar 
 character was the establishment of the now famous 
 Chicago Orchestra, and to Mr. Hamill is due much of 
 the credit for conceiving and bringing to life a musical 
 organization in Chicago that easily takes a leading 
 rank among similar organizations of the world. After
 
 The Century Bjilisiung & Engraving Go. Chic ago 

 
 PkuMlNENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST 
 
 1 9 9 
 
 bringing the great festival of 1884 to a more than 
 successful issue Mr. Ilamill rejoined the Apollo Club 
 anil in 1S87 was elected its president and gave to that 
 body an able administration that materially extended 
 its influence and put the organization into a very 
 prosperous shape. He is also a strong supporter and 
 steadfast friend of the Chicago Art Institute, and 
 having been a director from the outset has done much 
 to bring the institute up to its present standing. He 
 is a fine judge of art and artistic work and his private 
 collection is the result of many year's careful collecting. 
 On the 19th day of December, 1861, Mr. Ilamill 
 was united in marriage to Miss Susan Wai bridge, 
 daughter of Judge Henry S. Walbridge of Ithaca, N- 
 Y. Thev have six children, Robert W., now in busi- 
 ness witli his father, Charles II., Paul, Philip W., Lau- 
 rence and Kannie D., (the latter the wife of Mr. E. J. 
 Phelps. Mr. Hamill was one of the organizers of the 
 
 Washington Park Club, and is now its vice-president. 
 He has been a member of the Chicago Club since 1875 
 and has served it as a director, as vice president and 
 for many years as chairman of its house committee. 
 He is also connected with the Calumet and Chicago 
 Clubs, is a trustee of the Chicago Orchestra Associa- 
 tion and president of the Twentieth Century Club. 
 
 As a business man Mr. Hamill takes a leading rank 
 in Chicago. He is quick to grasp all points of a busi- 
 ness transaction or offer and as prompt to act, and com- 
 bines with great business ability a good knowledge of 
 finance. As a ma.n he is broad minded and liberal in 
 his opinions and generous in dealing with his fellow- 
 men. In demeanor he is modest and unassuming and 
 courteous to all; he readily makes friends and easily 
 retains them. With all he is exceedingly popular and 
 no one denies to him the honor and respect so justlv 
 his due. 
 
 WILLIAM R. KERR, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM R. KERR was born in Dayton, Ohio, 
 September 11, 1849. He inherited the sturdy 
 qualities of the Scotch from his father and 
 those of the German from his mother. When but six 
 years old his parents moved to Muscatine, Iowa, and 
 five years later, or in 1860, they went farther West, 
 settling in Leaven worth, Kansas. Here his father 
 secured the contract for suppling the frontier military 
 posts with beef during the war, and in 1864, young 
 Kerr, although only about fifteen years of age, enlisted 
 in the ninety day service for duty in Missouri; butout- 
 side of guard duty his company saw no active service. 
 Up to this time young Kerr had attended the public 
 schools at the different places where he had lived, but he 
 now determined to acquire a better education. Accord- 
 ingly he entered the Canadaigua Academy in New York 
 State, graduating from this institution three years 
 later. Returning to Leavenworth, he entered the whole- 
 sale boot and shoe house of Seares & Earle, as book- 
 keeper, where he remained a short time, when his 
 father removing to St. Louis, he entered the service of 
 Newhall Brothers, wholesale boots and shoes, as 
 traveling salesman. 
 
 In 1868 his father removed to Chicago with his 
 family and engaged in the real estate business, taking 
 William as partner, the firm name being James M. 
 Kerr ct Son. Their office was at 123 Clark Street. 
 Not long afterward, having become familiar with fire 
 insurance matters, Mr. Kerr was offered and accepted 
 a position as special agent and adjuster of the Hartford 
 Fire Insurance Company. He soon demonstrated his 
 ability in this line of business, and was offered the 
 position of secretary and general manager of the St. 
 Joseph Fire and Marine Insurance Company at St. 
 
 Joseph, Mo., which he accepted. He remained with 
 this company until 1875, when he became Western 
 manager of the Scottish Commercial Insurance Com- 
 pany of Glasgow, Scotland, which was amalgamated 
 with the Lancashire Fire in 1880, and he took charge 
 of the local department of the firm of W. H. Cunning- 
 ham & Co., remaining with them until 1889. 
 
 After twenty years of service in the insurance busi- 
 ness Mr. Kerr desired a change, and became secretarv 
 of the Metropolitan Investment Company. In Novem- 
 ber, 1891, he purchased the Morgan tract of land, one 
 mile west of Pullman, and organized the West Pull- 
 man Land Association, with a capital stock of $1.200- 
 000, of which association he was elected secretary and 
 general manager. It is in this enterprise that Mr. 
 Kerr has demonstrated his conspicuous energy and 
 ability. Although but little over two years have 
 elapsed since the organization -of the company, West 
 Pullman has become a most thriving and still rapidly 
 growing town. It has several large manufacturing 
 enterprises already established, and others in prospect. 
 It also contains many "fine residences, and being on the 
 direct line of all the great trunk lines of railroad, it 
 promises to rival Pullman itself as a manufacturing 
 and residence center. 
 
 For several years pa t Mr. Kerr has taken an active 
 part in politics in connection with the Republican 
 part}'. He was collector for the town of Hyde Park 
 before annexation, and when it became a part of Chi- 
 cago he was elected alderman from the thirty-second 
 ward, which position he has held ever since, having 
 been re-elected four times. At the Republican National 
 Convention held in Minneapolis, in 1892, Mr. Kerr was 
 a delegate from the first congressional district. Illinois
 
 2OO 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 and was a prominent and peristent advocate of the 
 nomination to the presidency of James G. Elaine. Mr. 
 Kerr has been an influential member of the city 
 council of Chicago since his first connection with it, 
 working actively for the city's interests. It was at his 
 suggestion that Mayor Cregier appointed a citizens' 
 committee of one hundred to go to Washington to urge 
 the claims of Chicago for the World's Fair, with what 
 success the world now knows. He also was among the 
 leaders at Springfield, in the interest of the $5,000,000 
 appropriation bill afterward passed by the legislature. 
 During the progress of the Exposition Mr. Kerr was an 
 earnest and efficient worker for its success, and it is 
 generally-conceded that largely to his management was 
 due the unparallelled success of the famous " Chicago 
 
 Day " on October 9, 1893, he having been designated 
 by the city council as chief manager in behalf of the city. 
 In social life Mr. Kerr is known for his genial and 
 courtly nature, and has a very large circle of friends. He 
 is a member of the Union League Club, Illinois Club, 
 Kenwood Club and Hyde Park Club,of which latter he is 
 vice-president. He was married in 1868 to Miss Mintie 
 L. Miller, daughter of W. E. Miller, ex-chief justice of 
 the Supreme Court of Iowa, and has three children, two 
 daughters and one son, respectively named Eugenia, 
 Lulu and Ralph. The former was recently married to 
 Mr. John A. Eddy, of Cincinnati. Mr. Kerr has trav- 
 eled quite extensively, and in 1880 he spent almost a 
 year in Europe with his wife, visiting all the important 
 places on the continent and in Great Britain. 
 
 RICHARD CONOVER LAKE, 
 
 RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA. 
 
 RICHAED CONOVER LAKE, son of James and 
 Hannah (Dye) Lake, was born on a farm in Mon- 
 tour county, Penn., on the 20th day of July, 184&, the 
 youngest of a family of twelve children. He is a de- 
 scendent of one of the families, who, coming to 
 America in its early history, settled in New Jersey, 
 and in the latter part of the eighteenth century moved 
 to Pennsylvania. He received a good education in 
 the schools of his native state, and being inclined to read- 
 ing and study rather than the outdoor life of a farm, he 
 entered the employ of a firm engaged in mercantile 
 business and flour-milling, in the capacity of assistant 
 bookkeeper and cashier, at Espy, Columbia county, 
 Penn., to which place his father's family had moved. 
 
 When eighteen years of age he, with his older 
 brother, went to Colorado, arriving at Denver on July 
 1, 1861, after a tedious overland journey through a hos- 
 tile Indian country. Traveling on to Central City he 
 secured employment in a large mercantile house, and 
 four years later became a partner. After nine years he 
 retired from the firm, and removed to Deadwood, S. D., 
 reaching there in April, 1877. . Here he again engaged 
 in mercantile business meeting with great success. In 
 August, 1879, he purchased stock' in the First National 
 Bank of Deadwood and was elected president, although 
 not actively engaged in the bank until the fall of 1880; 
 when he took charge and remained its executive officer 
 for three years, during which time he established the 
 Lead City Bank, now First National Bank of Lead 
 City, and also the bank of Lake & Halley, now the 
 First National Bank of Rapid City, both in South 
 Dakota. 
 
 Mr. Lake is now president of the First National 
 Bank, of Rapid City, one of the largest banking insti- 
 tutions of western South Dakota, and also of the bank 
 
 of Chadron, Neb. He is a director in the First Na- 
 tional Bank of Custer, of the first National Bank of 
 Sturgis, of the Buffalo Gap Bank, of Buffalo Gap, and 
 of the Harney Peak Bank, at Hill City, all of South 
 Dakota. He has also extensive interests in the cattle 
 business, in which he first engaged in 1883. He takes 
 an active part in every enterprise promising to advance 
 the interests of the region in which he resides, giving 
 both his time, money and influence to further these 
 interests. 
 
 He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has 
 filled most of the important offices of that order. He 
 is a Repulican in politics, and a consistent advocate of 
 civil service reform, and favors the election to office of 
 men of unblemished character onlv. He is communi- 
 cant of the Episcopal church, and is not only ever 
 ready to aid the cause of Christianity, but never deaf 
 to calls upon his benevolence. 
 
 He was married to Miss Mary Randolph, a descend- 
 ant of one of Virginia's oldest families, on September 
 14,1871. Six children have sprung from this fortun- 
 ate and happy union. 
 
 Personally Mr. Lake is a gentleman of fine appear- 
 ance, being nearly six feet in height, and weighing 
 about two hundred pounds. He is quick in his move- 
 ments, and an active, energetic and capable man of 
 business, enjoying the confidence and esteem of the 
 community in which he resides, and of his many East- 
 ern acquaintances. His exceptionally successful life fur- 
 nishes a fine illustration of what ability, energy and 
 integrity can accomplish toward carving out a fortune 
 for their possessor. Mr. Lake is in the broadest sense 
 a self-made man, starting in life with no capital beyond 
 a pair of willing hands and an active brain. For what 
 he has accomplished he is entitled to great credit.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 COL. H. A. FRAMBACH, 
 
 KAUKAUNA, WISCONSIN. 
 
 2OI 
 
 HA. FRAMBACH, son of Charles August and 
 . Moray Frambach, was born at Syracuse, N. Y., 
 on the twenty-first day of November, 1840. His 
 parents both came from German}', and his father, who 
 was a noted linguist, passed his life as a teacher of 
 languages in some of the best colleges. The mother 
 died in 1845, and the family, consisting of the father 
 and four children, moved to Racine, Wis., where, eight 
 years later, in 1854, the father also passed away, 
 leaving our subject, a youth of fourteen years, to battle 
 with the world alone. The succed ing years he was em- 
 ployed working on a farm and ''doing chores" during 
 the spring summer and autumn months, and attending 
 school during the winter, and thus in the little country 
 school house laying the foundation for his excellent 
 business education. 
 
 After leaving school he operated a wood-boat on 
 the Illinois river, and was engaged in this business 
 when the war broke out. At the first call to arms he 
 disposed of his boat, and enlisted as a private in Com- 
 pany G, Sixty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry. He served as a private until after the battle 
 pf Shiloh, when he was detailed in that most responsible 
 and dangerous department of army work, the secret 
 service. He served gallantly in this capacity with 
 the Army of the Tennessee, under Generals, Logan, 
 Brayman and others, until 1863, when he was appointed 
 chief of the department of secret service in Arkansas, 
 with the rank of colonel. 
 
 When the war was over he went to St. Louis, where 
 he engaged in mercantile business, though still retain, 
 ing his connection with the secret service department. 
 He moved to Kaukauna, Wis., in 1872, and with 
 his brother, John Stooeken, built the first raper mill 
 operated in that place. This mill was situated upon 
 the present site of the Kaukauna paper mill, and while 
 operating it Col. Frambeach was also engaged in 
 mercantile business, and in 1876 was chairman of the 
 board of supervision of Kaukuuna. In 1878 he went 
 to Menasha, where for two years he operated the 
 Menasha Paper and Pulp Company's mills, returning 
 to Kaukauna in 1880. He then operated the Eagle 
 Paper Mills until it was destnyyed by fire in August, 
 1880, when he rebuilt the mill at his own expense, and 
 operated it as the Frambach Paper Mill. In 1881, in 
 company with Mr. Rogers, of Appleton, and the Van 
 Nortwicks, of Batavia, 111., he organized the Union 
 Pulp Company, with which he was connected until 
 1884, in which year he sold his interests to- the Van 
 Nortwick syndicate, and, in company with Hon. 
 Joseph Vilas, of Manitowoc, Wis., he organized the 
 Badger Paper Company, and commenced building a 
 plant. The mills were ready for work early in 1885, 
 and have been continuously in operation up to the 
 present time. 
 
 In addition to his extensive interests in the paper 
 
 manufacturing business Col. Frambach in 1885 organ 
 ized the Manufacturer's Bank in South Kaukauna, which 
 two years later was merged into the First National 
 Bank. This change was made at Col. Frambach's sug- 
 gestion, as he wished to give to the people of Kaukauna 
 better facilities and therefore asked his friends to join 
 him in the enterprise, with the result that there is 
 hardly another city of its size in the country that has a 
 stronger list of stockholders in its principal bank. The 
 fact that Col. Frambach's ideas in this matter were 
 correct has been amply demonstrated, for there is not 
 another bank in Wisconsin that more fully enjoyes the 
 confidence of its depositors. Upon the organization of 
 the bank, Col. Frambach was elected its president, and 
 has since, with the aid of an efficient corps of assistants, 
 conducted the business and protected the interests of 
 stockholders and depositors. They do a general bank- 
 ing business, buy and sell foreign and American ex- 
 change, and their list of corresponding banks embraces 
 some of the strongest financial institutions in the 
 country. Besides the business interests already men- 
 tioned, Col. Frambach is prominently connected with 
 many others, and has for more than twenty years been 
 a leading spirit in every enterprise that had for its 
 object the advancement of Kaukauna's material inter- 
 ests. He was the first mayor of the citv and 
 the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citi- 
 zens is best evidenced by the many offices of honorand 
 trust that they have offered him 
 
 He was the principal promoter of the project of 
 making a live paper exhibit at the Columbian Exposi- 
 tion. Upon the organization of the company, he was 
 made president and became its general manager. The 
 exhibit was a creditable one, as borne out by the inter- 
 est manifested by the public during the exhibition and 
 the continuous large crowd around the exhibit. He 
 was also Republican candidate for congress in the 
 Eighth Wisconsin district, and was defeated in the 
 "land slide" of 1892. He is a member of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic and other patriotic organizations 
 and naturally takes a leading part in any organization 
 with which he may be connected. 
 
 On the 8th day of November, 1865, Col. Frambach 
 was united in marriage to Miss Fannie M. Claspell, 
 daughter of J. H. Claspell, of Springfield, 111. They 
 have five children, four sons and one daughter, and 
 their handsome home is one of the most pleasantlv 
 situated in Kaukauna. Col. Frambach, notwithstanding 
 the adverse circumstances of his youth, has by dint of 
 hard work, steady application and unfaltering integ- 
 rity risen to his present position of honor and fortune 
 solely by his own efforts. During his long residence 
 in Kaukauna he has gained a most enviable reputation 
 as a public-spirited, generous man, who is well worthy 
 of the confidence and respect reposed in him by the 
 entire communitv.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 PHILIP D. ARMOUR, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MR. ARMOUR is distinctively American. So were 
 his ancestors, both lineal and collateral, for gen- 
 erations. The maternal branch of the family is of old 
 Puritan stock, and said to possess an unusual amount of 
 good common sense. Such was the ancestry of Danforth 
 Armour and Juliana Brooks, the father and mother. 
 They left Union, Conn., September, 1825, and settled 
 at Stockbridge, Madison county, N. Y., where Philip 
 was born, May 16, 1832. There were six brothers and 
 two sisters. Farming was their occupation. Habitual 
 frugality and industry were the fundamental principles 
 and characteristic features of the parents. These 
 family tenets were laid down in their simplest forms 
 and instilled with human sunshine into the life of'each 
 child. Their school days were the best the local red 
 school house could afford. Some of the children, among 
 whom was Philip, were fortunate enough to attend the 
 neighboring village seminary. He was genial to a 
 degree, healthy, resolute and strong, holding his own 
 wherever events found him ; not a follower but a leader 
 among his schoolmates. 
 
 During the winter of 1851 and 1852 the excitement 
 attending the gold discovery in California having 
 spread over the country, a party was organized to 
 make the overland trip. Mr. Armour was invited to 
 join them, and was influenced by a growing desire to 
 get out into the world. A country life on Stockbridge 
 hills was too obscure for one so tempered. He was 
 entering his manhood, and to go was only to satisfy his 
 ambition. The party left Oneida, New York, in the 
 spring of 1852, and reached California six months 
 later. In 1856 he returned to the East and visited his 
 parents, whom he always held in reverential affection. 
 He minutely laid before them all he had accomplished 
 during his absence, including the fact that he had made 
 some money. 
 
 After remaining with them for a few weeks, he 
 once more turned westward, and finally located in 
 Milwaukee, where he formed a co-partnership and 
 entered the commission business with Frederick B. 
 Miles, which was a success until they dissolved in 1863. 
 The able and persistent way in which he pursued his 
 business and the characteristic manner he had of 
 grasping new ideas brought him prominently before 
 his fellow townspeople, and led to a partnership, in the 
 spring of 1863 with John Plankinton, which proved to 
 be of much importance in his subsequent career. Mr. 
 Plankinton had been for some years previously engaged 
 in the pork-packing industry with Frederick Layton. 
 This firm had dissolved, as that also of Miles & Armour 
 before mentioned. Mr. Plankinton was Mr. Armour's 
 senior, and had been a resident of Milwaukee for a 
 much longer period. He had established a most 
 thriving business, which had been conducted with 
 unerring judgment. He stood high as a merchant, 
 and commanded the respect of all as a public-spirited 
 
 citizen. This was Mr. Armour's opportunity. How 
 well he handled the business that fell to him the history 
 of . the commercial world has since shown. To the 
 pork-packing business of Mr. Plankinton, he brought 
 that unremitting labor and concentration of thought 
 that were so peculiarly his own. The fluctuations in 
 the price of the provisions at the closing scenes of the 
 war left the firm with a fortune. This, with the 
 development of the country, gave them an opportunity 
 for extending their growing business. 
 
 In 1862, Mr. Armour's brother, Herman O. Armour, 
 had established himself in Chicago in the grain com- 
 mission business, but was induced to surrender this to 
 his younger brother, Joseph F.. in 1865, and take 
 charge of a new firm in New York, then organized 
 under the name of Armour, Plankinton & Co. The 
 organization of the New York house was most fortunate. 
 The financial condition of the West at that period did 
 not permit of the large lines of credit necessary for a 
 business assuming such magnitude, and it was, as 
 events proved, most fortunate that the duties devolv- 
 ing on the head of the house should fall to one so well 
 qualified to handle them. He was not only equal to 
 the emergency, but became favorablv known as a man 
 possessing great financial ability, and was, in fact, the 
 eastern financial agent of the western houses. 
 
 The firm name of H. O. Armour & Co. was contin 
 ued at Chicago until 1870. They continued to handle 
 grain, and commenced packing hogs in 1868. This 
 part of the business, however, was conducted under the 
 firm name of Armour & Co.,. and in 1870 they assumed 
 all the business in Chicago. The business of all these 
 houses, under their efficient management, grew to 
 dimensions that were the marvel of the trade. Their 
 brands became as well known in all the markets of the 
 world as at home. 
 
 It having become evident to the Armours that the 
 packing business could be carried on to good advan- 
 tage near the center of the then stock producing district 
 of the country they, in 1871, established at Kansas 
 City the firm known as Plankinton & Armour. This 
 enterprise was under the immediate supervision of 
 Mr. Simeon B. Armour, an elder brother. The failing 
 health of Joseph, in charge of the Chicago house, 
 necessitated assistance, and Milwaukee, as we have 
 already seen, had brains to spare; consequently Philip 
 moved to Chicago in 1875, where he has since 
 resided. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that the managers of 
 the many millions that were invested at the other 
 points mentioned should take their cue and follow in 
 the footsteps of the intrepid California pioneer at 
 Chicago. It is impossible to convey to one not familiar 
 with the scope of the business an idea of its magnitude. 
 The distributive sales of the Chicago houses alone are 
 in excess of the gross receipts of any railroad corpora-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 2O : 
 
 tion in the \vorlil. Even in a business of these dimen- 
 sions there was nothing loo great for Mr. Armour to 
 handle, nothing too small for him to overlook. Mr. 
 Armour's capacity for work is something wonderful. 
 lie is at his desk by 7 A. it., and frequently before, and 
 fatigue seems to be unknown to him. II o has traveled 
 extensively, whenever time would allow, and his eyes 
 have ever been open to the wants of the people, who 
 are the consumers of his products, and he has thus also 
 kept in touch with his numerous representatives at 
 various points, as well as gauged the requirements of the 
 people and their condition. lie is a close observer, and 
 is usually able to give an accurate forecast of the pros- 
 pective financial condition of the country.at all times. 
 
 Mr. Armour was married to Belle Ogden, at 
 Cincinnati, O., in October, 1862. She was the only 
 daughter of Jonathan Ogden. Their home life has 
 been notably a happy one, where domestic economy 
 and kindly hospitality ever reigns. They have two 
 sons, Jonathan Ogden and Philip D., both active part- 
 ners with their father, and able, upright business men. 
 
 In January, 1881, Joseph F. Armour died, and 
 bequeathed one hundred thousand dollars for the 
 founding of a charitable and religious institution. He 
 wisely directed that the carrying out of his benevolent 
 design should be chiefly entrusted to his brother 
 
 Philip. In accepting the trust so imposed, he has 
 given to it the same energetic and critical attention 
 that he has given to his private affairs, and has also 
 added a large amount to his brother's bequest. 
 
 While Mr. Armour is liberal in his religious views 
 his interest centers in the church (Congregational) of 
 his choice. In the afternoon of everv Sunday durim* 
 
 J o 
 
 the year the Armour Mission, founded by his brother, 
 and cherished by himself, has his presence, and the 
 benefit of his earnest work and wise counsels. His 
 benefactions are without number, and not only be- 
 stowed without ostentation, but with that discrimina- 
 tion which makes the gift doubly valuable, because 
 bestowed upon deserving objects. The most impor- 
 tant, perhaps, of his many benefactions, is the recent 
 building and equipment of the Armour Institute, for 
 the manual and other training of boys, and under the 
 charge of the Rev. F. W. Gunsaulus. 
 
 Philip D. Armour is unquestionably one of the 
 strongest and most influential men whose lives have 
 become an essential part of the history of Chicago and 
 of the West. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty 
 of purpose, genius for devising and executing the right 
 thing at the right time, joined to every-day common- 
 
 sense guided by resistless 
 characteristics of the man. 
 
 will power, are the chief 
 
 BISHOP SAMUEL FALLOWS, D. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BISHOP SAMUEL FALLOWS, D.D., son of 
 Thomas and Anne Fallows, was born in Pendie- 
 ton, New Manchester. England, December 13, 1835. 
 His parents came to the United States when he was 
 but a boy. After attending public school he took a 
 course in the University of Wisconsin, and graduated 
 therefrom with honors. He was then offered the vice- 
 presidency of the Galesville University of Wisconsin, 
 and for two years he taught there successfully. He 
 then entered the university as pastor of the Methodist 
 church at Oshkosh, where he soon gained fame as an 
 eloquent orator. When the war broke out he went to 
 the front as chaplain of the 22d Wisconsin Infantry. 
 
 On the field he imbibed the spirit of conflict and he 
 organized the -iOth Wisconsin Infantry, composed 
 entirely of the graduates and students of the various 
 institutions of that State. Such a band of educators 
 had not been known in the army, aud it was nicknamed 
 the " God and Morality Regiment." One of the 
 privates in this command was James L. High, the well 
 knawn Chicago lawyer, who afterward became adju- 
 tant of Col. Fallows' later regimen', and also adjutant- 
 general of one of the Missouri brigades. Another 
 private in the command was ex-United States Senator 
 John C. Spooner. 
 
 Later, Col. Fallows became colonel of the 49th 
 
 Infantry, and held important military offices in Mis- 
 souri. Guerrilla warfare in this State kept Col. Fal- 
 lows pretty busily engaged, and there he did most of 
 his good work for the Union. As a soldier his record 
 is a bright one. 
 
 Colonel Fallows re-entered upon his clerical duties at 
 the close of the war, and later on he was made rector 
 of the Spring Street Methodist church, in Milwaukee. 
 During his pastorate there Governor Pritchard ap- 
 pointed him to the office of Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction, and afterward the people re-elected him 
 twice to the same important office. 
 
 In 1873, Lawrence University conferred upon him 
 the degree of Doctor of Divinity. lie was tendered 
 the chair of Logic and Rhetoric, in the State 
 University, after this, but he declined, preferring to 
 work in the pulpit. Traces of his splendid work as 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction are visible in the 
 public schools of Wisconsin to the present time. In 
 1874, Bishop Fallows was elected to the presidency of 
 the Illinois Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, and 
 there too his ability as an educator was demonstrated. 
 
 In 1875 he left the Methodist church to become a 
 Reformed Episcopalian, and, one year later, in 
 response to a call from St. Paul's Reformed Episcopal 
 church here, he came to Chicago to be its rector. At
 
 204 
 
 2'SOMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 that time, the congregation worshipped in an old 
 frame structure at St. John's Place and Lake street. 
 Afterward the society rented the American Reformed 
 church, on Washington boulevard, and later they pur- 
 chased the old Third Prespyterian church, at Carpenter 
 street and Washington boulevard. Still later* this 
 property was sold, and the present fine structure at 
 Winchester avenue and Adams street was erected. 
 This property is valued at $60,000. During all of this 
 time, since 1876, Bishop Fallows has held the pulpit, 
 anil has been elected presiding bishop three times. He 
 was first elected bishop in the Reformed Episcopal 
 church after he had been rector of St.Paul's for one year. 
 Bishop Fallows church is one of the wealthiest and 
 best known in the city of Chicago. All the seatings 
 are free in the evenings, and a fixed pew rental is paid by 
 only those who can afford to do so. A marked feature 
 in this congregation is the prevailing sociability. 
 
 Remembering his gallant deeds on the field, the 
 surviving members of the Wisconsin Brigade, includ- 
 ing the Fortieth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth and Fifty- 
 second Infantry regiments, have honored Bishop 
 Fallows by making him president of their organiza- 
 tion, and he wears the G.A.R. button with pride. For 
 several years he was department chaplain of the 
 Illinois G. A. R., and he is a member of the Veteran 
 Union League, and of the Loyal Legion. He is also 
 chaplain of the Second Infantry, I. N. G., in which 
 the West Side takes a deep interest, as many of its 
 sons carry the musket in that command. 
 
 Bishop Fallows has earned the distinction of being 
 a " good all-around man." He has demonstrated his 
 excellent fighting qualities, his ability as an educator 
 and his eloquence as a pulpit orator. He does not 
 confine his texts to scriptural subjects, but treats the 
 important topics of labor, commerce and philanthrophy 
 as well. His style is clear and forceful, as well as 
 simple. In literature he has made his mark also, 
 through his " Synonyms and Autonyms," his " Progres- 
 sive Supplemental Dictionary," his " Home Beyond," 
 his " Bible Story " and his " Young American Annual." 
 He is also the author of the " Webster Encyclopaedic 
 Dictionary," and he is a frequent contributor to the 
 leading magazines. For a number of years he ably 
 edited the Appeal, which is the organ of the Reformed 
 Episcopal Church. He was chairman of the recent 
 general committee, World's Congress Educational 
 Auxiliary, of the Columbian Exposition, and is now 
 president of the board of managers of the Illinois 
 State Reformatory at Pontiac. So it will be seen that 
 the demands upon his time are numerous. His church 
 claims the greater share of his attention, however, and 
 he is very proud of it. 
 
 Among those who sit under his ministrations are 
 Everett St. John, B. A. Eckart, Mrs. W. S. Sands. C. E. 
 Rollins, J. M. Ball, R. F. Seabury, J. C. Borcherdt, 
 Fill more Weigley, Dr. G. Dickson, P. R. Westfall, B. F. 
 Deming, Walter N. Mills, Dr.T. O. Butler and Ernest 
 Wright. 
 
 Just at the present time, Bishop P'ullows is actively 
 engaged in securing the necessary funds to complete 
 the proposed edifice of the People's Institute, which 
 surely will be one of the big institutions of the West 
 Side. He is president of the organization, and this 
 West Side philanthropic organization hopes soon to 
 be able to dedicate a fine home of its own on the 
 present site of its temporary quarters. The objects of 
 the society are entertainment, education, philanthropy 
 and patriotism and during its career of one year it has 
 met with great success, crowding its hall on all 
 occasions. 
 
 The old political wigwam will be replaced by a 
 structure cosyng $50,000 as soon as the money can be 
 raised. James M. Banks has already generously con- 
 tributed, conditionally, $10,000, and with Bishop 
 Fallows the collection of the total amount is only a 
 matter of a short time. The proposed auditorium will 
 accomodate 3,000 people, and will be the largest in the 
 city, save the Auditorium proper. A large reading 
 room will be one of the free features of the institution, 
 which will be closed against no creed or class. It will 
 be a "People's Institute" in the fullest sense of 
 the term, and as such will be a credit to West 
 Chicago. 
 
 The building will be four stories high, and the reve- 
 nue from the stores and society rooms will be applied 
 to the support of the institution. The commercial 
 branches and also the higher branches will be taught 
 for a small tuition fee. There will be a cooking school, 
 a sewing school, and a gymnasium. Aid and endorse- 
 ment are being asked for from the various labor, com. 
 mercial, industrial, educational, scientific and benevo- 
 lent organizations, as well as from political and 
 religious bodies. President Harper, of the Chicago 
 University, and President Rogers, of the Northwest: 
 ern University, are of the advisory board. Bishop 
 Fallows is president and Rev. William G. Clarke 
 secretary. 
 
 Since 1876 Bishop Fallows has been one of the best 
 known men in Chicago, being identified with all philan- 
 thropic work, and with all movements for the better- 
 ment of the city and its masses. He is well known in 
 religious work all over the country, and his varied 
 work as soldier, educator and preacher, has won for 
 him the title of " The Fighting Parson." 
 
 In I860. Bishop Fallows was married to Miss Lucy 
 B. Huntington, daughter of Rev. Dr. Wm. P. Hunt- 
 ington,and niece of Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington, S. T. D., 
 Bishop of Central New York. Four children have 
 blessed their union. Their names are Helen Mary, 
 Edward Huntington, Alice Katharine, and Charles 
 Samuel. 
 
 Bishop Fallows is a man of fine personal appearance- 
 with a hearty expression of fellowship that it is a de, 
 cided pleasure to come in contact with. He has many 
 friends and admirers all over the United States. In 
 appearance he is tall, well-built and muscular, and in 
 character, energetic and courageous.
 
 PKUMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST 
 
 JOHN WESLEY DOANE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 205 
 
 JOHN WESLEY DOANE, president of the Mer- 
 chants' Loan and Trust Company, of Chicago, 
 and for forty years a leading merchant of Chicago, 
 was born at Thompson, Windham county, Conn., on 
 the 23d of March, 1833, and is the son of Joel and 
 Olivia Primrose Doane. He received his education in 
 the common schools of his native State and early 
 acquired those habits of industry, temperance and 
 economy which have enabled him to become in the 
 prime of life one of the prominent merchants and 
 leading financiers of this city. 
 
 While still a boy he had formed ambitious projects 
 for his future and saw in the West a new field for 
 their realization. Accordingly, at twenty-two years 
 of age he came to Illinois, as many others of the hardy 
 sons of New England had done. Arriving in Chicago 
 with a very small capital, he rented a store and began 
 business as a grocer. He gradually increased his busi- 
 ness year by year until 1870, when his firm's sales 
 were the largest in their line in the Northwest. 
 
 As the city of Chicago grew in population and 
 importance Mr. Doane's business participated in the 
 advantages of a larger market, and he worked hard 
 and unceasingly to develop it. He prospered so well 
 in the business that it had been increased to $3,000,- 
 000 per annum by 1870, and was, as before stated, the 
 largest of its class in the city. Then came the disas- 
 trous fire of .1871, in which the fortunes of so many 
 Chicago citizens perished. The firm of J. W. Doane 
 & Co. was involved in the general ruin. Mr. Doane, 
 however, was not a man to sit down and lament over 
 his misfortune. On the contrary, he devoted to the 
 task of reconstructing his business an energy and 
 courage surpassing that by which he had built it up. 
 The credit which so many years of strict integrity and 
 honorable dealing enabled him to command was as 
 good as capital at this crisis, and with the assistance 
 of an Eastern friend the firm was soon re-established. ' 
 In a short time their losses were retrieved and the firm 
 was once more prosperous. 
 
 In 1872, Mr. Doane disposed of his interest in the 
 firm to Messrs Fowle & Eoper, and entered into a new 
 field of enterprise. The Chicago merchants in his line 
 had previously been accustomed to replenish their 
 stock in the eastern markets, but Mr. Doane deter- 
 mined to import goods direct from the various produc- 
 ing countries of the world, and his firm was the first 
 Chicago importers of teas and coffees, to which were 
 afterwards added spices and fruits. The first cargo of 
 coffee imported by him was from Rio de Janeiro in 
 1872, by the steamship "Dauntless," via Mobile. The 
 firm has since established a branch house in Rio de 
 Janeiro, through which all its importations from that 
 port are consigned. To this new branch of business 
 Mr. Doane has devoted a large share of his attention, 
 
 and has cultivated it so assiduously that his warehouse 
 is now at the head of western importing houses. 
 
 Since his election to the presidency of the 
 Merchants' Loan & Trust Co., some years ago, Mr. 
 Doane has taken an active and prominent part in the 
 management of the affairs of that institution. On 
 monetary and financial questions he is considered an 
 authority, and his opinions upon such questions are 
 much valued. He is a director in several of our largest 
 commercial corporations, among which may be 
 mentioned the Pullman Palace Car Company. 
 
 During the preliminary discussions in reference to 
 the location of the World's Fair, Mr. Doane was promi- 
 nent and lent valuable assistance, and although taking 
 no active or prominent part before the public, he was 
 instrumental in procuring the wished for legislation by 
 congress. When the committee of the senate at Wash- 
 ington were adopting the World's Fair bill, after its 
 passage by the house of representatives, there was con- 
 siderable opposition to Chicago being developed. Sen- 
 ator Kenna, of West Virginia, insisted upon some 
 written proof of Chicago's ability to make good the 
 promised guarantee of $10,000,000.00, and finally Sen- 
 ator Farwell telegraphed to Chicago for the necessary 
 document. A -written statement sent by Lyman J. 
 Gage, John W. Doane, J. J. P. Odell, and Wirt Dexter, 
 was forwarded to Washington, conveying the assurance 
 of the signers that the subscription fund would be col- 
 lected, and was laid before the committee. This re- 
 moved all doubts and the bill was favorably reported 
 to the senate and passed. 
 
 Mr. Doane was one of the founders and an influential 
 member of the Chicago Club, having twice been elected 
 its president. He occupied this office when President 
 Grant was entertained by the various social clubs of 
 this citv, on his return from his trip around the world, 
 in 1879. Among the foremost of those who extended 
 their hospitality to the ex-president on this occasion 
 was the Commercial Club, who tendered him a banquet 
 at the Grand Pacific Hotel, at which Mr. Doane offici- 
 ally presided, representatives of the Commercial Club 
 of Boston being also present as guests. Mr. Doane 
 has also been a member of the Calumet Club since its 
 organization, and in 1885 succeeded Edson Keith as 
 president of the organization. He is also a member of 
 several other social clubs of Chicago. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Doane is an unswerving Democrat, 
 and some years ago the Democratic clubs of the city 
 used all their influence to induce him to accept the 
 nomination for congress from the first district, but he 
 did not consent until a few days before election day. 
 Nevertheless, he reduced the Republican majority in 
 that district by 6,500 votes, coming within 500 votes of 
 election. His opinions have always carried weight 
 with his party, and in an unobtrusive way he does
 
 206 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 much to strengthen the party organization. Mr. Doane 
 is a member of the Protestant Episcopal communion, 
 and has for a number of terms been chosen as a vestry- 
 man of Trinity Episcopal Church. 
 
 Among the various merchants of Chicago who have 
 carved out splendid fortunes by thnir own endeavors, 
 
 and who have contributed so much to its present great- 
 ness, no one is more deserving of honor, and none can 
 show a more honorable record than J. W. Doane. 
 
 Mr. Doane was married on Nov. 10, 1857, to Miss 
 Julia A. Moulton, daughter of Mr. Josiah Moulton of 
 Laconia, N. II. 
 
 WILLIAM HOUSER GRAY, . 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, William Houser Gray, 
 is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born 
 at Piqua, Ohio, September 23,1847 being the son of 
 Jacob C. and Catherine (Houser) Gray. His father 
 was a contractor and builder, a native of Ohio, and a 
 resident of the same neighborhood (Piqua, Ohio,) for 
 over sixty years. He was a man who stood exceed- 
 ingly high in his locality, and was a deacon of the 
 Baptist church for over fifty-five years, being famil- 
 iarly known as "Deacon Gray," not only in the imme- 
 diate neighborhood, but throughout the State. A 
 great believer in and a practical supporter of every 
 object tending to the advancement of education gen- 
 erally, though the advantages he himself had received 
 were few, he gave all of his children an excellent ed- 
 ucation. He died in 1881 aged 79, beloved and re- 
 spected by all who knew him. 
 
 Our subject's mother is the daughter of the late 
 Jacob Houser, of Dayton, Ohio. She is still living, 
 though at an advanced age, being in her seventy-fourth 
 year, and is happy in the possession of all her faculties, 
 having been able to visit the World's Fair in September, 
 1893. Always identified with the work of the Baptist 
 church, she is a much esteemed member thereof, and a 
 frequent attendant of its various meetings. She has 
 reared a family of six children two boys and four girls 
 Mr. J. H. Gray, of Cincinnati, Ohio, being the other 
 son. It is, perhaps, somewhat interesting to know that 
 no member of this family has ever used tobacco in any 
 shape or form. 
 
 Receiving his early education in and graduating 
 from the Piqua High School, young Gray subsequently 
 entered Denison University, where he remained three 
 years. Upon the completion of his education he assisted 
 his father in his building operations for a time, and 
 afterwards entered the employ of the Lake Erie & 
 Western Railroad Company as civil engineer. Upon 
 the failure of this company, he entered into the lumber 
 business at Piqua-, Ohio, and continued thus engaged 
 until after the great Chicago fire. Disposing of this 
 concern in 1871, he then became connected with a life 
 insurance company. His headquarters were at Indian- 
 apolis. Subsequently, Mr. Gray was transferred to 
 Ohio, and in 1877 he organized the Knights Templar 
 and Masons Mutual Aid Association, of Cincinnati. 
 Ohio, which, under his management, became the leading 
 
 company (of this class), at that time, in the United 
 States. In 1883 he severed his connection with this 
 company, leaving it in a highly flourishing condition^ 
 the result of his splendid organization. 
 
 During the twelve months following he engaged in 
 private business, at the end of which period he came 
 to Chicago, and on May 4, 1884, organized the 
 " Knights Templars & Masons Life Indemnity Company, 
 of Chicago, 111.," and with this corporation, as a 
 director and its general manager, he has been identified 
 ever since. The success with which this company has 
 met, from the time of its organization up to the present 
 date, has been truly phenomenal, for to-day it stands 
 as the guarantee for upwards of twenty-six million 
 dollars of insurance; a result which is mainly attributa- 
 ble to the efficient management and great administra- 
 tive abilities of William Houser Gray. 
 
 Mr. Gray has been active among those who have 
 abided in the development of the natural gas field of 
 Indiana, and owns an interest in that at Noblesville, 
 Ind. He is an extensive owner of real estate, possess- 
 ing 6,000 acres of land in Texas, 700 acres in Indiana, 
 near Indianapolis, 1,000 acres in Illinois, and three 
 houses and lots on the upper end of Dearborn avenue. 
 He conceived the plan and was the originator of the 
 company which removed the old Libby Prison, of 
 Richmond, Va., to Chicago. He was at one period its 
 .treasurer, being in fact the original and sole purchaser 
 of that historic structure. Upon .its being disposed of 
 to the syndicate who now own it, he resigned the 
 position of treasurer after its removal and completion 
 at Chicago. 
 
 He is a member of the Union League and Mar- 
 quette Clubs and is also a member of St. Bernard Com- 
 mandery (K. T.) and other Masonic bodies. 
 
 One who has traveled extensively, his summer 
 vacations are always spent on the coast of Maine, or 
 at his splendid country home near Indianapolis, Ind., 
 and here, together with his family, he enjoys at least 
 once during the twelve months of the year, a thorough 
 change and a much needed rest. 
 
 In matters of religion Mr. Gray is a Baptist, though 
 not an active member of the church. In politics he is 
 a Republican, though in no sense of the word a poli- 
 tician. Married February 17, 1881, to Miss Orpha Ella 
 Buckingham, a graduate of the Mt. Carroll (111.) Semi-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 209 
 
 nary, the union has been blessed by three children, viz : 
 Ina B., aged ten years; Willie B.,aged eight years; and 
 Ralph B , aged four and one-half years. 
 
 An ardent believer in the protective value of insur- 
 ance for all, lie himself carries a large amount of life 
 insurance. 
 
 Mr. Gray was chairman of the "invitation committee" 
 of the sixth and seventh Knight Templars Charity Balls, 
 and chairman of the general committee of the eighth 
 ball, so noted in this city. He is a practical sympa- 
 
 thizer with all objects of'a benevolent nature, and is 
 generous to a fault. 
 
 In personal appearance, Mr. Gray is of medium 
 height, with dark hair and complexion and of magnetic 
 presence. Jn manner he is courteous and refined, an 
 agreeable companion and loyal friend, while in busi- 
 ness affairs he is energetic, prompt and notably 
 reliable. Socially he possesses rare qualities, while as 
 a public-spirited citizen he enjoys the esteem of all 
 who know him. 
 
 WILLIAM BEST, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM BEST was born in the ancient city of 
 Canterbury, England, in 1841, and is the son 
 of William and Mary Ann (Whitehead) Best. Canter- 
 bury was his father's native city, while his mother 
 came originally from Sussex, England. 
 
 Arriving in this country when he was but ten years 
 of age (in 1852), our subject came almost directly to 
 Chicago, and completed his education in the public 
 schools, gaining a good commercial and thoroughly 
 practical education. In 1857 he entered the employ of 
 Messrs. John C. Partridge & Co., wholesale tobacconists, 
 as an office boy, at a salary of five dollars per week. 
 At the end of one year he was promoted, and such 
 was his ability and value to the firm that he finally 
 became a partner in the business. Mr. John C. Part- 
 ridge dying in 187G, Mr. Best became head of the 
 house, and shortly afterward organized the firm of 
 Best, Russell & Co., which succeeded to the business 
 of John C. Partridge & Co. On May 1, 1891, the 
 concern of Best, Russell & Co. was incorporated under 
 the State laws, under the name of Best & Russell Com- 
 pany, Mr. Best being elected president of the same. 
 In 1883, Mr. Best was elected collector of taxes of the 
 town of South Chicago, being nominated without his 
 knowledge or consent. He reluctantly accepted the 
 nomination at the earnest solicitation of his friends, 
 and at the election which followed he ran far ahead of 
 his ticket, and that, too, without any canvassing or 
 solicitation on his part. The bond which he furnished 
 amounted to the immense sum of seven million two 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the seventeen 
 men who signed it represented twenty-four million 
 dollars. It was undoubtedly the largest bond ever 
 given in the West, and worthily evidenced the great 
 confidence and trust reposed in Mr. Best's honesty and 
 integrity, for his bond it must be remembered was 
 signed by business men and not, as is usually the case, 
 by banks, whose recompense it is to have control of 
 all surplus collections. Mr. Best filled his office" until 
 1884, with great ability and satisfaction to the tax- 
 payers, and to his credit be it said he refused to retain 
 the two per cent, usually retained by occupants of this 
 position. 
 
 He was married in August, J865. to Miss Louise C. 
 Sterling, daughter of Isaac B. Sterling, of Chicago. 
 Mr. Best has two children living William and Flor- 
 ence G. Another daughter, Grace L., died at the age 
 of thirteen years. He was apppointed in March, 1886, 
 South Park commissioner, as successor to Mr. Bernard 
 Callaghan. The position came to him -unsolicited, and 
 he consented to accept it only upon the urgent demands 
 of those who recognized his fitness and abilitv. The 
 proposition to extend Michigan avenue boulevard south 
 of Thirty -fifth street was at that time a much discussed 
 topic. Interested parties were greatly at variance in 
 their opinions, and Mr.. Best, though asked to make his 
 views public, with that prudence and honesty which are 
 so characteristic of him, refused to state his views or 
 how he would vote if he became a member of the 
 board until he was thoroughly informed and under- 
 stood the matter in all its,bearings, and to use his own 
 words, "Until I have so informed myself, I will not 
 put myself on record as holding to any opinion or 
 pledge myself to vote either way not for all the 
 offices in the country." This reply was straight for- 
 ward ; it was the reply of a man accustomed to weigh 
 well his motives, and who never promises what he does 
 not intend to perform. His reply pleased the judges, and 
 he was recommended by them as a thoroughly reliable 
 and competent man. He was elected, giving a bond (as is 
 usual) of $50,000. In 1887 Mr. Best was elected pres- 
 ident of the board, and held that position until the 
 expiration of his term, in 1891. He was the unani- 
 mous choice of the Circuit Court judges to succeed 
 himself as commissioner, an action which reflected 
 high honor upon Mr. Best, and has resulted in great 
 benefit to Chicago's park system. 
 
 In September, 1886, he was nominated for the 
 shrievalty of Cook county. His nomination was sub- 
 stantially by acclamation, and was the result of the 
 high esteem in which he is held by the community 
 wherein his active life has been spent. When his name 
 was mentioned for a more desirable place than the 
 sheriff's office, one that would make smaller demand upon 
 his personal attention, Mr. Best was emphatic in his 
 refusal to be considered a candidate. His nomination for
 
 2IO 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the sheriff's office was an expression of the popular wish, 
 and Mr. Best at first made an effort to accede to the 
 popular wish, but on further consideration was forced 
 to withdraw his name. The demands of his extensive 
 business already engrossed so much of his time and 
 attention that to accept this office and still attend to 
 his business affairs must have resulted in great injus. 
 tice to one of those interests. His retirement was 
 marked by the kindliest feeling of his party. 
 
 Politically a Democrat, he is one of the party's 
 staunchest supporters, but his business interests are so 
 great and his time so fully occupied, that he is unable 
 to devote to party organization that attention which 
 he would otherwise be glad to give. 
 
 Socially, he is connected with some of our best 
 clubs, such as the Washington Park, Calumet, Doug- 
 las, Iroquois, etc. He is a Mason of the thirty-second 
 degree, and a member of Apollo Commandery, 
 Knights Templar. 
 
 In religious faith he is a Presbyterian. He is an 
 attendant at the Sixth Presbyterian church, and for 
 
 many years has been a member of its board of trustees. 
 He was chairman of the building committee at the 
 time the present church building was erected at the 
 corner of Vincennes and Oak avenues, and laid the 
 corner stone of the same on Tuesday, July 8, 1879, and 
 has always been prominent in all its affairs. Mr. Best 
 is a stockholder in the "World's Columbian Exposition, 
 and was official proxy-holder of shares subscribed for 
 the same for the purpose of electing directors thereof, 
 and had sufficient proxies which, with his own shares, 
 would have elected him a director, but being president 
 of the South Park board of commissioners, and knowing 
 that the "site" question would come up between the 
 two bodies, he chose to cast his votes for others than 
 himself. 
 
 As a representative of one of Chicago's great com- 
 mercial enterprises, and as a citizen of more than ordi- 
 nary prominence, William Best is well deserving a place 
 in a work which contains the biographies and the his- 
 tory of Chicago's most eminent citizens and representa- 
 tive business men. 
 
 CHARLES EUGENE FLANDRAU, 
 
 ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHARLES EUGENE FLANDRAU, son of Thom- 
 as H. and Elizabeth (Macomb) Flandrau, was 
 born in New York city on the 15th day of July, 1828. 
 His paternal ancestors were Huguenots, who after the 
 noted revocation of the Edict of Nantes, left La 
 Eochelle, France, and joined a colony of their breth- 
 ren who came to America, and settling in Westchester 
 county, New York, founded the town of New Rochelle. 
 The mother of Chas. E. Flandrau was a half-sister of 
 General Alexander Macomb, who was commander in- 
 chief of the United States army from 1828 to 1841, 
 when he was succeeded by General Winfield Scott. 
 
 Thomas H. Flandrau. the father of Charles E., was 
 a graduate of Hamilton College, N. Y.. and a gentle- 
 man of culture, natural talent and many acquirements. 
 When a young man he left New Rochelle and located 
 at Utica, N. Y., where he studied law in the office of 
 Judge Nathan Williams, an eminent and well-known 
 practitioner. After his admission to the bar he formed 
 a partnership with the gifted and accomplished but 
 somewhat erratic American statesman, Aaron Burr, 
 formerly vice-president of the United States, and 
 removed to New York city, where he practiced with 
 Colonel Burr for many years. In 1824 or 1825 he 
 married Elizabeth Macomb, and shortly afterwards 
 returned to Oneida county. N. Y., where he continued 
 in the practice of his profession until his death, which 
 occurred January 2d, 1855. 
 
 The youthful education of the subject of this sketch 
 was received at Georgetown, D. C., but at the tender 
 age of thirteen he decided to enter the United States 
 
 navy, and backed by some friends, applied to Hon. 
 George E. Badger, of North Carolina, then Secretary 
 of the Navy, for a warrant as midshipman. He was 
 one year too young, however, and the appointment 
 could not be made. Still bent on a seafaring life, he 
 immediately shipped "before the mast" in the United 
 States revenue cutter " Forward," on which vessel he 
 served a year, and then shipped in the revenue cutter 
 " Van Buren," where he served another year. He then 
 made several coasting voyages in a merchantman, con- 
 tinuing in this occupation for about three years. 
 Abandoning his intention of becoming a sailor, he, at 
 the age of sixteen, left the sea and returned to George- 
 town, and again entered school. Some months later, 
 however, he left school and went to New York cit}' to 
 "seek his fortune." He found employment in the 
 metropolis in the large mahogany mills of Mahlon 
 Burnell, corner of Pike and Cherry streets, and here 
 he remained three years, becoming very proficient in 
 every branch of the business. He then went to White- 
 boro, N". Y., entered his father's office, and commenced 
 the study of law. After two years of continuous and 
 close application to study he was admitted to the bar 
 in Oneida county, January 7, 1851. He entered into 
 partnership with his father at Whiteboro, and so con- 
 tinued until the fall of 1853. when he determined upon 
 removing to and permanently locating in the then 
 young territory of Minnesota. 
 
 In the latter part of November, 1853, he, in com- 
 pany with Horace B. Bigelow, Esq., landed in St. Paul. 
 They were admitted to the bar and immediately

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 2I 3 
 
 opened an office for the practice of law on Third street 
 under the firm name of Bigelow & Flandrau. At that 
 da}' Minnesota lawyers had a goodly portion of spare 
 time on their hands from the demands of their profes- 
 sion. The former law partner and intimate asso- 
 ciate of Judge Flandrau, lion. Isaac Atwater, in a 
 a well written sketch, which has heretofore been pub- 
 lished in the Magazine of Western History for April, 
 1888, thus describes the situation and narrates certain 
 incidents in the early career of Judge Flandrau in Min- 
 nesota: 
 
 "The practice of law in Minnesota in early days was 
 neither an arduous nor especially remunerative source 
 of business. Some business was furnished by the 
 United States land office, but commerce was in its 
 infancy and the immense and profitable business 
 furnished the profession by the railroads was then 
 wholly unknown. It so happened that during the 
 winter of 1853-4 certain capitalists in St. Paul engaged 
 the services of Mr. Flandrau to make an exploration in 
 the Minnesota Valley and to negotiate for the purchase 
 of property connected therewith, especially of the 
 'Captain Dodd Claim' at what was then called Rock 
 Bend, now St. Peter. His report was favorable to the 
 purchase, and he was so impressed with the prospective 
 advantages of the country that he decided to locate in 
 the valley himself. St. Peter was then unknown. 
 Traverse des Sioux was the only settlement in the 
 vicinity, and consisted of a few Indian traders and 
 their attaches, and a number of missionaries. 
 
 " Here he met Stuart B. Garvie, a Scotchman, who 
 had just been appointed clerk of the district court of 
 Nicollet county by Judge Chatfield, and occupied an 
 office with him. Of course their law business was 
 very limited. The young men were frequently at 
 their wits' end for devices to 'keep the wolf from the 
 door.' Indeed, they did not wish to keep him from 
 the door, in a literal sense. Instead of an enemy the 
 wolf became their friend. They placed the carcass of 
 a dead pony within easy rifle shot of the back window 
 of their office, and this proved a fatal attraction to the 
 prairie rovers. Every night many of them fell victims 
 to the rifles of the young lawyers, who skinned the 
 carcasses and sold the hides for seventy-five cents a 
 piece." 
 
 But happily this state of affairs did not last long, 
 for, according to Judge Atwater, immigration began to 
 pour into the Minnesota Valley with the opening of 
 the season of 1854. In June of that year the first 
 house was built in St. Peter, and for the next five years 
 the settlement of the county progressed rapidly. Mr. 
 Flandrau continued to reside at Traverse des Sioux 
 until 1864. In 1854 he held the office of notary public, 
 was deputy of the county clerk and later was district 
 attorney for Nicollet county. In 1856 he was elected 
 a member of the Territorial Council for a term of two 
 years, but served but one session and resigned the 
 following year. In 1857 he was elected a member of 
 the Constitutional Convention and served in the 
 
 " Democratic branch " presided over by General Sibley. 
 On August 16th, 1856, he was appointed by Presi- 
 dent Pierce the United States agent for the Sioux 
 Indians of the Mississippi. The agencies of these 
 Indians were on the Minnesota river at Redwood, and 
 on the Yellow Medicine river, a few miles from its 
 mouth. The following March he took an active part 
 in the pursuit of Nik-pa-du-ta and his band of Sioux 
 Indians (the perpetrators of the Spirit Lake and Spring, 
 field massacres), and was chiefly instrumental in 
 returning to freedom and friends the unfortunate cap- 
 tives, Mrs. Margaret A. Marble and Miss Abbie 
 Gardner. In conjunction with Rev. Mr. Riggs, Mr. 
 Flandrau issued the somewhat celebrated " Territorial 
 Bond " to obtain money wherewith to reward those 
 who brought back Mrs. Marble. He received Mrs. 
 Marble in person and brought her back to St. Paul, 
 and equipped and sent out and rewarded the Indians 
 who recovered Miss Gardner. Subsequently he headed 
 an expedition of soldiers and volunteers that killed 
 " Roaring Cloud," a son of Nik-pa-du-ta, and made his 
 squaw a prisoner. 
 
 In the year 1857 he resigned his position as Indian 
 agent, and July 17th was appointed by President 
 Buchanan associate justice of the Supreme Court of 
 the Territory of Minnesota. He held several terms of 
 the District Court in various circuits in his district, 
 but owing to the brief period intervening between his 
 appointment and the admission of the State, only one 
 general term of the Supreme Court was held, January, 
 1858, at which he occupied a seat on the bench. He 
 never allowed his personal convenience to interfere 
 with the public interests, and became very popular 
 with the bar, and the communities with which he 
 came in contact. In the convention of the Democrats 
 in 1858, for the nomination of State officers under the 
 constitution that had been framed the same year, 
 Judge Flandreau was nominated for associate justice 
 of the Supreme Court for seven years. The entire 
 Democratic ticket was elected, and upon the ratifica- 
 tion of the constitution by Congress and the admission 
 of the State, early in 1858, he qualified and entered on 
 the discharge of the duties of the office. His record 
 as a jurist is chiefly to be found in the first nine 
 volumes of the Minnesota Reports. His opinions 
 speak for themselves. The first Supreme Court of 
 Minnesota had much important work to do. At the 
 time the State was ver} r new, and pleadings and 
 practice were in a transitional condition. The code 
 had but recently been adopted. Each of the other 
 States had its own precedents and line of decisions, 
 and as they were often conflicting Minnesota uniformly 
 followed none of them. The court had not even the 
 benefit of a systematic line of decisions of the terri- 
 torial bench. In many instances the court was forsed 
 to select from former decisions of other courts certain 
 principles which should govern it in its rulings, but in 
 many other cases it was of more importance that the 
 law should be definitely settled, than was the principle
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 2I 4 
 
 adopted in its settlement. The construction of a large 
 number of statutes was also to be determined for the 
 first time, and from these causes more than ordinary 
 labor was imposed upon the court, compared with the 
 number of cases on the calendar. 
 
 While on the supreme bench Judge Flandrau was 
 the author of some notable decisions and opinions. In 
 November, 1858, he delivered a dissenting opinion from 
 the decision of a majority of the court in the case of 
 the Minnesota and Pacific Eailroad vs. Governor II. H. 
 Siblev, which attracted general attention and has often 
 been the subject of comment. The railroad company 
 had mandamused the Governor to compel him to issue 
 and deliver certain bonds to its agents, and the case 
 had come before the Supreme Court. Judge Flandrau 
 sustained the position of the governor that the State 
 had a right to an exclusive lien upon the roads, lands 
 and franchises of the railroad companies to the amount 
 of the State bonds issued to th'em, and that trust deeds 
 should be filed accordingly. (M. & P. R. R. vs Sibley, 
 2 Minn. Rep. p. 13 et seq.) The adverse decision to 
 Judge Flandrau's opinion,with other causes, led to the 
 well-known repudiation action of the State, with its 
 consequent stigma and the long controversy which 
 resulted, which was finally terminated by the assumption 
 by the State of the greater part of the indebtedness in 
 July, 1860. 
 
 The language of Judge Flandrau's decisions is 
 always plain, simple and clear, vigorous and decided. 
 The decisions themselves are models of perspicuity and 
 judicial soundness. It ought to be borne in mind that 
 all of these decisions were rendered before the author 
 had reached the age of thirty -six years, and many of 
 them while he was yet under thirty. On October 25, 
 1858, Judge Flandrau was appointed by Governor 
 Siblev, Judge Advocate-General of the State, aposition 
 he held during the Governor's administration. 
 
 But distinguished and valuable as was Judge Flan- 
 drau's service in the civil departments of the State of 
 Minnesota, it is in her military history that his name 
 will always be most conspicuously placed, and his mil- 
 itary services will doubtless be the best rememberedj 
 and that in connection with the rising of the Sioux 
 Indians in August, 1862. The outbreak of the savages 
 on the 18th of August was as sudden as the leap of a 
 panther, and far more deadly and cruel. The news 
 reached Judge Flandrau at his residence at Traverse 
 des Sioux at 4 o'clock the following morning, brought 
 by a courier from New Ulm, thirty -live miles away. 
 Flandrau knew the Indian character thoroughly, and 
 knew these Indians particularly well. Appreciating 
 the situation instantly, he put all his women and child- 
 ren into a wagon and sent them to Minneapolis, ninety 
 miles distant. lie then proceeded to St. Peter, a mile 
 distant, where a company of 115 volunteers, some of 
 whom were mounted, was at once raised, armed and 
 equipped as well as possible. On the organization of 
 the company Judge Flandrau was chosen captain, and 
 bv noon was in the saddle at the head of his company 
 
 and on the way to the rescue of the town of New Ulm. 
 History tells the story; the distance, thirty-five miles, 
 was covered just in time. Already 100 savages 
 had attacked the place and a considerable portion 
 of it was on fire. The advance guard of 
 Flandrau and his men galloped in, charged 
 upon and drove off the Indians, extinguished the fire 
 and calmed the terror-stricken people. The citizens 
 hailed Flandrau as their deliverer, and he was unani- 
 mously chosen commander-in-chief of all the forces 
 engaged in the defense of the town. With skill and 
 judgment he prepared to receive the enemy, whom he 
 knew would soon be upon them, and with rare bravery 
 he decided to stand and fight, no matter what the odds 
 or what might be the result. He put his hastily organ- 
 ized men under -the best discipline possible, and 
 strengthened his defenses. In the heart of the town a 
 circular barricade was constructed, within which were 
 placed the women and children, some 1,200 in number. 
 After three days of preparation came the attack. On 
 the evening of the 23rd about 700 well armed Indians, 
 a majority of whom had been besieging Fort Ridireley, 
 attacked New Ulm and Flandrau with his 300 men, 
 mostly armed with hunting rifles and fowling pieces. 
 After two days of continuous fighting, during which 
 the greater part of the town was burned, the whites 
 had ten men killed and fifty wounded, which losses 
 occurred in the first hours of the fight. The Indians, 
 whose loss was presumably greater, retired. The fol- 
 lowing morning, his ammunition and provisions nearly 
 exhausted and still menanced by a largely superior 
 force of savages, Judge Flandrau vacated the town, 
 taking with him 153 wagon loads of women and 
 children, sick and wounded, and a large number on foot 
 and marched in the direction of Mankato, which was 
 reached in safety. 
 
 Judge Flandrau continued in the service for some 
 time after his deliverance of New Ulm. August 20th 
 Governor Ramsey authorized him to raise troops, 
 appoint officers, and to generally perform whatever 
 service he deemed best for the defense of the south- 
 west frontiers. On the 3d of September he was com- 
 missioned by the governor as colonel of State militia, 
 and was given a letter and warrant of authority bv 
 General Pope, then in command of the department. 
 He raised and organized several companies of men, and 
 as commander of the Southern frontier posted them in 
 successions of picket posts from New Ulm to the Iowa 
 line. In October, after the Indians had been driven 
 from the State, and the State and United States forces 
 had been fully organized and were in full control and 
 command of the situation, he turned over the command 
 at South Bend to Colonel Montgomery, of theTwent} 7 - 
 iifth Wisconsin, and resumed the discharge of his 
 official duties. 
 
 In the spriny of 1864 he resigned his position on 
 the supreme bench, and going to the Territory of 
 Nevada, engaged in the practice of law with his for- 
 mer associate. Judge Isaac At water, at Carson and
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 215 
 
 Virginia City. A year later lie went to Washington 
 to attend to the business of the firm before the 
 departments, intending to return to Nevada. But 
 his family were averse to the proposed change of 
 residence, and having received a favorable offer 
 of partnership with Colonel R. II. Musser, of St. Louis, 
 a very accomplished lawyer, he accepted it and located 
 in that city late in 1865. In less than a year, however, 
 he returned to Minnesota, and early in 1867 joined 
 his former partner, Judge Atwater, in the practice of 
 law at Minneapolis. The same year he was elected 
 city attorney of Minneapolis; and in 1868, was chosen 
 the first president of the board of trade of that city 
 under its original organization. In 1870, he removed 
 to St. Paul and formed a partnership with Biglow and 
 Clark. The firm, by reason of changes in its member- 
 ship, is now Flandrau, Squire & Cutcheon, and has 
 always been ranked as one of the strongest in the pro- 
 fession in the Northwest. Its practice of general busi- 
 ness is very large; its clientage most respectable, and 
 its success most marked. Judge Flandrau, the senior 
 partner, preforms his full share of the work done, and 
 was for some time the president of the Ramsey county 
 Bar Association. lie is in the full vigor of his intel- 
 lectual and physical strength, and in appearance re- 
 sembles almost any other character than the veteran 
 lawyer and jurist, which he is. 
 
 In politics Judge Flandrau is a Democrat of the 
 Jeffersonian school. He has never changed his belief 
 in the righteousness and wisdom of the old-time cardi- 
 nal principles, and while keeping in line with his party 
 on the questions of the day, he lias never accepted a 
 theory in contravention of them. 
 
 On more than one occasion he has protested against 
 the action of his party in an orderly and dignified 
 manner, but he has never been denounced as a bolter 
 or considered a "mugwump.'' In 1867 he was the 
 candidate of his part}' for governor of .Minnesota, 
 against General William R. Marshall, but owing to the 
 large Republican majority in the State he was defeated. 
 In 1869, he was also the Democratic candidate for 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but ad verse circum- 
 stances were again too powerful to be overcome and 
 he was defeated by Judge Ripley. Neither of these 
 nominations were sought, however, by Judge Flan- 
 drau, for he never was an office seeker or a place 
 hunter, bu this loyalty to his party, whose principles he 
 believed in, and which had honored him in the days 
 of his prosperity, compelled him to obey its call for 
 service. Personally Judge Flandrau is universally popu- 
 lar. Of large brain and kindly heart, he is interesting 
 and instructive in conversation, courteous and genial in 
 deportment, and affable and agreeable at all times. 
 He is a fluent and forcible speaker, an attractive 
 
 and correct writer, and a gentleman of ripe scholarship 
 and large information. His social qualities are really 
 accomplishments, and these, added to his exalted traits 
 of character, have given him legions of friends and 
 admirers. He is public spirited to an eminent degree, 
 and has always done much in behalf of the national 
 interests and general welfare of his resident community. 
 In all the relations of life, whether as sailor boy, 
 mahogany sawyer, jurist, officer, military leader, sol- 
 dier, citizen and man, he has always been faithful and 
 true, and upon his life work, eventful and varied as it 
 has been, there is not in any part of it the mark of 
 wrong or suspicion of evil doing. 
 
 Judge Flandrau has been twice married. His first 
 wife, to whom he was married August 10, 1859, was 
 Isabella Ramsav Dinsmore, daughter of Colonel James 
 Dinsmore. of Boone county, Ky , and a most beautiful 
 and accomplished lady. She died June 30, 186", leaving 
 two daughters. The elder is now Mrs. Tilden R. 
 Selmes, and the younger Mrs. Frank W. M. Cutcheon, 
 both of St. Paul. On February 28, 1871, he married 
 as his second wife, Mrs. Rebecca Blair Riddle, a 
 daughter of Judge William Mc'Clure, of Pittsburgh, 
 Pa., and to this marriage there have been born two 
 sons. Claries E. Flandrau, Jr., and William Blair 
 Mc'Clure Flandrau, both with their father. 
 
 Judge Flandrau has acquired a moderate estate, 
 and is interested in all the banks in St. Paul but one, 
 and is connected with many other financial enterprises 
 in Minnesota. He is a director in the Merchant's Na- 
 tional Bank of St. Paul, which is presided over by 
 Governor Merriam, and also in the St. Paul Marine 
 and Fire Insurance Company. 
 
 In the year 1891 the State of Minnesota erected a 
 handsome bronze monument on the battle-field of New 
 Ulm to commemorate that event, on which it placed a 
 medallion likeness of Judge Flandrau in demi-relief. 
 In the dedicator}' speech of Governor Merriam on 
 the unveiling of this monument, he .said of Judge 
 Flandrau : 
 
 "I feel assured that I voice your sentiments, as 
 well as that of all the citizens of this commonwealth, 
 when I speak words of commendation or praise for the 
 man whose wise leadership, whose unselfish and heroic 
 actions, defeated the maddened and revengeful fol- 
 lowers of the Sioux chiefs, and drove them back scat- 
 tered and demoralized. His prompt, energetic and 
 faithful services entitled him to the gratitude of our 
 people, and the better to show their appreciation of his 
 loyal services the commission selected to erect this 
 monument properly caused a likeness of his face 
 engraved upon the side of this shaft, a just tribute to 
 the noble part he bore in the contest which occurred 
 here in 1862."
 
 2l6 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY MCANDREWS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY McANDREWS was born at 
 Honesdale, Wayne county. Pa., September 20, 
 1850, being the son of Peter and Sarah A. McAndrews. 
 His father was born in Scotland and educated in Dub- 
 lin. His mother was of English extraction. His father 
 came to the United States in 1840, and became one of 
 the largest building contractors in the East. He con- 
 structed the "Old State Mill," one of the landmarks of 
 Elmira, N. Y., and was accidently killed in its con- 
 struction. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated at his 
 Eastern home, where he early manifested a strong pas- 
 sion for inventing, and his later boyhood and manhood 
 days were spent in experimenting on inventions. 
 When the civil war broke out he enlisted and served 
 throughout the struggle. Returning home he again 
 resumed his work with inventions, but soon entered 
 the railroad service, eventually becoming a detective. 
 In this capacity he has earned considerable reputation. 
 In 1882, he removed to Ohio, and there developed an 
 invention in connection with sanitary improvement, 
 which has since revolutionized old systems of house 
 drainage and sewer ventilation. From Youngstown 
 he removed to Cincinnati, and from there to Lex- 
 ington, Ky., but finally came to Chicago, and here he 
 has probably accomplished the great work of his life, 
 in the invention of his sewing machine attachment. 
 The benefit of this device on any sewing machine is 
 almost incalculable. It compels the machine to start 
 in the right direction every time, thus preventing the 
 breaking of needle and thread, and removing the 
 objections incident to the use of the crank motion. 
 There being no dead center to overcome, the operator 
 
 is not required to use the hand to start the machine; 
 it decreases the hand or motion power 62 per cent; 
 it prevents all dangerous results to the operator from 
 using the sewing machine, because it is a varied motion, 
 as in walking, allowing the operator to take a long or 
 short stroke, exercising or resting the muscles of the 
 limbs at will, without changing the motion of the 
 machine. He has also invented an automatic pump 
 with which to fill the pneumatic tires of bicycles and 
 track sulkies which take in air as they run. This 
 device is placed on the inside of the tire and so ad justed 
 as to keep the space filled all the time. He is now 
 working on an electric light multiplier, which when 
 completed, it is expected, will practically revolutionize 
 the electric light system. It will make one little 
 incandescent light equal to twenty in power and bril- 
 liancy. He has also a system formulated designed 
 to' prevent all dangers of manhole explosions. By a 
 clever contrivance and the use of phosphorous candles 
 he "engages to extract all the foul air from sewers of 
 any size, and at the same time uses such material as 
 accumulates in his device in the manufacture of a 
 superior quality of lubricating oil. He has expressesed 
 himself as willing to place his device in any of the city 
 sewers at his own expense merely in order to obtain 
 this accumulation of matter, knowing that the value of 
 the oil will more than compensate him for any outlay. 
 The name of the firm with which Mr. McAndrews 
 is connected is the World's Patent Office and Business 
 Exchange, and with a man of such inventive genius and 
 business ability at its head, it seems destined to become 
 one of the most prominent firms in the country. The 
 company is located in the Reaper Block, in Chicago. 
 
 VINCENT LOMBARD HURLBUT, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 VINCENT LOMBARD HURLBUT was born June 
 28, 1829, in West Mendon, N. Y. The ances- 
 tors of his mother, Sabrina Lombard, were Vermont 
 people, and his father, Horatio Nelson Hurlbut, is 
 descended from Thomas Hurlbut of Say brook and 
 Westmoreland, Conn., who came to America as early 
 as 1637. His only sister, Arozina Lucinda, now de- 
 ceased, was the wife of Major Toby, an old and 
 highly esteemed citizen and prominent Mason of 
 Chicago. While he was yet a child his parents moved 
 to Jefferson, Ohio. He made good use of the local 
 schools, and was graduated with honor from the Jeffer- 
 son Academy. Choosing the medical profession at the 
 age of 17, he pursued his studies under the guidance of 
 his father, an old and eminent physician, and also 
 
 attended lectures at the medical college at Cleveland, 
 Ohio, where he was the recipient of special attention 
 from Prof. Horace A. Ackley. 
 
 In 1851, going to Chicago with his father, he 
 matriculated at Rush Medical College and was gradu- 
 ated therefrom in 1852. He very soon commenced a 
 practice, the great and continued success of which is 
 shown in the affectionate regard entertained for him in 
 the community. It is shown in such tributes as that 
 paid him by the board of the Woman's Hospital, which, 
 when be would have retired after two years of service 
 as surgeon in that institution, would not accept his 
 resignation, and also in the high rank he holds in medical 
 societies and institutions, both at home and abroad, his 
 relations with all being of the closest and his official
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 219 
 
 position of the most honorable character. Dr. Hurl- 
 but is a member of Chicago Medical Society, Chicago 
 Medico-Legal Society, Illinois State Medical Society, 
 and the American Medical Association. 
 
 Catholicity is what Emerson calls culture. Cer- 
 tainly ' Dr. llurlbut is eminently possessed of it. 
 Standing in the foreground of his profession, he is a 
 close student of new discoveries and progress in the 
 science of medicine, and yet finds time to devote to 
 many other branches of popular interest and inquiry. 
 He has given much attention to the rise, character and 
 progress of Freemasonry, is an enthusiastic member, 
 and in the highest station which the craft affords has 
 gained a national reputation. Previous to the great 
 Chicago fire of 1871, he had collected one of the finest 
 Masonic libraries in the country, containing many rare 
 volumes, which were lost and can never be recovered. 
 Dr. Hurlbut first became a Mason in 1860, in Wauban- 
 sia Lodge, No. 160, and during the same year was 
 exalted to the degree of Royal Arch in Washington 
 Chapter, No. 43. He was created a Knight Templar 
 in Appollo Commandery, No. 1, and afterward in the 
 Occidental Consistory and its co-ordinate and subor- 
 dinate bodies, took the Scottish Kite degrees to the 
 thirty-second, inclusive. The thirty-third degree he 
 took at Boston, Mass., in the Supreme Council of 
 Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General of the thirty-third 
 and last degree of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for 
 the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States 
 of America; Grand East, Boston, Mass., north latitude 
 12 21' 22" ; east longitude 5 59' 18", in the annual 
 session on the 6th day of the month Gyzar, 5626, an- 
 swering to the 18th day of May, 1865. 
 
 Since his connection with the Masonic fraternity, 
 Dr. llurlbut has filled the most important positions, 
 being in 1863-64 and in 1867 Commander of Apollo 
 
 Commandery of Knights Templar, and also Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Occidental .Sovereign Con- 
 sistory of Chicago, as well as charter member and 
 official of the Royal Order of Scotland, and charter 
 member and Master of St. Andrew Lodge. In 1867 
 he was elected Grand Commander of the State of 
 Illinois, holding office one year, and for a term of 
 three years, beginning with 1870, was Illustrious 
 Deputy of. the Supreme Council, thirty-third degree, 
 for the district of Illinois. Finally, in 1871, he was 
 elected Grand Generalissimo of the Grand Encamp- 
 ment of Knights Templar, at Baltimore, and on the 
 expiration of this term, in 1874-, was elected Deputy 
 Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights 
 Templar, at New Orleans. In 1877 he was elected 
 Most Eminent Grand Master of the Grand Encamp-' 
 ment, K. T., U. S. A., for three years at Cleveland, 
 Ohio. Dr. Hurlbut has never married, being devoted to 
 his studies and the duties of his profession. Neverthe- 
 less he is a man of fine social qualities, having been for 
 years a notable figure at the famous game dinners 
 given by Mr. John B. Drake, of the Grand Pacific 
 Hotel, of Chicago. He was brought up in the Con- 
 gregational church, but is now a Universalist, and in 
 his religious belief liberal, conscientious and firm. 
 
 As to the personal character of Dr. Hurlbut, we 
 quote from a more extended article by Henry H. 
 Hurlbut, of Chicago: "In the prime of manhood, 
 affable, genial and intelligent, unselfish and generous 
 to a fault, he is the royal prince of companionship and 
 fellowship and is justly held in high esteem by all who 
 have proved his professional ability." And further, 
 and aside from all professional merit, let it be said that 
 in this man, so warmly patriotic, so gentle-hearted and 
 unostentatious, we recognize a noble representative of 
 American chivalry and liberal culture. 
 
 H. C. CHATFIELD-TAYLOR, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IT is eminently proper that we should not neglect to 
 give sketches of the rising young men of Chicago, 
 as well as of the older citizens who are self-made men 
 and who have achieved successes in any of the callings 
 or walks of life. Such characters could not be more 
 appropriately headed than with the name of Ilobart 
 C. Chatfield-Taylor, probably the best known of the 
 many leading young men of Chicago, to whose zeal, 
 energy and integrity the future progress of the city 
 will be indebted. 
 
 Mr. Chatfield-Taylor was born in Chicago, on 
 March 24, 1865, son of Henry Ilobart and Adelaide 
 Chatfield-Taylor. Mrs. Taylor was the daughter of 
 Horace Chatfield of Polo, 111. Henry Hobart Taylor 
 was a business man engaged in many enterprises, all of 
 which were made lucrative by his energy. The last 
 
 years of his life were devoted mainly to manufacturing 
 agricultural implements, and he was also one of the 
 original directors of the Elgin "Watch Co., the Com- 
 mercial National Bank of Chicago and other corpora- 
 tions. Young Chatfield-Taylor received his education 
 in Cornell University, from which he was graduated in 
 the class of 1886. His special studies were the sciences 
 and modern languages, but as his inclination lay in the 
 direction of literature, he did not pursue the sciences 
 after leaving college. 
 
 He traveled much in Europe and other foreign 
 countries before and after graduation, spending much 
 time in London and Paris, where he made a study of 
 the higher social life of those cities. 
 
 His first literary work after leaving college was on 
 the weekly paper known as America, which he founded
 
 22O 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 with his own capital. He secured for the paper a strong 
 literary staff, and gave the editorial work his personal 
 attention, which soon brought the new paper to the front 
 for its literary excellence. This enterprise, while it 
 gave the young founder an experience upon which a 
 money value could not be placed, did not prove a profit- 
 able investment commercially. After a two year's 
 trial Mr. Chatfield-Taylor sold out his interest and 
 ceased the work of an editor. His next literary ven- 
 ture was to write, while in Europe, a book entitled 
 "With Edge Tools," which was finished and published 
 after his return. Soon after the publication of his first 
 book he commenced to write his second book, recer.tly 
 published, known as "An American Peeress." Suffici- 
 ent has been given to the world to establish his repu. 
 tation as a writer of society novels. In a critical review 
 of the latter book by a leading journal, the review sa3 T s, 
 " The book is eminently creditable to the author-, and 
 srives assurance of abundant good work from him in 
 
 future. It is a product of American spirit, and an 
 indication of American purpose, one of the best works 
 by an American novelist, as we have had nothing in 
 recent literature superior to it." 
 
 Mr. Chatfield-Taylor has held the office of resident 
 consul representing the Spanish government in Chi- 
 cago, which office, during the World's Fair, brought 
 him into much prominence with Spanish officials and 
 representatives of that government. 
 
 In June, 1890, he was married to Miss Rose Far well, 
 daughter of United States Senator Charles B. Farwell, 
 after which he spent eighteen months in foreign travels, 
 with his wife. He is a man of congenial disposition, 
 pleasing address, quick at repartee, and a fine conversa- 
 tionalist, and from his travels among the wonders of the 
 Old World he lias gained a fund of knowledge and 
 experience that has proved invaluable to him in his 
 literary labors, while personally and socially he possesses 
 most excellent qualities and is universally esteemed. 
 
 LEWIS J. MERRITT, 
 
 DULUTII, MINNESOTA, 
 
 THE Merritt family were originally descendants from 
 the Huguenots, and fled from France to Kent. 
 England to avoid persecution, and the branoh of the 
 family from which our subject is a descendant, came 
 to America and settled in Connecticut early in the 
 Itith century. From Connecticut Thomas Merritt, the 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to 
 Chautauqua county, N. Y. among the very first set- 
 tlers of that region. 
 
 The grand parents of Lewis J. on his mother's side 
 were of English and Irish descent. His great-grand 
 father, on his mother's side served seven years in the 
 Revolutionary war, and died at the age of 100 years. 
 His father was Lewis II. Merritt, the oldest son of 
 Thomas Merritt, and his mother was Hephzibeth 
 (Jewett) Merritt. He was born in Hanover, Chautau- 
 qua county, N. Y., on November 9, 1848. 
 
 The parents moved from Chautauqua county, N. 
 Y., to Warren county, Penn., in the vear 1849 
 and in the year 1853 to Ashtabula county, Ohio. This 
 move was made to secure better school privileges for the 
 family, but in the year 1855 the father went to the head 
 of Lake Superior,whither in tire fall of 1S56 the family, 
 consisting of the mother and eight sons, followed. They 
 settled at Oneota, and here among the tall pines and 
 the Indians commenced to hew out for themselves a 
 home. They were the first or second white family to set- 
 tle on the shores of Lake Superior, in the State of Min- 
 nesota, and upon this spot now stands that thriving 
 city of Duluth, with its harbor teeming with commerce. 
 
 Mr. Merritt foresaw that from its geographical sit- 
 uation, this must make a large city, though shut off, 
 as they were, six months of the year, with no communi- 
 
 cation with the outer world, except bv steamboats in 
 the summer and an Indian trail through to St. Paul in 
 the winter. On this trail occasional mails were carried 
 on the backs of the Indians, but in the year 1857 the Gov- 
 ' eminent cut what was known as the military road from 
 Superior to St. Paul, this being the only town of any 
 note at that time. On this road was placed a stage line, 
 which gave better mail facilities, besides affording a 
 chance of going .to St. Paul. In the year 1870 the St. 
 Paul and Duluth Railway was built, it then being 
 called the Lake Superior and Mississippi. 
 
 During all these years of isolation Mr. Merritt 
 made his living for himself and family by lumbering, 
 and for many years Mrs. Merritt was the only doctor 
 and nurse there was at the head of the lake, often 
 going through storms in winter on dog sleighs and in 
 small boats in the summer to attend the sick, and 
 to-day the name of Mrs. L. H. Merritt is held sacred 
 b} 7 those old settlers to whom she ministered in the 
 time of need. 
 
 In the meantime the children got what education 
 they could at the common school, this being the only ed- 
 ucational advantage available. At the age of thirteen 
 young Lewis commenced working in saw mills, taking 
 jobs sawing laths in summer, and in the winter going 
 to school. At the age of fifteen he shipped as a sailor 
 on board a sailing vessel and followed this occupation 
 four or five years. On Dec. 2(!th; 1869, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Eunice Annette Wood, of Cleveland, Ohio, 
 thev being the first white couple married in St. Lou's 
 county, Minn. In 1871, their daughter Annice was born 
 in the town of Oneota, Minn., and on August 17, 1872, 
 their son Ilulett Clinton Merritt was born.
 
 vs^ 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 223 
 
 In the year 1873, Mr. Merritt went West to aid in 
 building Fort Lincoln in North Dakota, or rather 
 Ouster Barracks, at Fort Lincoln, and in 1874 be 
 moved from Oneota to Atchison county, Mo. Here he 
 engaged in farming until the spring of 1887, when he 
 returned to Duluth, and engaged, in company with his 
 brothers Leonidas, Alfred and Cassius C., in exploring 
 for iron. For three j r ears he was steadily engaged in 
 this business, and the success that he achieved may be 
 seen in the great Missabe Range. This the Merritts 
 first discovered, and opened up there the first mine. 
 Mountain Iron was the first one discovered in Town- 
 ship 58, Range 18, the next being the Biwabik, in Town- 
 ship 58, Range 16, and then the Missabe Mountain, 
 in Township 58, Range 17. These great properties 
 hold the key to the whole iron situation in the North- 
 west. In 1889, Mr. Merritt and his son Hulett C. 
 formed a co-partnership under the firm name 'of L. J. 
 Merritt & Son. Since that time they have achieved 
 great success having amassed a large fortune. 
 
 Mr. Merritt is a director of the Lake Superior Con- 
 solidated Iron Mines, a $30,000,000 corporation which 
 is to the iron mining industry what the Standard Oil 
 Company is to the oil business. The firm of L. J. Mer- 
 ritt & Son are the largest stockholders in this corpora- 
 tion aside from Mr. John D. Rockefeller, who owns the 
 control. 
 
 The rapidity with which Mr. Merritt has amassed 
 his fortune is a marvel and shows his great ability as 
 one of the leading financiers in the Northwest. He 
 has four children, Hulett C., aged twenty-one, Bertha> 
 
 aged seventeen, Lewis N., aged thirteen and Evelyn, 
 aged four years. He has one of the finest homes in 
 Duluth. 
 
 His son, Hulett C. Merritt, although only just attain- 
 ing the age of twenty -one years, is vice-president of the 
 principal corporations controlled by the Lake Superior 
 Consolidated Iron Mines, a director of the Duluth, Mis- 
 sabe and Northern Railway Company, president of a 
 large wholesale house, president of two banks, a director 
 of a third, and is regarded as among the shrewdest 
 financiers of Minnesota. 
 
 Mr. Merritt's credit ranks among the highest of his 
 fellow-citizens and his indefatigable energy and his 
 money have done much to aid in building up the head 
 of the lakes and the great Missabe Range, together 
 with the system of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern 
 railroad. 
 
 He has always voted the Republican ticket and 
 stood unflinchingly by the cause of this the party of his 
 choice. He has for many years been a member of the 
 Methodist church and is one of the most liberal and kind- 
 hearted of men, giving much to the church and to aid 
 the poor. He is a man who is much liked by his fellow- 
 citizens and especially noted for his honesty and fidelity 
 to his friends, and devotion to his family. He is a man 
 of strong will power and of physical energy, has always 
 enjoyed the best of health and has traveled a great 
 deal in his own country. He is a man of fine appear- 
 ance, standing five feet seven and one-half inches in 
 height and weighs 208 pounds. He has dark hair and 
 eyes, and is of a marked character and bearing. 
 
 GENERAL JOSEPH T. TORRENCE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOSEPH THATCHER TORRENCE, son of James 
 and Rebecca Torrence. is a native of Mercer 
 county, Pa., and was born March 15, 1843. His parents 
 were natives of the Ke\ r stone State. Going to Sharps- 
 burg, he was there employed three years by Mr. John 
 P. Agnew, who owned large blast furnaces, and thence 
 went to Briar Hill furnace, in Ohio, where he worked 
 in various capacities, finally learning the blacksmith 
 trade, and rising to the position of assistant foreman 
 before he had reached his seventeenth year. During 
 these years of training he acquired that habit of thor- 
 oughness in everything he undertook that has charac- 
 terized his whole subsequent life. His business, 
 connected with the furnaces, was made a careful study 
 in all its details, and he mastered it both practically 
 and scientifically. 
 
 Upon the opening of the War of the Rebellion 
 young Torrence promptly offered his services, enlisting 
 as a private in Company A, 105th Regiment Ohio 
 Volunteer Infantry. Though young in years, he had 
 a strong and well developed physique, and was natur- 
 ally of a commanding spirit, characteristics which at 
 
 once led to his appointment as a non-commissioned 
 officer. He served faithfully in the numerous engage- 
 ments in which he took part until the battle of Perry - 
 ville, in which he received four wounds, being so 
 seriously disabled that he was granted an honorable 
 discharge from the army. He was afterward given a 
 life pension by the government. Pie recovered suffi- 
 ciently to leave the army hospital and return to Ohio 
 just before the notorious rebel Morgan, with his guer- 
 rillas, had made one of his bold raids into the State, 
 striking terror to the hearts of all Unionists. Though 
 still suffering from his wounds, he promptly took com- 
 mand of a volunteer force and joined in the pursuit 
 which led to the capture of the noted guerrilla and his 
 band. During the next five years he was in the ser- 
 vice of Messrs. Reis, Brown & Berger, at New Castle, 
 Pa., first having charge of their furnaces and later 
 managing the sales of their entire products. The 
 years 1867 and 1868 he spent in traveling through the 
 Southern States on his own account as an expert in the 
 construction of blast furnaces and rolling mills. 
 
 In 1869 he removed to Chicago, being called
 
 22 4 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 thither to take charge of the furnaces of the Chicago 
 Iron Works, and in the following year became con- 
 nected also with tliQ Joliet Iron and Steel Company. 
 In addition to his other duties he superintended the 
 construction of furnaces at Depere, Wis., and Menom- 
 inee, Mich., and later built two improved furnaces for 
 the Joliet Iron and Steel Company, and had charge of 
 them until his resignation, in 1874, after which he 
 becaTne consulting engineer for the Green Bay & 
 Bangor Furnace Company at Chicago. His good 
 judgment, his tact in managing men, his eminent 
 fitness for leadership, and his familiarity with military 
 matters, led to his election, at the solicitation of many 
 of Chicago's prominent men, to the colonelcy of the 
 Second Regiment Illinois Guards, and he was duly 
 commissioned by Governor Beveridge, in 1874. After 
 the law organizing the guards into three brigades took 
 effect, he was recommended to and appointed by Gov- 
 ernor Cullom as brigadier general of the First Brigade 
 of Illinois National Guards. This was just on the eve 
 of the riots at Chicago, in July, 1877. At the request 
 of Mayor Heath, Gen. Torrence established his head- 
 quarters in the office of the chief of police, and at 
 once proceeded to organize cavalry and artillery forces 
 to preserve order, and placed guards at the water and 
 gas works to forestall any attempts of the rioters to 
 destroy them. 
 
 After the disturbance in Market Square Mayor 
 Heath and the city council gave General Torrence 
 authority to clear the street. He had five regiments 
 under his command and a volunteer force of Union 
 veterans who rallied promptly for service. These 
 forces, with Bolton's Veteran Battery, were promptly 
 posted at strategic points such as the corner of Chicago 
 and Milwaukee Avenues; the Harrison Police Station ; 
 at Twelfth Street bridge; the corner of Halsted and 
 Twelfth ; the Halsted Street viaduct, the gas and 
 water works and other points. The point of concen- 
 trated danger was at Halsted street viaduct and 
 vicinity, where on July 26th the immense mob fired 
 upon and threw missiles at Col. Quirk's (Second Regi- 
 ment) men. He promptly ordered his men to fire on 
 the rioters, which checked their ardor for a time ; but 
 fresh demonstrations called out a second volley from 
 his men and quiet reigned during the remainder of the 
 night. Gen. Torrence ordered all the cavalry at his 
 command to the Halsted Street viaduct, took command 
 of it in person and made several successful charges 
 upon the ugly mob, capturing a number of the ring- 
 leaders. The mob was taught that its violence would 
 be met with powder and ball and drawn sabers, and 
 was cowed into submission to the constituted authori- 
 ties. Never did greater danger menace a great city 
 than in those few eventful July days in 1877, and 
 never, probably, did a volunteer military force do 
 better service than was then rendered b\ T the First 
 Brigade under General Torrence. To say that he was 
 master of the situation is high praise, and is only 
 his just due. 
 
 In 1881, Gen. Torrence resigned his command in 
 the National Guard, owing to the pressure of his private 
 duties, and after closing his services with the Green 
 Bay & Bangor Furnace company, he became associated 
 with Messrs. Joseph II. Brown, of Youngstown, Ohio, 
 and Hale, Ayer & Co., of Chicago, in organizing the 
 Joseph II. Brown Iron and Steel company, whose plant 
 on the Calumet river was afterward leased and ope- 
 rated by Mr. Brown's sons and General Torrence. The 
 Calumet Iron and Steel company subsequently pur- 
 chased the works and secured General Torrence as 
 consulting engineer, who also superintended the re- 
 building of the works.' About this time he became 
 interested in the construction of the South Chicago and 
 Western Indiana Railroad and was made president of 
 that company. After purchasing a one-half interest 
 in the rolling mills at Evansville, Indiana, in 1884, he in 
 the following year transferred that business to Ham- 
 mond, Indiana, where a new plant was built. Early in 
 1886 he organized the Chicago & Calumet Terminal 
 Railway company for the purpose of building a railroad 
 around Chicago to facilitate the transfer of east and 
 west-bound freight without bringing it into the city. 
 In May, 1887, he organized the Calumet Canal and 
 Improvement company, with a capital of two millions 
 of dollars, and also the Standard Steel and. Iron com- 
 pany, with a capital of five millions. Under the first 
 named company title to some eight thousand acres of 
 land in Indiana, between Calumet river and Lake 
 Michigan, was secured, and under the last named was 
 secured title to about one thousand acres in Lake county, 
 which, under General Torrence's plans, were afterward 
 laid out as the town of East Chicago. As a part of 
 this plan, realizing the need of a permanent waterway 
 for Governmental purposes, he secured to the United 
 States, without cost ,a strip of land two hundred feet 
 wide, extending from the Calumet river northwesterly 
 to Lake Michigan, with a branch running westerly 
 connecting George Lake, Wolf Lake, Calumet river and 
 Lake Michigan. In 1890, he organized the Chicago 
 Elevated Terminal company, the purpose of which was 
 to construct an elevated road with sufficient capacity 
 to meet the requirements of numerous railoads enter- 
 ing Chicago. Of all these various organizations formed 
 by him, he has been president. He, however, sold his 
 interest in the Chicago & Calumet Terminal Railroad, 
 and resigned from the presidency of the Calumet Canal 
 and Improvement company, and the Standard Steel 
 and Iron company, in the fall of 1890. 
 
 Aside from his large business enterprises, General 
 Torrence has always shown a commendable interest in 
 public affairs. As an ardent Republican, although in 
 no sense a politician, or office seeker, he is prominent 
 in the counsels of his party. He is a man of com- 
 manding appearance, capable of close and prolonged 
 application, and has executive and organizing talents 
 of a very high order, that fit him for planning and 
 prosecuting enterprises of vast magnitude. His habits 
 are simple, and he has always abstained from the use
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 225 
 
 of intoxicants and tobacco. His enterprises have 
 yielded him an ample fortune, and he is counted among 
 the most prominent and substantial business men of 
 the West. On September 11, 1872, he was married to 
 Miss Elizabeth Norton, the accomplished daughter of 
 the late Jesse O. Norton, of Chicago. One daughter, 
 Jessie Norton Torrence, now Mrs. Kinsley Magoun,has 
 blessed this union. The sudden death of Mrs. Torrence 
 on October 12, 1891, the result of an accident while tak- 
 ing a drive with her daughter, was a severe blow to 
 her husband and the familv and a wide circle of 
 
 devoted friends. General Torrence is, in his per- 
 sonality, a commanding figure. The magnetic in- 
 fluence which he has over men is due, no doubt, in 
 no small degree to his willingness to do himself what- 
 ever he requires of others. He is a leader in every- 
 thing that he undertakes, his temperament and 
 character soon bringing him to the front where his 
 great executive ability has a fair chance to make itself 
 felt. He is generous to a marked degree, and his 
 hand is always open to help where help is well 
 deserved. 
 
 HARLOW N. HIGINBOTHAM, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HARLOW N. HIGINBOTHAM is a native of 
 Illinois, having been born at Joliet, on October 
 10, 1838. His parents were Henry D. and Rebecca 
 (Wheeler) Higinbotham. They were both natives of 
 Oneida county, N. Y., whence they removed to their 
 Western home, settling on a farm near Joliet, 111., 
 in 1834. By thrift and economy they accumulated a 
 liberal competence and were both esteemed for nobility 
 of character. The father died at Joliet in 1865, and the 
 mother in 1888. 
 
 Young Higinbotham passed his boyhood on his 
 father's farm and there developed a vigorous constitu- 
 tion and acquired habits of industry and temperance, 
 that have characterized all his subsequent career. He 
 attended the common schools in boyhood and later 
 took a short course of study at Lombard University, at 
 Galesburg, 111., and also took a course in a Chicago 
 business .college in 1856. At the close- of his business 
 course, in 1856, he became a clerk in the Will County 
 Bank at Joliet. He afterwards was employed in the 
 Joliet City Bank, whence in 1859, he went to the bank 
 of .Oconto. Wis., as assistant cashier, and remained 
 there until April, 1861, when he removed to Chicago, 
 and took a position with the dry goods firm of Cooly, 
 Farwell & Co., as entry clerk and assistant bookkeeper. 
 
 In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Mercantile 
 Battery as a private soldier, but soon afterward v> as 
 transferred to the chief quartermaster's office and 
 served as chief clerk of the department of the Ohio, 
 in Kentucky and Tennessee, until Februar} 7 , 1863. 
 Thence he was transferred to Ohio where he was em- 
 ployed in adjusting the quartermaster's accounts under 
 assistant Quartermaster-General Thomas Swords. After 
 completing his work there he was sent to Mainsburg 
 and thence to Hagerstown, Maryland, serving as chief 
 clerk to Quartermaster Gillam until December, 1864, 
 when he closed his service in the army and returned to 
 Chicago 
 
 In January, 1865, he secured a position as book- 
 keeper, with the house of Messrs. Field, Palmer & 
 Leiter, where the value of his services was soon rec- 
 
 ognized and he was steadily advanced from one position 
 of trust and responsibility to another in that extensive 
 house, until, in 1878, he was admitted as a partner in 
 the firm. Ever since his influence has been widely felt 
 in shaping its course, in managing its affairs and in 
 promoting its marvelous success and growth. Endowed 
 with talents of a high order, and trained to correct and 
 prompt business methods, thoroughly conversant with 
 the development of business interests throughout the 
 West and a good judge of men, his management of the 
 credits of his house, was sucli that the best results were 
 secured both to the house and to its customers. Many 
 firms throughout the West, now prosperous and thrifty, 
 owe their success to his advice and encouragement 
 during their early struggles. 
 
 During all these years Mr. Higinbotham has been 
 decidedly a man of affairs, and outside of the great 
 dry goods house with which he is connected, his influ- 
 ence for good has been far-reaching. With high- 
 minded, open-hearted and cheerful generosity, he has 
 given liberally of his time, energy and money to 
 causes tending to the public good. He has been espec- 
 ially active in educational, charitable and religious 
 enterprises, where, as in business and financial circles, 
 his far-seeing and practical wisdom have led to the 
 most happy results. Largely through his untiring ef- 
 forts the Chicago Home for Incurables secured its com- 
 fortable home on Ellis avenue, near Fifty-fifth street, 
 in Hyde Park, with an endowment fund of $600,000. 
 For twelve years he served as its president. Another 
 worthy charity in which he has always taken com- 
 mendable pride is the Newsboy's and Bootblack's As- 
 sociation of Chicago. He served fourteen years as a 
 director and as treasurer of this institution, and was 
 mainly instrumental in placing it on a firm financial 
 basis, when for lack of money its very existence was 
 imperiled. He is also a director of the Chicago Free 
 Kindergarten Association, trustee of the Northwestern 
 University, and of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal 
 Church of Chicago. In religious faith Mr. Iliginbotham 
 is a Universalist, but, with that liberality which has
 
 226 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 always characterized him, his work and giving are not 
 limited by denominational lines; but every church and 
 organization having in view the elevation and better- 
 ment of mankind enlists his most cordial sympathy 
 and support. By the joint contributions of himself 
 and one of his friends, who also is known for his liber- 
 ality, the chapel of St. Paul's Universalist Church was 
 built; and as an acknowledgment of his generosity the 
 name of his deceased daughter was given to "Marie 
 Chapel," a mission of Trinity Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 Mr. Higinbotham is also a director of the Northern 
 Trust Company, of Chicago. He was active in secur- 
 ing the location of the World's Columbian Exposition 
 at Chicago, and ever since its inception has given of 
 his time and moans without stint to furthering its 
 interests. He was formerly a member of the local 
 directorate, but upon the resignation of Mr. William 
 T.' Baker from the presidency, he was elected to that 
 office, a position for which he was indeed eminently 
 fitted. 
 
 Although he has always been a busy man, he has 
 found time to indulge his taste for books, and to keep 
 himself in touch with the trend of current thought. He 
 
 has one of the largest and best selected private 
 libraries in Chicago, and is well versed in the standard 
 works of history, biography, fiction and 'poetry. On 
 the occasion of the first anniversary celebration of the 
 Johet Steel Works Club, December 20, 1890, he deliv- 
 ered an address on "Patriotism," which for clearness, 
 conciseness and earnestness of sentiment might well 
 serve as a model. In recognition of its educational 
 worth, the publishers of "America " printed the address 
 in full, as a leader, in the issue of January 1. 1891. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Higinbotham married Miss liachael D. 
 Davidson, of Joliet. Of six children born to them, two 
 sons and two daughters survive. 
 
 Notwithstanding his multitude of cares and the 
 constant demand upon his time and energies, Mr. Hig- 
 inbotham has not neglected his social nature. He is a 
 man of strong domestic tastes, and in his own home, 
 surrounded by those dearest to him, with every com- 
 fort that a cultivated taste can suggest or wealth pro- 
 cure, he finds his highest enjoyment. In all his rela- 
 tions his demeanor is characterized by a becoming 
 'modesty, and his bearing is that of one conscious of 
 the true dignity of life, and who realizes that he does 
 best who does most to help his fellow-men. 
 
 AUGUSTUS LISBON STONE, 
 
 CLINTON, IOWA. 
 
 A UGUSTUS LISBON STONE, son of Aaron and 
 /i. Amanda (Parsons) Stone, was born in Camden, 
 N. Y., June 8, 1836. On the paternal side his 
 ancestors came from London, England, in 1635 and 
 settled near Boston, Mass. His mother's family, the 
 "Parsons" came from Oxfordshire, England, with 
 William Pynchon, in 1631, and with him founded the 
 first colony at Springfield, Mass. The motto "Haud 
 Unquam Cedo" inscribed upon the scroll of the Par- 
 sons' coat of arms, which was bestowed by Charles I, 
 indicates a family characteristic which was displayed 
 in the New England descendants through successive 
 generations. 
 
 The Stone family, including Aaron Stone and his 
 wife, moved from New England to the new settlement 
 at McConnellsville, N. Y., which was so named by 
 Isaac Stone, its first postmaster and grandfather to 
 the subject of this sketch. The family afterwards 
 moved to Camden, five miles further on, which was a 
 more promising locality. Aaron and Amanda Stone 
 had three children, of whom Josiah Parsons Stone and 
 Augustus Lisbon Stone survived. 
 
 The two boys attended the villiage schools, and 
 worked hard to help their parents, and their parents 
 strained every energy to give both their sons a good 
 education. The village printing office which issued 
 a weekly paper, attracted the boys, and there they 
 worked at odd hours, earning pocket money, and add- 
 
 ing much to their early education by their association 
 with journalistic work. 
 
 The eldest son, Josiah P. Stone worked his way 
 through college and was admitted to practice law, 
 which he did until the commencement of the war, 
 when his patriotism impelled him t6 enter into the 
 struggle. He raised a company of volunteers, went 
 into service as captain and fought with great gallantry 
 until killed in the memorable siege of Petersburg, Vir- 
 ginia, in 1864. 
 
 Augustus Lisbon Stone, followed somewhat in the 
 same line, working and attending school, finally at the 
 Academy in Koine, N. Y. While in his academic 
 course, he was called home at seventeen years of age 
 to help his father, whom President Pierce had appointed 
 post-master. Here for eight years he labored in 
 the store and post-office combined, and for the first 
 time in the history of his own family, the accumulation 
 of property began. 
 
 During these and after years he studied, sometimes 
 employing tutors, but generally unaided. He has 
 substantially educated himself, and in practical results, 
 well and liberally. His library, which is exceptionally 
 large, is of decided merit in educational lines. 
 
 In 1864 he wedded Kittle Angell of Pulaski, N. Y., 
 who is a descendant of General Nathaniel Green, and 
 also of the family of Hempsteads, early settlers of 
 Long Island. Four children were born to them, two
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 229 
 
 of whom survive Martha Anna and Euby Elizabeth, 
 Kittle Parsons having died in infancy, and Katie 
 Angell at the age of seven years. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Stone founded, with his cousin, A. G. 
 Smith, the banking house of Stone & Smith in Clinton, 
 Iowa. A singleness of purpose, a desire to make the 
 bank a thoroughly reliable and substantial institu- 
 tion, impelled him at every solicitation to decline places 
 in public and political life, believing his bank should be 
 distinctive and separate from associated individuality 
 in its officers. Notwithstanding his rule, occasions 
 have demanded, and he has accepted places of trust. 
 He accepted the office of Mayor of his municipality 
 where he lives, having a unanimous, vote. In schools, 
 he has been elected several times to the directory, 
 without opposition. He has been vestryman for many 
 years in the Episcopal church. In various corpora- 
 tions he has place in boards of directors. The Stone 
 & Smith bank resolved into the City National Bank in 
 1S80, and is the largest in business and strength in the 
 section where located. He has been its president since 
 
 its organization. Mr. Stone is a good represent- 
 ative of the class of men who have redeemed what 
 was such a short time back a vast wilderness and 
 turned it into fair cities and fertile farms. The distin- 
 guishing traits of his ancestors early showe'd them- 
 selves in his character. His undaunted determi- 
 nation to obtain an education, even under the most 
 adverse circumstances, being the same spirit that 
 enabled the early pilgrims to conquer the stubborn 
 rocks and hills of New England. This has been char- 
 acteristic of the man during his entire life. Careful, 
 energetic, and a capable business man, he enters into an 
 enterprise only after mature deliberation, but once he 
 has undertaken to accomplish an object he pushes 
 steadily on, overcoming all obstacles until his work is 
 crowned with success. Throughout Iowa he is univer- 
 sally known and respected, while his reputation as a 
 careful and capable financier, reaches far beyond the 
 boundaries of his home State. To him and to others 
 of similar character the West owes much of her present 
 greatness and prosperity. L. J. G. 
 
 COLONEL WILLIAM P. REND, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM P. REND is a native of County 
 Leitrim, Ireland, and was born February 10, 
 1840. His father, Ambrose Rend, was a substantial 
 farmer, while his mother, Elizabeth (Cline) Rend, was 
 a daughter of Mr. Hugh Cline, who for years was the 
 steward of one of the largest and oldest estates in Ire- 
 land. His parents removed to this country, and settled 
 in Lowell, Mass., when William was seven years old. 
 Here he acquired his education, graduating from the 
 high school of that city at the age of seventeen. Hav- 
 ing gained considerable experience in the dry goods 
 line, during evenings and holidays while resident at 
 home, he decided, upon leaving school, to go to New 
 York city. Arriving there with but scanty means, he 
 vainly tried to obtain a position and went over to New 
 Jersey, determined to accept whatever might offer 
 itself. His perseverance was rewarded by securing a 
 position as school teacher in the city of New Brooklyn, 
 which position he occupied fora year. Resigning his 
 position at New Brooklyn he went to visit a friend in 
 Baltimore, where he heard of a school near West River, 
 Anne Arundel county, Md.. which wanted a teacher. 
 Applying for the position his application being one of 
 seventy he was selected to fill the vacanc\ r , and 
 remained here over three years, his pupils being princi- 
 pally the children of prominent and wealthy slave- 
 holders, and proprietors of large plantations. He spent 
 his evenings and other spare time in classical studies, 
 with a view of entering an advanced class in a neigh- 
 boring college. From the president of St. John's 
 
 College he received much assistance, valuable advice, 
 and much practical aid and sympathy it being young 
 Retv.l's custom to ride to and fro (a distance of over 
 ten miles), on Saturday afternoon, for this purpose, in. 
 tending to complete his studies, and to eventually 
 occupy a superior position. About this time, however, 
 the war broke out. His most intimate friends and 
 associates were slave-holders. He liked the Southern 
 people, and yet abhorred secession. Upon the 
 firing on Fort Sumter, he decided to give up 
 his position as teacher and join the Union forces, re- 
 ceiving from the governor of Maryland permission to 
 organize a company at Annapolis. But at that time 
 Union sentiment generally was very weak in this local- 
 ity, and his recruiting efforts did not meet with success. 
 Still determined to do what he could, and to aid the 
 Union cause, for whose supremacy he was willing to 
 risk his life, he went to Washington, and here joined 
 the Fourteenth New York Volunteer Infantry regiment, 
 previous to the first battle of Bull Ron, with which he 
 remained until the expiration of his term of enlistment, 
 serving most of his time as a non-commissioned officer. 
 He was in a number of the most prominent battles in 
 which the Army of the Potomac was engaged, 
 including Hanover Court House, the second Bull Run, 
 Mechanicsville, Gaines Mills, Malvern Hill, and the 
 battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, 
 and before Yorktown. His many hair-breadth escapes 
 and the incidents and dangers through which our young 
 soldierat this time passed, would fill a larger space than
 
 230 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 we now have at our disposal. His time of enlistment 
 having expired, he was final!} 7 mustered out of service, 
 afterwards pay ing a brief visit to his friends in Massa- 
 chusetts.. 
 
 He soon after came to Chicago, arriving here during 
 the latter part of the war, and the day following 
 secured a position in the surveyor's department of a 
 railroad company locating a line from Madison to 
 Winona. When winter necessitated the abandonment 
 of the survey until the following spring, young Rend 
 returned to Chicago, and soon secured a position in the 
 freight depot of the Northwestern Railway Company, 
 being appointed foreman of this department. While 
 here, in conjunction with the cashier of this depot, he 
 started a line of teams for hauling freight, which 
 soon, largely owing to his connection with the railroad, 
 increased so as to demand his whole time and attention. 
 Finding his capital increasing, he decided to embark in 
 the coal trade, taking a partner, Mr. Edwin Walker, 
 who has been for over twenty j'ears intimately con- 
 nected with him. It was not long before the firm of 
 W. P. Rend & Co. became the largest engaged in the 
 soft coal trade in the whole West. The business of 
 the firm developed, until it was found advisable to 
 open up and operate mines in Ohio and Pennsylvania, 
 in order to keep pace with the extensive demands of 
 the business. Mr. Rend has become, personally, the 
 proprietor of three' of the largest mines in western 
 Pennsylvania, owns a half .interest in three and a whole 
 interest in two mines in Ohio, and is half owner of 
 two others in Pennsylvania, whose combined output 
 gives employment to over two thousand men. The firm 
 and himself combined, own nearly eighteen hundred 
 freight cars used in the transportation of their product. 
 The total output of their mines exceed one million 
 tons per annum, their shipments extending to Canada 
 and to all the West and Northwest. The firm has for 
 several years supplied some of the railroads with all 
 the coal used on their lines, and has done the same for 
 many large manufactories. Besides the interests al- 
 ready named, Mr. Rend is extensively engaged in the 
 production of natural oil from several wells sunk on 
 his property in Western Pennsylvania. 
 
 Several years ago Mr. Rend was elected by the 
 second regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry as lieuten- 
 ant-colonel of this regiment, and this position he held 
 for a number of years. 
 
 Notwithstanding the heavy demands of business 
 upon his time, Colonel Rend has given much attention 
 to matters connected with the public good. He is 
 prominent in temperance reform, though believing 
 more in the effects of moral suasion than in compul- 
 sory and legal means. It was at his suggestion that 
 Bishop Ireland, of St. Paul, sent Father Cotter (now 
 Bishop of Winona) on a temperance crusade through- 
 out Ohio and Indiana, with the result that seventeen 
 thousand took the pledge, while upon Father deary's 
 continuation of this good work, over seventy-two thou. 
 sand names were added to the temperance cause, the 
 
 whole expense of which crusade was borne by Colonel 
 Rend. Of much literary ability, Colonel Rend is a fre- 
 quent contributor to the press, on political and other sub- 
 jects of a public nature, while he is extremely fond of 
 mathematical subjects, and reads the Latin classics, in 
 the original, with ease and fluency. Politically he is 
 independent, but at a time was prominently identified 
 with the Republican party. He is a believer in men and 
 measures rather than in party. Frequently approached 
 with a view to nomination for the mayoralty and other 
 prominent positions, he has hitherto steadily declined 
 to allow his name to be used in this connection. 
 
 By virtue of his position he has become prominent 
 in attempting the solution of the vexed questions 
 between employer and employed, and has so judic- 
 iously treated these problems that, to a great extent, 
 friendly intercourse between the miners and employers 
 throughout the coal regions in many States has been 
 established. He is a strong believer in arbitration and 
 councils of conciliation, as opposed to lock-outs and 
 strikes. He was the first president of a meeting held 
 some years ago for this purpose, and sent the first 
 address that was ever issued in behalf of this move- 
 ment, and by his speeches and writings in the 
 public press has helped, to no small extent, to mold a 
 sentiment favorable to this solution of the problem. 
 This movement has prevented many strikes and labor 
 conflicts in Western Pennsylvania and throughout 
 Ohio in nearly' all of the leading mining districts. His 
 efforts to treat labor with perfect fairness have resulted 
 in winning the confidence of the miners generally, as 
 shown by their selection of him to represent them on 
 various occasions where arbitration was resorted to. 
 Several years ago one of the most bitter struggles that 
 has ever taken place between capital and labor occurred 
 in the Hocking Valley region of Ohio. Taking sides 
 with the men, believing them at the time to be in the 
 right, he had as opponents forty coal operators, backed 
 up by a number of railroad companies, and in particular 
 the Hocking Valley Railroad Company, which under- 
 took to punish and balk him by refusing to allow him 
 cars, by advancing the freight rates, and otherwise 
 restricting his business operations. Col. Rend was not 
 the man to be beaten when in the right, and he 
 promptly petitioned the federal courts for and obtained 
 a mandatory injunction compelling the railroad com- 
 pany to furnish him cars on the usual terms, and com- 
 pelled the company to recognize his rights and to pav 
 that due respect to his interests which the magnitude 
 of his operations warranted. 
 
 In personal appearance Col. Rend is of medium 
 height, robust build and somewhat fair complexion, and 
 is of a sanguine nervous temperament. The strong points 
 of his character are keen foresight, a clear perception ; 
 great executive ability, indomitable will, untiring 
 energy and unswerving integrity. 
 
 In his religious affinities he is a Catholic, but is well 
 known for his freedom from religious prejudice, as a 
 hater of bigotry in every form, and one who abhors
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 religious controversy and every thing which tends to 
 create animosity and ill-feeling between citizens and 
 people of a common country. 
 
 Col. Kend was married December 27, 1864, to Miss 
 
 231 
 
 Elizabeth C. Barry, born in Nova Scotia and of Irish 
 parentage. Their home at 153 Ashland avenue is noted 
 for its elegance and comfortable surroundings, and for 
 the hospitality of its occupants. 
 
 JAMES BIRNEY HARSH, 
 
 CRESTON, IOWA. 
 
 JAMES BIRNEY HARSH, son of Daniel and 
 Nancy (McKee) Harsh, was born in Clinton county ? 
 Ohio, on the eighth day of September, 1845. He was 
 named after James G. Birney, the Abolition candidate 
 for the Presidency in 1844. His father was a member 
 of the Harsh family so well known and highly esteemed 
 in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and his mother is of Scotch- 
 Irish descent. "When James was four years old his 
 father died, and his mother removed her family to 
 Illinois, where she. being a capable business woman and 
 of indomitable spirit, engaged in farming in a small 
 way and made a success of it. He received his educa- 
 tion at the district school and by dint of hard study 
 and perseverance, so far advanced himself that when 
 he was sixteen years of age he was competent to teach 
 school in winter and to work on a farm during the 
 summer months; but later he was employed in the 
 larger schools in villages and towns and in some places 
 acted as principal. During this period of his life he de- 
 voted his spare time to study ; principally to the study 
 of law. 
 
 In 1863, young Harsh enlisted in the union army, 
 but was sent back on account of his youth, but not 
 being discouraged, he again enlisted in February, 1865, 
 as a private in Company K, 148th Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry. With this company he served until it was 
 mustered out at the close of the war, having been in 
 the meantime promoted to orderly sergeant. 
 
 He taught school again during the winter of 1865, 
 and in the spring of 1866 entered Lombard Universit\ r , 
 at Galesburg, 111., as a student, part of the time 
 teaching in Hayes Business Institute, in that city. In 
 the winter of 1866-7, he started the Western Business 
 College at Galesburg, and served as president until the 
 fall of 1870, when he went to Creston, Iowa, settling 
 in that place on the twentieth of December. Here he 
 opened an office for the practice of law, and also for 
 the sale of real estate, and in 1872, the sign "Bank" 
 appeared on the front of his office. In 1873, he 
 founded the Creston Gazette, a daily and weekly news- 
 piper, in which he has been interested ever since. lie 
 organized and was made president of. what is now 
 known as the Creston Loan and Trust Company, in 
 1S75. He is also president of the Creston National 
 Bank, which he started as a private bank, without 
 capital as above stated, in 1872, and which now has the 
 largest capital of any bank in that section of the 
 country. He is also president of the Creston Public 
 
 Library, a trustee of Lombard University, at Galesburg, 
 111., and of the Afton (Iowa) Normal School, and was 
 continuously a member of the Creston school board 
 uutil he resigned in 1876. He organized and was first 
 president of the organization known as the Blue Grass 
 League of Southwest Iowa, and of Creston District 
 Agricultural Fair and Blue Grass Palace, and was also 
 mayor of the city of his home several times. He was 
 also president of the organization known as Southwest 
 Iowa and Northwest Missouri Veterans' Association, 
 which held its great reunion at Creston in 1882, on 
 which occasion Gen. Phil. Sheridan made the only 
 speech of his life. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Harsh was elected to the Iowa State 
 Senate, after a hard fight, and in 1891 was re elected 
 for another term of four years. He only consented to 
 this because the part}' managers represented to him 
 that he was the only man who could hold the district 
 for the Republican party. 
 
 He with his wife and daughter are members of the 
 Universalist church, Galesburg, 111., there being no 
 church of that denomination in Creston. 
 
 He was married to Miss Anna E. Slater, daughter 
 of Dr. S. D. Slater, of Galesburg, III, in July, 1869. 
 Of the three children born to them one died in early 
 childhood, and the son, Samuel D., in March, 1893. 
 The latter was a graduate of Lombard University, 
 afterwards editing the Creston Gazette, and was prom- 
 inent in the educational, religious and political circles 
 of Iowa, Illinois, and the country at large, being every 
 where recognized as an exceedingly bright and talented 
 young man. Grace S., the daughter, graduated from 
 Lombard University in 1892 with unusually high honors 
 and is now with her parents at their home in Creston. 
 
 To say that James B. Harsh is a self-made man 
 would only be a repetition of what has been apparent 
 in every phase of his career. At a very early age he 
 had to commence work to help his widowed mother. 
 Later, by a combination of farm work and school 
 teaching, he managed to complete his education, not- 
 withstanding the break occasioned by his service in the 
 army. All through his business career he has shown 
 the same strong will to overcome obstacles that was 
 characteristic of him in his early life. To-day, in the 
 prime of life, he is known and honored, not only in his 
 own community, but throughout the great State of 
 which it is a part. Prominent in religious, educational, 
 political and financial circles, there is no place within
 
 232 
 
 the gift of the people to which he may not aspire. He 
 has held many political offices, though he has never 
 sought public honors, having only consented to serve 
 his fellow citizens after repeated solicitation. Ever 
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 public-spirited, he has probably done more than any 
 one else to build up his section of the State to its pres- 
 ent standing, and no man is more worthy of the honor, 
 confidence and esteem in which he is held. 
 
 ARCHBISHOP PATRICK AUGUSTINE FEEHAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 PATRICK AUGUSTINE FEEHAN was born on 
 August 29, 1829, at Springhill, County Tipper- 
 ary, Ireland. His parents, who were of the class known 
 as gentleman farmers, were both descended from 
 ancient families whose genealogy ran back to the early 
 and heroic days of Ireland. His father's name was 
 Patrick Feehan; his mother before her marriage was 
 Judith Cooney. They were in good circumstances, 
 and under their guidance the son received, besides home 
 training, all the advantages of a liberal and classical 
 education. 
 
 His early predilections led him to fit himself for 
 holy orders, and at the age of sixteen he was sent to 
 the ecclesiastical seminary at Castleknock, and two 
 years later to St. Patrick's College at Maynooth. He 
 was distinguished for his studious habits and scholarly 
 attainments, and by his nobility of character and 
 manly demeanor endeared himself to all who came 
 within the range of his influence. 
 
 On November 1,1852, he was ordained a priest; and 
 having decided upon the archdiocese of St. Louis, Mo. 
 as his field of labor, he at once entered upon his 
 duties there. Besides preaching in the cathedral, alter- 
 nating with Bishop Kenrick and two other young 
 priests, he taught in the ecclesiastical seminary until 
 July 1, 1853, when he was appointed assistant at St. 
 John's Church, St. Louis. One year later, July, 1854, 
 he was made president of the ecclesiastical seminary ,and 
 filled that position with marked ability for four years, 
 and resigned that he might become pastor of St. 
 Michael's Church. After one year's service there he 
 was advanced to the pastorate of the Church of the 
 Immaculate Conception, where he labored with most 
 gratifying results until November, 1865. During these 
 years such had been his self-sacrificing devotion to the 
 cause he was called to serve that his influence was 
 wide-reaching and the people among whom he had 
 labored venerated him for his countless good deeds. 
 This spirit of self-forgetfulness in his desire to help 
 others was especially shown during the cholera epi- 
 demic in St. Louis, when he remained at his post, faith- 
 fully ministering to the wants of the needy, caring for 
 the sick and dying, and burying the dead, while 
 thousands fled from the city for their lives. But new 
 honors awaited him, and strong as were the bonds that 
 bound him to those whom he had so faithfully served, 
 duty called him to sever them, and transfer his work to 
 a new field. 
 
 He was appointed bishop of Nashville, Tenn., and 
 upon his arrival there found the outlook anything but 
 promising; the number of Catholics was small; their 
 institutions consisted of a sisters' convent, an academy 
 and an orphan asylum ; and in the whole diocese were 
 only a few ministers of the Dominican order. The 
 academy was run down, and was sold at auction for 
 indebtedness. This, however was brought in by Bishop 
 Feehan, and thus saved to the sisters. He brought to 
 his new field of work all the zeal and enthusiasm and 
 devotion that had characterized his early labors, and 
 in a few months had wrought a complete transformation 
 in his diocese. Order prevailed where chaos had 
 ruled ; large numbers were brought into the church ; 
 many who had fallen away or grown negligent of their 
 church obligations were restored, and through the 
 whole community were to be seen the happy results of 
 his business-like methods and efficient work. During 
 the panic that prevailed on account of the choler a 
 scourge in the summer and fall of 1866, -he again 
 manifested a spirit of heroism and courage such as he 
 alone can have who is conscious that > his work is 
 prompted by love and in the line of duty. As he had 
 before done in St. Louis, so now, wholly forgetful of 
 himself, he cheerfully braved every danger in order to 
 relieve the suffering of the afflicted. At the close of 
 the epidemic he purchased a home, beautifully located, 
 and established a community of Sisters of Mercy from 
 Providence, Rhode Island. Boundless in resources, 
 Bishop Feehan devoted himself to his work. And for 
 a period of some ten years the cause over which he 
 presided steadily advanced and prosperity was to be 
 seen everywhere throughout his diocese. But 
 again this work was interrupted, and that too 
 by a scourge even worse than that through which 
 he had formerly passed. The scenes of suffering 
 and distress during the ravages of yellow fever 
 in 1877. and in 1878 beggar description. No less 
 than twenty-three priests, who, prompted by love, 
 and in response to the call of duty, sought to help 
 the afflicted, fell victims to the terrible scourge. With 
 dauntless courage Bishop Feehan once more applied 
 himself to restoring harmony and repairing the dam- 
 ages wrought by the death-dealing visitation, and was 
 again rejoicing at seeing the work of his hands flour- 
 ishing when the order came assigning him to Chicago, 
 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Bishop 
 Thomas Foley. The announcement was made Septem.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 235 
 
 her 10, 1880; and amidst the tears and regrets of those 
 to whom, by his self-sacrificing labors, he had endeared 
 himself, he at once left for his new field. 
 
 His arrival in Chicago was hailed with enthusiastic 
 delight, for his reputation had preceded him. In the 
 archdiocese, comprising eighteen counties in northern 
 Illinois, he founded one hundred and sixty churches, 
 ministered to by one hundred and eighty zealous 
 priests. Notwithstanding the efficient work of those 
 who had preceded him, the Catholic cause in Chicago 
 was still suffering from the effects of the great fire of 
 1871, which destroyed many of its principal church 
 edifices and educational institutions. For just such an 
 emergency as this Archbishop Feehan was fitted. It 
 was in the line of his years of experience and draw- 
 in<>- from his rich resources he showed himself master 
 
 O 
 
 of the situation. Many church edifices have been 
 built under his administration ; parochial schools, 
 where now fifty thousand children are being educated, 
 have been establishjed and reorganized; homes for the 
 aged have been built; hospitals, homes for young 
 women, orphan and foundling asylums have also been 
 built and fostered. Under his wise administration a 
 school established for deaf mutes is doing a noble work. 
 St. Mary's training school for boys, located at Feehan- 
 ville, a town named in his honor, near Chicago, has 
 been the recipient of his wise counsels and practical 
 aid, while the Chicago Industrial School for Girls has 
 profited by his cordial co-operation. At the present 
 time his jurisdiction extends over the whole State 
 
 of Illinois, with a Catholic population of nearly one 
 million, while all over his archdiocese are witnessed 
 the results of his wise administration. Chicago especi- 
 ally gives evidence in many lasting monuments to his 
 untiring enterprise, brilliant genius and religious zeal. 
 Of these, St. Patrick's Academy, the Holy Name Cathe- 
 dral, and his own arch-episcopal residence are conspic- 
 uous. The Archbishop is a man of powerful physique 
 as well as a giant in intellect, a conservative legislator 
 and an able orator, and for many years has been influ- 
 ential in the councils of his church. He took part in 
 the work of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 
 I860; participated in the General Council of theVatican, 
 and was one of those summoned to Home to formulate 
 the Schemata of the Third Plenary Council of Balti- 
 more, in which he took a conspicuous part, in 1884. 
 To quote the words of another in speaking of the 
 growth of Catholicism in Chicago: "The material pros- 
 perity and progress of the great "West find an example 
 in Chicago, and in no other diocese, perhaps, can the 
 church show such a proportional increase with the 
 secular advance in population and in wealth. A half 
 century ago Chicago had but one priest, one church 
 and about three hundred Catholics. To-day it has a 
 Catholic population of over five hundred thousand, 
 ministered to by over three hundred priests; and 
 churches, colleges, schools and religious institutions 
 abound in every section of the archdiocese whose suf- 
 fragan sees are multiplying almost as fast as the 
 churches did fifty years ago." 
 
 ALBERT SETH GAGE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MR. GAGE was born December 13, 18J2, in the 
 town of Dracut, Middlesex county, Mass., now 
 a part of the city of Lowell. His parents were both 
 natives of the adjoining town of Pelham, in New 
 Hampshire, and were members of a family so old in 
 New England that it finds honored mention in all the 
 New England histories, and dates back to 1631, the 
 year in which Williamson's "Family Heraldy" and Sav- 
 age's " New England " give the record of the beginning 
 of the Gage family in the United States. Mr. Gage 
 was given a thorough scholastic training, and was pre- 
 pared for college with a view to his taking up some 
 one of the professions; but his strong mercantile 
 inclinations led him, at the age of sixteen, to strike out 
 for himself and engage as a clerk in a dry goods store 
 in Lowell. 
 
 He came to Chicago two years later, in 1860, and has 
 since been identified with many of Chicago's best 
 interests. The great fire of 1871 burned out his store, 
 and he was the first to have a new stock of goods in 
 the new city. In just one week from the Monday 
 morning that his business house was destroyed he had 
 
 converted his handsome residence, four stories high, 
 and his stable into a busy mart of dry goods, and 
 within one month from the time of the fire, while many 
 of the ruins were still smoking, he began the con 
 struction of the first brick building on Wabash avenue 
 that stands to-day. In 1876, to accommodate his 
 increasing business, he erected the handsome building 
 at the corner of Wabash avenue and Madison street. In 
 1880, Mr. Gage was the first merchant in Chicago to 
 adopt the plan of closing his business house at 1 o'clock 
 on Saturdays and giving his employes a half holiday. 
 He had personally and often solicited other large 
 employers to join him in this step, but in the majority 
 of cases they were inclined to oppose the plan. The 
 custom, however, is now universal, and the benefits 
 accruing to all classes thereby is now generally acknow- 
 ledged. 
 
 Mr. Gage is fond of recreation and outdoor sports, 
 and is the father of the Washington Park Club. He 
 opened his new hotel, the Wellington, in the fall of 1890, 
 and in doing so assumed a line of duty for which he is 
 eminently fitted, both as a man and a manager. The
 
 2 3 6 
 
 Wellington's great success is unquestionably due to his 
 personal application and watchful care. He is a busv 
 man, restless and active, but he finds time always to 
 interrupt his busiest hours, and give audience alike to 
 friend and stranger. As every visitor to the World's 
 Columbian Exposition well remembers, the family of 
 "Wellington" restaurants domiciled in various parts of 
 the "White City" constituted a prominent feature and 
 ministered most successfully to the wants of the multi- 
 tude. The mind of Mr. Gage was the master mind 
 which devised these adjuncts to the Fair and which 
 conducted them with fairness to the public and to the 
 satisfaction of the Exposition inanagement. He was 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 married June 2, 1864, to Miss Martha A. Hobbs, of 
 Pelham, New Hampshire, the home of his ancestors 
 for generations. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Gage is a Democrat by birth, 
 choice and education. He has never sought or held 
 office, but is a welcome adviser in the councils 
 of that party. He is yet in the noontime of his life, 
 but he has long ago forced his way through the ranks 
 of the many and become one of the successful few, a 
 man honored and respected, whose greatest pride 
 is an honest consciousness of a good name, and whose 
 love of home and of friends he enjoys as a valuable 
 heritage. 
 
 GEORGE SCHNEIDER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography is a fine represent- 
 ative of the German character, and stands promi- 
 nent among the leading men of Chicago as a journalist, 
 an officer of the government, a banker and a private 
 citizen. 
 
 A native of Permaseus, Rhenish Bavaria, he was 
 born on December 13th, 1823, and is the son of Ludwig 
 Schneider and Josephine (Schlick) Schneider. He 
 received his earl\ 7 education in the Latin school of his 
 native place and at the age of twenty one entered the 
 field of journalism, for which he was eminently fitted 
 both by nature, inclination and ability. 
 
 While acting in this capacity he took a most active 
 interest in the revolution of Rhenish Bavaria against 
 the tyranny of the Bavarian Government, and he was 
 appointed commissioner for several districts of the pro- 
 visional government and rendered most efficient service. 
 When the revolt was suppressed, by the assistance of 
 the Prussians, that portion of the insurgent army of 
 which Mr. Schnieder was an officer passed into France, 
 and while there he saw that the hope for further help 
 in the attempted revolution was vain, so he concluded ' 
 to leave for the United States, and arrived in New 
 York in July, 1849, his only capital an education, 
 dauntless courage and determination to succeed. 
 
 He first went to Cleveland, Ohio, but not finding a 
 promising field he pushed westward to St. Louis, Mo., 
 and there, with his brother, who had also shared 
 the ill fortune of the Rhenish revolution, started the 
 Neue Zeit, a daily German paper, with liberal anti- 
 slavery tendencies. After the destruction of his 
 establishment by fire in 1850, he accepted a professor- 
 ship of foreign languages and literature in a college at 
 St. Louis, but soon removed to Chicago and began the 
 publication of the Daily Illinois Staats Zeitung, which 
 had previously been published as a weekly paper. He 
 took a decided stand against the "Missouri Compro- 
 mise" in 1854, and he was of a small company who 
 called the first meeting held to protest against the 
 
 slavery-extending scheme. His outspoken opposition 
 brought upon him the wrath of those who favored the 
 measure, and in 1856 an unsuccessful attack was made 
 upon his office, the result of which was to increase the 
 influence of the paper among all classes. 
 
 This opposition to the repeal of the Missouri 
 Compromise resulted in the organization of the anti- 
 Nebraska party, which afterwards became the Repub- 
 lican party. At the convention held for the organiza- 
 tion of this body he was a delegate, and notwithstanding 
 the efforts of the "Know Nothings" to secure the 
 repeal or modifications of the naturalization laws, he, 
 with the assistance of Abraham Lincoln and others, 
 succeeded in incorporating into the platform of the 
 new party a plank, guaranteeing that the rights enjoyed 
 by foreign-born citizens should not be disturbed, a 
 guarantee, which he, with the assistance of the Hon. 
 John M. Palmer and other Western leaders, succeeded 
 in having incorporated into the National platform, 
 adopted by the Philadelphia convention, in 1856, which 
 nominated John C. Fremont for President, and to 
 which convention he was a delegate from Illinois. 
 
 From 1858 to 1860 he strongly advocated the nom- 
 ination of Hon. Win. H. Seward for the presidency, 
 believing him to be the most available man for that 
 position at that time ; but in the Republican convention 
 that met in the Chicago wigwam, and to which he was 
 a delegate, he found the followers of his candidate in 
 the minority. Though disappointed he promptly and 
 heartih' supported Mr. Lincoln, between whom and 
 himself a warm personal friendship existed. 
 
 Immediately after his inauguration Mr. Lincoln 
 appointed Mr. Schneider consul to Denmark, with the 
 special mission of enlightening the popular sentiment 
 of northern Europe on the real merits of the contest 
 between the United States Government and the rebel- 
 ious South. By writing and freely talking with the 
 people, he accomplished his mission satisfactorily. Re- 
 signing his consulship in 1862, he returned to Chicago,

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 having in the meantime sold his interest in the 
 Zritung. He was next appointed collector of internal 
 revenue by President Lincoln, and for four years dis- 
 charged the duties of his office with fidelity and to the 
 entire approval of the Government. During his ad- 
 ministration he introduced and strictly adhered to the 
 principles that are known as " civil service reform," 
 selecting the men he needed for positions of trust with 
 reference entirely as to their fitness and merit. 
 
 After the expiration of his term of office, he was 
 elected president of the State Savings Institution, which 
 under his management soon ranked at the head of all 
 financial establishments of its kind. Disposing of his 
 interest in this institution in 1871, he was elected presi- 
 dent of the National Bank of Illinois, a position which 
 he still holds. This institution is recognized as one 
 of the most successful banks of the city, and it is 
 but just to say that its high standing is due to the 
 excellent judgment, prudence and popularity of its 
 president. 
 
 As a business man Mr. Schneider is discerning, con- 
 scientious, cautious and conservative. As a citizen, his 
 sympathies are always on the side of good order, pro- 
 gress and improvement and in every relation of life he 
 is uniformly a gentleman of honor, loving justice and 
 doing right; in all his career he has been active in pro- 
 moting the interests of his fellow-countrymen. 
 
 In 1877 Mr. Schneider was tendered the position of 
 United States minister to Switzerland by President 
 Hayes, but declined the offer, and in 1880 was elector 
 at large on the Garfield ticket. He was for several 
 years president of the German society for the protec- 
 
 239 
 
 tion of immigrants and the friendless of that nationality, 
 and through his influence a bill, providing for the pro- 
 tection of immigrants arriving on our shores, was 
 passed by Congress. Mr.. Schneider was a prominent 
 factor in the management of the World's Columbian 
 Exposition. He was a charter member and one of the 
 directors, and as a member of the ways and means, the 
 press and printing and the agriculture and horticulture 
 committees contributed materially to the success of the 
 Exposition. 
 
 Mr. Schneider was married on the 6th of June, 1853, 
 to Miss Mathilda Schloetzer, daughter of Dr. Schloet- 
 zer, who was government physician in the district of 
 Rhenish Bavaria. The couple have an interesting 
 family of seven children. 
 
 Mr. Schneider was pardoned many years ago for 
 the part he took in the Eevolution of 1849, and has 
 revisited the home and scenes of his boyhood, which 
 still have for him many sacred associations. 
 
 It is the lot of but few men to attain the high 
 position of honor and distinction which Mr. Schneider 
 has attained ; with him success in life has been reached 
 by his sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to 
 every manly principle; he has ne\-er deviated from 
 what his judgment would indicate to be right and hon- 
 orable between his fellow-men and himself, and now, 
 after a long and eventful life, he can look back on the 
 past with pride and enjoy the remaining years of his 
 life with the consciousness of having gained for himself, 
 by his honorable, straight-forward career, the confi- 
 dence and respect of the entire community in which 
 he lives. 
 
 EDWARD S. LACEY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDWARD S. LACEY, president of the Bankers' 
 National Bank of Chicago, is a native of Chili, 
 Monroe county, N. Y., and was born on November 
 26, 1835. to Edward D. and Martha C. Lacey. When 
 he was seven years old his parents moved to Michigan, 
 and in the spring of 1843, settled in Eaton county, 
 where he had his home until May 1, 1889. His father 
 was a man of considerable prominence and filled 
 numerous offices of trust. His grandfather, Samuel 
 Lacey, was an orderly sergeant under Gen. LaFayette, 
 and major of a Vermont regiment of infantry in the 
 War of 1812. 
 
 Young Lacey received his education in the public 
 schools and at Olivet College, and. at the age of 
 eighteen became a salesman in a general store at 
 Kalamazoo, Mich., where he remained until he was 
 twenty-one. In 1857, he returned to Charlotte, Mich., 
 and in 1861 was elected register of deeds, which office 
 he held for four years. In 1862, he, in partnership 
 with Hon. Joseph Musgrave, formerly of Ashland, 
 
 Ohio, established a private bank, which was succeeded 
 in 1871 by the First National Bank of Charlotte, of 
 which he was a director and cashier, and of which he 
 subsequently, upon the death of Mr. Musgrave, 
 became president. During his entire connection with 
 this bank, he was its active manager. 
 
 From the commencement of his business career, 
 Mr. Lacey has been an exceedingly busy man and has 
 been closely identified with many important matters. 
 He was a director in the Grand River Valley Railroad 
 company from its organization and for many years was 
 its treasurer. In 1874 he was appointed by Governor 
 Bagley a trustee of the Michigan Asylum for the Insane 
 and held that office six years when he resigned. In 
 1876 he was a delegate to the Republican National 
 Convention at Cincinnati, and from 1882 to 1884 served 
 as chairman of the Republican State Committee of Mich- 
 igan. As the first mayor of the city of Charlotte he 
 contributed largely to its system of public improve- 
 ments.
 
 240 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Lacey was elected to Congress from 
 the third district of Michigan, and re-elected in 1882; 
 he received the nomination each time by acclamation, 
 and in each instance ran far ahead of his ticket. His 
 desire to return to private life led him to decline a 
 third term in Congress, but in 1886 he yielded to the 
 solicitations of friends and became a candidate for the 
 United States Senate, but, while showing strength and 
 popularity, was unsuccessful. While in Congress he 
 took a prominent part. He was on the committee on 
 post-offices and post-roads, and also on that of coinage, 
 weights and measures, but gave his attention chiefly to 
 questions of finance and came into prominence among 
 students of monetary matters through a very able 
 speech which he made on the silver question in the 
 Forty-eighth Congress. Among his numerous addresses 
 on financial questions, that on the use of silver as 
 money, before the American Bankers' Association at 
 Chicago in 1885, brought him into special prominence 
 among the bankers of the country. 
 
 Recognizing the peculiar fitness for the position on 
 account of his many years of banking experience and 
 familiarity with public affairs, Mr. Lacey's friends, 
 comprising prominent citizens, and financiers of his own 
 State, of New York and Chicago, urged his appoint- 
 ment by the Government as Comptroller of the Cur- 
 rency, and upon their suggestion the office was ten- 
 dered to him and he entered upon its duties May 1, 
 1889. His predecessors had, without exception, been 
 men of high character and ability, and yet it may be 
 said as a matter of simple justice, that none of them 
 more thoroughly mastered the details of the office than 
 did Mr. Lacey. His administration covered one of the 
 most critical periods within the history of national 
 banking (the Baring failure and its widespread and 
 disastrous effect upon credits and securities), and to 
 his wise judgment, prudent action and undaunted 
 courage in the management of the banks of this coun- 
 try ^ business interests are largely indebted for the fav- 
 orable outcome. It is a matter of note that, in his 
 
 official management, Mr. Lacey always made a per- 
 sonal supervision of every important detail a para- 
 mount duty. In relation to the national banks of the 
 country he pursued a policy both vigorous and conser- 
 vative, tending always toward the protection of the 
 depositors and creditors, and it is a noteworthy fact 
 that his policy received very general endorsement. 
 He carefully studied the details of his office and intro- 
 duced many reforms. He aimed to secure every pos- 
 sible safeguard, excercising always a sound discretion 
 in construing such restrictions as, owing to local con- 
 ditions, would embarrass and annoy bank officers and 
 their customers, without corresponding benefits to the 
 public. 
 
 Mr. Lacey is a man of decided convictions, to 
 which he is faithfully and fearlessly obedient. His 
 intrepid integrity is universally recognized. While 
 modest and unassuming in private life, he becomes 
 aggressive in an emergency, never failing to have per- 
 fect command of his best faculties. He is a man of 
 attractive personality, and by his courteous manner 
 and manly bearing readily makes and retains friends. 
 He is in the prime of life, has a vigorous, active mind 
 and sound physique, and dispatches business without 
 fatigue. 
 
 The office of Comptroller of the Currency is second 
 only in importance to that of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury. This office was so ably and satisfactorily 
 filled by Mr. Lacey, coupled with the enviable national 
 reputation as a financier previously acquired, that his 
 services were eagerly sought after in moneyed centers. 
 Several large banks thus located made him attractive 
 offers to take the presidency. He was, however, most 
 attracted by Chicago and its wonderful possibilities ; 
 hence, on June 30, 1892, he resigned to accept the 
 presidency of the Banker's National Bank. JrJis suc- 
 cessful achievements and conspicuous abilities give the 
 fullest assurance that those who were instrumental in 
 placing him in control of its affairs and interests made 
 no mistake. 
 
 H. V. BEM.IS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography is the son of a 
 Baptist minister and was born at Center Almond, 
 Allegany county, N. Y., October 11, 1832. After the 
 death of his father young Bemis came West when 
 about eighteen years old. After a few years engaged 
 in the commission business at Cleveland, Ohio, he came 
 to Chicago in 1859 and engaged in the brewing busi- 
 ness with Mr. C. E. Downer. They had a very pros- 
 perous business, and six years later, in 1865, incorpor- 
 ated under the laws of Illinois, and were known for 
 many years as the Downer & Bemis Brewing Co. 
 Mr. Bemis continued with the company, owning the 
 
 largest interest in the establishment, until April 14, 
 1884, when he sold out to John H. McAvoy and others 
 and entirely severed his connection with the brewing 
 business. In the meantime, in 1881, he bought an 
 interest in the firm of John Garden & Sons, and be- 
 came the president of the reconstructed Bemis & 
 Garden Malting Co. After a time he bought the en- 
 tire business and plant, and after selling a portion to 
 his brother. D. L. Bemis, and to Charles II. Curtis, 
 formed the present Bemis & Curtis Malting Company, 
 a large and flourishing institution. Mr. Bemis has 
 long taken a great interest in horses and has been
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 2 4 I 
 
 prominent among those addicted to the pleasures of 
 the turf. He was at one time sole owner of the prop- 
 erty of the Chicago Driving Park Association, which 
 however, he sold in 1882. 
 
 In 1884 he bought the Chicago Horseman, a journal 
 devoted to the interests of horse breeding and their 
 development on the track, organizing the Chicago 
 Horseman Newspaper Co. He became editor-in- 
 chief of the paper, which has made a very credit- 
 able record and is regarded as authority in its chosen 
 field. He was also elected president of the above- 
 named publishing company. 
 
 Mr. Bemis has been prominent in a good many im- 
 portant enterprises, but his persistent energy and 
 superior ability have been more conspicuously demon- 
 
 strated, perhaps, than in other directions in the con- 
 struction and operation of the Richelieu hotel. This 
 house was opened in 1885 and has since been considered 
 as one of the finest and best managed hotels in Chicago, 
 and enjoys the patronage of many of the most prom- 
 inent people. 
 
 When he first came to Chicago, in 1859, Mr. Bemis 
 became a member of the Board of Trade and still, with 
 commendable pride, holds his original membership 
 ticket, for which he paid fifteen dollars. It is signed 
 by J. S. Rumsey, as president and Seth Catlin as sec- 
 retary. Mr. Bemis is very popular with his largecircle 
 of acquaintances, and is strong in his social character- 
 istics. Among other society connections, he is a mem- 
 ber of the Iroquois Club. 
 
 ALBERT TRACY LAY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IN the development of the great Northwest those early 
 pioneers who first settled and developed the tim- 
 ber districts, thereby making possible the wonderful 
 growth and progress of the prairie States are entitled 
 to great credit. In this development none are entitled 
 to greater credit than is the house and individual mem- 
 bership of Hannah, Lay & Co., to whom especially the 
 State of Michigan is so greatly indebted, and who 
 since 1850, has greatly increased the development of 
 that vast region on Lake Michigan. 
 
 Albert Tracy Lay, of this firm, was born at 
 Batavia, N. Y., June 18, 1825. His father represented 
 his district in Congress from 1832 to 1836. Albert 
 was educated at a private school, and at the age of 
 sixteen took a clerkship in a country dry-goods store, 
 where he continued for eight years, when, at the age 
 of twenty-four, in October of 1849, he came to Chicago, 
 and began operations in the lumber trade, associating 
 himself with Perry Hannah, a clerk of Jacob Beidler, 
 and James Morgan, an English capitalist. In 1850 
 the firm of Hannah, Lay & Company was estab- 
 lished, and in that year they opened a yard at the 
 corner of Canal and Adam streets, where they 
 remained for ten years. In I860 the firm removed to 
 a location south of 12th street, where the} 7 remained 
 in the wholesale lumber business until the final 
 withdrawal in 1889. In 1851 the firm bought a small 
 water saw-mill at Grand Traverse, Mich., which 
 had been built in 1848 by Captain Bordman, of Napier- 
 ville, 111., and which had a capacity for cutting from 
 two to three thousand feet per day of twelve hours. 
 Later they remodeled this and erected a steam saw mill, 
 which contained two mulay saws and a siding mill, 
 which cut to the capacity of 10,000 feet per day of 
 twelve hours. In 1857 the firm built a second mill, 
 which contained two circular saws, and a few years 
 later remodeled the mill and removed one circular and 
 
 substituted therefor a " pony gang." About 1868 they 
 built another mill at Long Lake, seven miles from 
 Traverse City, in which they placed a circular and 
 gang. The lumber from this mill was prepared in 
 winter and shipped the following season to Traverse 
 City. In 1875-6 they erected at the latter place a 
 planing mill, shingle mill and dry kiln. Later on they 
 purchased the canal boat " J. D. Beale," re-christened 
 her the "Albert," and had the name of thefirm painted, 
 on both sides of the entire length of the boat. She was 
 run on the Michigan and Illinois canal between Chicago 
 and Naples. From the time of purchasing the little 
 water mill in 1850, the firm had gotten an accumulation 
 of timber lands, from first to last aggregating between 
 fifty and sixty thousand acres. The amount of timber 
 they cut in their forty years of operation was estimated 
 at 275,000,000, feet, up to 1889. 
 
 For many years after the firm began operations in 
 1851, the country around Traverse was almost wholly 
 unsettled, and between the mouth of the Muskegon 
 river and Traverse Bay there were only three small 
 mills, one at Marquette, one at Hamlin and one at Man- 
 istee. In 1853 Mr. Hannah, having occasion to come 
 to Chicago, took the method of coming on snow-shoes, 
 and at night, the Bough House providing for his shel- 
 ter. In the same year Mr. Lay went to Washington 
 and secured the establishment of a post route to Croton 
 in Newaygo county, and another to Manistee and Trav- 
 erse City. His offer of $400 for carrying the mail 
 weekly pn the latter route was accepted. This was 
 the first mail route north of Manistee, and in fact to 
 any city north of Traverse, except Ojibaway Mission 
 at " Old Mission " on the west shore. Upon their ad- 
 vent in Traverse City the firm established a small 
 supply store in a log building. A year later, in 1852. 
 they erected a frame store, for the purpose of supply- 
 ing the community with the living necessities.
 
 242 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Lay was a candidate for the State Leg- 
 islature from his district, but was defeated by " King" 
 Strang. In the same year the county of Grand Trav- 
 erse was organized by Judge Martin (afterwards Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of that State) who came 
 from Manistee to try a criminal for the murder of his 
 own child. He took steps fora deputy government, and 
 Mr. Lay was made the sheriff of the new county, 
 school inspector, and filled other deputy offices. At 
 the trial for murder, owing to the absence of 
 a jail, the murderer was chained to the posts 
 of the mill, and the employes had to be brought in 
 from the woods to form a jury. The trial was a 
 short one, and the criminal was sentenced for life to 
 the penitentiary. 
 
 Hannah, Lay & Company may be said to have been 
 for years the whole of the "North Shore." From 1852 
 
 to 1857 Mr. Lay made Traverse City his home, looking 
 after the business there, while Mr. Hannah attended to 
 the Chicago business in the summer. After 1857 Mr. 
 Hannah took charge at Traverse, and Mr. Lay remained 
 at Chicago. The members of this pioneer firm have 
 seen great changes since they came to the cities by the 
 great lake. Chicago, from a population of a few 
 thousand, has grown to a city of a million and a half 
 or more, and Traverse from a saw mill to a flourishing 
 town of 6,000 people. It has two banks, six hotels, 
 electric lights, a water supply system, and a large flour 
 mill, and is an enterprising and growing city. 
 
 Mr. Lay, as will be seen, is a man of great enter- 
 prise, and has become extensively known in Chicago 
 and throughout the West. He was married in 1855 to 
 Miss Catharine E. Smith, daughter of Eev. Lucius 
 Smith, and has three daughters. 
 
 ELIAS F. GOBEL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ELIAS F. GOBEL was born in Morris county, 
 N. J., on July 1, 1834, and is a son of Robert and 
 Margaret (Martin) Gobel. His father was a farmer 
 and also a carpenter, and worked at his trade when 
 not engaged on the farm. Mr. Gobel had the misfor- 
 tune to lose his mother when he was but one year old, 
 she dying August 30, 1835. In 1844 his father removed 
 to the West and located at Elgin, 111., where he died in 
 1850. 
 
 Elias received a common school education in the 
 public schools of Elgin, attending school till he was 
 old enough to take care of himself. He then learned 
 the mason's trade, and not only became a skillful 
 workman in that line, but also, by careful study and 
 hard work, become thoroughly versed in the various 
 branches and details of building. After serving three 
 years as an apprentice he was employed by the old 
 Galena Railroad Company, now the Chicago and 
 Northwestern, as superintendent of construction of 
 nearly all of the arch bridges on the line between Chi- 
 cago and Freeport, and made for himself a fine 
 reputation. 
 
 His next great work was the construction of the 
 approaches and piers for the second bridge that 
 spanned the Mississippi river at Clinton, Iowa. He 
 also erected the stone shops at the same place. The 
 successful completion of this great work placed Mr. 
 Gobel in the front rank of contractors in mason work. 
 At that time, 1861, he was also superintendent of con- 
 struction for the Iowa division of the Northwestern 
 Railroad, and remained in the employ of that company 
 until 1865, when he engaged in the mercantile business 
 for two years. 
 
 Commercial life, however, was not suited to his 
 taste, and closing out his business in 1867, he removed 
 
 with his family to Chicago, where he has since made 
 his home, and at once entered the employ of the city 
 as inspector and superintendent of masonry. In 1868 
 he superintended the construction of the Washington 
 street tunnel, and two years later the La Salle street 
 tunnel. This work being completed in August, a short 
 time previous to the great fire of 1871, he commenced 
 business on his own account as a general contractor 
 and builder, and many monuments of his work may be 
 seen in various parts of Chicago. His first contract 
 was on the Clark street bridge, where his derricks and 
 all his tools were burned in the great fire. After that 
 calamity he rebuilt the masonry work for all the 
 bridges on the river, excepting one or two. He also 
 rebuilt for the city a great many police stations, 
 engine houses, many viaducts and other public struc- 
 tures. Among these were the West Side water works, 
 the Fullerton Avenue and South Branch pumping 
 works, the Lake crib a marvel of masonry- the 
 Administration building, Cook County Hospital, the 
 Polk, Lake and Twelfth street viaducts', the Mer- 
 chants' building, the Presbyterian Theological Semin- 
 ary, the Women's and Children's Hospital, McCoy's 
 European Hotel, and scores of other buildings of more 
 or less prominence in other cities. He has built the 
 new State House at Indianapolis and many fine gov- 
 ernment buildings in many parts of the country. His 
 last great structure is the new post-office and custom 
 house building at Detroit, Mich. 
 
 Mr. Gobel is a director in the Pioneer Fire-Proof 
 Construction Company ; also the Peerless Brick Com- 
 pany at Ottawa, 111., and owns large interests in other 
 prominent corporations. He is a member of the Union 
 League Club, is a Mason in good standing, and belongs 
 to Fort Dearborn Lodge of I. O. O. F.
 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WE.1\ 
 
 245 
 
 In religious matters he is a member, with his 
 family, of the People's church, Dr. II. W. Thomas, 
 pastor, and is liberal in his views. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, adhering to party lines in general politics, 
 but in local matters he supports the man whom he 
 deems best suited to fill the office, regardless of party. 
 He is also a' member of the Builders' and. Traders' 
 Exchange, and Master Masons' Association. 
 
 Mr. Gobel was married in 1856, and has four 
 children Estella G., Harry E., Hattie M. and 
 Charley G. 
 
 Mr. Gobel is of medium height, fair complexion, 
 robust build and commanding presence. He is liberal 
 
 and generous without ostentation, and a man of noble 
 qualities of heart and mind. He gives liberally to all 
 charitable and benevolent institutions, while his private 
 charities are great. Having for many years a large 
 number of men in his employ, he has been kind, cour- 
 teous and liberal with them, and has their fullest con- 
 fidence and esteem. 
 
 Mr. Gobel is widely known and highly appreciated 
 by the business public as a man of sterling character, 
 honest and honorable in all his dealings with his fellow- 
 men. By his energy, perseverance and fine business 
 ability he has been enabled to secure an ample 
 fortune. 
 
 GEORGE F. BISSELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 GEO. F. BISSELL, the Western manager of the 
 Hartford Fire Insurance Company, is one of 
 the best known fire underwriters of the country. 
 He became a resident of Chicago in 1861, and since 
 1863, a period of nearly thirty-one years, he has been 
 the resident manager of this company. When he came 
 to this city as assistant manager, he was connected 
 with the only department office of a fire insurance 
 company in Chicago or the Northwest. He has re- 
 mained in the profession until Chicago has become the 
 second insurance centre in this country there being 
 at the present time no less than forty-four managing 
 offices here. Mr. Bissell erected for the company he 
 represents the first fire insurance building in Chicago, 
 in the year 1864, it being on La Salle street near the 
 tunnel. This building went down in the great fire of 
 1871, and with it the company lost $1,950,000. Within 
 
 four months under Mr. Bissell's vigorous labors, this 
 immense sum in losses was adjusted, and paid; and a 
 new insurance building erected on the ruins of the old. 
 Since coming to Chicago he has done his part as a 
 public-spirited citizen and has been connected with va- 
 rious public movements, and prominent in benevolent 
 and philanthropic work. He was one of the founders 
 of Chicago's most representative club, the Union 
 League, serving several terms on its board of manage- 
 ment and on the committee on political action; and 
 being elected as its president in 18S9. While past the 
 age of sixty, he is still a constant and hard-working 
 member of his chosen profession. He is a man of 
 great force of character, possesses an analytical mind 
 and is a master of details in his business. Among his 
 associates he is esteemed alike for his ability and for 
 his personal worth of character. 
 
 JOHN B. BARRETT, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 JOHN B. BARRETT, son of Edward and Bedelia 
 Barrett, was born in Auburn, N. Y., June 21, 
 1837. Being denied the privileges of an extended 
 education, he attended the public school at Auburn for 
 a time. His great fondness for bocks, which he dili- 
 gently read at all opportunities, helped him to make 
 up for lost time in school. 
 
 At the age of twelve years he went to sea, as a 
 sailor, and rapidly rose in the profession until he 
 became an able seaman. In a storm off the coast of 
 Chile, during which several of the crew were lost, he 
 was severely injured by a fall from the mast head, and 
 this changed the whole current of his life. For two 
 years he lay in a hospital in San Francisco, suffering 
 from his unfortunate fall. When he became suffi- 
 
 ciently recovered to leave the hospital, he came to 
 Chicago, and sought and found employment here. He 
 first became a member of the fire department, and a 
 year later was appointed watchman in the old glass 
 alarm tower which surmounted the old city hall 
 building. When improvements in the new methods 
 displaced the old fire-alarm method, and Chicago 
 adopted the electrical system, with telegraphy as an 
 adjunct for more complete communication, he was 
 appointed to the position of batteryman and assistant 
 operator. With his usual energy he set himself at 
 work, and by constant and earnest application, in a 
 comparatively short time made himself an operator as 
 well as a first-class battervman. His whole heart was 
 in his work, and it was but a short time before he
 
 246 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 was enabled to see where improvements could be made 
 in the working of the city system, and many of which 
 are extremely valuable. He invented the "joker," 
 which has been of great service, and to him Chicago 
 is indebted for the police patrol system, the introduc- 
 tion of telegraphy in the bridge service, for the under- 
 ground system and for street lighting. His inventions 
 have not been confined to telegraph service, but have 
 had a wider range, and he has secured several valuable 
 patents. 
 
 In 1876, he became superintendent of the Fire and 
 Police Telegraph on the retirement of E. B. Chandler. 
 On February 14, 1891, he was appointed chief of the 
 department of electricity, of the "World's Columbian 
 Exposition and was the unanimous choice of the elec- 
 trical industries of the United States and Canada. 
 During the Exposition his services as chief electrician 
 
 were of the greatest value, and he added to his fame as 
 a man of original ideas, as an executive officer and an 
 electrical expert. 
 
 Mr. Barrett has traveled all over the world, and 
 has visited most of the States of the Union. In politics 
 he is liberal and has held his office continuously during 
 the administration of mayors of both parties. 
 
 On the 20th day of April, 1868, Mr. Barrett was 
 married to Miss Margaret F. D'Arcy. Eight children 
 bless the union; five girls, Margaret, Marion, Gertrude, 
 Florence and Genevieve; and three boys, John P., 
 Jr., Edward and D'Arcy. In appearance Mr. Barrett 
 is tall, well built and weighs about 200 pounds. He is 
 universally esteemed for his integrity, his open and 
 frank nature, and in his business relations and in private 
 life has sustained a manliness of character that have 
 won him the confidence and esteem of his many friends. 
 
 WILLIAM S. FORREST, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MUCH interest attaches to the name and career of 
 William S. Forrest. His conduct of many 
 celebrated cases, tried in the Illinois and Iowa courts, 
 has given him a wide reputation as a successful advo- 
 cate. Mr. Forrest's soul is in his profession. He is 
 devoted to the law and brings to its practice the 
 reserved power of a highly educated and thoroughly 
 trained intellect. 
 
 One \v.ho knows Mr. Forrest well says that his 
 distinguishing characteristics are indomitable energy, 
 the ability to concentrate his faculties upon a case to 
 the exclusion of everything else, rare powers of anal- 
 ysis, a full and accurate knowledge of the law, a keen 
 insight into the motives that influence and control men, 
 and the art of so presenting a subject that the tribunal 
 he addresses, whether court or jury, may at once and 
 without effort understand and comprehend his argu- 
 ment. 
 
 His power as a lawyer grows out of his careful 
 preparation of a cause, its skillful management, his 
 searching cross-examination, and the clearness, force 
 and effectiveness of his speech. It has been Mr. 
 Forrest's highest ambition to excel as a lawyer and to 
 master the science of the law ; and to this end, with 
 singleness of purpose and unwearied industry, he has 
 given to its study all his time and energies. With 
 what fortune he has thus devoted himself to his chosen 
 profession the successful termination of manv great 
 trials with which he has been connected bears witness. 
 
 A resume of some of the leading cases tried by a 
 lawyer, is the best sketch that can be written of him, 
 because, in the end, the lawyer must be estimated by 
 the number, character and magnitude of the cases 
 successfully conducted by him. 
 
 One of Mr. Forrest's first cases was that of the 
 
 People versus Charles Schank, who was charged with 
 the murder of Fred. Kandzia. The defense relied 
 upon was, that the cause of death was the malpractice 
 of a physician, who probed the wound made by Schank's 
 knife in Kandzia's stomach. Schank was acquitted. 
 
 In 1893, Mr. Forrest secured the acquittal of officer 
 Slattery, charged with the murder of Edward Dohoney. 
 The defense was two-fold ; self-defense, and also that 
 the cause of death was blood poisoning, caused by the 
 malpractice of a physician. Thirteen witnesses testi- 
 fied that officer Slattery, while in a rage, and with- 
 out cause, fired upon and killed Dohoney. The testi- 
 mony of these thirteen witnesses was overthrown by 
 the evidence furnished by the direction of the bullet, 
 which was upward through the body of the deceased, 
 showing conclusively that Slattery was down, as con- 
 tended by Mr. Forrest, when he discharged his revol- 
 ver. In order to be consistent with the testimony of 
 these witnesses, the range of the bullet should have 
 been downward. Against Slattery there was also 
 introduced a dying declaration, prepared and sworn to 
 by a young lawyer. This declaration supported the 
 testimony of the other witnesses. It .was argued by 
 Mr. Forrest that this dying declaration should be 
 rejected, for the reason that the perfect construction of 
 its sentences, the faultlessness of the grammar and 
 the elegance of its diction, proved conclusively that it 
 was not the declaration of the deceased, an unlettered 
 teamster, whose language was distinguished for its 
 slang and manifold imperfections. The malpractice 
 of the physician consisted in removing the bandages 
 put upon the wound by an experienced surgeon, and 
 thrusting an unclean probe into the wound. Such 
 probing necessarily resulted in blood poisoning, it was 
 proved, and blood poisoning was the cause of death,
 
 V-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 249 
 
 and about eighty-five per centum of gun shot wounds 
 are now aseptic. 
 
 Another case, which up to the day of its ending 
 probably attracted as much public attention as any ever 
 tried in Illinois is the Lamb case. Lamb was tried for 
 the murder of policeman Race. The theory of the 
 prosecution was, that Lamb and five others broke into 
 the store of E. S. Jaffray & Co., stole several thousand 
 dollars worth of silks, and that, while endeavoring to 
 dispose of the plunder, one of the thieves killed Race, 
 in order to prevent their arrest. Lamb and his co-de- 
 fendants were indicted for the burglary and murder. 
 Lamb was tried first for the murder and sentenced to 
 be hanged. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, 
 and the judgment of the trial court was reversed. The 
 opinion delivered in reversing this judgment is the 
 leading case now in the United States as to the extent 
 of the liability, criminally, of a conspirator for the act 
 of his co-conspirator. 
 
 After the reversal of this judgment Lamb was put 
 on trial for the burglary and acquitted. Again, Lamb 
 was put on trial for the murder, and this time was 
 found not guilty. In all these trials the prosecution 
 was conducted by Luther Laflin Mills. 
 
 In the Reeves, and the Corcoran-McAbee cases, Mr. 
 Forrest showed extraordinary ability as a cross-exam- 
 iner. Reeves was charged with forgery of railroad 
 tickets. He was prosecuted by George Ingham, aided 
 by the Pinkerton agency and all the resources of the 
 Illinois Central Railroad Company. The indictment 
 was supported by the printer of the tickets, and the 
 maker of certain stamps, used on the tickets, who tes- 
 tified that they were hired by Reeves, to print the 
 tickets and to make the stamps. Yet, with only the 
 testimony of the defendant, unsupported except by 
 the results of a well-directed cross-examination, the 
 trial ended in acquittal. 
 
 Corcoran and McAbee were indicted for conspiracy 
 to elect McAbee alderman of one of the wards of 
 Chicago by fraudulent registration and illegal voting. 
 Four men turned state's evidence, and testified that 
 they were employed by Corcoran and McAbee to 
 register and to vote under assumed names in every 
 precinct of the ward. It was proved that over 
 300 fraudulent votes were cast by these four men and 
 their confederates. Against this mass of evidence 
 the case was won, to use the language of the Chicago 
 Tribune, " by the most exciting, rapid, brilliant and 
 crushing cross-examination, maintained for several 
 days, that ever occurred in Cook county." 
 
 The McDonald case was the only one of the 
 " Boodle cases," against the Cook county commission- 
 ers and others, tried by Mr. Forrest, and it was the 
 only one of these cases that resulted in the discharge 
 of the defendant. This case was won in the Supreme 
 Court, the trial having resulted in a conviction. In 
 this case Mr. Forrest obtained a bill of particulars in 
 
 the trial court and a reversal of the judgment in the 
 Supreme Court on the ground that the evidence was 
 not restricted to the particulars set down in the bill. 
 
 Mr. Forrest also successfully defended Wing Lee, a 
 Chinaman, on the charge of murder. The jury disa- 
 greed and were discharged while the defendant was in 
 his cell. On this ground, a motion to discharge Wing 
 Lee from custody was sustained. 
 
 Mr. Forrest's conduct of the Cronin case has made 
 his name a household word wherever newspapers are 
 read. Without hops for a favorable verdict in the 
 first trial, and undismayed by public clamor, he so 
 managed the defense, that never for a moment was 
 there any doubt in his mind as to what the decision of 
 the Supreme Court would be. It is conceded now that 
 the aim of the counsel for the defense in the first trial 
 was to get error in the record It was idle to labor 
 for a verdict of not guilty at that time, because of the 
 determination of the public to find a victim; The 
 reversal of the judgment by the Supreme Court that 
 followed, was a magnificent tribute to the foresight 
 and legal abilities displayed, and an. adequate compen- 
 sation for the herculean task, involved in the prepara- 
 tion of the brief and the argument for the defense, 
 which a distinguished judge has pronounced one of 
 the greatest arguments ever made in an Illinois 
 court. 
 
 During the past two years Mr. Forrest's practice 
 has consisted, largely in the prosecution of cases for 
 corporations. 
 
 Recently he conducted the prosecution of two crim- 
 inals named Robbard and Healey in Dubuque, la. These 
 two men were indicted for the murder of a watchman of 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. 
 The evidence was entirely circumstantial. The theory 
 of the prosecution was a conspiracy to commit robbery 
 and to kill any officer who should attempt to arrest 
 them. In each case the verdict was guilty. Both de- 
 fendants were sentenced to the penitentiary for life. 
 
 The defense of innocence, the conviction of crim- 
 inals, the exposure of fraud, the maintenance of rights 
 and the defeat of wrongs, these are the occasions 
 which arouse his energies, stimulate his faculties, and 
 furnish scope for the exhibition of Mr. Forrest's un- 
 common powers as an advocate. 
 
 Although known to the public chiefly as a criminal 
 lawyer, he is now concerned in as many civil as crimi- 
 nal cases. 
 
 Mr. Forrest was born in the city of Baltimore, July 
 9, 1852. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 
 the class of 1875. His legal studies were begun in 
 Boston, where he remained for three years in the office of 
 Gaston, Field & Jewell, when he removed to Chicago, 
 and was admitted to the bar in January, 1879. In 
 1879, Mr. Forrest was married to Elizabeth Whitney, 
 a daughter of Melvin Whitney, of New York. He has 
 three children, a beautiful home, and an ideal family.
 
 250 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 JONATHAN WILLIAM BROOKS, JR., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JONATHAN WILLIAM BROOKS, JR., was born 
 J September 6, 1847, in Norwich, Conn. He is the 
 son of Dr. Jonathan W. and Delia A. (Gary) Brooks, 
 who moved to College Hill, Ohio, in 1851. There he at- 
 tended the district school until ten years old, when he 
 entered Farmers' College at that place, in which he 
 made rapid progress. At the age of fourteen he had 
 mastered Virgil, and the higher mathematics and 
 natural philosophy. In 1861 his father removed to 
 Chicago, where he was engaged in the practice of his 
 profession until his decease in July, 1892. Young 
 Brooks spent the first summer after the removal on a 
 farm, working for five dollars per month and his board, 
 and in the fall he entered the old Dearborn school. 
 He began in a lower grade, but by close application 
 advanced from class to class ahead of his companions, 
 until he reached the master's room, where he graduated 
 with the honors of the class, receiving a scholarship in 
 Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, worth $50, 
 for the first prize. His average for the last year in 
 attendance, deportment and studies was 99 and a frac- 
 tion over. 
 
 His desire was to fit himself for a profession, 
 but a lack of the necessary means compelled him to 
 abandon his purpose and turn his attention to a busi- 
 ness life. He entered the service of Messrs. Burley & 
 Tyrrell on May 8, 1864, as office boy, at a small weekly 
 stipend, but was advanced from time to time, until he 
 reached the highest position in their office. When the 
 fire of 1871 destroyed their entire business and they 
 concluded to suspend, it seemed a good opportunity for 
 Mr. Brooks to commence business for himself, which 
 he accordingly did in a shanty on Michigan avenue, 
 where he began the business of importing crockery and 
 glassware. This enterprise has so grown that it is now 
 the largest of its kind, with one exception, in the world. 
 
 The business is incorporated under the name of Pitkin 
 & Brooks, with Mr. Brooks as president. He is also 
 president of the Hyde Park, Thompson & Houston 
 Electric Company and one of the directors of the Chi- 
 cago Graphic. 
 
 Socially. Mr. Brooks occupies a high position. He 
 has a pleasing presence, is polished in conversation, 
 refined in manner and genial and courteous at all 
 times. He is second vice-president of the Union League 
 Club, is president of the board of trustees of the Ken- 
 wood Institute, president t>f the Kenwood Lawn Ten- 
 nis Club and one of the trustees of the Kenwood Evan- 
 gelical church. In 1876 he married Miss Mary L. 
 Raymond, a lady of sterling worth and high social 
 standing, by whom he has three sons and three 
 daughters. 
 
 Mr. Brooks is a man of strong religious tendencies 
 and habits, which he does not find 'incompatible with 
 social enjoyments. He admires fine horses, and enjoys 
 whist, tennis, and dancing, and encourages all rational 
 athletic sports. 
 
 In no sense a politician, he takes the interest of a 
 conscientious citizen in local and national politics, usu- 
 ally adhering to the principles and policy of the Repub 
 lican party, although he voted for Mr. Cleveland, 
 whose views touching the questions of tariff and 
 pensions were in harmony with his own. 
 
 Such, in brief, are the prominent features of the life 
 of one who is recognized among the prominent men of 
 Chicago. He began business with small capital and 
 under great difficulties, but by prompt fulfillment of 
 every obligation and by industrious application and 
 integrity he soon became prominent in commercial 
 circles, and has acquired an ample fortune by the 
 courageous yet prudent extension of commercial opera- 
 tions and by rendering to every man his due. 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AVER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AYER, son of Robert 
 and Louisa (Sanborn) Aver, was born at King- 
 ston, Rockingham county, N. H., April 22, 1825. He 
 is of the old New England family of Avers, emigrated 
 from England in 1637, and in 1645 settled at Ilaverhill, 
 Mass. Here Benjamin's father was born, August 14. 
 1791. His mother was a daughter of Benjamin 
 Sanborn, of Kingston, N. II., a descendant of John 
 Sanborn, and remotely of Rev. Stephen Batchekler, 
 who emigrated from Derbyshire, England, in 1632, and 
 on the settlement of Hampton, N. H., in 1638, became 
 the first minister of the church in that town. Lewis 
 
 Cass and Daniel Webster were among his descendants. 
 Young Aver was prepared for college at the Albanv 
 Academy, and then entered Dartmouth College, from 
 which he graduated in 1846. He spent part of the 
 next three years in the law department of Harvard 
 University, was admitted to the bar in 1849, and at 
 once began the practice of his profession at Manchester, 
 N.- H., where he soon came to be known as a conscien- 
 tious, painstaking and successful lawyer. His fellow- 
 citizens appreciating his abilities, elected him in 1853 
 to the legislature, and the following year he was ap- 
 pointed prosecuting attorney for Hillsborough county,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 251 
 
 N. H., and held that office until he removed to Chicago, 
 in 1857. On the 15th of May, in that year, he was 
 admitted to practice in Illinois. His ability soon 
 found recognition, and it was but a short time before 
 he held a leading position at the Chicago bar. From 
 1861 to 1865 he was corporation counsel for the city 
 of Chicago, and was the author of the revised city 
 charter of 1863. 
 
 Soon after the expiration of his term as corporation 
 counsel, Mr. Aver became a member of the firm of 
 Beckwith, Ayer & Kales, and while engaged in the 
 general practice of his profession gave his attention 
 largelv to the law governing corporations, and in that 
 branch of law had and still has few equals. His 
 success in the management of corporate matters, in- 
 volving the law governing railroads, brought him into 
 special prominence, and, although he had a large and 
 constantly growing practice, he was induced in 1876 
 to give it up and become general solicitor for the 
 Illinois Central Railroad Company, of which he was 
 made a director one year later. Since* January 1, 
 1890, he has been the general counsel of this company. 
 The following tribute from a brother attorney who 
 knows him intimately is a truthful characterization : 
 
 " Benjamin F. Ayer has stood in the first rank of 
 lawyers in Chicago for more than thirty years. 
 Nothing has been allowed to divert him from his pro- 
 fession. He never relies on others to do his work! 
 every question is investigated until the subject is 
 exhausted. While not controlled by precedents, he 
 personally examines every, case where the subject has 
 been involved, in order to extract the principles appli- 
 cable to the matter in hand. A most noticeable quality 
 is his ability to make a connected and logical statement 
 to the court. This is done in language that cannot be 
 misunderstood and when presented orally it is with a 
 clear voice and appropriate emphasis, giving the 
 greatest pleasure to the listener. The manner is one 
 of honesty and candor, which leaves no room for doubt 
 as to his own convictions. He has always had the 
 credit of sincerity with the court, stating facts in a 
 conservative way and reserving nothing, regardless of 
 
 the effect upon his case. He has always endeavored to 
 aid the courts in arriving at correct conclusions both 
 as to facts and law, believing that the highest duty of 
 a lawyer is to see that justice is done. In short, he 
 commands the confidence and respect of judges and 
 lawyers and as a citizen is without reproach." 
 
 He is clear, logical and concise as a speaker, and, 
 without any attempt at oratorical display, his addresses 
 seldom fail to carry conviction. His seriousness, sin- 
 cerity and conservatism enter into everything that he 
 does, and these, combined with his wide range of legal 
 learning, and ready use of pure English, make him a 
 power before either court or jury. Mr. Ayer is, withal, 
 a man of rare modesty, and, while inclined to reticence, 
 is a most entertaining and agreeable companion. His 
 years of varied experience, his knowledge of general 
 literature, his observations of men and events, and his 
 constant endeavor to keep himself in touch with the 
 trend of current thought, combined with his courteous 
 manner and gentlemanly bearing, win for him universal 
 respect, and make him especially popular in his wide 
 circle of friends. 
 
 He is a prominent member of the American 
 Bar Association, and has been president of the 
 Chicago Bar Association. In 1878, his alma mater 
 conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1889 he 
 helped to organize the association known as Sons of 
 New Hamphshire, and for two years served as its 
 president. He is a member of the Chicago Club, the 
 Chicago Literary Club, and the Chicago Historical 
 Society, and since 1879 has been president of the 
 Western Railroad Association. In stature, Mr. Ayer 
 is a little less than six feet in height, well proportioned. 
 He has a well balanced head and blue eyes, with 
 features strong, clear cut and regular, and his whole 
 bearing is indicative of a cultured and high-minded 
 gentleman. In 1868, Mr. Ayer married Miss Janet 
 A. Hopkins, daughter of Hon. James C. Hopkins, of 
 Madison, Wis., who was United States district judge 
 for the western district of Wisconsin. They have 
 four children, Walter, Mary Louisa, Janet and Mar- 
 garet Helen. 
 
 DANIEL J. AVERY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography was born in Brandon 
 Vt., on the 1st of December, 1836. His grand- 
 father, Daniel Avery, came to Brandon from Norwich, 
 Conn., about the year 1790. He belonged to the 
 original family of his name who immigrated from 
 England and took up their abode near New London, 
 Conn. They are the lineal descendants of the famous 
 Sir William Avery, who was knighted for courage upon 
 the battle-field by William the Conqueror. Mr. Avery, 
 through his paternal grandmother, is a descendant, in 
 
 the seventh generation, of John Alden and Priscilla 
 Mullins. His maternal grandmother was one of the 
 well-known family of Congdons, of Providence, R. I. 
 During the American Revolution the Averys were 
 staunch rebels, as will be evidenced by the inscription 
 on the monument erected by the State of Connecticut 
 to the memory of those patriots who fell in the 
 massacre at Fort Griswold on the 6th of September, 
 1781. When the British, under command of the 
 traitor, Benedict Arnold, burned the towns of New
 
 252 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 London and Groten, among the eightj'-five who fell in 
 the massacre there were nine Averys, all members of 
 the same family, their names being Daniel, Elijah, 
 Ebenezer, Solomon, Jasper, Elisha, David, Christopher 
 and Thomas A very. 
 
 The father of Daniel J. Avery removed from Ver- 
 mont to Lake county, Illinois, in 1843, when the latter 
 was in his seventh year. Here he lived until he went 
 to Waukegan, where he attended the academy of which 
 .Judge Francis E. Clark was the principal. In school he 
 was studious, apt and eager to learn, and there laid the 
 foundations of the success and triumph of his later 
 years. 
 
 After leaving the academy he settled in Chicago in 
 1857, and entering the office of Judge James B. Brad- 
 well, began the study of Jaw, living in the family of 
 the latter for a year. He was a diligent student, and 
 by constant and continued hard study acquired a 
 superior knowledge of the law, which enabled him, in 
 1859, to pass a most satisfactory examination before 
 the Hon. Ebenezer Peck, Judge Corydon Beckwith and 
 the Hon. Norman B. Judd. He was recommended by 
 them to the supreme court, by which he was admitted 
 to the bar, his license being signed by Judges John B. 
 Caton, Sidney Breeze and P. H. "Walker. 
 
 From 1859 to 1862, Mr. Avery enjoyed a large share 
 of professional business. When the Civil War broke 
 out he responded to the call of patriotism, and enlisted 
 in Company G, One Hundred and Thirteenth Eegi- 
 ment, Illinois Volunteer Infantn r , in which he served 
 with courage and distinction, being in the battles of 
 Chickasaw Bluff, under Sherman in December, 1862, 
 and Arkansas Post, January, 1863, where, from con- 
 tinued exposure and privations his health failed, and he 
 was sent to Lawson Hospital, at St. Louis, where on 
 account of serious illness he was compelled to remain 
 until October, 1863, at which time he received an 
 honorable discharge. 
 
 Upon his return to Chicago he resumed the practice 
 of law and formed a partnership with Eben F. Eunyan 
 on March 1, 1864. The extensive practice of the firm 
 increasing very rapidly, Mr. E. F. Comstock and Mr. 
 M. B. Loomis were admitted to partnership in 1868. 
 During the succeeding five years, Mr. Avery conducted 
 the chancery department of the firm and in 1880 was 
 appointed master in chancery of the superior court of 
 
 Cook count\ r , which position he retained by reappoint- 
 ment for seven years. Mr. A very 's career at the bar 
 has been eminently successful, and he is ranked among 
 the leading men of Chicago. In politics he has always 
 been a zealous Eepublican, taking an active part in the 
 campaigns and promoting the interests of his party by 
 word and example. He was for five years a member 
 of the Cook county Eepublican central committee and 
 for one year its chairman. 
 
 He is one of the prominent Masons of the country, 
 lie was initiated in Hesperia Lodge, A. F. & A. M.. 
 and served three years as its worshipful master, and 
 has been district deputy grand marshal of the Grand 
 Lodge for the Second district of Illinois for eighteen 
 years. He is also a member of Washington Chapter, 
 E. A. M., Apollo Commandery, of Oriental Consistory, 
 A. A. S. E. and co-ordinate bodies, and of Medina 
 Temple of the M} r stic Shrine. In 1874 he assisted in 
 the organization of the Northwestern Masonic Aid 
 Association of Chicago, was elected to the office of 
 president the*same year and has been re-elected each 
 succeeding year since. Mr. Avery discontinued the 
 practice of law in 1887, when the business of the 
 above-named association had increased to such propor- 
 tions that the board of trustees demanded that he 
 should devote his entire time to its interests, so success- 
 ful had he been in its management. Since then he has 
 confined himself to this work, in which he has met 
 with phenomenal success. 
 
 He is a member of the Union League, Illinois and 
 Acacia clubs of this city in which he is popular. Mr. 
 Avery has traveled extensively throughout the United 
 States, having visited thirty-nine of them either on 
 business or for pleasure. He has also crossed the At- 
 lantic, spending two months traveling through the 
 British Islands and in France. 
 
 He was married on the 23rd of October, 1867, to 
 Miss Mary Comstock, but was called upon to mourn 
 her loss five years later. In May, 1874, he married 
 Miss Kate Ellis, of Colton, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Avery's life has been largely spent in the pro- 
 motion of interests designed for the relief of widows 
 and orphans in distress, through the work of the 
 Northwestern Masonic Aid Association. His high 
 character and sterling integrit\' as a man have won for 
 him the love and admiration of all who know him. 
 
 JOHN GRIFFITHS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN GEIFFITHS, sou of William and Margaret 
 Griffiths, was born on the 3rd day of April, 1846, 
 on their farm near the town of Woodstock, Oxford 
 county, Ontario. He acquired his education in the 
 public schools of Canada. At the age of seventeen 
 vears he learned his trade, i. c., that of a mason. He 
 served three years as an apprentice, during which time 
 
 his course of training was a most rigid one, being 
 tutored by the best skilled mechanic in the countrv. 
 His chosen pursuit was well to his adaptation, as is 
 verified from the rapid progress he made throughout 
 his apprenticeship, coupled with his great achieve- 
 ments later in life. After having finished his trade he 
 set out for himself to earn a livelihood, finding employ-

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 ment in his immediate neighborhood and adjoining- 
 towns. He came to Chicago in the year 186!>. It was 
 not until the spring of 1873 that he succeeded in per- 
 fecting arrangements for his future business career, at 
 which time he embarked in his present vocation, that 
 of a building contractor, an enterprise in which he has 
 won for himself much renown, for to-day he is one of 
 the most prominent and successful builders of tl.o 
 country, enjoying a worthy reputation, well earned and 
 acquired only through many long years of close appli- 
 cation and a most thorough practical experience. 
 
 Most conspicuous among his first contracts in Chi- 
 cago were the Traders Building and the magnificent 
 Eialto Building, both of which are located near the 
 Board of Trade, the latter being the largest office 
 building in the city at the time of its erection. He 
 also built the Great Northern Hotel, just opposite the 
 Post-Office, on Dearborn Street, which is a most impos- 
 ing edifice and is recognized every where as one of the 
 finest hotels in the West. The Grand Central Passen- 
 ger Depot, at the corner of Harrison Street and Fifth 
 Avenue, is another specimen of his fine work with its 
 artistic tower, 272 feet in height. 
 
 Chicago's great "Masonic Temple" is the highest 
 commercial building in the world, with its mammoth 
 foundations and massive tfalls towering skyward 302 
 feet. This was an undertaking wherein the ability of the 
 contractor was most thoroughly tested, in preparing 
 the foundations for this colossal structure, the most 
 careful calculations were of the greatest importance, in 
 consideration of its immense weight. It not only 
 required every precaution, but called forth finer skill 
 and more superior judgment than any building yet 
 erected in Chicago to successfully carry on the work 
 with safety. Mr. Griffiths, the contractor and builder, 
 
 255 
 
 proved himself equal to the task in each and every 
 particular, and pushed the greater portion of the work 
 ahead at the rate of five stories each month, which 
 surpasses all other buildings in this city for time and 
 speed. The foundations for this noted building were 
 commenced in February, 1891, and the structure 
 twenty-one stories in height .was up complete, under 
 roof, in the month of October of the same year. 
 
 Mr. Griffiths' reputation as a builder is not confined 
 to Chicago alone, as samples of his fine work are found 
 scattered throughout the Union. The Oriental Hotel, 
 at Dallas, Texas, which is acknowledged to be the 
 grandest hotel in the southwestern country, was built 
 by him, as well as many other buildings remarkable 
 for their beauty of construction and adaptability to the 
 various uses for which they were designed. He also 
 erected the building at the World's Columbian Expo- 
 sition, known as the Gallery of Fine Arts, a most 
 stately structure. In respect to substantial grandeur 
 it has no equal, and it contains more material of its 
 kind than any one known building in America. He 
 has erected many buildings almost equal to those 
 mentioned, and has on hand contracts which he is 
 pushing ahead to an early completion with the same 
 energy that is characteristic of all his work. 
 
 Mr. Griffiths is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
 being a Knight Templar and 32d degree Mason. He 
 is also a member of the Union League and Sheridan 
 Clubs. A Republican in politics, tall and commanding 
 in appearance, he dispatches his business quickly and 
 gets through with a prodigious amount each day. In 
 his line of business no man stands higher and no man's 
 opinion is more eagerly sought than is his. By his 
 great success and untiring ambition he has well 
 earned the honor and respect in which he is held. 
 
 GEN. ROGER WILLIAMS WOODBURY, 
 
 DENVER, COLOKADO. 
 
 ROGER WILLIAMS WOODBUR7, son of Henry 
 and Hannah (Davidson) Woodbury, was born 
 at Francestown, N. H., on the 3d day of March, 
 1841. On his father's side he is a descendant, 
 in a direct line from William Woodbury, who came to 
 America from England in 1628. His mother came from 
 an old and highly respected Scottish family. At the 
 age of twelve years, young Woodbury worked in a 
 cotton mill at Manchester, earning his living, and at 
 every opportunity attending school. As' a boy his 
 highest ambition w.as to become the owner and pub- 
 lisher of a magazine, and accordingly, when seventeen 
 years old he entered a printing office to learn the trade, 
 working the first year in the highly important position 
 of printer's " devil." He'secured a position later on as 
 a reporter, and it was while in the composing room of 
 a paper called The Mirror, as rnake-up, that he decided 
 
 to enter the army, and on July 27, 1861, he accordingly 
 enlisted as a private in Company A, 3d New Hamp- 
 shire Infantry. He was promoted to the rank of 
 captain, and at the close of the war was serving as 
 chief of ordnance of the 10th Army Corps, upon the 
 staff of Gen. A. II. Terry. lie participated in more 
 than fifty battles, and was wounded at the battle of the 
 mine at Petersburg by a bullet which he still keeps as 
 a relic. After his discharge, August 2, 1865, General 
 Woodbury re-entered the office of The Mirror as local 
 reporter, and remained until the following spring, 
 when he moved to Colorado. For the first three 
 months he was employed in the mines of Summit 
 county, and then returned to journalism. He was first 
 employed as a compositor on the Golden Transcript, 
 and later he occupied a similar position on the Denver 
 Tribune, of which he soon became local editor and
 
 2 5 6 
 
 later managing editor and part proprietor. He retained 
 his interest in the Tribune until 1871, when he sold his 
 stock and purchased the Denver Times, then a small 
 publication carried on in the interest of theatrical 
 advertising. From this small beginning grew the 
 Denver Times of to-day, which has so wide and pow- 
 erful an influence. General "Wood bury was the real 
 founder of the Times and the paper has ever been 
 marked by his characteristics. Its reputation for 
 candor, reliability, integrity and the courage to express 
 its convictions is the result of his years of painstaking 
 toil. He took personal charge of the paper until his 
 retirement in 1882, owing to failing health caused by 
 too steady application to business. 
 
 His intention was to spend some years in travel, 
 visiting foreign lands and cities, but before he carried 
 out this intention he was induced to sacrifice his personal 
 plans and accept the presidency of the Denver Cham- 
 ber of Commerce, to which he was twice unanimously 
 re-elected, after serving his first term. After finishing 
 his third term he retired to assume charge of the Union 
 Bank of which he became president in 18St5. Since he 
 took that helm the business of the bank has trebled, 
 and it now has a capital of $1,000,000 and a large sur- 
 plus. 
 
 He has ever been an enthusiastic worker in every 
 enterprise pertaining to the x general public good. By 
 his aid many commercial reforms were wrought, many 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 industrial enterprises were established and much desir- 
 able legislation was secured. He organized unitv of 
 business action, helped to build the Chamber of 
 Commerce building and to establish the public librar}% 
 which was the first institution of its kind in the State. 
 It now contains 25,000 volumes of well selected books 
 and has in connection with it a public reading-room 
 and museum. General Woodbury has given consider- 
 able of his time and no little money to advance the 
 efficiency of the public schools, to which he stands 
 ever ready to extend a helping hand, while for six 
 years he was a regent of the State University. 
 
 A Republican in politics, he has always declined 
 public office, although frequently urged to allow his 
 name to be used on the party tickets. 
 
 He stands high in the Masonic fraternity, in which 
 he has filled at different times the offices of grand 
 master of the grand lodge, grand high priest of the 
 grand chapter, and grand conynander of the grand 
 commandery of Knights Templar. 
 
 As a public speaker he is able and pleasing, and of 
 this talent he has ever been ready to make use in order 
 to either please or help his fellow men. His record, 
 although by no means finished, is a grand one and his 
 life pure and stainless. He has done much to build up 
 the city of his adoption, and many of her institutions 
 are but monuments of him, her beloved friend and 
 honored citizen. 
 
 MORRIS ROSENBAUM, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 FEW men are better known in Chicago business and 
 social circles than is the subject of this sketch. 
 "Whether as the senior member of the firm of Rosen- 
 baum Brothers, commission merchants on the Board of 
 Trade, and as an interested member of the Rosenbaum 
 Bros. & Co., large dealers at the stock yards, or as a 
 citizen foremost in charitable work and benevolent 
 enterprises, Mr. Rosenbaum is deservedly regarded 
 with much favor by all his fellow-citizens. For many 
 years he has been prominent in the affairs of this citv, 
 coming here from Iowa in 1874-, where in connection 
 with his brother Joseph, they had been successively 
 known in the mercantile business at Cedar Falls, and 
 later as bankers at Nashua and Waverly, at both of 
 which places they secured the incorporation of banks. 
 At the bank of the former place Morris was cashier, 
 while Joseph occupied a similar position at Waverl}'. 
 Prior to the banking period, the brothers were also 
 extensively engaged in the handling of live stock and 
 grain for the Chicago market. In all these business 
 enterprises a marked degree of success was attained. 
 
 Morris Rosenbaum was born January 20, 1837, at 
 Schwabach, Bavaria, his father being Jacob Rosenbaum, 
 a gentleman of recognized learning and ability, noted 
 
 for his liberal ideas and a worth of character that 
 placed him high in the community. Young Rosen- 
 baum entered upon his educational career at Offenbach, 
 near Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he remained until 
 thirteen years of age, making rapid advancement and 
 where he was known as an industrious pupil. The 
 schools which he attended were of an excellent charac- 
 ter and enabled him to acquire, in addition to his native 
 language, a fair knowledge of English, which served a 
 useful purpose when, in 1850, with his fathers family, 
 he came to America, whither his father had gone be- 
 fore him, and located at Dubuque, Iowa. Young 
 Rosenbaum's first employment was in a grocery store, 
 where remaining for eight years he laid the foundations 
 for his subsequent business career. At the end of this 
 time he became associated with his brother, Joseph, in 
 the mercantile business, at Cedar Falls, Iowa, and in 
 the subsequent enterprises in that State above referred 
 to. 
 
 Of his success in Chicago, we have already spoken, 
 but we should add that the building up of such exten- 
 sive lines of business as are represented by the two firms 
 above mentioned, has not been mere good luck or acci- 
 dent, but is the acknowledged outcome of a rare
 
 
 ,<v 
 
 0\, tf
 
 PKUMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST 
 
 259 
 
 business sagacity, together with upright dealing, and 
 close attention to details. Among the examples of 
 Mr. Rosenbaum's large charities, may be especially 
 noted the fact that he was the originator, though not 
 the founder, of the Home for Aged Jews, at Sixty- 
 second street and Drexel avenue. Of this excellent 
 institution he is the president, and devotes to its 
 management much of his time and ability. He is 
 interested in ail charitable enterprises, contributing 
 liberally, without discrimination as to race or religious 
 belief. 
 
 Mr. Eosenbaum is a Royal Arch Mason, a member 
 of the Standard Club, and an active member of the 
 Sinai Congregation, and kindred associations. His 
 presence is always welcome at public gatherings, 
 where he is recognized as a gentlemen of pleasing 
 address and of genial, friendly bearing. In politics he 
 is a Republican, believing that the principles under- 
 lying "the greatest good to the greatest number "are 
 best embodied in this country in the policy and tradi- 
 tions of the party named. 
 
 At various times Mr. Rosenbaum has found 
 opportunity to get away from the cares of business 
 for the recreation and instruction found in travel. In 
 company with his family, he has visited nearly every 
 State in the Union, affording to himself and them 
 profit and pleasure thereby. In the summer of 1892 
 he had the satisfaction of a tour to Europe, during 
 which he visited, for the first time in forty-two years, 
 the scenes of his boyhood. 
 
 In 1871, on October 11, two days after the great 
 Chicago fire, Mr. Rosenbaum was united in marriage 
 to Miss Sophia Bloch, of Philadelphia, the result of 
 the union being a family of four daughters -Etta, 
 (now Mrs. Edward L. Glaser), Estella, Maud and 
 Alma. In personal appearance Mr. Rosenbaum is of 
 medium height, strongly built and of an easy 
 presence. In his disposition he is kind and genial, 
 easily winning and long retaining his friends. He is 
 most popular where best known and has a host of 
 friends, not only in Chicago, but throughout the entire 
 West. 
 
 FRANK BASSETT TOBEY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 FRANK BASSETT TOBEY, president of the Tobey 
 Furniture Company of Chicago, was born at 
 Dennis, Cape Cod, Mass., September 15, 1833. It has 
 been remarked that many of Chicago's prominent bus- 
 iness men came from Cape Cod. Besides the Tobey 
 brothers, Charles and Frank, the Nickersons, the Swifts, 
 the Underwoods, the Ryders, the Lombards, the Crosbys 
 the Matthews, and a host of others, claim this sandy pen- 
 insula as their birthplace. The father of Frank Tobey 
 owned and occupied the farm that had been in the pos- 
 session of the Tobey family for more than two hun- 
 dred years. Tradition says that his land was deeded 
 to Captain Thomas Tobey, about the year 1674, for 
 services rendered in organizing a company and assist- 
 ing Plymouth Colony in King Phillip's war. Frank's 
 mother was Rachel Bassett, whose ancestors came to 
 America in the next ship following the Mayflower. 
 
 Young Tobey worked on the farm summers and 
 attended school winters until he was eighteen. For 
 the next five years he held a position as clerk in the 
 village store and post-office. The proprietor, Howes 
 Chapman, was a man of superior intelligence, and was 
 singularly upright in character and motives, and had 
 great influence in molding the character of his young 
 assistant, to whom he gave up largely the management 
 of the business. 
 
 At an early age Frank took great interest in philo- 
 sophical and political subjects, always reasoning from 
 the humanitarian stand-point. When only twelve 
 years old, he took issue with his father on the question 
 of the Mexican War, claiming that its object was the 
 
 extension of slave territory and therefore unjust. He 
 soon became identified with the anti-slavery movement. 
 He wrote the call and served as secretary for the first 
 Republican convention ever held in his native town. 
 At that time the Republicans were represented by a 
 small minority, but nine years later every vote in the 
 town was cast for Abraham Lincoln. When barely 
 twenty-one, he was nominated as delegate to the first 
 Republican State convention but declined the honor 
 because he could not afford the expense. 
 
 In 1857 he came to Chicago, where a year before 
 his brother Charles had started a furniture business on 
 State street, south of Van Buren, in a small store, 
 twenty by sixty feet. The first year Frank worked 
 on a salary. The next year the co-partnership of 
 Charles Tobey & Brother was formed, and their room 
 doubled by the addition of the adjoining store. At 
 this time the young men did all their own work, and 
 by close attention made the business prosperous. 
 Their conservative and economical methods enabled 
 them to weather the panic of 1857 to 1860, when so 
 many older concerns went down. The large increase 
 of business in 1859 required larger accommodations, 
 which they found at 72 State street. They afterward 
 removed to Lake street, and in 1866 to a new building 
 erected specially for them at 77-79 State street, being 
 business pioneers on that thoroughfare. In 1870, the 
 Tobey Brothers, in connection with F. Porter Thayer. 
 organized the Thayer & Tobey Furniture Company. 
 The great fire of 1871 destroyed their building and 
 stock, and in common with most Chicago firms, they
 
 260 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 suffered severe loss. "With characteristic energy they 
 improvised a salesroom at their West Sitle factory, 
 which had escaped, and before the fire had ceased its 
 ravages, they had taken an order to furnish the 
 Sherman House, now the Gault, which order was 
 completed in seven days. In 1873 they occupied the 
 Clark building, corner State and Adams streets. In 
 1875. the Tobey Brothers bought out Mr. Thayer's 
 interest, and the name of the company was changed to 
 the Tobey Furniture Company, Charles being presi- 
 dent, and Frank vice-president and manager. In 
 March, 1888, the company occupied the Drake building, 
 corner Wabash avenue and Washington street. The 
 same year they started a factory for the manufacture 
 of high-class furniture for their own trade. This feature 
 of the business has grown beyond anticipation, the 
 quality of the goods produced being equal to anything 
 in the world. In September, 1888, Chas. Tobey died, 
 and Frank became president. In 1890, they doubled 
 the capacity of their warerooms, by renting the ad join- 
 ing building known as " My Block." Mr. Tobey has 
 thus seen the firm, beginning in a little store of 1,200 
 square feet in 1857, grow to the present proportions of 
 the Tobey Furniture Company, requiring for its 
 
 business more than four acres of floor space, its trade 
 extending to every State and Territory in the Union, 
 with occasional foreign shipments. In fact, it is 
 without doubt the largest and most widely, known 
 retail furniture house in the country, if not in the 
 world. 
 
 Outside his business Mr. Tobey has taken lively 
 interest in and has contributed liberally to philanthropic 
 and charitable movements. In religion he might be 
 called a disciple of Theodore Parker, believing in the 
 deed, rather than the creed. He helped organize the 
 Society for Ethical Culture in Chicago, and has gen- 
 erously devoted time and money to its support. 
 
 His politics may perhaps be best described by 
 quoting his own remark that, " Statesmanship found 
 its highest ideal in Charles Sumner, who labored 
 always for righteousness and absolute justice." 
 
 He has been an active promoter of the economic 
 conferences in Chicago, which brought the laborer and 
 capitalist together and led to a better understanding 
 between them. The distinguishing qualities in Mr. 
 Tobey's character, and with which his name is always 
 associated, are integrity, charitableness and a high 
 sense of justice. 
 
 JOHN WILLIAM GUTHRIE, 
 
 CORINNE, UTAH. 
 
 JOHN WILLIAM GUTHRIE, son of William and 
 Elizabeth (James) Guthrie, was born in Shelbv 
 county, Ky., January 23, 1830. On his father's side he 
 is a descendant of William Guthrie, who came to Amer- 
 ica from Scotland about the year 1750, and settling in 
 Virginia, was a resident of that State long before the 
 beginning of the War for American Independence. 
 His eldest son, grandfather of the subject of this sketch 
 was born and reared there, but moving West was one 
 of the earliest white settlers to locate in Kentucky 
 where he endured his full share of the many hardships 
 and dangers borne b} r the pioneers of the State. Eliza- 
 beth James, the mother of our subject, was the daugh- 
 ter of J<5hn James, a large holder of real-estate and 
 slaves in Kentucky and Indiana, and famous as a mathe- 
 matician .and still well remembered by the people of 
 Crawfordsville, Ind., where he was frequently consulted 
 by the professors of the Wabash College. 
 
 John William Guthrie was three years of age when 
 his parents moved to Indiana. He spent his youth on 
 a farm and received a good business education at the 
 seminary in Crawfordsville. In 1857 he caught the 
 "California gold fever," then so prevalent, and con- 
 cluded to seek his fortune in the far West. On the 
 29th of January, 1851, he, with twenty others, set out, 
 going to Indianapolis in farm wagons and thence to 
 Cleveland by stage. There thev saw for the first time 
 in their lives a train of cars. They proceeded by rail 
 
 to New York, thence by sea to the Isthmus of Panama, 
 which was crossed by means of mules, and up the coast 
 to San Francisco, arriving on the first of April, 1852. 
 
 Mr. Guthrie immediately set out for the mines in 
 the northern part of the State, and for a time engaged 
 in the butchering business in Yuba, Butte, and Siski- 
 yow counties. In the latter place be for the first, and 
 likewise the last time in his life engaged in mining. 
 As the motive power of a pick and shovel, the experi- 
 ment cost him several thousand dollars, and he returned 
 to his butchering business. 
 
 In 1855 he left California to visit his old home, 
 going by the Nicaraugua route, and was one of the party 
 of twenty men who guarded the shipment of treasure 
 amounting to more than one and one-quarter millions 
 of dollars across the country to the Atlantic coast. 
 After a stay of about eight months at home, he 
 returned to California, and buy ing a farm tried farming 
 for a time, but soon got disgusted and sold the farm, 
 going to North San Juan, Nevada county, in March, 
 1857. Here he again engaged in the butchering 
 business, and during the next three years was exceed- 
 ingly prosperous, putting up several nice brick buildings, 
 including a fine residence. But the falling off of real 
 estate values and the failure of some of his business 
 associates to meet their financial obligations caused 
 him to lose most of his gains. 
 
 In 1861, Mr. Guthrie went to Idaho, afterward visit-

 
 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ing Montana, then to Green River, Wyoming, from 
 which place he followed up the Union Pacific Railway, 
 then under construction, and conducting business at 
 several points arrived on the present site of Corinne, 
 Utah, in January, 1869, before the town had been laid 
 out. Here he established the first produce shipping 
 house in Corinne, and for several years controlled 
 almost the entire shipping interests of the northern 
 half of Utah, and is to-day the oldest shipper in the 
 territory. He dealt principally in eggs and butter, 
 and from the immense quantities which he handled the 
 business required a cash capital of more than $30,000. 
 In 1872 he ectablished the banking house of J. W. 
 Guthrie & Company, and in 1876 bought all interests 
 and has since carried on the business in his own name. 
 In 1875 he established in Ogden, Utah, the banking 
 house of J. W. Guthrie & Company, but sold out his 
 interest in 1881 to open the bank of Guthrie, Dooly & 
 Co., which in 1883 became the Utah National Bank, 
 with Mr. Guthrie as it first president. 
 
 He was also an organizer and a member of the first 
 board of directors of the Commercial National Bank, 
 of Ogden, which opened for business in 1884. He 
 built Union Hall, the first brick block on 24th street, 
 in Ogden, as well as several other fine brick buildings 
 on the same street, thereby causing enterprise and 
 commerce to turn towards that portion of the town, 
 and eventually making it the principal business street. 
 Withdrawing from his business interests in Ogden, he 
 turned his entire attention to Corinne, the building up 
 of which town is and has been his pet project. 
 
 Heat one time owned about* two-thirds of the 
 town site, which included most of the best improve- 
 ments, but has since sold a large portion of his hold- 
 ings, offering the most favorable terms to induce people 
 to come in and help build up the place and make a 
 town of it. His expectations and hopes have been in 
 a large measure realized, and the construction of the 
 Great Bear canal through the adjacent country bids 
 fair to cause a wave of prosperity for the town that 
 will eclipse his fondest hopes. 
 
 At present Mr. Guthrie conducts in Corinne the 
 bank which he established in 1872, and since 1876 has 
 carried on in his own name, and which is now doing a 
 nice business with a capital of 50,000, and a surplus 
 and undivided profits of $15,000 more. He also con- 
 
 263 
 
 ducts a general merchandise business, requiring a 
 capital of $25,000, a large hotel representing as much 
 more, various live-stock interests, and very extensive 
 interests in real estate. Each branch is under the 
 care of efficient managers, but all are under the per- 
 sonal direction of Mr. Guthrie himself. He also has, 
 besides his interests in and about Corinne and Ogden, 
 large interests in valuable mines in Idaho. 
 
 Always of a generous disposition, he has been ever 
 ready to assist with his sound advice and his wealth those 
 who were endeavoring to start new enterprises, and 
 has many times made possible the establishment of a 
 commercial enterprise in which his name has never 
 appeared. The estimation in which he is held is par- 
 tially shown by the fact that seven times have the 
 people of Corinne elected him to the mayoralty, and 
 once he was appointed to that office by the governor 
 of the territory. 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1862, he was married to 
 Miss Mary B. Gaynor, daughter of William and Eliza- 
 beth Gaynor, and their daughter and only child, 
 Elizabeth M., was born August 22d of the following 
 year. Miss Guthrie is now Mrs. A. R. Hey wood, of 
 Ogden. 
 
 John William Guthrie is a shining example of 
 what can be done by one man with no capital to start on, 
 save a pair of willing hands guided and directed by a 
 ready brain. His career has been a remarkable one, 
 and what he is to-day he owes solely to himself. His 
 record is clean and highly creditable, and while build- 
 ing up his own fortune he has continuously helped 
 others, while he has clone more to advance the material 
 interests of Corinne than any other man alive. Of 
 generous instincts, his aid has never been sought in 
 vain, he having been one of the most liberal contribu- 
 tors to every church and school that has been erected 
 in his section. Of fine and commanding appearance, he 
 looks every inch the man to rule, and that he does not 
 in the least belie his appearance is amply proven by the 
 many enterprises that owe their life to his business 
 sagacity and ability. He is exceedingly popular with all 
 classes, and is entirely worthy of the great esteem and 
 'confidence reposed in him, and were he to lay down the 
 cares of business to-day, to pass the remainder of his 
 life in the quiet of his home and the society of his esti- 
 mable wife, he would leave a remarkable record. 
 
 WILLIAM K. ACKERMAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born in New York 
 city in 1830. His paternal grandfather resided 
 there during the Revolutionary War and participated 
 in the struggle, being a companion of General " Mad" 
 Anthony Wayne at the storming of Stony Point. The 
 father of William lived in New York for eighty-five 
 
 years, and took an active part in its defense in the 
 War of 1812, serving in the famous "Company Seven," 
 Second Regiment, which was stationed at Ellis Island. 
 Graduating from the New York high school, and after 
 a few years of experience in commercial life, Mr. 
 Ackerman entered the employ of the Illinois Central
 
 264 
 
 Railroad in New York, but after a few years of faith- 
 ful work there he was transferred to Chicago, and 
 appointed local treasurer, taking up his permanent 
 residence here. He was next made general auditor of 
 the road and in 1876 was chosen its vice-president. 
 The office of president being vacant, he performed the 
 responsible duties of that position, and in the following 
 year, upon the recommendation of the English and 
 Dutch stockholders of the road, he was unanimously 
 elected president, which office he held for seven years. 
 Under his administration the company's affairs were 
 successful!}' conducted, the earning capacity of the 
 road being greatly developed and numerous important 
 and valuable improvements and additions made to 
 property. These results were largely attributable to 
 the attention he paid to details, the maintenance of an 
 esprit du corps in the force and a reasonable perception 
 of the obligation between employer and employed. 
 
 Mr. Ackerman has contributed articles to various 
 newspapers and magazines, and is the author of several 
 books relating to railways, among which are " Early 
 Railroads of Illinois," " Notes on Railway Manage- 
 ment " and " Historical Sketch of the Illinois Central 
 Railway." 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 During his thirty-three years' residence in Chicago, 
 Mr. Ackerman has appeared before the people in many 
 places of trust, which he has well and conscientiously 
 filled. With the trained mind applied with such 
 ability in the management of the affairs of a great 
 enterprise, he has gained a reputation as a financier of 
 no small caliber. Early in its history, when it had not 
 assumed the enormous proportions it was destined to 
 attain, Mr. Ackerman was appointed auditor of the 
 World's Columbian Exposition, a position for which 
 he was regarded as eminently qualified, on account of 
 his large business experience. From the day of his 
 selection, May 7, 1890, until its close, he devoted his 
 entire time and energy to the duties of his position, 
 and throughout this entire period has given great 
 satisfaction. He originated the system of accounts 
 which was in vogue in all departments of the Exposi- 
 tion, and which has justly won for him considerable 
 praise. On November 30, 1893, he tendered his resig- 
 nation as auditor, at which time he made a final and 
 complete report, covering every detail of the Fair's 
 finances. Mr. Ackerman is now comptroller of the city 
 of Chicago, a position of great responsibility, and one 
 for which he is in every way eminently fitted. 
 
 FERDINAND CARL HOTZ, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IN one of the picturesque old towns which at inter- 
 vals line the shore of the beautiful River Main in 
 southern Germany, on the 12th day of July, 1843, 
 Ferdinand C. Hotz was born to Godfried and Rosina 
 Hotz, people of high and respectable standing in their 
 community. 
 
 Ferdinand was given rather superior educational 
 opportunities, and, after passing through the common 
 schools of his native town he entered the lyceum, which 
 in that country takes the place of our high school. 
 Having a decided taste and love for the study of 
 foreign languages, he took, under private tutors, 
 courses in English and French, at the same time learn- 
 ing those languages so essential to the student of the 
 modern European tongues Latin and Greek. Although 
 in these studies his time was well taken up, he found 
 ample opportunity to give attention to physical devel- 
 opment, and was noted upon the playground at the 
 lyceum for his keen interest and participation in sports 
 as he was for his scholarship in the class room. To 
 this early love for physical exercise and indulgence in 
 the rugged games of the period, the worthy doctor 
 to-day owes, doubtless to an unappreciated extent, his 
 enjoyment of perfect health and the preservation of his 
 youthful vigor. 
 
 Early in life, during the vacations which he spent 
 mid the dense forests of his native country. Dr. Hotz 
 conceived a great liking for the study of the natural 
 
 sciences, and his vacations were spent in journeys on 
 foot to various parts of the country in order that he 
 might enlarge his collection of minerals and other 
 objects of natural scientific study. This study and his 
 love for it led him to the choice of the medical profes- 
 sion. In 1861 he matriculated, at the early age of 
 eighteen, at the University of Jena, where his time 
 was divided between the study of anatomy, physiology, 
 chemistry and other branches. In order to complete 
 his studies he west to Heidelberg, graduating from this 
 university in 1865, and was at once appointed assistant 
 surgeon in the university hospital. He left this position 
 and offered himself as volunteer surgeon in the army 
 during the war between Prussia and Austria, at the 
 close of which he went to Berlin to study ophthalmology 
 in the clinic of the celebrated Professor Albrecht von 
 Graefe, continuing these studies during the year 1867 
 in Vienna, where he also attended the ear clinic of 
 Prof. Adam Politzer. He was also assistant to Prof. 
 Knapp in 1868 and 1869 in the eye infirmary at 
 Heidelberg. 
 
 During these years of education the political views 
 of Dr. Hotz had become altogether too democratic to 
 tolerate longer the restraints of the European mon- 
 archies and he decided to come to America. In ac- 
 cordance with this determination and after visiting the 
 large hospitals of Paris, London and Edinburg and 
 familiarizing himself with their improved practices, he
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 came to this country and directly to Chicago, where a 
 brother had preceded him in the year 1870. The un- 
 limited and vast field of study which Dr. Hotz had 
 enjoyed had well fitted him for the high position 
 which he at once took in his specialty in his adopted 
 home. Very soon after his arrival and shortly before 
 the great fire he was offered and accepted the position 
 of oculist and aurist of the Cook county hospital, 
 which position he held until 1874, when he resigned to 
 enter the larger field of his specialties offered at the 
 Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. Although 
 this position afforded exceptional opportunities for 
 clinical teaching and scientific investigation, the doctor 
 was com pel lad to resign it in 1890 on account of his 
 growing private practice, which demanded all his 
 attention. In 1891, however, he agreed to accept the 
 professorship of Ophthalmology in the Chicago Poly- 
 clinic. Of a literary turn of mind, the doctor's observa- 
 tions and investigations in his specialties, written in his 
 pleasing and tersely interesting style, "and which have 
 appeared from time to time in the leading medical 
 journals, have been received with great favor. His 
 article, " On a new Operation for Entropium," published 
 in 1879, attracted particular attention and gained for 
 him an international reputation. Prominent among 
 his other articles may be mentioned the following: 
 " Intra-Ocular Lesions produced by Sunstroke " (1879) ; 
 "On-Mastoid Operations" (1888-93); "On a New 
 
 265 
 
 Method of Treating Trachoma " (1886) ; " Lectures on 
 Eye Troubles productive of Headache and other 
 Nervous Disorders" (1893). 
 
 Dr. Hotz has been a member of the Chicago Medi- 
 cal Society since 1870 and was the president of the 
 society in 1892. He is also a member of the American 
 Medical Association, and was one of the organizers of 
 the Opthalmological section in 1879. He was chair- 
 man of this section in 1887 and 1888. In 1890 he 
 organized the Chicago Opthalmological Society. Its 
 first president, he was re-elected for a second term. 
 
 In his social relations, the doctor is a member of 
 the Germania Club, but he does not consider club life 
 as congenial to his tastes. His social pleasures are 
 found in his home, and never is he happier than when 
 in the bosom of his family, surrounded by his wife and 
 daughters, or when dispensing his generous hospitality 
 to some of his many friends, who are always glad to 
 accept the pleasure of a visit to his model home. 
 
 Dr. Hotz was married in 1873 to Miss Emma Rosen- 
 merckel, the youngest daughter of Fred W. Rosen- 
 merckel, who established one of the first drug stores 
 opened up in Chicago, and who died, as one of the last 
 victims of the cholera epidemic raging in those years, 
 in 1854. They have six children, all girls, who make 
 the home ring with merry laughter and the fireside 
 glow with joy and happiness for the tloctor and his 
 amiable wife. 
 
 CHARLES H. FERGUSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IN the front rank of the great financial institutions of 
 the world stands the Mutual Life Insurance Com- 
 pany of New York, it having the largest cash assets of 
 any company in the world. To manage the affairs of 
 the Chicago agency of such a corporation requires a 
 man of superior ability, tact, industry and integrity. 
 Such a man was found in the subject of this sketch, 
 who has mastered the problems of life insurance. He 
 has under his control over 150 agents, and his skill 
 and ability as a manager and executive officer has been 
 shown in the phenomenal growth of the company's 
 business in Illinois since he has had charge of it. 
 
 Charles H. Ferguson was bofti in Oswego, N. Y., 
 August 13, 1846, the son of George L. and Amanda 
 . (Boes) Ferguson. His father was a prominent furniture 
 manufacturer and dealer at Oswego, Hannibal, Fulton 
 and Auburn, N. Y., for over fifty years, and died at the 
 latter city at the age of seventy-six. Charles attended 
 the public schools until he was thirteen years old. From 
 his thirteenth to his sixteenth year he was a clerk in a 
 drug store at Auburn, N. Y., after which he went west 
 and became a clerk in the wholesale grocery house of 
 Messrs. Blair & Persons, at Milwaukee, "Wis. 
 
 When the war of the Rebellion opened he enlisted 
 
 in Company A, Thirty-ninth Regiment, Wisconsin 
 Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was assigned to 
 the Army of the Tennessee, under Gen. A. J. Smith. 
 After serving the full term of his enlistment, he was 
 honorably discharged. 
 
 Returning to Milwaukee, he was in the paymaster 
 and purchasing departments of the Chicago, Milwau- 
 kee and St. Paul Railroad, and the express business, 
 until 1869, when he returned to Auburn, N. Y., and 
 became a solicitor for the Mutual Life Insurance Com- 
 pany of .New York, under Mr. A. W. Lawton. In 
 1873 he accepted the general agency of the Oswego 
 and Onondaga Fire Insurance Company for the West. 
 Three years later the company retired from the busi- 
 ness, reinsuring with the Commercial Union of London. 
 
 In June, 1876, Mr. Ferguson re-entered the employ 
 of the Mutual Life of New York, at Chic;tgo. as 
 cashier, and remained until 1881, when he was 
 appointed acting agent, to succeed Mr. John W. 
 Meaker, resigned. In 1883 he received from Messrs. 
 Merrell and Ferguson, general agents at Detroit, the 
 appointment as general agent for Chicago. In 1886 
 he formed a copartnership with Mr. II. S. Winston, as 
 managing agents for Chicago and Cook county. The
 
 266 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 partnership terminated by limitation February 1, 1S89. 
 In June, 1SS7 (prior to the dissolution), he was 
 appointed by the Mutual Life general agent for Illi- 
 nois, which position he now holds. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson is a member of the George II. Thomas 
 Post, G. A. R., and also of the Union League and 
 Calumet clubs, and was president of the Life Under- 
 writers' Association of Chicago for 1892. He is now 
 president of the National Life Underwriters' Associa- 
 
 tion of the United States. In appreciation of his merits 
 Mr. Ferguson was awarded the general agents' prize, a 
 beautiful silver bowl, at Saratoga, N. Y., in June, 1888, 
 for good management and success. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson married Miss Sarah L. Miller, at 
 Auburn, N. Y., whose death occurred in December, 
 1885. Four children were born to them, viz., George 
 Miller, James Lamed, Charles II., jr., and Jessie May, 
 deceased. 
 
 REUBEN LUDLAM, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IT is much to achieve success; it is much more to wm 
 the gratitude of the suffering and afflicted while 
 achieving the success. In our community there is, 
 perhaps, no one who in this regard has greater reason 
 for satisfaction than Dr. Reuben Ludlam. Nearly 
 forty years of most devoted labor have placed him 
 among the few who may be said to be at the head of 
 the medical profession in the Northwest, and such has 
 been the cordial, kindly, generous manner of this min- 
 istration, that in the hearts of those who have received 
 it, there is a sense of grateful recognition that words 
 cannot express. 
 
 Reuben Ludlam was born in Camden. N. J., Octo- 
 ber 7, 1831. His father was Dr. Jacob W. Ludlam, an 
 eminent physician, who died in 1858, at Evanston, 111., 
 after a long life beneficently spent in the practice of 
 his beloved profession. His widow, now in her eighty- 
 sixth year, still resides at Evanston. While still a 
 child, Reuben was accustomed to accompany his father 
 on his daily round of visits, even then taking the great- 
 est interest in the different cases, and, no doubt, gath- 
 ered much that was of use in after life. Naturally 
 studious, he made great progress at school, and when 
 he graduated from the old academy at Bridgeton, N. J., 
 it was with the highest honors of his class. At sixteen, 
 under the supervision of his father, he commenced a 
 systematic course in medicine. Continuing his studies 
 at the University of Pennsylvania, he received the 
 degree of M. D. in that institution in 1852, whence his 
 father had graduated many years before, having spent 
 six years of most earnest effort in preparation for his 
 chosen profession. 
 
 Soon after graduation he came to Chicago. It was 
 at this time that the doctrines of Hahnemann were 
 causing such universal agitation in the breasts of the 
 disciples of the old school. It was with Spartan 
 courage that the young physician, having become 
 practically convinced of the truth of the new theory, 
 by bedside experience, cast aside the dogmas so long 
 cherished, and arrayed himself under the liberal banner 
 of progressive homeopathy. "With the enthusiasm of 
 youth, he was a hearty and impetuous enthusiast of the 
 new principle, and, in 1859, upon the organization of 
 
 the Hahnemann Medical College, was chosen to fill the 
 chair of physiology, pathology and clinical medicine 
 therein. Afterfour years he was transferred to the 
 chair of obstetrics and the diseases of women and 
 children, in which department he had shown a very 
 high degree of skill and talent. A few years later he 
 was given the professorship of the medical and surgical 
 diseases of women, and was made dean of the college 
 faculty, in both of which capacities he has rendered 
 inestimable service, and endeared himself to all who 
 have come within his influence. He was dean of the 
 faculty for twenty-five years, until May, 1891. when he 
 became president of the college and hospital. Some 
 idea of the relation in which he stands to this institution 
 is to be had from the words of a writer, well known to 
 the medical world: "A watchful guardian of its 
 interests and a liberal contributor to its resources, he 
 has labored constantly to elevate its standard to the 
 highest available plane, and to increase its usefulness to 
 the fullest possible extent." 
 
 To the subject of gynaecology, Dr. Ludlam has from 
 the first given very close attention, availing himself 
 not only of all the resources of this country but spend- 
 ing some years of painstaking labor and study abroad, 
 in order to make himself complete master of the sub- 
 ject. His success has been unbounded, particularly in 
 the department of uterine surgery, his services in diffi- 
 cult operations being constantly required all over the 
 Northwest, and his authority in consultation acknowl- 
 edged throughout the country. 
 
 In 1869 Dr. Ludlam was chosen president of the 
 American Institute of Homeopathy, the oldest national 
 medical society in America, presided over its delibera- 
 tions at Boston, and delivered the annual oration, enti- 
 tled " The Relation of Woman to Homeopathy." 
 Among other honors conferred upon him was the pres- 
 idency of the Chicago Academy of Medicine of the 
 Illinois Homeopathic Medical Society, and of the 
 Western Institute of Homeopathy. In 1870 he was 
 offered the position of physician-in-chief to the Wo- 
 man's Homeopathic infirmary, of New York city, and 
 also that of professor of obstetrics and the diseases of 
 women and children in the New York Homeopathic
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Medical College both of which honors he declined. 
 In 1871 he became a member of the medical depart- 
 ment of the Belief and Aid Society, which performed 
 such gigantic eleemosynary work after the great Chi- 
 cago fire. Such has been a part of his public activity in 
 this immediate vicinity. In the organization of the State 
 Board of Health in 1877, Dr. Ludlam was called upon 
 by Governor Cullom to serve. He served as a member 
 of that board for fifteen consecutive years, until 
 December, 1892, having been reappointed twice. It is 
 probable that Dr. Ludlam is best known to the world 
 at large as a writer. A great reader, an accomplished 
 linguist, possessed of an inexhaustible fund of humor 
 and anecdote, he has added to the acknowledged 
 scientific worth of his contributions the charm of 
 a clear and graceful style. For six years, beginning 
 with 1860, he was editorially connected with the North 
 American Journal of Tfomeopaihy, published in New 
 York, and for nine years with the United States Medi- 
 cal and Surgical Journal, published in Chicago. For 
 the last fifteen years he has acted as editor of The 
 Cliniqiie, a monthly abstract of the work of the Clini- 
 cal Society and of the Hahnemann Hospital. One of 
 the most important of his contributions to this paper 
 was that entitled " Clinical Observations, Based on Five 
 Hundred Abdominal Sections." Dr. Ludlam's great 
 work, " Clinical and Didactic Lectures on the Diseases 
 of "Women," published in 1871, is now in its seventh 
 edition. It is an octavo of over one thousand pages, 
 employed as a text book in all homeopathic colleges, 
 and is accepted as authority by homeopathic phj'sicians 
 both here and in Europe. In return for the compli- 
 ment paid him by the French in translating this work 
 into their language, Dr. Ludlam undertook and most 
 successfully performed the task of rendering into Eng- 
 lish a very valuable work entitled "A Volume of Lec- 
 tures on Clinical Medicine," by Dr. Jousset, of Paris. 
 In 1863 appeared a volume entitled "A Course of Clin- 
 ical Lectures on Diphtheria," written by Dr. Ludlam, 
 which was the first strictly medical work ever published 
 in Chicago or vicinity, securing to its author an endur- 
 ing name in the history of his city. 
 
 The doctor is very much absorbed by his profession, 
 
 269 
 
 pursuing it with all the enthusiasm which an artist 
 gives to art. A wide acquaintance with literature, a 
 love for music and sympathy with all that elevates and 
 softens, and, above all, a very comprehensive knowl- 
 edge and affection for mankind, has given to his pro- 
 fessional work the inimitable finish of culture, and made 
 of it, in the truest sense, the art of healing. 
 
 Dr. Ludlam has been twice married, his first wife, 
 Anna M. Porter, of Greenwich, N. J., dying three 
 years after marriage. By his second wife, whose 
 maiden name was Harriet G. Parvin, he has one son, 
 Dr. Reuben Ludlam, Jr., who is a young physician of 
 great promise. His early education was obtained in 
 the best schools of this city. He began the study of 
 medicine under the preceptorship of his father, and in 
 1886 graduated with honor from the Hahnemann Med- 
 ical College and Hospital of Chicago. Going abroad 
 immediately after graduation, he spent a very profit- 
 able year in the hospitals of London and Paris. Upon 
 his return he entered into practice with his father and 
 assumed a responsible position in the Hahnemann 
 hospital. Peculiar interest has naturally been felt in 
 the advent of this young physician, and it is high 
 praise to say that he has fulfilled all that had been 
 expected of him. With concentration uncommon in 
 one of his age, he has disregarded the attractions of 
 society and the many distractions of \ r outh and has put 
 all his energies into his profession. A large part of 
 his father's extensive practice has been transferred to 
 the younger shoulders, and in th'at which the elder is 
 so eminent the assistance of the son has become inval- 
 uable. No praise is too high for the way he has 
 assisted and relieved his father in the ever increasing 
 cares of his busy life. Dr. Ludlam, Jr., is an expert 
 operator, his taste inclining to the specialty with which 
 his father is identified. lie is a fine French scholar, 
 owing to his residence abroad, as well as to previous 
 study, and has made a number of translations from the 
 French for various medical journals. Finely educated, 
 a close and constant student, devoted with all the 
 intensity of natural predilection to his profession, it is 
 with him but a question of years until he shall stand 
 in the foremost rank of Chicago's medical men. 
 
 LYMAN WARE, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LYMAN WARE, son of Ralph and Lucinda (Clark) 
 Ware, was born atGranville, III., November 11, 
 1841. His father came west from Boston about the 
 time of the Blackhawk War. Young Ware attended 
 public school at Granville, and after graduating there, 
 took a course at the University of Michigan at Ann 
 Arbor for four or five years. He then came to Chi- 
 cago and attended the medical department of the 
 Northwestern University, generally known as the 
 
 Chicago Medical College, graduating in 1866. Not 
 satisfied with this, he went East and took a course in 
 the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in which department he graduated in 1868. 
 
 Dr. Ware did not at first study medicine with the 
 intention of practicing, but for the great interest he 
 took in it. lie returned to Chicago soon after gradu- 
 ating from the University of Pennsylvania, and decid- 
 ing finally upon the medical profession, he practiced in
 
 270 
 
 Chicago six years, and then took a trip abroad and 
 staid away two years, most of which time he spent in 
 Vienna, attending medical lectures. 
 
 During the war the doctor served as hospital stew- 
 ard in Col. Hough's (132 Illinois) regiment, in 1864, 
 and was mustered out in 1865. 
 
 Dr. Ware is at present one of the ophthalmological 
 surgeons of the Presbyterian hospital, and also an 
 attending surgeon to the Illinois Charitable Eye and 
 Ear hospital and occulist and aurist to the Chicago 
 Orphan Asylum. 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 He is a member of the American Medical Asso" 
 ciation, the Illinois State Medical Society and the 
 Chicago Ophthalmological Society. 
 
 The doctor is a member of the Presbyterian church 
 and a regular attendant. Politically he is a Republican, 
 but reserves the right to > T ote independently of party 
 or party machines, especially in local elections. 
 
 On the 7th day of June, 1877, Dr. Ware was united 
 in marriage to Miss Elizabeth A. Law, a daughter of 
 Robert Law, of Chicago. They have one child, a 
 daughter named Hildegarde. 
 
 JOHN R. WALSH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN R. WALSH was born in Ireland, August 22, 
 1837. He carne to the United States with his 
 parents when he was twelve years old, settling in 
 Chicago. At the age of eighteen he became a clerk 
 and salesman for J. McNally, who was at that time 
 one of the principal newsdealers in the city. Being 
 quick, bright and courteous, he soon became popular 
 with the patrons of the store, and as he took a keen 
 interest in the business, he developed ideas for its 
 expansion. His employer, however, could not be 
 induced to adopt his ideas, and in 1861, with a little 
 borrowed capital, he opened a news depot of his own, 
 and proceeded to put his plans into execution. In 
 addition to his local customers he began to supply 
 outside towns and cities of Illinois, Wisconsin, 
 Minnesota and Iowa, with papers and periodicals, and 
 his service was so much superior to that of the 
 
 American News Company, of New York, with the 
 facilities it. then possessed, that he soon captured a 
 large portion of the Northwestern trade. This en- 
 croachment upon the business of the American News 
 Company, led to negotiations which resulted in the 
 establishment, in 1866, of the Western News Company 
 in Chicago, with John R. Walsh as manager. It was 
 the first branch of the American News Company, 
 which now has branches in all the principal cities of 
 the country, and to John R. Walsh is mainly due the 
 large measure of success attained. Mr. Walsh was one 
 of the founders of the Chicago National Bank, and has 
 been the president of that institution from its inception. 
 He is the principal owner of the Chicago Herald and 
 Evening Post, and is interested in other important 
 enterprises. Mr. Walsh was married in 1867, to Miss 
 Wilson, of Chicago. 
 
 HON. D. O. FISHER, 
 
 TISHOMING, INDIAN TERRITORY. 
 
 D. O. FISHER, son of Joseph and Martha (Hayes) 
 Fisher, was born on the banks of the Pearl 
 river in the State of Mississippi, in the month of 
 August, 1825. His father was a Kentuckian, and his 
 mother was a half Choctaw Indian, belonging to the 
 Ok-la-fa-la-ya tribe. His parents moved to Fort Tow- 
 son, Choctaw, Indian Territory, in 1832, and there the 
 lad began his studies, attending a neghboring school for 
 about a year, and was then sent to Kentucky, where 
 for three years he attended school under Hon. Richard 
 M. Johnson. 
 
 He afterward bought a farm from Judge O. Love, 
 situated about five miles from Colbert's Station on 
 Red river. It was on this farm, and while engaged 
 in harvesting, that a note from the governor of the 
 Chickasaw Nation, Cyrus Harris, was brought to him, 
 signifying his intention to appoint Mr. Fisher, Circuit 
 
 Judge. This appointment Mr. Fisher declined, as 
 under the Chickasaw constitution, he was ineligible, 
 not being a Chickasaw by blood. Governor Harris 
 then went before the Legislature of the Nation, and 
 requested that Mr. Fisher be adopted as a member of 
 the Chickasaws and elected to the judgeship. This 
 was done, and Mr. Fisher thus became a member of 
 both tribes. In 1874 he was commissioned a delegate 
 to AVashington, and has frequently held this position 
 since. In 1877 he was sent for to attend the Chicka- 
 saw Council on railroad matters, and was employed 
 for some time in the interests of the M. K. & T. R. R. 
 Co. After this he left Atoka and went to Tishoming, 
 the Chickasaw capital, and bought out the mercantile 
 firm of By I'd Brothers, carrying on the business until 
 within the past two years. 
 
 In 1888 he served as treasurer of the Nation, re-
 
 1-RGMiNENT MEN OP THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 273 
 
 signing in eight months on account of personal busi- 
 ness. He is at present serving his second term as 
 National Agent, collecting royalties due the Nation. 
 He is also vice-president of the National Bank at Den- 
 ison, Texas, and is besides connected with many other 
 business enterprises. 
 
 Mr. Fisher was married Sept. 24, 1867, to Miss 
 Mattie McSweeney, daughter of Col. Peter McSweeney, 
 and the result of their union is three daughters. Daisy, 
 
 the eldest, is now seventeen years old, Agnes fourteen 
 years, and Blanche, the youngest, seven years. 
 
 Though sixty-eight years of age, Mr. Fisher is still 
 a hale, energetic business man, and though his life has 
 been an exceedingly busy one, he is to day as active as 
 ever, fulfilling the duties of his office with a degree of 
 energy not often found in a man of his years. He is a 
 man of strict integrity, and as such is universally 
 esteemed.. 
 
 ANDREW CHAISER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BORN in Sweden, August 5. 1841, the subject of 
 this sketch accompanied his parents to America 
 in 1850, locating at Bishop Hill, near Galva, Henry 
 county, 111. Young Chaiser received his education in 
 the public schools, and at the age of fifteen entered as 
 an apprentice in the office of The Swedish Republican, 
 published at Galva, in 1856, and remained with that 
 concern for four years, or until the paper was removed 
 to Chicago. 
 
 He worked as a journeyman printer in various 
 newspaper offices of the United States, and in 1869 
 joined his oldtime schoolmate, Captain Eric Johnson, 
 in publishing the Illinois Swede, which publication in 
 1871 was removed to Chicago and printed under the 
 name of Nya Verlden (the New World). This news- 
 
 paper later on absorbed several other Swedish weeklies, 
 one of which was the Svenska Amerikanaren, and the 
 name of the paper was changed to that of the Svenska 
 Tribunen, under which name the publication is now 
 known. Having become sole proprietor of this news- 
 paper in 1890, Mr. Chaiser made numerous changes in 
 accord with his views and taste, and in doing so 
 demonstrated his ability as a journalist. His enter- 
 prise has been rewarded, and his paper to-day occupies 
 a high and influential position among the Swedish- 
 American publications of the United States. 
 
 Politically Mr. Chaiser is a Republican, but liberal 
 in his views. He is a member of several societies and 
 clubs, and is popular in them all, as he is with all his 
 friends. 
 
 THOMAS WOLFE, 
 
 DAVID CITY, NEBRASKA. 
 
 'T'HOMAS WOLFE, son of John and Elizabeth 
 1 Josephine (Wolfstadt) Wolfe, was born at the 
 small village of Hofheim, lying between Wiesbaden and 
 Frankfurt, in Germany, on the 19th day of May, 1846. 
 While still a child his parents left the fatherland with the 
 purpose of making for themselves a new home under 
 the folds of the flag of freedom. They first settled in 
 Marquette county, Wis., but later moved into 
 Marathon county, where they purchased a tract of 
 land in the midst of dense timber, and after clearing 
 it, engaged in farming. Young Wolfe's first employ- 
 ment off the farm was in the office of a weekly news- 
 paper published by J. W. Chubbuck, and known as the 
 Central Wisconsin, where he went to learn the trade 
 of printer. This paper was Democratic in politics, but, 
 notwithstanding the fact that the very atmosphere 
 was heavity laden with Democratic theories and 
 teachings, young AVolfe early became imbued with the 
 theories taught by such men as Greeley, Lincoln, Garri- 
 son and other Abolitionist leaders, and at the time of 
 
 Lincoln's first election, though he was not old enough 
 to vote, he performed earnest work in the cause. He 
 served in different capacities in many newspaper 
 offices, holding positions from type-setter to editor. 
 
 In 1864- he found himself in Omaha, and there con- 
 tinued for several years in the newspaper and publishing 
 business. In 1872 his name appeared as president of 
 the Omaha Typographical Union, No. 51, and later he 
 published a society paper known as the Sunbeam. In 
 1874, a strike of union printers in Omaha, which he 
 opposed and had long kept at bay, at last took place, 
 in spite of the opposition of himself and friends, and 
 during its continuance he left Omaha, and went to 
 Seward, Neb., where he purchased the office and outfit 
 of a paper known as the Nebraska Reporter, which he 
 published for eight years, and, what was unusual fora 
 country paper, it proved to be profitable. lie served 
 in tlu Nebraska legislature in the session of 1877 and 
 1878, and in 1879 served as president of the Nebraska 
 State Press Association.
 
 274 
 
 During the fall of 1877 he started the Butler county 
 Bank, at David City, Neb., and as its president con- 
 ducted it until 1883, when it became 1 the First National 
 Bank of David City. He has since served as its presi- 
 dent, its affairs under his capable management have 
 prospered exceedingly, and the bank is in comfortable 
 circumstances. Mr. Wolfe has taken an active interest 
 in all things affecting the public welfare, and has held 
 many positions of honor and trust in both political life 
 and enterprises into which politics did not enter. It 
 was due to his efforts that the David City public 
 library was started in 1891, and he has since looked 
 after its welfare as president of its board of directors. 
 He has also been president and is now acting as treas- 
 urer of the Butler Count}' Agricultural Society. He 
 has traveled extensively throughout the United States, 
 and in 1890 made a trip to Europe, visiting Scotland, 
 England and Continental Europe, making the voyage 
 up the famous river Khine. 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Mr. Wolfe is a man of thorough capability; he forms 
 his judgment on business matters quickly, and after- 
 wards adheres strictly to his decision. He is liberal in 
 his views upon all matters, and also liberal with his 
 wealth where public enterprise or private charity 
 appeal to him. He has sound views upon the financial 
 status of the different kinds of currency, and the 
 soundness of his bank during' periods of almost univer- 
 sal depression would seem to demonstrate the correct- 
 ness of his opinions. 
 
 Mr. Wolfe is a self-made man, and one who 
 well deserves the prosperity enjoyed by him. He 
 stands second .to no one in the community with 
 whom he has cast his lot, and his already large list of 
 friends is steadily increasing. The only duty to 
 himself and friends that he has neglected is that 
 of taking unto himself a wife, a neglect which, how- 
 ever, it is not difficult to remed}', as he is still in the 
 prime of life. 
 
 COL. GEORGE MAYHEVV MOULTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born -in Readsboro, 
 Vt., March 15, 1851, the son of Joseph T. and 
 Maria J. (Babcock) Moulton. His father was born in 
 Chichester, near Concord, N. H., in which neighbor- 
 hood the family had resided for several generations. 
 The Moultons have always been prominent in both civil 
 and military affairs, Gen. Jonathan Moulton of Revolu- 
 tionary fame being great-great-grandfather of our 
 subject. When George was but two years of age, his 
 father removed to Chicago, where he attended the 
 public schools, and by his studious habits acquired an 
 excellent education, graduating from the high school 
 with the class of 1868, when seventeen years of age. 
 He was selected to deliver an original German oration 
 at the commencement exercises held in the Crosby 
 opera house. After thirteen years of continued school- 
 ing, he joined his father and acquired a thorough and 
 practical knowledge of the carpenter's trade. 
 
 About this time (1870) the city of Duluth was 
 developing rapidly, and both he and his father went 
 thither, and were employed in building the first grain 
 elevator ever erected in that section of the country. 
 This elevator was completed in the fall of 1870, and 
 Mr. Moulton remained for some time to aid in operat- 
 ing the plant, and then went to Stilhvater, Minn., to 
 superintend the management of the company's elevator 
 at that place, and remained in charge until the fall of 
 1871. Returning to Duluth, he remained there a 
 short time and then returned to Chicago. Mr. Moulton, 
 Sr., had numerous contracts on hand for the erection 
 of grain elevators in various places, among them the 
 Galena Elevator at Chicago, in charge of which young 
 Moulton was placed as forman. He was thus engaged 
 
 until the spring of 1872 his father, in the meantime, 
 having secured the contracts for the building of the 
 Advance Elevator at East St. Louis, of _one hundred 
 and fifty thousand bushels capacity: the Central ele- 
 vators at St. Louis, having a capacity of five hundred 
 thousand bushels, and the East St. Louis elevators, with 
 a capacity of one million bushels. He now became 
 associated with his father as a partner, and in March, 
 1872, arrived in St. Louis, and was engaged there some- 
 eighteen months superintending the construction of 
 these mammoth concerns and planning for others. 
 Their firm have also erected elevators at Bethalto, 111., 
 and St. Genevieve, Mo., each having a capacity of fifty- 
 thousand bushels, while, in addition, the}' have had 
 the designing of elevators at Venice, III., and at Indi- 
 anapolis, Ind. They have erected elevators in Portland, 
 Baltimore, Buffalo, Norfolk, Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, 
 Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City, New York, Tacoma 
 and numerous other cities. Chicago has long been 
 their headquarters, but in their business as architects 
 and builders of grain elevators, Mr. Moulton has visited 
 all the large cities and grain centers from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific. 
 
 Forming a co-partnership with George H. Johnson 
 (in 1877) he engaged in the manufacture of hollow- 
 ware tiles for floor partitions and roofs and wall-girder 
 and column coverings, one of the most useful discov- 
 eries of modern times for building, and which, had it, 
 been adopted in Chicago previous to the great fire, 
 would have saved many costly structures. The develop- 
 ment of this enterprise was so rapid that, in 1880, the 
 Ottawa Tile Company was established, with works at 
 Ottawa, 111. The name of this company was after-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T U'EST. 
 
 wards changed to the "Pioneer "Fireproof Construction 
 company," which is now one of the largest clay manu- 
 facturing establishments in the world, with a paid up 
 capital stock of $500,000. Mr. Moulton, who has 
 taken an active interest in its affairs since its origin, is 
 its president and principal stockholder. The company 
 also purchased, in 1885, a half interest in the River 
 Bank Coal company, of Streator, 111., of which Mr. 
 Moulton has since becpme the largest stockholder and 
 the president. He is also the president of the 
 Commerce Vault Co., a director of the Chicago Deposit 
 Vault Co., and president of the Produce Cold Storage 
 Exchange. He is also a stockholder in the Masonic 
 Temple Association of Chicago, and the Masonic 
 Temple Association of Joliet. He was vice-president 
 of the Knights Templar and Masons Life Indemnity 
 company until 1890, when he succeeded, as president 
 of this association, the late Dr. J. Adams Allen. In 
 1885, Mr. Moulton helped to incorporate the Illinois 
 Masonic Orphan's Home, and served as its president 
 until his voluntary retirement in 1890. He is still one 
 of its board of trustees. The association has acquired 
 property valued at fifty thousand dollars, and the home 
 itself is a source of great good to a large number of 
 orphans, children of Masons. Mr. Moulton is a Mason 
 of high standing. He is a Knight Templar, and was 
 crowned sovereign grand inspector-general, thirty-third 
 degree, A. A S. R., September 20, 188T. 
 
 275 
 
 Mr. Moulton was for four years a major in the 
 Second regiment, Illinois National Guard, being com- 
 missioned in 1886, and resigning in January, 1890, 
 retiring with Col. H. A. Wheeler. He served in the 
 two weeks' campaign at the Union Stock Yards, at the 
 time of the labor riots of 1887, and was with his regi- 
 ment at all its encampments and whenever it did 
 active duty. When General Wheeler was commis- 
 sioned to command the first brigade in August, 1893, 
 he selected Mr. Moulton as one of his staff officers^ and 
 he then received the commission of lieutenant-colonel, 
 inspector of rifle practice. 
 
 Socially he is much respected and well known, 
 being a member of the Union League, Miltonia and 
 Acacia clubs, and of the Sons of Vermont, etc., and is 
 also a member of the Chicago Art Institute, and the 
 Illinois Association of Architects. 
 
 He was married to Miss Anna Florence Garland, 
 of Burlington, Iowa, March 12, 1873. They have two 
 children, Edith May, born at Winona, Minn., and 
 Arthur Garland, born in Chicago. 
 
 Eminently successful both in commercial and social 
 affairs, George M. Moulton is a good type of that class 
 of men who, not content in remaining in the position 
 to which they were born, have pushed forward, and by 
 creating and becoming connected with enterprises of 
 more than ordinary importance, have become public 
 benefactors. 
 
 JOSEPH MEDILL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MR. MEDILL was born in New Brunswick, Canada, 
 April 6, 1823, his parents being of Scotch-Irish 
 ancestry. His father moved to Stark county, Ohio, in 
 1831, when Joseph was eight years of age, and until 
 he was twenty -one years old he worked on his father's 
 farm. Subsequently he studied law, and began the 
 practice of his profession at New Philadelphia, Ohio, 
 in 1846. In 1849, he founded a free-soil whig paper at 
 Coshocton, Ohio, and thenceforth devoted himself to 
 journalism. In 1852, he established the Leader, a free- 
 soil whig paper at Cleveland, and in 1854, was one of 
 the organizers of the Republican party in Ohio. 
 
 Not long after this he came to Chicago, and in May, 
 1855, he and two partners pnrchased the Chicago 
 Tribune, with which paper he has been continuously 
 identified np to the present time. He put forth all his 
 strength to secure the nomination to the presidency of 
 Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and upheld him with 
 unflinching zeal in the war for the restoration of the 
 Union and emancipation of the slaves. He was a 
 member of the Illinois constitutional convention in 
 1870, when the organic law of Illinois was revised, and 
 was the author of the minority representation and 
 several other provisions of that law. In 1871, he was 
 appointed by President Grant a member of the first 
 
 United States ivil service commission, and in the 
 following year was elected mayor of Chicago by an 
 immense majority on the so-called "fire proof" ticket. 
 Mr. Medill spent a year in Europe in 1873 and 1874, 
 and wrote out his observations in a series of letters, 
 which were published in the Tribune.' Upon his 
 return he purchased a controlling interest in that 
 paper, of which he became editor-in-chief. What the 
 Tribune has said and done, and the policies and 
 measures it has advocated since then have been under 
 his direction and guidance. That Mr. Medill has long 
 been regarded in newspaper circles throughout the 
 country as standing in the front rank of journalism is 
 well known ; and that the Tribune as the embodiment, 
 largely, of his will and purpose has been a power in 
 the Republican party, and an influential factor in 
 molding and directing the affairs of Chicago, is also 
 well known to the public. Though giving less personal 
 attention than formerly to the Tribune^s manage- 
 ment, Mr. Medill still supervises all its affairs, and 
 though seventy-one years of age, is more vigorous 
 and active than many men a dozen years younger. 
 
 Among his personal friends and associates Mr. 
 Medill has always been highly esteemed for his strict 
 integrity.
 
 276 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ROBERT M. SNYDER, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 
 
 ROBERT M. SNYDER, son of John and Sarah 
 Snyder, was born at Columbus^ Ind., March 10th, 
 1852. He .received his education in the public schools 
 of Louisville, Ky., graduating from the high school at 
 seventeen years of age. After leaving school he assisted 
 his father, from whom he learned bookkeeping and the 
 general rules of business. He remained at home four 
 years or until he was of age, and then was employed 
 by the Louisville Rolling Mill Co. Finding that his 
 knowledge of commercial book-keeping was too limited 
 to be of much value to his employers he attended school 
 at night for several months, which, together with the 
 practical work at which he was engaged during the 
 day, soon resulted in advance of salary and at the end of 
 the first year he was made general book-keeper at a 
 good salary. Soon after this the depression in values 
 caused by the panic precipitated the suspension of his 
 employers, but within a few days he had secured another 
 position, as book-keeper and cashier of the largest 
 wholesale grocery house in Louisville. 
 
 Through strict economy and systematic saving 
 enough money was obtained in a few years to start him 
 in business. Desiring to locate further West he selected 
 Kansas City, Mo., where he has since resided, and is 
 
 now one of the best known bankers in that city. He 
 is president of the Mechanics Bank of Kansas City, Mo., 
 and of the James Street Bank of Deposit and Savings 
 at Kansas City. Kan., and a director of the National 
 Bank of Commerce. He has visited nearly every State 
 in the Union and has seen all of the principal cities. 
 He has never aspired to political positions, preferring 
 to be a mere member in the ranks of the followers of 
 Jeffersonian doctrines. 
 
 In February, 1874, he was married to Miss Fannie 
 M. Hord, of Lafayette county, Mo., who died two years 
 later leaving a son, Robert M., a youth now eighteen 
 years of age, attending college. In 1880 he was again 
 married ; this time to Miss Mary L. Dawson. They 
 have three sons. 
 
 Mr. Snyder has carved out his fortune under great 
 difficulties. Shortly after his first marriage his father 
 died and on him devolved the support of his mother 
 and seven younger brothers and sisters. He has fulfilled 
 every obligation nobly, and despite the grave difficulties 
 surrounding his start in the battle of life has worked 
 himself to the front, and might now, if so disposed, lay 
 down his work, assured that the general verdict of the 
 world would be, " Well done." 
 
 'JOHN JOHNSTON, 
 
 MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTON was born on the farm of Over- 
 town of Auchnagatt, in the parish of Savoch, 
 County of Aberdeen, Scotland, on June 8, 1836. 
 
 He attended the public school till he was twelve 
 years old, when he went to the grammar school of 
 Aberdeen, which was then famous as a classical school, 
 having James Melvin, LL. D., as head master. At 
 the age of fifteen he gained a scholarship in public 
 competition and entered the University, whence he 
 graduated in March, 1855, as Master of Arts. For a 
 few months he was in the law-office of Sir Alexander 
 Anderson, but on the invitation of his uncle, Alexander 
 Mitchell, of Milwaukee, Wis., he crossed the At- 
 lantic and entered the Wisconsin Marine and Fire In- 
 surance Company Bank on March 11, 1856. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell was then sole owner of the bank and 
 in 1864, young Johnston was made assistant cashier, 
 a position which he held till his uncle's death in 1887, 
 when he became cashier. On account of the fidelity 
 
 with which he attended to the interests of his uncle 
 he was bequeathed by him, at his death, one-third of 
 the stock in the bank, which he held till January 10, 
 1893, when he disposed of his shares to Mr. John L. 
 Mitchell. On account of the great financial crisis of 1893 
 the bank was forced to close on July 25th of that year, 
 and although under the banking law of the State, Mr. 
 Johnston was released from all liability to the creditors, 
 having ceased for over six months to be a stockholder 
 in it, yet under a special law he was still liable. 
 Instead of contesting the validity of the law, which was 
 questioned by many able lawyers, Mr. Johnston as- 
 sisted in reorganizing the bank by putting up $500, 000 
 in good property to secure its doubtful assets and sub- 
 scribing- $30,000 towards the new capital of $500,000, 
 which was put up by some forty leading citizens of 
 Milwaukee. He was unanimously elected to again 
 take the position of cashier, which he occupied before 
 he sold out.
 
 n Ikj.jFub Co. Cn
 
 
 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 279 
 
 Mr. Johnston has always taken an active part in 
 public affairs, literary, charitable, commercial, athletic 
 and political. He served for two terms as a member 
 of the board of aldermen of Milwaukee, and for six 
 years he was one of three commissioners of public debt. 
 He was twice a member of the committee on appeals of 
 the Chamber of Commerce; he was twice its vice- 
 president and twice its president. He delivered the 
 inauguration address on the occasion of the opening of 
 the Chamber of Commerce in 1880 and presented the 
 key to its president on behalf of Alexander Mitchell. 
 He spoke for Milwaukee at the opening of the Boards 
 of Trade of Chicago and Cincinnati, and more than 
 once represented the Chamber of Commerce of Mil- 
 waukee at the meetings of the National Board of Trade. 
 
 In 1S78, he delivered an address before the working 
 men of the iron mills, at Bay View, on the currency 
 question, Avhich was so clear, convincing, and correct, 
 that the Honest Money League of the northwest cir- 
 culated 100,000 copies of it. In 1869, the Curran 
 Literary Society gave a prize for the best essay on 
 "Aristocracy," which was won by Mr. Johnston. He 
 has been, for twenty years, a trustee of Milwaukee 
 College, and a trustee in Calvary Presbyterian church 
 since 1869. 
 
 He has always been an enthusiast in rifle shooting, 
 curling, ten-pins, and quoiting. He has been twice 
 president of the Northwestern Curling Association 
 
 and the Grand National Curling Club. He was three 
 times president of the Milwaukee Rifle Club, and three 
 times president of the Saint Andrew's Society. He is, 
 at present, president of the State Historical Society of 
 Wisconsin, one of the best equipped institutions of the 
 kind in America, and is, also, one of the two regents 
 at large of the University of Wisconsin. He was, for 
 years, a trustee of the Public Library of Milwaukee, 
 as also of its Industrial Exposition. 
 
 He spoke for Milwaukee at the banquet given to the 
 delegates to the Pan American Congress in that city, 
 and responded for the Commerce of Milwaukee at the 
 opening of the new Plankinton House, in 1884. 
 
 Among the subjects of his lectures may be mentioned 
 "Religion and Science;" "Shall we live hereafter?" 
 " Will the coming man be religious?" " Moses, Job, 
 John Knox ; " " Scottish humor and Scottish names ;" 
 "Robert Burns;" "The last twenty-five years of 
 American history," etc. Mr. Johnston has paid for the 
 support, for some years, of two young men, at the Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin. He has a fine library, especially 
 in the line of Scottish subjects. 
 
 He is- a member of the Milwaukee Club, the 
 Recreation Club, the Calumet Club, and other organ- 
 izations of a social, athletic, literary, charitable, and 
 political nature, and in all the spheres of life in which 
 he mingles, he has ever maintained a name above 
 reproach in every particular. 
 
 HON. JAMES FRANKLIN ALDRICH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE paternal grandparents of J. Frank Aldrich 
 were William and Mercy (Farnum) Aldrich, both 
 of whom came of Rhode Island Quaker families. His 
 parents were William and Anna M. (Howard) Aldrich, 
 and he was born at Two Rivers, Wis., on April 6, 1853. 
 In 1861 his father settled in Chicago, where he soon 
 became prominent in business circles and was honored 
 by his fellow citizens with many positions of trust, and 
 in every instance proved himself worthy of the confi- 
 dence reposed in him, as had previously been the case 
 when he served as a member of the Wisconsin Legisla- 
 ture in 1858. He was elected to the " reform council " 
 of Chicago in the spring of 1876, and in the following 
 fall was elected to Congress from the first Illinois 
 district, where he served three successive terms and 
 made a worthy record as a conscientious working 
 member. He was a man of practical ideas and com- 
 paratively few words, but when he spoke his earnest- 
 ness and pointedness carried conviction. Originally a 
 Whig, he aided in forming the Republican party, and 
 was conspicuous in its councils until his death, which 
 occurred in December, 1886, leaving the heritage of an 
 honored name and a manly character of high integrity, 
 together with an ample fortune. 
 
 The subject of this biography is a worthy son of a 
 worthy father, many of whose characteristics and 
 traits he inherits. Prior to his eighth year, young 
 Aldrich attended school in his native place, and after 
 his removal to Chicago, in 1861, he attended the public 
 schools there. This preliminary training was supple- 
 mented by a course of study at the military school at 
 Faribault, Minn., after which he fitted himself for the 
 profession of a civil engineer at the Rensselaer Poly- 
 technic Institute at Troy, N. Y., from which he was 
 graduated in 1877. 
 
 After returning to Chicago he was for several years 
 connected with the Chicago Linseed Oil Company, of 
 which his father was then president; then for about six 
 years operated on the Board of Trade, holding a mem- 
 bership in that body, and subsequently became general 
 manager of the Mutual Fuel Gas Co., of Chicago. He 
 filled that position until April, 1881, when he was 
 appointed by Mayor Washburne as commissioner of 
 public works. 
 
 Mr. Aldrich has long been known for his fearless 
 loyalty to his honest convictions; his sturdy opposition 
 to misrule in municipal affairs and his clear-headed dis- 
 cretion and tact as manager and leader. It was these
 
 280 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 and other kindred traits that led to his selection as a 
 member of the Cook county board of commissioners, 
 in 1886, of which body he became president after the 
 noted " reform board " was installed, succeeding the 
 notorious li boodle regime." As a member of the 
 county board he won universal commendation by his 
 practical demonstration of equitable and honest princi- 
 ples and by his fearless defense of the people's rights 
 against the lawlessness and cupidity of political 
 chicanery, and established a record which did him 
 great credit. As a member of the board of edu- 
 cation for Cook county, he .also rendered efficient 
 service. 
 
 When the citizens of Chicago, through its various 
 civic clubs and commercial organizations, selected the 
 committee who inaugurated what is now known as the 
 Drainage Act, Mr. Aldrich was chosen as chairman of 
 that committee, and was an influential factor in the 
 movement. In all his public service he has shown 
 ability of a high order, and has discharged his duties 
 with an intelligent and dignified manliness, and a 
 familiarity with public affairs joined to a fine determi- 
 nation to be true to his convictions of right, which do 
 him honor. 
 
 Mr. Aldrich has naturally, for some time, been 
 regarded by his friends as the natural heir to the con- 
 
 gressional seat which was so long and worthily filled 
 by his father, by reason of his diversified and eminent 
 abilities for the position. In April, 1892, a year after 
 his appointment by May or Washburne as commissioner 
 of public works, Mr. Aldrich was chosen bv acclamation 
 by the Republican convention as its nominee for 
 congressman from the first district of Illinois to 
 succeed the Hon. Abner Taylor. At the November 
 election Mr. Aldrich was triumphantly elected, and 
 served his constituents with conscientious ability 
 during the term for which he was chosen. 
 
 Mr. Aldrich is highly esteemed for his personal and 
 social qualities, as well as for his public worth, and is 
 the centre of a large circle of friends. He is a member 
 of the Union League, the Kenwood, the Hamilton and 
 the Hyde Park clubs. He is also a member of St. 
 Paul's Episcopal church at Kenwood. On November 
 13, 1876, Mr. Aldrich married Miss Lulu Sherman, 
 daughter of General Frank T. Sherman, ex-postmaster 
 of Chicago and grand-daughter of ex-Mayor Francis 
 T. Sherman. Mrs. Aldrich is a woman of charming 
 qualities, intelligent and refined, and a worthy com- 
 panion and helpmate of her husband. Their three 
 children, Eleanore, Martha and Louis Sherman, are 
 aged thirteen, twelve and eleven years respectively, 
 and are bright features of a happy home. 
 
 ANDREW PETERSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 * A NDREW PETERSON was born in Kolding, Den- 
 y\ mark, the 14th day of January, 1827. Here he 
 passed the first twenty years of his life, receiving a good 
 education. In the year 1847 he visited America and 
 was induced to stay and go into the general merchan- 
 dising business with a friend at Watertown, Wis., thus 
 becoming a resident and business man of that place 
 before Wisconsin was admitted into the sisterhood of 
 States. He remained in business in Watertown until 
 1868, when he sold his interests there and went to 
 Mishawaka, Ind., where he purchased an interest in the 
 St. Joseph Manufacturing Company. 
 
 In 1872 he left Mishawaka and came to Chicago, 
 going into the jobbing business, but not finding that to 
 his liking he retired a year later and started a general 
 banking business, with George P. Bay as a partner, 
 under the firm name of Peterson & Bay, and under 
 which title the business is still carried on. Their first 
 office was located at 36 South Clark street, five years 
 later they removed to 164 Randolph street, and in 1880 
 to 163 Randolph street, where the3 r remained until 
 1890 when they again moved, this time to their present 
 quarters on the south-west corner of La Salle and Ran- 
 dolph streets. While ranking as one of the principal 
 private banking houses of Chicago, it does a large 
 amount of business in real estate, having been identi- 
 
 fied with many of the leading transactions in Chicago 
 since the great fire in 1871. In addition to conducting 
 a bank of deposit it does a general loan and discount 
 business, dealing extensively in local stocks and secur- 
 ities. Each year it has been increasing the scope of its 
 business until at the present time it enjoys the confi- 
 dence and esteem of the public, and Peterson & Bay 
 are regarded as sound and conservative financiers, who 
 take a leading rank among the bankers of the West. 
 Mr. Peterson was for a time a director of what was 
 then known as the Milwaukee & Watertown railway, 
 but which has since developed into the great Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul system, embracing a large sec- 
 tion of the Northwest. 
 
 He has never held nor sought public office, prefer- 
 ring the quiet of private life to the publicity and 
 excitement of politics. Politically, he is, generally 
 speaking, a member of the Republican party, though 
 he depends upon his judgment to decide for whom his 
 ballot shall be cast, particularly in state and municipal 
 elections. He is a member of the Chicago Stock 
 Exchange, the Chicago Athletic Club, and the Union 
 League Club. He is a Mason and a member of "Chev- 
 alier Bayard Commanclery," Knights Templar. 
 
 He was married in August, 1854, to Miss Josephine 
 E. Niles, a daughter of John Niles, of Mishawaka, Ind.,

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 283 
 
 who, after thirty happy years of married life, died 
 March 9, 1884, since which time Mr. Peterson has 
 mostly made his home at the Union League Club. 
 
 He has traveled extensively all over Europe, having 
 visited all the principal cities of that country. He has 
 also visited Cuba and Mexico, besides having seen the 
 principal points of interest in every State in the Union, 
 with the exception of two or three which are in the 
 extreme northwestern corner. He spends a portion of 
 each year at some one of the well known resorts on 
 the Atlantic coast, having a love for the great ocean on 
 
 whose shores he spent the earlier years of his life. He 
 is an ardent admirer of America and American insti- 
 tutions and only deplores the fact that there are jeal- 
 ousies that might make one for a moment forget that 
 we are all necessary parts of a great whole. Mr. 
 Peterson takes as active an interest in all matters 
 pertaining to the material welfare of Chicago as 
 men a score of years his junior ; he bears his years 
 lightly, and it is hoped that his useful life may 
 be spared to the city of his adoption for many years 
 to come. 
 
 HON. ALFRED ENNIS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born June 24, 1837, 
 in Morgan county, Ind. He was the oldest of 
 three brothers. His father, Mitchell Ennis, was a native 
 of Kentucky, and his mother, whose maiden name was 
 Nancy Trent, was a native of Virginia. They were 
 highly esteemed in the community in which they 
 resided in central Indiana, where they had settled upon 
 a farm, and it was here that Alfred's early youth was 
 spent. 
 
 At the age of eighteen, his educational advantages 
 having been such as the common schools of that period 
 afforded, suplemented by evening study at home, he 
 entered Franklin College, Indiana, in the fall of 1855, 
 paying his own way with money he had saved from 
 his earnings. When his small stock of money was 
 exhausted, he returned home and taught school for one 
 term in the district where he was raised, at the close of 
 which, with the money earned, he was enabled to 
 resume his attendance at the college, where he applied 
 himself with stil-1 greater zeal to his studies. At the 
 close of his college course, which his own perseverance, 
 in the face of all obstacles, had made possible, he 
 returned home, teaching school in the winter seasons 
 and devoting his spare time to study and self-improve- 
 ment. In the summer of 1858, he accepted a position as 
 salesman in the dry goods house of Messrs. Park and 
 Hite, the largest and wealthiest mercantile firm in 
 Martinsville. 
 
 In March, 1859, young Ennis' father died, leaving 
 his mother and two brothers alone upon the farm. 
 Alfred at once left the store and returned home, and 
 took charge of and cultivated the farm that season, 
 with the assistance of his two brothers. He was 
 appointed administrator of his father's estate, which 
 necessited his obtaining and reading the statutes of 
 the State, and this resulted in his forming a desire to 
 study law. He obtained Blackstone's commentaries, 
 and read them during the summer of that year. 
 During the succeeding fall and winter, impelled by 
 his new ambition, he taught a private school in his 
 home district, from which he realized sufficient money 
 to enable him to attend a law school. 
 
 In the fall of 1859, he attended a law school in 
 Indianapolis, conducted by Hons. Jonathan W. Gordon, 
 Napoleon B. Taylor and John Coburn, later attending 
 the law school of the Northwestern Christian Univer- 
 sity, in the same city, where the Hon. Samuel E. 
 Perkins, then one of the judges of the Supreme Court 
 of Indiana, was the professor. At this school he 
 entered the senior class, and in the spring of 1860, 
 graduated. Again returning home, where his counsel 
 was sought by his friends and acquaintances, he soon 
 had a considerable and remunerative practice. In the 
 fall of 1860 he opened an office at Martinsville, and 
 soon gained an enviable reputation as being an exceed- 
 ingly shrewd and faithful legal adviser. About this 
 time he formed a partnership with the Hon. Samuel 
 H. Buskirk, subsequently one of the judges of the 
 Supreme Court of Indiana, a lawyer of experience and 
 ability, then residing at Bloomington, Ind. 
 
 In the summer of 1863 the partnership between Mr. 
 Ennis and Mr. Buskirk was dissolved, and early in 
 1864 he formed a partnership with Hon. Cyrus F. 
 McNutt. Mr. McNutt was subsequently professor of 
 law in the State University of Indiana, and judge of 
 the Superior Court, at Terre Haute. In the spring of 
 1867 this partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Ennis 
 continued the practice alone. 
 
 Two years later, Mr. Ennis was requested, in the 
 interest of his clients, to make a trip abroad, visiting 
 England, France and Scotland and returning much 
 refreshed by his trip and resumed his practice of law. 
 
 In the fall of 1869 he completed one of the most 
 elegant structures in his native county. Now that he 
 had built up a large and remunerative practice, he had 
 every reason to feel that he was settled for life. His 
 roving spirit, however, would not have it so, and in the 
 summer of 1870, he for the first time visited Kansas, 
 stopping in Topeka, and he became so greatly im- 
 pressed with the prospective greatness of the State 
 that he formed a desire to remove there, which he did 
 in June, 1871, settling in Topeka. 
 
 In his new home Mr. Ennis applied himself strictly 
 to the practice of his profession, giving almost exclu-
 
 284 
 
 eive attention to business in the Federal courts of some 
 six or seven States, and especially to that branch of 
 litigation growing out of the default of payment of 
 municipal and other corporate securities in the western 
 States, and to railroad and corporation law generally. 
 His success was highly satisfactory. In the summer 
 of 1880, Mr. Ennis, accompanied by bis family, visited 
 California. Two years later, in the summer of 1882, 
 Mr. Ennis, accompanied by his family, took up his tem- 
 porary residence in Boston, where he was called by 
 business interests and the practice of his profession,and 
 where he was able to give his children the superior edu- 
 cational advantages of that city. A year or so later he 
 was compelled to go to New York with his. family, re- 
 maining there until 1884, then coming to Chicago, to 
 take charge of the legal department of the Pullman 
 Palace Car Company, as general counsel of the com- 
 pany. Mr. Ennis has since resided here with his fam- 
 ily, consisting of his wife, one son, Walter B., and three 
 daughters, Lillie A., Luna May, and Alma Viola. 
 
 Mr. Ennis, as general counsel, conducted the large 
 business of the legal department of the Pullman Com- 
 pany for about five years with the greatest success. 
 During the time named the business aggregated many 
 million dollars, and included many thousand miscella- 
 neous contested matters, and many hundred law suits 
 throughout Mexico and Canada, as well as the United 
 States. Under his management of the legal depart- 
 ment the company paid less than two-thirds of one 
 per cent, upon the amounts involved, an almost unsur- 
 passed administration of so vast a legal department. 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 About the close of 1888, Mr. Ennis resigned his position 
 with a view of associating with himself in the practice 
 of general law his son, who, although in delicate health, 
 was a most promising young attorney. On May 1, 
 1889, Mr. Ennis opened offices in "The Rookery," in 
 Chicago. Before Mr. Ennis, Jr., regained his health, 
 however, be died, on March 31, 1890. Since his death 
 Mr. Ennis, Sr., has endeavored to confine his practice 
 to corporation law. 
 
 He is a man of great oratorical ability, and fre- 
 quently, upon special request, has prepared and 
 delivered addresses upon subjects of current interest. 
 He read before the Illinois State Bar Association, at 
 its twelfth annual meeting, an exhaustive paper upon 
 thesubjectof " Commerce, Intra-State and Inter-State; 
 its Regulation and Taxation.'' On the occasion of a 
 banquet at the same meeting of the above association, 
 he also read a complimentary sentiment upon the sub- 
 ject of "The American Bar Association." 
 
 On November 29, 1860, Mr. Ennis was married at 
 Manchester, Ind., to Miss Almarinda Baldridge, a 
 young lady of high culture and refinement. Miss 
 Baldridge was a daughter of the late Rev. Daniel 
 Baldridge, a pioneer minister of renown in the Chris- 
 tian church of Ohio. 
 
 Mr. Ennis has been for many years a Mason of the 
 higher degrees Royal Arch, Knights Templar and 
 Scottish Rite. He is a member of the Chicago, State, 
 American and National Bar associations. In politics, 
 he has always been a Democrat, and is a thorough 
 believer in the party. 
 
 FRANK NEWTON GAGE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 T^RANK NEWTON GAGE was born in Waltham, 
 I Mass., July 24, 1853, being the son of John N. 
 and Martha (Webster) Gage. His father settled in 
 Chicago in 1857, and founded the house of Webster & 
 Gage, which afterwards became Gage Bros. & Co., 
 wholesale dealers in fancy goods and millinery. 
 
 Frank was educated in the public schools of Chicago, 
 graduating from the "Old Central" high school with 
 honors in 1870. Having a predilection for commercial 
 rather than professional life, he, upon leaving school, 
 entered the firm of Gage Bros. & Co., and the great 
 fire, which made Chicago famous, coming the next 
 year, gave him opportunity for rapid advancement, of 
 which he was not slow to avail himself. For fifteen 
 vears following, or until January 1, 1885, when he 
 organized the corporation known as " The Gage-Downs 
 Corset Company," of which he became treasurer and 
 manager, he was well known in the Chicago business 
 world, and was tireless in his efforts for success and 
 advancement. 
 
 The following six years, during which a successful 
 
 manufacturing business was established, were equallv 
 active. Disposing of his interest, and severing his 
 connection with this corporation in the early part of 
 1891, his attention has since been given to his large 
 estate, and the supervision of 'his diversified financial 
 interests, which yield him a comfortable income. 
 
 Mr. Gage finds time outside of this to attend to his 
 duties as president of the North American Accident 
 Association, and is quite active in the management of 
 several building and loan associations, as well as on 
 the Chicago Stock Exchange. 
 
 A lover of good horses, several of which can be 
 found in his well appointed stables, he is a member of 
 the Washington Park Club, while his artistic instincts 
 are shown by his enrollment as a member of the Art 
 Institute. 
 
 In June, 1888, Mr. Gage was elected president of 
 the National Union (he having become a member of 
 the same in 1883), a beneficial order having over thirty 
 thousand members, and during his term of office, which 
 expired in June, 1890, he had full jurisdiction over the
 
 4Wt* 
 
 .., o<
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 whole order, and performed the duties of his olliue in 
 an exemplary manner. He is also a member of the 
 Royal Arcanum, the Royal League, and the Fraternal 
 Mystic Circle, all well known fraternal orders. 
 
 Mr. Gage has traveled extensively, both in this 
 country and Europe, and, possessing as he does, a re- 
 tentive memory and graphic powers of description, his 
 reminiscences are always of an interesting and enter- 
 taining character. 
 
 In politics, he is Eepublican, and is always true to 
 his party on national and other important' issues; but 
 he is by no means a partisan, in the generally accepted 
 sense of the word, and beyond recording his vote, as 
 occasion may require, he takes no active part in politics 
 generally. 
 
 In religious faith he is a Universalist, and is a 
 member of St. Paul's Universalist church. It is not 
 often that a young man becomes so early identified 
 with the work of a church and its Sunday-school as did 
 Mr. Gage, for he has been an officer of this church for 
 
 287 
 
 many years, and connected with the Sunday-school 
 work since 1860. This is an honorable record, and one 
 of which Mr. Gage is naturally proud. He has not yet 
 reached the meridian of life, and the church of which 
 he is so active and prominent a member anticipates 
 many years of service from him. 
 
 He was married November 6, 1889, to Miss Olive 
 E. Lewis, daughter of Mrs. Mary Lewis. They have 
 one child, a boy, named for the grandfather, John 
 Newton Gage. Domestic by nature, Mr. Gage spends 
 much of his time not devoted to business interests with 
 his family, and he is never happier than when, relieved 
 from business cares, he is. able to join his family and 
 enjoy the comforts of a beautifully situated, comfort- 
 ably and richly furnished and well regulated home, or 
 a drive behind one or more of his well bred horses. 
 
 Of thorough rectitude, pleasing address, and much 
 ability he is one of Chicago's enterprising and repre- 
 sentative citizens, and as such his biography is here 
 inserted. 
 
 ABRAM WILLIAMS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 OF all the prominent insurance managers in charge 
 of Western departments in Chicago, there are 
 none more prominent, more successful or better known 
 than is the subject of this sketch, Abram "Williams, 
 born March 31, 1830, at Utica, New York. His 
 parental grandfather was a prominent minister in the 
 Baptist denomination of that State, who came to this 
 country from Chester, England, in 1795. His mother 
 was Olive Barnum, of Danbury, Connecticut, daugh- 
 ter of Ezra Barnum, a clergyman, who took active part 
 in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Educated in the common schools and academies of 
 his native town, young Williams at the age of fourteen 
 left school, having acquired a good common school 
 education, and being desirous of making his own way 
 in life, for, on the death of his father in 1844 (our sub- 
 ject being then just fourteen years of age) the task of 
 supporting a family of five children devolved upon his 
 mother, who. much to her credit, carried out this task 
 in an exemplary and thorough manner. One of his 
 brothers, Nelson G.,educated at West Point, afterwards 
 became colonel of the Third Iowa Regiment, and was 
 promoted to brigadier-general for gallant service at 
 . the battle of Shiloh. His three sisters have all done 
 well, received a good education and have been promi- 
 nent in their respective circles. 
 
 Deciding to try his fortunes in the great city of New 
 York, young Williams, with but a few dollars in his 
 pocket, went there, and after much effort he obtained a 
 situation with Peter Murray, importer of fancy goods, 
 notions, etc., Maiden Lane, remaining here for a num- 
 ber of years. Subsequently he became a buyer for 
 
 William II. Gary & Co., who conducted a business of 
 a similar nature, and in 1852 formed the house of 
 Sheldon, Harris & Williams, Liberty street, New 
 York. This business grew in proportions, and success 
 attended their efforts. In fact, the trade they did 
 became of such importance as to warrant their estab- 
 lishing, in 1854, a branch house in Paris, and there 
 Mr. Williams for some time resided. But his atten- 
 tion to his duties and the business affairs generally of 
 the house had been such that at length his health gave 
 way, and he was forced to relinquish his connection 
 with the firm. Going West in 1856, he settled in Du- 
 buque, la. Two years later that city underwent a 
 severe financial crisis, and Mr. Williams, amongst the 
 other prominent merchants of the city, was for a time 
 considerably embarrassed, but, determined to perse- 
 vere, he brought to bear upon his business renewed 
 energy and the result was that by 1860 he had wiped 
 out every debt he had through these unfortunate cir- 
 cumstances contracted. In accomplishing this he was 
 left virtually without a dollar of available capital with 
 which to start anew. He was appointed, however, a 
 deputy court clerk this year, and occupied this position 
 until h'e entered the army in 1862. 
 
 Commissioned first lieutenant in the Sixth Iowa 
 Cavalry he was ultimately promoted to chief of cavalry 
 on General Alfred Sully's staff. In the winter of 
 1864-5, being assigned to addditional duties as acting 
 assistant quarter-master, the active and energetic 
 manner in which he filled this position, and the 
 ingenuity, tact and great determination he displayed 
 in dealing with the Illinois Central railroad at this time,
 
 288 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST 
 
 which much embarrassed the government by its action, 
 received the highest commendations all this is a 
 matter of history. He took possession of this road as 
 far as the necessity of government service required, and 
 also of the other railroads of Iowa, shipped the grain 
 required to Cairo, kept up the supply and thus carried 
 out the orders of his superior officers. This course, 
 though it resulted in considerable inconvenience to the 
 numerous shippers along these roads, was, nevertheless, 
 unavoidable. The people, and through them the 
 government, required certain supplies, and this fact 
 alone was a sufficient warrant for action. The necessity 
 was great, the cause just, and the end in view certainly 
 justified the means. The railroad companies appealed 
 to General Pope, and he undertook to rescue them from 
 Assistant Quarter-Master Williams' hold, but the 
 attempt was futile, for the quarter-master determined 
 to hold them, and he did hold them until the supplies 
 had been shipped, and the Army of the Tennessee under 
 Gen. Thomas was thus enabled to continue its cam- 
 paign. For this. Mr. Williams received the commen- 
 dations of his superior officers, though the railroad 
 company sued the government for heavy damages, with 
 what result is not known. 
 
 His term of service expiring in 1865, he returned 
 to Dubuque, and here became connected with the insur- 
 ance business, becoming general agent for the Yonkers 
 and New York Fire Insurance Company of New York. 
 In 1869 the States of Ohio and Michigan, and all the 
 States and Territories in the West, were added by this 
 company. The head offices were then removed to 
 Chicago, and Mr. Williams located himself here in 
 August of that year, continuing the company's success- 
 ful career. In the great fire of 1871 Mr. Williams was 
 crippled, and was forced to have recourse to the use of 
 crutches for over two years, owing to his endeavors 
 during the fire to save his company's books, valuable 
 documents, etc. In 1874 the Continental Fire Insur- 
 ance Company of New York appointed him their 
 Western manager, in which position he continued until 
 the fall of 1884, when he was offered and accepted a 
 similar position with the Connecticut Fire Insurance 
 Company of Hartford, organizing its Western depart- 
 ment. Its business at this time amounted to but a 
 little over two hundred thousand dollars, while now it 
 
 has so grown and developed that at present it amounts 
 to over nine hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Williams 
 is still its Western manager, and is a man of sound 
 principles and sound practices. It has been often 
 remarked that if the managers of all companies were 
 like him the insurance business would be invested with 
 more dignity than it a.t present possesses, and as far as 
 possible, it would be robbed of its objectionable fea- 
 tures. The Connecticut Fire Insurance Company was 
 granted a perpetual charter in 1850. It was the idea 
 of its originators to be guided by conservatism in all 
 their operations. As was the case with so many others, 
 the company was a heavy loser in both the great Chi- 
 cago and Boston fires. Mr. Williams, among other 
 Western fire underwriters, it is confidently claimed, has 
 shown more intelligence and a broader comprehension 
 of the principles and questions involved in the business 
 than have the New York managers. In the metropol- 
 itan district harmony has nearly always been an absent 
 quality, while in Chicago and in the West, as a whole, 
 there is much less discord. Mr. Williams has served 
 one term as president of the Northwestern Association 
 of Fire Underwriters with much credit. 
 
 Prominent also in social circles, he has been vice- 
 president of the Iroquois club, and is a member of the 
 Union League and Calumet clubs. A warden of Grace 
 Episcopal church, he has for sixteen years been one of 
 its officers. He is a man of much culture, and has 
 traveled extensively, both in this country and Europe. 
 
 In politics a Democrat, measures and men, rather 
 than party, have his strongest support. 
 
 Mr. Williams was married in 1852, to Miss Frances 
 S. Raynolds, of Rochester, N. Y. Mrs. Williams is a 
 daughter of Williams L. Raynolds, a prominent for- 
 warding and shipping merchant of that place. They 
 have had four children, two of whom are dead. His 
 son, Nelson B. Williams, was an iron merchant and 
 warehouseman in this city, but has now retired 
 with a competency; his daughter Frances J. resides 
 at home. 
 
 Of much ability, sterling worth, and of social and 
 commercial prominence, Abram Williams stands high 
 among the citizens of Chicago, and as a thorougly rep- 
 resentative citizen he is entitled to a place among her 
 representative men. 
 
 EDWIN LYMAN LOBDELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDWIN LYMAN LOBDELL, son of Charles W. 
 and Eliza (Gere) Lobdell, was born at Granville, 
 Putnam county, 111., July 14, 1857. His father's fam- 
 ily came frota near Rochester, N. Y., and his mother's 
 from Northampton, Mass., to Illinois, about the year 
 1848. 
 
 When seventeen years of age he came to Chicago 
 
 and secured employment in the First National Bank, 
 where he was advanced rapidly, holding the position 
 of receiving teller and later of paying teller. In 1881, 
 he resigned his position with the First National and 
 became a member of the firm of Nash. Wright & Co., 
 receivers and shippers of grain. In 1887, he retired 
 from this firm and started in the note brokerage busi-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 ness under the firm name of E. L. Lobdell & Co. In 
 1890 Mr. Lobdell deemed it desirable to form a stock 
 company, for the purpose of enlarging his business and 
 of securing additional capital. In this he succeeded, 
 and the company was incorporated under the name of 
 Lobdell, Farwell & Co. Actively associated with him 
 in this enterprise is Mr. Granger Farwell, and as 
 directors and stockholders a number of well known 
 bankers and capitalists. The corporation does a large 
 investment business in notes, stocks and bonds, and has 
 been prominently connected with Chicago elevated rail- 
 way enterprises. Mr. Lobdell is a member of the Board 
 of Trade, and has been a director of the American Trust 
 and Savings Bank since the time of its organization. 
 
 His social relations are in part indicated by his 
 membership in the Union League, the Washington 
 Park and the Chicago Whist clubs. He has also 
 traveled extensively in this country and in Europe, 
 
 289 
 
 and has made one visit to the Hawaiian Islands. 
 He was married January 4, 1883, to Miss Annie 
 Philpot, of Chicago, and a descendant of an old and 
 well known family of Maryland. They have three 
 children, one son and two daughters. 
 
 Edwin L. Lobdell is a fair type of the class of men 
 who have built up Chicago and have made the city 
 one of the wonders of the world, for his indomitable 
 will and energy have shown themselves in every phase 
 of his prosperous career. He is now in the prime of 
 life, at the head of a large corporation transacting 
 business not only in all of the principal cities of the 
 United States, but in many foreign countries as well, 
 and is a prominent figure among financiers. 
 
 Personally, he is of fine appearance, and though one 
 of the busiest of men, he has a smile of welcome for all, 
 ungrudgingly giving his time to those who ask it and 
 thereby constantly adding to his long list of friends. 
 
 GEORGE PUTNAM-UFTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BORN at Roxbury, Mass., October 25, 1835, Mr. 
 Upton is the son of Daniel Putnam and Lydia 
 JMoyes Upton. His parents were both Americans. One 
 of his early ancestors, John Upton, arrived in the United 
 States in 1650, and settled at Salem, Mass. The sub- 
 ject of this sketch was educated at Brown University, 
 Providence, R. I. He came to Chicago, October 27, 
 1855, and two days later, October 29, began his career 
 in journalism, which has continued to the present day. 
 On that day he went to work on the Chicago Native 
 Citizen, where he remained until February, 1856. In 
 March of that year he engaged with the Journal, re- 
 maining there until November, 1861, when he changed 
 to the Chicago Tribune, and has been connected with 
 this newspaper ever since in an editorial capacity. He 
 is recognized as one of the most proficient musical crit- 
 ics in the country, and is, beside, a writer of note. He 
 is the author of " Letters of Peregrine Pickle," pub- 
 
 lished in 1869 ; " Memories," a translation (1879); 
 " Woman in Music " (1880); " Standard Operas " (1886); 
 "Standard Oratorios" (1887); "Standard Cantatas" 
 (1888); "Standard Symphonies" (1889); "Life of 
 Haydn," a translation (1883); " Life of Liszt," a trans- 
 lation (1884); "Life of Wagner," a translation (1884). 
 In religion he is an agnostic, and in politics a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 Mr. Upton is a member of the Illinois Historical 
 Society, the Wisconsin Historical Society, the American 
 Arch 330 logical Society, the Association for the Ad- 
 vancement of Sciences, and an honorary member and 
 founder of the Apollo Musical Club. He was married 
 November 15, 1882, to Miss Sarah E. Bliss, who died; 
 and again, September 21, 1880, to Miss Georgiana S. 
 Wood. He has one daughter, Mary E. Favorite, and 
 two grandchildren, Calvin Foster and George Upton 
 Favorite. 
 
 DR. MILTON JAY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MILTON JAY, son of Isaac and Rhoda Jay, was 
 born near Dayton, O., May 10, 1833. His 
 parents were prominent farmers in that locality, and 
 gave young Jay all the advantages they could in the 
 way of securing an education. Like the average 
 farmer's boy of the period, however, he onlv attended 
 school in the winter season, and spent his summers 
 working on the farm. At the age of seventeen, he 
 
 entered the Farmers' Institute, at Lafayette, Ind., 
 taking a three years course, and then spent two years 
 more at the Eastham College, at Richmond, Ind. 
 After graduating from the latter institution he com- 
 menced the study of medicine and surgery. 
 
 In 1855, he entered and after a three years course, 
 graduated, in 1858, from the Eclectic Medical College, 
 at Cincinnati, and at the Jefferson Medical College, in
 
 290 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 Philadelphia, graduating from the latter in ISo'J. 
 After graduating from this thorough course of study, 
 Dr. Jay immediately entered upon the practice of 
 medicine and surgery at Marion, Ind., where he soon 
 worked up an extensive practice, continuing the same 
 until 1870, when he removed to Chicago for the wider 
 field of operation which the city offers, with its various 
 hospitals and clinics. Here he built up a large practice 
 and lias for twenty four years attended to the arduous 
 duties of surgeon, each year becoming more prominent 
 in the ranks of his profession. 
 
 Soon after his arrival in Chicago, in 1870, Dr. Jay, 
 in c:mpany with Drs. W. H. Davis, H. D. Garrison, 
 Henry Olin and others, organized the Bennett Medical 
 College of Chicago, and for twenty years be was the 
 dean of the faculty and principal manager of the col- 
 lege. He was also professor of principles and practice 
 of surgery and clinical surgery in that institution. 
 Much of the success of this institution, doubtless, was 
 due to his great popularity* as a lecturer, and his ac- 
 knowledged skill as an operator. Naturally of literary 
 tastes and abilities, the doctor has contributed gener- 
 
 uiuly iu the medical periodicals of the country, and it 
 was to his efforts that recognition was obtained 
 for the Eclectic school of medicine in the Cook County 
 Hospital, naming the staff, and he himself filling 
 the position of surgeon. He also has other important 
 hospital connections for the accommodation of private 
 patients. 
 
 Since withdrawing from active work in the college, 
 he has devoted himself almost exclusively to his large 
 and lucrative practice of surgery. He is a member of 
 the various State and national medical societies, and 
 vas president of the World's Congress Auxilliary of 
 medicine and surgery, which met in Chicago during 
 the World's Fair of 1893. 
 
 Dr. Jay was united in marriage in April, 1861, to 
 Miss Euretta Webster, of Marion, Ind., a lady of many 
 virtues, and a charming and talented helpmate to the 
 doctor. 
 
 In appearance, Dr. Jay is a man of medium size, of 
 genial disposition, well liked by all with whom he 
 comes in contact, and his home is the center of .a large 
 circle of friends, who delight to do him honor. 
 
 JACOB FORSYTH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG those honored pioneers who blazed a path 
 for future generations to follow, who bravely 
 turned their faces from the cities of the East, with all 
 their advantages of wealth and civilization, to risk their 
 fortunes on the Western frontier in all its wildness and 
 primitive modes of life; who, rather than enjoy, the 
 comforts of their former homes, chose to endure the 
 hardships of a wider and freer country; and who 
 made out of these obstacles, which, to a weaker class 
 of men would have been stumbling blocks, the stepping 
 stones of wealth and renown none of these great men 
 are more noted for that untiring perseverance and 
 steady progress which have resulted in the acquirement 
 of wealth and the well-merited esteem of their fellow 
 men, than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. 
 If Chicago ever had a faithful sponsor, it is he. He 
 realized, with great prophetic foresight, the magnitude 
 of the " Garden City's " prospects, at a time when she 
 gave but slight signs of her future greatness. If, as is 
 maintained, the history of a country or city is best 
 displayed in the lives of her most prominent men, then 
 certainly that of Chicago would be incomplete without 
 some record of the life of this man, one of her most 
 influential and respected citizens. 
 
 Mr. Forsyth is so thoroughly American in thought 
 and action that we would gladly chronicle his birth in 
 this country, but historic accuracy requires the state- 
 ment that he came to us from across the sea, from a 
 country between which and the United States there has 
 ever been the kindliest feeling and the deepest sympa- 
 
 thy. He was born in the north of Ireland in 1821, the 
 son of an intelligent farmer of small landed property. 
 He received his education at a noted private academy, 
 the principal of which was a learned Greek and Latin 
 scholar and a renowned mathematician in his vicinity, 
 and, possessing quick perceptions and studious inclina- 
 tions, he profited by his advantages. 
 
 On arriving in this country, at fifteen years of age, 
 he settled in Pittsburg, Penn., where he was given a posi- 
 tion as copying clerk and errand boy for the great com- 
 mission and forwarding house of Forsyth & Company, 
 a member of which was a near relative of young For- 
 syth. The firm was the oldest commission house in 
 the city and owned a large fleet of steamers running 
 on the various Western rivers. In those days the copying 
 book had not been invented, and all letters had to be 
 copied by hand, which duty was part of young For- 
 syth's work. By painstaking diligence, and a careful 
 regard for his employers' interests, he gained their con- 
 fidence and esteem, and was promoted from one respon- 
 sible position to another, until he attained that of head 
 book-keeper for the firm, remaining altogether with the 
 house about fifteen years. But merit is too rare a 
 jewel to remain long undiscovered, and ambition too 
 great a goad to permit repose; hence it is not surprising 
 that Mr. Forsyth should have received other advan- 
 tageous offers. One of these, and which he accepted, 
 was the position of through freight agent of the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad, with headquarters in Chicago. 
 Thus, in 1857, we find him taking up his residence in
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 293 
 
 the Garden City, which at that time lacked both the 
 '"garden" and the "city." After a few years service in 
 this position he accepted another as general western 
 agent for the "Old Erie" road. 
 
 It was about this time that he became impressed 
 with the excellent opportunities afforded to buy land 
 cheaply, and, following his convictions, in 1866, he re- 
 signed his position with the railroad and began to in- 
 vest largely in land. His wife had inherited a large 
 amount of real estate in Lake county, Indiana, from 
 her brother, the late Geo. W. Clarke, who died in 1866, 
 and to this Mr. Forsyth added by purchasing the in- 
 terests of small owners in the vicinit}', and, in time 
 acquired 10,000 acres. in one tract^ arguing, with hard- 
 headed sense, that one large piece of land would possess 
 more value than the same amount in scattered portions. 
 In fact, Mr. Forsyth has always evinced such Yankee 
 intuition that we are forced to believe that he must 
 have imbibed many of the acute qualities of that pro- 
 gressive nation. He did not, however, always have 
 clear sailing; but, on the contrary, experienced much 
 annoyance and many years' litigation in consequence of 
 his efforts to eject squatters, who at that time were 
 numerous on Lakes George and Wolfe. He was in 
 court five years and during that time read book after 
 book on land decisions and riparian rights,on which point 
 he is now one of the best posted men in the country, 
 amply qualified to enlighten many attorneys in that 
 line of practice. A decree being pronounced in his 
 favor, he sold 8,000 acres of his land to the East 
 
 Chicago Improvement Company for one million dol- 
 lars, one-third of which was paid down in cash. The 
 company, however, failed to meet subsequent payments, 
 and, as a compromise, the present Canal and Improve- 
 ment Company was formed in 1887, from which Mr. 
 Forsyth accepted as reimbursement part cash, a large 
 amount of bonds and some stock in the. company. In 
 188 L he bought another large tract of land on the lake 
 shore, lying directly north of the present site of East 
 Chicago, and in 1889 he sold a portion of this to the 
 Standard Oil Company, on which they have built their 
 large plant, known as Whiting. The limits of the city of 
 Chicago having been extended to. the Indiana line, 
 across which lies Mr. Forsytlrsland,it has consequent!}' 
 been enhanced in value, and he is proportionately 
 benefitted thereby. 
 
 Mr. Forsyth married Caroline M. Clarke, daughter 
 of Robert Clarke, of Fayette county, Penn., who bore 
 him nine children, five boys and four girls, and all of 
 whom are living. In politics Mr. Forsyth is a staunch 
 Republican, believing thoroughly in the principles and 
 policy as expounded by the "grand old party." He has 
 never, however, taken an active part in political affairs. 
 Personally, Mr. Forsyth is a large and well-propor- 
 tioned man, has a kindly face and genial manners, 
 bearing every evidence of a well-spent life. He has a 
 comfortable and attractive home on Michigan avenue, 
 where in the midst of an interesting family, he is pass- 
 ing in ease and peaceful enjoyment his advanced years, 
 known to a large circle of friends and respected by all. 
 
 E. FLETCHER INGALLS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 E FLETCHER INGALLS was born in Lee Center, 
 . Lee county, 111., September 29, 1848. He is the 
 second son of Charles F. and Sarah H. Ingalls. His 
 ancestors on his father's side came to America in 1627, 
 and those on his mother's side many years before the 
 Revolutionary War. Young Ingalls received his early 
 education in the public schools near his native place, 
 later taking courses at the State Normal institution 
 and the Rock River Seminary, at Mt. Morris, 111. 
 
 He came to Chicago in 1867 and graduated at Rush 
 Medical College in 1871. The same year he became 
 connected with the spring faculty of that institution, a 
 position which he occupied until he was elected to the 
 regular faculty, with which he has ever since been 
 identified, now holding the chair of laryngology and 
 diseases of the heart. He is also professor of diseases 
 of the chest and throat in the Northwestern University 
 Woman's Medical School ; professor of laryngology 
 and rhinology in the Chicago Polyclinic; consulting 
 physician to the Washingtonian Home; laryngbiogist 
 to the. Presbyterian Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital; 
 and consulting physician of the Central Free Dispen- 
 
 sary. He is president of the laryngological section of 
 the Pan-American Congress and American Medical 
 Association ; member of the American Laryngological 
 Association, and the American Climatological Society. 
 He is also a member of the American Medical Associa- 
 tion, Illinois State Medical Society, Chicago Medical 
 Society, Medico-Legal Society, Chicago Pathological 
 Society, and the Practitioners' Club. Dr. Ingalls has 
 long given attention to his special class of diseases, and 
 is the author of many articles on diseases of the throat, 
 nose and chest, as also of a text-book, well known and 
 extensively used in the colleges, on the same subject, 
 and which has passed rapidly through its second edition. 
 While Dr. Ingalls is one of the best known and most 
 popular physicians in the city, he is at the same time 
 one of the most modest and retiring of men. 
 
 The doctor was married in 1876 to Miss Lucy S. 
 Ingalls, daughter of Ephraim and Melissa R. Ingalls. 
 They have two children a son and a daughter. Dr. 
 Ingalls is a man who is extremely domestic in his 
 tastes, and takes great delight in his bright and inter- 
 esting family.
 
 294 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 DR. N. ROWE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 . ROWE is well known all over America, as well 
 s abroad, as the editor and manager of the Ameri- 
 can Field. He was a free lance, writing for the sport- 
 ing press over theraom de plume of "Mohawk," previous 
 to 1876. In March of that year, he assumed the 
 editorial and business management of the Chicago Field, 
 which had less than six hundred circulation, and less 
 than a page of advertising at that time. The name of 
 the paper was changed to the American Field, and 
 since his connection with it Dr. Howe has devoted his 
 life and energies to the work of placing it in the posi- 
 tion it now occupies, second to none. He can justly 
 pride himself with the result achieved. As early as 
 1874, Dr. Rowe had become in this country foremost 
 in the importation of dogs. In the championship of 
 their cause he has fought a sturdy fight, and has con- 
 tributed more than any otffer man to the present status 
 of this animal in America. He has been connected in 
 one way or another with all the principal events calcu- 
 lated to improve the condition of the dog and increase 
 the interest in that animal. He has been largely 
 instrumental in the establishment of field trials and 
 bench shows, always adding additional interest in 
 competition by the distribution of valuable cups and 
 prizes, thus creating a pleasant rivalry among dog 
 owners. 
 
 He has alwavs been an unwavering advocate of 
 
 all that is ennobling in field sports, either public or 
 private. The work of Dr. Rowe has been character- 
 ized in this connection by a liberal expenditure of 
 money, and, when, some years ago, field trials seemei 
 to balance in the scales of uncertainity as to whether 
 they would be continued or not, he personally guaran- 
 teed the expenses of one, saw it through and brought 
 it to a successful conclusion. From that day to the 
 present there has been no wavering, and field trials and 
 bench shows are firmly established, and annually, in 
 almost every large city in the country, form as 
 entertaining and interesting exhibit as any stock show 
 ever inaugurated. 
 
 No man has ever labored so assiduously nor ac- 
 complished so much as he has in his efforts to thor- 
 oughly protect the game and fish of America, and to 
 elevate sportsmanship, and the good result of his work 
 is acknowledged on all sides. The title of "doctor" in 
 connection with his name is no mere complimentary 
 one. A number of years ago Dr. Rowe studied medi- 
 cine, and for a time practiced that profession, but gave 
 it up for journalism. The world of sportsmen, and the 
 lovers of dogs, who are to-day found among all pro- 
 fessions and callings and among the women of the 
 land, have reason to congratulate themselves that their 
 interests and fancies have had so able and ardent an 
 advocate. 
 
 JACOB L. LOOSE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 JACOB L. LOOSE, son of Isaac and Eliza (Scholl) 
 Loose, was born on a farm in Franklin county, 
 Penn., on the 17th day of June, 1850. His 
 parents were born in America, though of German 
 descent, and his mother was the daughter of a 
 minister of the German Reformed Church. He was 
 the youngest of their eight children, and attended the 
 school of his native State until his tenth year, when 
 the family moved to Sangamon county, 111., in 
 which county the father had bought wild land nearly 
 twenty years previously. Finding that the school fa- 
 cilities of that part of Illinois were limited, young 
 Jacob was sent back to Pennsylvania to continue his 
 education. He went to Mercersburg in that State, 
 and while there resided with an elder sister, who was 
 married to a minister. After remaining for a few years 
 in Pennsylvania, and finding that the continuous pres- 
 ence of troops from either the Federal or Confederate 
 armies, made the school sessions infrequent, he returned 
 to his father's home in Illinios, and finished his educa- 
 tion in the high school at Decatur, 111. 
 
 After leaving this school he entered business life 
 with a dry-goods house in the same city, with which 
 he engaged as a clerk. He remained until he had at- 
 tained his twentieth year, and then started West, " 
 locating in Southern Kansas, where he was 
 employed in a dry goods house owned by two of his 
 brothers. He had been there but a short time when he 
 bought the interest of one of his brothers, and the 
 business was then carried on under the name of D. A. 
 & J. L. Loose. When Joplin, Mo:, began to come into 
 public notice as a lead mining center, the brothers de- 
 cided to open a branch house in that city, which they 
 did in 1877. The brothers continued in business 
 together until 1879, when the partnership was dissolved, 
 D. A. Loose taking the Missouri branch, and Jacob 
 taking the store in Kansas. His business accumulated 
 more capital than could be employed profitably in the 
 dry goods business alone, and in 1880 he established an 
 extensive lumber yard, and also invested largely in 
 farm lands. He became interested in agriculture, and 
 in the breeding of blooded stock, and was the first to

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 import Norman horses to southern Kansas. Even with 
 these extensive interests demanding his attention, Mr. 
 Loose soon found that his field of operation was too 
 much contracted, and in 1882 he and one of his brothers 
 went to Kansas City, Mo., where they bought a con- 
 trolling interest in theCorle Cracker and Confectionary 
 Company's business. Mr. Loose returned to Kansas, 
 and ninety days later he had disposed of all his interests 
 there, and went to Kansas City to reside. At that 
 time he knew next to nothing about the new business, 
 but his adaptability and habits of close observation soon 
 made him fully conversant with it, and but few years had 
 'elapsed when he was the leading spirit in that line in the 
 Missouri River valley. During the years intervening 
 between 1884 and 1890, Mr. Loose was instrumental in 
 the formation of several associations of western bakers, 
 and each having for its object an increase in the con- 
 sumption and quality of the goods manufactured by 
 them. 
 
 In 1889, the corporation changed its title to" Loose 
 Brothers Manufacturing Compan\%" and in 1890 Mr. 
 Loose conceived the idea of the consolidation of the 
 interests of all the western bakers, and accordingly on 
 the 15th day of May, 1890, he, with many other leading 
 men in his line, formed the American Biscuit and Man- 
 ufacturing Company, which was incorporated on that 
 day under the laws of Illinois, with headquarters at 
 Chicago. Recognizing his ability and fitness for the 
 position, the company elected Mr. Loose its first presi- 
 dent, to which position he has been annually re-elected 
 ever since, and is now serving his fourth term in that 
 office. The company owns and operates factories in all 
 the principal western cities, among which may bemen- 
 
 297 
 
 tioned Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Fond du Lac, 
 Milwaukee. Omaha, Lincoln, Denver, Salt Lake City, 
 Helena, Memphis, New Orleans, Galveston, St. Joseph, 
 St. Louis, Chicago and Nashville, and have also re- 
 cently erected a large plant in New York city. The 
 company has over two thousand people on its pay 
 rolls, and its annual sales amount to more than ten 
 millions. 
 
 In 1887, Mr. Loose was united in marriage to Miss 
 Ella Clark, a daughter of Jonas Clark of Carthage, 
 Mo., and a direct descendant of Abram Clark, one of 
 the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The}' 
 have no children living, having had the misfortune to 
 lose their son and daughter. 
 
 Mr. Loose has traveled extensively in America and 
 Europe. A Republican in politics he has never sought 
 or desired public office, confining his active participa- 
 tion to the casting of his ballot. In religion he is a 
 Presbyterian, and he has been a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity for many years. 
 
 But a few years ago he commenced his comercial 
 career as a clerk in a small dry goods store, and has 
 steadily climbed up the commercial ladder until to-day 
 he is at the head of one of America's largest and most 
 important corporations, and one of the most influential 
 citizens of America's great western city. Of command- 
 ing appearance, he is genial and friendly, and leaves 
 upon either visitor or friend a pleasant impression. In 
 business he is a born leader, quick to grasp a point and 
 as prompt to act upon his decisions. His future, judging 
 from his past career, cannot fail to be successful, at all 
 events the advent of Jacob L. Loose was a valuable 
 acquisition to the commercial life of Chicago. 
 
 CHARLES ELIHU SLOCUM, 
 
 DEFIANCE, OHIO. 
 
 /-MIARLES ELIHU SLOCUM, M. D., PH. D.,phy- 
 V^> sician and banker, was born at Northville, Ful- 
 ton county, N. Y., December 30, 1841. He is in the 
 ninth generation in America, his first American ances- 
 tor, Anthony Slocum from Taunton, Somersetshire, 
 Eng., being one of the first purchasers, in 1637,of a tract 
 of land in New Plymouth now embracing several town- 
 ships about Taunton, Mass., which town they founded. 
 The family became affiliated with the Society of 
 Friends (Quakers) at their first appearance in New 
 England in 1656, and so continued until after the Rev- 
 olutionary War, when removals widely separated them 
 from this society. Dr. Slocum's father, Caleb Wright 
 Slocum, was a man of the old school, of sterling integ- 
 rity and very active and successful in his business of 
 fanning, milling, tanning and merchandizing. His 
 mother, Elizabeth Bass Slocum, was also of pure Eng- 
 lish blood several generations acclimated in America. 
 The early education of the subject of this sketch 
 
 was for teaching and for general business, and was 
 obtained at the high school of his native town, at the 
 Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, and at Poughkeepsie. 
 Several years of his early manhood were passed as 
 a teacher in public and private schools with ascending 
 grades. While teaching at Albion, Mich., he began 
 the study of medicine with a late army surgeon, O'Dona- 
 hue. He attend'ed the University of Michigan, giving 
 special attention, for that day, to analytical chemistry 
 and practical microscopy. He also attended the Detroit 
 Medical College, and in that city registered in the of- 
 fice of the venerable Prof. Zina Pitcher and Dr.David O. 
 Farrand who were then in partnership. They were the 
 leading physicians and surgeons in -the city, and much 
 valuable bedside training was there received. He was 
 graduated M. D. at the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, New York city, with the class of 1869, with 
 health somewhat impaired, but he at once entered into 
 partnership with his brother, Dr. John C. Slocum, who
 
 298 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 had established a large medical practice at Shelby ville, 
 Ind. His health failing in 1870, he spent some time in 
 traveling through the South and East, and, in July, 
 1871, he settled in Defiance, O., where he has since 
 remained except when traveling for study and recrea- 
 ' tion. Parts of several years have been passed in post- 
 graduate studies embracing general medicine, surgery 
 and the various specialties, in New York and in Phila- 
 delphia, where he received the honors of Jefferson 
 College in 1876. He also passed two years in the 
 University of Pennsylvania, and there received the 
 degree of doctor of philosophy in course. In 1879 he 
 visited Europe, giving attention to his profession in 
 Vienna and London, and visiting other medical 
 centers. 
 
 Dr. Slocum's practice has been general, including 
 delicate work in the specialties as well as capital surgi- 
 cal operations, and his careful attention to details has 
 brought him large patronage and gratifying success. 
 He became a member of the Defiance County Medical 
 Society, the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association, 
 the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical 
 Association, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 
 Sciences, charter member of the American Microscop- 
 ical Society and the Ohio Academy of Sciences, mem- 
 ber of the American Association for the Advancement of 
 Science, the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, 
 the Ninth International Medical Congress, the American 
 Academy of Political and Social Science, and the Am- 
 erican Public Health Association. He served several 
 years as United States examining surgeon for pensions, 
 and as railway surgeon. He has had great regard for 
 Masonry, though he has not given much time to the 
 craft. He was made a master mason at his home in 
 New York, and was soon advanced. The degrees of 
 
 knighthood were received in Ohio, and the 32d degree, 
 A.A.S.R., was received in Ohio Consistory, Cincinnati, 
 since which he became a charter member of the Lake 
 Erie Consistory, Cleveland, O. 
 
 Dr. Slocum has been a constant hard worker, and 
 by judicious investments has enjoyed financial as well 
 as professional success. He has three times declined 
 proffered professorships in different medical colleges. 
 His medical writings have been few and confined to 
 short descriptions of cases in practice published in dif- 
 ferent medical journals. He has found his diversion in 
 science, in business and in genealogy. In 1882 he 
 published a large octavo volume entitled " A Short 
 History of the Slocums, Slocumbs and the Slocombs of 
 America, Embracing Eleven Generations of the First 
 Named Family from 1637 to 1881," etc., which has 
 been styled by genealogists a model work in arrange- 
 ment and thoroughness. Material is now in hand for a 
 second volume. These studies have been valuable in 
 their relation to sociology and heredity. He was 
 chosen a director of the Defiance National Bank in 
 1874-, and continued to serve in this capacity until the 
 expiration of its charter, when the institution was 
 re-organized, with largely increased capital, as the First 
 National Bank, and Dr. Slocum was chosen a director 
 and vice-president, which office he still holds. He 
 was one of the principal stockholders at the organiza- 
 tion of the Defiance Savings Bank, which was merged 
 in 1881 into the Merchants' National Bank of Defiance, 
 of which institution he has been a director and part of 
 the time vice-president, and acting-president. He has 
 also been interested in some of the principal manufac- 
 turing institutions of this city, and is now president of 
 the Defiance Box Company, though still in the active 
 practice of his profession. He remains unmarried. 
 
 ANTHONY SCHMITT, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 A NTHON Y SCHMITT,son of Joseph and Josephine 
 t\ (Miltenberger) Schmitt-, was born at Vincennes, 
 Ind., on the llth day of October, 1839. His parents 
 were descendants of two of the ancient and prominent 
 families of the French province of Alsace, and came to 
 America in 1838. They first located in Indiana, but in 
 1840 went to St. Louis, and it was in that city that the 
 subject of our sketch grew from infancy to manhood. 
 His education was acquired in the public and high 
 schools, and after leaving school he entered the employ 
 of a wholesale grocery house, where he remained for 
 seven years, beginning as a shipping clerk and advancing 
 from one position to another until he became book- 
 keeper. In 1862, he resigned his position in the 
 wholesale grocery liouse to become cashier in the office 
 of the Missouri Republican (now St. Louis Republic}, 
 then, as now, one of the leading newspapers of the 
 
 West. He retained his position on the Republican for 
 four years, and then resigned in order to engage in 
 business for himself. 
 
 In partnership with Mr. Blish he entered the 
 commission business in St. Louis under the firm name 
 of Schmitt & Blish. The firm was doing a fine 
 business and enjoying good success during Mr. 
 Schmitt's connection with it, but in 1868 he sold out 
 his interests and came to Chicago. He entered the 
 firm known as E. Schneider & Co., of which his 
 father-in-law was the head, and has since been 
 connected with that company. When Mr. Schmitt 
 became a member of E. Schneider & Co., it was 
 doing a small business in the manufacture of 
 candles, and had many competitors who were doing 
 a much larger business. Mr. Schmitt started in with 
 the fixed determination of making the business one of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the largest of its kind in the United States, and bent 
 every energy towards accomplishing that end. Under 
 his able management the business grew each year. 
 Their plant was extended more and more, and the 
 quality as well as quantity of their output showed 
 great improvement. In 1881 the company was incor- 
 porated and Mr. Schmitt was elected treasurer, remain- 
 ing in that position until Mr. Schneider retired, in 
 1884, when Mr. Schmitt was elected to succeed him as 
 president, which position h has since and still occupies. 
 As before stated, Mr. Schmitt's ambition when he 
 entered the firm was to make it equal to any other in 
 the same line in the country, and so earnest was he 
 in his efforts that the business is now unquestionably 
 the largest in the world, and their products candles 
 of all kinds, red oil and glycerine enjoy a world-wide 
 reputation for excellence. 
 
 On the 19th day of February, 1867, Mr. Schmitt was 
 married to Miss Isidora Schneider, daughter of Eugene 
 Schneider, of Chicago. Four children, two sons and 
 two daughters, have been born to them. The eldest 
 son, Mr. E. J. Schmitt, is vice-president of his father's 
 company. 
 
 Leaning in his political belief toward the Jefferso- 
 
 301 
 
 nian school of Democracy, Mr. Schmitt is thoroughly 
 independent of party influence or party rule, and casts 
 his vote for those who in his judgment are best fitted 
 for the position sought, without regard to the partv on 
 whose ticket the candidate's name may happen to 
 appear. He has never sought political preferment nor 
 desired public office, as he has wisely realized that 
 business and active politics do not go well together. 
 
 Mr. Schmitt has been an extensive traveler over the 
 North American continent, and in 1891 spent some 
 months in Europe, visiting during that time all of the 
 principal countries, cities and points of interest. In 
 appearance he looks the prosperous and successful 
 business man that he is. He has a long list of acquain- 
 tances and friends, and is extremely popular wherever 
 known. In his business dealings he is scrupulously 
 exact and fair, and easity gains the confidence and 
 respect of those with whom he comes in contact. 
 Modest and unassuming in demeanor, he is social in 
 disposition and exceedingly generous in his treatment 
 of those who have been less fortunate than himself. 
 What he is he owes alone to himself and among Chi- 
 cago's many influential business men few, if any, 
 take a higher rank than Anthony Schmitt. 
 
 EDGAR DENMAN SWAIN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDGAR DENMAN SWAIN, son of Dr. Marcus 
 and Charlotte Woodbury Swain, was born at 
 Westford, Vt., August 14, 1836. His father was a 
 practicing physician in his native town, and was of 
 Scotch descent. His mother was of English extrac- 
 tion. 
 
 Young Swain's early education was only that 
 obtainable at the common schools, supplemented by a 
 brief academical course at Colchester and Swanton 
 academies. When he was seventeen years of age he 
 went to Worcester, Mass., where for a year he was 
 engaged in arduous duties in a machine shop. While 
 here he conceived the ambition of becoming a dentist, 
 and in accordance with this determination entered the 
 office of a dentist at Saratoga Springs. N. Y., in 1855, 
 remaining there until 1857. At this latter date he 
 removed to Oshkosh, Wis., and commenced the practice 
 of his profession, in partnership with Dr. L. D. Parker. 
 A year later he went to Aurora, 111., associating 
 himself for the practice of dentistry with Dr. O. 
 Wilson, and a year later still removed to Batavia, 111. 
 Here he practiced his profession alone until the 
 breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861. 
 Shortly after the first call for men by President 
 Lincoln, he set about organizing, together with other 
 citizens of that portion of Illinois, Company I, 
 42d Illinois Volunteer Infantry, of which company he 
 was made captain and mustered in Sept. 17, 1861. 
 
 During the war he served with great honor and dis- 
 tinction, both to himself and to his country, being 
 present and doing excellent service at all the battles of 
 the Department of the Cumberland, his regiment having 
 been on skirmish line during the entire Atlanta cam- 
 paign. In recognition of his valuable services, he was 
 promoted, October 13, 1863, to lieutenant colonel, and 
 assumed command of his regiment. In April, 1864, he 
 received his commission as colonel of the regiment, but 
 was never mustered in as such. March, 1865, he was 
 breveted colonel of U. S. Volunteers for meritorious 
 services.. In July, 1865, he was, by order of General 
 Stanley, placed in command of the second brigade, 
 second division, Fourtli Army Corps, and remained 
 in command of the same until it was mustered out, in 
 January, 1866. He was mustered out as lieutenant 
 colonel of the 42d Illinois Infantry, Veteran Volun- 
 teers, December 16, 1865. He afterwards returned to 
 Chicago. 
 
 Again returned to civil life, the colonel threw aside 
 his well-earned and honorable title, and assumed the 
 duties of his profession Upon his arrival in Chicago, 
 he engaged himself as assistant to Dr. George H. 
 Gushing, dentist, after which lie entered into partner- 
 ship with Dr. Noble, and in 1870 established himself in 
 his profession. 
 
 In March, 1877, he again entered the military ser- 
 vice of his State, as major of the First Regiment, Illi-
 
 302 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 nois Infantry National Guard, participating with that 
 regiment during the troublous times of the railroad 
 and mining riots of that summer. He was later made 
 lieutenant colonel, and in December of the same year, 
 colonel of his regiment, which command he retained 
 for four years, at which time he retired from military 
 life altogether, feeling, with true and patriotic spirit, 
 that ten years' volunteer service to his state and coun- 
 try, four years and seven months of which were in 
 active service in the field, was his share towards help- 
 ing to sustain the reputation of his State and the wel- 
 fare of the Union. 
 
 He has been in the past an active G. A. R. 
 
 man, and was commander of Geo. II. Thomas Post 
 for three years, commander of the Department of 
 Illinois during the years 1880 and 1881, and senior vice- 
 commander-in-chief of the organization in 1891-2. 
 
 Dr. Swain is an accomplished microscopist and has 
 paid much earnest attention to the study and investi- 
 gation of histology. He was president of the Chicago 
 Dental Society in 1874, and the Illinois State Dental 
 Society during 1875. In 1869 he married Miss Clara 
 Smith, daughter of Benjamin Smith, an early settler of 
 this city. He is distinguished for his courtly bearing, 
 his genial disposition and enjoys the esteem of a large 
 circle of friends. 
 
 CHARLES TRUAX, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ON the 24th day of September, 1852, at Milton, 
 Rock count\\ Wis., Charles Truax was born. 
 He was the lineal descendant of Phillippe de Truax, 
 who, according to Dutch manuscripts in the archives at 
 Albany, settled at New Amsterdam (now New York) 
 in 1633, and whose son was the first white child born 
 on Manhattan Island, April 21, 1642. His parents.Dr. 
 Galloway Truax and Mary Stiles Truax, became pio- 
 neer residents of Jackson county, Iowa, and the doctor, 
 a chemist of local reputation, owned a drug store at 
 Maquoketa, where he also practiced medicine for many 
 years successfully. The opportunity for Charles to 
 acquire an education was limited to the meager facili- 
 ties afforded in frontier public schools ; but he applied 
 himself assiduously until sixteen years of age, when he 
 entered upon an apprenticeship as clerk in a retail drug 
 store. At the age of seventeen he was placed in charge 
 of his father's drug store where he remained for four 
 years until declining health compelled him to seek re- 
 creation in frontier life on the plains. He spent two 
 years as cowboy, enduring the privations and encoun- 
 tering the clangers which were incident to such a life and 
 occupation twenty years ago. His health was restored, 
 however, and he returned to Maquoketa to form a part- 
 nership with his father in 1875, under the stvle of Dr. 
 G. Truax & Son. 
 
 While engaged in the retail drug trade he conceived 
 the idea and matured the plan of enlarging the scope 
 of his business so as to embrace all the supplies required 
 by a physician and surgeon, at wholesale rates,without 
 the intervention of a retailer. His early experience 
 convinced him of the practicability of the plan and 
 hence, in 1880, he sold out his interest in the store at 
 Maquoketa to his father and removed to Cedar liapids, 
 Iowa, where he first established the new business. 
 The large trade which he quickly secured east of 
 the Mississippi rendered desirable a metropolitan loca- 
 tion affording more ample facilities for transportation. 
 Accordingly, in 1884, he moved to Chicago and for 
 
 three years conducted the business at 81 Randolph 
 street. In 1887 the business was incorporated under 
 theviame of Charles Truax & Company, and removed 
 to its present spacious and commodious quarters at 75 
 and 77 Wabash avenue, where it has reached propor- 
 tions entirely commensurate with the marvelous 
 growth and present position of the great city. It oc- 
 cupies completely four floors of the building, which is 
 48x150 feet. In 1891 the company was reorganized 
 and its corporate name .changed to Charles Truax, 
 Green & Company, under which the business is con- 
 ducted at the present time. This house in Chicago 
 differs from all others of any note in the world, as it 
 sells directly to physicians all the supplies required by 
 them in the practise of medicine and surgery, saving 
 to them a retailer's profit and minimizing the trouble 
 of procuring medicines and appliances used in surgery. 
 It reaches every State and almost ever}' county in the 
 United States. Its enormous increase of trade is in- 
 dicated by these statistics: During the first six months 
 in Cedar Rapids one clerk only was employed; now the 
 services of one hundred and sixty persons are required. 
 The first catalogue issued by the house was a pamphlet 
 of twelve pages. Successive editions of the catalogue 
 contained seventy-two, two hundred and ninety-eight, 
 four hundred, seven hundred, eleven hundred, and 
 fourteen hundred and forty pages respectively. The 
 last edition of fifteen thousand copies issued in 1893, is 
 sufficient in bulk to load five freight cars. 
 
 Only a man of comprehensive intelligence, thorough 
 knowledge of all the details of his business, accurate 
 information as to his field of operations, fertile in 
 resources, methodical and persistent in the execution 
 of plans which he formulated, just and honest in 
 his dealings, could accomplish such results. In ad- 
 dition to the qualities and requirements enumer- 
 ated, Charles Truax possesses an accurate knowl- 
 edge of human anatomy and the ingenuity to in- 
 vent or adapt appliances to supplement the members
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 303 
 
 removed by surgery, or strengthen such as are weak. 
 His reputation in this field secured for him 
 an invitation to address the National Association of 
 Railway Surgeons at their annual meeting in Buf- 
 falo, June, 1891, on the subject of "Amputations." 
 The paper which he read before that great body 
 evinced not only careful preparation but thorough 
 mastery of the subject. He combated the old maxim 
 that the surgeon should save every inch possible of 
 the maimed limb or member in performing an amputa- 
 tion, and asserted that it was the surgeon's duty rather 
 to exercise a wise discretion in selecting the point of 
 dismemberment, so that the artificial substitute might 
 be attached with the best possible results. His inge- 
 nuity is displayed in the invention of new appliances 
 and surgical instruments to meet the demands of 
 peculiar cases. A case in point is that of Katie Smith, 
 of Chicago, nine years of age, who was so fearfully 
 burned in 1891 as to render necessary the amputation 
 of both arms near the shoulders. Her mother was 
 dead and her father very poor, so the Children's Home 
 Society undertook to provide for her. Messrs. Charles 
 Truax, Greene & Co. generously responded to the 
 request for a contribution by offering to make her 
 aluminum arms so constructed as to be of practical 
 utility, at least in conveying food to her mouth. The 
 design, necessarily special and unique, was executed 
 with such ingenuity and skill that the child is able to 
 write legibly with her artificial right hand and feed 
 herself with her knife, fork and spoon attached to the 
 wrist and concealed inside her hands until disclosed by 
 pressing a spring which moves the hand. This is a 
 benefaction of inestimable value, a contribution to the 
 self-respect and independence of a bright, worthy child, 
 whose life may be useful and comparatively happy. 
 The inclination of Mr. Truax toward medicine and 
 
 surgery is probably an inherited predilection. His 
 father, a practicing physician during all the years of 
 his active life, is now enjoying his retirement in the 
 pleasant suburb of Ravenswood. His brother, Dr. II. 
 E. Truax, is a prosperous physician at Auburn Park. 
 
 His domestic relations are exceedingly happy and 
 pleasant. Married in 1876, to Miss Wolff, daughter of 
 a prominent citizen of Maquoketa, three children, two 
 daughters and a son, have brought sunshine and joy 
 to a home blessed with love and trust. While a patron 
 of several secret orders, Free-masonry is the one to 
 which he is especially devoted. He was instrumental 
 in establishing Ravenswood Lodge. No. 777, of which 
 he was elected worshipful master for three successive 
 years. He is a member of Columbia Chapter, Chicago, 
 and prelate of Evanston Commandery. He is also a 
 member of the Union League Club. 
 
 He is endowed with a nervous temperament, frank- 
 ness and cordialit} r of manner, quick perception, great 
 energy and continuity of purpose. The success attained 
 at the age of forty, in a business which he founded on 
 his own experience, as the evolution of his own 
 thought, without large capital or other adventitious 
 aids, which smooth the pathway of many young men, 
 is conspicuous evidence of his ability and integrity, as 
 well as fidelity to that large and honorable class of 
 professional gentlemen whose interests he conserves in 
 a high degree. 
 
 The life of such a man, however unpretentious and 
 quiet, is an object lesson of real value to the observing 
 and thoughtful. It brings out prominently the charac- 
 teristics that win, offers encouragement to young men 
 who are willing to work with their minds and their 
 hands, and affords another proof of the familiar adage 
 that there is no royal road to wealth or distinction in 
 this republic. The achievement depends on the man. 
 
 OSCAR DANIEL WETHERELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 OSCAR DANIEL WETHERELL, son of George 
 and Polly (Walker) Wetherell, was born at Bath, 
 New Hampshire, on the 21st clay of June, 1834. Here 
 and in adjoining towns he passed the first eighteen 
 years of his life, doing his share of the necessary work 
 and attending school whenever he had an opportunitv. 
 In 1852 he came West and for one year was employed 
 in a lumber yard at Henry, 111. He then came to Chi- 
 cago where he was first employed in tallving lumber 
 on the docks, and in 1854 was foreman in a lumber 
 yard situated on the present site of the Union Passen- 
 ger Depot. In 1860 he resigned this position to engage 
 as a salesman with the Newaygo Lumber Company, 
 which position he retained for three years, when he 
 went into the lumber business on his own account 
 under the firm name of Wetherell & Jenkins. 
 
 From the time that he first entered the lumber 
 business on his own account Mr. Wetherell has forged 
 rapidly ahead, and each year's business has shown a 
 gratifying increase over that of the preceding year. 
 In 1871 he purchased an interest in one of the Saginaw 
 lumber mills and later Ife built and operated many 
 other lumber and planing mills. The large mill at 
 2514 Quarry street was built in 1877, the planing 
 mill on Wood street, near Blue Island avenue, in 
 1880, and that on Lincoln avenue, which he sold 
 in 1884, was established in 1879. Besides these, Mr. 
 Wetherell has been more or less directly interested in 
 many others, and now, though he has retired from the 
 active management of his business, owns the large mill 
 on Quarry street. He also owns the Wetherell eleva- 
 tor and other valuable properties. After the assign-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ment of the Thirty-first Street Bank Mr. Wetherell 
 established what has since been known as the Wether- 
 ell Bank on Thirty-first street. When this bank was 
 established Mr. Wetherell, in order to secure forever 
 the depositors against loss, deposited in the American 
 Trust & Savings Bank the sum of $100,000 in cash and 
 gilt-edged paper. This bank has been under the 
 management of Mr. George L. McGill, Mr. Wetherell's 
 son-in-law, and in the latter part of 1890 Mr. Wether- 
 ell made over all of his interests in this bank to Mr. 
 McGill and became president of the Globe National 
 Bank, which opened its doors for business on the 22d 
 of December, 1890. Mr. Wetherell remained in active 
 management of the Globe National for one year, and 
 since that time, though he has retained his position as 
 president, and though he still guides its affairs, he has 
 declined to accept a salary after the first year. 
 
 On the 30th day of November, 1856, Mr. Wetherell 
 was married to Miss Sarah M. Wilde, of Chicago. 
 Three children, one son and two daughters, have been 
 born to them and survive their mother, who died in 
 1883. On the 22nd day of February, 1885, Mr. Weth- 
 erell was married to Miss Harriet M. Senour (daughter 
 of J. F. Senour, of Topeka, Kan.), who presides over 
 his home at 3000 Calumet avenue, and is the mother 
 of four children. Mr. Wetherell is a member of a 
 number of the more prominent clubs, among which 
 may be mentioned the Banker's and the Union League. 
 In politics he is a Republican, and though he has never 
 actively sought a public office, has been very prominent 
 in the management of the city's affairs. He was first 
 elected alderman in 1881, when at the earnest solicita- 
 tion of his friends he consented to represent the Fourth 
 Ward in that capacity, and was three times re-elected, 
 although at no one of the campaigns did be seek the 
 nomination or solicit votes. In his eight years' service 
 as alderman Mr. Wetherell made a record second to 
 no one in a similar position. He was instrumental in 
 the inauguration of many reforms, and during the 
 
 entire period of his service his honesty and integrity 
 were never questioned even by those who opposed 
 him. He has several times been prominently men- 
 tioned as the Republican candidate for mayor, and 
 could have easilv secured that honor had he seen fit to 
 deviate from his fixed rule and consented to personally 
 seek the office. When Mayor Harrison took his seat 
 in 1893 he appointed Mr. Wetherell comptroller of 
 finance, although Mr. Wetherell is a leading member 
 of the opposition party. This position Mr. Wetherell 
 felt it to be his duty to accept, as he wished to test the 
 legality of many of the institutions which have been for 
 years drawing annually large sums from the city treas- 
 ury. Soon after the election of Mayor Hopkins, last 
 December, Mr. Wetherell retired as city comptroller and 
 Mr. Ackerman was appointed to succeed him. While in 
 the council he at various times recommended retrench- 
 ment in this direction, but those whose duty it was to 
 take the initial step declined to interfere. While 
 engaged in the duties of his office as comptroller, Mr. 
 Wetherell introduced many reforms and always exer- 
 cised the greatest care in the examination of all claims 
 against the city. In this way he has saved to the 
 public large amounts. His leading characteristic in 
 every phase of life has been firmness in following to 
 the very end the course of action deemed by him to be 
 right, and even those whose interests he has antago- 
 nized cannot fail to admire his integrity and honesty 
 of purpose. Mr. Wetherell is a man who has risen 
 from the ranks without aid from anv outside source. 
 He came to Chicago a poor boy at the age of nine- 
 teen, and by his own capability, energy, industry and 
 commercial integrity, he has risen to a place among 
 the highest. He has long been recognized as one of 
 the leading lumber dealers in the West. His private 
 business and his public service have been alike char- 
 acterized by integrity and uprightness, and he has 
 earned the esteem and respect in which he is so uni- 
 versally held. 
 
 EDWARD F. LAWRENCE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE gentleman whose name stands at the head of 
 this sketch was born on the 29th of October, 
 1835, at Groton, Middlesex county, Mass., which 
 was the home of several previous generations of 
 his family. His father was Benjamin F. Lawrence, 
 and his mother, Elizabeth Fenelly Staples. In 1837 
 they moved to Belvidere, Boone county, 111., where 
 Edward attended the public schools. He afterwards 
 studied under Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, brother of 
 Margaret Fuller, Countess of Ossoli, for about two 
 years. In 1847 he was sent to Lawrence Academy, 
 Groton, Mass., of which Rev. James Means was 
 the principal. lie returned in 1849, and was placed 
 
 by his father in a country store conducted by 
 Henry Loop & Sons, where he spent the winter of 
 1849-50. In the spring of 1850 he was in the employ 
 of Hon. Robert W. Waterman, since Governor of Cali- 
 fornia, at Genoa, DeKalb county, 111., and in the 
 summer of the same 3 r ear he moved to Sycamore, same 
 county, and entered the employ of J. S. and J. C. Wa- 
 terman, brothers of his former employer. The 
 experience of those years was all gained in what are 
 known as "country stores" dealing in everything 
 usually kept in such establishments, and tended to 
 prepare him for other fields of labor. 
 
 In the fall of 1850, Young Lawrence's father was
 
 PROMINENT MEK OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 307 
 
 in Boston purchasing goods for his own store at 
 Bel videre, and while there, apprenticed his son to Messrs. 
 Whitney & Fenno, one of the leading dry goods 
 jobbing houses of that period. With this house Mr. 
 Lawrence remained six years, during the several 
 changes which took place in the firm name, gaining 
 experience and business training, and winning the con- 
 fidence of his employers. A portion of his term of 
 service was spent, as a salesman of .the firm, in travel- 
 ing through a scope of country of which Chicago was 
 one corner, St. Paul and Minneapolis (then St. Anthony 
 Falls) another, to Rock Island, and then across the 
 country by way of the Illinois river back to Chicago. 
 In those days railroads were few and sleeping cars 
 unknown, the distance between different places being 
 made, except on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, in 
 the winter by sleigh, and at other seasons by wagon. 
 Mr. Lawrence came to Chicago in 1858, and has 
 resided here ever since. He has been engaged in 
 various lines of business, and has been a member of the 
 Chicago Board of Trade since 1859. He was one of 
 the directors of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 being re-elected four times, and during his terms served 
 as chairman on the committee on ceremonies, was a 
 member of the committee of ways and means, and also 
 a member of the committee on grounds and buildings. 
 He is, and has been for over twenty years, a director 
 of the First National Bank of Chicago. As a business 
 man he has been successful beyond the ordinary lot of 
 men, and enjoys the reputation in the commercial 
 
 world of being clear-headed. He is cool and deliberate 
 in his judgments, a good judge of men, and is uni- 
 versally esteemed for his integrity, his hospitable 
 nature, and engaging social qualities. A marked 
 characteristic throughout his life has been his ready 
 adaptation to circumstances and environments; and a 
 rule of his life has been to make the best of evervthino 1 
 
 v O * 
 
 He is a man of even temperament, and while pros- 
 perity has never caused him to be elated overmuch, 
 misfortunes and disappointments have not cast him 
 down. In his business relations and in his private'life 
 he has sustained a manliness and nobility of character 
 that have won for him universal confidence and esteem. 
 
 In politics he has always been a Democrat, and 
 takes great interest in the success of his party. At the 
 same time he extends to those who differ with him in 
 political faith, that toleration which he demands for 
 himself. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence married Mary, the youngest daughter 
 of David and Agnes Ballentine, of Waukegan, Lake 
 county, 111., on the 23rd of May, 1861. They have 
 one son, Dwight. Mr. Lawrence is a man of fine 
 presence, being large in stature and robust in constitu- 
 tion. An ardent sportsman, he is a zealous advocate 
 of the rod and g".n, and seizes every opportunity to 
 indulge in his favorite pastime. He is courteous and 
 dignified, kind hearted and generous. He inherits from 
 the ancestors of his mother a French spoliation claim, 
 but like many others, regards it rather in the light of 
 a relic, than a possible source of addition to his fortune. 
 
 FRANK JONES SMITH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born at Lisle, Broome 
 county, New York, January 26, 1845, the son of 
 Robert and Wealthy A. Smith. His father kept a 
 country store until 1865, when he moved to Indiana 
 and began working a small farm, coming to Chicago in 
 1870. Frank was educated at Kingsville Academy, 
 Ashtabula county, Ohio. He taught school one term 
 and served as brakeman on the Philadelphia & Erie 
 railroad, and was afterward in the local freight office 
 of the Cleveland & Erie. 
 
 He went to Pulaski county, Indiana, with his par- 
 ents in 1865, on account of the illness of his father, but 
 came to Chicago in the spring of 1866. After remov- 
 ing to Chicago, Mr. Smith studied law with Fuller & 
 Shepard, and has since built up a most extensive gen- 
 eral practice, particularly in connection with insurance 
 cases, involving the assessment of stockholders. He 
 has been in partnership with a number of well known 
 legal gentlemen of Chicago, among whom may be 
 mentioned D. Harry Hammer, W. C. Ives and F. A. 
 Helmer, and is now a member of the prominent firm 
 
 of Flower 1 , Smith & Musgrave. As an attorney he has 
 represented the Furniture Manufacturers' Exchange for 
 many years, and has on several occasions represented im- 
 portant banking and manufacturing institutions. 
 
 Mr. Smith is recognized as one of the able lawyers 
 at the Chicago bar ; is a conscientious and tireless 
 worker, and an earnest pleader. His tenacity is a 
 prominent characteristic, and has won for him cases 
 which, to those less persevering and less confident, 
 would have seemed hopeless. The law firm of which 
 he is a member ranks among the best in the country, 
 its business extending into all the courts and into many 
 of the States of the Union. 
 
 He has been twice married first on January 23, 
 1870. to Charlotte E. Chapman, of Kingsville, Ohio, 
 and the second time to Myra C. Gilbert, of Creston, 
 Ogle countv, 111. He has two children Lottie, aged 
 sixteen, and Wirt F., aged 10. 
 
 In religion Mr. Smith is a Presbyterian, and 
 his society affiliations are represented by membership 
 in the Union League and Iroquois Clubs.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 FRANCIS TURNER WHEELER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 FRANCIS T. WHEELER, son of Moses F. and 
 Mary Ann (Perry) Wheeler, was born in New 
 Haven, Vermont, April 23, 1829. 
 
 Young Wheeler obtained his early education at the 
 district school in his native town. His father was a 
 farmer, and Francis worked upon the farm until he 
 was sixteen years of age. Not finding this work con- 
 genial, and believing that a business life would be 
 more fitted for the development of his capacities, he 
 sought employment wherein he could improve his 1 
 knowledge and his ability for the calling in life which 
 he preferred. He accordingly secured a position as 
 clerk in a general store at Middlebury, Vt. Finding 
 that town too small for the full exercise of his abilities 
 in commercial life, he went to New York city, and at 
 the age of twenty secured a position with a straw- 
 goods house, as assistant book-keeper, where he stayed 
 two years. From there he went to Richmond, Va., 
 as book-keeper for a branch of the New York house, 
 where be also remained for two years. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler soon after came West, where he was 
 
 engaged for a time by De Graff & Linsley, contractors 
 for grading the roadbed of the Illinois Central rail- 
 road company, from Kankakee, 111., to Urbana 
 seventy-two miles in 1853. Later he went to Beloit. 
 Wis., and entered into the banking business. In 1863 
 he was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue, 
 for the second district of Wisconsin, with office at 
 Madison, and remained there until 1866, when he 
 came to Chicago, where he engaged in the manufacture 
 of paper bags. In 1875 he, with others, organized 
 the Union Paper Bag company, and was elected 
 president, which position he still occupies. By bis 
 strict integrity and great business ability he has 
 placed this company among the foremost of its kind 
 in the country. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler is a member of the Calumet and 
 Tollest'on clubs. In matters of religion he is liberal in 
 his views, and attends Professor Swing's services at 
 Central Music Hall. Mr. Wheeler has never married. 
 He Ts popular with his friends, and has an excellent 
 business record. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM VOCKE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 A BRILLIANT example of the self-made American 
 citizen, and a grand exemplification of the pro- 
 gress that an ambitious foreigner can make in this 
 country of unbounded opportunities, is shown in the 
 case of William Yocke, one of the leading German- 
 American lawyers in the West. His marked success 
 is due to his own energ} r and his high ideal. 
 
 Mr. Vocke came to this country from his native 
 city, the historic Minden, in Westphalia, at the age of 
 seventeen years. This was in 1856. His father was a 
 government secretary in the Prussian service, and 
 after his death the son, believing that the United 
 States offered him a future not to be found in his own 
 country, emigrated hither. He landed in New York, 
 and for a short time devoted his efforts to various 
 bread-winning occupations, but the Western fever 
 seized him, and he followed the star of empire to 
 Chicago. He was for a time a carrier in the employ 
 of the Staats- Zeitung , and his district was the western 
 half of the North Side. He toiled hard, and was in 
 every way a faithful employe, working from two 
 o'clock in the morning until eight at the distribution 
 of his newspapers. His days were given to the study of 
 the law. He had not the money to use for his tuition, 
 and Prof. Henry Booth offered him the instruction, 
 and time in which to pay for it. The earnest young 
 man in due time saved enough money to settle the 
 
 claim, and it brought him as much pleasure as he ever 
 felt before or since to square his account with his 
 benefactor. 
 
 After leaving the Staats-Zeitung in 1860, he entered 
 the employ of Ogden, Fleetwood & Co., then the lead- 
 ing real estate firm of Chicago, as a collector. On the 
 day that the war broke out, lie enlisted and his 
 employers held him in such esteem that, when he 
 resigned, they presented him a handsome sum of 
 money in gold. Young Vocke enlisted first in the 
 three months service as a private. His company was 
 soon merged into the Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry, and he was in all the engagements in which 
 the Army of the Cumberland took part until the 
 muster-out of his regiment. After the expiration of 
 his term of service he was mustered out as captain of 
 Company D, of the Twenty -fourth Illinois. 
 
 When Captain Vocke returned to Chicago, he again 
 entered the service of the Staats-Zeitiniy, this time as 
 its city editor. For nearly a year he held this respon- 
 sible chair. From April, 1865, to November, 1869, he 
 was the clerk of the police court of this city. He 
 resumed the study of the law in the meantime, and 
 was admitted to the bar in 1867. 
 
 While in the army Captain Vocke gave as much 
 time as he could spare to literary studies, and this 
 branch of mental effort he continued after he had
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 " beaten his sword into a ploughshare." He won for 
 himself a high reputation as a discriminating student 
 and a polished writer. He contributed various articles 
 to the German and English press, and in 1869 lie pub- 
 lished a volume of poems, excellent' translations of the 
 lyrics of Julius Eodenberg. The newspapers of Ger- 
 many, as well as of this country joined in praising his 
 work in enthusiastic terms. Soon after the publication 
 of this book, he determined to give all of his time to 
 the study and practice of the law. He was held in such 
 great favor by his countrymen and the Chicago public 
 that he quickly secured a lucrative practice, and it has 
 been increasing with the years ever since. 
 
 lie was elected a member of the Illinois Legisla- 
 ture in 1870, and among other noteworthy achieve- 
 ments drafted and introduced a life insurance bill, 
 which at the time was indorsed by the editor of the 
 Chicago Tribune as "the soundest and most judicious 
 measure ever proposed to a legislative body on that 
 subject." Captain Vocke while a member of the 
 legislature was also instrumental in framing at the 
 extra session shortly after the great fire of 1871, what 
 is known as the "burnt record act." 
 
 In 1873, he formed a copartnership with Gen. 
 Joseph B. Leake, which continued until General Leake 
 was appointed United States district attorney in 1880. 
 Captain Vocke was also a member of the Chicago 
 board of education from 1877 to 1880. For more than 
 seventeen years past he has been the attorney for the 
 Imperial German Consulate at this point, and for the 
 
 faithful services which he has rendered in this capacity 
 to the constituents of the Consulate the German 
 Emperor conferred upon him last year the decoration of 
 the cross of the Red Eagle, a distinction granted only 
 for conspicuous merit and high character. 
 
 Captain Vocke, although deeply engrossed in the 
 law, finds time now and then to do more or less 
 literary work. His latest effort takes the form of a well 
 written book on the legal systems of this country. Its 
 title is "The Administration of Justice in the United 
 States; and a synopsis of the mode of procedure in our 
 Federal and State courts, and all Federal and State 
 laws relating to subjects of interest to aliens." This 
 work was published in 1891 in Cologne in the German 
 language, and has not only received the highest encom- 
 iums of German jurists, but has proved of great 
 benefit to German lawyers and German business men. 
 
 In 1867, he was joined in matrimony to Elise 
 Wahl, a charming woman, and they have a family of 
 six children four daughters and two sons. 
 
 No man is held in higher esteem by the Germans 
 of Chicago than William Vocke. He has an exceed- 
 ingly amiable and upright character, and a mind stored 
 with all the riches of wide reading and deep research. 
 History and the science of government are his special- 
 ties, and there is no better authority on these topics in 
 this city than he. He is a delightful entertainer and 
 genial companion, and these traits, coupled with his 
 mental gifts, make him a shining center in a wide 
 circle of friends. 
 
 JOSEPH HOWARD .BUFFUM, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ONE of the favored few who have achieved success 
 early in life is Joseph Howard Buffum, who was 
 born August 24, 1849, in Pittsburg, Pa. To the public 
 schools of that city he owes the foundation of a very 
 thorough education, graduating from high school at 
 the age of eighteen. His first purpose was to become 
 an engineer, and with that purpose in view he studied 
 engineering for a year. Finding this choice not to his 
 liking, he turned to the medical profession, and with a 
 view to preparing himself for it, in 1869 entered Cor- 
 nell University, at Ithaca, N. Y. His preparation for 
 college was so complete that he entered the sophomore 
 class and was graduated three years later. During 
 that time he derived great benefit from a special course 
 under the direction of the distinguished scientist, Prof. 
 Burt G. Wilder. Leaving the university, he spent one 
 year in study at Hahnemann Medical College of Phila- 
 delphia. He then returned to New York, and was 
 graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical 
 College in March, 1873. 
 
 Dr. Buffum began his career as a general practi- 
 tioner in his native city, Pittsburg, where, in three 
 
 years, he built up a practice most creditable to so 
 young a man. While there he did good service as 
 attending physician to the Pittsburg Homeopathic 
 Hospital, especially improving his opportunities to 
 study diseases of the eye and ear. In 1876 Dr. Buffum 
 removed to New York city, and further pursued his 
 favorite study in the Ophthalmic College of that city, 
 and was graduated as a surgeon of the eye and ear. 
 He soon became resident surgeon of the New York 
 Ophthalmic Hospital, and was made lecturer on 
 diseases of the eye in the hospital of the New York 
 Ophthalmic College. 
 
 In 1880, owing to the death of Prof. W. H. Wood- 
 yatt, the chair of diseases of the eye and ear was left 
 vacant in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. 
 The faculty unanimously chose Dr. Buffum to fill it, 
 whereupon he took up his residence in Chicago, as the 
 manager of that institution. Dr. Buffum's eminence 
 in this branch of medical science was further demon- 
 strated when the American Society of Homeopathic 
 Oculists, at its annual meeting held at Indianapolis, in 
 1SS2, chose him as its presiding officer. He is a mem-
 
 312 
 
 PROMINENT .MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 her of the American Institute of Homeopathy, and many 
 other medical and scientific societies throughout the 
 country. In 1884 Dr. Buffum went abroad, and spent 
 some time in the hospitals of London and Paris, and on 
 his return embodied his experience in articles and ad- 
 dresses of great value. He is a prolific writer, and is the 
 author of a work on opthalmology, which is used in 
 many of the colleges of this country, and which is one 
 of the best productions extant on that subject. Among 
 the most valuable of Dr. Buffum's contributions to 
 medical literature are the following monographs: " Dis- 
 locations of the Knee," "Electricity as an Adjunct in 
 the Treatment of Spinal Diseases," "Two cases of 
 Transfusion of Blood," " Contribution to the Pathology 
 of the Eye," "Electrolysis in the Treatment of Lachry- 
 mal Stricture," "Dipthinic Conjunctivitis," " Colton 
 Drumhead," " Dieleties," " The Galvanic Cautery in 
 Surgery," "Tinnitis Aurium," "Clinical History of 
 Sciatica," " Treatment of Some Eye Diseases by Means 
 of Electricity," " Eye Headaches," " Eye Reflexes," 
 
 "Tumors and Malformations of the Lids," "The Pupil 
 in Health and Disease," "Ocular Neoplasms." "The 
 Ophthalmic and Aural Complications of Scarlet Fever," 
 and " Cataract extraction." 
 
 Prominent in the Masonic order, he is a member 
 of Cleveland Lodge, A. F. A. M.; Washington Chapter, 
 R. A. M.; Apollo Commandery, K. T.; Oriental Con- 
 sistory, A. A. S. R. and Medinah Temple. 
 
 In 1876 Dr. Buffum married Miss Evelyn Barrett 
 Sprague, a lady of high social standing in Jamestown, 
 New York, and a granddaughter of the noted Aboli- 
 tionist, "William H. Tew. Two children have been 
 born to them Howard E. and Natalis S. 
 
 Dr. Buffum is a man of powerful mentality and 
 iron will, strongly attached to his profession. Possess- 
 ing all the students' love for books, keenly appreciative 
 of art, with the cosmic views of a traveler in many 
 lands, he ranks to-day not only as one of the foremost 
 professional men of this country, but also as a polished 
 man of the world. 
 
 TURLINGTON WALKER HARVEY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 TURLINGTON WALKER HARYEY was born at 
 Siloam, New York, March 10, 1835, son of John- 
 son and Paulina (Walker) Harvey. His father was a 
 farmer in early life, but later worked at the carpenter's 
 trade at Durhamville, New York. About 1851 he 
 established a sash, door and blind factory at Oneida, 
 New York, and in 1866 removed to Sandwich, 111., 
 where he died in 1880. His widow died in 1890. 
 Young Harvey's educational advantages were limited, 
 for from his eleventh to his fourteenth year he was 
 employed in a store at Durhamville. After that he 
 learned the carpenter's trade, working with his father, 
 and as he had opportunity attended the public schools. 
 After his father removed to Oneida, he attended the 
 Oneida- Academy a short time, but spent most of his 
 time in the factory, and at the age of nineteen had 
 mastered the sash, door and blind business. Remov- 
 ing to Chicago in 1854, he first secured a position as 
 foreman of a small sash, door and blind factory. He 
 next filled a similar position in the same line of busi- 
 ness with Messrs. Abbott & Kingman, with whom he 
 stayed five years, and during that time familiarized 
 himself with the lumber interests and trade throughout 
 the Northwest. 
 
 In 1859 he joined Mr. Peter B. Lamb, and estab- 
 lished a planing mill and lumberyard, which two years 
 later they were obliged to enlarge to meet the demands 
 of their constantly growing trade. In 1865 Mr. Harvey 
 bought Mr. Lamb's interest in the business, which con- 
 tinued to grow beyond the capacity of the facilities at 
 his command. In 1869 he moved his business to 
 Twenty-second and Morgan streets, then the southern 
 
 limits of the city, where he bought land and put up the 
 first fireproof building erected in Chicago for a planing- 
 mill. He alsb bought and built extensive docks. This 
 was the beginning of what afterward came to be the 
 largest lumber business in the United States, Mr. 
 Harvey owning and operating lumber mills at Men- 
 ominee and Muskegon, Mich. 
 
 At one time the Harvey yards in Chicago handled 
 a hundred and twenty-five million feet of lumber annu- 
 ally. In 1878 Mr. Harvey furnished the money to 
 build the first logging railroad in the United States. 
 It connected Lake George with the Muskegon river, 
 and was for transferring his logs from the lumber 
 camps to the Muskegon river, where they could float 
 to the mills at the mouth of the river. In 1883, asso- 
 ciating with himself a number of his worthy employes, 
 he organized the T. W. Harvey Lumber Company, and 
 has been at its head as president ever since. But Mr. 
 Harvey has not confined his attention to the lumber 
 interests. In 1890 he laid out the town of Harvey, a 
 suburb of Chicago, where are located the works of the 
 Harvey Steel Car Company, and many other manu- 
 factories. The town is now owned by the Harvey 
 Land Association and the Harvey Steel Car Company, 
 of which he owns the most of the stock, and is the 
 president of both companies. He is also a director of 
 the Metropolitan National Bank, and the American 
 Trust and Savings Bank of Chicago. In 1882 he 
 bought two thousand acres of land in Eastern Ne- 
 braska, which is known as " Turlington," and is one of 
 the finest stock farms in the Northwest. 
 
 Mr. Harvey has always shown commendable public
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 spirit and has been a leader in benevolent and charita- 
 ble work. His services during and after the great fire 
 of 1871 can never be over-estimated. He was then on 
 the executive committee of the Chicago Relief and 
 Aid Society, and was selected to serve on the shelter 
 committee. The chairman of that committee was 
 unable to act, and his duties fell upon Mr. Harvey. 
 These so completely occupied his time that he gave to 
 his own business but one hour a day during the six 
 months following the fire. The winter of 1871-2 was 
 a severe one, and but for the timely help of this society 
 many must have perished from hunger and exposure. 
 One hundred thousand people were homeless. For a 
 portion, temporary barracks were provided, but the 
 majority were comfortably housed. Many owned their 
 lots or had leases of them ; for such, houses ready for 
 occupancv were furnished costing a hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars each, and in one month, from Oc- 
 tober 18lh to November 17th, fifty-two hundred and 
 twentv-six houses were erected, which number was 
 afterwards increased to more than eight thousand. 
 Foreseeing that the price of lumber must advance on 
 account of the millions of feet destroyed in Chicago, 
 and by the extensive forest fires in Michigan and Wis- 
 consin which raged in the fall of 1871, Mr. Harvey 
 bought all he could get at fourteen dollars per thous- 
 and feet. The price went up to twenty dollars per 
 thousand, so that on the thirty-five million feet of 
 lumber used by the shelter committee there was a 
 saving of more than two hundred thousand dollars to the 
 relief fund. During the same winter a coal famine pre- 
 vailed in many parts of Chicago, and under the personal 
 supervision of Mr. Harvey, teams and wagons were 
 purchased, and although many streets in destitute parts 
 of the city were filled with eighteen inches of snow, 
 seven hundred tons of coal were delivered to the 
 freezing people in the outskirts in one day. These are 
 illustrations of the more public of Mr. Harvey's acts of 
 benevolence. Others might be given, for it is such 
 
 work as that of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society that 
 he delights in, whose charities have brightened many 
 a cheerless home, and brought gladness to many a soul 
 read}' to despair. In organization for the relief of the 
 destitute during the fall and winter of 1893-4, Mr. 
 Harvey has also taken a very prominent part. 
 
 For many years he has been an aggressive spirit in 
 religious work, and wherever known is esteemed for his 
 Christian character. He was president of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association, of Chicago, from 1871 to 
 1873, and again from 1876 to 1879. He is also vice- 
 president of the Chicago Evangelistic Society, whose 
 object is the promotion of evangelistic work and Bible 
 study. The head of this society is Mr Dwight L. 
 Moody, in whose absence Mr. Harvey is called to act 
 as executive. In 1876 he was chairman of the ex- 
 ecutive committee, which had in charge the erection of 
 the famous "Moody Tabernacle'' on Monroe street He 
 is an earnest Sunday school worker, and for more than 
 a quarter of a century has been superintendent of a 
 Sunday-school in Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Harvey is a man of simple habits, domestic 
 tastes, and fond of home, and is never happier than in 
 the midst of the joys of his own fireside. He has a 
 refined, attractive Christian home, whose influence is 
 felt by all who come within range, and whose inmates 
 delight in dispensing generous hospitality. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Harvey married Miss Marie Hardman, 
 of Louisville, Ky., whose decease occurred in 1870. 
 Their four sons, Charles A., John R., George L. and 
 Robert H. still survive. Mr. Harvey married Miss 
 Belle S. Badger, of Chicago, May 28th, 1873, and by 
 her has three sons and three daughters. Mrs. H:irve\ r 
 is an accomplished woman of literary tastes and cul- 
 ture, and devoted to her family, and in hearty sympa- 
 thy with her husband in his good^orks. 
 
 When measured by what he is, and by what he has 
 done, Mr. Harvey may be pronounced, in the truest 
 and best sense of the words, a successful man. 
 
 EDWARD A. BACHELDOR, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CDWARD A. BACHELDOR was born in Wauke- 
 Ct gan, Lake county, 111., about forty-two years 
 ago. His father, E. S. L. Bacheldor, for many years a 
 merchant of that place, was a direct descendant of the 
 Bacheldor and Lowell families of New England. His 
 mother came of the old Ayrault family, prominent 
 among the pioneers of western New York. He at- 
 tended the public schools of his native town, and later 
 was a student at Lake Forest University. In 1868, 
 with no capital other than a determination to do some- 
 thing for himself, he went to Chicago and established 
 himself in the grocery trade, without any previous ex- 
 perience in that line, and conducted it successfully for 
 
 five years. He had never received a dollar as a salary 
 from any one, and never worked for any one except to 
 help during his school years in his father's store, where 
 he received his first business experience. 
 
 About this time his attention was attracted to the 
 hotel business, and in 1873 he erected and opened the 
 Atherton House, on AVabash avenue, near Twenty- 
 . second street, under which name it was conducted until 
 1880, when he secured possession of the Avenue House, 
 immediately adjoining the Atherton on the south and 
 extending to the corner of Twenty-second street. The 
 consolidated hotel was named " The Southern." In 
 1884 it was further enlarged by building another ad-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 dition on the north. In 1887 Mr. Bacheldor purchased 
 the corner property, which he remodeled. During 
 these years he built up for " The Southern " an excel- 
 lent reputation as one of the best family hotels in 
 Chicago, with a large and constantly increasing 
 patronage. 
 
 Though constantly enlarging and extending the 
 business, he was not satisfied, but continually had in 
 .mind an enterprise which should be on a more magnifi- 
 cent scale. Accordingly, in 1890, he quietly secured the 
 property on thecorner of Michigan avenue and Twenty- 
 second street, and planned for the erection of a 
 hotel, which for beauty, elegance and safety should 
 stand unapproached. On September 1, 1892, the Lex- 
 ington Hotel was opened to the public. That the 
 house was finished and opened on the very day planned 
 months before, well serves to illustrate the executive 
 ability and force of character of Mr. Batcheldor. The 
 
 hotel represents an outlay of $1,500,000 and is one of 
 the largest, best appointed, best furnished hotels, not 
 only in Chicago, but in the world. It contains 500 
 rooms, is ten stories high and absolutely fire-proof. At 
 the dedicatory exercises of the World's Columbian 
 Exposition, in October, 1892, the Lexington entertained 
 the United States Supreme Court, the Cabinet of the 
 President and the entire Diplomatic Corps, as the 
 guests of the Exposition, while at the opening of the 
 World's Fair, on May 1; 1893, this hotel was selected 
 by the committee on ceremonies to provide accommo- 
 dations for President Cleveland and his cabinet. 
 
 Mr. Bacheldor was united in marriage to Miss 
 Nellie Hough, of Chicago, and to her he gratefully 
 attributes much of his success, as her wise counsel, per- 
 severence and energy have sustained him in his efforts, 
 and largely contributed to the success which has 
 attended his enterprises. 
 
 JOHN A. WILLARD, 
 
 MANKATO, MftWESOTA. 
 
 JOHN A. WILLARD, son of Daniel S. and Catha- 
 rine (Williams) Willard, was born in Trenton, 
 Oneida count}', N. Y., on the ninth of November, 
 1833. His father was a farmer, who was also born in 
 Oneida county, where he spent his life until 1867) 
 when the family moved to Minnesota, where the 
 father died in 1868, and the mother in 1875. The 
 subject of this sketch was the eldest of their seven 
 children. 
 
 The family, on the paternal side, came from 
 Weathersfield, Conn., to New York in 1800, and were 
 among the first settlers of Trenton, Oneida county. 
 His mother's family came from Wales to Philadelphia; 
 Pa., in the same year and moved afterwards to the 
 State of New York. The first representative of the 
 family in America was Captain Simon Willard, who 
 landed in Boston, from Horsmonden, Eng., in 1634, 
 and who, in English history, traced his ancestory back 
 to the beginning of the fourteenth century. His wife 
 was Mary Sharp. From this couple the line of our 
 :ubject's ancestry is traced as follows: Josiah, son of 
 Simon and Mary Willard, born in Boston in 1635, . 
 married Hannah Hosmer in 1656, and removed to 
 Weathersfield, Conn. Simon, his son, born in Weathers- 
 field in 1662, married Mary Gilbert in 1690. Ephraim 
 his son. born in Weathersfield in 1707, married Lydia 
 Griswold in 1738. His son, Simon, born in Weathers- 
 field in 1745, married Sarah B,obbins in 1770. His son 
 Ephraim, born in Weathersfield in 1772, married Lucy 
 Griswold in 1795. His son, Daniel S., born in Trenton, 
 N. Y., in 1806, married Catherine Williams in 1832, 
 the last being the father and mother of the subject of 
 this biography. 
 
 Young Willard received his education in the public 
 school and also spent a short time in an academy at 
 
 Holland Patent, N. Y., and later in a maternal uncle's 
 school in Utica, N. Y. His youth was similar in all 
 respects to that of a boy raised on a farm in the early 
 days; going to school when he could and spending the 
 balance of his time in farm work. He always had an 
 earnest desire for a better education, but his parents, 
 while most willing, were not able to give it to him. 
 When seventeen years old he taught district school 
 and from that time until he wa's twenty he taught 
 school in winter and worked on the farm in summer. 
 Concluding that he was not suited for a farmer's life, 
 he commenced the study of law in the city of Utica, 
 in 1854, and was a year later admitted to practice in 
 all the courts of the State of New York. He started 
 west in 1856 to locate and practice his profession, 
 having only a few books (for half the value of which 
 he owed an Albany firm) and enough money to take 
 him to his destination. 
 
 In September, 1856, he located in Mankato, Min- 
 nesota, where he has since resided, and settled 
 down to his profession. He continued his practice 
 there until 1870, when he took an interest in railroad 
 matters, and was elected president of the company 
 that built the line from Mankato to Wells, and which 
 is now a part of the great Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul System. In 1872 he became interested in the 
 manufacture of linseed oil, and is still connected with 
 that business and also with many other different kinds 
 of manufacture. He is now, and has been for manv 
 years, president of the First National Bank of Mankato, 
 the National Bank of Commerce, at Duluth, and the 
 Granite Falls Bank, Minnesota, and is a president and 
 director in many other corporations. He has for manv 
 years also been president of the Mankato Board of 
 Trade.
 
 t-KCMiNENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 317 
 
 A believer in protection, Mr. Willard is a Repub- 
 lican in politics. He has never held any public office 
 except one. In 1891 he was nominated and elected by 
 the votes of all political parties for mayor of Mankato. 
 A member of the Presbyterian church, he is active and 
 liberal in its support, and equally liberal and generous 
 in all public and private charities. He became a mem- 
 ber of the. Masonic fraternity in 1857, and passed 
 through all the chairs in the local lodge, being 
 worshipful master in 18G6. He is also a Royal Arch 
 Mason and a Knight Templar. 
 
 On the 23rd day of August, 1865, Mr. Willard was 
 married to Miss Anna M. Sibley, a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, who was, at the time of her marriage, post- 
 
 mistress, having been appointed to succeed her father. 
 In any and every project having for its object the 
 advancement of the material interests of the locality in 
 which he resides, Mr. Willard has taken an active 
 and leading part. Few men in any communily stand 
 higher than does he, and no man enjoys more fully the 
 confidence, respect, and esteem of his friends and 
 fellow citizens. Personally he is a man of fine appear- 
 ance, impressing one unconsciously with the fact of his 
 substantial and solid worth. While in all things 
 modest and unostentatious, Mr. Willard is one who 
 readily makes friends of those with whom he comes in 
 contact, and the friends thus made invariably become 
 friends for life. 
 
 GEORGE M. PULLMAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EORGE M. PULLMAN is universally known as one 
 of Chicago's most distinguished citizens. He is a 
 native of the village of Erocton. Chautauqua county, 
 N.Y., and was born on March 3, 1831. His father, James 
 Lewis Pullman, was a native of Rhode Island. He 
 was a mechanic by occupation, and a man of great 
 force of character and influence in his community, and 
 withal was known for his fair mindedness and his loy- 
 altv to what he believed to be right. He died on 
 November 1, 1853. His mother, Emily Caroline 
 (Minton) Pullman, was a woman of rare good sense 
 and womanly virtues; she was a daughter of James 
 Minton, of Auburn, N. Y. 
 
 George M. Pullman has three brothers and two 
 sisters living, viz.: Rev. Royal H. Pullman, pastor of 
 the First Universalist church of Baltimore; Dr. James 
 M. Pullman, a Universalist minister at Lynn, Mass.; 
 Charles L. Pullman, connected with the Pullman 
 Palace Car Company; Helen A., the wife of Mr. 
 George West, a merchant of New York city, and Emma 
 C., the wife of Dr. William F. Fluhrer, a prominent 
 surgeon, also of New York city. His brother, Frank 
 W. Pullman, a lawyer, who was assistant United 
 States district attorney at New York, died in 1879, 
 a"hd Albert B. Pullman, formerly connected with the 
 Pullman Company, died some three months since. 
 
 George M., aside from careful home training, re- 
 ceived a good common-school education, and while yet 
 a boy disclosed that independence, self-reliance and 
 manly persistence that have characterized his subse- 
 quent life and been such important factors in his suc- 
 cess. He was full of original ideas, and had much 
 inventive genius, which took a practical turn and which 
 n is perseverance enabled him to turn to good account. 
 His introduction to business life was as a clerk in a 
 store near his home when fourteen years old, for which 
 he received an annual salary of fort}' dollars. His 
 elder brother, Royal H., was conducting a small cabinet- 
 
 making establishment, at Albion, New York, at this 
 time, and at the end of the first year in the store, 
 George took a place in his shop to learn the cabinet- 
 making trade, a most important step, as subsequent 
 events disclosed. While yet in his teens he became a 
 partner with his brother, where he continued for a 
 time, but upon the death of his father, the care of his 
 mothgr and younger brothers and sisters devolved upon 
 him, and he found it necessary to increase his income. 
 With his other attainments he had gained a considera- 
 ble knowledge of mechanics and engineering, and when, 
 about this time, the State of New York advertised for 
 bids to widen the Erie Canal and raise the buildings 
 along its .line, ne secured a contract; and so success- 
 fully did he accomplish the work that he was soon 
 ranked with the leading contractors in that particular 
 line of business, and found no difficulty in getting all 
 the work he could do. 
 
 Not long after the city authorities of Chicago de- 
 cided, for sanitary reasons, to raise the grade of the 
 streets in the business portion of the south division 
 some six feet, and in order to accommodate themselves 
 to the ne\v order of things, owners of buildings found 
 it necessary to raise them to the street grade. Mr. 
 Pullman learned of the situation and with a capital of 
 six-thousand dollars, removed to Chicago in 1859, and 
 secured some of the largest contracts for raising the 
 buildings in the wholesale district along Lake and 
 Water streets. The buildings were large four and five 
 story structures of brick, iron and stone, and to raise 
 them bodily seemed impossible, and great was the 
 agreeable surprise when people saw one after another 
 of these massive structures lifted to the required 
 height, and at the same time saw their business going 
 on day after day. with comparatively little incon- 
 venceand as though nothing had happened. This suc- 
 cessful achievement was regarded as a marvel of engi- 
 neering skill, and increased the reputation and fame of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the man who had accomplished it. Mr. Pullman's next 
 engineering experiences were in Colorado, whither he 
 was attracted, with the thousands of others, upon the 
 discovery of gold there. He spent three years there 
 among the gold mines and found his work profitable. 
 
 Prior to going to Colorado, however, he had con- 
 sidered a long-cherished plan for lessening the discom- 
 sorts of railway traveling. The introduction of sleep- 
 ing accommodations in railway coaches had met with 
 little encouragement, owing to the ill-suited contri- 
 vances that had been used. Mr. Pullman was quick to 
 see that comfort was a very desirable requisite, and 
 that the more conveniences afforded the greater would 
 be the demand for such accommodations. To illustrate 
 his theory he, in the spring of 1859, had fitted up two 
 old passenger cars belonging to the Chicago & Alton 
 Railroad Company, to be used as " sleepers." The 
 novelty and ingenuity and feasibility, combined with 
 the artistic taste of his plan, attracted favorable con- 
 sideration and comment. It was the perfection of his 
 work, thus begun, that he determined upon when he 
 returned to Chicago from Colorado in 1863. 
 
 With the aid of able assistants he set about his ta^k 
 with a will, sparing no expense in giving expression to 
 his ideas, greatly to the surprise and discomfiture of 
 many of his friends, who looked upon his venture as 
 foolishly extravagant and impracticable. After many 
 months' labor and an expenditure of eighteen thousand 
 dollars, he produced his first car, ready for service. It 
 was a marvel of beauty, comfort and luxury, and was 
 called by its owner, the " Pioneer." The modern 
 Pullman palace car, viewed simply as a stationary 
 miniature palace, would be a wonder of architectural 
 and artistic beauty. But it is a structure of numerous 
 mechanical devices; at once a vehicle apd a house; a 
 kitchen, dining-room, parlor, office, sleeping-room, and 
 boudoir, all in one. The " Pioneer " made its first con- 
 tinuous trip as a part of the train which bore the remains 
 of President Lincoln from Washington to their final 
 resting-place at Springfield. Soon after it was called 
 into requisition on the occasion of General Grant's re- 
 turn to his Galena home. This style of car soon ceased 
 to be regarded simply a luxury, and was demanded bv 
 the traveling public as a necessity, and all the leading 
 railroads in the country were ready to gratify the 
 wishes of their patrons. 
 
 The demand for these cars led to the organization 
 of the Pullman Palace Car Company on February 22, 
 1867, whose operations had become so extensive in 
 1880 that new works and larger and more improved 
 facilities were required. Here was offered an oppor- 
 tunity for testing a plan, which Mr. Pullman had long 
 cherished, of building a town to comprise the neces- 
 sary shops, stores, markets, places of amusement, 
 houses for the workmen and their families, school-houses 
 and churches, all to be under the care of the company. 
 Four thousand acres of land were bought along and 
 near the western shore of Lake Calumet, some twelve 
 miles south of the then limits of Chicago and five 
 miles inland from Lake Michigan. The land was first 
 
 prepared by a thorough system of drainage into Lake 
 Calumet, and streets were laid out and improved, bor- 
 dered on either side by grass plats, beds of flowers and 
 rows of elms. The shops of the company, built of 
 pressed brick and stone and roofed with slate, are 
 artistic in design and models of convenience for their 
 various uses; and, separated as they are by broad 
 avenues and well-kept lawns, they present a view both 
 beautiful and unique. These, covering some thirty 
 acres of land, are separated from the southern or resi- 
 dence portion of the town by a broad boulevard, faced 
 by handsome dwellings. From this, running south- 
 ward, are five broad avenues, along which stand the 
 cottages occupied by the workmen employed in the 
 works. There are about nineteen hundred houses of a 
 great variety of artistic designs, and they rent for 
 prices varying according to size, location, etc. 
 The Arcade building, erected at a cost of three hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, is occupied by the theatre, the 
 post-office, the bank, the librarv and the stores of the 
 town, which latter open into an interior court with 
 galleries, and which under the electric lights at 
 night, resemble a brilliantly illuminated bazar. In the 
 center of the town is a massive tower, the center of 
 the water and sewerage systems. Other notable 
 structures are the Hotel Florence, the several churches 
 and school houses, all models of elegance and good 
 taste in architectural designs, and provided with every 
 modern convenience and appliance requisite to com- 
 fort and sanitary completeness. Improvements are 
 constantly being made, and already nearly nine million 
 dollars have been expended in bringing the place to its 
 present state of completeness. The power for the 
 shops, which began operation in April, 1881, was fur- 
 nished by the celebrated Corliss engine used at the 
 Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. The inhabi- 
 tants number over thirteen thousand, and the social, 
 moral and intellectual character of the place is greatly 
 superior to that of the average industrial town. Taken 
 all in all, it is a most remarkable illustration of practi- 
 cal philanthrophy, and the wonderful success that has 
 attended the enterprise from its inception verifies the 
 theory of . its originator and promoter, viz: "That 
 beauty and culture have an economical value, and that 
 the working classes are capable of appreciating and 
 appropriating the highest ministries of excellence and 
 art." 
 
 The Pullman Palace Car Company is the largest 
 railroad manufacturing interest in the world. It em- 
 ploys an immense capital, and has in its service, ac- 
 cording to its last report, two thousand five hundred 
 and twelve cars; employs fifteen thousand three hun- 
 dred and forty-one persons, whose daily wages aggre- 
 gate nearly thirty thousand dollars. During 1893 over 
 six million passengers were carried, and the aggregate 
 distance traveled was about one hundred and ninety- 
 five million miles. 
 
 Although Mr. Pullman has been, and is, the moving 
 spirit of this gigantic enterprise, he has at the same 
 time been largely interested in important interests.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 319 
 
 Among these may be mentioned the Eagleton Iron 
 Works, of New York, and the New York Loan and 
 Improvement Company, of which he was president, 
 and which built the Metropolitan Elevated Hail way 
 on Second and Sixth avenues. In this company he 
 was associated with Mr. Jose F. DeNavarro and Com- 
 modore Garrison. He has also been interested in the 
 Nicaraugua canal project since its inception. 
 
 The Pullman building, one of the most massive and 
 imposing office and apartment buildings in Chicago, 
 situated at the corner of Michigan avenue and Adams 
 street, was built by the 'Pullman Car Company in 
 1884, at a cost of $1,000,000. 
 
 Mr. Pullman's elegant residence on Prairie avenue, 
 overlooking Lake Michigan, surrounded by broad, vel- 
 vety lawns and graceful elms, with its spacious apart- 
 ments, costly furniture and treasures of art and 
 literature, and withal its generous hospitality, is a 
 marvel of elegance and taste. His nobleness of char- 
 acter could not better be illustrated than by the devo- 
 tion and care which he has always shown his aged 
 mother. No personal sacrifice was too great for him 
 to make in order to minister to her wants. In the lan- 
 guage of another : " Accordingly, Mr. Pullman pur- 
 chased an island on the St. Lawrence river, and there 
 erected for her a magnificent home which was called 
 
 Castle Rest. "We need not emphasize the costliness of 
 her surroundings, for the beauty of her home and the 
 almost royal luxuriousness of her living were only the 
 smallest part of the life-long tribute that was paid to 
 her. This luxury was the gift not of ostentation, but 
 of love, but hack of it all there was personal devotion, 
 a personal service that was more precious than any- 
 thing that wealth could do. * * * So her life went 
 on into extreme old age eighty-four years of it before 
 its translation into the other life that grow r s not old." 
 
 In all his business life Mr. Pullman is prompt and 
 yet never hasty. His great achievements have been 
 the results of carefully devised plans. His personal 
 and social qualities are such as to endear him to all who 
 come within the range of his influence. His hand is 
 open to all worthy charities, and all public enterprises 
 find in him a warm friend, while his conduct is charac- 
 terized by modesty and moderation. 
 
 In March, 1867, Mr. Pullman married Miss Harriett 
 A. Sanger, daughter of Mr. J. T. Sanger, of Chicago. 
 Their four children are: Florence Sanger, Hattie San- 
 ger, George M. and Walter Sanger, the last two being 
 twins. Mrs. Pullman is a woman of rare accomplish- 
 ments and Christian virtues, and with her charming 
 daughters takes 'an earnest interest in religious and 
 benevolent work. 
 
 GEORGE THOMAS SMITH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EORGE THOMAS SMITH was born at Provi- 
 dence, R. I., on May 10, 1849, the eldest of a 
 family of two sons and three daughters, two of whom 
 died in childhood. Fred W., the youngest son, was 
 for ten years a member of the firm of H. G. Gaylord 
 & Company, of the Chicago Board of Trade. The 
 parents of Geo. Thomas Smith are Thomas P. and 
 Dorothy (Ingalls) Smith. 
 
 When George was eight years old, his father settled 
 in Lockport, 111., with his family, and in 1865 removed 
 to Chicago, where, for twenty years, he was well 
 known on the Board of Trade as a member of the old 
 highly respected firm of Trego & Smith. Young 
 Smith received his early education in the public schools 
 of Lockport and afterward at Eastman's Business 
 College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. The ability and appli- 
 cation of the young student was such that he was able, 
 in 1865, at the age of sixteen, to become a bookkeeper 
 and general clerk in the office of Messrs. Spruance, 
 Preston & Company, a prominent firm at that time. 
 He remained with the firm eight years and part of 
 that time did their trading on the Board. When 
 twenty-four years of age, Mr. Smith went into the 
 brokerage business on his own account, and after two 
 years formed a partnership with Mr. Henry G. Gaylord, 
 under the firm name of Smith & Gaylord. The partner- 
 
 ship lasted two years, and since that time he has con 
 ducted business in his own name with marked ability 
 and acknowledged success. As showing the estimation 
 in which Mr. Smith is held, it is proper to state that, in 
 1878 and 1879 he was appointed a member of the arbi- 
 tration committee of the Board of Trade, and in 1880 
 and 1881 he was placed on the committee of appeals; 
 was made second vice-president in 1884, and the fol- 
 lowing year first vice-president. In 1886, and again in 
 1891, strong efforts were made to induce him to accept 
 the presidenc}' of the Board, but he declined the honor 
 because his other large business interests not only 
 claimed his attention but necessitated his frequent 
 absence from the city. Mr. Smith is not only a prom- 
 inent member of the Board of Trade, but is a director 
 in the Diamond Match Company and a director of the 
 National Railway Company, which controls five lines 
 of street railway in St. Louis. He has also large real 
 estate interests. 
 
 But while he is a thorough business man, Mr. Smith 
 has found time for extensive travels, and in this way 
 given a wider range to his large fund of useful knowl- 
 edge. He has visited not only every part of this 
 continent, and China, Japan and the Indies, but he has 
 also traveled up the Nile and through Palestine, and 
 completed the circuit of the globe by visiting the prin-
 
 320 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 cipal countries of Europe. Mr. Smith" married Miss 
 Frances Gaylord, daughter of Mr. George Gaylord, a 
 merchant and prominent citizen of Lockport, 111., in 
 January, 1875. Two children have been born to them : 
 Stephen G., who was born September 12, 1878, and died 
 January 24, 1879, and Annie Dorothy, born May 14, 
 1883, and who died at Nassau, N. P. (one of the 
 Bahama Islands) February 8, 1889. 
 
 Mr. Smith is a Republican, but takes no part in 
 politics other than to perform his duties as a good citi- 
 zen. He is a man of liberal and progressive ideas and 
 a friend to honest government. In religious matters, 
 he was reared in the faith of the Universalist church. 
 He attends the " People's Church," under charge of 
 Dr. H. W. Thomas, and while steadfast in his own 
 
 principles, he is tolerant and charitable to all. He is a 
 man of domestic tastes, who loves his home and enjoys 
 the sunshine of its happy surroundings; and although 
 a member of the Chicago and Washington Park Clubs, 
 the happiest hours of his life are spent in his borne on 
 Grand Boulevard. 
 
 One of the greatest pleasures of Mr. Smith's life is 
 to steal a few days frequently from the cares and anxi- 
 eties of business and visit the old farm in Connecticut, 
 where his ancestors settled in 1720, now occupied by 
 his grandmother, who still lives in the enjoyment of a 
 peaceful old age. Although a young man, Mr. Smith 
 is very prominent among the business men of Chi- 
 cago, and his kindly nature and genial disposition have 
 won for him many friends. 
 
 D. L. WHEELER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born in Rens'elaer 
 county, N. Y., on January 15, 1850. He was 
 taken to Milwaukee by his parents in 1851, and was 
 educated at Racine college, Racine, Wis., graduating 
 in the class of 1870. He studied law and was admitted 
 to the bar of Wisconsin in November 1871. and im- 
 mediately began the practice of his profession in Mil- 
 waukee. After a year in that city he was induced by 
 relatives there to go to Boston, where he practiced 
 until 1878, when sickness made it necessary for him to 
 leave that climate, and he returned to the West, arriv- 
 ing in Chicago in February, 1879. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler's financial condition at .that time' 
 
 would not permit of his opening a law office and wait- 
 ing for clients. He therefore secured work on some of 
 the newspapers, and was occupied in the field of 
 journalism until 1887, filling positions on -most of the 
 Chicago dailies, from proof-reader to managing editor. 
 In 1887 he was appointed justice of the peace for North 
 Chicago by Governor Oglesby on recommendation of 
 the judges of the courts of record. Mr. Wheeler was 
 re-appointed in 1891, and still (spring of 1894) holds his 
 honorable position. In religion he js an Episcopalian j 
 and in politics has always voted and acted with the Re- 
 publican party. Justice Wheeler has made a good record 
 and is highly esteemed by those who know him best. 
 
 JOHN TILGHMAN DICKINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN TILGHMAN DICKINSON was born in 
 Houston, Texas, June 18, 1858. His father, who 
 was a prominent merchant in that city and who died 
 in 1871 at the age of fifty years, was born at Kelso on 
 the Tweed in Scotland, and his mother, who also died 
 in the city of Houston three years later, was born in 
 Hanover county, Virginia. Thus early left an orphan, 
 Mr. Dickinson, who, up to the death of his parents, 
 had been educated liberally at the very best schools of 
 England and Scotland, was then sent to Randolph- 
 Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, and finally gradu- 
 ated in several of the academic schools of the University 
 of Virginia at Charlottesville, in June, 1879. When 
 just twenty-one years of age he received -the diploma 
 of Bachelor of Law from the great law school of that 
 venerable institution. He then graduated at Eastman's 
 Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Returning 
 
 to Texas, he became one of the owners and editor of 
 the Houston Daily Telegram, and entered at once and 
 actively upon public life. In January, 1891, while on 
 a visit to Austin, Texas, the capital of the State, 
 he was elected secretary of > the House of Rep- 
 resentatives of the Texas Legislature, and in May, 
 1882, he was elected secretary of the Texas State 
 Capitol board, which board, composed of State offi- 
 cials, supervised the construction of the Texas state 
 house, the largest in the Union. During this time he 
 was also appointed secretary of the State penitentiary 
 board, and filled these positions under three Gover- 
 nors O. . M. Roberts, John Ireland and L. S.Ross, 
 and also served on the military staff of Governor Ire- 
 land. Col. Dickinson was the originator and general 
 manager of a very successful and brilliant Interstate 
 Military encampment and International Band Contest
 
 nuivv^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 323 
 
 given at Austin, Texas, in May, 1888, in honor of the 
 completion of the magnificent granite State house, 
 and immediately thereafter he was elected general man- 
 ager of the International Fair Association, of San An- 
 tonio, and conducted the organization and preparation 
 of the first Texas-Mexican Exposition held in that city 
 in November, 1888. In July. 1889, while on a visit to 
 Chicago, at the time this city entered the contest for 
 the location of the World's Fair, his services were im- 
 mediately engaged by the Chicago "World's Fair com- 
 mittee and he was sent to interview members of con- 
 gress in his own and several other States, in behalf of 
 Chicago, in which mission he met with great success. 
 In December, 1889, he joined the Chicago World's Fair 
 legislative committee in Washington,of. which Director- 
 General George R. Davis was chairman, and remained 
 witli the committee performing efficient service until 
 Chicago was victorious in the contest. When the act 
 
 of congress was soon thereafter passed, creating the 
 World's Columbian Exposition and providing for two 
 commissioners from each State, Col. Dickinson 
 was appointed by Gen. L. S. Ross, Governor of 
 Texas, as the Democratic commissioner to represent 
 the Lone Star State on the National commission. 
 At the organization of the World's Columbian 
 Commission in Chicago, on the twenty-seventh of 
 June, 1890, Col. Dickinson was unanimously elected as 
 its secretary. In addition to his varied duties after 
 his election to this important position, he was 
 appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury as dis- 
 bursing agent of the World's Columbian Commission, 
 and has disbursed several hundred thousand dollars for 
 the Government in connection with the World's Fair. 
 On June the fifteenth, 1893, Col. Dickinson was mar- 
 ried to Mrs. Sadie F. Mattocks, widow of the late John 
 Mattocks, a prominent lawyer of Chicago. 
 
 ABRAM M. ROTHSCHILD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 T N the German village of Nordstetten, which the nov- 
 elist Berthold Auerbach, whose birthplace it was, 
 has made glorious with the light of his genius, Abram 
 M. Rothschild was born in 1853. There he spent his 
 early days until 1866, when he came to America, going 
 direct to Davenport. Iowa, where he was joined by his 
 eldest brother Emanuel, who had established himself 
 there several years before. At first he worked at 
 his brother's store, and to such good use did he put 
 his energies that at the age of seventeen, he was 
 admitted as a partner to the firm, which then became 
 E. Rothschild & Brothers. During the time he was 
 laying the foundation for his future business careen 
 he was also industriously supplementing the education 
 he had received in the little German village from which 
 he had come, by attending the night school in Daven- 
 port. Notwithstanding the difficulties under which he 
 labored, he proved himself an apt and progressive stu. 
 dent, and soon succeeded in obtaining a thorough com- 
 mon school education. 
 
 In 1871, when Chicago lay in ruins, Mr. Rothschild 
 and his brothers, foreseeing clearly the wonderful suc- 
 cess to which the Garden City must soon attain, re- 
 solved to and did open a branch business here in con- 
 nection with the one in Davenport. Their confidence 
 in Chicago, particularly as a manufacturing and busi- 
 ness center, grew with their business success, and ac- 
 cordingly, in 1875, the firm of E. Rothschild & Broth 
 ers withdrew altogether from the retail business and 
 began the manufacture and sale of clothing on an ex- 
 tensive scale. In 1875 Mr. Rothschild left Davenport 
 and, taking up his residence permanently in Chicago, 
 at once devoted himself with characteristic energv and 
 enthusiasm to the development of the business. 
 
 The large building on Madison street, near Market, 
 soon became too cramped, and accordingly the firm 
 took a lease of more commodious quarters on Wabash 
 avenue. This, too, soon proved inadequate, and in 
 1881 the firm removed to its own immense double 
 building at 203 and 205 East Monroe street, where it 
 has continued its successful development. It is not so 
 much of the wonderful growth from a retail business 
 in Davenport to a great jobbing and manufacturing 
 concern, doing a business, of several million dollars a 
 year, that Mr. Rothschild is, as he has reason to be, so 
 proud, but more of the high financial standing which 
 his house has attainted with the business public, its 
 popularity with its trade competitors and its thousands 
 of customers throughout the country. To this growth 
 Mr. Abram Rothschild has in no small degree contrib- 
 uted. His 'executive capacity, his tireless energy, his 
 remarkable enthusiasm, has placed him in the front 
 rank of the progressive business men of a most pro- 
 gressive city, while his loyalty, his genuineness and 
 straightforward manliness have made him friends 
 everywhere. 
 
 In addition to his partnership in the firm of E. 
 Rothschild & Brothers he has numerous other business 
 interests of magnitude. He organized and is president 
 of the Palace Clothing Company, a corporation which 
 has the leading establishment in Minneapolis, Kansas 
 City and other places. He is also director and an of- 
 ficer of the St. Louis National Stock Yards Company, 
 and in several large local corporations, and on July 13, 
 1891. he was elected vice-president of the National 
 Bank of the Republic, a new institution with a capital 
 of a million dollars. In March, IS'Jl, Mr. Rothschild 
 was chosen to occupy a director's chair on the board
 
 324 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 of the World's Columbian Exposition, and held impor- 
 tant committeeships to which he brought a mind well 
 stored with valuable information gained by his broad 
 business experience and enriched by extensive travel, 
 both in Europe and America. Mr. Rothschild is a mem- 
 ber of the Standard Club and other social organizations, 
 also of Sinai Congregation and several charitable aid 
 societies. 
 
 In December, 1882, he was married to Gusta Morris, 
 daughter of Nelson Morris, one of America's most suc- 
 cessful men. The couple are blessed with one child 
 Melville Nelson Rothschild. 
 
 Although Mr. Rothschild is a native of Germany, 
 
 he is nevertheless distinctively and thoroughly Ameri- 
 can. In love for this country and its institutions there 
 is no one who excels him, and he is devoted in the 
 discharge of his duties as a citizen. - 
 
 Such is the biography of the man who began the 
 struggle of existence with nothing but health, ambi- 
 tion and energy. With a reputation for the highest pos- 
 sible integrity, a record of splendid successes, an 
 ample fortune, a large and increasing business, a warm 
 circle of devoted friends, and above all a happy 
 home, Mr. Rothschild stands to-day as a public- 
 spirited citizen worthy of the high place that he 
 occupies. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM G. CLARKE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is a native of Michigan, 
 having been born at Adrian on April 13, 186], 
 his father being George W. Clarke and his mother 
 Cornelia (Chapin) Clarke. In his early youth his 
 parents resided in New York city and in the west, 
 coming to Chicago when he was twelve years old. At 
 the age of fourteen he united with the Third Pres- 
 byterian church, of which Rev. A. E. Kittredge, D.D., 
 was pastor. After attending the public schools and 
 spending some time in private academies in Chicago, 
 young Clarke attended the Northwestern University 
 at Evanston, and the Chicago Theological Seminary, 
 He continued his course at Princeton Theological 
 Seminary, N. J., graduating therefrom at the age of 
 twenty-two, distinguished as being the youngest 
 graduate from the seminary in a decade. In 1883 he 
 visited Europe, going through England, Germany, 
 France and Switzerland, and in June, 1884, became 
 pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Waukegan, 
 111. In September, 1885, Mr. Clarke accepted the 
 
 pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Riverside } 
 near Chicago, and three years later, in September, 
 1888, he became pastor of the Campbell Park church, 
 in this city. During his pastorate at Riverside, he 
 employed a vacation, granted by his church, in making 
 a tour of Europe, Egypt and Palestine, the result of 
 his observations being embodied in a book entitled, 
 "Rambles Among Ruins." Since Mr. Clarke's pastorate 
 with the Campbell Park church, the present handsome 
 
 edifice has been erected, and the members of the 
 
 \ 
 
 society increased from about sixty to four hundred. 
 Mr. Clarke has from the start been an active promoter 
 of the People's Institute on West Van Buren street, 
 and is secretary of the society. It is an institution 
 designed for the promotion of the civic, social, indus- 
 trial, mental and moral welfare of the people. As 
 such it has aroused Mr. Clarke's interest, as he always 
 delights to aid kindred movements intended for up- 
 raising the laboring classes in the scale of true civiliza- 
 tion and progress. 
 
 CHARLES H. WACKER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 /CHARLES H. WACKER was born in Chicago in 
 v_> 1856 He is the son of Frederick and Catharine 
 Wacker. His parents were of German nationality and 
 descent, and, although they are now dead, Mr. Wacker 
 delights to say that whatever success he may have 
 attained, whatever he may be in the social or business 
 world, is due to the training he received at home. He 
 is in every wav an exemplary citizen, and in diligent 
 attention to business and uprightness of character, 
 has followed closely in the footsteps of his father, who 
 was a self-made man. 
 
 Mr. Wacker received his education in the public 
 
 and high schools of this city, attending the. Lake 
 Forest, Academy, and was for several terms at a 
 business college. He studied music at the conservatory 
 at Stuttgart, and attended lectures at the University 
 of Geneva, in Switzerland. He began business life as 
 an office boy in the establishment of Moeller & Co., of 
 Chicago, who did a grain commission business. In 1880, 
 he was taken into partnership by his father, who was 
 then engaged in the malting business, and the style of 
 the concern became F. Wacker & Son. In 1882 the 
 Wacker & Birk Brewing and Malting Company >vas 
 organized, of which the senior Mr. Wacker was elected
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 president, and Charles H. Wacker secretary and 
 treasurer. In 1884, Frederick Wacker died, and his 
 son was elected president and treasurer of the 
 company, offices which he has held ever since. 
 
 He has been a thoroughly public-spirited man, who 
 has ever been ready to do what lay in his power for the 
 advancement of the interests of the city. Although 
 he has never sought political preferment, he was nomi- 
 nated in 1888 on the Democratic ticket for State 
 treasurer. He has been tendered many positions of 
 trust and honor, but has always felt disinclined to 
 enter politics or public life in any capacity, on account 
 of the pressure of private business. 
 
 In religion, Mr. Wacker is a Protestant; and in 
 politics, as above indicated, he has always been a con- 
 sistent Democrat. Being an excellent business man 
 he has naturally been drawn into many business cor- 
 porations and enterprises. Besides his brewing busi- 
 ness, he is a director in the Corn Exchange Bank, the 
 Chicago Title and Trust Company, the Western Stone 
 Company, Germania Safe Deposit Company, and 
 Wright & Hill's Linseed Oil Company. He is treasurer 
 of the German Opera House Company, a stockholder 
 in the Auditorium, president of the Chicago Heights 
 Land Association and a director of the German Old 
 People's Home. He is a member of the Athletic 
 
 327 
 
 Association, the Art Institute, the Turn Germeinde 
 and several German singing societies, besides being a 
 member of the Iroquois, Waubansee, Union League, 
 Germania, Union, Sunset, Bankers', Fellowship and 
 German Press Clubs. 
 
 Mr. Wacker has traveled extensively, and has not 
 only seen all the prominent portions of this country, 
 but has visited most places of interest in Europe. He 
 spent three years abroad; from 1876 to 1879 and spent 
 a winter in Egypt. He visited the Centenial Exposi- 
 tion of 1876 at Philadelphia and the Paris Exposition 
 of 1878. 
 
 Early in the enterprise he became one of the 
 directors of the World's Columbian Exposition and 
 was active in promoting its success. Experience and 
 knowledge obtained during his travels enabled him to 
 serve the Exposition with intelligence from the start. 
 He was one of the most active members of the ways 
 and means committee, as well as of several other of 
 the important committees which carried the Exposition 
 to a successful conclusion. 
 
 Mr. Wacker married Miss Otillie M. Glade on May 
 
 10, 1887, and has two sons Fredrick G. and Charles 
 
 11. He is a gentleman of deserved popularity with all 
 classes and a prominent figure in the best development 
 of his native city. 
 
 RODOLPHUS WAITE JOSLYN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ODOLPHUS WAITE JOSLYN, son of Col. E. S. 
 1 \ and Jane (Padelford) Joslyn, was born in Elgin, 
 Illinois, March 23, 1866. His ancestors were of New 
 England stock, and his father was known throughout 
 the entire West as one of the most representative and 
 eloquent members of the legal profession, who after 
 thirty years of successful practice and public life passed 
 away in 1885. On his father's side, Mr. Joslyn is a 
 descendant of the illustrious Waite family, his grand- 
 mother bearing that name, which has been so prominent 
 in this country. Mr. M. L. Joslyn, who was assistant 
 secretary of the interior under President Arthur, was 
 his uncle; Chauncey Joslyn, who was a circuit court 
 judge in Michigan, was also an uncle of the subject of 
 our sketch. He is also a descendant of Roger Williams, 
 the founder of Rhode Island. 
 
 Mr. R. Waite Joslyn was given his early training 
 in the public schools of his native town, graduating in 
 1886 from the Elgin high school, after having com- 
 pleted a three years' course in two years. After two 
 years of school teaching in that city, he spent three 
 years in the Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, 
 graduating with the degree of LL. M. During this 
 time he pursued extensively the stud}' of the classics 
 and political science. While at the University, he was 
 chosen assistant editor of one of the college papers, to 
 
 which he contributed general articles on ethical sub- 
 jects As indicating the favor in which he was held 
 by his fellow students, he was made president, in 1892, 
 of the alumni of the Elgin high school. After his 
 graduation from the regular course-, at the University 
 of Michigan, Mr. Joslyn spent one year in the Univer- 
 sity "Law School," as a tutor, after leaving which 
 position he first established himself in the practice of 
 law with the firm of Joslyn & Joslyn, in Elgin, Illinois. 
 Here he continued until he removed to Chicago, and 
 accepted a position in the well-known law firm of 
 Swift, Campbell, Jones and Martin, where he remained 
 about six months, leaving to form a partnership with 
 Mr. B. H. Loveless, under the firm name of Loveless 
 and Joslyn. Mr. Loveless was compelled to retire from 
 the partnership by severe illness, whereupon Mr. Joslvn 
 associated himself with Mr. Louis Kistler, a well-known 
 and prominent practitioner at the Chicago bar. The}' 
 at present practice under the firm name of Kistler & 
 Joslyn, Mr. Joslyn's residence being at Evanston, 111. 
 They have in a short time established an extensive 
 business which is remunerative and distinctive, indicat- 
 ing that they are to be of importance in the future 
 legal world of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Joslyn is a man of literary tastes and talents, 
 and of pronounced oratorical ability. He has always
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 taken an interest in questions concerning social and 
 political economy. His lectures on political science, 
 delivered at various times, are highly prized. He has 
 lectured on the relation of " Employer and Employe," 
 and is the author of a pamphlet on " Employer and 
 Employed," both of which have been largely com- 
 mented upon by the press in different parts of the 
 country. His literary contributions, however, have 
 not been confined to economical or political science 
 altogether. He is the author of an article on the 
 "Philosophy of Law," which appeared in the Green 
 Sag, a magazine devoted tn the interests of law and of 
 lawyers. In fact, his contributions have covered a 
 wide field, ranging from simple essays to exhaustive 
 philosophical research. In his studies he has been per- 
 sistent and arduous, and, besides his continuous efforts 
 for improvement in the line of his profession, in the 
 study of interesting leading questions of 'the day, etc., 
 has attended lectures under many prominent legal 
 writers, among whom may be mentioned Professors 
 Thomas M. Cooley, James L. High, Melville E. Bige- 
 low, and many other well known lecturers. 
 
 Among the most important cases with which Mr. 
 Joslyn has been connected in his legal capacity, per- 
 haps, may be cited the Columbia Hotel case, in which 
 
 he was associated with Judge George W. Brown. 
 The trial of this case occupied about three weeks, and 
 was hotly contested by both parties, resulting in a vic- 
 tory for Messrs. Brown & Joslyn in the lower courts, 
 but they were afterwards defeated on the appeal. 
 
 Mr. Joslyn is a member of the Baptist church, and 
 has been active in all church matters. He is a non- 
 partisan in politics, although actively interested in 
 political matters, and believes that every man should 
 reserve the free exercise of his prerogative on political 
 questions, without binding himself to support any 
 party; and, while realizing the necessity of parties, he 
 thinks ttiat only in this way can questions of national 
 or local importance be settled in a manner which will 
 be for the benefit of all. He is a member of the Chi- 
 cago Academy of Sciences, and takes much interest in 
 the society's work. 
 
 Although young in years, Mr. Joslyn has already 
 reached a considerable degree of prominence at the 
 bar and in the world of letters. His ability is appre- 
 ciated and his friends predict for him a brilliant future. 
 He is popular with all his associates, and is ever a 
 welcome guest and an entertaining companion, well 
 liked and respected among his wide circle of acquain- 
 tances. 
 
 FRANK GRANGER LOGAN, 
 
 CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. 
 
 FRANK GRANGER LOGAN, son of Simeon Ford 
 and Phoebe Ann (Hazan) Logan, was born in Cay- 
 uga county, N. Y., on the 7th day of October, 
 1851. His father was a native of Litchfield, Conn., but 
 moved to what was then considered a wild and unsettled 
 country west of the Hudson river at an early day, and 
 settled on a farm near Ithaca. He was soon married, 
 and it was in the adjoining county of Cayuga that his 
 two sons were born, and where they passed the early 
 years of their lives. 
 
 The father wished each of his sons to make for him- 
 self a choice of what should be his avocation in life, 
 that after choosing he might direct their studies toward 
 the desired end. Frank decided upon the law as his pro- 
 fession, but after deriving such education as was to be 
 obtained at the district schools and at Ithaca Academy, 
 he found that his parents were unable to assist him 
 through a course at college, and consequently had to 
 abandon his hopes in that direction. However, he did 
 not allow this to discourage him, but determined to 
 make a success in some other line of life since he was 
 unable to complete his law studies, and at the age of 
 nineteen he came West and located in Chicago. Here 
 lie first obtained employment in a dry goods store on 
 the West Side, and remained there until after the fire 
 in 1871, when he entered the employ of Field, Leiter& 
 Company, with whom he remained until 1875. 
 
 After resigning his position, he became connected 
 with one of the largest receiving houses on the Board 
 of Trade, but after twelve months' experience resigned, 
 and started in the grain and commission business on 
 his own account, under the firm name of F. G. Logan 
 & Company, under which title the business has been 
 continuously carried on up to the present time, each 
 year's accounts showing satisfactory increase over 
 that which preceded it. Mr. Logan is well and favor- 
 ably known in Board of Trade circles, and has held 
 many posts of honor and trust in its service. 
 
 He is also a director of the City Missionary Society, 
 and a popular member of the Union League Club. Pie 
 has been for some years an officer in the Plymouth 
 Congregational church, and is in the heartiest sym- 
 pathy with its pastor's broad work for the betterment 
 of the condition of his fellow-creatures. Politically, 
 he is a Republican, and stands ready at all times to 
 render his party every assistance within his power. 
 
 On the 15th day of June, 18S2, Mr. Logan was 
 married to Miss Josie Hancock, daughter of the late 
 Colonel John L. Hancock, of Chicago. They have 
 three children, two sons and one daughter. 
 
 Mr. Logan has traveled quite extensively over the 
 United States, and has also during recent years made 
 two visits to Continental Europe. A gentleman of 
 high culture and literary tastes, his home on Prairie
 
 -
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 avenue is filled with rare volumes, and contains also 
 many works of the old masters. An ardent admirer 
 of the grand characters of American history, Mr. 
 Logan has gathered together a priceless collection of 
 relics of John Brown and Abraham Lincoln, and is 
 also the owner of the "Rust"' collection of Indian 
 relics, which was exhibited at the World's Fair in 
 charge- of Professor Putnam, in the Anthropological 
 building, and is now in the museum at Beloit College, 
 of which he is a trustee. The entire museum has lately 
 been named the Logan Museum in his honor. He is 
 also a writer of rare strength and ability, and has 
 received the highest commendation for several articles 
 written bv him. A man of enterprise, positive charac- 
 
 331 
 
 ter, indomitable energy, strict integrity and liberal 
 views, he is and has been fully identified with the growth 
 and prosperityof the city of his adoption. A typical Chi- 
 cagoan in every sense of the term, he is one of the best 
 known members of the Board of Trade, and one of Chi- 
 cago's most respected citizens. While taking a most 
 active part in all public enterprises pertaining to Chi- 
 cago's material welfare, Mr. Logan is in his tastes one of 
 the most domestic of men, and finds his truest pleasure in 
 the society of his charming wife and little children. His 
 pride and ambition are centered in them, and it 
 may be said that the better part of his life is devoted 
 to t.hem, and the many friends to be found in his well 
 selected librarv. 
 
 LEWIS L. COBURN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE paternal grandparents of the subject of this 
 sketch hailed originally from Massachusetts, 
 removing at an early day to Washington county, Vt. 
 His maternal ancestors were early settlers in East 
 Montpelier, and much esteemed by the community in 
 which they lived. His father was a man of great 
 activity, and owned one of the largest estates in Cen- 
 tral Vermont. His prominence was more than local, 
 and be was held in high esteem. At different periods 
 a representative in the State Legislature, he also held 
 various offices in his town and county with honor to 
 himself and lasting good to his constituents. 
 
 Lewis L. Coburn was born at East Montpelier, Vt., 
 November 2, 1834, being the youngest of five 
 children of Lamed and Lovisa (Allen) Coburn. Lewis 
 worked on the farm in summer, and attended school 
 during the winter months. At the age of fifteen he 
 entered Morrisville Academy, afterwards that of North- 
 field, and subsequently that at Barre, Vt., studying 
 during the spring and fall terms, and teaching during 
 the winter and working on the farm summers. Hav- 
 ing completed his preparatory course at Barre in the 
 summer of 1855, he entered the University of Ver- 
 mont, from which, four years later, he was graduated 
 with mathematical honors and the degree of Bachelor 
 of Arts. Having decided to enter the legal profession, 
 his studies while at the university were directed to this 
 end, while during vacations he read law in the office of 
 Roberts & Chittenden. at Burlington,"Vt., and on leav- 
 ing the university entered the office of Hon. T. P. 
 lledfield, at Montpelier, for a short time. He entered 
 Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Mass., and was 
 graduated therefrom in 1861. Subsequently he was ad- 
 mitted to practice in all the courts of Massachusetts. 
 
 In Februrary, 1861, he settled in Chicago. In 
 other and older cities several Iaw3 r ers had won success 
 by adopting patent law as their speciality, and Mr. 
 Coburn decided to devote himself to this branch of 
 
 practice, and was the first lawyer in Chicago who 
 made this branch a special study. With the opening 
 of the war of the Rebellion about this time, inventions 
 multiplied to supply machinery to do the work of 
 those called from home to serve their country, the 
 results, often complicated, requiring the services of 
 those well versed in the laws relating to patents. 
 Successful from the commencement, Mr. Coburn's 
 business rapidly assumed large proportions, and in 
 November, 1861, he took as his partner an old college 
 friend and classmate, Mr. William E. Marss, of the 
 Vermont bar. The business continuing to grow, it at 
 length assumed such proportions that it extended to 
 the United States courts of nearly all the Western 
 States. While on a visit to his parents in Vermont, 
 in the summer of 1862, a brigade of nine months' men 
 was being organized, one of the companies of which 
 was being raised in East Montpelier and adjoining 
 towns. Unanimously elected as the captain of this 
 company, although his business interests were large 
 and responsible, hepbeyed the call of his country, and 
 accepted the position, leaving his partner to conduct 
 the business meanwhile. As captain of Company C. 
 Thirteenth Regiment of Vermont Volunteers, he was 
 in the front line at the battle of Gettysburg, in General 
 Stannard's brigade, and led his company on a charge 
 by which one of the battries captured by the rebels was 
 retaken. He was the first to reach two of the 
 cannon. Amongst others who surrendered to him 
 personally was Major Moore, of the Florida regiment, 
 and a captain and lieutenant of a Mississippi regiment, 
 whose swords and pistols he was permitted to keep. 
 
 On being mustered out of service he immediately 
 returned to Chicago and the practice of his profession. 
 His partner dying in 1868, Mr. Coburn was left alone 
 with an enormous practice in the United States courts. 
 In 1875 he was joined by Hon. John M. Thacher, also 
 an old classmate, and who for ten years had been in
 
 332 
 
 PROMINENT .MEN OF THE GREA T WEST 
 
 the United States Patent office, holding, when he 
 resigned to join Mr. Coburn, a conrmissionership. 
 
 Mr. Coburn has a clear knowledge of mechanism, 
 and readily grasps the principles of an invention, and 
 his great experience and diligent study of all questions 
 bearing on inventions is such that the inventor who 
 places a case in his hands finds his work greatly facili- 
 ated, while at the same time he obtains the advice and 
 counsel of an attorne\ r whose authority on such matters 
 is incontrovertible. He has been connected as attorney 
 with several of the most important patent litigations 
 that have occurred in Chicago, among them being the 
 Irwin tubular lantern .patent suits, the barbed-wire 
 suits, the beef-canning suits, and many others. 
 
 He was married June 23d, 1880, to Miss Annie S. 
 Swan, in Brooklyn, N. Y. He has made considerable 
 investments in real estate in Chicago, and to-day reaps 
 the reward of his sagacity. He has been closety identi- 
 fied with many of the important material interests, both 
 politicall\ T and financially, of thiscity. When her finances 
 were at a low ebb, he inaugurated the movement which 
 led to a change in the south town and city governments, 
 and presided at the first public meeting. Not confining 
 his interests, however, to municipal affairs, he has been, 
 with others, the originator of several charitable and 
 benevolent institutions, notably the Christian Union 
 
 now the Chicago Athenaeum also the Vermont Associ- 
 ation of the State of Illinois, in the latter of which he 
 has taken great interest, having been one of its most 
 active supporters and officers from its inauguration, 
 and at one period its president. He was also the first 
 president of the Union League Club. 
 
 Frequently urged t6 become a candidate for politi- 
 cal offices, he has hitherto uniform!}' declined. -He was 
 proposed as a candidate for the State Senate, and has 
 been almost unanimously indorsed by the press of 
 Chicago and by his many friends as a candidate for 
 Congress to represent the First District, but felt him- 
 self justified in declining these offers, honorable and 
 flattering as they undoubtedly were. 
 
 A man of great natural ability, his success in his 
 profession has been uniform and rapid, and, as has been 
 truly remarked, after all. that may be done for a man 
 in the way of giving him early opportunities for obtain- 
 ing the acquirements which are sought in the schools 
 and in books, he must essentially formulate, determine 
 and give shape to his own character, and this is what 
 Mr. Coburn has done. He has persevered in the pursuit 
 of a persistent purpose, and gained a most satisfactory 
 reward. His life is exemplary in all respects, and he 
 has the esteem of his friends and the confidence of those 
 who have business relations with him. 
 
 SAMUEL M. NICKERSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 SAMUEL M. NICKERSON, one of the organizers 
 of the First National Bank, its vice-president upon 
 its organization, and from 1867 to July, 1891, the presi- 
 dent of that institution, was born at Chatham, Mass., 
 on June 14, 1830. His parents, Ensign Nickerson and 
 Rebecca (Mayo) Nickerson, were descended from the 
 early Puritan settlers of Massachusetts, his father being 
 a lineal descendant of Wra. Nickerson, who left Nor- 
 walk, England, and settled at Chatham, Mass., in 1660. 
 
 When seven years of age young Nickerson's parents 
 removed to Boston, where he received his education at 
 the public schools. At the age of seventeen he left 
 school and became clerk in his brother's store, at Apal- 
 achicola, Fla., where he received his earlier business 
 training. Here he remained until 1851, when, at the 
 age of twenty-one, he began mercantile life for him- 
 self, by entering into the general mercantile business > 
 which he continued until 1S57, when his business was 
 destroyed by a disastrious fire, and ruined him. He 
 made a compromise with his creditors, turning over all 
 the means he had, and some five years later paid them 
 in full, although not legally obliged to do so. 
 
 After his failure, he borrowed a few hundred dol- 
 lars from his friends and removed to Chicago, where, 
 in 1858, he launched upon a prosperous business career 
 as a distiller of alcohol and high wines. In this busi- 
 
 ness he succeeded so well that within six years he had 
 accumulated a fortune sufficiently large to enable him 
 to retire from business. In 1864 he became president 
 of the Chicago Horse Railway Company, and continued 
 as its presiding officer and was its controlling spirit for 
 seven years. In 1871, the banking business, in which 
 he was also engaged, required so much of his time and 
 attention, that he resigned his official posioion with the 
 railway corporation to devote his entire time to this 
 and other interests. 
 
 Since 1863, when he assisted in the organization of 
 the First National Bank of Chicago, his history has 
 been essentially the history of that corporation. At 
 the organization he was elected vice-president, which 
 official position he held until 1867, when h"e was elected 
 president, which position he retained until July, 1891, 
 when he resigned after twenty-eight \ r ears service, and 
 Lyman J. Gage, for many years cashier, was elected 
 to the presidency. It has been largely due to Mr. 
 Nickerson's fostering care that the First National Bank 
 occupies the important position in the financial world 
 that it does to-day. He was present at its birth, 
 watched over it carefully during its infancy and child- 
 hood days, carried it through the perils caused by the 
 time of fire, 1871, and guarded it through the storms of 
 the panic of 1873.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 333 
 
 Mr. Nickerson has also been prominently identified 
 with other financial concerns. The Union Stock 
 Yards National Bank, of Chicago, afterwards called 
 the National Live Stock Bank, owes its existence to 
 him, he having organized it in 1867. He was its first 
 vice-president and continued as such for several years. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Nickerson was chosen as a director of 
 the Chamber of Commerce, and in 1871 was appointed 
 by the governor as a member of the first board of 
 commissioners for Lincoln Park. He continued as 
 commissioner for four years, and was always an active 
 member of the board. 
 
 In December, 1858, he was married to Miss Matilda 
 P. Crosbv, of Brewster, Mass. Roland Crosby Nicker- 
 son, the sole issue of this marriage, has been prominent 
 in banking circles. 
 
 Mr. Nickerson has always been largely interested 
 in art and musical work. He is a member of the 
 Chicago Historical Society, and a trustee of the Art 
 
 Institute, and his fine residence contains many choice 
 works of art that he has collected during his extended 
 travels, which have not only covered this country and 
 Europe, but haveextended entirely around the world, he 
 having made a circuit of the world in 1883 and 1884. 
 
 Mr. Nickerson is a man of pleasing appearance, and 
 of dignified bearing, always courteous, kindly and 
 affable, and ever ready to assist, both financially and 
 personally, any movement for the public good. Long 
 at the helrn of the largest financial institution in the 
 West, esteemed by the citizens of Chicago, and admired 
 by his friends and business acquaintances, he stands 
 to-day as a man who during his life has .always been 
 an honored, respected citizen of the community in 
 which he lived. On his retirement from the presi- 
 dency of the First National Bank in 1891, the directors 
 placed on record most appreciative and complimentarv 
 resolutions, and which also expressed great regret for 
 his retirement. 
 
 NICHOLAS SENN, M. D., PH. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 NICHOLAS SENN was born in Buchs, in the 
 canton of St. Gall, Switzerland, on October 31, 
 1844. His parents were farmers, and highly respected 
 in the community for their thrift and honesty. Nich- 
 olas was the second youngest member of a family of 
 three sons and one daughter. In his native canton he 
 attended the district schools until nine years old, when 
 his parents immigrated to America, and soon after 
 settled at Ashford, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. 
 At the city of. Fond du Lac he entered the grammer 
 school where he pursued his studies with marked 
 ability, and graduated at the age of eighteen years. 
 
 Having determined to enter the medical profession 
 he became a student under Dr. Munk. and afterward 
 entered the Chicago Medical College, from which he 
 was graduated in 1868. He was awarded the first 
 prize for a thesis on the modus operand! and therapeu- 
 tic uses of digit-alis purjHtrca. His original investiga- 
 tion of the action of this drug was most unique, and to 
 the astonishment of the profession, he proved that 
 instead of a cardiac 'sedative, as digitalis had been 
 previously regarded, it was a cardiac stimulant, and 
 this latter opinion has since generally obtained. After 
 receiving his degree of M. D., Dr. Senn was appointed 
 hoilse surgeon in the Cook County Hospital at Chicago, 
 where he remained a year and a half. 
 
 Returning to Fond du Lac county, he began the 
 practice of his profession at Ashford, and was married 
 the following year to Miss Aurelia S. Millhouser. He 
 removed to Milwaukee in the spring of 1874, where he 
 enjoyed a practice that was exceptionally remunerative 
 the first year. In 1878 he went abroad and attended 
 a course of lectures at the University of Munich, 
 
 Germany, and was graduated Mayna Cum Laude. pre- 
 senting a thesis on the surgical treatment of varicocele 
 by sub-cutaneous ligation. Before going abroad he 
 was appointed attending surgeon at the Milwaukee 
 Hospital, and was also elected president of the Wiscon- 
 sin State Medical Society, before which he delivered an 
 address on medical legislation, which attracted wide- 
 spread and favorable comment. Dr. Senn also pur- 
 sued a special course in pathological and microscopic 
 anatomy under professor Heitzmann,an eminent patho- 
 logist of New York. He also attended the surgical 
 lectures and clinics at the college of Physicians and 
 Surgeons of New York city. 
 
 Returning to Milwaukee, he resumed his practice 
 which had grown to great proportions, attracting 
 patients from all parts of Wisconsin and many of the 
 neighboring States. He perfected the hospital facili- 
 ties of Milwaukee, and continuing his original investi- 
 gations and operations in surgery, became noted on two 
 continents for his bold and successful surgical achiev- 
 ments. When Professor Von Esmarch, the celebrated 
 German surgeon, visited this country, he made a special 
 journey to Milwaukee to personally greet Dr. Senn 
 whose name had crossed the Atlantic. 
 
 In all details of intestinal surgery, Dr. Senn became 
 a recognized authority, and his methods of diagnosis 
 and treatment in this specialty were both original and 
 scientific. In gunshot wounds of the abdomen he 
 introduced the use of hydrogen gas in the rectum as 
 the only reliable means of determining a perforation of 
 the bowel. If the intestines were perforated, the gas 
 escaped through a small glass tube inserted in the 
 wound, and would burn brightly on applying a lighted
 
 334 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 match. The same test was also available in wounds of 
 the stomach. 
 
 Among other distinctions awarded by foreign 
 societies he was elected a member of the Societe 
 Chevalier Sauveteur. In 1885 he was appointed profes- 
 sor of the principles and practice of surgery in the Col- 
 lege of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, meantime 
 continuing his residence and labors in Milwaukee. Three 
 years later, on the death of Professor Gunn, of Rush 
 Medical College, Dr. Senn resigned from tl^e faculty of 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons and accepted 
 the chair of principles of surgery and surgical pathol- 
 ogy in Rush Medical College. Soon after the death of 
 Dr. Parkes, the distinguished surgeon of that college, 
 Dr. Senn was chosen to fill his place, and removed to 
 Chicago in the spring of 1891, to the great regret of his 
 Milwaukee patients and friends. Governor Peck had 
 appointed him surgeon-general of Wisconsin, and he 
 had begun a thorough organization of the surgical 
 corps of that State. So great was his enthusiasm in 
 his work, that he decided to retain his commission on 
 the governor's staff and perfect the work which he had 
 undertaken. 
 
 He has the largest and most select private medical 
 library in the world, and it is amid such environments 
 that Dr. Senn has produced his most valuable surgical 
 monographs and supplied the surgical conventions of 
 the world with brilliant illustrations of his genius. At 
 the convention of the International Medical Congress 
 held at Washington, D. C., in 1887, he contributed his 
 remarkable monograph on the diagnosis and treatment 
 of gunshot wounds of the stomach and intestines. It 
 marked the dawn of a new era upon the subject of 
 gunshot wounds of the abdomen. In 1890, he also 
 represented America at the above congress, held in 
 Berlin, where his elucidation of the above subject won 
 honors and decorations. 
 
 Among Dr. Senn's published works are "The 
 Principles of Surgery," now in its first edition; 
 "Experimental Surgery," and "Surgical Bacteria," 
 which have reached their second edition and have been 
 translated into the French, Italian and Polish 
 languages; "Intestinal Surgery," which has been tran- 
 slated into the German language. All these works 
 
 are standard text-books on their respective subjects. 
 Dr. Senn was invited to co-operate with twelve of the 
 most eminent surgeons of this country in the product- 
 ion of the "American Text Book of Surger\ T ," and con- 
 tributed all of that portion relating to abdominal 
 surgery. This work, from the prominence of the 
 authors, becomes the most authentic surgical work of 
 the present day. In 1887 Dr. Senn visited all the 
 European hospitals, and wrote a book entitled "Four 
 Months Among the Surgeons of Europe," which was 
 well received by the profession. 
 
 Dr. Senn received the degree of Ph.D. from the Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin, on returning from his second 
 trip to Europe. Besides being professor of surgery in 
 Rush Medical College and attending surgeon to the 
 Presbyterian and St. Joseph's Hospital, professor of 
 surgery in the Chicago Polyclinic, and consulting sur- 
 geon in the Central Free Dispensary, he is fellow of 
 the American Surgery Association, honorary fellow of 
 the College of Physicians of Pennsylvania, permanent 
 member of the German Congress of Surgeons, honor- 
 ary member of La Academia de Medicina de Mexico, 
 of the Hayes Agnew Surgical Society of Philadelphia; 
 corresponding member of the Harveian Society of 
 London, England; member of the Ohio and of the 
 Minnesota State Medical Societies; member of the 
 American Medical Association, the British Medical 
 Association, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, the 
 Brainard Medical Society, the Chicago Medical So- 
 ciety, the Chicago Academy of Medicine, etc. 
 
 Of Dr. Senn's personnel we need only add, that he 
 is a most courteous and affable gentleman, who greets 
 one with a manner that is full of cheerful warmth 
 and makes his visitors thoroughly at home and at 
 their ease, as the result of tres bonne esprit. His home 
 life is extremely domestic, and, although of a social 
 disposition, he finds less time than he could wish for 
 the exchange of social amenities. Flis family consists 
 of his estimable wife and two sons, aged sixteen and 
 twenty-three years, respectively. The elder son is a 
 graduate of Rush Medical College and, it is hoped, will 
 realize the fond wishes of his parents, and that the 
 mantle of the illustrious father may fall upon the shoul- 
 ders of the son. 
 
 JOHN NORTON HILLS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 J. N. HILLS, son of Cyrus Bingham Hills and Laura 
 Allen (Norton) Hills, was born at Arlington, 
 Vt., June 27, 1837. His father was a country mer- 
 chant; his mother was a descendant of Gen. Ethan 
 Allen and both are descendants of sturdy New Eng- 
 landers of Revolutionary parentage. 
 
 Young Hills' father died when he was but fourteen 
 years of age, but he had regularly attended school and 
 
 was well up in his studies. He attended Burr Sem- 
 inary, at Manchester, Vt., after leaving public school, 
 and later graduated at Phillips' Academy, at Andover, 
 Mass. T 
 
 After leaving school Mr. Hills entered the emplov 
 of a large wholesale millinery store at Troy, N. Y., as 
 manager. Later he entered the service of the Western 
 Union Telegraph Co., and was in their employ during
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T IVEST. 
 
 the War of the Rebellion, continuing in that occupation 
 until he entered the employ of the Champlain Trans 
 portation Co., on Lake Champlain, as second officer on 
 the steamer " Vermont," continuing until the winter 
 of 1871-2, when he came to Chicago and accepted the 
 position of general manager and financial agent of the 
 National Life Insurance Co., of Vermont* which posi- 
 tion he has held for over twenty-two years. 
 
 Mr. Hills has never sought public office but took 
 his share of the work that naturally falls to prominent 
 men, and has served as president of the board of 
 trustees of schools, of the town of Lake View, and 
 superintended the construction of the Lake View High 
 School. He was also for several years a member of 
 the district school board of Eavenswbod and after- 
 wards its president. He was also for many years 
 senior warden of All Saints' Episcopal church at 
 Ravenswood. It was mainly through Mr. Hill's work 
 that this church was built. He is now On the vestry 
 of the Church of St. Andrews, Chicago. He gained 
 
 33^ 
 
 conbiderable prominence as foreman of the jury that 
 indicted the Chicago anarchists, and was also one of 
 the legal witnesses of their execution. 
 
 Mr. Hills is a thirty-second degree Mason and a 
 Knight Templar. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Hills was married to Miss Caroline S. 
 Tuttle, of Bennington, Vt., who died in 1887, leaving 
 two daughters, Laura, wife of Prof. Jas. H. Norton, 
 principal of Lake View High School, and Clara, wife 
 of S. Conant Parks, vice-president of the First National 
 Bank of Lander. Wyoming. In 1890, Mr. Hills was 
 again married, to Miss Clara Briggs. of Kansas City, 
 Mo., formerly a resident of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Hills is a gentleman of pleasing address, and 
 one who makes friends wherever he goes. In personal 
 appearance he is of good height, commanding presence 
 and courteous demeanor. In his business affairs he is 
 active and energetis, personally looking after its 
 various details. Socially, he is companionable, and has 
 friends without number, who hold him in esteem. 
 
 RICHARD CHAUNCEY RUSSELL, 
 
 OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is the son of Alvin and 
 Sarah Russell, and was born at Sunderland, Mass., 
 April 21, 1830. Alvin Russell, who was a carriage 
 manufacturer, was in good financial circumstances 
 until the panic of 1837, when he lost all his property. 
 This threw the children, of whom Richard was the 
 youngest but one of six brothers, upon their own 
 resources. At the age of ten Richard went to the 
 academy at Amherst. where he studied for six years, 
 all the while earning his own living by working on a 
 farm. Upon the completion of his academic course he 
 spent the following fall working on a farm at North 
 Hadley, Mass., and in the fall of that year spent an- 
 other year in the academy. During the succeeding 
 three years he attended lectures in Amherst College. 
 He then engaged in the clothing and general merchan- 
 dise business at Amherst, but through intense applica- 
 tion broke down in health, and his physician told him 
 he "must either go West or die." He decided upon the 
 former alternative, and traveled through the West and 
 South, visiting, among other places, Oshkosh, Wis., 
 where several acquaintances had gone before him. 
 
 In the fall of the same year (1856), Mr. Russell 
 returned to Boston, where he had a position offered 
 him as purchasing partner in an importing house. On 
 account of continual ill-health, in the spring of 1857 he 
 again started West, calling at Chicago, but not finding 
 the climate in that city favorable to him, decided not 
 to locate there, but proceeded to Minneapolis, where 
 he arranged to open a banking house. The party, 
 however, with whom he was to join in business failed 
 to furnish its share of the capital, and the enterprise 
 
 was abandoned. He then went to Oshkosh for the 
 second time, where he decided to locate permanently. 
 In the fall of 1858 he opened the first grain warehouse 
 in the city, and did a large business, shipping cargoes 
 to New York via the lakes and the canal. He followed 
 this business until 1865, when his health again failed, 
 and disposing of his business, traveled for a year, at 
 the expiration of which he returned to Oshkosh. Dur- 
 ing 'the war he offered himself as a volunteer, but was 
 refused on account of failure to pass the medical exam- 
 ination. 
 
 In 1863 he was elected superintendent of public 
 instruction in Oshkosh, and was re-elected to the same 
 office in 1864. It was during his term of office, and 
 under his direction, that the schools were graded. In 
 1864-5 he represented his district in the Legislature. 
 Subsequently he was offered 'many other political hon- 
 ors, but declined them, preferring to devote his whole 
 time and energy to a business career. 
 
 In 1866-7 Mr. Russell was engaged in the lumber 
 business at Manistee, Mich., under the firm name of 
 Russell, Leach & Co. At the end of two years they 
 sold out to Chicago parties, and he once more returned 
 to Oshkosh, where, in 1869. he started as a private 
 banker, and in 1871 organized the Union National 
 Bank of Oshkosh, of which he was general manager 
 and cashier for eighteen years. In 1887, with George 
 Whiting and others, Mr. Russell organized and was 
 made president of the First National Bank of Menasha, 
 Wis., Hon. Robert Graham, ex-State Superintendent 
 of Public Instruction, being cashier, Mr. Russell in the 
 meantime retaining his position in the Union National
 
 338 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 Bank. In January, 1889, on account of ill health, he 
 resigned his position of general manager and cashier in 
 the latter bank, and traveled again for one year. In Jan- 
 uary, 1890, the German National Bank of Oshkosh was 
 organized, and Mr. Russell was made president, which 
 position he still holds. He is also president of the 
 Citizens' National Bank of St.ven's Point, Wis., and 
 vice-president of the Wisconsin Eiver Paper and Pulp 
 Co., and of the Foote-Cornish Milling Co. He is a 
 director in the Fronteriza Silver Mining and Milling 
 Co., of Mexico. He holds an interest in the Plover 
 Paper Co., and is also interested in the Alamo Heights 
 Land and Improvement Co. at San Antonio ; also in 
 the Rapid Transit Street Railway of that cit}', and 
 other enterprises. 
 
 When a young man, Mr. Russell was identified with 
 the Whig party, and in the year 1851 was a delegate 
 to the State convention at Boston. -Since that time he 
 
 has heen a Republican, although in municipal affairs 
 he has acted independent]/. In religious matters he 
 has always been a Congregational ist, having joined the 
 church of that denomination at Amherst. He early 
 developed a taste for literature, and notwithstanding 
 his great business responsibilities he lias found time 
 to lecture oi various subjects of public interest. 
 
 As a banker he is most competent, and his knowl- 
 edge of commercial law is quite extensive. He has 
 ever takeri an active interest in the welfare of young 
 men giving them the benefit of his experience and coun- 
 sel, and often assisting them in a financial way. 
 
 Mr. Russell was married to Miss Maggie Reirdon, 
 in July, 1858, at her father's residence in Oshkosh. 
 They have had three children, two of whom survive 
 and are both married. Mr. Russell is a descendant of 
 Richard Russell, who came from Herefordshire, Eng- 
 land, in 1612 and settled in New England. 
 
 J. FOSTER RHODES, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 J FOSTER RHODES, son of Daniel and Elizabeth 
 . (Lowry) Rhodes, was born in Brownsville, Penn., 
 on September 14, 1850. He is a descendant of a 
 family who left their native home, Frankfort-on-the- 
 Mam, in Germany, and came to America while it-was 
 but little better than a wilderness. They settled in 
 Maryland, where they prospered exceedingly, members 
 of the family having been prosperous and respected 
 citizens of that State for more than two hundred years. 
 The father of J. Foster Rhodes was a Methodist 
 Episcopal minister, much esteemed and respected by 
 all who knew him, and who first instilled into the mind 
 of his son the principles of strict integrity and fairness 
 that have been the leading characteristics of his busi- 
 ness life. The son was educated at St. Mary's Insti- 
 tute, at Dayton, Ohio, and after leaving school, in 
 1868, he entered the banking house of Andrew, Bissell 
 & Co., at Cincinnati, Ohio, as messenger. In this place 
 he advanced rapidly through the intermediate positions 
 until he had charge of the handling of all the cash of 
 the institution. He held this position for six years. In 
 1874 he removed to Chicago, where he at once became 
 connected with the Hibernian Banking Association, 
 with which he remained four years, employing his 
 spare time in studying in the Union College of Law. 
 He afterward completed his studies in the law offices 
 of Messrs. Small & Moore, and was admitted to the bar 
 in 1877. He commenced the active practice of his pro- 
 fession at once, and continued the same for six years, 
 when he became interested in building and other enter- 
 prises. Mr. Rhodes was one of the promoters of the 
 Insurance Exchange Building, on La Salle and Adams 
 streets; the Traders' Building, on Pacific avenue: the 
 Rialto, adjoining the new Board of Trade; the Com- 
 
 merce Building, on Pacific avenue; the beautiful and 
 substantial fire-proof hotel, " The Lakota," corner of 
 Thirtieth street and Michigan avenue, and many other 
 office buildings and fine apartment houses in Chicago. 
 He was also one of the promoters of the American Bank 
 Building in Kansas City, the Commercial Building in 
 St. Louis, and other fire-proof structures in various 
 other cities. 
 
 He has held numerous offices at different times in 
 connection with various corporations, such as president 
 and director; and is at present (1894) director of the 
 Northwestern Safe and Trust Company, the Chicago 
 Deposit Vault Company, the Commercial Safety 
 Deposit Company, the Berkshire House Company, the* 
 Devonshire House Company, the Yorkshire House 
 Company and other corporations of a similar kind. 
 He is also secretary and a director of the Dearborn 
 Savings, Loan and Building Association, a financial 
 corporation which was organized by Mr. Rhodes in 
 1881, and under his management has become one of 
 the largest and most successful institutions of its kind. 
 Mr. Rhodes is also a director in several eastern railroad 
 companies and other public corporations. He is a 
 prominent member of the Masonic order and other 
 fraternal societies. He is a member of Lakeside Lodge. 
 Corinthian Chapter, a charter member of Chevalier 
 Bayard Commandery of Knights Templar, a member 
 of the Royal Order of Scotland, and of the Nobility of 
 the Mystic Shrine, and also a member of the Chicago, 
 Washington Park and Chicago Athletic Clubs, and a 
 member and president of 'the Carleton Club, of this 
 city. In politics he always has been a firm Democrat. 
 
 Mr. Rhodes was married September 12th, 1878, to 
 Miss Margaret W. Patterson, descendant of an old
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 341 
 
 Connecticut family. Of three children born to them, 
 two survive, viz: Margaret Elizabeth, born December 
 27, 1879, and J. Foster, Jr., born November 18, 1881. 
 Mrs. Rhodes is a lady of much culture and refinement, 
 extremely sociable and possessed of many womanly 
 virtues and she has a host of friends by whom she is 
 highly esteemed. 
 
 J. Foster Rhodes is one of the men who daring the 
 past decade have done so much toward giving to 'Chi- 
 cago its architectural beauty, and which makes the city 
 one of the show-places of the world. To him and to his 
 influence Chicago owes many of the buildings that 
 
 make her famous and these buildings will long stand 
 as monuments of one of the most wonderful eras of 
 commercial prosperity in the history of the New 
 World. Mr. Rhodes is a man of medium height and is 
 of fine personal appearance; his manner is genial and 
 pleasant and to all alike he is affable and courteous. 
 Modest and unostentatious in dress and demeanor he is 
 always a liberal contributor to public enterprises and 
 public and private charities. A typical Chicagoan in 
 every sense of the word, he has had and still has a 
 place in Chicago history that will be remembered as 
 Ions: as is the citv itself. 
 
 SILAS B. COBB, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE history of Silas B. Cobb is largely identified with 
 the history of the city of Chicago, and no record 
 of either man or community would be complete without 
 mention of both. A resident of Chicago since 1833, 
 Mr. Cobb has seen the little military post of Fort 
 Dearborn grow to a magnitude of a great metropolis, 
 far beyond the fondest hopes of its earl}' settlers. Mr. 
 Cobb is one of the oldest and most widely known bus- 
 iness men of Chicago, where he has man}' interests of 
 great magnitude. He is now about eighty-two years 
 of age, but stronger in mind and body than most men 
 of three-score, and intensely active in all the cares of 
 business and the demands of domestic life. 
 
 Mr. Cobb is the son of Silas W. Cobb, and was born 
 in Montpelier, Vt., January 23, 1812. His mother, 
 whose maiden name was Hawkes, died when our sub- 
 ject was an infant. At an ase when most lads are 
 deep in their school studies, Silas was an assistant to 
 his father in his changing vocations. - Mr. Cobb, Sr., 
 tried by turns farming, tanning and inn-keeping, but 
 when his son became old enough he sent him to a shoe- 
 maker to learn the trade. This position, however, was 
 quickly given up, and he bound himself, as was the 
 custom in those days, as an apprentice to a harness 
 maker. When his term of apprenticeship was finally 
 served, he worked as a journeyman harness maker in 
 Montpelier and other towns of Vermont, to the satis- 
 faction of his employers. After nine months of hard 
 work and frugal living, he had managed to save the 
 small sum of $60, and he resolved to go West. At this 
 time he was twenty-one years old and a sturdy, self- 
 reliant young man, hopeful of the future and fearless 
 of the present. Oliver Goss, of Montpelier, was form- 
 ing a company to take up some government land which 
 he had, on a previous expedition, located near Chicago. 
 The journey was a long, wearisome and expensive 
 one, and Mr. Cobb, Sr., was opposed to his son 
 undertaking it, but the young man persisted, and finally 
 went with the Goss party to Albany, and there took 
 passage on an Erie canal boat to Buffalo. When he 
 
 reached this latter city he had but seven dollars left of 
 his sixty. The price of passage to Chicago by the 
 schooner "Atlanta" was just seven dollars, but this did 
 not include board, and each passenger had to provide 
 his own provisions. Young Cobb arranged with the 
 captain to go through by the payment of his seven 
 dollars, but on arriving at Chicago the latter went back 
 on his word and sought to enforce full payment, under 
 penalty of carrying Cobb back to Buffalo, but through 
 the kind intervention of a stranger, he was released 
 and allowed to go ashore. , When Mr. Cobb finally 
 stepped ashore, the Chicago at which he landed, May 
 29, 1833, was a log-hut settlement, populated by about 
 one hundred whites and half-breeds, and seventy 
 soldiers. Although Mr. Cobb was penniless upon his 
 arrival in the city of his subsequent triumphs, he was 
 not daunted, and, although he knew nothing about the 
 carpenter trade, he applied for and secured the position 
 of head carpenter to build a large, rude structure of 
 logs for James Kinzie, to be used as a hotel, at a salary 
 of $2.75 a day. He retained this position until a med- 
 dlesome individual underbid him fifty cents and drew 
 attention to his ignorance of the trade. It may be 
 mentioned that with the first money earned here 
 he repaid his kind deliverer. When he left this 
 position, with the money earned therein, he purchased 
 a lot of trinkets and began to trade with the natives. 
 He made by these transactions sufficient capital and 
 determined to build a small frame structure of his own. 
 There was no lumber to be had in Chicago and the 
 nearest saw mill was at Plainfield, 111. He set out for this 
 place and purchased his lumber, and having bargained 
 with a settler near Plainfield for the use of three 
 yoke of oxen and a strong wagon he set out upon his 
 return. At night he slept upon the wagon, under an 
 improvised shelter of boards from his load. The pelt- 
 ing rain and the howling. of the hungry wolves com- 
 bined to make the surroundings the most dreary and 
 desolate the young Vermonter had ever experienced. 
 On account of the terrible condition of the roads, he
 
 342 
 
 was compelled, from time to time, to throw off portions 
 of his load, until, on the fourth day, when he reached 
 the DesPlames River, he was finally compelled to aban- 
 don the last of his load. Turning the oxen in the direc- 
 tion of Plainfield he set them adrift to find their way 
 home, which they finally did, without accident. When 
 the prairie was again dry, the trip was again made, and 
 the lumber collected and safely brought to Chicago. 
 When he had constructed his building, he let the upper 
 part and started a harness shop on the ground floor, in 
 connection with Mr. Goss, who purchased the stock. 
 This partnership lasted a year, when Mr. Cobb with- 
 drew and removed to larger headquarters and began 
 business on his own account. Trade prospered with 
 him, and in 1848 he sold out at a good profit. Chicago 
 was then just commencing the wonderful growth which 
 has since made her famous, and Mr. Cobb saw that any 
 legitimate enterprise, if conducted properly, would suc- 
 ceed. This led him to form a co-partnership with 
 William Osborne in the general boot and shoe, and hide 
 and leather trade. Confident as he had been of success, 
 he found the business profitable beyond his fondest ex- 
 pectations, and in 1852 he retired with a comfortable 
 fortune. Since then he has confined his operations to 
 real estate investments and the promotion of corpora- 
 tions of various sorts. In 1855 Mr. Cobb was elected a 
 director of the Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company, 
 and a few years later to the important position of a 
 member of the board of managers. This position he 
 held until 1887, when he. disposed of his interests and 
 withdrew from the company. 
 
 One of the greatest improvements in Chicago, and 
 which is largely due to the enterprise of Mr. Cobb, is 
 the cable railway system, which was inaugurated and 
 constructed while he was president of the Chicago City 
 Railway company. He is still prominent in the councils 
 of this company, and is also prominently connected 
 with the West Division Horse Railway Co., as well as 
 the National Bank of Illinois. For years Mr. Cobb 
 was the controlling spirit in the Chicago & Galena 
 (now the Northwestern) railway, and the Beloit & 
 Madison railroad. Several fine blocks of buildings on 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 Luke and Dearborn streets appear as silent testimony 
 to his faith in Chicago realty, and they have been 
 profitable investments. 
 
 While the lessons of economy in early life have had 
 their influence on Mr. Cobb, there is no parsimony in 
 his nature. It would be difficult to find a more indul- 
 gent father and husband, and none has ever taken 
 more care to surround his family with the luxuries and 
 comforts which would tend to their enjoyment. He is 
 a man who passes his social pleasures in his own home, 
 and it is indeed a pleasant place to spend the declining 
 years of his active and busy life. 
 
 In 1840, Mr. Cobb was united in marriage to Miss 
 Warren, daughter of Daniel Warren, of Warrensville, 
 Dupage county. Mrs. Cobb died May 10th, 1888. 
 They had six children, only two of whom survive, 
 Maria Louise, wife of William 13. Walker, and Bertha, 
 wife of the late William Armour. Those deceased are 
 the first born and only son, Walter, and Leonora, wife 
 of Gen. G. Coleman, and two daughters who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 In political faith in early days Mr. Cobb was a Whig, 
 but he has been a firm and staunch Republican since 
 the establishment of the party. 
 
 The success of Mr. Cobb in business has been so 
 marked, in all his undertakings that his methods are of 
 interest to everybody. He has based his business 
 principles and actions upon strict cidherence to the rules 
 which govern industry, economy, temperate habits and 
 strict, unswerving integrity. To these he added in 
 early life a resolution to keep out of debt, and this he 
 has never broken but two or three times during his 
 long and honorable career. He is among the few living 
 men to-day to whose exertions can be attributed the 
 development of the small settlement of Fort Dearborn 
 to a thriving city. He is one of the few who have 
 seen the small straggling settlement grow, like the 
 fabled "bean-stock" until it is the wonder of the 
 civilized world, the admired " World's Fair City," a 
 monument to the courage, energy, industry and heroism 
 of its early pioneers, foremost among whom was Silas 
 B. Cobb. 
 
 THEODORE P. SHONTS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THEODORE P. SHONTS, son of Dr. Henry D. 
 Shonts and Margaret Marshall Shonts, was born 
 in Crawford county, Pa. His parents were native born 
 Pennsylvanians. His father, who is of German-Irish 
 descent, studied medicine in Crawford county, gradu- 
 ated from the Jefferson Medical C. liege of Philadel- 
 phia, and afterwards achieved considerable prominence 
 in his profession. His mother, who is of Scotch-Irish 
 descent, is a woman of great energy and unusual force 
 of character. 
 
 The family removed to Centerville, Iowa, in May, 
 1861, where the parents yet reside. Young Shonts' 
 first education was received at the public schools of 
 Centerville. After graduating from its high school lie 
 entered Monmouth College, taking the regular classical 
 course, and graduating from that institution with 
 honors in the class of '76, with the title of Bachelor of 
 Arts. Three years later the same institution conferred 
 the title of Master of Arts upon him. After engaging 
 one vear in the banking business with' his brother-in-

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 345 
 
 law, Mr. D. C. Campbell, of Centerville, he studied 
 law, was admitted to the bar and became associated 
 with the prominent law firm of Baker & Drake.under the 
 firm name of Baker, Drake & Shonts, The firm were 
 the general attorneys for the Missouri, Iowa & 
 Nebraska Railroad Co., of which corporation Gen. 
 F. M. Drake, one of the members of the firm, was also 
 president. 
 
 Gen. Drake retired from the practice of law one 
 year after Mr. Shonts entered the firm, in order to give 
 his attention to his large and rapidly growing railroad 
 interests. Eailroad construction became very pre- 
 valent through the western country at this time and 
 the owners of the Missouri, Iowa*fc Nebraska Railroad 
 were early in the field. In the division of the legal 
 work of that corporation between its attorneys, the 
 litigation growing out of the construction of the road 
 was put largely on Mr. Shonts' shoulders; in this way 
 he became familiar with many of the details of that 
 department, until in 1881, at the solicitation of Gen. 
 Drake, he quitted the practice of law to assume the 
 position of superintendent of the Iowa Construction 
 Company, of which General Drake was general man- 
 ager and Russell Sage president. In this capacity he 
 succeeded in completing, in the face of great obstacles, 
 the lines of road running from Marshalltown, la., to 
 Storey City, la., and from Hampton, la., to Belmont, 
 la., in time to save large subsidies voted to the con- 
 struction company. These lines of road are now part 
 of the Iowa Central System. 
 
 In the spring of 1882, Mr. Shonts went to Kanka- 
 kee, 111., to assume charge of the construction and 
 operation of the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad 
 Company. The road was then built from Momence, 
 111., to Dwight, 111. Under his supervision it was 
 
 finished west to Streeter, 111., and the next year pushed 
 east to North Judson, Ind.. and a little later on to 
 Knox, Ind. Four years ago leases were made of those 
 portions of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and Chicago 
 & West Michigan railways, between Wheatfield, Ind., 
 and New Buffalo, Mich., and over a year ago a lease was 
 made over that portion of the C., C., C. & St. L. railway, 
 extending from Kankakee, 111., to Seneca, III., thus 
 securing to the I. 1. & I. R. R. Company a system of 
 two hundred and ten miles of road, connecting five of 
 the western trunk line systems with all the great trunk 
 lines of the east and south. 
 
 Mr. Shonts personally organized every department 
 of the road, and for years gave his personal attention 
 to the details in each branch of the service. Under 
 this close, detailed management the road, possessing 
 neither trunk line nor strong financial backing, except 
 such as it created for itself, has grown to be an impor- 
 tant factor in the transportation problem of the coun- 
 try. The demands made upon the physical resources 
 of the property by the constant and rapid development 
 of its traffic have at all times been anticipated, with 
 the result that its material condition has been improved 
 and strengthened from year to year, until now its 
 road-bed, tracks, structures, buildings, motive power, 
 equipment, ^-tc., are thoroughly modern and first class 
 throughout, and the property is capable of promptly 
 and efficiently handling any quantity of traffic that 
 may be thrown upon it. 
 
 Mr. Shonts was married in 1881 to Miss Milla 
 Drake, eldest daughter of Gen. F. M. Drake, a woman 
 of liberal culture and marked musical abilitv. Thev 
 have two bright daughters, Marguerite Amelia 
 and Mary Theodora, aged respectively eight and 
 six years. 
 
 AARON BENEDICT MEAD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BORN on November 7, 1838, in Franklinville, Cat- 
 taraugus county. New York, Aaron Benedict 
 Mead is the son of Merlin and Polly (Clark) Mead. 
 His father, an enterprising farmer, was an elder for 
 fifty years in the Presbyterian church, being one of the 
 original members, and prominent in all the affairs of 
 the town. A "true blue" Abolitionist, his house was 
 one of the stations of the famous " Underground Rail- 
 way." Aaron was brought up on the farm, received 
 his early education in the district schools and local 
 academy until seventeen years of age, when, by invita- 
 tion of an uncle, he \\ent to AVaterbury, Conn., and 
 entered its high school, standing number one in his 
 class. 
 
 Upon leaving school he became a clerk in a dry 
 goods store in Waterbury, receiving a salary of one 
 hundred and seventy-six dollars per year. Determined 
 
 to succeed, young Mead, by rigid economy in his habits, 
 managed to save out of his salary twenty-five dollars 
 the first year, when the firm failed. He soon found a 
 place, however, as clerk in a crockery st6re in Hart- 
 ford, Conn., where he remained until the breaking out 
 of the late Civil War. 
 
 In June, 1861, young Mead enlisted in Company A, 
 Fourth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, 
 which afterwards became the First Connecticut Heavy 
 Artillery. The original enlistment for three months 
 was afterward changed to the three years' service. 
 This regiment was the first one filled up, equipped and 
 accepted for the three years' service. Mr. Mead was 
 with the regiment stationed near Washington for 
 one year, when he was discharged onaccountof illness, 
 the discharge taking place at Coal Harbor. Afier 
 recovering from his illness sufficiently to allow of his
 
 346 
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 engaging in business once more, he entered the real 
 estate office of his uncle, Abner L. Ely, who at that 
 time had probably the largest real estate agency in the 
 city of New York. In this office Mr. Mead gained a 
 thorough knowledge of the various details connected 
 with the transfer and sale of real estate which has been 
 valuable to him in his later experience. 
 
 In January, 1867, he removed to Chicago, which 
 then gave favorable promise of a bright future, and 
 opened a real estate office. He recalls with interest 
 his first fee of two dollars, which he received for draw- 
 ing a contract for the sale of a farm, and which he 
 donated to Fisk University of Nashville, Tenn. In 
 January, 1868, Mr. Mead formed a partnership with 
 Albert L. Coe, under the firm name of Mead & Coe, 
 which partnership has continued to the present time 
 (1894), being the oldest real estate firm in the city, and 
 their business having become one of the most success- 
 ful and flourishing in this particular line in Chicago. 
 Carefully built up and under judicious management, it 
 has grown rapidly from the commencement. Their 
 
 clientage is of an extensive and substantial nature, no 
 firm having a higher reputation than Mead & Coe. 
 
 Mr. Mead was married in September, 1868, to Miss 
 Mary E. Packard, daughter of James B. and Sarah C. 
 Packard. They have four children. 
 
 In his religious views he is a Congregationalist, 
 being a member and deacon of the First Congregation- 
 al church. He is also treasurer of the Illinois Home 
 Missionary Society, and a trustee of Illinois College at 
 Jacksonville. In politics he is an ardent Republican, 
 and before the war was an Abolitionist, as was his 
 father before him. Mr. Mead is a member of Geo. H. 
 Thomas Post, No. 5, G. A. R, of this city. 
 
 He is a man of medium height, dark complexion and 
 full beard, and in manner is genial and extremely affa- 
 ble and possesses a generous disposition. An energetic 
 and enterprising business man, he is another of those 
 who have contributed so largely to the building up of 
 -the reputation which the city of Chicago to-'day so 
 ably sustains. As a public spirited citizen, he is ex- 
 tensively known and highly esteemed. 
 
 MORRIS SCHWABACHER, 
 
 Y? 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MORRIS SCHWABACHER, son of Lazarus and 
 Julia (Kurtz) Schwabacher, was born in "Wur- 
 temburg, Germany, on the 5th day of November, 1849. 
 Lazarus Schwabacher was a presiding elder of the con- 
 gregation of his native town, and one of his brothers 
 and one of his nephews gained honor and fame. The 
 brother, as a musician, was the most noted in the 
 kingdom, and at the time of his death was the possessor 
 of a number of meJals presented to him by different 
 royal personages on account of his great talent. The 
 nephew was a Jewish rabbi, who for a long time was 
 at the head of the largest congregation in the Russian 
 town of Odessa, and who, later, was sent with the 
 Princess Olga to India, as an envoy, and received in 
 recognition of his services the medal of the Iron Cross. 
 Morris Schwabacher's early education was acquired 
 in the famous college of Seegnitz, on the river Main, in 
 Bavaria, at that time a most celebrated college for 
 boys. From there he went to Furth, also in Bavaria, 
 and in 1866 came to America, where, with the assist- 
 ance of his brother, Julius Schwabacher, he finished 
 his education at Blackman's College, New Orleans, 
 from which he graduated with honors. He then started 
 out to make his own way in the world and served as 
 clerk for several different firms on the Yazoo river, in 
 Barataria and in Memphis, Tenn. He returned to 
 New Orleans in 1872, and started in business for 
 himself on the Bayou La Fourche, near Napoleonville, 
 where he soon became a leading business man. His 
 venture there was a decided success, but finding himself 
 too much restricted he returned to New Orleans, where 
 
 he acquired an interest in the business of the well-known 
 firm of Schwabacher & Hirsch. 
 
 Upon the death of Mr. Hirsch the firm became 
 J. & M. Schwabacher, under which title the business 
 was carried on until 1890, when it became J. & M. 
 Schwabacher, Limited, with Julius Schwabacher, pres- 
 ident ; Morris Schwabacher, vice-president ; Max Schwa- 
 bacher. treasurer ; and Leonce Desforges as secretary. 
 Under this title the business has been carried on until" 
 the present time, at New Orleans, and the firm is one 
 of the best known and most prosperous in the South. 
 They have direct connections with Kansas City, St. 
 Louis, Chicago and other great centers of the western 
 market, and make a specialty of provisions, bread- 
 stuffs, grain and dairy products. Some idea of the 
 influence exercised in the commercial circles of New 
 Orleans by Morris Schwabacher can be formed when it 
 is stated that he originated the Board of Trade, form- 
 erly called the Produce Exchange, in that city, and 
 was several times a vice-president of that institution, 
 of which he is still a valued member. In addition to 
 this, Mr. Schwabacher was director and member of the 
 finance committee of the Germania National Bank; 
 president of the Limited Credit Association from 1887 
 until he moved to Chicago in 1890, an organization 
 which is rapidly gaining popularity, and increasing in 
 business every vear ; president of the Challmette 
 Homestead Association in 1887, which has since been 
 consolidated with several other similar associations, 
 and president of the Barataria Canning Association, of 
 Biloxi, Miss, (from 1886 until 1890), a company which
 
 :S^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 349 
 
 is furnishing its products throughout the entire 
 country. In 1888 Mr. Schwabacher was appointed 
 bv the Governor of Louisiana as a member of the 
 board of administration of the Charity Hospi- 
 tal of the city of New Orleans, and remained 
 on the board until he moved to Chicago in 
 1890. This is an honor only accorded to citizens 
 of the state of highest standing. The institution is a 
 world-renowned hospital, caring for twenty to thirty 
 thousand patients annually gratis. He is vice-president 
 of the North American Provision Co., of Chicago, and 
 was director and on the finance committee of the Inde- 
 pendent Cotton Seed Oil Co., of New Orleans; director 
 and vice-president of the Kaufman Fiber Manufactur- 
 ing Co.; director in the Ilosetta Gravel Co., and an ad- 
 visorv member of the Equitable Life Assurance Society 
 of the United States -for the State of Louisiana. He 
 was president of the Harmony Club for several years 
 which is the most solid and highly esteemed club in 
 New Orleans, and through his efforts it was removed 
 from its old home to its new and spacious apartments on 
 Canal street. He was a director and member of the 
 Merchants' and Manufacturers' 'Association, which 
 association succeeded in establishing a bureau of trans- 
 portation and securing rates from all railroads running 
 into New Orleans, with competing cities of the West. 
 He was one of the first members that joined the Young 
 Men's Democratic Association, in November, 1887, and 
 was appointed as financial secretary. This organization 
 
 carried a sweeping majority over the reigning city 
 government called the "ring," and secured for the city 
 one of the best local governments it has ever had, with 
 Mayor Shakespere at the head. 
 
 Mr. Schwabaclier was also appointed one of the 
 committee to escort the old "Liberty Bell " from Phil- 
 adelphia to New Orleans at the time of the World's 
 Fair there in 1884. The trip was made famous by the 
 ride of Jefferson Davis, the ex-president of the Confeder- 
 acy, from Bouvoir, his home, to New Orleans on the 
 same train with the Liberty Bell, on which he made 
 one of his famous speeches to the escorting committee. 
 Mr. Schwabacher removed to Chicago in 1890, and is 
 now actively engaged in the interests of the North 
 American Provision Co. 
 
 He is a member of the Standard Club, of Chicago, 
 and is a Mason. lie is a member of Dr. E. G. Hirsh's 
 congregation, being of the Jewish faith but very liberal 
 in his ideas. Mr. Schwabacher is a brilliant addition 
 to all social circles, and is noted for his repartee and wit. 
 
 Since coming to America he has visited Europe 
 twice, once on his wedding tour in 1884, and again in 
 1889, when he made an extended trip through Europe, 
 and visited the last World's Fair in Paris. 
 
 He was married June 3d, 188-4, to Miss Nellie Kohn, 
 daughter of Joseph A. Kohn, member of the large cloth- 
 ing firm of Kohn Brothers, of Chicago. lie has two 
 children, a boy named Leslie J., and a girl, Jessie M., 
 aged respectively nine and seven years. 
 
 WARREN F. LELAND, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography is a native of Ver- 
 mont, and was born- at Landgroye, June 1, 1845. 
 He is the son of Aaron P. and Submit (Arnold) Leland, 
 both natives of New England. Aaron P. Leland was 
 an extensive stage proprietor and mail contractor fifty 
 years ago, and well known in the New England states 
 and New York as an energetic business man. In about 
 the year 1810 Simeon Leland, his father, opened the 
 Green Mountain Coffee House. His great-grandfather, 
 the liev. Aaron Leland, was a noted Baptist minister 
 and author, of Berkshire count}-, Mass. He was a man 
 of great force of character, and had much influence 
 among the common people of western Massachusetts. 
 The Leland family came originally from England, two 
 brothers coming to this country soon after the settle- 
 ment of Plymouth and Boston. The maternal grand- 
 father of our subject was Judge Samuel Arnold, of 
 Londonderry, Vt., an eminent jurist of his day. 
 
 The grandfather of Warren F., Simeon Leland, 
 had six sons, Lewis, Aaron P., Simeon, William, 
 Warren and Charles, of whom the last four .became 
 noted and successful hotel-keepers. The father of our 
 subject, Aaron P. Leland, ultimately located near 
 
 Newburgh, Ohio, and engaged in stock raising. 
 Besides Warren, his sons were John, who died at an 
 early age; Lewis, formerly of the Sturtevant House, 
 N. Y.; Horace, of the Sturtevant, and also of the 
 Leland Hotel, at Springfield, III , who died in August, 
 1889; George S., formerly of the Sturtevant, who 
 died in August, 1881 ; Jerome, formerly of the Sturte- 
 vant, and the Columbian, at Saratoga, N. Y, who 
 died in April, 1884, and Charles E., proprietor of the 
 De^van, at Albany, the Clarendon, at Saratoga, N.Y., 
 and the Portland Hotel, at Portland, Oregon. 
 
 In 1852, Warren, being then fifteen years old, went 
 to New York city, and took a humble position in the 
 Metropolitan Hotel, of which his four uncles were then 
 the proprietors. Beginning in the store-room, he was 
 gradually promoted until, in 1866, he had the honor 
 of holding the position of room-clerk. In that year 
 he went, in connection with his brother Horace, and 
 opened the Leland Hotel, of Springfield , III., but in 
 1867 returned to the East, and took the position of 
 chief office man in the Delevan House at Albany, of 
 which his brothers, Charles E. and Lewis, were the 
 proprietors. In 1872, he became a partner in the
 
 350 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 business, and remained there until 1880, when he sold 
 his interest to his brother Charles, his brother Lewis 
 having previously withdrawn from the firm. Remov- 
 ing to Chicago in 1881, Mr. Leland purchased the 
 Gardiner House property, reconstructed the interior, 
 handsomely re-fitted and furnished it, and opened what 
 has since been known as the Leland Hotel. As a 
 business venture the enterprise was eminently suc- 
 cessful and profitable, the investment- having more 
 than doubled in value. Mr. Leland married, December 
 16, 1868, Miss Isabella C. Cobb, of Cleveland, Ohio, a 
 lady of education and refinement. They have had four 
 children, viz.: Warren, Fannie A., Ralph C. and Helen 
 M. Mr. Leland is a member of the Calumet, Washing- 
 ton Park and Kenwood Clubs, and of (he Masonic fra- 
 ternity, being a Knight Templar. He affiliates with 
 the Republican party, and takes much interest in local 
 and national politics, but has uniformly declined office. 
 He holds to the Protestant faith in religious matters, 
 but is not identified with any denomination, being 
 somewhat liberal in his views. 
 
 Mr. Leland was largely instrumental in procuring 
 the location of the various national political conven- 
 tions held at Chicago, viz.: the Republican and Demo- 
 cratic conventions of 18S4,and the Republican conven- 
 tion of 1888, and the Democratic convention of 
 1892. He also took a prominent part in securing the 
 location of the World's Columbian Exposition at 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Leland is a genial, companionable gentleman, 
 with quick perception in looking after the details of 
 his business, and as a hotel manager has always been 
 deservedly popular with his guests. He has inherited 
 the genius, by no means common, requisite to " keep a 
 hotel, 1 ' the Leland family for two generations having 
 been noted in filling the position of " mine host." 
 Prior to the opening of the World's Fair at Chicago in 
 May, 1893, Mr. Leland disposed of his interest in the 
 Leland Hotel and became part owner and manager of 
 the Chicago Beach Hotel near Jackson Park, retiring 
 from the hotel business, however, at least for a time, 
 at the close of the Fair. 
 
 HARRY PERRY ROBINSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born at Lahore, 
 India, on Nov. 30, 1860, his father. Rev. Julian 
 Robinson, being a minister of the Church of England. 
 His education was acquired at Westminster School and 
 Oxford University. While at the university he wrote 
 for the English press, and on coming to America, in 
 1883, joined the staff of the New York Tribune. Two 
 years later, in 1885, he became connected with the 
 Minneapolis Tribune, and left that journal in January, 
 1887, to establish a new weekly paper, the Norihicestern 
 Railroader, which was published in St. Paul until 
 
 October, 1891, when he bought the Railway Age of 
 Chicago, the leading railway journal of the countrv. 
 The two journals were consolidated and became the 
 present Railway Age and Northu-estern Railroader, of 
 which Mr. Robinson is now president, manager, editor 
 and majority owner of stock. He has published several 
 pamphlets on railway matters, and has written consider- 
 ably for the Atlantic Monthly, the North American 
 Review, and other leading magazines. In September, 
 1891, Mr. Robinson married Mary Lowry, eldest daugh- 
 ter of Mr. Thomas Lowry, of Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 BENJAMIN THOMAS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BENJAMIN THOMAS was born in Towanda, 
 Bradford county, Penn., October 28, 1841. His 
 father, whose ancestors came from Wales, was born in 
 Cooperstown, N. Y., in 1810 and died in 1884 at Wav- 
 erly, N. Y. His mother, whose ancestors were from 
 the north of Ireland, was born at Shoreham, Vt., in 
 1804 and died in 1873, at Newark, N. J. His parents 
 removed from Towanda to Newark, N. J., about the 
 year 1854, his father being a hat manufacturer. 
 
 Young Thomas attended school at Towanda until 
 he was thirteen years of age, and later attended public 
 school at Newark. While attending night school at 
 
 Newark he entered the employ of the American Print- 
 ing Telegraph Company, whose office on the corner of 
 Market and Broad streets, was in charge of W. H. 
 Knapp, who was at that time very prominent in tele- 
 graph circles. Shortly after young Thomas had learned 
 to operate the company was absorbed by the Morse 
 Magnetic Telegraph Company (now the Western 
 Union), and the American printing instruments were 
 abandoned. Thus he had to commence all over again, 
 but he applied himself to the task and soon became 
 a good Morse operator. At the age of sixteen, or about 
 that time, realizing that he was deficient in education,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 he gave up business and attended the Lyceum at Jersey 
 City, where he studied hard, paying for his tuition and 
 board by teaching, until he was prepared to enter 
 Brown's College at Schenectady, N. Y., as a sophomore. 
 He was, however, unable to carry out this cherished 
 plan on account of the expense, which he was unable 
 to meet. . While preparing himself for college he 
 became a good Latin scholar and mathematician, and 
 taught these branches successfully for a long time. 
 His studies have never been entirely discontinued, and 
 to-day one of his principal recreations is in reading 
 Latin and French. 
 
 Soon after leaving the Lyceum he went to Port 
 Jervis, Orange county, N. Y., where he entered the 
 service of the New York & Erie Eailroad, now the 
 New York,. Lake Erie & Western, as a telegraph 
 op3rator. He was promoted in a short time to the 
 position of division operator, having charge of all the 
 operators on the Delaware division and branches. 
 Then in rapid succession he was appointed to the 
 important and responsible positions of night-train 
 despatcher, day-train despatcher, chief train-despatcher 
 and train-master. In August, 1873, he was made 
 acting-superintendent of the Delaware division, the 
 company not being willing to appoint so young a man 
 to so important a position without first giving him a 
 trial; the trial was satisfactory, and so in December of 
 the same year he was promoted to division superinten- 
 dent, which position he held for eight years. 
 
 On June 1, 1881, he was appointed superintendent 
 
 353 
 
 of transportation of the Erie system, with headquarters 
 at New York, and later assistant-general superintendent, 
 and general superintendent, filling the last-named 
 position for four years. In August, 1887, he resigned 
 his position, and was soon afterwards appointed general 
 superintendent of the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad, 
 with headquarters at Chicago, and at the same time 
 was elected a director of the Chicago & Western 
 Indiana Railroad Company, and also of the Belt 
 Railway Company, of Chicago. September 15, 1888, 
 he was elected vice-president and general manager 
 of the Chicago & Western Indiana and Belt 
 Railway Companies, and in June, 1890, was elected 
 president of the same companies, which position he now 
 occupies. Mr. Thomas is in every sense of the word a 
 clear-headed and capable railroad man, in fact, one of 
 the best in the country. His experience with the 
 property of which he is now president shows this. 
 When he became connected with it it was scarcely 
 paying operating expenses, but under his management 
 it is now paying good dividends on several millions 
 annually. He is a great reader, a hard student and a 
 lover of old and rare books,with which his library, at his 
 elegant residence in Kenwood, 111., is well stocked. He 
 is a man of many accomplishments, is fond of social life, 
 an agreeable companion and a courteous gentleman. 
 Such is the brief and necessarily incomplete sketch of the 
 life of one of Chicago's most prominent citizens. His 
 life has been marked by the strictest integrity, and he 
 has the full confidence of the business world. 
 
 ELBRIDGE GALLET KEITH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONGST the prominent citizens of Chicago who 
 hail from the Green Mountain State, there are 
 few who have been more closely connected with or 
 more deeply interested in everything tending to the 
 welfare of this city than has the subject of this sketch, 
 Elbridge Gallet Keith. 
 
 Born in Barre, Washington county, Vt., July 16, 
 1840, lie is the \ r oungest son of Martin and Betsey 
 (BVench) Keith. The Keitli family of New England 
 are all descendants of a Scotch Presbyterian clergy- 
 man, James Keith, who graduated at Aberdeen Col- 
 lege, Scotland, and came to America about 1650, 
 settling in Bridgewater, Mass. Our subject's father 
 was born at Uxbridge, Mass., and removed to Vermont 
 at an early age. 
 
 The early years of young Keith were spent on a 
 farm, and he received his early education in the public 
 schools of the neighborhood, and subsequently attended 
 Newbuiy Seminary, Vt., and Barre Academy (at that 
 time presided over by Dr. J. S. Spaulding, an able 
 educator of his day). Young Keith was at this time 
 more inclined to political and literary pursuits than to 
 
 business, but he eventually entered a country store in 
 his native town at the age of sixteen, and remained 
 there for a year. In 1857 he joined his two elder 
 brothers, Edson and O. R. Keith, who had preceded him 
 in taking up their residence in Chicago. After a short 
 time spent in the employ of W. W. Secombe, he 
 entered the house of Keith Brothers & Faxon, contin- 
 uing in their employ until 1865, when Mr. Faxon 
 retired, and he then became a member of the firm 
 under the style of Keith Brothers, which firm still 
 exists, occupying a leading position in its line of busi- 
 ness, as it has done for upwards of twenty years. 
 
 In 1884 he was elected president of the Metropol- 
 itan National Bank, to which, from the date of its 
 organization, he has devoted the most of his attention 
 and care. It has achieved a most marked success, and 
 now ranks as one of the leading institutions of its kind 
 in the city. Mr. Keith has always taken an active 
 part in all movements tending to the welfare of the 
 city and the entire country. He served seven years on 
 the Chicago board of education, and was a leading 
 member of that body, serving as chairman on numerous
 
 354 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 occasions on several of its most important committees, 
 and as a token of the warm interest lie displayed in 
 educational matters, the board named one of its 
 schools the "Keith School." Higher education, also, 
 has found in him a warm advocate, and he is at present 
 one of the trustees of Beloit College. He was one of 
 the incorporators of the Union League Club, and 
 subsequently became ils president, and rs to-dav 
 prominently identified with it in all the patriotic and 
 public spirited work in which it is engaged. He has 
 also been prominently identified with the Commercial 
 Club, and has served as its president. He is also a 
 prominent member and has been president of the 
 Bankers' Club. Mr. Keith has held numerous other 
 positions in connection with the various benevolent 
 and philanthropic institutions of the city, having been 
 president of the Young Men's Christian Association, 
 and also of the Chicago Orphan Asylum. 
 
 In politics, a steadfast Republican, he has from an 
 earl}' age been an interested student of political affairs, 
 it being related of him that .when but fourteen years 
 of age, he walked twelve miles to attend the first 
 State convention of the Republican party in Vermont. 
 Although an ardent Republican, he has never been a 
 bitter or bigoted partisan. An active member of his 
 party, he has had much to do with nominating 
 conventions, both of the city of Chicago and the State 
 of Illinois. Mr. Keith represented the city of Chicago 
 in the memorable national convention that nominated 
 Garfield for president ; while he has frequently been 
 
 urged to accept positions of high political importance, 
 but has uniformly declined to become a candidate for 
 any political office. lie v as a director of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, and an active promoter of that 
 enterprise from the first. 
 
 In matters of religion, he holds evangelical views 
 and is a warm supporter of Du-ight L. Moody, while 
 he is also a promoter of and firm believer in unsectarian 
 Christian work. Brought upa Methodist, the influence 
 of a pious mother has been marked throughout his life. 
 For over twenty years he has been a member of Christ 
 Reformed Episcopal church (Bishop Cheney's) and its 
 senior warden for many years. He was married in De- 
 cember, 1SG5, to Miss Harriet S. Hall, a native of LaSalle 
 county, Illinois. They have four sons and two daughters. 
 A man of large affairs, his time, as may be imag- 
 ined, is fully occupied, for he is always prominent in 
 benevolent work, and actively interested in everything 
 tending to the benefit of Chicago, and of good citizen- 
 ship generally. His labors are with a zeal seemingly 
 beyond his physical strength, for he is by no means 
 robust and his constitution none of the strongest. It 
 is safe to say that Mr. Keith is one of the most popular 
 men in the city, one of the most widely known, and 
 certainly one of the most respected. A typical Chi- 
 cagoan, he is truly a representative citizen and belongs 
 to that class who have aided so materially and to an 
 extent asyet unknown in raising Chicago to the pos- 
 ition which it occupies among the cities of Arnerica,and 
 of the world. 
 
 JOHN CHAUNCEY TRAINOR, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography was born at Water- 
 town, Jefferson county, N. Y., May 18, 1858, his 
 parents being James and Catherine Trainor, of Water- 
 town, where the father still resides on the old home- 
 stead, his mother having died in 1873, when John was 
 fifteen years old. His youth was spent in his native 
 place, and there he received his early education, upon 
 the completion of which lie began the study of law in 
 the office of Hannibal Smith, who was the principal 
 of the Watertown High School when young Trainor 
 first entered that institution, and an old and valued 
 friend. During the winter terms of 1878-79 he tem- 
 porarily left the law office, to become teacher of the 
 village school at East Rodman, in his native county, 
 after which he resumed his legal studies in the office 
 of Edmund B. Wynn, general counsel for the Rome, 
 Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad Company. After 
 close application to his studies, Mr. Trainor, on Janu- 
 ary 6, 1882, at the age of twenty-four, was admitted 
 to the bar at the general term of the Supreme Court 
 held at Syracuse, 1ST. Y., after a creditable examination. 
 August 27, 1883, Mr. Trainor came to Chicago, first 
 
 opening an office at Kensington, a suburb of the city 
 adjoining Pullman, and after establishing a permanent 
 practice, he removed his office to Chicago, occupying 
 suite 62 and 63 La Fayette building, 70 La Salle street, 
 his present location, his residence still being in Ken- 
 sington. 
 
 On Oct. 14, 18SO, Mr. Trainor was united in 
 marriage to Miss Deette M. Cavanaugh,of Watertown, 
 N. Y., daughter of Thomas T. and Mary E. Cavanaugh, 
 and grand-daughter of Chandler C. Chase,of Watertown. 
 Mrs. Trainer's parents owned and operated a large 
 dairy farm of between 300 and '400 acres, located at 
 the junction of the three towns Rodman, Rutland and 
 Watertown, in Jefferson county, and situated about 
 seven miles from the city of Watertown. Her grand, 
 father, Mr. Chase, was a well-to do farmer in the 
 township, and died in April, 1893, at the advanced age 
 of eighty-three 3 r ears. Mr. Chase had been assessor of 
 his township for a number of years, and was one of the 
 best known and mo'st respected men in Jefferson county. 
 
 Mr. Trainor is justly regarded as one of the promi- 
 nent lawyers of Chicago, a position he has attained by
 
 -^ 
 
 *&
 
 i'RCMtNENT MEN OP THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 his own unaided efforts and by virtue of his sys- 
 tematic industry and sterling ability. He is distinctly 
 a self-made man, and has succeeded in building up a 
 large practice of the best kind. He represents several 
 of the most prominent wholesale and retail firms of 
 Chicago, and looks after their interests in a manner 
 which makes him valued highly by all of them. He is 
 a hard and studious worker, and his law library is said 
 to be one of the finest in the city. 
 
 In September, 1893, Mr. Trainor experienced the 
 great affliction of his life in the loss of his esteemed 
 wife, who died of pneumonia, leaving five .small chil- 
 dren three girls and two bojjs, the youngest but five 
 weeks old. Mrs. Trainor was a beautiful woman, of 
 rare intellectual endowment, and whose life was very 
 helpful to her husband, and who feels her loss most 
 
 357 
 
 keenly. We are glad to know that the ability displayed 
 in, and his close application to his profession, above 
 referred to, have borno to Mr. Trainor gratifying 
 results, for during the past ten years he has acquired a 
 very comfortable competence, which has found judi- 
 cious investment. Among the evidences of prosperity 
 may be noted the recent erection, at Kensington, by 
 him. of a fine four-story, stone-front business block, 
 which is an ornament to the town. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Trainor is a' Republican, whose 
 activity and well timed zeal are of recognized value, 
 and much appreciated by his associates. In personal 
 appearance lie is of medium height, fine physique, of 
 pleasant address and keen perception, a loyal friend 
 and in all places a. gentleman. We bespeak for him a 
 bright future. 
 
 CHARLES WARRINGTON EARLE, A. M., M. D.> 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE paternal ancestor of the subject of this sketch 
 was Ralph Earle, an Englishman, who, with his 
 wife, Joan, came from Exeter in 1634, and founded a 
 family which is to-day conspicuous in mercantile and 
 professional life in all parts of this country. Sprung 
 from this stock, and of it a worthy branch, was Charles 
 Warrington Earle, born in Westford, Vermont, April 
 2nd, 1845. When he was nine years old his father, 
 Moses L. Earle, removed from Vermont to Lake count}', 
 111. Mr. Earle was an ambitious farmer, and his son 
 experienced all the advantages, as well as the disad- 
 vantages of being a " farmer's boy." His early edu- 
 cation was much retarded and interrupted by the 
 demands of farm work, yet the strength and endurance 
 gained in the fields more than made up for it in after 
 years. For seven years he labored, dividing his time 
 between the farm and the school room. When the 
 first call for volunteers came in the war of the Rebel- 
 lion, though but sixteen years old, Charles persuaded 
 his father to allow him to enlist, which he did in the 
 Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was 
 mustered into service in the summer of 1861. This 
 regiment was enlisted for " three months' service," but 
 when the recruits reached Freeport they were informed 
 that enough three months' men had already been sent 
 on, and that they could either return to their homes or 
 enlist for three years. It did not take them long to 
 decide, and soon the}' were attached to Gen. Fremont's 
 corps then operating in Missouri. In the fall of 1861 
 young Earle was disabled, sent home and entered the 
 academy at Burlington, Wis. 
 
 Iri the following spring, however, unable to resist 
 the call of President Lincoln for more men, he enlisted 
 in the Ninety-sixth regiment of 111. Volunteer Infantrv. 
 This regiment was in the command of Gen. Gordon 
 Granger, and began active service in Tennessee under 
 
 General Rosecrans. At Franklin, Tenn., Earle, who 
 was orderly-sergeant, was promoted to second -lieutenant 
 of his company, and in the battle of Chickamauga he 
 commanded it. In that battle the loss of the company 
 was thirty-five out of forty-five men. Lieutenant Earle 
 was slightly wounded, and in the report of his regi- 
 mental commander was especially commended for 
 brave conduct. Years afterward, at Kingston, Jam- 
 aica, Col. George Hicks, in an address, speaking of the 
 services of the Ninety-Sixth, said : "I found that I 
 had now but a very few men with me, and I should 
 have .thought that I had wholly strayed from my regi- 
 ment were it not that I had with me the regimental 
 colors, together with the commander of the color com- 
 pany, the intrepid boy lieutenant, lion-hearted, fearless, 
 unflinching Charles Earle, whose name must be 
 inscribed high among the highest on the roll of Chick- 
 amauga heroes." On the day following the battle, 
 Lieutenant Earle's company was consigned to picket 
 duty on Missionary Ridge, below which the Union 
 forces were gathering for the battle of Chattanooga. 
 Through the cowardice of a staff-officer they were left 
 unrelieved, and fell into the hands of 'the Confederates 
 as prisoners. On the night of October 1, 1863, Lieu- 
 tenant Earle was consigned to Libby Prison, where he 
 remained until that wonderful escape through the tun- 
 nel February 9, 1864. The story has often been told 
 of the six awful days of wading through swamps, ter- 
 rorized by' men and hunted by dogs, until with inde- 
 scribable emotions the}-, came in bight of Union troops. 
 Returning soon after his escape to his regiment, Lieu- 
 tenant Earle was rapidly advanced through the grades 
 to the rank of adjutant and finally aid-de-camp and 
 acting assistant inspector-general on the staff of Gen. 
 W. C. Whittaker, and' at the close of the war was 
 breveted captain of the United States volunteers for
 
 358 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 gallant and meritorious conduct at the battles of 
 Chickamauga, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Franklin 
 and Nashville. 
 
 In 1865 he recommenced his studies at Beloit Col- 
 lege, Wisconsin. After a studious sojourn there of 
 three years, he entered the Chicago Medical College, 
 graduating in 1870, one of the two honor men of his 
 class, and soon after commenced practice in the office 
 of the celebrated Professor William H. Byford, of 
 whose advice and friendship he was the favored recipi- 
 ent. In 1870 the Woman's Medical College was organ- 
 ized, and Dr. Earle was made professor of physiology 
 and diseases of children, and treasurer in the same insti- 
 tution, and upon the death of Dr. Byford became its 
 president. He was one of the founders of the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons, and at the time of his 
 death was president of the faculty and professor of 
 obstetrics. He was also professor of operative obstet- 
 rics in the Post-Uraduate College and Hospital of this 
 city. He was a member of the Illinois State Medical 
 Society ; of the American Medical Association ; of the 
 Pediatric Society ; of the Chicago Medical Society, 
 of the British Medical Society. He was also an hon- 
 ored member of the G. A. R., and Loyal Legion ; also 
 a member of the Irving Club, a prominent literary club 
 of the city. 
 
 Notwithstanding the enormous demands of his 
 practice, Dr. Earle has been the author of manv arti- 
 cles of wide range on medical subjects which have 
 attracted attention in this country and Europe. A 
 course of study in the hospitals of Florence, Vienna, 
 Berlin, Paris and London, resulted in a valuable series 
 of essays on obstetrical subjects. Owing to his occu- 
 pancy of the chair of diseases of children in the 
 Woman's Medical College, Professor Earle was enabled 
 to publish many important papers on pediatrics. He 
 contributed to the Chicago Medical Society a paper 
 
 entitled "Diphtheria and its Municipal Control," after 
 reading which he offered a resolution, which was passed 
 with only one dissenting vote, recommending that the 
 city board of health placard all houses infected with 
 diphtheria. 
 
 For eighteen years Dr. Earle was chief physician 
 in the Washingtonian Home, where be made a close 
 study of inebriety, and arrived at important con- 
 clusions concerning its treatment, which he has em- 
 bodied in some of the most practical publications ever 
 issued on that subject. 
 
 Politically, Dr. Earle was a Republican and a mem- 
 ber of the Lincoln Club, .though not active in politics, 
 being thoroughly devoted to his profession. For 
 many years he was a much esteemed member of the 
 Union Park Congregational Church. He died on No- 
 vember 19, 1893, universally lamented. 
 
 The personal characteristics of Professor Earle are 
 thus stated by an eminent brother .physician of this 
 city : " Great, honest-hearted, noble man ; his bluff 
 exterior hides one of the tenderest hearts that ever 
 beat. Gentle as a child, perfectly honest and disinter- 
 ested in his practice, he could not be hired to do a dis- 
 honest thing. He is a man of brains and ability, and 
 thinks down deep into his cases. The doctor is held 
 in the highest regard in the Chicago Post-Graduate 
 School, of which he was to a large extent organizer, 
 and in the Woman's Medical College of this city his 
 work is beyond all praise." 
 
 In 187r Dr. Earle was married to Miss Fanny 
 Bundy, a sister of the late Major J. M. Bundy, who 
 was for many years a distinguished member of the 
 metropolitan press. An accomplished musician, and a 
 woman of fine literary tastes, Mrs. Earle always took 
 a deep interest in everything pertaining to her hus- 
 band's professional life. Two children were born to 
 them, viz.: Carrie and William Byford Earle. 
 
 ELMER E. BARRETT, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 PALMER E. BARRETT was born at Kalamazoo, 
 C Mich., June 2, 1862. He is the son of James 
 Henry and Sarah M. (Hopkins) Barrett. On his father's 
 side he is of Irish, and on his mother's side of Welsh 
 extraction. The early ancestors of both the Barrett 
 and Hopkins families participated in the struggle for 
 independence at the time of the American Revolution. 
 The mother was directly descended from Stephen 
 Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, and the first ancestors on her side came to 
 America about 1682, and settled in Connecticut. The 
 first paternal ancestor came to this country and settled 
 in Massachusetts about 1630. 
 
 Elmer E. Barrett came to Chicago and settled in 
 1879. He was educated in the public schools of Ottawa 
 
 and Peoria, and by private tutors. He entered and 
 graduated from the Chicago College of Law, and after 
 admission to the bar began practice in this city. He 
 has made corporation law a specialty and has served as 
 counsel for a number of large corporations. He is in 
 partnership with Edward J. Hamel, Esq., and does a 
 general law business under the firm name of Barrett 
 & Hamel. 
 
 Mr. Barrett is a Republican in politics, coming, as 
 he does, from a family who were staunch supporters 
 of the Union during the Rebellion. His father was 
 captain of Company H, 44th Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, and was afterwards in the 107th United 
 States Infantry. He was present at the taking of Fort 
 Fisher, and at the siege and capture of Richmond. His
 
 -<^-~^-f-~-<^
 
 
 >* 
 
 \\*
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA r WEST. 
 
 uncle, W. W. Barrett, was colonel of the 44th Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and was later breveted brigadier- 
 general, lie took part in the battle of Pea Ridge, and 
 was in the campaign through Tennessee and Kentucky, 
 and in command of a brigade at the battles of Stone 
 River anil Mission Ridge. 
 
 Mr. Barrett is a Congregationalist, and is a member 
 of the Congregational Club. In a social way, he holds 
 
 361 
 
 membership in the Union League, Chicago Athletic 
 Association, and the Lincoln Clubs, of Chicago. He 
 was one of the founders of the Chicago College of Law, 
 and is secretary of that institution at this writing. 
 
 Mr. Barrett was marned on October 3, 1883, to 
 Miss Helen Marie Walters. lie resides in the village 
 of Western Springs, a suburb of Chicago, and where 
 he owns a pleasant home. 
 
 DR. MONROE S. LEECH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 M 
 
 ONROE S. LEECH was born October 14, 1845, 
 at Shelby, Ohio. His parents were Robert and 
 Catherine (Carr) Leech, old residents of Ohio. He was 
 educated in the public schools and the academy of his 
 native town, but later', in accordance with his natural 
 inclination for the study of medicine, he entered the 
 medical department of the Western Reserve College at 
 Cleveland, from which institution he graduated in 1806. 
 Later, in the same year, he moved to Butler, Mo., near 
 Kansas City, and commenced the practice of his pro- 
 fession, remaining several years. Returning to Ohio 
 he entered the Eclectic Medical School, at Cincinnati, 
 graduating therefrom in 1871. Returning to Missouri, 
 he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice the next ten 
 vears. Owing, however, to failing health, he concluded 
 to change his location, and chose Chicago for his future 
 home. Coming to Chicago in 1881, Dr. Leech entered 
 the Rush Medical College, graduating the following 
 vear. since which time he has been engaged in the 
 
 practice of medicine in his adopted city, where he has 
 made a gratifying record. Among other societies, he 
 is a member of the Medico-Historical Society of Chi- 
 cago. Dr. Leech enlisted in the Union arrnv while a 
 young man, serving in the 163d Ohio Regiment from 
 May 1, 1864, until the close of the war. He was in 
 several hot engagements, among which were the bat- 
 tles of Wilson's Lajuling and Harrison's Landing on 
 the James River. He also was in the long siege of 
 Petersburg in Virginia. 
 
 In politics Dr. Leech is a Republican, and in mat- 
 ters of religion is classed among the Liberals. 
 
 In 1S68 he was united in marriage to Miss May A. 
 Braiden, of Butler, Mo. The result of the union is one 
 daughter, Anna Belle Leech. 
 
 Dr. Leech, socially, is a very pleasant gentleman, 
 of a kindly nature, whose friends find its pleasant to 
 meet and who are glad to know of his large practice 
 and who rejoice in his future bright prospects. 
 
 E. W. BLATCHFORD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is the son of John and 
 Frances (Wickes) Blatchford, and was born in 
 ' ihe town of Stillwater. N. Y., May 31, 1826. He is a 
 grandson of Rev. Samuel Blatchford, who came to 
 New York from England in the year 1795. 
 
 His early studies were pursued at the Lansingburg 
 (N. Y.) Academv, anil he completed his education, 
 after coming West, at Illinois College, Jacksonville, III., 
 from which institution he graduated in 1845, in the 
 same class with the late W. C. Goudv. After graduat- 
 ing he returned to New York and was for several 
 years employed, in the capacity of confidential clerk, 
 in the offices of E. II. and R. M. Blatchford, who were 
 at that time the American attorneys for the Bank of 
 England. 
 
 He first engaged in business for himself in the city 
 of St. Louis in 185U, the firm being known as Blatch- 
 ford & Collins. In 1854, thev established a branch 
 
 plant in Chicago, under the firm name of Collins & 
 Blatchford. Several years later the St. Louis plant 
 wac sold and Mi\ Blatchford devoted his whole atten- 
 tion to the business in Chicago continuing therein as 
 E. W. Blatchford & Co., under which title it is carried 
 on at the present time. 
 
 In the troublous times between 1861 and 1865, Mr. 
 Blatchford was prominently connected with the work 
 of the United States Sanitary Commission, and for 
 several years devoted almost his entire time to his 
 duties as treasurer of the northwestern branch of that 
 organisation. He has been a director of the Chicago 
 Theological Seminary almost from its birth, and for 
 thirty years president of its board of trustees. He was 
 the executor and trustee of the estate of Walter L. 
 New berry and when the New berry Library was incor- 
 porated, was elected president of the board of trustees. 
 He is also president of the board of trustees of the
 
 362 
 
 Chicago Manual Training School,and was for many years 
 a trustee of Illinois College, Rockford Female Seminary, 
 and is still a member of the boards of trustees of the 
 Chicago Academy of Science, the Historical Society 
 and of the Chicago Art Institute. Ever since he be- 
 came a resident of Chicago he has been a member of 
 the New England Congregational church, for a quarter 
 of a century a corporate member of the American Board 
 of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and for more 
 than ten years vice-president of that body. He was also 
 one of the originators and a charter member of the 
 Chicago City Missionary Society and the Chicago Con- 
 gregational Club. 
 
 After the great fire in 1871 he was a prominent 
 member of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, issuing 
 all of the passes that were given to those who were 
 forced to leave the city at that time. He was a mem- 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 ber of the first grand jury that met in Chicago after 
 the Fire. He is a member of the Union League, the 
 Commercial, the Chicago, the University, and the 
 Literary clubs, and politically, is an advocate of Repub- 
 licanism. 
 
 In October, 1858, Mr. Blatchford was married to 
 Miss Mary Emily Williams, daughter of John C 
 Williams of Chicago. Seven children, four sons and 
 three daughters, have blessed this union, the eldest son 
 being to-day one of Chicago's most valued and pro- 
 gressive business men. Mr. Blatchford's life has been 
 one of ceaseless and successful activity in business, and 
 to him Chicago owes much of its prosperity. In the 
 giving of time and money for Christian and benevolent 
 enterprises he has been conspicuous for his generosity 
 and noted for his valuable counsel and executive ability 
 in carrying these enterprises to success. 
 
 ELIJAH B. SHERMAN, LL. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ELIJAH B. SHERMAN. son of Elias H. and Clarissa 
 (Willmarth) Sherman was born on a farm at Fair- 
 field.Vt., on the 18th of June, 1832. On his father's side 
 he is a descendant of Rev. John Sherman, who came 
 from England with Captain John Sherman, and who 
 was also the American ancestor of the illustrious family 
 of whom Senator John Sherman and the late General 
 William T. Sherman were members, and was a cousin 
 of John Sherman, the sea captain from whom Roger 
 Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence, was descended. His mother was a 
 grand-daughter of Rev. Peter Worden, a distinguished 
 patriot and preacher who was eminent and highly 
 honored, as evidenced by the early history of Massa- 
 chusetts and Vermont. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent the first twenty -one 
 years of his life on a farm, and succeeded in acquiring 
 a fair common school education, which enabled him to 
 commence teaching in the district school at the age of 
 nineteen. This part of his life is best described by his 
 friend Judge Grosscup, who in a sketch of his life, 
 says: " His boyhood comprehended the almost invaria- 
 ble conditions from which the energy of our large 
 cities is each year recruited. He had ambition without 
 apparent opportunity, a taste for literature without the 
 means of finding it, a predisposition to thoughtfulness 
 without the ordinary scholastic channels to turn it 
 into. But what he then supposed were limitations 
 upon his life, were, in reality, the highest opportunities. 
 The poetic fancy, shut out from printed pages, turned 
 for revel to the mountains, whose green summits were 
 outlined against the blue sky; to the clear brooks that 
 leaped down their sides; to the broad meadows at 
 their base, from which the sounds of lowing cattle 
 came. It thus developed a dream world and pictur- 
 
 esqueness of its own, which has often since given to 
 the audience and the printed page what was denied to 
 himself. His youthful thoughtfulness instead of being 
 soaked up by philosophic books, like water by a sponge, 
 turned in its isolation upon himself, the intellectual 
 and moral activities behind him, and his relation to his 
 environments, and thus developed a power of mental 
 vision, introspective as well as extrospective, that gave 
 freshness and farsightedness to his intellectual products. 
 With nature for a tutor, and himself and his surround- 
 ings for his studies, he found a school from which the 
 city-bred boy is barred, and whence issue, year by 
 year, the men who, in city and country, make events/' 
 At the age of twenty-one he went to the village of 
 Brandon, where he worked as a clerk in a drug store 
 for one year and then fitted himself for college; attend- 
 ing Brandon Seminary for a year and Burr Seminary 
 at Manchester for the same length of time. He entered 
 Middlebury College in 1856 and during his course 
 there sustained himself by teaching school part of each 
 year, and notwithstanding this extra drain up, n his 
 time and energy he stood high among his fellow- 
 students and received a fair share of class and college 
 honors. He graduated with honors in I860 and has 
 since been called back to his "Alma Mater" to deliver 
 the address of honor for commencement week, and in 
 recognition of his literary ability and successful career, 
 he, in 1883, received from the college the degree of 
 LL. D., a compliment more significant by the fact that 
 Middlebury College has conferred that' degree upon 
 scarcely a half dozen of its own children in the past 
 forty years. He taught school at South Woodstock 
 for a year after graduation and became principal of 
 Brandon Seminary in 1861. 
 
 In May, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Ninth
 
 ,A 
 
 V .-\ ' iVV 
 
 
 ,S* VN
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 365 
 
 Regiment, Vermont Infantry, and upon its organiza- 
 tion lie was elected lieutenant. The regiment was 
 captured by the Confederates in September at Harper's 
 Ferry and shortly afterwards was paroled and sent to 
 Camp Dou-las, Chicago. After coming to Chicago he 
 determined to enter the legal profession, and in Janu- 
 ary, 1863, he resigned his commission and entered the 
 law department of the University of Chicago, from 
 which he graduated in 1864 and immediately entered 
 upon the practice of his profession. 
 
 He was elected to the State Legislature in 1876, 
 and was made chairman of one of the most important 
 committees of the House that oa judiciary. In this 
 capacity he assisted in securing the passage of the 
 act establishing appellate courts, the wisdom of which 
 experience is rendered no longer debatable. He was 
 re-elected in 1878 and during his second term he was a 
 member of the judiciary committee and chairman of 
 the committee on corporations. During this term he 
 aided in promoting the re-organization of the Illinois 
 National Guard and in establishing a better military 
 code for the State, and in recognition of his services he 
 was appointed judge-advocate of the first brigade,with 
 the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in which position he 
 served until 1884. 
 
 In the year 1879, Mr. Sherman was appointed mas- 
 ter in chancery of the Circuit Court of the United 
 States, by Judges Harlan, Drummond and Blodgett, 
 which position he still holds, and in which he has dis- 
 played marked ability. His most prominent trait, per- 
 haps, is an extraordinary quickness of perception, and 
 a lawyer unfolding before him a-lineof thought always 
 sees by the face of his listener that the line is taken up 
 and mastered as soon as uttered. To this perceptive 
 faculty are linked a comprehensive grasp and the rare 
 power of precise utterance, for Mr. Sherman never 
 fails to impart the pleasure which comes from being 
 exactly understood. In short, he is peculiarly adapted 
 to the duties of his position, and has from the first 
 amply demonstrated the wisdom of the judges to whom 
 he owes his appointment. 
 
 In 1884 he was appointed by Judge Drummond 
 chief supervisor of elections for the northern district 
 of Illinois, and supervised the elections held in Chi- 
 cago in 1884/1888, 1890 and 1892, and so ably and 
 fairly were the delicate duties of this most responsible 
 position performed that from both political parties 
 - came evidence of satisfaction and commendation of his 
 fairness and judicial impartiality. 
 
 Mr. Sherman has been for many years a member of 
 the I. O. O. F., having been elected grand master of 
 the grand lodge of Illinois in 1874, and a representa- 
 tive to the sovereign grand lodge in 1875 and 1876. He 
 is a 32nd degree Mason, a member of William B. War- 
 ren lodge, Chicago Commandery, and Oriental Consis- 
 tory. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, the Veteran Club, and the Illinois Command- 
 ery of the military order of the Loyal Legion. He 
 was one of the founders of the Illinois Bar Association 
 in 1877, and was its president in 1882, and delivered the 
 
 annual address which attracted wide attention for its 
 literary excellence and profound erudition. He is also 
 a prominent member of the American Bar Association, 
 and has been for several years one of its vice-presidents. 
 He has been president of the Illinois Association of 
 the Sons of Vermont, and of the Oakland and Saracen 
 Clubs' and is now president of the National Associa- 
 tion of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, and a member of 
 the Union League Club. He has been a member of the 
 Chicago Philosophical Society and many other literary 
 and scientific associations. 
 
 At the time of the great fire in 1871 Mr. Sherman 
 displayed his sagacity and executive ability in a marked 
 manner. While the fire was still burning he saw the 
 necessity of immediate relief, and promptly called upon 
 the Odd Fellows of the country for assistance, and to 
 his prompt action was largely due the generous contri- 
 butions that came to Chicago to relieve the members 
 of that order, and through a committee, of which he 
 was secretary, $125,000 was distributed to the victims 
 of the fire. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Sherman was married to Miss Hattie 
 G. Lovering, daughter of S. M. Lovering, of Iowa 
 Falls, an educated and accomplished lady who is 
 deservedly popular, and who, with her husband, has 
 long exerted a social influence that is widely felt. They 
 have one son, Bernis W., who entered Middlebury 
 College in 1886, graduated in 1890, studied law in the 
 Northwestern University College of Law in Chicago, 
 and was admitted to the bar in 1892. 
 
 Mr. Sherman is a Republican, and is proud of the 
 history and principles of the party, but is not a partisan 
 in politics. In his religious views he is a firm believer 
 in the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, but believing 
 that character is essential and opinion merely incidental, 
 he has but little respect for ancient, crystallized creeds, 
 and no sympathy for those attenuated souls who would 
 monopolize for themselves and a few co-religionists the 
 love and mercy of the Infinite Father. 
 
 One of Mr. Sherman's professional achievements 
 was his successful attack upon irresponsible insurance 
 companies. As the representative of the State Audi- 
 tor's office he brought suit against several of these 
 companies and prosecuted them so vigorously that they 
 were compelled to abandon their business. Some of 
 these cases were taken to the State and Federal Su- 
 preme Courts and the decisions therein rendered form 
 a part of the recent judicial departure which has so 
 greatly enlarged legislative control over powerful cor- 
 porations theretofore firmly entrenched behind pre- 
 rogative and vested right. 
 
 Mr. Sherman is pre eminently literary and cultured. 
 His public addresses are among the best productions 
 of the day. His style is original and unique. He has. 
 as much as any writer known, the faculty of catching 
 the present thought, and by the aptist word or phrase, 
 transferring it to the printed page. He has a fine 
 sense of the secondary, as well as the primary meaning 
 of words, and thus gives to their use a freshness as 
 well as a precision, that arouses thought. In this re-
 
 MEN OF THE CHEAT WEST. 
 
 spect, his style much resembles that of Evarts. How 
 well he can turn into language what is in his own 
 mind, is illustrated in the following sentences taken 
 from his Middlebury address: 
 
 'The processes of mind are essentially creative,not 
 necessarily in the sense of originating ideas which did 
 not before exist, but in the sense of a constant and 
 ever increasing adaptation of existing faculties and 
 powers to human needs and human happiness. Through 
 countless ages, by successive formative processes, and 
 witli infinite patience, nature has formed the habita- 
 tion of man, and has given into his hands the keys of 
 knowledge and the scepter of dominion. Yet how 
 slow he was to comprehend himself or the universe 
 about him; how tardy in exercising his legitimate 
 powers and appreciating the destiny that awaits him. 
 True he has subdued and conserved some of the forces 
 of nature and taught them to do his bidding; he has 
 simply opened the door and crossed the threshold of 
 nature's arena, but can only surmise what secrets are 
 just beyond his limited vision." 
 
 In a cultured audience Mr. Sherman is alwavs a 
 favorite. He has the courage, too, of the real orator, 
 else he could not have stood before an audience, even 
 on the occasion of the burial of General Grant, and 
 uttered this apostrophe : 
 
 "Rise, proud monuments, in majestic grandeur, 
 till your summits pierce the clouds and kiss the 
 over-arching vault of heaven. "With mute but mov- 
 ing eloquence proclaim to coming generations the 
 splendor of his character and the matchless glory 
 of his renown. Declare to them the magnificent ex- 
 ample of his life, the impressive lesson of his death. 
 Reveal to wondering eyes his massive .form and the 
 striking lineaments of the great commander's face.'' 
 
 In all his public addresses there shines the light of 
 an aggressive patriotism. He is essentially an Ameri- 
 can who believes in his country. He has the power of 
 muking his patriotism contagious. His addresses are 
 Dervaded with that fine and subtle quality which stirs 
 
 his hearers and inspires them with the sentiments 
 which inflame his own heart. Mr. Sherman is a prac- 
 tical analyst of human thought and feeling. He knows 
 what is at the basis of conduct, and possesses the diffi- 
 cult art of photographing it for others. His address 
 on " Hawthorne's Problem of Sin '' is a masterpiece in 
 this field. It evolves a philosophy of its own respect- 
 ing the moral sense and moral responsibility com- 
 pactly expressed in the following paragraph : 
 
 " Intellectual powers exist at birth in some sense 
 higher than as mere potentialities; they are readv to 
 perform their normal functions as soon as they are 
 stimulated by the presence of proper conditions. Pre- 
 cisely the same is true of the moral powers. The 
 power of discrimination between good and evil is 
 present in a quiescent state, and as soon as the mind is 
 sufficiently developed the power of moral discrimina 
 tion begins to manifest itself and the moral qualitv of 
 acts is perceived. It is not true that sin is at once a 
 sine qua non of its existence and the aatsu ntusans of 
 its creation. It is not true that every child is a Don- 
 atello." 
 
 This address alone would establish his reputation as 
 a literary critic and a mental philosopher. This readv 
 insight into human nature, aided by the poetic fancv 
 he could not, if he wished, suppress, has made his many 
 memorial addresses both just and touching No lawyer 
 at the Chicago bar is heard on memorial occasions with 
 greater interest or expectation. Mr. Snerman has 
 been equally effective on lighter and more festive oc- 
 casions. The annual banquet of the Sons of Vermont 
 has always been brightened by his wit, and set to 
 laughing and cheering by his artful admixture of 
 humor and State pride. A Vermont dinner without 
 Sherman would be like a clan dinner without Mc- 
 Gregor. As lawyer, writer, orator, critic, and citizen, 
 he fills a conspicuous place. He is worthy of the tra- 
 ditions of the State from which he hails, the distinc- 
 tion of the name he bears, and the high place he has 
 made for himself, and continues to keep. 
 
 ALBERT L. WARD, 
 
 FAIRMONT, MINNESOTA. 
 
 ALBERT L. WARD, son of ' Leehe and Charlotte 
 (Morgan) Ward, was born in Cattaraugus county, 
 X. Y., in January, 1842. He attended the public 
 schoolsand completed a thorough and practical course 
 of study at the well-known Randolph Academy at 
 Randolph. N. Y. After completing this course he took 
 up the study of law, entering the offices of Henderson 
 \- Wentworth for thai purpose, and was admitted to 
 the bar in 18C4. When the tocsin of war was first 
 heard in the land he dropped his books and hurried to 
 the defense of the Union. As a soldier he served his 
 country well and faithfully until, in the spring of 1864-, 
 
 he was forced to retire on account of physical disa- 
 bility. He returned home with impaired health, and 
 in order to improve it he resolved to go West and 
 develop with the country. He located at Fairmont, 
 Martin county, Minn., and that place has since been 
 his home. 
 
 His career in Minnesota has been a singularly suc- 
 cessful one, and at different times he has held nearly 
 every office within the gift of the people of his county 
 among whom he resides. When he arrived in Martin 
 county, Minn., he had only sSo in his pocket and this 
 he has made the nucleus of his present large fortune.
 
 FROMIffENT M<\' CF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 It was ho who built tho first business building in 
 Fairmont, lie is president of three banks, the Martin 
 County Bank, at Fairmont; the Jackson county State 
 Bank, at L;ike field; and the Bank of Sherburn, at Slier- 
 burn, all in Minnesota, and is interested inan extensive 
 agricultural implement house doing business in three 
 towns, lie owns the majority of the stock of each of 
 the banks of which he is president, lias a clear title to 
 not less than 10,000 acres of land, having one hand- 
 somely improved farm of 3.000 acres adjoining Fair- 
 mont, and being owner of several valuable town site 
 additions, and is the owner of horses and cattle without 
 number. He has served as postmaster of Fairmont for 
 three terms, was three times elected mayor of the 
 town, and during his term of office inaugurated and 
 carried out many important improvements looking to 
 the handsome young city's future welfare and greatness. 
 Of late years he has utterh 7 refused to enter politics 
 although urged at different times to accept a nomina- 
 tion to Congress and other high offices of honor and 
 trust, which he has invariably refused, holding that 
 business and politics do not go well together, and feel- 
 ing that his time ought to be given to the enormous 
 business interests which his energies have built up. In 
 1891 he was tendered the highly honorable position of 
 member of the State board of corrections and char- 
 
 369 
 
 ities by Gov. Merriam, but was obliged to refuse for 
 business reasons: but later at Gov. Merriam's urgent 
 and personal request he became one of the World's 
 Fair commissioners from Minnesota, and to his energv 
 and business ability in a large measure is due the mag- 
 nificent exhibit made by the ''North Star State'' in the 
 White City. 
 
 Mr. Ward has traveled all over the United States 
 and Mexico, visiting the principal points of interest of 
 each country. He holds very broad religious views, 
 belonging to no particular church, but doing his share 
 of charitable work as he finds it. 
 
 He was married August 1st, 1868, to Miss Charlotte 
 Jennings, daughter of Samuel Jennings of Martin 
 county, and has a pleasant home. 
 
 Mr. Ward is a man of about medium height and 
 quick and energetic in his movements. He is a grace- 
 ful and eloquent public speaker and is exceedingly gen- 
 erous to all public enterprises and charities, and is very 
 popular with all classes of people. Whether he directs 
 his energies to business or to politics, that he will con- 
 tinue to be a prominent figure in the business world 
 seems to be an assured fact, though it seems that his 
 many friends will be obliged to accept his declination 
 of political perferments, his time being entirelv occupied 
 with many of his large business interests. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM LAWRENCE, A. M., LL. D., 
 
 BELLEFONTAINE, OHIO. 
 
 THE Lawrences of the United States are descendants 
 of Sir Robert Lawrence, of Ashton Hall, in Lan- 
 cashire, England. His grandson, James Lawrence, in 
 the reign of Henry III., married Matilda Washington, 
 who belonged to the family from which George Wash- 
 ington was descended. The family in England was 
 distinguished in politics and otherwise. One of them 
 was a second cousin to Oliver Cromwell, and was Lord 
 President of the Protector's Council and a member of 
 the House of Lords. 
 
 Joseph Lawrence was born in what is now Phila- 
 delphia, near the Byberry Friends' Meeting House, 
 December 2. 1793. He was a soldier in Capt. Benezet's 
 company of Philadelphia Guards in the War of 1812. 
 About 1816 he removed to Ohio, settling near St. 
 Clairsville, but soon after went to Mt. Pleasant, Jeffer- 
 son county, where he was married, October 30, 1817, 
 to Temperance Gilcrist, a native of Berkeley county. 
 Va., born August 6, 1792. 
 
 William Lawrence was born of these parents at 
 Mt. Pleasant, O.. June 26, 1819. March 1, 1830. the 
 parents, with their son and a daughter, Sarah, removed 
 to a farm then recently purchased by the father near 
 Richmond, Jefferson county, where they resided until 
 the spring of 1836. For the first three years the son. 
 William, worked on the farm in the summer and 
 
 attended a common school during the winter, where he 
 perfected a knowledge of the common branches of 
 education, surveying and spherical trigonometry, and 
 before he was thirteen wrote out in book form a 
 solution of Glimmer's Surveying. On November 1, 
 1833, our subject became a student in Rev. John C. 
 Tid ball's academy near Knoxville, which was after- 
 ward removed to Richmond. Here he continued until 
 the spring of 1830. He then entered the store of 
 James Updegraff at Mt. Pleasant, and remained there as 
 clerk until the fall of the same year, when he became a 
 student at Franklin College, New Athens, O. He was 
 graduated from'that institution with the degree of A. 
 B. and with the honors of his class, and so delivered 
 the valedictorv address in the fall of 1838. 
 
 His parents having in the spring of 1836 removed 
 to Pennsville. Morgan county, young Lawrence, in 
 November, 1838, commenced, the study of law with 
 James L. Gage, of McConnellsville, and was graduated 
 with the degree of L. B. at the Cincinnati Law school 
 in March, 1840; was admitted to practice law by the 
 Supreme Court of Ohio, at Zanesville, in November, 
 1840; and was reporter for the Oliin Mute Journal in 
 the Ohio House of Representatives at the session of 
 J840-41 and a correspondent for the Zanesville 
 Republican and the McConnellsville Whig Standard.
 
 370 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 While a law student he taught a common school three 
 months at Pennsville, and a like period at JVlcConnells- 
 ville, and had a somewhat extensive law practice before 
 justices of the peace, by which means he more than 
 defrayed his expenses. Later in life, from March, 
 1845, to September, 1847, he was also proprietor of the 
 Logan Gazette at Bellefontaine. 
 
 As a lawyer the name of William Lawrence appears 
 in many volumes of the Ohio State reports, in impor- 
 tant land and other cases, in the reports of the Supreme 
 Court of Kansas, and of the United States. By au- 
 thorit}' of Attorney-General Williams, he was leading 
 counsel in the great case of the L. L. & G. Railroad 
 Company vs. the United States, in which nine hundred 
 and sixty thousand acres of land were reclaimed by the 
 Government and secured to settlers. From July 15. 
 1841, to July 15, 1843, he was a law partner of Benja- 
 min Stanton, afterward member of Congress and Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of Ohio. From July, 1851, to Febru- 
 ary, 1854, he was a law partner with his law student, 
 William II. West, afterward Attorney-General of Ohio, 
 Judge of the Supreme court and candidate for Gover- 
 nor in 1877. From April, 1866, to August, 1871, he was 
 a law partner of Emanuel J. Howenstine, and following 
 that for some years partner with his son, Joseph H. 
 
 Lawrence. 
 
 Judge Lawrence has filled important public offices. 
 In 1842 he was commissioner of bankrupts for Logan 
 county. In 1845-46, he was prosecuting attorney for 
 the county, but resigned in 1846, and was elected a 
 representative in the Legislature, and re-elected in 
 1847; was elected to the Senate in 1849, and again in 
 1854; and on March 20, 1851, he was elected by the 
 Legislature reporter for the Supreme Court of Ohio, 
 and reported the " Twentieth Volume of the Ohio 
 Reports." In 1852 he was one of the Whig candidates 
 on the Scott electoral ticket, but with his party in the 
 State was defeated. In 1856 he was elected judge of 
 the Common Pleas and District Court in the third 
 Ohio district, comprising twenty counties; was re- 
 elected in 1861, and served until September, 1864, 
 when he resigned, and in October of that year was 
 elected representative in Congress. Under that and 
 subsequent elections, five in all, he served for ten 
 years, from March 4, 1865, to March 4, 1877, not 
 including one term from March 4, 1871, to March 4, 
 1873. 
 
 In 1862, during the Rebellion, he was colonel of the 
 Eighty-fourth Ohio (three-months) volunteers, serving 
 at Cumberland and New Creek, and for a month of 
 that time was president of a court-martial which tried 
 many important cases. He has delivered many Deco- 
 ration Daj r addresses ; also speeches at reunion of 
 soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a 
 charter member of Burnside Post, No. 8, Department 
 of the Potomac, G. A. R., in Washington, D. C., was 
 its first commander, and always an- active member 
 while in that city. 
 
 In 1863, Judge Lawrence was appointed by Presi- 
 dent Lincoln district judge of Florida, but declined to 
 
 accept. In July. 1880, President Hayes tendered him 
 an appointment as First Comptroller in the Treasury 
 Department of the United States, which at first. he 
 declined, but finally accepted at the urgent request of 
 the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, John 
 Sherman. 
 
 In 1841-43, Judge Lawrence studied medicine and 
 surgery, and he has published many articles on these 
 subjects. He has always been especially interested in 
 the study of natural philosophy and chemistry, which, 
 like his other studies, he diligently pursued at college 
 and in after life. In Congress, Judge Lawrence was 
 the first to introduce a bill to convert the office of 
 Attorney-General into an executive department, and 
 many of the provisions of his bill are found in the act 
 finally passed creating the Department of Justice. 
 
 Judge Lawrence was a lay delegate from the 
 Central Ohio Conference to the General Conference of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, at its sessions in 1872, 
 1876, 1880 and 1892, in which he made sundry reports, 
 and in the spring of 1888, he published in the Western 
 Christian Advocate a series of articles on the much- 
 mooted question of the status of William Taylor, D.D., 
 missionary bishop to Africa, in which it was maintained 
 that he was a bishop equal in dignity with any other, 
 a position sustained by the General Conference of 
 1888. The Central Ohio Conference elected Judge 
 Lawrence a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University 
 at Delaware in 1878, 1883, 1888 and 1893, and he is 
 now serving in that capacity in his fourth term of five 
 years each. 
 
 February 15, 1871, he organized the Bellefontaine 
 National Bank, of which he has ever since been presi- 
 dent and a principal stockholder. In 1891 he, with 
 others, organized the Ohio National Bank of Washing- 
 ton, D. C., and in 1893 the Washington National 
 Building and Loan association, in both of which he is 
 a director. 
 
 By appointment of Governor Foraker he was one 
 of the delegates at large from Ohio to the Farmers' 
 Congress of the United States, which met at Chicago 
 in November, 1887, and in which he delivered an 
 address on ''The American Wool Interest," afterward 
 stereotyped and reprinted in New York by the Ameri- 
 can Protective Tariff League, and extensively distrib- 
 uted as a political campaign document in the presi- 
 dential election of 1888, and as one of the standard 
 publications of the league ever since. In the Octo- 
 ber (1875) number of The Republic, a Washington 
 monthly magazine, he published an article, " The Peo- 
 ple a Nation; the Union Perpetual," which was 
 reprinted as a Republican campaign document in the 
 Presidential election of 1876. 
 
 These are only specimens of his numerous political 
 works. In the Presidential campaign of 1840, before 
 he bad reached majority, he made " stump speeches " 
 in several counties of Ohio, and in every campaign 
 since, national and state, in various parts of the coun- 
 try, he has been an active participant, man}' of his 
 peeches having been published as campaign documents .
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT 
 
 Judge Lawrence has rendered great service to the 
 agricultural and wool-growing industries of the coun- 
 try. He was a delegate to the national convention of 
 wool-growers, wool-dealers and wool manufacturers at 
 St. Louis in May, 1887; to a similar convention in 
 Washington January, 1888, and another in January, 
 1889, by the latter of which he was made chairman of 
 a committee to present to the finance committee of the 
 United States Senate the claims of wool-growers to 
 legislative and protective duties. His work in these 
 conventions has been extensively published, and his 
 speeches before the Senate committee are found in the 
 report on tariff testimony for January, 1889, part 3, 
 pages 1953 to 1977, published by Congress. 
 
 In December, 1889, a national convention of wool- 
 growers in Washington, D. C., appointed him chair- 
 man of a committee to present their claims to the 
 Committee of Ways and Means of the lower house. of 
 .Congress, and -his arguments are published in the vol- 
 ume of Hearings on Revision of Tariff, pages 215 to 
 280, January, 1890. On February 15, 1890, by invita- 
 tion of the Commercial Club, of Providence, R. I., he 
 delivered an address on " The Protection of Wool 
 from the Standpoint of the Grower," afterward pub- 
 lished by the " Home Market Club," of Boston, as one 
 of its standard documents for general distribution. He 
 wrote the memorial of the committee of the national 
 convention of wool-growers, held in Washington, D. 
 C., from December 2 to 9, 1889, published as United 
 States Senate Miscellaneous Document No. 149, Fifty- 
 first Congress, first session. In January, 1891, he was 
 elected president of the Ohio Wool-grower's Associa- 
 tion, re-elected in January, 1892, and again in January, 
 1893. His annual addresses at Columbus January 12, 
 1892, and January 12, 1893, and his semi-annual 
 addrasses have been extensively published all over the 
 United States, and some of them commented on by 
 leading newspapers in England and Australia. The 
 North Pacific Rural Spirit and Williamette Farmer 
 of February 11, 1892, prefaced its publication of the 
 first of these by saying: "Without any question, Mr. 
 Lawrence's address is the ablest document ever given 
 to the public upon the subject of wool-growing and 
 woolen manufactures, and their relation to the present 
 tariff agitation." 
 
 On October 5, 1893, at a meeting of the National 
 Wool-growers Association in Chicago, he was unani- 
 mously elected president of the Association to succeed 
 Hon. Columbus Delano, resigned. In 1884 Judge 
 Lawrence was elected a member of the Philosophical 
 Society, of Washington, D. C. In the month of Mav. 
 1889, he was elected a member of the Census Analyti- 
 cal Association of the United States, and made vice- 
 president of the section on wool. 
 
 The office of first comptroller of the Treasury 
 Department is second in importance only to that of 
 the secretary. Hamilton declared that " the comptroller 
 is a check upon the secretary." From his decision 
 there is no appeal; he cannot be overruled by either 
 
 the secretary or the president, though he may overrule 
 the secretary in the allowance of claims. By authority 
 of the secretary, two volumes of the " Decisions of 
 Comptroller Lawrence" were published, the first ever 
 issued, and Congress then passed the joint resolution 
 of August 3, 1882, authorizing one volume of the 
 decisions to be printed each year thereafter, and under 
 this, four additional volumes were printed. They for 
 the first time distinctly enunciated the great system of 
 "executive national common law," and furnished a 
 fund of legal learning found in no other works. They 
 have been highly commended by jurists, statesmen and 
 law-writers. Burroughs, in his " Law of Public Securi- 
 ties," quotes largely from these decisions. At one 
 time, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia 
 undertook 03- mandamus to compel the treasurer of 
 the United States to pay a claim disallowed by the 
 comptroller, but his decision was sustained by the 
 Supreme Court of the United States. (4 Lawrence, 
 261.) 
 
 Judge Lawrence is author of the following among 
 other works: " The Law of Claims Against Govern- 
 ments" (Washington, Government Print, 1875); "The 
 Law of Religious Societies " (American Law Register, 
 1873); " The Organization of the Treasury Depart- 
 ment" (Washington, Government Print, 1881); " The 
 Law of Impeachable Crimes " (American Law Register, 
 September, 1867); "Introductory and Concluding 
 Chapters to Lectures of J. B. Helwig, D. D." (Dayton 
 U. B. Publishing House, 1876); "Chapters in American 
 History of Champaign- and Logan Counties," 1872; 
 " The Causes of the Rebellion," being the introductory 
 chapter to " Reminiscences of the War," by Rev. A. R. 
 Howbert, D. D.. 1888 ; " Decisions of the First Comp- 
 troller" (6 vols., Washington, Government Print, 
 1880-85); Five " Annual Reports," as First Comptroller, 
 1880-84 ; " The Treaty Question ;" " Sketch of the Life 
 and Public Services of John Sherman," 1888; "Nu- 
 merous " Reports in Congress ;" " Lives of the First 
 Comptrollers," now ready for the press. 
 
 The government of Japan, through a London, Eng- 
 land, book house, in 1887 procured copies of the " De- 
 cisions of the First Comptrollers" for use in organizing 
 the Treasury Department of that country. The Japanese 
 Legation at Washington in June, 1874, also procured 
 copies of " The Law of Claims" to be used as authority 
 on questions growing out of the rebellion in that coun- 
 try of the Tycoon against the Mikado. The Secretary 
 of State, Hamilton Fish, ordered 250 extra copies 
 printed f^r distribution to foreign governments, and 
 they have been quoted in arguments before every 
 mixed commission since organized to adjust claims 
 between the United States and foreign countries. In 
 1874, Hon. ElihuB. Washburne, United States Minister 
 to France, procured copies for distribution to publicists 
 in that country, and he said of it: "It is wonderfully 
 able and exhaustive. It has gone to the very bottom 
 of the whole business. It is one of the most valuable 
 contributions of the times to naticnal and international
 
 372 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEAT WEST. 
 
 law. It renders immense service to the country by 
 laying down the law' on these subjects." 
 
 His work on the "Law of Religious Societies" lias 
 been declared to be "a marvel of learning upon the 
 subject" by Rev. D. D. Chapin, in The Churchman, as 
 quoted in "current comment and legal miscellany." 
 (Vol. I, No. 5, Philadelphia, May 15, 1889). 
 
 His Alma Mater conferred upon Judge Lawrence 
 the degree of A.M., in cursu, and on the 25th of June, 
 1873, conferred on him the degree of LL.D. Witten- 
 berg College subsequently conferred on him the same 
 degree. His life has shown that his entire career has 
 been guided by a sense of duty, and that he has always 
 subordinated ambition to principle. 
 
 Hon. William Lawrence was married December 20, 
 1843, at McConnelsville, Ohio,'to Cornelia, daughter of 
 Hon. William Hawkins, an excellent lady of rare 
 intelligence, who had been associated with him in 
 
 teaching school at that place in 1839. She died Feb- 
 ruary, 29. 1844. He was married again March 20, 
 1845, to Caroline M., daughter of Henry Miller, a 
 woman whose many virtues have through long years 
 blessed his home. She was born at Port Republic. 
 Rockingham county, Ya., January 20, 1828, was bap- 
 tized at McGackeysville Lutheran church, educated at 
 the Granville (Ohio) Presbyterian Female Seminary, 
 and was there a room-mate of Cecelia Stewart, since 
 wife of Hon. John Sherman. Three sons, Joseph II.. 
 William II. and John M.. and three daughters, Cor- 
 nelia, Frances C., and Mary Temperance, are the 
 children of this union. Joseph II., a lawyer, died May 
 7, 1885. And now, at the age of nearly 75 years, Judge 
 Lawrence, in the full vigor of manhood, intellectually 
 and physically, still pursues his profession, and super- 
 intends his large landed and other property interests 
 with unabated zeal, industry and success. 
 
 HENRY M. LYMAN, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HENRY M. LYMAN, M. D., and professor of 
 principles and practice of medicine at Rush 
 Medical College, was born in the Sandwich Islands, 
 November 26, 1835. He was educated at Williams 
 College, Massachusetts, from which institution he 
 graduated in 1858. He then took a medical course at 
 the college of Phvsicians and Surgeons at New i r orkand 
 graduated there in 1861. He has since been engaged in 
 the general practice of medicine and has attained great 
 celebrity not only in Chicago, where he has resided since 
 1863, but throughout the whole country wherever the 
 reports of his cases have been published. Dr. Lyman, 
 among many other societies, is a memberof the Chicago 
 
 Pathological Society, of the Chicago Medico-Legal 
 Society and the Association of American Physicians. 
 He is not only professor of the principles and practice 
 of medicine of Rush Medical College of Chicago but is 
 also its treasurer. He has, in his long practice in Chi- 
 cago of nearly thirty years, won for himself a proud 
 distinction in the profession and the confidence and 
 esteem of the public. 
 
 In appearance, Dr. Lyman is a man that would 
 attract attention in any gathering. He is of medium 
 height, of courteous and refined demeanor, and pos- 
 sessed of a genial and kindly disposition. He has 
 hosts of friends everywhere. 
 
 JAMES HENRY ETHERIDGE, A. M., M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 TAMES HENRY ETHERIDGE, a member of the 
 \J faculty of Rush Medical college, was born in 
 Johnsville, N. Y., March 20, 1844. His father, Dr. 
 Francis B. Etheridge, was a practicing physician and 
 surgeon for forty-seven years. His mother was Fanny 
 Easton, of Connecticut. On the paternal side, as also 
 on the maternal, the ancestry of James was English, 
 on the side of the former five, and of the latter seven, 
 generations removed. During the Civil War, the 
 father of our subject served as surgeon in the field with 
 one of the Minnesota volunteer regiments. He died at 
 Hastings, Minn., in 1871. 
 
 Dr. James II. Etheridge, the subject of our sketch, 
 received his early education in New York State, and 
 
 has been completing it ever since, for he is, and always 
 has been, a close student. On the outbreak of the war 
 he was prepared to enter the junior class at Harvard, 
 but the absence of his father in the army at the front 
 dissarranged these plans, and he decided to devote his 
 attention to medicine. He read four years with his 
 father, attended one course of lectures in the med- 
 ical department of the University of Michigan; and 
 two full courses at Rush Medical college, at Chicago, 
 where he was graduated in 1869, receiving the degree 
 of M. D. After graduation from Rush Medical col- 
 lege, he began practicing in Evanston, where he re- 
 mained about a year and a half. Since March, 1869, 
 Dr. Etheridge has been a lecturer in Rush Medical
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 375 
 
 College. In 1869-70 he spent a year in Europe, walk- 
 ing the hospitals of some of the largest cities. 
 
 . On returning to America Dr. Etheridge settled in 
 Chicago in July, 1871, and for two years was lecturer 
 on materia medica and therapeutics in Rush Medical 
 College, when he was called to a regular professorship, 
 occupying successively the chairs of " materia medica," 
 "therapeutics," and "medical jurisprudence," "gynrccol- 
 ogy" and " obstetrics, and gynascology." He followed a 
 general practice until 1801, since which time he has 
 madea specialty of gynaecology. lie is one of the gynae- 
 cologists of the Presbyterian Hospital, and of the Central 
 Free Dispensary ; also of the Chicago Polyclinic Hos- 
 pital. He was one of the staff t>f the Woman's Hospi- 
 tal of the State of Illinois, and has also been connected 
 with St. Joseph's and St. Luke's hospitals. He is an 
 occasional contributor to the medical journals, and is a 
 member of the Chicago Medical Society, the Chicago 
 Medico-Legal Society, the Gynaecological Society 
 
 (being president in 1800), Illinois State Medical Soci- 
 ety, American Medical Association, American Gvmv- 
 cological Society, International Medical Congress, and 
 of the International Congress of Obstetricians and 
 Gynaecologists. He was president of the Chicago 
 Medical Society in 1887. 
 
 Dr. Etheridge was married June 20, 1870. to 
 Harriet Elizabeth Powers, of Evanston. daughter of 
 Ilanna G. Powers, of that place, long identified with 
 Chicago's commercial and banking interests. They 
 have two daughters. In religion Dr. Etheridge is a 
 Presbyterian, and in politics a Republican, but on all 
 local issues votes for the best nvvn, regardless of 
 party. 
 
 In personal appearance the doctor is tall and com- 
 manding, of more than average weight, and socially is 
 genial, courteous and refined, popular alike with his 
 casual associates and intimate friends, and stands high 
 in the regards of his professional brethren. 
 
 LEVI ZEIGLER LEITER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IN the town of Leiterburg, Washington county, Md., 
 founded by his ancestors, Levi Zeigler Leiter was 
 born in ISS-l. Here he received a good education, and 
 afterward spent several years in a country store. 
 When eighteen years uf age, not satisfied with his 
 quiet, uneventful life, he determined to seek a wider 
 field for the exercise of his energies. Accordingly, in 
 1853, he turned his face westward, first stopping at 
 Springfield, Ohio, where he entered the store of Peter 
 Murray, a prominent merchant, with whom he re- 
 mained one year. He then pushed on to Chicago, 
 arriving here in the summer of 1854. 
 
 In Chicago he entered the employment of Messrs. 
 Downs & Van Wyck, where he remained until 
 January, 185G. when he became connected with the 
 wholesale house of Messrs. Cooley, Wadsworth & Co., 
 in which he continued, through its various changes, 
 until January 1. 1865, when, with Marshall Field, who 
 entered the above house at the same time, and who, 
 with young Leiter, had secured an interest in the 
 business in consideration of their valuable services 
 (they having on January 1, 1865, sold their interest to 
 John V. Farwell), purchased a controlling interest in 
 the business of Potter Palmer, which was continued 
 for two years as Field, Palmer & Leiter, and then as' 
 Field, Leiter & Co., un.til January 1, 1881. By the 
 exercise of rare intelligence, based upon the soundest 
 principles, the business was rapidly increased until it 
 occupied the leading position in the countrv. 
 
 On January 1, 1881. Mr. Leiter, having large real 
 estate and other interests, and desiring freedom from 
 the daily duties of an exacting business, sold his 
 interest to his partners that he might devote more 
 
 of his time to his family, to travel and to his choice 
 library, which was and is one of the best private collec- 
 tions in the United States. During the past few years 
 Mr. Leiter, with his family, has spent considerable 
 time in Washington, D. C., where he is widely known. 
 
 In the rebuilding of Chicago, since the fire of 1871, 
 Mr. Leiter has been one of the most progressive and 
 important of its citizens. He has erected many hand- 
 some office and store blocks in the business district. 
 
 Of temperate habits and strong physique, with 
 great yower of application and endurance, Mr. Leiter, 
 in his active business career, confined himself so closelv 
 to his business that he was enabled to turn off a 
 quantity of work which would have killed an ordinary 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Leiter has never sought nor held a public 
 office, but from boyhood he has been a diligent student 
 of politics in its highest sense, and no one has a wider 
 range of intelligence concerning the principles of our 
 government and of legislation which would affect the 
 welfare and industries of our country. 
 
 For many years Mr. Leiter was a director of the 
 Chicago Relief and Aid Society, and gave much time 
 and patient study to the wise distribution of charitv; 
 and not only in this enterprise, but in all intelligently 
 directed charities he has been an honest worker and a 
 liberal contributor, when he could be convinced that 
 money and time would produce more good than harm. 
 The American Sunday School Union has always been 
 one of his favored instrumentalities of good to his 
 fellow man. With a keen insight into the springs 
 which lie behind human action, he lias never courted 
 popularity, but preferred at all times, in speech and
 
 376 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 action, to do his whole duty to the community in 
 which he lived. 
 
 In all that goes to advance the social and educa- 
 tional as well as business interests of Chicago, Mr. 
 Leiter has been a moving spirit. His great means, as 
 well as his keen business sagacity, have been enlisted in 
 many worthy enterprises. He was the first president 
 of. the Commercial Club, and is now a leading member 
 of the Iroquois, the Chicago, the Calumet, the Union, 
 the "Washington Park and the Union League Clubs. 
 Mr. Leiter took an active interest in the reorganization 
 of the Chicago Historical Society after the great fire, 
 and contributed liberally to its bu Iding fund and for 
 the purchase of books. .The debt which had hampered 
 the society was also lifted by the co-operation of Mr. 
 Leiter with Profs. Mark Skinner, E. H. Sheldon, D. K. 
 Pearson, S. M. Nickerson, Thos. Hoyne and others, 
 
 and the society placed upon a sound basis. Mr. Leiter 
 was also the president of the Chicago Art Institute in 
 1885, succeeding Mr. George Armour, who was its first 
 executive. For many years, in fact ever since its 
 organization, Mr. Leiter has been a heavy stockholder 
 in the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, and is now one 
 of the directors of that institution. 
 
 Mr. Leiter's great aim has been to be a model 
 citizen, and not simply to accumulate great wealth, 
 believing with Goldsmith : 
 
 "111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
 Where wealth accumulates and men decay." 
 
 While not demonstrative in his social life, he is a 
 man of strong attachments, and in a choice circle of 
 friends becomes easily companionable and is appreciated 
 for his genial and kindly characteristics. 
 
 ABRAHAM F. RISSER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 A BRAHAM F. KISSER, son of Jacob and Mary 
 t\ (Snyder) Risser, was born at Betersheim, Ger- 
 many, on the 9th of September, 1831. On his father's 
 side Mr. Risser is descended from a Mennonite preacher 
 of the same name, who was compelled to leave his 
 native land, Switzerland, on account of religious perse- 
 cution and flee to Germany, where he bought a tract 
 of ground containing about 900 acres, for an amount 
 equal, in our money, to $800. This, of course, as we 
 look at it, to-day, was exceedingly cheap, but in those 
 days money was many times more valuable and then, 
 too, absolute ownership by an individual was not pos- 
 sible, as all lands were held under the crown and an 
 annual tribute had to be paid to the representative of 
 the State. Abraham's father, when but a boy, was 
 compelled to serve in the armies of Napoleon, and as 
 fora time the province in which he resided was under 
 French control he studied the French language, and 
 became, later, an officer by appointment, with duties 
 similar to those of a justice of the peace. The Risser 
 family first came to America ear'} 7 in the eighteenth 
 century, when the eldest son of Abraham Risser's 
 great-grandfather came over and in or about 1725 
 became the owner of 800 acres of land near where 
 Lancaster. Pa., now stands, paying therefor the sum of 
 15, which as the land was not yet surveyed and wild, 
 was quite as much as it was worth. 
 
 Jacob Risser, the father of our subject, came to the 
 United States in 1833, and located with his family on 
 a farm in Ashland county, Ohio, and there young 
 Risser passed his youth and boyhood. During the 
 winter months he attended the district schools, and in 
 the spring, summer and fall he aided his father on the 
 farm. Thus, for the first nineteen years of his life, his 
 lot was that of a farmer's son, and though not an 
 
 exciting life it was one that has fitted many of our 
 greatest men for the duties of life. At the age of 
 nineteen young Risser was apprenticed to Mr. W. W. 
 Illger, of Ashland, Ohio, to learn the saddlery and 
 harness business, and after serving an apprenticeship of 
 three years worked as a journeyman until 1854-. He 
 then started for the West, and during the next two 
 years traveled through Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Ne- 
 braska and Kansas, working at his trade. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Risser opened a harness and saddle 
 shop in Mt. Pnlaski, Logan county, 111., and was rap- 
 idly building up a big business when the war broke 
 out. He sold his business in order to offer his services 
 to his country. He was one of the leading spirits in 
 the organization of Company B, 106th Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, and was elected first lieutenant of the 
 company, and later was promoted to the captaincy for 
 meritorious services. He was finally placed on 
 detached duty as judge-advocate in Arkansas, and 
 serving in that capacity until the end of the war he 
 passed upon 127 cases. So well had he discharged the 
 duties of the position that in all his cases but one mis- 
 take was mentioned by his superior officers, and that 
 mistake consisted of designating a sergeant as an 
 officer. He laid down his duties as judge-advocate on 
 the 12th of July, 1865, and in 1866 he again embarked 
 in business at Mt. Pulaski, 111. lie continued this bus- 
 iness for about one year and then sold out and went to 
 Bloomington. 111., where, in partnership with Mr. M. 
 X. Chase, he established a wholesale saddlery business 
 under the firm name of Chase & Risser. After four 
 years Mr. Risser purchased the interests of Mr. Chase 
 and took as his partner Mr. B. K. Reitz, and under the 
 title of Risser & Reitz they carried on the business in 
 Bloomington until December, 1876, when they moved
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 to Chicago. They began business in Chicago early in 
 1877, and for ten years the partnership and firm name 
 continued. Since the retirement of Mr. Reitz the bus- 
 iness has been carried on by Mr. Risser as A. F. Risser 
 & Co., and is to-day the largest house in its line in 
 America. When Mr. Risser started in business for 
 himself his entire capital was'less than $150, and most 
 of the work was done by himself. Later he employed 
 from three to five men, which number was increased 
 when he went to Bloomington, and has steadily con- 
 tinued to increase, until now Mr. Risser's business gives 
 employment to about five hundred men and is repre- 
 sented throughout the country by twenty traveling 
 salesmen. Logan county, 111., held its first fair before 
 he started in business for himself, and he made by 
 hand the saddle which took the first premium at that 
 fair, then being in the employ of 0. Haskell & Co. 
 
 On the 18th of February, 1871, Mr. Risser was 
 united in marriage to Miss Mary F. Holmer, at Bloom- 
 ington, 111. Four children, three sons and one daughter, 
 have blessed the union. The daughter, Florence M., 
 is a graduate of Vassar College. Willis C. and Lewis 
 H. are attending the Orchard Lake Military School, 
 and Abraham F., Jr., is at home. 
 
 In 1889 Mr. Risser was one of the originators and 
 organizers of the Wholesale Saddlery Association of 
 the United States, was elected its first president and 
 has been once re-elected. He is a member of Grand 
 Post 28, Grand Army of the Republic, the Loyal 
 
 379 
 
 Legion, the Hamilton Club and of the Washington 
 Park Driving Club. 
 
 In politics he is a Republican, and though he once 
 served his party as a member of the Bloomington board 
 of aldermen, he has never desired or sought political 
 office, preferring to devote his attention to the details 
 of his private business. 
 
 Mr. Risser's great success in the world of commerce 
 has been due to no one but himself. He started in life 
 with no capital, and with nothing but an ability and 
 willingness to work to aid him, and these character- 
 istics, coupled with fairness and justice in dealing with 
 his fellow men, have enabled him to occupy the posi- 
 tion that he holds to-day at the head of all who are in 
 the same line of business. His military record was one 
 alike creditable to him as a man and a soldier, and as 
 a judge-advocate the justice of his decisions was not 
 questioned. In every position in which circumstances 
 have placed him he has acquitted himself creditably, 
 and each incident of his career reflects honor on him as a 
 man and a citizen. In disposition he is genial and 
 friendly, and though thoroughly enjoying social inter- 
 course he finds his truest enjoyment at his beautiful 
 home, at 3251 South Park avenue, surrounded by his 
 family. Thoroughly an American, Mr. Risser enjoys 
 the respect and confidence of a large number of friends 
 and aquaintances, and this is no more than his just due, 
 for Chicago to-day offers no better example of the 
 upright, energetic and successful business man. 
 
 JOHN BARTON PAYNE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN BARTON PAYNE was born on January 
 26, 1855, at Pruntytown, Virginia. His ancestors 
 may be traced back 250 years, to the reign of Charles 
 II. of England. About the year 1640 the progenitor 
 of the Payne family came from England to the colony 
 of Virginia, and his descendants are widely scattered 
 over the Old Dominion and other Southern states. 
 The great-grandfather of our subject, Francis Payne, 
 was a valiant American officer in the Revolutionary 
 war. His grandson, Amos Payne, the father of John 
 Barton, was a graduate of Transylvania University, 
 and was a practising physician of considerable celebrity. 
 John Barton's youth was spent in Orleans, Fauquier 
 county, Virginia, where he received a thorough English 
 education, and he afterwards pursued a classical course 
 under private tutors. In 1874 he began the study of 
 the law while he was acting as assistant clerk of the 
 courts at Pruntytown. He completed his law studies 
 early in 1876, and in August of that year passed an 
 examination before several judges, and was licensed, 
 and commenced his practice at once. Even at that 
 early age Mr. Payne had attained a wide reputation as 
 an orator, and his speeches in behalf of Tilden and 
 
 Hendricks were considered among the best made in 
 that campaign. He was then made acting chairman of 
 the Democratic county committee, and was also a dele 
 gate to the senatorial and congressional conventions 
 from Taylor county. 
 
 In March, 1877, he removed to Kingwood, Preston 
 count}', W. Va. His business was soon quite extensive, 
 and he was retained in many imponant cases. In 1878 
 he was elected chairman of the Democratic executive 
 committee of Preston count} 1 , which position he held for 
 several years. He took a leading part in politics, being 
 temporary chairman of the Grafton convention of 1880; 
 chairman of the Preston delegation in the Fairmont 
 congressional convention; a member of the congres- 
 sional executive committee and a delegate to the Mar- 
 tinsburg State convention. He supported the Hon. 
 Charles J. Faulkner for governor, and was tendered 
 the position of presidential elector, which he declined. 
 In the presidential canvas which followed the eloquent 
 voice of Mr. Payne was again heard in Virginia and 
 Pennsylvania as the champion of Gen. Hancock. 
 
 He was elected by the bar, special judge of the cir- 
 cuit court of Tucker county in May, 1881, to hear and
 
 3 8o 
 
 PkuMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 decide a chancery cause, to which the regular judge 
 was a party. Mr Payne has had the management of 
 many very important cases, notably among which was 
 one in which he called in question the constitutionality 
 of the law giving a landlord's lien preference over 
 chattel exemptions. He obtained an injunction from 
 the circuit court on that ground, which was affirmed 
 by the supreme court of appeal, where it was ablv 
 argued by Mr. Payne in June, 18SO. He was elected 
 mayor of Kingwood in January, 1882. 
 
 After retiring from that office he moved to Chicago, 
 where he has been actively engaged in the practice of 
 his profession ever since. Mr. Payne lias steadily 
 advanced to the front, and the numerous important 
 cases in which he has figured have given him a wide 
 celebrity as an astute lawver and an eloquent advocate. 
 On June 26, 1890, a banquet was given by the State 
 Association, of which Mr. Payne was chairman, at the 
 Palmer House, to the members of the National Com- 
 mission of the World's Columbian Exposition, and was 
 a notable event. The banquet was preceded by an 
 informal reception in the grand parlor. In these 
 beautiful rooms the notables of many States represented 
 in the commission were made acquainted with the 
 notables of Chicago. Chief Justice- Fuller, surrounded 
 by well-known public men and greeted heartily by 
 many old Chicago friends and neighbors, made the 
 
 center of an interesting group." With him were Judge 
 Gresham, Judge Harris, of Kentucky; ex-Senator 
 Palmer, of Michigan; ex- Governor Walker, of Connec 
 ticut; Judge Thomas Moran, President Lyman J. Gage, 
 E. G. Keith, Judges Gary, Anthony, Driggs, McDon- 
 nell and others equally prominent in professional and 
 social circles, including many ladies. 
 
 The success of this brilliant entertainment was 
 largely due to the energy, activity and arduous labors 
 of Mr. Payne and his associates. After paving all ex- 
 penses, the committee were able to declare a dividend, 
 and Mr. Payne enclosed his check to each member of 
 the association for the amount due him. 
 
 Mr. Payne is prominent in social circles, where he is 
 deservedly popular. He is an active member of the 
 Union League Club, in which he is a director and also 
 of the Chicago Law Club and the Law Institute, having 
 been president of the latter. In religion, he is a Meth- 
 odist, and, as above indicated, is politically a Democrat 
 of the staunchest kind. In the fall of 1898 Mr. 
 Payne was elected judge of the superior court, which 
 position he now occupies. 
 
 In October, 1878, Judge Payne was united in mar- 
 riage to Miss Kate Bunker, daughter of the late Judge 
 Edward C. Bunker, of West Virginia. He is a man of 
 striking personal appearance, of engaging manners, 
 and of great nervous force and untiring energy. 
 
 PAUL <D. STENSLAND, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 TRADITION informs us, and learned archaeologists 
 seem to confirm the statement, that a number of 
 bold arid experienced Scandinavian seamen, led by Lief 
 Ericlfson, visited this country in the tenth century, 
 four hundred years before Columbus crossed the 
 broad Atlantic, and proclaimed to the inhabitants of 
 the old world the existence of a new continent. These 
 hardy Norsemen were the ancestors of the race that 
 at present inhabit the rugged soil of the Scandinavian 
 peninsula, and which has given to the world such 
 men as Gustavus Adolphus, the " Lion of the North," 
 Karl Linne, better known by his Latinized name, Lin- 
 naeus, and in our own day the celebrated inventor of a 
 new class of battleships, Ericsson. No race has done 
 more, in proportion to its numbers, to build up and to 
 defend this great western republic than the intelligent 
 and industrious sons of the northern peninsula. 
 
 Prominent among our public men is the subject of 
 this sketch, Paul O. Stensland, who stands forth not 
 only as a representative citizen, but as a type of the 
 proud and ancient nationality from which he came, and 
 as the embodiment of the energetic, resourceful and 
 earnest character of his Scandinavian countrymen, 
 lie was born in Sandied, near the city of Stavanger, 
 Norway, on the ninth day of May, 1847. He was the 
 
 fifth son in a famil}' of nine children. Young Stensland 
 grew up in the healthful surroundings of farm life in 
 his native land, and received his early education in the 
 schools of the district. He must have made good use 
 of his time at study, and have had a great faculty for 
 acquiring knowledge, as well as endowed with great 
 enterprise, for at the early age of eighteen years we 
 find him leaving the family home and farm and travel- 
 ing to Hindostan in Peninsular Asia. 
 
 In this new field Mr. Stensland labored with his 
 characteristic energy and success. He immediately 
 connected himself with the cotton and wool industries 
 of India, and became a large buyer. For almost six 
 years he traveled extensively in that country in the 
 interests of his business. In the success which crowned 
 his efforts, at that earlv age, in a land so exclusive and 
 peculiar as Hindostan, we have a proof of the instincts 
 and foresight which have marked his career. His res- 
 idence in the East gave an opportunity not only to 
 transact business, but to acquire knowledge and expe- 
 rience by travel. From Cape Comorin to the Hima- 
 lavas. and from the Indus to the Bramapootra he trav- 
 eled, gaining a thorough knowledge of the customs of 
 the people, and the physical features of the country. 
 
 After a residence of five and a half vears amongst
 
 
 V
 
 .,,-** Y 
 V ttl
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA r WEST. 
 
 the Hindoos lie returned, in the fall of 1870, to his 
 native hind on a visit to his parents, whom he found in 
 delicate health, and \vho, to his great grief, during his 
 short stay of three months, both died. This severe 
 family bereavement, and the -natural disposition of 
 venture which he possessed, prompted Mr. Stensland 
 to again leave his home. This time he chose Chicago 
 as the field of his future operations, arriving here in 
 the spring of 1871, wh'ere lie has resided uninterrupt- 
 edly ever since. 
 
 His first venture here was in the dry goods trade. 
 His efforts were successful, and for fourteen years he 
 carried on a lucrative business. In 1885 he entered the 
 real estate and insurance business; but four years later 
 he felt sufficient conlidence in himself and was sutti- 
 cientlv known in the northwestern section of the city 
 to guarantee him in commencing a private banking 
 business. He was not disappointed in his expectations, 
 for he was so far successful that it warranted him in 
 changing his private bank to a State bank in 1891. 
 He is at present president of the institution known as 
 the Milwaukee Avenue State Bank, and which, from 
 the efficient and business-like manner in which it is 
 conducted, has gained the confidence and support of 
 the business men of the district. 
 
 Mr. Stensland is also secretary and treasurer of the 
 cemetery of Mount Olive, and also the publisher of 
 the Scandinavian newspaper, Norden. He is also 
 largely interested in real estate in the northwestern 
 part of the city. For nine years, from 1879 to 1888, 
 lie was a member of the Chicago board of education, a 
 position to which he brought 1iis large business experi- 
 ence and varied knowledge with good effect, and 
 acquired a high reputation by the energy and execu- 
 tive ability which he displayed in the discharge of his 
 duties as a member and chairman of the most impor- 
 tant committees. Another honor was paid to Mr. 
 Stensland by the late mayor of this city, Hon. DeWitt 
 C. Cregier, who appointed him a member of a commit- 
 tee in connection with Ferd. W. Peck, General Fit/- 
 simmons and Washington Ilesing, for the purpose of 
 
 383 
 
 revising the charter of the city. On the occasion 
 of the resignation of Mr. James Scott, managing 
 editor and part owner of the Chicago Herald, from 
 the position of director of the World's Columbian 
 Exposition, the vacancy was filled by the election 
 of Mr. Stensland to the position, and he was also 
 re-elected in April, 1892. This was a high com- 
 pliment paid to him by his fellow-citizens, one to which 
 he was justly entitled as a representative man, and in 
 recognition of the superior business ability which he 
 has displayed. Very few of the many excellent and able 
 men who have d i reeled the work of this great national 
 undertaking, have brought more experience and varied 
 knowledge to the discharge of their duties than has 
 Mr. Stensland. To the knowledge of the people, the 
 language and the geography of Asia, he adds an 
 extensive knowledge gained by travel through Africa 
 and Europe. He has not, however, contented himself 
 with travel in the old world his inquiring mind has 
 sought information, not only by careful study, but by 
 years of travel throughout the new world. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Stensland is a Democrat; but only 
 takes such interest in politics as he considers it the 
 duty of every good citizen to take. 
 
 He is a member of the Lutheran church, and while 
 earnest in the defense of its doctrines and teaching, he 
 is tolerant and liberal to all others. lie is also a mem- 
 ber of the Iroquois Club, and several Scandinavian 
 organizations. 
 
 Mr. Stensland was married in August, 1871, to 
 Karen Querk, daughter of Torris Eide, of Sondhord- 
 land, Norway. The result of this happy union has 
 been two children, one boy and one girl. In the 
 companionship of his devoted wife, and in the affection 
 of his children, Mr. Stensland finds his greatest happi- 
 ness. Few men more fully enjoy or deserve the smiles 
 and sunshine of a happy home, and few men exert 
 themselves more to lurround it with every comfort and 
 luxury. His son, Theodore, is attending the Phillips 
 Exeter Academy, preparing for Harvard. II is daughter 
 is married to Dr. Karl Sand berg, of this city. 
 
 JOHN J. -P. ODELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN J. P. ODELL, president of the Union National 
 Bank of Chicago, was born in Eastport, Me., in 
 1847. He was reared and educated in the city of his 
 birth, finishing his education in the high school of that 
 place. During the summer of his sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth years he accompanied the expeditions of the 
 coast survey along the Atlantic seaboard, and thor- 
 oughly studied the science of surveying. 
 
 Upon finishing his school course in 1805, the 
 "western fever" having possessed him, he followed his 
 inclinations and removtd to Chicago. His first expe- 
 
 rience in business life in this city, which served as his 
 introduction to the banking business, was in a minor 
 position in the Northwestern National Bank. 
 
 In July, 1866, he became book-keeper in the Union 
 National Bank, and he has devoted his entire time 
 since then to the interests of that institution. His 
 connection with the bank covers a continuous term of 
 twenty-seven years, during which time he has advanced 
 through all positions, from that of book-keeper until 
 he is now president. From January, 1880, to January, 
 1884, he acted as cashier. In 188-i he became vice-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 president, and in 1890 was elected to the position 
 which he now holds. 
 
 During the twenty-seven years that Mr. Odell has 
 been connected with the Union National Bank his 
 record is unsullied, and his success is another instance 
 of what integrity and honor, combined with natural 
 ability and a firm character can accomplish. 
 
 In private life he is quiet and domestic in his habits. 
 He was married in 1868 to Miss Mary L. Brown, and 
 as the result of the union has one daughter, Mabel, 
 living. In 1873 Mr. Odell was again married, to Miss 
 Emma A. Talbot, of Providence, K. I. They have two 
 children, their names being George and Irving. 
 
 Starting in life with a capital consisting of nothing 
 but a high school education, a strong will and a per- 
 severing and energetic nature, Mr. Odell has passed 
 through the various stages of his business career with 
 
 credit, until now, at the age of forty-six, he is the pre- 
 siding officer and the controlling spirit of one of the 
 leading financial institutions in this country, and it is 
 acknowledged by those acquainted with the banking 
 business, that as a financier he is the peer of any man 
 connected with any financial institution in the city. 
 
 Upon the organization of the board of directors for 
 the World's Columbian Exposition, Mr. Odell was one 
 of the forty-five gentlemen who, owing to their high 
 position in the community, were chosen to comprise 
 that important body. 
 
 In his business intercourse he is a pleasant, courteous 
 gentleman, and in social circles genial and affable, 
 while with his intimate friends lie is exceedingly com- 
 panionable and popular. He is quite a prominent 
 member of the Bankers' Club, the Union, Chicago, and 
 Washington clubs. 
 
 PERCY L. SHUMAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.- 
 
 'T'HE subject of this sketch, the founder and general 
 1 counsel of the Co-operative Electric Light 
 Company, and the founder of the Nothwestern 
 Electric Light & Power Company, and one of the best 
 known of Chicago's attorneys, was born at Milton, 
 Wayne county, Ind., Dec. 2, 1851. His early educa- 
 tion was limited to a few terms in the district school, 
 which he attended until he was nine years old. On 
 October 8, 1861, he was, mustered into the 57th Indiana 
 Volunteer Infantry as a member of the drum corps of 
 that regiment, and served with the Army of the 
 Cumberland until June 1863, when he was honorably 
 discharged. 
 
 In 1866, E. A. Rollins, the first commissioner of 
 internal revenue, appointed him chief clerk in the 
 office of the assessor of internal revenue for the fifth 
 assessment district of Indiana. This position he held 
 until June, 1868, when he came to Chicago and 
 obtained employment in the office of the Evening 
 Journal for the purpose of learning the printer's trade. 
 He served this paper successively as compositor, proof- 
 reader and reporter until September 10, 1872, at which 
 time he received an appointment to a clerkship in the 
 Chicago custom house. He remained for nearly nine 
 years in the customs service, being employed as private 
 secretary to the lions. N. B. Judd. J. Russell Jones, and 
 AVilliam Henry Smith, during tlieir respective terms 
 as collectors of the port, and resigned July 1, 1881. 
 
 While in the employment of the government he had 
 improved his spare time by studying law, and in 1878 
 he was admitted to the bar and licensed to practice 
 in the State courts of Illinois, the United States 
 circuit and district courts, and the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. In 1881 he began practice 
 
 as a customs lawyer, engaged in cases requiring 
 a special knowledge of tariffs, and the regulations 
 of the treasury department governing the cus- 
 toms service. He was attorney and counsel of two 
 hundred and fifty importers at Chicago, in what are 
 known as the "carton cases," which involved the recov- 
 ery from the treasury of over $100,000 at Chicago, and 
 several hundred thousand dollars at New York, of 
 excessive duties that had been collected from the im- 
 porters under the tariff act of 1883. He was also at- 
 torney for the Chicago importers, and associated with 
 those of New York as counsel in the celebrated "hat 
 trimmings" cases which were contested for eight years, 
 and finally decided in favor of the importers against 
 the government, involving the return of excessive 
 duties, amounting to over $1,000,000. In addition to 
 this special practice Mr. Sliuman has carried on a gen- 
 eral practice in Chicago with a full measure of success. 
 During the World's Columbian Exposition he was 
 counsel for a number of the foreign concessionaires. 
 His success is all the more creditable from the fact that 
 he is entirely a self-educated man. As a boy he 
 possessed none of the ordinary advantages, but by hard 
 study during his spare moments he not only acquired a 
 good general education, but became a proficient stenog- 
 rapher, and learned to read and write the French and 
 Spanish languages. 
 
 He was married on October 20, 1875, to Caroline 
 V. Ingels, daughter of Joseph Ingels, who was 
 the orignal inventor of the grain drill, one of the most 
 successful inventions of the age. Mr. Shuman is an 
 example of what perserving industry and hopeful 
 courage, joined to a high order of native ability, can do 
 in this country of unbounded opportunities.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 CHARLES B. WILLIAMS, 
 
 MARVIN, SOUTH DAKOTA. 
 
 387 
 
 /CHARLES BILLINGS WILLIAMS, son of Wil- 
 \^f liam M. and Catharine Virginia (Duffy) Wil- 
 liams, was born at Hartstown, Crawford county, Pa., 
 on the 25th day of April, 1858. His father, a descen- 
 dant of Eoger Williams, was engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits in Maryland and Pennsylvania. His mother 
 was of Irish descent, her father being a doctor of 
 renown in the old country. 
 
 Young Williams received a good common school 
 education in the schools of Pennsylvania, and then 
 attended an academy for a year. After engaging in 
 various occupations in that State, young Williams went 
 West and settled at Marvin, Grant county, South 
 Dakota, in the spring of 1880, where, with a very small 
 capital, he engaged in mercantile business. This bus- 
 iness he still continues, and to it he has found it neces- 
 sary to add two branch stores situated at different 
 points in the State. He is also a buyer and shipper of 
 lumber and grain. Mr. Williams has held several offices 
 within the gift of the peopleof his county and town. He 
 
 has served as justice of the peace, treasurer of the town, 
 county commissioner, and in 1886 was elected a mem- 
 ber of the Territorial legislature. 
 
 Upon the organization of the Merchants' Bank of 
 Milbank, August 1. 1891, he was elected a director and 
 vice-president, which office he still holds. 
 
 On December 25, 1884, Mr. Williams was united in 
 marriage to Miss Sarah B. Hocum, daughter of George 
 . Hocum, of Marvin. S. D. Four children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams. Recently, on account 
 of sickness, he purchased a residence in Minneapolis, 
 Minn , where his family now resides. 
 
 Mr. Wiljiams is a good type of the men who early 
 went West to grow up with the country, and who 
 have been largely instrumental in building up its 
 interests and developing its resources. Careful, ener- 
 getic and a capable business man, he is universally 
 known and as universally respected. To him and 
 others of similar character the new West owes much 
 of its present prosperity. 
 
 NATHANIEL K. FAIRBANK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 1VT ATHANIEL K. FAIRBANK was born in 1829, 
 IN at Sodus, Wayne count}', New York, and edu- 
 cated in the public schools of his native town and by 
 private study at home. He is descended from New 
 England stock. 
 
 Apprenticed to a bricklayer at the age of fifteen, 
 he completed his apprenticeship at Rochester, N. Y. 
 Shortly after this he accepted a position as book-keeper 
 in a flouring mill, and at the end of six months became 
 a partner in the business. Attracted by the advan- 
 tages and inducements offered to energetic young men 
 in the rapidly-growing West, he resolved to go thither, 
 and in 1855 removed to Chicago and established him- 
 self in the grain commission business, becoming the 
 western agent of David Dows & Co., of New York, 
 and remained such some ten years. During this time 
 he had become financially interested in the lard and 
 oil-refinery of Smedley, Peck & Co. The business was 
 prosperous for about four years, when a destructive fire 
 occurred, entailing a loss of $50.000. Nothing daunted, 
 in the following year, 1870, however, the firm built the 
 present refinery, situated at tho corner of Eighteenth 
 and Blackwell streets, at a cost of more than $80,000. 
 Some two years later Mr. Smedley sold his interest, and 
 afterward Mr. Peck withdrew from the business, their 
 places being filled by Messrs. W. H. Burnet and Joseph 
 Sears, the firm name changing to N. K. Fairbank & 
 Co., under which name its immense business has since 
 
 been conducted and which has become known throu i h- 
 out the world. 
 
 Mr. Fairbank is a man of broad sympathies and 
 generous public-spiritedness, and intensely practical in 
 his ideas. The present home of the Chicago Club, on 
 Monroe street, was built through his enterprise in 
 1874, when the club was financially and numerically 
 weak, as compared with its condition to-day. Of the 
 $135,000 which the club-house cost, $80,000 was sub- 
 scribed by the members before the building was com- 
 pleted, and the balance of $50,000 was paid by Mr. 
 Fairbank. As a mark of their appreciation of his gen- 
 erosity and executive ability, as well as an expression 
 of their regard for him personally, the members elected 
 him president of the club upon taking possession of the 
 new house- in 1876, and he continued in that office by 
 re-election for thirteen years. Another monument to 
 the enterprise and public spirit of Mr. Fairbank is the 
 Central Music Hall. Chicago's need of such a struc- 
 ture was first suggested by the late George B. Carpen- 
 ter, whose zeal and enthusiasm aroused public interest. 
 But money was needed. The enterprise appealed to 
 the practical judgment of Mr. Fairbank, and although 
 Chicago was but just recovering from the effects of the 
 great fire of 1871, he placed the matter before the cap- 
 italists of the city, and such was his influence that all 
 the stock was quickly subscribed for and the building 
 erected. His contributions to benevolent and charita-
 
 388 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ble objects have also been large and numerous. The 
 Newsboys' Home, which some years ago was heavilv 
 mortgaged, lie helped to release from its burden of 
 indebtedness by getting subscriptions and bv interest- 
 ing those in favored circumstances in its noble work. 
 St. Luke's Hospital also has been the recipient of his 
 beneficence. Seeing the need of a commodious Ijuiid- 
 ing, he headed the subscription list with $25,000, 
 thereby stimulating his many associates to the exercise 
 of a similar zeal. The result was the new hospital 
 building, which is an honor to Chicago. -He has con- 
 tinued to be its true friend and faithful adviser. His 
 private charities have been many, and he has always 
 responded to the demands upon his time and money 
 made by the accredited societies having in charge 
 the relief of distress. In religious faith Mr. Fair- 
 bank has long been a Presbyterian. For manv 
 vears he was connected with the South church, 
 of which Professor Swing was formerly pastor. 
 When the connection of the latter with the Presby- 
 terian church ceased and he" became the leader of an 
 independent church movement, Mr. Fairbank was one 
 o f his most faithful adherents, and entered heartily 
 into the work of organizing the Central church, whose 
 services are held in Central Music Hall and conducted 
 bv Professor Swing. He was one of fifty persons who 
 pledged themselves to make good any deficit of money 
 in carrying on the work of the church, for a period of 
 three years. He has from the first been one of its 
 most prominent supporters and is a member of the 
 board of trustees. 
 
 He has for several years been greatly interested in 
 
 pisciculture, and has done much throughout the West, 
 notably in Illinois and Wisconsin, for the protection and 
 culture of the finny tribe. 
 
 He has been a prominent figure in political affairs 
 so far as they have related to the government of the 
 citv, and has ever been found on the side of those who 
 labored for the promotion of honest principles and 
 clean-handed practices. In literary and social circles 
 he is and has been conspicuous. lie is known for his 
 domestic tasted and love of home life, which finds 
 gratification not only in his elegant home in the citv 
 but in a most beautiful summer residence at Lake 
 Geneva, Wisconsin. 
 
 In 18C6, Mr. Fairbank married Miss Helen L. Gra- 
 ham, of New York. Mrs. Fairbank is; like her husband, 
 prominent in social and charitable affairs, is a woman 
 of superior attainments, and withal devoted to her 
 family, which is an interesting one, consisting of four 
 sons and three daughters. 
 
 In personal appearance, Mr. Fairbank is above the 
 average height, well proportioned and of distinguished 
 appearance. His features betoken firmness, rare intel- 
 lect and great energy, while in manner he is courteous, 
 affable and of a genial nature, gifted as a conversa- 
 tionalist and is an excellent host: 
 
 That Chicago osves much to Nathaniel K. Fairbank 
 is universally conceded. Ills success lias been close! v 
 allied with its prosperity. That success, of which he 
 may well be proud, has not come by accident, but as a 
 result of that sagacity, energy and forethought, asso- 
 ciated with integrity, which usually marks the career 
 of the self-made man. 
 
 FRANCIS LOUIS BURTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 FRANCIS LOUIS BURTON was born at Marmorey, 
 Hastings county, Ont., Ma}' 23, 1857, the son of 
 Arthur and Fannv Burton, who were of Scotch and 
 Irish ' descent. The earliest member of the family 
 coming to this continent was Colonel James Burton, 
 who located in York, Canada, now known as Toronto, 
 in 1790. The great-grandfather of Mr. Burton was 
 one of the founders of the Canadian colony. The. 
 family is noted for the long line of well-known lawyers 
 and jurists it has produced. The present chief-justice 
 of Canada, and the late Hall McAlister of California, 
 both members of this family, are men of national 
 reputation. On the arrival of young Burton in the 
 I'liited States in 1876, he went directly West, living 
 in a number of the territories, mainly Montana, lie 
 came to Chicago July 1C>, ISStf. lie had received a 
 common school education, and while in Montana began 
 the study of law in the olticeof Judge McBride. Prior 
 to this, however, he had been engaged with his father 
 in the lumber business, and later in real estate. He 
 
 was admitted to the bar in 1882. He was prosecuting 
 attorney of Montana for two years, and served two 
 years on the bench. One of his most important cases 
 was as attorney for the Montana strikers in 1886, 
 against the big mining companies, in which case Mr. 
 Burton .won all the points he made, lie was the 
 attorney for the Montana Copper Company in an 
 important case against the great Anaconda Mining 
 Company, and also attorney for the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 Since settling in Chicago he has made a specialty of 
 corporation law, and has been engaged in most of the 
 large corporation suits in this city. lie goes anywhere 
 throughout the country to try cases of this kind, and, 
 although he has had man}* opportunities, hasabsolutely 
 refused to be retained at a salary by any person or 
 corporation in the world, lie prefers to be indepen- 
 dent and count on the common people for his clients. 
 While Mr. l.urton was engaged in the importing and 
 exporting of lumber with his father he visited the old
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 39' 
 
 world frequently, and has circumnavigated the globe. 
 He has visited especially the Oriental countries. 
 
 He was reared in the Presbyterian faith, and in 
 politics has always been a Democrat. He is a member 
 of the Iroquois and Washington Clubs, and of the Cook 
 county Democracy; is a Knight of Pythias and a 
 member of the Oakland and Saracen Clubs. 
 
 Mr. Burton was married Sept. 5, 1891, to Miss 
 Nellie B. Gwin, of Chicago, daughter of an old soldier 
 and a well-known citizen of the State of Illinois, and is 
 a lady of education and accomplishments. Their home 
 is an ideal one. Since coming to Chicago Mr. Burton 
 has spent seven months in traveling through continen- 
 tal countries. 
 
 WILLIAM A. HAMILTON, 
 
 EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM A. HAMILTON was bom in McDon- 
 ougii county, 111., on March 14, 1856. He was the 
 son of George W. and Hannah H. Hamilton, both 
 natives of this country but of Scotch and Scotch- 
 Irish extraction. The first paternal ancestor who 
 came to this country was Robert Hamilton, in about 
 1780. He came from Edinburg and located in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received a common 
 school education in his native county, but came to 
 Chicago in 1873, and in order to prepare himself for* 
 the practice of law he entered the Northwestern Uni- 
 versity at Evanston, from which institution he gradu- 
 ated in 1879. He later studied law with Lyman & 
 Jackson, in this city, and while a student in their office 
 he was acting at the same time as reporter for the 
 Tribune and Inter Ocean, earning in this way sufficient 
 money to support himself while he was preparing for 
 his profession. He was admitted to the bar in J881 
 and practiced law until 1883, when, on account of 
 trouble with his eyes, he was advised to give up further 
 study and take a rest. In accordance with this advice 
 Mr. Hamilton went to Wisconsin, to the then small 
 town of Superior. What time he was able to devote 
 
 to work was taken up by his duties as attorney for the 
 Northern Pacific Railway Company. A little later, 
 having recovered the use of his eyes, he was employed 
 by the Land and River Improvement Company, the 
 corporation which founded the town of West Superior. 
 Part of his work for this company was to examine all 
 the titles to the land on which the town was laid out 
 and supervise its proper platting. 
 
 In 1886 Mr. Hamilton returned to Chicago, where 
 he took up the general practice of law. A Republican 
 in politics, Mr. Hamilton is staunch in the support of 
 his part\ 7 , but he takes no further part in politics than 
 the casting of his ballot. He is a resident of Evans- 
 ton, Chicago's most select and beautiful suburb, and is 
 a member of the Evanston Club, the Country Club 
 and the Boat Club. He is also a member of the Uni- 
 versity Club, of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton confines his practice of law to civil 
 cases almost entirely. His linn was the one which 
 represented Warren Leland in the suit against the city 
 of Chicago to clear the lake front of obstructions, and 
 to compel the removal of the old Exposition building. 
 Though a hard fight, it was gallantly won by Mr. 
 Hamilton's client. 
 
 JOHN E. McKEE, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 
 
 JOHN E. McKEE, son of Addison and Louisa Mc- 
 Kee, was born on a farm, in Sullivan county, Ind. 
 May 27. 1851. He had the ordinary experience of farm- 
 ers' sons, attending the public schools and during vaca- 
 tion helping with the farm work. When his education 
 was completed he wont into a dry goods store as a 
 clerk, at Macon, Missouri, and later was employed in 
 an abstract office, being afterward employed in a simi- 
 lar office at Kirksville, in the same State. 
 
 In the spring of 1876, he went to Edina, Missouri, 
 and there had his first experience in a bank, being 
 employed by the Knox County Savings Bank. In the 
 fall of the same year he returned to Kirksville, where 
 he remained two years -with the Kirksville Savings 
 
 Bank. In the fall of 1878 he entered the employ of 
 the United States Express Co., and in 1S79 came to 
 Kansas City, in the employ of that company, with 
 which he remained until 1880, when he resigned to go 
 with the McCord Nave Mercantile Company, whole- 
 sale grocers, with whom he remained for over seven 
 years. 
 
 At the close of his services with the above com- 
 pany, Mr. McKee entered a branch of the American 
 National Bank, where he was soon promoted to the 
 position of teller, and a very little later was made 
 assistant manager. In February, 18SS, he became 
 manager, which position he held until October, 1890, 
 when he was elected vice-president of the bank. In
 
 392 
 
 PROMINENT AfEJV OF THE GKEAT WEST. 
 
 March, 1891, the bank was reorganized, at which time 
 Mr. McKee was elected cashier, and has continued in 
 that position ever since. 
 
 He has never aspired to political office, believing 
 that politics and business cannot be successfully com- 
 bined in one man. He, however, affiliates with and 
 casts his ballot for and gives his influence to the candi- 
 dates of the Republican party. 
 
 Mr. McKee was married on November 5th, 1890, 
 to Miss Laura M. Stein, of Chicago. 
 
 A shrewd, capable business man, he started in at 
 the bottom of the ladder and has steadily climbed up 
 to his present position. He has hosts of warm personal 
 friends, and is making more each year, by the urbanity 
 of his kindly nature and the strict fairness and honesty 
 of his business methods. 
 
 WILLIAM J. SUTHERLAND, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born November 3, 
 1863, on a farm near Logansport. Ind., being the 
 only son of George C. and Esther Gearhart Sutherland. 
 His ancestors were of Scotch descent and his grand- 
 father, William J. Sutherland, was an early resident of 
 the city of New York, where his father was born, but 
 at an earl} 7 day in the 30's the father and son came 
 west and settled in Indiana, engaging in the flour 
 milling and grocery business. Mr. George C. Suther- 
 land, the father of the subject of this sketch, a few ' 
 years prior to his death, which occurred in 1875, lived 
 on his farm near Logansport. The mother of young 
 Sutherland died when he was but a year old, and his 
 father subsequent!} 7 married Miss Lucinda Lay, of 
 Wabash, Ind. Young Sutherland worked on his 
 father's farm in the summer and in the winter attended 
 the Co'ncord schools, completing his common school 
 education in Logansport at the age of sixteen. 
 
 Upon leaving school Mr. Sutherland became clerk 
 in a grocer} 7 store at Logansport, where he remained 
 four years, when he came to Chicago and entered the 
 service of the Mooney & Boland Detective Agency, a 
 New York agency at that time a quarter of a century 
 old, with a western branch then about to be established 
 in Chicago. For a time he did clerical work in the 
 office, but soon became an active outside worker, and 
 was in due time advanced to the position of assistant 
 superintendent. In 1886 Messrs. Mooney & Boland 
 opened a branch office in Kansas City, and the Chicago 
 superintendent was sent there to take charge, upon 
 which Mr. Sutherland was made superintendent at 
 Chicago. In 1890 the agency was incorporated and 
 Mr. Sutherland was made secretary and manager of 
 the Western division, and in 1891, upon the death of 
 the senior member of the -firm, Mr. James Mooney, he 
 purchased that gentleman's interest in the business, 
 and has since had entire charge of the Western division 
 as general manager. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland is a Mason, having advanced to the 
 Royal Arch degree. He is also a member of the Be- 
 nevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Chicago 
 Athletic, and several other clubs. During his career 
 as an operative in the business in which he is engaged, 
 he has visited nearly every city, town and county seat 
 
 of importance in this country, and traveled extensively 
 abroad. In his religious affiliations he is a Presby- 
 terian; in political matters neutral. 
 
 On Decoration Day, May 30, 1888, Mr. Sutherland 
 was married to Miss D)lly Minnick, of Arlington 
 Heights, 111., daughter of Dr. E. G. Minnick, a retired 
 physician. He resides with his family on Ellis avenue, 
 in a handsome residence erected last year, surrounded 
 by all the comforts of life. Mr. Sutherland is a great 
 lover of good horses and fine dogs, and keeps in his 
 well-appointed stables some specimens of the finest 
 pacing and saddle horses to be found in Chicago and 
 vicinity, while he is the owner of several dogs of the 
 most valuable breeds. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland lias long been an important factor 
 in the making of the Mooney and Boland agency one 
 of the most successful institutions of its kind in the 
 entire country. The testimonial letters from promi- 
 nent parties who have employed the agency in difficult 
 cases, and which are now in the possession of the 
 Western office, are numerous, and many most compli- 
 mentary things have been said by the daily press of 
 Chicago and elsewhere in speaking of its work. 
 Among notable cases handled by the agency may 
 be mentioned the capture, in 1881, after a long chase, 
 of the famous Italian brigand, Esposita, alias Rendozza, 
 in New Orleans, and his extradition and conviction by 
 the Italian government. Also the clever capture and 
 conviction, about the same time, of Charles Becker, 
 who counterfeited successfully the 1000-franc notes of 
 the Bank of France. His plates and entire outfit were 
 also captured. It was also due, to a great extent, to 
 the excellent work of this agency that the notorious 
 ballot-box frauds of Mackin and Gallagher, in this city 
 in 1885, were exposed, and Mackin landed in the peni- 
 tentiary. In the tracing out of the intricate election 
 frauds in Indiana in 1887, perpetrated by Sim Coy and 
 his gang, the Mooney & Boland agency did the work 
 under the direction of Mr. Sutherland. Sim Coy, as is 
 well known, was convicted and punished. In election 
 frauds, this agency has made a notable record of 
 running to ground the guilty; and also in many 
 boodle cases, among which may be quoted the instance 
 when this agency was employed by the citizens' com-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEAT WEST. 
 
 395 
 
 in if. tee to expose and locate the fraudulent practices of 
 the county officials of Chicago in 1SS6. The trial of 
 these cases is well remembered in this city, and resulted 
 in the sending to the penitentiary of several county 
 commissioners and officials. 
 
 The agency \vas presented, in recognition of this 
 valuable service, with a letter of commendation for 
 their able and energetic work in this particular case 
 by ex-Judge Julius S. Grinnell, at that time State's 
 attorney. 
 
 A multitude of cases might be cited illustrative of 
 the excellent service and work accomplished by this 
 great agency. A notable case of more recent date was 
 the running down and capture of Grimshaw, the train 
 wrecker, who early in 1393 wrecked the passenger 
 
 train on the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad, and 
 who was sent to the Michigan penitentiary for fifteen 
 years. Mr. Sutherland has ol'ten been commended, for 
 his successful work by judges of the Federal and State 
 courts, law officials and business men throughout this 
 and foreign countries. In personal appearance Mr. 
 Sutherland is a man who would attract attention 
 among a multitude. Over six feet in height, well- 
 proportioned, of magnificent physique, with dark hair 
 and beard, a penetrating, yet kind eye, looks out upon 
 one with commanding, yet winning force. That he is 
 very popular among his friends, and that he enjoys the 
 esteem of all his acqua ntances is the natural outcome 
 of such characteristics as Mr Sutherland is known to 
 possess. 
 
 CHANDLER S. REDFIELD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CHANDLER S. REDFIELD, son of Beriah and 
 Cornelia N. (Parkinson) Redfield, was born at 
 Clvde, Wayne county, N. Y., on the 2nd of April, 
 1842. His father was engaged in mercantile business 
 at Clyde until 1845, when he removed to Homer; Michi- 
 gan, where he engaged in the same business and also 
 was a miller and farmer. lie was still engaged in these 
 lines of business at the time of his death, which took 
 place in 1857, the year of the panic. Young Redfield 
 had graduated from the public schools and at the time 
 of his father's death was attending Homer Academy, 
 but being then the oldest son at home was compelled 
 to leave school and take charge of the farm in order to 
 support the family, the panic having swept all of his 
 father's other possessions away. He continued to do 
 this until September 7, 1861, when he left the farm 
 and hastened to his country's defence, enlisting as a 
 private in Company "M" 2nd Regiment, Michigan 
 Cavalry. He served with this regiment until he was 
 sent to the hospital at New Albany, Ind., in 1862. In 
 1863 he was promoted, being made hospital steward IT. 
 S. A. and assigned to duty with Surgeon Thomas W 
 I'Yv, superintendent of general hospitals at New Albany 
 and Jeffersonville, Ind , and at Louisville, Kentucky .as 
 chief clerk. He retained this position until the close 
 of the war. and was then assigned to duty as chief 
 clerk to Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Humphrey, medical 
 inspector, but resigned December 20, 1865, and went 
 home. 
 
 In the spring of 1866, he came to Chicago, remain- 
 ing about two months, when he started out for Omaha. 
 Nebraska, going across Iowa by stage. On arrival at 
 Omaha, he secured employment on the grading of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad, holding a scraper, but worked 
 at it only about two months, when he applied for and 
 received a clerkship with the quarter-master at Fort 
 Kearney. This he retained until the latter part of 
 
 November, when he resigned and returned to Omaha, 
 there securing a position as book-keeper and cashier 
 with the wholesale dry goods house of S. and A. B. 
 Saunders. In 1868, he "was appointed State agent of 
 the New York Life Insurance Company for Nebraska, 
 and about the same time, though not a candidate and 
 not wanting the office, he, at the earnest solicitation of 
 the managers of the Republican party, accepted the 
 office of justice of the peace. 
 
 During the years 1871 and 1872, he was the special 
 agent of the New York Life Insurance Company, and 
 traveled over the Western States in that capacity until 
 1873, when he' resigned and came to Chicago, opening 
 a real-estate and insurance office at Englewood in 
 September of that year, where he still carries on the 
 business, though it has long since outgrown Engle 
 wood, now covering almost the entire city. 
 
 In 1888, he formed a syndicate and purchased the 
 property at 79ih and Wallace streets, known as Auburn 
 Park, laid out the streets and improved, the property 5 
 managing it until the last foot was sold. He also 
 organized syndicates which have bought and improved 
 several large tracts of land at Evanston and has him- 
 self built a large number of houses. He held the 
 office of assessor of the town of Lake (now a part of 
 Chicago) 'for the four years including 1878 and 1881, 
 and during the years 1880 and 1881 he was president 
 of that town's board of trustees. 
 
 Mr. Redfield is a life member of Auburn Park 
 Lodge, 789, A. F. <fc A. M.; of Englewood Chapter 
 R. A- M.; of Englewood Commandery K. T.; of the 
 Royal Arcanum, of the Loyal League of Englewood, 
 and of George C. Mead Post G. A. R. His travels 
 have been confined to the United States and Canada, 
 in which countries he has been in every State and 
 Territory. 
 
 He was married on the 22d day of May, 1875, to
 
 39 6 
 
 Miss Maria J. Quigley of A'ew Albany, Ind. They 
 have three children, t\vo daughters and one son. 
 
 Chandler S. Redfield is not only a self-made man, 
 but has made his way through singularly difficult 
 circumstances, having at the outset had to think 
 of the welfare of others before taking any heed of 
 his own. 
 
 Removed from school by untoward circumstances,at 
 the early age of fifteen, we find him hard at work for 
 the support of his widowed mother and of his younger 
 brothers and sisters. This duty he performed nobly, and 
 when he was no longer so much needed, he responded 
 at once to his countrv's call to arms and went to her 
 defense on the field of battle. At the close of the war 
 he found himself but little better off than when he left 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 home, and then began the battle from which he has 
 emerged so victoriously. That lie is made of the right 
 kind of material is manifest by his first experience at 
 Omaha, where, not finding suitable employment he, 
 instead of remaining idle, took work not in the least 
 congenial, and earned his bread literally by the sweat 
 of his brow, until he had an opportunity to find em- 
 ployment better suited to his ability. Since then his 
 advancement has been rapid and steady, and his present 
 position is due alone to his industrious habits and 
 strict business integrity. Of broad and liberal opinions 
 on all subjects, he has hosts of friends who delight to do 
 him honor, and his kindly nature and his strict fairness 
 in all business transactions are constantly making 
 additions to the list. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON STONE, 
 
 SIOWX CITY, IOWA. 
 
 THOMAS J. STONE, one of Sioux City's most 
 prominent citizens, banker, capitalist and finan- 
 cier, was born at Royalton, Niagara county, N. Y., 
 August 13, 1825, his parents being Isaiah P. and 
 Mercy (Sawyer) Stone. 
 
 Young Stone worked upon his father's farm until 
 he was fifteen years of age, attending the district 
 school three or four months each year. He then went 
 to Oberlin College with the intention of taking a full 
 course, but while in the freshman year his health 
 failed and he abandoned his intention of prosecuting 
 his studies further, except at the high school at Mt. 
 Vernon, O. He then came farther west and spent 
 some time in surveying in Wisconsin and Iowa, pur- 
 suing this business at times until 1856. During this 
 period he spent four years in the office of the treasurer 
 of Linn county, la., going into the field occasionally 
 with chain and compass and doing considerable gov- 
 ernment surveying. . For a short time before leaving 
 Marion, the county seat of Linn county, he was in the 
 banking business with other parties, the firm being 
 Smyth, Stone fe Co. In May, 1856, Mr. Stone removed 
 to Sioux City and engaged largely in the real estate 
 business, continuing it up to 1874. For many years he 
 paid taxes for over one thousand persons, and did 
 more, as land agent and otherwise, in entering up the 
 government lands in northwestern Iowa than any 
 other man. During the earl\ T part of his residence 
 there he was a clerk in the county treasurer's office, 
 and was very careful and efficient in this work, as in 
 everything else to which he has put his hands. In 
 1867, Mr. Stone opened a private bank in connection 
 with his land operations, and continued it for three 
 years; then, in 1870, he organized the First National 
 Bank, and for a number of years was its cashier. 
 
 For a number of years Mr. Stone has paid little at- 
 tention to real estate, giving his undivided attention 
 
 and energies to the bank, which is a very popular in- 
 stitution, and to his various other interests, he being 
 the owner of inside real estate in every part of the city, 
 including a number of the best business buildings. In 
 1861 Mr. Stone was elected treasurer and recorder of 
 Woodbury county, holding that double office for three 
 years, and then the office of treasurer alone for some 
 length of time. Mr. Stone, besides being the president 
 and a heavy stockholder in the First National bank, is 
 also president of the Sioux City Savings bank, and a 
 director in the Merchants National bank. 
 
 On May 12, 1852, he married Miss Alice A. Heath- 
 cote, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. She died in 1882. In 
 1886 he married Mrs. Frances A. Flint, a lady of dis- 
 tinguished devotion to charitable work, and remem- 
 bered in connection with the establishment and main- 
 tenance of the Samaritan Home, of Sioux City. After 
 a brief and felicitous life together, Mrs. Stone died 
 on June 29, 1891. 
 
 Recently Mr. Thomas J. Stone was again married, 
 to Mrs. Emma Hedges at Cleveland, Ohio, and the\ f 
 now reside in their beautiful home in Sioux City. Mrs. 
 Hedges was for a time a resident of Sioux City, where 
 she was a teacher in the public schools for several years, 
 and to her is due much of the credit for the high repu- 
 tation of the schools there. She is a noble Christian 
 woman, active in church and all charitable work, and 
 deservedly enjoys the love and respect of a large circle 
 of friends. 
 
 Mr. Stone is emphatically a business man. lie has 
 done clean, thorough and honest work all his life, and 
 his friends accumulate with years. He has taken the 
 best of care of himself, and the burdens and troubles of 
 life have not left their mark upon his tall and sym- 
 metrical figure. 
 
 Mr. Stone is a regular attendant of the Congrega- 
 tional church. He has held no political office for many

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CSEA T WEST. 
 
 399 
 
 years, and has not been identified with any of the 
 political movements in an active way, but uniformly 
 votes with the Republican party. His business policy 
 is extremely conservative. He has devoted himself 
 systematically to the administration of his ever- 
 increasing business affairs. His wealth is all invested 
 in absolutely safe property, bank stock and inside real 
 estate. In the accumulation of his extensive real estate 
 holdings, he seems to have followed the Astor principle 
 of obtaining control of as much ground as possible, and 
 never permitting a property once acquired to go outside 
 
 of thp. family. He is remarkably hale and active, and 
 is at his office every day, transacting business, as he has 
 done for years. Edgar H. Stone, his son, is recognized 
 as one of the brightest of the younger business men of 
 Sioux City. He is a Yale graduate, and now fills the 
 position of cashier in the First National bank of Sioux 
 City, and great things are predicted for him in the 
 future. His wife is a very accomplished woman, and 
 and is quite prominent in society. Mr. Stone's daughter 
 is now the wife of Geo. P. Day, cashier of the Merch- 
 ants' National Bank at Sioux City.- 
 
 EMANUEL ROTHSCHILD, 
 
 CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. 
 
 EMANUEL EOTHSCHILD, son of Moses and 
 Augusta Rothschild, was born in Nordsletten, 
 in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, in 1838. His 
 father, Moses Rothschild, was a country merchant in 
 this village for over forty years, with a clean business 
 record. His mother, Augusta Rothschild, was from 
 Eppingen, Baden, from a wealthy family of .high 
 standing. Young Rothschild's early education was in 
 the village of Nordstetten. 
 
 He came to this country alone in the '60's and 
 clerked in Dixon, III., for six months at first, and 
 from there went to Memphis, Tenn. He was there 
 until the war broke out, and was compelled to leave or 
 go into the rebel army. From Memphis he came back 
 to Rock Island, 111., and served as clerk there for six 
 months; from there to Davenport, Iowa, and was a 
 clerk in one house there until he started in business for 
 himself, in 1865. He was afterward joined by his 
 brothers in Davenport, and they carried on a very suc- 
 cessful retail business for many years. In 1872, right 
 after the fire, they started a branch retail store in 
 Chicago, and continued it until 1875, when they turned 
 it into a wholesale business exclusively, and in which 
 they are now engaged, having gained much prominence. 
 
 As a young man Mr. Rothschild was brought up 
 very religiously in the Jewish faith. Since leaving 
 home, however, his ideas have broadened, and he has 
 become quite liberal in his religious views, believing 
 that to be an upright, honorable and honest man is the 
 all-important and most necessary view to take of life. 
 He has never taken any active part in politics, but 
 votes for an honest government, at all times opposing 
 the party in whose ranks corruption has insinuated 
 itself. His political sympathies, however, are with tlm 
 Republican party. He has always been an active, 
 strong, healthy man, never having been sick a month 
 in his life. This is doubtless due, in a great measure, 
 to horse-back riding, his favorite means of recreation. 
 
 Mr. Rothschild is a member of the Standard Club 
 of this city. He was married in 1873, to Miss Flora 
 Hackee, of New York city, In 1885 they spent some 
 time in Europe, traveling through England, France, 
 Germany and Holland, and visited many points of 
 interest. He has since been to Europe again. In 
 appearance Mr. Rothschild is of medium height, and 
 of pleasing and agreeable manners. He has many 
 friends and is rated as one of Chicago's best business 
 men. 
 
 PATRICK HENRY WELCH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DATRICK IT. WELCH, son of Martin and Hannah 
 (Hinnegan) Welch, both natives of Sligo, Ireland, 
 was born July 22, 1858, at Waupun, Wis. He was 
 educated in the common schools of his native town, but 
 his mind earlv turned to the desire for higher educa- 
 tion, and. in order to prepare himself and find the 
 means to del'iay the expenses of a course in college, he 
 left his native college and made his way to the large 
 and'growing city of Chicago, while yet in his teens, in 
 1872. Here he obtained employment in a dental office, 
 
 and it was while here that he conceived a liking for the 
 profession and formed the determination to fit himself 
 for practice of its principles in the city of his adoption. 
 He accordingly entered the Chicago Dental College 
 in 1888, and after a three years' course graduated in 
 1891, after which he opened an office for practice in the 
 Haymarket Theatre building, where he has attained a 
 marked degree of success in the dental world. He is an 
 active and influential member of the Odontographic 
 and the Chicago Dental Societies, the largest societies
 
 4OO 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 of their character in the West, and also of the -Sigma 
 Delta Fraternitv. the Knights of Pvthias and the Roval 
 
 *. ' - *. 
 
 Arcanum. 
 
 Dr. Welch has traveled extensively in this countrv 
 and in Mexico, having spent many months in that coun- 
 try and "the State of California. He has profited much 
 by his journeyings, is a man well-versed in the beauties 
 and resources of this country, and is of the opinion that 
 a man cannot become a thorough American until his 
 spirit of patriotism has been aroused by the knowledge 
 and insight which travel and study into the vast extent 
 and resources of his own country bring. 
 
 In religious belief Dr. Welch is a Roman Catholic. 
 Although he never actively takes part in political 
 affairs, further than the casting of his ballot, he is a 
 Demociat who firmly believes in democracy, and one 
 who has always had the furtherance of its principles in 
 view. 
 
 A man slightly above medium height, with a well 
 developed physique, and of fine personal appearance; 
 lie is one who makes friends of all with whom he comes 
 in contact, whether it be socially or otherwise. Dr. 
 Welch has from youth been extremely fond of ath- 
 letic sports of all kinds, and especially of the national 
 game of base ball. He is notably of a genial and 
 kindly temperament, and one who unconsciously 
 impresses those whom he meets with the extent and 
 worth of his knowledge upon subjects to which he has 
 devoted thought or study. It is tins quality, perhaps, 
 more than any other, which places this gentleman, both 
 young in years and in his profession, in the position 
 which he so ably fills in the dental practice of Chicago. 
 Not yet having reached that stage of life termed 
 " prime," his many friends look forward to his future 
 career as one of continued success and well merited 
 prosperity. 
 
 JOHN F. EBERHART. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN FREDERICK EBERHART, son of Abra- 
 ham and Esther (Amand) Eberhart, was born in 
 Hickory township. Mercer country, Penn., on the 21st of 
 January, 1829. His father was one of the early set- 
 tlers of Mercer county, locating there in 1821, and was 
 the builder of the first saw mill in the county. The 
 first eight years of his life were spent on his father's 
 farm in his native county, and afterwards at Big Bend, 
 in Venango count}'. Here young Eberhart attended 
 the district school in the winter and aided his father 
 on the farm during the summer until' his sixteenth 
 vear, when he commenced teaching school. His first 
 school was at the mouth of Oil Creek, where Oil City 
 now stands, and Ins salary for his term was $8.50 per 
 month with the privileire of " boarding around " at the 
 homes of his pupils. During the following summer he 
 took lessons in writing, drawing and pen and ink 
 flourishing, and as soon as his course was finished 
 taught these branches in the neighboring towns and 
 villages. He then attended Cottage Hill Academy 
 at Ellsworth, Ohio, for two -terms, after which 
 he entered Alleghany College in the spring of 
 1849, from which institution he graduated on the 
 2d of July, 1852, having paid his way by teaching 
 in the spring and fall, and working in the harvest 
 fields during the summer. Thus he developed both 
 his physical and his mental powers, and though most 
 attention -was paid to the latter, it is related that at 
 one time he was able to lift the 900-pound brass 
 cannon" at the Meadville (Penn.) arsenal, which was 
 presented to the State by General La Fa-yette. 
 
 On the 1st of September, 1852, Mr. Eberhart 
 entered upon his duties as principal of the Albright 
 Seminary at Berlin, Somerset county, Penn., which 
 
 was the first educational institution founded in Penn- 
 sylvania by the Evangelical Association. At this time 
 Mr. Eberhart, fully intended to make teaching his life 
 wor-k, and in his chosen calling he zealously worked 
 both night and day for two years; when rapidly fail- 
 ing health forced him to give up his position, and as 
 his physicians gave him only about six months longer 
 to live, he abandoned all his long cherished plans, and 
 cameAVest, not knowing whether life or death awaited 
 him. 
 
 He arrived in Chicago on the loth of April, 1855, 
 and after a short stay went to Dixon, 111., hoping to 
 recuperate. Here the change of climate and his 
 mental rest soon gave renewed hopes of life, and 
 during part of the time he edited and published the 
 Dixon Transcript. Not liking the local political tenor 
 of the paper he soon disposed of it, and during the 
 winter of 1855-6, he having gained much better 
 health, delivered courses of scientific lectures before 
 various institutions of learning. These lectures, in 
 which Mr. Eberhart made use of illustrating appa- 
 ratus, soon became very popular, and drew large 
 audiences. 
 
 After finishing his lecturing tour, Mr. Eberhart 
 spent a year traveling in the interests of Ivison & 
 Phinney and of A. S. Barnes & Co., two New York 
 publishing houses, but at the end of that time he 
 resigned his position to establish the JVo>1/< i('i>#t<-m 
 Home and School Journal, of Chicago, which, during 
 the succeeding three years he edited and published, 
 besides spending much of his time in establishing and 
 conducting teachers' institutes and lecturing on the sub- 
 ject of education throughout the States of Iowa, Wis- 
 consin and Illinois. He thoroughly enjoyed this work,

 
 rKOMI\'F.KT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 403 
 
 as it gave him, besides a valuable experience, a much 
 larger acquaintance with men engaged in educational 
 work. and assisted him materially in forming and perfect- 
 ing his views on educational topics. In the fall of 1859 he 
 was elected school commissioner of Cook county, which 
 was at that time only a business and commission office, 
 new to the people, -little understood, and its labors but 
 little appreciated by the people of the county. Through 
 the efforts of Mr. Eberhart. efficiently aided by Hon. 
 Newton Bateman, State superintendent of public 
 instruction, the office was changed to that of county 
 superintendent of public schools, and for the succeeding 
 ten years he performed the duties of that office. He 
 found the scliouls in an absolutely neglected condition, 
 but bringing to bear his energy and ability he wrought 
 a great change boih in the condition of the schools and 
 in public opinion. At stated intervals he visited every 
 school in the county, and conferred personally with 
 teachers and directors. He organized the Cook County 
 Teachers' Institute, which is still in existence and in a 
 flourishing condition, and exerted himself in many 
 _ other ways to inspire and encourage teachers and school 
 boards to greater efforts. Finding that qualified 
 teachers were scarce and hard to get in the county, 
 Mr. Eberhart set about establishing a school for the" 
 purpose of qualifying teachers, and commenced advo 
 eating a county normal school. In this for along time 
 he experienced nothing but opposition, but the persistent 
 agitation kept up year alter year at last was successful 
 and the county board of supervisors made the neces- 
 sary appropriation, and opened a school at Blue Island 
 in September, 1867. It commenced with an enrollment 
 of thirty-two pupilsand under the able management of 
 its principal, the late D. S. Wentworth, made marked 
 progress and from the first its success was assured. Mr. 
 Eberhart has always taken great pride in this school, 
 which owed its birth to his zeal and able work, and 
 during his term of office he devoted much of his time 
 to it. The school was later removed to Normal Park 
 and has to-day many pupils from outside counties and 
 from other States. 
 
 Since his boyhood days, when he first attempted 
 teaching in Pennsylvania, the cause of public education 
 has had a warm friend and devoted worker in Mr. Eber- 
 hart, and it was indeed fortunate that Cook countv 
 secured the services of a man who to such an extent 
 and at such a time had the welfare of this important 
 work at heart. His zeal in his younger days to serve 
 the world as an educator was such that, when sickness 
 unfitted him for work in the school room proper, as a 
 teacher, he turned his efforts into the broader channels 
 of teaching the teachers through his educational pub- 
 lications and the lecture platform, finally takinf the 
 
 f O 
 
 position of superintendent of schools and giving it his 
 personal attention for many vears. The work he has 
 done in the State of Illinois in the way of organizing 
 teachers' institutes, establishing district school libra- 
 ries, introducing the union grade system of schools into 
 many of the towns and cities of the State, and secur- 
 
 ing needed amendments to the school law, can not 
 easily be estimated. 
 
 Thirty years ago there were but few teachers in the 
 State that did not know Mr. Eberhart. He was one 
 of the organizers of the Illinois State Teachers' Asso- 
 ciation,assisted in founding the State Normal University 
 at Bfoomington, and to his special efforts may be 
 attributed the passage by the State Legislature of the 
 act authorizing counties to establish normal schools. 
 He was the principal mover in the formation of the 
 State association of county superintendents, and was 
 its first president. He was also an early member of the 
 American Institute of Instruction, and one of the first 
 life members of the National Teachers' Association, 
 As president of the Cook county board of education 
 he was the means of introducing the kindergarten sys- 
 tem into the Cook County Normal School; and also 
 aided in establishing the "free kindergarten" schools in 
 the citv. At various times in his life he has declined 
 important professorships, and to fill the president's 
 chair in prominent institutions of learning, believing 
 his health not suited for that line of educational 
 work 
 
 After twenty years of educational labor he turned 
 his attention to business, employing the same executive 
 ability and forecast which characterized his profes- 
 sional career, and in this he has also been exceptionally 
 successful, having acquired a large amount of realty, 
 and to-day is one of Chicago's wealthy men. His first 
 venture in real estate was in 1860, when he bought one 
 and a quarter acres on Larrabee street, near Ftillerton 
 avenue, where the Lincoln school now stands. For 
 this he paid $1.600, and sold it two years later for 
 $6,500. His transactions have been many and varied, 
 and he has held the ownership of nearly two thousand 
 acres of lots and lands within the present city limits, 
 some of it among the most valuable of Chicago busi- 
 ness and residence property. 
 
 His charity and sympathy can always be enlisted 
 in every worthy effort looking toward the ameliora- 
 tion of the woes and burdens of humanity and the 
 dissipation of ignorance and misery. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Eberhart was an early Republican 
 and hater of human slavery, and has ever taken an 
 active interest in clean politics, with no personal desire 
 for political honors. 
 
 In religions belief he was bred a Methodist, but has 
 always been a man of broad humanitarian views, and 
 is now a prominent member of the People's Church, 
 whose pastor, Rev. II. \V. Thomas, was formerly his 
 pupil, and was by him first induced to take work in 
 this city. Very naturally, they are close personal 
 friends. 
 
 He was married on 'Christmas evening, 1S64-, to 
 Miss Matilda Charity Miller, daughter of the late Jo- 
 seph C. Miller, of Chicago, who came to this country 
 from Toronto, Canada, when she was a year old. She 
 is a lady of refinement and intelligence, who worthily 
 assists her husband in his charitable work. They have
 
 404 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 four children living, the eldest of whom, John J. Eber- 
 hart, is his father's partner in business. 
 
 Mr. Eberhart is a man of fine general culture, has a 
 well selected library, is a great student, a good public 
 speaker, an acute metaphysician and a strong debater, 
 and there are few philosophies, theories or activities in 
 life that he has not studied and has not formed ma- 
 tured views upon. He is withal an extensive home 
 traveler, hunter and fisherman, and there are few 
 places in North America, either wild or inhabited, that 
 he has not visited and explored. 
 
 In his business and social intercourse he is genial 
 and cordial in his inanners; and liis sincerity, kindness 
 and uniform courtesy have endeared him to his friends, 
 who often seek him for advice; and he easily receives 
 the respect and confidence of all who know him. He 
 well deserves the title that has been applied to him,, 
 viz: li The father of Cook County Public Schools." 
 For many years he devoted almost all of his time to 
 the interests of the schools of Cook county, and their 
 prosperous and flourishing condition to-day is largely 
 due to his early efforts. 
 
 JAMES MONROE FLOWER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 1 AMES MONEOE FLOWER was born in Hannibal, 
 J Oswego county, N. Y., March 10th, 1835. On his 
 father's side he is a direct descendant from Lamrock 
 Flower, who was a grandson of Sir William Flower, of 
 Whitwell, England, and who settled at Hartford, 
 Conn., about 1680. Major Lamrock Flower, a grand- 
 son of Lamrock Flower, of Hartford, and the great- 
 great-grandfather of James M. Flower, removed to 
 Ashfield, Mass., and was one of the earliest settlers of 
 that place. The present Flower family of the United 
 States are mostly descendants of Lamrock Flower, of 
 Hartford ; Governor Roswell P. Flower, of New York 
 being among the most notable. On his mother's side, 
 James Monroe Flower is a direct descendant of Deacon 
 Nicholas Phillips, of Weymouth, Mass., who settled in 
 this country about 1635, and also of Richard Ellis and 
 Thomas Phillips, who were the first two settlers of 
 Ashfield. John Ellis, a son of Richard, and a great- 
 great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a 
 lieutenant in the Continental Army, and served during 
 the entire war of the Revolution. 
 
 Calvin Flower and Hannah Phillips Flower, the 
 father and mother of the subject of this biography, 
 were born and married at Ashfield, Mass., but when 
 James, the eldest son, was nine years old they 
 removed to Sun Prairie. Dane county, Wis., where the 
 father still resides upon the tract of -land purchased by 
 him of the government in 1844. 
 
 James M. Flower was fitted for college in the pre- 
 paratory school of the Wisconsin University, entering 
 on the day it opened, February 5th, 1849, and gradu- 
 ating in its second class in July, 1852. He entered 
 the University the next fall and was graduated with 
 high honors in 1856, having taught school two winters 
 during that time to assist in defraying the expenses of 
 his college course. 
 
 Soon after graduating he was appointed deputy clerk 
 of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and afterwards chief 
 clerk of the commission to revise the Wisconsin 
 statutes. What he earned in these two positions 
 enabled him to enterthe Albany, N. Y.,Law School from 
 
 which he graduated in 1859. Within a year after 
 leaving the law school he became a member of the law 
 firm of A bboit. Gregory & Pinney, then the leading 
 one in Madison, the firm being afterwards known as 
 Abbott. Gregory, Pinney & Flower. The Mr. Pinney 
 of that firm \vas afterwards elected judge of the Wis- 
 consin Supreme Court, and his masterl-v opinion in the 
 the first gerrymander case brought him into national 
 prominence. Mr. Flower left the firm to become a 
 member of the firm of Stevens, Lewis & 
 Flower, afterwards Stevens, Flower & Morris, but 
 in 1873 he was urged to remove to Chicago and form a 
 connection with H. W. and D. K. Tenney, which he 
 did, the firm being known as Tenne\ T , Flower & Aber. 
 crombie. This firm very soon became the leading 
 commercial law firm in the city, and continued with 
 more or less variation in its personnel until July 1, 
 1889, when the present firm of Flower, Smith & Mus- 
 grave was formed. This firm has likewise achieved 
 great success, and though commercial law is its spec- 
 ialty, the number and differing characteristics of its 
 members enable it to handle business of almost any des- 
 cription that may be intrusted to it. Among Mr. 
 Flower's partners have been some of the leading 
 lawyers of the cit}', one of these being S. S. Gregory, 
 the son of one of Mr. Flower's old partners in 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 Since removing to Chicago Mr. Flower has been 
 connected with some of the most important cases that 
 have been before the courts. In 1878 he was appointed 
 receiver for the German National Bank, handling its 
 affairs so well as to be enabled to pay its creditors one 
 hundred cents on the dollar. His firm was also counsel 
 for the assignee of the Republic Fire Insurance com- 
 pany, whose liabilities of over a million were paid in 
 full by assessments collected from over twenty-five 
 hundred stockholders, living in seventeen different 
 States. In connection with Judge Beckwith he suc- 
 cessfully represented a large number of stockholders of 
 the Republic Life Insurance company, against whom 
 the receiver sought to establish an alleged liability of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 407 
 
 over $1,500,000 upon unpaid subscriptions to its capital 
 stock. He also took an active part as counsel for some 
 of the large stockholders of the Northwestern Manu- 
 facturing and Car company, of Still water, Minn., in 
 suits involving the assets and liabilities of that cor- 
 poration, and to a considerable extent the good faith of 
 
 its management. 
 
 Mr. Flower is not a specialist in any department of 
 law. lie is essentially a court lawyer and enjoys 
 arguing a case before a court rather than the trial of a 
 jury case, but, like the best of lawyers everywhere, he 
 believes that in many cases it is far better to harmonize 
 opposing interests than to enter upon a long and 
 doubtful legal contest, and he can always be depended 
 upon to advise such a course when desirable, even 
 though the legal contest would be productive of much 
 greater pecuniar}' advantage to himself. He is a most 
 successful negotiator, and when lie decides that com- 
 promise is best, rarely fails to accomplish his end and 
 to obtain satisfactory results. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Flower possesses as many of the 
 qualities which inspire confidence and command respect 
 as any one whom the writer has ever known. He is a 
 quiet, reserved man, cares very little for social life, is 
 devoted to his profession and spends his leisure time 
 chiefly in general reading at his own home. He is very 
 kindly in his disposition and never fails to respond, if 
 possible, to calls for assistance, either pecuniary or 
 professional. Since living in Chicago he has done as 
 
 much legal work without compensation, probablv, as 
 any man in the city, and many women in trouble about 
 their financial affairs have depended on him for the care 
 and protection of their interests for years. This help of 
 both time and money has always been rendered freelv 
 and ungrudgingly. Mr. Flower is a member 'of the 
 Chicago, State, and American Bar Associations and was 
 for two years the Illinois representative in the general 
 council of the latter. He is also a member of the 
 Union League, of Chicago, and of the Union and Wash- 
 ington Park Clubs, though he rarely attends any ex- 
 cept for the purpose of entertaining guests from out of 
 the city. 
 
 Mr. Flower was married on September 4, 1862, to 
 Lucy L. Coues, daughter of S. E. Coues, the well- 
 known anti-slavery and temperance advocate of Ports- 
 mouth, N. H. They have three children, two of whom 
 are married, and the youngest of whom graduated 
 from the Harvard University in June 1893, and is 
 now studying law, hoping to follow in his father's 
 footsteps. 
 
 Mrs. Flower, since her children have ceased to re- 
 quire her care, lias been an active worker in educational 
 and philanthropic movements. She has been president 
 of the Chicago Woman's Club; president for many 
 years of the Illinois Training School for Nurses, which 
 she helped to establish; a member of the board of man- 
 agers of the Home for the Friendless, and was the third 
 woman appointed to the Chicago board of education. 
 
 FERNAND HENROTIN, M. D. ( 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography, a native of Brussels,. 
 Belgium, was born in 1848, and is one of a family 
 of nine children. He is the son of Joseph F. and 
 Adele Henrotin (nee Kinson) both of whom were Bel- 
 gians. The father was a promiment and successful 
 physician. He immigrated to the United States with his 
 family in 1848, and settled in Chicago, where he was 
 known as the " French Doctor." He was a familiar 
 figure and rendered most valuable service during the 
 cholera epidemic, and continued in practice until his 
 death in 1875. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject lived to 
 the advanced age of ninety -six years, and for seventy- 
 five years was a practicing physician. Harry Henrotin, 
 the oldest brother of our subject, belonged to Taylor's 
 battery, and was killed at the siege of Vicksburg dur- 
 ing the war of the Rebellion. Charles Henrotin, an- 
 other brother, is one of the leading and successful men 
 of Chicago. He is Belgian consul, also Turkish consul, 
 and is one of the three men in Chicago who have been 
 honored with decorations from foreign sovereigns in 
 recognition of valuable reports. A third brother, 
 Victor Henrotin, is a coffee merchant at Havre, France. 
 
 Adolph Henrotin, the fourth brother, resides in Chi- 
 cago as do also the four sisters, three of whom are 
 married. 
 
 His father having settled in Chicago the same year 
 that Fernand was born, he has grown up with the city 
 and is, in every sense, a Chicago man. He was edu- 
 cated in the common and high schools of Chicago, and 
 having decided to enter the medical profession, pur- 
 sued a thorough course of study in Rush Medical Col- 
 lege, graduating in February, 1869, being then twenty- 
 one years of age. He at once established himself in 
 his profession, and for twenty-five years has been con- 
 tinuously in practice. Dr. Henrotin has been known 
 as a man of distinctive ideas, touching all matters per- 
 taining to his profession, skillful, energetic and con- 
 scientious. He soon came into prominence, and in 
 1872 and '73 held the office of county physician, which 
 was but the beginning of a series of public professional 
 positions he has held and filled with eminent success in 
 connection with his constantly growing practice. He 
 was for some eight years on the staff of attending 
 physicians at the Cook county hospital, for eight years 
 surgeon of the Alexian Brothers' hospital, surgeon of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT (VEST. 
 
 the Chicago police department for twelve years and for 
 the last seventeen years surgeon of the Chicago (ire de- 
 parlment. Dr. Ilenrotin is professor of diseases of 
 women in the Chicago Polyclinic, is fl, member of the 
 Chicago Medical Society, president of the Chicago 
 Gynaecological Society and secretary-general for 
 America of the International Congress of Obstetrics 
 and Gynaecology. 
 
 He is a member of the Union Club, but owing to the 
 urgent demands of his extensive practice, which ranks 
 among the largest as well as the most lucrative of any 
 physician in Chicago, he finds little time for club life 
 or social enjoyment outside of his own family. 
 
 In political sentiment. Dr. Henrotin, though a 
 Democrat, is non-partisan, and in casting his ballot 
 votes in favor of what he believes to be right princi- 
 ples and the men whom he believes will support them, 
 regardless of party affiliations. 
 
 The doctor was married in the spring of 1873 to 
 Miss Emily B Trussing, a daughter of Mr. Charles G. 
 
 Trussing, one of the early settlers of Chicago. Mrs. 
 Ilenrotin is a woman of artistic tastes, and is known 
 among her acquaintances as an amateur painter of 
 extraordinary ability. She is a woman of many per- 
 sonal charms, hospitable to her friends, and in nothing 
 takes greater delight than jn making- it beautiful and 
 full of good cheer. 
 
 Personally, Dr. Ilenrotin is a man of most estima- 
 ble qualities. Added to his fine physical proportions 
 and rugged constitution are qualities of heart anil mind 
 of a high order. Warmhearted, generous to a fault, 
 high-minded, conscientious and genial, lie is the center 
 of a large circle of close friends and acquaintances,, 
 who honor and esteem him for his many manly virtues 
 and genuine worth. In spite of his arduous labors he 
 lias found lime to write a number of monographs on 
 intestinal and uterine surgery, which have attracted 
 attention and gained him a more than local repute. In 
 New York, Philadelphia and other medical centers his 
 name is familiar and his friends numerous. 
 
 FRANKLIN WOODBURY FISK. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 FRANKLIN WOODBURY FISK. son of Ebenezer 
 and Hannah Cogswell (Proctor) Fisk, was born in 
 Plopkinton, New Hampshire, February 1C, 1820. On 
 his father's side his lineage is traceable to Symond 
 Fisk, Lord of the Manor of Stradhaugh, Parish of Lax 
 field, county of Suffolk. England, who lived in the 
 reigns of Henry IV and V (from A. D. 1399 to 1422). 
 His mother was descended from an excellent family. 
 Her father was John Proctor, Esquire, of Henniker, 
 N. II. Her grandfather purchased in an early day a 
 large estate in land that projected into the ocean, 
 opposite the village of Manchester, Mass., of which a 
 large part is still in possession of the family. 
 
 In the autumn of 1835 young Fisk entered Phillips 
 Academy, Andover, Mass. Having no pecuniary re- 
 sources with which to acquire a liberal education, he 
 engaged alternately in teaching and study, until he 
 entered Yale College, in 1845. At his. graduation, in 
 1849, he was the valedictorian of his class. lie was 
 graduated- at the Yale Divinity- School in 1852; was 
 tutor in Yale College from 1851 to 1853; attended 
 lectures in Andover Theological Seminary from January 
 to May, 1853 and traveled in Europe from May until 
 November of that year. 
 
 Compelled" by disease of his eyes to give up for a 
 time the hope of entering upon the work of the 
 ministry, he declined several invitations to important 
 pastorates, and accepted the professorship of rhetoric 
 and English literature in Beloit College. Wisconsin, to 
 which he had been invited while abroad, entering 
 upon its duties in April, 1854, and continuing in the 
 position until July, 1859. He was elected in 1856 to 
 
 the chair of sacred rhetoric in Chicago Theological 
 Seminary, and was inaugurated on April 2S, 1859. 
 He received the degree of doctor of divinity from 
 Olivet College in 1865. and from Yale University in 
 1886 ; also the degree of doctor of laws from Beloit 
 College in 1888. In the autumn and winter of 1871-72, 
 he attended lectures in the University of Berlin, and 
 in 1872, traveled in Arabia, Egypt, Greece and Pales- 
 tine. 
 
 In 1887 he became president of Chicago Theological 
 Seminar}', with which he has been connected as pro- 
 fessor and president for thirty-five years. His lectures 
 on homiletics have been published in a work entitled 
 u Manual of Preaching," which is used as a text- book 
 in several institutions. lie has been conspicuous also 
 in aiding to secure large sums for the better equipment 
 of the seminary. 
 
 The institution over which he presides has a stand- 
 ing not inferior to that of any theological seminary in 
 this country. It was organized in 1854, by a convention 
 of the Congregational churches of the West and North- 
 west. It opened its doors to students in 1858, and has 
 since had remarkable growth and prosperity. The 
 youngest but one of the seven Congregational theo- 
 logical seminaries in the United States, it has now 
 nearly twice the number of students of any one of the 
 others. This seminary includes four departments the 
 English, German, Dan o- Norwegian and Swedish with 
 seventeen professors and instructors. It has graduated 
 nearly 600 students, and more than 1,000 students have 
 been connected with iis classes fora longer or a shorter 
 period. The graduates of the institution are now
 
 t-RCMtNENT MEN OP THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 laboring successfully in nearly every State and Territory 
 of the Union, and in many foreign lands. Its buildings 
 Keyes Hall, Carpenter Hall and Fisk Hall beauti- 
 fully situated opposite Union Park, in the West 
 division of the city, furnish ample study and dormitory 
 rooms for the accommodation of 210 students, besides 
 chapel, lecture and reception rooms, professors' studies, 
 treasurer's office, gymnasium, etc. 
 
 Hammond Library, with its more than 13,000 
 volumes, and its reading rooms, well supplied with a 
 large variety of the best newspapers and periodicals, 
 has room for 50,000 volumes. 
 
 The board of directors of the Chicago Theological 
 Seminarv, twentv-four in number, represent the Con- 
 gregational churches in Michigan. Indiana, Illinois, 
 Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri. Minnesota, Kansas, Ne- 
 braska, North and South Dakota, Colorado and W}'om- 
 ing. Its board of examiners is appointed by the several 
 State associations, and through its triennial conven- 
 tions, which elect the directors, the seminary is kept 
 in vital connection with the churches. The officers of 
 the Board of Directors are: E. W. Blatchford, Esq., 
 president ; Messrs. W. E. Hale and David Fales, vice- 
 
 presidents; Rev. G. S. F. Savage, D.D., secretary, and 
 Mr. II. W. Chester, treasurer. 
 
 At the date of this publication (1894) the various 
 productive funds of the seminary amount to $800,000, 
 while the estimated value of its unproductive property 
 of all kinds, including seminary buildings, grounds, 
 etc.. is $515.000, making in all $1,315,000. 
 
 Its faculty comprises Franklin W. Fisk, president; 
 professors, George N. Boardrnan, Samuel I. Curtiss, 
 Giles B. Willcox, Hugh M. Scott, George II. Gilbert, 
 Graham Taylor, Edward T. Harper and Fridolf Ris- 
 berg; and instructors, John E. Hermann, Moiitz E. 
 Eversz, Carl A. Paeth, Reinert A. Jernberg, Otto C. 
 Grauer, and Magnus E. Peterson. 
 
 In 1854, President Fisk was united in marriage with 
 Mrs. Amelia Austin, daughter of the late George Bowen, 
 Esq., of Woodstock, Conn. Mrs. Fisk died in May, 1881, 
 and in December, 1885, he married Mrs. S. Jennette 
 Hitchcock, daughter of Deacon Elijah Gardner, of Lake 
 Geneva, Wis. Three children were born to him by his 
 first marriage Franklin Proctor, Amelia Maria (now 
 Mrs. Walter M. Fitch, M. D/),and Edward Henry Fisk, 
 all of whom are married and living in Chicago. 
 
 WILLIAM J. CHALMERS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is a representative Chi- 
 cago man, a native of the city, and justly ranked 
 with that younger class whose progressive ideas and 
 intense business enterprise and activity have contrib- 
 uted so largely to its material prosperity and growth. 
 
 He was born in Chicago, July 10, 1852, his father 
 being Thomas and his mother Janet (Telfer) Chalmers. 
 His parents are both natives of Scotland. The father 
 was born at Dronley, near Dundee, in 1815, and emi- 
 grated to Chicago, where he has been prominent for 
 many years in machinery manufacturing w,:rks. The 
 mother was born in 1818, in Edinburgh. Both parents 
 are living, as are also the two sons and three daughters 
 that have been born to them. 
 
 Young Chalmers received his education in the pub 
 lie and high schools of Chicago, and after closing his 
 studies went to work to learn a trade in the shops of 
 the Eagle Works Manufacturing Company, of which 
 his father. was at that time general superintendent. In 
 1872, being then twenty years of age, he became asso- 
 ciated with his father in the then firm of Frazer& Chal- 
 mers, just starting, employing a working force of sixty 
 men. From that beginning the business has gradually de- 
 veloped and been extended, until, in the eighteenth year 
 of its existence 1892-93 it employed 1,050 men, with a 
 weekly pay-roll of $14,000, the name of Frazer & 
 Chalmers, manufacturers of mining machinery, having 
 attained a world-wide reputation. The products of 
 their immense establishment, the largest of its character 
 
 in the world, are shipped to every quarter of the 
 civilized globe. Besides its main plant and office, 
 located at the corner of Union and Fulton streets, Chi- 
 cago, new shops, covering about ten acres of ground, 
 fronting on Twelfth and Rockwell streets, have been 
 built. The company has' also recently established a 
 branch plant on the Thames, near London, England,' 
 where a plant designed to employ a large number of 
 men is in operation. In 1889, the business was changed 
 from a partnership to a corporation, Mr. W. J. 
 Chalmers becoming its vice-pres ; dent and treasurer, 
 and in January, 1891, was elected president. 
 
 From the first he has had entire control of the 
 management and finances of the company. In re- 
 cognition of his superior qualities as an organizer 
 and successful financier, Mr. Chalmers has been 
 called to positions of responsibility and trust, and 
 has uniformly acquitted himself in a way that 
 evidenced his eminent fitness for the places. He 
 is one of the directors of the Chicago Athenajum, 
 also a director of the Women and Children's Hospital. 
 He was early chosen by the stockholders as one of the 
 directors of the World's Columbian Exposition, and 
 was re-elected in April, 1891. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers is a man of superior social qualities, 
 genial, generous and hospitable, anil is prominently 
 connected with numerous organizations. He was presi- 
 dent of the Illinois Club during the year 1893, and is a 
 member of the Chicago Union League, Washington
 
 412 
 
 Driving Park, Electric and Athletic Clubs, all of 
 Chicago, and of the Engineers' Club of New York. 
 
 He was appointed a member of the Chicago school 
 board by Mayor Washburne for a three year term. He 
 is a Republican in politics, and a Presbyterian in 
 religious faith, being a member of the Third Presby- 
 terian church. 
 
 PROMINENT MKN Of THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 Mr. Chalmers was united in marriage in 1877 to 
 Miss Joan Pinkerton, only daughter of Allan Pinker- 
 ton, Esq., now deceased. Mrs. Chalmers is aladvof 
 womanly qualities and attainments of a high order, a 
 devoted wife and mother, and'a most charming hostess. 
 They have two children Joan Pinkerton and Thomas 
 Stuart Pinkerton. 
 
 JOHN D. SHUGART, D. D. S., 
 
 CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. 
 
 DR. J. D. SHUGART, son of Joseph Shugart, M. D., 
 a well known old settler of Chicago, was born at 
 Princeton, Bureau county, 111., December 3, 1851. He 
 attended the public schools of his native town, gradu- 
 ating from Mt. Morris Academy. Desiring to study 
 a profession, he came to Chicago, while still young, 
 and studied dentistiy. His natural ability, great love 
 for and adaptability to his chosen profession, combined 
 with his energy and determination to succeed, soon 
 placed him in the front rank as a skilled dentist. It 
 requires a large amount of confidence in one's self for 
 a young man to begin the practice of any skilled pro- 
 fession in a city like Chicago, where competition with 
 the most learned from all parts of the world is certain. 
 Thiit young Shugart did not over-estimate his abilitv 
 is evidenced by his success, for he has won a high 
 reputation, one that is cheerfully accorded him by the 
 medical and dental profession, alike, as well as by the 
 general public. A close and earnest student, he is 
 constant!}" abreast of the times ana of all real improve- 
 
 ments and scientific advancement, and this, added to 
 his long experience and practice, has placed him in the 
 professional position he now occupies. His practice is 
 not confined to Chicago, nor Illinois alone. His 
 patrons are to be found nearly everywhere. His 
 success in bridge and crown work, of teeth without 
 plates, has brought him patrons from all sections of the 
 United States, and ever, from Europe. Dr. Shugart is 
 president of the Colombia Dental College. 
 
 Dr. Shugart was united in marriage at Waukegan, 
 111., in 1885, to Miss Chloe Hingston, daughter of 
 Lorenzo Hingston, of that place. 
 
 In appearance the 'doctor is of more than medium 
 height, and is an urbane and courteous gentleman. He 
 is one who always makes friends, whether it be with 
 those with whom he comes in contact in social circles 
 or in professional work, and he well knows how to 
 retain the friendships thus formed. Judging from the 
 past, his future eminent success seems to be well 
 assured. 
 
 HENRY J. WILLING, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HENRY J. WILLING was born in Westfield, 
 Cliautauqua county, N. Y.. July 10, 1836. He 
 is the son of Samuel and Mary Jane (Mayborne) 
 Willing, whose home was near Jamestown, N. Y. The 
 Mayborne family is of Huguenot origin, and was 
 established in England by those who Hed from ranee 
 in the hitter part of the 17th century to escape the 
 persecutions by the Catholics. In 1843, Henry's 
 father died, and three years later the family removed 
 to Chicago, making the journey from Buffalo by 
 steamer. The boy was then but ten years old: a few 
 years later he began his struggle for recognition in the 
 business world by obtaining employment with U. P. 
 Harris. After a number of changes during the 
 succeeding three years he settled down in 1851 to a per- 
 manent position in the dry goods house of Thomas B. 
 Carter and Company, with whom he remained eight 
 years. In 1859, Mr. Willing joined the force of Messrs. 
 
 Cooley, Earwell and Co., where he occupied a good 
 position until 1865, when he became connected with 
 Field, Leiter and Co., and was soon afterward ad- 
 mitted to the firm. In 1883, Mr. Willing sold out his 
 interest in the firm, then Marshall Field and Co., and 
 retired from business. 
 
 In many -ways tending to secure good govern- 
 ment for Chicago, and to uphold the cause of law, 
 order, humanity and religion, Mr. Willing has been 
 a foremost worker. Although having large and 
 varied financial interests to look after, he has never- 
 theless found time to foster and encourage public 
 enterprises which have tended to advance the material 
 and spiritual welfare of the people. 
 
 In religious faith, Mr. Willing is a Presbyterian and 
 he has served as an elder in that church since 1868. 
 His first service was in the Second Church under the 
 pastorate of Rev. Dr. R. W. Patterson, and since the
 
 < 

 
 {RCMiNENT MEN Of- THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 415 
 
 latter's retirement he has served in the Fourth Church, 
 Rev. Thomas Hall, pastor. He has been vice-president 
 
 a task of such magnitude at a time when, worn by 
 business cares, he needed rest and recreation. Once 
 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association ; was a enlisted in the enterprise, however, Mr. Willing became 
 
 trustee of the McCormick Theological Seminary (when 
 it was known as the Northwestern Theological Semi- 
 nary), and has in many ways shown an active interest 
 in religious work. One of Chicago's leading merchants, 
 who has known Mr. Willing from boyhood, says: 
 
 'He is an energetic, outspoken man of high moral 
 principle and deep religious conviction, always ranking 
 his church close after his family. He has been gener- 
 ous in his gifts to religious, moral and civil enterprises, 
 and is in every wav a model citizen. His advice is 
 often sought, not alone because he-has been a successful 
 business man, but as that of a sympathizer with young 
 men who are trying to work thoir way upward, and it 
 is always given in a manner which shows that he is 
 keenly alive to all that concerns the welfare and 
 advancement of his .fellow men." 
 
 In politics, Mr. Willing is a Republican, but, while 
 he takes an active part in political affairs as a citizen 
 whose duty it is to secure good government, he has 
 always refused to accept office- the sole exception 
 being his non-partisan election as a member of the 
 drainage board. In the hard work of organizing the 
 board of trustees of the sanitary drainage district of 
 Chicago, none of the nine gentlemen chosen took a 
 more active part than did Mr. Willing. He accepted a 
 trusteeship, under pressure from his friends, without 
 reference to political ties, feeling reluctant to enter upon 
 
 enthusiastic in his efforts to secure the consummation 
 of the great project, and he was an intelligent and 
 energetic member of the board. He served for two 
 years, and was finally compelled to retire, on account 
 of ill health. 
 
 While not what is termed a club man, Mr. Willing 
 is a member of the Chicago, the Union and the Union 
 League Clubs. He is a member of the board of direc- 
 tors of the Chicago Home for Incurables. The work 
 of the Citizens' League has always commanded his 
 moral, as well as financial support, and many of the 
 reforms secured by that body owe much to him. Mr. 
 Willing is also interested in the encouragement of art 
 and served for some years as a director of the Art 
 Institute. In all historical matters, and those especially 
 referring to Chicago and the United States, he is well 
 versed. He is a member of the Chicago Historical 
 Society, the American Historical Society, and of the 
 Chicago branch of the Archaaological society of Amer- 
 ica. He is also a trustee of theNewberry Library. 
 
 .In 1870, Mr. Willing married Francis Skinner, the 
 second daughterof the late Judge Mark Skinner. They 
 have two children, Evelyn Pierrepont and MaVk Skin- 
 ner Willing. The health of both Mr. and Mrs. Willing 
 has been impaired for some years, and largely on this 
 account he has withdrawn practically from business 
 and has passed much of his time traveling in Europe. 
 
 DR. JOHN B. MURPHY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DR. JOHN B. MUItPHY, the eminent Chicago 
 surgeon, president of the medical department 
 of the Cook County Hospital, is a son of M. P. and 
 Ann Murphy, and was born in Appleton, Wis., Dec. 
 21, 1857. lie received his early education at Appleton's 
 public schools, passing through the grammar to the 
 high school, and graduating therefrom with high 
 honors in 1876. He then entered Rush Medical College, 
 from which he graduated in 1879. 
 
 On February 1, 1879, Dr. Murphy entered the Cook 
 County Hospital, and continued there until Oct. 1, 
 1880, when he commenced the general practice of 
 medicine in Chicago. He continued practicing until 
 September, 1882, when he decided to further perfect 
 himself in his chosen profession. In accordance with 
 this determination he made a trip abroad, visiting 
 Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Heidelberg, consecutively, 
 studying in the universities and practicing at the 
 hospitals in the different places until April, 1884-, when 
 he returned to the United States and to Chicago, and 
 resumed his general practice, which he has continued 
 
 ever since, rapidly gaining the reputation which places 
 him second to none in his profession in the cit}'. 
 
 He is now professor of surgery and clinical surgery 
 in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and also 
 professor of surgery in the Post-Graduate Medical 
 School of Chicago. He is now, and has been for the 
 past ten years, attending surgeon to the Cook County 
 Hospital. He is also attending surgeon at the Alexian 
 Brothers Hospital, and president of the medical staff 
 of the Cook County Hospital, vice : president of the 
 National Association of Railway Surgeons, and chief 
 surgeon of the Chicago & Northern Pacific Railway 
 Company. 
 
 Dr. Murphy's principal professional writings have 
 been " Gunshot Wounds of Abdomen," "Actinomycosis 
 liomiis," (his case was the first of 'that disease ever 
 recognized in this country); "Early Operation in Peri- 
 typhlitis," March 2, 1889; " Echinococcus of Liver," 
 "Original Experimental and Clinical Research, in the 
 surgery of the gall-bladder, liver and intestinal tract," 
 illustrating utility and application of his Anastomosis
 
 416 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 Bulton ; " Surgery and Application of the Gall Tracts," 
 " Intestinal Surgery," ami others, which show wonder- 
 ful research anil a great mind; One of his intimate 
 professional friends aptly put it, when he remarked, in 
 speaking of Dr. Murphy: "There are many Doctors 
 Murphy in this country, but- when you see the name 
 with J. B. before it, quoted as an authority, you may 
 at once conclude that it means something." 
 
 He is a member of the American Medical Association, 
 the Illinois State Medical Society, Chicago Medical 
 Society, the New York Medico- Legal Society, Pan- 
 American Medical Association, and the Chicago Path- 
 ological Society. Politically he is a Democrat, and 
 bel.eves and votes with his party. 
 
 Dr. Murphy was united in marriage November 25, 
 
 1885, to Miss Nettie Plomondon, of Chicago. They 
 have two children. Mrs. Murphy is a woman of 
 many accomplishments, being gifted witli no small 
 amount of literary ability and artistic genius, to both 
 of which subjects she devotes much time and in which 
 she finds great pleasure. Dr. Murphy is of good 
 height, and of line personal appearance, possess- 
 ing a manner at once hearty and genial, always having 
 a pleasant smile for his many friends and acquaint- 
 ances. A great favorite in society, in which he and 
 his charming wife are not only prominent but central 
 figures, they add much by their social charms to such 
 gatherings. He has many friends, not only in Chicago 
 and the United States, but abroad, who delight to do him 
 honor and who fully appreciate his great talents. 
 
 DR. JOHN CAMPBELL SPRAY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN CAMPBELL SPEAY was born in Bridge- 
 port, Ind., September 21, 1845. He is the son of 
 James and Elizabeth (Owen) Spray, both members of 
 the Society of Friends. He comes of old Revolutionary 
 stock, and his ancestors were from Scotland, where a 
 great grandfather of the name of Campbell was a noted 
 buccaneer, on whose head a price was placed. His 
 great-grandfather, Col. John Campbell, was a colonel 
 in the American army during the Revolutionary war. 
 His father, James Spray, was a merchant in Bridge- 
 port. Ind., who died of cholera in 1854. Dr. Spray 
 was educated in the common schools of Indiana and at 
 Earl ham College, a Quaker institution near Richmond, 
 Ind. After leaving college he entered the office of Drs. 
 L. & C. H. Abbott, of Indianapolis, and studied medicine 
 for three years. In 1869 he came to Chicago and 
 studied general medicine and surgery in the Bennett 
 Medical College, graduating therefrom in the class of 
 1870. He sought a wider range of knowledge, how- 
 ever, than was imparted by the eclectic school of 
 medicine, and although he had commenced the practice 
 of his profession, he afterward entered the medical 
 department of the Northwestern University and con- 
 tinued his studies. In the great fire of 1871 his office 
 and library were destroyed, and the following year he 
 spent in New .York city engaged in hospital practice. 
 
 Returning to Chicago, he again entered the medical 
 department of the Northwestern University, and 
 graduated in the spring of 1873. He pursued a 
 general practice from that time until January 1, 1878, 
 when he assumed the duties of medical director of the 
 Cook County Hospital for the Insane, the Cook County 
 Almshouse and the obstetrical and venereal hospitals, 
 his appointment having been confirmed by the entire 
 board of county commissioners in the fall of 1877. He 
 served in that capacity until September 1, 1882, when 
 he was made medical superintendent of the insane asy- 
 lum. In 1884, owing to the changes in the political 
 
 complexion of the board, he was not reappointed, but 
 in the following year he was again installed as chief 
 officer of the institution and continued to serve until 
 1889. He passed unscathed through the rigid investi- 
 gations that led to the famous '-boodle" trials, which 
 resulted in the conviction and punishment of a num- 
 ber of county officials, but which only served to prove 
 that Dr. Spray's course had at all times been marked 
 by the strictest honesty and fidelity to the interests of 
 the county. 
 
 After ten years of faithful service he retired, and 
 has since given his whole time and attention to his 
 private practice. He is a man of advanced ideas, and is 
 especially skillful in insanity cases. Almost every 
 species of insanity came under his observation while in 
 charge of the insane asylum, and while he does not 
 make a specialty of this branch of his profession his 
 work in that field has given him such unusual advan- 
 tages in acquiring a thorough knowledge of the subject 
 that he is frequently called upon for expert testimony 
 in the courts, where questions of mental responsibility 
 arise. 
 
 Dr. Spray is a Mason, being a member of Blair 
 Lodge, Washington Chapter, and Oriental Consistory, 
 A. A. S. R., thirty-second degree. lie is a member of 
 Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, but the only 
 club that carries his name on its roll is the White- 
 chapel. He is, however, a member of the various Chi- 
 cago and Cook county medical societies. In his politi- 
 cal affiliations he is a Democrat. 
 
 He was married in New York, August 28, 1872, to 
 Miss Mary A. Gunn, daughter of Dr. Robert A. Gunn, 
 an eminent physician who came from Scotland. Eight 
 children were born to them, five of whom are living. 
 Dr. Spray is a man of varied ability, great persistence 
 and untiring activity, who commands success where 
 others might fail. His circle of friends is large and his 
 future promising.
 
 
 v*
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CKEA T WEST. 
 
 THEODORE G. CASE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 419 
 
 CONSPICUOUS in the long roll of eminent names 
 that have conferred honor upon the legal pro- 
 fc ssion in the West is that of the subject of this 
 biography. He is conceded to be one of the ivost 
 eloquent and powerful advocates of the Chicago bar. 
 lie has great versatility of talents, and exactness and 
 thoroughness characterize all of his attainments. 
 Vigilant, zealous and industrious, with a perfect com- 
 mand of the English language, combined with histrionic 
 ability of a high order, Theodore G. Case ranks among 
 the finest American orators. In illustration he is 
 peculiarly happy, and vision, personification, hyperbole, 
 simile, contrast and antithesis succeed each other in 
 rich and varied profusion. His manner and action are 
 energetic, without becoming extravagant. 
 
 Mr. Case was born in Castleton. Rensselaer county, 
 N. Y., July 13, 1853. lie was prepared for college at 
 the Collegiate Institute, Newton, N. J.. after which he 
 entered the University of Michigan, took a special 
 course and graduated in July, 1870, having at the time 
 conferred upon him the degree of pharmaceutical 
 chemist. Upon his graduation he became interested 
 with several New York capitalists, and was sent by 
 them, -with others, to construct the Houston & Great 
 Northern railroad, of Texas, in which employment he 
 was engaged until 1873, when he returned to New 
 York city. In the fall of the same year he commenced 
 the study of law, with Messrs. Linn & Babbitt, at 
 Jersey City, N. J. Remaining with this firm two 
 years, he entered the law school of the University of 
 the City of New York, meanwhile attending as a 
 student the law office of the Hon. William M. Evarts. 
 
 Immediately after graduating he engaged in practice 
 in New York city, making a specialty of corporation 
 business, and remained in that city until April, 1878, 
 at which time he went to Green Bay, Wis. 
 
 As one of the solicitors for the Farmers' Loan and 
 Trust Company, he was engaged to foreclose the first 
 and second mortgages upon the railroad and other 
 appurtenances of the Green Bay <k Minnesota Railway 
 Co. In that foreclosure suit he obtained a 'decree for 
 his client against the company for over six millions 
 of dollars. The finest legal talent of the State of 
 Wisconsin was arrayed against him in this suit and 
 in various other suits which sprung out of the same. 
 
 Upon the re-organization ot this railroad company 
 into the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad, he 
 was elected, on June 7, 1881, its general solicitor. In 
 April, 1884, he was retained by the bondholders of the St. 
 Louis, Hannibal & Keokulc Railroad Company, to 
 foreclose a mortgage on the railroad of that company 
 in the United States Circuit Court at St. Louis. Owing 
 to the onerous duties involved in the foreclosure suit, 
 Mr. Chase resigned his position as general attorney of 
 the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad Company, 
 in March, 1885, and moved to St. Louis, engaged in the 
 
 general practice of his profession in that citv, and 
 attended to the foreclosure suit against the above 
 company, which, after a great legal fight, in which 
 were arrayed against him many of the legal celebrities 
 of the South and West, resulted in his obtaining a 
 judgment against that company for more than one 
 million dollars. During his residence in Missouri he 
 was associated in the trial of several cases with the 
 late Hon. B. Gratz Brown, ex-United States senator 
 from Missouri. 
 
 In May, 1886, Mr. Case removed to Chicago, where 
 he has continued to reside eversince. Since his advent 
 in Chicago he has been counsel for the complainant in 
 the celebrated Bowman divorce case, based on a com- 
 mon law marriage, which attracted at the time so 
 much attention among the legal fraternity throughout 
 the United States. In the defense of Peter Madden, 
 who was indicted upon what is known in Illinois as the 
 " habitual criminal act," he raised legal points in his 
 defense which completely revolutionized the practice 
 in the criminal courts of Chicago, by compelling the 
 prosecution to try prisoners at or before their second 
 term after their commitment to the county jail. The 
 Chicago Times, the following day, in mentioning the 
 case, said: "The State's attorney was surprised, and a 
 jail delivery almost took place, so many prisoners were 
 released under Mr. Case's legal points." 
 
 His defense in the celebrated case of Henry 
 Schwartz, who was charged, in connection with New- 
 ton Watt, with the murder of Kellogg Nichols, the 
 express messenger on the Chicago. Rock Island & 
 Pacific Railroad, and for the robbery of the safe of the 
 United States Express Company, containing $22.000, 
 was a master-piece. The trial, which took place in 
 Morris, the county seat of Grundy county, in March 
 and April, 1887, lasted for six weeks, and has passed 
 into history as one of the most remarkable trials on 
 circumstantial evidence on record. The prosecution 
 was conducted with a spirit and energy seldom 
 witnessed in such a case. Mr. Case was the leading 
 counsel for the defense. His cross examination of the 
 witnesses for the prosecution was most searching and 
 effectual, and during the -progress of the trial he dis- 
 played the greatest legal acumen; his resources were 
 most fertile; he grasped all the difficulties of the situ- 
 ation with facility and boldness, and pushed every 
 argument to the uttermost. His closing address, which 
 was of four hours' duration, was brilliant, eloquent and 
 fervid. At the time of the opening the excitement 
 was tremendous; hundreds of people were turned away 
 from the court room for lack of space; the aisles, benches, 
 chairs and windows being packed almost to suffocation. 
 He spoke with keen and cutting satire upon the char- 
 acter of the witnesses for the prosecution, and the great 
 danger of convicting on circumstantial evidence. The 
 tenacity of memory, the acuteness and accuracy of hear-
 
 420 
 
 PROMINENT MK.N OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 ing and observation of the witnesses was commented 
 on with the most sagacious skill. He showed himself 
 to be an advocate uniting the rare gift of oratory with 
 the most convincing logic and a mind informed with 
 a thorough knowledge of human affairs. He aroused 
 the emotions of all present and held the court, jurvand 
 auditors spell-bound, hour after hour. The peroration 
 drew tears from the eyes of more than half the vast 
 audience in the court room. It was a very able, touch- 
 ing and pathetic appeal for mercy. It is conceded that 
 Mr. Case's brilliant, skillful and powerful defense saved 
 his client from the gallows. 
 
 The fact that Mr. Case has been identified with 
 criminal cases must not be supposed to mean that he 
 has no abilities as a civil lawyer; on the contrary, as 
 we have already shown, some of the most difficult 
 cases, involving the most important and intricate- legal 
 questions ever tried in Wisconsin and Missouri, were 
 conducted by him, as were many of the reported cases 
 adjudicated in the federal courts. Mr. Case is not 
 merely a brilliant advocate, learned in the law and 
 deeply skilled in its dialectics, but in the less showy 
 walks of his profession he is uncommonly powerful. 
 Whether drudging at the business of his office as a 
 common law attorney and equity pleader, or shining 
 
 as a leader in a great nisi jtrhts cause, he is equally 
 admirable, ever ready and perfectly suited to the place 
 he is filling. He has but one rule, a thorough prepara- 
 tion of the evidence and law of every case, diligence in 
 applying both, with the tone, manner and conduct of a 
 gentleman. He has shown himself amply equipped 
 to meet every emergency. His knowledge of the law 
 is both extensive and profound, and to this must be 
 added the advantages of a fine presence and a well 
 modulated persuasive voice, no mean consideration 
 when pleading before a jury, though when examining 
 a hostile .and shifty witness his voice can ring out as 
 sharp as the crack of a pistol. Great as a criminal 
 lawyer, he is equally great on the civil side, for his 
 mind is naturally analytical. With him law is a passion, 
 but he believes in having it pure and accessible. It 
 was with this view that he inspired the short causecal- 
 endar law, of which he was the author, which has now 
 been some three years in operation and under which 
 over thirty thousand cases have been disposed of.. 
 With Mr. Case "the delay of justice is injustice." A 
 lawyer holding such views and fighting for them must 
 be regarded as a general benefactor. He is at present 
 the senior member of the well-known law firm of Case. 
 Hogan & Case, who occupy offices in the Quinlan Block. 
 
 JOHN S. MILLER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography was born at Louis- 
 ville, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., on May 24, 
 1847. His father was John Miller, of Puritan descent, 
 a native of Massachusetts, and, after removal to New 
 York State, a member of the bar, and for some years 
 county clerk of St. Lawrence county. His mother, Jane 
 E. (McLeod) Miller, was of Scotch-Irish extraction. 
 
 Young Miller finished his education at St. Lawrence 
 University, graduating as Bachelor of Arts in 1869. 
 Following graduation he became professor of mathe- 
 matics in that institution for a year, during 1871-72, 
 and for two years, 1872-74, was professor of Latin and 
 Greek. In the meantime he read law and was duly 
 admitted to the bar at Ogdensburg, N. Y., in Novem- 
 ber, 1870. In the s'pring of 1874, Mr. Miller resigned 
 his position in the St. Lawrence University and came 
 to Chicago, where he entered upon the practice of law 
 and has since been actively engaged in his profession 
 here. Among the important cases with which he has 
 been connected may be mentioned the " Flaglor litiga- 
 tion,'' involving the estate of Augustus Garrett, which 
 he argued before the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, in 1882; the "Riverside litigation," involving 
 the greater part of the suburb of Riverside, near the 
 city, carried to and successfully handled in the Illinoi: 
 Supreme Court, from 1881 to 1885, and the " Phillips 
 
 and South Park litigation," involving the title to a con- 
 siderable part of Jackson Park, 1885-88. 
 
 In the spring of 1891 Mr. Miller was appointed by 
 Mayor Washburne as corporation counsel for Chicago, 
 and remained at the head of the law department of the 
 city for two years. During this period Mr. Miller took 
 the position, and sustained it with an opinion to the 
 city council, contrary to the opinions of leading lawyers 
 representing the railroad companies, that the city had 
 the power to compel those companies to elevate their 
 tracks, and thus do away with the grade crossings. 
 This opinion, we believe, is now generally conceded by 
 the attorneys for the railroads to be sound. He also 
 presented and argued before the Supreme Court of 
 Illinois, several cases against railroad companies involv- 
 ing the extension of city streets over their tracks, and 
 obtained a judgment by the court giving the city the 
 power to extend the streets without more than a 
 nominal compensation therefor. This action settled 
 the question as to the power of the public authorities 
 to compel railroad corporations as agencies or servants 
 of the public to perform public duties, and has done 
 much to expedite the abolition of grade crossings. 
 
 Mr. Miller also argued the celebrated " Lake Front 
 Case" in behalf of the city of Chicago against the 
 Illinois Central Railroad Company, in the United
 
 7
 
 u v
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 423 
 
 States Supreme Court, involving the validity of the 
 grant of the lake front by the legislature of Illinois to 
 the Illinois Central Railroad. The result, as is well 
 known, was a victory for the city, the decision holding 
 that the grant of the water front to the railroad com- 
 pany was revocable, the revocation being based upon 
 the great principle, which the court laid down, that 
 the bed of navigable water is the sovereign right of 
 the people of the State, and held by the State in trust for 
 their common use; and that it is beyond the power of 
 the legislature to give away or dispose of the same in 
 violation of that trust. This victory was not only of 
 very great importance to Chicago, but reflected great 
 credit on Mr. Miller's legal abilities. 
 
 Since retiring from the service of the city as cor- 
 poration counsel, Mr. Miller has been engaged in the 
 practice of his profession, being now a member of the 
 law firm of Peck, Miller & Starr, the other members 
 
 of the firm being Geo. JR. Peck and Merritt Starr. 
 We need scarcely say that he occupies a prominent 
 place among the leaders of the bar in the city and 
 State, and is widely known and highly esteemed for 
 his ability. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Miller is a Eepublican and influen- 
 tial in the councils of his party. In religion he is an 
 Episcopalian, connected with St. Paul's church at 
 Kenwood, and a member of its vestry. He was 
 formerly a member of Grace church of this city. 
 
 He was married on December 12, 1887, to Miss 
 Anne Gross, daughter of Dr. James E. Gross of this 
 city. They have two children a boy five and a girl 
 three years old, who give cheer and light to their 
 pleasant home. Socially, Mr. Miller is genial, warm- 
 hearted and pleasant, and enjoys a large circle of 
 friends. He is a member of the Chicago, Union League, 
 University, Kenwood and Hamilton Clubs. 
 
 HENRY PARKER NEWMAN, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HENRY PARKER NEWMAN, son of James and 
 Abby (Everett) Newman, was born at Wash- 
 ington, N. H., December 2, 1853. He is of New 
 England parentage, his father being one of eight 
 brothers reared among the granite hills of New Hamp- 
 shire, and his mother a descendant of the old and 
 respected Fairbanks and Everett families, so prominent 
 in anti-slavery days. 
 
 His parents moved to Hillsborough, N. H., when he 
 was but a few months old and the rudiments of his 
 education were acquired at the public schools of that 
 place. He attended the Literary Institute at New 
 London, N. H., and afterward continued his prepara- 
 tion for college under a private tutor. He commenced 
 reading medicine under Dr. George Cook, of Concord, 
 N. H., prior to 1875, when he entered the medical 
 department at Dartmouth College, and took one course 
 of lectures. After a year engaged in teaching he 
 moved to Detroit, Mich., and continued the study of 
 his profession in the Detroit Medical College. While 
 a senior student he held the position of house physician 
 at St. Luke's Hospital, Detroit. 
 
 He graduated in 1878 and spent the following 
 years in post-graduate study in the leading universities 
 of Germany. He was fortunate in receiving instruc- 
 tion from some of the most celebrated scientists and 
 clinicians of the day, and enjoyed special privileges in 
 the laboratory of Professor Cohnheim, of Leipsic, 
 through the courtesy of that eminent pathologist and 
 teacher. While abroad Dr. Newman visited the more 
 rioted hospitals and universities of German}', Austria, 
 France and Great Britain. Dr. Newman was intimately 
 and very pleasantly associated with Professor Christ- 
 lieb, the renowned and erudite theologian and scholar, 
 
 and traveled quite extensively with him through those 
 portions of Germany wbJch are noted for their his- 
 toric and literary interest. 
 
 Dr. Newman is a member of the Chicago, and 
 Illinois State Medical Societies, the Illinois State 
 Microscopical Society, and the American Medical Asso- 
 ciation. He is secretary of the Chicago Gynaecological 
 Society, Corresponding Fellow of the Detroit Gyne- 
 cological Society, and has contributed quite largely to 
 the medical literature of the day. 
 
 In 1890 he revisited Europe as a delegate to the 
 Tenth International Medical Congress, at Berlin. He 
 was one of the founders of the Chicago Post-Graduate 
 Medical School, its first president, and therein professor 
 of diseases of women. He has been president of the 
 "Laboratory of Experimental Research" since its 
 organization as an auxiliary to the former institution. 
 The doctor has also been actively associated with 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Chicago, 
 since its establishment, in 1882, and holds the chair of 
 professor of "Obstetrics, Clinical Gynaecology, and 
 Lecturer on Gynaecology." He is surgeon in the depart- 
 ment of diseases of women in the Post-Graduate, 
 Chicago and St. Elizabeth's hospitals, and the Chicago, 
 public and West Side dispe'nsaries. 
 
 Dr. Newman was united in marriage in 1882 to 
 Miss Fanny Louise, the only daughter of Mr. Lathrop 
 Smith Hodges, one of Chicago's most able lawyers. 
 Of their four children two are living, Helen Everett, 
 and Willard Hodges Newman. He is a man of fine 
 personal appearance, of medium height and weight, 
 with a large practice, a man who makes friends where- 
 ever he goes, and who has hosts of them in Chicago, as 
 well as a large number in various parts of the world.
 
 424 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 D. A. K. STEELE, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THERE are at least two classes of beings that are 
 born, not made ; and with the poet's consent, we 
 would say that one of these is the surgeon. However 
 this may be as a general proposition, it will certainly 
 be supported in Chicago in the case of Daniel Atkinson 
 King Steele. Of good old Irish blood, his father, Rev. 
 Daniel Steele, was born in Cookstown, county Tyrone, 
 Ireland, in the ancient country seat known as" Steele's 
 Rock," where his ancestors, have lived for over a 
 hundred years. Daniel Steele, the elder, was a Presby- 
 terian minister, and after some years of missionary 
 work in western Ireland, he, with his young wife, 
 Mary Leatham Anderson, came to America, and 
 settled in Eden, Delaware county, O. In that place, 
 on the 29th of March, 1852, was born the subject 
 of our sketch. 
 
 When young Daniel was two years old his parents 
 removed to a farm near Pinckneyville, Perry county, 
 Illinois. His education began in the old log school 
 house on Grand Cote Prairie. Besides his school 
 duties, he assisted his father on the farm, losing, 
 perhaps, a little time from study, but gaining the 
 inestimable advantage of a youth spent in the open 
 air. Whatever his drawback*, at fifteen he was ready 
 to enter the academy at Oakdale, and, on the removal 
 of his father to Rantoul, did excellent work as a 
 teacher. 
 
 In 1869 he began the study of medicine under Dr. 
 D. P. McClure, of Rantoul, at the same time acting as 
 clerk in a drug store. In 1870 he came to Chicago 
 and took a three years' course at the Chicago Medical 
 College, graduating in 1873. During his senior year 
 he was preceptor of anatomy in the college, and imme- 
 diately after graduating he was made demonstrator of 
 anatomy at the Chicago School of Anatomy. Espe- 
 cially desirous of rapid advancement in surgery, he 
 took a competitive examination for the position of 
 interne in the Cook County Hospital, and won, as the 
 result, the position of house surgeon. In this capacity 
 he continued two years, and then began general prac- 
 tice, at the same time acting as clinical assistant to the 
 celebrated Dr. Moses Gunn, of Rush Medical College. 
 In 1875 he was made attending surgeon at the South 
 Side Free Dispensary, and in 1876 lecturer on surgery 
 at the Chicago Medical College. Leaving this institu- 
 tion in 1882, he, in company with several other promi- 
 nent physicians, was greatly instrumental in founding 
 the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons, which 
 has since proven itself so invaluable an acquisition to 
 the medical institutions of Chicago. In this institution 
 he acted as professor of orthopaedic surgery, until 1886. 
 At that time the resignation of the eminent Dr. Nich- 
 olas Senn, formerly of Milwaukee, left vacant the chair 
 of principles and practice of surgery and clinical 
 surgery. Dr. Steele, though younger by ten vears 
 than those who usually occupy this'chair, was called to 
 
 fill it, and this he has done most successfully. As evi- 
 dence of the esteem in which he is held by his 
 colleagues in the above college, we may add that upon 
 the death of Prof. Charles Warrington Earle in the fall 
 of 1893, who was then president of the college, Dr. 
 Steele was unanimously elected to the vacant position 
 in the institution in which he had so ably distin- 
 guished himself. 
 
 Dr. Steele was one of the originators of the Chicago 
 Biological Society, since become the Pathological Soci- 
 ety, and is a charter member of the Chicago Medical 
 Club, a very select organization, designed for social as 
 well as professional purposes. He was the first presi- 
 dent of the Chicago Medico-Legal Society, and, in 1887 
 and again in 1890 was made president of the Medical 
 Board of Cook County Hospital, where, for eight years, 
 he was attending surgeon. In 1886 he became presi- 
 dent of the Chicago Medical Society, and in the State 
 and national medical associations stands in the fore- 
 most ranks. 
 
 In 1888, Dr. Steele was sent by the American Med. 
 ical Association as a delegate to the British Medical 
 Association, at its annual convention, in Glasgow, 
 Scotland. He visited the medical institutions of 
 France, Germany, England and Switzerland, making 
 many important investigations for the benefit of 
 science. Much of this information he has since 
 embodied in a paper entitled "A Chicago Physician's 
 Impressions and Observations of European Surgery." 
 His researches were much furthered by the acquaint- 
 ance of such men as Lister, McCormick and Heath, of 
 London; Martin, of Berlin; and McEwan, of Glasgow. 
 Apropos of a little matter which came up during this 
 visit, Dr. Steele afterward opened up, with a prominent 
 English physician, the correspondence on etiquette, 
 which attracted so much attention at home and abroad. 
 Not a great while after this Dr. Steele again visited 
 Europe, this time as a delegate to the Ninth Inter- 
 national Medical Congress, held at Berlin. A pleasure 
 excursion, as well as a professional obligation, this trip 
 took him through Vienna, Rome, the galleries of 
 Florence, Munich, and all the principal points of 
 interest on the continent. 
 
 During the past year Dr. Steele has taken a very 
 active interest in the founding of one of the most noble 
 institutions of which our city boasts the Public Med- 
 ical Library of Chicago, under the leadership of Dr. N. 
 S. Davis. So well is Dr. Steele known as a writer that 
 it is needless to say more than that his contributions to 
 medical literature are as valuable as they are numerous. 
 
 In political preference the doctor inclines to the 
 Republican party, and in religion he is a member of 
 the Presbyterian church. As to his personal character, 
 that can best be judged from the words of one of the 
 foremost physicians of the city: 
 
 "Dr. Steele is an extremely busy and successful
 
 
 
 \A S
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 427 
 
 practitioner, constantly over-burdened by demands for 
 his services, both professionally and socially. He is a 
 man of the highest and purest character, an industrious 
 and ambitious student, and a gifted teacher of surgery. 
 Genial in disposition, unobtrusive and unassuming, he 
 is himself patient under adverse criticism, and in his 
 expressions concerning brother practitioners is friendly 
 and indulgent." 
 
 In 1876 Dr. Steele was married to Miss Alice 
 L. Tomlinson, daughter of Sheldon Tomlinson, Esq., 
 an old and prominent citizen of Champaign county, 
 III. Mrs. Steele is a woman of unusual intel- 
 lectual qualities, deeply interested in her husband's 
 professional work, and in the home is a most amiable 
 hostess and held in high esteem by all her numerous 
 friends ar\d acquaintances. 
 
 EDWARD LORENZO HOLMES, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DK. EDWARD L. HOLMES, son of Edward B. 
 Holmes and Caroline (Buttrick) Holmes, was born 
 at Dedham, Mass., January 28, 1828. His father was 
 a prominent merchant of Massachusetts; his mother 
 was a grand-daughter of old Commodore Buttrick, who 
 was in command of the forces at the battle of Concord, 
 Mass., in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Young Holmes attended for a time the public 
 schools at Dedham, and later attended private school 
 to fit him for college. He entered Harvard College in 
 1845 and graduated in 1849. After teaching school 
 two years, he decided upon a medical education, and 
 entered the Harvard Medical School, in which he 
 graduated in 1854. 
 
 Dr. Holmes' first work after graduation was general 
 hospital work. He then spent a year and a half at 
 Paris, and Vienna, in 1854 and 1855, studying general 
 medicine, and diseases of the eye and ear, making 
 that branch a special study. Returning to the United 
 States he decided to move West, and came to Chicago in 
 1856, where he entered upon the practice of his profes- 
 sion. The doctor has always taken great interest in the 
 study of language and of the sciences. He founded 
 
 the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1858 
 and in I860 joined the faculty of the Rush Medical 
 College, teaching in the 'department of the eye and 
 ear, and has continued teaching in that department 
 ever since. In 1890 Dr. Holmes was also made presi- 
 dent of the college, a position which he has filled with 
 distinguished success ever since. He is also professor 
 of diseases of the eye at the Chicago Pol vclinic, founder 
 and senior surgeon of the Illinois Charity Eye and 
 Ear Infirmary, president of the- medical board and 
 acting oculist and aurist of the Presbyterian Hospital, 
 and consulting physician of. the Central Free Dis- 
 pensary. His connection with medical societies in- 
 cludes membership in the American Opthalmological 
 and the American Otological societies, and in the 
 American Medical Association, the Chicago Medical 
 Society and the Chicago Academy of Medicine. 
 
 He took an active part in founding the Presbyte- 
 rian Hospital in 1882-3-4. He has been identified 
 with this institution since its foundation. 
 
 Dr. Holmes was married in 1862 to Miss Paula 
 Weiser, of Vienna, Austria. Five children have blessed 
 this union. 
 
 BENJAMIN MORTON HAIR, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BENJAMIN MORTON HAIR, son of Gilbert M. 
 and Jane (Semple) Hair, was born in Covington. 
 Kentucky, on the 14th day of January, 1849. His 
 father, Gilbert M. Hair, was a Presbyterian minister, 
 of Scotch descent, who preached the gospel for nearly 
 half a century, and who died January 3rd, 1S84. Young 
 Hair attended the public schools and took also a pre- 
 paratory course at Elders Ridge Academy, in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and at the beginning of the civil war was attend- 
 ing a boy's school taught by his father at Walnut Hill, 
 Kentucky, among the pupils of which were also Clif- 
 ton and Owen Brecken ridge, sons of lion. John C. 
 Breckenridge. 
 
 Rev. Mr: Hair was a Union man and in consequence 
 
 the family saw exciting times during the stormy davs 
 of the war. They were once called up during the 
 night by about thirty rebel cavalrymen, who ordered 
 them to leave the State within ten days. Before the 
 
 
 
 time had elapsed, however, Col. DeCorsey's regiment 
 of Ohio troops was in the neighborhood and fora time 
 established the supremacy of the Union flag. In 1SC2 
 General Kirby Smith took possession of the country 
 with his army of Confederates and the family was 
 compelled to leave their home, which was afterwards 
 burned, having previously been used by Gen. Smith as 
 a hospital. Of his property Mr. Hair saved nothing 
 excepting two horses, one of which young Benjamin 
 rode to Hamilton, Ohio, 135 miles, to which place the
 
 428 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 family now went. Mr. Hair's first venture in the world 
 of business was in a grocery store in the city of Baltimore 
 in 1867. After two years he came West and located in 
 Chicago, where he secured employment in the real estate 
 office of I. H. Andrews, in the old Methodist Church 
 block. Returning to the East after about two years he 
 became assistant clerk of the United States Circuit Court 
 for the Western district of Pennsylvania under H. D. 
 Cable. In 1874 we find him in the West again, 
 installed as assistant to State treasurer Ridgeway, of 
 Illinois, which position he retained until 1877, when he' 
 returned to Chicago, and in partnership with two 
 others bought the planing mill on west Twenty-second' 
 street, which has. since been run under the firm name 
 of Hare & Ridgeway, with success. 
 
 He is also a director and the president of the 
 Schrieber, Ridgeway Lumber Co., and a director of the 
 
 Northwestern Yeast Company, one of the largest 
 concerns of the kind in the world. When the Indus- 
 trial Bank of Chicago was organized, Mr. Hair was 
 elected a member of the board of directors, and on 
 January 1, 1893, he was elected president. 
 
 On January 16, 1873, Mr. Hair was married to Miss 
 Harriett Ridgeway, daughter of Thomas S. Ridgeway, 
 president of the First National Bank of Shawneetown, 
 111., and a member of one of the most prominent fami- 
 lies in the State, and who was treasurer of Illinois in 
 1874. Four children have been born to them, of 
 whom two daughters and one son are now living. 
 Mr. Hair is still in the prime of life, and naturally 
 has many years before him in which to add to the 
 achievements already recorded, and which, judging 
 from the past, will enhance his already fine reputation 
 for financial ability and business integrity. 
 
 EDWARD P. GRISWOLD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MR. GRISWOLD is a native of Connecticut. He 
 was born near Hartford, August 6, 1838, and 
 his parents were Thomas and Jerusha (Wells) Gris- 
 \vold. His father was the leading cloth manufacturer 
 in Connecticut. The boyhood of Edward embraced 
 attendance upon the public schools of his native town, 
 but for the completion of his education he went to East 
 Hampton, Mass. In 1854, at the age of sixteen, lie 
 began life as a clerk in the employ of Mr. S. W. Gris- 
 wold, at Hartford, Conn., who was then in the line of 
 business in which Mr. Griswold, the subject of our 
 sketch, is now engaged. 
 
 In 1857 young Griswold went to Milwaukee, and 
 for six years was engaged with his brother, Mr. J. W. 
 Griswold, in the cloak manufacturing business. In 
 1863, the brothers removed to Chicago, where they 
 continued the manufacture of ladies' and children's 
 cloaks under the firm name of J. W. Griswold & Com- 
 pany. The business of the firm constantly increased 
 from its start, in 1857, until now it has grown to be one 
 of the largest of its kind in the country. Mr. J. W. 
 Griswold retired from the firm in 1886. Since then 
 the management, shared by Edward P. Griswold and 
 Mr. P. B. Palmer, under the firm name of Griswold, 
 Palmer & Co., has become most aggressive, and 
 they have won a reputation as being among the most 
 energetic, popular and reliable merchants in the cloak 
 trade. It has been the aim of the firm from its very 
 start to not only manufacture garments that could be 
 depended upon for style, but that would give satisfac- 
 tion to the wearer. The popularity of the house with 
 its customers is a well known fact, and is attributed to 
 the uniform maintenance of the above named policy. 
 No firm has a better record, and it has been established 
 in this business longer than any other cloak manu- 
 facturing house in this country, passing successfully 
 
 through the financial crises of 1857 and 1887, and 
 the great fire of 1871. While thousands of firms 
 were broken up and others settled at various per- 
 centages of their indebtedness, this firm has always 
 met its obligations, paying one hundred cents on the 
 dollar. 
 
 As a citizen, no man stands higher than Mr. 
 Griswold. While he is modest and unostentatious in 
 his demeanor, he is always found in the front rank in 
 all matters of reform. He is a deacon in the First 
 Presbyterian church, and a man of whom it may be 
 said the world is made better by his having lived in it. 
 He belongs to the Union League and Sunset clubs, 
 and is a member of the Citizens' Association and the 
 Art Institute of Chicago. i 
 
 In his political affiliations he is strongly Republican, 
 and has been since he was entitled to cast his first 
 ballot, believing thoroughly in the principles of protec- 
 tion to home industries, as championed by that party. 
 
 Mr. Griswold was married in the year 1865 to Miss 
 Mary Browning. Thev have four children two sons 
 and two daughters Edward Browning, Mary Maude, 
 Grace and Harold Griswold, constituting a happy 
 family circle. 
 
 Among the names of the prominent business men 
 of Chicago who have been closely identified with its 
 interests, and have assisted in its marvellous growth, 
 and who, while helping to build up a metropolis, have 
 founded for themselves reputations more enduring 
 than iron and stone, will stand that of Edward P. 
 Griswold, who, by force of native ability and steady 
 perseverance, has raised himself to a position of wealth 
 and honor. His life-history illustrates in a marked 
 degree what may be accomplished by well directed 
 efforts, and a strict adherence to correct business 
 principles.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 LOUIS KISTLER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 LOUIS KISTLEE, the well-known Chicago attorney, 
 is a son of Andrew and Mary Kistler, and was 
 born at Strasburg, Germany, January 25, 1835. His 
 parents were both natives of Germany, and came to 
 this country in 1846, locating at Kochester, N. Y. 
 Here young Kistler attended public school, as he had 
 determined to acquire a thorough education and com- 
 plete mastery of the English language. After leaving 
 the public school at Rochester, he attended the univer- 
 sity at Syracuse, N. Y., where he graduated in 1858. 
 He then went to Europe and attended the University 
 of Berlin, where he was graduated in 1864. In both 
 of these institutions he took the highest honors attain- 
 able. 
 
 He came to Chicago in 1864, and served for four- 
 teen years, or until 1878, as professor of Greek litera- 
 ture in the Northwestern University at Evanston. 
 He then commenced the practice of law in Chicago 
 and has continued in it ever since. He is a good 
 lawyer, thoroughly read in his profession, a faithful 
 counsellor and 'a fine speaker. One of the most 
 important cases with which he has been connected, 
 was the defense, in 188y, of Theodore Kind, who was 
 charged with the murder of Mr. Hill, on State street, 
 Chicago, at which time he secured the practical 
 acquittal of his client. His professional activity, howr 
 ever, is principally devoted to civil practice, in which 
 branch of the law he has a large and profitable client- 
 tage and attains his greatest triumphs. 
 
 In 1884, at the reception given to the Hon. James 
 G. Elaine, at the Grand Pacific hotel, Mr. Kistler de- 
 livered the address of welcome, a short extemporaneous 
 speech which was published in the public press all over 
 the country, receiving everywhere the highest praise. 
 
 For the practice of his profession, Mr. Kistler has 
 recently associated with himself, in partnership, the 
 bright and thoroughly trained young lawyer, R. Waite 
 Joslyn, who is a descendant of a family of brilliant 
 lawyers and statesmen. 
 
 In politics Mr. Kistler is a Republican, but has 
 never sought office. He is prominently connected 
 with the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities, as well 
 as with many other civic societies. 
 
 Pleasant and genial by natural disposition, Mr. 
 Kistler has many friends, not only in the city of his 
 adoption, but also in many other places, where his 
 extensive travels have taken him. In his practice he 
 enjoys the highest confidence, of his clients and many 
 cases are submitted to him for settlement by both 
 parties concerned, without an appeal to the courts. 
 Indeed, in all his practice, he only commences suit as 
 the last possible means of obtaining justice for his client, 
 and this being the case, he very.seldom fails to estab- 
 lish the justice of his cause. His methods are well 
 worthy of emulation and his standard of character 
 may be judged by the necessary degree of confidence 
 he inspires to thus settle, and so often amicably, cases 
 which other lawyers bring before the courts. 
 
 TIMOTHY B. BLACKSTONE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BORN at Branford, Conn., March 28, 1829, Timothy 
 B. Blackstone's parents were James and Sarah 
 (Beach) Blackstone. The first of the Blackstones to 
 arrive in America was William Blackstone, who settled 
 in 1622, in the neighborhood of where the city of 
 Boston now stands. The Blackstone homestead at 
 one time formed part of the present Boston common. 
 William, in addition to being a farmer, was also a 
 minister in the English church, and frequently' con- 
 ducted mission services among the Indians then 
 resilient in his neighborhood. His son purchase'd the 
 present Blackstone homestead in 1638; this is still in 
 possession of the family, and on it was born and 
 reared several generations of the family, including the 
 father of the subject of our biography, and who was 
 well known in his da}' as an enterprising and thor- 
 oughly practical farmer, and held in high esteem by 
 his friends and neighbors. 
 
 Timothy attended the common schools of Branford, 
 and at the age of sixteen took a course of studv in a 
 
 neighboring academy. He left school, however, when 
 eighteen years of age, and engaged as a rodman with 
 the engineer's corps of the New York & New Haven 
 Railroad. It is, perhaps, the thoroughly practical 
 training here received, combined with a determination 
 to succeed in whatever he undertakes, that has placed 
 him in the leading positions which he has since occu- 
 pied in railroad circles. From rodman, young Black- 
 stone was promoted to be assistant engineer on the 
 Stockbridge & Pittsfield Railroad, within a year of his 
 joining the New York & New Haven company; an 
 advancement due to his studious habits and industrious 
 pursuit of engineering knowledge, while working faith- 
 fully in his more humble position. 
 
 In December, 1849, he was offered and accepted a 
 similar position with the Vermont Valley Railroad, and 
 remained with that company until late in the following 
 spring. In May, 1851, Mr. Blackstone observing the 
 large field, and foreseeing the scope which the great 
 West offered for railway enterprises, active employ-
 
 43 2 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST, 
 
 ment and good remuneration, removed to Illinois, where 
 he secured the appointment as engineer of surveys, 
 location and construction with the Illinois Central 
 Railroad. His division lay from Bloomington to 
 Dixon, with headquarters at La Salle. In December, 
 1855, the work was completed, and the main line of the 
 road was opened for traffic; the whole having been, as 
 is well known, under the direction of Eoswell B. 
 Mason, who was chief superintendent and engineer of 
 the survey, location and construction department. 
 
 In 1856, Mr. Blackstone was offered the position 
 of engineer-in-chief with the Joliet and Chicago Rail- 
 road; becoming also financially interested in the con- 
 struction of the road, afterward merged in the Chicago 
 and Alton Railroad. He supervised the location, entire 
 construction and maintenance of the road. Five years 
 later he was elected president of the company, and for 
 over three years remained as its head. For about 
 thirty years he has held the position of president of the 
 Chicago and Alton Company, and to his able manage- 
 
 ment and direction of affairs is undoubtedly due the 
 success and splendid position the company has attained 
 among the great railroads of the West. 
 
 In Mr. Blackstone we have an example of what 
 perseverance, combined with a high order of executive 
 ability and untiring energy can do. When these 
 qualities are combined with true American grit, it is 
 the pride and the boast of our republican institutions 
 that they give to every man an opportunity of dem- 
 onstrating what is in him. Thus, from the position of 
 rodrnan, Timothy B. Blackstone has worked his way 
 by force of character and close attention to business to 
 the position of president of one of the most important 
 and successful railroads of the West. 
 
 Mr. Blackstone was. married in October, 1868, to 
 Miss Isabella F. Norton, daughter of Henry B. Norton, 
 Esq., of Norwich, Connecticut. He is highly esteemed 
 by his fellow citizens for his ability and integrity, and by 
 his associates in the great railway world, where he is 
 justly regarded as occupying a place in the front ranks. 
 
 HON. LYSANDER HILL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IN studying the lives and characters of prominent men, 
 we are naturally led to. inquire into the secret of 
 their success and the motives that prompted their 
 action. Success is not a question of genius, as held by 
 many, but rather a matter of experience and sound 
 judgment. When we trace the character of those who 
 stand highest in public esteem, we find in nearly every 
 case that they are those who have risen gradually, 
 fighting their way in the face of opposition. Self- 
 reliance, conscientiousness, energy, honesty these are 
 the traits of character that insure the highest emolu- 
 ments and greatest success. To these we may attribute 
 the success of Judge Lysander Hill. 
 
 Lysander Hill was born in Union, Lincoln county, 
 Me., July 4, 1834, the son of Isaac and Eliza M. (Hall) 
 Hill, tracing his ancestry, both paternal and maternal, 
 to the old Puritan families who are among the earliest 
 settlers of Massachusetts. After passing through the 
 usual common school education, he studied at Warren 
 Academy, and entered Bowdoin College in 1854 and 
 graduated therefrom in 1858. Choosing the law as his 
 profession, he entered the law office of A. P. Gould, 
 at Thomascon, Me., and was admitted to the bar in 
 1860. He began practicing at once in Thomaston, 
 forming a partnership with J. P. Cilley, under the firm 
 name of Cilley & Hill. This partnership was dissolved 
 in 1862 when Mr. Hill entered the Union army as 
 captain of the Twentieth Maine Infantry. In 1863, on 
 account of physical disability, Mr. Hill received his 
 discharge from the army. 
 
 He afterwards resumed the practice of law, settling 
 at Alexandria, Virginia, and also occupied an office at 
 
 Washington, D. C. He formed a partnership at the 
 .former place with George Tucker, under the style of 
 Hill & Tucker. 
 
 Mr. Hill was Register in Bankruptcy of the Eighth 
 Judicial District of Virginia, from 1867 to 1869, when 
 he was appointed Judge of said district to fill an 
 unexpired term. 
 
 In 1874 Judge Hill removed to Washington, D. C., 
 and formed a partnership with Mr. E. A. Ellsworth, 
 under the firm name of Hill & Ellsworth, and this 
 association continued until 1878. For the next few 
 years he practiced his profession alone, devoting the 
 largest part of his attention to patent litigation, which 
 he had made a specialty ; but in May, 1881, he formed 
 a partnership with Mr. T. S. E. Dixon, of Chicago, 
 which lasted until 1890. 
 
 Judge Hill was married in February, 1864, to 
 Adelaide R. Cole, of Roxbury, Mass. This union 
 has been blessed with three children. 
 
 In politics, Judge Hill is, and ever has been, an 
 earn'est and sincere Republican. He was delegate to 
 the national convention which nominated Grant in 1868. 
 and "was a member of the committee on platform. He 
 was also chairman of the State central committee, of 
 Virginia, for two years, but since 1869 he has taken 
 little interest in politics, devoting his time and energies 
 to the practice of his profession, winch has been yearly 
 increasing, and which now takes him all over the 
 United States. Without doubt Judge Hill takes rank 
 as one of the ablest patent attorneys in the entire 
 country. He is a gentleman of pleasing address and 
 enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends.
 
 Anmcm fi, 9 Ai C
 
 rO
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 HENRY IVES COBB, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 435 
 
 HENRY I YES COBB was born in Brookline, Mas- 
 sachusetts. Having received a thorough prelim- 
 inary education, he entered Harvard University, taking 
 the literary and .scientific course. His preliminary 
 architectural training was received at the Massachusetts 
 Institute of Technology and in Europe. Entering the 
 office of one of the leading architects of Boston, he 
 soon rose to a prominent position among the architects 
 of the country. In 1881, he visited Chicago and 
 designed and superintended the construction of the 
 Union Club House. The demand which then arose for 
 his services was such as to warrant him in locating 
 there permanently. Since that time he has ranked as 
 one of the most skillful architects in the city and in 
 the United States, and was honored by appointment as 
 one of the National Board of Architects of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition. 
 
 Among the many notable buildings which Mr. Cobb 
 has designed, and which are conspicuous monuments to 
 his skill and enterprise, are the Owings Building, 
 Adams and Dearborn streets, Chicago, a magnificent 
 structure; the Chicago Opera House, the Kinzie Hotel, 
 the St. Charles Roman Catholic Buildings, the Chicago 
 Athletic Association Club House, the Newberry 
 Library Building, and the Cook County Abstract 
 Building. Among Mr. Cobb's work outside of Chicago 
 may be mentioned: The Knoxvilie Hotel, Knoxville, 
 Tenn., probably the largest building in that state; the 
 Bishop Hospital, Pittsfield, Mass.; the South San Fran- 
 
 cisco Co.'s buildings, a whole town- of buildings 
 designed by him, at South San Francisco; Blackstone 
 Memorial Buildings, Branford, Conn.; Donald Fletcher's 
 residence, Denver, Colo.; and Watkin's Bank Building, 
 Lawrence, Kansas, one of the finest structures in the 
 State. He took a prominent part in tha architectural 
 work of the World's Columbian Exposition, designing 
 the Fisheries Building. 
 
 He has been an extensive traveler, having traveled 
 over the civilized world, and has visited nearly every 
 important library in making a study of libraries. 
 Every other year he goes to Europe for study, re- 
 search and investigation in connection with profes- 
 sional work. 
 
 For about five years, beginning with 1882, he had a 
 partner and conducted his business under the firm name 
 of Cobb & Frost. Since the year 1887, however, he 
 has been in business by himself. 
 
 Mr. Cobb is a man of robust constitution, easy, 
 graceful demeanor, cool and deliberate, yet active and 
 energetic, a man who involuntarily impresses his asso- 
 ciates with his intellectual worth. He is a member of 
 the Chicago, University and Union clubs, and president 
 of the Mascoutah Kennel Club of Chicago. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. Cobb was married to Miss Emma M. 
 Smith, a daughter of the late Augustus Smith, Esq., a 
 prominent attorney of New York city. They have six 
 children, viz. Henry Ives, Jr., Cleveland, Leonore, 
 Candler, Elliott and Priscilla. 
 
 ROBERT STUART, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ROBEET STUART, son of John and Elsie Stuart, 
 was born in the town of Ingersoll, Oxford county, 
 Canada, November 22, 1852. His parents were of Scotch 
 descent, and his father was a prominent man in Oxford 
 county, much esteemed by his neighbors and the towns- 
 men of Ingersoll, where he successfully conducted an 
 extensive milling business. 
 
 Young Stuart received his early education, in the 
 public schools of his native town, later spending two 
 years in a private college at Toronto. Upon leaving 
 the latter institution he engaged himself in his father's 
 service, spending two years in the office, and it was 
 doubtless here, under the influence of his father's sound 
 business methods and principles, that he laid the foun- 
 dation for his future career. 
 
 Having well learned the business, in all the most 
 minute details as well as its fundamental principles,ancl 
 believing that he was equipped with all necessary quali- 
 fications to himself establish a milling business, he 
 removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he associated 
 
 with Mr. Douglas, under the style of Stuart & Doug- 
 las. He was the practical man, and under his personal 
 supervision and direction the firm was successfully 
 conducted until 1879, when Mr. Stuart came to Chicago, 
 in search of that wider and more varied fieid'of opera- 
 tions which a great city affords. Here he again estab- 
 lished a milling business, especially devoting attention 
 to the oat meal trade, in which he continued until the 
 American Cereal Company was incorporated. The 
 organizers of this company, appreciating the thorough 
 integrity, ability and complete knowledge of the 
 business, offered Mr. Stuart the position of treasurer of 
 the corporation, which he accepted and continues to 
 hold up to the present time, in a manner both satisfac- 
 tory to the company and creditable to himself. 
 
 He is a gentlema'n fond of social pleasures, being a 
 member of the Union League and Hyde Park clubs, 
 and also of the Chicago Athletic Club. He joined 
 the Union League Club in 1881, the Hyde Park Club in 
 1889. and the Chicago Athletic Club in 1893, and since
 
 436 
 
 PROMINENT A1EN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 his membership has taken an active part in all 
 the principal events in which the clubs have par- 
 ticipated. He is considered a prominent member of 
 them all, ever active in all matters pertaining to 
 their interest. 
 
 Mr. Stuart had been reared by his parents in the 
 Presbyterian faith, and his religious convictions have 
 remained unshaken, he being to-day an active member 
 of that church. In politics he is an independent voter, 
 never allying himself with any party, for the sake of 
 the party, but casts his ballot for the principles which 
 he believes should be upheld for the welfare of the 
 country's interests. He believes that upon lines of 
 principle, and not upon lines of party should the 
 political contests of the country be waged, and that 
 until such is the case political machines and political 
 jobbery will control the country's administration and 
 smirch her fair name. 
 
 Mr. Stuart was united in marriage on August 2, 
 1876, to Miss Margaret Sharer, daughter of D. 0. 
 Sharer, a prominent citizen of Dixon, 111. They have 
 
 three children, John, aged sixteen; Margaret, aged 
 eleven; and Douglas, aged seven. 
 
 He is a man of fine personal appearance, medium 
 height and weight. Notably of genial and pleasant 
 temperament, he is at all times a pleasant and enter- 
 taining companion, well liked and highly respected by 
 his friends. In every sense the builder of his own 
 fortunes, his high degree of success does him great 
 credit. Just entering upon the prime of life, when 
 men are supposed to have fully attained the full degree 
 of their executive ability and discrimination, he has 
 bright prospects before him, and his frier,ds look to the 
 future as full of promise of still greater achievements 
 and further successes. Mr. Stuart is a man of superior 
 financial ability, and at the recent annual election (1891) 
 of the officials of the American Exchange National 
 Bank, was elected president, to fill the vacancy caused 
 by the resignation of Mr. John B. Kirk. This institu- 
 tion is recognized as one of the strongest financial 
 houses in the city, and in importance is one of the 
 foremost of Chicago's many banking concerns. 
 
 JOHN LEWIS COCHRAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN LEWIS COCHRAN, the well-known capi- 
 talist and Edgewater property owner, is a son of 
 John Lewis and Martha (Austin) Cochran, and was 
 born at Sacramento, California. March 23, 1857. His 
 father, John Lewis Cochran, Sr., went to California in 
 1849, during the great gold excitement. 
 
 Young Cochran received his education at Phila- 
 delphia, Penn., and graduated at the Louderback 
 University. At the age of twenty-three years he left 
 Philadelphia and came to Chicago, as agent and 
 western representative of the large and well-known 
 Blackwell-Durham Tobacco Company, the largest 
 smoking tobacco factory in the United States. Here 
 his business ability was fully demonstrated in the way 
 he built up the trade for his firm. Liking the charac- 
 teristic bustle and activity of the young western city, 
 Mr. Cochran, shortly after his arrival here, determined 
 to make Chicago his home. He had great faith in the 
 city's future, and consequently in the value of real 
 estate, his choice of property being on the North side, 
 where, along the Lake Shore drive, he commenced 
 buving lots, upon which he placed fine stone and brick 
 buildings, with all the modern improvements. 
 
 Continuing his real estate ventures, which had 
 proved so successful to him, and with the same fore- 
 sight and sound judgment he had before displayed, he 
 purchased a large tract of land in what was then 
 known as Lake View. The next year, 1886, he 
 severed his connection with the Black well-Durham 
 Tobacco Company, and gave his whole time and atten- 
 tion to his land and building business, and immediately 
 
 commenced to construct a suburb upon the land pur- 
 chased the year before. He named the suburb " Edge- 
 water," and after grading the property and laying it 
 out in streets and avenues, he commenced to build it 
 up. It is easily reached from the Union depot by a 
 pleasant; ride of twenty-three minutes, on frequent 
 trains of the Evanston division of the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul railroad, or by a charming drive or 
 ride of about thirty-five minutes through Lincoln Park, 
 and thence over the incomparable Sheridan drive. 
 This suburb embraces an area of over 350 acres of dry, 
 sandy soil, extending a mile and a half along the shore 
 of the lake, with selected trees of the original forest 
 left standing, and used for ornamentation and shade. 
 
 From the inception of the undertaking the object 
 in view was to make Edgewater a model and ideal 
 place of residence, within the reach of families of mod- 
 erate income, and to establish a suburb to which Chi- 
 cagoans could point with pride. As it was conceived, 
 so it was carried out, and further improvements are 
 still being carried on as actively as ever. 
 
 A very large amount of money has been expended on 
 Edgewater by its promoters,' which can not be expected 
 to come back to them for years. They have not antici- 
 pated or calculated upon quick returns, but have 
 builded and planned for the future, and it has been 
 this motive, aided by perseverance and the employment 
 of every requisite of professional skill, which has fur- 
 nished all the safeguards possible for the future health 
 and prosperity of this handsome place. In this suburb 
 the drainage is of the best character ; the Edison incan-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 439 
 
 descent light is used in the houses. The avenues are 
 broad and macadamized, properly drained, with well 
 kept stone sidewalks, everywhere shaded by trees at 
 regular intervals, and all help to make life charming at 
 Edgewater. There are public buildings, a public hall. 
 containing a large auditorium, churches of nearly all 
 denominations, fine schools, a gun club, boat club, 
 tennis courts, bath houses and several social clubs. In 
 fact, nothing has been forgotten that would add to the 
 beauty of the place, and it may truly be said that 
 Edgewater of to-day is an ideal residence suburb. 
 
 Mr. Cochran was the projector of the North Shore 
 street railroad, an electric ruad completed in 1893, 
 extending from the northern terminus of the North 
 
 Chicago street railway through Edgewater and Rogers 
 Park, to Evanston. It is a trolley road, and the finest 
 using that system in Chicago. Mr. Cochran is vice- 
 president of the company, and also vice-president of 
 the new Northwestern Elevated road, now just taking 
 definite form, and intended to give rapid transit to the 
 North side. 
 
 Mr. Cochran is prominent in social circles, being a 
 member of the University, Union, Washington Park 
 and Athletic clubs. In religion he is an Episco- 
 palian, and politically he is a Republican, although 
 liberal in his views. Mr. Cochran was united in mar- 
 riage November 3, 1892, to Miss Alice Vanuxem, of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 ROBERT STOBO, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 ROBERT STOBO, vice-president of the Anglo- 
 American Provision Company of Chicago, son 
 of Robert Stobo, Sr., and Eli/abeth (Stevenson) Stobo, 
 was born at Glasgow, Scotland, July 21, 1840. His 
 father was an extensive builder and is now a large 
 owner of real estate in Glasgow, his mother being of a 
 very good family in Scotland. She died when he was 
 but eight years of age. 
 
 Young Stobo attended school at the Normal Semi- 
 nary and Lieper's Mercantile Academy in Glasgow and 
 was afterwards a student at the University of Edin- 
 burg. He was educated for the law. He served an 
 apprenticeship to the legal profession in Glasgow, and 
 was for several years afterwards in the law offices of a 
 leading writer to the Signet in Edinburg. He passed 
 the examination in that city before the Lords of Coun- 
 sel and Session and received his commission as a lawyer. 
 He afterwards practiced law in Edinburg and Glasgow 
 for ten years. 
 
 Mr. Stobo then went to Australia, where he took up 
 a ranch in the Kennedy district. Northern Queensland, 
 and for some time raised horses, cattle and sheep. 
 Later he sold his ranch and went to India, where he 
 was connected with the Bengal civil service and re- 
 mained there about four years, when he came to 
 America. Shortly after his arrival in this country he 
 entered the office of Fowler Brothers, provision mer- 
 chants in New York city, as chief clerk and general 
 manager. Here he remained until 1880, when he 
 resigned and started in business for himself, under the 
 firm name of Robert Stobo & Co., provision and 
 exporting house, New York. This firm was continued 
 until 1886, when it was dissolved, and Mr. Stobo again 
 became associated with Fowler Brothers. The year 
 following, 1887, he came to Chicago and was appointed 
 secretary of the Anglo-American Provision Company. 
 
 In 1890 he was made vice-president of the same com- 
 pany, which position he holds at the present time. 
 
 Mr. Stobo is connected with many important enter- 
 prises and companies, among which may be mentioned 
 the Sioux City Packing Company, of Sioux City, Iowa, 
 of which he is the president ; he is also the president 
 of the Stock Yards Warehouse Co., of Chicago ; vice- 
 president of the Anglo American Refrigerator Car Co., 
 and a director and the secretary of the Omaha Packing 
 Co., of South Omaha, Neb. 
 
 He is a member of the Union League Club of 
 Chicago, and also of the New York Jockey Club. He 
 is a staunch Republican at all times. He is very fond 
 of traveling and has visited every continent except 
 Europe proper. 
 
 Mr. Stobo was united in marriage to Miss M. E. 
 Baird, daughter of John Baird, of New York city, the 
 celebrated engineer, who built the New York Metropol- 
 itan Elevated Road and the Cromwell line of steamers. 
 They have one daughter living,Jeannette, a child thirteen 
 years of age. A rather interesting incident in regard 
 to this marriage is the fact that both his own parents 
 and the parents of his wife were acquaintances in their 
 youth, and that his father and his wife's father were 
 employed in the same engineering establishment at the 
 same time, in Glasgow, Scotland, when they were both 
 young men. 
 
 Mr. Stobo is a man above the average height, of 
 fine personal appearance, and is a pleasant man to meet, 
 whether in social circles or business. In forming 
 decisions in regard to business, he is quick and to the 
 point, and once his mind is made up he seldom has to 
 change it. His connection with so many large business 
 institutions is a strong proof of his executive abilit} 7 . 
 He makes friends wherever he goes, and has them 
 to-dav all over the world.
 
 440 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 JASON H. SHEPARD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born on October 15, 
 1838, at Cleveland, O., and was reared and edu- 
 cated in that vicinity. After obtaining a thorough 
 common-school education, at the age of sixteen he be- 
 gan his career by teaching school. Two years later he 
 engaged in mercantile life by entering as clerk the 
 supply store of the Cleveland Soiling Mill Company, 
 located at Newburg, a suburb of Cleveland.- He became 
 their chief clerk, and at one time had entire charge of 
 the company's supply store, showing that young Shep- 
 ard was looked upon as a young man deserving of con- 
 fidence and as one capable of having control of the 
 executive branches of a large mercantile business. 
 
 In appreciation of his ability and worth, the com- 
 pany tendered him the position of book-keeper and 
 cashier in the Union Soiling Mill Company, of Chicago, 
 now the Illinois Steel Company, an offshoot of the 
 Cleveland corporation. He accepted the position and 
 entered upon his new duties in Chicago in 1863, being 
 then twenty-five years old. In 1866 he resigned, and 
 entered into co-partnership with John Dolese, estab- 
 lishing the paving and quarrying business of Dolese & 
 Shepard. Their operations have been extensive and to 
 them Chicago is indebted for some of the best work 
 done on its boulevards and drives and principal streets, 
 which will be an enduring monument to a firm proba- 
 bly the best known in the entire country. Mr. Shepard 
 has charge of the contracting and financial part of the 
 business, while his partner attends to the execution of 
 the contracts. 
 
 Mr. Shepard is prominently known in financial and 
 commercial circles, and enjoys the very highest reputa- 
 
 tion for honesty and integrity. He is a member of the 
 Calumet, Washington Park and Union League clubs. He 
 is also a member of Hesperia Lodge, No. 411, Ancient 
 Free and Accepted Masons, and of Chevalier Bayard 
 Commandery, No. 52, K. T. 
 
 He was reared in the State of Ohio, aptly called by 
 an eloquent historian " the land of patriotism and the 
 mother of republicism." He has followed the teach- 
 ings of his father, and is prominently known as a 
 staunch Republican. He has never desired a political 
 position, though he has been* brought prominently 
 before the citizens as an available candidate for the 
 mayoralty, making no effort, however, to obtain the 
 nomination. 
 
 His father was a lieutenant in the Sixth Ohio 
 Volunteer Cavalry, and spent eighteen months of the 
 war enduring the suffering and cruelty of the Southern 
 military prisons. His brother was one of the first to 
 respond to Lincoln's call and enlisted in the same 
 regiment upon the call for ninety-day men, and after- 
 ward re-enlisted for the balance of the war. 
 
 On December 16, 1868, Mr. Shepard was married 
 to Miss Margaret M. Taylor, of Portland, Me. They 
 have two children Henri Elias and Laura Janet. 
 
 Mr. Shepard is a most courteous gentleman, a man 
 of prepossessing appearance, dignified and command- 
 ing, sought by men of culture for his social qualities 
 and gentlemanly bearing. Sespected in the commu- 
 nity and at the helm of a most prosperous business, he 
 is- an example of what honesty and integrity, combined 
 with foresight and ability, have done for himself and 
 for others. 
 
 JOSEPH W. REINHART, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOSEPH W. REINHART, son of A. G. and Kath- 
 erine (McHenry)Reinhart, was born at Pittsburg, 
 Penn., on the 17th of September, 1851. His education 
 was acquired in the public schools and at the "Western 
 University of Pennsylvania, and at the age of seventeen 
 he entered upon the business in which he has since 
 gained much distinction. 
 
 His first position was in the railway service as a 
 clerk for the division superintendent of the Allegheny 
 Valley Railroad, which he assumed in 1869. He was 
 subsequently advanced from one position to another, 
 and in 1875 he was made superintendent of transporta- 
 tion and rolling stock of the road. He retained this 
 position for five years, and then resigned to accept the 
 position of auditor of the Richmond and Allegheny 
 railroad with offices at Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 In 1883 he went to New York city as general audi- 
 tor of the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway, 
 which position he retained until 18S6, during which 
 year the road was in the hands of a receiver. lie then 
 spent six months at Chicago, as general passenger and 
 ticket agent of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern 
 Railway, and from 1887 to 1888 was located in New 
 York as railway expert for several large corporations. 
 In 188S he became connected with the Atchison, Topeka 
 and Santa Fe Railroad as general auditor of the road 
 and its auxiliary lines, and the following year, while 
 serving the same road as general auditor and fourth 
 vice-president he formulated and executed the cele- 
 brated and successful plan for the financial reorganiza- 
 tion of the company. In 1890 Mr. Reinhart was elected 
 first vice-president of the A. T. & S. F. road, and held
 
 X 
 
 \
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST, 
 
 443 
 
 this position until March 7th, 1893, when he was elected 
 to the office of president, which office he has wielded 
 with consummate skill. He also became president of 
 the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company ; the 
 St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company ; the St. 
 Louis, Kansas City & Colorado Railroad Company; 
 the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company ; the Colorado 
 Midland Railroad Company ; the New Mexico & 
 Arizona Railroad Company, the Sonora Railway Com- 
 pany, Limited, and of the many other auxiliary com- 
 panies of the Atchison system. 
 
 Mr. Reinhart, though still a young man, stands 
 second to none in the railroad business in this country. 
 His achievements can only be the outcome of a natural 
 gift joined to energy and executive ability, which has 
 enabled him to easily do the work of many. His 
 ability for conception, organization and execution 
 
 amount to nothing less than genius, and received only 
 fitting recognition when he was made president of the 
 great Santa Fe system of 9,345 miles of connected 
 railroad, and its many large auxiliary coal, land, and 
 other companies. 
 
 As is well known, the monetary disturbance of 
 the country during the last few months made it 
 necessary, in order to best protect the interests 
 of all parties, for the Atchison system to go into the 
 hands of receivers; and it is strong endorsement of 
 President Reinhart's ability and integrity that the courts 
 have chosen him to continue in charge of its affairs as 
 the principal receiver. 
 
 On the 21st day of October, 1875, Mr. Reinhart was 
 united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Taylor Allison, at 
 Sewickley, Allegheny county, Penn. They have four 
 children, one son and three daughters. 
 
 FRANK CATLIN GREENE, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of our sketch was born at Mansfield, 
 Ohio, in the year 1857. He is descended from 
 Britons, who immigrated to this country a century ago, 
 and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Dr. 
 Greene's father, Mr. H.-'N. Greene, removed to Man- 
 field, Ohio, where he was for several years engaged in 
 the jewelry business. In 1870 he removed .to Phila 
 delphia, Where better facilities for business were of- 
 fered, and there heengaged in banking until 1862, when 
 he retired from business and traveled for several years 
 until he located in Chicago, in 1866. Mr. Greene was 
 a prominent m&n in Mansfield, especially in religious 
 circles. He was t a prominent Episcopalian, and was an 
 earnest and zealous worker in the cause, holding high 
 official positions in the church. He was also deeply 
 interested in Sunday-school work, being at one time 
 superintendent of a school in Philadelphia. Emma 
 (Catlin) Greene, mother of Dr. Greene, comes of very- 
 sturdy and rugged stock, tracing her ancestors to the 
 early settlers of New York city. She was a literary 
 woman, spending much of her time in study and re 
 search, but was withal a model housewife and very 
 much devoted to her husband and children. 
 
 Dr. Greene has one brother David Russell Greene 
 a resident of Chicago, and a member of the Chicago 
 Stock Exchange. He has also one sister Marie Pan 
 line Greene a brilliant and charming societv young 
 ladv. Miss Greene has strong literary tastes, is an art 
 
 J _ J 
 
 connoisseur and a devotee of Delsarte, the study of his 
 " poetry of motion" contributing in no small degree 
 to her graceful anil charming manner. She formerly 
 studied under Boucicault and DeMille. 
 
 Dr. Greene acquired his early education in the 
 public schools of Mansfield, and later took a three 
 years' course in Peddle Institute, Hightstown, New 
 
 Jersey, finishing in 1877. and having to some extent 
 pursued the study of medicine previous!}', he then 
 entered the Jefferson Medical College, from which he 
 graduated in. 1880 with high honors, and received the 
 degree of M. D. at the age of twenty -one. For< 
 eighteen months 'thereafter he prosecuted his studies 
 and practiced in the charity hospital. New York city. 
 Not being satisfied, however, with his store of medical 
 information, and desiring further study, he crossed the 
 Atlantic and matriculated in Heidelburg University, 
 where he remained three years, at the end of which 
 time, 1884, he received a certificate from that institu- 
 tion. Returning to the United States he located in 
 Chicago, intending to practice medicine, for which he 
 was so well prepared; but this life was not to his taste, 
 and, in 1886, he entered the firm of Charles Truax & 
 Co., physicians' supplies, with which firm he is still con. 
 nected, the firm name being changed in 1891 to Charles 
 Truax, Greene & Co. This house is the largest of its 
 kind in the world, and ships goods to all parts of 
 America and Europe, handling specialties which can be 
 obtained nowhere else on the globe. 
 
 Dr. Greene has traveled quite extensively both, in 
 Europe and the Orient, as well as in his own country. He 
 , spent four years in Europe, the greater part of his time, 
 however, being consumed in study and research. He 
 has always had a fondness for athletic sports of all 
 kinds, his rugged constitution and fine physique bear- 
 ing testimony to the beneficial results of such exercise. 
 He is especially fond of hunting and yachting, at which 
 sports he spends much of his leisure time. 
 
 Religiously, Dr. Greene has always adhered to his 
 father's views, being a member of the Episcopal Church. 
 In politics, following in the footsteps of his worthy 
 parent, he casts his ballot for the Republican party. He
 
 444 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 holds membership in many of the leading clubs, such 
 as the University Club, Sunset Club and Twentieth 
 Century Club. In 1882 he was made a Mason in Con- 
 tinental Lodge, No. 297, in New York city. 
 
 Dr. trreene is one of the few examples we have of 
 professional men who have made successful business 
 men. He is a typical, ambitious, progressive, enterpris- 
 
 ing young Chicagoan of the class of whom the city is 
 so justly proud. He has been eminently successful in 
 his business career, and his prospects from a financial 
 point are exceptionally bright. Dr. Greene is quite a 
 society leader, being of a genial disposition, generous 
 impulses, hospitable and very popular among those with 
 whonvhe is best known. 
 
 DR. MOREAU ROBERTS BROWN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is the son of James 
 Moreau and Rebecca (Ashton) Brown, and was 
 born in Galveston, Tex., July 26, 1853. His parents 
 are prominent citizens of Galveston. Young Brown 
 attended the common schools in his native town, and 
 later in Burlington, N. J., and in Chester, Penn. Upon 
 leaving the latter, he immediately decided upon the 
 study of medicine. Entering Jefferson Medical College 
 at Philadelphia in 1872, where he spent some time, be 
 then entered the hospital at Galveston, in which he 
 remained two yea,rs, and then entered the medical de- 
 partment of the University of Kentucky and graduated 
 therefrom in 1876. In the same year he was appointed 
 county physician in Galveston county, but in 1878 he 
 resigned that position to accept that of quarantine phy- 
 sician, which he held two years and a half. He then 
 handed in his resignation and spent the following two 
 years in Europe, studying principally in Goettingen 
 and Munich in Germany, and Vienna in Austria. 
 
 In 1883 Dr. Brown returned to America and to Gal- 
 veston, Tex., and commenced there the practice of his 
 profession. In 1884 he was appointed health physician 
 of the city, but later resigned and in 1885 removed to 
 Chicago, where he immediately engaged in the prac- 
 tice of his profession, making rapid strides and soon 
 having ^a .large practice. In 1887 he was made pro- 
 fessor of, Rhinology and Laryngology, at the Chicago 
 Polyclinic. In 1893 he was appointed professor of 
 Rhinolgy and Laryngology in the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons in this city, which position he still holds. 
 Dr. Brown is a member of the Chicago Medical Society 
 the Medico-Legal society, the Illinois State Medical 
 society and the Practitioners Club, and also a member 
 of many of the leading secret societies, principally 
 affiliating with the National Union society, of which he 
 is medical examiner. Politically, the doctor is a Dem- 
 ocrat, although liberal in his views, and in his religious 
 belief a Protestant. 
 
 JAMES P. BUCK, A. M., M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JAMES P. BUCK, son of John and Rachael 
 (Sherry) Buck, was born in Cambria county. Pa., 
 February 19, 1856. His parents were of German- 
 American descent, and their parents were among the, 
 first settlers in northern Cambria county. The father 
 of Dr. Buck was sheriff of the above countv for a term 
 of three years, and later the people attested the esteem 
 in which they held him by sending him as their repre- 
 sentative to the State Legislature during the years of 
 1874-75-76. 
 
 Young Buck received his early education at the 
 district schools in his county, and then attended St. 
 Vincent college at Latrobe, Pa., where he graduated 
 with the degree of M. A. in 1876. After leaving col- 
 lege he taught school for two seasons in his native 
 county, during which time he took up the study of 
 medicine and in 1877 he entered Jefferson Medical 
 college of Philadelphia, graduating therefrom in- 1879. 
 Dr. Buck then took up the practice of his profession 
 
 in western Pennsylvania, continuing therein over five 
 years, when, prompted by his naturally studious mind 
 and a desire for the advantages offered by his contem- 
 plated step, he made a trip abroad for the purpose of 
 securing the further opportunity and superior character 
 of study at the medical schools of Vienna and Hiedel- 
 burg. While in Europe, and after his studies at the 
 cities above mentioned, the doctor entered the Servian 
 armv, then at war with Bulgarian-Roumania, as sur- 
 geon, with rank and title of captain. This was during 
 the years 1885 and 1886. Resigning this commission, 
 he for a time acted as assistant on the eye under 
 Professor Hock, of the Vienna Polyclinic. 
 
 In the autumn of 1887, after his quite protracted 
 stay in Europe, and well equipped to take charge of 
 the large practice that afterwards came under his care, 
 Dr. Buck returned to the United States and located in 
 Chicago, where he began the general practice of med 
 icine, rapidly acquiring the large and prominent prac-
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 447 
 
 tice that he enjoys to-day. Since his boyhood the doc- 
 tor has manifested an inventive genius, but his great 
 love for and steady application to his chosen profession 
 overshadowed and kept dormant his resourceful cre- 
 ative faculties, and, although he was ever willing 
 to extend his aid, which always proved valuable 
 in such cases, to those who came to him for help 
 in perfecting some invention, he has never until 
 lately given his attention to inventing on his own 
 account. Recently, however, he has perfected and 
 patented many invaluable instruments and appli- 
 ances especially adapted to various departments of 
 medical operation. 
 
 Dr. Buck is a member of the Chicago Gennania Man- 
 
 nerchoir of Chicago, and is a member of the Chicago 
 Medical Society, and a gentleman most popular with all 
 his associates. lie has never married. In appearance he 
 is a man of medium height, of pleasing manners and 
 very genial disposition. Not only is he a most suc- 
 successful practitioner of medicine, but he is an ardent 
 and devoted student of modern medical and surgical 
 methods and essays, ever desirous of improving with 
 the years his knowledge of his profession and of 
 general subjects and the sciences. He is a great 
 lover of birds and animals, and his elegant home 
 and spacious reception rooms resound with the 
 music of sweet singing birds of varied and valuable 
 species. 
 
 LUDWIG WOLFF, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG those citizens of Chicago who have become 
 prominent through their own exertions, Ludwig 
 Wolff may justly be classed. Mecklenburg-Schwerin 
 has produced many men who have, either at home or 
 abroad, reached a position of prominence. There 
 Ludwig, the eldest child of John and Christina (Sievert) 
 Wolff was born, March llth, 1836. There also his 
 early boyhood days were spent in the public schools. 
 At the age of fourteen he became apprenticed to a 
 coppersmith, with whom he remained four years, 
 during which time he attended the mechanical night 
 school in the evenings. 
 
 In 1854 the family emigrated to the United States- 
 They embarked at Hamburg and sailed to Hull, Eng., 
 and thence to New York. During this voyage Asiatic 
 cholera attacked the passengers, and four hundred of 
 them died. While in quarantine, at Staten Island, his 
 mother and two of her sons were stricken with the 
 disease and died. The father and the other children, 
 with heavy hearts, wended their way to Chicago, 
 where he and another of his sons died a few days 
 later. Ludwig faced these calamities with great forti- 
 tude. He was now the head of the family, with him- 
 self and four other children to feed and clothe. 
 Although a mere lad of eighteen he never lost heart, 
 but manfully went to work, obtaining employment at 
 his trade at a compensation of nine shillings per dav, 
 with which sum he supported himself and his brothers 
 and sisters. He afterwards found homes for the chil- 
 dren, in which they remained until they were grown. 
 He then spent a year as journeyman at his trade. The 
 first winter that he spent in the United States, business 
 in his line was so dull that he accepted a position on 
 the farm of Mr. James Anderson, in Macoupin county, 
 111., where he remained three months, at a salary of 
 two dollars per month and board. 
 
 In the spring of 1855 he returned to Chicago, and 
 worked at his trade for three months, at the end of 
 
 which time he formed a co-partnership with Terrence 
 Maguire, and commenced a general plumbing and 
 coppersmith business. Their place of business was in 
 the rear of No. 75 Lake street, where they remained 
 eleven years. The first few years of the copartnership 
 were only moderately successful, but during the civil 
 war there was increasing activity in the distilling and 
 brewing lines of trade, which gave them considerable 
 work making copper vessels, from which they realized 
 a handsome profit. 
 
 In 1866 they removed to 109 and 111 West Lake 
 street, where they had purchased the property, and 
 erected a four-story building, ninety feet deep. Here 
 Mr. Wolff purchased his partner's interest, and began 
 the manufacture of brass and copper plumber's sup- 
 plies; to this he gradually added marble supplies, and 
 later started a foundry, which he gradually enlarged 
 until he could manufacture a full line of all the mate- 
 rials used by plumbers. This was the beginning of the 
 L. Wolff Manufacturing company, one of the most ex- 
 tensive manufacturing plants of Chicago. The plant 
 at West Lake and Jefferson streets covers almost an 
 entire block, while the plant, including the iron foundry 
 and boiler, enameling and galvanizing shops on Carroll 
 and Hoyne avenues, covers '250 by 475 feet of ground. 
 Mr. Wolff is sole owner of the stock of this corporation, 
 whose annual sales amount to more than a million dol- 
 lars. He is president of the company; his eldest son, 
 John F., is vice-president, and the second son, Christian 
 J., is manager of the Carroll avenue works. 
 
 Mr. Wolff is a Mason of prominence, and of more 
 than thirty years' standing. He was initiated in the 
 William B. Warren Lodge, No. 209. A. F. and A. M., 
 about 1860. He is a charter member of York Chapter, 
 R. A. M., and a life member of Apollo Commander}', 
 No. 1. He is also a member of the Oriental Consistory, 
 and of Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is 
 also a director of the Illinois Masonic Orphans' Home,
 
 44 8 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 in which he takes the deepest interest, contributing 
 liberally to its support. He is also a generous sup- 
 porter of other worthy charities. 
 
 In social circles he is well and favorably known, 
 being an esteemed member of the Acacia and Mencken 
 
 clubs. Ludwig Wolff owes his present high position 
 entirely to bis own exertions, and now, after many years 
 of energetic labor with untiring perseverance, enjoys 
 the esteem of all who know him, and has the satisfac- 
 tion of reaping a substantial reward for all his exertions. 
 
 DR. J. W. STREETER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DR. J. W. STREETER is among our most eminent 
 Western physicians, and one of the most suc- 
 cessful practitioners of medicine in the entire country. 
 He is a polished, suave, and rather mild-mannered 
 gentleman of middle age, who began the practice of his 
 profession in Chicago twenty-three years ago, under 
 .circumstances somewhat more discouraging than those 
 with which the \ 7 oung physician usually has to contend. 
 He began his career with no other capital or resources 
 than a genius for his calling, thorough educational 
 qualificat.ons, indomitable courage, and a capacity for 
 persistent and continuous effort. 
 
 John Williams Streeter was born on September 14, 
 1841, at Austinburg, a village located in that portion 
 of northeastern Ohio which enjoys the distinction of 
 having given to American history such illustrious 
 characters as Benjamin F. Wade, Joshua R. Giddings 
 and James A. Garfield, and to the literary world the 
 distinguished novelist, W. D. Howells. His father 
 was Rev. Sereno W. Streeter, a Congregational clergy- 
 man, who belonged to one of the old families of Mass- 
 achusetts, and his mother was Mary (Williams) 
 Streeter, who was a descendant of Roger Williams, the 
 founder of the colony of Rhode Island. Both his father 
 and mother were among the earliest graduates of the 
 now famous college located at Oberlin, O., the former 
 having been one of a number of students who came to 
 that institution in 1839 from the Lane Theological 
 Seminary at Cincinnati, where their pronounced anti- 
 slavery views were not looked upon with favor. 
 
 When John W. Streeter was six years of age his 
 father removed from Ohio to western New York, 
 where he became the pastor of a church, in the village 
 of Henrietta, five miles from the city of Rochester. 
 Here the son was sent to school, and he had completed 
 an academic education when his father decided, ten 
 years later, to remove to Westville, Ohio, where he 
 accepted a professorship at Otterbem University, 
 located at that place. The purpose of the elder 
 Streeter in thus changing his place -of residence was to 
 give his son an opportunity to acquire a collegiate 
 education, and he was particularly anxious that John 
 W. should prepare himself for the study of medicine, 
 inasmuch as he had given evidence of a natural apti- 
 tude for that profession. After spending some time in 
 college, however, the young man began to feel that his 
 father was carrying burdens which it was his duty to 
 
 lighten as much as possible. The salary of a western 
 college professor in those days was, as a rule, rather 
 meagre, and in order to live within a limited income, 
 his family was compelled to practice the most rigid 
 economy, particularly during the " hard times " which 
 followed the financial panic of 1857. Feeling that he 
 should make an effort to maintain himself, young 
 Streeter left college in 1858, and went to northern 
 Indiana, where he engaged alternately in teaching 
 school and working on a farm until the spring of 1862. 
 At that time he went to Michigan to visit his father, 
 who had again entered the ministry and accepted the 
 pastorate of a church at Union City. 
 
 There young Streeter enlisted in July of 1862 in 
 the First Michigan Light Artillery (the famous Loomis 
 battery), the first batter\ r organized in that State for 
 service in the War of the Rebellion. Goin<* almost 
 immediately into active service, this battery took part 
 in the subsequent campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee, 
 Alabama and Georgia. Turning back from Atlanta 
 with Gen. Geo. A. Thomas' command, it participated 
 at Nashville and 'Franklin, Tenn., in December, 1864, 
 and was mustered out of service in September, 1865, 
 at the end of the war. Young Streeter enlisted as a 
 private, but when mustered out he held a first lieuten- 
 ant's commission, which had come to him as a reward 
 of gallantry and faithful service. His first promotion 
 was won at Chickamauga, where his battery participated 
 in a spirited engagement on the morning of the first 
 day's battle, from which it retired with a loss of half 
 its force of men and nearly all its horses. In this 
 engagement the piece of artillery which Streeter had 
 charge of was the only one belonging to the batterv 
 which did not fall into the bands of the enemy, 
 although all the pieces were recaptured before the 
 engagement ended. He was made a second-lieutenant 
 soon after the battle, and was recognized thereafter as 
 a fearless, intrepid and dashing young officer, who 
 never shirked a duty, and was ever read\ T to face a 
 danger with which the exigencies of war might bring 
 him in contact. During his term of over three years 
 service, he was never off duty a day. Declining an 
 appointment which was offered him on the staff of 
 General Carl in, he remained with the Loomis Battery, 
 participating in all its engagements and sharing all its 
 perils, through which he was fortunate enough to pass 
 without accident or injury.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^
 
 FROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 45' 
 
 Immediately after quitting the military service, in 
 1865, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Morse, 
 of Union City, Mich., and in the fall of that year he 
 went to Ann Arbor, where he attended his first course 
 of medical lectures. He afterwards read for a time 
 under the preceptorship of Dr. D. C. Powers, of Cold- 
 water, Mich., who had been the surgeon of his battery 
 during the war, and still later with Dr. Goodwin, an 
 ex-naval surgeon, of Toledo, Ohio. He devoted three 
 years to the study of medicine, and, having decided to 
 enter the homoeopathic school, he came to Chicago and 
 graduated from Ilahnemann Medical College in 1868. 
 At that time Chicago did not afford to young physicians 
 the splendid facilities for obtaining hospital training 
 and experience which have since been afforded. Dr. 
 Streeter, however, determined to avail himself of an 
 opportunity which presented itself to him for adding 
 largely to his practical knowledge of medicine, and, 
 accepting the position of physician in charge of the 
 Ilahnemann Medical College dispensary, he devoted 
 himself for two years almost entirely to a "charity prac- 
 tice." In view of the fact that he had practically ex- 
 hausted his financial resourcesin obtaining his education, 
 these two years, which brought him scarcely enough 
 paying practice to meet the outlay for office rent, con- 
 stituted quite the most uncomfortable period of his 
 existence. 
 
 Through the aid of a small loan from Mr. A. J. 
 Willard, an old resident of Chicago and a friend of his 
 father's family, he was enabled to struggle successfully 
 on though under discouragements, but soon the public 
 came to appreciate his ability and conscientious devo- 
 tion to duty and he met with speedy success. With 
 professional skill which brought to him the very best 
 class of patronage, he combined the tact which made 
 fast friends of the patients who came to him for treat- 
 ment, and he has since by assidious attention to 
 business, swelled his annual income to more than that 
 of the average railroad president. 
 
 While giving his attention to his extensive practice, 
 Dr. Streeter has also contributed his full share to the 
 advancement of medical educational interests in Chi- 
 cago. He was one of the founders of the Chicago 
 Homoeopathic College in 1877, and was assigned to the 
 
 chair of "medical diseases of women and children.' 
 Two years later his professorship was changed to 
 "medical and surgical diseases of women." While his 
 practice has been of a general character, he has given 
 special attention to the numerous complicated diseases 
 of women, and is recognized as one of the most suc- 
 cessful gynaecologists in the country. In this capacity 
 he has been for several years connected with the Cook 
 County Hospital, and he will sustain the same relation 
 to the splendid new hospital now being erected under 
 the auspices of the Chicago Homoeopathic College. He 
 has also one of the largest private hospitals in the United 
 States, the Streeter Hospital, which was established 
 in 1888. From a small beginning it has grown to be 
 one of the finest and best appointed private hospitals 
 in the world. It is pleasantly situated on Calumet 
 avenue, is massive in construction, practically fire-proof 
 and perfectly adapted for its use. Every room has a 
 southern exposure. The building is heated by hot 
 water, lighted by electricity, furnished with a hydraulic 
 elevator, ventilated by a system of electric fans, and is 
 in every respect as complete as skill, experience and 
 money can make it. There is a training school for 
 nurses connected with the hospital. Prof. Streeter is 
 in personal charge, performing all operations. 
 
 Almost the only relaxation from professional labor 
 which Dr. Streeter allows himself is found in his 
 association with the National Guard of Illinois. His 
 experience during the war left him with a fondness for 
 the military service, and he has interested himself 
 actively in building up the State militia, with which he 
 was connected as the brigade surgeon of the first 
 brigade for twelve years. He has also been prominently 
 indentified, since its organization, with the veteran 
 order of the Loyal Legion, of which Illinois has the 
 oldest western comrnandery. The doctor is a member 
 of the Calumet, the Athletic, and the Washington Park 
 Clubs. 
 
 Dr. Streeter was united in marriage in 1869 to Miss 
 Mary Clark, a daughter of Israel W. Clark, now a 
 wealthy and philanthropic citizen of Union City, Mich., 
 but in his early life a prominent merchant of New 
 York city. Three children, one son and two daughters, 
 complete the family circle. 
 
 GEORGE HENRY WHEELER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, George Henry Wheeler, 
 was born at La Porte, Ind., August I, 1841. He 
 is a son of Hiram Wheeler, who was born in New 
 Haven, Vt., and Julia Smith Wheeler, born in New 
 York city. Foreseeing the probabilities and opportuni- 
 ties of the great West, Mr. Wheeler, Sr., in 1832 removed 
 to the new and remote settlement of La Porte, Ind. 
 Kemaining there for about nine years, he then removed 
 
 to St. Joseph, Mich., where he was located for over 
 eight years. Chicago, then a small town at the head 
 of Lake Michigan, began to attract attention and gave 
 every indication, even at this early day, of becoming 
 in the near future a city of considerable importance. 
 Having faith in its future Mr. Wheeler decided to leave 
 St. Joseph and come to Chicago, which he did, remov- 
 ing his family in 1S49. George was then eight years
 
 452 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 of age. His earl\' education was acquired in the public 
 schools of Chicago, and in 1856 he completed a business 
 course at Kacine College, Wis. In 1860, his father 
 having engaged in the grain elevator business, young 
 Wheeler entered the employment of the firm, which 
 was Munger, Wheeler & Co., and later, in 1867, he was 
 admitted into partnership. The firm possessed a wide 
 reputation and was among the largest receivers of grain 
 in Chicago. Mr. Wheeler remained with this firm, 
 connected with the active management of the house, 
 up to 1889, at which period the firm sold out to an 
 English syndicate. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler was prominently identified with the 
 interests of the Chicago City Railway Company, and 
 at the annual meeting in January, 1891, he was elected 
 president of the company, which position he still holds. 
 He has also b<jen president of the Washington Park 
 
 Club for several years. He is a member of the Chicago 
 and other clubs and was a director of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, and is on the directorate of the 
 Continental National Bank of Chicago. In his relig-. 
 ious faith he is an Episcopalian ; in politics he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler was married, in 1864, to Miss Alice I. 
 Lord, daughter of Gilderoy Lord, a prominent citizen 
 of Watertown, New York. They have two children, 
 namely, Henry Lord and Mabel. In manner Mr. 
 Wheeler is genial and in practice generous and possesses 
 a host of friends. With thousands of men under his 
 supervision, he is generally regarded by them with favor 
 for the considerate and kind treatment received at his 
 hands; while by his large circle of business associates 
 and by his numerous personal friends he is highly 
 esteemed for his manly qualities of heart and of mind. 
 
 ABNER SMITH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ABNER SMITH, son of Humphrey and Sophronia 
 Smith, was born at Orange, Mass., on August 
 4, 1843. Speaking of his family, an Eastern biographer 
 says : 
 
 " The family of Abner Smith, of Vermont, is con- 
 nected with that of the old and distinguished Massa- 
 chusetts family, Ward. Abner and four brothers and 
 two sisters are descendants, on the maternal side, of 
 William Ward,of Sudbury,Mass.,and more immediately 
 of Sylvanus Ward, of Orange, Mass., where most of the 
 children were born. William Ward settled in Sudbury 
 in about 1639, and his descendants are numerous and 
 are notable people in Massachusetts and elsewhere. 
 The collateral branches of the different generations 
 which have passed away and the many which still live 
 have been and are uniformly substantial and upright 
 people, whose careers are intensely interesting to the 
 student of to-day, since their fame lives in history and 
 their deeds are chronicled in story. The numerous 
 family lines of subsequent offspring have spread over 
 the length and breadth of the country, and have been 
 an honor and a credit to so excellent a family, the full 
 details of which would fill a space beyond the limits of 
 this brief article." 
 
 While Abner was but a child his parents moved to 
 Middlebury, Vt., at which place the boy attended the 
 public schools, and later the college at the same place, 
 and graduated from the latter institution with honors 
 in 1866. He then taught school for a time, and in 1867 
 came to Chicago, where he entered the law office of J. L. 
 Stark, a son of Vermont, by the way, and a descendant 
 of the famed Colonel Stark, who came to the aid of 
 his ancestor, Major General Ward, our subject's ancestor 
 at the outbreak of the Revolution. In this office he 
 completed his law studies, and was admitted to the bar, 
 
 at which time he formed a partnership with Mr. Stark, 
 the firm being known as Stark & Smith, and this 
 partnership continued until the death of Mr. Stark, 
 when Mr. Smith succeeded to the businees and settled 
 his late partner's estate. In 1877 he formed a partner- 
 ship with John M. H. Burgett, under the firm name of 
 Smith & Burgett, which lasted for ten years. Since 
 that time be has had other partners, but most of the 
 time he has been alone, and his great success has been 
 wholly wrought out by his unaided efforts. His 
 advancement in his chosen profession has been of slow 
 but steady growth rather than sudden and meteoric in 
 character, and his large practice has come to him as 
 the result of his inherent worth and integrity. 
 
 Mr. Smith was the attorne}' of the National Life 
 Insurance Company of Vermont and of the Life 
 Indemnity and Investment Company of Iowa, now the 
 Iowa Life Insurance Company, and was formerly one 
 of the directors of the last named company. He was 
 also the attorney for the Lake View Telephone Ex- 
 change, which covers the northern portion of the city 
 of Chicago. He was formerly one of the directors in 
 the North Star Construction Compan\ T , which built the 
 Duluth and AVinnepeg Railroad, and which is operating 
 that road. 
 
 A Republican in politics, Mr. Smith has found but 
 little time to enter actively into the political field, but 
 at the earnest solicitation of the leaders of his party, 
 as well as of his many friends irrespective of party, lie 
 consented in the fall of 1893 to the use of his name as 
 candidate for circuit judge for the full term. As was 
 to be expected, he found many of his warmest sup- 
 porters among men politically opposed to him and 
 was triumphantly elected by a majority second to only 
 on-j nominee, and entered upon the duties of his office
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 455 
 
 in December, 1893. On the fifth day of October, 1869, 
 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Ada C. Smith, 
 daughter of Sereno Smith, Esq., of Shoreham, Vt. 
 
 Judge Smith is a man of fine address, a pleasant 
 companion, and knows how to gain, and what is more 
 valuable, retain the friendship and respect of all with 
 whom he comes in contact. He has a refined literary 
 taste, is fond of music and the fine arts, and- is 
 the owner of an extensive and well chosen law 
 library, and also of a large collection of books 
 devoted to literature, science, and in fact every- 
 thing to the taste of a highly cultivated gentleman. 
 Exceeding!}' generous in dealing with those who 
 come to him in need he practices the precept re- 
 garding keeping secret from his left hand the good 
 deeds done b\ r his right, and all of his contributions 
 to alleviate the sufferings of others are quietly and 
 unostentatiously made without publicity or parade, 
 and in obedience to his inborn generous impulses and 
 his strict sense of justice. His career, brilliant as it 
 has been and is, is but a fulfillment of the promises 
 made by his earlier life, as will be shown- by an extract 
 taken from The Undergraduates, a paper published at 
 
 Middlebury College, from which he graduated in 1866: 
 'When in college, Abner Smith was a candid, earnest 
 and substantial and reliable young man and student, 
 and has maintained that character to this day. 
 He evinced in college the possession of abilities which 
 would enable him to rise to and above the average in 
 whatever profession he might choose to follow, which 
 he has done in the profession of law. He has never 
 aimed at ephemeral brilliancy or signal momentary 
 results, but a thoughtful and careful avoidance of mis- 
 takes and permanent achievements. He has succeeded 
 in all respects which constitute success of an attorney- 
 at-law, a result attained by devotion to his profession 
 and close attention to business. This outcome is 
 not the result of chance, but eventuates from his 
 native abilities, which he has cultivated and given 
 direction to, and he has made good use of his oppor- 
 tunities. In the walks of life when intelligence, honor 
 and manliness are regarded for what they are worth, 
 he has by the practice of these virtues attained an 
 honorable position at the bar and in the community, 
 and won the respect of all who know him. He is a 
 noteworthv and creditable alumnus of his Alma Mater." 
 
 ALONZO J. WILLARD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ALONZO J. WILLARD, a son of Major John H. 
 Willard, was born at Lancnster, N. H., Feb. 11, 
 1817, and comes of English stock known in New 
 England since 1634. II is mother was Beedee M. 
 Cooper, a daughter of Judge Jesse Cooper, an old 
 resident of Vermont. Young Willard grew up on the 
 farm, which had passed into the possession of his 
 grandfather when he became pastor of the Congrega- 
 tional church at Lancaster. A portion of his boyhood, 
 however, was spent in Vermont. During this time he 
 attended school with reasonable regularity in the 
 winters of each year, and made progress after the 
 fashion of those energetic and enterprising young men 
 of New England birth, who half a century since, seem 
 to have acquired a somewhat remarkable amount of 
 learning and general information by devoting to the 
 work a comparatively small amount of time. His 
 father being a man of good education, aided him 
 materially in the work of self-culture; and a short 
 time spent in one of the old-fashioned academies, after 
 leaving the common schools, gave Mr. Willard what 
 was looked upon in those days as a very fair English 
 education. 
 
 He removed with his father to Maine in 1836, and 
 remained there, aiding in the conduct and management 
 of the hotel as well as the farm until 1838, when he 
 decided to begin life on his own account. At that 
 time he left- home with what he facetiously calls a 
 Maine boy's patrimony that is to say, "twenty-five 
 
 dollars and a patent right." Young Willard's patent 
 was a bee-hire; and with a model hive and a sample of 
 honey in a glass he canvassed the State of Rhode 
 Island and the country along the Hudson river. He 
 made an occasional sale, but the bee-moths had been 
 ahead of him, and the bee-raisers were generally dis- 
 couraged; so that he found it necessary to take Horace 
 Greely's advice before it was given and "go West." 
 His first stop after the. westward trip commenced, 
 was at Cleveland, Ohio, where he visited a relative, 
 and when it position to do so, set out for Chicago. He 
 landed here the first week in September, 1838, and a 
 few days later was utilizing his time to the best advan- 
 tage possible as a laborer at whatever he found to do. 
 Chicago did not prove to be, all at once, the El Dorado 
 of which he had been in search. "Times were hard" 
 during the first two years of his residence in this city 
 and he found it difficult to secure employment suffi- 
 ciently profitable to enable him to accumulate any thing 
 for investment, or with which to begin business on his 
 own account. In 1843 he became connected with one of 
 the pioneer business establishments of the city, that of 
 Wadsworth, Dyer & Chapin, with which he remained 
 in the capacity of a clerk for four years. At the end 
 of that time he purchased a half interest in the Chicago 
 Temperance House, a small hotel which furnished 
 accommodations to the early settlers and early visitors 
 at the remarkably low rate of two dollars per week for 
 regular board.' After remaining in the hotel business
 
 PROMINENT MRN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 some time, he secured, in the spring of 1848, after the 
 Illinois and Michigan canal had been opened, an interest 
 in the Union Line Transportation Company. He 
 himself manned a canal boat, and fora dozen years 
 thereafter he was exceedingly active in the transporta- 
 tion and forwarding business. 
 
 In 1859, he embarked in the ice business; the firm 
 with which he was identified being known as "Wad hams, 
 Willard and Company. In this business an immense 
 industry was built up, which gradually absorbing other 
 similar enterprises, has become known as the Wash- 
 ington Ice Company, of which Mr. Seth Wad hams 
 became first president. Two years since Mr. Wadhams 
 died, and Mr. Willard succeeded to the presidency of 
 the corporation, which he still retains and to the affairs 
 of which he still gives active attention. .In addition to 
 his interests in this enterprise, with which he has been 
 so long continuously identified, and with the building 
 up of which he has had much to do, various other in- 
 vestments have contributed to what aggregates a com- 
 fortable competency, which by the way, has been 
 earned by Mr. Willard's own efforts, and which comes 
 to him as the legitimate reward of thrift, industry and 
 enterprise. 
 
 Among all the earlier settlers of' Chicago, there are 
 few who have borne so well the burden of years as Mr. 
 Willard. Though well up in the seventies he is still in 
 active life, a Tiian of vigorous intellect, almost unerring 
 memory*, and a thorough capacity for the enjoyment 
 of the good things of life. The inimitable drollery 
 with which he relates, from time to time, his remini- 
 scences and recounts the wonderful cl;anges which 
 have taken place about him, makes him one of the most 
 interesting of those who carrv with them a historv of 
 
 the second city of the United States, gleaned from their 
 personal observations. Particularly interesting at all 
 times are the narratives of the experiences of fifty 
 years ago, compared with those of Chicago citizens of 
 to-day. The rapid transit of that period, for instance, is 
 fully illustrated by one of Mr. Willard's experiences in 
 getting from Chicago to St. Louis, while employed as 
 an agent of the Government in the transfer of public 
 moneys from the former to the latter place. In those 
 davs St. Lo'iis was the principal western city, and 
 Chicago little more than an interior trading post. 
 Money received from the sale of public lands and other 
 sources of revenue to the Government, had to be trans- 
 ported from Chicago to St. Louis where the Government 
 sub-treasury was located ; and the custom was to employ 
 special messengers to guard the Government treasure- 
 boxes in transit. In one instance a sum of $50,000 in 
 gold and silver was to be sent from Chicago to St. 
 Louis, and Mr. Willard was appointed one of the mes- 
 sengers to- take charge of it. 
 
 Mr. Willard was married in 1855 to Mrs. Laura A. 
 Wooster. Mrs. Willard was born in Goshen, Conn., 
 and was the daughter of Ethan Walter, an old resident 
 of that town. She came West with her first hus- 
 band, Mr. Wooster, and was a resident of Chicago 
 as early as 1839. At a later date she removed to 
 Missouri, where Mr. Wooster died, and in 1855 she 
 returned to Chicago as the wife of Mr. Willard. 
 A son and a daughter are the only children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Willard. The son James Haven Willard, a 
 graduate of Michigan University, is now associated 
 with liis father in business, and his daughter is the 
 wife of Charles G: Bolte, prominent among the young 
 business men of the city. 
 
 MARTIN VAN ALLEN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN VAN ALLEN, son of Cornelius and 
 Lora A. (Ackerman) Van Allen, was born in 
 Jefferson .county, N. Y., on the 9th of July. 1832. His 
 father's familv came to this country during the war of 
 the Revolution and his mothers with the early Pilgrims. 
 Both families settled in Jefferson county, N. Y., and 
 there our subject passed the early years of his life. 
 His education was acquired in the public schools and 
 he also took a three-year course in Falley Seminary at 
 Fulton, N. Y. In the seminar} 7 he devoted almost his 
 entire time to mathematics, and as his tastes inclined 
 in that direction he thoroughly fitted himself as a civil 
 engineer. On leaving school he obtained employment 
 with the engineering corps of the Utica and r Black 
 River Railroad and after that came West where he was 
 first engaged on the U. S. Government surveys in 
 Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the year 1855 he en- 
 gaged with the Illinois Central Railroad, and three 
 
 years later with the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad, 
 in 1860 with the Burlington, and in 1862 with the 
 Chicago and Alton Railroad. 
 
 In the meantime, Mr. Van Allen had been giving 
 his spare time and attention to the real estate business, 
 in which he had been investing from time to time, and 
 after he resigned his position as engineer in charge of 
 the work of widening and deepening the Illinois and 
 Michigan canal, he devoted almost all of his attention 
 to his real estate business, in which he lias been 
 engaged up to the present time. Mr. Van Allen was 
 connected quite prominently with a patriotic organi- 
 zation known as the " Strong Band," which was formed 
 in 1863 for the purpose of promoting enlistments in the 
 Union Army, and also for counteracting the effects of 
 such organizations as the " Knights of the Golden 
 Circle." and others who were at that time prominent 
 and inclined, if let alone, to active and offensive partisan-

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 459 
 
 ship. They also effectively served the general govern- 
 ment by preventing the freeing of confederate prisoners 
 confined in the North and by giving information of 
 purposed movements against the government. In this 
 organization Mr. Van Allen was at first an ensign, but 
 lie later held the positions of lieutenant, captain, colonel 
 brigadier-general and major-general, and was one of the 
 sixteen persons who constituted the board of control, 
 who had the entire management of the order, which 
 had a list of over 1,000,000 members scattered through- 
 out the entire North. He joined the A. F and A. M. in 
 August, 1867, and later took the degrees in Washington 
 Chapter R. A. M. Mr. Van Allen cast his first presiden- 
 tial vote for John C. Fremont, and voted subsequently 
 for the candidates of the Republican party until the elec- 
 tion of 18S4, when he voted for Cleveland, and in 1888 
 and 1892 for Harrison. He has never sought public 
 office, though in 1S71 he was elected town assessor of 
 Lake View and town engineer in 1882, and also served 
 as school trustee in 1870. Mr. Van Allen is not a mem- 
 ber of any church, having a belief entirely different 
 from the dogmas of an}' of the organized churches. 
 Nevertheless, none are more generous in contributing 
 to church work, and an appeal for charity is never 
 addressed to him in vain. Besides his real estate 
 business he has taken an active interest in building 
 and loan associations, and is at the present time the 
 president of the Surety, of Chicago, and also general 
 manager of the St. Charles Land Association. 
 
 On the 12th day of October, 1857, Mr. Van Allen 
 was married to Miss Martha Bowen, in St. Lawrence 
 county, N. Y. Mrs. Van Allen is on her mother's 
 side descended from James Wilson, who was for thirty 
 
 years a member of the Provincial Parliament of Can- 
 ada, and on her father's side she traces her ancestry 
 back through the Warwicks, the king-makers of 
 England, the first Plantagenets and the family 
 of William the Conquerer to Drogo de Montacuto, 
 who was a prominent officer and personal adviser 
 of William the Conquerer, and who came from 
 France with that monarch. From Drogo de 
 Montacnto the line is traced back to some of 
 the Norsemen who settled in Normandy in the 
 eighth century. This union has been blessed with four 
 children, three of whom are now living, the fourth 
 having died in infancy. The eldest, Miss Jennie, is a 
 journalist in Chicago. The only son, Frank, is a phy- 
 sician and now doing medical missionary work in South 
 India, while the youngest, Miss Martha, is teaching 
 vocal and instrumental music in Wisconsin. 
 
 For over thirty years Martin Van Allen has been a 
 prominent figure in Chicago business circles, and was 
 probably the first man to broach the subject of drain- 
 age in what is now the drainage district of Cook county. 
 On this subject he was deeply interested and wrote 
 several articles which were published in the daily 
 papers as early as 1863 and at "different times subse- 
 quently. Personally, he is a man of fine appearance, 
 being a little above medium heightand weighing about 
 190 pounds. His eyes and hair are dark, the hair and 
 beard being slightly streaked with gray. He has been 
 connected with Chicago during the better part of his 
 existence and has done as much as any other man to- 
 wards helping along the different enterprises that have 
 brought her to her present standing among the prom- 
 inent cities of the world. 
 
 WASHINGTON HESING, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WASHINGTON HESING, of the Illinois Staats 
 Zeitung, and postmaster of Chicago, is easily 
 ranked among the younger class of Chicago's 
 prominent men. He is a son of Anthony C. and 
 Louisa (Lamping) Hesing, and was born at Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, on May 14, 1849. His father has 
 long been prominent and> influential in molding the 
 history of Chicago, politically and otherwise. During 
 his youth Washington was constantly at school until 
 1861, when he visited Europe. Upon his return in the 
 following winter, he entered University St. Mary's of 
 the Lake, where he continued until July, 1863. He 
 then studied at the University of Chicago one year, 
 after which he was prepared by Dr. Quaskenboss for 
 admission to Yale College, which institution he entered 
 in 1866, and from which he was graduated with the 
 degree of Bachelor of Arts in 18-70. Immediately upon 
 leaving- college he went to Europe and attended 
 lectures in the universities of Berlin and Heidelberg, 
 
 devoting himself to the study of political economy, 
 international law, the science of government, history 
 and German literature. 
 
 When the great fire of October 1871, occurred he 
 returned home, and upon November 21st following 
 entered upon the active journalistic career, in connec- 
 tion with the Illinois Staats Zeitu-ng, which he has 
 since pursued. In April, 1880, his father and himself 
 secured a controlling interest in that journal, and 
 he at that time became managing editor. From his 
 first entrance into journalism, Mr. Ilesing has taken 
 an active interest in political matters, and when but 
 twenty-three years old, distinguished himself by a 
 series of eloquent speeches, in both the English and 
 German languages, in which he strongly advocated the 
 election of General Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency 
 of the United States. For some time past he has 
 given his adherence to the Democratic party. 
 
 Mr. Hesing's unusual ability and thorough culture
 
 460 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 were early recognized by his fellow-citizens of Chicago, 
 and at the early age of twenty-two he was appointed a 
 member of the Chicago board of education. At the expi- 
 ration of his term of office on the board, Mayor Joseph 
 Medill tendered him a re-appointment, but lie declined 
 the honor. While a member of the board of educa- 
 tion, Mr. Hesing, as a member of the committee on 
 German, made a report in which he advocated the 
 system of grading the German studies as the English 
 studies were graded. This report was adopted by the 
 board and the proposed system has since that time 
 been in practice. 
 
 In August, 1880, Mr. Hesing was elected a member 
 of the Cook county board of education, in which he 
 proved to be a valuable member. Keared in the Ro- 
 man Catholic faith, he is a member of that church, and 
 
 in 1873 was elected president of the Union Catholic 
 Library Association of Chicago, an organization whose 
 membership comprises all the leading Catholics of the 
 city. He is also a member of other clubs and societies. 
 Mr. Hesing is a married man, his wife being formerly 
 Miss Henrietta C. Weir, of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 Early in 1894 Mr. Ilesing was appointed by Presi- 
 dent Cleveland to the important position of postmas. 
 ter of Chicago. He has already signalized his acces- 
 sion to that office by the inauguration of several de- 
 cided improvements in the postal service. 
 
 In 'personal appearance Mr. Ilesing is of fine phy- 
 sique and commanding presence; in his intercourse 
 with his fellows he is affable and courteous, and among 
 his friends, of whom he has a large number, is genial 
 and universally popular. 
 
 NELSON THOMASSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE life of him whose name heads this sketch rep- 
 resents an eventful and interesting career. In- 
 tegrity, activity and energy have been the crowning 
 points of his character. Few men are wider or more 
 favorably known in the city of Chicago than is Nelson 
 Thomasson. He is a native of Kentucky, and was born 
 October 15, 1839, the son of William Poindexter and 
 Charlotte (Pierce Leonard) Thomasson. His father was 
 born in 1796, and was in the war of 1812, although very 
 young. Afterward he located in Corydon, Ind., became 
 a member of the legislature, and subsequently was 
 prosecuting attorney. Corydon at that time was not 
 only the capital of Indiana, but of the whole Northwest 
 Territory. He soon after removed to Louisville, Ky., 
 and was for many years a member of Congress from 
 the Louisville district. He was in the same Congress 
 with Abraham Lincoln, Chase, Ilamlin and others. 
 Further particulars in the life of W. P. Thomasson 
 are given in the early history of Indiana, by Gov. 
 William H. English. 
 
 On his father's side Nelson Thomasson can trace 
 his genealogy back to the Huguenots (see Dupuy family 
 tree) and on his mother's side to the Pilgrim fathers. 
 A Captain Pierce commanded the Mayflower on several 
 of her voyages (see the Pierce book). The name Thom- 
 asson is essentially English, and prominent in the 
 nation. There is at present a Thomasson in the English 
 Parliament. 
 
 Nelson received a good education, attending private 
 schools and the academy at Louisville, and when eight- 
 een years old removed to Chicago, and became a student 
 and clerk in the law offices of Messrs. Morris, Thomas- 
 son & Blackburn, and later held a similar position in 
 the office of Mr. John G. Rogers, afterward judge of 
 the circuit court of Cook county for several terms. lie 
 attended the law lectures at Louisville, Ky., during the 
 
 junior class of 1858-59, and also attended the law 
 lectures of 1860-61 in Chicago, and his name is in the 
 catalogue of the first year's graduates of the Chicago 
 law school, Judge Henry Booth delivering the 
 diploma 
 
 At the opening of the War of the Rebellion, he 
 abandoned his law studies, and enlisting in the army, 
 entered the United States service as a member of the 
 "Sturges Rifles," one of the most noted companies that 
 Chicago sent to the war, and being one of the only two 
 companies in the Union army not connected with a 
 regiment. The companies were mustered into the ser- 
 vice for a special purpose, and were mustered out at 
 the time General McClellan was relieved of his com- 
 mand. Mr. Thomasson was promoted to the regular 
 army after the campaign in Western Virginia, becom- 
 ing a member of Company E, Fifth Regiment, United 
 States Infantrv. He was at once ordered to his regi- 
 ment in New Mexico, and when on the way there he was 
 retained to drill and instruct recruits, first at Fort 
 Leavenworth, and afterward at Fort Riley. During 
 his five years' stay in New Mexico, he was an almost 
 daily companion of the famous Kit Carson. After 
 joining his regiment he served in the campaign against 
 the Texans, the Texans being commanded by the rebel 
 generals Sibley and Bailey, and against the numerous 
 Indian tribes of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, 
 under General Canby, there being in his (General 
 Canby's) command besides his regiment, several of the 
 regular army, three Colorado regiments, four Califor- 
 nia regiments and one company of regular artillery. 
 It was during this time that occurred the celebrated 
 Navajo campaign, led by the famous fighter, General 
 James II. Carleton. His entire command was engaged 
 in this campaign some three years, and he helped re 
 move the Navajo Indians from the west of the Rio
 
 1 MEN OF 
 
 
 
 Grande to Fort Sumner on the Pecos river, and kept 
 them there until they became semi-civilized, when Gen. 
 Sherman had them returned to Fort Wingate on the 
 Rio Puerco. On several occ&sions Mr. Thomassoivs 
 regiment was ordered to return to the States, but the 
 orders were countermanded by General Canby upon 
 the plea that he could not spare it from his command. 
 As to Captain Thomasson's history during his army 
 service, it is too long to incorporate here, and we will 
 have to refer the readers to Col. Guy V. Henry's able 
 book on regular army officers, published in the "seven- 
 ties," also the many complimentary orders and reports 
 in the war department at Washington. After the close 
 of the war Mr. Thomasson was engaged in recruiting 
 service for one year at Chicago, and another year at 
 Newport Barracks, after which he was ordered to join 
 his regiment on the western plains, where he contin- 
 ued in service until December, 1870. Upon the reduc- 
 tion of the regular army about that time, Mr. Thomas- 
 son resigned from the service, receiving one year's 
 pay in advance, as six hundred regular army officers 
 did at this time, 
 
 Upon retiring to private life, he took up his abode 
 in Chicago, and at once engaged in the real estate 
 business, meeting with marked success from the start. 
 One of his first real estate transactions was the pur- 
 chase of a tract of one hundred and sixty acres lying 
 south from Chicago, now known as Pitner's subdivi- 
 sions, in which Judge Gwynn Garhett was associated 
 with him. They paid for this land one hundred and 
 forty dollars per acre, and sold it for four hundred 
 dollars per acre, thus realizing from this one transac- 
 tion a snug little fortune. His unusual success con- 
 tinued uninterruptedly until the financial crisis of 1873 
 swept over the country, when, like so many others, he 
 lost nearly everything that he had made, but fortu- 
 nately was enabled to meet his obligations-, and pay 
 his debts dollar for dollar. During the several years 
 succeeding this panic, when real estate business was 
 paralyzed, and the values were depreciated, and trade 
 in all lines was dull, he never lost heart, but with 
 strong determination to regain his losses worked with 
 a will, much of the. time fourteen hours per day. 
 
 With the return of prosperous times Mr. Thomas- 
 son's business revived, so that he not only regained 
 his former financial standing, but far surpassed it, and 
 now is counted among the wealthy real estate owners 
 
 THE GKEA T WEST. ^5, 
 
 of Chicago. In connection with an extensive brokerage 
 business, he handles much of his own property, and 
 with facilities unsurpassed, is always prepared to buy, 
 sell, lease or exchange city or suburban property of 
 every description. His long experience renders his 
 opinion of great value to those seeking his counsels. 
 While Mr. Thomasson owns a large amount of real 
 estate, his investments have extended into other 
 channels as well. He is a large stockholder in all the 
 Chicago street railway companies, and owns a large 
 amount of stock in various buildings, among which 
 is the Chemical Bank building, and also in many of 
 the industrial companies. Last year he was made a 
 director in one of the big city railways. 
 
 Mr. Thomasson is a man of fine personal and social 
 qualities, and is exceedingly popular among his wide 
 circle of friends and acquaintances. He is a Republi- 
 can neither a partisan nor a sycophant but is content 
 to work hard at every election for the success of good 
 officers and honest government. He says he has 
 been an " office-holder" for ten years of his life, and 
 is satisfied to let others scramble for offices. He is a 
 member of Oriental Lodge No. 33, A. F. and A. M., 
 and also of Apollo Commandery of Knights Tem- 
 plar. He also belongs to the Loyal Legion, to the 
 Union League and Washington Park Club, the Union 
 Club on the North Side, and a^o to the Illinois Society 
 of the Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. Thom- 
 asson is a man of fine literary attainments, and in his 
 elegant library has probably one of the finest collec- 
 tions, of Napoleana and Americana in Chicago. He is 
 an interesting conversationalist and a ready thinker, 
 quick and active in his movements, and possesses a de- 
 cidedly military bearing. His success in life is due to 
 his own unaided efforts. He has earned for himself a 
 name that will always be identified with the history of 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Thomasson has traveled all over Europe and 
 America twice. He was married to Miss Nanniene M. 
 Norton on the 10th of June, 1873, by whom he has had 
 three children, Leonard, Nelson, Jr., and Nanniene. 
 His wife is descended from the celebrated Douglas 
 family, which emigrated from Scotland and settled 
 in Virginia. No lady is more popular or more ad- 
 mired in her growing circle of friends in Chicago, 
 Louisville, and New York, the first place being her 
 home, and the other two where she frequently visits. 
 
 ANTHONY F. SEEBERGER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE Seebergers came originally from Wetzlar, 
 Prussia, in which country the subject of this 
 sketch was born, on August 2i, 1829. He is the son 
 of John David and Dorothea (Goethe) Seeberger, who 
 immigrated to this country with' their two sons in 
 1837. Remaining for a year in New York city, they 
 
 then removed to Newark, N. J., and afterwards to a 
 farm near Wooster, O. In the latter town young 
 Seeberger commenced his active business career in a 
 drv-goods house, where he gained a practical knowl- 
 edge of commercial affairs. After serving as clerk for 
 eight years, first with the house of Mr. E. S. Johnson,
 
 464 
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 and afterward with Messrs. N. and J. B. Power, he, in 
 1852, became a partner in the business of the latter 
 named firm. 
 
 Two years later he decided to go West, and accord- 
 ingly located at Oskaloosa, la., opening there the first 
 exclusive hardware store in that State, west of Daven- 
 port. He remained in Oskaloosa nine years, and in 
 186-t removed to Chicago, where soon after he organ- 
 ized the well-known firm of Seeberger & Breakey. 
 Since the retirement of Mr. Breakey, in 1885, the 
 business has been conducted under the style of A. 
 F. Seeberger & Co. Mr. Seeberger's .business ability 
 found recognition by President Cleveland, who ap- 
 pointed him collector of the port of Chicago, in 1885, 
 which office he filled with ability and to the general 
 satisfaction of all for four years and five months, until 
 his successor was appointed. 
 
 Mr. Seeberger was the treasurer of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition from its incorporation, and had 
 charge of the many millions handled in its interest. 
 By reason of his extensive business knowledge, his con- 
 spicuous ability and broad cosmopolitan ideas, he was 
 one of the incorporators and for the first year a 
 
 director, assisting in the management of the affairs 
 of that stupendous enterprise. He has been pro- 
 minently connected also with' many Chicago business 
 and charitable enterprises, being a director and at one 
 time president of the Edison Company, of Chicago, as 
 also of the Inter-State Exposition Company. He has 
 also been president of the Chicago Orphan Asylum for 
 a number of years, and during the existence of the 
 Charity Organization Society, now consolidated with 
 the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, he was also 
 treasurer and afterwards its president. 
 
 He is prominent in social affairs and a well known 
 member of the Commercial, the Chicago, the Iroquois 
 and the Calumet Clubs. He was married August 25, 
 1856, to Miss Jennie L. Cooper, a daughter of Charles 
 Cooper., a prominent manufacturer of machinery at Mt. 
 Vernon, Ohio. They have three children, Charles D., 
 Louis A., and Dora A., and occupy a beautiful home at 
 No. 2017 Michigan avenue. 
 
 Mr. Seeberger is a member of Trinity Episcopal 
 Church, and many years has been a member of its 
 vestry. He is a generous giver, and supports with a 
 liberal hand all charities and worthy enterprises. 
 
 EUGENE HARBECK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMOXG the "Prominent Business Men of the Great 
 West," to whom this volume is inscribed, Mr. 
 Eugene Harbeck, general agent in this city of the 
 Western and Southern department of the Phenix 
 Insurance company, of Brooklyn, occupies an eminent 
 place. In these days of intense competition, the aver- 
 age young man complains a great deal about "not 
 getting on in the world," but Eugene Harbeck, who, 
 as will be seen, has been "getting on" in an increas- 
 ingly difficult business from the very day that he 
 entered it, has attained a measure of success that but 
 few men ever attain, and at an age when most men are 
 occupying subordinate positions. This he has done by 
 essentially practical application, and his career affords 
 incentive and encouragement to young men every- 
 where. 
 
 His ancestors, the Harbecks, whence came also the 
 well-known Brooklyn and Cleveland merchants of the 
 same name, belonged to a race that has always been 
 noted for its general hardihood and substantiality of 
 character. His great-grandfather and family migrated 
 to this country from Holland and settled on Manhattan 
 Island, where they were among those who were driven 
 into the refuge of Duchess county by the soldiers of 
 King George. Mr. llarbeck's maternal ancestors were 
 also among the early settlers of Manhattan, and also 
 acquainted with the heroism and hardship of the revo- 
 lution. Ilisgrandparents and parents were natives and 
 residents of New York State for many years, and there 
 
 his grandmother still lives at the good old age of eighty- 
 seven. Such, briefly, were the- ancestors of one who 
 has inherited their practical bent, hard common sense, 
 and sturdy qualities. 
 
 Eugene Harbeck was born in Batavia, N. Y., Feb- 
 ruary 19, 1853, to Cornelius and Maria Mead Harbeck, 
 and is. therefore, only in his .forty-first year. Yery 
 early in life he removed with the family to Battle 
 Creek, Mich., and was educated in the public schools 
 at that place and at Le Roy Academy, of Le Roy, N. 
 Y., graduating from the latter in 1870. That year, 
 at the age of seventeen, he entered an insurance and 
 real estate office at Battle Creek, resolved upon learn- 
 ing first the fundamentals of the business, and upon 
 generally qualifying himself for that future which hi s 
 ambitious fancy pictured. Those initial years, plainly 
 enough, were of great value. He began as an office 
 boy, and, advancing rapidly as boys of his stamp are 
 apt to advance, continued with one emploj'er for nine 
 years. 
 
 Since then, as has been observed, " he has made but 
 few changes, and then always for the better," and to as- 
 sume larger responsibilities. In '79 he established a 
 fire insurance agency at Battle' Creek on his own 
 account, and so conducted it as to soon attract the 
 favorable attention of the general agency companies 
 doing business in the Western field. As a consequence, 
 he was in 1881 appointed special agent of the Detroit 
 Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and two years

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 later Michigan State agent of the Phenix Insurance 
 Company, of Brooklyn, N. Y., which then, as now, had 
 "agencies everywhere." This position he occupied to 
 the company's increasing satisfaction until November, 
 '87, when he resigned to accept the secretaryship of the 
 Michigan Fire and Marine. As the record shows, he 
 found that company in pool-condition, profiting nothing, 
 but it steadily prospered under his management, 
 "largely increasing its assets and surplus, trebling its 
 revenue and paving good dividends." 
 
 Mr. Ilarbeck continued with the Michigan Fire and 
 Marine until July, '92, when the office boy of '70 be- 
 came one of the first fire underwriters of this country. 
 His appointment at that time to his present position of 
 general agent at Chicago, of the great Western and 
 Southern department of the Phenix Insurance Com- 
 pany, of Brooklyn, was the most important appoint- 
 ment that has been made in fire insurance in the last 
 two decades. The Phenix, organized in 1853, has 
 agencies all over the United States, and its Western 
 and Southern department is the largest department in 
 this country, and, we believe, the largest in the world. 
 It comprises. twenty-six States and Territories, employs 
 over four thousand agents, and has a premium income 
 of over three million dollars a year. Among those 
 agents, as among fire insurance officials and general 
 and special agents, Mr. Harbeck has a very large 
 
 467 
 
 acquaintance and as many friends, all of whom 
 were well pleased with his appointment as general 
 agent, and have been well pleased with his subsequent 
 success. 
 
 As our engraving implies, Mr. Ilarbeck is a gentle- 
 man of strong physique, strong mind and strong 
 character. Positive in all he says and does, possessed 
 of rare judgment as regards men and risks, and a rapid 
 and indefatigable .worker, broad-gauged and far-seeing, 
 a staunch friend to honest insurance and an uncompro- 
 mising foe to frauds, he is, naturally enough, one of the 
 leading members of the Western Union of Fire Under- 
 writers, and prominent in all of its deliberations and 
 councils. He was secretary of the Michigan State 
 Board of Fire Underwriters for several years, and 
 during '92"and '93 was the president of the Fire Under- 
 writers' Association of the Northwest, the largest 
 social organization of fire underwriters in the world. 
 Mr. Harbeck belongs to the Masonic fraternity, is a 
 member of the Union League and other clubs in this 
 city and elsewhere, and, positive in politics as in all 
 else, has been a Republican all his life. 
 
 He was married at Battle Creek, Mich., in March, 
 '77, to Miss Emma Grey Wattles, whose family are 
 well known in that State and were among its prominent 
 pioneers. They have one son, Jervis. aged sixteen, now 
 a student in the Chicago high schools. 
 
 CLIFFORD MITCHELL, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CLIFFORD MITCHELL, M. D., was born in 1854, 
 on the island of Nantuckett, Mass. He is directly 
 descended from Richard Mitchell, of the Isle of Wight, 
 who came to this country in 1708. Richard Mitchell's 
 son's grandson was William Mitchell, astronomer, 
 meteorologist and educator, and at one time overseer of 
 Harvard college. William Mitchell's sons and daughters 
 have become well known in this country. Among them 
 were Maria Mitchell, astronomer and educator; William 
 Foster Mitchell, philanthropist; Henry Mitchell, of the 
 United States Coast Survey, and Francis M. Mitchell. 
 Clifford Mitchell is the son of Francis M. and Ellen 
 (Mitchell) Mitchell. His parents came to Chicago in 
 1859 and his father was connected with the Chicago 
 Board of Trade until his death in August, 1891. Ellen 
 Mitchell was the first woman to be appointed member 
 of the board of education of Chicago. Clifford 
 Mitchell was fitted for college by E. Stanley Waters, of 
 Chicago, and Joshua Kendall of Cambridge; entered 
 Harvard as freshman in the academic course, with 
 honors in mathematics; received a prize during fresh- 
 man year for general excellence in studies; during the 
 senior year was first scholar in the Dante course with 
 James Russell Lowell; was awarded a commencement 
 part and was received into the Phi Beta Kappa Society 
 
 for high rank in class; graduated cum laiide, in 1875. 
 He began the stud}' of medicine at the Chicago Medical 
 college and graduated from the Chicago Homoeopathic 
 Medical college in 1878; was house physician and dem- 
 onstrator of chemistry at the Chicago Homoeopathic 
 Medical college, then lecturer and finally professor of 
 chemistry and toxicology. He is now professor of chem- 
 istry, toxicology and diseases of the kidneys at the same 
 college. He has taken special interest in the training of 
 medical students in chemistry and urinary analysis, and 
 can call by name from three to five hundred men with 
 whose education he has been identified in various 
 ways. 
 
 He has written much for the medical journals on 
 urinary analysis and diseases of the kidneys. He has 
 published a number of books on these subjects, the best 
 known being ''Practitioner's Guide to Urinary Analysis," 
 now in its third edition, and a "Clinical Study of Diseases 
 of the Kidneys," now in its second edition. From his 
 interest in the cause of chemical education, he wrote in 
 1887, a "Manual of Dental Chemistry," which was 
 accepted by the National Association of Dentists as its 
 standard work on dental chemistry. It is now in its 
 third edition under the name of " Dental Chemistry 
 and Metallurgy." Dr. Mitchell originated the idea of
 
 468 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 publishing: tables for reference in urinary analysis 
 based on normal data, and giving approximately the 
 per cent, of normal obtained as the result of any 
 analysis. 
 
 During the year 1894 Dr. Mitchell wrote the section 
 on "The Urine and Urinary Diseases of Infancy" for 
 the text-book on diseases of children by Prof. R. N. 
 Tooker, M. D. Advance sheets from this section were 
 published by the Ilahnemannian, of Philadelphia, in an 
 article by Dr. Mitchell entitled "Diabetes Mellitus in 
 
 Children." Another article by him in the same journal 
 for 1893 was entitled " Blood in the Urine." 
 
 Dr. Mitchell's next forthcoming work is a transla- 
 tion from the German, of Dr. Charles Heitzmann's 
 "Significance of Connective Tissue in the Urine," which 
 will be ready in the autumn of 1894. Dr. Mitchell's 
 specialty is examination of the urine and the treatment 
 of diseases of the kidneys. He is connected with various 
 medical societies, is a genial, sociable gentleman, and 
 occupies a large place in the affections of many friends. 
 
 FRANK MARCY MORGAN, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 FRANK MARCY MORGAN, son of Ira and Mary- 
 Jane Morgan, was born in Hill, N. H., on the 
 25th day of December, 1856, and was the youngest 
 of five children. His mother died when he was but 
 five years of age, and the family moved to the village 
 of Northfield,' N. H. 
 
 When the boy was but eight years of age he started 
 out in life for himself, going to work on the farm of 
 his brother-in-law, Mr. J. R. Rowell, near Hill Center. 
 He walked fourteen miles to the farm, carrving all his 
 worldly goods in a handkerchief. Here he went to 
 work as a farmer's boy, and at the age of eleven held 
 a plow, and two years later managed the farm of 260 
 acres for an entire season. He next worked for Gen. 
 Gault, of Bow, N. H., on a large hop farm at the mag- 
 nificent salary of five dollars per month, and, as he 
 himself says, never worked harder in his life than he 
 'did at that time. In the autumn of 1869 he returned 
 to the employ of his brother-in law, and for some years 
 he traveled very extensively throughout New England, 
 Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Southern 
 Michigan, in the interest of his brother-in-law's busi- 
 ness. While on one of these trips he made the 
 acquaintance of a farmer at Cadiz, N. Y., and a few 
 months later he removed to Cadiz to live, working on 
 the farm in the summer season and during the winter 
 attending the Ten Broeck Free Academy at Franklin- 
 ville, N, Y. His work on the farm was the usual round 
 of labor connected with a large dairy farm, having sixty 
 cows. In the haying season he rode the two-horse 
 mower and cut 170 tons of hay during the season. 
 
 Feeling that he should acquire a better education 
 than he could get in western New York, young Morgan 
 returned to New England and secured employment in a 
 machine shop at Hill Village, New Hampshire. Here he 
 was soon given lathe-work to do, and while the lathe 
 was at work he read Caesar's Commentaries and studied 
 Greek verbs. He left the shop to enter the Lvndon 
 Literaiy Institute at Lyndon, Vermont, commencing a 
 literary course with the junior class of 1875-1876. He 
 taught school during the winters, studied as he could 
 and graduated with his class in 1877, when he entered 
 
 Bates College at Lewiston, Maine, in the same year. 
 Here he found that many parts of the college curriculum 
 did not suit him, and he returned to Lyndon, Vermont, 
 intending to take a year's post-graduate course in 
 order to be prepared to enter the Boston University, 
 but at the end of four months his health gave way, and 
 his physician ordered him to abstain from his books for 
 at least two years. In compliance with these orders 
 he made preparations for a business career, by entering 
 Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New 
 York. He completed his course in eighteen weeks, 
 and then entered the employ of ex Governor Fairbanks 
 of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and D. P. Hall, of Lyndon, 
 Vermont, who were operating in pine lands in northern 
 Michigan. After completing his engagement with 
 these gentlemen he returned East, and went into the 
 wholesale notion house of Butler Brothers of Boston, 
 where he remained until his health gave way again 
 and he was obliged to resign his position after only a 
 few month's service. 
 
 Mr. Morgan then concluded to go West, and 
 accordingly came to Minnesota, reaching St. Patil in 
 the latter part of October, 1879. After arriving, he 
 learned of a vacancy in the high school at Sank Centre, 
 Minn., and upon application secured a place there as 
 assistant principal, which he held for one year. He 
 then returned to St. Paul, where he secured a position 
 in the Second National Bank at the magnificent salarj' 
 of $15.00 per month, with the privilege of sleeping in 
 the bank so as to attend the furnace, thus making a 
 start in that which has since been his business for life. 
 He remained in the bank for three years, and during 
 that time held every position in it under that of 
 cashier. In 1884 he accepted a position in the St. 
 Paul National Bank, but only stayed a short time, as 
 he was soon tendered the position of cashier in the 
 German American National Bank, of St. Cloud, Min- 
 nesota, which he accepted and retained until Septem- 
 ber, 1889. He then went to Minneapolis, where he 
 became identified with the organization of the Bank of 
 New England, and was elected cashier, which position 
 he has retained up to the present time.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 471 
 
 Politically, Mr. Morgan is a member of the Repub- 
 lican part}', and though lie lias never had either time or 
 ambition for holding public office, is a firm believer in 
 the government established by the founders of the Re- 
 public, as intended by the Pilgrim Fathers. He believes 
 very firmly that the welfare of the country depends 
 upon a vigorous, liberal and unfailing support of our pub- 
 lic school system, and has ever been a liberal and gen- 
 erous supporter of the cause of education and charity. 
 
 On the 30th day o'f August, 1887, Mr. Morgan was 
 united in marriage to Miss Jennie May Montgomery, 
 daughter of Mr. Albertis Montgomery, one of the pio- 
 neer settlers of St. Cloud, Minn. 
 
 Mr. Morgan is. one of the few men who by their 
 unaided efforts have raised themselves from poverty 
 to affluence. He started in life for himself a boy only 
 
 eight years of age, and struggled along, and by dint of 
 hard work not onb/ supported himself but acquired a 
 good education. Among business men no one has a 
 higher standing, his characteristics being such as to 
 compel the confidence and respect of all. He has ever 
 been one on whom difficulties have only acted to stimu- 
 late him to greater efforts, and his dogged determina- 
 tion to conquer all obstacles caused him to early cast 
 the word "fail"' from his vocabulary. His friends and 
 instructors in boyhood were not slow to recognize this 
 trait, and his success was prophesied by all who knew 
 him. He has fulfilled the greatest expectations of his 
 friends, and there seems to be no reason why he, with 
 his energy, determination and well known strict integ- 
 rity, shall not add still greater luster to his already 
 brilliant record. 
 
 EVERETTE ST. JOHN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EVERETTE ST. JOHN, son of Lewis St. John, was 
 born February 4, 1844, in Litchfield county, Conn., 
 of which State both his parents were natives. When 
 but four years of age he had the misfortune to lose his 
 father. Left with a large family his mother did her 
 utmost to provide for her young children, and succeeded 
 in giving them a good education in the public schools, 
 but the ambitious Everette was anxious to go to work, 
 and as soon as his mother would consent he left school, 
 and began clerking for his elder brother, who was post- 
 master, station agent, town clerk and store-keeper in 
 the village where the family lived. To his early train- 
 ing both at home and in his brother's store, where the 
 lad worked faithfully and assiduously, may be attributed 
 those traits of economy, thriftiness and extraordinary 
 capacity for work which are characteristic of the man, 
 and which have proved so valuable in the discharge of 
 his duties as the general manager of the Rock Island 
 Railroad. Until he reached his seventeenth year Mr. 
 St. John remained in his brother's store, coming in con- 
 tact as he did with all the gossips of the village, and 
 thus heard the glowing reports of the success of those 
 your.g men who had left home to seek a fortune in the 
 far West. Inoculated by these stories the western 
 fever took a strong hold of the lad, and shortly after 
 celebrating his eighteenth birthday he resigned 
 his position with his brother, and started West, where 
 he entered the employ of the Quincy & Toledo 
 Railroad at Quincy, 111., as a clerk, at a salary of $30 
 per month. Here Mr. St. John remained until the 
 road was consolidated with the Great Western Rail way 
 of Illinois, when the young man was transferred to 
 Springfield to fill a similar position, at a slight increase 
 in salary. One year later, having received a better 
 offer from the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific people, 
 the ambitious youth transferred his services to the lat- 
 
 ter named corporation, and July 4, .1863, entered on 
 that career for which his more than thirty years of 
 uniform success have shown him so eminently fitted. 
 The steady application and untiring energy of the raw 
 New England youth could not fail to attract the at- 
 tention of his superiors, and a little over a year after he 
 entered the general ticket department to occupy a sub- 
 ordinate position, Mr. St. John was appointed chief 
 ticket clerk, succeeding a few months later to the re- 
 sponsible duties of general ticket agent. Until January 
 1, 1879, a period covering exactly fourteen years, Mr. 
 St. John faithfullyand minutely discharged thedutiesof 
 his office, when his services were rewarded by placing 
 him in full charge of the passenger traffic of the road, 
 with the title of general ticket and passenger agent. 
 Under his able management the passenger business of 
 the road was greatly increased, and six years later he 
 assumed control of that department. He was soon 
 appointed assistant to the general manager, still retain- 
 ing his former position, however. In July, 1886, he 
 became assistant general manager, and a year later was 
 made general manager of the lines east of the Missouri 
 river, and the duties of thisoffice were supplemented by 
 those of assistant general manager of the lines west 
 of the Missouri river, an added responsibility that 
 he assumed February 22, 1888. April 1, 1889, after 
 twenty-six years of continuous and untiring labor, Mr. 
 St. John was appointed general manager of the entire 
 Rock Island system, to which position he brought the 
 ripened experience gained in a quarter of a century 
 passed in the service of the road. It was not, however, 
 an undeserved promotion, for the past years of his life 
 had been devoted to the interests of the corporation 
 which has taken vigorous strides forward since he first 
 entered its employ early in the "sixties." To its suc- 
 cess and advancement he had contributed largely by his
 
 472 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 ability and persistent energy which no amount of hard 
 work seems to abate. A hard worker from choice, it 
 was a common occurrence for Mr. St. John to devote 
 from twelve tosixteen hours daily to his duties, to which 
 were given more than mere perfunctory attention, his 
 constant aim having been to improve and perfect every 7 
 department with which he has been connected. 
 
 Mr. St. John is a man of generous proportions, 
 impressing one as possessing not only immense vital 
 power, but having in addition a large reserve force. 
 Self-reliant, of sound judgment, daring and yet .con- 
 servative, as a railroad manager Mr. St. John stands 
 facile prinoeps among his fellows. Democratic in his 
 tendencies he is easily approached, and there is none 
 of the indifference or austerity so often characteristic 
 of railway officials. The latch-string of his door hangs 
 out to the humblest employe of the road, who 
 may always be certain of a respectful hearing in 
 case he have any real grievance. In the great 
 army of men employed by the company he takes 
 more than a passing interest, believing it the duty of 
 all great corporations to try to elevate the condition of 
 the working man in every possible manner. In addi- 
 tion to his responsible duties as general manager of a 
 great railroad, Mr. St. John does a vast amount of 
 committee work in various associations organized to 
 facilitate railroad traffic. As the chairman of the 
 General Managers' Association, and of the executive 
 committee of the Trans-Missouri Freight Association, 
 also of the Western Weighing Association and Inspec- 
 tion Bureau, the Chicago Car Service association, the 
 Live Stock Weighing Association, and as a member of 
 the committee of the Western Freight Association 
 
 he has done excellent service. As chairman of the 
 railroad finance committee of the World's Fair, which 
 committee was selected by officials of all the lines 
 having terminals in Chicago, Mr. St. John added to the 
 World's P'air treasury nearly one million dollars. 
 
 At an early period of his -life, at the outbreak of 
 the war of the Eebellion, Mr. St. John aspired to enter 
 West Point, having been promised an appointment, 
 provided Congress passed a then contemplated law 
 authorizing cadets to fill the vacancies made by the 
 secession of Federal officers. Under the tutorship of 
 Charles B. Andrews. ex-Governor of Connecticut, now 
 chief-justice of that State, Mr. St. John began his 
 studies in preparation for an examination in case the 
 law should pass, but Congress failed to approve it, and 
 the aspirant for a military career tried to forget his 
 disappointment by renewed zeal in his brother's store, 
 which lie left a year later to begin railroad training in 
 the West, in the ranks of which 'profession he has won 
 the stars of a general, and smelled plenty of smoke, 
 even if the powder and bullets were lacking. 
 
 Mr. St. John was happily united in marriage to 
 Miss Lamson, of Andover, Mass., and has a very 
 pleasant home on Rush street, one of the charms of 
 which is a well-selected library of over one thousand 
 volumes, in which the owner takes keen delight. 
 
 A prominent member of the Reformed Episcopal 
 Church, Mr. St. John is also a member of the Union 
 League, past-master of Waubansia lodge No. 160, A. F. 
 and A. M., and past eminent commander of Montjoie 
 Commandery, No. 53, K. T. He was also president of 
 the Sons of Connecticut, which had a membership of 
 about three hundred. 
 
 JEWELL N. HALLIGAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE name of Jewell N. Halligan will be inseparably 
 linked with the World's Columbian Exposition 
 as its chief illustrator and historian. Coming from 
 Denver at the moment Chicago secured the Exposition, 
 he foresaw the value of an illustrated periodical devoted 
 to the interests of the Fair and commenced the publi- 
 cation of The Illustrated World's Fair, which, under 
 the editorship of John McGovern, became speedily 
 known throughout the English-speaking world. In 
 the pages of this magazine were printed the first and 
 best of the modern half-tone engravings, while the 
 most distinguished of men and women soon became 
 admirers and contributors, among them being Col. 
 Ingersoll, ex-President Hayes. Madam Patti-Nicolina, 
 Prince Bismarck, Prince Guenther and Pope Leo XIII. 
 After the close of the Exposition, besides putting 
 the bound volumes of his publication into luxurious 
 form, Mr. Ilalligan entered the broader publishing field. 
 The portfolios of the Fair, which he issued in both 
 
 English and German, were pronounced the best that 
 had appeared, and he was generally regarded as the 
 leading photographer of the Exposition. He received 
 from the United States.government an order to photo- 
 graph all of the Midway Plaisance, and also the An- 
 thropological building, for the use of Professor Putnam, 
 the chief of the U. S. Department of Ethnology. 
 From the first, Director-General Davis, Major Handy 
 and Directors Gage, Peck, Revel], Odell, Hutchinson, 
 Kirkman. Scott, Kirk, Butler and others, gave generous 
 and active support to Mr. Ilalligan in his difficult 
 labors. He was given a magnificent office on the 
 ground floor of the Administration building during the 
 Fair, and every facility afforded for good work. Dur- 
 ing the constructive period, in lS91-92-l3, Mr. 
 Halligan climbed to more high and difficult places to 
 obtain pictures than any other photographer of the 
 period, obtaining over a thousand large views of differ- 
 ent objects.
 
 PROMINENT r,IEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 475 
 
 Mr. Halligan was born at Lexington. Ivy., Decem- 
 ber 6, 1848. His early days were spent on a stock 
 farm, where he developed the inherited love of sports 
 which characterizes the famous Blue Grass State, and 
 when, a young man, he removed to Missouri he was 
 alreadv an expert dealer in and judge of horses. In 
 June, 1869, before he was of age, lie secured a large 
 contract for the construction of a section of the 
 Union Pacific Hail road, and came out of the enterprise 
 with success and profit. Love of active and stirring 
 scenes, characteristic of him, attracted him to Denver, 
 about this time, where as a theatrical manager, he 
 found plenty of variety and made many acquaintances, 
 becoming extensively known in that city and vicing 
 
 during his stay. The life of a theatrical manager, 
 however, was not very agreeable to him, and Chicago, 
 as a great magnet, attracted him hither, as before 
 stated, and where in connection with the World's Co- 
 lumbian Exposition, he has won distinction as a pub- 
 lisher. Mr. Halligan is a man of magnetic force, exceed- 
 ingly genial and companionable, and popular with all 
 his acquaintances. He possesses those qualities which 
 constitute natural leadership and which, in his chosen 
 line, he has achieved. His is a quiet, even, and yet 
 ardent temperament, trained to endurance and patient 
 effort, and characterized by an open-handed liberality 
 which entitles him to the just praise of those who knew 
 him best. 
 
 JOHN DOLESE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born in Chicago on 
 February 12, 1837, in the family residence, then 
 located on the corner of Lake and La Salle streets. 
 Peter Dolese, his father, was born in the Province of 
 Lorraine, France, and his mother, whose maiden name 
 was Miss Matilda Laible, was born at Baden, which 
 was at that time an independent principality. At the 
 time of her marriage to John's father, in 1830, she was 
 a resident of Detroit, Mich. The Laible family, John's 
 maternal ancestors, all lived in Detroit, with the excep- 
 tion of one sister, who resided in Europe. Peter Dolese 
 came to Chicago in 1833 or 1834. Soon after John's 
 birth the family moved to Peru,Ill., where they remained 
 until the death of Mrs Dolese in 1840. After 'his 
 mother's death John accompanied his father to France, 
 where he remained with his grandparents until 1S45, 
 when he returned with his father to Chicago. This trip 
 was the thirteenth and last tripof Peter Dolese across the 
 Atlantic. Though butseven yearsof age at that time,John 
 remembers with distinctness the most interesting inci- 
 dents of his journey from New York west, which was 
 made entirely by water. The route was by the Hudson 
 river to Albany, thence by the Erie canal to Buffalo, 
 and by the lakes to Chicago, where he arrived the 
 latter part of July, 1845, and where he has resided 
 ever since. His rudimentary education was obtained 
 at the Dearborn school, then located opposite the 
 present site of McVicker's theatre. His first venture 
 in mercantile life was in the employ of his father, with 
 whom he remained until he was nineteen years of age. 
 when he started a teaming and transfer business for 
 himself, and continued in that business until 1868, when 
 he formed a partnership with Jason II. Shepard. 
 This was the beginning of the quarrying and paving 
 business of Dolese & Shepard. Previous to the for- 
 mation of the firm, Mr. Dolese, in connection with his 
 father, had taken several contracts and graded several 
 streets. Their early work in that direction included 
 
 grading work on the Michigan Central Railroad, and 
 also contracts for grading on the Rock Island 
 Railroad, between Blue Island and Morgan Ridge, 
 now called Washington Heights, which had been sub- 
 let to them by Judge Fuller, the original contractor. 
 .His father's career, however, was brought to an end 
 by his unexpected death on February 14, 1862. 
 
 Among the more important contracts of Mr. Dolese 
 was that with the Union Rolling Mill, now the Illinois 
 Steel company (of which his present partner, Mr. Shep- 
 ard, was cashier and bookkeeper). He bad charge of 
 their shipments and transferred their material. From 
 a small business at the time of the formation of the 
 copartnership, the firm of Dolese & Shepard has 
 reached a point of success which very few firms attain, 
 and they can look back with a feeling of pride upon 
 their business career, which has been one of unexam- 
 pled prosperity, resulting from the application of ster- 
 ling business principles, combined with native business 
 ability. Mr. Dolese has attended to the executive part 
 of the business, and his partner, Mr. Shepard, to the 
 finances of the firm. Their business, conducted with 
 great foresight and tact, has become, undoubtedly, the 
 largest in its line, not only in Chicago, but in the 
 United States. The number of their employes by 1893 
 had increased from five or six men to six hundred or 
 more, and their pay-roll, including the wages of men 
 employed in concerns that they control, had increased 
 from a .few hundred dollars a month to the enormous 
 sum of from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand 
 dollars monthly. They have constructed more miles of 
 streets than any other firm in this countr\ r . They have 
 either built or furnished the material for the construc- 
 tion of at least two-thirds of that beautiful driveway, 
 Michigan boulevard and have either constructed or 
 have been interested in the construction of all the 
 streets and drives of Hyde and South parks. All this 
 work has been done under the personal supervision of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 Mr. Dolese, who has the consciousness that his work 
 will be a lasting monument to his firm. The great 
 South Park system of boulevards and drives has become 
 famous, and is pointed out to Chicago visitors as one of 
 the most beautiful features of. the city; and as the 
 larger part of this construction was done under the 
 immediate management of Mr. Dolese, or the material 
 furnished by the firm of which he is a member, he has 
 just cause to feel proud of its completion. 
 
 Mr. Dolese was married in August, 1857, to Miss 
 Katharine Jacobs, of Chicago, and they have nine 
 children, viz.: William, Matilda, Rose, Minnie, John, Jr., 
 Henry, Peter, Ida and Laura. Their family residence 
 was formerly in Cicero township, but is now on 
 Wabash avenue. 
 
 Mr. Dolese is a very courteous and genial gentle- 
 man, and an entertaining conversationalist. His 
 reminiscences of early Chicago are most interesting. 
 He can recall tjie time when the present corner of 
 Lake and Clark streets was an apparently bottomless 
 swamp; when the city prisoners formed a "chain 
 gang," dragging heavy iron balls and working on the 
 public streets; when their prison was an old log 
 
 structure at the corner of LaSalle and Randolph streets. 
 Mr. Dolese also speaks of the great ice gorge, which 
 caused the bridges to be washed from their fastenings; 
 and many other early incidents connected with 
 Chicago history. He has seen Chicago grow from the 
 dimensions of a mere village to take rank amongst the 
 very first cities, not only of our own country butof the 
 world. 
 
 Political!}', Mr. Dolese has followed in his father's 
 footsteps, and when the supporters of Daniel Webster 
 became embodied in the Republican party he became 
 a staunch Republican, and votes and acts with that 
 party on all national questions. 
 
 There are few men in Chicago who have done so 
 much to materially beautify and improve the city as 
 has Mr. Dolese. He is a genial, pleasant and even- 
 tempered gentleman, ready to greet one with a kindly 
 word and a cheerful welcome. Courteous, considerate 
 and charitable, he is respected by his subordinates, and 
 admired and sought after by his equals, and few men 
 have more or better friends in Chicago and elsewhere. 
 He thoroughly enjoys home life, and takes great 
 pleasure in the society of his friends. 
 
 ATLEE V. CO ALE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 WAS born at Pittsburg, Pa., September 28, 1837. 
 His parents were of -American birth and of 
 English descent. His father was Samuel Coale and 
 his mother was Miss Margaret Walmsley, a native 
 of Maryland. His ancestors came to America as 
 early as 1750. His grandfather, Skipwith Coale, 
 settled in Virginia. His grandmother was an Atlee, 
 sister of the one-time noted physician of that name 
 in Philadelphia. The subject of this sketch received 
 his education in the public schools of Pittsburg, 
 and his first business training was obtained as a clerk 
 in his father's store in that city and McKeesport, Pa. 
 His father died when he was fifteen and he became the 
 head of the family. He accepted a position with the 
 Pittsburg & Connellsville Railroad and became that 
 company's agent at McKeesport, but at the end of two 
 years was transferred to Pittsburg, where he occupied 
 the position of general agent of the road. He never 
 felt entirely satisfied with railroad work, and was easily 
 induced to accept a position as general superintendent 
 of the freight department of the Pittsburg stock yards. 
 In 1871 he went into business on his own account, 
 dealing in glue and curled hair. The business was 
 an old established one but had run down. He 
 put vim and energy into the enterprise, and soon 
 had the satisfaction of seeing it on a paying 
 basis. He sold out to his partners in 1S77, and 
 
 went to New York city with the intention of 
 locating there; but a business man in Chicago tele 
 graphed him to come at once to this city, and respond- 
 ing, he found himself installed as the financial man of 
 the Turner Casings Co., and was thus engaged until 
 1882. After a rest of several months he began making 
 arrangements to establish a business for himself, when 
 in 1883, inducements offered which led him to abandon 
 that purpose and accept a position with the Anderson 
 Pressed Brick Co. He at first was given charge of the 
 factory, but some time in 18SS he was given a general 
 supervision of the business. 
 
 Mr. Coale is prominent in the Masonic order, having 
 been past master of blue lodges three or four different 
 times; is a life member and past high priest of the chap, 
 ter; is a Knight Templar, member of Chevalier Bayard 
 Commanderv and a member of the Mystic Shrine. In 
 early life he took a great interest in this order and has 
 ever been a popular member wherever located. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and before he could vote 
 was an enthusiastic supporter of John C. Fremont. 
 
 Mr. Coale was married in 1858, to Miss Annie E. 
 McMins, whose home was near Pittsburg. Five 
 children have been born, three only now living. One 
 daughter is now Mrs. John F. Talmage, and one is Mrs. 
 Paul De Haven Sweeney, wife of an editor of the 
 Chicago Times. There is one boy, Atlee Vincent, Jr.
 
 
 \v\A 

 
 PROMINENT .MEN OF THE GREAT WEST, 
 
 DAVID BRAINARD DEWEY, 
 
 EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
 479 
 
 AMONG those who have achieved positions of em- 
 inence by reason of their unswerving integrity 
 and conspicuous ability, none are more worthy of prom- 
 inent mention than the subject of this sketch. Like 
 many of his contemporaries among the successful men 
 of the present day, Mr. Dowey traces his ancestors to 
 the early Puritan settlers of Massachusetts. His ances- 
 tor, Thomas Dewe}'. settled in Dorchester in 1630, and 
 in that vicinity the family resided for many years, the 
 subject of this sketch being born at Pittsfiekl, Berkshire 
 county, Mass., ort May 28, 1839. His father, Mark 
 Dewey, was a merchant of prominence, noted for his 
 high Christian character and honest}'. His mother, 
 Sarah M. Dewey, nee Grinneli, came from a family well 
 and favorabty known, and was a woman of decided 
 character and ability. He obtained his elementary 
 education in the common School and academy of his 
 native town. At the age of fifteen, he came West to 
 meet and assume the responsibilities of his future career 
 among strangers. His first employment was upon a 
 western farm. From his seventeenth to his twenty 
 first year he taught school winters, thereby enabling 
 himself to attend college during the rest of the year. 
 
 The difficulties by which he was beset in his early 
 struggles to obtain a livelihood and an education 
 developed in him those strong characteristics that are 
 aptly termed "Western," and which involve the pos- 
 session of nerve, activity and untiring energy. Law 
 was his chosen profession, but after an hemorrhage 
 caused by addressing a large assemblage of people in 
 the open air at a Fourth of July celebration, his phy 
 sicians decided that it would be hazardous for him to 
 engage in his chosen profession. lie was an eloquent, 
 forcible and convincing speaker, and it is the unanimous 
 opinion of those who knew him well that when he 
 abandoned the law the legal profession was deprived 
 of' a member who would have become one of its 
 brightest lights. 
 
 At the age of seventeen he entered Wheaton Col- 
 lege, 111., but did not remain to complete the course. 
 The commencement of the War of the Rebellion found 
 him one of the very first to respond to Lincoln's call 
 for troops, and upon his enlistment he was made a 
 sergeant of Company A, Second Regiment, Illinois 
 Cavalry. In this capacity lie served his country about 
 a year, when a severe wound compelled his retirement 
 and prevented his again entering the service when the 
 commission of major was tendered him. In politics, 
 he has always been a Republican, casting his first vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 In 1862 he was married to Miss Nettie A. Springer, 
 of Rock ford, 111., a lady of excellent family and pos- 
 sessing rare social qualities. They have had five 
 children, of whom two are living Nettie D., now 
 Mrs. II. S. Farwell, and David B.. Jr., a young lad of 
 much promise. 
 
 After pursuing various occupations, in all of which 
 he was successful, in 1871 he transferred his business 
 interests to Chicago, entering the mortgage loan busi- 
 ness and establishing his home at Evanston, where he 
 has dealt extensively in real estate, making valuable 
 improvements, which have greatly added to the beauty 
 of that charming suburb. Among these improvements 
 is included the home where he now resides on Maple 
 avenue. His home has ever been the delightful resort 
 of the many friends of the family, and its d'oors have 
 always been hospitably open. Mr. Dewey has alwavs 
 been a public spirited, aggressive citizen, actively 
 identified with the progress of the times, serving effi- 
 ciently in the various offices of the city council, board 
 of education and church trustees, ever unselfishly 
 devoting himself to the interests of others. In 1876 
 he became associated with Hon. John L. Beveridge, ex- 
 governor of Illinois, and opened the private banking 
 house of Beveridge & Dewey, which continued its 
 successful career until 1886, when he organized the 
 American Exchange National Bank. His business 
 career since that time has been largely identified with 
 that institution, and a sketch of his life would not be 
 complete without some reference to its history. Upon 
 its organization Mr. Dewey' was elected vice-president 
 and responsible manager. The bank opened its doors 
 for business Mav 10, 1886, and at once secured a large 
 and profitable patronage. His reputation was already 
 so well established among business men that applica- 
 tions came in for nearly four times the amount of stock 
 represented by the capital of the bank. Early in its 
 career an event occurred which called into play all 
 those resourceful and conservative traits which enabled 
 him to so manage the bank's affairs in the gravest 
 crisis of its history that it is to-day the acknowledged 
 peer of any financial institution in the city. The story 
 of this event, briefly told, is that on June 7, 1887, dur- 
 ing the progress of the famous "Harper wheat corner," 
 Mr. Dewey was suddenly prostrated and confined to 
 his bed by a severe illness. On the 15th, while he was 
 still confined to his home, his associate officers cashed 
 the celebrated Fidelity National Bank fraudulent drafts 
 to the amount of 400,000, which, with other compli- 
 cations, nearly ruined the bank. Mr. Dewey proved 
 his remarkable nerve and devotion to his friends and 
 associates by returning to the bank on June 20, against 
 the positive orders of his physicians, and ignoring the 
 great danger of fatal results to himself, which this 
 action involved. This heroic act, however, undoubtedly 
 saved tli3 institution from irreparable disaster. So great 
 was the confidence reposed in him that upon his return 
 the withdrawal of deposits ceased and money was freely 
 offered from many sources. Those who knew the man 
 believed that he would find a way to save the bank 
 from ruin, and they were not disappointed. 
 
 The failure of C. J. Ivershaw & Co., who kept an
 
 480 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 account with the American Exchange National Bank, 
 also involved it in extensive and complicated litigation, 
 which, with other almost insurmountable obstacles, 
 would have discouraged any man of ordinary pluck 
 and ability. 
 
 It is a well-recognized fact that to Mr. Dewey 
 was wholly due the conception and execiuion of 
 the plan which rescued the bank from the impend- 
 ing disaster and placed it among the solid financial in- 
 stitutions of Chicago. Upon his retirement from the 
 bank, the press of Chicago, and financial publications 
 in New York, Boston and London gave him very flat- 
 tering notices. Mr. Dewey's proposition to make an 
 assessment of 30 per cent, upon the stock was promptly 
 responded to, and then the battle for restoration was 
 vigorously prosecuted, and by those most familiar with 
 the facts of that history, his success is recognized as a 
 marvellous achievement. 
 
 Another notable incident connected with the strug- 
 gle of the bank at this time, was the famous suit 
 against the Fidelity National Bank of Cincinnati, 
 which was finally carried through the various courts 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States, and a vic- 
 tory won by the American Exchange National, which 
 was of the most profound interest to bankers and busi- 
 ness men generally. The bank showed its ability to re- 
 cuperate from its losses and exhaustive legal expenses, 
 by earning and paying ever since that almost fatal 
 panic a continuous yearly dividend of six per cent., in 
 addition to which it has placed to the credit of its sur- 
 plus funds and undivided profits over $300,000. These 
 results speak volumes for the sagacious management of 
 the bank, and forcibly endorse the wisdom of its'stock- 
 holders in placing Mr. Dewey in full charge as presi- 
 dent, which was done immediately after the com- 
 mencement of the troubles which followed the cashing 
 of the Fidelity drafts. The exhaustive duties and 
 intense anxiety connected with there-organization and 
 recuperation "of the bank affected Mr. Dewey's health, 
 and made a temporary retirement from close confine- 
 ment to business, a necessity. After the bank was 
 fully relieved of all complications growing out of its 
 
 misfortunes in 1887, Mr. Dewey frequently expressed 
 a desire to be relieved from the active duties and re- 
 sponsibilities of president, and finally decided to retire, 
 which he did on August 1, 1891. In this connection 
 resolutions were unanimously adopted by the board of 
 directors of the bank at a meeting held in July, 1891, 
 expressive of their sincere regret that ill health had 
 compelled his retirement, and of appreciation for his 
 eminent services in guiding the institution safely 
 through its times of trial. 
 
 Mr. Dewe\ r has been for many years a prominent 
 Mason, and on November 17, 1890, there was held at 
 the Evanston, 111., Masonic Temple a memorial service 
 in commemoration of the services of Sir Knight Dewey 
 in securing the charter of the Evanston Commandery. 
 There was placed in the walls of the Asylum a marble 
 memorial tablet, bearing the name of Dewey, and in 
 the library a fine crayon portrait. The feeling of his 
 Masonic brethren can be best conveyed by quoting 
 direct from the pages of the memorial book published 
 giving account of the proceedings. In the dedication 
 of the volume Hon. Charles G. Neeley said: "In 
 recognition of one who so pre-eminently labored to 
 secure our Masonic home, where we may meet in 
 mystic association the friends and companions of our 
 youth, and in honor of him who does in his life so highly 
 exemplify the noble principles of character-building and 
 friendship therein made, there has been placed in the 
 walls of the Asylum a marble memorial tablet, bearing 
 the name 'Dewey,' and in our hearts most truly indeed 
 are his work andMvorth remembered." 
 
 In all the relations of life whether of a business or 
 social nature. Mr. Dewey's character has been beyond 
 reproach, and his integrity has never been questioned. 
 His loyalty to even 1 interest committed to his care has 
 led him to assume burdens from which most men would 
 shrink. Charitable at all times and to all worthy 
 people, he is recognized as the firm friend and gallant 
 defender of the poor, towards the relief of whose needs 
 he has ever generously contributed in time and money. 
 His is a life worthy of emulation by all who would have 
 it said truthfullv of them " well done." 
 
 EDWARD T. CAHILL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDWARD T. CAHILL is the son of James and 
 Marv Cahill (nee McCormick), who came from 
 Ireland. Prior to leaving the old country the mother 
 was a school teacher in the national schools, and the 
 father a farmer's son. The father and mother were 
 married in the state of New Jersey, and afterwards 
 moved to Chicago. Soon after arriving the father was 
 killed in a railroad accident, leaving the family with 
 little or no financial means. Edward was educated in 
 the public schools, afterwards pursuing a course of 
 
 self study, and attending lectures' of an educational 
 character usually pursued in colleges and universities, 
 also studying Latin and French. He began life as a 
 cash-boy, rising to the position of clerk, studied law, 
 and was admitted to the bar. entering the law office of 
 Wilson, Montgomery & Waterman, and becoming 
 associated later with Hawes & Lawrence. He has 
 never hekl public office, but has occupied many res- 
 ponsible positions in private life, as executor, trustee, 
 receiver, assignee, etc. In politics he is a Republican,

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE ORE A T WEST. 
 
 483 
 
 and is a fluent talker, having made many able speeches 
 in behalf of Republicanism. He is a member of the 
 Chicago Philosophical Society, before which he has 
 delivered lectures on various topics; is a member of the 
 Western Psychical Society, and of the Art Institute 
 and other literary and scientific bodies, and is one of 
 the vice-presidents of the Sons of Illinois. He has 
 been a contributor to the daily newspapers and 
 magazines on religious, political, social, scientific and 
 legal questions, and has been prominently identified 
 with different public movements having for their 
 object the advancement of the city and the public 
 good. As a lawyer his practice has' been more espe- 
 
 cially of a real estate character. lie declines to accept 
 criminal cases. He is noted for having raised the 
 question of the constitutionality of the act of the 
 legislature of this State known as the "short cause 
 calendar." Mr. Cahill has been employed in the trial 
 of a large number of chancery cases involving title to 
 realty. He is a man of medium size and weight, and has 
 many devoted friends and a large and increasing list of 
 clients, by whom he is regarded with much favor 
 because of his ability and faithfulness to their interests. 
 Mr. Cahill is also regarded by his colleagues as a con- 
 scientious and a painstaking member of the profession 
 in Chicago. 
 
 MICHAEL CUDAHY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MICHAEL CUDAHY was born at Callan, a his- 
 toric old town, County Kilkenny, Ireland, 
 December 7, 1841. His mother's family were residents 
 for some time of Dublin, but removed to Callun, where 
 they established a pottery for the manufacture of 
 crocker} 7 . His father, Patrick Cudahy, with his wife, 
 Elizabeth (Shaw) Cudahy, and family, came to 
 America in 1849, and shortly afterward located at 
 Milwaukee. Wis. It was in that city that young 
 Cudahy had his first experience in -the packing house 
 and stock-yard business. Doing chores about the 
 slaughter houses and attending school between times, 
 he acquired the rudiments of a simple education, 
 which he improved upon as opportunities offered in 
 later years. 
 
 When but fourteen years of age, he entered the 
 employ of Messrs. Layton & Plankinton, packers, at 
 Milwaukee, and when nineteen years old, took a 
 position with Ed. Roddis, packer, also of Milwaukee, 
 with whom he remained until the business was closed 
 out in 1866, when he went into business for himself. 
 Mr. Fred Lay ton, of Milwaukee, soon afterward offered 
 him sufficient inducements to dispose of his business 
 and to enter the employ of Layton & Co., as private 
 meat inspector, at the same time securing for him the 
 position of meat inspector on the Milwaukee Board of 
 Trade. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy received much encouragement and 
 many favors from Mr. Layton, which he has always 
 remembered with pleasure. In 1869 he accepted a 
 position with Messrs. Plankinton & Armour, of Mil- 
 waukee, and took charge of their packing house, which 
 at that time consisted of a small frame building ; the 
 whole plant, including machinery, not exceeding in 
 value 35,000, but which has since grown to be one of 
 the largest packing houses in the country. Well 
 knowing of his successful management of this business, 
 Mr. P. D. Armour, in 1873, offered him a partnership 
 in the now celebrated firm of Armour & Company, of 
 
 Chicago, which has become the largest of its kind in 
 the world. With a thoroughly practical knowledge of 
 the business in all its branches, Mr. Cudahy took 
 control of the stock-yard end of the business, and for 
 twenty years was the ruling spirit in its practical 
 management. 
 
 When the committee was formed to solicit sub- 
 scriptions from the packers of Chicago for the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, Mr. Cudahy was selected as 
 chairman, and did his work with his usual energy and 
 success. 
 
 In politics he is a Democrat, though not a partisan, 
 preferring to give his cupport to the best men of either 
 party. He is a patriotic and thorough American, who 
 loves his adopted county, and is a great admirer of its 
 noble institutions. In religious matters he is a 
 Catholic, and a consistent member and liberal sup- 
 porter of his church. 
 
 He was married in 1866 to Miss Catharine Sullivan, 
 a daughter of Mr. John Sullivan, a well-to-do farmer, 
 residing near Milwaukee, Wis. They have been blessed 
 with seven children, four daughters and three sons. 
 Mrs. Cudahy is a lady of many estimable qualities, 
 exceedingly charitable and kind to the poor, and 
 thoroughly devoted to her family, all of whom are 
 finely educated and thoroughly conversant with the 
 accomplishments of the day. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy is the' eldest of four brothers and one 
 sister, Catharine, who entered the convent of the Good 
 Shepherd, in Milwaukee, in 1883, and was known as 
 Sister Stanislaus. She died in January, 1892. She 
 liberally endowed the order with which she was con- 
 nected. The brother William died when thirty-seven 
 years of age. John and Patrick succeeded John 
 Plankinton & Co.', formerly Plankinton & Armour, 
 of Milwaukee, in their packing business, under the 
 firm name of Cudahy Brothers. Patrick resides in 
 Milwaukee, while John lives in Chicago, where he is 
 very prominently identified with Chicago's packing
 
 484 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 interests. He was formerly associated with Mr. 
 Chapin as Chapin & Cudaliv, but for the past fifteen 
 years he has been operating very successfully alone as 
 John Ciuluhy, packer. Edward A. is a partner with 
 Michael, forming the corporation of the Cudahy 
 Packing Co., Omaha, Neb., which, before the with- 
 drawal of Mr. P. D. Armour from the firm, was the 
 Armour-Cudal)\ T Packing Co. Edward is well known 
 in business circles as an unnsually bright and energetic 
 business man. He resides at Omaha, where the firm 
 has a large and rapidly increasing packing and provi- 
 sion business. 
 
 Mr. Cudahy withdrew from the firm of Armour & 
 Company, Chicago, in November, 1890. It was a 
 business association which had borne good fruit and 
 had been profitable to both parties, and in speaking of 
 this separation Mr. P. D. Armour sa\'s : '"He leaves 
 me after a connection honorable throughout, devoid of 
 any clash, r ch, prosperous and with an enviable 
 reputation in the business world." 
 
 Personally Mr. Cudahy is a man of exceedingly 
 robust constitution and fine physical proportions; he is 
 of a social disposition, and takes considerable interest 
 in all manly sports; he is also a lover of -the fine arts 
 and has an especial fondness for music, for which he 
 has a natural instinct. Possessing in good measure the 
 wit and exuberance of spirits so characteristic of his 
 race, he is a genial companion, a pleasing conversation- 
 alist and warm friend. Devoid of prejudice, he is not 
 easily swayed, firmness being one of his chief charac- 
 teristics. He is generous in his contributions to all 
 objects of a worthy character and takes great pleasure 
 in befriending such young men as he may deem worthy 
 of his support, and many such men owe to Mr. Cudahy 
 their first start in life. He owes his large success to 
 perseverance, hard work, mastery of the details of his 
 business and determination to succeed. A man of 
 sterling worth, inflexible integrity and quiet manner, 
 he leaves upon others the impress of his own 
 character. 
 
 ADOLPH SCHOENINGER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 
 
 ADOLPH SCHOENINGER, son of Joseph Anton 
 and of Anna Maria (Ebele) Schoeninger, was 
 born in Weil, one of the old free cities of Schwaben, 
 on the 20th of January, 1833. He was liberally 
 educated, and after having passed through the high 
 schools of his native land, lie secured employment in 
 the large dry-goods house conducted by his uncle, 
 David Gall, in llastadt, Baden. This business he 
 entered as an apprentice, but by good work and steady 
 application he soon occupied the position of first sales- 
 man, in which position he found that he had an oppor- 
 tunity to get an iusight into business correspondence 
 and book-keeping, as well as many other branches of 
 mercantile life. Of this chance he eagerly availed 
 himself, and when he resigned his position, after seven 
 years' service, he found that he was thoroughly pro- 
 ficient in all phases of mercantile life. During his 
 residence in Baden, Brentano was named dictator, and 
 Mr. Schoeninger witnessed the court-martial by the 
 Prussians, after they had taken possession, and saw a 
 number of the deplorable executions of men innocent 
 of all crime, save that they failed to free their people 
 from the oppressors' yoke. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Schoeninger, in com pan v with a 
 younger brother, came to America. He first located 
 in Philadelphia, and was employed in different business 
 houses of that city until 18n7, when he started in busi- 
 ness for himself. Here he soon became prosperous, 
 and was quite prominent in different German societies 
 of both a social and benevolent character. lie re- 
 mained in Philadelphia until the beginning of the 
 Civil War, and then enlisting he went to the front in 
 
 command of a company of the Seventy-fifth Regiment 
 of Pennsylvania. After gallant service he came to 
 Chicago in 1864, having found upon his return home 
 that he was again penniless. Not allowing thistodaunt 
 him, however, he secured employment and set about 
 retrieving his shattered fortunes. He was employed 
 in the chinaware business of Albert Pick for one year, 
 and then started a furniture factory at the corner of 
 Desplaines and Union streets, which however was 
 destroved by fire one year later, in 1866. In the fall 
 of the same year he took charge, on his own account, of 
 a small factory, situated on the site of his present 
 magnificent plant, that had been before that time con- 
 ducted by Vergho, Ruhling & Co. Under his manage- 
 ment the business prospered, and its capacity was 
 being steadily increased until in the fall of 1871, when 
 the great fire occurred, which laid almost the entire 
 city in ashes, destroyed his entire plant, including a 
 large new factory building, which he had just com- 
 pleted. Having been insured only in home companies 
 he was utterly ruined, having nothing left of his busi- 
 ness excepting his liabilities, which were paid in full 
 during the next three vears. 
 
 A banking firm in Europe knowing Mr. Schoenin- 
 ger's strict integrity and sterling worth, immediately 
 offered him financial assistance, and accepting this he 
 immediately rebuilt his factories and had his engines 
 running on the first of January, 1872, and in February 
 made his first shipment of goods. Since that time his- 
 success has been phenomenal; within ten years he 
 improved his plant and paid back to the European firm 
 every dollar that had been advanced to him. Helms
 
 fRGMiNENT MEN OF TtfE GREA T 
 
 487 
 
 been forced by the great demand for his goods (espe- 
 cially bicycles) to make many additions and improve- 
 ments, and to day his plant, employing as it does over 
 a thousand men, is the largest wheel manufactory in 
 the United States. Bicycles of all grades are manu- 
 factured for children and for adults. The concern is 
 now known as the Western Wheel Works, and Mr. 
 Shoeninger is its president. He now contemplates 
 increasing the capita! of the company by consolidating 
 with the main house in Chicago some of the more 
 important agencies in other cities, and intends ulti- 
 mately to retire from active business life by turning 
 over to his sons his stock in the corporation. 
 
 Mr. Schoeninger was united in marriage to Miss 
 Augusta Riemann, in Philadelphia, on the 20th day of 
 January, 1857. They have three children, one son and 
 two daughters. Mr. Schoeninger is one of the type of 
 
 foreign born American citizens whose native land sees 
 them depart with regret and whom America is so glad 
 to welcome to her shores. Coming to this country 
 unknown and without capital, he has, by his native 
 industry, strict integrity and business capacity steadily 
 pushed on, and fairly conquered success, notwithstand- 
 ing a series of misfortunes under which many would 
 have been forced to break down. The last disaster 
 left him not only financially ruined, but also with a 
 millstone of liabilities about his neck, but this, by hard 
 work and careful economy, he cast off in the short 
 period of three years, and that not by any compromise, 
 but by the honest payment of one hundred cents on 
 the dollar. The record is a suggestive one, to which 
 Mr. Schoeninger may well refer with pride, and which 
 is worthy of emulation by every young man facing the 
 battle of life. 
 
 HON. GEORGE R. DAVIS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 A NATIVE of the old Bay State, George R.Davis 
 was born in the town of Palmer, in the year 18iO. 
 His father was Benjamin and his mother Cordelia 
 (Buffing-ton) Davis, the former a native of Ware, Mass- 
 achusetts, and the latter a member of a well-known 
 Quaker family, of Connecticut. George attended the 
 public schools and later prepared for college at Williston 
 Seminary, at East Hampton, Mass., from which he grad- 
 uated. This was just prior to the opening of the war of 
 the Rebellion, so that instead of entering college, as he 
 had anticipated, he enlisted, at the age of twenty-two, in 
 the army, as a private in company 1> H," Eighth Regi. 
 ment Massachusetts Infantry. He soon rose from the 
 ranks to a captaincy, and in that capacity served with 
 the Eighteenth Army Corps, in the North Carolina 
 campaign, until August, 1863. Resigning his commis- 
 sion, he then returned to Massachusetts, where, under 
 government authority, he recruited and organized a 
 battery of light artillery. Not long after this he was 
 assigned to the Third Regiment Rhode Island Volun- 
 teer Cavalry, with the rank of major, and commanded 
 the regiment until the close of the war, in 1805, when 
 he was made brevet-colonel. 
 
 Soon after the close of the war, Colonel Davis 
 entered the civil department of the regular army, and 
 was assigned to the department of the Missouri, then 
 commanded by General Sheridan. lie was with Gen- 
 eral Sheridan in the Indian campaigns of 1868 and 1869, 
 which were of a stirring character, those at the head 
 waters of the Washita being the most decisive, resulting 
 in the defeat and routing of the famous chief " Black 
 Kettle "and his band. When General Sheridan was 
 stationed at Chicago, in 1869, Colonel Davis was on 
 duty at his headquarters, and continued his connection 
 with the army until May 1st, 1871. lie then resigned 
 
 and took up his permanent residence in Chicago, where 
 he has made his home ever since. For a time he was 
 engaged in the insurance business, representing a New 
 England life insurance company as its general agent 
 in Chicago. 
 
 Col. Davis has always been an active and loyal 
 Republican, and since his residence in Chicago has held 
 a conspicuous place in the councils of his party, in 
 which he has been a recognized and skillljil leader. He 
 was elected to Congress from the Second Dis- 
 trict of Illinois in 187S. and re-elected for the 
 two succeeding terms. As a congressman, Colonel 
 Davis naturally took a prominent place, and was 
 one of the few representatives from Chicago to 
 that body whose work on behalf of their constitu- 
 ents was attended with conspicuous success. Among 
 the important acts. of legislation in which he took 
 a prominent part, the securing of a large appropriation 
 for improving the Chicago harbor was chiefly due to 
 his efficient and faithful efforts. Succeeding his con- 
 gressional career, he was elected treasurer of Cook 
 county, in 1886, for a term of four years. When it 
 was finally decided by Congress to celebrate the four 
 hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus on 
 American soil by the holding of a World's Columbian 
 Exposition, Col. Davis was one of the foremost in the 
 promotion of the enterprise, and to no one man is the 
 public more indebted than to him for the selection of 
 Chicago as the site of what has proved to be the 
 greatest World's Exhibition ever held. He was after- 
 wards chosen by the stockholders one of the directors 
 of the local or Chicago board of management, and 
 upon the meeting of the National Board of commission- 
 ers in September, 1890, that body, recognizing his 
 peculiar fitness for the place, selected Col. Davis as
 
 488 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 director-general of the mammoth undertaking. How 
 well he has performed the difficult and exacting duties 
 of that position is now a matter of' history. It is high 
 praise to say that bis management fully justified the 
 expectation of his most sanguine friends, and won the 
 commendation of all classes. 
 
 A man of fixed opinions, iron will, unfaltering per- 
 severance and unusual executive ability, he at the same 
 time possesses a tireless energy, and whatever he has 
 attempted, he has invariably performed in a most 
 creditable manner. He is a man of great personal 
 magnetism, courteous, yet dignified in manners, gener- 
 ous to a fault, kind-hearted and genial, and has always 
 attracted to himself manv warm friends. With his 
 
 splendid qualities of mind and heart, he combines a 
 finely proportioned physique, being strong in stature 
 and of robust constitution. He is a man of distin- 
 guished presence,and carries in his mien theappearance 
 of a born leader of men. lie is neither dictatorial nor 
 exacting ; puts on no false dignity, but sways men by 
 reason of his commanding ability and great force of 
 character. He is a member of several clubs-and is promi- 
 nent in the Masonic fraternity, being one of the long- 
 time members of the Chicago Commandery, No. 19, 
 Knights Templar. Col. Davis was married in 1867 to 
 Miss Gertrude Schulin, of New Orleans, Louisiana, by 
 whom he has two sons and four daughters, and is very 
 happy in his domestic relations. 
 
 DAVID BRAINARD LYMAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the able, leading and representative lawyers 
 of the Chicago bar, none stands higher or is more 
 worthy of a place in this work of "Prominent Men of 
 the Great West" than the subject of this sketch. He 
 was born March 27, 1840, in Hilo, on the islacd of 
 Hawaii, Sandwich Islands. He. comes, however, of 
 sturdy New England stock, and is the son of the Rev. 
 D. B. Lyman, who was former!} 7 of New Hartford, 
 Connecticut, and was a graduate of Williams College 
 and Andover Theological Seminary. In 1831, the Key. 
 Mr. Lyman married Miss Sarah Joiner, of Royalton, 
 Vermont, and sailed for the Sandwich Islands, as a 
 missionary of the American Board of Commissioners 
 for Foreign Missions. Here he and his wife labored 
 indefatigably for the cause of Christianity and civil- 
 ization for over fifty years, till their death, a few 
 years since. He was a prominent educator and much 
 interested in the advancement of the people of the 
 islands. David passed his early youth in these 
 islands and acquired his education mainly by his own 
 efforts. He held several important government pos- 
 itions at an early age, and thereby obtained means to 
 gratif} 7 his desire for a university education. In 1859, 
 he left Honolulu, sailed around Cape Horn and arrived 
 in New Bedford, Connecticut, in May, 1860. lie 
 entered Yale College the following September, and 
 graduated in Arts in 1864. He then entered the 
 Harvard Latf School and graduated therefrom, win- 
 ning one of the prizes for the best legal essay, in 1866. 
 During the year 1864-65, while he was enrolled as a 
 student at Harvard Law School, he was connected with 
 the Sanitary Commission as hospital visitor, and was 
 in charge of the Fifth Corps hospital of the army of 
 the Potomac, and also the Point of Rocks hospital in 
 Yirginia. The last few weeks of his service he was in 
 charge of the Sanitary Commission of the forces con- 
 centrated about Washington. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Lvman was admitted to the bar in 
 
 Boston, and the same year removed to Chicago and 
 secured a clerkship in the law office of Messrs. Waite 
 & Clark, where he remained two years. July 1, 1869, 
 he formed a partnership with Col. Huntington W. 
 Jackson, under the firm name of Lyman & Jackson, 
 which is to-day the oldest law partnership in Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Lynwn has fine literary attainments, and is a 
 good classical scholar. He has been highly successful 
 in his profession. While he has, perhaps, devoted 
 more time to real estate and corporation law than any 
 other branch, so general has been his reading, and such 
 has been his industry, that as a general practitioner he 
 is at home anywhere, except in criminal cases, which 
 he never takes. He is always found ready for attack 
 or defense. He has decided natural ability, and by 
 the thoroughness with which he prepares his cases, he 
 illustrates the truth of the well known maxim: "There 
 is no excellence without labor." 
 
 While Mr. Lyman has probably a higher reputa- 
 tion as an able and learned counselor than as an advo- 
 cate, yet such is his understanding and so thoroughly 
 does he investigate and prepare his cases, that his ar- 
 guments carry more weight than those of many mem- 
 bers of the bar who may, perhaps, be more eloquent. 
 He has the confidence of his clients, because they know 
 that he will not ad vise them to commence a suit unless 
 they have a good case, and then only when there is no 
 remedy for them save in litigation. He is noted for 
 his untiring industry, for his painstaking preparation 
 and management of his cases, for his unvarying cour- 
 tesy toward every one with whom he comes in contact, 
 and for his most thorough and conscientious discharge 
 of his duty to his clients. These qualities, added to 
 his well known ability and learning, have given him a 
 high standing with his brethren of the bar as well as 
 with the courts. 
 
 Mr. Lyman takes no active part in politics, but is a 
 staunch Republican in his affiliations.

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 4 9 I 
 
 He was married October 5, 1 870, to Miss Mary E. 
 Cossitt, daughter of Mr. F. D. Cossitt, of Chicago. 
 They have three children living. 
 
 Mr. Lyman is interested, either as director or 
 trustee, in a number of corporations, and is president 
 of the Chicago Title and Trust Company, which he 
 was largelv instrumental in forming. Mr. Lyman has 
 long been a member of the Chicago Bar Association, 
 and in 1893 was elected its president, which position 
 he holds at the present time. In social life Mr. Lyman 
 is much esteemed. lie is a member of the Chicago 
 Union league, University and Church clubs, and he was 
 the first president of the last named. He is an earnest 
 and active member of the Episcopal church. He resides 
 in La Grange, one of Chicago's most beautiful suburbs. 
 
 Mr. Lyman has always been a believer in and promi- 
 nently identified with the cause of education. He has 
 served for eighteen years on the board of education of La 
 Grange in various capacities, as one of its members and 
 as its president. Largely through his efforts the Lyons 
 township high school was established after a four' 
 years' campaign, during which time the project was 
 repeatedly voted down. Being a zealous advocate of 
 the common school system, each defeat, however, only 
 added to his earnestness, and he has the satisfaction of 
 seeing both the grammar and high schools established 
 at La Grange, ranking among the best to be found in 
 any part of the country. Mr. Lyman is appreciated 
 and highly esteemed by the entire community in which 
 he lives. 
 
 THOMAS W. PALMER, 
 
 DETROIT, MICHIGAN. 
 
 THE subject of this biography, one of Michigan's 
 " favorite sons " and most honored citizens, is pre- 
 eminently a self-made man. He began life with a 
 definite purpose in view, worked faithfully, honestly 
 and with a will for its accomplishment, and now 
 enjoys a more than national reputation as a man of 
 progressive ideas, fine attainments, high-minded, pure 
 hearted and clean-handed. His native city, Detroit, 
 where he was born, January 25, 1830, has always been 
 his home. He has grown with her growth, prospered 
 with her prosperity, and is a most worthy representa- 
 tive of her enterprise and greatness. 
 
 He traces his ancestry to New England and early 
 colonial families, his father having been a native of 
 Connecticut and his mother of Vermont. His father 
 was a merchant in Detroit during the territorial days 
 of Michigan, and a representative man of his time, 
 widely known for his sterling quali-ties; and by the 
 few survivors of those early da} r s who were associated 
 witli him he is held in affectionate remembrance. The 
 mother, a daughter of J'udge James Witherell, a 
 descendant of Roger Williams, and one of the pioneer 
 settlers and representative men of the Territory of 
 Michigan, was a woman of many virtues and generous 
 impulses and is remembered with tenderest regard for 
 her earnest Christian spirit and charitable deeds. She 
 was one of the first Methodists in Detroit. Mr. Pal- 
 mer's father and his mother's father were included 
 among those surrendered by Gen. Hull in 1812. 
 
 Thomas was reared in the city of Detroit until 
 twelve, when he entered Mr. Thompson's academy at 
 St. Clair, Mich., then the village of Palmer, named 
 from his father. Leaving the academy he entered the 
 freshman class at the university at Ann Arbor, and 
 remained one year. His eyes failing, he was compelled 
 to abandon his studies and spent a portion of the fol- 
 lowing year upon Lake Superior. His eyesight being 
 
 partially restored, he 'resumed his studies at Ann Arbor 
 for about six months. His eyesight again failing, he, 
 with five others, left Ann Arbor for a voyage to Spain 
 in the fall of 1848. He landed at Cadiz, after a thirty- 
 days' winter voyage, and for two months traveled on 
 foot through the country, visiting the Alhambra in 
 Grenada and other points of interest. Returning to 
 Cadiz, he took ship for South America, landing at Rio 
 Janiero in 1849. After-passing three months in South 
 America, he returned home via New Orleans, spending 
 two months in the Southern States. In 1850 he went 
 to Wisconsin and spent one year as agent of a trans- 
 portation company. In 1851 he went into business at 
 Appleton, Wis., where he was burned out and finan- 
 cially ruined. In 1853 he returned to Detroit and 
 engaged in the real estate business. In 1855 he 
 engaged in the lumbering business, which, with the 
 purchase and sale of pine lands, has, to a great extent, 
 been his vocation since. He is also prominently con- 
 nected with large lumber firms and mills. 
 
 Mr. Palmer has been an active and staunch member 
 of the Republican part} 7 ever since its organization. 
 He has been called to high positions and important 
 trusts in the party, and has never failed to acquit 
 himself in a manner to gall forth the approval of his 
 fellow-citizens. He was never a candidate for office 
 until he ran for one -of the estimators-at-large of the 
 city of Detroit in 1873. In 1878, Mr. Palmer declined 
 the nomination for Congress, but at the earnest solicit- 
 ation of his friends lie accepted the nomination for State 
 senator, tendered him by acclamation, and was elected. 
 Two years later, in the convention, he made an 
 unsuccessful race for the nomination of governor of 
 liis State, but was chosen by the Legislature to succeed 
 the Hon. T. W. Ferry in the United States Senate, for 
 a term of six years, beginning March 4, 1883, and but 
 for his voluntary retirement from politics would have
 
 492 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF TJ1E GKEA T WEST. 
 
 been re-elected without opposition for a second term 
 His name was prominently discussed for a cabinet 
 position before the conclusion of his term of office in the 
 Senate. In April, 1889, he was nominated by President 
 Harrison and confirmed as minister to Spain. He 
 resigned the office in May, 1890, preferring the life of a 
 private citizen at home to that of a government official 
 stationed in Madrid. 
 
 In June, 1890, he was appointed by President 
 Harrison as one of the commissioners-at-large of the 
 World's Columbian Exposition, to be held at Chicago in 
 1893, and upon the meeting of that body, June 27th, 
 was unanimously elected its president, an office for 
 which his native executive ability, and rich and 
 varied experiences as an organizer most eminently 
 fitted him. 
 
 He married Miss Lizzie P., daughter of Charles P. 
 Merrill, in 1855. He has no children. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Palmer is a man of great firmness 
 and decision of character, and cool and deliberate in 
 his judgments. He is at the same time a man of 
 advanced and progressive ideas, enterprise and good- 
 ness of heart, that discover themselves in all his acts, 
 and attract the admiration and win and hold confi- 
 dence of all witli whom he has to do. He is a 
 generous man, public-spirited, and contributes liberally 
 of his time, energy and money to religious and philan- 
 thropic interests, and to whatever conduces to the 
 welfare of his city and the good of his fellows. He is 
 a man of fine literary tastes, a lover and liberal patron 
 of art, and was one of the projectors and founders of 
 the Detroit Art Museum. In short, Mr. Palmer has 
 made his life a decided success, and with his influence 
 and wealth, and a will to put them to the noblest use, 
 he deservedly holds a leading place among his fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 CASSIUS C. MERRITT, 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 CASSIUS C. MERRITT, son of Lewis H. and 
 Hephzibeth (Jewett) Merritt, was born at Tid- 
 ioute, Warren county, Penn., on the 5th day of Janu- 
 ary, 1851, where the first four years of his life were 
 passed. In 1855 his father went to the "head of Lake 
 Superior, and for the time being left his family in Aus- 
 tinburg, (Ashtabula Co.) Ohio, on account of the ex- 
 cellent school privileges to be enjoyed there. In 1856 
 the entire family went to join the father, making the 
 trip on the popular "Manhattan," and after a stormy 
 voyage of two weeks arrived in the latter part of Nov- 
 ember. The mother and younger children remained 
 in Superior for two weeks and then went on to Oneota, 
 where the family resided until 1872. Here it was that 
 Cassius spent his boyhood and youth and acquired his 
 education. He was employed during the summer 
 working on farms, clearing land and working in and 
 about sawmills, and attending school during the winter, 
 although the better part of his education was acquired 
 by home study under the tuition of his eldest brother 
 Jerome. In 1869 his father built a large hotel and 
 boarding house in Oneota, upon which he worked as a 
 carpenter during its construction, and after its comple- 
 tion worked in the house in any capacity where he 
 could be useful. During the winters of 1869 and 1870, 
 he taught the district school at Fond du Lac, each term 
 lasting four months. In the winter of 1872 he was 
 employed in, the lumber woods at Spirit Lake, by his 
 brothers Napoleon and Alfred, and during the following 
 summer at Munger & Gray's sawmill in Oneota. In 
 September he left the mills and went to Chautauqua 
 countv, New York, and to Wan-en county, Penn., where 
 he visited his old home and his fathers' relatives. 
 
 On his return to Duluth, on the 10th of October, he 
 
 entered the office of Nehemiah Hulett, county treas- 
 urer, as deputy. Here he remained for nearly three 
 years as acting deputy county treasurer, deputy county 
 auditor and deputy register of deeds, and being for 
 many days at a time, during the winter of 1873-74-, the 
 only man in the office who was able to attend to the 
 official business without assistance. In June, 1875, he 
 bought a one-third interest in a small schooner which 
 his brothers Alfred and.Leonidas had built at Oneota, 
 and in the latter part of the month he resigned his 
 position in the county treasurer's office and went to 
 work on the schooner, helping to fit her out. He 
 worked on the schooner during that summer as a man 
 before the mast, and when the vessel was laid up for 
 the wifiter in Duluth he returned to the count}' audit- 
 or's office where he made out the tax books. In the. 
 spring he got out telegraph poles for Alfred Merritt, 
 and in the summer worked on the vessel, .which cruised 
 between Duluth and South Shore ports as far south as 
 Eagle Harbor. They laid the vessel up for the winter 
 late in November and Mr. Merritt again went into the 
 county auditor's office, where he worked until the 
 20th of February. On the 27th of February he was 
 united in marriage to Miss Eliza Felt, at Anoka, Minn., 
 and went to Oeonta on the 1st of March, where he 
 worked again for a few weeks at his old place in the 
 auditor's office. In May he moved to Duluth, where 
 he secured employment as head clerk in the dry goods 
 store of L. G. Hughes. Pie remained there until the 
 12th of June, when he shipped as first officer of the 
 schooner "Alice Craig," which was owned by L. G. 
 Hughes and Leonidas Merritt, who was also captain, 
 and remained in that position until the vessel was laid 
 up in November.
 
 \v*
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 In January (1877) he hired out as cook in a camp 
 of tie-makers on the Little Pokegamony and staid until 
 the camp broke up in March, when lie again took his 
 famil}' to One<;ta. In the following winter he took a 
 contract to cut 200 cords of wood for Wm. R. Stone in 
 the woods on the "Big Pokegamony, commencing on 
 the first of January, having with him two of his 
 brothers and two other men. They staid in the woods, 
 doing their own cooking and camp work, until the 
 middle of March and got out 125 cords of wood. The 
 ice in the bay broke up on the 17th of March, when he 
 went to work on the sco.w for Thomas Sandilands and 
 Alfied Merritt, who were engaged in shipping cord- 
 wood from Pokegamony P>ay to Wm. R. Stone's dock 
 in Duluth, and worked for them until the 5th of May. 
 lie then went to Atchison county, Mo., and worked 
 upon the farm owned by his brother, A. R. Merritt, 
 staying for one year, at a salary of $25 per month. The 
 following year he rented a farm and raised a crop 
 besides doing work for others when he had spare 
 time. 
 
 He remained in Missouri until after the death of his 
 father, which occurred March 10, 1880, and then 
 returned to Superior, where he went to work as a 
 book-keeper for James Barton, remaining five months. 
 He then went into the woods exploring pine lands in 
 Douglas county, where he spent seven months. He was 
 then employed by Eaton & Merritt, a Duluth firm who 
 dealt in pine lands, and remained for one year exploring 
 pine lands in northern Minnesota. In the fall he built a 
 store in Superior and in partnership with A. N. Doe put 
 in a stock of groceries under the firm name of Merritt 
 & Doe. This store they conducted for two years, al- 
 though most of Mr. Merritt's time was spent in the 
 pine woods exploring. At the end of the two years 
 Mr. Merritt disposed of his store interests.and until the 
 fall of 1886 put in his whole time in exploring land. 
 In September, 1886, he went into partnership with II. 
 B. Crandall, under the firm name of Crandall & 
 Merritt, and engaged in the general real estate busi- 
 ness. The partnership, however, was dissolved in Feb- 
 ruary, 1887, and from that time Mr. Merritt continued 
 
 495 
 
 alone the.business of handling real estate and pine lands 
 until February, 1890. 
 
 In April, 1889, Mr. Merritt was employed by M. B. 
 Harrison and W. K. Rogers to run a preliminary line 
 of railroad from Duluth to the Canadian boundary on 
 the west side of the Lake of the Woods, and in June 
 while crossing the Missaba Heights he found specimens 
 of high grade hematite float, which convinced him of 
 the presence of large deposits of high grade iron ore, 
 and he so reported to Mr. Harrison. As soon as he 
 had finished the railroad line he took charge of the 
 purchasing of iron lands in the Missaba region for a 
 syndicate, composed of M. B. Harrison, Alfred and 
 Leonidas Merritt, R. H. Palmer and himself, and so 
 spent a whole winter. They then formed a company 
 for the development of the mines, and the result was 
 the Mountain Iron Company, since recognized as the 
 best company of th<i kind in Minnesota. In February, 
 1890, Mr. Merritt took into partnership with him his 
 brother, A. R. Merritt, and the business was continued 
 as C. C. & A. R. Merritt until January 1, 1893, when 
 he retired in order to give his entire attention to his 
 duties as treasurer of the Duluth, Missaba & Northern 
 Railroad, of which road he was one of the projectors, 
 and in the interests of which he has given a great deal 
 of his time and not a little money. 
 
 Mr. Merritt has been an attendant of the Methodist 
 church since his earliest youth and joined the same 
 when sixteen years of age. He has alwaj's taken a 
 great interest and a leading part in church work and is 
 well known as a cheerful and generous contributor to 
 all calls for charity. Until 1872 he was a Republican, 
 but since that time he has been a Prohibitionist. He is 
 a man of fine personal appearance and enjoys the best 
 of health. Of decided convictions, he forms his opinions 
 quickly, and once formed he clings to his decisions 
 with a tenacity that nothing can shake, and is gener- 
 ally found to be in the right. He has make his own 
 way in life, and what he is to-day he owes to himself 
 and to the habits of steady application, hard work, and 
 the practice of the strictest integrity a trait so charac- 
 teristic of the entire family. 
 
 JESSE HOLDOM, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JESSE HOLDOM was born in London, England, 
 August 23rd, 1851. He received an academic 
 education in his native city, and upon its completion 
 entered a law office in London, and there gained a good 
 rudimentary knowledge of English law. Upon coming 
 to the United Slates in 1868, he located in Chicago, 
 and after some two years of additional study entered 
 the law office of Messrs. J. C. and J. J. Knickerbocker^ 
 in 1870. Upon the election of Mr. J. C. Knickerbocker 
 as judge of the probate court, Mr. Holdom entered into 
 
 partnership with his brother, J. J. Knickerbocker. The 
 law firm of Knickerbocker & Holdom maintained a 
 leading position at the bar, during the ten years of its 
 existence, and developed a large and extensive practice. 
 In February, 1889, the above partnership was dissolved 
 and since that time Mr. Iloldom has practiced alone. 
 Common law, chancery, real estate and probate suits 
 have constituted the bulk of his business, and he has 
 devoted more time to these branches than to others. 
 He has been connected with, and in fact, had the entire
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 496 
 
 management of some of the largest estates that have 
 been through the courts. 
 
 Among the cases which brought his name into prom- 
 inence was that of Winch, minor, vs. Thomas Tobin, 
 guardian, which was carried to the supreme court of 
 Illinois. His argument was based upon a writ of error 
 sued out of that court, attacking the constitutionality 
 of the act of the legislature conferring jurisdiction 
 upon the probate court in guardianship matters, and its 
 power to order the sale of a minor's real estate. An 
 order had been made disposing of valuable property to 
 the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad com- 
 pany. It was the opinion of many leading lawyers 
 that the above court had no jurisdiction in such cases. 
 Mr. Iloldom, however, succeeded in sustaining the 
 jurisdiction of the probate court in that case, and the 
 decision of the supreme court set the matter at rest. 
 The Supreme Court Reports bear evidence of his 
 continuous and successful business. Mr. Holdom 
 possesses, also, quite an extensive foreign clientage, 
 and frequently visits Europe on behalf of the various 
 interests with which he is connected. 
 
 His law library is very extensive and complete, 
 besides which he has a library' of general literature 
 that numbers over three thousand volumes, among 
 which are many rare books and some of great value. 
 Very naturally, he takes much pride in the possession 
 of numerous rare works relating to the history of his 
 native city, comprising, as they do, a complete history 
 of the city of London, from the earliest to the present 
 
 time. In his fine residence are also to be found many 
 rare works of art. Mr. Holdom is a member of the Union 
 League, Hamilton, Oakland, Law and other clubs of Chi- 
 cago. In 1890 he was appointed by Governor Fifer pub- 
 lic guardian for Cook county, and upon the death of 
 Judge Knickerbocker, Mr. Iloldom, though not a 
 candidate for the vacant probate judgeship, was prom- 
 inently mentioned for the place, and his name met 
 with much favor from Governor Fifer. , 
 
 In politics he is a Republican. In his religious 
 connections he is an Episcopalian, being a member of 
 Trinity Church. He was married, in 1876, to Miss 
 Edith I. Foster, of Ovid, N. Y., by whom he has had 
 three children. Mrs. Iloldom died in the summer 
 of 1891. 
 
 Personally Mr. Iloldom is affable, genial and 
 sociable, and is fond of good-fellowship. He is recog- 
 nized for his strict integrity, and his whole career has 
 been characterized by an uprightness of purpose and 
 conscientious endeavor. As a lawyer he possesses not 
 only a thorough knowledge of the law, but is an advo- 
 cate of acknowledged ability, convincing in his argu- 
 ments drawn from his knowledge of the law and the facts 
 of the particular case he has in hand. Now in the prime 
 of life, Mr. Holdom has secured an extensive and lucra- 
 tive practice and sustains a high reputation among the 
 legal fraternity, and as a public-spirited, high minded 
 citizen who is a credit to Chicago, where for more than 
 twenty-five years he has lived, and where during much 
 of that time he has been a prominent figure. 
 
 ALBERT E. HUMPHREYS, 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 ALBERT E. HUMPHREYS was born at Sisson- 
 ville, a small village on the banks of the Poca- 
 taligo river, Wes*; Virginia, on the llth day of January, 
 1860. He is descended from stalwart original Virginia 
 stock on both., his father's and his mother's side. His 
 father, Ira A. Humphreys, and his mother, Eleanor A. 
 Humphreys, nee Dawson, are still living at Charleston, 
 W. Va. 
 
 He was educated in the public schools of his native 
 village until he was fifteen years of age, when he entered 
 Marshall College, Huntington, W. Va., and continued 
 his studies there for one year. He then taught school 
 for a short time, and soon after the completion of his 
 sixteenth year took a position as cierk.in his father's 
 store. Ilis favorite study was mathematics, and he 
 was thorough and proficient in all the branches of that 
 subject which were included in his courses at school 
 and college. At a very early age he developed a very, 
 marked capacity and preference for business pursuits, 
 and took advantage of every opportunity to engage in 
 small business ventures of his own, which brought him 
 more or less in contact with business men, and his 
 
 inquiring mind led him to acquire information beyond 
 his years concerning the great laws of supply and 
 demand, and the relations which his small ventures bore 
 to the great volume of trade which went to make up 
 the commerce of a nation. This natural bent of his 
 mind enabled him -to quickly discern the relations 
 between his studies and the practical affairs of life, and 
 gave to them a reality and interest which is not usu- 
 ally felt until much later in life; so that he early 
 acquired that habit of earnestness and concentration 
 which is, after all, the great lesson to be learned in the 
 schools. 
 
 Mr. Humphreys is of a naturally studious and philo- 
 sophical turn of mind, a close observer, with a retentive 
 memory, and the limited education acquired by him 
 in his comparatively few years of schooling, has since 
 been supplemented by an extended and judicious 
 course of reading, and by continual contact with 
 leading men in every profession and calling, until he 
 may well be said to possess a liberal education in the 
 best sense of that term. 
 
 After entering his father's store he devoted himself

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 499 
 
 enthusiastically and energetically to business, and with- 
 out interfering with the duties of his employment, 
 undertook and carried out, on his own account, several 
 enterprises from which he netted a considerable sum of 
 monev, and in other ways evinced such a pronounced 
 business capacity, that at the expiration of the year his 
 father took him into partnership. The business was 
 continued at Sissonville until the year 1884, when it 
 had acquired such great proportions that it was found 
 necessary to remove to Charleston, "W. Va., which 
 place afforded greater facilities for distribution and 
 extension. 
 
 In the year 1891 Mr. Humphrey's attention was 
 attracted to Duluth by what he learned of the great 
 opportunities afforded for investment in iron properties 
 in the ranges tributary to that city. He made a careful 
 personal investigation of the region, and was so favor- 
 ably impressed that he at once made large investments 
 in iron lands, and moved to that city, where he has 
 since resided, in order that he might be able to give 
 his personal supervision to the development of the pro- 
 perty he had acquired. His sagacity and judgment 
 were vindicated in a most marked degree, for he now 
 owns a controlling interest in more valuable iron 
 mines, in the richest deposits ever discovered, than 
 perhaps any other one man in the world. He lias also 
 since he came to Duluth, purchased and developed 
 what is probably the richest and most remarkable 
 gold mine ever discovered, the Ophir mine, in what is 
 known as .the 'Sudbury district, in the province of 
 Ontario, Canada. Mr. Humphreys has man}' other 
 valuable properties in western States and Canada, 
 which are in process of development, after having been 
 thoroughly tested and proven of value. In the course 
 of his business Mr. Humphreys has visited nearly every 
 State in the Union, and almost every part of Canada, 
 and has many warm and influential friends and 
 acquaintances as widely distributed. He is a member 
 of the Masonic fraternity and of the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Elks. He is 
 
 liberal in his religious views, and is a staunch Sam Ran- 
 dall, or protectionist, Democrat. 
 
 On the 3d of November, 1837, he was married to 
 Miss Alice K. Boyd, the beautiful and accomplished 
 daughter of Capt. C. W. Boyd, of Ripley, Ohio. They 
 have one child, a son, Ira Boyd Humphreys, aged four 
 years. Mr. Humphreys makes it an invariable custom 
 to leave his business cares behind him when he crosses 
 the thresh hold of his home, and once inside the doors 
 he is solely and entirely the devoted husband and 
 father and hospitable friend. 
 
 In appearance Mr. Humphreys is a striking figure, 
 six feet tall, erect, well proportioned, with a graceful 
 carriage, and elastic step. He has a clear, fresh com- 
 plexion, bright blue- eyes and regular white teeth. He 
 has a kindly smile and pleasant greeting for every one, 
 while his whole bearing is dignified and manly: he 
 would attract a second look anywhere, and leave the 
 impression that he was a worthy descendant of a proud 
 and enterprising race. In conversation he is fluent, 
 logical and convincing; his business methods are frank 
 and honest, and characterized by that high sense of 
 honor which comes to him as a second nature from a 
 long line of high-bred Virginian ancestry. He will 
 not take up the consideration of any new business 
 matter that does not promise large returns, but once 
 he consents to entertain a proposition, he gives it a 
 thorough and patient investigation downtoits minutest 
 details. He sees clearly and quickly every advantage 
 and disadvantage, and follows each proposition logically 
 to its ultimate result with remarkable rapidity, and his 
 examination once completed, he promptly decides for 
 or against the proposition. 
 
 Socially, Mr. Humphreys is a genial, courteous 
 gentleman, a pleasant, entertaining companion and a 
 warm friend. He is kind and just to those dependent 
 on him, and is manly and unostentatious in his dealings 
 with all. He has many staunch friends among all 
 classes of men, who are justly proud of the record he 
 has made in his brief career of thirty-four years. 
 
 FRANCIS W. WALKER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 FRANCIS W.WALKER comes of old New England 
 stock, while his father, Lucas B., and his mother, 
 Lucinda (Le Suer) Walker, were natives of New York 
 State. His ancestry dates back to the early colonial 
 days of Massachusetts and Connecticut. He was born 
 in Chicago on October 12, 1856, and received his early 
 education in the Chicago schools. He is in the fullest 
 sense a self-made man, for, while still a boy, the great 
 fire destroyed the business of his father, who was at 
 that time a prosperous merchant on South Water street, 
 and the boy Francis was compelled at an early age to 
 work out, alone and unaided, the career which he had 
 
 decided upon for himself. His earliest ambitions were 
 to enter the profession of the law. Immediately after 
 the fire we find young Walker filling a position in the 
 mailing department of the Chicago Times. In addition 
 to this work he established a large paper route and did 
 the work of selling and distributing his papers himself. 
 While carrying on this work he still kept up his 
 attendance at the high school. After completing the 
 high school course he spent two years at Dyrenforth's 
 Academy. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Walker entered the law office of 
 Luther Laflin Mills, carrying on his studies here in con-
 
 500 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 nection with his course in the Union College of Law. 
 After graduating with high honors in 1877, he formed 
 a partnership with Lawrence M. Ennis, of this city, 
 under the firm name of Ennis & Walker. This part- 
 nership continued until December, 1884, when Mr. 
 Walker was appointed first assistant State's attorney. 
 In the history of this city there ha.s been no period so 
 stormy and full of exciting and important events as the 
 three years from 1884 to 1887, during which time Julius 
 S. Grinnell was State's attorney, and Francis W. 
 Walker was his first assistant, viz.: the trial of the anar- 
 chists; the county commissioners charged with bribery 
 and fraud, known as the "bocdler trials," the three 
 Italians, whose brutal murders are still fresh in the 
 minds of many, and several other important criminal 
 trials which have contributed so much to the eventful 
 history of the city of Chicago. In 1887, Mr. Walker 
 resigned his position in the State's attorney's office and 
 formed a partnership with Edward J. Judd, under the 
 firm name of Walker & Judd, which partnership con- 
 tinued until January, 1892, when the present firm of 
 Walker, Judd & Hawley was formed, Mr. Samuel F. 
 Hawley being admitted to the firm at that time. Mr. 
 Walker was county attorney for Cook county in 1891-2. 
 He gives his attention largely to the practice of corpor- 
 ation law, having been prominently connected with 
 the affairs of the South Side Elevated and the Metro- 
 politan Elevated railways. 
 
 Mr. Walker is a prominent member of the Iroquois, 
 Douglas and Athletic clubs, and of the Royal Arcanum 
 and the Foresters. He is also a Knight Templar and a 
 thirty-second degree Mason. In politics he is a staunch 
 Democrat and always found in the front ranlc^ of 
 speakers in every campaign. 
 
 Mr. Walker was married on October 16, 1880, to 
 Miss Lulu C. Calhoun, and has a pleasant home life. 
 
 Intellectually, Mr. Walker is much more than a 
 lawyer, as the large and well chosen library at his 
 home, and his fondness for it, will testify. Metaphy- 
 sics, science, history, political economy, and in fact all 
 branches of study he enjoys after the manner of the 
 true scholar. As a lawyer, Mr. Walker finds his 
 natural place in the court room. He is recognized as 
 possessing to the fullest extent the qualities which go 
 to make up the successful advocate. He has a very 
 eloquent and forceful manner, which, together with his 
 strong personality and strength of character, have 
 placed him where he stands to-day, one of the most 
 prominent members of the Chicago bar. Possessing 
 personal and social qualities of a higher o'rder, Mr. 
 Walker is much esteemed by all who know him, and as 
 a citizen he has the confidence and respect of those 
 who appreciate a gentleman of culture. As an ener- 
 getic, upright and conscientious lawyer and a man of 
 attractive social qualities, Mr. Walker stands high in 
 the estimation of the entire community. 
 
 EDWIN JAMES FRY, 
 
 MARSHALL, TEXAS. 
 
 EDWIN JAMES FRY, son of Thomas W. and 
 Sarah J. (McLaurine) Fry, was born at Char- 
 lottesville, Va., December 1,- 1845, and is a descendant 
 of Colonel Joshua Fry, of Virginia. He attended the 
 public schools and also Oak Grove Academy, a pre- 
 paratory school for the University of Virginia. His 
 mother moved to Texas when he was in his tenth 
 yea-, and that State has been his home since, though 
 he returned to Virginia to attend school in 1859 and 
 stayed until early in 1861, when be returned to Texas 
 and enlisted in the Confederate army (in 1863) under 
 Captain Edwards, Company E, First Regiment Texas 
 Rangers, commanded by General Walter P. Lane. He 
 was soon promoted, being made orderly sergeant, and 
 frequently the command of the company devolved 
 upon him. He served gallantly until the close of the 
 war, and then went to Nacogdoches, Tex., where he 
 engaged in business, remaining until 1871, when he 
 removed to Marshall, in the same State, where he has 
 since resided. He is engaged in the drug business, and 
 is also president of the Marshall Car Wheel and Foun- 
 drv Company, president of the Hope Lumber Com- 
 pany, and vice-president of the First National Bank. 
 Though a loyal follower of the teachings of the im- 
 
 mortal Jefferson and an ardent admirer of Grover 
 Cleveland, he has always been averse to holding politi- 
 cal positions, but was prevailed upon, however, to 
 serve the city of Marshall as alderman, without pay. 
 
 He is an active member of the Masonic fraternity 
 and is treasurer of the local Lodge, Chapter and Com- 
 mandery, and also Deputy Grand Commander of the 
 Grand Commandery of Texas, Knights Templar. He 
 is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. In relig- 
 ion he is an Episcopalian and serves as senior warden 
 of Trinity parish in Marshall. He is active in church 
 work, and broad in his charities, ever turning a will- 
 ing ear to the appeals of the needy. 
 
 Mr. Yry was married to Miss Mary L. Rankin, of 
 San Augustin, Texas, on the 25th of October, 1866. 
 Seven children have been born to them, two sons and 
 five daughters. 
 
 Mr. Fry is one of the typical Southern businessmen, 
 who, while with broken fortunes thev saw their hopes 
 shattered by the results of the war, did not allow them- 
 selves to remain cast down, but started bravely to work 
 and have built up a new South, better and more pros- 
 perous than the old. At the close of the war Mr. Fry 
 went into the general merchandise business at Nacog-
 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 503 
 
 doches, and by energy and capability soon found his 
 position most prosperous. When he moved to Mar- 
 shall he established the private bank of Itaguet 
 & Fry, which title was in use until 1870. From 
 that time until 1883, when on account of impaired 
 health he sold his interests to the First National 
 Bank, he carried on the business as E. J. Fry, banker. 
 After a rest of two years he bought an interest 
 in the First National Bank, and has since been its vice- 
 president. 
 
 He has always taken a deep and active interest 
 in every project tending to develop the resources 
 of the Lone Star State, and is very popular with all 
 classes, having many friends and few, if any, enemies. 
 Nearly six feet in height, he is of striking appear- 
 ance and what most would call a handsome specimen 
 of physical manhood. He en joys the fullest confidence 
 and esteem of the people of his section and that he 
 has not held leading positions of political honor and 
 trust is due alone to his own disinclination. 
 
 ALBERT BARTLETTE MOSS, 
 
 PAYETTE, IDAHO. 
 
 ALBERT BARTLETTE MOSS, son of Edward and 
 Mary (Carter) Moss, was born at Belvidere, 
 Illinois, on the 29th day of November, 1849. Both 
 parents were born in New York, but removed to Bel- 
 videre in 1836. He attended the public schools at 
 Belvidere until his sixteenth year, receiving a good 
 common school education, and then went West, spend- 
 ing the next fifteen years of his life in Nebraska, 
 Colorado and Wyoming, where he was engaged in con- 
 tracting, merchandising and in stock raising. In 1882 
 he formed a partnership with his brother, engaging in 
 the general merchandise business, stock raising and real 
 estate at Payette, Idaho. Here he has lived ever 
 since. Mr. Moss is vice-president of the Payette 
 Valley Bank. 
 
 He is a Republican and has always taken a deep 
 interest in politics. He was the first mayor of Payette 
 and in 1890 was a member of the constitutional con- 
 
 vention of Idaho. He is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity and also of the order of Odd Fellows. He 
 is broad and liberal in his religious views, and does his 
 full share toward alleviating the sufferings of poverty. 
 He was married March 10th, 1880, to Miss Celia A. 
 Mellor, daughter of William H. Mellor, at. Rock Springs, 
 Wyoming. Three sons have been the result of the union. 
 Personally Mr. Moss is a man of fine appearance, 
 being six feet tall and built in proportion. He is an 
 active, energetic business man and owes his present 
 high standing to his own individual efforts. Aside 
 from his sterling worth as a business manheis admired 
 for his social qualities by hosts of warm personal and 
 political friends, who, having every confidence in his 
 business ability and strict integrity, will be glad to 
 confer upon him as occasion offers positions of high 
 honor and trust such as he is so well fitted to adorn 
 and which are so justly his due. 
 
 ROBERT LATHAM OWEN, 
 
 INDIAN TERRITORY. 
 
 ROBERT LATHAM OWEN, son of Robert L and 
 Narcissa (Chisholm) Owen, was born at Lynch- 
 burg, Virginia, on the 2nd of February, 1856. His 
 father was a man prominent in business as well as in 
 political circles, having been civil engineer, president 
 of the Virginia and Tennessee Rail way. a State senator, 
 and held a commission as colonel in the Confederate 
 service; while his mother, though a. member of the 
 Cherokee Nation, was a descendant of an old Scotch- 
 English family and a highly educated and accomplished 
 woman. 
 
 The Owen family, in the male line, is directly de- 
 scended from Owen of Wales of the llth century, and 
 William Owen, grandfather of our subject, married 
 Otwayanna Carter, a niece of General George Wash- 
 inoton. Young Owen attended various private schools 
 until 1867, when he went to Govanstown, Baltimore 
 
 county, Maryland, where he studied until 1872, taking 
 a special course in modern language, Greek, Latin, and 
 mathematics. He graduated in 1877 with the degree 
 of M. A., was valedictorian of his class and was voted 
 the gold medal of the Washington Literary Societ}' as 
 its best debater. 
 
 During the next few years Mr. Owen 
 was engaged in teaching school and in studying 
 law, and in the summer of 1879 went to the 
 Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, where he was by 
 birth entitled to citizenship and to its valuable privi- 
 leges. In January, 1881, he located at Tahlequah, 
 Ind. Ter., and remained in that place practicing law 
 until the summer of 1884. In August, 1885, he was 
 appointed United States Indian agent for the five civ 
 lized tribes, and was confirmed by the Senate and 
 received his commission April 16, 1886. He held this
 
 504 
 
 position until March, 1889, when he resigned to serve as 
 fiscal agent for the Cherokee nation, in which position 
 lie gave a bond for $1,000.000, and while in office dis- 
 bursed nearly one and one-half millions of dollars, 
 making his final settlement on the 24th day of Decem- 
 ber, 1889, on which occasion he received a vote of 
 thanks and confidence, passed unanimously by both 
 houses of the Choctaw legislature, was confirmed by 
 the principal chief, and endorsed by the legislatures of 
 the Cherokee, the Creek, the Choctaw, and the Chick- 
 asaw nations, and also by the Indian International Con- 
 vention. Mr. Owen has been a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity since 1882, and is now a 32d degree Mason. 
 
 A Democrat, he has twice been elected as a mem- 
 ber of the Democratic National Committee by the 
 Democratic conventions of Indian Territory, both 
 times on the first ballot, and stands high in the coun- 
 cils of the party. 
 
 Since 1872, Mr. Owen has been a member of the 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 Episcopal church and a firm believer in the Christian 
 religion, and has been active in its promulgation and 
 in works of charity. 
 
 On the 31st day of January, 1889, Mr. Owen was 
 united in marriage to Miss Daisy Deans Hester, daugh- 
 ter of Geo. B. Hester, of North Carolina. 
 
 It was Mr. Owen who, in 1890, secured the passage 
 of an act by Congress authorizing the establishment of 
 national banks in the Indian Territory, and who or- 
 ganized the First National Bank of Muscogee, the first 
 national bank established in the Territory, and of which 
 he has been president since its organization. He has 
 besides established many other enterprises giving em-- 
 ployment to many men. 
 
 He practices his profession of the law only in special 
 cases, one of which was to urge the claim of the Choc- 
 taw Nation for compensation for the Leased District 
 Country, securing from Congress, in 1891, an appropri- 
 ation of 2,991,450 as partial payment therefor. 
 
 EDWIN HARTLEY PRATT, A. M., M. D., LL. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE life and achievements of him whose name heads 
 this biography worthily illustrates what may 
 be done by persistent and painstaking effort. 
 
 Edwin Hartley Pratt is a native of Towanda, Penn., 
 and was born November 6, 1849, the son of Leonard 
 Pratt, M.D., and Betsey (Belding) Pratt, both of whom 
 are of English descent. The father, now a resident of 
 San Jose, Cal., was formerly connected with Hahne- 
 mann Medical College, Chicago, and for many years 
 was. one of the most distinguished physicians in the 
 northwest. He is a man of progressive ideas, noted 
 for ability and integrity of character, gentleness of 
 manner and promptness in all things. The maternal 
 ancestors were long-lived people, and the mother of 
 our subject inherited a rugged constitution. She is a 
 woman of large stature, energetic, fearless, and perse, 
 vering, and when convinced of the Tightness of a 
 purpose or plan allows no obstacle to stand in the way 
 of its achievement. Dr. Pratt possesses a happy com- 
 bination of many of the qualities and characteristics 
 of both his parents. In ph}'sical organization he most 
 resembles the Beldings, being large in stature, six feet 
 tall, finely proportioned and weighing 250 pounds. 
 In mental make-up he has the cheerfulness and hope- 
 fulness of his father, combined with his mother's 
 indomitable energy, courage and perseverance. His 
 only living sister, Nettie L. Pratt, is a young lady 
 noted for her unusual musical attainments. She re- 
 sides at San Jose, Cal. Another sister, Ilattie, died 
 when thirteen years of age of malignant diphtheria, it 
 being one of the first cases in this country. An only 
 brother died in infancy. 
 
 Prior to his fifteenth year Edwin attended the 
 
 common schools, and spent a year at Mt. Carroll (111.) 
 seminar}'. In order to give him the advantage of a 
 college education his father removed to Wheaton, Du 
 Page county, 111., where he pursued the first-year pre- 
 paratory course at Wheaton College. Upon the open- 
 ing of the second year, the college authorities learning 
 that he had interested himself in the organization of a 
 Good Templars' lodge, and being opposed to secret 
 societies, demanded that he sever his connection with 
 the lodge. He was only a day student, living at his 
 own home, and his father was a member of the lodge, 
 and feeling the injustice of the demand he refused to 
 comply with it. Leaving the school, he at once entered 
 the second-year class in the preparatory department of 
 the University of Chicago. He remained at this insti- 
 tution six years, completing a thorough classical course 
 of study, and graduating with the class of 1871, with 
 the degree of A. B. In college he was known as a 
 hard worker, and developed a special aptitude for 
 geometry, logic, metaphysics, grammar and rhetoric, 
 and was especially fond of the Odes of Horace and Ars 
 Poetica, by reason of their help to him in writing and 
 speaking. In the literary society to which he belonged, 
 the *'Tri Kappa," he was a leader in debate, and 
 among the foremost writers and speakers, and made 
 himself popular among his fellow students by entering 
 heartily into the true spirit of college life. He was a 
 prominent member of the " Delta Kappa Epsilon " fra- 
 ternity. He also had fine musical tastes and talents. 
 His own choice was to fit himself for the practice of 
 law, but knowing the disappointment of his father 
 should he not enter the medical profession, he yielded 
 his own wishes, and in October, 1871, entered Hahne-
 
 Vo\
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 mann Medical college, and was graduated in the spring 
 of 1873 with the degree of M. D. During his medical 
 course he acted as quizmaster in connection with his 
 father's chair, that of special pathology and diagnosis, 
 and also during his la?t year filled the position of dem- 
 onstrator of anatomy, under appointment of the incum- 
 bent of that chair. After listening to his valedictory 
 address, the board of trustees of the college were so 
 favorably impressed that they at once invited him to 
 become demonstrator and adjunct professor of anat- 
 omy. In order to better qualify himself for the place, 
 he visited Philadelphia and spent the spring term in 
 Professor Keen's school of anatomy, and in Jefferson 
 Medical College. 
 
 In the fall of 1873 he entered upon his duties as 
 teacher in Hahnemann Medical College, lecturing twice 
 each week, and in addition filled the place of the pro- 
 fessor of anatomy, when that gentleman was absent, 
 and as he was present but twice during the entire win- 
 ter, the responsibilities of the position mainly devolved 
 upon Dr. Pratt. Although the mental strain was 
 severe he bore up under it, and at the close of the year 
 had the satisfaction of knowing that his work was 
 highly satisfactory. Dr. Pratt was now tendered the 
 professorship of anatomy, but the desire to engage in 
 active practice, and the thought that he could no longer 
 afford to donate his services, led him to at first decline 
 the offer. The college authorities, however, knowing 
 the value of his services, were reluctant to let him go, 
 and at once tendered him a fair salary. Under this 
 arrangement he accepted the position, and filled it 
 until the spring of 1876. At this time, owing to dis- 
 sensions between the board of trustees of the college 
 and the faculty, ten of the thirteen professors resigned, 
 and organized the Chicago Homoeopathic Medical 
 College. With these doctors Dr. Pratt sympathized 
 most heartily, believing them to be in the right, and 
 although the Hahnemann College desired him to con- 
 tinue his connection there at the same salary, a sense of 
 duty impelled him to decline the offer, and accept the 
 professorship of the same chair in the new institution 
 without remuneration. This chair he filled for seven 
 years, during which tune the IIomo3Opathists were 
 admitted to the wards of the Cook County Hospital. 
 Dr. Pratt was elected a member of the hospital staff, 
 ahd occupied a position first in the theory and practice 
 department,later in the gynaecological department,and 
 afterwards was elected attending surgeon of the 
 hospital. 
 
 In 1883 a vacancy occurring in the chair of surgery 
 in the college, Dr. Pratt, with the consentof the faculty, 
 retired from the chair of anatomy, and accepted that 
 of surgery. It was here, while handling the compli- 
 cated and obscure cases at the college clinic that he 
 discovered what has at once marked an era in the 
 treatment of chronic diseases. Inspired by the thought 
 of his discovery, he was about to announce it to his 
 class, but a second thought prompted him to dismiss 
 them witli the announcement that his next lecture 
 would be " Chronic Diseases from a Surgical Stand- 
 
 point." He had promised an article for a medical 
 journal and being pressed for time he employed a 
 stenographer to report this lecture in fulfillment of 
 that promise. His purpose of presenting something 
 new had been noised about, and when he entered the 
 lecture room he found it crowded toils fullest capacity, 
 among the audience being many visitors from other 
 colleges. It was a moment of supreme importance to 
 him, and as he advanced in his lecture, the heavy, 
 tired and restrained feeling which he experienced at 
 the opening passed away, there came from him a flood 
 of light and he spoke as under the power of inspiration, 
 holding his auditors spell-bound to the close, when 
 their breathless silence was broken by loud and long 
 applause Such was the effect of the lecture that, 
 although it was within three weeks of the close of the 
 term, and the students were busy with examinations 
 and tired from their winter's work, sixteen members 
 of the class presented themselves for treatment under 
 the new discovery, which the discoverer had named 
 the Orificial Philosophy. The result of the treatment 
 upon these cases was so satisfactory, and so many were 
 cured that the new philosophy was at once pronounced 
 a marvellous success. From that time the surgical 
 clinic of the college was conducted on the orificial 
 principle, and for a year was visited by physicians of 
 all schools from all parts of the United States, who 
 came to witness the workings of the new philosophy. 
 The spread of the new idea brought so many inquirers 
 that Dr. Pratt found the demands upon his time and 
 strength more than he could endure and keep up his 
 private practice, and this led him to receive and 
 instruct his professional brethren in orificial work in 
 classes instead of singly, as was at first his custom. 
 He now holds these classes semi-annually for a week, 
 and during that time he devotes the time to the lectures 
 and clinical work, allowing members of the class to 
 bring their most difficult cases, upon which he publicly 
 operates. After the second c'ass of this kind, those 
 present organized the National Association of Orificial 
 Surgeons, electing Dr. Pratt as honorary member, and 
 providing in their constitution that there never should 
 be but one. This association has had a wonderful 
 growth, and promises to be one of the largest medical 
 societies in the United States. Such has been the 
 effect of the new method for treating chronic cases 
 that four-fifths of those apparently incurable are 
 speedily restored to health. In recognition of his ser- 
 vices the Chicago Homcepathic Medical College estab- 
 lished a chair of "orificial surgery," to be filled by Dr. 
 Pratt. Other medical colleges followed the example, 
 and now this new philosophy is taught in all the med- 
 ical colleges of this country that pretend to keep up 
 with the progress of the age. 
 
 Dr. Pratt was honored with the degree of LL. D. 
 by his alma mater in 1886. lie is an honorary mem- 
 ber of the Missouri Medical Society, the Ohio Medical 
 Society, the Kentucky Medical Society, and the South- 
 ern Association of Physicians, and 'an active member 
 of the Illinois State Medical Association, the Chicago
 
 508 
 
 Academy of Medicine and the American Institute of 
 Homoeopathy. He has a very large and lucrative prac- 
 tice. He is a hard student, has an elegant library tilled 
 with several thousand of the choicest books, and con- 
 tributes largely to current literature, besides being the 
 author of a beautifully illustrated work on oriricial 
 surgery, now in its second edition. 
 
 Dr. Pratt was married June 26, 187", to Miss Isa 
 M. Bailey, of Jersey Heights, N. J. Mrs. Pratt is a 
 lady of unusual attainments, with literary and musical 
 tastes and abilities of a very high order, and withal a 
 woman of rare good sense, and a charming hostess. 
 Both she and Dr. Pratt are members of the Apollo 
 Club, of which the latter was one of the founders, and 
 is now a director. Their marriage has been blessed by 
 two children. A daughter, Isabel, died when eighteen 
 months old. A son, Edwin Bailey Pratt, a remarkably 
 precocious child, was killed in a street car accident, at 
 the age of eight and one-half years. 
 
 The celebrated and beautiful Lincoln Park Sanita- 
 rium was built for Dr. Pratt's use and is a Mecca for 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the increasing throng of doctors who are seeking to 
 master the principles and practice of oriiicial surgery. 
 The patronage of this place is extensive and of a high 
 grade. Drs. F. D. Holbrook, C. A. Weirick, T. E. 
 Costain,and T. H. Trine are the doctor's medical corps 
 of assistants. The nursing department is under the 
 able superintendence of Miss Emma L. Baumbach, who 
 manages a superior training school known as the 
 "Lincoln Park Training School for Nurses." The 
 school numbers about 40 members at present, and has 
 33 alumni. The nurses are selected with great care 
 and are exceptionally competent in every way. Dr. 
 Pratt is president of the Lincoln Park Sanitarium 
 Co. and also of the training school. He is also editor-in- 
 chief of the Journal of Orificial Surgery having Drs. 
 F. D. Holbrook and C. A. Weirick associated with 
 him. This monthly journal is wielding a great influ- 
 ence in the medical profession, rapidly making 
 converts to the orificial philosophy, which seems des- 
 tined to revolutionize the present manner of treating 
 chronic diseases. 
 
 C. PORTER JOHNSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 C PORTER JOHNSON is a native of Illinois, hav- 
 . ing been born at State Line City, Vermillion 
 county, on August 15, J 866. His father was Joseph 
 Simpson Johnson, and his mother's maiden name was 
 Matilda Kemper, the former being a Kentuckian and 
 the latter a Virginian. The subject of our sketch lived 
 on a farm until he was seventeen or eighteen years of 
 age, meantime acquiring such education as was afforded 
 in the common schools. Later he attended Lees 
 Academy at Loxa, 111., for two years, after which, in 
 1885, he went to Terre Haute, Ind., and studied law, 
 being admitted to the Indiana bar the following year, 
 in 1886. In 1887, young Johnson came to Chicago for 
 the practice of his profession and was admitted to the 
 Illinois bar during the same year. By industry and 
 steady application to his work, he soon built up a satis- 
 factory practice, which has increased continually until 
 the present time, when he finds himself a very busy 
 man. He confines his large practice mainly to civil 
 cases, in which he has a wide range. 
 
 In November, 1892, Mr. Johnson was elected to the 
 Illinois Senate from the second senatorial district, and 
 the fact that he was the first and only Democrat 
 elected to that body from the second district strikingly 
 attests his popularity with his fellow citizens of all 
 classes. In the senate he made a good record and was 
 placed on several important committees, where he was 
 known as a working member. 
 
 Mr. 'Johnson's social relations are indicated by 
 membership in fraternal societies and clubs which are 
 composed of gentlemen of the highest character. His 
 
 name is on the roll of the Iroquois, the Waubansee. the 
 Harvard and the Whitechapel clubs. He is also a 
 prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being a 
 member of all the bodies from the blue lodge to the 
 Scottish Rite, thirty-second degree, the latter degree 
 having been conferred by Oriental Consistory, A. A. 
 S. R. As a Knight Templar he is identified with 
 Chevalier Bayard Commandery. He is also an Odd 
 Fellow, Knight of Pythias, and a member of the 
 Royal Arcanum, the Independent Order of Foresters, 
 the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of 
 Medina Temple of the Mystic Shrine. 
 
 In his religious affiliations Mr. Johnson is a Baptist, 
 and with his family, makes his church home with the 
 Englewood Baptist church, to which, and its collateral 
 charitable work and benevolent enterprises he is a 
 liberal contributor, as he also is to other worthy enter- 
 prises. On August 21, 1889, he was married to Miss 
 Derelle West, of Georgetown, 111., and is happy in his 
 home life. 
 
 In his law practice Mr. Johnson enjoys an excellent 
 reputation as an industrious, painstaking and capable 
 attorney, systematic in his work and conscientious in 
 the service which he renders to his clients. In per- 
 sonal appearance he is of medium size, with a good 
 physiquo, and carrying an air of open-hearted friend- 
 liness, which, whether in social circles or in business, 
 makes him popular. He is distinctly democratic in 
 his tastes, in the best sense, and is always easily ac- 
 cessible to all classes, believing that personal worth, 
 not adventitious circumstances, makes the true man.
 
 
 n BIQIJ Ac Co Ckcaac
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 SAMUEL RAYNOR SMITH, 
 
 FAR ROCKAWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
 THE subject of this biography is the son of Carman 
 and Ruthclla Smith, and was born at Merrick, 
 Queens county, N. Y., on the 28th of June, 1862. 
 Jonathan Smith, who held a commission under George 
 III. (as captain of the Light Horse Guards) was his 
 ancestor some five generations back, and the commis- 
 sion, written on parchment, is now in the possession of 
 thefarnilv,asare also some silver spoons made from the 
 buckles worn by the said Jonathan Smith on his knee- 
 breeches and sandals. Joseph Smith, the great-grand- 
 father of Samuel, was very active and quite prominent 
 in the war of 1812, and his father before him ren- 
 dered gallant service in helping to drive the British 
 from American soil. 
 
 Samuel attended the public schools at Merrick and 
 at Freeport, N. Y., and when fifteen years of age made 
 his preparations for taking a classical course at college. 
 Two years later he entered the New York University, 
 but was soon forced by recurrence of severe headaches 
 to abandon study. Soon after he entered a printing 
 office to learn the trade, where, at the end of two years, 
 with little compensation meantime, he commanded $6 a 
 week for his work and was offered $12 a week to stay for 
 another year. He left the printing office, however, and 
 secured a position in New York as bill clerk, with the 
 large commission and auction firm of Wilmerding, 
 Hoguet & Co. The two years spent with this firm 
 Mr. Smith regards as being most valuable to him, for 
 though his employer was a kind-hearted man he was 
 one who would tolerate no idleness or carelessly done 
 work. Everything had to be done promptly and with 
 care j no accidents were allowed N to happen and no 
 mistakes were condoned. This work and his previous 
 studies in Latin, Greek, Geometry and Algebra have 
 been invaluable to Mr. Smith throughout his business 
 life, for he never attempts any new enterprise without 
 carefully looking into each detail and by a careful 
 examination satisfying himself as to the probable 
 result. After resigning his position with Wilmerding, 
 Hoguet & Co., Mr. Smith went to Drayton, North 
 Dakota, arriving on the 21st of May, 1882, which date 
 he will long remember on account of the terrible 
 blizzard that was raging on his arrival. The next 
 day he obtained a position as clerk for Wallace Bro- 
 thers, who were running a general store. Three months 
 later he, with a young Canadian as his partner, bought 
 the firm's old stand and continued the business, Wal- 
 lace Brothers starting another store in the next block, 
 and being their only competitor. The young merchants 
 did well for the next two years, at the end of which 
 time Mr. Smith bought his partner's interest and also 
 stalled another general store at St. Thomas, sixteen 
 miles distant and on the railroad. This was in 1885, 
 and during the succeeding two years Mr. Smith attended 
 to both places of business driving from one to the 
 other in all kinds of weather, and built up an average 
 
 trade of about $50,000 per annum. Before leaving 
 home he had promised his mother that his stay in the 
 West should not exceed five years, and accordingly he 
 disposed of his mercantile interests and started the 
 First Bank of Drayton, N. D., with a capital of 
 $10,000, all paid up, but which had increased in less 
 than five years to $50,000, making the bank one of the 
 most solid financial institutions in the Red River Val- 
 ley. Mr. Smith returned to his home in Freeport,New 
 York, in 1888 and shortly afterwards he started a pri- 
 vate banking business at Far Rockaway, N. Y., which 
 however was soon merged in the Far Rockaway Bank, 
 which then had a capital of $25,000 and a surplus of 
 $5,000. The surplus has since been increased to $20,- 
 000 and the bank has something like $415,000 in 
 deposits which makes it the most prosperous bank of 
 its size in the State of New York. Mr. Smith was 
 elected its president on January 1, 1893, prior to which 
 time he had acted as cashier and manager. Mr. Smith 
 also started the Bank of Reynolds, at Reynolds, but 
 being unable to obtain efficient help he sold it out at a 
 premium and recently, in company with such men as 
 C. P. Huntington, Thurlow Weed Barnes, A. Hennen 
 Morris and John C. Furman as stockholders, organized 
 the Bank of Westchester, at Westchester, New York, 
 with a capital of $50,000 and a surplus of $10,000. He 
 has also recently completed a business block in Dray- 
 ton, N. D., which is said to be the finest building in 
 the count\% and has many business interests in both 
 New York and Dakota besides those mentioned. 
 
 Mr. Smith takes no active part in politics, although 
 he has given the subject considerable study, and has 
 formed some valuable and decided opinions of his own. 
 He has been a member of the Methodist church since 
 1873, but is liberal in his views, and thinks that it 
 would be far better if there were considerably more 
 tolerance between the different sects. He was chair- 
 man of the building committee of the Freeport M. E. 
 church, and under its management the edifice was built 
 and dedicated free of debt, although it cost $20,000. 
 
 In March, 1885, Mr. Smith was united in marriage 
 to Miss Ella E Boynton, daughter of Rev. C. F. 
 Bovnton, a Presbyterian minister from Maine, and 
 grand-niece of Alden Boynton, one of the ablest descen- 
 dants of the old Puritan stock, and who spent the best 
 part of his life in compiling a dictionary of great merit, 
 but which was destroyed by fire just as it was com- 
 pleted. Mr. Smith's great success is due more than to 
 any other cause, to his thorough understanding of 
 whatever he undertakes. His foresight has almost the 
 accuracy of prophecy, and those who know him best 
 seldom question the soundness of bis judgment. Public 
 spirited and enterprising, he is liberal alike to public 
 institutions and private charities, while personally he 
 is genial and pleasant, and enjoys the warmest esteem 
 of a wide circle of friends.
 
 512 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 THOMAS HENRY MATHIS, 
 
 ROCKPORT, TEXAS. 
 
 NO one who has been at all conversant with the 
 southern coast of .Texas for the past twenty- 
 five years can have failed to hear the name of Thomas 
 Henry Mathis. His manly form, well chiseled features 
 and vigorous step form a fitting index to the volume 
 of his good deeds. Under any circumstances he must 
 have been prominent, and, indeed, the sequel to this 
 narrative will show that he has developed a fine 
 character, not under the fuv*or of plain sailing, but 
 despite the bufferings of dame Fortune. Such a success 
 as he* has achieved could not have been accidental. 
 Accidents do not occur on such a colossal scale. 
 He was born in Stewart county, Tenn., July 14, 
 1834. His parents were James and Isabella Mathis, 
 the former of whom died in 1864, and the latter in 
 1S76. They were both highly esteemed for their 
 sterling religious character. Thomas received his 
 early education in the country schools of Tennessee 
 and Kentucky, and, being raised on a farm, he was 
 taught the value of a dollar by digging for it early and 
 late. As a boy he was proud to " hoe his own row," 
 and as a youth to swing his scythe with the foremost. 
 
 At the age of nineteen he resolved to strive for a 
 higher education, and this marks a turning point in his 
 life, as he was thenceforth thrown entirely on his own 
 resources. Ardently as his father longed to encourage 
 his aspirations, he could not do so in justice to his 
 other children. But nothing daunted, Thomas left the 
 paternal roof to enter the school of Dr. J. T. Mathis in 
 Southern Arkansas. At the end of the second session 
 here he negotiated a loan of one thousand dollars from 
 his father, to be paid back by him, or deducted from 
 the estate on final settlement of the same. With this 
 aid he continued another session at school. At the 
 expiration of this time he took a school at Warren, 
 Bradley county, Arkansas. In conjunction with a lady 
 teacher, he conducted his school successfully one year, 
 and then went to Bethel College where he finished his 
 education, in 1857. In 1858 he removed to Murray, 
 Kv., where he assisted Dr. J. T. Mathis in teaching 
 one session. 
 
 In 1859 he went to southwest Texas, where his 
 career as.a business man commenced. His very first 
 enterprise was fraught with extreme peril, from which 
 men of less courage shrank. It was on the 3d of Feb- 
 ruary, 1859, that he left Gonzales, Texas, with a party 
 of eighteen, to make a trading tour into Mexico. Any 
 one familiar with border troubles and border char- 
 acters, even at this late day, can have some conception 
 of the hazards of this trip in the next decade after the 
 Mexican war. On reaching Rio Grande tjity the party 
 was informed that it was out of the question to think 
 of crossing over into Mexico, as the country was full 
 of robbers and brigands. Of the party of eighteen, 
 only T. H. Mathis and his cousin, J. M. Mathis, had 
 the nerve to cross the Rio Grande. Two young Ala- 
 
 bamians, who were not of the original party, also 
 crossed with them into the kingdom of the Montezu- 
 mas, together with a Mexican guide. As they lay in 
 camp on San Juan river, at China, the first night 
 after reaching Mexico, the custom house officer de- 
 manded of them a duty of six per cent, of all their 
 money on the penalty of being imprisoned and having 
 all the} 7 had confiscated. They sent their interpreter 
 to tell the officer that they were buying stock in his 
 country, and would leave all their money there ; but 
 that if he persisted in demanding the six per cent, he 
 might come and get it, that there were four of them 
 well armed with shotguns and six-shooters, and that 
 man}' of the Mexicans would bite the dust in the 
 attempted robbery. It is needless to say that Mathis 
 and his party were left unmolested. They remained 
 in the country six weeks, camping at night and 
 throwing out pickets like a regular army. But 
 for this, they would doubtless have been robbed 
 or murdered. Though this trip was quite success- 
 ful, it was never deemed prudent to repeat it. 
 After making another business trip to the Texas side 
 of the Rio Grande, Mathis temporarily left the stock 
 business and opened a five-months school in Gonzales 
 county in the spring of 1861. In the summer of that 
 year he removed to Victoria and extended the scope of 
 his business transactions; but was compelled to close 
 his business in the fall of that year, on account of the 
 closing of the Gulf ports at the outbreak of the great 
 Civil War. 
 
 He then went to Kentucky and Tennessee and 
 bought a large lot of tobacco, the price of which was 
 rapidly rising in Texas. He barely succeeded in getting 
 out with this commodity from Paris, Tenn., before the 
 town fell into the hands of the Federal troops. He 
 shipped this tobacco to Alexandria. La., and to it added 
 another lot purchased in New Orleans. Meantime he 
 sold the whole in Texas for one dollar a pound, in Con- 
 federate money. 
 
 In the spring and summer of 1862 he was busily 
 engaged in forwarding supplies from Texas to the Con- 
 federate soldiers of the Trans-Mississippi department. 
 In the fall of the same year he joined Duff's regiment, 
 Company E, and fought for the Confederacy till the 
 close of the war. He is not ashamed of the cause he 
 espoused, nor of the part he played in it. Yet when 
 the flag of the Confederacy was furled he realized that 
 the war was over indeed. The same magnanimous 
 spirit with which he now treats the "boys who wore 
 the blue" enabled him to speedily forget the bitteiness 
 of the struggle, and, though with reduced resources, to 
 recommence his business career. He again engaged in 
 the tobacco trade between Tennessee and Texas, in 
 which he continued a year. 
 
 In February, 1867, he settled on Aransas Bay, and 
 selected the site on which the thriving little city of
 
 .<j- ' 
 
 V-VH3.CKoavo.l5
 
 *^' 
 
 ^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WE!> /'. 
 
 515 
 
 Rockport now stands. The firm of J. M. & T. II. 
 Math is built the first wharf which was established 
 there, and chartered the first steamship, " The Prince 
 Albert," that ever entered Aransas Bay for commer- 
 cial purposes. After this was lost at sea, they induced 
 the Morgan Line to run their ships to Rook port, and 
 became their agents. This part of our narrative 
 deserves to be emphasized. The subject of this sketch 
 was the founder of Eockport in a sense in which no 
 one else can claim that honor. In 1869 the Mathisfirm 
 expended $5,500 for the improvement of Aransas bar, 
 thus blazing the way, like hardy pioneers, of the future 
 highway of commerce. It was about the same time 
 that they built the Orleans Hotel, and erected a num- 
 ber of other good buHdings in Rockport. They also 
 built bridges, made good county roads and aided in 
 securing many other public improvements. Later on, 
 T. II. Mathis contributed liberally toward bringing the 
 Union Telegraph to Rockport, and to the building of 
 the first telephone line to that part of the State. He 
 was also a liberal contributor to the establishment of 
 the first cold storage meat refrigerating plant in Texas. 
 He was also one of the first men in the state to intro- 
 duce blooded cattle and horses into southwest Texas', 
 and he is said to possess the banner ranch of his portion 
 of the State, with regard to the quality of his stock. 
 When the Aransas Pass railroad was built into Rock- 
 port, in 1888, he was one of the principal promoters of 
 the enterprise, and it is one of the best additions to the 
 city which bears this name. 
 
 When, in 1872, the firm of J. M. & T. H. Mathis 
 was enlarged to that of Colerman, Mathis & Fulton, 
 again the progressive spirit of the subject of this narra- 
 tive was felt when the firm of which he was from 
 the beginning a member, built the first large pasture 
 that was ever established in the State. In 1879 this firm 
 was dissolved, and J. M. & T. II. Mathis were the fol- 
 lowing year again associated in business by themselves. 
 Since that time T. H. Mathis has been doing business 
 on his own account, with the exception of the purchase 
 of a one-half interest in about 24,000 acres of land in 
 Wharton county, which he subsequently sold. He now 
 owns about 24,000 acres of fine agricultural land in San 
 Patricio county, on the Nueces river, well fenced and 
 stocked with fine horses and cattle. On the same 
 estate are several farms, orchards and vineyards. The 
 town of " Mathis" is named for him, and is a portion 
 of his original ranch. The growth of a to.wn so near 
 the body of his ranch cannot fail to appreciate the 
 value of every acre of it. Even at the present low 
 prices of land, this is a princely estate, while its pro- 
 spective value is very considerable indeed. Mr. Mathis 
 possesses an ordinary fortune, entirely aside from these 
 fine lands. He owns one of the best homes in Rock- 
 port, besides thousands of dollars worth of reality in 
 different portions of that city. He is liberally insured, 
 to the amount of $60,000 in old line companies. He is 
 a principal stockholder in the First National Bank of 
 Rockport, of which institution he is also president. 
 Such is an imperfect statement of the material re- 
 
 sults attending a successful business career. But no cor 
 rect inventory of Mr. Mathis' wealth can be made that 
 does not include his character as the main part. He has 
 not achieved financial success at the expense of char- 
 acter, as is too often done. He was well-equipped for his 
 career, both, by nature and acquirements, and hence had 
 no occasion to resort to dishonest methods. His ex- 
 perience in the school room made an indelible impres- 
 sion on his life. Possibly he would have made as much 
 Tnoney without it, but he would not otherwise have 
 held money in as strict subjection to higher ends as he 
 now does. Without such culture he might have been 
 made the slave instead of the master of his large pos- 
 sessions. He impresses one as being a man who was 
 not shut up to run in a narrow groove. There are jets 
 of wit, coruscations of humor, and keen logical obser- 
 vations in his ordinary conversation which show that 
 he would have been a successful literary or professional 
 character, had he turned his attention in that direction. 
 His public utterances are as rare as they are weighty. 
 The writer remembers an occasion when hundreds of 
 people from all parts of Texas, and beyond its borders, 
 were assembled at Rockport, to consider matters of 
 great public weal. Naturally, there was a good deal 
 of "orating," and that too by professional speakers. 
 Mr. Mathis was called on for a speech with a unanimity 
 that was irresistible. He arose, and his well chosen 
 words sped like arrows from a strong bow. There was 
 no resisting his logic. He made the best speech of the 
 day, though he sat down entirely unconscions of it. 
 
 No one ever doubted his convictions. An instance 
 will suffice to show that he is not a man to count the 
 number of his opponents. A few years since an effort 
 was made to change " Rockport " to " Aransas Pass." 
 In fact, the name of the post-office was so changed. 
 This Mr. Mathis resented. There was no good reason 
 for it, he thought. He threw himself into the breach, 
 and his influence with the Legislature prevented the 
 change of the name of the city. Later on, the same 
 influence, exerted in a different direction, caused the 
 post-office name to- be changed back to " Rockport." 
 This was not a mere triumph of opinion, but it pre- 
 vented endless confusion among the half-dozen places 
 around the bay that have appropriated the name 
 " Aransas" in some connection or other. 
 
 He is a Democrat of the Jefferson-Jackson-Cleve- 
 land type. He is a ruling elder in the Presbyterian 
 church. Religiously, as otherwise, his professions are 
 not loud, and need not be. Instead of them, he pre- 
 sents the broad front of a consistent life, and deeds 
 of constant benefaction. It would be hard to find a 
 beneficent institution near him that has not been helped 
 by him or that might not have been for the mere 
 asking. 
 
 He was married twice. In 1869 to Mrs. Cora C. 
 Caldwell, of Gonzales county, Tex., who died two 
 months afterwards, and in 1875 to his present wife 
 (nee Miss Mary J. Nold), in Murray, Ky. She was 
 born in Goliad, Tex., July 15, 1856, and educated in 
 Kentucky. Her parents were Henry and Mrs. E. M.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Nold. Her father, an eminent educator, died at since it was an unbroken family, when little Allie, aged 
 
 Murray, Ky., November 2, 1886. Her mother is still 
 living in Murray. Mr. Mathis is the father of eight 
 children : Walter N., Henry, May, Thomas E , Edgar, 
 
 seventeen months and thirteen days, was taken from 
 the bosom of the family, demonstrating that "our 
 life is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time 
 
 Arthur, Lizzie Belle and Allie. Until a few months and then vanisheth away." 
 
 THOMAS BARLOW WALKER, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 THOMAS BARLOW WALKEE,sonof Platt Bayliss 
 and Anstis( Barlow) Walker, was born at Xenia,O., 
 on the first day of February, 1S0. His parents had moved 
 to Ohio from New York State, where they were con- 
 nected with many highly respected families and some of 
 whose members had attained eminence. Mrs. Walker 
 was a daughter of lion. Thomas Barlow, and a sister of 
 Judge Thomas Barlow, of Canastota, N. Y., and of 
 Judge Moses Barlow, of Ohio. When young Walker 
 was eight years of age his father invested all of his 
 means in helping to fit out a train bound for the gold 
 field of California. The expedition started, and while 
 en route Mr. Walker was stricken with cholera and 
 died, and as his partners in the enterprise were not 
 overburdened with conscientious scruples nor over high 
 notions of commercial honor, his widow was left penni- 
 less, and never received a dollar of what should have 
 come to her as his share. Left in almost destitute 
 circumstances with her four children, one of whom was 
 still a babe, she bravely faced the world and commenced 
 the battle against ad verse circumstances. Though young 
 in vears, she made a brave fight, and later reaped the 
 fruits of her labor in seeing her children grown to man- 
 hood and womanhood, highly respected and conscien- 
 tious Christians. Her latter years were spent with 
 Thomas, the subject of this sketch, in his home at 
 Minneapolis, and there she peacefully passed away on 
 the 23d of May, 1883. 
 
 The youth of Thomas was similar to that of any 
 other boy in like circumstances, but when sixteen vears 
 of age, the family moved to Berea, Cuyahoga county, 
 Ohio, in order to take advantage of the educational 
 facilities of the Baldwin University. Here for the first 
 time he fully realized the importance of a good ed- 
 ucation, and throwing aside all boyish habits he became 
 a studious man, bending every energy to the acquiring 
 of an education His tastes led him to devote much of 
 his time to the study of the higher mathematics and 
 the sciences, in which, notwithstanding he could not 
 attend more than one term at the university each vear 
 he made great progress and often outstripped those 
 who were fortunate enough to be able to attend during 
 the entire school year. He obtained a situation as a 
 traveling salesman for Hon. Fletcher Ilulet, the man- 
 ufacturer of the Berea grindstones. While traveling, 
 the most important part of his baggage was his heavy 
 case of books to which he devoted every 
 
 minute of his spare time. The determination 
 with which he stuck to his books has always been one 
 of his leading characteristics. Obstacles onty seemed 
 to stimulate him to greater effort, and he would never 
 rest until they were overcome. When he was nineteen 
 years of age his business took him to the small town of 
 Paris, III., where he conceived the idea of buying tim- 
 ber lands and cutting ties for the Terre Haute and St. 
 Louis Railroad Co., whose road was then under con- 
 struction. This was a stupendous undertaking for one 
 who was without capital or experience in the business 
 and who was yet but a boy in years, but by steady ap- 
 plication and hard work he got the project under way 
 and was in a fair way to make money out of his con- 
 tract when the railroad company failed and his profits 
 only amounted to a few hundred dollars. With the 
 small amount of money that he had saved he returned 
 to his mother's home and to his books and during 
 the following winter he taught for one term a near-by 
 district school. In teaching he was highly successful. 
 At this time he ranked the profession of teaching above 
 all others, owing to the important trust confided to 
 those who have in their hands the molding and direc- 
 tion of the plastic mind of youth ; and thinking to 
 adopt the profession as the vocation of his life, in 1862 
 he made application to the board of. the Wisconsin 
 State University for the position of assistant teacher 
 of mathematics. While waiting the result of his ap- 
 plication he continued his commercial travels, and at 
 McGregor, Iowa, he met a citizen of the then small 
 hamlet of Minneapolis, Mr. J. M. Robinson, who so 
 successfully painted the beauties and prospects of the 
 then straggling village, that Mr. Walker determined to 
 visit the place and see for himself whether this was not 
 the place for which he had been looking in which to 
 establish his home. Accordingly he took the next 
 steamer for St. Paul taking with him a consignment of 
 grindstones for Mr. D. C. Jones of that city. On the 
 wharf at St. Paul he met an energetic young man, 
 whose duties were those of both clerk and workman 
 for the transportation company, and who sorted over 
 the grindstones, picking out and putting to one side all 
 that were ''nicked or spalted," and which Mr. Jones 
 was permitted to reject. That young man was James 
 J. Hill, who has since become so justly celebrated in 
 railway circles, and that day upon the wharf at St. 
 Paul commenced a fr.endship between himself and Mr.
 
 v^X* 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 519 
 
 Walker that time has never shaken although butli have 
 since grown wealthy and celebrated. 
 
 Finishing his business in St. Paul Mr. Walker 
 traveled over the entire length of the only railroad in 
 Minnesota, which was nine miles long and operated 
 between St. Paul and Minneapolis, and two hours after 
 his arrival in the latter place he had engaged to go out 
 on a government survey with Mr. George B. Wright, 
 who was the leading surveyor of l hat section. As he 
 hail no technical knowledge of surveying, Mr. Walker 
 engaged to carry the chain, while his employer manip- 
 ulated the instrument, but they had only been out a 
 short time when Mr. Wright carried the chain and 
 committed the instrument to his employe. The expe- 
 dition, however, was not finished, for the Indian out- 
 break caused them to abandon it and forced them to 
 take refuge at Fort Riple\ 7 . Mr. Walker returned to 
 Minneapolis and during that summer his time was 
 devoted to surveying for the first trial line of the St. 
 Paul & Duluth railroad. Shortly after he arrived in 
 Minneapolis he was notified that the board had ap- 
 pointed him assistant teacher of mathematics for the 
 University of Wisconsin, but the decision was delayed 
 too long, as he had already engaged himself to Mr. 
 Wright. In 1868 Mr. AValker began his first deal in 
 pinelands. His knowledge, gained on his many sur- 
 veying tours, of the vast tracts of as yet unlocated pine 
 lands, strongly impressed him with the idea of their 
 immense value and he determined to open them up. 
 Mr. Walker had but little money at this time, so he 
 took as partners in his enterprise the Hon. L. Butler 
 and Howard W. Mills, the last two gentlemen 
 furnishing the necessary capital while Mr. Walker 
 supplied the brains and labor. They first 
 engaged in locating pine lands and afterwards in log- 
 ging, the manufacture of lumber and in selling pine 
 stumpage. This partnership continued for two years, 
 when Mr. Mills was compelled to withdraw on account 
 of ill health and the firm of Butler & AValker was 
 formed, which continued the business until several 
 years later, when fire destroyed the mills, the machinery 
 in two of which belonged to this firm, and the loss 
 entailed was so heavy that they were forced to form a 
 partnership known as L. Butler & Co., the partners 
 being Mr. Walker, Dr. Levi Butler, O. C. Merriam and 
 James W. and Levi Lane. They operated the large 
 shore mill on the east side of the dam and for several 
 years did the largest manufacturing business in the 
 city. This firm was succeeded in 1871 bv Butler & 
 Walker, which, however, closed up in 1872, because 
 Mr. Walker was unwilling to conduct the business 
 during the depression which followed and which en- 
 tailed heavy losses upon those who continued in busi- 
 ness. In 1877 the firm of Camp & Walker was formed, 
 the partner being Major George A. Camp, who had 
 been for many years surveyor general of logs and 
 lumber in the district and who was an expert at 
 handling logs. The Pacific mill, which had long been 
 operated by Joseph Dean & Company, was purchased 
 and operated until the fall of 1880, when it was destroyed 
 
 by tire. During the succeeding winter, it was rebuilt 
 on the old site, after completion being the best mill 
 that had ever been erected in Minneapolis. It was 
 continued in operation until the ground on which it 
 stood was required for railroad purposes, when it was 
 torn down, in 1887. Owning their own pine lands the 
 firm of Camp and Walker did a large business, by far 
 the largest in the city. Mr. Walker had located some 
 valuable pine land up about the sources of the Red 
 River, and in 1882 he, with his eldest son. Gilbert M., 
 organized the Red River Lumber Company, and built a 
 large saw mill at Crookston and another at Grand 
 Forks on this river. These mills have been in operation 
 each year since their construction up to the present 
 time, the management being conducted by Gilbert M. 
 Walker. These various mills have given employment 
 each year to thousands of men, and besides this the 
 Red River valley mills have so cheapened the cost of 
 material that it has greatly helped many a poor man 
 in the erection of his home. Besides his lumber 
 business Mr. Walker is largely interested in many 
 other enterprises both public and private, chief of 
 which is probably the "Flour City National Bank" of 
 Minneapolis of which he is president. 
 
 Throughout his entire life Mr. Walker has valued 
 books and the knowledge to be acquired from them as 
 among the most important things of this life. We 
 have seen how he devoted every minute of spare time 
 to study in his younger days, and the affection for 
 books has never wavered, in fact his old text-books, 
 worn by constant use, and soiled by oil that dripped 
 from many different lights, now find a place in his 
 handsome library, occupying the post of honor. It is 
 not therefore strange that when the Minneapolis 
 Athenaeum was founded -he was a liberal contributor 
 and a large stockholder. But this did not nearly meet 
 his idea of what was needed, for the Athenaeum was a 
 close corporation and its reading rooms and library 
 were open only to stockholders. Mr. Walker desired to 
 give its benefits a much wider range, and to accomplish 
 this he gave years of labor and freely of his money, 
 though opposed by many of the stockholders. He 
 commenced by buying shares which he distributed 
 among many young people, and later he succeeded 
 in lowering the price of shares and in having 
 the doors of the reading room thrown open to 
 the public, and the books of the library available 
 to those who paid a nominal fee. Yet these concessions 
 did not meet with his views of what the public really 
 needed,and through the agitation caused by the changes 
 already made and by his persistent labors for a really 
 free library, given in many cases to the detriment of 
 his private business and against the determined oppo- 
 sition of many, he finally saw success crown the efforts 
 to give Minneapolis her magnificent public library. In 
 this work Mr. Walker was for a time much misunder- 
 stood and the opposition to him was for a time bitter 
 in the -extreme. The plan adopted was both unique 
 and comprehensive. The books and property of the" 
 Athenapum were transferred to the city library,
 
 520 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 together with the fund that Dr. Kirby Spencer had 
 bequeathed to it, a large subscription by Mr. Walker 
 and several other liberal citizens and an appropriation 
 by the city, were used for the erection of the building, 
 and a tax of one-half mill upon the dollar of valuation 
 of city property w.as authorized for its support. After 
 the present magnificent building was finished, quarters 
 were provided in the building for the Academy of 
 National Science and for the Society of Fine Arts, in 
 both of which Mr. Walker has taken an especial inter- 
 est. The Art Gallery is liberally filled with many 
 specimens of rare and costly paintings, many of which 
 came from Mr. Walker's private collection or from that 
 of his life-long friend Jas. J. Hill. The library board 
 elected Mr. Walker as its president, which position he 
 still holds as a well deserved and graceful compliment 
 to his devotion to this great work. The Minneapolis 
 Land and Investment Co., of which Mr. Walker is also 
 president, is another gigantic undertaking, which owes 
 its being to his inspiration. Its leading idea was to 
 benefit Minneapolis by furnishing suitable sites for 
 manufacturing. Acordingly 1,700 acres of land 
 were purchased just west of the city limits and already 
 a new city is springing up there. 
 
 On December 19, 1863, Mr. Walker was married to 
 Miss Harriet G. Hulet, daughter of Hon Fletcher Hulet,. 
 of Berea, O. She has ever since shared his struggles and 
 in later years his prosperity, having ever been a loving 
 wife and mother and a valuable helpmate. Eight chil- 
 dren have been born to this union, all of whom are 
 still living excepting Leon, the second son, who was 
 
 taken away just as he was entering upon manhood's 
 estate. 
 
 Mr. Walker erected his present residence on the 
 corner of Ejghth street and Hennepin avenue in 1S74-. 
 One of its chief attractions is the art gallery, which con- 
 tains the finest private collection of paintings in the 
 West, all collected by Mr. Walker, who is an enthusi- 
 astic admirer and an excellent judge of art. Besides 
 his great public acts of charity Mr. Walker has for 
 years been quietly disbursing immense sums among 
 the needy, following strict!}' the admonition which 
 says, "let not your left hand know what your right 
 hand doeth." When the grasshopper visitation came 
 upon the farmers of the western part of the State, 
 causing them to lose all their crops, Mr. Walker bought 
 up all the buckwheat and turnip seed on sale in Min- 
 neapolis, St. Paul and Chicago and personally superin- 
 tended its distribution throughout the afflicted district, 
 these being two crops that could be raised even at that 
 late season, and through this distribution much suffering 
 was allayed and many cattle were saved from starvation. 
 This brief sketch gives a partial idea of what manner 
 of man is Mr. Thomas B. Walker. His struggle com- 
 menced at a very early age and what he has done has 
 been done unaided. No enterprise once undertaken bv 
 him has been allowed to fail, and though he has several 
 times been seriously setback by both fire and flood he 
 has kept resolutely at work and in the end has con- 
 quered. He is still actively engaged in business and 
 enjoys the hearty good wishes and the esteem of the 
 communitv. 
 
 WILLIAM T. MURRAY, 
 
 BLACK RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN. 
 
 WILLIAM T. MUERAY, one of the leading 
 business men of central Wisconsin, is the son 
 of William M. and Hannah (Price) Murray, and was 
 born in Huntington county, Penn., September 19, 1838. 
 
 His father was a native of Pennsylvania, but in the 
 year 1858 he became a resident of the State of Iowa, 
 where he passed the remaining years of his life as one 
 of the prosperous farmers of that commonwealth. His 
 mother was a sister of Hon. Hiram Price of Iowa and 
 Hon. William T. Price of Wisconsin, both of whom 
 were members of Congress from their respective States. 
 Hiram Price was Commissioner of Indian affairs under 
 President Garfield and is still living in Washington, 
 D. C. William T. Price died December 6, 1886, and 
 his family now lives at Black River Falls, Wis. 
 
 William T. Murray received his early education in 
 the schools of his native State, and when eighteen 
 years of age, removed with his father's family to Black 
 River Falls, Wis., arriving there in the year 1857. 
 One year later the family moved to Iowa, where they 
 afterward lived, but as young Murray had secured 
 
 employment as agent for the Price & Douglas Stage 
 Line he remained at Black River Falls. 
 
 Shortly after this Mr. Douglas was elected treasurer 
 of Jackson county and placed young Murray in charge 
 of the treasurer's office, and though he had not yet 
 attained his majority he remained in charge of that 
 office for two years. He then entered the office of C. 
 R.Johnson, where he remained two years, engaged in 
 the study of law. Later he left Wisconsin and went to 
 what was then considered the ''Far West," going over- 
 land to Sioux City, Iowa, which was then nothing 
 more than a small frontier town. Finding upon his 
 arrival that the opportunities and prospects for business 
 in that place had been mucli over-rated, he returned to 
 Black River Falls, and resumed his law studies in the 
 office of Mr. Johnson. Shortly afterwards this gentle- 
 man was elected to the Legislature and Mr. Murray 
 was then given entire charge of the office and business. 
 
 In the spring of 1861 Mr. Murray decided to abandon 
 the legal profession and entered the employ of D. J. 
 Spaulding with whom he remained for eighteen years;
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 523 
 
 in 1862 he was appointed deputy provost marshal, but 
 combined the duties of that office with his work for 
 Mr. Spaulding, with whom he and M. R. Warner after- 
 wards formed a partnership, the firm being known as 
 Warner, Murray & Co., dealers in land, logs, and 
 lumber on the Black river. This partnership remained 
 in existence for eleven years, when Messrs. Warner and 
 Murray purchased Mr. Spaulding's interest. Soon 
 afterwards Mr. Murray bought out the Warner interest 
 and thereafter carried on the business alone until 1887, 
 when he discontinued active operations, though lie still 
 owns large tracts of timbered and cleared lands, in Clark 
 and Taylor counties, Wisconsin, a portion of which he 
 operates as a stock farm. In 1874 he entered into a 
 partnership with R. B. Jones, under the firm name of 
 Jones and Murray, which firm is still in existence and 
 doing to-day the largest hardware business in their 
 section of the State. 
 
 In 1884 he, with his son and others, incorporated 
 the Bowden & Murray Lumber Company, with head- 
 quarters and main offices at Minneapolis and lumber 
 yards throughout Minnesota and Dakota. His connec- . 
 tion with this, however, was afterwards dissolved, and 
 he with his son, Wm. P. Murray and Mr. D. H. 
 McEwen formed a corporation with headquarters at 
 New Orleans, La., styling the firm McEwan & Murray, 
 Limited, with a capital of $500,000, to deal in 
 southern lands, logs and lumber. They operate the 
 largest saw-mill in New Orleans, several steam logging 
 pull-boats, steam tugs, etc., and are one of the heaviest - 
 lumber concerns in the South. Mr. Murray himself 
 takes no active part in the business, but usually makes 
 the South his home in the winter on account of the 
 climate. 
 
 He is, in addition to his other business interests, 
 president of the First National Bank and of the Price 
 Manufacturing Company, at Black River Falls, Wis., a 
 
 director of the Bank of Dawson, and of the Lac-Qui- 
 Parle County Bunk in western Minnesota. He has 
 never aspired to political honors although he has at 
 different times been a member of the city school board 
 and of the city council, and was for four years chairman 
 of the county board of supervisors. He has always 
 taken an active interest in and been a heaity supporter 
 of all religious and educational projects, giving liberally 
 of his means for the maintenance of such institutions. 
 He was married in 1862 to Miss Sarah E. Cutts, 
 daughter of Rev. Wm. M. Cutts and Anna (Lee) Cutts, 
 natives of England. Mrs. Murray was born at Belle- 
 ville, N. J., in 1842 and came to Wisconsin with her 
 brother-in-law, Mr Jeremy Taylor, who was a well 
 known citizen of Jackson county, in 1860. On Decem- 
 ber 17th, 1879, at the home in Black River Falls, Mrs. 
 Murray died, leaving five children, the youngest not 
 three years old, and upon Mr. Murray,, in addition to 
 the cares of his large business interests, devolved the 
 responsibility of rearing his children, a duty which has 
 been most conscientiously and devotedly performed. 
 Always of a strongly domestic nature he has since the 
 death of his wife subordinated every interest to the 
 welfare of his children, and in them has centered to an 
 unusual extent his hopes and affections. The three 
 younger children, are still with him. The eldest 
 daughter Anna, is the wife of P. W. Jones, a promi- 
 nent merchant of Black River Falls, and the eldest son, 
 Wm. P Murray, is a resident of New Orleans. 
 
 As has been stated above, Wrn. T. Murray is a man 
 of strong domestic tastes and he is withal a man of 
 distinctive executive ability, as is evidenced by the 
 many successful business ventures in which he has been 
 engaged. His name is a synonym for integrity and 
 honor throughout central Wisconsin, and his energy' 
 and ability are shown by the eminent position he has 
 gained in the business world. 
 
 JUDGE OLIVER HARVEY HORTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 OLIVER HARVEY HORTON, son of Harvey W. 
 Horton, was born in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., 
 October 20, 1835. His father was a Baptist clergyman, 
 and a native of Vermont. His mother was a relative 
 of Rufus Choate, the celebrated New England lawyer. 
 Young Horton came early to Chicago and passed 
 through all the stages from poverty to prosperity, from 
 a " lumber-shover" to judge. He attended the public 
 schools for a time and when quite young commenced 
 the study of law in the office of Hoyne, Miller & Lewis, 
 of which firm he subsequently became a member. In 
 1863 he graduated from the law school of the Univer- 
 sity of Chicago, though having previously been ad- 
 mitted to the bar. In 1865 he became a member of 
 the firm of Hoyne, Horton & Hoyne, and for many 
 years enjoyed an extensive practice. 
 
 In 1887 Mayor Roche appointed Mr. Horton cor- 
 poration counsel and in the fall of the same year he 
 was elected to the bench as judge of the circuit court, 
 la 1891 he was re-elected, and at the present time 
 holds the same honorable position. Judge Horton is 
 the author of the bill, which became a law, restricting 
 the laxity o'f practice with regard to granting divorces 
 by the courts of Illinois. He is regarded as an authority 
 on corporation law, and as judge has tried some noted 
 cases in this line. Of especial importance may be 
 mentioned the case in which he decided that the rail- 
 roads cannot charge demurrage on freight. He also 
 heard the noted stock-yards cases and sustained the 
 police authorities in their legal battle with the Garfield 
 Park race-track people. 
 
 Judge Horton is a man very popular with his many
 
 524 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 friends, and well known in many different circles of 
 Chicago's complex society. All those who meet him 
 are at once placed on friendly terms with him by his 
 kind and cordial manner, and are ever after his friends. 
 As a judge on the bench he has more than sustained 
 the reputation he made as a lawyer at the bar, as on 
 the bench he tempers a strict construction of the law 
 with a kind tolerance for human weaknesses. 
 
 He is a member of the Chicago Literary club, 
 Veteran Union League and Union League club. For 
 three years he was president of the Methodist Social 
 Union; was first presiding officer of the Union College, 
 and for many years superintended the Grace Church 
 Sabbath school. He was actively connected with the 
 Young Men's Christian Association in 1884, and was 
 elected lay delegate to the Ecumenical Conference 
 which met in London. He has also been treasurer and 
 president of the- Chicago Law Institute. He is a 
 
 Kepublican in politics, and believes firmly in the prin- 
 ciples of his party on all issues of national importance, 
 but exercises the right to vote independently in local 
 or municipal elections, believing that only by this course 
 on the part of voters can the misrule of municipal 
 affairs be mitigated. 
 
 Judge Horton was united in marriage to Miss 
 Frances B. Gould. They have had three children, 
 all dying in infancy, however. Both the judge 
 and his worthy wife are very fond of children, and 
 feeling keenly their own great loss, they have given 
 the love which was bestowed upon their own little 
 ones to four other adopted children, two of whom the 
 kindly judge has placed under the charge of special 
 tutors. Judge Horton may with entire truthfulness be 
 called the upright judge, and no occupant of the bench 
 in Cook county enjoys the confidence and esteem of 
 the bar and the people in greater measure than does he. 
 
 WALTER M. SEMPILL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born at Kinness-wood, 
 Kinross-shire, Scotland, in 1851. He is the son 
 of the late Hagart Sempill, surgeon, and was educated 
 at the puplic schools under Simon Forrest, and was 
 apprenticed to Wm. M. Dale, druggist, at the age of 
 thirteen, where he remained for four years. He then 
 took charge of Dr. Clarkson Cuthbert's drug store in 
 Edinburgh, in which position also he remained four 
 years. During this time he improved his education by 
 attending classes after business hours, and at the same 
 time perfected himself in a knowledge of the drug 
 business. While he was in Dr. Cuthbert's employ he 
 accepted a 'position in the laboratory of the Canadian 
 Copper Pyrites company, near Montreal, and came to 
 Canada, but owing to a misunderstanding between the 
 managing directors the matter was brought to an 
 abrupt termination, when Mr. Sempill, with many 
 
 others, was thrown out of employment. Proceeding 
 to Montreal, he at once obtained employment in the 
 wholesale drug house of Evans, Mercer & Co., wherehe 
 remained for eight months, when he came to Chicago 
 and entered the drug business in the employ of his old 
 tutor, from whom he first learned his profession, Mr. 
 William M. Dale. This was in 1873, from which time 
 he remained in Mr. Dale's employ until that gentle- 
 man's death, when he succeeded to the business. 
 
 Mr. Sempill is a member of the Chicago Ketail 
 Druggist Association. He stands high in the business 
 in which he is engaged, and commands the respect and 
 esteem of all who know him, because of his well known 
 integrity and uniform urbanity and kindness. Mr. 
 Sempill was married in 1886 to Miss Katie Walker, 
 the eldest daughter of Dr. J. B. Walker. They have 
 one son and one daughter living. 
 
 A. S. GARRETSON, 
 
 SIOUX CITY, IOWA. 
 
 AS. GAEEETSON, son of Joseph and Sarah 
 . (England) Garretson, was born on a farm in 
 Morgan county, Ohio, in 1851. His parents were 
 Quakers, and his early life was spent upon the farin 
 and in aoquiring an education. In 1874 he left his 
 home in Ohio, and moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where 
 he has since remained. He has ever been actively 
 identified with every project by which Sioux City's 
 interests could be advanced, and though personally 
 used to habits and methods of economy, in enterprises 
 
 of a public character and in the support of religious 
 institutions and charities, he has always been a generous 
 contributor. 
 
 In his intercourse with his fellow men he has ever 
 displayed a spirit of fairness, and all of his dealings are 
 characterized by strict integrity. Few men of Mr. 
 Garretson's age have climbed so high, but for him the 
 top of the ladder is not yet reached, for one of his 
 nature and attainments cannot fail to reach the highest 
 point.
 
 w 
 tf
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 JAMES GRAHAM LOWDON, 
 
 
 
 ABILENE, TEXAS. 
 
 527 
 
 JAMES GRAHAM LOWDON, son of William L. 
 and Elizabeth (Graham) Lowdon, was born in 
 New York city, on the 10th day of December, 1856. 
 His father was a well-known and successful business 
 man of New York, and his mother enjoyed an enviable 
 reputation as a mathematician, which gift has 
 descended in no small measure to her son. He acquired 
 his education in the common and high schools, and 
 immediately after his graduation from the latter he 
 embarked in business, preferring mercantile to profes- 
 sional life. 
 
 He first engaged with Haviland & Co., in the 
 importing business, but in 1885 removed to Texas, and 
 there engaged in the banking business. He there 
 enjoys the highest esteem of his fellow-citizens, and 
 has several times served his party (the Republican) in 
 office. He has been twice elected treasurer of Abilene, 
 Texas, once mayor, and once as a member of the 
 
 board of aldermen. He has been from his earliest 
 years connected with the Presbyterian church, and is 
 active in all church and charitable work. 
 
 lie is a Mason and is treasurer of the Royal Arch 
 Masons' Chapter, of Abilene, and also treasurer and 
 member of Abilene Commandery Knights Templar, 
 and has also held the position of State representative 
 of the Abilene Lodge Knights of Pythias. 
 
 On the 20th day of May, 1879, Mr. Lowdon was 
 married to Miss Alice Crane, daughter of Eenj. F. 
 Crane, who at one time held the responsible position of 
 superintendent of the parks of New York city. 
 
 Mr. Lowdon is a man of medium height, and per- 
 sonally is very popular, both in business circles and in 
 society. His popularity is also shared by his charming 
 wife, who is a great favorite of the young people, and 
 is frequently called upon to assist and lead them in 
 their pleasures. 
 
 CAPT. B. F. HOUSTON, 
 
 McKINNEY, TEXAS. 
 
 BF. HOUSTON, son of Major A. and Esther 
 (Walker) Houston, was born on his father's farm 
 sixteen miles southwest of Charlotte, N. C., on the 7th 
 day of January, 1830. His mother was a daughter of 
 Capt. Andrew Walker, of Revolutionary fame, and was 
 born and reared at the old and well known Walker 
 homestead. In 1840 Major Houston left North Caro- 
 lina and moved to his lands lying on the Tallahatchie 
 river, northeast of Oxford, Miss. Here young Houston 
 obtained the first rudiments of his education in a little 
 log suhoolhouse, improving upon his limited opportu- 
 nities for five years, when the death of his father 
 occurred, and he, being the eldest son then at home, 
 had to leave school and work the farm. Though but a 
 lad of fifteen years he, aided by his mother's counsel, 
 made an unqualified success of his work, but five years 
 later he obtained his mother's consent to go back and 
 live with his brother, a merchant in North Carolina, 
 where he completed his rather limited education. In 
 this he succeeded far beyond his expectations, becoming 
 proficient in mathematics, book-keeping and business 
 training. His brother finally proposed that he should 
 return to Mississippi, where he was to be supplied with 
 all the necessary stock to start a store, and to share 
 equally in the profits. This offer he accepted, but after 
 returning from a business tour through Texas he was 
 notified of his brother's death and asked to return to 
 North Carolina and take charge of the business. This 
 offer he declined, prefering to return to farming, and 
 in 1853 he bought a farm two miles from his mother's 
 
 place and began to accumulate land, negroes and other 
 property. This he continued to do until 1861, when 
 he entered the Thirty-fourth Regiment Mississippi Vol- 
 unteers as a private. He was advanced from time to 
 time until he was severely wounded while leading his 
 company in a charge upon the Federal breastworks at 
 Jonesboro, Ga., and was sent to the hospital camps 
 where he remained until the final surrender in 1865. 
 After the surrender he returned to his home in Miss 
 issippi, a cripple,- to find that he had dependent upon 
 him a crippled wife and four helpless children. His 
 negroes were freed, his mules had been taken by the 
 Federals, and his wife was trying to raise as much on 
 the farm as she could with one superannuated mule, 
 having to contend with many other difficulties caused 
 by dilapidated fences and a lack of ready money. 
 Notwithstanding the bad outlook, he determined to 
 restore his estate to its former position, and by hard 
 work raised enough corn to last over until the next 
 season, besides three bales of cotton. 
 
 In November, 1865, some of his friends, knowing 
 of his business ability, proposed that he abandon 
 farming and become a partner in a mercantile business, 
 he to attend to the buying and look after the finances. 
 This offer he accepted, and in the spring of 1866 
 bought a stock which he hauled home in wagons and 
 handled with great success. From that time his 
 success has been remarkable. He started another 
 store in October, 1866, at Abbeville, Miss., which was 
 a railroad station, and commenced to trade in lands.
 
 528 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T 
 
 He built a storehouse and a cotton gin at Abbeville, 
 and besides his other business, kept the hotel, bought 
 and sold mules, and furnished wood and ties to the 
 railroad company. His business assumed enormous 
 proportions, and ever}' dollar that he could spare from 
 it he invested in lands. In 1876, he exchanged 
 fourteen lots that he owned in South St. Louis for 
 Texas farm lands, which he immediately began to 
 cultivate and improve. He kept adding to his posses- 
 sions until their extent required his personal supervi- 
 sion, and he removed his family to McKinney, Texas, 
 where they have since resided. 
 
 In 1853, when he purchased his first farm, Capt. 
 Houston was united in marriage to Miss Martha 
 Driver, a daughter of Col. G. L. Driver, of Mississippi. 
 The union has been a happy one, and to Mrs. Houston's 
 helpful advice, careful management and cheerful self- 
 sacrifice in the gloomy days of the war. is due much of 
 the prosperity that has since been realized. They have 
 reared six children, three sons and three daughters, 
 and well ma}' they be proud of their family, for the 
 sons are all careful, conscientious business men, highly 
 respected by all; while the daughters are highly ac- 
 complished women, being equally well versed in the 
 mysteries of successful housekeeping, keeping a set 
 
 of books, or discussing current literature and music. 
 Captain 'Houston has always been a Democrat, but 
 though often solicited to accept public office, or to 
 allow his name to be placed upon party tickets, has as 
 often declined the honor, excepting such as local public 
 school interests demanded of him. He has ever been a 
 liberal contributor to public and private charities, and 
 to the cause of Christianity, never closing his ears or 
 his purse to those who are worthy and deserving of 
 aid, though having but little toleration for pretense of 
 any kind. He has now retired from active business life, 
 having turned over the care of his interests to his child- 
 ren, who attend to the management and only require 
 their father's advice in matters of special importance. 
 He is now taking life easily and enjoying the fruits of his 
 labor of other years. He enjoys the honor and respect 
 of the entire community where he resides, and none 
 envy him the prominent position to which he has 
 mounted notwithstanding the almost hopeless chaos 
 into which his affairs were plunged by the war, which 
 left him not only poor, but a cripple. His example 
 may well be emulated, for though he mav have made 
 some mistakes he never made a failure, and his dealings 
 with his fellow men have always been marked by 
 fairness and strict business integrity. 
 
 FELIX GRUNDY FARRELL, 
 
 JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, the son of John and 
 Abigail (Turley) Farrell, was born in Cumber- 
 land county, Ky., on 'the 13th day of October, 1829. 
 Both parents died during his infancy, and consequently 
 he was at a very early age thrown entirely upon his 
 own resources. His boyhood days were .spent on a 
 farm doing farm work as soon as he was old enough, 
 and attending the short terms of the district school, in 
 which he acquired his education. When lie had 
 attained his eighteenth year he quit farm work and 
 learned the trade of brickmaker and burner, but had 
 eventually to abandon the occupation on account of 
 lack of strength for the heavy work. 
 
 At the age of twenty he entered the employ of 
 Link & Powell, proprietors of a country store in his 
 neighborhood, working in the store during the fall and 
 winter, and in summer driving a peddler's wagon about 
 the country selling goods for his employers. This 
 lasted three years, and then he, with his uncle,Thomas 
 Turley(who had. just returned from California), bought 
 out his employers, the uncle supplying the money and 
 he, to balance the account, giving his experience. The 
 store was situated in the small village of Arcadia, and 
 there they stayed until March, 1853, when thev went 
 to Pleasant Plains in an adjoining county, where he 
 stayed until February, 1857, when he again removed, 
 going this time to Jacksonville, Illinois. Here he 
 
 carried on the same business until July, 1864, when, 
 with others, he organized the First National Bank, at 
 Jacksonville, and has been actively engaged with it in 
 an official capacity ever since, having been cashier 
 since 1867. 
 
 He has always been a loyal follower of the political 
 doctrines taught by Thomas Jefferson, and though his 
 party has generally been in a minority in his section 
 since 1859, he is still strong in the faith. lie served the 
 Democratic party in the Legislature in 1867 and 1868, 
 and has been a member of the board of water commis- 
 sioners of Jacksonville for many years. He has been 
 an active member of the Odd Fellows since 1851, and 
 while never having gone into the higher branches, has 
 passed through all of the chairs of his lodge and was 
 its treasurer for a quarter of a century. He has been an 
 elder of the Presbyterian chu-rch at Jacksonville, since 
 1872. having united with that church in 1868, and has 
 always been an active and zealous worker in church 
 and charitable affairs, doing all that la} 7 in his power 
 to help the cause and always giving ready heed to the 
 calls on his benevolence. 
 
 Mr. Fan-ell was married September IS. 1855, to 
 Miss Mary Jane Dun lap, daughter of Judge Stephen 
 Dunlap. His wife died on February 22. 1864. leaving 
 him four daughters, three of whom are now living, and 
 who with their husbands and children reside within a
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 531 
 
 fe\v minutes walk of his home. In May, 1866, he was 
 again married, this time to Miss Anna Epler, of Pleas- 
 ant Plains, Ky. Two children, a son and a daughter, 
 have blessed this union, the son having been connected 
 with his father's bank since 1888. 
 
 Mr. Farrell has traveled quite extensively both in 
 this country and in Europe. He first went to Europe 
 in 1878 with his three daughters, visiting the principal 
 cities and points of interest in England, Ireland, Scot- 
 land and continental Europe, and also visiting Pales- 
 tine and Egypt. In 1884 he visited California, seeing 
 the Yosemite Vallev and all of the principal cities of 
 the West, and in 1888, went to Mexico, where he became 
 familiar with all of the places and regions of interest, 
 including Vera Cruz and the tropics. Again, in 1892, 
 he made another trip to Europe, with his youngest 
 daughter and four of her friends and classmates who 
 
 had just graduated from school. Mr. Farrell, while not 
 robust, has always enjoyed the best of health, and is a 
 quick, energetic business man. 
 
 Left an orphan in his early infancy, he has had 
 to work out his own destiny as best he could. With 
 such an education as he could get at the short winter 
 terms, in the little log school houses of half a century 
 ago, he started business in a small country store, and 
 by hard work, untiring energy and business sagacity 
 he now finds himself a rich man, surrounded by an in- 
 teresting family and esteemed and respected by all who 
 know him. Fond of music and society, in his youth he 
 mastered the violin, and has always been a prime fac- 
 tor in social gatherings. He takes great interest and 
 finds his greatest pleasure in church work and in the 
 society of his family and friends, by all of whom his loss, 
 should it occur, would be most keenlv felt. 
 
 ALBERT F. SCHOCH, 
 
 OTTAWA, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ALBERT F. SCHOCH, son of Philip and Caroline 
 Schoch, was born in Ottawa, Illinois, on the 18th 
 day of December, 1857. He attended the public and high 
 schools of his native city, and after graduating from 
 the latter he took special courses in the French and 
 German languages. Understanding while quite young 
 that his success in life would largely depend upon his 
 own exertions, owing to the fact that his parents were 
 in moderate circumstances, he applied himself assidu- 
 ouslv to his books, and though fond of all out-door 
 sports he eschewed most of them and spent as much as 
 possible of his spare time in doing errands and writing 
 for business men. 
 
 When sixteen years of age he secured a position in 
 the postoffice, in which.he remained for sixteen months, 
 leaving to enter the competitive examination for the 
 appointment to West Point, from his district. In this 
 examination he was one of some twenty-two young 
 men, and notwithstanding the fact that some of them 
 were fresh from the schoolroom, young Schoch stood 
 second. He afterward occupied a position as messen- 
 ger in the Ottawa National City Bank, which he 
 retained until he was promoted to the position of book- 
 keeper some three years later. He acted in that capa- 
 city for five years, when he was made assistant cashier 
 and teller, in which positions he served until 1890, when 
 he was elected vice-president, the position which he has 
 held since. 
 
 Mr. Schoch has always taken a lively interest 
 in the public school system and has twice served 
 as a member of the Ottawa school board. He was 
 school treasurer of the township from 1887 to 1891. 
 and from 1887 to 1889, he acted as a trustee of the 
 Red clock Public Library board. 
 
 In 1889 he was nominated by the Republicans for 
 
 city treasurer, and notwithstanding the fact that the 
 city is strongly Democratic, he was elected by a good 
 majority. He was afterwards nominated for mayor of 
 Ottawa, and elected by a majority of over 600 votes, 
 and in each case was the only candidate upon the 
 Republican ticket who was elected. 
 
 Mr. Schoch was for man}' years a member of the 
 volunteer Fire Company of Ottawa, and participated 
 with that company in the great firemen's tournament 
 held in Chicago in 1875. He has always taken a great 
 interest in the Ottawa fire department, and has spent 
 considerable time and money in the advancement of 
 its interests. He is also a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, the A. O. U. W., and of the LaSalle club 
 a social organization of the business men of Ottawa. 
 A member of the German Lutheran church from his 
 early youth, his religious views are broad and liberal, 
 while in advancing the cause of Christianity and 
 relieving the distressed he has ever been notably 
 generous. 
 
 On the 17th day of December, 1879, Mr. Schoch 
 was united in marriage to Miss Myra Wolf, of Ottawa. 
 Three children have been born to them, and in the 
 family circle Mr. Schoch finds his greatest and truest 
 pleasure. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Schoch is a man of medium height, 
 and as he wears neither beard nor mustache, has an 
 appearance of youth which caused him to be known 
 during his term of office as " the boy mayor." In 
 disposition he is lively and sociable, and extremely fond 
 of out-door exercise, in which he indulges as often as 
 possible. He has many friends, and judging from the 
 excellent record already made, although he is as yet a 
 young man, his future career cannot fail to add much 
 greater triumphs to those already won.
 
 532 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 CHARLES H. ALDRICH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 /CHARLES H. ALDRICH was born August 26, 
 V> 1850,in LaGrange county, Ind. His parents, Ham- 
 ilton Metcalf Aldrich and Harriet Sherwood Aldrich, 
 were of English descent, whose immediate parents, 
 however, had emigrated to Indiana from Vermont and 
 New York respectively. They were farmers and 
 descendants of farmers, and the son, who is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, followed the usual life of a farmer's 
 boy, attending district school and doing manual labor 
 upon the farm until he was sixteen years old, when the 
 parents moved to Orland, Steuben county, Ind., for 
 the purpose of affording their children better educa- 
 tional advantages From the seminary at this place 
 Charles went later to the high school at Cold water, 
 Mich., and still later to the high school at Ann Arbor, 
 Mich., from which he was graduated in 1871. He 
 entered Michigan University, classical course, that year 
 and was graduated therefrom in 1875. The president 
 and faculty of the University entertained the highest 
 opinion of the character and talents of young Aldrich 
 at that time, and letters then written by these officers 
 show that in this case at least they were not mistaken. 
 The University has recently conferred the degree of 
 Master of Arts upon its distinguished son. 
 
 Mr. Aldrich chose the profession of the law, and in 
 1876 commenced its practice in Fort Wayne, Ind. 
 From the first his devotion to his profession was 
 marked, and he soon took high rank at the bar of 
 Indiana. His reading from the first went far beyond 
 the mere case in hand, and he always came to the bar 
 of the court thoroughly prepared. In 1884 he lacked 
 but a few votes of receiving the nomination, by the 
 Republican party of Indiana, for the office of attorney- 
 general of the State, though he had not visited a place 
 in the State in the interest of his candidacy. In 1886 
 he came to Chicago, and from the first took a high place 
 at the Cook count} 7 bar. It is thought that the mem- 
 bers of the profession are accurate in their estimate of 
 a lawyer's abilities, and judged by this standard Mr. 
 Aldrich ranks high, as he has for several years received 
 a considerable income as counsel in important causes, 
 and his services command what would be considered 
 by many large compensation. He has steadily de- 
 clined annual employments by corporate interests, 
 preferring the independence of selecting his business. 
 He is able and tactful as counsel, and as a trial lawyer 
 has few if any superiors at the Chicago bar. One 
 feels in listening to his presentation of a cause that it 
 is not merely the able intellectual effort of a thoroughly 
 trained analytical mind, but that this is fortified and 
 strengthened by a high character and sincere purpose. 
 
 Mr. Aldrich first came into national prominence as 
 a lawyer by his presentation of the issues involved 
 in the cases of the United States against the Central 
 Pacific and the Southern Pacific railroad companies, 
 and later, the United States against the Union 
 
 Pacific Railway Company and Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company, in which he was opposed by 
 counsel standing among the first at the American 
 bar, and in both of which he prevailed. These 
 cases led to his selection as solicitor-general of 
 the United States to succeed William II. Taft, who 
 had been, in the winter of 1891-2, appointed a judge 
 of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. 
 Aldrich held the office of solicitor-general from March, 
 1892, until June 1, 1893. In that brief time he made a 
 reputation as a lawyer and an official of high executive 
 ability such as is ordinarily only obtained through the 
 slow growth of years. There were no differences of 
 opinion as to the highly creditable manner in which 
 the important duties of the office were discharged by 
 Mr. Aldrich, and this is high honor, as the office itself 
 is probably the most desirable one at the bar of this 
 country for an able lawyer. The Cherokee, the Hat 
 Trimmings and the Chinese Registration cases were a 
 few of the notable ones which were argued by Mr. 
 Aldrich at the bar of the Supreme Court ; while his 
 opinions upon the powers of the national government 
 to establish quarantine, the power, to issue bonds to 
 maintain resumption, the relations of the State and 
 Federal governments under the election laws of Con- 
 gress, and other public questions, bore ample evidence 
 of his broad grasp of principles and his clearness of 
 statement. 
 
 His firm and conciliatory course when acting attor- 
 ney general, just prior to the elections of 1892, and when 
 conflict between the State and Federal authorities 
 seemed imminent, won the hearty approval of the press 
 and public opinion of the country irrespective of party. 
 His fearlessness was again illustrated in his action 
 urging the institution of a suit by the United States to 
 annul the Berliner telephone patent and to terminate 
 the period of a monopoly which he regarded as oppres- 
 sive to the people and already sufficiently extended. 
 At the same time his delicacy of conduct was exempli- 
 fied by his statement to the president and attorney- 
 general, that while he held positive views concerning 
 the validity of the patent referred to, he desired them 
 to take the opinion of some leading lawyer, and also 
 some gentleman skilled in science before any action 
 was taken, as he had represented interests adverse to 
 the Bell company, though in no way connected with 
 any patents. 
 
 Upon retiring from the office of solicitor-general, 
 Mr. Aldrich returned to the practice of his profession 
 in Chicago, and has since been engaged in many 
 important cases, both there and elsewhere. He enjovs 
 to the highest degree the friendship and esteem of the 
 leading lawyers, judges and citizens. But it may 
 be truthfully said that Mr. Aldrich does not seek his 
 friendships among these. He loves young men and his 
 time is often devoted to efforts to help such in the
 
 Tfte Century Billishmg & Engraving Co. CMcigo.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 535 
 
 battle of life, and these are always welcome to his 
 beautiful and hospitable home. A. young man said to 
 the writer of this sketch : " Mr. Aldrich inspires me. 
 I always feel stronger after I have been with him, and 
 I know many other young men who say the same 
 thing." 
 
 In politics Mr. Aldrich is a Eepublican, and a firm 
 believer that the welfare of the country requires the 
 ascendency of that party. He is a member of the 
 Union League, University, Chicago Literary, Law. and 
 Evanston clubs, and also of the bar associations, county, 
 State and National. He is president of the Lav Club, 
 and has served on the board of trustees of the Chicago 
 Law Institute and the committee on political action of 
 
 the Union League Club. He is also a member of the 
 First Presbyterian Church of Evanston, and takes a 
 deep interest in the religious and charitable work of 
 that and kindred organizations. He is domestic in his 
 habits and tastes, and notwithstanding his busy life and 
 many activities, is happiest and at his best around the 
 family fireside and among his books. He finds time to 
 read widely and takes a deep interest in the great ques- 
 tions of the day. 
 
 Mr. Aldrich was married October 13, 1875, to Miss 
 Helen Roberts, a beautiful and accomplished woman, 
 to whom he always attributes such success as has come 
 to him. They have three children, one son and two 
 daughters. 
 
 WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL was born in Phila- 
 delphia, Dec. 12, 1850. He is the son of John 
 and Mary Campbell, both natives of the north of Ire- 
 land, but of Scotch descent. He removed with his 
 family to Boone county, Illinois, forty years ago, and 
 received his primary education in the common schools 
 of that place, supplementing same with courses, later 
 in life, at Lake Forest, University of Pennsylvania, and 
 the Union Law School of Chicago, from which institu- 
 tion he graduated in due course. 
 
 He at once entered upon the practice of his chosen 
 profession in Chicago, and by his sterling ability and 
 shrewd management of the interests of his clients, he 
 rapidly built for himself a reputation equaled by few 
 of Chicago's prominent lawyers, and established the 
 same upon a basis at once exceptionally remunerative 
 and distinctive His popularity with his fellow citi- 
 zens is attested by the fact that he was nominated and 
 elected by them to serve as their representative in the 
 State senate continuously for eight years. Here his 
 natural gift of leadership was appreciated, and for six 
 years he was chosen to fill the chair as presiding officer 
 
 of that august body. A Republican in politics, Mr. 
 Campbell is a power in his party. He is a member 
 of the National Republican committee and of the 
 executive committee, on which he has done good 
 service, and was selected as chairman of the National 
 Republican committee in 1892. This honor he was 
 forced to decline, however, on account of his large 
 law practice. 
 
 Mr. Campbell has served long as a trustee of the 
 Armour Mission and Institute, and socially is a well- 
 known member of the Chicago and Union League 
 Clubs. He was married in 1876 to Miss Rebecca Mc- 
 Eldowney. They have five children and reside in the 
 beautiful suburban village of Riverside. Mr. Camp- 
 bell practices law with J. R. Custer, under the firm 
 name of Campbell & Custer. Personally he is a gen- 
 tleman of attractive appearance, a good conversation- 
 alist, an obliging friend, and noted for the qualities of 
 geniality and comradeship which make him popular 
 with his associates, while in his business intercourse he 
 is regarded as a man of uniform courtesy and trusted 
 for his integrity. 
 
 JOHN M. H. BURGETT, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN M. H. BURGETT is a native of Vermont, 
 and was born in Hartland, April 28, 1850. He is 
 the third son of Daniel A. and Adeline (Myron) Bur- 
 gett. descendants of early settlers in New England. In 
 1854 his parents removed from Vermont to Fulton 
 county, 111., and for many years have resided in Lewis- 
 town in tl;at county, where his father has owned a 
 flouring mill. He attended the public schools at 
 Bernadotte and Lewistown in the county named, and in 
 
 18G9 entered the University of Michigan, at Ann 
 Arbor, from which institution he was graduated in 
 1872 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, con- 
 ferred upon graduates of the Latin and scientific course. 
 He entered college with the intention of taking the 
 degree of civil engineer, and nearly finished the course 
 of study prescribed for such degree, when he broadened 
 his studies and included those of the scientific and the 
 Latin and scientific courses. Much of his success in
 
 536 
 
 professional work Mr. Burgett attributes to the mental 
 training derived from his mathematical studies. On 
 leaving college he taught school for a year at Yermont, 
 111., and then read law in the office of the Hon. K. B. 
 Stevenson, at Lewistown. 
 
 In June, 1875, Mr. Burgett was admitted to the bar 
 by the Supreme Court of Illinois, and in the following 
 September settled in Chicago, where he entered upon 
 the practice of his profession. In April, 1877, he 
 formed a partnership with Abner Smith (now Judge 
 Smith), under the name of Smith & Burgett, which 
 partnership continued until April, 1887. Immediately 
 after the dissolution of this partnership he formed a 
 partnership with Henry S. and Frank S. Osborne, 
 under the firm name of Osborne Brothers & Burgett. 
 Of this firm Henry R. Pebbles and Nelson G. Park- 
 hurst were for a time members. The firm now con- 
 sists of Henry S. Osborne, Mr. Burgett and Frank 
 Sayre Osborne. Osborne Brothers & Burgett is regarded 
 as one of the strongest law firms in Chicago, having a 
 very large office practice 'as well as court business. 
 
 Beginning with the case of Silverman vs. Chase in 
 the 90th volume of the Illinois Supreme Court Reports 
 there are found in the last fifty-eight volumes of such 
 reports and in the forty-eight volumes of the Illinois 
 Appellate Court Reports a large number of cases in- 
 
 PROMINENT MRN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 volving important interests wherein Mr, Burgett was 
 counsel. One of the most important cases with which 
 he has been associated was in 1892, involving the title 
 to Gore's Hotel, of this city. His first case in the 
 United States Supreme Court was Drury vs. Hayden 
 (111. U. S. Reports), which he argued in 1883. 
 
 Mr. Burgett has a mind strongly logical, with rare 
 powers of analysis. He is quick to see the turning 
 points of a case. To great accurate knowledge of the 
 law he adds untiring industry and methods of work and 
 study thoroughly systematic. He has an unusually 
 strong memory of adjudicated cases.' To be always 
 prepared for strength in an adversary and lack of legal 
 knowledge on the part of the court, has been a fixed 
 principle of conduct with him. He prepares his briefs 
 with great care and consummate skill. The judges of 
 the Appellate Court of the first district of Illinois for 
 the March term, of 1892, paid Mr. Burgett a high com- 
 pliment by the statement that the abstracts and briefs 
 received by the court from him excelled all others re- 
 ceived from the Chicago bar in form, method of 
 arrangement, lucidity and all that facilitates the cor- 
 rect understanding of the case ; and the judges expressed 
 a wish that the bar might be formed into a school and 
 instructed by him in his method of preparing abstracts 
 and briefs. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM W. WHEELOCK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is a native of New York 
 State, born on Sept. 24-, 1861, at Felt's Mills, 
 Jefferson county. When five months old, his parents 
 removed to Canton, N. Y., where, after attending the 
 public school, young Wheelock finished his early 
 education at the Union High School, afterward taking 
 a special course of three years at St. Lawrence Univer- 
 sity, and later attending the Union College of Law of 
 the Northwestern University. 
 
 In 1883. Mr. Wheelock went to Watertown, N. Y., 
 and entered the office of McCartin & Williams, for the 
 study of the law. After two years, or in 1885, he 
 went to New York city and entered the law office of 
 Hascall, Clarke & Yander Poel. In 1887 he came 
 westward, locating in Chicago, where he engaged in 
 the successful practice of his profession and became 
 prominent in political affairs. He is a member of the 
 house of representatives of the Illinois legislature 
 from the first senatorial district of Chicago, having 
 been elected on the Republican ticket in November, 
 1S92, serving with acceptance to his constituents and 
 with great credit to himself. In August of 1892, he 
 was appointed assistant attorney of the Sanitary Dis- 
 trict of Chicago, which has in charge the construction 
 of the great ship and drainage canal connecting the 
 
 great lakes with the Mississippi river, which position 
 he still holds. 
 
 In social life Mr. Wheelock has been, and is still, a 
 prominent figure in Chicago. He is one of the 
 founders of the Lincoln Club, which is one of the 
 three principal Republican clubs in Chicigo, and 
 served as its secretary from its organization until 
 February, 1894, when he was chosen president, 
 in recognition of his faithful and valuable services in 
 its behalf. He is also a member of the Ashland 
 Club, and of the Sons of New York, an influential 
 association. 
 
 As above indicated, Mr. Wheelock is a staunch 
 Republican in politics, and noted in the councils of that 
 party. In his religious views he is very liberal, confin- 
 ing himself and his activities to no particular church, 
 but helpful in the interests of all. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Wheelock is a gentleman of fine 
 appearance, and his characteristics are such as to make 
 him deservedly popular with his more immediate 
 friends; while his genial courtesy to all with whom he 
 comes in contact in his business relations, has invaria- 
 bly won for him a favorable place in their regards. 
 The future of Mr. Wheelock is regarded by his friends 
 as very auspicious.
 
 I
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 HENRY MASPERO, \ 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA. 
 
 539 
 
 HENRY MASPERO, son of Pierre and Emma 
 (Olivier) Maspero, was born in New Orleans, La., 
 on the 30th day of September, 1859. His father was 
 a prominent figure in the business circles of New 
 Orleans, having been vice-president of the Mutual 
 National Bank, senior partner of the late firm of P. 
 Maspero & Co., large sugar planters and factors, and a 
 director in many prominent corporations, remaining in 
 active business until his death, which occurred in 1884. 
 Young Maspero attended the private schools of New 
 Orleans until he had attained his fourteenth year and 
 then went to Norwood College in Virginia for three 
 vears, graduating in the English and modern language 
 course. He then attended the Eastman National Busi- 
 ness College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and graduated 
 with the degree of Master of Accounts. After gradua- 
 tion, he returned to New Orleans and secured employ- 
 ment as a clerk in the offices of Agar & Lelong, sugar 
 merchants. He retained this position for two years, 
 and then entered the Mutual National Bank as exchange 
 clerk, but desiring to engage in a more active business 
 life he resigned at the end of one year and became con- 
 nected with the firm of Miller, Gregsby & Co., who 
 were engaged in the western produce business. 
 
 Here he remained but a short time, and when he 
 
 attained his twenty-first year he started in business for 
 himself, under the firm name of Maspero & Robelot, 
 and is still carrying on the sugar factorage business in 
 his own name. In 1887 he founded the Traders' Bank 
 of New Orleans, and being then elected its president, 
 has since fulfilled the duties of that position \vitHgreat 
 satisfaction, although when first elected he was said to 
 be the youngest bank president in the United States. 
 He is also president of the Union Homestead Associa 
 tion. Mr. Maspero is a Democrat, and though he never 
 aspired to public office, stands high in the councils of 
 his party. He is an aid-de-camp to the Governor of 
 Louisiana, holding the rank of major, and is a member 
 of the New Orleans Board of Trade, the Louisiana 
 Sugar Exchange, the Southern Yatch Club, the Pick- 
 wick Club and of the La Variete Association. 
 
 He attends tlie Catholic church, in social matters 
 stands high, and is a general favorite. A descendant 
 from one of the oldest and best known families of his 
 native State, he has added a still greater lustre to the 
 family name. His business career up to the present 
 time has been a remarkable one, and even now, should 
 he retire from business, he could point with pride to a 
 record that, considering his age, is second to hone in 
 the entire South. 
 
 RISDON D. GRIBBLE, 
 
 GAINESVILLE, TEXAS. 
 
 RISDON D. GRIBBLE, son of Joseph B. and 
 Margaret (James) Gribble, was born on a farm 
 near Pittsburgh, Pa., on the 26th of April, 1836. His 
 parents were natives of Devonshire, England, and came 
 to America with their family in 1831, and settling in 
 Pennsylvania remained until 1848, when they went to 
 New Orleans. Young Gribble received his earlier edu- 
 cation in the district schools of the Keystone State, but 
 as the school terms were of but about three months' 
 duration each year his advantages did not amount to 
 much until after the family located in New Orleans, 
 where he took advantage of its excellent school system 
 and completed his education. In the summer of 1849 he 
 secured employment in a cotton factor's office and 
 began to earn his own livlihood. He afterwards held 
 positions with other firms, each time bettering his con- 
 dition, until 1853, when he. secured a good position 
 with a large commission house with whom he remained 
 in different capacities until 1870. The firm then estab- 
 lished him in the banking business in Jefferson, Tex., 
 where he had gone to represent them. In 1873 he 
 was elected president of the Citizens Bank of Jefferson, 
 from which position he resigned in 1879, owing to the 
 restriction of business caused by the building of rail- 
 
 roads. After leaving Jefferson he located in Gains- 
 ville, Tex., where, with Captain O. T. Lyon, he entered 
 the lumber business under the firm name of Lyon & 
 Gribble, and under which title the business is still 
 carried on. It has increased to an enormous extent, 
 with branch offices in many of the better towns of the 
 Lone Star State, as well as the large sash and door fac- 
 tory at Houston, conducted under the firm name of 
 R. D. Gribble & Co. Besides his lumber business, Mr. 
 Gribble has been and is connected with many enter- 
 prises of both public and private character. He has 
 been, in both Jefferson and Gainsville, president of 
 different building and loan associations which have 
 done much towards helping people to own their 
 own homes. At the present time he is the president of 
 the Hesperian Building and Loan Association at Gains- 
 ville, Tex., and president of the. Texas Lumberman's 
 Association, having held this office for six consecutive 
 years. In June, 1890, when the United Association of 
 Lumbermen was organized in Chicago, Mr. Gribble was 
 elected president of the association, was re-elected in 
 1891, and was offered another re-election in 1892, but 
 declined the honor and named as his successor Mr. 
 Joseph Weaver of Ohio.
 
 540 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Gribble obtained a leave of absence 
 from his employers and enlisted as a private in the 
 "Crescent Regiment" Louisiana Volunteers, which 
 immediately went to Corinth, Miss., to the relief of 
 Generals Johnston and Beauregard, and just one month 
 after leaving home received his first taste of war's 
 grim horrors at the battle of Shiloh. Shortly after he 
 was appointed quartermaster of the regiment and filled 
 this position until he was placed on special duty to help 
 prepare for Gen. Bragg's campaign,aml after returning 
 from Kentucky was posted at Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
 where he remained until that city was surrendered to 
 the federal forces. He was then ordered to take 
 charge of the post at Madison, Florida, and remained 
 at that place until the close of the war. After the final 
 surrender he found himself with nothing left, and 
 returned to New Orleans on transportation furnished 
 by the U. S. government, where he was enabled only to 
 buy food for his wife and himself through the kindness 
 of a comrade who sold his watch and lent the destitute 
 soldier a part of the money. Mr. Gribble has been a 
 
 member of the Presbyterian church from his early 
 3 T outh and has been ever ready to take upon himself 
 his share of church work and charities. He was united 
 in marriage on the llth of February, 1864, to Miss 
 Addie L. Hodges, of New Orleans. The ceremony 
 was performed at Mobile, Alabama, to which city Miss 
 Hodges and her mother went under a flag of truce. 
 His wife accompanied him back to his post and there 
 remained until the close of the war, when they returned 
 together to New Orleans. Mr. Gribble has 
 been for years a member of the Knights and 
 Ladies of Honor and of the Knights of Honor and 
 has ever been a staunch follower of the doctrines of 
 Democracy. lie is without doubt one of the best ex- 
 amples of what a poor boy, without any capital beyond 
 a pair of willing hands and a determination to succeed, 
 can do for himself now to be found in the Lone Star 
 State. He is well and honorably known not only in 
 his own section but throughont the entire country, and 
 wherever his name is known he finds warm and true 
 friends who delight to do honor to his sterling worth. 
 
 JULIUS SCHWABACHER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JULIUS SCHWABACHER, son of Lazarus and 
 Julia (Kurtz) Schwabacher, was born inOberdorf, 
 Wurtemberg, German}', on the 13th day of August, 
 1839. His father was a man prominent alike in business, 
 in politics and in social affairs. He was a manufac- 
 turer of woolens and cloths, a large dealer in foreign 
 and domestic wool and furs, and the treasurer of a sav- 
 ings institution, besides being a member of the town 
 council and a deacon of the congregation. Julius was 
 the eldest of twelve children, of which nine are still 
 living, and recsived his education in the public schools 
 of his native town, and under the instruction of private 
 tutors. From early youth he wished above all things 
 to visit America, and seized the first opportunity to 
 carry his desire into effect. This was offered when he 
 was fourteen years of age by an aunt who was coming 
 to America, and after obtaining his father's consent 
 young Schwabacher set sail for New York. He re- 
 mained in New York for a short time and then went 
 to St. Joseph, Mo., where he obtained employment as a 
 clerk in his uncle's clothing store. He remained in the 
 store for nearly five years, and then accepted a posi- 
 tion as clerk in the post office, in which capacity he 
 served for two years. 
 
 He resigned his position in the post office in the 
 spring of 1862, and, in partnership with Jacob Schloss, 
 started in the grocery business under the firm name 
 of Schloss & Schwabacher. This business was con- 
 tinued until the beginning of the war, and then, in the 
 fall of 1862, Mr. Schwacher disposed of his interests 
 and became sutler in Major Barry's battery of artil- 
 
 lery, and later occupied a similar position with the 
 Ninety-sixth Regiment Ohio Infantry, with which he 
 remained until after the fall of Vrcksburg. He then quit 
 the sutler business and obtained a government license 
 to open a dry goods store in Vicksburg, which he 
 conducted successfully until the spring of 1866, when 
 he disposed of the business and went to New Orleans. 
 Before engaging in business there he paid a visit to 
 Europe and his old home with his bride, remaining 
 nine months, and on his return to New Orleans began 
 business as an importer of fine white goods, laces, 
 embroideries, etc., and conducted the same until the 
 spring of 1868, when he sold out, and in the following 
 September purchased the interest of his brother-in-law, 
 Henry Friedlander, in the whiskey business, owned by 
 Frey & Friedlander, and the business was changed 
 from whiskey to western produce and provisions, 
 which were handled on commission. On the first day 
 of January, 1869, Abe Hirsch was admitted to part- 
 nership, and in July of that year Messrs. Schwabacher 
 & Hirsch bought the interests of Mr. Frey. The bus- 
 iness was then conducted under the name of Schwa, 
 bacher & Hirsch until the death of Mr. Hirsch in 1882, 
 when it was changed to J. & M. Schwabacher, Morris 
 Schwacher, a brother, having been admitted to part- 
 nership in the fall of 1879. The business was continued 
 under this name until October 1, 1890, when, in order 
 to give Max Schwabacher and some old and faithful 
 employes of the house an interest in the business, it 
 was changed to a stock company under the name of J. 
 & M. Schwabacher, Limited, and Mr. Schwabacher
 
 \N V 
 
 
 * V
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 543 
 
 was elected president. The house has now completed 
 the twenty -fifth year of its existence, and for the last 
 twenty years has been the leading produce and provi- 
 sion firm in New Orleans, having brandies in many of 
 the larger western centers. 
 
 Mr. Schwabacher opened the first branch in Cincin- 
 nati, in 1869, but owing to the fact that the packing 
 business was moving West he moved to Chicago in 1878, 
 and lias since maintained an office in that city, running 
 it in connection with the New Orleans business. Since 
 coming to Chicago the firm has done a large business 
 on the Board of Trade. In 1889 the North American 
 Provision Company was incorporated under the laws 
 of Illinois for the purpose of entering the pork packing 
 business. Mr. Schwabacher was elected its first 
 president, but after serving one year withdrew from 
 all active participation in its management, in fact, since 
 1886 he has retired from all active business, excepting 
 that he devotes a part of his time to looking after the 
 interests of the New Orleans house. 
 
 On the fourth day of March, 1866, Mr. Schwa- 
 bacher was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Fried- 
 lander, daughter of Samuel Friedlander, one of the 
 leading cotton factors of New Orleans, who after 
 nearly seven years of happy life, passed away on the 
 14th day of January, 1873, leaving two children, 
 Florence, now the wife of Maurice L. Horner, and 
 Henry H. Schwabacher. On November 5, 1879, Mr. 
 Schwabacher was marriad to Miss Emma Loeb, only 
 daughter of Louis Loeb, a retired merchant of Missis- 
 sippi, a highly educated and accomplished lady, to 
 whose charming presence is due the great attractiveness 
 of their elegant home, 3L33 Michigan avenue, which he 
 built upon his return .from Europe in 1888. 
 
 Julius Schwabacher was born of a Jewish family 
 and reared in the Jewish faith, and while broad and 
 liberal in his religious views, as he is in all others, he 
 has always adhered to his early teachings, and is at 
 present a member of the Sinai Congregation of Chicago, 
 
 which is in charge of Rev. Dr. E. G. Hirsch. He has 
 been for a year past president of the Chicago Panop- 
 tican, a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, the 
 Art Institute and the Standard Club. A Master 
 Mason, he has been for many years a member of the 
 Cincinnati Lodge, No. 133, of that fraternity, and is a 
 past president of Spinoza Lodge, No. 108, Cincinnati, 
 of the Independent Order B'nai B'rith. He has retained 
 his membership in both of these lodges up to the 
 present time, although a resident of another city. 
 
 Mr. Schwabacher has always taken a lively interest 
 in all organizations having for their object the amelior- 
 ation of the condition of those in need of help, and is 
 prominently connected with many institutions having 
 that end in view, among which may be mentioned the 
 Chicago Home for the aged and infirm Jews, the Cleve- 
 land Orphan Asylum and the Touro Infirmaryof New 
 Orleans. He has traveled extensively in the United 
 States and has three times visited Europe, where he 
 spent nine to eighteen months each time, and besides 
 going to hisold home, visited most of the important 
 cities and places in England and on the continent. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Schwacher is a Democrat, though 
 confining his interest in politics to the casting of his 
 vote, as his immense business interests have required 
 his almost undivided attention. The position that he 
 holds to-day in the business and social world he owes 
 to his own endeavors, having arrived in this country a 
 boy with no capital, save a willingness to work and a 
 brain to direct his efforts in the right channel. It is 
 not to be wondered at that he has been successful, and 
 can in the prime of life look back upon a record sur- 
 passed by none and equalled by few. He has always 
 experienced the best of health, with the exception of 
 an attack of yellow fever in 1866. He is popular alike 
 in business and society circles; in manner he is genial, 
 modest and unostentatious. His advice is often sought, 
 and when given is valued by his friends and business 
 associates. 
 
 S. P. SIMPSON, 
 
 EAGLE PASS, TEXAS. 
 
 SP. SIMPSON was born in Belmont county, Ohio, 
 January llth, 1838, the son of Sidney and Mary 
 (Dorsey) Simpson, his mother being a descendant of 
 General Dorsey, an officer in the American army 
 during the Revolutionary war, whose sword is still on,e 
 of the most treasured heir-looms of the Dorsey family. 
 His mother's brother, Michael Dorses', is the oldest 
 man living in Belmont county, Ohio, at this writing 
 being eighty-eight years of age, and is still in business, 
 as hale and hearty as many men of half his a"ge. 
 
 Mr. Simpson's education was acquired in the public 
 schools and at Marietta College in Ohio, from which 
 institution he graduated in January, 1859. After 
 
 graduation he secured the position of second clerk on 
 the steamer "Silver Star," an Ohio river packet, and 
 after he had acquired experience as to his duties, was 
 promoted to the position of first clerk on the " Boston" 
 and held the same position afterwards on other large 
 packets engaged in the Cincinnati trade. When the 
 war broke out, the boats were laid up, and Mr. Simp- 
 son bscame junior partner of the wholesale grocery 
 house of W. W. Hanly & Co. at Cincinnati. While a 
 member of the firm he was entrusted with much of its 
 business, which was in the main with that portion of 
 the South that remained loyal to the Union. 
 
 At the close of the war the firm was dissolved and
 
 544 
 
 Mr. Simpson went into business at Lexington, Ky., 
 where he remained for several vears, when he went to 
 North Plait, Neb., where he operated a cattle ranch 
 until 1879. He then moved to Texas and located at 
 Eagle Pass, where he established the first bank in Texas 
 west of San Antonio. The business of the bank has 
 since increased year by year, until now the banking 
 house of S. P. Simpson & Co. is one of the best known 
 in the southwest. The business of this house in south- 
 west Texas and in Mexico is easily the largest done by 
 any in the State. 
 
 Mr. Simpson is Democratic both in politics and in 
 relation with his fellow-men, believing that a low 
 tariff is preferable to too much protection, and "that one 
 man is just as good as another as long as he behaves 
 himself and fulfills his duties as a man in society and 
 as a citizen in the community. He has no complicated 
 views on religious subjects, granting freely to all men 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 the right to their own opinions. He believes that he is 
 doing all that is required who follows the Golden 
 Rule. 
 
 He was married in May, 1866, to Miss Mary Reed, 
 daughter of Henry W. and Martha Reed, both of Lex- 
 ington, Ky. 
 
 Mr. Simpson is a man of medium height, with ex- 
 pressive grey eyes and is of an active, nervous temper- 
 ament and exceedingly open and frank in manner, 
 making many friends, who are led to admire him more 
 as their friendship lengthens. His position in life is 
 largely due to his own unaided efforts and he may well 
 be proud of his success. It is to him and others of like 
 character and enterprise that western Texas owes her 
 wonderful development, and while such spirits rule she 
 will continue to prosper. Altogether he is of the sort 
 of men who help any community to develop its best 
 points in every way. 
 
 PHILEMON L. MITCHELL, 
 
 ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, Mr. Philemon L. Mitch- 
 ell, who is the senior member of the banking 
 house of Mitchell & Lynde, at Rock Island, 111., was. 
 born in the State of Maine in 1812. For some years, 
 from 1852 to 1856, he was cashier of the Georgetown 
 branch of the " Farmers' Bank of Kentucky." At the 
 end of this time Mr. Mitchell removed to Rock 
 Island, where, in company with Mr. P. L. Cable, he 
 
 organized the bank of Mitchell & Cable, which, 
 in 1860, was changed to Mitchell & Lynde. Under 
 this name the bank has continued ever since. It is 
 among the oldest, if not the oldest, banking house in 
 the State of Illinois, and Mr. Mitchell, its senior 
 member, is probably the oldest man now any- 
 where actively engaged in the banking business in 
 the State. 
 
 WILLIAM SIDNEY ELLIOTT, JR., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM SIDNEY ELLIOTT, JR., is the son of 
 William Sidney and Caroline (Morse) Elliott, 
 and was born at Niles, Mich., on May 1,1849. His 
 father, who was a prominent citizen of Niles, was a 
 lineal descendant of John Eliot, the noted Indian 
 apostle of colonial days. 
 
 The early education of young Elliott was acquired in 
 the public schools of Quincy, 111., at which place he also 
 took an academical course. Leaving home at the early 
 age of sixteen, he had his own way to make in the 
 world, and after leaving school entered the banking 
 house of L. & C. H. Bull, of Quincy, 111., where he 
 remained for four years, commencing at the lowest 
 position and working his way to the highest. To the 
 valuable training acquired in this house, and especially 
 to the kindly interest shown in his welfare by the 
 brothers Bull, Mr. Elliott largely attributes the success 
 in life which he has since achieved. 
 
 Desiring a wider field of operations he resigned 
 
 his position in the bank, arriving in Chicago on 
 March 4, 1869. He took a position secured for him 
 by the Messrs. Bull with the old State Insurance 
 Company of Chicago, with which he remained for one 
 year, leaving the same thereafter to enter into the 
 insurance brokerage business which he then followed 
 during the succeeding ten years, working up one of the 
 best paying patronages of the great Chicago fire 
 period. In 1879, through the kind interposition of 
 Luther Laflin Mills, Mr. Elliott secured a position in 
 the law office of Emery A. Storrs with whom, after 
 two or three years of study, he formed a partnership 
 which ended in 1887, when he was appointed assistant 
 State's attorney under Judge Longenecker. His admis- 
 sion to the bar was in March, 1882. 
 
 Mr. Elliott remained in the position of assistant 
 State's attorney for five years,during which time he con- 
 ducted more cases on behalf of the State than were ever 
 before disposed of in the same period of time. When
 
 
 
 
 rfr
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 547 
 
 it is stated that nearly 6,000 cases were conducted by 
 him during that time, or an average of 1,200 each year, 
 some idea of the work done may be gained. Among 
 some of the most noted cases tried under Mr. Elliott's 
 management may be mentioned the following: 
 
 John Conti, charged with the murder of the Italian 
 Nicholas Senne, convicted on purely circumstantial 
 evidence and sent to the penitentiary for life; McGrath 
 and Mortel, for the killing of Policeman Fryer, 
 awarded a life sentence, though on a new trial ac- 
 quitted; Henry McCabe, for the murder of James M. 
 Howard, a lawyer of Valparaiso, Ind., convicted on 
 circumstantial evidence and sent to the penitentiary; 
 Thomas White, for the murder of the "Black Diamond," 
 also convicted and sent to the penitentiary; Michael 
 Foy, Robert Russell and William Jackson, sent to the 
 penitentiary for life under the habitual criminal act, 
 for robbery, being the only instance, it is said, up to 
 that time of any one receiving a life sentence for that 
 offence; John Dennison, convicted and given a life sen- 
 tence for the murder of John Dillon. Mr. Elliott also 
 tried the well remembered case of Mrs. Rawson for the 
 shooting of lawyer Whitney, and that of August 
 Hetzke, who was sentenced to be hung for whipping 
 his boy to death. On condition of pleading guilty, 
 Hetzke was granted a new trial and sentenced for life. 
 The wife murderer. Mat bias Busch, was also tried and 
 given a life sentence. In 1888, the anarchist, Hronek, 
 who conspired to assassinate Judge Gary and Prosecut- 
 ing Attorney Grinnell, was tried and convicted and got 
 a twelve year's sentence in the penitentiary. Among 
 other convictions secured were those of the notorious 
 real estate swindler, Edward A. Trask, sent up for 
 eighteen years; George Hathaway, for the killing of 
 Alderman Whalen, sentenced for life, afterwards 
 granted a new trial and given three years in the peni- 
 tentiary upon his plea of guilty of manslaughter: James 
 Prendergast, for the murder of John Bain, convicted 
 of manslaughter before a jury and given thirty years, 
 the longest sentence for that crime before known; 
 Thomas Kelly, given a life sentence for rape; James 
 Briscoe, for the assault with intent to rob Mr. Edwin 
 Walker, the eminent attorney, sent to the penitentiary 
 for thirty years; and Joseph Bales for the murder of a 
 stevedore, convicted and sentenced for twenty-five 
 years. Mr. Elliott also conducted, in 1892, the famous 
 case of John Redmond, the father of the notorious Annie 
 Redmond, charged with the murder of Dr. F. M. Wilder. 
 Redmond was given a life sentence. 
 
 Upon leaving the office of the State's attorney, in 
 the fall of 1892, to resume his private practice, Judge 
 Tuthill took occasion to pay Mr. Elliott a high compli- 
 ment, from the bench, for his untiring energy and 
 eminent ability in the discharge of his duties on behalf 
 of the people. Members of the bar made speeches of a 
 similar tenor, and Kate Kane, the woman lawyer, 
 especially complimented him for his uniform champion- 
 ship of the cause of unprotected women and children, a 
 compliment confessedly deserved. In this connection, 
 as indicating the rare powers of persuasion and elo- 
 
 quence'overjjuries possessed by Mr. Elliott, we cannot 
 do"} better than to quote a few sentences from the 
 remarks of the late Judge Ketelle, of the Superior 
 Court, in granting the motion of the defense for a new 
 trial in the case of James Prendergast for the murder 
 of John Bain, above referred to. Judge Ketelle said: 
 
 "The jury did not (ind the defendant guilty of 
 murder, but of manslaughter, and I do not understand 
 why, under that finding, the punishment was so severe, 
 unless it was theeloquenceand logical address of State's 
 Attorney EllioU, who held the jury spellbound and 
 swayed their minds as the tempestuous storm bends the 
 willow to its will. This verdict is a monument to his 
 power over the minds of jurors; his persuasive logic to 
 mould their opinions and his eloquence in so impressing 
 them as to force from them a verdict which is, in the 
 mind of the court, excessive and unjust." Other judges 
 before whom Mr. Elliott has tried numerous cases, have 
 expressed themselves to the writer in a similar strain, 
 and speak in high terms of his ability. 
 
 Since leaving the State's attorney's cffice Mr. 
 Elliotthas devoted himself to his private practice, and 
 though giving a large share of. his attention to civil 
 cases, is much sought after in criminal cases, and enjoys 
 a large patronage. During the eighteen months since 
 he resumed practice Mr. Elliott has conducted the de- 
 fense in at least five criminal cases of importance, in all 
 of which he secured acquittals, excepting one that of 
 John Ryan for wife murder, who was awarded the 
 light sentence of four years in the penitentiary. Three 
 others Michael McSherry, charged with the murder 
 of Daniel Denehv, one of the most stubbornly contested 
 cases of late years; John Hoffman, for murder, and Dr. 
 R. S. Wickham, for the killing of "Wm. Clapper, were 
 all acquitted on jury trials. He also conducted the 
 defense of George Craig, charged with the ravishment 
 and murder of little Emma Werner, and after a three 
 week's trial, day and night, secured a disagreement of 
 the jury. It may be mentioned also that while in the 
 State's attorney's office, Mr. Elliott prosecuted and se- 
 cured the conviction of George Painter, recently hung 
 for the murder of his mistress, Alice McLane; and that 
 during the desperate effort last winter to secure, first a 
 pardon from Governor Altgeld, and failing in that, to 
 secure a commutation of the death sentence 
 to imprisonment for life, Mr. Elliott was called 
 into the case by State's attorney Kern and Governor 
 Altgeld, and was largely instrumental in defeating the 
 above attempts. In the case of Prendergast, under 
 death sentence in March last for the murder of Mayor 
 Harrison, Mr. Elliott, at the request of the defense, 
 participated in the arguments before Judge Chetlain, 
 for a stay of execution of sentence pending an investi- 
 gation into the insanity of the prisoner. 
 
 In social life Mr. Elliot is prominent, and besides 
 being a member of the Masonic fraternity affiliates with 
 several societies and clubs. He was one of the early 
 directors of the Apollo Musical Club, and as such con- 
 tributed greatly by his enterprise and energy in estab- 
 lishing that organization upon the firm basis upon
 
 548 
 
 which it now rests. He is an active member, and has 
 been an official member of the Royal Arcanum, the 
 Royal League, the National Union and the Ancient 
 Order of Foresters of America, of which latter order 
 he was elected the first supreme chief ranger for the 
 United States. In all church and charitable work Mr. 
 Elliot is especially interested. He is a member and 
 attendant of the Congregational church, and entertains 
 liberal, yet evangelical, views on religious subjects. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Elliot is a staunch Republican, and 
 has for several years been a power in his party. In 
 political campaigns his well known eloquence has 
 brought his services into requisition, and his voice has 
 been frequently heard on the platform in every ward, 
 village and hamlet in Cook county, as well as in the 
 general campaign field. 
 
 On October 14-, 1871, Mr. Elliot was married to Miss 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 Alinda Caroline Harris, of Janesville, Wis., and a family 
 of five bright children now blesses their home, viz.: 
 Lorenzo Bull, Daniel Morse, Charles Sutnner, and 
 Emery Storrs Elliott; while a bright girl, Jessie Flor- 
 ence, completes the circle. Of the above, Lorenzo, the 
 eldest son, a graduate of the Kent Law School, is now 
 in the office of his father. 
 
 In personal appearance Mr. Elliot is a man of more 
 than average size, being fully six feet tall and weighing 
 about 200 pounds. He is well proportioned and of a 
 winning, yet commanding presence. One of his lead- 
 ing characteristics in his business affairs is his fine 
 sense of order and complete system and the habit of 
 giving careful attention to details. On his social side, 
 he is exceptionally genial, always companionable and 
 is deservedly popular with his friends, whose number 
 is large and ever increasing. 
 
 WILLIAM LEONARD JOY, 
 
 SIOUX CITY, IOWA. 
 
 WILLIAM LEONARD JOY, son of William H. 
 and Kittie (Leonand) Joy, was born at Towns- 
 hend, Vt., on the 17th of August, 1830. His paternal 
 grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier and his father 
 was a farmer and an owner of milling property. His 
 early education was acquired in the schools of his 
 native town, and there he remained for the first 
 twenty years of his life, preparing for college and 
 helping his father in the business. When he was 
 twenty-one years of age he entered Amherst College, 
 from which he graduated with the class of 1855, 
 though he had taught school three winters during his 
 college course, and afterwards, while studying law 
 in the office of Judge Roberts, he taught classes in 
 Leland Seminary. He was admitted to the bar in the 
 spring of 1857, and immediately started for the West 5 
 reaching Sioux City, Iowa, where he has since made 
 his home, on the 5th day of May in that year. 
 
 Here he formed a partnership with Mr. N. C. 
 Hudson, and under the firm name of Hudson & Joy 
 they continued business until 1866. Mr. Joy then 
 practiced alone for two years, after which he took as 
 a partner, Mr. C. L. Wright, the firm being known as 
 Jov & Wright, and was recognized for twenty years as 
 the leading firm of attorneys in Woodbury county. 
 They were the local attorneys of the Illinois Central 
 Railroad Company, and the general attorneys for the 
 Sioux Citv & Pacific, the Dakota Southern, the Cov. 
 ington, Columbus & Black Hills Railroads, and for the 
 Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railroad Land Company. 
 Mr. Joy has always had a large practice in the State 
 and Federal courts, and has thereby accumulated a 
 large property, which, owing to his prudent manage- 
 ment, yields large and satisfactory returns. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Joy is a staunch Republican, and 
 
 represented his district in the State Legislature in the 
 seasons of 1864 and 1866. In the house his record 
 was one that showed earnest application and much 
 hard work in the interests of his constituents. He was 
 elected to look after the railroads interests of North- 
 western Iowa, and succeeded in carrying through 
 those measures most in the interests of his constituents, 
 and when his work was done retired, ever since 
 resolutely declining to allow his name to go before the 
 people as a candidate for office. His friends have 
 more particularly desired him to become a candidate 
 for a judgeship in the District and Circuit Courts, or 
 in the Supreme Court, but though so well fitted in 
 every way to adorn the bench, he has adhered strictly 
 to his resolution, and his friends, knowing that he 
 would really be the sufferer, in a pecuniary sense, have 
 been obliged to respect his decision. 
 
 The partnership between Messrs. Joy & Wright 
 was dissolved in 1888, and Mr. Joy has since been the 
 senior member of the firm of Joy, Call & Joy, one of 
 the most prominent law firms in the state of Iowa. 
 Mr. Joy is universally conceded to be one of the 
 strongest pleaders before a jury now practicing before 
 the Iowa bar, but is best known as a court lawyer, 
 where his great learning, skill and ability have placed 
 him in the front rank of his profession. 
 
 On the 10th of October, 1859, Mr. Joy was united 
 in marriage to Miss Frances A. Stone, at Westmore- 
 land, N. H. T\vo children, a son and a daughter, have 
 blessed this union, the son being now the junior 
 member of his father's law firm, and the daughter the 
 wife of Mr. Giles W. Brown, who with Mr. Joy own 
 and operate the large oat and cornmeal mills at Sioux 
 city. The business is carried on under the name of 
 the Sioux Milling Company, and is one of the largest
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 551 
 
 and most prosperous of the manufacturing plants of 
 Sioux City. 
 
 Mr. Joy has always taken a great interest in edu- 
 cational matters and has been fora quarter of a century 
 one of the best friends that the public schools of Sioux 
 City have had. For that length of time he was a 
 member of the school board of the independent district 
 of Sioux City, and freely gave to the district his 
 valuable time and the benefit of his great business 
 experience. To him and to his co laborers in the cause, 
 who comprised many of Sioux City's most prominent 
 citizens, this city owes the excellent condition of her 
 public schools at the present time and also much of 
 the property owned by them. Mr. Joy, besides his 
 large law practice, is largely interested in many other 
 enterprises both public and private in their nature. He 
 is the president of the Sioux National Bank, and 
 director of the Iowa Savings Bank, and is largely in- 
 terested in and owns. vast tracts of real estate, besides 
 taking an active interest in every public enterprise 
 brought to the notice of the citizens of Iowa's met- 
 ropolis. Mr. Joy has been connected with the Baptist 
 
 most liberal contributors to church work, while an 
 appeal for charity is seldom addressed to him in vain. 
 He has been a resident attorney of Sioux City 
 since Ma,}', 1857, and is one of the living pioneers of 
 Woodbury county, standing out conspicuously as one 
 of the leading lawyers of northwestern Io\Va, where he, 
 by the honorable practice of his profession, together 
 with prudent investments, has made a great and credit- 
 able financial success. His wealth has ever been used 
 for none other than the true purpose for which a com- 
 petence is given to man. He is not only a leading 
 lawyer, holding the respect and esteem of the entire 
 bar, but an active, public-spirited man, who well repre- 
 sents the best type of American citizenship. Always 
 candid, he is possessed of a kindly nature that readily 
 makes him man\' friends, and a strongman, physically, 
 mentally and morally, lias left the impression of his 
 character upon every enterprise with which he has 
 been connected. To him the West, and especially that 
 part of it in which Sioux City is situated, owes much, 
 and it may well congratulate itself upon having suc- 
 ceeded in attracting a man of his abilitv and character 
 
 church for over fort}' years, and has ever been one of the among the first of her early settlers. 
 
 HON. HENRY WILLIAM SEYMOUR, 
 
 SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN. 
 
 HON. HENRY WILLIAM SEYMOUR, son of 
 William Henry and Nancy (Pixley) Seymour, 
 was born at Brockport, Monroe county, New York, 
 Julv 21st, 1834. He is a descendant of Richard 
 Seymour, who was one of the early settlers of Hart- 
 ford, Connecticut, his name appearing upon its town 
 records in 1639. As is shown by the Bible owned by 
 him, and which is now a treasured heirloom of one 
 branch of the family, he came to America from Berry 
 Pomeroy, Devonshire, England. The inscription shows 
 his nativity and ancestn', which dates back to the time 
 of the Norman Conquest. Richard Seymour went 
 from Hartford to Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1653, and 
 died there in 1655. William Henry Seymour, the 
 father of our subject, was born at Litchh'eld, Conn., in 
 1802, and is now living at Brockport, New York, of 
 which place he was one of the earliest settlers, having 
 located near there in 1818. He engaged in business as 
 general merchant, and grain shipper, and served as 
 post-master under President Jackson. He was senior 
 member of the firm of Seymour and Morgan, man- 
 ufacturers of agricultural implements, stoves, etc., and 
 also of the McCormick Reaper, which was made by 
 them under the personal supervision of Mr. C. H. 
 McCormick, prior to the time of his location at Chicago. 
 It was the first successful reaper manufactory estab- 
 lished in this country', and William Henry Seymour is 
 specially mentioned in the American Encyclopedia, as 
 the inventor of the first self-raking reaper. 
 
 Young Seymour received a good education, first 
 attending the public schools, and afterwards the Brock- 
 port Collegiate Institute, and the Canandaigua Acad- 
 emy. He entered Williams College, at Williamstown, 
 Mass., in 1851, graduating in 1855. After graduation 
 he entered the offices of Hill, Cagger & Porter, at 
 Albany, N. Y., and at the same time attended lectures 
 at the Albany Law School, and on examination was 
 admitted to practice at the bar in May, 1856. Soon 
 after he turned his attention to the manufacturing 
 business, in which he was engaged for many years. 
 In 1872 he went to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., near which 
 place he bought pine lands and immediately com- 
 menced getting out logs. In 1873 he erected a saw 
 mill, and later a planing mill, which he operated until 
 1887, when he sold both mills to the John Spry Lum- 
 ber company of Chicago. He also cleared a farm of 
 250 acres in Sault Ste. Marie, most of which he now 
 owns. When a resident of Brockport, N. Y., he was 
 president of the Union Agricultural Society, and for 
 three years a member of the village board of trustees, 
 during which time the Normal School buildings were 
 erected by the board. He was appointed a member of 
 the State local board of managers of the institution, and 
 held the position for some time after removing to 
 Michigan. He was president of the St. Mary's Falls 
 Water Power companv, and is now the vice-president 
 of the First National Bank of Sault Ste. Marie. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Seymour has been a Republican
 
 552 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 since the formation of the party. He takes an active 
 interest in politics, and has held many offices of honor 
 and trust. In 1880 he was elected to represent the 
 Cheboygan district in the Michigan Legislature, where, 
 as chairman of the house committee on Federal rela- 
 tions, he drafted the bill for the transfer of St. Mary's 
 Falls ship canal to the United States, and successfully 
 urged its passage. In 1882, he was elected to the State 
 senate from the 31st senatorial district, and was 
 re-elected in 1886 to represent the 30th senatorial 
 district, the reapportionment of the State having 
 changed the number of his district. On the 26th of 
 January, 1888, when in Rome, Italy, he was nominated 
 for Congress, and subsequently elected, to succeed 
 Hon. Seth C. Moffatt, deceased. He hurriedly returned 
 home, arriving February 14th, 18S8, on the afternoon 
 of election day. His record in Congress has been an 
 able one, it being largely due to his efforts that the 
 Marquette and Ontonogon Land Grant Forfeiture bill 
 was passed in the closing hours of the fiftieth Congress. 
 As chairman of the memorial committee of the West 
 Superior Waterway Convention he submitted to the 
 
 river and harbor committee of the House a paragraph 
 containing an appropriation for the survey and estimate 
 of cost of a deep water channel through the shallows of 
 the connecting waters of the lakes, and had the satis- 
 faction of seeing it adopted in almost his own language. 
 
 Mr. Seymour's family now consists of his wife, Mrs. 
 Harriet (Gillette) Seymour, born in Painesville, Ohio, 
 and of their daughter Helen. 
 
 Mr. Seymour's career has been one of great success 
 and reflects the highest credit upon him. The same 
 feeling that impelled his ancestor, Richard Seymour, 
 to push out across the broad Atlantic and build for 
 himself a home in the then new and almost unknown 
 country, moved him to forsake the thickly settled East, 
 and come to the then insignificant hamlet in the 
 wilderness of Sault Ste. Marie. When he settled in 
 this place, its only means of communition with the rest 
 of the world was by water, and the mails were brought 
 there once a week from Marquette by dog trains through 
 the woods. The employment given by him to others 
 in his logging camps and mills gave a material start 
 to growth in that section. 
 
 W. A. McHENRY, 
 
 DENISON, IOWA. 
 
 WA. McIIenry, son of James and Sarah (Allen) 
 McHenry, was born at Almond, New York, on 
 the 6th of March, 1811. He is of Scotch-Irish descent. 
 His great grandfather, John McHenry, was born in the 
 town of Colerain. county Antrim, Ireland, and came to 
 America in 1739 on the same ship with the father of 
 De Witt Clinton. He served as Major of the First 
 New York Batallion in the French War of 1756-7. His 
 son, Henry McHenry, was born at Wallkill Valley, 
 Orange county, New York, in July, 1752, and served as 
 captain in the Second U. S. Infantry of the Continental 
 army during the war of the Revolution. His son, 
 James McHenry, was born at Fishing Creek, Northum- 
 berland Co,; Pa. in 1788, and in 1797 the family moved 
 to McHenry Valley, Alleghany county, New York. 
 In the war of 1812 he served as first-lieutenant in 
 captain Van Campen's company of rifles, and died in 
 June 1841. W. A. McHenry was his youngest son. 
 
 He lived at the old homestead until fourteen years 
 old, when he went to Milton, Wisconsin, with his 
 brother Vincent. He received a common school educa- 
 tion and in 1860 removed to Ogle county, 111., where 
 he worked on a farm until the commencement of the 
 Civil war. Thrilled with the fire of patriotic sires, lie 
 volunteered, Sept. 5th, 1861, as a private in companv 
 "L," 8th Illinois Cavalry. The regiment was immedi- 
 ately sent to Washington, D. C., and attached to the 
 army of the Potomac and participated in all the 
 important battles in which that army was engaged 
 until January, 1864, when the regiment was veteran- 
 
 ized and transferred to the department of Washington 
 It was then made its special duty to look after Mosby's 
 band of guerillas, and the regiment gained for itself 
 great distinction in hand-to-hand encounters. During 
 his service McHenry personally captured eight of the 
 enemy and had many narrow escapes; he was, how- 
 ever, fortunate in having his horse shot instead of him- 
 self. He was mustered out of the service as first 
 sergeant July 23, 1865. 
 
 At the close of the war Mr. McHenry formed a 
 partnership with his brother, Morris, in the real estate 
 business at Denison. la. Emigration rapidly followed the 
 extension of railroad lines to the Pacific, and the firm of 
 McHenry Bros, did a large and profitable business in 
 the selling of lands. Banking was added and success 
 attended both enterprises. In 1877 he purchased his 
 brother's interest, and afterward conducted the busi- 
 ness alone until the W. A. McHenry bank was merged 
 into the First National Bank of Denison, with a capital 
 of $100,000, of which he is the president and the prin- 
 cipal stockholder. In business methods he is conserva- 
 tive, and during the panic of 1893 he was not obliged 
 to borrow a single dollar. The rapid accumulation of 
 deposits testifies that the people in his vicinity have 
 the utmost confidence in his ability and integrity, while 
 the Iowa bankers have honored him by electing him 
 president of the State Bankers' Association. 
 
 During his long experience in the real estate busi- 
 ness Mr. McIIenry has bought and improved man}' 
 valuable tracts of land, some of whicli he still retains.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 555 
 
 Of late years he has engaged extensively in feeding 
 cattle for market, and on his fine valley farm of six 
 hundred acres, adjoining the city of Denison, he has a 
 large herd of thoroughbred Aberdeen-Angus cattle, 
 which are well known as the "Mclienry "ark Herd," 
 and which carried off the highest honors at the World's 
 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He is president of 
 the American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association, 
 and takes great pride. in everything pertaining to the 
 advancement and improvement of the "Doddies." 
 
 Politically, Mr. McHenry is a Republican, cast- 
 ing his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, but further 
 than casting his vote his extensive business interests 
 have forbidden him to enter the political arena. 
 He is an enthusiastic member of the G. A. R., 
 and always mets with "the boys" in the State 
 and National encampments, and ha.s served the order 
 as Department Commander of Iowa. 
 
 He is a member of the Baptist church, and for 
 many years has been one of its most earnest sup- 
 
 porters and generous contributors. While "at home on 
 veteran furlough," in 1864, he was married to Miss Mary 
 L. Sears, at Rockford, 111., who preceded Mr. McHenry 
 to Denison, Iowa, and served as deputy county treasurer 
 and recorder until the close of the war. 
 
 In later years she has been prominently identi- 
 tified with the Woman's Relief Corps, the Auxil- 
 iary of the G. A. R., and was elected department 
 president of the organization in 1887, and national 
 president in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Mclienry have four 
 children, two sons and two daughters. The eldest one, 
 Sears, is cashier of the First National Bank of Denison, 
 and has already made for himself an enviable reputa- 
 tion as a financier. Jennie is the wife of Louie 
 Seemann, the assistant cashier of the bank, while Abbie 
 and George are still in school. 
 
 In 1885 Mr. McHenry built the elegant residence 
 he now occupies at Denison, and surrounded by con- 
 genial friends and a pleasant family he enjoys the 
 comforts of a well-earned fortune. 
 
 HENRY EX ALL, 
 
 DALLAS, TEXAS. 
 
 THE subject'of this sketch was born at Richmond, 
 Va., August 30th, 1848. His father is the Rev- 
 erend George G. Exall, a Baptist minister, well known 
 in Virginia and the South, who moved from England 
 when but a child. 'His paternal grandfather was an 
 English astronomer and divine, of considerable renown. 
 His mother is Angy E. (Pierce) Exall, daughter of 
 Joseph Pierce, who was a shipbuilder of Philadelphia, 
 and the representative of a family long prominent in 
 naval construction in this country. Both branches of 
 his family have an ancient and honorable lineage that 
 extends to a very early period in American and 
 English history. Mr. Exall's early education, inter- 
 rupted when he was thirteen years of age by the 
 civil war, was acquired at his father's academy. Two 
 years later his strong Southern sympathies made him a 
 soldier in the cause. He was the boy of his brigade, 
 and his brave and brilliant soldiership marked him 
 even thus early as the child of destined success. At 
 the battle of Ream's Station his brigade commander 
 presented him with a sword in recognition of his 
 gallant services. 
 
 At the close of the war Young Exall studied law, 
 but very soon abandoned it for the wider and more 
 active field of commercial life, removing in 1867 from 
 Virginia to Kentucky, where he engaged in merchan- 
 dising and the manufacture of woolen goods. In 18C9 
 he was married to Miss Emma Warner, of Owensboro, 
 Ky. Three children were born to them, all of whom 
 died when quite young, and in 1875 his wife died also. 
 In 1877 business affairs brought him on a visit to 
 Texas. When he surveyed the great possibilities of 
 
 that grand State, for whose industrial development he 
 later did so much, he determined to sever the ties 
 which bound him to old Kentucky and become a 
 Texan. Since that time he^hs been" closely identified 
 with Texas interests and one of its most prominent 
 men. He has been called to represent the State 
 at conventions of cattlemen, bankers' associations, 
 commercial congresses and expositions and political 
 conventions at many and various times. 
 
 In 1884 he was one of the representatives of his State 
 in the national convention that nominated Mr. Cleve- 
 land for the presidency. This same year he was a del- 
 egate to the cattlemen's convention which met at St. 
 Louis. He was later appointed vice-president for Texas 
 of the Cotton Centennial, held at New Orleans in 1885, 
 and the same year was also appointed colonel and 
 quartermaster-general of the Texas volunteer troops. 
 In 1887 he was honored by election as vice-president 
 for Texas of the American 'Bankers' Association, held 
 at Pittsburg, Pa. He was chairman of the State Dem- 
 ocratic executive committee during the stormy time that 
 prohibition promised to split that party in twain, and 
 managed affairs with great tact. In 1889 he was 
 president of the Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposi- 
 tion, one of the most successful institutions of its char- 
 acter in the country. In all these places he has 
 reflected credit on himself and. on his State, and 
 whether in a State or National convention his con- 
 spicuous superiority as a man of force, fearlessness and 
 character has made him an attractive figure and given 
 him a place as the equal of the best of his fellows. 
 
 In the discharge of his duties as a representative he
 
 556 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 displays the enthusiastic interest of a personal champion 
 of a personal friend, and always, whether acting for 
 himself or for others,his task commands his best ability, 
 lie is a faithful believer in the futnre ot his State. He 
 has forcibly told the story of her undeveloped greatness 
 to the moneyed men of the East and to the traveler 
 from all sections, and has been the means of develop- 
 ing this greatness beyond that of almost any other man. 
 Mr. Exall has recently finished the construction of 
 one of the most majestic and costly buildings in the 
 South, to which he gave his personal supervision, and 
 was to be found almost ever}' day in conversation and 
 consultation with the men who drove the nails and laid 
 the brick, thus closely attending to the details of the 
 work. His mind is of that comprehensive kind that 
 even the smallest particulars do not escape his notice. 
 This mental scope has made Mr. Exall a successful ex- 
 ponent of all the industrial enterprises that he origin- 
 
 ated and promoted. In the city of Dallas, where he 
 lives, everybody is his friend. Here in 1887 he married 
 as his second wife Miss May Dickson,a most attractive 
 and accomplished lady, who makes her home a veritable 
 haven of rest from the many cares of his busy life. 
 
 His public expressions are always the embodiment 
 of earnest consideration for the betterment of all his 
 fellows; and when they contain advice as to a line of 
 action every word is charged with sincerity and sym- 
 pathy. Mr. Exall was selected by President Harrison 
 as a representative Democrat to be one of the commis- 
 sioners-at-large of the World's Columbian Exposition 
 on behalf of the United States; a well deserved com- 
 pliment to his enterprise, ability and integrity, and one 
 peculiarly acceptable to the people of Texas, where 
 Mr. Exall is popular with all classSs. His past success 
 furnishes an excellent guarantee of a still more brilliant 
 future. 
 
 JAMES E. LOW, D. D. S., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WITHIN a comparatively brief space of time, the 
 dental profession has been improved and broad- 
 ened, until, today, it approaches in importance to the 
 welfare of humanity the principles and practice of the 
 science of medicine. Stalwart advocates of improve- 
 ment and progress hav% had their influence in the den- 
 tal profession, as in many others, and by ceaseless and 
 intelligent efforts they have made for it a place in the 
 promotion of health and comfort which is at once 
 highly prominent and important. 
 
 The theories of the old time dentists were laid out 
 on lines of aggressive action, and their legitimate prey 
 was teeth, which the}' proceeded to demolish and ex- 
 tract at all possible opportunities. New discoveries 
 have been made, however, and new principles applied 
 by the profession, and foremost in the ranks of real 
 progress is to be found the subject of our sketch. Di- 
 rectly opposed to the old system, his life study has been 
 on the lines of preventing the extraction of teeth, 
 which practice, he cla ms, is ancient and barbarous, and 
 not worthy of a progressive and civilized age. 
 
 James E. Low. son of Rinald and Susan (Hay wood) 
 Low, was born in Olsego county, New York, in 1837. 
 His early life was devoid of many of the educational 
 advantages enjoyed by the average American boy, his 
 father dying when he was six years old, after which, as 
 soon as he was able, he was obliged to assist in the 
 maintenance of the family. But his idomitable will, 
 which has been a leading characteristic all his life, was 
 not to be overcome by these obstacles, and he early en- 
 tertained the ambition of obtaining for himself an edu- 
 cation which would fit him for a professional career in 
 life. With this end in view he studied night and day, 
 when not occupied by his work, laying the foundations 
 
 for the study of medicine or dentistry, which he had 
 determined to fellow. While he had been pursuing his 
 studies, he had not been idle, but was engaged in a vo- 
 cation from which, though it was by no means remun- 
 erative, he was enabled to save, by the strictest econ- 
 omy and rigid self-denial, sufficient to enter Coopers- 
 town Seminary, in his native county where he made 
 good use of his time. Upon leaving this institution, 
 he commenced professional studies, being connected with 
 some of the leading dental institutions of the East for 
 several years. 
 
 Dr. Low came to Chicago in 1865, entering upon the 
 practice of his profession, and in a very short time 
 established a business renumerative and highly dis- 
 tinctive. In 1870 he became a member of the Illinois 
 State Dental society and in 1873 joined tl:e American 
 Dental society. lie was also a member of the Chicago 
 Dental society, from all of which he withdrew, how- 
 ever, on account of differences of opinion among his 
 professional brethren with reference to the patenting 
 of some of his inventions which had been the result of 
 many years of laborious study. He was not content to 
 follow the beaten paths of dental practice, for he saw 
 that there was room for improvement, and particularly 
 did he give his inventive and constructive ability to the 
 subject of teeth preservation. It had been the prevail- 
 ing practice, if teeth were decayed and troublesome, to 
 extract them and put in their place a cumbersome plate 
 of false teeth. This practice was particularly obnox- 
 ious to Dr. Low, anil, after years of painstaking labor, 
 he perfected what is called the "no-plate method." 
 Under this practice, artificial teeth are attached to the 
 natural teeth or roots b\ T immovable gold bands or 
 crowns.
 
 **! v^- 
 
 V*N N
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 559 
 
 This innovation naturally attracted a good deal of 
 attention in the profession, and the doctor soon had a 
 large following, which gave the new method the pref- 
 erence which its superiority seemed to demand. It 
 was some time, however, before Dr. Low could over- 
 come the bigoted opposition which arose, but the un- 
 wavering perseverance which has made his whole life a 
 success, overcame this, as well as other obstacles, and 
 to- day the profession extensively recognize the merits 
 of his method. The doctorisdevotinga large share of his 
 time to perfecting processes by which the teeth and the 
 natural conditions of the mouth may be preserved. 
 After long years of study and experience, he has come 
 to the conclusion that to lose one's teeth is to become 
 more or less an invalid. The health of humanity de- 
 pends, loan unappreciated extent, on the condition of 
 the teeth, and this truth he labors earnestly to make 
 more widely known. 
 
 A company representing large capital has been 
 established, with headquarters in Chicago, where in- 
 struction in the new school of dentistry will be taught 
 on a larger scale than ever. Besides the doctor's 
 extensive practice and the time devoted to teaching 
 and demonstrating his various methods before the 
 dental institutions of the country, much time and 
 thought have been expended in the manufacture of 
 dental appliances of his own invention. This was 
 commenced in a small way, but with his natural 
 inventive ability and push, many new devices have 
 been brought out. The increased demand for these 
 improvements necessitated facilities for manufacturing 
 them ; this has been done with all the modern mechan- 
 
 ical appliances for doing the finest work. As stated, 
 this has now grown from a small beginning to a 
 business of itself, and in connection therewith the man- 
 ufacture of porcelain teeth has been added, this being 
 the first and only manufacture of teeth in the West. 
 This became a necessity to more fully work out 
 improved methods, which necessitate the making of 
 teeth for the various processes, as teeth made by the 
 old system cannot be used. 
 
 Dr. Low was married at Milford, N. Y., to Eoena 
 Knapp, a lady of varied attainments and abilities 
 whose many charms have made her as popular in soci- 
 ety as she is with her own intimate friends. Two 
 daughters, Maud, born July 24, 1858, and Mabel, born 
 September 20, 1861, are the result of this union, 
 and they complete a most happy and charming 
 family circle. 
 
 In personal appearance, Dr. Low is a man of more 
 than the average height, possessing a fine and robust 
 physique, over which the hands of time have passed 
 lightly. Admired by all of his associates, whether in a 
 professional or social sense, he is a man of most amiable 
 qualities and intrinsic worth. He is always popular 
 with his students and patrons, as well as with his manv 
 assistants. His great*work makes for himself a place 
 in the progress of science which will not be forgotten, 
 and he may well be placed in the front rank of the 
 benefactors of mankind. His thoroughly American 
 spirit and great energy have enabled him to bring his 
 views before the people, and to-day he has the satis- 
 faction of seeing those views extensively incorporated 
 into the principles of the profession which he loves. 
 
 TRUMAN W. BROPHY, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 TRUMAN W. BROPHY, dean of the Chicago 
 College of Dental Surgery, was born in Will 
 county, Illinois, April 12, 1S48. He attended the 
 common schools of his native town, completing his pre- 
 paratory course at the Elgin Academy, Elgin, 111., and 
 entered upon his professional studies in 1866. He 
 took a course at the Philadelphia College of Dental 
 Surgery, from which he graduated in 1872. After this 
 he spent considerable time among the medical colleges 
 and hospitals of the East. He then returned to Chicago 
 and entered upon the practice of his profession, which 
 has been attended with marked success. Meeting 
 many cases in his practice requiring, in their treatment, 
 a more extended knowledge of medicine and surgery 
 than was taught at the College of Dental Surgery, in 
 1878 he began a regular course of study at Rush 
 Medical College from which he graduated in 1880, 
 receiving the .degree of M. D. He was honored by 
 being made president of his class on graduation from 
 the college. On completion of his studies at Rush, he 
 
 was elected to the chair of dental pathology and 
 surgery in that institution. He has been clinical 
 lecturer at the Central Free Dispensary, and was one 
 of the original promoters of the institution over 
 which he now presides as dean, the Chicago College of 
 Dental Surgery, whiten began its regular course in the 
 spring of 1883. 
 
 Dr. Brophy was married in 1883, to Miss Emma J. 
 Mason, daughter of Carlisle Mason, of this city. He 
 is a member of the Union League Club, and of the 
 National, State and various local medical and dental 
 societies. He has always led a most active life, and 
 has written for most of the medical and dental surgery 
 publications. He is an honorary member of many 
 State Dental Associations, and is also president of 
 the Odontological Society of Chicago, and ex-presi- 
 dent of the Chicago Dental Society. Socially, he 
 is popular, and among his professional associates is 
 regarded as one of the most prominent in his line of 
 practice.
 
 560 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 CHARLES T. YERKES, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 TYSON YERKES, president of both 
 V_> the North Chicago and West Chicago street 
 railway companies, was born in Philadelphia, June 25, 
 1837. Up to the time of the settlement of his father's 
 estate, he added " junior " to his name, as the two name 8 
 were the same. His mother was Elizabeth Link Broom, 
 and came from an old Philadelphia family, descended 
 from the Dutch. The name " Yerkes," is Welsh, the 
 first settlers coming to this country a few years before 
 the Penn colony of Quakers arrived. The subject of 
 this biography is descended from these people, who 
 assimilated with the followers of William Penn. The 
 farthest the lineage can be traced is back to the arri- 
 val in Philadelphia with that good man on board the 
 ship." Welcome," in 1682. Mr. Yerkes' parents were 
 Quakers, and his early training was in that faith. He 
 received his education at the Quaker school in Phila- 
 delphia, and afterwards graduated at the Central High 
 School in that city. 
 
 Early in life he was an active young man, always 
 desirous of being at the head, whether in mischief 
 at school or in a money making enterprise. An anec- 
 dote of the boy has found itself in print, showing his 
 natural thrift. When about twelve years old he was 
 very fond of attending the auction sales which were 
 held on Saturdays at an auction store, in the vicinity 
 of his home. One day, arriving early, he discovered a 
 number of boxes of soap, which bore the same brand 
 that was being used by his family, which he had often 
 been sent to purchase at the corner grocery. Twelve 
 cents per pound was the retail price which he had 
 always paid. An idea struck him and a plan was 
 immediately formed. He went at once to the grocer 
 and asked him what soap was worth by the box. The 
 latter, thinking the boy wanted to purchase, told him 
 eleven cents per pound. The boy demurred, saying it 
 was too much. The grocer replied that very little 
 profit was made on soap, and facetiously remarked 
 that he would pay nine cents a pound for any quantity. 
 Young Yerkes seemed hardly satisfied and left the 
 store, going immediately to the auction room. Soon 
 the lot of soap was readied and the auctioneer announced 
 the soap would be sold a box at a time. "What is bid per 
 pound for the soap?" "Four cents," said one bidder. "Four 
 and a half cents," and so on up to five and a half cents. 
 While the auctioneer was clamoring for another bid 
 " Six cents," came in a shrill, but sturdy voice, and 
 every one looked to see the new bidder. The box of 
 soap was knocked down to young Yerkes at six cents a 
 pound. " What is the name ?" said the auctioneer, as 
 he leaned forward. " Charles T. Yerkes, Jr.," shouted 
 the boy, and the man repeated : " Put it down to Mr. 
 Charles T. Yerkes, Jr.," and every one but the boy 
 laughed. Another box was put up and the youngster 
 again bid six cents. No one else bid. They were all 
 amused to watch the earnest boy. Box after box was 
 
 put up and knocked down to the boy until fifteen had 
 been sold. The auctioneer then said there were ten 
 more boxes and he would sell them in one lot. The 
 boy bid five and- one half cents. No one else would bid. 
 There was too much fun in seeing the little fellow get 
 the soap, so it was put down to him. Then there was 
 a bee line made by young Yerkes to the grocery store. 
 " What did you say was the price of soap?" said he. 
 " I told you I would sell by the box at eleven cents, 
 which is low for it, or I would give nine cents for a big 
 lot of it." " Well," said the boy, " I have sold you 
 twenty-five boxes at nine cents a pound, and I will run 
 over to Frank's auction store and tell him it is to go to 
 you." Of course explanations followed. The grocer 
 took the soap, paid the amount due, and gave the boy 
 the balance. He has said the making of this money 
 so startled him that instead of being filled with the 
 idea that money was easy to make, his great fear was 
 that he might, in some way, lose it. He therefore did 
 not repeat the venture. 
 
 After leaving school he went as a clerk into the flour 
 and grain commission and forwarding house of James 
 P. Perot & Bros. In those days it was a great priv- 
 ilege to be permitted to enter a first-class house to 
 learn the business, and he consequently had no salary. 
 However, on account of his faithful work, he .was 
 presented with fifty dollars at the end of the year. In 
 1859, at the age of twenty-two, he started a money 
 and stock broker's office on Third street, in Philadel- 
 phia, and in three years was so prosperous as to be 
 able to control a banking house at No. 20 South Third 
 street and establish himself as a banker. The negotia- 
 tion of first-class bonds was his specialty. It was 
 during the war, and Government, State and city bonds 
 were heavily dealt in. The high premium for gold 
 made city bonds sell low, owing to the fact that the 
 interest was payable in currencj'. However, he 
 conceived a scheme to raise the price from 85 
 cents to par, which was carried into effect with the 
 anticipated result, and the city was able to raise money 
 to pay bounties to the soldiers, and for park purchases 
 which were then being made. It should be understood 
 that, in accordance with their charter, no city bonds 
 could be sold by the city at less than par, consequently 
 when the price was below that figure, the city could 
 not pay the bounties or make improvements. This 
 close alliance with the city, however, proved his 
 Waterloo. At the time of the Chicago fire he was 
 very prominent in Third street. He had made money 
 rapidly, and, as he says, was feeling that he might 
 begin to take life more easily. He never took a 
 holiday, but always attended to business. The panic, 
 occasioned by the fire, caught him carrying a large 
 load of securities, and he was in debt to the city for 
 bonds sold for it, it being the custom to make the 
 payments at the end of every month. The city

 
 PROMINENT MEN OP THE ORE A T WEST. 
 
 authorities demanded a settlement at once, and knowing 
 that to pay them in full would be unfair to the 
 balance of his creditors, he suspended and made an 
 assignment. The fact that the law did not provide 
 for his having possession of the city's money was 
 tortured into a criminal offense, and, as he refused to 
 give the city preference over his other creditors, severe 
 measures were resorted to to compel him to do so. lie 
 was firm, however, and insisted that, as he had given 
 up everything he possessed the amount should be 
 divided among his creditors alike. Pie declares this to 
 have been the most trying period of his life, and while 
 he and his friends felt proud of his conduct, the severe 
 strain he was obliged to pass through was such as few 
 men could stand. While it made his friends much 
 stronger, it gave his enemies for all time an oppor- 
 tunity to cast reflections upon him, and, as he said, 
 when anyone wished to throw mud at him, they could 
 easily manufacture the material by giving a one-sided 
 view of his old trouble. 
 
 At the time of his failure he lost a large interest 
 which he held in the Seventh and Ninth Street 
 Eailvvay Co., which had been 'in his possession since 
 1861, and which was sold to help pay his debts. In 
 1873, at the time of the Jay Cook failure, he 
 commenced the recuperation of his forces. His 
 business was rapidly growing at that period, and, 
 appreciating at once that Mr. Cook's suspension made 
 a very serious decline in everything, sold stocks 
 heavily before purchasing. Immense and quick profits 
 were the results of this wise measure, and he soon 
 found himself well established again. In 1875, he 
 purchased an interest in the Continental Passenger 
 Railway, of Philadelphia, and saw the value of the 
 stock rise from $15 a share to over $100. 
 
 In 1880 he made his first visit to Chicago. At that 
 time gold was coming from Europe in almost every 
 steamer which arrived at Philadelphia, still /noney 
 was not easy there. Inquiry developed the fact that 
 it was going West in plentiful quantities to Chicago. 
 The idea forced itself upon his mind that a new money 
 center was being formed, and from natural causes, and 
 he resolved to investigate. The result was that he 
 concluded to extend his investigations still further, 
 and, after returning to Philadelphia, he determined to 
 go to the Northwest for the purpose of observation and 
 inquiry. After visiting St. Paul, Minneapolis and 
 Duluth, he pushed on over the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, but was stopped by a severe snowstorm at 
 Fargo. It was here, sitting around the stove at the 
 hotel, that he listened to the tales of the boomer who 
 had arranged to make a grand Dakota demonstration 
 in the spring. The crops had been good and prices 
 high. No one, who has not had experience, can 
 realize the wonderful tales told under these circum- 
 stances. It was not long before he rejoined his 
 syndicate and bought out his associates. When 
 spring opened he built business blocks, dealt heavily in 
 
 563 
 
 North Dakota.- It is said the display of farm machinery 
 was the best ever made. All the large manufacturers 
 were represented. The shafting to run the machinery 
 was about, a quarter of a mile long. Having sold out 
 most of his Dakota interests, he came to Chicago in 1881, 
 and opened a banking house at the corner of La Salle 
 and Madison streets. This was operated in con- 
 junction with his house in Philadelphia, which was 
 managed by his partner. From the time of his advent 
 in Chicago, he looked with longing eyes on the street 
 railways, particularly on the North side; but it was 
 not until 1886 that he was enabled to enter into nego- 
 tiations for the necessary city permits. A satisfactory 
 arrangement was then made with the majority of the 
 stock- holders, and after associating with himself some 
 Chicago capitalists, and a few of his old friends in 
 Philadelphia, he took possession of the North Chicago 
 Street Railway Company. The company was com- 
 pletely reorganized, and, after many difficulties, in 
 which he was obliged to work single handed against 
 the most remarkable efforts of those who were jealous of 
 his appearance in the street railway field, he at. length 
 accomplished the reorganization and changed the 
 motive power from horse to cable; the greatest success 
 achieved being the utilizing of the old La Salle street 
 tunnel, which had almost entirely gone into disuse, 
 thereby overcoming the great detriment which was ex- 
 perienced by the people of the North side on account 
 of the swing bridges. Two years later he closed the 
 negotiations for the majority of the Chicago West 
 Division Railway Co. stock, and the company was 
 reorganized in the same manner as the North Side 
 road. 
 
 In all his business Mr. Yerkes acted with full au- 
 thority from his associates, and it is said their confi- 
 dence in his experience and management was such that 
 they refused to advise with him, but left him to act 
 entirely as his judgment should dictate. The result 
 showed the wisdom of their course. Notwithstanding 
 the fact that tempting offers have been made to him to 
 take hold of street railways in other localities he has 
 invariably refused. He is of the firm opinion that suc- 
 cess can best be accomplished by constant and undi- 
 vided attention to the properties of which he has taken 
 hold, and that small cities are unprofitable for the in- 
 troduction of improved systems of railroad management. 
 
 Mr. Yerkes is a Republican, although not an active 
 politician. He believes in a protective tariff for the 
 reason that while all articles used in his business would 
 be cheapened by free trade, yet he is of the opinion 
 that the prosperity of the country demands that labor 
 should be protected by such duty on imported goods 
 that our home manufacturers can compete with foreign 
 makers. 
 
 In 1881, Mr. Yerkes married Miss Mary Adelaide 
 Moore, daughter of Thomas Moore, of Philadelphia, 
 who had been for a number of years connected with 
 the firm of Powers & Weightman, 
 
 manufacturing 
 
 acre property, and organized the first fair held in chemists in that city.
 
 564 
 
 To his regular habits and abstemious life, he pro- 
 bably owes his remarkably well-preserved physical 
 condition. He has lived in the line of the old adage, 
 " early to bed and early to rise," and his life is one 
 which well proves the merits of the old saw which has 
 been handed down from Puritan days, for, while his 
 rank in regard to the latter part, concerning wealth, is 
 well known by all Chicago's citizens, the one concern- 
 ing health is exemplified in a degree equally striking, 
 for he has a ruddy, robust appearance, sustained by a 
 constitution which would indicate that, though he is 
 past the half-century mile-stone, for years to come he 
 will still be in the prime of life. What precision of 
 habit has accomplished in the way of physical develop- 
 ment, observation, application and cultivation have 
 brought about in his mental character. That he is a 
 quick thinker, a keen observer, and possesses a bright 
 intellectuality is told at a glance. His well rounded 
 head is indicative of the eveness nd fullness of his 
 mental development, and his dark piercing eye tells of 
 his power to perceive and the deep earnestness which 
 has been a characteristic of his life. There is with it 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 all, too, a firmness that is often mistaken for rigidity, 
 but to this seeming cloud, there is a silver lining, which 
 constantly stands out in bold relief to those who know 
 him best. 
 
 As the world sees him he is a calm, austere, 
 pushing business man, but, as he is seen after office 
 hours at his home, or in the social circle, he is a most 
 genial companion, and presents a nature radiant with 
 pleasantry. He has very little taste for society, how- 
 ever, and, as a consequence, is almost a stranger to 
 club life. In fact, he is very seldom seen away from 
 his home and family after his day's business. He is 
 devoted to his fireside, revels in home life, and is a 
 lover of the beautiful. To him, his pictures rare 
 works of art with which his galleries abound, his 
 conservatories, and other objects of home beauty, are 
 open books. He reads them with a peculiar delight, 
 and finds in them a soothing influence, which not only 
 wears off the effect of the day's contact with the busy 
 world, but sweetens his life with their sublimity and 
 renews his mind for the labor which the successive 
 mornings bring. 
 
 G. F. PUTNAM, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 
 
 GF. PUTNAM, son of John and Almira (French) 
 . Putnam, was born at Croyden, N. H., on the 
 6th day of November, 1841. He received a good 
 common school education and afterwards attended 
 Thetford Academy, and also Norwich University, from 
 which he graduated. After graduation he decided 
 upon the study of law and for that purpose entered the 
 office of N. B. Felton at Haverhill, New Hampshire. 
 
 In 1867, on the first of January, after passing a 
 creditable examination, he was duly admitted to prac- 
 tice at the bar. He commenced his law practice at 
 Haverhill, New Hampshire, where he had a large and 
 lucrative list of clients, but two years later decided to 
 enlarge his field of operations and removed to Warren, 
 in the same State. He remained in Warren until 1877 
 when he moved back to Haverhill and was actively and 
 profitably engaged in the practice of his profession 
 until 1882, when he left New Hampshire and removed 
 to Kansas City, Missouri. In his new home he 
 immediately set to work to gain the confidence of the 
 people and to build up a practice, in which he succeeded, 
 and it may be said of him that during the five years 
 that he was actively engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession there he won for himself a position in the con- 
 fidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens second to none 
 in Western Missouri. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Putnam abandoned the practice of law 
 and went into the banking business, in which he has been 
 engaged ever since, being now president of the Ameri- 
 can National Bank at Kansas City. Under his careful 
 management the business of his bank has been largely 
 
 increased and his judgment in matters of finance is as 
 eagerly sought as were his opinions on the law. Polit- 
 ically, he is a believer in the teachings of the immortal 
 Jefferson, and has always taken an active interest in 
 political work. He was elected to represent Haverhill 
 in the New Hampshire legislature for the General 
 Assemblies of 1868 and 1869. After removing to 
 Warren he represented that town in the legislature in 
 1870, 1871 and 1872, and was Democratic candidate 
 for speaker of the house in 1869 and 1870. He was 
 the prosecuting attorney of Grafton county, New 
 Hampshire, during the years 1874 and 1875. 
 
 He has always taken great interest in educational 
 matters and had charge of the schools at Warren during 
 the entire time of his residence there. A member of the 
 Unitarian church he 'is broad and liberal in his views 
 and takes a lively interest in charitable work. 
 
 On the 22d day of December, 1868, Mr. Putnam 
 was married to Miss Mary R. Reding, of Haverhill. 
 N. II. They have no children. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Putnam is very popular, both in 
 social and business circles and his many friends know no 
 greater pleasure than that given them by his presence, 
 his magnetism giving to his personality a warmth that 
 draws to him old and young alike. Mr. Putnam is 
 still a young man in the prime of life and it seems 
 impossible for him to drop out of public life in which 
 he is so well fitted to serve. It is said that his many 
 friends will soon demand that he again enter the arena 
 of politics and serve them as he did those in his early 
 home in New Hampshire,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 HON. VAN HOLLIS HIGGINS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 567 
 
 THE subject of this biography was a nativeof Gene- 
 see county, New York, born February 20, 1821, 
 the son of David and Eunice (Sackett) Higgins. His 
 father was a native of East Iladdam, Conn., and a 
 farmer by occupation, who settled in Cayuga county, 
 New York, in 1814, and died there in 1827. His 
 mother was a native of Vermont. Davkl and Eunice 
 Higgins had eight sons, of whom our subject was the 
 fifth. 
 
 Young Pliggins received his primary education in 
 the public schools of Auburn and Seneca Falls, N. Y.. 
 and at the early age of twelve years became a clerk in 
 the store of an elder brother. Four years later, in 1837, 
 he came to Chicago, where his brother, A. D. Higgins, 
 had established himself in 1835 as proprietor of a gen- 
 eral store, and with whom he associated himself for 
 a time. Chicago then had less than five thousand in- 
 habitants. Later, in the winter of 1837-38, young 
 Higgins taught a district school in Vermilion county, 
 111., with much success. Prior to this time his brother 
 had become publisher of the Missouri Argus, a daily 
 paper of St. Louis, then a prosperous city .of some fif- 
 teen thousand inhabitants, and in the*spring of 1839 
 our subject went there and spent a year in newspaper 
 work. He afterwards engaged in mercantile business 
 at St. Louis on his own account, and although his busi- 
 ness was a financial success he was not satisfied, and, 
 yielding to along cherished desire to enter the legal 
 profession, he sold out his business and turned his at- 
 tention to the study of law. 
 
 In the spring of 1842, being then twenty-one years 
 of age, he went to Iroquois county, 111., and there con- 
 tinued his legal studies, and a few months later was 
 duly admitted to the bar. He practiced one year at 
 Middleport, and in 1845 removed to Galena, III., where, 
 in the following year, he associated himself with O. C. 
 Pratt, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of 
 Oregon, and later judge of one of the district courts at 
 San Francisco, Gal. This partnership continued until 
 1849, after which Mr. Iliggins continued his practice 
 alone until 1852. During his residence in Galena he 
 was for two years city attorney, and filled the office in 
 a highly satisfactory manner. 
 
 Returning to Chicago, which had grown to be a 
 city of thirty thousand inhabitants, he soon afterwards 
 formed a partnership with Messrs. Corydon Beckwith 
 and B. F. Strother, under the firm name of Higgins, 
 Beckwith & Strother. The firm prospered from the 
 start and soon came to be regarded as one of Chi- 
 cago's leading and prominent legal firms. Mr. Iliggins 
 had never sought the honors or emoluments of office, 
 although from the beginning of his career he had taken 
 a great interest in political matters. With the more 
 intelligent class of his fellow-citizens, by whom lie was 
 naturally looked to as a leader, he was opposed to the 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the extension 
 
 of slavery, and upon the formation of the Republican 
 party in 1856, he became identified with it, and two 
 years later was elected to the lower house of the 
 Illinois Legislature on the Republican ticket. In the 
 Legislature he held a commanding position, and at the 
 close of his term he was elected judge of the superior 
 court of Chicago by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 During the period of the civil war, Judge Higgins 
 was conspicuous for his zeal in the cause of the Union. 
 He was a warm personal friend and supporter of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, and of the measures inaugurated by those 
 who were in accord with the president in his work of 
 saving the Union. He was largely instrumental in 
 forming the Union Defense Committee of Chicago, 
 which rendered such efficient service and contributed 
 so largely to the success of the Union cause. Judge 
 Higgins was prominent as a member of the Executive 
 Committee of this organization, and by his counsels 
 and work rendered service in raising and equipping 
 recruits, furnishing supplies and clothing, helping the 
 sick and wounded, and looking after the families of 
 those who went to the front. 
 
 In the fall of 1865, Judge Higgins resigned from the 
 bench and formed a law partnership with the Hon. Leo- 
 nard Swett, and Col. David Quigg,under the firm name of 
 Iliggins, Swett and Quigg. This relationship continued 
 until 1872, when he withdrew from the firm to accept 
 the presidency of the Babcock Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. Four years later, on January 1, 1876, he with- 
 drew from active participation in the affairs of this 
 company, and took charge of the financial department 
 of the Charter Oak Life Insurance of Hartford for the 
 Western States. From 1880 to the time of his death, 
 April 17, 1893, Judge Higgins was president of the 
 National Life Insurance Company of the United States, 
 the only life insurance chartered by congress. He was 
 also president of the Fidelity Safe Deposit Company of 
 Chicago ; was a member of the Chicago and of the 
 American Bar Associations and of the American Acad- 
 emy of Politcal and Social Science, aud was one of the 
 charter members of the Chicago Historical Society. He 
 also held membership in the Kenwood Club, the Wash- 
 ington Park Club, the Union League Club, and was 
 president of the Hyde Park Suburban Club. Through- 
 out his busy life, Judge Iliggins has been an enthusias- 
 tic lover of mechanical arts, and has devoted much time 
 to mechanical pursuits, and in gratifying his tastes in 
 this direction has invented and patented a number of 
 important mechanical appliances. 
 
 Endowed by nature with a logical and judicial 
 mind, Judge Higgins engaged in his professional work 
 with a zeal and love that led to the highest attainments 
 and won for him an honorable name. He was noted 
 for painstaking in the preparation of his cases, and by 
 reason of his thorough knowledge of the law, and ex- 
 ceptionally tenacious memory, performed his profes-
 
 5 68 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 sional work with an ease that marked him master of 
 the situation. He was enabled to recall decision and 
 precedent at will, and on the bench was able to dis- 
 patch the business of his court with rapidity. As a 
 judge he dealt with law not merely in the abstract, but 
 applied its principles with discretion and justice, in 
 which he was greatly aided by his thorough acquaint- 
 ance with business and business methods. In judicial 
 manner he was courteous and affable, patient and 
 attentive to all. A point presented, though new and 
 seemingly opposed to the current authority, received 
 his careful attention, and if reason justified, was fear- 
 lessly sustained. 
 
 In personal appearance Judge Higgins was tall and 
 well-proportioned, with a commanding t and dignified 
 bearing, and a cast of features marked by firmness of 
 character, yet softened by culture and natural amia- 
 bility of manner. He was a very busy man, but always 
 
 thorough in whatever he engaged, making himself 
 master of the subject. He was public spirited, large 
 hearted and high-minded, alike in public and in private 
 life, and, very naturally, his circle of warm personal 
 friends was a large one. 
 
 Judge Higgins has been twice married: first in 1847 
 to Mrs. E. S. Alexander, of Jacksonville, 111., who died 
 in 1882, and again in 1883, when he was married to 
 Miss Lena Isabel Morse, a daughter of Mr. A. C. Morse, 
 of San Francisco, Cal., who survives him. Judge 
 Higgins was attached to his family, and though he 
 enjoyed the society of his friends at social gatherings 
 and was always genial in his companionships, yet his 
 greatest delight was in the society of his family, sur- 
 rounded with the evidences of culture which his home 
 always afforded. After a long, eventful and useful life, 
 the name of Judge Higgins will be held in grateful re- 
 membrance in Chicago and elsewhere, wherever known. 
 
 FREDERICK A. PIPER, 
 
 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. 
 
 CREDERICK A. PIPER was born on the third 
 day of May, 1851, in Muehlhausen, in the 
 province of Waldeck, Prussia. His father was Fred- 
 erick William Piper, and his mother Johanne Waldeck. 
 His parents were married in Muehlhausen in the year 
 1840. The family came to the United States in 1853 
 and located in San Antonio, where his father obtained 
 remunerative employment as a carpenter and builder. 
 The family consisted of young Piper and two elder 
 brothers. 
 
 Young Frederick received a common school 
 education from 1858 to 1864, that being the only kind 
 of education that his parents at that time were-able to 
 give him, and that was interrupted by the war of the 
 Rebellion. On this account, in 1864, he was compelled, 
 on account of the closing of the schools, to study at home, 
 which he did assiduously and diligently for several 
 months and until he entered the employ of the firm of 
 Webb, Arbuckle & Co., wholesale dry goods dealers, 
 with whom he remained until the failure of the firm, 
 which occurred in 1866. During this time he received 
 from five to fifteen dollars per month, entering their 
 service at the former figure and leaving it when given 
 the latter sum. 
 
 In the spring of the following year young Piper 
 entered the service of the hardware firm of Norton & 
 Deutz, whomhe served faithfully for ten years, entering 
 it at the bottom of the ladder and retiring from it when 
 he was the trusted and accredited representative of that 
 company, and enjoying their thorough confidence and 
 regard. The last five years that he spent with them he 
 was engaged in the onerous and hazardous pursuit of 
 traveling for them over the southwestern and frontier 
 portion of Texas and in the northern portion of Mexico. 
 
 All of this territory was then infested with the 
 Mescalero and Apache Indian tribes, who were con- 
 stantly committing barbarous depredations, and this 
 same country was also overrun with desperadoes and 
 bandits who never hesitated at murder and robbery, the 
 common calling of both. Some idea may be formed of 
 the constant danger and privation that young Piper 
 was constantly subjected to when we state that he was 
 not only charged with the taking of orders for goods 
 for his employers, in which he was eminently successful, 
 but had also to make all of the collections from the 
 customers. He was compelled to travel with his own 
 conveyance, as then it was impossible to obtain the 
 hire of either horses or a vehicle in the territory over 
 which he traveled. He was also burdened with all the 
 wav from $5,000 to $10,000 in coin, as at that time it 
 was the universal custom to liquidate all indebtedness 
 in silver, and the Mexican silver dollar was the current 
 circulating medium. Its bulk, therefore, handicapped 
 both Piper and his team, especially as the latter was 
 frequently driven over long distances of that arid area 
 without water or food, rendering escape, when attacked 
 by either Indians or outlaws, very difficult, and he 
 therefore had many hairbreadth escapes. 
 
 These trips, which lasted from sixty to two hundred 
 days, necessitated a continuous absence for such long 
 periods of time that they subjected his wife and family 
 to almost constant alarm. At the earnest solicitation 
 of Mrs. Piper he was therefore induced to forego this 
 hazardous pursuit, and in March 1, 1877, resigned his 
 position with the company and moved to Uvalde, a 
 village of 1,200 inhabitants then, and the county seat 
 of the county of the same name. Here he engaged in 
 a general merchandizing business on his own account,
 
 on HE 
 
 RS\TV Of
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 571 
 
 with a small stock of goods, costing but $2,000, and 
 which he purchased on credit. This stock and estab- 
 lishment he handled so judiciously that he prospered, 
 and continued to do so to such an extent that within 
 less than five years his business had so increased that 
 he handled a quarter of a million of dollars worth of 
 business and stock annually and with success. 
 
 In addition to this line of trade, in 1881, Mr. Piper 
 embarked in the cattle business, associating with him 
 Mr. V. M. West, under the firm style of Piper & West, 
 their ranch embracing over 36,000 acres of land under . 
 fence, and over 4,000 head of cattle, horses and other 
 live stock. 
 
 In 1889 he returned to San Antonio with his family 
 for the purpose of educating his children. During the 
 latter year he associated with him in the general mer- 
 chandizing and banking business, at Ulvalde, Gus 
 Mueller and G. T. Nunn. In this enterprise $100,000 
 are invested, thus affording himself more time to over- 
 see his various ventures and interests. In 1891 Mr. 
 Piper also engaged in the hardware business at Uvalde, 
 the firm style being Piper & Hornier, and the capital 
 $15,000. During the same year he also entered into 
 another partnership in the cattle and ranch business, 
 then associating with him in the enterprise, Messrs. V. 
 and O. Ellis, the capital invested being over $75,000. 
 In 1892 he organized the Merchants' Transfer company 
 of San Antonio, which was incorporated under the 
 laws of the state of Texas, and had a paid up capital of 
 $10,000. During the same year he also engaged in the 
 wool commission business, forming a co-partnership 
 with Mr. Casper G. Feldtmann, a well known and 
 highly successful handler of wool, the firm being Piper 
 & Feldtmann, and the capital of the firm, also paid up, 
 being $15,000. 
 
 Mr. Piper was married on November 26th, 1874, to 
 Miss Minna Horner, the daughter of the late Honor- 
 able George Horner, ex-alderman of San Antonio, she 
 
 being one of fourteen children of that family. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Piper have been blessed with six children, four 
 boys and two girls, their ages ranging from seven to 
 eighteen years. 
 
 Mr. Piper has never taken any very active part in 
 politics but has always been a Democrat. He never 
 sought or cared to hold any office, but was induced by 
 his constituency to accept the position of alderman of 
 Uvalde, to which position they elected him in 1887, 
 and re elected him in 1889. He served creditably 
 and satisfactorily until the latter year, when he 
 resigned, upon his removal with his familv to San 
 Antonio. 
 
 He is a man of fine personal appearance, having a 
 magnificent frame and a pleasing address; his habits 
 are steady and exemplary; he possesses excellent exec- 
 tive ability and remarkably good judgment, and is 
 universally recognized as an able financier. In de- 
 meanor he is modest and unassuming, and his tastes 
 are refined and tending to domesticity, as he has 
 always preferred the quiet and society of his home and 
 family to any other. He is a member of local lodge 
 216 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 
 having joined that order in September, 1892; also of 
 the San Antonio Turn Verein, and of the Beethofur 
 Maennerchor. While not a member of any particular 
 church he has always been a liberal supporter of 
 churches, and is well known as one who never refuses 
 an appeal for charity. He is one of the best known 
 and popular men in his section of Texas, being public 
 spirited, progressive and enterprising. He owes his 
 present prosperity to his own efforts ; being in every 
 sense of the word a self-made man. While being con- 
 nected with many of the best enterprises that have 
 been consummated in southwest Texas during the past 
 ten or fifteen years, he is one of the last to make dis- 
 play of his wealth and standing, and always conceals, 
 as much as possible, his well known liberality. 
 
 WILLIAM HARVEY WINANTS, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 
 
 WILLIAM HARVEY WINANTS, son of Harvey 
 Lee and Cornelia Z. (Elmendorf) Winants, was 
 born at Penn Yan, Yates county, N. Y., on the 16th of 
 October, 1845. 
 
 He attended the public schools at Penn Yan until 
 1853, when his father went to Rochester, where he was 
 connected with the Rochester Union- Advertiser in an 
 editorial capacity, and the youth attended school there 
 until 1857, when his father went to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 where he was connected with the Gazette, and also the 
 Cincinnati Enquirer. Young Winants was attending 
 school in Cincinnati, when the war broke out, but left 
 school in the spring of 1861 and enlisted in the Second 
 Ohio Regiment, and was. immediately ordered into 
 
 duty on the line between Ohio and Virginia, in the 
 vicinity of Parkersburg. He remained in the service 
 in different commands until the close of the war, in 
 1865, when he went to Kansas City, Mo., and engaged 
 in mercantile business. A little over a year later he 
 secured employment in the First National Bank of 
 Kansas City, occupying at first a subordinate position, 
 from which however he was rapidly advanced from 
 one position to another until the suspension of the 
 bank in 1878. 
 
 Shortly after this event, and while serving as clerk 
 for Col. Kersey Coates,-assignee of the Mastin Bank, 
 he became connected with Armour Bros. Banking 
 Company, in September, 1878. Here he was soon
 
 572 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 made cashier and remained continuously until its con- 
 solidation in January, 1889, with the Midland National 
 Bank, of which he has since been cashier. 
 
 In the spring of 1877 he was elected to represent 
 the fifth ward in the common council of Kansas City ; 
 in 1878 he was elected president of the council and 
 served in that capacity during the year, frequently 
 acting as mayor during the absence of that official. He 
 has also been director and treasurer of the Kansas 
 City Board .of Trade since July, 1886. He was a 
 member of the first G. A. R. post organized in Kansas 
 City, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias 
 and of the Elks. In political matters he has always 
 been a Republican, having cast his first vote for the 
 candidates of that party. He has visited nearly every 
 
 part of the United States, and in the summer of 1891 
 he, with his wife, made a trip to Europe, visiting Eng- 
 land, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland 
 and Belgium. During his service as a soldier he was 
 twice captured by the confederates, but both times 
 managed to escape before being sent to Richmond. 
 
 He was marrieci, February 25, 186S, to Emma A.. 
 Christie, of Kansas City. Mr. Winants has had to 
 carve out his own fortune, and that he has been suc- 
 cessful can be credited to himself alone. His first 
 experience in life for himself was in the service of his 
 country, which service left him but little better off in 
 this world's goods than when he entered it, and then 
 going resolutely to work he has, step by step, raised 
 himself to his present high position of honor and trust. 
 
 LON. V. STEPHENS, 
 
 BOONVILLE, MISSOURI. 
 
 T^ROMINENT among the men of our country who 
 1 have attained high honor and distinction in early 
 manhood is " Lon " V. Stephens, the present treasurer 
 of Missouri. Mr. Stephens is the youngest of Missouri's 
 State officers, and has alread}' won a national reputation 
 as one of the nation's ablest financiers. 
 
 Lawrence Vest Stephens was born in Boonville, 
 Mo., December 21, 1858. He is descended from an old 
 and honored pioneer family that came to the State at a 
 very early day. His paternal grandfather was Law- 
 rence C. Stephens, who for many years was one of the 
 most prominent farmer citizens. He was sit one time 
 president of the county court of Cooper county, and 
 afterward represented the county in the State legisla- 
 ture. Joseph Lafayette Stephens, the father of the 
 subject of the present sketch, was a man of extraordi- 
 nary abilit}'. Few men of his time were better known 
 throughout the state and' none more universally and 
 highly esteemed. He was an extensive banker, a suc- 
 cessful business man, a capitalist of large means and a 
 lawyer with an extensive practice. Col. J. L. Stephens 
 married Miss Martha Gibson, a native of Cooper 
 county, and of that union seven children were born, 
 six of whom are yet living, and all except the subject 
 of this sketch and Mrs. Abiel Leonard, of Marshall, Mo., 
 reside in Boonville. They are W. Speed Stephens, 
 cashier and director of the Central National Bank; 
 Alexander H. Stephens, teller and director of the 
 Central National; Mrs. Rhoda Stephens Johnson and 
 Miss Margaret B. Stephens. 
 
 Lon. V. Stephens received a very practical educa- 
 tion. He was a student for some time in the Kemper 
 family school of Boonville, and also in Cooper Insti- 
 tute, of that city. He afterwards attended the 
 Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Va , 
 where he took a course in law. Upon returning home he 
 entered his father's bank, the Central National, of , 
 
 Boonville, where he received a practical and thorough 
 instruction in banking. So readily did his mind grasp 
 the details of the business that he soon became book- 
 keeper, and two years after that promotion was 
 selected assistant cashier and director. Lon. Stephens 
 and his brother Speed soon became widely known 
 throughout Central Missouri as prominent bankers and 
 successful business men. Upon the death of their 
 father they qualified by giving a million dollar bond as 
 administrators of his estate, and in managing this large 
 property gave general satisfaction to all interested. 
 They were appointed financial agents of many of the 
 central Missouri counties to refund their bonded 
 indebtedness. Their work as such agents was well 
 done, and met with universal approval. 
 
 In October, 1880, Mr. Stephens was married to 
 Miss Margaret Nelson, the youngest daughter of 
 Mr. James M. Nelson, a wealthy capitalist of Boon- 
 ville, and sister of Mr. Louis C. Nelson, president of 
 the St. Louis National Bank. She was then the belle 
 of Boonville, and was well known for her beauty, lib- 
 eral culture and varied accomplishments, both in Mis- 
 souri and in the East, where she was educated. Mrs. 
 Stephens' only sister is Mrs. Chas. E. Leonard, the 
 handsome and cultured wife of the president of the 
 Central National Bank of Boonville. 
 
 In 1887 the Fifth National Bank of St. Louis closed 
 its doors. The great banking house at once passed 
 into the hands of the Comptroller of the Currency, and 
 from the meagre information that could be obtained, 
 it was thought that the institution would be able to pay 
 but a very small per cent, on its deposits. There were 
 several thousand depositors, who believed that the 
 affairs of the broken bank were in a hopeless condition, 
 and that they had lost everything. The bank exami- 
 ner in charge announced it to be almost a total wreck, 
 and doubted whether over twenty cents on the dollar
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 575 
 
 could be realized from it. At this critical juncture, 
 Lon. V. Stephens, the Boonville banker, was recom- 
 mended by Senator Geo. G. Vest and other leading 
 financiers of Missouri, as the proper man for receiver. 
 Mr. Stephens was then but twenty-eight years of age, 
 but such was the confidence in his financial ability and 
 integrity that the suggestion of his name in connec- 
 tion with the position was soon followed by his ap- 
 pointment. Never were the dilapidated affairs of a 
 broken bank more successfully and satisfactorily man- 
 aged. Within three months fifty per cent, of the de- 
 positors' claims were secured, and when the receiver's 
 herculean yet delicate task was finished, the men who 
 had entrusted their fortunes to the bank had received 
 ninety-eight cents for every dollar they had there 
 deposited. In the point of money secured for depos- 
 itors. Mr. Stephens made the best record in adjusting 
 the claims in this bank ever made in the history of 
 the Treasury department. 
 
 Three years later the country was startled to learn 
 that the treasurer of Missouri had defaulted, having a 
 deficit of over $30,000. Again there was a demand 
 throughout the State fora man of extraordinary finan- 
 cial ability, and one in whom the people of the State 
 had implicit confidence. All eyes turned to Lon. V. 
 Stephens as the man most competent to fill the high 
 position under such disadvantageous circumstances, to 
 restore confidence and bring order and system out of 
 the financial chaos. It was no surprise, therefore, when 
 Governor Francis appointed the brilliant young banker 
 to the office declared vacant by default, and by so do- 
 ing, sat before him one of the most important and del- 
 icate duties a civil officer was ever called on to perform. 
 Mr. Stephens at once qualified for his arduous duties as 
 State treasurer. He was required to give a bond of 
 $500,000. The bond he gave aggregated over $10,000,- 
 000, notwithstanding the fact that he did not ask a 
 single man whose name appeared on that instrument to 
 affix his signature thereto. His bondsmen were mostly 
 taxpayers of Cooper county (Mr. Stephens' home) and 
 were old friends and neighbors of the treasurer, who 
 were anxious to show their high regard and confidence 
 in him by risking their all on his bond, and that too at 
 a time when all over the country, North, East, South 
 and West, State treasurers had defaulted and brought 
 ruin on their bondsmen. Mr. Stephens' administration 
 of the affairs of the treasury department fully met the 
 sanguine expectations of his most enthusiastic friends 
 and admirers, and was brilliant and satisfactory to all 
 the people of the State. His excellent record gave him 
 a national reputation as an able, energetic, intelligent 
 financier of the strictest integrity, and received the en- 
 dorsement of the Democratic party in Missouri, which 
 before the next State election, nominated him to become 
 his own successor, over the candidacy of one of the 
 strongest men in the State. Mr. Stephens' great pop- 
 ularity was also shown in the general election that fol- 
 lowed. The official count revealed the fact that he had 
 received one of the largest votes ever given a candi- 
 
 date for a Missouri State office. Mr. Stephens was 
 an aid-de-camp on the staff of the late Gov. John 
 S. Marmaduke, and was paymaster-general on the 
 stiiff of Gov. D. E. Francis, of both of whom he 
 was a personal friend. His public spirit has been 
 repeatedly shown in the active interest he has 
 always taken in every public enterprise in Boonville, 
 and in central Missouri, all charities finding in him a 
 liberal contributor. At various times he has donated 
 large sums to Central College, Fayette, Mo., the chief 
 educational institution for young men of the Southern 
 Methodist church in the state; has been for a number 
 of years a member of its board of curators, and was one 
 of the founders of Stephens' Scientific Hall, which 
 bears his name. He is a Mason in high standing, and 
 a Knight Templar. In politics, he has ever been a 
 staunch, conservative Democrat, active and liberal in 
 the interest of his party, and true and faithful to friends 
 at all times and under all circumstances. 
 
 Possessing a versatile mind, and a quick, nervous 
 temperament, Mr. Stephens turned his attention, in early 
 life, to several vocations, in each of which he became 
 very proficient, and met with marked success. He 
 learned telegraphy, and became an expert telegraph 
 operator and typewriter. He also learned the printers' 
 trade, and f .r a number of years was editor and pub- 
 lisher of the Boonville Advertiser, one of the best and 
 most influential weekly newspapers in the state. As 
 a writer, his style is direct and pointed, and the pro- 
 ductions of his facile pen never fail to interest his 
 readers. In debate he is a doughty antagonist, and 
 when the occasion demands it, never hesitates to handle 
 every subject and every opponent without gloves. One 
 of the best speeches of his life was'his address on the 
 banking system, resources and finances of Missouri, 
 delivered before the World's Congress of Bankers and 
 Financiers in Chicago, in June, 1893, during the Colum- 
 bian Exposition. Men who have made this subject a 
 life study pronounce this speech to be the most concise 
 and true statement of Missouri's finances and financial 
 history ever written. 
 
 Mr. Stephens is yet a young man, but has already 
 made for himself and for his State a record as a public 
 servant which, in point of brilliancy and faithfulness, 
 has never been surpassed by the most distinguished 
 financiers of our country. He represents politically 
 the dominant opinions, the best thoughts of the great 
 West. No man in Missouri to-day is better known or 
 universally held in higher esteem than he. Already 
 his services to his party, to his State, and to his 
 generation have been so varied and important, that 
 they will be one of the best legacies ever bequeathed 
 to that people who are proud to call themselves 
 Missourians. 
 
 Lon. V. Stephens is doubtless only on the threshold 
 of his life's distinguished career. His name has already 
 been prominently mentioned in connection with the 
 next gubernatorial race, and he is generally believed to 
 be one of the strongest men politically in the State.
 
 576 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 WILLIAM REMSEN SMITH, M. D, 
 
 SIOUX CITY, IOWA. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch has been a potent factor, 
 not only in the realm of his chosen profession, 
 but nearly every branch of industry, every social 
 relation, every work of charity, together with what- 
 ever goes toward making men and women happier and 
 better, has had the benefit of his sympathy and efforts. 
 
 Coming to Iowa nine years after it was admitted to 
 the Union, when the great Missouri valley was largely 
 a wilderness that had just been vacated by the Indians, 
 Dr.Smith,has been socially and professionally connected 
 with the comings and goings of each pioneer settlement 
 in his vicinity. He has called upon the sick, facing the 
 blinding storms, as far east as Cherokee; and has. gone 
 from thirty to fifty miles into Dakota and Nebraska. 
 Although the Doctor has now laid aside the old-time 
 saddle bags and retired from active practice, yet his 
 genial ways have not changed during these long event- 
 ful years ; and while time has left its marks upon him 
 and changed his brown locks to a silvery hue, yet. like 
 the warm autumnal sun, shedding its light over the 
 landscape, does the kindness and sunshine of his nature 
 still shed light and warmth upon all around him. 
 
 William liemsen Smith was born at Barnegat, 
 Ocean county, N. J., December 30, 1828. His father, 
 Daniel Smith, a wheelwright by trade, died when the 
 son was seven years old, and the boy spent the next 
 eight years with his grandfather, alternating between 
 labor on a farm and a little mental work in the school- 
 room. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Boude. 
 At sixteen William went to New York city to learn 
 the saddlery and harness trade, but before he had com- 
 pleted his apprenticeship he followed his mother and 
 stepfather, James Collins, a prominent" member of the 
 Society of Friends, to Macon, Mich. There young 
 Smith spent three years in working at his trade and 
 teaching. About the time he was of age he returned 
 to New York city, studied medicine under Dr. Wm. 
 Detmold, attended three courses of lectures at the old 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons, and then returned 
 to Macon. There he practiced three years, in partner- 
 ship with Dr. Joseph Howell, an experienced physician 
 and a most estimable man. 
 
 In 1856, Dr. Smith removed to Sioux City, Iowa. 
 Here he practiced medicine very diligently for eleven 
 years, building up an excellent reputation and a wide 
 practice, often having more and longer rides than he 
 desired. In those early days duty often called him to 
 other than professional labors. In the spring of 1861, 
 when there were Indian troubles in the vicinitv of 
 Sioux City, Dr. Smith served as first lieutenant of a 
 company of mounted riflemen, and was on duty until 
 relieved the following autumn by a company of United 
 States soldiers. About this time he was also appointed 
 government surgeon, holding that position until 18(53. 
 When the Indian outbreak occurred in Minnesota in 
 August, 1862, sending a thrill of terror among the 
 
 residents on the frontier, he was made chairman of the 
 vigilance committee for protection, and gave whatever 
 time was required to the duties of his position. The 
 following winter he was sent by Gov. Kirk wood, in 
 connection with the late Dr. Brooks, of Des Moines, on 
 a tour of sanitary inspection among the Iowa troops, 
 in which mission he visited the army then lying in 
 front of Vicksburg, and afterward did his best to 
 emphasize the general and strong appeal for vegetables, 
 then so indispensable for the relief of our suffering 
 soldiers. . 
 
 Very naturally, the ability and energy of a man like 
 Dr. Smith has marked him for many public positions 
 of honor and trust. In March, 1863, he was elected 
 mayor of Sioux 'City, and two months later was ap- 
 pointed surgeon of the board of enrollment of the 
 sixth congressional district, serving in the last named 
 capacity until December, 1864. Several years after 
 the Rebellion closed he was examining surgeon for the 
 pension bureau. He was again elected may or of Sioux 
 City in 1881, and on July 15, 1865, he was appointed 
 receiver of public moneys of the United States land 
 office at that place, which position he held until the 
 office was abolished in 1878, excepting for a short time 
 during Andrew Johnson's administration. The re- 
 newal of his appointment four times shows the esteem 
 in which he was held by the authorities of the govern- 
 ment. During one year he had charge of over a mil- 
 lion dollars in money received on land sales. But few 
 men having such large amounts of business passing 
 through their hands have come through unscathed and 
 with a satisfactory record of their official proceedings. 
 Mr. Smith was one of the incorporators of the First 
 National Bank of Sioux City and of the Sioux City & 
 St. Paul and Sioux City & Pembina railroads. In edu- 
 cational matters he has ever manifested great interest, 
 and has been a member of the local board of education 
 for many years. He was also vice-president of the 
 first Sioux City building association, and has served as 
 director of the State Horticultural Society. In most 
 enterprises calculated to promote the interest of his 
 city and State, Dr. Smith has been viligent and untir- 
 ing. In 1878 he was appointed by Governor Gear as 
 one of the honorary commissioners of the State of 
 Iowa to the Paris Exposition, and during his tour 
 made extensive travels through Europe. His final 
 report was well received and found place in many 
 American and ^European newspapers and periodicals. 
 He also acted as correspondent for the Mark Lane 
 !'..! l>i'tss of London for some years. In 1880 he was 
 made an honorary member of the Cobden Club, and 
 two year later took an active part in that part of 
 American politics which dwelt with "tariff reform," 
 and which has been a living issue ever since. He was 
 also a charter member of the New York Reform 
 Club. In ISS-i he, with his family, visited Europe,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 579 
 
 and repeated the visit again in 1889. During his stay 
 there in 1884, he was made an honorary member of 
 the Keform Club, while in London. This was at the 
 instance of James Howard, M.P., of Bedfordshire, and 
 seconded by the great cominoner, John Bright. In 
 1885 he was one of the movers in the organization of 
 the Unity Church at Sioux City, and was president. of 
 its board for five years, and with a few others was 
 largeh^ instrumental in establishing the society here 
 and in rearing its edifice. 
 
 Up to 1886 the doctor lived on an eighty-acre farm 
 within the corporate limits of the city. It was well 
 stocked with fruit, planted with forest and ornamental 
 trees, situated on a high elevation overlooking the city 
 and affording a fine view of the picturesque bluffs of 
 the Missouri river ; but at the above date he platted 
 his farm into town lots, recording it as "Smith's Villa," 
 which to-day has come to be one of the most charming 
 residence spots in the city. Magnificent houses are 
 completed, and others in course of erection, here and 
 there, all over the tract that but a few years ago was a 
 farm. 
 
 In 1890 the doctor and his family moved out of 
 the old house into his new one, where he and his esti- 
 mable family enjoyed the comforts and blessings of an 
 elegant home. He has since built, however, a very fine 
 and large stone residence. Of his more personal rela- 
 tions it may be stated that Dr. Smith is a Republican 
 in politics, but averse to that unreasoning partisanship 
 which places party fealty above principles. 
 
 He was married on July 12, 1859, to Miss Rebecca 
 Osborne, of Macon, Mich., who has been a true help- 
 
 meet and a most excellent, exemplary lady. They have 
 had eight sons, three of whom are living: Milton P., 
 Remsen, and R. H. Burton. 
 
 Dr. Smith's ancestry on his father's side, John and 
 Mary Smith, came to New York from England in 1670. 
 Afterward they bought a plantation in Middletown, 
 N. J., the warrant of which is dated 1676. John 
 Smith's will bears date December 29, 1714, and enu- 
 merates seven children, William being the eldest and 
 chief heir. His son, the second William Smith, was 
 married in 1728, and died in 1770. Among his ten 
 children was the third William Smith, the great-grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch. He lived during 
 the war of the Revolution; and among other depriv- 
 ations, the records state that he suffered a loss of 
 138 16s 6d. His son, Daniel Smith, was born in 
 1768 and died in 1750, and this Daniel Smith's son, 
 Daniel Smith, Jr., the father of William R. Smith, was 
 born in Middletown township, Monmouth county, N.J., 
 June 2, 1801, and died in Middlesex county, N. J., 
 April 28, 1836. His ancestry on his mother's side, who 
 were of Scotch descent, came to America quite early, 
 as it is understood, for taking a too active interest in 
 the claim of one of the "pretenders" to the throne of 
 England. . They and their descendants settled and 
 became large owners of the sandy tract of country 
 which now constitutes Long Branch and adjacent 
 localities, in New Jersey. He had one brother, the 
 late John Milton Smith, of Peotone, 111., who died in' 
 January, 1869, leaving a family of five children, who 
 came to Iowa to reside with their uncle, their mother 
 having died one year previously. 
 
 WESLEY ASBERY DUNN, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WESLEY ASBERY DUNN was born at Marion, 
 Ind., July 19, 1858. He was the son of John 
 and Mianda (Bryant) Dunn. His father was born in 
 Virginia, coming of an old Virginia family, which dates 
 back to the earliest colonial times. He served in the 
 war of 1S12. in the dangerous capacity of military 
 scout. After his retirement from the secret service of 
 his country, he returned to his private life in Virginia, 
 where he remained until 1835, when he removed to 
 Indiana. Here he was at once very popular and pro- 
 minent in his community, and in 1844 served a term as 
 member from his district to the Indiana Legislature. 
 lie followed the vocation of a farmer, and it was upon 
 his farm that Wesley, the subject of our sketch, was 
 born, and there he lived during his boyhood <\a.ys, 
 attending school in the winters, and assisting on the 
 farm in the busy da\'s of summer. When lie was 
 between seven and eight years of age his father died. 
 Young Wesley was educated in the primitive fashion 
 of those days. During the winter times he passed 
 
 through the common and high schools of Marion. He 
 was ambitious and a hard student, and study had great 
 attractions for him. 
 
 In order to arrive at a realization of his fondest 
 dreams, that of becoming a physician, Wesley, at the 
 age of seventeen, began teaching school in his native 
 town, continuing it for two or three terms. This 
 occupied his time in the winter, and his summers were 
 given up to study. With the money thus earned he 
 entered, in 1878, the Hahnemann Medical College, of 
 Chicago, graduating therefrom in 1881. Upon his 
 graduation he located at Wabash, Ind., and soon had a 
 large practice there. After five years he was enabled 
 to gratify his desire to go abroad and study in the ad- 
 vanced schools of Europe, where he spent two years in 
 study in the cities of Edinburg, London and Vienna, 
 devoting himself to the specialties of the surgical 
 diseases of the mouth, throat, nose, face and neck. 
 
 Upon returning to America, Dr. Dunn located in 
 Chicago, where a department of laryngology and
 
 580 
 
 rhinology had been formed for him in the Hahnemann 
 Medical College and hospital. He accepted this pro- 
 fessorship, which he still retains. He was the first 
 teacher of this department in the Homoeopathic school. 
 
 Dr. Dunn has always been an enthusiastic supporter 
 of medical educational institutions and societies. He is 
 one of the editors of the Medica Current and a frequent 
 contributor to other medical journals. It was largely 
 through his industry that the homoeopathic school was 
 enabled to secure a hospital and representation at the 
 World's Columbian Exposition. He was also promi- 
 nently connected with the organization of the Homoeo- 
 pathic Post-Graduate Medical School of Chicago. 
 Although the doctor's practice demands a great deal 
 of his attention he has found time to attend the duties 
 of consulting surgeon, in matters of his specialty, at the 
 Temperance Hospital and the Baptist Hospital. He is 
 also surgeon to the Hahnemann Hospital on laryngology 
 and rhinology. 
 
 Dr. Dunn is a member of the Illinois Homoeopathic 
 Medical Association, of which he has been secretary 
 since 1892. His success in this association was the 
 reason, perhaps, of his appointment as secretary of th^ 
 World'sAuxilliaryCongressof Homoeopathic Physicians 
 and Surgeons, which convened last year in conjunction 
 with the World's Columbian Exposition. He is also a 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy and 
 of the Clinical Society of Chicago, of which he was 
 president in 1892-3. He is also a member of the 
 Chicago Athletic Association and of the Chicago Art 
 Institute. The doctor has traveled extensively both in 
 the United States and in Europe, and from these 
 travels has found much pleasure, while they have 
 served to enrich his mind with stores of information 
 valuable to his profession. A great lover of the stud}' 
 of languages, he is a fluent German and French scholar, 
 and in these studies, and in the study of modern science, 
 he finds his recreation from the exacting duties of his 
 calling. He takes delight in manly exercise and is 
 much interested in athletics, as well as hunting and 
 field sports. In religous belief he is a Universalist. 
 In politics -he is a man who votes for principles, not 
 party. 
 
 Dr. Dunn was united in marriage on November 30, 
 1883, to Miss Carrie Jones, daughter of Dr. E. P. 
 Jones, of Marion, Ind. They have two daughters 
 Grace, aged eight, and Edith, aged six years. 
 
 In appearance Dr. Dunn is prepossessing and in his 
 social characteristics is genial and affable, qualities 
 springing from a naturally sunny disposition. His own 
 energy and industry, joined to abilitv, have enabled 
 him, unaided, to reach his present eminent position. 
 
 DUNLAP SMITH, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DUNLAP SMITH, son of Perry H. and Emma A. 
 (Smith) Smith, was born in the city of Chicago 
 on the 14th day of July, 1863. His father, Perry H. 
 Smith, was one of the most prominent and influential 
 of Chicago's early citizens, and did a great deal to aid 
 in the development of the city and the advancement of 
 her material welfare, especially during his eighteen 
 years service as president of the Chicago and North- 
 western railway system. 
 
 Dunlap Smith attended the schools of his native 
 city, and also studied for two years in Belgium, until 
 he was prepared to enter Harvard College, from which 
 institution he graduated in 1884-. ''cum laude," his 
 ability, application and excellent scholarship having 
 earned for him the distinguished position of secretary 
 of the Harvard Philosophical Society, this distinction 
 and his excellent standing being all the moreremark- 
 ble from the fact that he was one of the youngest 
 men in his class. Upon his return from college he 
 immediately entered active life by engaging in the 
 real estate business, in which he has achieved such 
 great success. He was for two years manager of the 
 Chicago Elevator Company, in which capacity he rep- 
 resented the interests of Jay Gould and Eussel Sage. 
 Mr. Smith's name was originally William, but after 
 entering business life he found that, owing to the fact 
 
 that there were so many others of the same name it 
 was detrimental to his business interests, and he 
 accordingly, in 1886, by a decree of court, had it 
 changed to Dunlap Smith, under which name his 
 business has since been carried on. 
 
 In addition to his real estate, he now carries on a 
 large mortgage banking business. He is and has been 
 since its organization one of the most active and influ- 
 ential members of the Real Estate Board, and is consi- 
 dered an expert upon the valuation of realty. Having 
 been reared in Chicago and also having early turned 
 his attention to real estate, he is specially fitted to form 
 prompt opinions; his perception is keen and he gathers 
 the full import of a proposition quickly and as quickly 
 makes his decisions, from which he seldom feels called 
 upon to recede. His record is an enviable one, and 
 though, standing in the front rank of the real estate 
 fraternity, he is probably the youngest man amongst 
 the large firms in the business in this city. He still 
 represents the interests of Russell Sage as a director of 
 the Chicago Elevator Company and also as a director 
 in the Iowa Central Railway Company. 
 
 Among some of the important deals carried through 
 by Mr. Smith may be mentioned the sale of the 
 McCormick block, the Alhambra block, the formation 
 of the town of North Waukegan, involving five miles
 
 l:sharf
 
 #$> 
 
 .cV
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 of lake frontage, the building of a harbor and the 
 establishment of a manufacturing center. He was one 
 of the first to appreciate the great possibilities connected 
 with the ownership of property having a frontage on 
 the lake in Lake View, and taking advantage of this he 
 has figured as either a buyer or seller in every real 
 estate transaction in shore property at that place 
 during the past two years. Mr. Smith is an active and 
 popular member of the Union, the Chicago, the Uni- 
 versity, the Athletic and the North Shore Clubs, is very 
 popular socially, and is genial, approachable and 
 friendly. He is also charitable to a marked degree and 
 withal modest and unostentatious. 
 
 On the 12th day of October, 1887, he was married 
 to Miss Harriet Flower, daughter of James M. Flower, 
 
 583 
 
 a prominent attorney of Chicago. Three sons, Perry 
 Dunlap, Lawrence Dunlap, and Elliot Dunlap have 
 blessed the union, and in them is centered the hopes 
 and pride of their father's life. 
 
 In concluding this brief sketch of his life we 
 can only say that Dunlap Smith needs no eulogy at 
 our hands. In appearance and action he very much 
 resembles his father, while his business record resem- 
 bles that of no one but himself. He is still quite 
 a young man, and each year witnesses new successes 
 for him and his business. A Chicagoan by birth 
 and instinct, he is to-day one of the most widely 
 known of her citizens, and is everywhere recognized 
 as an important factor in Chicago's growth and 
 material welfare. 
 
 ROBERT E. JENKINS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 IN the year 1700, when William Penn had liberalized 
 the government of Pennsylvania, in order to 
 secure for the colonists greater political privileges, 
 there settled near Philadelphia one David Jenkins, 
 from Wales. In course of time some of his descendants 
 removed into the famous Conestoga Valley, of Eastern 
 Pennsylvania, and they for several generations were 
 proprietors of furnaces and manufacturers of iron. In 
 1837 one of these, Robert Jenkins, and his young wife, 
 Elizabeth Rombo, left the state which had for nearly a 
 hundred and fifty years been the home of their 
 ancestors, for the western frontier. They settled in 
 Clark county, Mo., where, on February 6, 1846, the 
 subject of our sketch, Robert Edwin, was born. Eight 
 months later his mother died, and he went to live 
 with his aunt, Mrs. Margaret Hend ricks, in Fairfield, 
 la. Here he obtained his primary education by attend- 
 ing the public schools. At the age of twelve years he 
 returned to Missouri, where he worked on his father's 
 farm, acquiring early those habits of industry and 
 temperance which have been so helpful in all his later 
 life. Notwithstanding the exacting labors of the 
 farm, and the brief terms of -school accessible, young 
 Jenkins by diligent study at home acquired an educa- 
 tion sufficient to enable him to enter the Illinois 
 College at Jacksonville, where he remained one year. 
 Having decided to study law, he came to Chicago for 
 that purpose, and entered the school afterward known 
 as the Union College of Law, from which he graduated 
 in the class of 1867, and was soon after admitted to 
 the bar. 
 
 In the fall of 1868 he secured a position in the office 
 of Hon. Lincoln Clark, who was at that time register 
 in bankruptcy, and where he applied himself closely to 
 the business of the office and made the most of the 
 opportunities afforded him, becoming thoroughly famil- 
 iar with the principles and practice of bankruptcy law. 
 
 After spending a year in the office of Mr. Clark he 
 began practice for himself, his purpose being to devote 
 his whole time and attention to bankruptcy matters. 
 In this special field he was eminently successful for 
 many years. The general recognition of his knowledge 
 of bankruptcy matters is evidenced by his appointment 
 as assignee in more than twelve hundred cases during 
 the nine years preceding the repe;il of the Bankrupt 
 Law in 1878. Though charged during that period with 
 the distribution of many millions, his sterling integrity, 
 and his conscientious regard for the rights of all par- 
 ties, together with his correct application of the pro- 
 visions of the law, were evidenced by the fact that no 
 objection was ever filed to one of his accounts, except 
 in one or two cases involving questions of priority 
 between claimants. 
 
 After the repeal of the bankrupt law in 1878 Mr. 
 Jenkins turned his attention to general practice, more 
 especially to real estate law and the care and manage- 
 ment of property and estates. Commanding a large 
 share of public confidence, and having demonstrated 
 his business ability and good judgment, his practice 
 has steadily increased and is now very large and highly 
 remunerative. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins is naturally more of an office than a 
 trial lawyer, and has gained the reputation of being a 
 promoter of adjustments, where possible, for his clients, 
 rather tlian prolonged and expensive litigation. For 
 about eight years he was in partnership with E. J. 
 Ilarkness, an excellent trial lawyer, under the firm 
 name of Jenkins <fc Harkness, and the firm thus con- 
 stituted was looked upon as one of the leading business 
 law firms of the city. In 1892, however, Mr. Harkness 
 having entered the legal department of the Metropoli- 
 tan West Side Elevated Railroad Company, Mr. 
 Jenkins formed a new partnership with Charles Lough- 
 ridge, one of the rising young lawyers of the Chicago
 
 584 
 
 bar, and a son of the late Judge William Loughridge, 
 for several terms a member of Congress from Iowa. 
 The firm has a large and growing practice. The 
 esteem in which Mr. Jenkins is held by his brethren of 
 the legal profession is evidenced by the fact that he 
 has been president of the Chicago Law Institute, and 
 was for seven years successively treasurer of the 
 Chicago Bar Association. 
 
 He has always taken an active interest in politics, 
 but from the time he cast his first vote for General 
 Grant for the presidency, in 1868, up to 1887, he had 
 never allowed himself to become a candidate for any 
 office. The latter year, however, marked a new era of 
 reform in Cook county politics. The most widespread 
 corruption had been unearthed among county officials, 
 and several offenders sent to the penitentiary as the 
 result of the famous " boodle trials," and the people 
 had come to realize the importance of selecting men of 
 honesty and abilty to fill these offices. The board of 
 count} 7 commissioners had been shown to have been 
 utterly and scandalously corrupt, and it was deter- 
 mined that a new board should be made up of men of 
 recognized honesty and ability, who would not only 
 institute a new order of things, but nullify, as far 
 as possible, the corrupt acts of their predecessors. 
 Mr. Jenkins was made a member of the board of 
 commissioners on this platform and served for one 
 year, being chairman of the finar.ce committee, in 
 which position he was enabled to render valuable 
 service to the county in the saving and economical 
 handling of its funds. 
 
 He is a member of the Union League Club, and 
 has served a term on its board of directors, and has 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 been several times a member of its committee on pol- 
 itical action. In literary, educational and church mat- 
 ters he has always taken an active interest. In the 
 midst of his business and professional pursuits he has 
 found time to identify himself actively with "The 
 Irving," a select literary club of the West Side, of 
 which he has been also president. 
 
 In religious belief Mr. Jenkins is a Congregation- 
 alist. He was one of the organizers of the Chicago 
 Congregational Club, and has served a term as its 
 president, and was for a number of years continuously 
 one of its officers. He was also one of the organizers 
 of the City Missionary Society and its first treasurer. 
 He is also a trustee of Beloit College, at Beloit, Wis. 
 He was for twenty years a deacon in the Union Park 
 Congregational church, and for ten years superinten- 
 dent of its Sunday school, the attendance of which 
 during that time increased to more than a thousand 
 members. He is now active in the Sunday school and 
 church work of the South Congregational church. 
 
 His business and financial ability is evidenced by 
 the fact that he is one of the directors of the National 
 Bank of Illinois, recognized as one of Chicago's sound- 
 est financial institutions. He is also a member of the 
 board of directors of the Metropolitan West Side Ele- 
 vated Eailroad Company. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins was married in 1869 to Miss Marcia 
 Raymond, formerly of Cambridge city, Ind., whose 
 ancestors were closely related to General Israel Put- 
 nam, of Revolutionary fame, and also to Washington's 
 great financial secretary, Alexander Hamilton. To 
 this marriage three children have been born, one son 
 and two daughters. 
 
 JOHN ROWLAND HANNA, 
 
 DENVER, COLORADO. 
 
 JOHN R. HANNA was born at Cadiz, Ohio, Oct. 
 17, 1836. He took a primary course in the public 
 schools and a course of study in Franklin College in 
 the same State. At the age of eighteen he removed 
 to Mercer, Pa., where he organized a bank which was 
 succeeded in 1864 by the First National Bank of Mercer, 
 of which he was cashier until 1869, when, by reason of 
 impaired health, he removed to Colorado and bought a 
 farm near Fort Collins. After a year spent in out- 
 door exercise, he removed to Denver, and in 1872 
 secured the charter for the City National Bank of 
 Denver, of which he was elected a director and became 
 cashier. He retained the latter position until 1892 
 when he was chosen president of the bank, which posi- 
 tion he still retains. He is credited with being one of 
 the most conservative bankers in the city; careful, 
 strictly attentive to business, easy, good tempered and 
 affable, strong with his patrons and enjoying the con- 
 
 fidence of all his associates. He is an ardent supporter 
 of education, of religion and good morals, clear-headed, 
 quiet, unassuming and efficient, having no ambition 
 to make a noise in the world, but to execute every 
 duty with fidelity and to advance the worthy causes 
 with which he may be connected with scrupulous 
 regard' to the benefits to accrue to his fellow beings. 
 
 He is thoroughly devoted to the upbuilding of 
 all educational institutions, to works of charity and 
 the amelioration of the condition of the poor and 
 distressed, but it is done so unostentatiously as to 
 escape public notice. The bank of which he is the 
 manager finds in him a man of sedulous industry, 
 of large and valuable experience, a safe counselor, 
 one who makes no serious mistakes, possessing the 
 ability to see all sides, and to reach the depth 
 of every question requiring prompt and proper 
 decision.

 
 .itf* 
 
 ^ 
 
 ,c,W 
 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 HON. GEORGE CLEMENT PERKINS, 
 
 OROVILLE, CALIFORNIA. 
 
 587 
 
 GEORGE CLEMENT PERKINS, son of Clement 
 and Lucinda (Fail-field) Perkins, was born at 
 Kennebunkport, Me., August 23, 1839. The family 
 was of English origin, and was one of the first to settle 
 in New England, first locating in Massachusetts, and 
 afterward scattered over the New England States, one 
 branch settling in Maine. It is of this branch that 
 George C. Perkins is a descendant. 
 
 His early childhood was spent on his father's farm, 
 and later he attended the schools of the neighborhood, 
 which, however, were far from the best, and he had to 
 depend largely upon home teaching for the better part 
 of his education. When twelve years of age circum- 
 stances compelled him to leave home and seek his own 
 livelihood, and he shipped as cabin boy on the l> Golden 
 Eagle " for New Orleans. On his return from his first 
 voyage, not wishing to return to farm life, he resolved 
 to stick to the life of a sailor. He made seven voyages 
 to the old world as a sailor boy, visiting England, 
 Ireland, Wales, France, Norway, Sweden and Russia. 
 He then returned to his home, and while there attended 
 the district school for a period of six months, after 
 which, when about fifteen years of age, he made 
 another voyage to New Orleans, where unfortunately 
 he had an attack of yellow fever. Upon his recovery 
 he made three more voyages to Europe on the ships 
 li Nath Thompson," li Lizzie Thompson," " Luna" and 
 the bark "Cotton Planter." The men on the " Luna" 
 mutinied on the return voyage, and so far had he 
 advanced in seamanship, the officers placed him at the 
 wheel. The mutiny being supressed, the vessel returned 
 to port. It was while on this trip that he made the 
 acquaintance of an old sailor, who told him glowing 
 tales of California, and he then resolved to seek his 
 fortune in the land of gold at the first opportunity. 
 After another voyage to Dublin, Liverpool and back to 
 New York by way of New Orleans, he visited his old 
 home and friends, and made his preparations for the 
 trip to California. He shipped as a sailor before the 
 mast, on the clipper ship " Galatea," which made the 
 voyage around Cape Horn and arrived in San Francisco 
 in"l855. 
 
 Here he remained for a few days only, going to 
 Sacramento by schooner, and from there setting out for 
 Oroville, nearly a hundred miles away, walking the 
 entire distance. He engaged in mining for about two 
 years, but meeting with poor success, abandoned it and 
 found employment at teaming and lumbering. He 
 soon found that the renumeration was small and that 
 there was almost no chance of advancement and there- 
 fore gave it up, and was employed as porter and clerk 
 in the store of Hedley and Knight at Oroville. Here 
 his energy and industry attracted attention, and his 
 advancement followed step by step, until the whole 
 management devolved on him and he finally succeeded 
 to the business. Under his careful and energetic direc- 
 
 tion the business became exceedingly prosperous, the 
 house doing the most extensive grocery business in 
 Northern California. While engaged in this business, 
 he assisted in establishing the Bank of Butte Countv, 
 built the Ophir flour mills, and was also interested in 
 mining, saw-mills, and sheep-farming. The various 
 enterprises thrived wonderfully, and not only benefited 
 him but added to the wealth of the entire country. 
 Such a man could not long remain in private life. His 
 numerous friends, well acquainted with his character 
 and abilities, insisted on his becoming a candidate for 
 State Senator, and though his party was in a minority 
 he was triumphantly elected by a tremendous majority. 
 After serving this term he was elected to fill the 
 vacancy cccasioned by the death of Senator Boucher. 
 
 While a member of the State Senate he worked 
 earnestly and honestly to advance the interest not only 
 of his section, but also of the great State of which it is 
 a part. It was while attending the sessions of the 
 Legislature that he first met Capt. Chas. Goodall, who 
 was a member of the assembly from San Francisco. 
 The result of this acquaintance was the formation in 
 1872 of the well-known firm of Goodall, Nelson & 
 Perkins, which has had such an important influence 
 on the transportation interests of California. The 
 partnership continued as at first formed until 1876, 
 when Captain Nelson retired, and the firm continued 
 as Goodall, Perkins & Co., under which title the 
 business is carried on at the present time, the firm 
 managing the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, the 
 Oregon Coal and Navigation Company, and the ocean 
 division of the Union Pacific system, and Pacific 
 Whaling Company. 
 
 Despite the amount of attention required by Mr. 
 Perkins' great business interests, his friends, knowing 
 his importance and sterling worth, have not allowed 
 him to desert the field of politics, but have insisted 
 on his still further filling the hish, places at their 
 disposal. One of these was the office of governor, to 
 which he was elected by over 20,000 majority in 
 the fall of 1879. He was inaugurated January 1, 
 1880, and his record in the gubernatorial chair was 
 one of the cleanest as well as most able in the history 
 of the State. The shipping house of Goodall, Perk- 
 ins & Co. has for years commanded or controlled 
 the largest business on the Pacific coast, extending 
 from Mexico to Alaska, and employing constantly 
 over 2,000 men. The firm, besides, has a large inter- 
 est in the Pacific Whaling Company and other cor- 
 porations. Governor Perkins himself is largely inter- 
 ested in various industries. lie is a director in the 
 First National Bank of San Francisco, Starr & Co.'s 
 bank of Butte county, California State Bank, at Sac- 
 ramento, Central Bank of Oakland, the Pacific Steam 
 Whaling Company, Arctic Oil Works, and many large 
 corporations. lie is also largely interested in mining,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 5 88 
 
 and owns a large cattle ranch in southern California, 
 lie has occupied very important positions in the 
 Masonic fraternity, having been made a Master Mason 
 in Oroville Lodge 103, December 15, 1859, and after 
 holding all of the offices of his lodge, was elected grand 
 junior warden of the Grand Lodge of California in 
 1871, grand senior warden in 1872, deputy master in 
 1873, and grand master in 1874. In Oroville Command- 
 ery No. 5 he held the positions of junior and senior 
 warden, captain of the guard, recorder and commander. 
 In 1886 he was elected grand standard bearer of the 
 Grand Commandery of California, and in 1871 grand 
 senior warden ; in 1882 he was elected grand com- 
 mander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Tem- 
 plar of California, and held that position during the 
 Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment of the 
 United States in San Francisco. At that session he 
 was elected grand junior warden of the Grand Encamp- 
 ment of the Knights Templar of the United States. 
 
 He is connected with many charitable and benev- 
 olent associations, among which may be mentioned the 
 Boys' and Girls' Aid society, of which he has been 
 president for twelve years. lie was for two years 
 president of the Art Association, and a member of the 
 Pacific Union, Bohemian. Merchants' and the Athenian 
 clubs. He served as president of the Merchants' Ex- 
 change in 1878 and was again elected to the same 
 position in 1889. He has been for several years a 
 trustee of the Academy of Science, and is also a trus- 
 tee of the State Mining Bureau and of the Institution 
 for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, at Berkley. On the 
 22d day of July, 1893, Governor Markham appointed 
 
 Ex-governor Perkins United States Senator for Cal- 
 ifornia to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sen- 
 ator Leland Stanford, which occurred in June, 1893. 
 This honor was one not specially sought after by Gov- 
 ernor Perkins, but nevertheless he was appointed from 
 among a long list of applicants comprising manv of 
 the most prominent men in political life in the West. 
 
 He was married at Oroville to Miss Ruth A. Par- 
 ker in 1864. They have three sons and four daughters. 
 
 As a public speaker, Mr. Perkins is forcible, pleas- 
 ing, and above all convincing. He expends much 
 money in charity, and has never been known to turn a 
 deaf ear to the call of the distressed. Personally he is 
 courteous, gentlemanly, cheerful and genial, unpreten- 
 tious, modest and unassuming. He has been for years 
 one of the most enterprising and successful business 
 men on the coast. The urbanity of his kindly nature 
 and the radiating warmth of his hearty expressions of 
 fellowship have contributed not a little to his wonder- 
 ful popularity. He possesses the rare ability of mak- 
 ing lasting friendships with those he meets socially or 
 in business, a gift inseparable from men of a generous 
 nature. That he may have yet many years of useful 
 life before him, is the heartfelt wish of his many 
 friends and of every citizen of his adopted State. 
 
 His appointment to the Senate is an honor well 
 deserved by him, and is merely one of the straws 
 which show from which quarter blows the wind of his 
 popularity. His past record in both public and 
 private life is one worthy of emulation, and his new 
 opportunities can scarcely fail to add laurels to the 
 crown of his success. 
 
 ANDRUS RICHARDSON MERRITT, 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 ANDRUS RICHARDSON MERRITT, son of 
 Lewis H. &nd Hephzibeth Merritt, was born in 
 Warren county, Pa., on the 22d of June, 1853. His 
 father, who was a carpenter by trade, left Pennsyl- 
 vania and came West, locating near the head of Lake 
 Superior in the fall of 1855, and his wife and family 
 followed one year later. From- the first he had faith 
 in the future greatness of the region about the 
 head of Lake Superior, and often remarked to his sons 
 before his death, which occurred some fourteen years 
 ago, that Duluth would one day be a largeand important 
 manufacturing and mercantile center. He was also a 
 strong advocate of liberal education, and it was to the 
 strenuous efforts of himself and his eldest sons that the 
 establishment of the first schools in the region was due. 
 A. R. Merritt secured his education in the public 
 schools at Oneota, Minn., now a suburb of Duluth, and" 
 although the terms were but three months in length 
 and that during the winter, he made the most 
 of his opportunities, and by attending school and 
 
 studying at home he acquired a practical business 
 education. During his boyhood's days he was a great 
 lover of outdoor sports, especially fishing and hunting, 
 but owing to the fact that times were hard and money 
 scarce, he was compelled to go to work during the 
 summer, when he was only ten years of age. Owing to 
 financial misfortunes he had to leave school at the age 
 of fifteen, and for some years worked in the woods 
 during the winter, and in the saw-mills or on tug-boats 
 during the summer. The youth's ambition was to 
 become a steamboat captain, and he had nearly attained 
 the fulfilment of his ambition when, he being at the 
 time about twenty years of age, his father became 
 seriously ill, and the doctor advised for him a few 
 years' residence in the South, where A. R. Merritt, 
 being the youngest son, went with him. The}' settled 
 in northwest Missouri, where they bought and located 
 upon a farm in the fall of 1875. The farm was one of 
 about two hundred acres, with only forty acres in 
 cultivation, but they gradually increased this acreage

 
 iV^ 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 59 1 
 
 until the whole was in a high state of cultivation. 
 They got on well with the farm until the father died, in 
 the fall of 1879, when the son continued to reside there 
 until 18S8, during the summer of , which year he had 
 paid a visit to Duluth, and becoming impressed with 
 her importance as a manufacturing, shipping and com- 
 mercial center he sold his Missouri, interests in the fall 
 of that year and returned to his boyhood home. The 
 first great enterprise with which he was connected was 
 the opening up of what is known as the Great Missaba 
 Range. He and his brothers had implicit faith' in the 
 outcome of their work, and for two years spent nearly 
 all their time in exploring the region, locating proper- 
 ties and prospecting for iron. Their confidence was 
 not misplaced, for they were finally rewarded for their 
 hard work and enabled to open up what is now known 
 as the greatest iron range in the world and to build a 
 railroad to it. 
 
 Mr. Merritt has sir.ce been largely interested and 
 an important factor in developing many large enter- 
 prises and is at present, engaged in opening up a large 
 coal property in Kentucky which, it is said, has 
 the largest deposits of coking coal of any property in 
 the country. A company has been formed, with A. 
 
 R. Merritt as president, to build a railroad to the 
 property. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Merritt is a member of the Repub- 
 lican party, and though reserving to himself the right 
 to use his own judgment in voting, general!}' casts his 
 ballot for the candidates of that party. He is a member 
 and regular attendant of the M. E. Church and a liberal 
 contributor to ail church and worthy objects. 
 
 On the 23d of December. 1876, he was united in 
 marriage to Miss Susan Bullock, of Page county, Iowa, 
 who after a little more than three years was taken 
 away, leaving two sons James and Thomas, to help 
 their father bear his loss. Four years later, or on the 
 17th of April. 1883, he was again married, this time to 
 Miss Elizabeth Clark, of Blanchard, formerly of Lee 
 county, Iowa, and whose parents were among the 
 earliest settlers of that county. Four sons have blessed 
 this union, and in hisfamiFy Mr. Merritt finds the truest 
 pleasures of his life. Personally he is a man of fine 
 appearance and enj >ys the best of health. He is placed 
 second to no one in the esteem and respect of the peo- 
 ple among whom he lives, and is everywhere recognized 
 as a safe, conservative business man, whose counsels 
 are valuable in any enterprise. 
 
 WILLIAM C. GOUDY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 WILLIAM C. GOUDY was born in Indiana, May 
 15, 1824. His mother, Jane Ainslie. was of 
 English descent, and was born in Pennsylvania. His 
 father, who sprang from the old Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
 which has furnished us so many men of strong brain 
 and hardy fibre, was born in Ireland. Others of the 
 family resided in Scotland, and one of this branch, 
 John Goudie, might well have been our subject's proto- 
 type, if we take the humorous testimony of Robert 
 Burns in the poem beginning: 
 
 "O Goudie! terror of the Whigs, 
 Dread of black coats and rev'rend wigs." 
 
 Mr. Goudy's father was bred to the trade of a car- 
 penter, but abandoned this to go into the book-binding 
 and printing business. In 1833, having removed to 
 Jacksonville, 111., he began the publication of "Goudy's 
 Farmers' Almanac." This was the first magazine of 
 its kind in the Northwest, and became exceeding! y 
 popular with the farmers. In 1834, in company with 
 Samuel S. Brooks, he undertook the publication of a 
 Democratic paper at Jacksonville, and to Messrs. 
 Goudy and Brooks is due the honor of recognizing and 
 bringing to public notice the extraordinar}' merits of 
 Stephen A. Douglas. 
 
 As the son of a printer already widely known, it 
 would seem to have been quite natural for young 
 Goudy to become a journalist. Fortunately, however, 
 his predilection for the law was strong enough to 
 
 cause him to disregard this calling. To better fit him- 
 self for his chosen profession, he entered Illinois Col- 
 lege at Jacksonville, 111., where he graduated in 1845. 
 That institution later conferred upon him the degrees 
 of Master of Arts and Doctor of Laws. He then 
 taught school in Decatur, 111., at the same time reading 
 the elements of law. His more advanced studies were 
 pursued in the office of Judge Stephen T. Logan, for 
 many years the partner of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 In 1847 Mr. Goudy, moved to Lewistown, 111., and 
 was admitted to the bar. He entered into partnership 
 with the well-known Hon. Hezekiah M. Wead, and 
 stepped at once into professional prominence. He 
 very soon became active in the political affairs of the 
 district, and in 1853 was elected State's attorney of the 
 tenth judicial circuit. This position he resigned after 
 two years and in 1856 was elected State Senator for 
 the district of Fulton and McDonough counties. 
 During this period of service as senator occurred the 
 memorable contest between Lincoln and Douglas. 
 
 It was a time fraught with the most weight\ r and 
 important issues which have ever confronted us as a 
 nation, and the young legislator was a participator in 
 the events which formed the prelude to the greatest 
 occurrence in the history of the United States, and he 
 was a worthy coadjutor of men like Judge Gillespie, 
 N. R. Judd, Samuel W. Fuller, and ex-Governor Palmer 
 during those stirring days.
 
 592 
 
 Mr. Goudy removed to Chicago in 1859. Here he 
 gave especial attention to the law governing real estate, 
 upon which he was one of the highest authorities in 
 the country. An idea of his work in Illinois may be 
 formed from the reports of the supreme court of the 
 State, in every volume of which for thirty-five years 
 prior to his death appear cases argued by him. He 
 appeared in the higher courts of nearly every State 
 throughout the West, and in the supreme court of the 
 United States he was leading counsel in many im- 
 portant cases. The recent enactment regarding 
 "original packages" was an outgrowth of a decision in 
 a case argued by Mr. Goudy in the United States 
 Supreme Court, declaring unconstitutional a statute of 
 Iowa which prohibited railroads from bringing intoxi- 
 cants into that State. He also argued the famous 
 Munn case, by which was established the power of the 
 States to fix the maximum rates to be charged by 
 warehouses, railways, persons or corporations engaged 
 in a pursuit' affecting the public interest. Another 
 instance in which Mr. Goudy did effective service, was 
 in the great railroad cases in Mipnesota, which resulted 
 in the annulment of the Minnesota statute, authorizing 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 the fixing of railroad rates by the State commission. 
 His work was of a nature which commands universal 
 attention, and the history of his labors is to be found 
 embodied in the literature of law. For some years he 
 was counsel for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway 
 Comoany. Mr. Goudy was married in 1849 to Miss 
 Helen Judd. They had two children, a daughter and 
 son, who, with the mother, sunive him. 
 
 Mr. Goudy was always a staunch supporter of 
 Democracy, casting his first vote for Lewis Cass in 
 1848. "No better warrant of his conscientious and 
 distinguished service need be had than that when there 
 was a vacancy in the United States Senate, owing to 
 the death of Stephen A. Douglas, Mr. Goudy was the 
 choice of a large portion of the Democracy of Illinois 
 as Mr. Douglas' successor, although that honor was 
 finally awarded to Mr. Richardson, of Quincy. It was 
 an expression in most touching form of the fact that 
 among the great men of his time, whose labors have 
 rendered them not only honored but beloved, his 
 countrymen sought to bestow upon him this high honor. 
 After a long and eventful life Mr. Goudy died early in 
 1893, lamented by all. 
 
 JAMES F. R. FOSS, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 JAMES F. R. FOSS, son of James and Frances 
 Foss, was born at Biddeforcl, Maine, on the 17th 
 day of March, 1848. His father, who by trade was a 
 printer and who held the office of town clerk, died when 
 James was but four 3'ears of age, and his mother, a 
 direct descendant of Rev. Robert Jordan, (an Episcopal 
 minister who settled at Cape Elizabeth, Me., when that 
 State was a part of Massachusetts,) afterwards married 
 the Rev. Wm. McDonald, who moved from Maine to 
 Providence, R. I., in i860. Young Foss attended the 
 public schools at Providence and at New Bedford and 
 took a short course at the high school in the latter city. 
 "When the war brokeout, he with other members of his 
 class at the high school, determined to volunteer, and 
 entering the naval service was enrolled as a member of 
 the crew of the U. S. frigate "Sabine," then commanded 
 by Commodore Cadwallader Ringold, on the 21st of 
 August, 1862, he being at that time but little more than 
 fourteen years of age. During the fourteen months 
 that he was on this vessel it cruised on the Atlantic 
 coast, looking for blockade runners, and also visited 
 the Western Islands, Cape-de-Verd islands, the coast 
 of Africa and the coast of Brazil in search of the Ala- 
 bama and other Confederate cruisers. After leaving 
 the "Sabine" he served on other vessels, among which 
 was the "Hartford" for a short time under Admiral 
 Farragut. When his term of enlistment had expired 
 his old commander, Commodore Ringold, urged him to 
 accept a commission as midshipman, assuring him that 
 
 his previous experience would materially shorten the 
 term to be spent in the Naval Academy and that he 
 could soon graduate with a commission in the regular 
 navy. After giving this kind offer careful attention 
 he decided to decline, and so quitted the navy and 
 entered business life. 
 
 Upon returning to private life he went to Bucksport, 
 Me., where he spent a year attending school, in order 
 to complete his education. When eighteen years of 
 age he secured a position in New York city as book- 
 keeper for a wholesale produce house at a salary of ten 
 dollars per week, where he performed the work that 
 had previously been done by an older man at a salary 
 of $2,400 per annum. Finding but little satisfaction in 
 this kind of work, he drifted from one position to 
 another and finally went to work to learn a business, 
 giving his time without pay and boarding at home. 
 When he was twenty-one years of age he was emploved 
 by a large corporation in Vermont, working hard from 
 five a. m. to ten p. m., for a salary of $1,000 per year. 
 Not allowing himself to become discouraged, young 
 Foss kept hard at work until 1873, when he secured a 
 position with the Shoe & Leather National bank at 
 Boston, as a clerk in the book-keeping department. 
 Here he thought that he was well settled, but a year 
 later his health gave way and he was given but a short 
 time to live by the physicians, who said he had con- 
 sumption. He at once left the bank and went to sea 
 again, first as a passenger and then as a mate on a coal
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 595 
 
 schooner at a salary of $35 a month. He coasted up 
 and down the Atlantic seaboard winter and summer 
 until his health was fully restored, when he returned 
 to Boston and was temporarily employed by the 
 Market National Bank at Brighton. In 1875 he started 
 as book-keeper in the newly organized Merchandise 
 National bank at Boston, and a year later was elected 
 its cashier, in which position he remained until Decem- 
 btr 31, 1883, when he resigned, in order to come west 
 where he wished to start in a business of his own. 
 
 In December, 1883, he opened subscriptions for 
 stock in a new bank to be established by him in 
 Minneapolis, Minn. He asked for $250,000, but in 
 sixty days the amount subscribed aggregated $460,000, 
 and on the 2nd of April, 1884, the Nicollet Bank of 
 M nneapolis commenced business with a paid up cash 
 capital of $500,000, and with Mr. Foss as its cashier. 
 In this position he remained until January 14th, 1889, 
 when he was elected its president. Since removing to 
 Minneapolis, Mr. Foss has been instrumental in bring- 
 ing many millions of_ eastern capital to that city for 
 investment, much of it through himself, and much 
 more that passed through other hands on his recom- 
 mendation. The stockholders of his bank represent an 
 aggregate capital of over $40,000,000, and it is one of 
 the strongest financial institutions in the country. It 
 has a surplus of $100,000 on its capital of $500,000. 
 Its deposits average about $800,000, and it enjoys the 
 
 fullest confidence of the entire community, as well as 
 that of the strongest financiers of the East. 
 
 Politically Mr. Foss is a Republican, as far as 
 national politics are concerned, but uses his own judg- 
 ment in voting on local issues and for local candidates. 
 He has been for years an attendant and a pew holder 
 of St. Mark's Episcopal church of Minneapolis, and has 
 ever been a liberal contributor to all objects of charity. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1877, he was united in 
 marriage to Miss Alvena M. Baker, daughter of Capt. 
 R. R. Baker of Wellfleet, Mass., one of the most widely 
 known and energetic coasting captains on the Atlantic 
 coast. Three children have blessed this union, now 
 all living. 
 
 Mr. Foss is a shining example of the self-made man, 
 for during the first thirty years of his life he was en- 
 gaged in a struggle with adverse circumstances that to 
 a less hopeful character would have seemed insur- 
 mountable, but he has kept steadily at work and is to- 
 day one of the strongest financiers in the entire country. 
 Since he has found his true vocation in life he has 
 labored incessantly and with the result that his life 
 that was at one time held to be of but short duration 
 has become robust, and he feels himself to be a better 
 man, physically, than ever before. He is deservedlv 
 popular with all who know him, and the fact that he 
 has never held public office is due alone to his emphatic 
 refusal to allow his name to be used. 
 
 JOHN W. GATES, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN W. GATES, the promoter and the head of 
 the wire industr\ T in America, was born in Du Page 
 county, 111., and is the son of A. A. Gates, an old-time 
 farmer there, who by industry acquired a competence 
 and retired to private life. The Gates family were 
 originally from Massachusetts, from which State they 
 moved to Ohio and later settled in Illinois. Young 
 Gates received his early education in the district school 
 near his father's farm, and later entered Wheaton Col- 
 lege, in the same county (Du Page), finishing his 
 education at the Northwestern College, Naperville, 111., 
 from which he graduated in the class of 1873. Upon 
 leaving college he embarked in the grain business at 
 Turner, 111., which he conducted successfully until 
 1875, when he sold out and opened a hardware store 
 in the same place. This business suggested a line of 
 manufacturing, and he decided to go to St. Louis, 
 where he entered the wire business under the name of 
 J. W. Gates & Co. Being eminently successful it was, 
 in 1881, changed into the Southern Wire Company, 
 which selected Mr. Gates for its president. This 
 change was the starting point for a most remarkable 
 business career. As the business of the Southern Wire 
 Company grew, the stockholders saw the necessity of 
 
 an eastern supply house or factor}', which should be 
 under their immediate control ; and, consequently, in 
 1884, only ten years ago, they formed the Braddock 
 Wire Company at Pittsburgh, and built extensive 
 works at that point. Mr. Gates was at first chosen 
 the vice-president, and afterward president of this 
 company. About this time Mr. Gates bought into the 
 Iowa Barb AVire Company, at Allentown, Penn., with 
 principal offices at New York city, and was chosen its 
 vice-president. He also secured an interest in the St. 
 Louis Wire Mill and was chosen vice-president of 
 it, and finally he bought an interest in the Banker 
 Wire Company, of Lockport, 111., and became its vice- 
 president. He was also a director in the Laclede 
 National Bank, of St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 In 1891, Mr. Gates removed to Chicago from St. 
 Louis, and became the general manager of the Colum- 
 bia Wire Com pan y. Here he was the principal mover 
 in the formation of the Consolidated Steel and Wire 
 Companv, which was formed in December, 1892, and 
 which is the successor of the St. Louis Wire Mill Com- 
 pany, the Iowa Barb Wire Company, the Lambert & 
 Bishop Wire Fence Company, of Joliet (in which Mr. 
 Gates was at the time a director and large stockholder),
 
 59 6 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the Braddock Wire Company and the Baker Wire 
 Company. He is the general manager of this import- 
 ant corporation, and is also the president of the 
 Columbia Wire Company. The Consolidated Steel 
 and Wire Company is the owner of all the patents on 
 wire and wire machinery in existence, receiving 
 royalties of manufacturers of wire over the entire 
 country. 
 
 Since coming to Chicago Mr. Gates has grown in 
 public favor as a judicious and thoroughly reliable 
 business man. Prosperity has come to him as a 
 natural consequence of industry and application. II is 
 reputation for business sagacity and fair dealing has 
 brought him the friendship of some of the wealthiest 
 men in the county. Outside of his business cares he 
 enjoys the pleasure of social contact, and his name is 
 found in the membership of the Chicago, Calurnet, 
 Washington Park and the Hyde Park clubs. In 
 addition to these he is connected with the Dardene 
 Club, of St. Louis, Mo.; the Duquesne Club, at Pitts- 
 burg, and the Down Town Rip Club, of New York 
 City. He was also a member of the St. Louis Club, St. 
 Louis Jockey Club, Mercantile Club and Elks Club 
 during: his residence in St. Louis. 
 
 .In the sphere of business activity in which Mr. Gates 
 has spent the major portion of his life, it is difficult to 
 characterize those elements which have been most po- 
 tent in attaining pre-eminence. The most essential 
 characteristics, however, as shown by his great success, 
 are keen perception, a knowledge of men, and rare 
 good judgment and sagacity in forecasting probabili- 
 ties ; together with the will and courage to act promptlv 
 on conclusions formed. These qualities were manifested 
 in his younger days during the several changes of occu- 
 pation, made in the hope of improved opportunities. 
 When finally he determined upon the vocation for 
 . which he believed himself adapted, he brought to it 
 his best energies and thought, and from that time up 
 to the present his career has been an upward and pros- 
 perous one. Politically, Mr. Gates is an active Repub- 
 lican, and while in St. Louis served as chairman of the 
 finance committee, for the State of Missouri, and had 
 charge of the Republican campaign in St. Louis, in 1888, 
 bringing to the duties of his position his admirable 
 business qualities with good results. 
 
 Mr. Gates was married in 1874 to Miss Delora R. 
 Baker, of St. Charles, 111., by whom he has one living 
 child, Charles G. Gates, born May 21, 1876. 
 
 ROBERT MACLAY WIDNEY, LL. D., 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. 
 
 writings, public addresses and proposed legis- 
 1 lation on national finances by Judge R. M. 
 Widney, who is president of the University Bank, at 
 Los Angeles, have commanded attention in every part 
 of this nation. The principles of the plan meet with 
 the concurrence of such statesmen as Senator Sherman, 
 representing one school of financiers, while on the 
 other hand the late L. L. Polk, president of the People's 
 party, and members of the national executive com- 
 mittee signed a request to Congress for the favorable 
 consideration of the proposed legislation. His address 
 made in San Francisco in 1891 on "A Proposed 
 National Money System" is used as a text book on the 
 money question in some of the New York educational 
 institutions, where it is regarded as the most concise 
 and exhaustive treatise on the subject in print. A few 
 quotations from some of these addresses will serve to 
 show the lines of thought on these questions. The 
 necessity of the occasion is expressed in a few brief 
 sentences : 
 
 "Either our circulating medium must be increased to 
 meet the growing want of our growing country, or the 
 business of the country must be periodically killed off 
 until it is within the compass of our circulating 
 medium." 
 
 ''Unless we clearly know what money is, we can- 
 not successfully make it. Erroneous ideas at this crit- 
 ical point result not in producing money, but an 
 erroneous substitute for it, which, when used in the 
 
 commercial world, sooner or later breaks down to 
 society's injury. 
 
 "I know of no definition of money that includes all 
 that should be included, and excludes all that should be 
 excluded. I submit the following as a correct defin- 
 ition of money: 'Money is that article in a nation with 
 which a debtor can extinguish his debt without the 
 consent of his creditor at a fixed unit of value.' In 
 other words, it is a. legal tender by the supreme law of 
 the land. As a corollary of this, good money is that 
 money which will be accepted readily b} 7 each person 
 in exchange at its face value." 
 
 "Every man wishes to know that any other person 
 will receive the money at the same value at which he 
 received it. This is caused by the fiat of the nation 
 formulated in the words. ' This shall be a legal tender 
 in satisfaction of all debts, public and private within the 
 jurisdiction of the United States.' This fiat on the 
 gold, silver, or paper makes money. Nothing else can." 
 
 "Some able men assert that the true test of money 
 is the fire test; that is if you can put it in the crucible 
 and reduce it a dollar will be left. Suppose the next 
 time you go to pay a debt you put your one hundred 
 dollars in the crucible and fire up and tender to the 
 creditor the fused results. Have you in the pot money 
 or bullion ? Can you force the creditor to receive it ? 
 No. The monev element is consumed. The fiat of 
 the nation has disappeared. The fire test of money is 
 the same on gold money or paper money. It destroys 
 the money power of the article. When a nation be- 
 comes powerless to enforce and make good its fiat the 
 money element of the article ceases, and there only re- 
 mains an article of more or less commercial value."

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 599 
 
 "Money has no intrinsic value, it only represents 
 labor in some form. The gold in the mountains has no 
 intrinsic value. It is claimed that it takes a dollars' 
 worth of work to produce a dollar of gold, (23.22 
 grains) and therefore the gold dollar has an intrinsic 
 value. The fact is that it only represents a dollar's 
 worth of work. How about the greenback ? When 
 printed and deposited in the United States treasury it 
 represents no value. It is then the same as the gold in 
 the mountains. But when some one gives the United 
 States (the people) a dollar's worth of worker material 
 for a paper dollar, thereafter the paper dollar repre- 
 sents a dollar's worth of work as much as the gold dollar 
 did or could. They both have thesaine representative 
 value, and so long as the nation retains its integrity 
 and power they will each be as declared by the fiat." 
 
 Of the old State bank notes Mr. Widney says : 
 
 "The general error is this: Each dollar of State 
 bank notes deposited in a bank creates a debt from the 
 bank payable only in legal tender. In this way the 
 legal tender debt of the bank grows, but the legal ten- 
 der in the vaults of the bank does not increase. Busi- 
 ness prospers on this increased volume of credit money, 
 deposits increase, but when a panic comes and deposi- 
 tors call for legal tender, the supply is quickly used 
 up and bank suspensions result. The State bank notes 
 never were mone\ T . They were only ornamented 
 promissory notes of a bank, back of which was the eva- 
 sive wealth of a few persons, payable on demand if 
 too many were not presented at once. The National 
 bank note is secured by a United States bond and the 
 United States is security to pay the bond. The bond is 
 the unsecured promissory note of the United States to 
 pay money with interest at a future date to bearer." 
 
 " We have here an evolution process. The private 
 bank note corresponding to the old State bar,k note, 
 has added to it the endorsement of the nation, and that 
 endorsement alone gives it value and the confidence of 
 the people. The National bank may become insolvent, 
 still the note passes on the endorsement of the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 "If the national endorsement alone makes a worth- 
 less bank note as good as gold why not let the bank 
 out entirely and have the nation issue the money, legal 
 tender direct? A money system may be elastic in a finan- 
 cial -sense, but mone_y is never elastic. But the system is 
 not money, and an elastic system can use good money 
 as readily as bad money, and a non-elastic system will 
 fail equally with bad money as with good money. The 
 financial systems of the United States have been non- 
 elastic. The financial systems of the States .were elas- 
 tic. Now if we combine the desirable elastic systems 
 of the States and the desirable good money legal tender 
 of the United States we can have what has never }'et 
 been had in the United States safety and elasticity." 
 
 Judge Widney 's analysis leads to the direct propo- 
 sition that all forms of money should be issued by our 
 general government alone, and that the government 
 should be vested with clear powers with well defined 
 limits in this respect. A proposed Constitutional 
 Amendment to this effect prepared by him has been 
 introduced in Congress and is receiving careful atten- 
 tion. As it gives a clear idea of the principle of the 
 system for the issue of the money it is here inserted, as 
 follows : 
 
 ARTICLE XVI. 
 
 Section 1. A national currency circulating medium shall be 
 issued to the amount of twenty dollars per capita, as shown by the 
 census of 1890, and by each succeeding census, for the proper 
 retirement of which when required, the resources, the faith and the 
 
 property of the nation are pledged; for which retirement, Congress, 
 by a two-thirds vote of each house, may provide for the collection 
 of Government revenues and taxes in gold and silver coin. 
 
 Section 2. Said currency, with gold and silver coin of these 
 United States, of present weight and fineness, the dollar being the 
 standard or unit of values, and such currency, of the same form and 
 effect, as may be issued in lieu of gold and silver coin or bullion 
 held exclusively for exchange for currency, shall constitute the only 
 legal money of these United States; and shall be received at par in 
 satisfaction of all obligations for the payment of money within the 
 jurisdiction of these United States. Said gold and silver coin and 
 currency shall be exchangeable at par value. 
 
 Section 3 Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
 by appropriate legislation, but shall not have power to increase or 
 decrease siid iS3U3; provided that after the issue-of 1900, Congress 
 may by a two thirds vote of each house, reduce the additional issue 
 per capita at any census. 
 
 "This Amendment provides for the department of 
 issue only, the issuance of a money good all over the 
 country and in sufficient volume. It would take up 
 and replace all other issued paper money. It guards 
 our finances against inflation, contraction or repudia- 
 tion. The circulation will have to be by Act of Con- 
 gress and in such a manner as to produce the best 
 results. It would increase our present volume of 
 money about $600,000,000 which would go into circu- 
 lation at first largely for government improvements all 
 over the nation, relieving the people from a propor- 
 tionate taxation. These improvements would cost 
 nothing but the issue of the money. Rating the interest 
 at three per cent, and compounding annually, for in- 
 terest paid in is generally worth the same rate yearly, 
 the amount saved in interest would equal the principal 
 every twenty-four years. At the end of ninety-six 
 years the saving would reach the enormous sum of 
 $9,600,000,000. If the government had to buy gold 
 occasionally at a small premium it would only amount 
 to a very small sum compared with the above saving. 
 If the original issue were redeemed in gold at the end 
 of ninety-six years at a premium of 100 per cent, for 
 gold the net saving to the nation would then be $8,400,- 
 000.000." 
 
 Judge Widney's collection and analysis of statistics 
 on the supply and distribution of gold and silver and 
 paper money in the world, in the leading commercial 
 nations, in the United States and in each State, is very 
 concise and complete and of great value to any student 
 of finances. At the close of his address against State 
 bank notes before the American Bankers' association in 
 San Francisco the convention, by a rising vote, unani- 
 mously passed the following resolution: ''Resolved, 
 That it is the judgment of this convention that a 
 State bank-note issue of money is unsafe and unde- 
 sirable." 
 
 Robert M. Widney was born near Piqua, Miami 
 county, Ohio, in 1838. Wilson Widney. his father, 
 was a descendant of Colonel Widney, an officer in the 
 army of William the Conquerer. The more ancient 
 ancestors were Norsemen. Mrs. Arabella Maclay 
 Widney was a descendant of the Scotch. Three of 
 these ancestors were officers in the army of King 
 James at the battle of the Boyne. Hon. William Mac- 
 lay was the first senator from Pennsylvania in the 
 United States Senate. His recently printed diary of 
 the secret proceedings of that body in its first session 
 is the only information extant on the subject. He it 
 was who first arose in the Senate and opposed all
 
 6oo 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 imported foreign titles as applied to our chief execu- 
 tive, and proposed that he be simply named '' the 
 President." During the Revolutionary war the Mac- 
 lays were active participants. 
 
 The early education of Judge Widney was in the 
 log school house of Ohio. A thirst for knowledge led 
 him far along the pathway of education without the 
 rudimentary teacher of that early day. Life on a farm 
 gave strength, vigor and perseverance, eminently fitting 
 him in these respects for future labors. In 1855 he left 
 Ohio at the age of seventeen and spent two years in 
 the Rocky mountains and great plains of the West. 
 and in 1857 he crossed the plains with an emigrant 
 train, arriving in California in the fall of that year. 
 Mining was first tried, then wood-cutting, and finally 
 farm work. After accumulating a small sum he 
 entered, as a student, the University of the Pacific for 
 a full classical course. At the end of five years he 
 graduated with the honors of the class. His profi- 
 ciency in his studies was such that he was elected to a 
 position as instructor. At the end of two years he was 
 offered a life professorship and a choice of any depart- 
 ment. Having, however, in the mean time prepared 
 himself in the study of the law, he resigned his posi- 
 tion and was admitted to practice in the courts of Cal- 
 ifornia. 
 
 In 1868, he settled in Los Angeles, then a Mexican 
 village of four thousand inhabitants. He ;it once real- 
 ized the great future before Southern California and 
 identified himself with its development. As a writer 
 for leading publications from New York to San Fran- 
 cisco, he wrote up the natural resources, climate, and 
 possibilities of the wonderful country. These articles 
 were of such an able character that they were generally 
 published as editorials. To read these articles, 
 published a quarter of a century ago, one would think 
 that they were written in 189i, so accurately did they 
 forecast the present growth, development, and pros- 
 perity of Southern California. 
 
 It would be a long task to enumerate the man} 7 
 public and private enterprises with which he has been 
 prominently and efficiently identified. In 1871, he 
 was appointed by the governor of the state, Hon. 
 Newton Booth, to fill the vacancy in the district court 
 of the 17th judicial district of California. He declined 
 even to apply for this position, and only yielded to the 
 almost unanimous demand of the bar to take the 
 judgeship. This was not demanded as a compliment 
 to him, but was based on the fact that the business of 
 the court was far behind and had accumulated until the 
 administration of justice was almost at a standstill, and 
 the members of the bar wanted a worker on the bench. 
 During the two years of his administration judgments 
 were entered in some six hundred cases. Jur^v trials 
 were almost entirely abandoned for the reason that in 
 his decisions h'e made his findings of fact so completely 
 cover the merits of both sides, that attorneys could 
 thus get a final ruling from the Supreme Court on the 
 merits without a new trial. Very few appeals were 
 
 ever taken, and of these only a small per cent were re- 
 versed, being a class of cases resting on conflicting 
 authorities. When his term was out there was not a 
 case in court ready for trial. He was also com- 
 missioned during this time to hold court in two other 
 districts where he closed up the accumulated cases. 
 
 In politics he is thoroughly an American first, and a 
 party man afterwards. His motto is to support and 
 aid all measures that are for the common good of the 
 masses in the broadest sense without regard to what 
 party advocates or opposes. He has never sought 
 office, but has been offered the joint support of the 
 Eepublican and Democratic parties for any position 
 from congressman down. On account of his long dis- 
 interested public work, and on account of his advanced 
 views on finances, the prominent business men of the 
 Southern counties of California signed a request to him 
 to allow his name to come before the California Legis- 
 lature of 1893 for the U. S. Senate. As the Legislature 
 was Democratic by a strong vote, a Democrat was of 
 course elected, though Judge Widney received a com- 
 plimentary vote from the Republican members. 
 
 His law practice was large, involving principally 
 land litigation, involving contests for large areas of 
 land against Mexican land grants. Out of conflicting 
 decisions of the land department arose a necessity for 
 Congressional legislation to quiet titles. He drew up 
 and had introduced in Congress, a bill relating to 
 indemnity school sections in the State of California, 
 which was argued by him before all of the Congres- 
 sional land committees, and before the department. In 
 the face of a heavy lobby opposition he succeeded after 
 two sessions' work in securing the passage of the bill 
 without a dissenting vote in either house. 
 
 For fifteen years prior to organizing the University 
 Bank he was attorney for the Los Angeles County 
 Bank, now the Bank of America. During this time 
 not a dollar was lost on any title of land passing his 
 examination. The University Bank was organized by 
 him under the State laws in 1887 at the close of the 
 great real estate boom of Southern California. The 
 stock of the bank is held by wealthy men who have 
 adopted the policy of declaring no dividends but of 
 carrying all profits to surplus account until the surplus 
 equals the capital stock. After this has been attained 
 one-half of the profits will go to further surplus and 
 one-half to dividends. 
 
 Raised within and a member of the Methodist 
 church, he regards denominations as merely human or- 
 ganizations possessing such infirmities as naturally 
 grow out of all human effort. Looking upon the uni- 
 verse as the work of an infinitely great, good and wise 
 being, he believes that we will continue to inhabit this 
 universe as a common home under the Supreme Fath- 
 er's care, enjo3'ing its inconceivable wonders and beau- 
 ties through a never-ending existence. 
 
 As a thinker and public speaker, he is clear, concise, 
 logical and convincing so much so that a gentleman 
 who was well acquainted with him said, "Well, I cannot
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 60 I 
 
 refute his arguments, and no one can. The only way 
 I ca"n do is to shut ray eyes and say I won't." 
 
 Several large colony enterprises are under his 
 supervision and organizing management. His educa- 
 tion as a lawyer, engineer and man of business adds 
 very valuable assistance to their successful manage- 
 ment. As a public benefactor, his benevolences have 
 run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
 
 In 1868 he was married to Miss Mary Barnes, a 
 highly accomplished and educated lady. His wife is 
 one of unusual executive ability, and her name is 
 known far and wide as president and manager of "The 
 Los Angeles Flower Festival," and of the "Chrysan- 
 
 themum Fair," and other efforts for the benefit of 
 charity. In these, aided by a corps of good Los 
 Angeles ladies, they cleared at one time $8,500, at 
 another $7,000, and at another over $6,000. Their 
 children are Misses Helen and Martha, Robert J., 
 Joseph W. and Arthur B. Widney. The son, Robert 
 J. Widney, married to Miss Clara Carran, formerly of 
 Cleveland, O., is now assistant cashier of the University 
 Bank. 
 
 The officers of the bank are : R. M. Widney, 
 president ; D. O. Miltimore and S. W. Little, vice-pres- 
 idents ; George L. Arnold, cashier, and R. J. Widney 
 assistant cashier. 
 
 MILTON ROBINSON FRESHWATERS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the many who have won success in the 
 legal profession in Chicago by native ability, 
 determination and energy, is the subject of this sketch. 
 He was born August 9, 1844, at Wellsburg, Brooks 
 county, Va, being the son of George W. and Margaret 
 A. (May) Freshwaters. On his father's side his ances- 
 tors were from Holland, the Freshwaters family hav- 
 ing been residents of the above named country for over 
 one hundred and fifty years. On his mother's side the 
 subject of our sketch is a descendant of the O'Connell 
 family, of Ireland, of which the celebrated Daniel 
 O'Connell was a member. His father, George W. 
 Freshwaters, was at one time a large farmer and stock 
 raiser, but having gained a competence, is now a 
 retired capitalist. Milton R. received his early educa- 
 tion in the district schools of his neighborhood, after- 
 wards entering Hopedale Seminary, Ohio, and at a 
 later period Allegheny College at Meadville, Pa. 
 After remaining there three years he entered Bethany 
 College, in Virginia, at that time under the super- 
 vision of Alexander Campbell, the founder of the 
 religious sect known as Campbellites or Christians. 
 In 1866, at the age of twenty-two, he was graduated 
 from this college, and almost immediately afterward 
 commenced his professional career, being elected super- 
 intendent of the public schools of his native county, 
 and made principal of the high school at Wellsburg. 
 He remained in this position for two years, and was 
 urged to serve another term, but having in the mean- 
 time commenced the study of law in the office of 
 James H. Pendleton, Esq., he declined the offer, in 
 order to give his entire time to the study of the law. 
 Having at length completed his legal studies, he in 
 1869 passed a highly creditable examination and was 
 admitted to the bar of Virginia, and was almost 
 immediately admitted to a partnership with Mr. 
 Nathaniel Richardson, a prominent lawyer in Virginia. 
 In the fall of the same year, 1869, he was elected 
 State's attorney, being the only Democrat elected 
 
 on the entire ticket, in a district which was strongly 
 Republican. 
 
 Occupying this -office until the spring of 1872, he 
 declined a re-nomination and removed to Chicago, 
 establishing himself for the practice of the law in the 
 Quinlan building, where he occupies to-day the identi- 
 cal office he then entered. Upon locating here, Mr. 
 Freshwaters decided not to engage actively in politics, 
 desiring to devote his whole time to the practice of his 
 profession ; but in 1888 he was, without his consent 
 nominated on the Democratic ticket to represent the 
 Third Congressional District of Illinois, and, notwith- 
 standing the district was strongly Republican, he 
 succeeded in reducing the Republican majority of 
 over five thousand to about six hundred. In 1891 he 
 was nominated on the " citizens' ticket " for the office 
 of city attorney, and, though he ran well, was not 
 elected. Although as a State's attorney in Virginia 
 Mr. Freshwaters had acquired considerable experience 
 in criminal practice, he decided when he came to 
 Chicago to forego that branch of the profession, and 
 to devote his time and energy to chancery, probate 
 and general office practice, which he has continued to 
 do with most gratifying results. He is a Mason, being 
 a member of Hesperia Lodge, and of Oriental Con- 
 sistory, thirty-second degree, A. A. S. R., and also of 
 Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a 
 member of the " O. G. S.," of the Knights of Rome, 
 and of the Red Cross of Constantine. In all these 
 lodges he is a prominent, influential and much es- 
 teemed member. He is courteous in manner, of 
 pleasing address, genial and affable in his intercourse 
 with all, energetic and decisive in character, and pos- 
 sesses a well-earned reputation for strict attention to 
 business. He has a thorough knowledge of the law, 
 and in its practice is known for integrity of the high- 
 est character. In social circles Mr. Freshwaters is 
 popular, while as a representative citizen he is esteemed 
 and respected by all who know him.
 
 6O2 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 JOHN JANZEN, 
 
 MOUNTAIN LAKE, MINNESOTA. 
 
 JOHN JANZEN, son of Johann and Anna Janzen, 
 was born at Vorwerk, West Prussia, in the fertile 
 valley near the mouth of the beautiful Vistula, on- the 
 15th day of March, 1850. His father was a prominent 
 farmer, who took a lively interest in all things pertain- 
 in^ to the public welfare. He gave each of his chil- 
 dren a first class common school education and of his 
 three sons, two, the subject of this sketch and Abraham, 
 are prosperous business men at Mountain Lake, Minn , 
 and the third, Aaron has followed in his father's foot- 
 steps and now owns a valuable farm in Germany. Dur- 
 ing his youth John Janzen was exceedingly fond of 
 reading books on foreign travel, and this soon created 
 in him the desire to see for himself some of the foreign 
 countries of which he read. This desire grew and 
 finally he obtained his father's consent to visit Amer- 
 ica. Accordingly he set out and landed in 1873. 
 
 He immediately came West and for a time did farm 
 work by the day or month in Iowa and Minnesota. 
 He saved most of his money, and in 1874 he located at 
 Mountain Lake, Minn. From 1875 until 1879 he was 
 employed by S. H. Soule as clerk and book-keeper, but 
 in 1879 he was made a partner, the firm carrying a 
 large stock of general merchandise and doing a hand- 
 some business. In 1884 he visited his old home in Ger- 
 many, and also spent some time in France and England, 
 
 and after his return to Mountain Lake bought out his 
 partner's interest and has since carried on the business 
 alone. He also carries on a large business as emigra- 
 tion agent and in real estate and loans. He is a stock- 
 holder in the Cottonwood County Bank at Windom, 
 Minn., and is vice president of the bank of Mountain 
 Lake. He has always taken an active part in politics, 
 affiliating with the Republican party, and has held 
 many offices of public trust, the first being town clerk of 
 Mountain Lake, to which he was elected. in March, 
 1875, and the last which he still holds, that of post 
 master, to which he was appointed by President Har- 
 rison in 1889, on the 28th of March. He is a member 
 of the Christian church and takes an active part in 
 church and charitable work. 
 
 He was married to Miss Anna Goertzan, of Moun, 
 tain Lake, on May 1, 1878. Five children, four 
 daughters and one son have blessed the union. Mr. 
 Janzen is a fair type of the best class of our foreign 
 born citizens. Leaving a comfortable home in order to 
 carve out his own fortune he has entered with all his 
 heart into the spirit of the institutions of his adopted 
 country, and has by his energy, capability and strict 
 business integrity, built up a home and fortune. Broad 
 and liberal in his views, he has fully earned the confi- 
 dence and esteem accorded to him bv his fellow citizens. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON GALE FERRIS, 
 
 P1TT3BURG, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 ME. GEORGE W. G. FERRIS, son of George W. 
 G. Ferris, Sr., and Martha A. Ferris, was born 
 at Galesburg, 111., February 14, 1859. After attending 
 the public schools he finished his education at the Cal- 
 ifornia Military Academy, at Oakland, Gal., and was 
 graduated at the institution as a captain, afterward en- 
 tering the Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y., 
 obtaining from this institution the degree of C. E. upon 
 graduation. 
 
 His active work was begun in New York city, where 
 as assistant engineer he was engaged in connection with 
 the proposed railroad line from Cincinnati to Balti- 
 more. Later he became assistant engineer in charge of 
 the location of the road, beginning work at Charleston, 
 W. Va., and following the line up the Elk river and 
 over the Allegheny mountains, later leaving this work 
 to become chief engineer and general manager of the 
 Queen City Coal and Mining Co., located on the Kan- 
 awha river, west of Charleston, W. Va. In this posi- 
 tion his duty was the development of the company's 
 mines, and in its discharge came experience in the 
 building of tunnels through the mountains, railroads, 
 
 coal tipples, and all the work which comes within the 
 province of the mining engineer. 
 
 In 1883 he became assistant engineer of the Louis- 
 ville Bridge and Iron company, of Louisville, Ky., con- 
 fining his labors to office work, until the work of 
 construction of the Henderson bridge across the Ohio 
 was begun, when he was appointed assistant engineer, 
 with the supervision of the sinking and concreting of 
 the pneumatic caissons under the bridge. His work was 
 very dangerous, and so wearing on his constitution that 
 he was compelled to resign his position, but was re- 
 tained by the company and given charge of the inspec- 
 tion of the superstructure of the Henderson bridge. 
 Upon the completion of this bridge Mr. Ferris became 
 the consulting engineer of several large corporations in 
 different parts of the country, taking complete charge 
 of the superstructure work. 
 
 In 1885 Mr. Ferris organized the metallurgical firm 
 of G. W. G. Ferris & Co.. of Pittsburgh, of which Mr. 
 Ferris is the head. In connection with this firm he, in 
 18S8, established a branch in engineering, under the 
 style of Ferris, Kauffman & Co., which firm afterward
 

 
 A >* \* 
 
 o^V-- N C> 
 
 \v. '<i k 
 

 
 Jfjfifca'Sjr B^iia.Tififj '^ '- "' '
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 built the cantilever bridge across the Ohio river at 
 Cincinnati, the Wheeling bridge across the Ohio river 
 at Wheeling, and many other smaller structures of like 
 character. 
 
 Probably Mr. Ferris' greatest achievement in 
 engineering work was the wonderful wheel which was 
 operated so successfully at the World's Columbian 
 Exposition at Chicago in 1893, Mr. Ferris was among 
 the first who thought of some great attraction for the 
 World's Fair, and the construction of a great observa- 
 tion wheel as a rival of the Eiffel tower of the last 
 Paris Exposition was what he proposed. The Fair 
 management had many designs to choose from, and the 
 fact that the best engineers of the world offered plans 
 for unique and novel engineering structures of various 
 kinds, shows how great was the honor conferred upon 
 him by the choice of his plans. 
 
 In was not until December, 1892, that the conces- 
 sion was granted. The sum of $25,000 had already 
 been expended on plans and specifications alone. A 
 stock company was immediately organized, with $600,- 
 000 capital, to build the wheel. Orders were placed as 
 fast as possible, but in January -1, 1893, the metal was 
 still in the pig On January 4th the ground for the 
 foundation was broken, on March 20th the superstruc- 
 ture was begun, and on June 21st the completed 
 wheel was formally started, and commenced carrying 
 
 605 
 
 passengers. The opening address on this occasion was 
 made by Captain Robert W. Hunt, the president of the 
 company, who introduced Mr. Ferris. In a few well- 
 chosen words the latter referred to his great enterprise, 
 the success of which he largely attributed to the un- 
 failingfaith and encouragement of his wife. Then fol- 
 lowed addresses by General Nelson A. Miles, Moses P. 
 Handy, Hon.William A. Vincent, and others. At the 
 conclusion of the addresses the band played " Yankee 
 Doodle." When the second stanza was reached the 
 inventor, Mr. Ferris, gave the signal to start by blow- 
 ing on a small gold whistle, which had been presented 
 to him by his wife. The great wheel began slowl\ r to 
 revolve, and from that time to the close of the Fair 
 only stopped to let on and discharge passengers, in- 
 creasing in popularity as the days went by. 
 
 Mr. Ferris was united in marriage on the 21st day 
 of September, 1886, to Miss Margaret A. Beatty, of 
 Canton, Ohio. 
 
 In appearance Mr. Ferris is a man of medium 
 height and weight and of great force of character. 
 Like all men of nervous temperament, he fs energetic 
 in all his undertakes and acts in all matters with char- 
 acteristic decision and despatch. He is well thought of 
 by all he comes in contact with, and has many friends 
 throughout the country, a large number of whom are 
 in Chicago. 
 
 FREDERICK W. HOYT, 
 
 RED WING, MINNESOTA. 
 
 FREDERICK W. HOYT, son of William P. and 
 Angeline Hoyt, was born at Mendon, New York, 
 on the first day of June, 1841. When he was seven 
 years of age his parents moved to La Fayette, Stark 
 county, Illinois, where he passed the next eight years 
 of his life and acquired the rudiments of his education 
 in the district schools. In 1856 the family moved to 
 Roscoe, Goodhue county, Minnesota, but young Hoyt 
 returned to Illinois in order to attend school 
 at Rock Island. On his return to Minnesota he studied 
 for three years at Hamline University, then located at 
 Red Wing, and after leaving school studied law and 
 was admitted to the bar in 1866. Directly after this 
 he commenced the practice of his profession in Red 
 Wing and made that place his home up to the time of 
 his death, which occurred July 13th, 1892. For a time 
 he was in partnership with J. II. Parker and afterwards 
 with Col. J. S. Hoard. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Hoyt was a strong Republican, and 
 though the stress of his business would not pewnit his 
 devoting much time to politics he was nevertheless 
 elected court commissioner in 18S7, and served his 
 county in the lower house of the State Legislature in 
 1881 and again in 18S9. 
 
 For many years Mr. Hoyt was one of the foremost 
 
 business men of Red Wing, and to his efforts that city 
 is indebted for much of its progress. At the time of 
 his death he was president of the Duluth, Red Wing, 
 and Southern Railroad, of which he was one of the 
 originators and in whose interests he has spent much 
 of his valuable time. He was also secretary of the 
 Red Wing, Duluth and Sioux City Construction Com- 
 pany, and president of the North Star Stoneware Com- 
 pany, whose plant was built in 1892 under his personal 
 supervision and which to him owes its name. He was 
 also president of the Red Wing Furniture Company, 
 and of the Inter-Ocean Building Association, St. 
 Paul, a director of the Goodhue County Bank, of the 
 La Grange Mill, and of the Red Wing Sewer Pipe Com- 
 pany. He also served as a trustee of Hamline Univer- 
 sity and as vice-president of the Minnesota State 
 Reform School Board, which institution was secured 
 for Red Wing almost entirely by his untiring efforts. 
 The same breadth, fertility of resources, steadiness of 
 purpose and unflagging energy which were the leading 
 characteristics of his business life, marked his Chistian- 
 ity and his work for the church. He united with the 
 Methodist Episcopal church in Red Wing in 1868, and 
 for the remainder of his life remained in hearty sym- 
 pathy with Methodism and with the work done by the
 
 6o6 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Red Wing branch of that church. His plans, liberality 
 and zeal have done much to make the church at Red 
 Wing one of the leading charges of the Minnesota Con- 
 ference. He tilled every lay position in the church, 
 and for many years filled all of them at once, and was 
 ahravs equally efficient and interested in each of them. 
 He was ever one of the pastor's warmest adherents and 
 generous to a fault in all church affairs. The fine pipe 
 organ in the Red Wing church was his individual gift, 
 and is to day one of the best monuments that his life 
 has erected to his memory. He was a model Sunday 
 School superintendent and never allowed anything to 
 interfere with the performance of his duties in that 
 position, often riding hundreds of miles and neglecting 
 other business in order to be at his post. He was a 
 reserve delegate to the General Conference in 1888 and 
 made an enviable record, especially in the legislation 
 upon the Permanent Fund. He was always greatly 
 interested in plans for providing for worn-out preachers, 
 
 and wrote eloquently in the furtherance of a plan to 
 enlist the church in their behalf. His religious life was 
 clear, practical, even, helpful and consistent. He was 
 superintendent of the Sunday School for eight years, 
 and under his care it grew until it was one of the 
 largest in the entire State. 
 
 On the 9th day of August, 1870, Mr. Hoyt was 
 united in marriage to Miss Josephine Bassett. Three 
 children, two daughters and one son. were born to this 
 union, and the daughters Winefred E. and Fannie, sur- 
 vive to help her mother bear her great loss. Frederick 
 W. Hoyt was a man respected and esteemed bv all who 
 knew him, a kind Christian gentleman and a loving 
 husband and father. No man stood higher in the com- 
 munity than did he ,and in his death the entire city of 
 Red Wing felt that each inhabitant had experienced an 
 individual loss. But though he has passed away his 
 works still live and his memory will long be reverenced 
 by those who knew and loved him in life. 
 
 JOHN FORD MEAGHER, 
 
 MANKATO, MINNESOTA. 
 
 JOHN FORD MEAGHER, son of Jeremiah and 
 Catherine Meagher, was born in County Kerry, 
 Ireland, on the llth day of April, 1836. Both parents 
 died when he was about ten years of age, and shortly 
 afterwards he, with a brother and sister, came to 
 America, and settled in LaSalle county, 111., where he 
 remained for about three years, when he was offered 
 an opportunity to learn the trade of tinner. Realizing 
 that a trade would be of great material benefit to him 
 in the battle of life, and knowing that during his 
 apprenticeship he was assured of a good home with a 
 kind, motherly woman, he eagerly embraced the oppor- 
 tunity and of his own volition bound himself as an 
 apprentice to a tinner at Ottawa, 111. 
 
 He served for three years, receiving the first year 
 $30, the second year $40 and the third and last year $50 
 for his work, after which time, though only seventeen 
 years of age, he found no difficulty in securing employ- 
 ment at his trade at the regular wages paid to men. 
 Believing that in the newly settled districts there 
 would be a better chance for a young man's ad- 
 vancement, he determined to go to Minnesota, and 
 accordingly, in September, 1857, he took passage on the 
 steamer Northern Light at Dunleith, 111., and voyaged 
 up the Mississippi to Hastings, Minnesota. At Hastings 
 he met a friend who told him that at Faribault, Minne- 
 sota, a firm had just opened a hardware store and were 
 in need of a practical tinner. He immediately went to 
 Faribault and securing employment remained through 
 the winter. The result of the panic of 1857 was felt, 
 even on the frontier, and the merchants then found 
 themselves overstocked and commenced casting about 
 for ways and means of disposing of their surplus stock. 
 
 To effect this a hardware firm doing business at Hast- 
 ings decided to open a branch store at Mankato, and 
 engaged Mr. Meagher to aid in its establishment and to 
 remain there afterwards to assist in the management. 
 So in June 1858 he went to Mankato and remained in 
 the interest of the firm thereuntil 1861, when he bought 
 out their interests and started in business for himself. 
 He had been in business but a short time, when news 
 of the Indian outbreak which reached Mankato on the 
 evening of the 19th of August interrupted him. The 
 townspeople being summoned to the levee by the ring- 
 ing of the city bell, they organized a company of 
 volunteers to go to the defense of New Ulm. The 
 captaincy of this company was tendered to Mr. Meagher, 
 but he, while willing to serve in any other capacity; 
 declined this honer and accepted the rank of first 
 lieutenant. The company went to New Ulm, and there 
 is no need to enlarge here upon the gallantry with 
 which they acquitted themselves, as, besides being a 
 matter of history, it is a household tale all through that 
 section of Minnesota. 
 
 After hostilities had ceased for the time being, a 
 part of the company were established at South Bend, 
 and Mr. Meagher returned to Mankato, where he 
 organized a company for the defence of that town, and 
 was commissioned by the governor and designated by 
 General Pope, of the Department of Militia, as com- 
 mandant of the post at Mankato. 
 
 He continued in the hardware business, and in 1868 
 assisted in the organization of the First National Bank 
 of Mankato, serving as its vice-president during the 
 whole time of his connection with it. In 1872 he 
 withdrew from the First National, and was a most
 
 tftf
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 active factor in the organization of the Citizen's Na- 
 tional Bank, of which he was the president during its 
 entire existence, which ended in 1892. Out of the old 
 bank the National Citizen's Bank was then organized 
 to carry on the business, and Mr. Meagher was elected 
 president of the new bank, still serving in that cap- 
 acity. He has also been actively interested in all pub- 
 lic enterprises in his section and State, having been at 
 different times a director in the Mankato Brick Com- 
 pany, the Mankato Woolen Mill Company, the Man- 
 kato Axe Company, the Mankato Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, the Mankato Gas and Electric Light Company, 
 the Wells branch of the C. M. & St. P. Ry., the North 
 Western Manufacturing and Car Company, of Still- 
 water. He has also been a stockholder in the St. Paul 
 Trust Company, the First National Bank of St. Paul, 
 the National German-American Bank of St. Paul, the 
 National Commercial Bank of St. Paul, and many 
 others. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Meagher is a Democrat, and though 
 his party is in a hopeless minority in his section of the 
 country, he has been its candidate on numerous occa- 
 sions, and has never vet met with defeat, his personal 
 popularity carrying him through on each occasion. He 
 was first put in nomination for the office of county 
 treasurer by the Democratic count}' convention in 
 1863, and though no candidate of that party had been 
 elected to office in the county for years, Mr. Meagher 
 was elected by a large majority, although the balance 
 of the ticket suffered defeat. In 1869, while he was 
 in the East and without his knowledge, he was nomi- 
 nated to represent his district in the Legislature. The 
 district was regarded as hopelessly Republican, and 
 Mr. Meagher, not believing that there was any chance 
 of election, only consented to the use of his name on 
 the condition that no effort should be made in his 
 behalf, thinking to allow the election to go by default. 
 His conditions were agreed to. and notwithstanding, 
 he was triumphantly elected by a majority of several 
 
 609 
 
 hundred, and took his seat in the session of 1870. He 
 was re-elected in 1871 by an increased majority, and 
 in 1872 was elected to the State Senate, where he was 
 a member of several important committees, including 
 those of finance, railroads and education. 
 
 His record in both the House and Senate is a parti- 
 cularly clean and able one, his conduct there being 
 frank, open, and manly ; and to-day he numbers among 
 his best friends, men of both parties who served with 
 him and were impressed with his honesty of purpose 
 and direct manliness. He has also served three years 
 as a member of the city council of Mankato and was 
 for a time president of that bod} 7 . He also served one 
 year as chairman of the board of county commissioners. 
 In the Tilden-Hayes presidential campaign he was an 
 elector at large on the Democratic ticket. In 1881, 
 Governor Hubbard appointed him one of the trustees 
 of the Hospital for the Insane. He was reappointed by 
 Governors McGilland Nelson, and in 1887 the Legisla- 
 ture made him a member of the board of trustees to 
 re-locate the State Reform School. 
 
 In 1888 he was appointed by the Legislature as one 
 of the trustees to take charge of the erection of a monu- 
 ment at New Ulm to commemorate the battle fought in 
 defense of that city, and in behalf of the trustees Mr. 
 Meagher turned the monument over to the Governor 
 of the State on the 23d of August, 1891. 
 
 On Sept. 26th, 1886. Mr. Meagher was married to 
 Miss Mary A. Battelle of Brooklyn, New York. They 
 have had seven children. 
 
 John F. Meagher is one of the men who, starting 
 under adverse circumstances, have built up their fortunes 
 by the exertion of their own brain and muscle and owe 
 their prosperity to themselves alone. An orphan at 
 the early age often, be has since had to make his way 
 in the world alone, but by going resolutely to work 
 and allowing nothing to deter him he has earned for 
 himself not only wealth but the honor and esteem of 
 all who know him. 
 
 JOHN W. SPONABLE, 
 
 PAOLA, KANSAS. 
 
 JOHN WARREN SPONABLE, son of George and 
 Eliza (Sweet) Sponable, was born on a farm in 
 Fulton county, N. Y., on November 2, 1832. On his 
 father's side he is a descendant of a German family, 
 who came to America and located in Montgomery 
 count}', on the banks of the Mohawk, as early as 1700, 
 and on his mother's side from an English family, who 
 settled in New England about 1740. Young Sponable 
 remained at home until he reached the age of fourteen 
 and then went to Alleghany county to learn a trade. 
 He remained only a few months, however, and then 
 went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he worked for the next 
 three years. 
 
 In the fall of 1849, he went to Cincinnati. Ohio, and 
 secured employment in a general store. While there 
 he carefully saved as much as possible from his salary, 
 and in 1853 removed to Preble county in Ohio, where 
 he opened a family grocery store, and also was engaged 
 in buying grain for shipment to Cincinnati. He 
 remained in this business until 1857, when it not prov- 
 ing to beas profitable as desired, he sold out and went to 
 Kansas City, Mo. In 1858 he went to Gardner, John- 
 son county, Kan., where he opened a general store. 
 Here he was very successful and accumulated consider- 
 able money, which during the three years, 1859-1861, 
 he invested largely in real estate in Johnson county,
 
 6io 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 and which increasing rapidly in value yielded him 
 large profits. Some of these farms he owns at the 
 present time. In 1801 he was elected treasurer of 
 Johnson county, and was re-elected in 1863. When he 
 entered upon the duties of the office in 1861 he found 
 the county deeply in debt and without credit, but 
 through his management the debt was paid in full, a 
 stone court-house and jail was erected, and when he 
 retired from office the county was free from debt, and 
 its credit firmly re-established. Mr. Sponable served 
 one term as a member of the Kansas Legislature, and 
 was for several years a director of the Kansas City and 
 Santa Fe Railroad company. 
 
 The school facilities of Johnson county, not being 
 as good as he wished to give his children, in 1873 Mr. 
 Sponable sold a large part of his interests and moved 
 to Paola, Kansas. Needing some kind of business to 
 occupy his time he bought a mill, which he operated 
 with great success; in fact it proved, to use his own 
 words, "almost a gold mine" up to 1881, at which 
 time he disposed of the business. 
 
 In 1875, Mr. Sponable, in company with several 
 other substantial business men, organized the Miami 
 County Bank, with a capital of $50,000, and it opened 
 its doors for business January 1st, 1876, with J. E. 
 Thayer as president, and J. W. Sponable as vice-pres- 
 ident. Three 3' ears later Mr. Thayer resigned and 
 
 Mr. Sponable was elected president in his place, and 
 has held that position up to the present time. In 1884 
 the capital stock of the bank was doubled, and one 
 year later it was converted into a National Bank, being 
 now known as the Miami County National Bank, and 
 is one of the strongest and best banking institutions in 
 the State. 
 
 Mr. Sponable has always been deeply interested in 
 affairs pertaining to the prosperity of both Johnson 
 and Miami counties, and of Paola, which town he has 
 twice served as mayor. He has always taken an active 
 interest in national matters and has drafted two bills 
 pertaining to banks and banking that have received 
 universal commendation from students of finance. He 
 spends considerable of his time each year in traveling 
 over the United States for the purpose of investigating 
 her various resources. 
 
 Paola has a free public library of 6,000 standard 
 books, and about half of the cost was contributed by 
 Mr. Sponable. The town also has a new library build- 
 ing well arranged and commodious, and fully paid for. 
 The lot was donated by Mr.Sponable and about half the 
 expense of the building, which is an ornament to the 
 city. Mr. Sponable started in the world for himself a 
 poor boy at the age of fourteen, and what he has since 
 accumulated is the result of his own industry, persever- 
 ance and economy, combined with ability. 
 
 LEONIDAS MERRITT, 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 T EONIDAS MERRITT, son of Lewis H. and Heph- 
 1 t zibeth (Jewett) Merritt, was born in Hanover 
 township, Chautauqua county, N. Y., on the 20th day 
 of February, 1844. The Merritt family were originally 
 French Huguenots who fled from France to Kent, 
 England, to avoid persecution, and the branch of the 
 family from which the subject of this biography is 
 descended came to America and settled in Connecticut 
 early in the sixteenth century. Thomas Merritt, the 
 grandfather of Leonidas, walked from Connecticut to 
 Chautauqua county, -N. Y., and was one of the earliest 
 settlers of that county. On his mother's side, 
 Leonidas Merritt is descended from another family 
 who were among the earliest settlers of New England. 
 
 Young Merritt first attended school in New York, 
 and after the family came west finished his education 
 in the public schools at Oneota, Minn. While in 
 school his favorite studies were history, geography and 
 elocution, and to these he devoted as much of his time 
 as was possible. From his earliest youth Mr. Merritt 
 has been extremely fond of the woods, and his natural 
 bent as an explorer was materially developed by the 
 fact that the family lived in a region where his tastes 
 in this direction found abundant gratification. 
 
 After leaving school he went to the oil fields of 
 
 Pennsylvania, partly to gratify a desire for travel and 
 partly to demonstrate his ability to take care of himself. 
 He was afterwards successively engaged in farming, 
 the lumber and mill business, ship building, and after- 
 wards in sailing as commander of his own vessels until 
 1879, when he took up exploring as a profession and 
 has followed it ever since. He first devoted his atten- 
 tion to locating pine lands and located at different 
 times many different tracts, but his greatest success was 
 in the discovery and opening up of the great Missaba 
 Iron Range and the building of the Duluth, Missaba 
 and Northern Railroad, which has its terminal docks at 
 Oneota, very near to the spot where the family first 
 landed in that town in 1856. Besides the opening up 
 of the Missaba Range and building of the D. M. & N. 
 Ry., Mr. Merritt was one of the leading spirits in the 
 organization of the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron 
 Mining Company, of which he is president. He is also 
 president of the Iron Exchange Bank of Duluth, vice- 
 president of the Duluth, Missaba and Northern 
 Railway, and the owner of the Mountain Iron Bank 
 at Mountain Iron, Minn., having established it in 
 1892. 
 
 On the 30th of June, 1864, Mr. Merritt enlisted as a 
 private in Company B, Brackett's Battalion of Minne-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 sota Cavalry, under the command of Captain John A. 
 Reed, and after gallant service, in which he was en- 
 gaged in several battles and skirmishes, he was hon- 
 orably discharged on the 1st day of June, 1866. 
 
 In politics he is a Republican, and though never 
 seeking office he has at different times allowed his 
 friends co persuade him to serve the public in an 
 official capacity. Thus for three years prior to 1887 he 
 served as a school director of St. Louis county. He 
 was also the first president of the town of West Dulutb, 
 and in the fall of 1892 was elected to represent his 
 county for two years in the Minnesota Legislature. 
 
 On the 8th day of May, 1873, Mr. Merritt was united 
 in marriage to Miss Elizabeth A. Wheeler at Oneota, 
 Minnesota. Three children, Ruth, Lucian and Harry, 
 have blessed the union and are now attending school, 
 the two elder in the high school at Duluth and the 
 youngest in the public school at Oneota. Eeared in 
 the Methodist church, Mr. Merritt has been connected 
 
 613 
 
 with that denomination since his early youth, and takes 
 an active though quiet part in all church work. He is 
 a member .of the A. O. U. W., and has traveled for 
 business purposes all over the United States. 
 
 Leonidas Merritt is of medium height, has dark hair 
 and eyes and a face that expresses great strength of 
 character. His dealings with his fellow-men have all 
 been characterized by fairness and influenced by a 
 strong sense of justice and high regard for the right. 
 His disposition is cheerful, and he has a penchant for 
 looking at events from the humorous side when 
 possible. 
 
 In short Mr. Merritt is a liberal-minded, broad- 
 guage business man, unassuming in manner, active, 
 progressive and generous, and to his friends loyal to a 
 fault. In northern Minnesota no man stands higher, 
 and there is no one whose advice is more eagerly 
 sought or whose decisions are more acted upon and re- 
 spected than Leonidas Merritt. 
 
 HON. A. G. HOVEY, 
 
 EUGENE, OREGON. 
 
 AG. HOVEY, "son of Captain John and Abigail 
 . (Dusten) Hovey, was born at Londonderry, New 
 Hampshire, on the llth of July, 1830. On his father's 
 side he is connected with a family long known and 
 honored in the New England history, and his mother 
 was a descendant of Mrs. Hannah Dusten, who having 
 seen her husband and child inurdered by their Indian 
 captors, made her escape after slaying several of the 
 Indians with their own tomahawks. The mother of 
 the subject of this sketch was a well educated and 
 refined woman, justly celebrated for her kindness of 
 heart and wide charity. The son was one of eight 
 children, and received his education in the historic town 
 of Marietta, Ohio, to which place his father moved 
 when our subject was but a lad. 
 
 In 1849 he joined a company of twenty men to 
 cross the plains, and work the gold mines of California. 
 They reached St. Joseph, Mo., safely, but while there 
 four of their number succumbed to the cholera which 
 raged so fiercely among the emigrants at that time. 
 They left St. Joseph in April, and arrived in Sacramento 
 city, CaL, in the following October. They fitted them- 
 selves for the mines, and located at Rhodis' Bar on the 
 Cossumnie river during the fall, and later went to 
 the diggings at Longs' Hollow in the Weaver 
 district, where they spent the winter. Young Hovey 
 was not particularly lucky in his mining ventures, 
 and not being attracted by the class of men 
 who made up the community, he embarked 
 for Oregon by steamer from San Francisco, and landed 
 at Portland in October, 1850. He went up the Willa- 
 mette valley, and after visiting the various towns, 
 
 located at Corvallis, where he taught the first school 
 the term commencing in December. He worked for a 
 time for Hon. Wayman St. Glair, the pioneer merchant 
 of the town, and early in 1851 was appointed clerk of 
 the United States District Court for Benton county, 
 by Judge O. C. Pratt, and later was elected county 
 clerk. During his service in the courts Mr. Hovey 
 studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1853, and 
 later to practice before the Supreme court of the State. 
 He never entered into the active practice of his pro- 
 fession, however, but moved to his claim near Cor- 
 vallis, where, from 1853 to 1862, he engaged in farm- 
 ing with considerable success. In 1862 he was elected 
 to the State Senate from Benton county, and served in 
 that capacity until 1867. In 1866 to moved to Port: 
 land, Ore., but remained there only one year, and then 
 went to Springfield, in Lane county, where he engaged 
 in milling and mercantile business until 1879. He 
 then removed to Eugene, in the same State, where, 
 two years later, he, with two associates, organized and 
 established the Lane County Bank, the firm being 
 known as Hovey, Humphrey & Co. Mr. Hovey was 
 elected president of the bank at the time of organizaj 
 tion, and has held the office up to the present time. 
 He has always taken a deep interest in all enterprises 
 pertaining to the material welfare of the section in 
 which he resides, and has spent considerable time and 
 money in aiding public works, and is now taking a 
 leading part in the construction of a railroad between 
 Eugene and the Suislan Coast. 
 
 Mr. Hovey was united in marriage in 1853 to Miss 
 Mary Ellen Mulkey, who died in 1861, and three years
 
 614 
 
 later he married Miss Emily Humphery. They have 
 three children, two sons and one daughter. 
 
 An ardent Republican, Mr. Hovey has always taken 
 a leading part in politics, and has held many offices of 
 honor and trust, among which may be mentioned that 
 of State Senator and mayor of Eugene. He has been 
 selected as a delegate of the National Eepublican Con- 
 vention a number of times, and was appointed by Presi- 
 dent Harrison a member of the board of visitors to the 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 annual examinations at the U. S. Military Academy at 
 West Point in 1892. He has taken a great interest in 
 educational institutions, and was recently appointed a 
 member of the board of regents of the Oregon State 
 University, of which he has been treasurer for many 
 years. A man of strong convictions, he is positive in 
 his character and of incorruptible integrity. He is an 
 intelligent, useful citizen, and justly takes rank as one 
 of Oregon's leading and representative men. 
 
 MATTHEW BLAND HARRISON, 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 MATTHEW BLAND HARRISON, son of Robert 
 Wiley and Louise Christine (Bland) Harrison, 
 \vas born at Petersburg, Va., on the 24th day of April, 
 1854. On his father's side he was descended from Ben- 
 jamin Harrison, and on his mother's from Richard 
 Bland, both members of the first Continental Congress, 
 and among the most prominent of the Virginians of 
 the Revolutionary period. Benjamin Harrison was 
 the- ancestor of William H. Harrison, once president of 
 the United States. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was fitted for college at 
 the University school at Petersburg, and while a thor- 
 ough boy, entering heartily into all boyish sports, he 
 studied faithfully and his name was second on the list 
 of prize men of the upper school for the session of 
 1S72-73. 
 
 In 1874 he entered the academic department of the 
 University of Virginia, but did not graduate, as failing 
 health necessitated his leaving. After a year of quiet 
 he opened a school in Richmond, Va., in which he at 
 once achieved extraordinary success, but steadily keep- 
 ing in view the law as his ultimate profession he con- 
 tinued his studies in that direction, and was admitted to 
 the bar in 1882. He moved to the State of Washing- 
 ton in the same year and settled in Spokane Falls, 
 where he practiced his profession. He remained 
 in Spokane Falls two years and then came East and 
 located in St. Paul, where he engaged in the real estate 
 business. In this business he found his true calling, 
 and from the moment that he embarked in it, his suc- 
 cess was assured. After remaining in St. Paul for 
 nearly a year he concluded that Duluth was to be the 
 metropolis of the northwest, and in the year 1886 
 he moved to that town, where he remained actively 
 identified with many private and all public enterprises 
 until his death, which occurred on the 29th day of 
 February, 1892. His death was caused by complica- 
 tions arising from la grippe, which seized him early in 
 January, and which had apparently yielded to treat- 
 ment; but he suffered a relapse on February 27th and 
 two days' later he peacefully passed away. 
 
 On the 27th of October, 1886, Mr. Harrison married 
 Miss Lucy Gray Henry, of Richmond, Va., second 
 
 daughter of Hon. William Wirt Henry and Lucy Gray 
 Marshall. His wife was descended on her father's side 
 from two distinguished Virginians, the great revolu- 
 tionary patriot and orator, Patrick Henry, and his 
 eminent contemporary, Colonel William Cabell, of 
 Union Hill, and on her mother's side from the promi- 
 nent families of Marshall and Watkins. A daughter, 
 Louise Henry Harrison, was the only issue of this 
 marriage, and she and her mother survive the husband 
 and father. . 
 
 In 1890 he was appointed (;is a Democrat) one of 
 the World's Fair Commissioners from Minnesota, by 
 President Harrison. He was placed at once on three 
 of the most important committees of the temporary 
 organization, and after the permanent organization of 
 the great Exposition was effected, he was put upon the 
 committee on ceremonies, and upon the executive 
 committee, which was afterwards called the Board of 
 Control, and consisted of but eight men, who were 
 apily called the brains of the National Commission. 
 
 Mr. Harrison wasof medium size and his face bore a 
 strong resemblance of that of Gen. William Henry Har- 
 rison. Ills hair and eyes were black. His head wasof 
 a high type, with a finely developed forehead, a strong 
 mouth, and a somewhat receding chin. His eyes were 
 bright with the unmistakable light of genius. His 
 words were few and to the point. His conceptions were 
 quick and followed by immediate action. Whileothers 
 were debating he concluded and acted upon his conclu- 
 sions. It was thus that he so often gained the advant- 
 age over others in his business transactions. Indeed in 
 nothing did he show genius more marked than in the 
 rapid it} 7 with which he reasoned and came to s< und 
 Conclusions. Others slower in their reasoning. :md 
 seemingly more cautious in their actions, were amazed 
 at what seemed the rashness of the young Virginian, 
 but ere long they were constrained to admit that he 
 acted wisely. When he came to Duluth no one had 
 grasped its future as he did, suid no one was so well 
 prepared to profit by its rapid growth. One of the 
 most striking characteristics of Mr. Harrison was his 
 liberality in business. He never stickled over small 
 things. He could not have afforded it had he been
 
 ^^fe^ 
 ^^tek 
 
 Jpsfcyp^^ 
 
 -a ^ 
 
 6,

 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 inclined, but his nature was of too generous a mould. 
 His aims were high, and he was princely in his methods. 
 Not only to his friends and relatives was he generous 
 to a fault, but he never saw a young man struggling to 
 rise in the world that he did not extend a helping hand. 
 It was largely to this rare combination of genius for 
 business and generosity of disposition, united with cor- 
 dial and unaffected manners, that he owed his phenom- 
 enal success, and the warm affection in which he was 
 held in his adopted home. Perhaps no one has ever 
 accumulated so large a fortune by strictly business 
 methods in so short a time, and with so little envy from 
 others. 
 
 Mr. Harrison found Duluth a town of some 18,000 
 inhabitants in 1886, and he lived to see it a city of 
 over 50,000 in 1892. No one man contributed more to 
 its rapid growth than he. In the enterprises which 
 have given it permanent prosperity he was often the 
 leader, and always the helper, and as a city builder 
 his name is indissolubly linked with this young giant 
 of the Northwest. He was foremost in advertising its 
 great natural advantages, and inducing capital to seek 
 investment there. One of the enterprises brought by 
 him to Duluth, was the Minnesota Car Works, giving 
 birth to the flourishing suburb known as West Duluth. 
 already an important manufacturing point. Mr. Har- 
 rison was one of the first to appreciate the value of 
 the mining deposits of the Missaba range, and their 
 
 617 
 
 importance to Duluth. He was among the first 
 investors in its iron properties, and was one of the 
 most efficient projectors of the Duluth. Missaba & 
 Northern railroad, which connects this wonderful 
 range with the city of Duluth. He entered on the 
 purchase and development of iron properties in this 
 range when others were incredulous, but he lived to 
 see its riches made known and its deposits considered 
 the most valuable in America. From the develop- 
 ment of these mines Duluth will undoubtedly become 
 a great manufacturing city. 
 
 The record made by Mr. Harrison is almost without 
 a parallel. When one considers his measure of success 
 and the conditions under which it was attained, his 
 life's work appears simply marvelous, and only a close 
 acquaintance with, and thorough knowledge of, the 
 man himself could explain the results he achieved. 
 His was an energy untiring, an enthusiasm irresistible, 
 a foresight unclouded, a knowledge of men and affairs 
 intuitively perfect. Coming into the western business 
 world at the age of thirty-two, his brain and force of 
 character his only capital, within the space of five years 
 he acquired, not by a lucky chance but by legitimate 
 business methods, not only the estate of a millionaire, 
 but with it the confidence and esteem of the entire 
 community, so that at his death Minnesota was said to 
 have lost one of her brightest son.s, and Duluth her 
 foremost citizen. 
 
 ANDREW JARRED MEACHAM, 
 
 RED WING, MINNESOTA. 
 
 A NDIIEW JARRED MEACHAM, son of Jere- 
 i\ miah and Elizabeth (Cox) Meacham, was born 
 at Ellison, Warren county, 111., on the 15th of Septem- 
 ber, 1840. His father's family were among the early 
 settlers of Kentucky and his mother's grandfather was 
 a pioneer of Illinois. 
 
 Andrew was the eldest of a family of ten children 
 and his early life was spent on a farm, from which he 
 at intervals attended the county district schools. At 
 the age of seventeen he entered Hamline University at 
 Red Wing, Minnesota,where he worked at doing chores 
 and served as janitor in order to help pay his way. 
 Afterwards he taught school for one term and took a 
 course of lessons in book-keeping. 
 
 In 1862, he entered a general merchandise store a 
 clerk and book-keeper, but after four years' experience 
 started in business for himself as a member of the firm 
 of Bowman, Meacham & Co. In the fall of 1869 he 
 sold out his interests in Red Wing and the following 
 spring he went to Minneapolis, where for the succeed- 
 ing six and a half years he occupied the position of 
 treasurer of the North Star Iron Works. In October, 
 1876, he returned to Red Wing to accept the position 
 of assistant cashier of the Goodhue County Bank, in 
 
 which position he remained for ten years. He then 
 resigned in order to accept the general management of 
 the Northwestern Endowment and Legacy Association, 
 which he has held to the present time. 
 
 From boyhood Mr. Meacham's sympathy has been 
 with the principles and aims of the Republican party, 
 with which he has always voted. He has never sought 
 political preferment, though in 1870 he consented to 
 have his name placed on the Republican ticket as can- 
 didate for the office of treasurer of Red Wing, and was 
 elected by a handsome majority. At the beginning of 
 the Civil War Mr. Meachara offered his services to the 
 government, but his offer was declined on account of 
 his having lost two of his fingers in an accident when 
 a boy. 
 
 Mr. Meacham has been a member of the I. 0. O. F. 
 since 1868, and was a charter member of the first lodge 
 of Knights of Pythias organized in Minneapolis in 
 1870. In the latter order he has been quite prominent, 
 having assisted at the organization of the First Grand 
 Lodge of Minnesota, of which he is Senior Past Grand 
 Chancellor. lie is also a member of the Masonic fra- 
 ternity, which he joined in 1883. He has been an active 
 member of the Methodist church for more than thirtv-
 
 6i8 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 six years and has taken a prominent part in church 
 work, having been superintendent of the Sunday-school 
 for eight years. 
 
 On the 28th day of October, 1867, Mr. Meacham 
 was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Bassett, 
 at Laporte, Ohio, who died October 8th, 1878, leaving 
 three children, two sons and one daughter. On Novem- 
 ber 26th, 1S79, he was married a second time, the bride 
 being Miss Mary I. Raymond, of Utica. Minnesota. 
 
 Besides being manager of the Northwestern Endow- 
 
 ment and Legacy Association, Mr. Meacham is a direc- 
 tor of the Goodhue County Bank, the Red Wing 
 Furniture company, and the Xorth Star Stoneware Co. 
 What he is to-day he has made himself, for he began 
 in the world with nothing but his own energy and wil- 
 ling hands to aid him. By constant exertion and 
 economy, associated with good judgment, he has raised 
 himself to the prominent position he now holds, having 
 the friendship of many and respect of all those who 
 know him. 
 
 DR. H. BARRIE MILLICAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the promising young professional men of 
 Chicago is Dr. H. B. Millican, who is a son of 
 William and Anna C. (Spring) Millican, and was born 
 at Belwood, Ontario. Canada, September 13, 1868. 
 His father was a Presbyterian minister, and located at 
 Belwood, where he had preached for a period of over 
 thirty years. For the last two years, however, since 
 retiring from the ministry he has resided at Gait, 
 Ontario, where his son, W. J. Millican, a brother 
 of the subject of this sketch, is engaged in the prac- 
 tice of law, and where he has established a large 
 clientage. 
 
 Another brother, Dr. J. A. Millican, is engaged in 
 the practice of medicine at Preston, Ontario, three 
 miles from Gait. He is also medical superintendent of 
 the Baker-Rose Sanitarium for the cure of liquor, 
 opium, cocaine and tobacco habits. 
 
 Young Millican, the subject of this sketch, ob- 
 tained his early education at the public schools at Bel- 
 wood, and after graduating he, at the age of fifteen 
 years, entered the Gait Collegiate Institute, graduating 
 
 therefrom two years later. His first position was in 
 the law office of William Bell at Hamilton, Ontario, 
 when he was seventeen years old. Here he remained 
 one year, and then went to Toronto, Ontario, and 
 obtained a position in a wholesale tailor's trimming 
 house as entry clerk, remaining with the firm eighteen 
 months. He then came to Chicago, and entered the 
 United States Den tal College for the stmly of dentistry. 
 He graduated from this institution in 1890, and was 
 chosen valedictorian of the class, the highest honor con- 
 ferred by the class on any one of its members. The 
 exercises were 'held at the Auditorium. 
 
 After graduating, Dr. Millican opened a dental 
 office in Chicago, and has continued the business ever 
 since, he, in the meantime, having worked up a large 
 and lucrative practice. Dr. Millican is unmarried, is a 
 man of more than medium height, fine looking and 
 well built. His affable and pleasing disposition have 
 made him hosts of friends, not only in business but in 
 a social way, and he certainly has prospects of a bright 
 future before him. 
 
 ISAAC STAPLES, 
 
 STILLWATER, MINNESOTA. 
 
 ISAAC STAPLES was born of English ancestry at 
 1 Topsham, Maine, on the 25th day of September, 
 1816. During his youth he attended the common 
 schools, and at the age of eighteen he bargained with 
 his father to contribute three hundred dollars toward 
 building a home. He was possessed of extraordinarv 
 physical strength and good judgment, and was success- 
 ful early in life. When eighteen he began work at 
 Penobscot Boom, and learned the logging and lumber- 
 ing business, having a severe practical experience. By 
 the time he had reached his majority his savings 
 amounted to between five and six hundred dollars. His 
 father lacked sixty dollars of having enough to pay for 
 the home, and young Staples paid the amount as agreed. 
 
 Mr. Staples engaged in the Mercantile business at 
 Oldtown, Maine, in 1840, and two years later entered 
 into partnership with his brother. This firm did a 
 thriving business until 1854, when the partnership ivas 
 dissolved. Early in the last half of the century he 
 heard considerable of the operations in the pine forests 
 of the Northwest, and in May of 1853 he made a trip 
 to Minnesota, where he purchased large tracts of pine 
 lands on the St. Croix river and its tributaries, and 
 within a period of seven years he had purchased two 
 hundred thousand acres of this property. After the 
 partnership with his brother was dissolved in 1854, Mr. 
 Staples engaged 'with Mr. Hersey in buying up 
 pine lands, under the firm name of Hersey, Staples
 
 C/
 
 A\^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 621 
 
 & Company, and built a large mill for the lumbering 
 business at Stilhvater, Minn., where they did a very 
 large business, cutting from ten to fifteen million feet 
 of lumber annually. April 1st, 1861, the above firm 
 was succeeded by that of Hersey, Staples & Hall, con- 
 tinuing together until October 1, 1866, when Mr. Hall 
 withdrew, and the firm of Herse}', Staples & Bean was 
 formed. This company continued in business until 
 1875, when the partnership of Hersey and Bean was 
 dissolved, and the stock divided into thirds, Mr. 
 Staples having for his share one hundred thousand 
 acres of land. He then purchased a mill from Sawyer 
 & Ileaton, and in 1882 sold it to the Northwestern 
 Manufacturing Car Company. In 1886 Mr. Staples' 
 sales of lumber amounted to $225,000. In 1887 his 
 sales were $250,000 and in 1889 $550,000. Many years 
 ago he organized the Boom Company, with a cap- 
 ital of $100,000. and for twenty years has been its 
 president. He also has extensive interests in other 
 concerns, among which is a flour mill with a capacity 
 of two hundred barrels per day, and a grain elevator, 
 with a capacity of 300,000 bushels. In 1871 Mr. Staples 
 organized the Lumberman's National Bank of 
 Stilhvater, of which he is president, the capital 
 of the bank being $250,000. He also assisted in 
 organizing the Second National Bank of St. Paul, 
 of which he is a director.' In addition to all 
 these enterprises Mr. Staples is the owner of several 
 splendid farms, the principal one being "Maple Island," 
 which is located a few miles northwest of Stillwater. 
 The farm comprises two thousand acres, and is in a 
 
 high state of cultivation, being well stocked, and pro- 
 vided with the necessary buildings. His stock is of 
 the finest class, being the Holsteins, Alderneys, Short 
 Horn and Dutch Belt cuttle. On one of his farms he 
 has a fine race track which is one mile in length, and is 
 the owner of fifty fast horses, one of them being 
 " Neptune," which was one of the fastest horses on 
 record. In 1889 Mr. Staples purchased of Caleb Cush- 
 ingall the riparian rights of St. Croix Falls, and it is 
 believed that the benefits which are and can be derived 
 from these falls will lead to a large city being built near 
 them. 
 
 In politics Mr. Staples is a Democrat, but his many 
 business interests have not permitted him to devote 
 much time to affairs political. In 1849 he was Indian 
 agent for the Penobscot Indians, and that, and serving 
 as mayor of Stillwater, constitute the only offices of 
 prominence he has held. 
 
 In 1839 he was united in marriage to Miss Caroline 
 Eogers, of Oldtown, Maine, who died in 1840. In 1841 
 he was again married, this time to Miss Olivia J. 
 Pettengill of the same place. He has three sons and 
 four daughters. 
 
 In personal appearance Mr. Staples is a man of 
 large physical proportions, and of a very genial disposi- 
 tion. Although well advanced in years he has plenty 
 of physical and mental vigor. He is a man who has 
 steadily and rapidly worked his way to success since his 
 first start in life, and has always been noted for his 
 great business ability, for his energy, will power, sound 
 judgment and integrity. 
 
 COL. JAMES A. SEXTON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JAMES A. SEXTON was born in Chicago, January 
 5, 1844, his parents having moved here in 1834, 
 from Rochester, N. Y. At the early age of nine years 
 he was thrown upon his own resources, and when seven- 
 teen, at the first call for Union volunteers in the war 
 of the Rebellion, he enlisted in the three months service, 
 and later for "three years or during the war." 
 
 After the expiration of his three months' service he 
 re-enlisted in Company 1, Fifty-first Regiment Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and was made sergeant. In June, 
 1862, he was transferred to Company E, Sixty-seventh 
 Regiment Illinois Infantry, in which he was promoted 
 to a lieutenancy, and in August following a company 
 was recruited under the auspices of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association of Chicago, and he was-elected as 
 its captain. This was known as Company D., Seventy- 
 second Regiment Illinois Infantry. He was in com- 
 mand of the regiment at the battles of Columbia, Duck 
 River, Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., and 
 fought through the Nashville campaign. In 1865 he was 
 assigned to duty on the staff of General A. J. Smith, 
 
 Sixteenth Army Corps, acting provost marshall, and 
 served till the close of the war, making for himself a 
 brilliant record. After the close of the war he received 
 a commission as first lieutenant in the regular army, 
 but not long after resigned, and became engaged in 
 cotton raising in Alabama. Two years later, in 1867, 
 he returned to Chicago, leaving his plantation in charge 
 of an overseer. In Chicago he associated himself with 
 Mr. John Jackson, under the firm name of Jackson & 
 Sexton, in a stove foundr} T . This firm was succeeded 
 by that of Messrs. J. A. & T. S. Sexton, and was con- 
 ducting business at No. 176 Lake street at the time of 
 the great fire of October 8, 9, 1871. In 1872 the firm 
 was changed to Cribben, Sexton & Co., and the increase 
 of business justified the erection of spacious warerooms 
 at Nos. 75 and 77 Lake street. Soon thereafter followed 
 the purchase of the McArthur Iron Works, on Erie 
 street, where the firm began the manufacture of stoves 
 and grey enamel hollow-ware. The firm has been very 
 successful and has done an immense business, being at 
 present composed of Henry Cribben, James A. Sexton
 
 622 
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 and Will H. Cribben. Colonel Sexton takes an active 
 interest in Grand Army affairs, and is a past depart- 
 ment commander of the Grand Army of the Republic 
 of Illinois. 
 
 He is a member of the Loyal Legion, the Union 
 League Club, and the Veteran Union League, and is a 
 Mason of high degree. Colonel Sexton is emphatically a 
 self-made man, and has reached his present success and 
 influential position in the community by virtue of his 
 native ability, untiring energy and force of character. 
 
 His ability was fittingly recognized in his appointment 
 by President Harrison as postmaster of Chicago, earlv 
 in his administration. That the endorsement of Colonel 
 Sexton for the position was so general in Chicago, that 
 no earnest competitor appeared, shows the universal 
 esteem in which he is held. That he was a model 
 official the postal service reforms, inaugurated and 
 perfected by him during his term, so recently ended, 
 strikingly show. Colonel Sexton is socially popular, 
 and a most genial and companionable gentleman. 
 
 JOHN B. KIRK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THEEE is no business man of Chicago that stands 
 higher in the mercantile community than John B. 
 Kirk. He was born on November 8, 1842, in Utica, 
 New York, and is the second son of James S. Kirk and 
 Nancy Ann (Dunning) Kirk. His father was of 
 Scottish origin, the son of a celebrated civil engineer of 
 Glasgow, Scotland, who came to the United States 
 while very young. He was educated in Montreal 
 (Canada) Academy, and married in Ottawa, in 1839. 
 In the year of his marriage he located in Utica, New 
 York, and entered into business there. 
 
 Our subject obtained his education in the city of 
 his birth, and upon commencing his mercantile life, 
 entered into the business his father had founded in 
 1839, and his career has since been identified with the 
 firm of James S. Kirk & Co. 
 
 The success of the house of James S. Kirk & Co., 
 which was founded in Utica in 1839, and has grown 
 from a toddling infant at the time of its foundation 
 until it is now a manufacturing giant, with an output 
 larger than any plant of its kind, not only in this 
 country, but in the entire world (its product amounting 
 to 70,000,000 of pounds of soap annually, besides 
 various articles manufactured), is unquestionably due 
 to the firm business policy exercised by James S. Kirk 
 during his life, and the valuable and practical assistance 
 rendered him by his elder sons, in whom he early in 
 life engrafted the qualities necessary for a worthy 
 business career. 
 
 In 1859 the firm removed to Chicago, and with the 
 exception of the disastrous effects of the fire of 1871, 
 which entailed a loss to them of a quarter of a million 
 dollars, their career has been one of continued success. 
 
 The firm re-organized immediately after the fire, 
 and through the hearty co-operation of all the mem- 
 bers of the Kirk family, the business was soon on a sub- 
 stantial footing, and it has continued to enjoy great 
 prosperity ever since. Through the ingenuity of John 
 B. Kirk and his brothers, the process of manufactur- 
 ing soap has been revolutionized, and many labor-saving 
 methods have been devised. 
 
 John B. Kirk's acknowledged ability as a financier 
 
 induced the directors of the American Exchange 
 National Bank to choose him for the position of vice- 
 president, and afterward president, which position he 
 creditably filled from 1889 to about the first of Janu- 
 ary, 1894, when he resigned, from choice, on acoount 
 of the firm and personal interests that demanded his 
 entire time and attention. 
 
 On October 4, 1866, Mr. Kirk was married to Miss 
 MacVean of this city. The couple have been blessed 
 with four children. Their names in order of birth are: 
 James M., Frederick L, Josephine, and the baby Susie. 
 
 The Northwestern University, located atEvanston, 
 is widely known as one of the leading educational 
 institutions of the West, and 'its reputation is con- 
 stantly increasing. This worthy enterprise has always 
 found a warm sympathizer and friend in Mr. Kirk. 
 He is a member of the executive committee, and a 
 trustee of that institution, and has always been ready 
 to assist both financially and personally any movement 
 that had the good of the University for its object. 
 
 Oratory and elocution are two of the grandest of 
 man's accomplishments, and to stimulate these grand 
 arts, Mr. Kirk has donated an annual prize of $100, to 
 be awarded to the successful competitor in the annual 
 oratorical contest held by the senior students of the 
 University. One of the most interesting and longed-for 
 events is this annual contest; and it may be true that 
 some modern Demosthenes will owe his success as an 
 orator to the fact that his natural powers were stimu- 
 lated by a strong desire to be victorious in the annual 
 oratorical contest for the "Kirk prize." 
 
 Our subject's efforts to advance the cause of educa- 
 tion have not been confined to helping the Northwest- 
 ern University ; but all worthy objects that have in 
 view better improvement of facilities for advancing 
 the youth of this country in education find in him a 
 ready and willingsympathizer and friend. 
 
 Mr. Kirk has a particular fondness for medical in 
 vestigation and study, and it is probable that had he 
 not been influenced by his father, who desired him to 
 enter the business that was his pride, he would have 
 chosen the medical profession rather than the life of a
 
 .C}
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THt. OSEA r WEST. 
 
 625 
 
 business man; and it being true that ability will show 
 itself and make itself known no matter in what field it 
 is placed, this worthy profession would have had a 
 worthy member of its body in John B. Kirk. 
 
 Among the residents of Evanston, Mr. Kirk has 
 made, through his upright and honorable record, many 
 sincere friends, and there is no man at present residing 
 in that suburban city that holds a higher position 
 among its residents, or is more highly esteemed than he. 
 He is not only admired for his honorable conduct 
 to his fellow-men, and for his generous hospitality, but 
 he is also esteemed for his many acts of true charity. 
 One of his neighbors remarks, that " no deserving 
 object is ever refused help by John B. Kirk." 
 
 Of Mrs. Kirk it may also be said that her high 
 
 appreciation of what is right, and sympathy with all 
 that is good, has endeared her to all who know 
 her. She is held in equal esteem with Mr. Kirk, 
 and no lady in Evanston is more truly honored and 
 admired. 
 
 In summing up the events of the life of Mr. Kirk 
 it can be stated that his career has been such as 
 to warrant the trust and confidence of the business 
 world ; that he has always tried to transact his business 
 matters in the same honorable manner that placed his 
 father before him in such a high and esteemed position 
 in the business community. With a record unsullied 
 and a high degree of ability, no businessman of Chicago 
 is better spoken of by his associates than the worthy 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEEGER, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 
 
 WILLIAM II. SEEGEK, son of Harry R. and 
 Madalene Seeger, was born at Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky, December 12, 1853. When four years of age. 
 his parents moved to Kansas City and there he has 
 since resided. His education was received in the public 
 and high schools of that city, and after graduating 
 from the high school, he took a course at Spaulding's 
 Commercial College, from which he graduated at the 
 age of seventeen and immediately found employment 
 in the old Watkins' Bank. On the consolidation of 
 that bank with the National Bank of Kansas City,Mr. 
 Seeger was transferred to that institution, and begin- 
 ning at the lowest clerical position of the bank, he 
 steadily rose to the highest, having filled satisfactorily 
 every clerical position in the institution. 
 
 In the fall of 1881, he and Mr. A. A. Whipple 
 organized the Citizens National Bank, Mr. Whipple 
 being chosen cashier and Mr. Seeger assistant cashier, 
 and on Mr. Whipple retiring he was chosen cashier. 
 
 This position he retained until the retirement of Hon. 
 Philip E. Chappell, when he was elected president. 
 This was only natural, for it may be said that to him 
 more than to any other man, has been due the mar- 
 velous success of the bank. He is a member of the 
 Presbyterian church and, politically, is a Republican. 
 
 He was married to Miss Kate Reed, daughter of 
 Capt. Allen S. Reed, one of the pioneers of Clay county, 
 Mo., at Liberty, on the 7th of November, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Seeger has reached his present position only by 
 his own great energv and business sagacity. He came 
 to Kansas City when it was but a frontier village, and 
 has seen it grow to its present position, among the 
 business centers of the country. He received a good 
 business education, and he has made the most of it dur- 
 ing his life. As he is still comparatively a young man, 
 it may be predicted that he has only fairly started on 
 the business career that has been so successful, and which 
 may be expected to add further luster to his name. 
 
 H. M. HAGESTEAD, 
 
 BELLINQHAM, MINNESOTA. 
 
 HM. HAGESTEAD, son ol Ole O. and Marthine 
 Hagestead.. was born at Hard anger, Norway, 
 October 28, 1853. Both his father's and his mother's 
 families arc prominent in Norway; one in agriculture 
 and politics, and the other in mercantile and profess- 
 ional life. The youth attended the public schools of 
 his native land until he was thirteen years of age, and 
 then came to America with his parents. They arrived 
 in the spring of 1867, and located on .a farm at Trem- 
 pealeau, Wisconsin. Here he remained for a few years 
 performing hard farm labor, and attending, when he 
 
 could, the district school. Concluding that farming 
 was not the vocation that he cared to follow through 
 life, he left Wisconsin and started for the "Far West," 
 arriving in Camp, Renville county, Minnesota, at that 
 time a small trading post, in the winter of 1871. In 
 the spring of 1872, he secured employment as clerk in 
 a retail grocery at New Ulm, Minnesota, which 
 position he retained for two years and returned to 
 Camp, where he embarked in business for himself. 
 He had bright prospects, but during the following 
 summer the grasshoppers invaded the neighborhood,
 
 626 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 destroying all crops of even 7 kind, and the consequent 
 depression ruined his business, and left him without a 
 dollar. He then went to northern Wisconsin, and in 
 the spring of 1875 located at Grantsburg, in Burnett 
 county. Here he engaged as a clerk until in the fall, 
 when he was appointed register of deeds, which position 
 he retained until 1880, when he resigned and again 
 returned to Camp, Minnesota, where he engaged in 
 business, remaining until the fall of 1887, when his 
 property was destroyed by fire. After settling up all 
 claims he removed to Bellingham, Minnesota, then a 
 new place without a single store, where in company 
 with two other gentlemen, he engaged in the general 
 merchandise business, the firm's name being Aws, Berg 
 and Hagestead. In the spring of 1891 he retired from 
 this business, and commenced his career as a private 
 banker, which was continued until January 18, 1892, 
 when the bank was reorganized, and became a State 
 bank, with Mr. Hagestead as president. This position 
 he still holds, and the prosperous condition of the 
 bank's growing business is due in a large measure to his 
 capable management. 
 
 Mr. Hagestead is a member of the Odd Fellows, 
 the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, belonging to 
 
 the lodges of these orders at Bellingham. Politically, 
 he is a Republican, and has given the candidates of that 
 party his hearty support ever since he cast his first 
 ballot, which was for President Hayes in 1876. A 
 member of the Lutheran church since his early youth, 
 he is active in church work, and liberal in dealing with 
 the victims of misfortune. 
 
 March 23, 1879, he was married to Miss Nancy G. 
 Christie, of Beaver Falls, Minn. They have four child- 
 ren. Mr. Hagestead is in every sense of the word a self- 
 made man. At seventeen years of age he commenced 
 to carve out a fortune and after nearly three \ T ears of 
 toil he found his justly established business totally 
 wrecked by an unforeseen scourge. Nothing daunted, 
 he set to work again, and by hard work, great perse- 
 verance and business capability he has at last conquered 
 the bad fortune that for a time seemed to have marked 
 him, and to-day occupies a position of honor and trust 
 among the people of his section. 
 
 He is of cheerful disposition, but an inherent cast 
 of stubborness has precluded the idea of failure of any 
 kind touching any enterprise that he has in hand. 
 His motto is, "Never say fail," and he has lived np to 
 it both in the letter and in the spirit of the motto. 
 
 HENRY HILL, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 THE career which it is the purpose of this brief 
 sketch to commemorate would, if adequately set 
 forth in all its connections, bean epitome of the history 
 of the Mississippi Valley. At the period when Mr. 
 Hill's residence began in the "West, St. Louis had 
 only 7,000 inhabitants. Galena was a prosperous 
 village of ten to twelve hundred; the first settler in 
 Chicago had arrived only three years before, while 
 the whole country South and West of Illinois was terra 
 incognita, except as its wilderness was penetrated by 
 the hardy trapper or explored by the pioneer mission- 
 ary. Stage coaches toiling through the marshy roads 
 furnished the most expeditious mode of travel, while 
 the flat boats, leisurely floating down the river, carried 
 the slight commerce of the West. Ad venturous settlers 
 were beginning to found homes where now is the seat 
 of a great inland empire, populous and rich in all the 
 elements of a high civilization. In the development of 
 this stupendous civilization Mr. Hill was a powerful 
 factor. In manufactures, in trade, in finance, and more 
 than all in perfecting facilities of transportation by 
 river and rail through the Mississippi Valley, he was a 
 pioneer and a most conspicuous actor. 
 
 Henry Hill was born May 19th, 1828, in Stoke- 
 clerason, Devonshire, England. His ancestors for many 
 generations were yoemen of that country, his grand- 
 father owning the farm which he cultivated in fee. 
 John Hill, a carpenter by trade, emigrated to^America 
 
 in 1832 with his family, consisting of a wife, six sons 
 and one daughter. One of these sons was Henry Hill, 
 then of the age of four years. After remaining in 
 Philadelphia about a year, John Hill pushed on toward 
 the West, and joined a company of Philadelphia and 
 Pittsburg gentlemen, formed for the purpose of found- 
 ing a city on the banks of the Mississippi, as architect 
 and master mechanic, and in that employment com- 
 menced operations in building a city called Marion 
 City, on the bank of the Mississippi river, in the spring 
 of 1834. The enterprise was eventually abandoned, 
 and the waters of the great river now flow over its 
 site. Afterwards engaging in his employment on the 
 public works of the State of Illinois, hesettled his fam- 
 ily on a farm ten miles east of Warsaw. Here his son 
 Henry, then only twelve years old, was placed in charge 
 of the farm, while his father was engaged elsewhere in 
 building and operating a mill, called the " Big Stone 
 Mill." At this early age, having observed that good 
 habits as well as industry were essential to success in 
 life, he resolved never to use tobacco or intoxicating 
 drinks, and with characteristic tenacity of purpose he 
 has kept the resolution to the present time. At four- 
 teen years of age he joined his father working in the 
 " Big Stone Mill," and at the end of two years was 
 placed in charge of the machinery and engine depart- 
 ment of the Spencer mill. 
 
 In 1846 young Hill entered the employ of J.H. Wood,
 

 
 v* X
 
 MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 a blacksmith of great renown in his trade, but better 
 known as a man of the utmost rectitude, of broad and 
 liberal views, and indeed a deep thinker. There amid 
 the flying sparks, under the tuition of this admirable 
 man, the boy learned much, not only of his trade, but 
 of his duty to himself and to his fellow-men. From 
 the shop of this famous blacksmith, with the aid of his 
 sturdy apprentice, was turned out the first diamond 
 plow that would scour and clean itself in the rich prai- 
 rie soil the precursor of the modern plow. While Mr. 
 Wood and his wife were absent on a visit to his old 
 Eastern home, the young apprentice, then but eighteen 
 years of age, made all the wrought-iron work for a saw 
 mill which his father was building. Soon he joined 
 two of his brothers who were employed as engineers on 
 the " Prairie Bird," a Mississippi river steamboat, en- 
 gaged in carrying passengers between St. Louis 
 and Chicago by way of the I'linois river, connecting 
 with the canal boats at La Salle. At that time the 
 population of Chicago was not more than 14,000, while 
 St. Louis numbered 60,000. 
 
 In the winter of 1848-9, being at home and unem- 
 ployed, Henry attended school for two months. This, 
 with the exception of a little schooling when but five 
 to seven years of age, constituted his only education, 
 other than that acquired in the active school of life. 
 At the age of twenty Henry took charge of the mill, 
 which his father was obliged to give up through failing 
 health. He acquired the interest of his father's partner 
 in the property, and thenceforth conducted the business 
 under the firm name of John Hill & Sons. In the 
 same year he married the daughter of Dr. William 
 Smith, a prominent physician, who formerly resided in 
 La Harpe, in that part of the country. Mrs. Hill, like 
 her husband, had experienced the privations of frontier 
 life, and living with him for forty-four years with like 
 experiences and sympathies, she has made an admir- 
 able helpmate. 
 
 The following year the business was enlarged by 
 the addition of a grist mill. An incident occurred 
 about this time which shows the quickness of percep- 
 tion and tenacity of purpose which characterize the 
 man. He used a fine team of horses about his business, 
 one of which fell sick. He was advised to administer 
 a decoction of a quart of green coffee. The horse 
 died, and a farmer customer, learning the remedy 
 which had been used, informed him that the dose was 
 enough to kill half a dozen horses. Mr. Hill reasoned 
 that if a dose of coffee would kill a horse, it could not 
 be a healthful beverage for a man, and he then and 
 there resolved never again to use coffee, and he never 
 has. Another incident a little later was quite as 
 characteristic. Having invested quite largely in logs 
 to be cut on the Des Moines river, when several rafts 
 had been made up he learned that heavy rains had 
 fallen along the river. Mr. Hill started in the after- 
 noon to follow the shore of the river from Alexandria 
 to Bonaparte, a distance of twenty-six miles, on foot 
 and alone, in the hope that he might meet his men 
 
 629 
 
 and the rafts. His path was a rugged one, forcing 
 him not only to wade the little streams emptying into 
 the river, but often to swim the larger ones, not yet 
 clear of ice. He reached his destination at eleven 
 o'clock that night, tired out, but much elated to find 
 his men with the logs lying safe at the bank. 
 
 From 1850 to 1856 the flouring and sawmills were 
 managed successful!} 7 . For the purpose of securing 
 logs for the sawmill, Mr. Hill, in company with the 
 present Judge Orendorff, of Baltimore, visited the 
 Falls of St. Anthony in 1852. After the lapse of forty 
 years he now lives in the metropolis of the Northwest, 
 one of its active citizens, where then he found but a 
 hamlet with a single sawmill. Quick to observe the need 
 and to provide the facilities for commercial intercourse, 
 Mr. Hill, in 1854, with his brothers and several associ- 
 ates, organized the Northern Line Packet Company, 
 whose steamboats plied between St. Louis and St. Paul, 
 forming the sole line of communication throughout the 
 valley of the upper river. Two of his brothers were 
 in the management of the company, and one of them, 
 T. B. Hill, was for many years captain of several of 
 the boats. J. J. Hill, the well known railway magnate, 
 president of the Great Northern Railway, was one of 
 the company's clerks in St. Paul, whose career illus- 
 trates what a man of brains and push can accomplish 
 in the great Northwest. 
 
 One of Mr. Kill's friends who was engaged in dis- 
 tilling, becoming embarrassed, lost his credit, and 
 appealed to him for assistance. In order to assist him 
 he undertook the purchase of about 40,000 bushels of 
 corn on his own credit, then in store in Missouri towns. 
 Crossing the Mississippi river on the ice on the 4th 
 day of April, he had negotiated the purchase of the corn, 
 and was ready to return on the 8th, when he found the 
 ice had become thin, and gave every indication of 
 breaking up or sinking. Anxious to return and relieve 
 the anxiety of his family, against the remonstrances of 
 his Missouri friends who had accompanied him to the 
 river, he decided to undertake the crossing. With a 
 long pole in his hand, he started, but found that the ice 
 would not support his weight. Throwing himself 
 prostrate, he worked himself by slow degrees over the 
 dangerous places, and was received by a crowd on the 
 Illinois side, who had watched his progress, with 
 cheers. This incident gave him a wide reputation for 
 business sagacity and personal daring. 
 
 About a year later the friend whom he had aided 
 in an emergency proposed to take Mr. Hill into partner- 
 ship, and all the arrangements to that end were per- 
 fected, when it was broken up by the objections of his 
 friend's sons. Mr. Hill, therefore, determined to with- 
 draw the aid he had extended, and to embark in the 
 business on his own account. Accordingly, with his 
 three brothers and J. W. Knox (now one of the pro- 
 minent business men of Denver, Col.), and Geo. S. 
 Knox, a partnership was formed under the name of 
 Hill, Knox & Co., to build and operate a distillery on a 
 large scale. In the winter of 1855-6, the necessary
 
 630 
 
 buildings were erected, and the business successfully 
 commenced. When the disastrous panic of 1857 
 spread through the country, all the competitors of the 
 firm in that part of the country went into bankruptcy. 
 In September, 1858, an incident occurred which tested 
 Mr. Hill's integrity, and in its outcome illustrates the 
 adage that "honesty is the best policy." Credit had 
 become contracted, specie was hoarded, and paper cur- 
 rency dishonored, owing to the failure of most of the 
 State and private banks. Their was little sale for 
 their product, and their indebtedness, some $200,000, 
 was large for those times. Their creditors became 
 urgent and threatened legal proceedings. Their counsel 
 advised making a sale to one of Mr. Hill's brothers, 
 who was not connected with the business, and taking a 
 lease, continue the business to the defeat of the credit- 
 ors. When this advice was given Henr}' Hill resented 
 it in the most indignant and forcible language. Soon 
 a committee of the creditors came on from St. Louis to 
 institute proceedings against the firm. They applied to 
 the same counsel who had before advised the firm, 
 and learning what had occurred, were so impressed 
 with Mr. Hill's honesty and pluck that they returned 
 without taking proceedings, and when they made their 
 report it was determined not only not to press for pay- 
 ment, but to make the firm a large advance without 
 security. This was done, and the result justified the 
 unusual proceeding, for Hill, Knox & Co. soon paid all 
 their indebtedness, and thereafter transacted a very 
 large and profitable business. 
 
 A portion of the time during the Civil war, this 
 firm paid the U. S. government a tax of $96,000 
 per month, fitted out and sent a large number of men 
 into the Union army, and bought of the first issue of 
 Government bonds as much as they could raise money 
 to pay for. The distillery plant was destroyed by fire 
 in 1864, without insurance, entailing a heavy loss upon 
 the owners. It was never rebuilt, but the same firm 
 constructed in its place a large woolen mill at Warsaw, 
 111., at a cost of $180,000, the most complete mill of its 
 kind in the West. For over thirty years Mr. Hill has 
 been and still is a partner in the bank of Hill, Dodge 
 & Co., at Warsaw. About this time the firm became 
 interested in the great dry goods house of J. V. Far- 
 well & Co., of Chicago, and assisted Douglas Far well 
 to become a partner in the firm. 
 
 In 1886, Mr. Hill entered upon a new era in his 
 various experiences, engaging extensively in railroad 
 building. With several associates he undertook the 
 construction of the Toledo, Peoria& Western Eailroad. 
 He was made president of thd construction company, 
 and pressed the work to completion with his wonted 
 energy. After its completion he was made vice-presi- 
 dent of the road. Mr. Hill was present in 1869 at 
 Ogdan at the completion of the Union and Central 
 Pacific railroads. On his return east his opinion was 
 sought by J. E. Thompson, president of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Central, as to the probability of the Pacific 
 railroads being able to earn operating expenses and 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 fixed charges. His adverse report then made was jus- 
 tified by the result. 
 
 About this time, Mr. Hill, in connection with J. E- 
 Thompson, Thomas Scott, Andrew Carnegie, Charles 
 and James Secor, Benjamin Smith, Ex-Governor Den- 
 nison and Gen. Drake, organized a construction com- 
 pany for the purpose of constructing the M. I. & N. 
 R. R., from Alexandria, Mo., to Nebraska City, Neb., 
 and was made superintendent of the company, and sub- 
 sequently was elected to the vice-presidency of the 
 road. Another construction company was organized, 
 consisting of J. W. Converse, Governor Dennison, B. 
 F. Smith, Brown and Deshler, W. W. Phelps and 
 others, of which Mr. Hill was an active member, to 
 build the Midland Pacific railroad from Nebraska City 
 to a connection with the Union Pacific at Fort Kearney. 
 About one hundred miles of each had been completed 
 when the panic of 1873 forced a suspension of work. 
 Mr. Hill's associates called him to New York to consult 
 as to the best course to be pursued. Their opinion 
 differed from that entertained by him. They thought 
 the panic would not continue over ninety days; he 
 believed it would last over several y ears. He husbanded 
 his resources and laid his plans accordingly. In 
 connection with General Drake and A. L. Griffin, and 
 upon their individual resources and credits, Mr. Hill 
 completed and operated the first named road to Cen- 
 terville, la., and kept it out of the hands of a receiver 
 during the panic. Subsequently he and his associates 
 sold the Midland Pacific of Nebraska to the C. B. & Q. 
 railway company. 
 
 In 1878, Mr. Hill was one of a committee of three 
 selected by the bondholders, to purchase, sell and 
 reorganize the T. P. & W. railway. This was success- 
 fully carried through, and the sum of six million dollars 
 realized upon the sale, to the satisfaction of all con- 
 cerned. While engaged in these operations, Robert G. 
 Ingersoll was employed by Mr. Hill's company as 
 attorney and counsel, and between him and Mr. Hill 
 there sprang up a warm and lasting friendship. In 
 1879, in company with Andrew Carnegie, Mr. Hill 
 went to New York to arrange for the completion of 
 the railway constructions which had been interrupted 
 by the financial panic of 1878. The M. I. & N. R. R. 
 was extended by Mr. Hill and General Drake through 
 two more counties in Iowa, and they at the same time 
 organized a company and built a road twenty-six miles 
 in length from Albia to Centerville, which was built 
 and sold in one hundred days from the time ground 
 was first broken. Up to that time this was an unparal- 
 leled feat in construction. 
 
 In 1881, Mr. Hill and his associates disposed of both 
 the M. I. & N. and T. P. & W. railways to the Wabash 
 system, of which Jay Gould was at that time the head 
 and controlling power. This large and successful 
 transaction closed Mr. Hill's railroad enterprises, and 
 after nearly a year spent in California he removed 
 with his family to Minneapolis with the intention of 
 retiring from active business. But he was greatly
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 attracted by the enterprise of the community, and, 
 stimulated by the indications of a great future before 
 it, made some large real estate investments. He 
 engaged with activity in the organization of the Flour 
 City National bank of Minneapolis, and has been on its 
 board of directors since its organization. In 1891, in 
 connection with his sons and Wallace Campbell, a 
 nephew, D. D. Farwell, of the well known firm of J. 
 V. Farwell & Co., with whom Mr. Hill had once been 
 connected, he established the bank of Hill, Sons & 
 Co., of which he is the president, their place of business 
 being in the Lumber Exchange building, Minneapolis. 
 The life of Mr. Hill has been a remarkable one- 
 With a record of nearly fifty years of active business 
 
 631 
 
 life, he has never made an assignment or failed to meet 
 his obligations. From small beginnings, by industry, 
 good habits, perseverance and integrity he has achieved 
 rare success. His business associates, among whom 
 are some of the foremost men of the country, and his 
 social friends all unite in their admiration and high 
 regard for him. His charities and benefactions, 
 although quiet and unobtrusive, are none the less large. 
 He has materially aided many worthy men and con- 
 tributed liberally to deserving charities. Generous, 
 honorable, genial and large hearted, Mr. Hill still 
 continues his active life, in the full enjoyment of its 
 well earned fruits, high in the esteem of his friends and 
 associates, loved by many and respected by all. 
 
 HON. THOMAS A. E. WEADOCK, 
 
 BAY CITY, MICHIGAN. 
 
 THOMAS A. E. WEADOCK, son of Lewis and 
 Mary (Cullen) Weadock, was born in County 
 Wexford, Ireland, on the 1st day of January, 1850. 
 The family is of Flemish origin, although for many 
 generations it has been very prominent in County 
 Wexford. The grandfather of our subject took a 
 prominent part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and his 
 mother's family is also an old one in the above county, 
 the name being a contraction of the old Irish name 
 "Cuchulin." The parents of Thomas came to America 
 in 1850, and located on a farm near the town of St. 
 Mary's, Ohio, where he passed the early years of his 
 life. He attended the district school, and also the 
 union school at St. Mary's, although to attend the 
 latter he had to walk three miles each way. After his 
 father's death, which occurred in December, 1863, 
 young Weadock had to leave school, and attend the 
 management of the farm, as he was the eldest son at 
 home, his brother having enlisted in the Union army 
 in 1862. During the time that he was actively en- 
 gaged in farming he continued a course of home study 
 and reading, his taste for reading being very pro- 
 nounced, and he devoted all his spare time to it. His 
 favorite studies were biographical works and history, 
 which opened the world to the country boy, and served 
 to otherwise make a lonesome life delightful. Young 
 Weadock managed the farm until his brothers returned 
 from the army, in 1865, and then went to Cincinnati in 
 search of employment. ,He had determined to be a 
 farmer, but decided otherwise, and entered a printing 
 office, but soon tiring of it he engaged for some months 
 as a clerk, after which he returned to St. Mary's and 
 attended school, and for five years carried on his own 
 studies while teaching others. Taking the money so 
 saved he entered the law department of Michigan 
 University in 1871, and during his vacation read law 
 in Detroit, where, in 1872, he cast his first ballot, 
 voting for Horace Greeley for president of the United 
 
 states. He graduated as Bachelor of Law on the 
 26th day of March, 1873, and was admitted to the bar 
 at Toledo, Ohio, in June of that year. 
 
 He intended to practice in Ohio, but it so happened 
 that he returned to Michigan, and finally located at Bay 
 City, which place he reached September 12, 1893, and 
 where he has since made his home. He commenced 
 the practice of his profession at Bay City early in 1874. 
 and for a time was associated with Graeme M. Wilson, 
 the firm's name being Wilson and Weadock. The 
 partnership continued until the death of Mr. Wilson, 
 which occurred in 1877. On the 12th of July, 1877, 
 Mr. Weadock was appointed prosecuting attorney for 
 Bay county, by Judge Sanford M. Green, and served 
 in that capacity until December 31, 1878. Mr. 
 Weadock's record as a lawyer is a clean one, and shows 
 marked ability. He has been engaged in many im- 
 portant suits, both civil and criminal, and was un- 
 iformly successful in either branch, though of late years 
 he has given up criminal practice, and devotes his 
 entire attention to civil business. After the death of 
 his first partner he was practically alone for a time, 
 but afterwards he took as his partner his youngest 
 brother, John C. Weadock, which partnership has con- 
 tinued to the present time. Ever an enthusiastic 
 Democrat, Mr. Weadock has taken a leading part in the 
 councils of his party. He has taken the stump in every 
 campaign since 1874; has attended nearly every 
 State convention; was chairman of the Bay City con- 
 vention in 1885, and the Grand Rapids convention in 
 1892. From 1883 to 1885 he was mayor of Bay City, 
 and acted as ex-officio chairman of the police com- 
 mission, the library trustees, etc., and after his time as 
 mayor expired he was elected a member of the school 
 board In 1890, his party, by a unanimous vote, 
 nominated Mr. Weadock for Congress, and notwith- 
 standing the fact that his predecessor was a Republi- 
 can, he was triumphantly elected by a plurality of
 
 632 
 
 1666 votes, carrying Bay City and county by 2149, the 
 largest plurality ever given to a congressional can- 
 didate in the district. AVhile serving his first term in 
 Congress Mr. Weadock was on the committee on 
 rivers and harbors, and secured legislation peculiarly 
 desirable in his district, and was very active in securing 
 an increase in the pay of the men in the life saving 
 service. He was unanimously renominated in 1892, 
 and though experiencing a bitter opposition, which 
 from its cause and methods gained for him many Re- 
 publican votes, he was re-elected by a plurality of 259 
 in a total of 31,000 votes cast. 
 
 Mr. Weadock was reared in the Roman Catholic 
 church, and has always been more or less prominent in*' 
 church affairs. lie was a delegate to the Catholic 
 Congress held at Baltimore in 1889, and that held at 
 Chicago in 1892, and is the author of the historical 
 papers on Father Richard of Michigan, delegate from 
 1823 to 1825. and the only Catholic priest ever elected 
 to Congress, and on Father Marquette, the missionary 
 explorer. Both of these papers were read before the 
 United States Catholio Historical Society at New York 
 City, and attracted widespread though favorable criti- 
 cism. In 1874 Mr. AVeadock was united in marriage to 
 Miss Mary Ellen Tarsney, of Saginaw, Mich., who was 
 born in Michigan of Irish parents. She comes from a 
 family that has given to the world their sons who have 
 gained name and fame in the history of the country. 
 All are lawyers by profession, and all have gained 
 political distinction. Hon. T. E. Tarsney, now of 
 Detroit, represented the Eighth district of Michigan in 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 the Forty -ninth and Fiftieth Congress. Hon. John C. 
 Tarsney, of Kansas City, Mo., who is now serving his 
 third congressional term, and Hon. Thomas J. Tarsney, 
 of Denver, is adjutant-general of Colorado. Mrs. 
 Weadock died on the llth day of March, 1889, leaving 
 six children, three sons arid three daughters, the eldest 
 son, Thomas J., being a freshman in Georgetown Uni- 
 versity, at Washington, D. C. 
 
 Mr. Weadock has always been a public spirited cit- 
 izen, and has always assisted to the extent of his ability 
 in every enterprise that would tend to advance local 
 interests. He assisted in the organization of the Com- 
 mercial Bank of Bay City, and has been a director and 
 "the bank's attorney from that time to the present. He 
 does not belong to an}' of the secret societies, although 
 a member of two benevolent associations. Being of 
 Irish birth Mr. Weadock has always taken a great 
 interest in Ireland's struggles for freedom and self- 
 government. He was president of the Bay City Land 
 League ; the Bay City St. Patrick's Society, and Ancient 
 Order of Hibernians, and was a delegate to -the Irish 
 National Convention in 1881. Mr. Weadock is a man 
 of pleasing personal appearance, being of medium 
 height, weighs about 160 pounds, and has light hair and 
 mustache and grey eyes. He enjoys the best of health, 
 and for many years has not used intoxicating liquors in 
 any shape. He has many friends with whom he is 
 deservedly popular. His position has been gained by 
 his own efforts, and he fully deserves the credit accord- 
 ed to those, who, by their own ability, energy and 
 industry have gained high positions of honor and trust. 
 
 NAPOLEON B. MERRITT, 
 
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 
 
 NAPOLEON B. MERRITT, son of Lewis Howell 
 and Hephzibeth (Jewett) Merritt, was born at 
 Hanover, Chautauqua county, N. Y., on the 16th day 
 of April, 1834. His youth was spent in much the same 
 manner as fell to the lot of other boys of that time and 
 in a new country. His schoolboy days were mixed 
 with many days of hard work, and in his home life the 
 fare, though plenty, was plain. A careful, conscien- 
 tious training in religion, temperance and morals was 
 one of the features of his every day life. His early 
 education was acquired in the country district schools, 
 but after he had reached manhood's estate he attended 
 for two terms the Grand River Institute in Ohio. 
 Under his father's supervision he learned the trade of 
 carpenter and millwright, and when he was twenty- 
 two years of age he went to what is now the site of 
 Duluth, Minn. Here he engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness, hoping to lay the foundation of a successful future, 
 for even at that time the possibilities of the location 
 for becoming a large manufacturing and shipping 
 center were apparent to him, on account of its geo-S 
 
 graphical position, it being at the very head of the 
 deep water navigation on the inland seas. 
 
 In November, 1859, Mr. Merritt removed to Ash ta- 
 bula county, Ohio, where he engaged in the milling 
 business. He remained in this place for four years and 
 then went to Warren counry, Penn.. in order to accept 
 a position as superintendent of some oil property con- 
 trolled by a Philadelphia syndicate, and who had 
 offered for his services a salary of $130 per month. 
 He remained in the position until the spring of 1866, 
 then removing to St. Joseph, Mo., where he engaged 
 in business, experiencing the variable fortune that falls 
 to the lot of business men, sometimes making money 
 and at others losing. In November, 1869, he returned 
 to Duluth, being attracted by the promising outlook 
 consequent upon the building of the St. Paul, Duluth 
 and Northern Pacific Railroad. He engaged in the 
 lumber business and was uniformly successful, until the 
 depression of business caused by the failure of Jay 
 .Cooke, when he sold out, and in the fall of 1872 moved 
 Ito Atchison county, Mo., where he engaged in farming
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 and stock raising, which he carried on with great 
 success until the summer of 1888. He then returned 
 to his first love, Duluth, Avhere with his brother and 
 his sons he commenced the exploration and develop- 
 ment of the " Great Missaba Eange," in forming com- 
 panies to develop the property and in building the 
 Duluth, Missaba and Northern Eailway. Among the 
 companies formed by him may be mentioned the 
 Mountain Iron Co., the Biwabik Iron Co., Great 
 Northern Mining Co,, and the Great Western Mining 
 Co. In the building of the railroad the company for a 
 time experienced great difficulties and were always 
 confronted with the opposition of rival companies, all 
 of which has now been done away. The property is 
 universally recognized as one of the greatest iron 
 ranges in the world and is on a solid and paying basis. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Merritt has been a Republican 
 since the formation of that party, and before that, in 
 common with all of the family, he was a Whig. He 
 has never dabbled much in politics, however, although 
 during the four years of his residence in Ohio, he held 
 the office of township treasurer, and for five years in 
 Missouri that of justice of the peace, and that of 
 county assessor for three years. During the war Mr. 
 Merritt held a commission as Captain of Company D, 
 2nd Ohio Volunteer State Guards, serving from 1862 
 to 1865. 
 
 He has long been connected with railroads and 
 railroad building, having been right-of-way agent for 
 the St. Louis & Council Bluffs Railroad (now Wabash 
 & Northern) in 1878, and was connected with the Bur- 
 lington & Missouri River Railroad when it was built 
 through Iowa in 1878 and 1879. He is now president 
 of the Great Western Mining Company, a director of 
 the Duluth, Missaba & Northern Railroad, and of the 
 
 635 
 
 Iron Exchange Bank of Duruth. Mr. Merritt has trav- 
 eled extensively in all parts of the United States and 
 Canada and has a large circle of warm friends in many 
 of the Middle and Western States, especially in Ohio, 
 Pennsylvania. Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and 
 Nebraska. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and is an earnest worker and a liberal giver in 
 the cause both of Christianity and charity. This char- 
 acteristic is one that belongs to the whole family, and 
 is the result of the home training received from their 
 earliest youth. 
 
 On the Uth of October, 1857, Mr. Merritt was 
 united in marriage to Miss Jennie Hulda Holman, in 
 Ashtabula county, Ohio. She was a lady of good edu- 
 cation and of more than ordinary address, with marked 
 executive ability, and possessed a disposition that 
 caused her to be beloved by all. Seven children, five 
 sons and two daughters, blessed this union, of whom 
 four sons now survive, and are well known as capable 
 and energetic business men. Mrs. Merritt died in 
 April, 1881, and on May 1st, 1882, Mr. Merritt was 
 again married ; this time to Miss Matilda Tannar 
 Cranston, at Hanover, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Merritt is a fine specimen of physical manhood, 
 and notwithstanding his age, is possessed of remarkable 
 strength and vigor. He is a man who has made many 
 friends, and, moreover, has the gift that is even more 
 valuable, that of keeping them. Aside from his own 
 personal endeavors, steady application and "hard work, 
 Mr. Merritt says that his present prosperity is due, more 
 than to any other cause, to the harmony in which the 
 entire family have always worked together, their 
 parents having taught them from early youth that the 
 greatest strength was always to be found in the most 
 perfect unity. 
 
 CLARENDON RUTHERFORD, A. M., M. D., C. M., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 /CLARENDON RUTHERFORD, A. M., M. D., C. 
 v_> M., was born in Madrid, St. Lawrence County, 
 New York, June 22, 1854. He is a son of Maj. John 
 T. and Belinda Evelyn Rutherford. His great-grand- 
 father Rutherford came from Jed burgh, Scotland, and 
 settled in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1818. His 
 grandfather Casselman came from Germany and settled 
 in the Mohawk Valley, New York State, before the 
 Revolutionary War, and fought in that struggle. Young 
 Rutherford was fitted for college at the Waddington 
 High School, and entered Hobart College in 1872, where 
 he remained until 1875. He then entered Union Col- 
 lege at Schenectady, N. Y., and graduated as A. B., in 
 18^76, receiving the degree of M. A., " in course," in 
 1879. He taught in Waddington, N. Y., for two years, 
 while taking special courses of study in botany, history 
 and moral philosophy, branches in which he acquired 
 
 special distinction ; so that, while he is a physician and 
 surgeon, he is more, having broadened his mind and 
 enriched his experiences in the larger field of a more 
 comprehensive philosophy. He then took the four year 
 course at the McGill Medical College, at Montreal, 
 graduating in March, 1882, receiving the degree of 
 Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery. As a 
 further preparation for his profession, he took a post- 
 graduate course in Montreal and coming to Chicago in 
 September of the same year, at once entered upon the 
 practice of medicine. Dr. Rutherford is a member of 
 the Chicago Medical Society, of the Illinois State Med- 
 ical Society, of the American Medical Association, a 
 Fellow of the American Academv of Medicine. Profes- 
 sor of Descriptive Anatomy in the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons, of Chicago, and was formerly one of the 
 attending physicians at the Chicago Policlinic, before
 
 6 3 6 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 being elected to a chair in the college. He was elected 
 Professor of Anatomy in the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons, of Chicago, in 1888. 
 
 Prof. Rutherford was the first anatomical teacher 
 in the "West who taught anatomy from the standpoint 
 of biology, it being his wont to illustrate the devel- 
 opment of organs by showing their simpler structure 
 in lower forms of animal life. From this humble be- 
 ginning has sprung up the chair of biology in the 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons. This depart- 
 
 ment is the most thorough of any medical institution 
 in the country. Embryology and comparative anatomy 
 are now taught thoroughly. 
 
 In May, 1885, Dr. Rutherford was united in mar- 
 riage to Miss Jessie Haiselden, of Chicago. One child 
 a daughter, Bessie Evelyn, has been born to them. 
 Dr. Rutherford is a Jeff ersonian in politics; a Mason 
 and an Odd Fellow; an Evolutionist in Philosophy ; an 
 Episcopalian in religion, and takes a lively interest in 
 political economy, sociology, and anthropology. 
 
 HUGH GALBRAITH HARRISON, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 HUGH GALBRAITH HARRISON, son of Rev. 
 Thomas and Margaret Harrison, was born at 
 Belleville, 111., on the 23rd day of April, 1822. His 
 father was a minister, who left his home in North Car- 
 olina and settled in the wilderness four miles from 
 Belleville, 111., in 1804, where he opened up a farm and 
 reared a family of nine children. He also started a mill 
 and thus became the pioneer miller of the Mississippi 
 valley. His first venture in this business was an ox- 
 mill at Belleville, which he purchased in 1826 for the 
 consideration of $300. Five years later he moved with 
 his family into Belleville, and then put into his mill the 
 first steam engine set up in the State of Illinois. A 
 new and large mill was built in 1836, and it remained 
 in operation until it was burned up, together with 
 some five thousand bushels of wheat and five 
 hundred barrels of flour. .Notwithstanding that 
 there was not a dollars worth of insurance on the 
 property, it was rebuilt during the next year on a 
 larger scale, as* was made necessary by the growing 
 popularity of the product of the "Harrison Mills" at 
 Belleville. 
 
 Hugh G. Harrison was educated at McKendree 
 College, at Lebanon, 111., and after graduating was 
 associated with his father and brothers in the milling 
 business. In 1860 he and two of his brothers, Thomas 
 A. and William, went to Minneapolis, Minn., where 
 they engaged in business and each built a fine resi- 
 dence. That of Hugh G. was built on the double 
 block at what is now Nicollet and Eleventh streets, 
 but at that time was far beyond the built up portion 
 of the city, and in the midst of a thicket of hazel 
 brush. It has since been the family homestead, and 
 is to-day one of the most admired residences in the 
 city. For many years the brothers carried on their 
 business in common, but after a time they sep- 
 arated more and more, each following his individual 
 taste and judgment in seeking investments. They 
 were among the original stockholders of the First Na- 
 tional Bank of St. Paul, and were also largely inter- 
 ested in the St. Paul and Sioux City railroad. 
 
 In 1862 they built on the corner of Nicollet and 
 
 Washington avenues the stone building which still 
 stands there. At that time it was the most imposing 
 edifice in Minneapolis, and its hall for many years was 
 the audience room for public meetings and concerts. 
 In 1863 they associated themselves with Joseph Dean 
 in the lumber business, the firm name being Joseph 
 Dean & Co., and for the following fifteen years this 
 firm was the largest of its kind in the city. They 
 bought timber lands and purchased and rebuilt a large 
 saw-mill at the mouth of Bassett's Creek, where they 
 converted their logs into lumber. Later they built the 
 Pacific mill, on the west bank of the river, just above 
 the suspension bridge, which was without exception 
 the largest and best equipped saw-mill in that region. 
 In 1877 the firm dissolved partnership, and the Security 
 Bank was organized, having a larger capital than any 
 other bank in the city, with T. A Harrison as president, 
 Hugh G. Harrison as vice-president, and Joseph Dean 
 as cashier. The bank was prosperous from the start, 
 and its capital was increased from time to time until it 
 became $1,000,000, while deposits amounted to $6,000,- 
 000. Upon the death of his brother, which occurred 
 October 27, 1887, Mr. Hugh Harrison was elected 
 president, and filled this position until the close of his 
 own life, August 10, 1891. Mr. Harrison was always 
 foremost in every enterprise relating to the growth 
 and well being of the city of his adoption, and for 
 many years during the formative and constructive per- 
 iod of the school system he was a member of the 
 school board and one of its most faithful and effective 
 workers, and to his wise judgment Minneapolis owes 
 much of its valuable school property of to-day. He 
 was also the trustee of the (Kirby) Spencer estate, 
 which became the foundation of the public library. 
 Mr. Harrison was a careful student of political ques- 
 tions, though not a politician in the ordinary sense of 
 the term. In 1868 he was mayor of Minneapolis, and 
 gave the young city a careful, capable and clean 
 administration that was no small help to her growth. 
 Besides the business before mentioned, Mr. Harrison 
 founded the grocery house of B. S. Bull & Co., and 
 later that of Geo. R. Newell & Co. He was one of the
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 largest subscribers to and one of the first directors of 
 the Minneapolis Exposition, and always took a deep 
 interest in Hamline University, to which he also con- 
 tributed large sums of money. At the time of his 
 death he was vice-president of the Minneapolis Trust 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Harrison was a lifelong member of the Metho- 
 dist church and was for years a trustee of Hennepin 
 Avenue M. E. church of Minneapolis. He was always 
 generous in advancing the interests of the church, and 
 an appeal for charity was never addressed to him in 
 vain. He was always a student and had traveled ex- 
 tensively both in this country and abroad. He was a 
 
 639 
 
 great lover of good music, broad-minded and liberal in 
 every way, and to the young man struggling for a 
 start he was ever ready to extend a helping hand, the 
 only stipulations attached to his help being appreciation 
 and non-publicity. 
 
 On the 8th day of December, 1847, Mr. Harrison 
 was united in marriage to Miss Irene Amelia Kobinson, 
 at Belleville, 111. The union was blessed by five sons, 
 all now living, and prosperous and respected business 
 men. Mrs. Harrison died on the 13th day of August, 
 1876, and on the 25th of October, 1877, he was married 
 to Mrs. Elizabeth Wood Hunt, who with her daughter, 
 Helen Louise, and Mr. Harrison's five sons, survives him. 
 
 HON. JOHN P. ALTGELD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN P. ALTGELD was born in Germany, De- 
 cember 30, 1847, and came to thiscountry with his 
 parents when only a child. He was reared on a farm 
 in Richland county, Ohio. His elementary education, 
 in his early days, was very limited. In 1864, when 
 sixteen years of age, he joined the Union army and 
 participated in the James river campaign. Subsequently 
 he taught school for a time, and in 1869 went West. At 
 this time young Altgeld met and overcame the great 
 struggle of his life. With a scant supply of money, he 
 traveled on foot across Southern Illinois and when, 
 after many privations, he reached the Mississippi river, 
 opposite St. Louis, he had only fifteen cents left. With 
 this he paid five cents ferry-boat fare, and a like sum 
 for a still more unfortunate fellow traveler, and then 
 balanced and closed his account by buying writing 
 paper and a postage stamp with the remainder. He 
 worked for some time in St. Louis and then went to 
 Southern Kansas, where he was taken sick and had a 
 severe struggle. After his recovery he went to north- 
 western Missouri, where he taught school and studied 
 law. 
 
 He was admitted to the bar in 1872. He was soon 
 after appointed city attorney of Savannah and after- 
 wards elected state's attorney of Andrew county. His 
 success in these public positions and his ability as a 
 lawyer made him one of the best known men in that 
 section of the State. In 1875, desiring a larger field 
 for his labors, he removed to Chicago. When hearrived 
 in this city he was an entire stranger. He soon built up 
 a large and lucrative practice, and was engaged in some 
 of the most notable cases that came before the Cook 
 county bench. In 1884, he ran for Congress in the 
 fourth district, and reduced the Republican majority by 
 several thousand, but was defeated ; he however, made 
 a great reputation as a campaigner. 
 
 In 1886 Mr. Altgeld was nominated for judge of 
 the Superior Court of Cook county by the Democratic 
 party, and was elected by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 As a judge he proved himself fearless, independent 
 and impartial ; his decisions were clear, laconic and 
 comprehensive, and gave proof of much care, study 
 and legal knowledge. His energy and industry were 
 remarkable, and won for him the highest encomiums 
 of the press, the people and the profession. 
 
 After discharging the duties of his high office with 
 the utmost satisfaction for five years, Judge Altgeld 
 astonished every one by tendering his resignation to 
 the governor. The judge assured his friends that the 
 claims of his private business only could force him to 
 retire from the position to which they had elevated 
 him. The duties of a judge, he said, were not only 
 onerous, but unceasing, and he would not occupy the 
 position unless he could give it his undivided attention. 
 The people deserve, and should receive, the fullest 
 services of those whom the}' select for a high and im- 
 portant office. In 1890 he was made Chief Justice of 
 the Superior Court. In the general election of 1892, 
 Jduge Altgeld was the Democratic candidate for 
 governor of Illinois, and was elected by a big majority, 
 which office he still holds. 
 
 Governor Altgeld is recognized as an able exponent 
 of the principles of his party, who in both his public 
 and professional life is earnest, original and practical. 
 He is a quiet man who prefers action to talk, and who 
 believes that social and industrial reforms are more 
 readily effected by business methods than by the most 
 eloquent post-prandial orations. His arguments are 
 clear, concise and convincing, and his thoughts are 
 occasionally clothed in the choicest language, and 
 adorned by an unstudied and captivating rhetoric. 
 
 Judge Altgeld has, during the last ten years, built 
 some of the finest mercantile office buildings of this 
 citv, among \vhieh may be cited Unity Building, one 
 of the finest building of its class in the world. Amid 
 his manv business and professional duties he has not 
 forgotten or neglected the studious habits of early life, 
 for we find him in these latter busy days devoting him-
 
 640 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 self occasionally to literature. "Our Penal Machinery 
 and its Victims," " Live Questions," and papers on 
 various topics of the day, are from his pen. When tired 
 of law and business he falls back to his early friend 
 study. He is fond of travel, and has visited nearly 
 every place of interest in North America. He was 
 married in 1877 to Miss Ford, of Richland county, 
 Ohio. He is a member of the Germania Mannerchor 
 and Iroquois club. He is in the prime of life, with fine 
 
 physical development, and in the enjoyment of good 
 health. His expressive features reflect a calm, thought- 
 ful and active intelligence, and impress one with the 
 dignity, strength and reserve of an original mind. If 
 strong sympathy and active co-operation with every 
 movement for the benefit of the masses, and a broad and 
 liberal spirit, guiding great and generous efforts, 
 deserve recognition, then shall an honorable and irre- 
 proachable career be rewarded by a grateful people. 
 
 GILBERT WHEELER ROE, 
 
 OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN. 
 
 THE career of the subject of this sketch enters as a 
 very large and important element into the finan- 
 cial growth and material prosperity of the thriving 
 city of Oshkosh, Wis. For thirty -seven years, more than 
 a generation, he has been known to all throughout the 
 country as the eminent representative of sound banking 
 and the promoter of the best financial interests which 
 have had their center in that city. Bringing to the 
 business which he there helped to establish in 1858 a 
 half dozen years of previous experience in banking 
 practice, he has by untiring energy, mature judgment, 
 well directed enterprise and a high order of ability, all 
 joined to conservative methods, made not only a name 
 in the financial world, of which he may well be proud, 
 but he has been a credit to his .city and State, and a 
 power in the building up of its fortunes. 
 
 . Gilbert Wheeler Roe was born in the village of 
 Warwick, Orange county, N. Y., his father being 
 Joseph Roe, a merchant of that place, and his mother 
 Harriet (Wheeler) Roe, a woman of many lovable 
 qualities. His early education was acquired in the 
 common schools of his native place, and afterward con- 
 tinued at the Warwick Academy, which for several 
 months he attended, and where he made creditable 
 progress. He also, with a class of young men, attended 
 for two years a high school under the teaching of Prof. 
 John K. Joline, and had the advantage of a public 
 library in the store of 500 volumes. His first business 
 experience, after leaving school, was as a clerk in his 
 father's store in Warwick, succeeded in a short time by 
 the management of a store of his own in Edenville, N. 
 Y., which for three years he conducted with success. 
 The young merchant found, however, that the close 
 confinement to the business of a village store, together 
 with the long hours involved, was a severe strain upon 
 his health and strength, and being offered the position 
 of teller in the bank of Chester, N. Y., he accepted and 
 entered upon its duties, which he discharged witli fidel- 
 ity for some five or six years. 
 
 At the end of this time he decided to indulge his 
 desire for a broader field of activity than was then 
 presented in the East, and came to the growing West. 
 His first venture an this undeveloped country was made 
 
 at Milwaukee, where, with Mr. Thomas T. Reeve, a 
 private banking business was established, under the firm 
 name of Reeve and Roe, their banking rooms being loca- 
 ted on East Water street. This business was successfully 
 conducted until 1858, wh^n, in November of that year, 
 Messrs. Reeves and Roe bought out the entire interests 
 of the Commercial Bank of Oshkosh, Wis. That the 
 Milwaukee enterprise was managed with rare ability, 
 is shown by the fact that during the severe strain on 
 banking institutions caused by the panic of 1857, in- 
 volving the entire country, the bank of Messrs. Reeve 
 and Roe rode the storm successfully. 
 
 Removing to Oshkosh, to enter upon the administra- 
 tion of the affairs of the commercial bank, Messrs. 
 Reeve and Roe have ever since remained in control of 
 its management during the successive stages of its 
 history as a private banking house, as a National and 
 as a State bank. During all this time it has been 
 known as the Commercial Bank of Oshkosh. Septem- 
 ber 1, 1880, is the date of the charter under which the 
 bank is now conducted. Since 1858 Mr. Roe has served 
 twenty-two years as its cashier, and is now in his fourth 
 year as its president, and has served twelve years as its 
 vice-president, making a continuous banking record of 
 forty-three years since he assumed the position as teller 
 of the bank of Chester, N. Y. 
 
 During this extended -experience, Mr. Roe has en- 
 countered many financial storms and has been through 
 critical periods,but has always paid dollar for dollar on 
 his liabilities, and paid every claim at maturity. This is 
 high praise for any man so situated, and well illustrates 
 Mr. Roe's financial ability and integrity. His career as 
 a financier has from the first been characterized by a 
 comprehensive knowledge of men, a clear recognition 
 of the needs of the public, and by conscientious activity 
 and unflagging determination. 
 
 Although Mr. Roe's time and energies have been 
 given chiefly to the banking business, he has been in- 
 terested in other enterprises, from time to time, more 
 especially in the ownership of valuable pine and other 
 timber and farm lands. Of these lands he is a large 
 holder in the State of Arkansas, Georgia and Wiscon- 
 sin, as well as Michigan. He is at the present time

 
 MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 vice-president of the Oshkosh Log and Lumber Co., 
 \vhicho\vnsnearlyt\vohundred million feet of stand- 
 ing timber in the upper peninsula of Michigan. 
 
 Mr. Roe was married in 1858 to Miss Elizabeth C. 
 Clark, daughter of Judge Hulet Clark and Etneline 
 Greenleaf Cla'rk, of West Tower, Orange county, New 
 York, and they have two children, William J. Roe, 
 and Lizzie, the latter the wife of Dr. Arthur J. Bur- 
 gess, of Milwaukee. In social life Mr. Roe is genial 
 and courteous, but has always been too much devoted 
 to business affairs to shine as a prominent "society 
 man." He is, however, alwa\ r s companionable, easily 
 approached, and has a large circle of steadfast friends 
 who value his friendship and often seek and profit by 
 his kind advice. He has spent considerable time in 
 travel, having visited, in company with his family, 
 most parts of the United States, and, at one time spent 
 more than a 3 T ear making a tour of England, central and 
 southern Europe, Turkey, Asia and Morocco. As a 
 traveler he is a close observer, and, while thoroughly 
 enjoying his journeyings for the pleasure they bring, 
 does not fail to enrich his knowledge of men and 
 things thereby. 
 
 643 
 
 In politics Mr. Roe -is a Republican, having in his 
 early life been a Whig. He has been far too busy a 
 man to enter, however, into political life as an office- 
 bearer, but has never failed to interest himself in good 
 government, locally, and in the State and Nation, 
 rightly believing that the duty of every loyal citizen 
 requires him to keep well informed on all current 
 issues of the day and to vote for the right principles 
 administered by the right men. In his religious pre- 
 dilections, he is a Congregationalist, being a regular 
 attendant of the Congregational church at his home. 
 
 Whether considered with reference to his charac- 
 teristics and innate qualities as a man, personally, or 
 with reference to his career in its relation to the public 
 anil the good of his fellow men, Mr. Roe easily rises 
 above the rank and file and stands forth as a leader. 
 
 In his chosen field, few men, with similar oppor- 
 tunities, have during the same period, accomplished so 
 much ; and to few men has it been given to look back 
 upon so long a life of usefulness, conscious of the cordial 
 approval of his fellow citizens, both as a man of integ- 
 rity and as a promoter of the material prosperity of 
 the city of his adoption. 
 
 JOHN TASCHER, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN TASCHER, son of John and Elizabeth 
 Tascher, was born at Freisenheim, Baden, Ger- 
 many, December 27, 1851. His parents came to 
 America in 185i and settled in Peoria county, 111., and 
 later, in 1865, on a farm in Iroquois county, where 
 they still live. 
 
 Young Tascher received a common school educa- 
 tion, later graduating at the International Business 
 College, at Peoria, 111. In 1873 he entered the Illinois 
 State Normal School, remaining two years, teaching 
 school during the summer months. Early in 1875 he 
 began the study of medicine under L. W. Critzer, M. 
 D., eclectic physician, at Crescent City, 111. In 1876 
 he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, 
 graduating in May, 1878. He then practiced until 
 October, 1879, at Martinton, 111., and then entered the 
 Bennett Medical College of Chicago, graduating in 
 1880. After graduating he commenced the practice of 
 medicine, continuing same ever since, and is now hav- 
 ing a large and lucrative practice.' In 1880 he was 
 elected Professor of Anatomy of the Bennett Medical 
 College. Filling that position for three terms, he 
 resigned in 1884 on account of his growing practice, 
 and was immediately elected Professor of Diseases of 
 Children, which position he held until 1891, when the 
 Board elected him to the chair of Materia Medica and 
 therapeutics, which position he still holds. In 1882 he 
 was elected trustee and in 1889 treasurer of the board 
 of trustees, which position he still fills. 
 
 In 1889, eclectic physicians of Cook county were 
 accorded recognition on the Cook County Hospital 
 staff and Dr. Tascher was assigned to the medical 
 department, continuing until 1892, when he was as- 
 signed to the gynaecological department, which posi- 
 tion he still holds. 
 
 Mr. Tascher is of an inventive turn of mind. In 
 1886 he invented an intubation tube, which is fully 
 described in the June number of the Chicago Medical 
 Times of that year. In 1893 he invented a magazine 
 camera for handling glass plates and loading same 
 without entering a dark room. 
 
 Dr. Tascher has done quite well in his real estate 
 holdings. He was one of the physicians appointed to 
 solicit subscriptions from physicians of Chicago for the 
 World's Fair. 
 
 He is a member of the I. O. F., and was elected 
 high medical examiner in 1SS7. Has been a member 
 of the II. D. S. since 1883, and of the R. A. since 1887, 
 and of the R. L. since 1886. and was the first archer 
 of the Schiller Council. He is also a member of the 
 Ashlar Lodge No. 308, A. F. & A. M. 
 
 In 1891 he made atrip abroad, visiting the princi- 
 pal cities of England, Belgium, Prussia, France, Swit- 
 zerland, Austria, Bohemia, and his birth place. 
 Although on a pleasure trip the doctor made it a point 
 to visit the principal hospitals and clinics with a view 
 to benefit, professionally. 
 
 He attends the Lutheran church and is known to be
 
 644 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 quite liberal in his views. In politics he has always 
 been a Republican. 
 
 Dr. Tascher was united in marriage December 23, 
 1880, to Miss Clara Oesting, of New Bedford, Mass. 
 
 Three children were born to them : Irnia, John Ralph, 
 and Beatrice. Dr. Tascher is a man of medium height 
 and weight,' dark complexion, of genial disposition, 
 quite domestic in his tastes and habits. 
 
 GYSBERT VAN STEENWYK, 
 
 LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN. 
 
 TO a considerable majority of the men who have 
 won distinction in that portion of our country 
 which a generation ago was the "Western borderland, 
 certain well defined conditions are common. Those 
 upon whom the real pioneer work has fallen were 
 endowed with few early advantages save the hardy 
 physique and steadfast mind acquired by a toilsome 
 and somewhat narrow life from youth up. They 
 found their opportunities in the resources of the 
 country, and attained wealth and some measure of 
 preferment in advanced life which the disadvantages 
 of youth debarred them from rightly enjoying. 
 Another class came into the West fresh from the uni- 
 versities, without either the physical endowments or 
 mental equipment essential to successful pioneering. 
 The lives of many such were obscure, misspent even, 
 whereas amid more congenial surroundings they might 
 have been distinguished. In the rare cases where 
 most of the desirable influences have been combined, 
 such as education and culture, robust physique, courage 
 and a temperate habit of life, the West has produced 
 men of note in the community who have acquired 
 property, fulfilled important trusts and rightly enjoyed 
 the best gifts of life. 
 
 Of this class Hon. Gysbert Van Steenwyk, president 
 of the Batavian Bank of LaCrosse, is a fit representa- 
 tive. A natiye of Holland, his great mistake was in 
 not having commenced his American life ten years 
 earlier. Not that the time spent in the cultivated 
 society of his native city, Utrecht, was wasted, but 
 because so much more might have been added to his 
 busy and useful career as an American citizen at a 
 time when one year counted as two in a man's life- 
 time, in the opportunities afforded by the developing 
 country. 
 
 Mr. Van Steenwyk was one of a family of six chil- 
 dren. His father was a gentleman farmer, owning 
 lands within ten miles of the city of Utrecht, and 
 accounted a man of considerable means. The children 
 had the benefits of a good and thorough education, 
 opportunities for culture and means sufficient for 
 maintenance in the manner to which they were ac- 
 customed, or for establishment in any business or 
 profession they might select. The subject of this' sketch 
 was the youngest but one, a sister, now living in their 
 native city. He was born January 30, 1811, and is, 
 therefore, more than eighty years of age. The first 
 half of his life was passed in his native land. The 
 
 University of Utrecht offered educational opportunities 
 as good as any in Europe, and he was a student of 
 that institution until the age of twenty-seven, although 
 his degree in philosophy and philology was taken at 
 the age of twenty-two. At sixteen, at the time of the 
 Belgian revolution, he was enrolled as a volunteer in 
 the army of the Netherlands, serving two years. From 
 1838 to 1849, when he departed for America, he was a 
 commissioned officer in the Netherlands National 
 Guards. During the time he resided in Utrecht he lived 
 the social life of the well-to-do of his native city. 
 
 But it was not the life Mr. Van Steenwyk desired; 
 it was not a life to satisfy his mind or employ his 
 talents. He took up the law as a study, but the pro- 
 fession was distasteful to him. He could speak French 
 and German fluently and read English. America 
 had been an object of much study and inquiry on 
 account of its form of government and also because of 
 its opportunities. Finally, in the winter of 1848, while 
 visiting a friend in a neighboring city, he announced 
 his intention of going to the United States. The friend, 
 who was a teacher of Greek and Roman literature in a 
 Latin school, was of the same mind, and they fully 
 determined to start for the western land the following 
 spring. Another friend desired to join them, and on 
 their embarkation in May, 1849, a fourth Hollander of 
 some means became one of the part}'. Passage was 
 taken in an American sailing vessel expressly for the 
 purpose of acquiring that familiarity with the language 
 which would result from hearing nothing else spoken 
 during a voyage of some six weeks. This was of 
 inestimable advantage to all, especially to Mr. Van 
 Steenwyk, whose studies, reinforced by practice, en- 
 abled him to converse readily with the people. 
 
 The party of four spent the summer in New York 
 and Newark, learning what they could about the 
 country and the advantages offered by different sec- 
 tions. It was agreed, in their councils, that they 
 should seek a western State, and further, that the 
 autumn months should be spent in exploring Michigan, 
 Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Early in September 
 they started West. Michigan took up but little of their 
 time. Riding through the heavily timbered country, 
 where the houses found scanty room among the stumps, 
 and fire had run through the woods, they found little 
 to please the eye or hold out promises to the imagina- 
 tion. Illinois was hardly more satisfactory. Chicago, 
 then a town of 30,000 people, was attracting notice,
 
 e or Western ffistan
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 but to the Hollanders it was dreary and depressing. 
 They made a tour among the northern Illinois towns 
 and found much that was promising; but everywhere 
 they were warned not to settle anywhere, else except 
 where they were just then visiting unless they pre- 
 pared to die of fever and ague ! So, concluding that 
 a country where malaria was absent only from the 
 immediate point of inquiry was hardly a sanitarium, 
 they returned to Chicago and took a -steamer to 
 Milwaukee. 
 
 Here the life and career of Mr. Van Steenwyk 
 began; all the years preceding had been preparatory, 
 and only important for their influence upon those that 
 followed. Milwaukee with its surroundings, lying some- 
 what elevated, was pleasing to the eye, and the 
 impression was not dispelled by a closer view. Never- 
 theless, the party desired to see the new towns spring- 
 ing up through the State, and as soon as possible joined 
 in the purchase of a team and carriage, by means of 
 which Racine, Kenosha, Janesville, Madison, Oshkosh 
 and intermediate places were visited, the trip occupying 
 six weeks in October and November. It is not strange 
 that theunanimous verdict of the home seeking quartette 
 was in favor of the larger town, and thither they 
 returned, each to pursue his appointed way of life. 
 
 Through letters of introduction and acquaintance 
 speedily made with the leading men of the town, Mr. 
 Van Steenwyk was not long without opportunities for 
 employment. McGregor & Ten tie}', lawyers, advised 
 him to enter their office, but the profession was no 
 more to his taste in America than in his native land. 
 Mr. McGregor, who had an insurance agency, then 
 proposed increasing the list of companies and forming 
 a partnership in this branch, to promote the business 
 among the foreign population. This received favorable 
 consideration, but did not develop to any great extent. 
 It became expedient, however, that Mr. Van Steenwyk 
 should have some official authority, and he soon 
 received his first appointment as notary pirblic from 
 Governor Nelson Dewey, the first governor of the 
 State. 
 
 The Hollanders, of whom there were about 800 in 
 Milwaukee, were not long in learning that one of their 
 countrymen was able to assist them in their business 
 affairs, and their calls upon him were so frequent, 
 especially for correspondence with the old country, 
 where many of them retained some property interests, 
 that the securing of some representative authority 
 became a matter of convenience, if not of necessity. 
 Accordingly a letter was dispatched to a friend in the 
 Hague and in due time Mr. Van Steenwyk received 
 his commission from the Hague as consul of the 
 Netherlands for Wisconsin. Thereupon a second sign 
 was hung beside the office door, and to this an addition 
 was made the following year, when he was also commis- 
 sioned consul for Michigan and Minnesota. He now 
 had plenty of business, was doing well and heartily 
 enjoyed life. 
 
 The legislature of 1852 created the office of com- 
 
 647 
 
 missioner of immigration, the incumbent to reside in 
 New York, and his duties to be the promotion of im- 
 migration to Wisconsin. Mr. Van Steenwyk's Milwau- 
 kee friends advised him to accept this appointment in 
 case it was offered to him. He declined, because he 
 had other plans and did not want an office of that 
 nature anyway. His friends became more urgent, 
 representing that his command of several languages 
 would be of great value, and he could do more for the 
 benefit of his adopted State in that manner than in any 
 other way. While the matter was under discussion 
 Governor Farwell telegraphed him to come to Madison. 
 He obeyed, was the governor's guest during the visit, 
 was tendered the appointment and finally accepted it, 
 though not without reluctance. During most of the 
 years of 1852 and 1853 Mr. Van Steenwyk resided in 
 New York. His labor in securing for Wisconsin a 
 thrifty, industrious and temperate class of settlers 
 among the foreigners then flocking to America, has 
 exerted an influence upon the welfare of the State 
 which cannot be estimated. The legislature of 1853 
 took the power of appointment of this office from the 
 governor, and, being a. Democratic body, while the 
 incumbent had united with the Whig party, his suc- 
 cessor was named, and he returned to Milwaukee. 
 
 Having become interested in lands in the interior 
 of the State, especially along the line of the LaCrosse 
 and Milwaukee Railroad, then in process of construc- 
 tion, Mr. Van Steenwyk moved to Newport, on the 
 Wisconsin River, where it was expected the railroad 
 would cross. The village rose to considerable promi- 
 nence upon this expectation, but declined and almost 
 went out of existence when the railroad company fixed 
 the crossing point a mile and a half above, where anew 
 town was laid out and called Kilbourn City. Thither 
 most of the Newport settlers moved, Mr. Van Steenwyk 
 with them, in 1858. In 1857 he had been commissioned 
 brigadier-general of State troops, obtaining a title 
 which serves his friends in familiar intercourse to .the' 
 present day. In 1859 he was elected to the State 
 Assembly from Columbia county, after a contest which 
 was a history in itself, receiving a majority of 200 over 
 a Democrat in a Democratic district. He resigned his 
 consular office, not deeming it proper that a legislator 
 in the United States should be the representative of a 
 foreign government. The following year he was a 
 delegate to the Republican State convention and 
 received the nomination for bank comptroller, to which 
 office he was elected. In this period of great political 
 and military events, the finances of the country were 
 in such chaos as no person living at that time can ever 
 forget, and General Van Steenwyk's' duties equalled in 
 importance those of any office of the State. His own 
 choice would have been to have entered the army, and 
 he could have had a regiment, but it was urged upon 
 him that his official duties could not be committed to 
 other hands, and the welfare of his fellow citizens 
 could in no other way be so well promoted as by 
 getting what salvage was possible out of the financial
 
 648 
 
 wrecks all about the State. In one year the comp- 
 troller wound up forty banks, having occasion to visit 
 LaCrosse several times in the way of business. 
 
 The knowledge gained while in office determined 
 his future course, and the outlook at LaCrosse decided 
 the location. Accordingly, upon the expiration of his 
 official term, in 1862, the Batavian Bank was opened 
 in La Crosse, and for more than thirty prosperous 
 years it has been a landmark in the business field. 
 General Van Steenwyk at once took a place in the first 
 business circles of the community, but held no public 
 office until 1873, when he served the city one term as 
 mayor, being nominated as a Eepublican and almost 
 unanimously supported by the Democrats. In 1879 he 
 was called upon to represent the thirty-first district, 
 composed of the city and county of LaCrosse, in the 
 senate of the State, receiving a considerable majority 
 over the Democratic and Greenback candidates. 
 
 In 1874 Mr. Van Steenwyk went abroad and spent 
 a year and a half traveling in Europe. While there he 
 made the acquaintance of Miss 'Marietta Nicholls, a 
 native of Danbury, Conn., and daughter of Hon. David 
 P. Nicholls, for many years treasurer of that State, who 
 was traveling with her sister. The acquaintance led to 
 a matrimonial engagement, and in Ma\ r , 1875, they 
 were united in marriage at Berne, Switzerland, under 
 the auspices of the General's personal friend, Hon. 
 Horace Rublee. minister of the United States in that 
 country, and afterwards editor of the Milwaukee 
 Sentinel. Three charming children have blessed this 
 union; but one, a lovely boy, bright of eye and mind, 
 the emblem of every good promise, has gone somewhat 
 in advance along the dark road whither all journey to 
 make the way lighter to those soon following after. 
 
 General Van Steenwyk's most important recent 
 work has been as one of the executors of the late 
 governor C. C. Washburne's will. He was the in 
 timate friend of the late governor, was with him 
 several weeks at the Eureka Springs, Ark., shortly 
 before his death, and well acquainted with all his 
 business affairs. The vast property in mills, elevators, 
 water powers, railroads, lumber and farming lands, 
 aggregating nearly $2,000,000, has been so managed 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 that every industry has been profitably employed 
 during the course of settlement and the estate has in- 
 creased very largely in value. To the sagacious manage- 
 ment of Mr. Van Steenwyk and his co-executors, 
 Charles Payson and Charles J. Partin, the heirs and 
 beneficiaries under the will, are very much indebted. 
 General Van Steenwyk is also vice-president (the 
 mayor being president ex-officio) of the permanent 
 board of trustees of the public library established in 
 LaCrosse by a provision of Governor Washburne's will, 
 and takes great interest in the institution. 
 
 To enumerateall the business enterprises with which 
 he has been connected would be difficult, even for him- 
 self, perhaps, without some thought. Among the more 
 important recent ones are the Victor Flouring Mill, the 
 LaCrosse Linseed Oil Mill, the La Crosse Street Rail- 
 way Co., the Edison and Brush Electric Light and 
 Power Cos., the La Crosse Tannery and the East Fork 
 Improvement Co. the latter a lumber organization. 
 In all but the two first named and some other local 
 companies he is now a stockholder. It is, however, as 
 a banker that Mr. Van Steenwyk is and will be best 
 known. For more than thirty years the Batavian bank 
 has been a pillar of strength in the community. It 
 has upheld the weak until they became strong, and 
 carried the strong in their hours of weakness. It has 
 always been steadfast, reliable, conservative without 
 timidity, and to-day occupying one of the finest build- 
 ings in Wisconsin, outside of Milwaukee, and offices 
 that cannot be surpassed for elegance and comfort, it 
 stands in the front rank of the strong financial institu- 
 tions of the Northwest. 
 
 Notwithstanding his years, Mr. Van Steenwyk is in 
 the enjoyment of mental and bodily vigor. His office 
 hours are regularly kept, his duties as trustee or director 
 in the various institutions never neglected, and in his 
 elegant home, surrounded by the best books and many 
 works of art, happy in the companionship of his wife, 
 whose natural gifts have been developed by travel, 
 study and the best social advantages, interested in the 
 education of his children, with leisure for occasional 
 travel, he enjoys the gifts of life as one who has earned 
 its privileges and its immunities. 
 
 HON. S. H. MALLORY, 
 
 CHARITON, IOWA. 
 
 SMITH HENDERSON MALLORY, son of Smith 
 L. and Jane Henderson Mallory, was born Decem 
 ber 2, 1835, at Croton Mills, about four miles easterly 
 from Penn Yan, Yates county, N. Y. His grandfather, 
 Meredith Mallory, a lieutenant in the War of 1812, 
 was one of the earliest settlers in Yates county, N. Y. 
 He built and owned several flouring mills on the 
 outlet of Keuka lake, was elected member of the State 
 legislature in 1834, and in the year 1838 was elected 
 
 member of congress. In 1843 he left the State, moving 
 to Batavia, 111., where he died in the year 1885. 
 
 Young Mallory received a common school education 
 at Penn Yan, and from there entered the academy of 
 John W. Irwin, at Danbury, Conn. Independence and 
 self-reliance were then, as now, marked traits in his char- 
 acter, and early in life he was prompted by these traits 
 to start in the world's race, determined to carve his own 
 fortune. In 1850, at the age of fifteen, he left the old
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 651 
 
 homestead in New York for Batavia, 111., where at that 
 time his grandfather and his uncle, John Van Nort- 
 wick, chief engineer in the construction of the Galena 
 tfe Chicago Union railroad from Elgin west, resided, 
 and in December of the same year he secured his first 
 position as a clerk in the store of P. J. Burchell at St. 
 Charles. This occupation as clerk in a country store, 
 while it trained him in the formation of business habits, 
 and afforded him the opportunity to earn his own living, 
 was too monotonous and circumscribed for one pos- 
 sessing his ambition and capabilities, and he looked 
 around him fora wider field. He staid in this position 
 until the following June, when he secured a place 
 more in accordance with his taste and went with 
 George W. Waite, first assistant engineer of the G. & 
 C. U. R. R., in his corps of engineers. Mr. Waite 
 soon after was selected to make surveys for the Aurora 
 branch extension from Aurora to Mendota, and at the 
 commencement of this work on August 1st, 1851, he was 
 promoted to rod man, and during the construction in 
 1853 was again promoted, and before the completion of 
 the tracks to Mendota, was offered and accepted the 
 position of engineer in charge. Upon the completion of 
 the Central Military Tract railroad from Mendota to 
 Galesburg, Col. J. M. Berrian was made chief engineer 
 of the whole line, the road now known as the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy, which was completed to Bur- 
 lington, la., in 1855. 
 
 In the spring of 1857, noticing the rapid advances 
 made in the value of real estate, he resigned his posi- 
 tion and engaged in the real estate business at Fair- 
 field, Iowa, just at the time the real estate boom of 
 .1856 was collapsing. 
 
 It is said that one's love for his birth place clings 
 so closely that it is never eradicated, and the longing to 
 return once more is never satisfied. Early in the year 
 1858, we see Mr. Mallory back in New York State; 
 but it was no longing visions of the " Old Oaken 
 Bucket" beside the well that had caused him to lay 
 down his rod and his compass and shake the dust of 
 Iowa from his feet. When two bright e} T es come into 
 competition with old home fancies the old oaken bucket 
 theory is badly discounted. The readers of the daily 
 papers of Penn Yan, on March 22, 1858, learned that 
 Mr. Mallory had captured and married one of her 
 fairest daughters, Annie Louisa Ogden, daughter of 
 Mordecai Ogden. Soon after his marriage, he, with 
 his beautiful and accomplished wife, returned to Iowa 
 and received the appointment as resident engineer of 
 the Fairfield division of the Burlington and Missouri 
 River Road, which was then being constructed between 
 Rome and Ottumwa, making his residence at Fail-field- 
 On the completion of the track across this Fairfield 
 division, December 1, 1858, he was appointed road 
 master. 
 
 In the spring of 1861 he resigned the position 
 of road master to take charge of the location and 
 construction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroad between Aurora and Chicago. When this 
 work was completed, he, like many others at that 
 
 time, was stricken with the "oil fever" and went 
 to Pennsylvania to engage in the oil business. His 
 stay in Pennsylvania was short, for in the fall of 
 1865 he returned again to Iowa, taking the contract for 
 the construction of the bridges from Ottumwa west on 
 the Burlington & Missouri River railroad, located at 
 Chariton in the Spring of 1867, buying property and 
 building a house for a residence, completed bridge con- 
 tracts to the Missouri river in the fall of 1869, and was 
 then appointed division superintendent of the road, 
 with headquarters at Creston, afterwards changed to 
 Chariton. In the year 1870 he organized and estab- 
 lished the First National Bank of Chariton, an institu- 
 tion which he, as president, has just cause to view with 
 gratification. It has, from its careful and conservative 
 management, from its organization and the uniform 
 urbanity of its officers, gained the confidence of the 
 whole community, an institution to which all citizens 
 of the city and county, rich and poor, point with pride. 
 In the year 1871 he was appointed chief engineer of 
 the Burlington and Missouri railroad, which position he 
 held until 1873. Resigning, he, in conjunction with 
 John Fitzgerald and Martin Flynn, under the firm 
 name of Fitzgerald, Mallory & Flynn, engaged in 
 the general contracting business, and constructed some 
 very heavy work in the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, 
 the Atchison,Topeka and Santa Fe in Colorado and the 
 Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska. 
 
 In 1877, notwithstanding his political faith (he 
 being a staunch Democrat, affiliating with a party 
 vastly in the minority in Lucas county) and his public 
 and long continued connection with railroads, the peo- 
 ple, marking the public spirit shown by him during his 
 residence among them, and having confidence in his 
 integrity and business qualifications, elected him to 
 represent them in the legislature of the State, and the 
 record he there made fully substantiated the good 
 judgment and wisdom of the electors. In the year 
 1875 he was elected president of the Iowa Centennial 
 Commission, but owing to the pressure of his private 
 business, with many important contracts on hand, he 
 resigned. 
 
 In 1878 he was president of the Chariton, Des 
 Moines & Southern railroad, and in 1881 was elected 
 vice-president and general manager of the Fulton 
 County Narrow Gauge railroad. In 1883 he was 
 elected president and general manager, which position 
 he still holds. During the year 1881 he organized the 
 First National Bank at Creston, Iowa. In April, 1886, 
 he organized the Fitzgerald & Mallory Construction 
 Company, and was elected president of the company, 
 which contracted and completed about six hundred 
 miles of railroad in Kansas and Colorado, which is now 
 part of the Missouri Pacific system. This road was 
 completed to Pueblo, Col., on December 1, 1887. The 
 whole six hundred miles was constructed in about 
 eighteen months. 
 
 Notwithstanding the vast enterprises in which he 
 has been engaged, occupying so much of his time, and 
 close attention in the management of all the details,
 
 652 
 
 yet, in the year 1880 he made a hurried trip to Ger- 
 many, with Mrs. Mallory and their daughter, Miss 
 Jessie O. Mallory, and accompanied by his neice, Miss 
 Louise Smith, of Batavia, 111. On this trip they visited 
 Oberamergau and witnessed the Passion Pla}' ; from 
 thence they traveled to Dresden, in which city he left 
 his family, his daughter and niece desiring to complete 
 their studies of German and music, while he returned 
 home, his personal presence being necessary to super- 
 intend the work on which he was engaged. This hav- 
 ing been brought to a successful issue in 1881, he 
 returned to Dresden, and from there, accompanied by 
 his family, visited Austria, Italy, Switzerland and 
 France, returning home in the same year. 
 
 While Mr. Mallory is generally looked upon as 
 what is termed a " railroad man," having been so 
 actively engaged so much of his life in railroad enter- 
 prises, building, equiping and superintending, yet ever 
 since his location in Lucas county he has been com- 
 paratively as largely interested in agriculture, and 
 might as justly be called a farmer. He owns and 
 operates several farms in Iowa, and is cultivating a 
 large tract in California. This home farm, on which 
 his handsome residence is built, comprises 1.200 acres, 
 and is well stocked with blooded cattle and horses. 
 He brought the first blooded cattle and draft horses to 
 Lucas county, and mainly through his enterprise in 
 this direction, that county stands to-day at the front 
 in the blue grass region for the superiority of the 
 horses raised in its borders. 
 
 PKOMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 During the years that Mr. Mallory has resided 
 in Lucas county, it is safe to assert that there has 
 been no public enterprise organized in the community 
 for its benefit that he has not been prominently 
 identified with. Far seeing, energetic, with indomitable 
 will power, independent in thought, yet cosmopolitan 
 in his views, he has well earned a competency far ex- 
 ceeding his boyish aim, yet in his success he has not 
 become selfish, directly in contrast with that eastern 
 millionaire who is reported as saying, "The public be 
 damned." He now, as he always has, recognizes him- 
 self as one of the public, the public interests being 
 identical with his individual interests. He spent much 
 time superintending the erection and furnishing of 
 the Iowa Building at the Columbian Exposition at 
 Chicago, in 1893, Governor Boies having appointed 
 him commissioner. The commission elected him chair- 
 man of the executive committee. To those who have 
 met with reverses his ear is open, and not oply his ear 
 but his hand also. 
 
 Mr. Mallory was made a Mason at Batavia, 111., 
 about the year 1856, Royal Arch Mason, at St. Charles 
 in 1864, and a Knight Templar at Osceola, la., Septem- 
 ber 20, 1875. Joined Chariton Lodge I. O. O. F., No. 
 64, in May, 1878. 
 
 The old saying has it, " God made the countr\ r , and 
 man makes the town." Had Chariton a few more such 
 men within its borders as S. H. Mallory has proved 
 himself to be, it would soon grow to be a cit} T in fact, 
 as it is now in name. 
 
 SAMUEL ARTHUR HARRIS, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 SAMUEL AUTHOR HARRIS, son of Thomas G. 
 Harris was born at Goshen, Elkhart county, In- 
 diana, on the 25th of October, 1847. His father was one 
 of the best known lawyers of the State, and during his 
 later years helped to found and was president of the 
 Salem bank at Goshen. He came to the latter place 
 from New York in 1830, and died when his son was but 
 eleven years old, leaving a family consistingof his wife, 
 a daughter and the son, who is the subject of our sketch. 
 Samuel received his education in the public schools and 
 later graduated from the high school, after which he 
 spent a couple of years in the East and in Europe. 
 
 In the year 1868, when he was twenty-one years of 
 age, he came West and located in Minneapolis, where 
 he at first secured employment as clerk in the hardware 
 store of Hedderly and Yroman. He remained in this 
 position for one year and then went to work for Harris 
 & Putman, large lumber dealers, with whom he also 
 staved for one year. When the firm went out of.busi- 
 ness he worked for a few months as a clerk in the State 
 National bank, until the Hennepin County Savings 
 bank was organized, in 1870, when he became a stock- 
 
 holder and trustee and was appointed assistant cashier. 
 In this position he remained for nine y ears, when he 
 resigned to take a similar position with the North- 
 western National bank. In the spring of 1880 Mr. 
 Neiler, the cashier, dissolved his connection with the 
 bank and Mr. Harris was advanced to his position, and 
 seven years later he became president of the bank. 
 Under his administration the institution prospered 
 exceedingly, enlarged its capital to $1,000,000 and took 
 its place among the larger financial institutions of the 
 city. When Mr. Harris took hold of the management 
 of the bank its assets consisted largely of real estate 
 holdings, but he soon disposed of this and had the bank's 
 money invested so as to be more available in an 
 emergency. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Harris, feeling the need of rest, resigned 
 the presidency of the Northwestern and for some 
 months spent the time quietly with his family or in 
 travel. He expected to take up some other line of bus- 
 iness when thoroughly rested, and accordingly, in 1891. 
 became treasurer of the Duluth Elevator Company, with 
 his office in Minneapolis, which position he still holds.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 But liis well-known ability would not allow him to 
 retire permanently from the profession with which he 
 had been so long connected, and in December. 1891, he 
 was elected president of the National Bank of Com- 
 merce, which office he accepted and holds at the pres- 
 ent time. He found that this bank, like the North- 
 western, was encumbered with too much real estate, and 
 his first work was to dispose of this and so get the 
 assets into available shape. This task he accomplished 
 in about six months time and the bank stands to-day 
 with a cash capital of $1,000,000, and is one of the four 
 large banks of Minneapolis. Mr. Harris was president 
 of the Clearing House Association and also of the Dual 
 City Banker's Club; he has been for many years a 
 member of tho executive council of the American 
 Bankers' -Association, a director of the Minnesota Loan 
 and Trust Company from the time of its organization, 
 and has been for a long time treasurer of the Globe 
 Gas Light Company. 
 
 On September 16, 18T2, Mr. Harris was united in 
 marriage to Miss Anna C. Stewart, daughter of Rev. 
 Daniel Stewart, D. D., of Minneapolis, and their union 
 has been blessed with two sons and one daughter. For 
 many years Mr. Harris has been an elder in the West- 
 minister Presbyterian church, has given considerable 
 
 655 
 
 of his time and attention to its evangel, stic and mission 
 work, and \vasforyears the treasurer of the Presbyter- 
 ian Alliance. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Harris is quiet,, unostentatious and 
 somewhat reticent, methodical in his work, and has 
 achieved his success by assiduous attention to details 
 and his great energy and unflagging industry. Coupled 
 with these traits he has a sound judgment, an intuitive 
 grasp of results and unquestioned integrity. These 
 have been the qualities that have contributed to success 
 in his business life, and his pleasant manner and readv 
 sympathy have made for him hosts of friends among 
 those who have met him socially. In every public 
 enterprise looking to the advancement of the material 
 interests of Minneapolis he has been among the fore- 
 most and most liberal supporters, and in his dealings 
 with those who apply for aid from his private purse 
 he has ever been exceedingly generous and an 
 appeal for worthy charity has never been addressed 
 to him in vain. Mr. Harris is still, comparatively' 
 speaking, a young man, and the magnificent record 
 that he has already made may be but the preface 
 of what is yet to come, although should he now retire 
 from active business life the world might well say, 
 " well done." 
 
 JAY J. THOMPSON, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography is the son of Judson 
 and Lydia M. (Berry) Thompson, and was born 
 near Rochester, Minn., on January 21, 1857. On the 
 maternal side he traces his ancestry back to the Pil- 
 grims. His father came West from Onandaga county, 
 N. Y., to Wisconsin at the age of sixteen and settled at 
 Neenah. After his marriage he moved to Minnesota, 
 where Jay J. was born. The serious Indian troubles 
 of that period caused his father to move back to Wis- 
 consin when the boy was two years old, and where the 
 elder Thompson has resided ever since. 
 
 Young Thompson's early education was such as the 
 best local schools afforded, but later he entered Law- 
 rence University at Appleton, Wis., leaving, however, at 
 the age of twenty-one to accept a position as teacher in 
 the public schools. He filled the position of principal 
 in various public schools throughout the State and be- 
 came well and favorably known as an educator. In 
 1882 Mr. Thompson was called back to Appleton to 
 take charge of one of the public schools of that city as 
 principal. While serving in that capacity he devoted 
 his spare time to the study of the science of medi- 
 cine, during his last year of teaching pursuing his studies 
 under Dr. Reiley, a physician of the regular school. 
 About eight years ago he came to Chicago, where 
 hecontinued his medical studies at the Chicago Homoeo- 
 pathic Medical College, graduating therefrom with the 
 
 honors of his class in 1888. After his graduation. Dr. 
 Thompson was for three years associated with Dr. E. 
 II. Pratt in founding and building up the Lincoln Park 
 Sanitarium. The success which the institution has 
 attained is largely due to Dr. Thompson's energy, per- 
 severance and ability. Not being altogether in har- 
 mony with his associates, he sold his interests in the 
 Sanitarium in the fall of 1891 and spent six months in 
 travel in this country and in Europe, returning home 
 in 1892. 
 
 Resuming his practice he made a specialty of rectal, 
 genito urinary and gynaecological surgery, in which 
 branch of the profession he has achieved a high repu- 
 tation. In the fall of 1892 Dr. Thompson was appointed 
 to the chair of orificial and plastic surgery in the 
 National Homoeopathic Medical College, and also as 
 gynecologist and rectal surgeon in the Baptist Hospital 
 of this city. He is also president of the Cook County 
 Homoeopathic Medical Society, a member of the 
 American Institute of Homoeopathy and of the Illinois 
 State Medical Society. 
 
 The doctor finds time to furnish valuable contribu- 
 tions to the various medical journals and works pub- 
 lished, and is the author of several pamphlets which 
 have been widely circulated. Among these are "Med- 
 icine and Morals;" " Use and Abuse of Orificial Sur- 
 gery ;" " Hemorrhoids, their Cause and Cure." He
 
 6 5 6 
 
 has also in preparation a number of articles, shortly to 
 appear, of which may be mentioned, " Circumcision 
 History, Necessity and Beneficial Effects," and one on 
 rectal irritation as asourceof diseases. 
 
 In politics Dr. Thompson is independent, though as 
 touching economic affairs in the nation a protectionist 
 in principle. Religiously, he was reared a Baptist, but 
 is now a regular attendant of the Fullerlon Avenue 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREAT ll'ESJ. 
 
 Presbyterian Church. He was married at the age of 
 twenty-four to Miss Mary D. Hull, of Neenah, Wis., 
 the result of the happy union being one child, now 
 twelve years old, named Roy Arthur Thompson. 
 
 The doctor is a man of good personal appearance, 
 the possessor of winning manners and of a genial, 
 friendly disposition, which serves to make friends, a 
 large circle of which hold him in high esteem. 
 
 ALFRED MERRITT, 
 
 DULTJTH. MINNESOTA. 
 
 ALFRED MERRITT, son of Lewis Howell and 
 Hephzibeth (Jewett) Merritt, was born at Han- 
 over, Chautauqua county, N. Y., on the 16th day of 
 May, 18-i7. His parents moved to Warren county, "a., 
 in 1849, and later to Austinburgh, Ashtabula county, 
 O. From the latter place the father went to the head 
 of Lake Superior in 1855, and the mother and family 
 followed a year later. 
 
 The elder Merritt was a man large alike in bod}' and 
 mind, and possessed of great force of character. He 
 was a diligent and careful student, an original thinker* 
 and 'clearly saw that the head of Lake Superior must in 
 time be the site of an important city. His wife, the 
 mother of our subject, who is still living at Oneota, 
 Minn., is one who through her entire life has declined 
 to see anvthing excepting the bright side of things; one 
 who has ever been prone to forget her own troubles by 
 endeavoring to smooth the pathway of others. Her 
 children received the best possible educational advan- 
 tages, and in addition were the recipients of right home 
 training in religion, morality and temperance, the 
 effects of which are apparent to-day in their several' 
 lives and characters. 
 
 Alfred Merritt acquired his education during the 
 winter terms of the district schools, and spent his 
 leisure time working on his father's farm, experiencing 
 the same pleasures and the same hardships that 
 ordinarily fall to the lot of a boy reared on a 
 farm in a newly settled country. At the age 
 of fifteen he began working in the lumbering 
 woods, driving team, and from that time on he 
 worked in the woods during winter, and on the farm 
 in the summer until 18C5. He then went before the 
 mast on the schooner "Pierpont," then under the com- 
 mand of Captain Edwards, of Oswego, on which he 
 remained the following year, under Captain Beebe. In 
 1867 Mr. Merritt was employed as pilot on the tug 
 "Agate," which was the first tug plying at the head of 
 the lake. For two seasons he was with Captain Davis, 
 one of the first navigators of mercantile vessels on Lake 
 Superior. In 1879 and 1880 he was in partnership with 
 his brother Leonidas and II. S. Ely, the company 
 building the schooner " Shaska," which was the first 
 boat of any considerable size at the head of the lake. 
 It was of sixty-nine tons, seventy-six feet over all, and 
 
 was finished in the spring of 1880. The boat was 
 afterwards wrecked at Ontonagon, where Mr. Merritt 
 was engaged in hauling stone for the government 
 piers. With some partners he afterwards built anothe r 
 schooner called the "Handy," of twenty-nine tons, and 
 followed the business of sailing and piloting a tug and 
 lumbering until the explorations for iron were begun. 
 He was the first man to find the iron claim on the 
 ''Yermillion," and the explorations were carried on by 
 him, who with his partner worked as best they 
 could until enough was saved up to pay the ex- 
 penses of another trip into the woods. Later 
 they transferred the scene of their operations 
 to the Missaba range, and Alfred Merritt was one of 
 the first successful explorers there. In 1885 he started 
 dealing in pine and iron lands, and Duluth iron mines, 
 in which he was interested. At the same time plans 
 were laid for building the Duluth, Missaba & Northern 
 Railroad, and early in the fall of 1891 the road was 
 commenced, and by the 25th of October of that year 
 was completed, while the ore docks, which are the 
 largest in the world, were also nearly finished. Mr. 
 Merritt has been since then continuously connected 
 with the above and other enterprises, all of which have 
 been successful. In 1892 he was interested in the for- 
 mation of the Iron Exchange Bank, now doing a large 
 business, and in January, 1893, was elected president 
 of the Duluth, Missaba & Northern Railroad. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Merritt was united in marriage to Miss 
 Elizabeth Sandlinds, who died July 15, 1882. In 1885 
 he was again married to Miss Jane A. Gillis. 
 
 Though a Republican in politics, Mr. Merritt has 
 never been active in political affairs, for the most part 
 being content to vote with the party of his choice. 
 However, at the urgent solicitation of his friends, he 
 accepted the office of county commissioner of St. Louis 
 county, Minn., in 1883, which office he held until 1892. 
 He is a member of the A. O. II. W., and has long been 
 a member of the Methodist church, in which he takes a 
 great interest, as he also does in all church and chari- 
 table work, in which he is ever a willing helper. 
 
 Mr. Merritt, like his brothers, is a man of great force 
 of character, and few stand higher in the Northwest, 
 where he is widely known as an enterprising citizen 
 and a man of sterling integrity and high moral worth.
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 HENRY CLEVELAND PUTNAM, 
 
 EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN. 
 
 659 
 
 HENRY CLEVELAND PUTNAM, son of Hamil- 
 ton and Janette (Cleveland) Putnam, was born 
 in the village of Madison, New York, on the 6th day 
 of March, 1832. His paternal grandfather, Dr. Elijah 
 Putnam, came, with his wife and oldest son John, who 
 was then a baby two years of age, to the wilderness 
 that then marked the present site of Madison in the 
 year 1792. The family traces its ancestry back to one 
 of the original settlers, John Putnam, who came to 
 America from Bucks county, England, in the year 
 1634. From him all of the American branch of the 
 family are descended, and a list of the members shows 
 many names which have a prominent place in America. 
 One of them, Captain Henry Putnam, and the man 
 for whom the subject of our sketch is named, went 
 into the battle of Lexington with seven of his sons, he 
 being at that time sixty-five years of age, and together 
 with three of his sons lost his life in defense of his 
 country. A history of the family is now being pre- 
 pared by Eben Putnam, of Salem, Mass., and it will 
 show fully the remarkable record of this famity, whose 
 sons, for eleven generations, have occupied positions of 
 honor and trust among those in whose neighborhood 
 they have passed their lives. On his mother's side, 
 General Erastus Cleveland and wife also came to 
 Madison, N. Y., from New England, in 1792. 
 They were descendants of Moses Cleveland, who 
 came to America, from England, in 1635. The two fam- 
 ilies were near neighbors in Madison, and it was but 
 natural that their friendship should be cemented by the 
 union of Dr. Putnam's son and Gen. Cleveland's 
 daughter. 
 
 Henr\ T C. Putnam, our subject, received the first 
 part of his education in the district school. He after- 
 ward attended Cortland Academy for a time and also 
 graduated from a private school in Connecticut, the 
 specialty of which was teaching engineering science, 
 etc., his studies while there having been mostly in nat- 
 ural science, engineering and forestry. His father, 
 Hamilton, was a merchant, but sold out his store and 
 bought a large farm near Cortland, N. Y., in order to 
 rear his boys in the country. He moved to the farm 
 when young Henry was ten years of age and from that 
 time on the boy experienced the hard work incidental 
 to boyhood in the country. When he was thirteen 
 years of age he had ten cows to milk morning and 
 evening, and in the summer he was at work in the 
 field mowing, raking and binding grain, chopping wood 
 and doing other chores, all of which, though really 
 hard work, he found in the main agreeable to himself, 
 although his mind was too active for farm work 
 and his tastes all inclined to travel and exploration; 
 hence his determination to study civil engineering and 
 become a surveyor. At the age of eighteen he took 
 a position as assistant civil engineer on the Syracuse 
 and Binghampton R. R., which he kept for two years, 
 
 when in February 1854, he took a similar position with 
 the Blue Ridge R. R. in South Carolina, remaining in 
 its service for nearly two years, the most of which time 
 he spent in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in South Caro- 
 lina and Tennessee, in company with the president of 
 the road, Mr. Henry Gourdine, and the Chief Engineer, 
 Mr. W. G. Lythgoe. 
 
 In September, 1SC5, he went to "Wisconsin, where 
 he engaged in surveying, buying lands, and in locating 
 settlers upon government lands. In May, 1857, he 
 located in Eau Claire, Wis., where he commenced to 
 survey and explore the forests of northwest Wisconsin. 
 He remained in this line of work for some years, being 
 accompanied by a single helper and carrying his pack 
 on his back during the time. He was always on the 
 watch for bargains in pine lands, which he bought 
 from the government and sold to private parties. From 
 1857 till 1862 he was town clerk and count}- surveyor 
 of Eau Claire. In 1862 he was register of deeds, and 
 in 1864 he was placed in charge of the government 
 land office for the Eau Claire district, and held the 
 office until 1869. In the meantime he had started ig 
 the lumber business, and all of the time he continued 
 buying and selling pine lands. In 1865-66-67 he 
 selected and purchased for Cornell University, of New 
 York, 500,000 acres of government land, and until 
 1876 he had charge of this tract, acting as agent. In 
 the year 1876 he started the private bank (known as 
 the Chippewa Valley bank), and of which he is now 
 president. The entire cost to Cornell University of 
 the land selected b} 7 him was $500,000. or $1 per acre, 
 and from this purchase Cornell has realized an endow- 
 ment and a profit of about $5,000,000. It was at Mr. 
 Putnam's suggestion that the timber land was bought, 
 as the founder of the University had intended to buy 
 prairie land, and had actually located 20,000 acres of 
 this kind in Minnesota, which is still unsold and is now 
 hardly worth taxes and interest. Mr. Putnam may 
 justly claim that to him alone Cornell University owes 
 its prosperity if not its very existence. 
 
 Besides being president of the Chippewa Valley 
 Bank, which is now organized under the State laws, 
 Mr. Putnam is president of the Eau Claire Park Associ- 
 ation, a stockholder in and a director of the Grande 
 Ronde Lumber Company, of Oregon, of the Bremen 
 Lumber Company of Minnesota, the Pioneer Furniture 
 Company of Eau Claire, and a stockholder in and a mem- 
 ber of the American Lumber Company and the Cali- 
 fornia Land Company, owning large tracts of redwood 
 timber lands in the latter State. He has been in every 
 part of the United States, and probably knows the top. 
 ography of the different parts of the country as well if 
 not better than any other living man. He has been 
 over almost the entire country as an explorer and sur- 
 veyor, and knows the locations and extent of the forests 
 of the continent west of the Rockies as well as he does
 
 66o 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA r WEST. 
 
 those of Wisconsin. In the year 1885 lie went to 
 Europe, and spent a year there studying the forest 
 lands of European countries, doing much of his travel- 
 ing on foot, and again in 1887 he repeated the visit and 
 perfected the knowledge acquired upon his previous 
 trip. The winter of 1891-92 he spent in Florida, and 
 he since his return from Europe has perfected his 
 knowledge of the forests of the Atlantic and Gulf 
 States. His organ of location has ever been largely 
 developed, and his natural gift in this direction has been 
 cultivated since his earliest youth. It is a boast with 
 him that he has never been lost in the woods, and so 
 retentive is his memory of places that he can, from 
 memory, make an intelligible sketch of any part of the 
 country that he has once been over. 
 
 Mr. Putnam became a member of the Presbyterian 
 church in 1850, and has since been a consistent church- 
 man, liberal in thoughts and deeds, generous alike to 
 the general cause and to the appeals to his private 
 charity. He has been a Mason for over forty years, 
 and helped to organize the first blue lodge in the Chip- 
 pewa Valley. He has held offices in the lodge, and is 
 
 to-day one of the oldest resident Masons in Wisconsin. 
 Politically, Mr. Putnam is thoroughly independent, 
 casting his ballot for the party that in his opinion will 
 do for the country the most good. 
 
 On the 8th day of August, 1858, Mr. Putnam was 
 united in marriage to Miss Jane Eliza Balcom, of 
 Oxford, N. Y. She is a descendant of the Balcoms 
 and the Hunniwells, who came over from England 
 with the early Puritans. Of the six children born of 
 this union two are now living; the son, Ernest B., 
 being the head of the Bremen Lumber Company, at 
 St. Paul, and the daughter, Sarah Lynn, being the 
 wife of James O. Hinkley, of Chicago. Personally 
 Mr. Putnam is a man above the medium height, and is 
 of pleasant appearance. He is of sanguine, nervous 
 temperament, and is fond of society. He thoroughly 
 enjoys the good things of life, and even now never 
 misses a party or social hop. Modest and unassuming 
 in dress and demeanor, he is one of nature's noblemen, 
 and enjoys the respect and esteem of the entire com- 
 munity in which he lives, besides a large number of 
 friends in other and all parts of the country. 
 
 GIDEON COOLEY HIXON, 
 
 LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN. 
 
 IDEON COOLEY HIXON, son of Joseph and 
 Electa (Cooley) Hixon, was born in Roxbury, 
 Vermont, on the 28th of March, 1826. He was a 
 grandson of Green Cooley, who with his wife, Dinah 
 Sykes, was one of the earliest settlers in Springfield, 
 Mass. When the subject of our sketch was ten years 
 of age his father was drowned in the Connecticut 
 river, leaving his widow with a family of five young 
 children, and thus the boy was early compelled to 
 to commence the battle of life for himself. His early 
 education was acquired in the public schools, and 
 later on at a select school. After his school days he 
 resided with his grandfather on a farm, and it was the 
 influence of this part of his life which so strongly im- 
 pressed upon his character the traits of personal and 
 business integrity that were so characteristic of him in 
 his dealings with his fellow-men. 
 
 Having a strong dislike for farm work, the youth at 
 the age of sixteen started out for himself, determined 
 to win the fortune that he felt should fall to his lot. 
 He was first employed in a factory, but shortly after- 
 wards apprenticed himself to learn the tinners' trade. 
 During his apprenticeship he worked hard and earnestly, 
 beginning early and ending late, saving all that he 
 could as a nucleus of the fortune that he was deter- 
 mined to win, and at the same time regularly 
 sending a part of his money to his mother. After 
 his time had expired, he went into the hardware busi- 
 ness at Chicopee, Mass. His business, which was 
 mostly contracting, prospered exceedingly, and when 
 
 he came West in 1856, to fill a contract for tinning 
 cans in St. Louis, he took with him the sum of $10.000 
 in gold. In the West he found that many excellent 
 opportunities were open to him in the railroad business, 
 but he finally drifted to La Crosse, Wis., where he 
 entered into partnershp with his brother-in-law, 
 Mr. Crosby, who was engaged in the lumber business, 
 and from that time he made La Crosse his permanent 
 home. In 1862 the mill was destroyed by fire. In 1863 
 the lumber firm of Hixon & Withee was formed, and 
 continued in the business until 1878. For the first few 
 years they dealt in timbered lands and saw logs, but 
 in 1867 they decided to open a lumber } r ard, and after 
 careful consideration they located it at Hannibal, Mo. 
 Two years later they built a saw mill there, and 
 operated it successfully and profitably under the firm 
 name of G. C. Hixon & Company, until 1882, when it 
 was destroyed by fire. In 1878 the partnership was 
 dissolved, Mr. Withee taking the pine lands, and Mr. 
 Hixon the other assets. The dissolution of this partner- 
 ship was characteristic of these men, they meeting for 
 the purpose in the morning, and parting at noon with 
 everything settled. 
 
 Mr. Hixon was one of the organizers of the. T. B. 
 Scott Lumber Company at Merrill, Wisconsin, in 1883, 
 and was connected with this business at the time of his 
 death. Besides his lumber interests Mr. Hixon was 
 actively identified with many other enterprises, among 
 them the La Crosse National Bank, of which he was 
 president from the time of its organization in 1877.
 
 Qv '
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 For some years Mr. Hixon had been troubled with 
 heart disease, and this ultimately caused his death. He 
 passed away peacefully on the morning of September 
 23, 1892. His death was not unexpected, although it 
 proved a great shock to many of his friends. His estate 
 which was very large was left in splendid shape, and 
 his sons and wife, who were named by him as executors, 
 are caring for the various interests. 
 
 As a citizen and neighbor Mr. Hixon was one of the 
 best, and there was no one in the community whose 
 loss could be more felt. His career in both public and 
 private life was without a blemish; his fine sense of 
 honor and uncompromising devotion to the right being 
 his strongest characteristics. Never, to attain the 
 highest office in the land or to have accumulated the 
 largest fortune, would he have descended to an 
 unworthy action or to a connection in any way with an 
 enterprise that would not bear the fullest investigation. 
 His religion was " the fatherhood of God and the bro- 
 therhood of man," and this religion governed his daily 
 actions. He looked upon the faults and follies of others 
 with a lenient and charitable eye, and was ever ready 
 to extend a helping hand to any erring one desirous of 
 becoming an upright man or woman and a useful citizen. 
 Many such has he helped and many are the unfor- 
 tunates who have been through him enabled to face 
 life anew with good prospects. It is doubtful if he 
 himself knew of all he had done, for the next duty 
 that he imposed upon himself after doing a good 
 action was to forget it. 
 
 Strong in his political opinions, he is an ardent 
 Republican, believing that the principles of that party 
 were best for the entire country. He represented his 
 district in the State Senate in 1871-72 and '74 and was 
 a member of the common council of La Crosse, and for 
 years was president of the board of education. For 
 twelve years preceding his death he was unable, on 
 account of his health, to actively engage in business 
 life, his large lumbering interests being entrusted to 
 his son Frank the eldest, and two others of his five sons 
 managed other branches. 
 
 During his life Mr. Hixon traveled extensively 
 throughout the United States, and after visiting 
 
 663 
 
 his own country he made three voyages to Europe, 
 where by close observation and careful inquiries he 
 gained a thorough knowledge of European countries 
 and their political and social conditions. Such is a brief 
 and incomplete description of the life of one of 
 nature's noblemen, and we can in conclusion only echo 
 the last tribute of his old friend, David Austin : 
 
 " I do not feel competent to do justice in anything 
 I can say regarding the social and business life of Gid- 
 eon C. Hixon. I know it is very common to eulogize 
 one after he is gone more than is done while he lives, 
 but of the social and business life of G. C. Hixon too 
 much cannot be said in his praise. 1 have known him 
 well for twenty years, and not only considered him a 
 splendid business man but a man of sterling integrity, 
 and one who had rather lose a debt than distress a 
 debtor who was doing what he reasonably could to keep 
 up. In fact I have never known of an instance when he 
 pushed a debtor to the wall. He was generous to a fault, 
 not perhaps so much to help great public enterprises as 
 to individuals in need, and i have no doubt many adollar 
 was given to the needy without it being known to any- 
 one but himself and the recipient. Socially he stood 
 high among his fellow men. He was a man of large 
 general information. I very often talked with him on 
 business, and also on the general topics of the day, and 
 never left his office without having learned something 
 valuable. In fact, I think Gideon C. Hixon was a 
 prince among men, and his loss to this town will be felt 
 severely." 
 
 Mr. Hixon was married twice, first to Miss Sarah 
 E. Crosby in 1850, at Blanford, Mass., who died in 1856, 
 and again in 1861 to Miss Ellen J. Pennell, of Hone- 
 oye, New York, daughter of Abraham Pennell. His 
 wife survives him. The union was blessed with five 
 sons, all of whom are still living, three of them well 
 known and prosperous in business, and the other two 
 are still in college. The eldest, Frank P. is president 
 of the T. B. Scott Lumber Company ; Joseph is a 
 meniberof the firm of Hixon and Brittingham, lumber 
 dealers at Madison, Wis. W. L. is connected with var- 
 ious mills in the flour business, and George and Robert 
 are still pursuing their studies. 
 
 RICHARD WEAVER HOCKER, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 
 
 RICHARD WEAVER HOCKER, son of R. W. and 
 Margaret Ann (Shanks) Hooker, was born in 
 Lincoln county, Ky., October 14, 1853. Both parents 
 were descendants of Virginia families, who were among 
 the first settlers of Kentucky. His father having died 
 when he was an infant two years old, he went to work 
 as soon as his education, which was acquired in a private 
 school in Lincoln count}', was finished. Thus at the 
 age of eighteen we find him in a dry goods store, 
 
 where he staid for one year. Then he commenced 
 the study of law, and at the age -of twenty -one he 
 was admitted to practice at the bar. He practiced 
 law in Stafford county, Kentucky, for seven years, 
 when he gave up his practice to go into the banking 
 business. 
 
 He moved to St. Joseph, Mo., and was one of the 
 organizers of the Saxton National bank, of which he 
 became assistant cashier in April, 1883, and which
 
 66 4 
 
 position he held until January, 1886, when he was pro- 
 moted to the position of cashier. There he remained 
 for one year, when he resigned to accept the vice- 
 presidency of the Citizens National bank of Kansas 
 City. On the 1st of October. 1890, he retired from 
 this position to help organize the Metropolitan Na- 
 tional Bank, which was done and the bank read}' for 
 'business November 13, 1890. Mr. Hocker was elected 
 president and under his able management the affairs of 
 the bank have grown wonderfully, being now, when 
 less than three years old, the third bank in size of 
 deposits and business in Kansas City. 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 Mr. Hocker has not given much attention to politi- 
 cal matters, his business affairs taking all his time, but 
 when he votes he casts his ballot with the Democratic 
 party. 
 
 He was married to Miss Mary D. Ketchara, a 
 daughter of JI. B. Ketcham, an old and prominent 
 resident of St. Joseph, on the 15th of June, 1887. 
 They have two daughters. Though still a young 
 man, Mr. Hocker may well be content to rest on the 
 laurels already won, as his magnificent record in the 
 Metropolitan National Bank alone is one of the best 
 to be found in Western Missouri. 
 
 JOHN MILTON DANDY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN MILTON DANDY, son of the Eev. Dr. W. 
 C. and Mary A. Dandy, was born at Versailles, 
 Kentucky, on the 13th of July, 1852. Dr. Dandy was 
 for half a century one of the most respected and hon- 
 ored ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 occupying during that long period of service some of 
 the most prominent and important posts in that denom- 
 ination. He has recently retired from the active 
 service of the ministry and is now enjoying a well 
 earned rest in California. The associations of the 
 father's public career had a most desirable influence on 
 the son, and during these formative years the founda- 
 tion was laid for those literary tastes and ambitions 
 that led the way to the career of journalism. 
 
 John M. Dandy was educated at the North- 
 western University at Evanston, which popular institu- 
 tion of learning he entered in 1869, graduating in the 
 year 1873. His college career was rich in pleasant 
 memories and happy fellowships, and was not without 
 distinction. At its close, though the youngest man of 
 his class, he was one of eight selected to deliver the 
 orations of graduation day. 
 
 It was while at the University that the fashion of 
 his life began to shape itself ; here his journalistic 
 instincts first found opportunity of development. He 
 became special correspondent of the Chicago Times, of 
 the Chicago Journal, and other papers. On leaving 
 the University Mr. Dandy resolved on journalism as 
 the profession of his life, and determined that sooner or 
 later he would establish a newspaper of his own. 
 
 In the year 1875, in conjunction with Major George 
 M. McConnel for many years dramatic and musical 
 editor of the Times and Lyman B. Glover, the present 
 dramatic and musical editor of the Herald of this city, 
 he embarked upon his chosen enterprise, and The 
 Saturday Evening Herald was established. The policy 
 and purpose of the new journal was distinctly marked 
 from the outset. It was to be a clean, bright journal, 
 of lofty tone, wholly free from sensationalism and from 
 those characteristics that offend refined and cultured 
 
 minds. Its business was to provide for polite society 
 a record of its doings, and to deal with the current 
 phases of the musical and dramatic world. Its editor- 
 ials were to be devoted to the discussion of literary and 
 social questions, and of all matters of passing public 
 interest. The new journal met with hearty apprecia- 
 tion from the very outset. Prosperity smiled on its 
 earliest history. It soon became recognized by the 
 public and the press as the established authority on all 
 matters of interest in the movement of polite society. 
 For more than nineteen years this journal has not only 
 held its own, but has grown in public esteem, winning 
 for itself a wide and influential constituency among the 
 best families in Chicago and towns tributary, and 
 to-day it is generously recognized as the leading society 
 paper of the West. The press of the country East and 
 West has not failed again and again to congratulate Mr. 
 Dandy in words of ungrudging praise. A prophet is 
 not generally greatly honored in his own country, but 
 Mr. Dandy has found his warmest and most apprecia- 
 tive friends in his "own country," as the following note 
 from the pen of Eugene Field which is but an example 
 of many will abundantly attest: 
 
 " With its current number The Saturday Evening 
 Herald enters upon its nineteenth year. Its career 
 has been a steadily prosperous one ; it has never toler- 
 ated the sensational ; it has never stooped to any of 
 those affectations with which too many publications 
 seek to advertise and promote their interests. The 
 Saturday Evening Herald has attended strictly and 
 properly to its own business, and as a consequence it 
 has prospered ; it has always been keenly alive and 
 responsive lo the demands of its readers, but it has 
 never mistaken vulgarity for enterprise, and that is 
 why its clientage has always been in the upper class. 
 In and throughout the career of this excellent family 
 paper the clean, manly personality of Mr. John >M. 
 Dandy, the editor, has been clearly exemplified." 
 
 The establishment and maintenance of this journal 
 has been the ambition of Mr. Dandy's life, and to that
 
 >v\
 
 \1 V
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 667 
 
 laudable ambition he brought not only the patient 
 ardor of an enthusiast, but a rare combination of 
 qualities essential to the success of the journal. As 
 Eugene Field says, Mr. Dandy has impressed his own 
 personality on his paper. lie is one of the most suc- 
 cessful of what we call "newspaper makers; "his clear 
 literary instincts and perceptions having helped him to 
 provide a journal worthy of the best constituency 
 these advanced times afford. Mr. Dandy has been for 
 some years sole publisher and editor-in-chief. 
 
 Personally Mr. Dandy is one of the best known and 
 most popular men in Chicago. He has a very happy 
 faculty of making friends, and keeping them when 
 made. His genial, courteous disposition makes his pres- 
 
 ence welcome in all of Chicago society. He has long 
 been a member of the Press Club of Chicago and his 
 name has often been mentioned in connection with the 
 presidency of that organization. He is a member of 
 several social clubs and societies of the city. At this 
 date he holds the honorable position of president of the 
 Alumni Association of the Northwestern University 
 his old Alma Mater to which he was elected at the 
 annual meeting of June 14th, 1893. Mr. Dandy is in the 
 prime of early manhood, with a most enviable and 
 brilliant career before him. He was married on the 
 22nd of October, 1884, to Nellie Blanford Cook, of 
 Baltimore. They rejoice in the possession of two 
 children, a charming daughter and a hopeful son. 
 
 ELBERT C. FORTNER, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ELBERT C. FORTNER is a native of the progress- 
 ive Hawkeye State, having been born in Bremer 
 county, Iowa, on April 15th, 1861. His father has 
 been a prominent and much-respected business man at 
 "Waverly, Iowa, for the past thirty-five years. Elbert's 
 early education was acquired in the excellent public 
 schools of Wavei'ly until the age of fourteen, when he 
 entered the Iowa State College at, Ames. Here he was 
 a most diligent student and a favorite alike with the 
 faculty and with his associates. It is much to the 
 credit of young Fortner that he worked his own way 
 through college, teaching in country schools a part of the 
 time and doing such other work as came to his hand. 
 
 While in college at Ames young Fortner developed 
 a fondness for dissecting and laboratory work, which 
 led him to choose the medical profession as his voca- 
 tion in life. Upon his graduation from college with 
 the degree of B. S. at the eaVly age of twenty, became 
 to Chicago and entered in earnest upon the study of 
 medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
 taking a four years' course. The second and third years 
 he spent in part as a nurse in the wards of the Cook 
 County Hospital, where he acquired a knowledge of 
 diseases and practical training in their treatment which 
 was of great value. In his class in the medical college 
 he was considered one of the best posted members, and 
 when he graduated in 188G he was exceptionally well 
 equipped for his work. Though desiring to commence 
 practice in the great city of Chicago, his parents per- 
 suaded him to begin near his birthplace. Accordingly 
 he located at Sumner,Iowa, and soon had a good coun- 
 try practice, at the same time finding the pure prairie 
 air and the exercise necessary to his work a great -pro- 
 moter of health and physical vigor. While in Iowa 
 Dr. Fortner became known extensively in several coun- 
 ties and his standing as a physician was indicated by 
 his appointment on the board of United States Pension 
 Examiners, and as local surgeon of the Chicago & 
 Great Western railroad. A country practice was, 
 
 however, too circumscribed for his aspirations, and 
 four years ago, in 1890, Dr. Fortner removed to 
 Chicago, and courageously commenced practice by 
 opening an office on the West Side. From the 
 first he met with success, and when, in January, 1894, 
 his merit was recognized by appointment to the posi- 
 tion of county physician for Cook county, he enjoyed 
 an extensive practice. In a great city it rarely falls 
 to the experience of so young a man in any of the pro- 
 fessions, unaided by family or favorable social influence, 
 to attain to the measure of success and to reach the 
 position realized by this stirring Iowa practitioner. 
 Ability, energy and judicious use of opportunities, with 
 untiring industry manifestly lie at the foundation of 
 this success. In his social life Dr. Fortner is a gentle- 
 man of deserved popularity, his genial friendliness and 
 magnetic cordiality and uniform courtesy winning for 
 him the confidence and esteem of all those with whom he 
 associates. His home life is made pleasant by his accom- 
 plished and estimable wife, whose culture and refine- 
 ment are well known to her large circle of friends and 
 highly appreciated by her husband, to whom in all his 
 labors and aspirations she lias been and is a true help- 
 meet. She was formerly Miss Eva Tuthill, a niece of 
 Judge R. S. Tuthill of this city and became the doctor's 
 wife in 1888. Two promising children have been born 
 to them, a son and a daughter, aged five and three 
 years respectively. 
 
 In his political views and affiliations Dr. Fortner is 
 an ardent Republican, as was his father before him, 
 and is an intelligent worker for the principles of that 
 part}'. In his religious belief he is somewhat liberal; 
 his wife being a Presbyterian. He is a worthy mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity and a Knight of Pythias, 
 while his further society and political affiliations are 
 represented by membership in the Lincoln and Mar- 
 quette clubs, in both of which he is active and popular. 
 That he has a future before him of much promise is 
 easily predicted.
 
 668 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 MARCUS POLLASKY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 RAPID transit is the question that now occupies the 
 attention of the citizens of all our large cities. 
 In Chicago it has become a most important topic and 
 is eagerly demanded and must soon come, the question 
 being how to get it. The south and west sides of the 
 city have recently been provided with trunk lines of 
 elevated roads, but the north side, one of the most im- 
 portant and populous divisions of the city, lias so far 
 been practically unprovided for. Numerous plans have 
 been proposed for north side elevated roads, and some 
 of them have been favorably considered by the com- 
 mon council cf Chicago, which it is unnecessary to 
 detail here. Among the plans proposed, however, is 
 one by Mr. Marcus Pollasky, a young lawyer of note in 
 this city, to not only supply the people with rapid 
 transit, but to give the city a vested interest in the 
 proposed roads from the beginning, with the provision 
 that they shall eventually pass into the complete pos- 
 session of the municipalit\ r . The plan is clearly indi- 
 cated by the following statement as originally drawn 
 up by Mr. Pollasky : 
 
 " The City of Chicago shall, by ordinance or other 
 appropriate legislation, grant an ordinance to said 
 company [the Chicago North Division Elevated Rail- 
 road Co.] which shall enable it to build and operate the 
 railroad, and the ordinance shall provide, among other 
 things, for the creation of a board, consisting of eleven 
 citizens of Chicago, to be known as the ' North Side 
 Elevated Railroad Commission,' the members of which 
 shall at the first instance be designated by the railroad 
 company, and be acceptable to the Common Council of 
 the City of Chicago. Said commissioners or trustees, 
 when so designated and having qualified to act, shall 
 forever after have the power to perpetuate the com- 
 mission by choosing successors to its own members in 
 the event of the death, resignation or removal of 
 any of its members. The Commission shall serve 
 the city for a small compensation, to be paid by the 
 company." 
 
 "After paying the operating expenses, cost of 
 maintenance, and the fixed charges, and creating a 
 sinking fund for the purpose of retiring the bonded 
 indebtedness, all earnings shall be covered into the 
 treasury of the city of Chicago and passed to the credit 
 of the park fund, or library fund, or any other fund to 
 be hereafter designated by the city of Chicago, or by 
 the commissioners mentioned." 
 
 "The entire property of the railroad company shall 
 pass into the hands and be under the control of the 
 Commission, and become the property of the city of 
 Chicago whenever the bonded indebtedness is paid, 
 either by the sinking fund to be created or by earlier 
 payment. The city of Chicago shall have the power 
 to call in the bonds at any time after the expiration oC 
 five years from the date of their issue, upon payment 
 of the bonds at par, together with the premium, to the 
 
 holders thereof, the amount of such premium to be there- 
 after determined." 
 
 Such a proposition is new in this country, and 
 will have a tendency to forever remove from the con- 
 trol of the municipality a dangerous political instrument 
 by the unique plan of creating an independent commis- 
 sion. As its success in Chicago seems assured, it bids 
 fair to revolutionize rapid transit throughout the entire 
 country. It has been heartily endorsed by such citizens 
 of Chicago as Lyman J. Gage, Gen. William Sooy 
 Smith, George M. Pullman, Marshall Field, P. D. 
 Armour, S. W. Allerton, Frederick W. Gardner, J. T. 
 Hall, L. O. Goddard, Andrew McNally, and by 
 some of the leading bankers and capitalists of New 
 York. 
 
 Marcus Pollasky was born in Detroit, Mich., on 
 September 6, 1861. His father was one of those Hun- 
 garian patriots who, having fought and lost in the 
 struggle for independence under Louis Kossuth, came 
 to this country to seek that freedom which they had 
 been denied by Austria. During his infancy (1863), 
 Mr. Pollasky was taken to Alma, Mich., where his 
 father engaged in the business of lumbering and general 
 merchandise. Here he spent his boyhood, his early 
 education being obtained at the public schools at 
 Alma. 
 
 When but thirteen years of age he was thrown upon 
 his own resources and left school, but continued to 
 devote his leisure time to books. Four years later he 
 was the traveling representative of one of the largest 
 wholesale houses in Detroit. His salary was small, but 
 having made up his mind to get a college education, he 
 put away every cent he could spare, and managed to 
 save enough to enable him to attend the University of 
 Michigan. With the money thus saved he entered the 
 University at Ann Arbor, being compelled, however, 
 later, from lack of funds, to resume fora time his com- 
 mercial travels. Afterwards, continuing his studies, he, 
 in 1883 graduated from the law department of the 
 University. 
 
 He then returned to Alma and began the practice 
 of law, to which he added the business of banking, 
 organizing the Gratiot County Savings Bank, a State 
 institution, and was soon known as the youngest bank 
 president in the state of Michigan. Soon after he 
 became known as a prominent promoter of the Lansing. 
 Alma and Mount Pleasant Railroad, which afterwards 
 consolidated with the Toledo, Ann Arbor and North 
 Michigan R. R. On its completion be became its aud- 
 itor and counsel. He was also identified with the for- 
 mation of the Alma College, to which he presented an 
 excellent law library. 
 
 Mr. Pollasky removed to Chicago in 1887, where he 
 became intimate with Walker Elaine, the favorite son 
 of Hon. James G. JBlaine, and succeeded to young 
 Elaine's business when he left the city.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Soon after his arrival in Chicago, he was admitted 
 to practice before the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, taking his oath upon the motion of the then 
 Attorney-General of the United States, Augustus H. 
 Garland, side by side with the famous Kentuckian, 
 Proctor Knott. 
 
 In 18S9 and 1890 he organized a company and 
 constructed a telegraph line from Chicago to the Lake 
 Superior region in opposition to the Western Union. 
 Too close application to his arduous duties, however, 
 began to tell on Mr. Pollasky's health, and under the 
 advice of his physician he went to California. Here he 
 soon recuperated, and in a short time we find him 
 exploring the undeveloped resources of San Joaquin 
 Valley. Having, made an inspection of the foot 
 hills back of Fresno, he settled in his mind that "there 
 were large profits to be made in building a railroad, 
 which would tap the mountain timber district and at 
 the same time develop the intermediate country. He 
 proposed to the people of Fresno to build such a road. 
 The people there, however, were not sufficiently alive, 
 to progressive ideas to appreciate the value or practica- 
 bility of the project and refused their aid. Nothing 
 daunted, however, Mr. Pollasky. formed a company to 
 build a hundred miles of railroad from Fresno into the 
 mountains, went East to interest capitalists in the enter- 
 prise, and eventually did build the San Joaquin Valley 
 or " Mountain " road, which taps the most fertile por- 
 tion of the county of Fresno. It runs through many 
 of the largest vineyards in the State, and reaches the 
 
 671 
 
 San Joaquin River at the thriving town of Pollasky, so 
 named after its projector. In addition to building this 
 road, Mr. Pollasky organized land, timber and other 
 companies, and his name as a progressive and public- 
 spirited citizen is well known in California. 
 
 On account of the valuable assistance he had 
 rendered his party by gaining recognition for the young 
 men of the State, Gov. Luce, of Michigan, appointed 
 him a member of the State Board of Corrections and 
 Charities in 1887, which position he held until he left 
 for Chicago. 
 
 During his residence on the Pacific Coast he was 
 appointed by Gov. Mark ham major and quarter-master 
 of the Third Brigade, National Guard of California. 
 These are the only public positions Mr. Pollasky has 
 held, save that of superintendent of schools, to which 
 he was appointed while yet a minor, and one term as 
 village attorney while residing at Alma, Michigan, in 
 1884. Mr. Pollasky is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight of 
 Pythias and K. O. T. M. Politically he is a strong and 
 uncompromisingTlepublican, and has always taken an 
 active part in advancing the interests of that party. 
 
 Mr. Poliasky was united in marriage in 1884, to 
 Miss Nellie A. Waldby, the only daughter of the lead- 
 ing banker of Adrian, Mich. She is a refined and cul- 
 tured lady, and being naturally of a quiet and retiring 
 disposition, her hospitality and domestic tastes make 
 home a pleasant place for her husband and friends. 
 They have no children, and occupy elegant quarters at 
 the Auditorium Annex. 
 
 MARTIN KINGMAN, 
 
 PEOKIA., ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born in Deer Creek 
 township, Tazewell countv, Illinois, in 1844, the 
 youngest of a family of four boys, his father being a 
 native of Massachusetts and his mother of Virginia. 
 They emigrated to Tazewell county, Illinois, in 1834. 
 When young Martin was four years old his father 
 died, and at fourteen he left home to make his own 
 way in the world. He acquired a fair education and 
 at the same time a living by attending school in sum- 
 mer and teaching in the winter. At the age of 
 eighteen he enlisted in the Union army as a private in 
 company G, Eighty -sixth Illinois Infantry, and served 
 until the close of the war, from which he returned as 
 first lieutenant. lie served part of the time during 
 the war on detached service in charge of the ambu- 
 lance corps and afterwards as assistant-quartermaster. 
 After the war Mr. Kingman engaged in several 
 different lines of business until 1867, when the agricul- 
 tural machinery firm of Kingman & Dunham was 
 organized at Peoria, which after three years was suc- 
 ceeded by Kingman, Hotchkiss & Co., remaining as 
 such for two years. Then a new firm was ofgan- 
 
 ized, consisting of Martin Kingman, C. A. Jamison and 
 G. H. Schempff. In 1882 the firm was incorporated 
 with a capital of $600.000. Aside from the farm 
 machinery business Mr. Kingman has been identified 
 with several other large enterprises, among which are 
 the private bank of Kingman, Blossom & Co., organ- 
 ized in 1879, succeeded in 1884 by the Central National 
 Bank with Mr. Kingman as president; the Peoria 
 Cordage Co.; the Moline Plow Co.; the Marseilles, 
 (III.) Manufacturing Co., and the Milburn Wagon Co., 
 of Toledo, O. lie also served for two years as presi- 
 dent of the Peoria Fair Association and was for some 
 time a member of the Illinois Board of Canal Com- 
 missionors. At the present time he occupies the posi- 
 tion also of president of the Peoria Savings, Loan & 
 Trust Co. 
 
 Mr. Kingman is an active member and a trustee of 
 the First Congregational church of Peoria, and is prom- 
 inent in all Christian enterprises, having served two 
 years as president of the Peoria Y. M. C. A. He was 
 married May 21, 1867, to Miss Emeline T. Shelly, the 
 result of the Union being four sons and one daughter.
 
 672 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST, 
 
 
 
 JOEL ROGERS GORE, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOEL KOGERS GORE, one of the veteran physic- 
 ians of Chicago, with a continuous practice here 
 of thirty-eight years, excepting three vears during the 
 war, comes of an old New England family, the head 
 of which in this country was John Gore, who emigra- 
 ted from England to Roxbury, Mass., in 1635. In 
 about 1769, his great-grandfather, Obadiah Gore, 
 removed, with seven sons and three daughters, from 
 Connecticut to the famous Wyoming Valley, now a 
 part of Pennsylvania, being part of a company of forty 
 Connecticut Yankees who braved the perils of that 
 then wilderness country. One of the sons of Obadiah, 
 afterwards entered the Continental army during the 
 Revolutionary War, served with distinction and was 
 afterward associate judge of Luzerne county, Pa. 
 The remaining sons, with their father and his two sons- 
 iri-law, were prominent participants in the gallant 
 defense of the Wyoming settlement in July, 1778, when 
 in the absence of most of its male defenders in the Con- 
 tinental army, the infamous British colonel, John But- 
 ler, with his Indian allies attacked the settlement, 
 overpowering the heroic handful of men and women 
 who rallied against the invaders, and massacred women 
 and children. When the conflict ended only the elder 
 Gore and one son remained unhurt, three of the sons 
 and the two sons-in-law having been killed and one son 
 Captain Daniel Gore, having suffered the loss of an 
 arm.* Captain Gore was the father of George Gore, 
 the father of Dr. Joel Rogers Gore, the subject of our 
 sketch. ' 
 
 The latter was born at Wilkesbarre, in the Wyoming 
 Valley, March 31, 1811, his mother being Mary Lamed 
 Gore. His boyhood days were spent on the farm and 
 in attendance at the common school. At the age of 
 fifteen he was thrown upon his own resources and he 
 decided to enter upon a broader career than farm life 
 afforded, in the meantime having gone with his parents 
 to Ontario county, New York. By working on a farm 
 part of the year and attending school during the falls 
 and winters he succeeded, under great difficulties, in 
 obtaining a good academic education, mainly at the 
 Homer Academy at Cortland, N. Y. During the 
 prosecution of his studies he taught school several terms, 
 his first certificate to teach being obtained at the age 
 of nineteen. In this struggle for an education young 
 Joel was wont to improve his time at an earl v age when 
 in the field following the plow, by consulting a copy of 
 the old grammar of Lindley Murray whenever it be- 
 came necessary for his ox team to rest, in which he 
 made good proficiency in the mastery of conjugations 
 and declensions. Having decided to make the medical 
 profession his life work, young Gore, after finishing his 
 academic course, entered the office of Dr. George W. 
 Bradford, at Homer, of the allopathic school, for the 
 study of medicine. Later on he attended the first and 
 second courses of lectures of the Geneva (N. Y.) Medi- 
 
 cal College, and in 1836 commenced the practice of his 
 profession at Owasco, near Auburn, N. Y., in Cayuga 
 county. After several years of practice Dr. Gore de- 
 cided, in 1849, to add to his attainments by attendinga 
 regular course of instruction in the University of the 
 City of New York. From this institution he graduated 
 in due course, with honors, and then returned to Cayuga 
 count}', where he continued actively in the practice of 
 his profession until 1856, when he removed to Chicago, 
 then a city of scarcely more than 75.000 inhabitants. 
 Among the incidents of his experience in medical prac- 
 tice in New York State, Dr. Gore was called upon to 
 testify as a medical expert in a famous murder case at 
 Auburn, the lion. Wm. II. Seward, representing the 
 defense, which set up the then somewhat novel plea of 
 "moral insanity." The prosecution was conducted by 
 John Van Buren, the son of President Martin Van 
 Buren. 
 
 Upon entering upon the practice of his profession 
 in Chicago, Dr. Gore soon met with success and became 
 well and favorably known, so much so that he became 
 county physician for Cook county and continued to 
 occupy the position until the outbreak of the war of 
 the Rebellion. He was then sent, in 1861, by the Cook 
 county board of supervisors to Springfield to furnish 
 medical and surgical attendance to the troops from 
 Chicago being organized and equipped for the field. 
 He also went, in the same capacity, to Cairo, where 
 the Barker dragoons and two artillery companies from 
 Chicago had been sent into camp. In 1862 he was 
 regularly commissioned surgeon of the 127th Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry and joined General Sherman's com- 
 mand, then operating in the vicinity of Vicksburg. 
 He remained with his regiment until October 24, 1863, 
 when he was promoted to senior surgeon of the First 
 Brigade, by order of Brigadier-General M. L. Smith, 
 commanding the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army 
 Corps, and assigned to the staff of Brigadier-General 
 Giles A. Smith, in which position he served with credit 
 to himself and the service until the close of the war. 
 He then returned to Chicago and was elected county 
 physician. As the result o'f his work during the war, 
 there is credited to Dr. Gore specimens of fractured 
 bone in the Government Medical Museum at Washing- 
 ton, designed to illustrate the advancement of medical 
 science in military surgery, such as resection of the 
 head of the humerus in place of amputation at the 
 shoulder joint. These specimens were furnished from 
 the hospital in the rear of Atlanta in 1864, being the 
 result of his operations. 
 
 While holding the position of county physician, 
 prior to the war, Dr. Gore had materially assisted in 
 reconciling the differences arising between the city of 
 Chicago and Cook county relative to the opening and 
 management of the county hospital, and as a result the 
 doors of that institution, which had been for some 
 
 *See Charles Miner's history of Wyoming.

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 years closed to the indigent sick and afflicted of the 
 city, were opened to this class of unfortunates. Being 
 naturally a man of kind heart and generous impulses 
 he was admirably adapted to the work of county phy- 
 sician, and at no time in the history of Chicago have 
 the unfortunate hospital inmates been more carefully 
 or efficiently looked after than- during his administra- 
 tion. From 1S67 to 1S7S Dr. Gore was consulting sur- 
 geon of the county hospital and was also active in the 
 selection of the site of the present hospital buildings. 
 In 1879, having served in a similar capacity two prom- 
 inent life insurance companies, he was appointed med- 
 ical examiner for the Northwestern Life Insurance 
 company, and since that time has given a large portion 
 of his time and attention to the important and exacting 
 duties of that position, which were for twelve years 
 discharged to the entire satisfaction of the company 
 and of all concerned, and through which he has formed 
 a large and pleasant acquaintance with many people 
 outside of the city of Chicago. 
 
 In 1839, three years after he commenced the prac- 
 
 6/5 
 
 tice of his profession, Dr. Gore was married to Miss 
 Sarah A Fuller, of Peekskill, N. Y. She died in 1870, 
 and three years later, in 1873, he was again married, 
 this time to Miss Marie Louise Elmers, of Chicago, 
 though formerly a friend of his first wife at Peekskill. 
 N. Y. By neither of these marriages have any children 
 been born, and Dr. Gore is probably the only repre- 
 sentative in Chicago of a family which over a century 
 ago was one of the most noted in the Wyoming Valley 
 of Pennsylvania, and whose names were given a 
 prominent place on the monument erected by their 
 descendants to the memory of the heroic defenders of 
 the settlement in 1778. 
 
 The life of Dr. Gore has been a busy and useful 
 one, full of good deeds, and characterized by an 
 honorable career which many might envy ; and now, 
 at an advanced age, he is permitted to enjoy the 
 companionship of a devoted wife, and the friendship 
 of a very large circle of friends, and to look back with 
 satisfaction upon the path of the past, made bright 
 with the light of pleasant memories. 
 
 DUDLEY COX TROTT, B. A., M. B., B. C, F. R. C. S., L. R. C. P., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born on the Island 
 of Bermuda on September 4, 1858, the son of 
 Harley and Adelaide S. Trott. The father was a mer- 
 chant of Bermuda, of the firm of Trott & Cox, and the 
 senior of the direct line descended from-Perrint Trott, 
 one of the early settlers of Bermuda, who came from 
 England and was supposed to be a nephew of the 
 Countess of Bedford. He was for a time governor of 
 Bermuda, and one of the leading spirits among its 
 early settlers ; also the author of a history of the early 
 days of Bermuda. 
 
 Young Trott acquired his early education in the 
 Bermuda local schools, and in 1873 entered Dulwich 
 House School, Upper Norwood, London. Three years 
 later, in 1876, he entered Guy's Hospital Medical 
 School, and on the completion of his studies became 
 resident dresser and resident obstetrician at that insti- 
 tution. Making most commendable progress in his 
 profession, Dr. Trott became a member of the Royal 
 College of Surgeons of England in 1880. Entering 
 Gains College, Cambridge, in 1881, he took a thorough 
 course, graduating in 1884 with degree of B. A. in hon- 
 ors in the Natural Science tripos. In the same year 
 he became a licentiate of the. Royal College of Physi- 
 cians of London, and in 1885 a Bachelor of Medicine 
 and Surgery of the University of Cambridge. His 
 professional attainments during the early years of his 
 life are indicated by the fact that in 1880 he became a 
 Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 
 
 While a medical student in London he served a 
 
 term of three years in Military Service in the 20th 
 (late 38th) Middlesex Regiment of Volunteers in 
 England. Returning to Bermuda Dr. Trott practiced 
 his profession there during the winter season for two 
 years and in the summer at Mizzen-top Hotel at Quaker 
 Hill, Duchess county, N. Y. In 1888 he came to Chi- 
 cago and not long after was appointed assistant in the 
 surgical eye and ear department of the Post-Graduate 
 Medical school and later Professor of Surgery in the 
 same institution, which position he still holds. In 1892 
 his ability was recognized by an appointment as lec- 
 turer on Surgical Anatomy in the college of Physicians 
 and Surgeons of this city and a year later he was ap- 
 pointed to the chair of anatomy in the institution, still 
 holding that position. Dr. Trott is also attending sur- 
 geon at the Post-Graduate hospital, at the Chicago 
 Charity hospital and at the Chicago Hospital. 
 
 In his early boyhood days Dr. Trott was strongly 
 impressed, as it not unfrequently happens to boys, 
 with the idea that the life of a sailor was all that 
 could be desired. His experiences, however, on Ber- 
 muda in the middle of the Atlantic ocean soon robbed 
 this ideal life of all charms and persuaded the boy that 
 a sailor's life was anything but the romantic one pic- 
 tured by the tales and harbored in the imagination of 
 his younger days. 
 
 Dr. Trott was married in 1886 to Florence Lee, of 
 Uedditch, near Birmingham, England. Mrs. Trott is 
 the daughter of the late James Lee, of Great House 
 Birmingham.
 
 676 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 EDWARD F. BUECKING, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDWAED F. BUECKING, eminent as a physician 
 and surgeon, and prominent as an instructor, was 
 born in Washington, Franklin county, Mo., in 1857. 
 His parents came from Germany, his father being a 
 physician, and for many years up to the time of his 
 death, at the age of 77, he was in active practice at 
 Quincy, III. Here young Edward was reared and here 
 his education svas received in the public schools and at 
 St. Francis Solanus College. In 1874 young Buecking 
 came to Chicago, where he entered Bennett Medical 
 College, and from which two years later he graduated. 
 He then went to Louisville, Ky., and took a course at 
 the medical college there, graduating from the institu- 
 tion in 1877. Eeturning to Chicago the same year, he 
 became a regular lecturer on anatomy and orthopaedic 
 surgery in Bennett Medical College, with which he has 
 since been connected, now occupying the chairs of 
 principles and practice of surgery and of clinical 
 surgery. He also is, and for three or four years has 
 been, a surgeon at the Cook County Hospital, surgeon- 
 in-chief at the Chicago Polyclinic and Post-Graduate 
 Polyclinic schools, president of the Illinois State Eclectic 
 Medical and Surgical Society and ex-president of the 
 Chicago Eclectic Medical and Surgical Society and of 
 the National Eclectic Medical Association. Dr. Bueck- 
 ing is also surgeon of the Kailway Brotherhood 
 Hospital. 
 
 He is known among his colleagues and to the 
 observing public as an original investigator, who desires 
 to look into things, and has unquestionably done 
 much to advance a knowledge of medical science and 
 practice, and to free it from many of its empiricisms. 
 He is a hard worker, a clear-headed thinker, thor- 
 oughly conscientious in his profession, and enjoys the 
 confidence of the public and the sincere esteem of his 
 professional brethren. In manner he is courteous and 
 affable, and popular with his large circle of acquaint- 
 ances. This was evidenced by his selection as president 
 of the new West Side German club. 
 
 In 1892, Dr. and Mrs. Buecking spent six months 
 traveling in Europe, where they visited most of the 
 principal points of interest. In his religious views the 
 doctor is liberal, and politically is an earnest Republi- 
 can, first, last and all the time. 
 
 On April 13, 1879, he was married to Miss Alona 
 E. Watkins, and there have been born to them two 
 bright children, a boy and a girl, aged seven and four- 
 years, respectively. Mrs. Buecking is a lady of cul- 
 ture and refinement, who has developed a fine artistic 
 genius, as evidenced by many meritorious paintings, 
 the work of her hand, which adorn the walls of their 
 pleasant home on South Paulina street, where she 
 makes home pleasant for her husband and children, 
 and extends a winning welcome to her friends. 
 
 DANIEL G. MOORE, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DANIEL GEOVE MOOEE, son of Oliver Henry 
 Perry Moore and Catherine (Aggy) Moore, was 
 born at Illinois City, Eock Island county, 111., January 
 19, 1844. His father was a native of Licking county, 
 Ohio, born in 1819, and came to Illinois in 1837. He 
 died November 10, 1879. His mother was also a 
 native of Ohio, born in Guernsey county, in 1820. 
 The father was a farmer and carpenter, and young 
 Daniel's early education was gained in the public 
 schools and afterward at the graded school at Aledo, 
 111., and still later at Illinois Soldiers' College at 
 Fulton, 111. As a young man he was fond of outdoor 
 life, such as his early surroundings furnished, and he 
 thoroughly enjoyed such recreation as was afforded by 
 hunting, fishing, ball playing, and the like. He loved 
 the solitude and outspread beauties of nature, and 
 gained healthful aspirations of mind and bodily 
 strength by his surroundings. One of his earliest 
 recollections was the suffering which his father endured 
 from inflammatory rheumatism, and as he became 
 older, and his acute mind noted the medical treatment 
 received by his father with a good deal of dissatisfac- 
 
 tion, he determined upon the study of medicine himself, 
 partly as a means of relieving the difficulty referred to. 
 The breaking out of the Southern rebellion, how- 
 ever, interfered with his plans, and, responding to the 
 call of his country, young Moore enlisted on August 
 11, 1862, in Company B, 126th Eegiment Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry. He took part in the battles of 
 Clarendon and Jacksonville, Tenn., in the siege of 
 Vicksburg, and was engaged in numerous skirmishes, 
 doing good service. During his soldier life he also 
 assumed the dangerous duty of a scout for about six 
 months. After three years of service he was mustered 
 out at Springfield on August 12. 1865. He then 
 engaged in teaching for .several years, or until April, 
 1874, when he came to Chicago and entered the 
 Jefferson Insane Asylum as an attendant. After nine 
 months service he was promoted to the position of 
 superior of the hospital, remaining there until the 
 fall of 1877. While in the army and during his 
 teaching experience Doctor Moore studied medicine, 
 as opportunity offered, and upon leaving the insane 
 hospital in 1877 he entered Eush Medical College of Chi-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 cago, where he took a three years course, graduating 
 in February, 1880. Upon graduation, Doctor Moore 
 located on Elston avenue, enjoying a good practice 
 until his removal, in June, 1893, to his present 
 location at 1242 Milwaukee avenue, where his practice 
 is a large and remunerative one, and where lie 
 enjoys the confidence of the entire community He 
 is a prominent member of several fraternal orders 
 and societies. In June, 1869, he joined the Odd 
 Fellows at Illinois City, and some ten years since 
 became a member of Union lodge No. 9, of this city, 
 with which he is still connected. He has passed 
 through the chairs of secretary, vice grand and noble 
 grand in the lodge. In 1879 he assisted in the organi- 
 zation of Court Friendship, No. 18, IndependentOrder 
 of Foresters, where he passed through the chief official 
 chairs. He is now and has been s;nce 1883 a member 
 of Court No. 22. lie was for four years high medical 
 examiner for the order, and has for the past ten years 
 represented his court in the meetings of the high court. 
 He is also a member of Columbia Lodge, No 155, of the 
 Ancient Order of United Workmen, which he joined in 
 1884, and in which he has passed through all the 
 chairs and represented his lodge in the grand lodge 
 for several years. The doctor is also a member of the 
 Royal Arcanum, the Royal League and the National 
 Union, being connected with the Richard Yates Coun- 
 cil of the former, the Arian Council of the Royal 
 League and Wicker Park Council of the National 
 Union. About seven years ago he took the blue lodge 
 degrees in Masonry in Dewitt C. Cregier Lodge, and 
 
 679 
 
 later became a member of Washington Chapter, R. A. 
 M., and Chicago Commandery, K. T., the latter in 
 1891. In June, 1893, Dr. Moore became a thirty- 
 second degree Mason in Oriental Consistory, A. A. S. 
 R.. of the Valley of Chicago. In January, 1894, he 
 was appointed Colonel in the Illinois National Guards, 
 and was made aid de-camp on the staff of Governor 
 Altgeld. For some five or six years past he has been 
 also a member of the Chicago Medical Society. 
 
 Dr. Moore was reared in the faith of the Methodist 
 church, but now holds broader views on religious ques- 
 tions and classes himself as a liberal and in sympathy 
 with advanced ideas. 
 
 Politically, he is an earnest believer in Democracy 
 as expounded to-day by the Democratic party, believing 
 in tariff sufficient only to meet the expenses of the 
 government, and that laid mainly upon the luxuries of 
 life, associated with an income tax and absolute free 
 trade applied to such articles as will help to lighten the 
 burdens of the poorer classes of the people. 
 
 Dr. Moore was married on Oct. 8, 1884, at Palmyra, 
 Wis., to Mary Ella Radell and has three children, one 
 girl and two boys, named respectively Leah Catharine, 
 Oliver Frederick and Daniel Grove, Jr. 
 
 In personal appearance Dr. Moore is a man of com- 
 manding presence, fine physique and exceedingly genial 
 and pleasant in his manner. He is at all times easily 
 approachable by all classes, liberal in his benefactions 
 and a friend to all who are worthy. Among his more 
 immediate associates the doctor is companionable and 
 naturally enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends 
 
 THOMAS ASBURY HARRISON, 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 
 
 AMONG the noted men who have contributed 
 largely to the development of the great north- 
 west, Thomas Asbury Harrison was one of the most 
 prominent up to the time of his death in 1887. He 
 was born at Belleville. 111., Dec. 18, 1811. His parents 
 emigrated from the south to Belleville in 1803, his 
 father being a native of Georgia and his mother of 
 North Carolina. The father, Thomas Harrison, was a 
 pioneer Methodist preacher, noted for devotion to his 
 work and for his strength of character. Tha mother, 
 though born amid the surroundings of the old slave- 
 holding days, early became opposed to the institution 
 and willingly embraced the opportunity to settle in 
 the free north. 
 
 Being one of a family of nine children, and among 
 the eldest, the early life of young Thomas in those 
 pioneer days was one filled with plenty of hard work 
 and litlle play, while the opportunities for education 
 were of the most meagre kind. Such as the 
 vicinity afforded were, however, eagerly embraced 
 and diligently used and the boy managed to 
 
 acquire a pretty good common school education 
 His first business experience was as clerk in a store 
 where, though acquitting himself creditably, he was 
 not in his element, for his aspirations and natural force 
 of character led him to desire the larger freedom and 
 stimulus of engaging in business on his own account. 
 'This he did when grown to maturity, by building, 
 mostly with borrowed money, the first of the celebrated 
 Harrison flouring mills of Belleville. The burning of 
 this mill a short time after its completion was a hard 
 blow to the young man. AVith characteristic pluck he 
 refused to accept defeat, however, and by great exertion 
 soon replaced the burned mill by a new one. Here for 
 several years Mr. Harrison, associated with his brothers, 
 worked hard, but with little profit in the business. 
 Persevering, against the advice of the rest of the 
 family, he kept on, however, and on the breaking out of 
 the Crimean War, his brand of flour in the meantime 
 having become well known, he began to reap the 
 reward of his perseverance. The price of flour 
 went up rapidly and the "Harrison Mills" had
 
 68o 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 all they could do to supply the demand. By work- 
 ing hard early and late, Mr. Harrison became 
 what, in the common vernacular, might be called "well 
 off." and when his business had reached what his fore- 
 sight deemed the highest point to which it could be 
 pushed he sold out at a good price. 
 
 A short time before this his brother Hugh and his 
 sister, Mrs. Goheen, had gone on a prospecting tour to 
 the Northwest, and became greatly interested in the 
 region of the upper Mississippi, and especially with the 
 siteof the infant Minneapolis,and decided to settlethers. 
 Their description of the region and its prospects induced 
 Thomas to try his fortune in the new^country, and 
 accordingly, in the spring of 1860 he removed with his 
 family to Minneapolis, occupying a house secured and 
 fitted up for him by his brother and sister on the corner 
 of Fourth avenue, south, and Seventh street, which in 
 those times was considered of the palatial kind. Unused 
 to the rigors of such a cold northern climate, the 
 family suffered much the following winter, and for two 
 or three years held to the half-formed purpose of 
 returning to their former home, but, later, became in- 
 ured to the climate and contented in their new home. 
 In the meantime, Mr. Harrison had made the fortu- 
 nate purchase of the Mattison tract of land adjoining, 
 the rise in the value of which afterward amounted 
 to a fortune. 
 
 Soon after he invested largely in the .First National 
 Bank of St. Paul, and later became a heavy stockholder 
 and director in both the Milwaukee and St. Paul and 
 the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railroads. In 
 1862 the new era of substantial buildings in Minneapo- 
 lis was inaugurated by the erection of " Harrison Hall." 
 In 1863 the lumber manufacturing and pine-land pur- 
 chasing firm of J. Dean & Co. was formed, and under 
 its management both the " Atlantic " and the " Pacific " 
 mills were built. In this company Mr. Harrison was 
 the controlling spirit and principal owner. In conse- 
 
 quence of lending money to a friend on bank stock 
 security, Mr. Harrison, who was forced to take the 
 stock, became interested in the State National Bank 
 and afterwards became its president. Soon after his. 
 first connection with the bank he found, to his sur- 
 prise, that it was in a weak condition, and, with char- 
 acteristic energy, at once put his ability and money 
 into the gap and succeeded, after a hard struggle, in 
 placing it on a solid foundation, paying depositors to 
 whom money was due out of his own funds. His bank- 
 ing experience decided him to start a bank of his own, 
 and in 1878 the Security Bank was organized, with Mr. 
 Harrison as president, and in this position he remained 
 until his death. He lived to see this one of the largest 
 and strongest banking institutions in the State, due 
 largely to his able and conscientious management. In 
 1885, while traveling in the South, he contracted fever 
 of the typhoid-malarial type, from which he never fully 
 recovered, and though consulting eminent physicians in 
 New York he gradually failed, and on October 27, 
 1887. passed peacefully away amid the quiet surround- 
 ings of the home he had reared, and sincerely 
 mourned by his loving family and the entire commu- 
 nity of the city for which he had done so much. 
 
 As a private citizen Mr. Harrison was foremost in 
 all plans looking to the moral and material interests of 
 Minneapolis, and was a liberal contributor to all its 
 charitable and religious enterprises. He was a devoted 
 member of the Methodist church, and contributed 
 largely to the building of the Centenary and Hennepin 
 avenue churches of Minneapolis, and was also deeply 
 interested in the building up of Hamline University. 
 
 In 1839 Mr. Harrison was united in marriage to 
 Miss Rebecca M. Green, at Belleville, 111., who was an 
 affectionate wife and devoted mother, preceding her 
 husband to the .better land in 1884. Three children 
 survive of the five born to them, viz., W. W. Harrison, 
 Mrs. S. II. Knight and Mrs. E. B. Zier. 
 
 FREDERICK C. PORTER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this biography enjoys the distinction 
 of having been the pioneer in an enterprise of 
 great and growing importance to Chicago and its 
 tributary territory, the transportation on a large scale 
 of California fruits, which, since the initial shipment 
 twenty-five years ago, has grown to mammoth pro- 
 portions. 
 
 Frederick C. Porter was born -at Garden Prairie, 
 Boone county, 111., February 13, 1846, being the 
 youngest child of Thomas W. and Charlotte (Lane) 
 Porter. The parents came to this countr}' from 
 England in 1833, first locating at Buffalo, N. Y. In 
 1838 they removed to Boone county, 111., where they 
 lived on their farm at Garden Prairie until 1866, at 
 
 which time Mr. Porter turned the management of his 
 farm over to two of his sons and took up his residence 
 at Belvidere in the same county. Here he remained 
 until his death in 1882, his wife having died in 1873. 
 She was a woman of fine literary tastes, and noted as a 
 woman of exceptional amiability of character and a 
 model wife and mother. The father was noted for his 
 indomitable energy and liigh standard of integrity, 
 characteristics which his son Frederick inherited in a 
 liberal degree. Mr. Porter acquired a fair education 
 in' the schools of Boone county, which was supple- 
 mented in 1866 by a course of training in book- 
 keeping and commercial law in a Chicago institution. 
 Soon after leaving school his spirit of enterprise led
 
 
 VN>^
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 68 3 
 
 him to go to California by way of the isthmus, and 
 from there to White Pine, Nev., where he engaged in 
 a mining venture. This proving to be unprofitable, 
 the young adventurer returned to California, where he 
 found employment on a fruit ranch at or near Santa 
 Clara. While there the idea occurred to him that the 
 shipment of fruit eastward was feasible, and he made 
 an arrangement with Mr. L. II. Gould, the owner of 
 the ranch, to pack a full car for shipment to Chicago, 
 Mr. Porter to come with it and attend to ils disposal. 
 Although he paid the large amount of si, 200 for 
 freight, he found the venture a success, the sales being 
 quickly made at such profit that he was convinced that 
 there was a great future for the business. Mr. Porter 
 gave his whole time and energies to the development 
 of the enterprise the foundations of which he laid 
 wisely, and which soon assumed large proportions. 
 Meantime he had acquired a reputation in business 
 circles for business ability and integrity of a high 
 order. 
 
 When the great fire of 1871 devastated Chicago, 
 his place of business, at 123 South Water street, was 
 utterly, destroyed and he lost all he had. He, how- 
 ever, immediately started again, with his characteristic 
 energy and courage, being alone in the business, until 
 the following year, 1872, when his brother, Washing- 
 ton Porter, became associated with him, under the firm 
 name of Porter Bros., the business increasing hand- 
 somely each year until few lines of wholesale trade 
 could compare with this noted California fruit house. 
 
 In 1881 Mr. Porter's failing health compelled him to 
 retire from active participation in the business, and ac- 
 cordingly the Porter Brothers Company was incor- 
 porated, to take the place of the old firm. The new 
 company consisted of Frederick C. Porter. Washing- 
 ton Porter, Nathan R. Salisbury and James E. Watson. 
 The two latter had for sometime been personal friends 
 of and were regarded by the Porter Brothers as men 
 of fine business ability. That their judgment was 
 correct, the standing of the firm shows, the business 
 having been so extended that branch houses in many 
 of the large cities have been established. 
 
 The founder of this successful house, however, did 
 not live to see this branching out and full growth of 
 the business, though before his retirement he was per- 
 mitted to see most gratifying results from his efforts, 
 which were to him a source of great pride. Upon his 
 retirement, in 1884, Mr. Porter failed rapidly, and on 
 July 15th of the following year he died of consump- 
 tion. In his death, the large circle of business ac- 
 quaintances and personal friends recognized the loss to 
 the communitv, and to themselves more especially, of 
 a man of so exalted a character, of exceptional ability, 
 and of unswerving integrity of purpose. Socially he 
 was most companionable, a firm friend where friend- 
 ship was deserved, beloved in the family circle, and 
 esteemed b} r all with whom he came in contact. 
 
 He married Kate Hamilton Evans, of Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, who survives him. One son was born to them, 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 JONATHAN ABEL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE life of Jonathan Abel has been one of unusual 
 activity, and now, while in the strength of vigor- 
 ous manhood, his work is crowned with most gratify- 
 ing success. He is a native of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 
 and was born on December 4, 1832. His father, John 
 Abel, was of German descent, and a farmer by occupa- 
 tion; his mother, whose maiden name was Miranda 
 Sampson, was of English ancestry. 
 
 Jonathan had the benefit of a good English educa- 
 tion. He attended the district school of his native 
 place, and later completed his studies at a Quaker 
 school at Oswego village, Duchess county, N. Y., 
 under the preceptors!) ip of Mr. Rufus Potter. He spent 
 his boyhood on the farm of his father, and continued 
 with him until he had attained his twenty-fourth vear, 
 when he started in life for himself. In 1857 he turned 
 his steps westward and settled at Sandwich, in De Kalb 
 county, 111 , where he spent the following three years 
 in the lumber trade. The next seven years he was 
 engaged in the drug business, and for the same length 
 of time he served as post master and deputy post 
 master at Sandwich. He removed to Chicago in Feb- 
 
 ruary, 1868, and in the following year purchased an 
 interest in the business of Messrs. Dickinson, Leach & 
 Company, distillers, succeeding Colonel Wheeler, who 
 had lately died. In 1874, Mr. Leach sold his interest 
 in the business to Mr. Ames, and the firm name be- 
 came Dickinson, Abel & Company, and so remained 
 until the two years prior to the death of Mr. Dickin- 
 son, in 1878, when it was incorporated as The Phoenix 
 Distilling Company, with Mr. Abel as president. 
 
 During the great fire of October Sth and 9th, 1871, 
 the business was swept away in the general conflagration, 
 entailing an irreparable loss, owing to the fact that 
 the firm's insurance was rendered valueless by reason 
 of the failure of the insurance companies through their 
 heavy losses; but such was the standing of the com- 
 pany and the men at its head, that credit was readily 
 obtained. In their extremity they applied to the 
 Northwestern National Bank, of Chicago, whose presi- 
 dent, Mr. George Sturges, informed them that they 
 could have all the money they wanted. With the 
 timely aid thus generously proffered, they bought 
 another and larger plant, which was greatly enlarged and
 
 684 
 
 improved with modern machinery, resumed business on a 
 largely increased scale. This firm made the firstalcohol 
 and spirits bearing two stamps ; business amounted to 
 $3,000,000 annually. When the Distilling and Cattle 
 Feeding Company was organized in 1887 the Phosnix 
 Distilling Company sold their business to that organi- 
 zation. Since that time Messrs. Able, Ames & Com- 
 pany Wilton Ames, B. W. Kendall and G. T. Bur- 
 rough have conducted a general distributing business, 
 which amounts to one million dollars annually. These 
 gentlemen (with whom was associated Mr. O. B. Dick- 
 inson until his decease) have been together since the 
 time of the great Chicago fire in 1871; and so strong 
 is their confidence each in the other that there has 
 never been a written contract between them defining 
 their relations and never any misunderstanding or 
 trouble. 
 
 Mr. Abel is financially interested in the Metropoli- 
 tan National Bank and Union National Bank of Chi- 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 cago, and is a stockholder in the Masonic Temple 
 Association. He is a man of fine social qualities, fond 
 of good fellowship and is strongly attached to his 
 friends. He is a member of the Washington Park and 
 Oakland Clubs and is identified with the People's 
 church, under the pastoral care of Dr. H. W. Thomas. 
 He has always been a liberal giver to all worthy 
 causes. During the War of the Rebellion he gave 
 generously of his time and money to organize and 
 equip the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois Regiment 
 under General Duston, who tendered the position of 
 quartermaster, but owing to other parties nearer Ad- 
 jutant General Fuller, he assumed the appointment of 
 another. Mr. Abel has never aspired to political 
 honors, having found in his business ample scope for 
 the gratifications of his ambitions. In all his relations 
 he has maintained a high character for upright and 
 honorable dealings; and wherever known, he is re- 
 spected and esteemed for his manly virtues. 
 
 JAMES C. ANDERSON, 
 
 CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. 
 
 IT would be impossible within the scope of a biograph- 
 ical sketch of this character, to more than outline 
 the life-work of the prolific inventor and manufac- 
 turer, James Caldwell Anderson. 
 
 The public records of the patent office of the United 
 Statesgive abundant evidence of his genius, and a full 
 description of his inventions alone would take volumes 
 if recorded separate!}'. As a manufacturer, he stands, 
 to-day, pre-eminently the leader in his chosen fields of 
 industry. 
 
 Born in the Monongahela Valley, Pa., August 
 13, 1838, of American parentage, although of Scotch- 
 Irish descent, he developed from early childhood a 
 passionate love of mechanics, and the play-house of 
 the boy was a miniature workshop, never abandoned, 
 but growing in novel mechanical appliances with the 
 man. The playwheels set in motion by the child 
 developed into some of the most intricate and power- 
 ful machinery of the present time. 
 
 Owing to the protracted illness and death of his 
 father, lie was, at the early age of sixteen, compelled 
 to take a man's place and begin the struggle of life in 
 earnest, which led up in a few years to his engaging in 
 large manufacturing enterprises, requiring much of 
 construction and invention of versatile scope, among 
 which was the metallurgy of steel and other metals. 
 
 Added to this experience was an ardent love for 
 his native Pennsylvania hills, with their upturned and 
 tilted strata exposing to view, with the other ores of 
 the metals, abundant clay and clay shale deposits, rich 
 in aluminum metal, appealing to the inventor to solve 
 the problem of its extraction, and giving it such an 
 irresistible charm that he pursued this line of investi- 
 
 gation until it led to another invention of what is 
 known as the dry clay process, by which brick and 
 other like clay articles are manufactured with a beauty 
 of finish and solidity of texture never before attained. 
 This invention involved numerous other inventions of 
 powerful machinery, apparatus and processes, for 
 which he has been granted more than one hundred 
 patents, and which has largely revolutionized the art of 
 brickmaking in this country and Europe. 
 
 By the state of the art no bricks were made, prior 
 to Mr. Anderson's invention, with a color other than 
 that produced by the natural clay. The clays of 
 Chicago burned only a white or buff color, while the 
 clays of Philadelphia and vicinity burned a beautiful 
 red, a color then much sought after, and they were 
 shipped to this market ac great cost. 
 
 These circumstances induced Mr. Anderson to 
 establish his first plant at Chicago, in 1879, at which 
 time he, with his family, became a resident of High- 
 land Park, selecting this lovely suburb in Lake county 
 on account of its high elevation and picturesque 
 ravines, reminding him of the hills and valleys of his 
 old Pennsylvania home. 
 
 At the Centennial exhibition in 1876 he received 
 the highest awards on several of his inventions. At 
 that time he was president of the Inventors' Protec- 
 tive Association. In 1893 he was elected a vice-presi- 
 dent of the American Association of Inventors and 
 Manufacturers, and was chairman of their committee 
 on World's Fair. 
 
 His high standing as an inventor was recognized 
 by the United States Commissioner of Patents in 
 selecting models of his machinery and brick for the

 
 
 tff 
 
 rtX* 1
 
 PROMINENT MEN Of THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 exhibit in the Patent Office department at the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, as the highest exemplification 
 of the art in pressed brick manufacture, and products 
 thereof. It was further recognized by the judges of 
 the Exposition in awarding him the prize for his 
 method of manufacture and his tunnel kiln, in which 
 brick and other material are burned on cars while they 
 are passing through the tunnel, a feat that had been 
 pronounced impossible without destroying the cars. 
 
 He has recently brought out an important invention 
 for the coking of coal and recovering the by-products 
 of gas, coal tar and ammonia, which is a revolution in 
 that art, and will have a wide influence in the product- 
 ion of iron, steel and other metals. 
 
 Also a method for the cremation of garbage, street 
 sweepings and refuse of cities, which, by its rapidit\' 
 of action and economy of operating, will have a most 
 important influence upon the sanitary conditions of 
 urban life in this country and Europe. It has received 
 wide notice from the press, boards of health, and mun- 
 icipal authorities. Its general adoption will do much 
 toward securing immunity from those diseases which 
 are the result of microbes generated in the decaying 
 filth and offal of cities and towns. For this service to 
 humanity his name will be held in remembrance among 
 other benefactors of our race. 
 
 Mr. Anderson has that rare combination of talents 
 
 687 
 
 which denotes not only the eminent inventor, but also 
 excellent business qualities. He is an indefatigable 
 and ceaseless worker, never more happy than when 
 busily employed in solving some problem in mechanics, 
 or making improvements in the various devices in 
 which he is interested. Having indomitable will power 
 and a keen insight into character, he is a leader among 
 men. The soul of honor, he is thoroughly scrupulous 
 in all his transactions. An artist by nature, the bent 
 of his mind is decidedly artistic, and yet intensely 
 practical. A genial, modest and refined gentleman, he 
 possesses many warm friends and admirers. His hos- 
 pitality is proverbial, and his interest on behalf of those 
 who need it is both practical and sincere. Eminent 
 and versatile as an inventor, James Caldwell Anderson 
 has carved for himself a prominent place in the temple 
 of fame. The architect of his own fortune, he has 
 given to the world, in his inventions, a legacy that will 
 perpetuate his name among many generations yet to 
 come. 
 
 He was married, July 26, 1860, to Amanda S. Bir- 
 mingham, of Westmoreland county, Pa., daughter of 
 Dr. Samuel Birmingham. Tu r o children, a daughter 
 and a son, were born unto them. Lillie Eva married 
 Dr. Charles F. McGahan, now of Aiken, S. C., James 
 Franklin married Jeannette L. Lewis, of Racine, Wis., 
 and resides at Highland Park, 111. 
 
 ALBERT ANTISDEL, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE study of the character of the representative 
 American never fails to offer much of pleasing 
 interest and valuable instruction. It develops an orig- 
 inality of thought, a peculiar mastering of expedients, 
 which has given a most wonderful result. Deeds are 
 not crystallized ; hence that it is that in estimating the 
 worth of a man we instinctively ask, " What has he 
 done?" for -in his work we do expect to find a true 
 index of his own character. The life work of him 
 whose name heads this sketch, fraught with good 
 results, is most worthy of record. A success which is 
 so rare is not likely to be the result of mere chance of 
 good fortune ; it is something that must be labored and 
 sought for ; rare and exceptional in its character, those 
 who attain it are necessarily more or less of the same 
 nature. The man who, by patient perseverance, ardu- 
 ous effort, and well conceived and properly executed 
 plans, succeeds in any department, may be found upon 
 analysis to possess a character unlike that of the mass 
 of ordinary men. The exigencies of success require 
 peculiar instruments, as the rarer and most difficult 
 results in mechanism demand different tools from those 
 used in ordinary operations. A man may be benevo 
 lent, kindly natured, fond of social intercourse, and in 
 a thousand particular ways may not be unlike other 
 
 men ; nevertheless, there may be found traits or com- 
 binations, or something that bears little or no resem- 
 blance to the more usual composition of human nature. 
 Albert Antisdel was born May 7, 1842, at Lodi, 
 Otsego count}', N. Y.,and is the son of Daniel A. and 
 Mary (North) Antisdel. He received his education 
 at the high school of Clarksville, and at the age of 
 twenty years entered a mercantile establishment, where 
 he remained three years. About this time he came 
 West and entered the service of the American Express 
 Company as an agent at Jackson, Mich., in the month 
 of April, 1863. So well were the affairs of the office 
 managed that at the end of one year he was promoted 
 to route agent on the Michigan division, and the super- 
 vision of all the offices on the Michigan Central rail- 
 road and its branches placed in his care. Remaining 
 in this position one year, the company called him to 
 Detroit and gave him charge of the important agency 
 at that point. In 1867 he was appointed assistant 
 superintendent of the Illinois division, with headquar- 
 ters at Chicago. He had now a field more commen- 
 surate with his marked and peculiar abilities, and was 
 given the opportunity to extend his acquaintance and 
 to prove his peculiar aptitude for the business to which 
 he was devoted. In October, 1869, when but twenty-
 
 6S8 
 
 PROMINENT MKN OF THE GREAT WESl . 
 
 seven years of age, lie was given the superinten- 
 clency of the Wisconsin division with headquarters 
 at Milwaukee. Here he remained some sixteen years. 
 His rare business and social qualifications gave him a 
 place among the leading business men of that city. 
 Becoming identified with many of the important local 
 enterprises, he won for himself and held a high social 
 and business standing. In 1881, when the Minnesota 
 division, comprising the States of Minnesota, Dakota 
 and Manitoba, was consolidated with the Wisconsin 
 division, Mr. Antisdel's superintendency was extended 
 over a country larger than Europe, while he had under 
 his control 8,600 miles of road and 915 offices- 
 Again, in 1884, Mr. Antisdel was promoted, this time 
 to the post of general superintendent of the North- 
 western division, and in 1886 to assistant-general 
 manager, with headquarters at Chicago. His career is 
 one of the most brilliant examples of what may be ac- 
 complished by American pluck, united with honesty of 
 purpose and an uncomprom sing integrity of word and 
 deed. His uniform kindness and courtesy in governing 
 the affairs of the company, have won for him the 
 personal friendship of ail who have come in contact 
 
 with him, and the greatest compliment that can be paid 
 him is found in the universal respect and obedience 
 entertained toward him by the employes of the company 
 under his charge. On February 1, 1893, Mr. Charles 
 Fargo resigned the position of manager of the Ameri- 
 can Express Company, and Mr. Antisdel was chosen as 
 his successor. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Antisdel is a Democrat, but without 
 desire for political preferment. He is a prominent 
 member of the Chicago Club, the Washington Park 
 Club, the Chicago Athletic Association, and the Sunset 
 Club. 
 
 Mr. Antisdel was married in 1862 to Miss Sophia 
 M. Bradford, of Cooperstown, N. Y., a lady of refine- 
 ment and culture, by whom he has three children: 
 Misses Ophelia Martha, who was married to Mr. Chas. 
 Edward Blake way, April 19, 1894, and resides at Much 
 Wenlock, Shropshire, England; Mary Fargo and Llovd 
 Sterling Antisdel. 
 
 Personally, Mr. and Mrs. Antisdel have won hosts 
 of friends by their unfailing courtesy and geniality, 
 and their charming home on Bellevue place bespeaks 
 the cultivated tastes of the family. 
 
 JOHN J. HERRICK, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN J. HERRICK is a native of- Illinois, having 
 been born on May 25, 1845, at Hillsboro. His 
 father was Dr. Wm. B. Herrick, a noted physician, 
 who, besides engaging 1 in practice in Chicago for a 
 number of years, was professor in Rush Medical Col 
 lege from 1844 to 1857. Dr. Herrick was also the first 
 president of the Illinois State Medical Society. His 
 health failing, he returned with his family in 1857 to 
 Maine, his native State, where he died in 1865. The 
 mother of the subject of our sketch was Martha J. 
 Seward, daughter of John B. Seward, of Montgomery 
 county, 111. Young Herrick's early education was 
 acquired in the Chicago public and private schools. 
 Going with his father to Maine, he prepared for college 
 atLewiston Falls Academy, and then entered Bowdoin 
 College in that State, from which he graduated in 1866, 
 having taken the regular classical course. Following his 
 graduation young Herrick came to Chicago, and after 
 teaching school for a year in the suburb of Hyde Park 
 he entered the Chicago Law School, graduating there- 
 from in 1868. During his studies in the law. school in 
 1867, he became a student in the law office of Iliggins, 
 Swett, & Quigg, with whom he remained until the 
 spring of 1871, when he commenced the practice of his 
 profession in Chicago. 
 
 He soon grew into a good practice and attracted 
 favorable notice by his connection with several noted 
 cases, among which may be thus early named the suits 
 growing out of the alleged "fraudulent election" of 
 
 Michael Evans and other South Town officers, who 
 were ousted from office in 1876, and the suits arising 
 from the failure of the large firm of John B. Lyon & 
 Co. in 1872, and their suspension from the Board of 
 Trade. In 1878 Mr. Herrick became associated with 
 the late Wert Dexter, then exceptionally high in posi- 
 tion at the Chicago bar, and two years later, in 1880, 
 the firm became Dexter, Herrick & Allen by the 
 admission of Charles L. Allen to the firm. The firm 
 thus constituted continued up to the time of Mr. Dex- 
 ter's death, in May, 1890. The firm then became 
 Herrick & Allen, and so continued until May, 1893, 
 when, by the admission thereto of J. K. Boyesen, the 
 firm was changed to Herrick, Allen & Boyesen, and 
 has been so known ever since. All along since the 
 advent of the firm of Dexter, Herrick & Allen, through 
 the changes to the existence of the present firm, it has 
 been among the most prominent of the great law firms 
 of Chicago, and has conducted some of the most im- 
 portant cases in the history of litigation in the State 
 and elsewhere. In all these cases the well-trained, 
 logical mind, keen perception and knowledge of the 
 law possessed by Mr. Herrick, have contributed largely 
 to the successful results attained. 
 
 The briefs prepared by him have long been re- 
 garded both 03' bench and bar as models of clearness 
 and force, and revealing a comprehensive grasp of his 
 cases in all their phases not often to be found. One of 
 his colleagues of the Chicago bar, after speaking in
 

 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 high terms of Mr. Ilerrick's unwearied irtdustry, and 
 his thorough knowledge of the law, says: 
 
 ." When he comes to the practical use of authorities 
 in court, one of his greatest merits appears. He never 
 cites a case which can be turned against him by his 
 opponents. lie never cites cases that rest on distinc- 
 tions that his adversaries can avail themselves of, nor 
 does he burden the courts with the labor of examining 
 a large number of authorities which have no real ap- 
 plication to the controversy before them. His authori- 
 ties are carefully selected and they are to the point. 
 But his reasoning as to the law, independent of authori- 
 ties, and on the facts of his case, is perhaps his pre- 
 eminent merit as a lawyer. He is bioad minded, free 
 from the faults of laying too much stress on technical 
 points and of wasting his energies on minor questions 
 of fact or of law, and positions follow one another with 
 convincing force. Much the same may be said of his 
 briefs and arguments before courts of review. As a 
 brief writer, he has no superior and perhaps no equal 
 at the Chicago bar. 
 
 The order and arrangement of his briefs is thorough, 
 and planned as a general plans a battle. He sees 
 what the real and fundamental questions are in the 
 record, and he devotes his strength of argument to 
 those questions, while not failing to press, with all 
 their proper force, the other points in his case." 
 
 To here refer to the numerous important cases in 
 which Mr. Herrick has been engaged would be im- 
 practicable, but a few of them may, with propriety, be 
 cited. Notable are: The Stock Yards litigation, in 
 which the conflicting interests of Eastern, Chicago and 
 English capitalists were involved, calling for an array 
 of the best legal talent of the entire country; Divine vs. 
 The People, involving the constitutionality of the law 
 
 691 
 
 bonds without a vote of the people; of Gross vs. the 
 United States Mortgage Company and the United 
 States Mortgage Company vs. Kingsbury before the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, -involving the 
 right of foreign corporations in the State of Illinois; 
 the State vs. the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy rail- 
 road before the Supreme Court of Nebraska, involv- 
 ingquestions of constitutional law and the rights of 
 railroad corporations; Spaulding vs. Preston, involving 
 some new and important questions as to the construc- 
 tion of the assignment law of Illinois; The Taylor & 
 Storey will cases, and many others of equal importance 
 with the above. 
 
 Mr. Herrick's merits have several times been recog- 
 nized by his election to important offices in the Chicago 
 Law Institute, the Chicago Bar Association and the 
 Citizens' Association. 
 
 He is also a member of several of the city clubs, 
 notably, the Chicago and University Clubs and the 
 Chicago Literary Society. Socially he is genial, court- 
 eous, carriesan air of refinement, and enjoys the esteem 
 of a large circle of devoted friends. In politics, Mr. 
 Herrick, previous to 1884, was a Republican, but at 
 that time voting for Grover Cleveland for the presi- 
 dency he has affiliated, in National politics, with the 
 Democratic party, though on local issues he is discrim- 
 inating and independent. 
 
 In matters of religion, he is liberal, and with his 
 family attends the services of the Central church min- 
 istered to by Prof. Swing. In 1883, Mr. Ilerrick was 
 married to Miss Julie A. Dulon of Chicago, who is a 
 lady of taste and refinement. Three children, daugh- 
 ters, have been born to them, and Mr. Herrick is never 
 happier than when, amid books and surrounded with 
 the evidences of a cultured mind in his home, he is en- 
 
 authorizing the Cook Count} 1 - Commissioners to issue abled to enjoy the society of his wife and children. 
 
 EDWARD JAMES FARNUM, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EDWARD JAMES FARNUM is a native of Wis- 
 consin and was born in 1861. His father, Henry 
 James Farnum, was of Scotch ancestry, and his 
 mother, Elizabeth (Shell) Farnum, a descendant of one 
 of the early Dutch families of New York State. At 
 an early da} 7 (in 1838) young Farnum's parents removed 
 from New York to Wisconsin, where they lived 
 the sturdy life of pioneers of that day on a farm and 
 carefully reared a family of three children, two sons 
 and one daughter. 
 
 Following the experience of those early days, young 
 Edward acquired habits of industiy, and at the same 
 time his elementary education, by attending the dis- 
 trict school in winter and working on the farm 
 in summer. Under these conditions he reached 
 his fifteenth year. Soon after this he commenced 
 
 to attend the high school at Baraboo, the countv 
 seat, graduating therefrom in 1879. During his 
 studies at the high school, young Farnum contin- 
 ued to work on the farm at home as before. In the 
 summer following his graduation he made an extended 
 western trip through Dakota, Montana, Colorado and 
 Nebraska, returning home in the fall to engage in 
 teaching in one of the schools, in which vocation he 
 continued for three years. While at school the young 
 student's mind turned to natural and scientific branches 
 of study, and he spent much time and research in bot- 
 any, zoology, and neology in connection with which 
 branches he made not only extensive collections, but 
 made some interesting discoveries. 
 
 After his teaching experience, as above stated, he 
 married, in 18S2, Miss Anna S. Lanich, and lived for
 
 692 
 
 two years upon the old homestead, meanwhile keeping 
 up to some extent his scientific studies. In 1884 he 
 moved to Madison, Wis., and entered the scientific 
 course in the State University, but in 1885, upon the 
 death of his wife, he gave up his studies in the univer- 
 sity and at once took up the study of medicine, and in 
 a comparatively brief period became a well-equipped 
 practitioner. He graduated from Bennett Eclectic 
 Medical College in 1889. How well Dr. Farnum has 
 developed the qualities of the successful physigjan may 
 be seen when it is stated, that he is now Professor of 
 Orthopaedic and Clinical Surgery in the Bennett Medical 
 College of Chicago; that he is now attending surgeon 
 at the Cook County Hospital, surgeon at the Bennett 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Hospital, secretary and surgeon-in-chief of the Post- 
 graduate Polyclinic of Eclectic Medicine and Surgery, 
 and grand medical examiner of the Switchmen's Mut- 
 ual Accident Association of North America. 
 
 Dr. Farnum is also a member of the National 
 Eclectic Association, Illinois State Medical Society, 
 Chicago Medical and Surgical Society and of the Ben- 
 nett Literary Society. He is also a prominent Mason, 
 being master of Ashlar lodge and a member of Oriental 
 Consistory 32d degree, A. A. S. R., and an official of 
 the latter body. In politics Dr. Farnum is a sound 
 Republican. In social life he is a pleasant companion, 
 and in all his relations with his fellow men a courteous 
 and refined gentleman. 
 
 HARVEY J. HOLLISTER, 
 
 GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. 
 
 HARVEY J. HOLLISTER, cashier of the old Na- 
 tional Bank of Grand Rapids, is a descendant of 
 one of the earliest settlers in Connecticut. What a 
 precious, a priceless heritage have the lineal posterity 
 of the early colonists of New England ! What cour- 
 age, patience, enthusiasm and energy ! What faith and 
 continuity in what they deemed well-doing, was theirs! 
 What quick and tender consciences, what sublime 
 ideals, what lofty aspirations inspired them ! And of 
 all those pioneers, none were more broad, more toler- 
 ant of other's faith and action, while tenacious of what 
 they perceived to be righteousness for themselves, than 
 the men and women who founded the colonies in what 
 is now Connecticut. In all the world, in the first half 
 of the seventeenth century, there was no braver, more 
 courageous, liberal people than were they, and what they 
 did, and what they believed, as to themselves and their 
 relations with mankind, is a heritage of incalculable 
 value for their prosperity has induced a heredity that 
 vet blesses our country in a marked degree. As has been 
 stated, Harvey J. Hollister, the veteran banker of 
 Grand Rapids, the soul survivor of the first banking in- 
 stitutions, the first bankers of the Valley City, is of 
 this New England stock. The first of his family in 
 this country was Lieutenant John Hollister, who, at 
 the age of about thirty years came from Eng- 
 land and settled, in 1642, in Wethersfield, Conn., 
 where he soon became a leading and influential citizen. 
 The subject of this sketch is a representative of the 
 eighth generation from Lieut. Hollister, and was the 
 fifth child and third son of Col. John Bently Hollister, 
 who was one of the very early pioneers in Michigan, 
 coming to the then territory in 1825, after honorable 
 and distinguished service in which he won his title, as 
 an officer with Gen. Scott in the army of 1812-15. 
 Col. Hollister was born in New York, in 1795, and his 
 wife was Mary Chamberlin, a daughter of Capt. Gad 
 Chamberlin, a prominent farmer and manufacturer, a 
 
 native of New York, and at one time a resident of 
 Berkshire, Massachusetts. From this time it is appar- 
 ent that Mr. Hollister, through both father and mother, 
 is a "Yankee of the Yankees." Mrs. Hollister, his 
 mother, for man} 7 years was the sole survivor of a 
 family of eleven children, and died in June, 1890, at 
 the age of ninety-twohaving retained in a wonderful 
 degree her physical strength and mental faculties. Col. 
 Hollister is a man of great energy and strength of 
 character, assisted in the territorial organization of 
 Michigan, and in conjunction with Judge Burt, the 
 famed inventor of the solar compass, served the general 
 government with distinction as a civil engineer in sur- 
 veys in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Arkansas. 
 He died in the prime of early manhood, at Mt. 
 Clemens, Michigan, at the age of thirty-five not 
 long before the birth of his son, Harvey J., who 
 was born at Romeo, Macomb county, Michigan, 
 August 29, 1830. It requires but a moment of thought 
 to realize that his advent in life was not with the tra- 
 ditional silver spoon. Michigan was then a frontier 
 Territory not yet a State for several years its people 
 had little save courage, energy and hope the} 7 had 
 come to struggle for a home and the comforts of life; 
 to found churches, schools, good government and a 
 State. They were in the "wilds of the Far West" 
 then, and opportunities for education and in business 
 were hardly to be termed "advantageous."' But Mr. 
 Hollister made the most of what offered, studied faith- 
 fully while at school, worked hard as a lad on his wid- 
 owed mother's farm, or for an uncle, and when but 
 seventeen and eighteen years old taught two winter 
 terms of school, near Romeo. He had the help of a 
 wise, faithful teacher, the late Adonijah S. Welch, 
 whose abilities gave him prominence as an educator, 
 later, at the head of Michigan's State Normal School, 
 in Iowa, and in California. His select school at Romeo 
 became an academy and one of the streams which af-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 terward grew into the State University. Mr. Hollister 
 then entered the employ of a drug firm in Pontiac, 
 where he remained two years, and had applied himself 
 so diligently he was urged to remain at quite an advance 
 in wages. But his brother, John II., who had become a 
 successful physician, and his mother and sister were 
 then living in Grand Rapids, desired that he join them. 
 So to this city he came, in May, 1850, to find a perma- 
 nent home, to become a most honored and useful 
 member and important factor of this active, energetic 
 population, which since that time has transformed the 
 city, then just organized with less than 2,700 inhabi- 
 tants, into a great manufacturing and business center 
 of more than 60,000 citizens. His first year here was 
 spent as a clerk in William H. McConnell's store a 
 position his brother, the Doctor, had secured for him. 
 The second year found him in charge of W. G. Henry's 
 drug store in what was then known as Irving Hall, at 
 an increased salary, a place his attention to duty and 
 ability had won. The third year he was a bookkeeper 
 and clerk in John Kendall's dry goods store, where he 
 evidently continued to grow, for in 1853, Daniel Ball, 
 who had established a private banking business the 
 previous year, secured his services to take charge of 
 that branch of his very large business interests in this 
 city and the Grand River Valley, at a salary of $600 
 a year then the largest salary paid any employe in 
 this city. This relation continued for five years, and 
 most evidently was highly creditable to Mr. Ilolliste^ 
 for, beginning at $600 per year, his salary had 
 grown to $1,500 per annum, and then in 1858 he 
 was urged by his employer to take a partner's 
 interest in the business, and the firm was Daniel Ball & 
 Co. The troublous times of 1861, following the panic 
 of 1857-58,which were so disastrous to so many business 
 enterprises all through the West, compelled Daniel 
 Ball & Co., the last of three of such banking houses 
 then in the city, to close their business at a loss of all 
 their property to themselves even to the extent of 
 trenching upon future earnings for at least one of the 
 firm but those obligations were all met in full, with 
 interest, later. His special adaptability to the banking 
 business, and his usefulness to the community in that 
 delicate, but essential relation to its commercial and 
 manufacturing interests, led the lion. M. L. Sweet to 
 begin, almost at once, another private bank, at the old 
 place of business of Daniel Ball & Co., with Mr. Hollis- 
 ter as the manager and a partner in the profits. This 
 continued until 1864, when the First National Bank of 
 Grand Rapids was organized, the Sweet bank was 
 merged in it, and its successful manager was made 
 cashier of the new bank, which had then but $50,000 
 of capital stock. That bank lived out almost the whole 
 of its chartered life, for nineteen years, grew to a capi- 
 tal stock of $iOO,000, paid an average of twelve per 
 cent dividends, and when it went out of business under 
 the limitations of its charter, its owners divided 
 71 per cent, of surplus facts which tell very plainly 
 and clearly how admirably the bank had been con- 
 
 695 
 
 ducted, the more especially as it was the pioneer and 
 leader in the reduction of interest rates to its patrons, 
 when sound business policy suggested the wisdom of 
 such action. That First National Bank was succeeded 
 by the present Old National Bank,with $800,000 of capi- 
 tal stock, and Mr. Hollister continues as a director and 
 cashier of this great institution, one of the largest in 
 its transactions and involved interests, in the entire 
 State of Michigan. So he is, in fact, the pioneer banker 
 of the city, with reference to its present population, 
 and has served for some thirty seven years continuously 
 in those relations ; few in Michigan have had so long a 
 career in banking; none a more honorable. He has 
 shown a grasp of affairs, a breadth of comprehension 
 of business needs, a justice and a courtesy as between 
 capital and those desiring to buy its use, that have con- 
 tributed in no small degree to the building of the city 
 in which he lives, and in conserving its great and varied 
 interests. He has found time, too for he has ever 
 been a methodical and busy man to assist greatly in 
 any other considerable interests, and his counsels have 
 been desired, so that he has been a director or other 
 officer of them, and yet retains those relations 
 He has been a director since 1872 of the 
 Northern National Bank of Big Rapids, Mich., which was 
 then organized; he is a director and vice-president of 
 the Michigan Barrel Co. of this city; was for several 
 years a director of the Grand Rapids Chair Co.; was 
 one of the founders and continuously an officer of the 
 Cummer Lumber Co., of Cadillac, Mich., which starting 
 with capital of $50,000, in 1880, now has an investment 
 of $600,000 in its business; has been a director of the 
 Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Co. since 1878; is 
 a prominent stockholder of the Antrim Iron Co. of 
 Mancelona, Mich.; is a director in the Michigan Trust 
 Co., and has other interests in and out of the State. 
 Mr. Hollister cast his first presidential vote for Gen. 
 John C. Fremont, the first national candidate of the Re- 
 publican party, and since that time has acted with and 
 through that party has been an earnest and generous 
 supporter of its policies and efforts, a wise counselor of 
 its leaders in his community and State; yet too busy 
 to serve the people in official capacity save in honor- 
 able positions. He is one of the board of control of 
 the State public school at Cold water, an institution in 
 which he has had great interest since its foundation in 
 1873 the first of its character in this country. It is a 
 school, and a home until permanent homes in good 
 families can be secured for them for pauper or de- 
 pendent, or neglected children, and during its existence 
 thus far, has aided nearly 3,000 such children to better 
 education and principles, to better homes and to lives 
 of usefulness. In such a labor Mr. Hollister gladly 
 serves his State. Mr. Hollister has been a member of 
 the First Congregational church of Grand Rapids for 
 forty years, is one of its deacons, has been its treasurer 
 for twenty years, and has served for years in its Sun- 
 day School work, as superintendent for several years. 
 He has also been prominently identified with the Y.
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 696 
 
 M. C. A. of Grand Rapids since jts organization; has 
 been its president for years, and has lived to see his old- 
 est son follow in his footsteps in that office a living 
 proof of the practical work of his efforts and teach- 
 ings. He is an earnest and consistent advocate of 
 temperance. 
 
 June 6, 1855, Mr. Hollister married Martha, daughter 
 of the late Col. George Clay, of Deerfield, Mass., who 
 has ever since proved indeed "a helpmate to him." 
 They have four children: Mary Goodhue, born Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1860, now the wife of McGeorge Bundy, Esq., 
 of Grand Rapids, and a resident in the same block 
 where her parents home is; Clay Harvey, born October 
 7, 1863, an assistant to his father in the Old National 
 Bank, married one of the daughters of his father's near- 
 est neighbors; George Clay, born September 8, 1871; 
 John Chamberlain, born March 27, 1873. Thus a friend, 
 asked for a pen portrait, describes the subject of this 
 sketch: 
 
 The salient fact in .Mr. Hollister's life and career is 
 this : The teachings of the Christian religion are to him 
 living, vital truth. With him to believe is to act, and 
 his faith has become his rule of life in every relation. 
 His friends and neighbors, those who know him most 
 
 and best, see and know that with added years have 
 come brighter and brighter faith, broader and deeper 
 and stronger convictions and powers for usefulness, 
 with wider culture, and when this is said, what more 
 could well be added descriptive of the man, save in - 
 detail and illustration. He must read and keep pace 
 with the growth of knowledge in the world, for 
 buried talents are not acceptable to his master, and 
 otherwise lie could not make his life as useful as he 
 ought. He must work in the church, and be liberal in 
 all its efforts, for what is to be as well as to believe. 
 He must be a,n able and busy banker, just to those 
 whom he serves, otherwise his faith were not shown in 
 his works. He knows that lie has labored, that 
 success has attended his labors; that his family, the 
 church of which he is a member, his business associates, 
 the people of the city in which he has lived for forty 
 years, and many, throughout his State and in other 
 States, value him and feel the impulse of his example 
 and the worth of his daily life, but he ascribes these 
 blessings, of family, love, honor, troops of friends, and 
 a competence, not to his own deservings or efforts, save 
 under the power and control of the Master he believes 
 it to be his highest duty to serve. 
 
 ISAAC NEWTON PERRY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ISAAC NEWTON PERRY was born at Lee, Oneida 
 1 county, N. Y., on February 10, 1847. He inherits 
 from his father the best qualities of the blood of the 
 English yeomanry, and from his mother the charac- 
 teristics which have entered into our noblest American 
 life. His father, Henry Lee Perry, belonged to an 
 English family which traces its relation to the main 
 family from which came the Lees of the Revolution 
 and Virginia. His mother's maiden name, Charlotte 
 Hall, was given her in memory of an ancestor from 
 whom sprang many of the strong men and women of 
 central New York bearing this name. 
 
 The parents of Mr. Perry joined the general 
 advance westward at an early day, and brought with 
 them into Kane county, 111., the principles which have 
 grown up with the life and ripened into the opinions 
 of the subject of this sketch. The boy, Isaac Newton 
 Perry, attended the common school at Kaneville, and 
 afterwards had the privilege ot one term's education at 
 Jennings Seminary at Aurora. His education outside 
 of the schoolroom was not neglected ; and he grew up 
 in the midst of nature and with the society of a few 
 books, bringing into his manly life a sound mind in a 
 sound body. He early found himself attracted from 
 the farm to mercantile pursuits. At the age of sixteen 
 he was a clerk in a dry goods store in Aurora. When 
 he had reached his majority, his plans as a business 
 man already matured led him to the First National 
 
 Bank. A position such as this was the realization of 
 tlie boy's dream. For two years he remained in this 
 bank, when he relinquished it to engage in the dry 
 goods business with Perry Brothers, at Rochelle, 111. 
 
 Mr. Perry is a born banker, and every instinct of 
 his nature leads him to deal with the problems and 
 tasks of finance. He therefore, in July, 1873, returned 
 to the banking business, being elected cashier of the 
 Rochelle National Bank, and serving in this capacity 
 for twelve years. Larger opportunities, and the desire 
 to identify himself with the greater possibilities of the 
 Aorthwest led him to La Crosse, Wis., where he organ- 
 ized the Union National bank. His business rela- 
 tions with Chicago brought him constantly into con- 
 tact with the leading financiers, and on January 10, 
 1891, he was invited to accept the position of vice-pres- 
 ident of the Continental National Bank of Chicago, a 
 position in which he has continued up to the present 
 time. The interests of the Star Coal Company of 
 Streator, 111., also invited him to its vice-presidency, 
 which he accepted. 
 
 An important event in the intellectual and spiritual 
 life of Mr. Perry was his marriage, on December 29, 
 1881, to Miss Jennie Little, daughter of Josiah Little, 
 a well-known banker of Ambo}', 111., and her death at 
 La Crosse, Wis., in February, 1887, was a great loss to 
 her husband and family, and to all the community in 
 which she lived. Two children were born to them,
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 Ruth Little and Isaac Newton Perry, Jr., the former 
 being ten and tbe latter eight years of age. 
 
 Mr. Perry is far from being a slave, even to his im- 
 portant duties and large financial interests. His pecul- 
 iarly winning social qualities attach to him a large 
 circle of friends, and unite him in delightful relation- 
 ships with many prominent organizations of the city. 
 lie is a member of the Union League Club and the 
 Bankers' Club in Chicago. He is a valuable and pro- 
 minent member of the Plymouth Congregational 
 church, and is active in all the large enterprises of that 
 society. The charities inside of the church and outside 
 of it, which constantly appeal to him, command his 
 gifts and advice, which arc always freely bestowed. 
 
 Mr. Perry is a Republican of the most decided type, 
 
 699 
 
 with a large horizon of hope for the future of the 
 country. He is very liberal in his opinions, and exceed- 
 ingly strong in his convictions, allowing a large lati- 
 tude for all, and yet constantly devoted to great 
 principles. As a business man, Mr. Perry's success has 
 been largely owing to the fact that he has been some- 
 thing more than a banker or a merchant. He has kept 
 his mind constantly informed with reference to the 
 world and its progress, and the development of political 
 and social ideals, and to the growth of the kingdom of 
 truth. His rare good judgment and promptitude in 
 times of crisis, his unswerving integrity and true con- 
 ception of the highest aims of business have made him 
 a valuable friend, a public-spirited citizen, and a gentle- 
 man of constantly increasing influence. 
 
 WILLIAM MARION STEARNS, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the younger specialists practicing medicine 
 and surgery in Chicago, but few have risen to 
 the position occupied by him whose name heads this 
 sketch. Dr. William M. Stearns, son of George W. 
 and Harriet N. (Chaffee) Stearns, was born at Dale, 
 N. Y., June 20, 1856. The father was a native of 
 New York, though his earlier ancestors were from 
 Vermont, and directly traceable to a family of the 
 same name who came to this country in the ship 
 Arabella, with George Winthrop in 1630. The mother 
 was a native of New York, her parents coming from 
 Boston early in this century, and settled in western 
 New York. His paternal grandfather and great- 
 grandfather were soldiers in the war of 1812, and his 
 grandmother now receives a pension from the United 
 States, in recognition of the services rendered the 
 government by her late husband. 
 
 Our subject, William, received his early education 
 in the common and high schools at Will county, 111. 
 where his parents settled soon after his birth. He had 
 a natural taste for scientific study from early youth. 
 
 At the age of eighteen he began teaching school, and 
 followed this work three years. His last two years as 
 teacher of geometry, Latin and physiology, proved to 
 be very successful, as well as to him enjoyable ones. 
 
 At the age of twenty-one he began the regular study 
 of medicine and graduated from the Chicago Homeo- 
 pathic Medical College in 1880. After leaving college 
 he served nearly three years as house physician and 
 surgeon to the Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet. 
 
 Early in 1883 he went to Europe and spent two 
 years in the best clinics and hospitals at Germany and 
 Austria, principally, studying his chosen specialties, 
 where his knowledge of German and French enabled 
 him to make rapid progress in his studies, and merit 
 the many personal certificates of proficiency given him 
 by the leading medical professions of Europe. 
 
 Late in 1885, on returning to Chicago he was ap- 
 pointed assistant to the chair of Otology and Ophthal- 
 mology in the Chicago Homoeopathic Medical College, 
 and in 1890 was elected to fill the chair of Rhinology 
 and Laryngology in the same college, which position he 
 still holds. 
 
 lie is also Professor of Rhinology and Laryngology 
 and member of the board of directors in the Homeo- 
 pathic Post-graduate Medical College of Chicago. 
 
 Dr.Stearns being of a practical turn and thoroughly 
 conversant with his work has proven to be a very 
 successful clinical operator and teacher. He is not 
 only popular with the homoeopathic physicians at Chi- 
 cago, but owing to his liberality he is highly spoken of 
 by those who differ from him on principles of theory 
 and practice. He is a member of the Chicago Acad- 
 emy of Medicine, the State Homoeopathic Medical So- 
 ciety and the American Institute of Homoeopathy and 
 has been secretary of the College Alumni Association 
 ever since its organization. 
 
 Although but thirty-eight years of age, he has had 
 all the higher degrees of Masonry conferred upon him, 
 except the thirty-third, a distinction which few of the 
 craft achieve. He was made a Master Mason in Mt. 
 Joliet Lodge, at Joliet. 111., in 1881, was exalted to the 
 Royal Arch degree in Joliet Chapter, R. A. M., in 
 1882, and in the same year was created a Knight Tem- 
 plar in Joliet Commandery. In 1885 he transferred 
 his membership from the latter to Apollo Commandery, 
 No. 1, of Chicago. In 1887 the thirty -second degree of 
 the Scottish Rite was conferred upon him in Oriental 
 consistory as well as the Order of the Mystic Shrine in 
 Medinah Temple. He is also a member of the Royal 
 Arcanum, and some of the social clubs of the South 
 Side. 
 
 During the earlier years of his Masonic career, he 
 held important offices in the various bodies, but the
 
 7OO 
 
 PROMINENT AfEff OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 past two years he has been thoroughly devoted to his 
 professional duties, and 'as a consequence his practice 
 has grown to large proportions. He is also much de- 
 voted to his family, spending much of his spare time in 
 its company. 
 
 In politics he is a Republican, but does not conform 
 closely to party lines. 
 
 He is, likewise, liberal in his religious belief, and 
 gives his influence and support to those religious soci- 
 eties not governed by denominational rules. 
 
 He enjoys travel, making a close study of the dif- 
 ferent countries and characteristics of their habita- 
 tions. He has spent much, time in nearly every coun- 
 try of Europe, and is especially interested in the art, 
 architecture and natural scenery of the same. 
 
 He has been an enthusiastic mountain climber 
 spending several months in the higher Alps. He is also 
 well acquainted with his own countr\ r , preferring to 
 
 spend his vacations with his wife traveling than to 
 confine himself to localities. 
 
 In 1887 Dr. Stearns married Miss Fannie Foote, 
 daughter of Dr. Wm. S. Foote, a prominent dentist at 
 Belvidere, 111. They have one little girl, Helen, a very 
 bright and attractive child of three years. Mrs. 
 Stearns is devoted to her domestic life, but finds time 
 as well for literary pursuits and art. She is very fond 
 of painting both in oil and water colors, and excels as 
 an amateur. Her father, Dr. Foote, is the eighth son 
 in lineal descent from "Nathaniel Foote, the settler," 
 who was born in England in 1593, and married the 
 sister of John Denning, who was one of the patentees 
 named in the old charter of the colony at Connecticut. 
 In 1633, Mr. Nathaniel Foote took the oath of free- 
 man in the New Colonies, and was the ancestor of the 
 great New England family of Footes from which many 
 prominent men have sprung. 
 
 FRANKLIN S. ANDERSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 BORN in Chicago, August 18. 1860, son of John 
 and Maria Christine (Frank) Anderson. His 
 father is a Norwegian by birth, and his mother is an 
 American, but of Norwegian and German descent. The 
 subject of this sketch received his education in the 
 Chicago public schools and at the State University of 
 Wisconsin. He is a printer by trade,and is now the vice- 
 president and secretary of tho John Anderson Publish- 
 ing Company. He was for five years treasurer of the 
 Lake View Building and Loan Association; he is treas- 
 
 urer of the Frankfort Land Company, and of the La 
 Grange Land Association, and was secretary and treas- 
 urer of the Columbian Guide Company. He is a 
 member of the Chicago Hussars, and was for five 
 years a member of Company F, First Regiment I. N. 
 G. In religion, he is a member of the English Luth- 
 eran Church, and is a Republican in politics. 
 
 Mr. Anderson is a man of medium height and 
 build, of pleasing address, and one who makes friends 
 of nearly all he comes in contact with. 
 
 ABNER GILE, 
 
 LA CROSSE. WISCONSIN. 
 
 ABNER GILE, a well known and highly respected 
 pioneer of La Crosse count}', was born in the 
 State of New York, January 3, 1820, and is a son of 
 Nathan and Lydia (Yates) Gile, natives of Vermont. 
 The father followed agricultural pursuits all his life ; 
 his death occurred in New York, to which State he 
 had removed in 1871, at the age of eighty-four years; 
 his wife died two years later, aged eighty-two years. 
 They were for many years consistent members of the 
 Baptist church. They reared a family of ten children, 
 of whom Abner Gile was the fourth-born. He resided 
 in New York until 1842, and during the latter years 
 of his residence there was engaged in farming. He 
 then removed to Waukegan, Lake county, 111., where 
 he operated a sawmill, built piers and clocks in the lake, 
 and purchased land which he cultivated until 1850. In 
 that year he went to California, but returned twelve 
 
 months later, resuming his agricultural pursuits until 
 November, 1854, when he came to La Crosse, and 
 embarked in the. lumber trade, in which he has been 
 actively engaged ever since. He formed a partnership 
 with the late N. B. Holway, to carry on this business and 
 this connection was continued for over thirty years. 
 
 In 1872 he helped to found the La Crosse Lumber 
 Company which built one of the large saw-mills of 
 this city, and which is still in active existence. Selling 
 his interest in this business after a few years he, in 
 1881, helped to organize the Island Mill Lumber Com- 
 pany and became its president, in which position he 
 continues at the present time. In recent years he has 
 turned his attention to the lumber business in the 
 South and West, and is now largely interested in the 
 manufacture of Louisiana red cypress and has exten^ 
 sive holdings of Oregon timber lands.
 
 *
 
 UNIVERSITY Ur
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 703 
 
 He was one of the projectors and builders of the 
 Linseed Oil Mill of La Crosse, a most serviceable in- 
 dustry to the city; it gives employment to twenty per- 
 sons, and consumes raw material from Wisconsin. Iowa, 
 Minnesota and Dakota. Its products are shipped to all 
 parts of the civilized world. 
 
 Mr. Gile is also a stockholder in the Abattoir 
 of La Crosse, another important industry and owns 
 stock in the Batavian Bank, of which he is vice-presi- 
 dent. He has a farm of twelve hundred acres in Min- 
 nesota, and has other investments in various enter- 
 prises in the city and county. He is a man of superior 
 business qualifications, and every enterprise that has 
 received his support has not fallen short of success. 
 
 The residence of Mr. Gile deserves more than a 
 passing notice, as it is one of the finest and most ex- 
 pensive in the city. The lot fronts on Main street 210 
 feet, and on West avenue 280 feet, and contains the 
 residence, barn and coachman's house. The house is 
 eighty feet in length and forty in width, besides the 
 porch and drive. It is two and a half stories above 
 the basement. A room in the half story is large 
 
 enough to accommodate fifty or sixty couples in a 
 dance. The house is of pressed brick and brown stone, 
 built on the latest plans, with all the modern conveni- 
 ences, and the other buildings are of the same 
 materials. The name of the residence, Pasadena, has 
 reference to a fancy for the town of that, name 
 in California, and is said to mean " Queen of the 
 Valley." 
 
 In 1842 Mr. Gile was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
 E. Smith, a daughter of Orange and Mary (Ketchum) 
 Smith, and to them were born two children: Elsie D., 
 wife of Kobert A. Scott, and Wales Eugene, born De- 
 cember 14, 1863, who was killed when nine years of 
 age by the accidental discharge of a pistol in the hands 
 of a boy friend. The mother died in September, 1877, 
 aged fifty-three years. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Gile is identified with the Republi- 
 can party, and has been a strong adherent to the 
 principles of that organization. As a pioneer settler 
 and a loyal citizen, he receives the highest respect of 
 all who know him, and is in every way worthy of the 
 regard in which he is held. 
 
 JOHN P. WILSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 JOHN P. WILSON, a distinguished lawyer of 
 Chicago, widely recognized in his profession as 
 one of the ablest living authorities on corporation and 
 real estate law, was born in the township of Garden 
 Plains, Whiteside county, 111., July 3, 1844. He is 
 the son of Thomas Wilson, a Scotchman who came to 
 America from his native land in 1833 and settled in 
 Illinois, where he engaged in farming, continuing in 
 this pursuit until 1880, when he removed to Evanston, 
 where he continued to reside until his death in 1883. 
 The wife of Thomas Wilson and mother of John P. 
 was Margeret (Laugh lin) Wilson, a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, but of Scotch ancestry. By making the best of 
 the limited opportunities at his command at his native 
 place, and supplementing the instruction thus recieved 
 by close personal application to -his books at night and 
 such other times as opportunity afforded, young Wilson 
 managed to fit himself for higher studies, and by the 
 time he was seventeen years of age had entered Knox 
 College, at Galesburg, 111., determined to secure a 
 classical education. In 1865, a few days before attain- 
 ing his majority, he was graduated with the degree 
 of bachelor of arts at Knox College. After gradua- 
 tion he taught at Galesburg in connection with the 
 college and in the district school at Garden Plains 
 during the years 1865 and 1866, and studied law 
 mornings and evenings. Frugal of his time, he de- 
 voted all his spare moments during these years to the 
 study of law, looking in at court occasionally and turn- 
 
 ing over in his mind the pros and cons of such cases as 
 came under his observation. In the spring of 1867, 
 having passed the required examination before the 
 proper board of examiners, he was admitted to the Ill- 
 inois bar, and coming to the city of Chicago entered the 
 law office of Borden, Spafford & McDaid, and upon the 
 dissolution of the said firm, spent two years in the of- 
 fice of John Borden, Esq. In 1870 the law firm of 
 Spafford, McDaid & Wilson was organized. After 
 passing through many changes of partnership, he is 
 now the senior member of the law firm of Wilson, 
 Moore & Mcllvaine, one of the strongest in Chicago. 
 Mr. Wilson's practice has been of a general character. 
 He has devoted himself with such earnestness to the 
 study of his profession that there are few, if any, of its 
 intricacies which he has not mastered. In the depart- 
 ments of corporation and real estate law he is espec- 
 ially skillful, and his widest fame rests upon those 
 specialties, which have of recent years become the most 
 important, and probably the most lucrative of any class 
 of practice in Chicago. Among his clients for years 
 have been a number of the most distirguished citizens 
 and many of the largest corporations of Illinois 
 and neighboring States. The law creating the Sani- 
 tary District of Chicago was drawn by him, and he 
 was also selected to defend its constitutionality, which 
 had been doubted, but which was sustained by the 
 Supreme Court of Illinois. In his list of clients, Mr. 
 Wilson numbers several leading financial institutions,
 
 704 
 
 prominent among them being the Merchant's National 
 Bank of Chicago, of which he has been the attorney 
 for several years. In 1890 Mr. Wilson was elected 
 general counsel for the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 and the constitutional amendment and legislation in 
 relation thereto, passed at the special session of the 
 Legislature held in 1890. were prepared under his 
 supervision. Mr. Wilson is one of those men whose 
 sole ambition is to excel in their vocation. To this end 
 he has labored with ail energy at his command, and 
 has allowed nothing to tempt him to abandon this, 
 his supreme purpose. As a lawyer simply he stands 
 before the public, but as such he occupies one of the 
 very highest niches in the profession. He has the true 
 Scotch grit in his mental composition, and sticks to 
 study and work with a pertinacity which has enabled 
 him to accomplish wonders in the way of acquiring 
 legal knowledge. His intellect is superlatively clear, his 
 perceptions keen, and his powers of concentration and 
 application extraordinary. He has the faculty' of analy- 
 sis beyond most men, and detects and avoids snares 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GKEA T WEST. 
 
 and complications of a legal character with surprising 
 facility. Speaking of Mr. Wilson, one of the most 
 distinguished lawyers of Chicago said to the writer : 
 " He is essentially a natural lawyer." Content with 
 the honors and emoluments of his profession and the 
 gratification of his scholarly tastes, he seeks no public 
 office; and, while giving freely and gratuitously such 
 aid as may be required of him in beneficent and char- 
 itable public movements, he does so with no other 
 motive than a sense of duty. His nature is of that 
 modest, retiring kind that does good by stealth. There 
 is no vanity whatever in his composition, unless it be 
 to do his appointed work well ; and to that end he con- 
 centrates his every power. A man of irreproachable 
 habits and pure character, as well as honorable profes- 
 sional ambitions, he enjoys the friendship and confi- 
 dence of the most eminent of his fellow-citizens. Mr. 
 Wilson was married on April 25, 1871, to Miss Mar- 
 garet C. Mcllvaine, of Chicago, 111., daughter of J. D. 
 Mcllvaine. They have five children, Margaret C., 
 Martha, John P. Jr., Anna M. and Agnes. 
 
 ALFRED SANFORD WHITE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch was born in 1851 at 
 Liverpool, England, his parents being Henry and 
 Mary (Tricker) White, both natives of the south of 
 England. During his early life the elder White was 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits, but retired before the 
 birth of Alfred, the subject of our sketch. 
 
 . The latter was educated at the Liverpool Institute, 
 where he took a commercial course of training. After 
 leaving school he entered the employ of Andrew Cal- 
 ender of Liverpool, with whom he remained five and a 
 half years. He then, in 1871, started out in business 
 for himself in Liverpool in the commission importing 
 line under the firm name of S. White & Co., in which 
 firm he still has an interest. In 1882 Mr. White came 
 to Chicago and engaged in the export business, the firm 
 being A. S. White & Co., he being the senior member 
 
 of the firm, which does a thriving business, owing its 
 success largely to the business sagacity, experience and 
 ability of Mr. White. 
 
 During his busy life he has found time to travel 
 pretty extensively, both in foreign lands and in this 
 country. He is a member of several social clubs, 
 notably the Chicago, the Washington Park and the 
 Kennett clubs and is a genial, courteous and compan- 
 ionable gentleman in all his social relations. In his 
 religious affiliations he is an adherent of the Episcopal 
 Church. Mr. White was married in November, 1887, to 
 Miss Florence Broonhall, of Cheshire, England, daughter 
 of the late Edward Broonhall, of Chicago, a lady of 
 excellent social qualities and domestic virtues. They 
 have two promising children, a son aged five and a 
 daughter aged three years, to brighten the family circle. 
 
 HON. GEORGE BASS, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 GEORGE BASS is a native of Vermont and now 
 in the prime of life, being not far from forty-six 
 years old. He was born on a farm nestled among the 
 hills of the Green Mountain State. When he was but 
 nine years of age his father died, and though the 
 family was in comfortable circumstances during the 
 life of the head, yet, as often happens when the estate 
 is subjected to the process of enforced settlement, 
 there was barely enough reaLzed to pay the debts. 
 The widow and children thus being thrown upon their 
 
 own resources, in the main, young George had to 
 "hustle" for himself, which- he did, with true New 
 England grit, by working on a farm during the 
 summer and attending the public school in the 
 winter. 
 
 Pluck, and a desire for larger opportunities led him, 
 at the age of thirteen, to Chicago, where, for five 
 years, he worked as best he could at what he could 
 find to do, not neglecting to acquire such an education 
 as was afforded by the public schools. Some of the
 
 ^
 
 MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 707 
 
 time he was a newspaper carrier, during morning 
 hours, and whatever he did, he did well. In July, 
 J865, having saved a little money from his hard 
 earnings, he went back to New England, where he 
 entered the Phillips Academy, at Andover, Mass.. 
 determined to have a good education. Here he 
 remained two years, at the end of which time he 
 entered Harvard University and took a four years' 
 course, supplemented by one year more in the law school 
 of that institution. During all these years the young 
 man kept up his studies and paid his way entirely by 
 his own exertions, engaging in a variety of occupations, 
 among which were serving as tutor in the university 
 classes, keeping boarding house for students, and for a 
 time as reporter for a Boston daily. The latter work, 
 however, exacted more time than he could afford from 
 his studies, and he relinquished it for the more con- 
 genial work of tutor. 
 
 After graduating from the law school, in 1872, Mr. 
 Bass again came to Chicago, and entered the law office 
 of Judge Beckwith, where he continued his studies with 
 great profit to himself, and to the satisfaction of his 
 excellent instructor. In 1875, he opened an office, and 
 commenced to do his share of the necessary hustling 
 for business; in his case this was attended with great 
 success, for he has now a good practice, affording about 
 all the business he can attend to. 
 
 Until recently, Mr. Bass, though active in local 
 politics, has not cared to accept office, though for one 
 
 year he was induced to serve as collector of the town 
 of South Chicago, and was one of the presidential elec- 
 tors on tRe Eepublicau ticket, in 1880. True to his 
 Vermont training, he has always been a Republican, 
 and in the partv affairs of his ward has long been an 
 important factor, holding the position of a successful 
 leader among his political associates. In the fall of 
 1892, Mr. Bass accepted the hearty nomination tendered 
 him as State Senator from hisdistrict, and demonstrated 
 his popularity by being elected by a good majority. 
 His career in the Illinois Legislature was such as was 
 to be expected from a man of his training and ability. 
 Ilis work as a committee man was of the practical and 
 business-like kind which brings results, and whenever 
 Senator Bass took the floor in behalf of an}' measure 
 his colleagues were prepared to listen to common sense 
 propositions, and convincing arguments, worth} 7 of their 
 individual attention. As a speaker, while not posing 
 as an orator, Senator Bass is powerful in presenting the 
 facts, and logical, clear-cut statements of the points of 
 his case. 
 
 In his personal appearance, Senator Bass is a com- 
 pact, well-built man of dark complexion and marked 
 features, his individuality being so prominent as to 
 easily impress those who come in contact with him. He 
 is the happy possessor of an air of genial comradeship, 
 such as wins popularity among his immediate friends 
 and associates, all of whom esteem him for his frank, 
 open-hearted characteristics, as well as for his ability. 
 
 FRANK GARY, M. D., 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 DR. FRANK GARY, the subject of this sketch is 
 the son of Amzi B: Gary, M. D., and Ellen E- 
 Gary, and was born in Wisconsin, October 21, 1857. 
 His father was a prominent surgeon in the U. S. Army 
 and died while in the service of his country during the 
 late civil war. 
 
 Young Gary early developed a fondness for his 
 father's profession and entered Cornell University at 
 Ithaca, N. Y., in the class of 1881. Later he entered 
 the Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he 
 graduated in 1882. While at Cornell he did special 
 work under the direction of Dr. Bert G. Wilder, the 
 eminent comparative anatomist. Soon after completing 
 his studies. Dr. Cary entered the Wisconsin State 
 Asylum as assistant to Dr. Walter Kempster, where he 
 remained for about six months. He then came to 
 Chicago, entering St. Luke's Hospital as interne, where 
 he remained a year and a half. From here he went to 
 New York city to take up the study of pathology 
 under the direction of Dr. Welch, now of the John 
 Hopkins University. Dr. Cary returned from New York 
 to accept the appointment of pathologist in the St. 
 Luke's Hospital of this city and later was appointed 
 lecturer on pathology at the Woman's Medical College 
 
 and subsequently was assigned to that chair, later he 
 was given the chair of internal medicine, which he still 
 holds. In 1891 he was appointed obstetrician to St. 
 Luke's Hospital. A year later, in 1892, he was 
 appointed physician to the children's apartment of the 
 Michael Reese Hospital. Dr. Cary was also connected 
 with the Chicago health department under the ad- 
 ministration of Dr. De Wolf, and held that position 
 until the advent of Mayor Washburne, when he 
 resigned. 
 
 Dr. Cary is a member of the Loyal Legion, the 
 Athletic Club, the Chicago Medical Society, the Ameri- 
 can Medical Association, and the Medico Legal Society. 
 In his religious views he is decidedly liberal. 
 
 Dr. Cary was united in marriage to Miss Harriet 
 Hey I, August 13, 1885, a graduate of Cornell Uni- 
 versity and the Black well Medical College, New York. 
 She served as interne in the New York Infirmary for 
 Women and Children, and is a lady of rare ability and 
 of exceptionally fine social qualities. She is a prominent 
 member of the Chicago Woman's Club. Dr. Cary is a 
 gentleman of refinement, uniformly courteous, and is 
 deservedly popular with all his associates, standing high 
 in the medical profession.
 
 7o8 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 CURTIS M. BEEBE, M. D., 
 
 r CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 CUETIS M. BEEBE, was born in Chicago, April 
 2, 1862. With the exception of five years resi- 
 dence at Geneva, 111., be has always lived in Chi- 
 cago. It was here that he laid the foundation of that 
 broad and thorough training which has made his 
 medical career so successful. Starting in the public 
 schools, he passed through, and graduated at the Chi- 
 cago Central High School, and studied at the Chicago 
 University. He then took a course at the Chicago 
 Homoeopathic Medical College, graduating with honors, 
 and receiving three prizes; and then a post-graduate 
 course at the Long Island Hospital College. He 
 spent several months at Vienna and London in 1892, 
 operating in the hospitals and attending the clinics. 
 He has been in active practice since his graduation 
 eleven years ago. He is attending surgeon to Cook 
 County Hospital, and has been professor of anatomy 
 
 and adjunct professor of diseases of women in his 
 alma mater, the Chicago Homoeopathic Medical 
 College. 
 
 The doctor has attained an eminent position in the 
 profession by his special skill in obstetrics and in 
 general surgery and the surgery of diseases of women. 
 Being wide and favorably known as a conscientious 
 and careful prescriber and operator, he was invited to 
 become the medical officer of the Salvation Army. In 
 this position his many talents enable him to accomplish 
 much that is useful. He is a born leader, both pro- 
 fessionally and spiritually ; an example of generosity 
 and devotion, donating his services, where needed, and 
 at the same time pointing nis patients to the Saviour 
 as the only safe refuge from the storms of life. It can 
 be truly said that Dr. Beebe stands among the first 
 of the homoeopathic physicians of this country. 
 
 KICKHAM SCANLAN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 KICKHAM SCANLAN, well known as an able 
 lawyer and prominently connected with many 
 noted criminal cases, tried in Cook count} 7 , is a native of 
 Chicago, where he was born on October 23, 1864. His 
 father is Michael Scanlan, of Washington," D. C., well 
 known as a writer of both prose and poetr\ r and acorn- 
 poser of music. Young Scanlan attended the public 
 and high schools in Washington, afterward attending 
 the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind. 
 Desiring to enter the legal profession he also took a 
 course at the Chicago College of Law. 
 
 His first business training was gained in the ser- 
 vice of W. P. Rend & Co., the prominent coal mer- 
 chants of Chicago, he having had for some time charge 
 of their Detroit office. At the beginning of his pro- 
 fessional career as a lawyer he was associated with 
 Luther Laflin Mills, George C. Ingham, and Ernest 
 McGaffev of this city, with whom he remained for 
 seven or eight years. Here he developed an aptness 
 for that branch of the legal profession which has made 
 Mr. Mills famous in the handling of criminal cases. His 
 ability and industry soon made his services valuable, 
 and he has for some years been called repeatedly to 
 assist the State's Attorney for Cook county in the 
 prosecution of difficult criminal cases. Among the 
 more notable of these cases may be mentioned the cele- 
 brated Cronin case, at the first trial, when he was asso- 
 ciated with the prosecution comprising the ablest mem- 
 bers of the Chicago bar, with what victorious result is 
 well known. He was also one of the counsel for the 
 State in the Graham-Hanks bribery case in Chicago, in 
 
 the tally sheet fraud cases at Columbus, O., and in the 
 Millington poisoning case at Denver, Col. He has also 
 often been called into criminal cases for the defense, 
 having assisted in the trial of more than thirty homicide 
 cases in Cook county, either for the prosecution or the 
 de'fense. One of the most prominent of the cases in which 
 Mr. Scanlan was one of the counsel for the defense was 
 the McGarigle case, which was handled with consum- 
 mate skill. This was in 1887 and McGarigle, it will 
 be remembered, was charged with being a party to the 
 frauds perpetrated by the county commissioners in 
 connection with the Cook county hospital of which 
 McGarigle was warden. Mr. Scanlau was also associ- 
 ated with State's Attorney Bottum in the early part 
 of the present year, in the second trial of Dan Coughlin 
 for complicity in the murder of Dr. Cronin, which 
 lasted for four months, and which was reported in full 
 by the daily press. Mr. Scanlan added materially to 
 his reputation in the part he took in this famous 
 case, making the opening speech for the prosecution, 
 lasting three days. His analysis and presentation 
 of the case was acknowledged on all hands as one 
 of the most masterly and convincing in the history of 
 the Chicago bar. That the prosecution won its case 
 is the general verdict of the intelligent public, though, 
 as was not unexpected, the jury rendered a verdict of 
 acquittal. Mr. Scanlan deservedly enjoys a large 
 practice, much of which is in civil as well as in criminal 
 cases. As a jury lawyer he is logical, earnest and un- 
 affected, but always convincing. Edgar Lee Masters, 
 well known for his literary abilities, and one of the
 
 v 
 
 ^'
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WST. 
 
 711 
 
 promising young members of the Chicago bar is asso- 
 ciated with Mr. Scanlan in his present practice. 
 
 On January 2, 1890, Mr. Scanlan was married to 
 Miss Sadie Con way, daughter of Michael W. Conway, 
 now fire inspector of Chicago, and who was for several 
 years assistant fire marshal. They have one child, a 
 bright little girl. In politics he is a loyal Republican 
 of the best type, but never given to blind partisanship. 
 
 Mr. Scanlan is a gentleman of culture, and has a 
 
 marked taste for literature, music, and a partiality 
 for outdoor sports. He has fine social qualities, and 
 enjoys the companionship of his friends whenever 
 release from the cares of business will permit, and 
 while the circle of these friends is large, attracted by 
 his sterling worth, it is ever increasing. As aptly 
 expressed by one who knows him thoroughly, Mr. 
 Scanlan " is a man to be depended on at all times." 
 And this is the highest praise. 
 
 ANDREW DUNNING, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 A NDREW DUNNING was born in Chicago, Au- 
 f\ gust 23rd, 1839. He was educated in the public 
 schools, such as they were at the time, and at the break- 
 ing out of the war he enlisted in the 8th Illinois 
 Cavalry. 
 
 lie served four years in the Arm} 7 of the Potomac, 
 and was mustered out as first lieutenant in July, 1865. 
 He returned at once to Chicago and settled at the 
 village of Jefferson, and went into the nursery and fruit 
 business near the present station of Dunning, which 
 when established, was named after him. Although 
 for many years Mr. Dunning has speculated more or 
 less in real estate, it has only been during the last four 
 years that he has turned his attention to it as a busi- 
 ' ness. The best years of his life have been devoted to 
 the nursery and florist business, as D. S. Dunning & 
 Son. Mr. Dunning still retains an active interest in 
 this establishment, although conducting a general real 
 
 estate agency. His specialty is the selling of acre 
 property on commission. 
 
 Everything in the line of realty is bought, sold and 
 exchanged, loans on bond and mortgage are negotiated 
 promptly, and on the most favorable terms, estates are 
 managed, tenants secured, taxes and premiums of insu- 
 rance paid, repairs attended to, etc. Mr. Dunning is 
 agent for more than five thousand acres of choice im- 
 proved farms throughout the most fertile sections of 
 the State, which lie offers at prices which cannot 
 but make an investment highly remunerative. Mr. 
 Dunning married, in 1866, Miss Mary H. Waters, a 
 native of Chicago, she having been born at the 
 corner of Dearborn and Adams streets, then out in 
 the country. 
 
 Three children have been born to them. Mr. Dun- 
 ning is a prominent Mason, having taken all the de- 
 grees up to Knights Templar. 
 
 CHARLES GOSSAGE, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 fMIARLES GOSSAGE was one of the pioneer dry 
 \_^ goods men of Chicago. For a number of years 
 he was at the head of one of the largest dry goods 
 establishments in this city. He was born in North 
 Hamptonshire, England, Jan. 21, 1830; his father, 
 Thomas Gossage, dying when Charles was quite 
 young, he was put under the care of his two uncles, 
 who were his guardians. 
 
 His education was finished at Brighton, England, 
 where he attended boarding school. During his school 
 days he spent his vacations in Paris. In 1853, at the 
 age of 23, Charles and his brother, Brooks W. Gossage, 
 who was 21 years of age, came to this country. The 
 two youths took passage in a sailing vessel, the voyage 
 lasting four weeks, and when the shores of America 
 
 were sighted expressed regret as they had such a 
 pleasant trip. The brothers stayed at New York six 
 months, when they separated, Brooks going to Canada 
 and Charles to Charleston, S. C. In 1857, Mr. Gossage 
 removed to Davenport, la., when the dry goods firm 
 of Gossage & Boyles was established, but not long 
 after Mr. Gossage removed to Cincinnati, where he 
 entered into partnership under the firm name of 
 Deland, Gossage & Cuyler, dry goods. At the 
 breaking out of the rebellion the firm dissolved, 
 and Mr. Gossage went back to England, but Hoon 
 after returned and with Mr. Boyles, his former 
 partner, came to Chicago and entered into part- 
 nership with Mr. William M. Ross, the name of the 
 new firm being Ross & Gossage. In July, 1871, the
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 712 
 
 name of the new firm was changed to Chas. Gossage 
 & Co. The great fire in October, 1871, however, 
 consumed both building and contents. A new start 
 was made, the firm locating on West Madison street, 
 but moved two years afterwards to the corner of State 
 and Washington streets. 
 
 Nearly every old resident of Chicago remembers the 
 big iron lions which stood in front of the Gossage store 
 for many years. During the great fire these lions were 
 either stolen or lost. At any rate they disappeared in 
 some unaccountable manner. One day soon after an 
 
 old lady walked into their West Madison street store 
 and said she had hunted the city over for the iron 
 lions in order to find Gossage & Co. without success. 
 This amused Mr. Gossage so that he ordered new ones 
 to be purchased and set up in front of the store. In 
 June, 1870, Mr. Gossage married Miss Margaret Anna 
 Walker, daughter of George Walker, Esq., of Ottawa, 
 111. Mrs. Gossage died in June, 1874. Mr. Gossage 
 died January 5. 1883, leaving two children, Mary Eliza- 
 beth, now wife of George A. H. Scott, of Chicago, and 
 Margaret Gertrude. 
 
 ANDREW L. THOMPSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ANDREW L. THOMPSON, son of Andrew and 
 Mary (Chase) Thompson, was born in Waupaca 
 county, Wisconsin, on the 7th da\ T of June, 1859. His 
 father was a native of Norway, who came to America 
 and became one of the early settlers of Chicago, where 
 he engaged in the paint and varnish business and also 
 dealt largely in real estate. Ho afterwards moved to 
 Wisconsin where the subject of our sketch was born. 
 Young Thompson attended the country district school 
 and also for a time attended a higher school at 
 Amhurst, Wisconsin. In fact the first twenty-one 
 years of his life was spent as are the lives of other boys 
 born and reared on a farm; he attended school in the 
 winter season and aided his father on the farm the 
 balance of the year. When he attained his majority 
 young Thompson started West to carve out a fortune 
 and for three years he was emplo3'ed as agent for the 
 Singer Sewing Machine Companv in Iowa, Nebraska 
 and the Dakotas. In this business he achieved a rare 
 degree of success and saved money, and was thus 
 enabled when he came to Chicago in 1887 to engage 
 in the real estate business, in which he has been 
 highly successful, and from the beginning has 
 shown rare ability in buying and selling, and has 
 established a reputation for the soundness of his 
 judgment in approximating future values of both im- 
 proved and unimproved city property. He has at 
 times held vast quantities of valuable farm lands, hav- 
 ing at one time owned forty-three farms, but most of 
 this has since been sold and the money invested in 
 Chicago city property, and his holdings of farming 
 lands will not now amount to more than a dozen 
 farms. He now holds, however, many large and valua- 
 ble tracts of fine timber lands in various parts of the 
 country, among which may be mentioned a tract of 
 walnut timber land in southwest Missouri and one con- 
 sisting of 1,000 acres of pine land in Georgia. The 
 
 latter is an especially valuable piece of property, being 
 situated on the banks of a navigable river and its tim- 
 ber is all standing, having never as yet known the bite 
 of the woodman's axe. Mr. Thompson owns two valu- 
 able coal mines in Illinois, both of which are in opera- 
 tion, besides his valuable iron mining properties in 
 Wisconsin and Michigan. 
 
 On the 24th day of September, 1887, Mr. Thompson 
 was united in marriage to Miss Paulina A. Peterson, 
 daughter of J. P. Peterson, of Waupaca county, Wis. 
 One child, a son, has blessed this union and is now a 
 bright, healthy boy, five years of age. Mr. Thompson 
 has been an extensive traveler within the boundaries of 
 his own country, and is familiar with all of the principal 
 cities and most of the points of interest in the United 
 States. In politics he leans toward the Republican 
 party, and generally casts his ballot for that party's 
 candidates, though he always reserves for himself the 
 right to follow the dictates of his own judgment and 
 to vote for such men as will, in his opinion, best fulfill 
 the duties of the office for which they are candidates. 
 He is an attendant of the Methodist Church, and is 
 and has been a contributor to any project looking to 
 the advancement of that church's work or the amelio- 
 ration of the condition of those in distress. Mr. 
 Thompson owes his present position in the business 
 world to himself alone. He obtained a start bv hard 
 work, and that one point gained, his energy, adapta- 
 bility and inherent business sagacity have rapidlv 
 advanced him in his lineof business, until he takes his 
 place in the front rank of Chicago's real estate men, 
 and nine-tenths of his transactions are in his own 
 property. He is quiet and genial in manner and 
 makes many friends, keeping them, once made, 
 without apparent effort, and among the voung men 
 engaged in handling real estate in Chicago few are 
 more popular than Andrew L. Thompson.
 
 
 
 '"
 
 PROMINENT MEN Ofi THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 CHARLES CARROLL BOYLES, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 715 
 
 /"CHARLES CARROLL BOYLES, the veteran dry 
 \~J goods merchant, was born at Marsh field, Yt. 
 (twelve miles from Montpelier), October y, 1833. 
 While still quite young, his parents removed to Milford, 
 N. K., where young Boyles received his early education. 
 He afterwards resided in Salem, Mass., for several years, 
 drifting South quite early in life, we find him, later, 
 actively engaged in the dry goods business at Charleston, 
 S. C. In 1857 he removed to Davenport, la., to engage 
 in the same business forming a partnership with the 
 late Charles Gossage. under the firm name of Gossage 
 & Boyles. Later again this partnership was dissolved, ' 
 Mr. Gossage removing to Cincinnati, Mr. Boyles con- 
 tinuing the business. Later Mr. Boyles followed to 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 In 1863, Mr. Boyles came to Chicago and was 
 associated with the firm of Ross & Gossage. 
 
 In July, 1871, the name of the firm was changed to 
 Charles Gossage & Co., the partners being Charles 
 Gossage and Charles C. Boyles. This firm afterwards 
 built up an immense business, and established a name 
 throughout the country as the leading retail dry goods 
 house of Chicago. During the great fire of October, 
 1871, their building and contents were consumed, 
 but with characteristic energy they immediately 
 secured a new stock of goods and located for a short 
 time on the West Side. Two years after the fire found 
 
 them located in their new quarters on the corner of 
 State and Washington streets, where they continued in 
 business up to the time of Mr. Gossage's death and for 
 a period after that event or until the estate was settled 
 up. After Mr. Gossage's deatli Mr. Boyles was ap- 
 pointed guardian of his two daughters and also one of 
 the administrators of his estate. 
 
 Mr. Boyles always took on active interest in the 
 business, as well known, and highly esteemed as one of 
 Chicago's successful merchants. He lias now practically 
 retired. lie belongs to the church of the Epiphany of 
 this city. 
 
 Mr. Boyles has been twice married, a daughter, 
 Margaret Boyles, survives the first wife. His second 
 wife is the oldest daughter of the late Albert F. Dickin- 
 son, of this city; they have three children, Charles D., 
 Katherine and Thomas D. Boyles. For a number of 
 years they have resided at Riverside, one of the beauti- 
 ful suburbs of Chicago. They also have a large farm 
 and beautiful summer residence on the shores of Lake 
 Geneva, Wis., where they now spend most of their 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Boyles is a man of medium height, well pre- 
 served, the very picture of health, of commanding 
 appearance and pleasing address, well-known for his 
 many charitable acts, always giving quietly, but freely. 
 A man of sterling integrity and the soul of honor. 
 
 JUDGE EUGENE GARY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 EUGENE GARY comes from sturdy New England 
 stock, his ancestors having been prominently 
 known 250 years ago in the history of the old Ply- 
 mouth Colony of Massachusetts. He was born on 
 February 20, 1835, in Boston, Erie county, N. Y., where 
 his boyhood days were spent on a farm and in attend- 
 ance at such schools as the vicinity afforded. At the 
 early age of sixteen he commenced life for himself, 
 teaching school several terms near his home. In 1854 
 he came West and soon after commenced the study of 
 law at Sheboygan, Wis., in the office of Judge David 
 Tuvlor, wiio afterward became one of the Supreme 
 Court judges of Wisconsin. Later he continued his 
 legal studies with Judges James Sheldon and Nathan 
 K. Hall at Buffalo, N. Y., and in 1850 was ad- 
 mitted to the bar of Wisconsin and commenced the 
 practice of his profession at Sheboygan. He was soon 
 after elected city attorney of Sheboygan, and a year 
 later, at the early age of twenty-two, became county 
 judge, which offices he filled with satisfaction. At the 
 outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, Judge Gary 
 
 donned the Federal uniform and went to the front as 
 a captain in the First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in 
 which he did gallant service. He was promoted to the 
 important position of judge-advocate on the staff of 
 Gen. Rosseau, the commander of the First Division of 
 the army of the Cumberland (14th Army Corps). Two 
 brothers also entered the Union army, both as surgeons, 
 one of whom died in the service during the war. Judge 
 Gary recalls with commendable pride the patriotic re- 
 cord of his family, his grandfather having been a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary War, and an uncle in the war 
 of 1812. 
 
 After the war the Judge settled in Nashville, Tenn., 
 where he resumed the practice of his profession, and 
 soon became a prominent member of the Tennessee bar. 
 During his residence in Nashville he was active in the 
 promotion of its educational interests, and served one 
 term as president of the local board of education. His 
 interest in public affairs and his ability were recognized 
 in his election to the State Senate, where he served one 
 term with honor. The prominence won at the bar
 
 7 i6 
 
 also marked Judge Gary as a fitting subject for judicial 
 honors, and he was elected judge of the Circuit Court 
 for the Nashville district, and in that position made a 
 very creditable record. 
 
 In 1871, immediately after the great Chicago fire, 
 Judge Gary removed from Nashville to this city, and 
 became actively identified wiih the insurance business, 
 with which he had become familiar as the Tennessee 
 State agent for the Aetna fire of Hartford. lie has 
 since occupied a prominent position as an insurance 
 manager, and become known not only widely but favor- 
 ably. Upon his advent in Chicago, Judge Gary 
 organized the western department of the Imperial Fire 
 Insurance Company, and served as its general manager 
 until 1873, when he accepted the position of Western 
 manager of the German- American Insurance Com pan y 
 of New York, which position he has continued to hold 
 to the present time. How well the company has pros- 
 pered, due in great measure to its western business, 
 is a matter of record, and known and appreciated in 
 insurance circles. When it is stated that in 1874 the 
 company had assets amounting to$l,672, 362, and a net 
 surplus of $188,248, as compared with assets in 1893 
 of $5,997,403, and a net surplus of $1.655,835, the cash 
 capital of the company being $1,000,000, some idea can 
 be formed of its substantial growth along safe lines. 
 
 It is simple justice to say that much of this growth 
 is due to the sound underwriting policy and enterprise, 
 combined with prudence, which have been for twenty 
 years conspicuous in Judge Gary's management of the 
 great and growing western field. He is and has long 
 been recognized as a leader in western insurance 
 circles, being prominent in the Western Union, an 
 insurance society of great influence. The esteem in 
 which Judge Gary is held by his associates in the 
 
 PROMINENT MK.N OF THE GREAT WEST . 
 
 insurance fraternity is evinced by his election for two 
 terms to the presidency of the Western Union. His 
 services on important committees is also constantly in 
 requisition. 
 
 Judge Gary is not only conspicuous as an insurance 
 manager, but is and has been widely known as a 
 public-spirited citizen, with the courage to give his 
 time and influence, when needed, for the promotion of 
 purity in politics, and efficiency in the public service. 
 He accepted an election to the " reform council" of 
 Chicago for 1877-78, and did good service in it. In 
 1883, entirely without his solicitation, Judge Gary 
 was nominated on the citizens' Republican ticket for 
 mayor of Chicago, and though opposed bitterly by 
 the corrupt machine politicians, backed by the vicious 
 elements of the city, it is generally conceded that he 
 received a majority of the honest votes cast, but was 
 counted out by the election methods then prevailing. 
 
 In his social life Judge Gary is a genial and 
 pleasant gentleman, and one whose friendship is prized 
 most by those who know him best^ He is a member 
 of the Loyal Legion, of which he served one term as 
 commander, and of the Commercial, Chicago, Union 
 League and Washington Park Clubs. 
 
 As characterized by an impartial friend, "Judge 
 Gary is a man of much more than ordinary ability, a 
 good, all around man, at home alike in judicial, literary 
 and business affairs, endowed with an ardent tempera- 
 ment, and most thoroughly disciplined, a firmness and 
 decision of character which never degenerates into 
 stubbornness or impulsive haste, and an integrity 
 which has never been questioned ; withall he is a 
 courteous gentleman wherever found." 
 
 Judge Gary was married in 1858, to Martha C. 
 Row, of Washtenaw county, Mich. 
 
 SETH CATLIN, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 SETH CATLIN was born at Deerfield, Mass., in 
 1812, being the sixth in descent from John Cat- 
 lin, of Weathersfield, Conn., through John Catlin sec- 
 ond, a first settler in Branford, Conn., 'and resident in 
 Newark, N. J., and Deerfield, Mass. His ancestry 
 were of the best New England stock on both sides, 
 some of them serving with great credit in the old 
 French and Indian wars, and in the War of the Revo- 
 lution, while in times of peace they were prominent 
 officials in their respective towns. 
 
 With the pioneer instinct that characterized his an- 
 cestors, Seth Catlin left an excellent position at the 
 age of twenty-two, which he held in a prominent 
 business house in New York City, to identify himself 
 with the undeveloped Chicago of 1834. At that 
 period the infant town just emerging from the condi- 
 tion of a frontier trading post had begun to reach out 
 
 with the instinct born of her commanding position in 
 point of location, which has within a half centurv 
 made her the great commercial metropolis of the great 
 West. With other contractors Mr. Catlin was for a 
 time engaged in the work, of building the Illinois and 
 Michigan canal from Chicago to La Salle. Later he 
 filled many important positions of trust in the com- 
 mercial and banking institutions of Chicago. 
 
 From 1850 to 1855 Mr. Catlin was a member of the 
 firm of G. A. Lindley & Co., engaged in the commis- 
 sion and forwarding business at La Salle. Returning 
 to Chicago he was employed by the house of Hough- 
 telling & Shepard, being placed in charge of their 
 financial interests. 
 
 In all these positions he showed marked ability for 
 the systematic arrangement of affairs, and became rec- 
 ognized as a man of inflexible integrity and upright-
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE CREA T WEST. 
 
 719 
 
 ness. In the arrangement of the commercial system 
 of Chicago, he impressed himself in a peculiar manner. 
 As early as March, 1849, a meeting of merchants and 
 business men was held, for the purpose of organ- 
 izing a Board of Trade, and a constitution was sub- 
 mitted and adopted. April 8, 1849, it assumed 
 corporate character under the general statutes of 
 Illinois. For some years its proceedings were rather 
 of a social than a business character. The discussion 
 of measures calculated to aid the business, and forward 
 the interests of Chicago, rather than the regulation 
 of trade itself, seemed to be the chief subject of its 
 consideration. 
 
 At the twelfth annual meeting of the directors of 
 the Board of Trade, held in their new rooms South 
 Water and LaSalle streets, in the spring of 1858, Mr. 
 Catlin was elected secretary; his ability as an account- 
 ant and his general business knowledge peculiarly fit- 
 ting him for that important position. The membership 
 at that time was 377. 
 
 Through the intelligent and comprehensive arrange- 
 
 ments made by Mr. Catlin as secretary, the board 
 entered on a new stage of existence. Up to that time 
 there had been no records kept of the trade and com- 
 merce of Chicago. He at once began the compilation 
 of statistics, and in that year published the first annual 
 report of the Board of Trade. In this work he was 
 assisted by his sons, Richard, George and Charles. 
 Eastern market reports were received and trading 
 in the staple articles of Chicago commerce took on new 
 activity. The system arranged by him has been sub- 
 stantially followed to the present time. Mr. Catlin con- 
 tinued as secretary of the Board during the rest of his 
 life. In the latter part of the year 1863 he was attacked 
 by disease, which after a few months, terminated his 
 active and useful life on the 19th of January, 1864, at 
 the age af 52 years. 
 
 His death was regarded as a great loss by the board 
 of trade. Resolutions highly commendatory of his 
 fidelity and ability were adopted, and later the board 
 also caused a handsome monument to be erected to his 
 memory at Rose Hill cemetery. 
 
 COL. HENRY L. TURNER, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMONG the many men who have distinguished 
 themselves in connection with the handling of 
 real estate in this city, Henry L. Turner holds a prom- 
 inent place. Few are more popular among the real 
 estate fraternity than lie, and few have had a more 
 successful career in commercial pursuits. Mr. Turner 
 was born in Oberlin, Ohio, August 26. 1845. He spent 
 the first years of his life graduating at Oberlin College 
 and served his country during the late war as first 
 lieutenant of the one hundred and fiftieth Ohio Volun- 
 teer Infantry Regiment and was also first lieutenant 
 and adjutant of the fifth United States colored troops. 
 Among the engagements in which he participated were 
 Fort Stevens, the siege of Richmond, second battle of 
 Fair Oaks, the attack on Fort Fisher under General 
 Butler, the capture of Fort Fisher under General 
 Terry, the capture of Wilmington and the surrender of 
 General Joe Johnston. When the war was over he 
 came to Chicago and entered the business office of the 
 Advance, where he remained for some time. Later he 
 entered the office of Jay Cook & Co., Philadelphia, 
 remaining with that firm until their failure in 1873. 
 Returning to Chicago he again associated himself with 
 the Advance, which paper he afterwards purchased and 
 conducted for two years, when he sold the publication. 
 Mr. Turner began to operate in real estate as an 
 agent in this city in 1874, and shortly after formed a 
 copartnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Marsh, 
 under the firm name of Turner & Marsh. The firm 
 
 existed only a few months, however, as Mr. Marsh was 
 offered and accepted an important mission in Europe. 
 In May, 1875, Mr. Turner joined Wm. A. Bond, who 
 had been in the real estate business for some time, 
 establishing a firm under the name of Turner & Bond. 
 For sixteen years this firm was located at 102 Wash- 
 ington street, until the premises were sold to the Cook 
 County Title and Trust Company. This sale was 
 negotiated by the firm, and ranked as the third largest 
 sale of downtown business property consummated in 
 the year 1892. After leaving 102 Washington street, 
 Messrs. Turner & Bond then located at 175 Dearborn 
 street, where they continued the real estate business 
 until Mr. Turner retired from the firm to enter into 
 the banking and investment business at 92 Dearborn 
 street, in which business Mr. Turner is still engaged. 
 He is also president of the Western Publishing Com- 
 pany, one of the largest subscription book publishing 
 firms in the city. Colonel Turner is an enthusiastic 
 National Guardsman, being colonel of the first 
 infantry. He is also a member of the Loyal Legion. 
 Six years ago Colonel Turner was elected a trustee 
 of the Oberlin College, his Alma Mater. As a 
 writer he has achieved considerable prominence, as an 
 after-dinner speaker he is at his best, and as a horse- 
 man he is an enthusiastic and excellent rider and the 
 owner of several fine mounts. He was elected presi- 
 dent of the Real Estate Board' in 1888, of which body 
 he has always been an active and influential member.
 
 720 
 
 PROMINENT MEN OF THE GREA T WEST. 
 
 HOMER N. HIBBARD, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 HOMER N. H1BI5ARD was born at Bethel, Wind- 
 sor county, Vt., November 7, 182-i. His early 
 life was passed upon his father's farm and in attending 
 the common schools of the neighborhood. When 
 about fifteen years old he began attendance at the 
 academy at Randolph, Vt. Unfortunately for him, 
 however, his father was unable to keep him at school, 
 and when he was eighteen years of age he began 
 studying law in the office of J. C. Dexier, of Rut- 
 land. While thus occupied he began to fit himself 
 for college, having for a tutor the Rev. William 
 Mitchell. To secure means for the accomplishment 
 of this purpose he was obliged to teach school 
 nearly half his time, but he succeeded in earning 
 money enough to complete his preparatory course and 
 pay his way through Castleton seminary and the Ver- 
 mont University, graduating from the latter institution 
 with high honor in 1850. For some years thereafter 
 he was engaged in teaching, but that occupation not 
 being to his taste, as soon as he had laid by sufficient 
 funds, he entered the Dane Law School, of Harvard 
 College, remaining there until the spring of 1853, 
 when he returned to Burlington and for six months 
 longer studied the legal profession in the office of Gov. 
 Levi Underwood. He was admitted to the bar, and 
 in the fall of 1853 came to Chicago and opened 
 a law office in partnership with an old class- 
 
 mate, John A. Jameson. Clients, however, did 
 not flock to the office of this firm, and becom- 
 ing discouraged, in 1854 they removed to Freeport, 
 which, at that time, was a dangerous rival of Chicago. 
 His partner soon returned to this city, but he remained 
 there, securing a paying practice, and became one of 
 the most prominent men in that section of the State. He 
 was for several years city att rney of Freeport, was 
 master in chancery, and was president of the board of 
 education. In 1860 he returned to Chicago, when the 
 firm of Cornell, Jameson and Hibbard was organized, 
 and which continued in operation until 1865. He sub- 
 sequently associated himself with M. B. Rich and 
 James J. Noble, and the firm of Hibbard, Rich & 
 Noble was formed. In 1870 he was appointed by 
 Judge Drummond of the United States District Court 
 register in bankruptcy. He has been a director in the 
 National Bank of Illinois, vice-president of the Ameri- 
 can Insurance Company, and has held various other 
 positions of trust and public importance. He is an 
 elder in the Presbyterian Church, and though a Re- 
 publican, has never taken any active part in politics. 
 While residing in Freeport, Mr. Hibbard was married 
 to Miss Jane Noble, daughter of Hon. William Noble, 
 of Burlington, Vt., a lady who had been associated 
 with him in teaching in the high school in the early 
 days of his career. 
 
 AMUND G. THOMPSON, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
 
 AMUND G. THOMPSON, son of Andrew and 
 Mary (Chase) Thompson, was born at Amherst, 
 Portage county, Wis., on January 22, 1857. His father 
 was a native of Norway, who after coming to America 
 was one of the earliest settlers in Chicago, where for 
 some years he was engaged in the paint business, deal- 
 ing also extensively in real estate. He later moved to 
 Wisconsin, where the subject of this sketch first saw 
 the light of day. Young Thompson's earl}' education 
 was gained in the public schools at Scandinavia, Wis., 
 and later he attended the college at Decorah, Iowa, 
 from which he graduated in 1878. 
 
 After leaving school he was employed as a travel- 
 ing salesman by a musical instrument house, and after 
 spending several years on the road representing differ- 
 ent houses in that line he located at Aurora, 111., where 
 he opened a music store. He remained there for two 
 years, and enjoyed a good and constantly increasing 
 business, when he sold out and came to Chicago in 
 order to commence the manufacture of the drink known 
 as "Wild Cherry Phosphate,"of which he was the orig- 
 inator. This was in 1887, and since that time the 
 business has steadily grown until it has assumed enor- 
 
 mous proportions, and the Thompson Wild Cherry 
 Phosphate Manufacturing Co. is known all over the 
 United States and Europe, and they have branch 
 offices in every important city in the country. 
 
 On the 7th da}' of July, 1885, Mr. Thompson was 
 united in marriage to Miss Rose E. Johnson, at Floyd, 
 Iowa, a highly educated and accomplished lady who 
 has presented him with one child, a daughter. 
 
 In appearance Mr. Thompson looks the well-to do 
 business man that he is, and easily takes a leading rank 
 among the leading men of Chicago. In manner he is 
 genial and pleasant, and is exceedingly popular with a 
 large circle of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 He has one natural gift, for the possession of which 
 many would make almost any sacrifice, viz., the gift of 
 a natural musician, for he finds but little difficulty in 
 mastering any instrument designed to make music. 
 This talent was alike valuable to himself and his 
 employers while he was engaged in the music trade, but 
 since entering upon his present line of business it has 
 been of little use to him, though it frequently proves 
 an infallable means by which his friends are delighted 
 and his own fine musical taste gratified.
 
 /
 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Abel, Jonathan 683 
 
 Ackerman, William K 263 
 
 Adams, Dr. Charles 55 
 
 Aldricb, Hon. Charles H 532 
 
 Aldrich, Hon. James F 279 
 
 Altgeld, Hon. John P 639 
 
 Anderson, Franklin 8 700 
 
 Anderson, Jatnes C 684 
 
 Anderson, John 14 
 
 Angell , James B 14 
 
 Antisdel, Albert 687 
 
 Armour, Philip D 202 
 
 Arnold, Walter C 15 
 
 Avery, Daniel J 251 
 
 Ayer, Benjamin F 250 
 
 Babcock, Dr. Elmer E .-. 39 
 
 Bacheldor, Edward A 313 
 
 Bailey, Hon. Joseph M 15 
 
 Harbour, Hon. George H : 83 
 
 Barrett, Elmer E -358 
 
 Barrett, John B . . 245 
 
 Bass, Hon. George 704 
 
 Bay, George P 52 
 
 Beebe, Dr. Curtis M 708 
 
 Beniis.H.V 240 
 
 Best, William 209 
 
 Bettman, Dr. Boerne 13 
 
 Billings, Cornelius K. G 62 
 
 Bissell, George F 245 
 
 Blackstone, Timothy B 431 
 
 Blatchford, E. W 361 
 
 Blodgett, Delos A 16 
 
 Bond. Joseph 89 
 
 Bond, Lester L 48 
 
 Boyles, Charles C 715 
 
 Brenan, Thomas 51 
 
 Brooks, Jr., Jonathan W 250 
 
 Brophy, Dr. Truman W % . 559 
 
 Browne, Hon. J. J 19 
 
 Brown, Dr. Moreau R 444 
 
 Bruni, Louis 74 
 
 Bryan, Thomas B 27 
 
 Buck, Dr. James P 444 
 
 Buecking, Dr. Edward F 676 
 
 Buehler, John 56 
 
 Buffum, Dr. Joseph H 311 
 
 Burdiok, Hon. Theodore W 69 
 
 Burgett, John M. H 535 
 
 Burnham, Daniel H 55 
 
 Burton, Francis L 388 
 
 Byford, Dr. Henry T 60 
 
 Cable, Herman D 20 
 
 Cahill, Edward T 480 
 
 Camp, Isaac N 189 
 
 Campbell, Wallace 59 
 
 Campbell, Hon. William J , 535 
 
 Cary, Judge Eugene 715 
 
 Page. 
 
 Cary, Dr. Frank 707 
 
 Case, Theodore G ..419 
 
 Cass, Joseph F 43 
 
 Catlin, Seth 716 
 
 Chaiser, Andrew 273 
 
 Chalmers, William J 411 
 
 Chamberlin, Humphrey B 43 
 
 Clarke, Jr., John V 44 
 
 Clarke, Rev. William G 324 
 
 Coale, Ailee V 476 
 
 Cobb, Henry Ives 435 
 
 Cobb, Silas B 341 
 
 Coburn, Lewis L 331 
 
 Cochran, John L 436 
 
 Coe, Albert L 32 
 
 Colby, Col. Francis T 40 
 
 'Coleman, Dr. W. Franklin 47 
 
 Comstock, Hon. John 66 
 
 Cooper, Andrew J 31 
 
 Coram, Joseph A 28 
 
 Craig, Charles P 24 
 
 Crawford, O. W 35 
 
 Cudahy, John 36 
 
 Cudahy, Michael 483 
 
 Dabbs, Josiah L 74 
 
 Dandy, John M 664 
 
 Davidson, John P 73 
 
 Davis, Hon. George R 487 
 
 Davis, Dr. Nathan S 109 
 
 Dean, Joseph 70 
 
 Deering, William 154 
 
 Dewey, David B 479 
 
 Dickinson, Albert F 76 
 
 Dickinson, Albert (Plate p. 138) 103 
 
 Dickinson, Charles 138 
 
 Dickinson, Col. John T 320 
 
 Dickinson, Nathan (Plate p. 138) 94 
 
 Doane, John W 205 
 
 Dolese, John 475 
 
 Doolittle, Hon. James R 80 
 
 Drake, Gen. Francis M 62 
 
 Drake, John A 95 
 
 Dreyer, Edward S 100 
 
 Dunn, Dr. Wesley A 579 
 
 Dunning, Andrew 711 
 
 Earle, Dr. Charles Warrington 357 
 
 Eberhart, John F '. 400 
 
 Elliott, William S., Jr 544 
 
 Ellsworth, Eugene S 132 
 
 Ennis, Hon. Alfred 283 
 
 Etheridge, Dr. James H 372 
 
 Everingham, Lyman 183 
 
 Exall, Henry.... 555 
 
 Fairbank, Nathaniel K 387 
 
 Fallows, Bishop Samuel 203 
 
 Fargo, Charles H 110
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Farnum, Dr. Edward J 691 
 
 Farrell, Felix G 528 
 
 Feehan, Archbishop, Patrick A 233 
 
 Ferguson, Charles H 265 
 
 Ferris, George W. G 602 
 
 Field, Marshall 185 
 
 Fisher, HOD. D. 270 
 
 Fisk, Dr. Franklin W 408 
 
 Flandrau, Han. Charles E 210 
 
 Flower, James M 404 
 
 Forrest, William S 246 
 
 Forsyth, Jacob 290 
 
 Foss, James F. R 592 
 
 Fortner, Dr. Elbert C 667 
 
 Fnimbach, Col. H. A 201 
 
 Freshwaters, Milton R 601 
 
 Fry, Edwin J 500 
 
 Fullerton, Alexander N 187 
 
 Gage, Albert 8 i 235 
 
 Gage, Frank N 284 
 
 Gage. Lymau J 7 
 
 Garretson, A. S 524 
 
 Gates, John W 595 
 
 Gilo, Abner 700 
 
 Oilman, Dr. John E 150 
 
 Gobel, Elias F 242 
 
 Gore, Dr. Joel R 672 
 
 Gossage, Charles 711 
 
 Goudy, Hon. William C 591 
 
 Gray, Prof. Elisha 116 
 
 Gray, William H 206' 
 
 Greene, Dr. Frank C 443 
 
 Gribble, Risdon D 539 
 
 Griffiths, John 252 
 
 Grisvvold, Edward P 428 
 
 Gross, Samuel E 10 
 
 Grosvenor, Dr. Lemuel C 112 
 
 Gunther, Charles F 90 
 
 Guthrie, John W 260 
 
 Hagestead, II. M 625 
 
 Hair, Benjamin M 427 
 
 Hale, Dr. Edwin M 141 
 
 Halligan, Jewell N 472 
 
 Hamill, Charles D 196 
 
 Hamilton, David G 166 
 
 Hamilton, William A 391 
 
 Hanoa, John R 584 
 
 Harbeck, Eugene 464 
 
 Harris, Samuel A 652 
 
 Harrison, Hugh G 636 
 
 Harrison, Matthew B 614 
 
 Harrison, Thomas A 679 
 
 Harsh, James B 231 
 
 Harsha, Dr. William M 155 
 
 Harvey, Turlington W % 312 
 
 Henderson, Charles M 136 
 
 Henn^in, Charles 153 
 
 llenroun, Dr. Fernsind 407 
 
 Herrlck, JoS'n J". 6?8 
 
 Herrick, Roswell Z 120 
 
 Hesing, Hon. Washington 459 
 
 Ilibbard, Hon. Homer N .' 720 
 
 Higinbotham, Harlow N 225 
 
 Higgins, Hon. Van H .His 567 
 
 Hill, Henry 626 
 
 Hill, Hon. Lysandi-r 432 
 
 Hills, John N 334 
 
 Hilliard, Laurin P 165 
 
 Hixon, Gideon C 660 
 
 Hocker, Richard W 663 
 
 Holdom, Jesse 495 
 
 Hollister, Harvey J 692 
 
 Page. 
 
 Holmes, Dr. <1ward L 427 
 
 Horton, Hon. Oliver H 523 
 
 Hotz, Dr. Ferdinand C. 264 
 
 Houston, Capt. B. F 537 
 
 Hovey, Hon. A. G 613 
 
 Hoyt, Frederick W 605 
 
 Humphreys, Albert E 496 
 
 Hurci, Hon. Harvey B 143 
 
 Hurlbut, Dr. Vincent L 216 
 
 Hutchinson, Charles L 131 
 
 Ingalls, Dr. E. Fletcher. 
 
 293 
 
 Janzen, John 602 
 
 Jay, Dr. Milton 289 
 
 Jenkins, Robert E 583 
 
 Johnson, C. Porter 508 
 
 Johnston, John 276 
 
 Jones, Dr. Samuel J ] 93 
 
 Joslyn, Rodolphus Waite 327 
 
 Joy, William L 543 
 
 Judson, Charles E ]28 
 
 Kerr. Hon. William R 199 
 
 Keilh, Elbridge G 353 
 
 Kimbark, Seneca D 79 
 
 King, Henry W 95 
 
 Kingman, Martin 671 
 
 Kirk, John B '. 633 
 
 Kistler, Louis 431 
 
 Lacey, Hon. Edward S 239 
 
 Lake, Richard C 200 
 
 Lawrence, Edward F 304 
 
 Lawrence, Hon. William 369 
 
 Lay, Albert Tracey 241 
 
 Leech, Dr. Monroe S 361 
 
 Leiter, Levi Z 375 
 
 Leland, Warren F 349 
 
 Lobdell, Edwin L 288 
 
 Logan, Frank G 328 
 
 Loose, Jacob L 294 
 
 Low, Dr. James E 556 
 
 Lowdon, James G 527 
 
 Lud'am, Dr. Reuben 266 
 
 Lyman, Hon. David B 488 
 
 . Lyman, Dr. Henry M 373 
 
 McAndrews, William H 216 
 
 McCormick, Cyrus H 96 
 
 McHenry, W. A 552 
 
 McKee, John E 391 
 
 McWilliams, Dr. Samuel A 104 
 
 Mallory, Hon. Smith II 848 
 
 Mason, Hon. William E 106 
 
 Maspero, Henry 539 
 
 Mathis, ThomasH 512 
 
 Meacham, Andrew J 617 
 
 Mead, Aaron B.. 345 
 
 Meagher, John F 606 
 
 Medill, Hon. Joseph 275 
 
 Merriam, Hon. William R 84 
 
 Merrill, William F 137 
 
 Merrill, Alfred 656 
 
 Merritt, Andrus R '. . 588 
 
 Merritt, Cassius C 492 
 
 Merritt, Leonidas 610 
 
 Merritt, Lewis J 220 
 
 Merrill, Napoleon B 632 
 
 Miller, John S 420 
 
 Millican, Dr. II. Barrie 618 
 
 Mitchell, Dr. Clifford 467 
 
 Mitchell, John J 179 
 
 Mitchell, Philemon L 544 
 
 Montgomery, Dr. Listen H 121
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Moore, Dr. Daniel G 676 
 
 Morgan, Frank M 468 
 
 Moss, Albert B 503 
 
 M .ulton, Col. George M 274 
 
 Murphy, Dr. John B 415 
 
 Murray, William T 520 
 
 Newman, Dr. Henry P 423 
 
 Nickerson, Samuel M 332 
 
 Odell, John J. P 383 
 
 Ostrancler, Dempster 190 
 
 Owen, Robert L 503 
 
 Owens, Dr. John E 188 
 
 Ovvings, Francis P 181 
 
 Palmer, Potter 180 
 
 Pdlmsr, Hon. Thomas W 491 
 
 Payne. Hon. John B 379 
 
 Peaisons, Dr. Daniel K 147 
 
 Peck, Ferdinand 146 
 
 Perkins, Hon. George C 587 
 
 Perry, Isaac N 696 
 
 Peterson, Andrew '. 280 
 
 Pettibone, Philo F 164 
 
 Pillsbury, Hon. George A 160 
 
 Piper, Frederick A 568 
 
 Pollasky, Marcus 668 
 
 Porter, Frederick C 680 
 
 Porter, Washington 156 
 
 Pratt, Dr. Edwin H 504 
 
 Pullman, George M 317 
 
 Putnam, G. F 564 
 
 Putnam, Henry C 659 
 
 Quick, John H. S 135 
 
 Quine, Dr. William E 139 
 
 Raum, Gen. Green B 168 
 
 Redfield, Chandler S 395 
 
 Reinhart, Joseph W 440 
 
 Rend, Col. William P 229 
 
 Rhodes, J. Foster 338 
 
 Risser, Abraham F 376 
 
 Robinson, Harry P 350 
 
 Roe, Gilbert W 640 
 
 Rosenbaum, Morris ', 256 
 
 Rothschild, Abram M 323 
 
 Rothschild, Emanuel 399 
 
 Rowe, Dr. N 294 
 
 Rumsey, Capt. Israel P 1 174 
 
 Russell, Richard C 337 
 
 Rutherford, Dr. Clarendon 635 
 
 Scanlan, Kickham 708 
 
 Schmitt, Anthony 298 
 
 Schneider, George 236 
 
 Schoch, Hon. Albert F 531 
 
 Schoeninger, Adolph 484 
 
 Schwabacher, Julius 540 
 
 Schwabacher, Morris 346 
 
 Seebcrger, Anthony F 463 
 
 Seegar, William H 625 
 
 Sempill, Walter M 524 
 
 Senn, Dr. Nicholas 333 
 
 Sexton, Col. James A 621 
 
 Seymour, Hon. Henry W 551 
 
 Shepard, Jason H 440 
 
 Sherman, Elijah B 362 
 
 Shouts, Theodore P 342 
 
 Shugart, Dr. John D 412 
 
 Shuman, Percy L 384 
 
 Simpson, S. P 543 
 
 Slocum, Dr. Charles E 297 
 
 Page 
 
 Smith, Judge Abner 453 
 
 Smith, Dunlap 530 
 
 Smith, Frank J 307 
 
 Smith, George T 319 
 
 Smith, Samuel R 511 
 
 Smith, Dr. William R 576 
 
 Snyder, Robert M 276 
 
 Sponable, Hon. John W .- 609 
 
 Spray, Dr. John C 416 
 
 St. John, Everette 471 
 
 Staples, Isaac 618 
 
 Stearns, Dr. William M 699 
 
 Steele, Dr. D. A. K 424 
 
 Stensland, Paul 380 
 
 Stephens, Hon. Lon. V 572 
 
 Stobo, Robert 439 
 
 Stone, Augustus L 226 
 
 Stone, Thomas J 396 
 
 Streeter, Dr. John W 448 
 
 Stuart, Robert 435 
 
 Su'herland, William J 392 
 
 Swain, Dr. Edgar D 301 
 
 Tarbell, Gage E 1P6 
 
 Tuscher, Dr. John 613 
 
 Taylor, H. C. Chatfleld 219 
 
 Thomas, Benjamin 350 
 
 Thomasson, Nelson 460 
 
 Thompson, Amund G " 720 
 
 Thompson, Andrew L 712 
 
 Thompson, Dr. Jay J 655 
 
 Tobey, Frank B 259 
 
 Torrence, Gen. Joseph T 223 
 
 Traiopr, John C 354 
 
 Trott, Dr. Dudley C 675 
 
 Truax, Charles 302 
 
 Turner, Col. Henry L 719 
 
 Upton. George P. 289 
 
 Van Allen, Martin 456 
 
 Van Slyke, Napoleon B 138 
 
 Van Steenwyk, Gen. Gysbeit 644 
 
 Vocke, Hon. William 308 
 
 Wacker, Charles H 324 
 
 Walker, Edwin 195 
 
 Walker, Francis W 499 
 
 Walker, Thomas B 516 
 
 Walsh, John R 270 
 
 Ward, Albert L 366 
 
 Ware, Dr. Lyman 269 
 
 Weadock, Hon. Thomas A. E 631 
 
 Welch, Dr. Patrick H : 399 
 
 Wetherell, Oscar D 303 
 
 Wheeler, D. L 320 
 
 Wheeler, Francis T 308 
 
 Wheeler, Geo. H 451 
 
 Wheelock, Hon. William W 536 
 
 White, Alfred S 704 
 
 Widney, Hon. Robert M 596 
 
 Willard, Alonzo J 455 
 
 Willard, John A 314 
 
 Williams, Abram 287 
 
 Williams, Hon. Charles B 387 
 
 Willing, Henry J 412 
 
 Wilson, JohnP 703 
 
 Winants, William H 571 
 
 Wolfe, Hon. Thomas 273 
 
 Wolff, Ludwig 447 
 
 Woodbury, Gen. Roger W 255 
 
 Yerkes, Charles T 560
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA