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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF SOME OF THE
EARLY SETTLERS
OF THE
CITY OF CHICAGO.
PART I.
S. LISLE SMITH, GEORGE DAVIS,
DR. PHILIP MAXWELL,
JOHN J. BROWN,
RICHARD L. WILSON,
COL. LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL
URIAH P. HARRIS, HENRY J. CLARKE,
SAMUEL J. LOWE.
Gen. P.A. Shinidaw
with Compliments CHICAGO: FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY. 244-8 ILLINOIS STREET, 1876.
THENEW YORK PUBLI: LIBRARY P 96643
ASTOR TILDEN
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
H
FOR
COLL
INTRODUCTION.
THE following pages are intended merely as sketches of character-not labored biographies. In the inception, the object was simply to prepare a few newspaper articles, to be read and thrown aside, as other ephemeral literature. But partial, very likely over-partial, friends, who saw the earlier manuscripts, believed them worthy of a better fate- believed them (how could I question the verdict?) to be recollections of the fast-growing dim past, that should be garnered, and would be cordially received and valued by the olden-time citizens of Chicago. This being the case, and my friend of "auld lang syne", Mr. Robert Fergus, having determined to give them the dignity of a book, no one can regret more sincerely than the writer that greater care was not taken in the preparation-that they were not given more at length-that more of birth and family had not been gathered. That would have made them interest- ing-to their descendants.
The general public, however, may fancy them as well in the present form. They, at least, care little or nothing where the accident of birth occurred, or whether the name of the father was John or Jehosaphat, and that of the mother Mary or Jerusha! They simply require a mental photograph of those who walked the streets when Chicago was a terra incognita,-who filled the places they now fill, -who passed through the same trials and had the same hopes and fears-the same clothing and passions of mor- tality. Birth or nation, we take it, has little to do with how each "acts his part." It is the man only that sur- vives-save with the loving hearts of kindred.
Of the knowledge of what I have feebly attempted, I was part of all. Though not among the earliest, yet I was an early citizen of the now famous "Garden City," and iny business was such as to throw me into intimate association with all classes, more than was generally the case, and the lines written upon the memory of the boy have not been obliterated from that of the gray-headed man any more than the city can be blotted from the map of the world, -such a thing could never be. Love for
INTRODUCTION.
those still living, and graves (may they be ever green ones) by the lake side forbid such a thing.
Of my ability to do justice to those who "have gone on before," I feel its want to the extreme, and, had I known what was to follow, would have burned the first pages of manuscript and shrank from the task,-what it was I realized too late. But one thing I do know - nothing untruthful, no single word of bitterness (no matter what might have occurred in other days, when hearts beat high and passions ran strong,) has been permitted to be here set down. Indeed, I can say-and that with my hand upon my heart-that nothing of the kind remains. Looking backward, one almost shudders as he learns that what he considered the fault of another was his own, and the blame rests upon his shoulders alone !
Chicago, it must be remembered, was a very different affair thirty and forty years ago from what it is now. Then everybody knew everybody, as in village society. Conse- quently, one could not but be familiar with the men who stood the highest in the community-with their acts as their faces-could not but be interwoven with them in daily life-could not but have stamped upon memory their individuality. Then, there were comparatively few who marked themselves above their fellows, and to forget them would be to forget, almost, one's self-and writing of them is as turning open the book of your own life.
It would be impossible for any to write of so long ago without having their statements questioned, and I do not expect to escape. Human memory at best is treacherous, and the same witnesses often look at the same transaction from a different standpoint. To anyone in the least familiar with courts of justice this explanation will be sufficient. 'To any others who may quibble, I can say, in all honesty, that any statement of fact made in these pages is a fact "according to the best of my information and belief," and that we may have looked at the same object at a different time or from an opposite side.
As to opinions of character, they are my own. Not a single person has made any suggestion-not one attempted the slightest influence. If I have erred in my judgment of men, I am alone responsible. My study of character may be wrong, but, as I have judged others, I am willing to be judged.
HON. S. LISLE SMITH.
There was no one better known to the "old citizens " of Chicago, nor justly more famous for brilliancy and innate kindness of heart, than SAMUEL LISLE SMITH-or. as he was familiarly called. "Lisle."
Gifted by nature far above the great majority of his fellows, with a rare education, striking ideality, and love and appreciation of the poetic and beautiful. with the most retentive of memories-one so marvelously perfect that he could quote the words, section, page, and book of almost anything he had ever read, and his simple ipse dixit would be taken as law in any court in the city-a natural as well as finely cultivated orator, he was, indeed. at the head of his compeers at least in that respect.
In stature, Mr. Smith was about medium size, with a slightly florid complexion, rather light hair, active in his movements, rapid as forcible in speech, graceful in every gesture, wonderful in imagery, the very soul of pathos. and could hold an audience spell-bound for any length of time, as was proven again and again.
As to his eloquence, the entire wisdom and the selected "best speakers " of the nation bowed unanimously to it. at the famous " Harbor and River Convention." Horace Greeley said he was "the star speaker of the vast assem- bly stood without a rival," and the writer of this has often seen a letter from Henry Clay, avowing that he "was the best orator he had ever heard." Could better testimony be required to prove a fact? In short, Mr. Smith stood head and front above all he met at that time (as, indeed.
I
2
S. LISLE SMITH.
at any other) for magnetic influence over the masses, for flow of language, for all that goes to make up the orator -stood without the approach of a rival-without it might have been S. S. PRENTISS.
When Lisle Smith spoke, the house was certain to be crowded, no matter what its size or what the occasion. All who resided in the "Garden City" ("Urbs in horto," as the motto upon the Corporate Seal has it) at the time, and were fortunate enough to hear him, will remember with pleasure his eulogy upon JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, when the Methodist Church (then standing on the corner of Washington and Clark Streets) was so jammed that the speaker had to be taken in at a window and carried over the heads of the audience to the pulpit; also his famous oration before the "Sons of Penn," at the little wooden church of the Second Presbyterian Society (situate on Randolph Street, midway between Clark and Dearborn). and, also, his address at the "Irish Relief Meeting," at the Baptist Church on the corner of Washington and LaSalle Streets.
Of the "Penn" oration, I remember well the incidents preceding it. It was delivered upon the afternoon of the funeral of JUDGE JESSE B. THOMAS. After the ser- vices, Mr. Smith and myself left together-he to keep his appointment and I to listen. Benjamin F. Taylor, the poet of the day, had finished, and the large audience was anxiously waiting. Mr. Smith entered, walked rapidly to the pulpit, and prefaced his oration with the following fitly-chosen words, and in a voice tremulous with emo- tion :--
" Returning from the funeral obsequies of a dear, tried, and trusted friend, I appear before you with a mournful heart and sorrowing spirit to perform the duty allotted to me."
Then he plunged, in media res, into the subject, by quoting, "Saint John upon the Isle of Patmos, said: write
3
S. LISLE SMITH.
to my friends in Philadelphia," and for an hour not a sound was to be heard save his own voice, unless when the pent-up enthusiasm could no longer be restrained, and applause caused the very roof to vibrate.
His power over an audience was wonderful-matchless -his flights of fancy sublime, and have never, I think, been surpassed. He was bitterly severe when he chose to indulge in invective, as shown in his numerous politi- cal speeches, but it was the keen cutting of the razor rather than the dulled edge of the sword; and he had no equal in pathos, as the not-to-be-checked tears of the multitude at the "Irish Relief Meeting" most faithfully attested. Not one there, I venture to assert, has forgot- ten, or ever can forget, his vividly terrible description of the approach of gaunt, skeleton famine, of hollow-eyed starvation, as it stalked resistlessly through the land, touch- ing first the finger tips, and then creeping slowly on until it reached and fastened upon the heart-the wildly fear- ful Nemesis that bowed strong men and loving women and innocent childhood, and turned the "Green Isle of the sea" into a horrible graveyard! It was too living a reality -- too minutely faithful and eloquently voiced a description ever to be effaced from memory.
There was, also, a vast fund of humor in the character of Mr. Smith, though permitted to show itself more in private than public - not broad, Falstaffian, grotesque humor, but a subtle, delicate appreciation of mirth, which his power of mimicry made irresistible, and of which many instances might be adduced. This, with a charity that was as unostentatious as it was lavish, underlaid all his actions and assisted much in giving the magnetism that instantly made him en rapport with any audience.
But notwithstanding his powers of oratory-his brilliant flow of language, that was always chosen from the inevi- tably best words, and always poetic in imagery as pure in diction and logical in argument, nothing-literally noth-
4
S. LISLE SMITH.
ing --- remains of his speeches save a glowing, though sad. memory. The perfume of the rose lingers around the broken vase, but, alas! that is all,
" Appealing by the magic of his name, To gentle feelings, and affections kept Within the heart, like gold."
. Shortly after his death, his lifetime friend, RICHARD L. WILSON, (of the Evening Fournal,) -- another brave heart and true, --- and others endeavored to obtain data for their publication. but nothing could be found. He never wrote a single word even of his greatest efforts. It was his custom, when preparing a speech, to walk up and down the shore of the lake, talking to himself ---- shaping the crude material into form, and, with the matter once fluxed in the subtle crucible of his brain. it was never forgotten.
In political life, he stood among the foremost, ever in the van; though never either asking or accepting an office when proffered, while working devotedly for his party and his friends. Of this let me give a single instance out of the multitude, one that will show more clearly the man than any words of my own could do. He was- could not conceal the fact- disappointed in the nomination of GENERAL TAYLOR, but when the old warrior was fairly in the field for the Presidency, he threw all his influence in his favor and did much towards securing his election. That accomplished, and the inauguration over, he visited Washington and paid his respects to the Chief Magistrate. Again and again he called, chatting interestingly, as he so well could do. and left without a word of business. Then he called yet once more, to say farewell, and as he was about leaving, the old war horse said, in his bluff and hearty way,
"Mr. Smith, I like you."
"'The admiration is more than mutual," replied Lisle : "but why, General?"
"Because you are very different from anyone who has
5
S. LISLE SMITH.
called upon me. Everybody wants an office. and you have asked for nothing.'
"And would not accept the highest in your gift."
"But can I do nothing for you, sir?"
"Nothing personally, but, if you please, General, it would be a great pleasure to me if you would appoint Post Master at Chicago;" and he eloquently presented the claims of the candidate.
Need I say the appointment was made ?.
Were space permitted, I could fill pages with such pleas- ant memories of the man-memories that deserve to be perpetuated : but a brief notice is all that is permitted.
His political speeches were, truly, a power in the land. An old-line Whig of the strictest school, he loved-wor- shipped were, perhaps, the more fitting term-" Harry of the West," as he delighted to call Clay; and, probably, did more for his party than any of his time in Illinois. Right or wrong he carried his hearers with him, and spent his money freely in the cause. So much was he interested in the political struggles of the country that he gave up the practice of his profession (law) at an early day, though, had he been so disposed, he would have been without a rival as a jury lawyer -- would have occupied the place at the Chi- cago Bar that James T. Brady occupied in New York.
In social intercourse, no man was (or is) to be found who could more charm or hold fast the attention. That this was the case, all who ever shared his open-handed hospitality. and that of his beautiful and accomplished wife. will attest. His conversation was of the character that made one a willing listener, and compelled regret when he had finished, for-
"On every point, in earnest or in jest,
His judgment, and his prudence, and his wit. Were deemed the very touchstone and the test Of what was proper, graceful, just, and fit."
This I saw proven again and again, even among strangers.
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S. LISLE SMITH.
When the first "Sherman House" (created from the "City Hotel") was standing, Mr. Smith entered, one evening, with a friend, and their conversation drifted upon the life and character of Henry Clay. The reading-room was filled with men engaged with their own particular topics, but, as he enlarged upon his idea, everyone became silent, and remained so until a very late hour. Of that night I have a perfectly distinct recollection, and especially of the con- clusion. The dust of the years that have fallen have failed to dim its individuality.
"I tell you, ' said the enthusiastic orator, "that Harry Clay will never die, but will be translated, like Elijah of old. When the Lord wants him, he will send down angels with a golden chariot, and one of them will tell his errand. 'Wait a moment,' will be the courteous reply, 'I must bid my wife farewell.' Entering the house, he will tell of the kingly summons, and say, 'Mary, I must go-farewell. Tell everyone that the Union must and shall be preserved,' and stepping into the heavenly car will be borne aloft from glory unto glory!"
I feel that I have failed in giving the beauty of his words- the sublimity of his imagery,-indeed I might as well attempt to chain a sunbeam. The hour and the "man eloquent," the burning eye, the wrapt face, the impassioned gestures-all are wanting-can never be reproduced. But this may give a feeble conception of the reality.
I think I am perfectly safe in asserting that Lisle Smith never had an enemy, even though far from faultless. But his errors never injured others. He was loved by the high and low, and the cold-blooded, cynical, and fault-finding dared not deny his greatness as an orator and his large- hearted and sympathetic liberality as a man. At his death one of the old and most striking landmarks was blotted out. He was a member of the "Old Settlers'" and many other societies, and was universally regretted. As far as I know his place has never been filled, and he who is worthy
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S. LISLE SMITH.
to step in his shoes will, indeed, have a proud record. Ah' how many hearts beat sadly as the bell tolled for him, and how many trembling lips whispered, "Brave heart, true friend, hail and farewell."
GEORGE DAVIS.
The musical population of Chicago -- id est, old Chicago -will remember, with feelings of pleasure as well as regret. the man whose name stands at the head of this brief biography.
Though English by the accident of birth, Mr. Davis came early to this country-was a thorough and patriotic American at heart, and his popularity enabled him to secure and long retain the office of County Clerk.
A "fellow of infinite jest." with a kind word and smile for everyone who approached him, he had troops of friends. who remained firm until the very last, and sorrowed truly when death called him hence :- but it could not have been to the land of silence, for from the choir of earth he must have been welcomed by the sweet singers above.
Mr. Davis was the prime mover in all charitable con- certs, as he was the most noted leader of his time in the Episcopal Church (first Saint James', and, subsequently, Trinity), of which he was a member, and no entertainment of which vocal music was a part was complete without him. Though gifted with uncommon powers in rendering the plaintive (who does not remember the "Surf"? and how he would have given expression to "Annie Laurie"!) yet it was in the grotesque-the serio-comic- the broadly humorous-that his rare mimicry could best be brought
8
GEORGE DAVIS.
into play, and his facial expression used -- that he most ex- celled, and will, perhaps, be the best remembered. There he stood, without a rival-if, indeed, any could be found in the "Garden City" at the present time.
Of this, I need but mention "The Great Mogul"-sung as it was by him-acted as it was by him-I think it has never been equalled upon the stage, and certainly not surpassed. Of course, there were many others, the words of which he himself set to music, that ever caused laughter, and never failed to "bring down the house," but the song I have mentioned was the most riotous in expression, although
"A merrier man, Within the limits of becoming mirth, I never spent an hour's talk withal."
Of the power exercised by his singing, I mention one striking instance, showing, as it does, not alone the charm of a rich and cultivated voice, but the respect and love in which he was held by the citizens-one so great as to subdue even the wild waves of land speculation and ever- grasping avarice -- to make the might of Orpheus no fable and the lures of the Sirens no myth.
At the time of the sale of Canal lands and lots in Sep- tember. 1848. Mr. Davis lived upon Canal Street, between Randolph and Madison, holding a quasi preemption upon the lot on which his house was builded. The property was even then valuable, though the fabulous prices at which it has since been sold were never dreamed of, and many were anxious to purchase. The adjoining property had been disposed of at an extreme figure, and when the auc- tioneer (James A. Marshall) put up that particular lot, "George " trembled, for fear it would be run up beyond his ability to purchase. It was well known that he was not the possessor of a very bountiful supply of this world's goods (so liberal, so open-handed and open-hearted a man never could be), and he whispered his trouble to some of
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GEORGE DAVIS.
his friends, and it instantly became known to the crowd, whose sympathy was not slow in being aroused. His bid (the valuation) was made and then a song was called for, and. mounting upon the top of an omnibus, he sang as. perhaps, he never did before. or after. in his life -- sang with his whole heart. and eyes misty with gratitude. There was no bid against him-music carried the day, and, though David Leavitt (the President of the Canal Board) fumed. he was powerless to stem the tide of popular feeling, and was forced to see a valuable lot sacrificed for a merely nominal sum-in fact, sold for a song !
It may be urged that Chicago was young at that time -- the people uncultivated, and not competent judges of music; but those who assert such a thing know little of what they are talking about, and are overwise in their own conceit. Ask anyone who lived then and is living now, and he will tell you that the amateur concerts of those days shame many of the professionals now : that Mrs. Harring- ton, Mrs. Dr. J. Jay Stuart, Henry Tucker. George Davis. "the sweet girl singer of St. James'," and others," have never been surpassed for purity of voices and skill of execution. Ah! what a bright galaxy have passed away, and what an addition has been made to that matchless choir "whose strains are immortal and whose vibrations are eternal."
Mr. Davis was essentially a social man, and one whose presence was ever felt, or missed. This was owing to his genial face, his ever-bubbling wit, and suave manners, as much as to his great musical ability, liberal charities, and warm friendship. No sorrow or want ever appealed to him in vain. and if it was little he could bestow, that little seemed to carry with it a blessing and a benediction. With his leaving Chicago (to settle in Detroit) one of the olden links was broken-one of the most familiar of the old faces
* \'m. M. Larrabee, Moss Botsford, Charles Collier, Augustus II Burley, and Charles Burley
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GEORGE DAVIS.
gone; but those who remember the little, two-story brick building that stood upon the North-East corner of the Public Square, and was dignified with the title of "Court House," will rarely think of it without associating him with it-forming, as he did, the attraction for so many years.
Mr. Davis was, in the strongest meaning of the term, a friend; and, as far as my recollection serves. never had an enemy-save such as might have grown up from his fer- vent espousal of the case of the Rev. William F. Walker, in the then celebrated church trial, and of which it may be said, en passant, was bitter in the extreme .- long-contin- ued - argued with great eloquence, but which left a bale- ful shadow over the congregation for a long time .*
He was of fine physique and presence and carriage. something of a bon vivant in his manner of living, and it was a matter of wonder that he did not take a place as speaker as well as singer, for certainly he had all the requisites-except, perhaps, assurance. But he loved " sweet melodies married to words," better than all else. and though there was much of the artist in his nature. and he sketched well, yet music absorbed all his spare time, and even trespassed upon the hours of business.
His name --- the few thoughts here jotted down will re-open the pages of the past to those of the olden time, and his friends (and who were not?) will drop another tear upon his grave, and kindly brush the moss from the marble above it.
* The array of legal learning present it would be difficult to dupli- cate now, for in it were interested such men as Justin Butterfield, General James A. McDougall, Isaac N. Arnold, John J. Brown, and Patrick Ballingall.
II
PHILIP MAXWELL, M.D.
The Medical Faculty of Chicago would, and justly, deem themselves neglected if no mention was made of the Fal- staff of the Profession who, to use one of his own argu- ments why he should be elected to the Legislature, "carried weight with him!'
In physique, at least, this was true. Dr. Maxwell was a man of more than ordinary stature and unctuousness; yet barely approximating to the gross. He carried his two hundred and eighty pounds very easily and gracefully. though that is more than could have been truly said of the favorite grey horse upon which he was accustomed to dash through the streets with all the chic and erectness of a sol- clier and the abandon and insouciance of an Indian. In- deed, so active and light were his movements, for one of his figure, that it was always a subject of remark, especially when mounting and dismounting. So, too, was it when he trippingly danced in those "good old days" when Chicago Society was a unit and unbroken by cliques -- by the with- drawal of the crème de la crème from the "promiscous gath- erings," and the setting up for themselves of a standard blazened with the motto "I am better than thou," a most sublime piece of egotism.
Of this permit a word.
The last general, free, and genial reunion of the votaries of Terpsichore was held at the "Sherman House." and (1 think) known as the "Mechanics Ball." It was gotten up as an offset to that of the "Young Bachelors," a very select and (supposed to be) recherche affair, and the tickets placed at the merely nominal sum of one dollar, including car-
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PHILIP MAXWELL, M.D.
riages and refreshments. To carry out the intention of the originators (and who, by the way, had a large deficiency of funds to make up)-all prominent citizens were enlisted as managers, and a difficulty arose as to how they could be classed as Mechanics.
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