USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of representative men of Chicago, Minnesota cities and the World's Columbian exposition : with illustrations on steel. V. 2 > Part 1
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Gc 977.302 C43bio v. 2 1526229
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02114 0576
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict02amer
THE
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
AND
PORTRAIT GALLERY
GE
REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF CHICAGO.
MINNESOTA CITIES
AND THE
WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ON STEEL.
GC 977. 302 C43 bin 1.2
1.2 :
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. HI. C. COOPER, JR .. & CO., PROPRIETORS. 1892.
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Missouri Pacific and Iron Mountain Railroads, a director in several banks, and a man of social prominence. He died in Paris, France, in 1873, at the age of sixty-six, leaving seven sons, the second of whom is the subject of this sketch. The early education of Francis Kennett was conducted by governesses and tutors at his father's country- seat near St. Louis. Later he attended Washing- ton University, St. Louis, and Seton Hall Col- lege, New Jersey, and in 1866 he went to Europe and spent several years in travel and study, be- coming proficient in French and German, and acquiring a taste for art and literature. In 1874 he married Ella Frances Durand, only daughter of J. M. Durand, Esq., of Chicago, and in 1878 he engaged in business on the Board of Trade. During the first years of his business career he met with serious reverses, but by perseverance, close application and a strict adherence to cautious, conservative methods, he soon overcame all obstacles, and became a prominent figure in the front rank of the shrewd, active business men who have made the Board of Trade of Chicago the greatest and most influential com- mercial body of its kind in the world. To-day
Mr. Kennett is the senior partner in the large banking and commission house of Kennett, Hop- . kins & Co., of Chicago and New York, and his name is added to the list of those to whose energy and enterprise Chicago owes her phenom- enal prosperity. Modest and retiring in dis- position, he has never taken an active part in political or municipal affairs, but has always been a quiet and untiring supporter of men whose reputation and character were calculated to purify public office. He is an unostentatious, though free contributor to charity, and in his family circle and among his intimate friends his hospitality and liberality are proverbial. A marked char- acteristic is his tender regard for and devotion to his mother, a very highly educated and cul- tivated lady. His home is embellished with those luxuries and comforts which are the evidences of a refined taste, combined with worldly prosperity, and he is happy in the possession of a devoted wife and five lovely children. Though not a club-man in its broadest sense, Mr. Kennett is a member of the Chicago and Washington Park clubs of Chicago, and of the Manhattan and New York clubs of New York.
AUGUSTUS GEO. BULLOCH,
WORCESTER, MASS.
A UGUSTUS GEO. BULLOCH, Commis- sioner-at-Large, was born at Enfield, Con- necticut, June 2, 1847. Resides now and always resided at Worcester, Massachusetts.
Son of Alexander Hamilton Bulloch and Elvira (Hazard) Bulloch. Alexander Hamilton Bulloch, who died in January, 1882, was one of the best known men in Massachusetts, where he was for many years prominent in literary and political circles. He was Speaker of the House of Rep- resentatives of Massachusetts for five years, a member of its senate, one of the judges of its court, and finally Governor of Massachusetts in the years 1866, 1867 and 1868. He was tendered the ministry to England by President Hayes, but was obliged to decline it on account of ill health. He received the degree of LL.D. from Amherst and Harvard Colleges. He was, perhaps, the finest orator Massachusetts has produced since Edward
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Everett, and his orations and addresses have been collected and published.
Augustus Geo. Bulloch, the subject of this sketch, entered Harvard College in 1864, was grad- uated in 1868, receiving the degree of A.B. and three years later took the degree of A.M.
After graduation he traveled in Europe for a year, and on his return home, wishing to learn something of practical business, connected himself for a year or so with a banking house. But the natural tendency of his mind, his taste and inclin- ations was rather towards a study of law and lit- erary and scholastic pursuits. After several years of study he was admitted to the bar of Worcester county. He practiced law for seven years, during most of which time he was associated with Senator Hoar and Judge Nelson of the United District Court, who at that time were practicing in Wor- cester. In 1883 the Directors of the State Mutual
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Life Assurance Company, wishing to develop and enlarge its business, determined to select some young man of acknowledged ability and reputa- tion to be at the head of it, and offered to Mr. Bulloch the presidency and treasurership. The State Mutual is a very old company with large surplus, and the highest reputation for conserv- atism and strength-one of the most prominent financial institutions of New England. It was not an offer to be declined. Mr. Bulloch accepted it January, 1883, and now holds the offices named. During his administration the assets of the com- pany have more than doubled, and the business of · business corporations. the company is being pushed in all directions in a very profitable manner. It has a large business in the principal cities of the West, notably Chicago. A great many of its investments have been made in Chicago in mortgages on improved business property. Most of these have been placed under Mr. Bulloch's supervision. He has had for many years a large acquaintance among Chicago busi- ness men, and is well known also socially. His acquaintance and personal relations thus admi- rably qualify him to aid in all the work relating to the Exposition. His relations to many of the
members of the Chicago Directory are of an in- timate personal character, and they have always had his hearty co-operation and enthusiastic sup- port from the first session of the Commission as they undoubtedly will have until the last.
Mr. Bulloch is a member of various literary societies, among them the American Bar Associa- tion, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Antiquarian Society, etc. He is presi- dent and treasurer of the State Mutual Life Assu- rance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, director in several banks, railroads and other
He is a Democrat in politics and has been from the first, but has but little time, and perhaps in- clination, to take an active part in politics. He is the only Commissioner-at-Large appointed from New England. As chairman of the Committee on Fine Arts Mr. Bulloch has a very important duty to perform in the formation and administra- tion of the Exposition, which his taste and edu- cation eminently qualify him to perform.
He married in 1871 Mary Chandler, daughter of Dr. Geo. Chandler of Worcester, and they have three sons, the oldest a student at Harvard College.
HENRY CLAUSSENIUS,
CHICAGO, ILL.
H ENRY CLAUSSENIUS, a prominent busi- ness man of Chicago, for many years Ger- man consul and now Austrian consul, was born on the first of February, 1825, at Eschwege, Electorate of Hessen-since 1868 province of Hesse-Nassau-kingdom of Prussia, and is the son of Anton Wilhelm Claussenius and Maria Louisa, née Wagner. His father was a justice of the circuit court at Eschwege and Bischhausen, and died February 5, 1831. His mother was a native of Cassel, and died in 1867. His grand- parents were Rev. William Claussenius, of Allen- dorf, and Christian Wagner, of Cassel, court sta- tioner of the Elector of Hesse and the King of Westphalia.
After the death of his father, which occurred when he was six years old, his mother was sup- ported by a pension, and with him removed to her home in Cassel, where he was educated
at the expense of his near relatives, all of whom were high officials of the government of Hesse. Among them were William Eicken- burg, presiding judge of the Court of Appeals and William Becher, privy secretary of the treasury.
After receiving his primary education he at- tended the Gymnasium and State Seminary, and qualified himself for teaching, to the entire satis -. faction of his professors. At the close of his studies he was appointed teacher for Bischhausen, receiving a compensation of about one hundred thalers per annum. Owing to his meagre salary he left this position, and became private in- structor and companion of Comte de Viomenil, of Rouen, who desired to learn the German lan- guage. With him he traveled through Germany, Italy and France, and on leaving the position, in 1847, established a private school at Bischhausen,
He Claussenus,
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which he conducted with success till the revolution of 1848.
In March of this year he went to Erfurt, thence to Cassel, seeking in vain for employment, and finally, in 1850, dissatisfied with the political con- dition of his country, determined to emigrate to the United States of America. Accordingly, on the 13th of June, he took passage on the Bremen sailing-vessel Agnes, and, after a trip of sixty- three days, landed in New York with three Prus- sian thalers in his pocket.
He immediately found work, engaging in vari- ous kinds of employment-as paper-hanger and journeyman in an umbrella factory, sign and win- dow-shade painter, and as a carver. Being a good draughtsman, he was quite successful in this last employment.
Knowing something of the English language, and understanding the German and French per- fectly, his condition steadily improved, and he never had occasion to repent coming to a republic whose peculiar institutions afford so many chances for the development and advancement of the youth of other countries.
On the 2d of May, 1854, he married Miss Johanna Tilly, at which time he was doing a good paying business, employing five carvers and two apprentices, and clearing from twenty to thirty dollars per week, which then represented much more than at present.
His wife, who died a few years ago, was of a highly respectable family in the former Duchy of Nassau (her father having been a court offi- cial, who died early, leaving little means for the education of his three children), and through her acquaintance Mr. Claussenius was intro- duced to some American families in New York of highest financial and social standing, and also to the former consul-general of Prussia, Sax- ony, Baden, etc., the Hon. J. W. Schmidt, who was at that time senior partner of one of the oldest German mercantile firms of New York City. Early in 1855, Mr. Schmidt being about to make a visit to Europe, induced Mr. Claussenius to accept a position as private secre- tary in his consulate office, and give up his carv- ing-shop to his brother George. Upon Mr. Schmidt's return from Europe he appointed Mr. Claussenius chancellor of the consulate-general, which position he occupied until May, 1864, when
he was appointed by the Prussian government consul for Chicago, being recommended for the place by Baron Von Gerolt, the well-known Prus- sian minister, for many years at Washington ; by Baron Edward Von der Heydt (son of the Prus- sian minister of finance), and by consul-general Schmidt.
Arriving at Chicago he was further appointed consul of Saxony, Mecklenburg, Duchy of Alten- burg, the Thuringian Principalities, Schwarzburg, Rudolstaat and Sondershausen, Duchy of Anhalt and Grand Duchy of Baden, etc.
After the war of Prussia against Austria, in 1866, he was appointed consul of the North Ger- man Confederation, and after the Franco-German war (1870-71) he was again appointed consul of the German Empire, including Alsace and Lor- raine. He has always been very successful in discharging his duties to the satisfaction of the German government, and at the same time car- ried on a private business of his own, both at. New York and Chicago.
In October, 1864, he established with but little capital a passage ticket, foreign exchange and col- lecting-house in Chicago, based on his own good name and credit. Doing only legitimate trans- actions on a small scale, his business is not one of the largest of Chicago, but is progressing slowly and surely. The great fire of 1871 swept away his house and office, library, etc., involving a loss to him of eighteen thousand dollars.
The panic of 1873-74 caused many a wealthier house to totter and fall, yet Mr. Claussenius has steadily prospered and rebuilt his private resi- dence, eighty by one hundred feet, on the corner of Cass and Superior streets, where he now resides.
He has six children-Adolph, Edward, George, Henry, Mina and Bismarck, of whom Adolph, Edward and George are in his business.
Since the death of his partner, Robert Schnitz- ler, in 1873, Mr. Claussenius has been the sole proprietor of the firm of H. Claussenius & Co.
For his official services he has been honored by the respective governments with the following decorations, namely : First, Comthur's cross, first class of the Order of Albrecht the Brave, King of Saxony; second, knight's cross, first class of the Order of Lion of Zaeringin, Grand Duke of Ba- den; third, knight's cross of the Order of the Ernestinian House, Duke of Altenburg; fourth,
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knight's cross, first class of Order of Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria.
- In social life, in establishing schools, benevolent societies, glee clubs, etc., he has taken an active part. He has been a member of the German Society, of New York, since 1863, also of other musical organizations, including the Liederkranz and the Arion, two of the best known in the United States; member of honor of both socie- ties.
He was one of the founders of the Nineteenth Ward School, and first vice-president of the board of directors; was also one of the founders of the Northeastern Dispensary of New York, of which he was German director and member of financial committee.
Like his own government, his views are anti- slavery, but he has taken no prominent part in American politics.
In 1865, in connection with a few German friends, he organized the old Germania Mænner- chor, of which he was first president, and several times re-elected. He was also, in 1868, president of the grand singer festival of Chicago, which proved such a financial and artistic success. He assisted in forming the German Relief and Aid Society for Emigrants, in order to keep them in the State, being aware that every able-bodied individual is a capital to the State in which he resides. He has several times been president or
vice-president of the Germania Society. In 1870 he was appointed chairman of the central com- mittee for the relief of German soldiers disabled in the Franco-German war, which position he subsequently resigned. He is also director of the German-American Dispensary.
Mr. Claussenius visited his native land in 1875, and was received with great distinction by all the. ministers and high-standing counselors at Berlin, Dresden, Munich, etc. Since then he has fre- quently visited Europe.
He is not a member of any church, but his religion may be defined in his own words-" Hon- esty toward all men ; live and let live."
In the year 1878, when the German government had made Chicago a diplomatic consulate (con- sul missur), which would not be allowed to do a mercantile business, and obliged the incumbent to be sent to any foreign place, in Australia, Asia, etc., etc., Mr. Claussenius resigned, and became immediately after appointed imperial and royal consul of Austria-Hungary, which office and position he still holds. And here we can say that Mr. Claussenius is in the consular service of the " Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" thirty-seven years (March 22, 1892). In the same year, 1878, Mr. Claussenius was appointed gen- eral Western agent for the North-German Lloyd Steamship Company, of Bremen, which office he still holds.
J. M. W. JONES,
CHICAGO, ILL.
IN this city of marvelous growth, both in wealth and in population, we have no hesi- tation in saying, that of our representative men four-fifths are our country neighbors. Physical development, power of endurance, indomitable courage, together with intellectual vigor, business instinct and inventive genius, gather into this great center from country homes. Poor, indeed, would be the mental and physical status of the urban population were it not for the constant influx of the agriculturist class. Like many of our best business men, the subject of this sketch, J. M. W. Jones, was born in humble circumstances on a New York farm. His capital in life's start
consisted only of robust health, great energy, indomitable perseverance and sterling honesty. With this capital and a limited education, young Jones started life. To-day he is one of Chicago's most prominent and respected business men.
He was born in 1821 at Hoosac, Rensselaer county, New York, and comes from a family remarkable for longevity-his great-grandmother having lived to the age of one hundred and six years ; his grandmother to the age of ninety-seven, and his mother, who is still living, has attained her ninety-fifth year. He was the eldest son of a family of nine children, and received his early education in the district school and from such
Ame - - Big Pub Comicago
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help as is usual in a country home. His days were those of most country boys willing and able to work. At the age of eighteen he removed to Troy, and for seventeen years was engaged the greater part of that period-either as employé or employer in the book and stationery business. As the proprietor of the Troy Book Store, Mr. Jones was widely known and highly respected. In the moments stolen from his business, he devoted himself diligently to study and succeded in making up .for the loss of a more liberal education in early life. Possessing an excellent memory and an inquiring mind, he will to-day compare favorably with those who have had the advantages of a college course. Having acquired a thorough business training and knowledge, Mr. Jones took Horace Greeley's advice to go west. In 1857 he removed to Chicago, where he deter- mined to commence business. For that purpose he purchased the business of Messrs. Burley & Co., a blank book and stationery firm, 122 Lake street. This house had been established in 1835, before the city had been incorporated. The J. M. W. Jones Company is the lineal descendent of the old house and is, we believe, the oldest and most complete manufacturing firm of the kind in Chicago to-day. For ten years Mr. Jones carried on business with energy and success in the Lake street house, but in 1867 he removed to larger premises to accommodate his increased business. He again enlarged in 1869. The great strain and constant business anxiety began to tell on his health, and in obedience to medical advice and his family's wishes he took a vacation in Europe. Renewed in health and energy, he returned only to work more closely. The fire of 1871 brought disaster to Mr. Jones, as it did to hundreds of others. While the fire was still raging, and although he had lost everything but his real- estate, he secured other premises on Canal street and began again. This is characteristic of the man. Everything swept away, yet his indomit- able courage was apparent. His credit was then as good as it is now, but in the panic of 1873 he allowed most of his real estate to go, that his credit might remain untarnished. His business reputation and honorable methods brought him safely through this crisis to which so many succumbed. We next find him at Nos. 104 and 106 Madison street with a larger business than
ever. The difficulties that overwhelmed other men only made him more energetic, earnest and successful. In 1879 he removed to the corner of Monroe and Dearborn streets, where he applied himself unsparingly to his increasing business.
Three years ago, Mr. Jones found that it would be greatly to the advantage of the company to have suitable premises of their own, specially built for the business. True to the business instinct which guided him, he again moved south, this time to Sherman street, near the New Board of Trade building. Every business man knows that the city's center of traffic has been and is steadily tending southward. It was Lake street, then Randolph Street, and now it is Madison street. There is no doubt that Van Buren street and even Harrison street will have their day. It is noticeable that every location made by Mr. Jones has been in the line and in anticipation of the city's change of traffic. Mr. Jones has built commodious premises with one hundred feet front by ninety-four feet deep and six stories high, and now occupies them in this rapidly improving thoroughfare. This is, we believe, one of the many proofs Mr. Jones has given of business fore- sight and sagacity. Quiet, unassuming and courteous, he makes friends of all with whom he comes in contact. Firm in the discharge of his duty, experienced in financial transactions, and safe in his investments, he is an acknowledged authority in the business world. During his long residence in Chicago he has proved himself to be a man of keen business insight, scrupulously honorable and of unblemished integrity. With a record unsullied and above reproach from the time he left his humble parents' farm in New York to the present, when he holds the responsible position of head of the oldest business firm of this city, J. M. W. Jones stands forth the type and the embodiment of the kindly, generous and unosten- tatious self-made man.
Mr. Jones takes an intelligent interest in politics. He has very strong convictions, but takes no active part in political struggles. He is an earnest and uncompromising free-trader, and holds the tariff to be a tax and an unjust one-a discrimination in favor of the wealthy corporations against the masses of the people. He has never held any political office, and desires none. His political work consists of recording his vote for
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the party that agrees with his political principles. While holding strong opinions of his own, he is tolerant and liberal in his treatment of others.
In 1859, Mr. Jones married Harriet, second daughter of George W. Snow, Esq., one of Chicago's oldest and most respected citizens. They have had six children-only three, one boy and two girls, are now living. In the love and affection of the family circle Mr. Jones finds his only happiness. To surround his wife and family with every comfort and luxury is his constant endeavor and his greatest pleasure. His residence is on Dearborn avenue on the North Side of the city.
The rule is universal : That trouble, affliction and death will visit every home. Mr. Jones has learned that however successful in business, how- ever happy in the family circle, the rule is without exception.
" Into each life some rain must fall : Some days must be dark and dreary."
His son, Warren Snow, born in 1861, a young man of great ability and of brilliant acquirements,
died when just entering into manhood, at the early age of twenty-seven years. Another son, Robert Lindell, born in 1868, highly educated, and with a gentle, loving nature, died when only twenty-two years old.
The office of loving parents, to watch and tend from infancy to manhood, the growth of the young mind as it opens into all the beauty and strength of mature development, affords one of the greatest of parental pleasures. When by an inscrutable decree, they lose by death the loved ones, to whom they looked forward in later years as a joy and a solace they suffer the bitterest of parental sorrows. To see the fine physical form and robust health-the hope of the father and the idol of the mother-cut down in early life wrings the parental heart with anguish. To them there remains but the memory of the loved ones ; their loving, generous and kindly nature is ever present to the afflicted family ; the favorite book, the vacant chair and the few last words are held in reverence. They bow in submission and they suffer in silence. Mors janua vitæ.
D. HARRY HAMMER,
CHICAGO, ILL.
D. HARRY HAMMER was born at Spring- field, Illinois, December 23, 1840, and is the son of John and Eliza (Witmer) Hammer. His parents came to Chicago, Illinois, in 1837, the father having formerly been a merchant and manufacturer at Hagerstown, Maryland. The mother was a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Mr. John Witmer, a soldier of the war of 1812. In 1842, while Harry was yet a mere child, the family removed to the vicinity of Chicago, where his boyhood days were spent in attending the district schools. He applied him- self to his studies with unremitting energy, and even then showed those brilliant qualities which have characterized his life and helped him to achieve the high position which he now occupies. He also, during his boyhood, acquired a thorough knowledge of the saddlery and harness trade. He taught school during the winters.
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