Album of genealogy and biograghy, Cook County, Illinois, 10th ed., Part 12

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago, Calumet book & engraving co
Number of Pages: 916

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biograghy, Cook County, Illinois, 10th ed. > Part 12

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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

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

DR. BENJAMIN C. MILLER.

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

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

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

B. C. MILLER.

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

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

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

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

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

Entering Rush Medical College of Chicago, young Miller was graduated with honor on the 9th of February, 1869. He passed the competi- tive examination, and was appointed House Phy- sician and Surgeon of Cook County Hospital, serving a year and a-half. He was then niade County Physician, in which capacity he served two years. He was immediately made Superintendent of Public Charities, having charge of the County Hospital, Insane Asylum and Alms House. After filling this position about eighteen months, he was appointed Sanitary Superintendent of Chicago by Mayor Medill, and was continued in that office by Mayor Colvin. During this period he was very useful in the community by his skill- ful management of the cholera epidemic of 1873. In 1875 he was made Surgeon, with the rank of Major, on the staff of Gen. A. C. Ducat, Com- mander of the Illinois National Guard. In 1876 Dr. Miller resigned the position of Sanitary Su- perintendent and went abroad. He spent about a year in studying in hospitals at Aberdeen and Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England. Returning to Chicago, with added knowledge from these observations, he was enabled to com- mand a large share of the most difficult and re-

J. M. HANNAHS.

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

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

career will be found on another page of this work.

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

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

JAMES M. HANNAHS.

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

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

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

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hannahs became the parents of four children, all sons: Chauncey, Marvin, William and Daniel. Of these, Marvin removed to Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan, i11 1835, and became one of the leading men in that locality, and in later years his son George

J. M. HANNAHS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JACOB FORSYTH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JACOB FORSYTH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

T. T. PROSSER.

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

In appearance Mr. Forsyth is a large, well-

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

TREAT T. PROSSER.

REAT T. PROSSER. There are few tasks more difficult than to sketch the life of an inventor. The world is so jealous of inno- vation and improvement upon established meth- ods, so wedded to the past, and withal so disin- clined to recognize the brilliancy of more prac- tical genius, that the man who discovers de- ficiencies in practical mechanics and supplies them often goes to his grave unrewarded, even by the gratitude of the world he has benefited. He hears the name of the warrior, of the statesman, of the poet, even of the politician, in every household or business mart, but often his own, if mentioned at all, as of one who is building cas- tles in the air.

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

The Prossers are of Welsh descent, but the Treats, from whom Mr. Prosser was descended on the maternal side, were English. The first ancestors of the former family to come to America were two brothers, who came from Wales some time prior to the Revolutionary War, in which supreme contest two of their descendants partici- pated, and one met his death. The family lived 011 Prosser Hill, just outside of Boston, and it was in the Prosser barn that the members of the historic Boston "tea party" disguised themselves as Indians, previous to throwing the tea over- board into Boston Harbor. Grandfather John Prosser was one of the two members of the family mentioned previously as having served in the struggle with the Mother Country. He married Bethia Truesdale, daughter of a Connecticut phy- sician, and had eight sons and one daughter.

Of these children, Potter A. Prosser, the father of Treat T., married Eliza, a daughter of Timo- thy Treat, whose son, a physician, became famous through the services he rendered during the great cholera epidemic. The Treat family came from Pitminster, Somerset, England. Richard Treat was baptized in 1584. Among the prom- inent descendants are Gov. Robert Treat, and Rev. Samuel Treat, of Pitminster. The father's birth occurred August 11, 1793, and the mother

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Album of genealogy and biograghy, Cook County, Illinois, 10th ed., Part 12

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago, Calumet book & engraving co Number of Pages: 916

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago, Calumet book & engraving co
Number of Pages: 916