Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 41

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 908

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ALONZO J. CUTLER.

A LONZO J. CUTLER is widely known as one of the most daring and successful brok- ers operating upon the Chicago Board of Trade. His transactions are distinguished by a display of exceptional judgment, discretion and foresight, which causes his movements to be watched and commented upon by the whole field of speculators and investors. It is a notable fact that the men who have made and retained fort- unes on the Board of Trade were all of a kind especially endowed with the trading instinct, or

made wise in the school of experience; and Mr. Cutler can justly be classed under both tliese heads. Every move made by him is carefully calculated and planned, and all his financial ar- rangements are faithful to well-grounded princi- ples of business.

Mr. Cutler first came to Chicago in the spring of 1869, being then but seventeen years of age. His cash capital at that time consisted of about $20, but this lack of means was abundantly com- pensated for by brains, pluck and energy, and he

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A. J. CUTLER.

immediately set about the task of bettering his financial condition. With that end in view, he vigorously applied himself to the first employment which presented itself. This was the position of driver of a wagon for the Singer Sewing-Machine Company. A few weeks' experience in this ca- pacity demonstrated his capability for employ- ment demanding more skill and acumen, and within a few months he was promoted to the po- sition of head salesman of the Chicago agency. It was not long before he was dealing in sewing- machines at wholesale, and in a single year cleared over $5,000 in this way. Such a prac- tical demonstration of business ability and apti- tude for trade could not fail to attract the atten- tion of live business men, and in the spring of 1883 O. H. Roche, the well-known Board of Trade operator, suggested to him that his trading talents would find a more extended field in spec- ulation. Other friends pointed out the dangers and liazards, and advised him to persevere in his previous line of business.

But Mr. Cutler had abundant confidence in his own powers, and, after a brief consideration, re- solved to enter the speculative field, as a more congenial and speedy method of gaining a compe- tence. He soon became an active trader in the capacity of broker for Mr. Roche, for whom he has ever entertained the highest respect, and whom he regards as his preceptor in the specula- tive field.

When Mr. Roche retired from business the fol- lowing year, Mr. Cutler opened a brokerage office for himself, and his rise has been steady and 110t less remarkable than that of the renowned Ed Pardridge, whom he has actively represented in many great deals. But he has an outside busi- ness of his own, and numbers customers by the score, who have the utmost confidence in his judgment, integrity and ability. One of the most active traders on the Board, Mr. Cutler is always in the thick of the crowd when there is any ex- citement in the wheat pit. He is generally known "o11 'change" as "the man behind Pardridge," and his natural instinct and adaptability as a trader have made his success no less remarkable than that of the great speculator, in whose service

and under whose tuition his peculiar talents have been developed. That these two men, being similarly endowed by nature, and having knowl- edge of each other's abilities, should have made a record unparalleled in successful speculative an- nals is not surprising. Their immense daring and successful operations have become a part of the absorbing and wonderful history of the Chi- cago Board of Trade. Some of their boldly and cleverly executed plans have evoked the admira- tion of the commercial world. The appellation of "plunger" is a misnomer when applied to either of this pair, for the reason that their move- ments, upon analysis and investigation, appear plainly to be the results of the inost carefully laid plans and calculations. None of their deals have been reckless, although they have been pro- nounced so by persons not familiar with the inner details.

Alonzo J. Cutler was born at Montpelier, Ver- mont, March 24, 1852. He is the youngest in the family of four children born to David W. Cutler and Maria Marshall. The father, who was a farmer and ice dealer at Montpelier, died of typhoid fever during the infancy of the subject of this sketch, who was afterward placed under the guardianship of Elon Hammond, of East Montpelier .- Owing to the incompetence and mis- management of this guardian, young Cutler was removed to the charge of Hon. Clark King, a prominent farmer, in whose home he remained until about sixteen years of age. Most of his education was obtained by attending a country school in winter, and his first money was earned by working as a farm hand at $7 per month. Be- fore coming West he spent one year as clerk in the Pavilion Hotel in Montpelier, but becoming dissatisfied with the irksomeness of this position, which consumed nineteen hours per day of his time, he resolved to seek a change by moving to the West.

The Cutler family in America is of English de- scent. The first progenitor of A. J. Cutler in America was John Cutler, Senior, who is sup- posed to have come from Sprauston, a sub- urb of Norwich, England. About 1637 he set- tled at Hingham, Massachusetts, where he soon

281

W. O. TYLER.

afterward died, leaving a widow and seven chil- dren. He and his immediate posterity furnislı examples of the typical Puritan character. His fifth son, Thomas Cutler, who was a farmer by occupation, died at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1683. The next in the line of descent lierein traced was Jonathan, a tailor by trade, and the generations following him are successively repre- sented by the following names: David, Jonathan, David, and David W., the father of the subject of this notice, who died in 1854, aged thirty-nine years. His mother was Abigail, daughter of Daniel Carroll, of Montpelier, Vermont, and a niece of Charles Carroll, the noted statesman of Carrollton, Maryland.

A. J. Cutler was married, December 26, 1891, to Jessie Estelle, daughter of O. B. Warner, of Peoria, Illinois. This lady is endowed with inu- sical and elocutionary powers of a superior order,

and is the mother of two charming children. They are named, respectively, E. Warner and Fanchon T. Mr. Cutler is essentially a family inan, and, when able to leave the haunts of trade, finds his greatest pleasure in the attractions fur- nished by the home fireside. He is not connect- ed with any religious, social or political organi- zations of importance, but always votes tlie Re- publican ticket. He is well known and respected in Vermont, where he has scores of warm friends, who admire his liberal and genial disposition as well as his gift for making a trade. Mr. Cutler honors his Yankee ancestors by exhibiting the proverbial New England thrift and shrewdness, and is abundantly able to take care of himself. In the course of his transactions it is no rare mat- ter for liim to handle checks representing a half- million dollars.

WARREN O. TYLER.

ARREN OLIVER TYLER. Among the it is well to observe that his ancestors were qualifactions which are essential to an hon- orable and successful business career may be mentioned physical endurance, sound judg- ment, ready decision, unswerving integrity, patient application, keen foresight and prudent and reg- ular habits. It may be safely asserted that the man of noteworthy accomplishments will possess most, if not all, of these qualities, and while some of them may be acquired or developed by the im- mediate surroundings and conditions to which the individual has been subjected, many of the most essential elements of his character may be attributed to inheritance.

Hence, in contemplating the personal history of the gentleman whose name heads this notice,

among the early and substantial colonists of New England, to whose physical vigor, longevity and integrity of character the present generation is indebted for the founding of some of its most cherished institutions. The Tyler family was planted in America by several brothers of that name who came from England in the seventeenth century. One branch of this family settled in Virginia, and among its descendants was John Tyler, ninth President of the United States. Another branch of the family was located in Connecticut, and a third in Vermont, near the Canadian border, where for several successive generations it has furnished some of the most useful and patriotic citizens. One of these was

282

W. O. TYLER.

David Tyler, a man of sterling virtues and noble impulses. He was born at Cambridge, Vermont, and for many years kept hotel at Essex Junction and neighboring places. In 1864, he moved to Chicago, where the balance of his days was spent, his death occurring in 1886, in the ninetieth year of his age. His wife, whose maiden name was Clarissa Butler, died in 1890, in the seventy- fourth year of her age. She was born on a farm between Essex Center and Jericho, Vermont. The Butler family was one of the oldest of that commonwealth, and, like the Tyler family, of English lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Tyler had six , children who attained mature years. Edwin T., of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is the eldest, and the rest, in order, are: Warren O .; Fred C. and Henry W., dealers in paper mill supplies in Chicago; Frank P., connected with the Ameri- can Paper Company; Mattie A., unmarried, re- siding in Chicago. Besides these, Mr. David Ty- ler had a daugliter by a previous marriage, Amelia, now the wife of G. T. Woodworth, of Chicago. The members of this family are con- spicuous for their domestic harmony and marked fraternal regard-several of their number having avoided all matrimonial or other relations likely to interfere therewith.

Warren O. Tyler was born at Essex Junction, Vermont, March 3, 1844. When he was but seven years of age, the family received a visit from an aunt of the lad, by whom he was easily in- duced to return with her to Chicago. He was charmed with her glowing descriptions of the growing metropolis of the West and already longed to be a participant in the activity and development which were there going on. Upon his arrival, he became an inmate of the home of his uncle, Mr. O. N. Butler, by whom he was placed at school in the village of St. Charles, Illi- nois. He subsequently returned to Vermont and spent three years in his father's hotel. He had in the meantime imbibed too much of the spirit of western freedom to be long contented in the nar- row limits of Vermont semi-rural life, and at the age of fifteen we again find him in Chicago. At that time he entered the employ of Butler & Hunt, manufacturers of and dealers in paper,

then located at No. 48 State Street. At the end of five years, he was admitted to a partnership in the concern and continued to be identified therewith for a period of twenty-five years, al- though the name of the firm underwent several changes during that time and the business was subjected to disasters and vicissitudes which would have discouraged less determined men than Mr. Tyler and his associates.

In 1870, the greatest conflagration which had visited Chicago up to that time occurred on Wabash Avenue. The loss of Laflin, Butler & Company by this disaster was $88,000. In the great fire of the following year, the firm, then known as J. W. Butler & Company, suffered a loss of $455,000. Only a small percentage of this loss was recovered from the insurance com- panies. After the Wabash Avenue fire, the firm came near suffering a loss of its books by the premature opening of its safe, and, warned by this experience, in the second instance the safe was placed upon a stoneboat and drawn out upon the paririe and carefully cooled with ice before being opened, and its contents were thus well preserved. Nothing daunted by the catastrophies which had overtaken it, the firm immediately re-engaged in business, which continued prosperously for many years. Under the management of Mr. Tyler, a branch establishment was opened in Milwaukee, known as the Butler Paper Company, afterwards succeeded by the Standard Paper Company.

In 1885, Mr. Tyler retired from connection with this establishment and organized the Tyler Paper Company, of which he became the Presi- dent. This was in turn succeeded by the Calu- met Paper Company, and he disposed of his inter- est therein a few years before its annihilation by fire, in 1893. He subsequently, in 1889, organ- ized the American Paper Company, of which he is now the presiding executive officer, and which is conducting a successful and growing business. At different times, he has been a stockholder in several paper mills.

Mr. Tyler attends the Episcopal Church, with which his parents were identified. He has been a lifelong adherent of Republican principles, ful- filling his duty as a voter, but never seeking any

283

W. H. ALSIP.

public position. He has always been a model of industry, often devoting eighteen hours per day to his business, and has been successful in the face of obstacles whichi would appal men of less resolution and perseverance. The history of his

life furnishes an additional example of the fact that consistent and well-directed effort is certain of an ultimate reward, a principle too often lost sight of in the modern scramble for pelf.

WILLIAM H. ALSIP.

ILLIAM HENRY ALSIP, Secretary and Treasurer of the Alsip Brick Company, was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, January 23, 1858. He is a son of Frank and Mary Jane Alsip. The former, who is well known as one of the leading contractors and man- ufacturers of the West, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began to learn the trade of brick-making at that place at the age of twelve years. He subsequently spent two or three years in California, and in 1857 located in Prairie du Chien. He established extensive brick yards at that place and in McGregor, Iowa, and en- gaged in contracting and building. His opera- tions extended throughout northern Wisconsin, eastern Iowa and southern Minnesota. The period immediately subsequent to the great Chi- cago fire offered an immense demand for building material in this city, and Mr. Alsip was one of the first to respond to the demand. He removed his entire plant to the vicinity of Chicago, where he has ever since had his headquarters. He has become identified with several large brick manu- facturing concerns, and is recognized as one of the leading brick makers of the world. The product of the Alsip brick yards has been used in the construction of many of the principal build- ings of Chicago, including the Masonic Temple, Great Northern Hotel and the Grand Central Station.

The subject of this sketch spent most of his

boyhood in McGregor, Iowa, where the founda- tion of his education was laid in the public schools. He afterward attended the Chicago High School, and in 1880 he graduated from the University of Chicago, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Two years later he graduated from the Union College of Law, and was admitted to the Bar.

He began his business career as foreman of the Hayt & Alsip brick yards, at Thirty-ninth and Robey Streets, filling that position for three years. In 1885, in company with his father, he built the Lincoln Street brick yards, and when the Alsip Brick Company was incorporated-two years later-he became its Secretary and Treasurer, which position he still occupies, having almost exclusive charge of the office work. The com- pany, which is composed of Frank Alsip, William H. Alsip and Frank B. Alsip, now operates four extensive brick yards and furnishes employment to about five hundred men. The business has been constantly increasing, and is recognized as one of the largest in that line. The output ranges from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five millions per day.

Mr. Alsip was married on the 30th of Septem- ber, 1887, to Marcella Cusak, daughter of Mrs. Joan Cusak, of Chicago. Mrs. Alsip was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and has presented her lius- band with two children-William Henry and Virginia. Mr. Alsip is a member of the Lincoln Street Methodist Church, and is identified witlı

284

JOHN MORRIS.

the Illinois and Union League Clubs. He also holds membership with the Royal League and Royal Arcanum. For six years past he has been a member of the National Brick Makers' Associa- tion, and is now its President. He takes an active interest in political affairs, and is a inem- ber of the Republican Committee of the Eleventh

Ward. He positively and consistently declines the use of his name as a candidate for office, though he has been repeatedly requested to be- come a candidate for Alderman from his ward. He is a man of recognized business ability and unquestioned integrity, and is filling a responsible and useful position in the community.

JOHN MORRIS.

OHN MORRIS, assistant superintendent of the Plano Manufacturing Company at West Pullman, was born near Blue Mounds, Iowa County, Wisconsin, on the 12th of April, 1858, and is of Welsh descent. His parents, Rev. Owen R. and Catherine (Jones) Morris, were both natives of Wales. The father was born in Blaenan, Festiniog, Merionethshire, July 18, 1828, and came to America in 1849 from Merionethshire, North Wales, with his parents, Robert and Ellen Morris, the family locating on a farm in Iowa County, Wisconsin. On October 17, 1851, he married Mrs. Catherine Williams, widow of I. N. Williams, and lived in Iowa County until March, 1868, when, with his wife and children, he removed to Fillmore County, Minnesota, where he now re- sides. For a number of years he was pastor of the Welsh Presbyterian Church at Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, and for twenty-four years had charge of the Welsh Presbyterian Church at Bristol Grove, Minnesota. He is an earnest and untir- ing worker in behalf of the church, and his work has been productive of much good. All who know him hold him in high regard. Mrs. Morris was born in Llanrug, Carnarvonshire, Nortlı Wales, February 25, 1816, and came to America in 1845. She first married I. N. Williams, by whom she had one son, I. N., now a resident of Fillmore County, Minnesota. After the death of her first husband she returned to Wales, in 1848,

but in 1849 again came to America, with her father, Thomas Jones, who died in Iowa County, Wisconsin, a few years later.

Mr. and Mrs. Morris had a family of four sons, three of whom are yet living. William and Thomas both reside in Fillmore County; Evan is now deceased; and John completes the family.

Mr. Morris of this sketch spent his boyhood days upon his father's farm and was early inured to arduous labor. He followed farming throughi the summer months and in the winter season at- tended the public schools, until eighteen years of age, when he began teaching. He had early evinced a taste and aptitude for carpentry and machine work, and that instinct has been con- stantly developing since; but it was some time before he entered upon that line of work as a business. After teaching for five seasons, he be- came a student of the University of Minnesota, and was graduated therefrom in 1888, with the degree of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. During his four years' attendance he had received some of the highest markings ever given in that department. I11 1888 he became connected with the city schools of Minneapolis, and continued to there serve until 1893, being for three years an instructor in the Manual Training Department, while for two years he was assistant superintend- ent and liad entire charge of the Manual Training Department. His services were eminently satis-

285

HENRY ABRAHAMS.

factory, and the work of the department prepared under his direction for the World's Fair exhibit was deservedly worthy of the higli commendation it received. During this period he also engaged in consulting work and mechanical engineering, and developed new devices and secured a number of patents for patrons.

Prof. Morris was married on October 8, 1889, in Cambria, Wisconsin, to Miss Lizzie Williams, daughter of Robert G. Williams. The lady was born in Cambria, and died in Minneapolis on the 27th of February, 1892, at the age of thirty-three years, leaving one child, a daughter, Lizzie.

In June, 1893, Prof. Morris severed his connec- tion with the Minneapolis public schools and ac- cepted the position of assistant superintendent and mechanical engineer of the Plano Manufacturing Company at West Pullman. He had previously spent a number of vacations as an expert and traveling representative of the firm. His man-

agement of the affairs of the factory has given entire satisfaction to his employers and won him high commendation. His natural inventive genius is constantly active, and new mechanical devices are being continually developed under his direc- tion. Mr. Morris lias invested in West Pullman real estate, with the view of making this place his home.

Mr. Morris is a member of the Welsh Presby- terian Church of Minneapolis, and for six years served on its board of deacons, taking an active part in the work of the church and everything pertaining to its advancement. In politics he has been a life-long Republican, and its men and measures receive his earnest support. He is a warm advocate of temperance principles, is of cordial and pleasant manner, and takes a deep and abiding interest in public advancement and progress.

HENRY ABRAHAMS.

ENRY ABRAHAMS, one of the self-made men of Chicago, was born September 28, 1837, at Kornmarck, near Posen, Prussia, and was one of the seventeen children of Louis Lipman and Rosa (Moses) Abrahams. His ca- reer furnishes a forcible illustration of what may be achieved through force of natural ability, energy, perseverance, industry and integrity. Born in penury and reared in poverty, with no advanta- ges and every obstacle, outside of his own person- ality, to overcome, he won his way to affluence and an influential position among the representa- tive citizens of Chicago. Louis L. Abrahams was a tailor, who supported his large family by the earnings of his needle. Hoping to better his condition, he went to Newcastle, England, in

1840, and remained there until 1849, when he came to Chicago, where his widow still resides, at the age of eighty-five years.

Henry Abrahams showed his force of character and instinct for trade by starting out in life as a peddler in Chicago, at the age of twelve years, and was eminently successful. He continued in this occupation for twelve years, at the end of which period he felt able to take a wife and set- tle down in business. He accordingly married Elizabetlı Gerber, a daughter of Joseph and Julia (Levy) Gerber. Joseph Gerber was a dry-goods merchant in Hoston, near Prague, Austria. Mr. Abrahams established himself as a retail grocer at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Adams Street, on the site now occupied by the Phelps, Dodge &

286

HENRY ABRAHAMS.

Palmer Company, where he remained until his buildings and entire stock, valued at $55,000, were swept away by the great fire of 1871. At this time he was the owner of the southeast quar- ter of the block upon which he did business, be- sides nine houses on Adams and Quincy Streets and Fifth Avenue. It is said that he was before the fire the leading retail grocer of the city. As was the case with many others, his loss by the fire was nearly total, on account of the failure of the insurance companies.

Subsequent to the fire, Mr. Abrahams disposed of all his South Side property and bought lots on the corner of Van Buren and Halsted Streets, covering all of the block fronting on Van Buren Street, except two lots, which he owned at the time of his death. At the same time he purchased eight acres at Fifty-fifth Street and Garfield Boul- evard. For the latter property he paid $8,000 in 1872, and sold the same in 1891 for $60,000. He continued business on the West Side until his re- tirement from cominercial relations in 1880. He subsequently engaged in the real-estate and loan business, giving his attention largely to his own investments. It was always a gratification to him to reflect that he had never filled a subordin- ate position, being always the proprietor of the business in which he was engaged.

The success of this remarkable man is especial- ly noteworthy from the fact that until his second marriage, in 1867, he had not learned to read or write. He never kept any books, and was able to refer with as much reliance to his memory for the details of every transaction as the ordinary merchant does to his books. The date of a note, its maturity and the interest accrued could always be told by him at a moment's notice. His memory with regard to other matters was equal- ly retentive. He attributed this remarkable fac- ulty to constant reliance upon his memory, unas- sisted by the usual accessories.

In1 1866 Mr. Abrahams was bereaved of his wife by cholera, and her body was the first one buried in Graceland Cemetery. She left three children: Abraham Abrahams, late Health In- spector of the Fourth Ward; Moses, a furniture dealer in Clinton, Iowa; and Albert, who died at

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 41

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co. Number of Pages: 908

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 908