Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 57

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

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It is almost superfluous to state that a man hold- ing the radical views of Calvin De Wolf became identified at the outset of its existence with the Republican party, and that he still remains in the ranks of the same organization. But he has never been an active politician. He served two terms as a member of the Board of Aldermen of Chicago, and from 1856 to 1858 served as Chair- man of the Committee on Revision and Publication of Ordinances, where he rendered important service to the city in codifying and putting the ordinances in form to be easily referred to, to be generally un- derstood and easily and systematically enforced. He retired from the position of Magistrate in 1879,

388

C. M. FITCH.

and is not now engaged in the practice of law, but devotes his time mainly to the management of his financial affairs.

Mr. De Wolf is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is now one of the Elders of the Sixth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, in which he is an influential member, and in the work of which he bears a prominent part. "Do right" is a motto which he has made the rule of his life. In the discharge of his duties as a public official he was

conscientious and upright; as a lawyer, watchful over his client's interests and honorable in his dealings with both court and client; in his general business dealings he has been a man of his word, upright and honest. His residence in Chicago from pioneer times has caused him to be well known, and he is regarded as one of the land- marks of a generation of sagacious business men now rapidly passing away.

DR. CALVIN M. FITCH.

12 R. CALVIN MAY FITCH, one of the oldest physicians now in active practice in this city, graduated at the medical department of the university of New York in 1852, and subse- quently studied in Europe. He came to Chicago in 1855, and is therefore in the fortieth year of his practice in this city. Doctor Fitch was born January 3, 1829, in Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont. His grandfather, Dr. Chauncey Fitch, married the daughter of Colonel Sheldon, for whom the town of Sheldon was named, and prac- ticed there until his death. Colonel Sheldon com- manded the Connecticut Cavalry during the Revo- lutionary War, and the family have several letters of Washington's still in their possession. Doctor Fitch's father, Rev. John Ashley Fitch, an Epis- copal clergyman, married the daughter of Dr. Cal- vin May, who for nearly fifty years practiced medicine in St. Armand, Canada, just across the Vermont line. Doctor May graduated from Yale about the close of the Revolutionary war, and he and Dr. Chauncey Fitch were the pioneer physi- cians in that section, and although eighteen miles apart, frequently met in consultation.

Doctor Fitch is of old New England stock, the sixth in descent from Rev. James Fitch, who came to this country from Bocking, England, in 1638. Maj. James Fitch, son of Rev. James Fitch, served

in King Philip's War. He was active in promot- ing the founding of Yale College, donating to the college in October, 1731, six hundred and forty- seven acres of land in the town of Killingsly, and all the glass and nails which should be necessary to build the college edifice. Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, a grandson of this Maj. James Fitch, and brother of Dr. Chauncey Fitch, was a tutor in Yale for several years prior to 1791, when he resigned from Yale to take charge of the Academy at Williams- town, Massachusetts, and when that academy was chartered as a college (Williams College) in 1793, Mr. Fitch was elected its first President, which position he held for twenty-two years.

In 1860 Doctor Fitch married Susan Ransom, daughter of Daniel Ransom, originally from Woodstock, Vermont, and for many years in business in this city. In 1871 Mr. Ransom re- moved to Longmont, Colorado, where he recently died at the age of eighty-one. Doctor Fitch has one son, Dr. Walter May Fitch, a graduate of Rush Medical College, who is associated with his father in practice.

Doctor Fitch is or has been a member of several medical societies, the Chicago Medical, the South Avenue, the State Medical and American Medical Associations, but has never been connected with any medical school, although a professorship has

389

CHARLES HUNTINGTON.

been twice offered him. He has always enjoyed the study of languages, and speaks several fluently, and it is partly in consequence of this fact that no small percentage of his large practice is among

our foreign-born citizens. A practice of this char- acter involves much hard work, but carries with it the chance to do much good.

CHARLES HUNTINGTON.

HARLES HUNTINGTON, a veteran of the railroad service in Chicago and the oldest general baggage agent, in point of service, in the United States, was born in Hartford, Con- necticut, May 29, 1824. He is a son of Christo- pher and Mary (Webb) Huntington. The Hunt- ington family is one of the oldest in Connecticut. All persons of that name in America are supposed to be descendants of Christopher Huntington and his brothers, who came from England in the early days of the Connecticut colony. They sprang from an ancient English family, and the name is supposed to have originated as a military title. Their posterity is numerous, and includes many noted American citizens. The name of Christo- pher Huntington was perpetuated through seven successive generations, the father of the subject of this sketch being the last. His father, Christo- pher Huntington, was a physician who practiced in Connecticut. The father of Charles Hunting- ton was a wholesale manufacturer of shoes, and was a member of the Governor's Foot Guards, a regiment of Connecticut militia. He died in 1832, at the premature age of thirty-five years.

Mrs. Mary Huntington was a daughter of Ab- ner Webb, a Revolutionary soldier, who also rep- resented one of the early Connecticut families. She survived her husband but one year, dying in 1833, and leaving three orphaned sons. Charles is the eldest. Henry is now a prominent citizen of Burnham, Michigan, and George died in 1850, of yellow fever, at Mobile, Alabama.

Soon after his father's death, on the 3d of July, 1832, Charles Huntington left his boyhood home and took passage by stage to Albany, en route to the home of an uncle at Penn Yan. His young -

heart was sorely tried by this separation from natal ties, but the celebration of the Nation's birthday at Albany the next morning after his ar- rival there distracted his attention from his child- ish sorrow and so cheered the way that his further stage journey to Schenectady was made in com- parative comfort. Here he took passage on the Erie Canal as far as Geneva, whence the journey was completed by stage. At Penn Yan, he found a comfortable home with his uncle, Elisha H. Huntington, who afterwards became a banker in Chicago.

Charles received about two years' schooling in all, spending most of his boyhood in working at odd jobs. Being a robust youth, he was adapted to many useful employments, and among other things, assisted in building the Congregational Church at Penn Yan, for which his uncle had the contract, handling all the material for that struc- ture. At the age of nineteen, he was entrusted by his uncle with an important mission to Phila- delpliia, where he was sent to purchase an outfit for bottling mineral waters, and subsequently took charge of a drug store at Rochester, owned by Elisha Huntington. At one time, he was em- ployed as conductor of a construction train on the Canandaigua & Elmira Railroad.

At an early age, he went to the Isthmus of Panama, to take charge of the machine depart- ment of the Panama Railroad, at Aspinwall. He was one of the very few non-residents who escaped the Chagres fever, and at the end of his one year's engagement, he resigned and returned to New York. Thence, in March, 1854, he came to Chi; cago and soon after accepted a position as en- gineer on the Great Western Railroad-now a

390

CHARLES HUNTINGTON.

part of the Wabash system-his headquarters be- ing at Springfield, Illinois. On the roth day of January, 1855, he entered the employ of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, with which he has been since continuously engaged. He was pro- moted from engineer to freight conductor, and soon afterward became a passenger conductor. In 1858, he was made general baggage agent with office on the site of the present Chicago Union Passenger Station. His appointment was made by a receiver, in whose hands the affairs of the company were then placed, and as the duties of the office were comparatively light, he continued to run a passenger train between Chicago and St. Louis until 1865, employing only one assistant in his office at Chicago. These statements show a vast difference between the passenger traffic of those days and the present. When he first en- tered the service of this road, the eastern terminus was at Joliet, whence all freight for Chicago was transferred to the canal, the passenger trains reaching this city by way of the Chicago & Rock Island tracks. The southern terminus was at Alton, where all passengers and freight for St. Louis were transferred to Mississippi steamboats.

In 1857, Mr. Huntington took a prominent part in a strike on the part of employees of this line, which suspended all business thereon for eighteen days. This strike was caused by arrear- age of salaries, ranging from three to eighteen months. Mr. Huntington was a member of a committee which settled the matter with ex-Gov. Joel A. Matteson, who was lessee of the road, the trouble being compromised by payment of part of the arrearages at once and the promise of double payments each month until all were paid up in full.

The scarcity of currency at that time is illus- trated by the fact that the conductor rarely col- lected sufficient cash on a trip to pay the board bills of his crew for the same time. The rude appliances and equipments of railroads in those days made railroad operation a very difficult mat- ter. Many cars were without sufficient brakes, and a "down grade" had terrors for the men on a heavy train. It was often necessary to set out cars with defective brakes or, as was not infrequent,

with no brake at all, to avoid disaster. On one occasion, while approaching Alton on a steep down grade, Conductor Huntington was horrified by the discovery that there was not a working brake on the train. The labors of the reversed engine, however, attracted the attention of the Alton station agent, who ran out and so placed the switches that they passed the station without doing any damage and were able to bring the train to a stop after running a mile beyond their destination.

In his domestic affairs, Mr. Huntington has been sorely afflicted. In July, 1845, he was mar- ried to Miss Amelia, daughter of Harvey Tomlin- son, of Geneva, New York. In 1856, he was called upon to mourn her death. Of their three children, but one survives-Mary Isabella, who is now the wife of Edward L. Higgins, ex-Adjutant of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins have four chil- dren, and reside at Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Huntington's two sons, Edwin and William, died in childhood, of scarlet fever. He was again mar- ried, in 1866, to Mary Goodrich, of Chicago, whose death occurred on the 16th of April, 1890, at the age of sixty years. The death of his sons and of his first wife occurred during his absence from home, and was more trying on this account.

Mr. Huntington has been for many years a mem- ber of the Masonic order, being connected with Bloomington Lodge. He is Secretary and Treas- urer of the Conductors' Mutual Aid Association, which he helped to organize in 1874. In early life, he was a Whig, and supported the candidacy of William H. Harrison in 1840, though not old enough to vote at that time. Since 1860 he has been a Republican. Before leaving New York, he served as Deputy Sheriff of Yates County, and the State still owes him for a tedious trip which he made in securing a requisition from the gov- ernor of New York and serving the same on the governor of Pennsylvania, in securing and bring- ing to justice a notorious thief. While a boy, he visited Baltimore and witnessed the operation of the first telegraph line in the world, which had just been completed. He is now the oldest employee of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, in point of service.

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN'

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C. M. Henderson.

391

C. M. HENDERSON.

CHARLES M. HENDERSON.

HARLES MATHER HENDERSON, a rep- resentative business man and exemplary citi- zen of Chicago, a scion of the old Puritan stock, was born in New Hartford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, and is a son of James F. Henderson and Sabrina (Marsh) Henderson, both natives of the "Land of Steady Habits." His paternal grandmother, in maidenhood, bore the name of Mather, being a lineal descendant of Cot- ton Mather, the noted Puritan divine and author, of Massachusetts colony. His maternal grand- father, Roswell Marsh, was a Revolutionary sol- dier and witnessed the execution of the unfortu- nate Major Andre.

The first fifteen years of C. M. Henderson's life were passed in the usual manner of urban New England boys of that period, during which time he was a pupil in the district school of his native village. After attending the Baptist School at Suffield one year, he went out, at the age of sixteen years, to teach a district school, in which undertaking he acquitted himself with credit, re- turning at the end of one term to his studies at Suffield, where he continued another year. His tastes and ambition pointed to a commercial career, and when, in 1853, an uncle in Chicago offered him a position in the wholesale boot and shoe house of C. N. Henderson & Co., he promptly accepted. He was then eighteen years of age, and was installed as general clerk and salesman. Applying himself diligently in both store and of- fice, wherever his services were most needed, he rapidly acquired a general knowledge of the busi- ness, and shortly became very useful to his em- ployers. So rapid was his advancement that in less than four years after entering the establish- ment he became a partner in it, in which connec- tion he continued until the death of his uncle in 1859.

Mr. Henderson immediately organized a new firm, under the name of C. M. Henderson & Co., his partner being Mr. Elisha Wadsworth, for- merly the head of the great dry goods house of Wadsworth, Farwell & Co. Mr. Wadsworth was virtually a silent partner, as the entire manage- ment of the business was left to Mr. Henderson, who carried it on so successfully that, at the end of two or three years, he was enabled to purchase the interest of his partner. He 110w associated with himself his brother, Wilbur S. Henderson, who had been several years in his employ as clerk, and also gave an interest to his bookkeeper, Ed- mund Burke, who sold his share to Mr. Hender- son some years later.

The firm continued to do a jobbing business until 1865, when a small factory was established for the production of the heavy goods demanded by the western trade. This was the nucleus of what has become one of the largest establishments of its kind in the United States. The original factory is still in operation, surrounded by im- mense modern buildings, equipped with all that genius has supplied for the saving of labor and the improvement of the quality of finished products. In 1880 a building was constructed, devoted to the production of ladies' fine wear, and recently an- other immense structure has risen, whose mission is the construction of gentlemen's fine shoes. These factories are located at Dixon, Illinois, and the offices and shops employ over one thousand people daily. In 1888 the firm was incorporated under the laws of Illinois, the name remaining unchanged, and several of the old and faithful employes became stockholders.

The business has occupied many locations in the city, the first being on South Water Street. Subsequently three different stores on Lake Street were used in succession, and in 1868 the building

392

ALEXANDER BEAUBIEN.

and stock at the corner of that thoroughfare and Michigan Avenne were swept away by fire. The great fire of 1871 found the business located at Nos. 58 and 60 Wabash Avenue, and in common with thousands of others it was annihilated. No time was wasted in repining, and inside of tliree weeks after this disaster business was resumed in a one-story board shanty on Michigan Avenue. In four months after the loss, the firm was estab- lished in a new brick building on Wabash Avenue, the plastering being completed after its occupancy. In the fall of 1872, another removal was made, to the corner of Madison and Franklin Streets, and five years later it was moved to the corner of Monroe Street, one block south, where it con- tinued until the firm was able to occupy its own fine building. This is located at the northeast corner of Adams and Market Streets, and was built in 1884. It covers a ground space 170x120 feet, is six stories high, and is devoted exclusively to the purposes of an office and distributing depot. The development of this immense and successful business is the result of Mr. Henderson's execu- tive ability, industry and well-known integrity. As a business man, he commands high standing among Chicago's enterprising and superlatively aggressive business circles, while he enjoys the respect and friendship of a wide acquaintance as a man and gentleman.

Mr. Henderson is somewhat socially inclined, and holds membership in several clubs, among which are the Union League, Chicago, Calumet and Commercial. Of strong religious nature, he early adopted the Christian religion as his rule of

practice, and has been a communicant of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago since 1868. He has been active and useful in church and mission work, was two years President of the Young Men's Christian Association and for ten years, until failing health compelled him to resign some of his work, acted as Superintendent of the Rail- road Chapel Mission.

In political sentiment, he is a Republican from principle, and has always been active in every ef- fort to promote good government for the city. In the reform movement of 1874, which secured a re-organization of the fire department and numer- ous other changes-among them a new city char- ter, the present one-he was especially active, contributing liberally in money to carry on the work, and giving of his time and counsel. In many other ways he has shown his disposition to discharge his whole duty and shirk no responsi- bility as a citizen. He seeks the best and right thing in government, regardless of partisan preju- dices or advantage. As a part of his duty to the public, he is now acting as Trustee of the Home for Incurables and the Lake Forest University. He is devoted to his home and family, and when duty does not call him away, he is found, out of business hours, at his pleasant home on Prairie Avenue. In 1858 he was married to Miss Emily, daughter of James Hollingsworth, of Chicago. A son, who died in infancy, and three daughters have been given him. Amid kind friends and many other surroundings that conduce to peace and happiness, he is enjoying the fruits of a busy and useful life.

ALEXANDER BEAUBIEN.

LEXANDER BEAUBIEN enjoys the dis- tinction of being the oldest individual born in Cook County. The date of his birth was January 28, 1822, and the place is on the east side of Michigan Avenue, between Randolph and

Washington Streets. The house in which he was born had been built a few years earlier by John Dean, and was one of five or six buildings, including Fort Dearborn, which then stood upon the site of Chicago.

393

ALEXANDER BEAUBIEN.

Alexander is one of twelve children born to John B. and Rosette (La Frambois) Beaubien. The father was born at Detroit, Michigan, during the closing days of the American Revolution. His father, Antoine Beaubien, and his grand- father, who also bore the name of Antoine, were among the earliest settlers of Detroit, and carried on an extensive farm at that place. An- toine Beaubien, Sr., was a native of France, and doubtless came to America before the French and Indian War.

John B. Beaubien first visited Fort Dearborn in 1809. His purpose in coming hither was to trade with the Indians, and in the pursuit of that object he was quite successful, remaining in the vicinity for some time. At the time of the mas- sacre, in 1812, he had gone to Mackinaw, but the following year he returned as agent of John Jacob Astor and built a trading-post near the site of the old fort. Branch posts were also established at Milwaukee, Pecatonica, Hennepin and Danville, goods being transported on pack- horses between these points and the main store- house at Chicago. Mr. Beaubien had the super- vision of all these posts, and remained in charge of them for some years. He made a pre-emption claim to the land between State Street and the lake, extending as far south as Madison Street, and including about one acre on the north side of the river; but, owing to some technicality, the government refused to give him a title to the same. About 1840 he settled on a half-section of land near the Desplaines Eiver, in Leyden Township, with his family, improving the same until it became a desirable farm. He died at Naperville, Illinois, in 1864, at the age of eighty- four years. Had all white men manifested the spirit of justice and fairness exhibited by him in dealing with the Indians, much trouble and mis- ery might have been averted.

Mrs. Rosette Beaubien was born in Michigan. Her father, Joseph La Frambois, was a Frenchı- man, and her mother was a member of the Potta- watomie tribe. In 1804, while still a young girl, Mrs. Beaubien came to Chicago, accompanying the party in command of Major Whistler, which originally built Fort Dearborn. She was living

with the Kinzie family when the fort was aban- doned in 1812, and with her Mr. and Mrs. Kin- zie, and one or two other persons, started in a canoe to follow the troops. They were near shore and in plain sight of the massacre which took place near the foot of Eighteenth Street, and Mrs. Beaubien often described the scene to her children in later years. After the battle was over, Mr. Kinzie and party continued the journey in safety to St. Joseph and thence to Detroit. Mrs. Beaubien died at River Park, Illinois, in 1845. Following are the names of her children: George, who died at the age of fourteen years; Susan and Monique, twins; Julia; Henry and Philip, twins; Alexander; Ellen Maria, wife of Joseph Robeson; William S .; Margaret (Mrs. De Witt Robinson); Louise (Mrs. N. D. Wood); and Caroline (Mrs. Stephen Fields). Alexander and the four last mentioned are the only members of this family now living, but they probably know more of the early history of Chicago than any other family in existence.

The circumstances attending his youth gave Mr. Beaubien little opportunity for education save that gained in the school of experience, but ex- tensive reading and observation have given him a well-stored mind. He was eighteen years old when the family removed from Chicago to Ley- den Township, where he became one of the leading farmers, and filled all the township offices except that of Justice of the Peace, which he declined. In 1862 he returned to Chicago, which has since been his home. During the most of this time he has been connected with the police force of the city, and for seven years past has been in charge of the lock-up at the Harrison Street Station, discharging the duties of that position in a man- ner which meets the approval of all his superior officers, though the administration of the city government has several times changed during this period.

He readily recalls the time when every house in the then village of Chicago could be counted from the roof of his father's home. He saw the first frame house built by his uncle, Mark Beat- bien. The latter also built the first brick resi- dence, a one and one-half story structure, on the

394

J. S. TOPPAN.

north side of Lake Street, about fifty feet west of Fifth Avenue. Mr. Beaubien witnessed the first public execution in Cook County, when John Stone was hung for murder. This took place on the prairie, about where Thirty-first Street now is, and one-quarter of a mile west of the lake.

Mr. Beanbien was married, in 1850, to Miss Susan Miles, a daughter of Stephen Miles of Can- andaigua, New York. Five children have blessed their union, as follows: Julia Caroline, wife of Eugene Wait; Ida E. (Mrs. Albert H. Moulton, of Alexander, Genesee County, New York); Fannie G., wife of Richard S. Beaubien; William S., Jr .; and Harry Miles; all except Mrs. Moul- ton living in Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Beaubien also have five grandchildren, in whose company they find great comfort and delight.

Mr. Beaubien was the first child baptised by a Catholic priest in Chicago, although the rite was not performed until he was six years of age, when Father Badden chanced to visit this place. It is needless to add that Mr. Beaubien has con- sistently retained that faith to the present time. Since 1882 he has been a member of the Police- men's Benevolent Association. He is independ- ent in political action, supporting such men and measures as he deems best suited to the public interests, irrespective of party allegiance. He leads a quiet, unassuming life, and takes great pleasure in discussing events connected with the pioneer days of Cook County, the most important of which either came under his own observation or that of his parents.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 57

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