Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 14

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed. > Part 14

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When Hart L. Stewart was twelve years old, his father moved to Batavia, Genesee County, New York, where he purchased land of the Hol- land Land Company, and the son helped to clear this ground of timber. When seventeen years old the latter went into the office of David D. Brown, at Batavia, to study law. At the end of a year he was forced, by lack of means, to take some remunerative employment, and after vainly seek- ing a situation as school teacher, in which he hoped to be able to continue his legal studies, he engaged as clerk in a store in Oneida County with an uncle. Through the recommendation of the latter, at the end of a year he was employed by a merchant named Blair in Rochester, New York. After four months' service at Rochester, he was sent by Mr. Blair to open a branch store

H. L. STEWART.

at Lyons, New York, where he continued in charge until the fall of 1822.

He now determined to engage in business on his own account, and, securing the assistance of his brother, George Stewart, opened a store at Lockport, New York, where a successful trade was carried on, they having the benefit of credit with Mr. Blair and other Rochester merchants. In 1823 Hart L. Stewart took a sub-contract to finish the work of Judge Bates on the Erie Canal, which he completed, with a fair profit, the next year. These facts indicate that the young man had developed good business qualifications, which attracted the favorable notice and assistance of influential men.

Having now gained a practical experience in canal construction, he sent his brother, Alanson C. Stewart, who had become associated with him in the mean time, to Cleveland, Ohio, in October, 1824, to secure a contract on the Ohio Canal. Hart L. had become engaged in the lumber busi- ness at Niagara, New York, and continued it un- til November, 1825, being at the same time in- terested in the Ohio contract which his brother secured. They next contracted to execute sec- tions on the western end of the Pennsylvania Canal, and in November, 1826, took the con- tract to bore a tunnel for the canal on the Cone- maugh River. This was finished in 1829, and was the first tunnel of its kind in the United States. Among those connected with the canal . enterprise, they were known as the "boy con- tractors," the elder brother but twenty-four years old; but they were credited, and justly, with superior practical knowledge. They were the first to introduce the method of securing light by means of reflecting mirrors placed at the mouths of the tunnel. Work was prosecuted from both ends, night and day, and its completion was re- garded as one of the greatest achievements of the age, and the subject of this notice was furnished with some very flattering letters when he left Pennsylvania.

Having made a considerable profit from his contracts, he now resolved to invest some of it in lands, before engaging in further ventures, and with that end in view, took a trip of exploration

through Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, which oc- cupied three months. He purchased about one thousand acres on White Pigeon and Sturgis Prairies, in St. Joseph County, Michigan.

Another plan which had for some time been considered was now consummated, and on the fifth of February, 1829, he was married to Miss Hannah Blair Mckibbin, of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. In September of the same year they set out for their new home in Michigan. At the end of a six-weeks journey from Pitts- burgh, they arrived at White Pigeon, November 7, 1829, and here a log cabin was erected. After making further provisions for a home, young Stewart went to Detroit and presented to Gov- ernor Lewis Cass his letters of introduction. These were from Governor Porter, Senators Blair and Lacock, Judge William Wilkins and James S. Stevenson, President of the Canal Board, of Pennsylvania, all of whom Governor Cass characterized as his personal friends.

In the spring of 1830 the Governor sent to Mr. Stewart a commission as Colonel of Militia, and a year later appointed him one of the commis- sioners to locate the county seats of St. Joseph and Cass Counties. At this time, the entire population of Michigan, including Detroit, the chief city of the West, numbered but a few thou- sand whites. Through the influence of Colonel Stewart, a post route was established by the Government to supply the few scattered settle- ments extending from Detroit toward Chicago. The two Stewart brothers before named were the contractors for carrying the mails once in two weeks, which was accomplished on horseback, over a region where one hundred tons are now carried daily. Hart L. Stewart was made Post- master at Mottville, with the franking privilege, and his own letters and papers constituted the bulk of the mail at his office. I11 1832 he was appointed Judge of the County Court by Governor Porter, and the next year he was commissioned Circuit Judge, in which capacity he officiated the next three years.

In 1836 Judge Stewart was elected a member of the Second Constitutional Convention, which was called to fix the southern boundary of the

H. L. STEWART.

State of Michigan to correspond with the line as established when Indiana and Ohio were ad- mitted to the Union. By this convention he was sent to Washington to secure, if possible, the ad- mission of the State with boundary as established by the ordinance ceding the Northwest Territory to the United States, and including Michigan City and Maumee City. That he did not suc- ceed is a matter of history, but the State secured, in offset, all of what is now known as the North- ern Peninsula of Michigan. On this mission Judge Stewart formed the acquaintance of many of the leading men of the Nation at that time.

On his return home, Judge Stewart found that the Legislature had chosen him Commissioner of Internal Improvements, and in this capacity he took charge of the survey of the St. Joseph River for slack-water navigation, and also of the Central Railroad. The latter was partially built by the State, and then turned over to the Michigan Cen- tral Railroad Company. In 1838 he received the commission of Brigadier-General, commanding the Fourteenth Brigade, Michigan Militia. When the Indians, under Black Hawk, threatened to kill or drive out the settlers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, the Government requested the Governor of Michigan to send volunteers to the rescue. General Stewart was ordered by Governor Porter to raise a regiment as soon as possible, and this was found an easy task, as volunteers, from the age of sixteen to sixty, were numerous. The service lasted about six months, and Colonel Stewart's regiment included his brothers, A. C. Stewart, as Commander of a com- pany; Samuel M. Stewart, as Lieutenant of an- other; besides two other brothers and his father as volunteers. The latter was especially valuable as a drill master, on account of his previous serv- ice in the War of 1812. He was now sixty years of age.

In June, 1836, General Stewart attended the letting of the construction contracts on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and contracted for a large amount of deep-rock work near Lockport. He had as partners A. S. Stewart, Lorenzo P. Sanger, James Y. Sanger, and others, who took personal charge of the work, while he continued in charge

of his personal and official interests in Michigan. In 1840 the inability of the State to meet its financial obligations compelled the contractors to abandon the work, at great loss, and ruin in many cases. About this time General Stewart took up his residence in Chicago, and in 1842 he was elected a member of the Legislature, and was active in securing the acceptance of the for- eign bondholders' proposition to complete the canal. None of the contractors had ever received anything for their losses previous to that time. While on a trip to Canada to secure workmen for the canal in 1839, General Stewart was placed in arrest, under the impression that he was a spy in the interest of the "Patriot War." Through the influence of friends, his mission was made known to the Canadian authorities, and he was discharged and furnished every facility for carry- ing out his business. From 1845 to 1849, under the administration of President Polk, General Stewart served as Postmaster at Chicago, being the first presidential appointee in that office.

He now turned his attention to railroad con- struction, and became interested in some of the largest contracts ever given in the West to a single firm. The history of these undertakings is fully related in this volume in the biography of James Y. Sanger, who was associated with General Stewart in this work, and need not be repeated here. During the progress of their work, in partnership with several others, they became proprietors of the Rhode Island Central Bank, and this, in common with many others, was wrecked by the financial upheaval of 1857, though its proprietors were enabled to close up its affairs honorably and with little loss to them- selves.

General Stewart became a member of the Masonic fraternity in 1824, and subsequently took all the chapter and encampment degrees and several others. In political sentiment, he was a Democrat. He was one of the few brave spirits who stood with Stephen A. Douglas at North Market Hall, on the evening of September 1, 1854, when a mob of political opponents refused to let the "Little Giant" be heard, and even threatened him with bodily harm. In religious

J. H. RICE.

faith, General Stewart was a true "neighbor," a Presbyterian, and for forty years rarely failed to listen to Rev. Dr. Patterson's sermons in the Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago. He was an able leader, quiet and gentle in his man- ners, sociable and genial, making his home a happy place for the frequent reunions of a large and interesting circle of friends.

On the 12th of February, 1849, authority was granted by the State to five individuals, one of whom was Hart L. Stewart, to incorporate the Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company, which was granted the exclusive right to supply gas to the city of Chicago for ten years. Before the close of the next year, the streets of the city and many private buildings were for the first time illuminated by gaslight. In 1857 General Stew- art was Vice-President of the Great Western In- surance Company, with a capital of half a million dollars, and office at No. 160 South Water Street. The Stewart Building, at the northwest corner of State and Washington Streets (which was torn down in 1896, to make way for one of Chicago's famous high office buildings), was the fourth structure erected by General Stewart on that spot-the first one having been for many years his family home.

Hannah Blair Mckibbin, wife of General Stewart, was descended from old and honorable families. Her maternal grandfather, William Nelson, was a brother of the famous Admiral Horatio Nelson, the hero of Trafalgar. His wife

was Mary Harvey, and their children were Will- iam, James and Mary Esther. William Nelson, senior, died in 1803, at which time his daughter was about fifteen years old. She married Col. James McKibbin, of Franklin County, Penn- sylvania, and their eldest daughter, Hannah B., became the wife of General Stewart, as before re- lated, and the mother of the following children: Mary Esther, Frances Validia, Amelia Mott, Catherine E., Jane, Anna Waldo, Hannah Mckib- bin and Helen Wolcott. The first married Henry A. Clark in 1850, and both are now deceased, . being survived by a son, Stewart Clark, of Chi- cago. The second died at St. Louis, Missouri, while the wife of Watson Matthews, leaving one child, Fannie V. Matthews. Amelia and Cath- erine died in childhood. Jane Stewart married John C. Patterson, and died in 1875, leaving a son, Stewart Patterson. Hannah McKibbin is the wife of George Sydney Williams, of Chicago. The youngest is the wife of Lorenzo M. Johnson, manager of the Mexican International Railroad.

Mary C. Mckibbin, sister of Mrs. Stewart, married James Y. Sanger, whom she survives, and is among the most interesting surviving pioneers of Illinois. She is spoken of by General Stewart as the "Daughter of the Regiment," during the campaign against Black Hawk. She was then a miss of fourteen years, and ready to ride on any expedition, carrying dispatches and otherwise aiding in conveying information.

JAMES H. RICE.

9 AMES HARLOW RICE, one of the oldest and most highly respected business men of Chicago, passed away at his home on Michi- gan Avenue, in that city, February 6, 1896. He was born in Tompkins County, New York, in 1830. His parents, Asa and Polly (Reed) Rice, were natives of Massachusetts, and settled

in New York in 1811, shortly after their mar- riage. Asa Rice was a prosperous farmer, well known and esteemed for his great inoral worth. Both he and his wife were members of the Metli- odist Church and active in good works. They attained a venerable age, the former dying when eighty years old, and the latter at seventy-five.

E. W. EVANS.

Mr. Rice was an "old-line" Whig, and in later life became a Republican. His nine children reached mature years, and three came West, namely, Henry, Columbus T. and James H. Rice. The first two are now residents of Adair County, Missouri. Columbus Titus Rice came with his brother to Chicago in June, 1854, and proceeded to Missouri four years later, and has resided there ever since. In early life he was a carpenter, and worked at that occupation while a resident of Chicago. On going to Missouri he engaged in farming, but is now retired from act- ive life. He was married in New York in 1855 to Miss Catherine Wickoff, who is still his com- panion on life's journey. They are the parents of six children, namely: Edward, Flora, Mary, Elizabeth, Charles, Augusta and James.

James H. Rice was also a carpenter, and very early after arriving in Chicago began contract- ing for the erection of buildings. Among the structures erected by him were the old Tremont House and the Commercial Hotel. He built the first structure put up after the fire of 1871, which was located on Quincy Place. From 1856 to 1878 he was associated in this business with Mr. Ira Foote, with whom he was acquainted in early life in New York.

In 1872 he engaged in the plate and window- glass trade, and built up an extensive and pros- perous business. This passed into the control of an incorporated company, known as the James H. Rice Company, of which he was President. He also became President of the Stewart Estep Glass Company, which engaged in the manu-

facture of glass at Marion, Indiana. Both these institutions were flourishing at the time of his death. In trade circles for years he had been a leader, and his counsel had ever been sought and luis sterling qualities of mind and heart thor- oughly appreciated. Among Mr. Rice's personal friends was the late Cyrus H. McCormick, for whom he did much work during his building ca- reer. He was widely known during the early days in Chicago, and was esteemed and respected by all classes of citizens.

In 1876 he was married to Miss Margaret Su- san Gilliland, a native of Ohio, at that time a resident of Perry, Iowa. She died February 4, 1896. During the last eighteen years of her life she had been an invalid. In life they were to- gether and in death not divided. No children blessed their union, but his wife was ever to him his child and care, and his devotion in this rela- tion was most beautiful. The double funeral from their late home was conducted by Rev. J. L. Withrow, a personal friend of Mr. Rice, with whom he was for some time associated on the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Hospital. He spoke feelingly of the man and woman and their works, aims and ideas. The remains were laid away in Oakwoods Cemetery, the active pallbearers being workmen in the employ of the James H. Rice Company. By Mr. Rice his em- ployes were ever considered as his "boys." Some of these "boys" are men, aged and gray, who had been in his service for a quarter of a century, and all of them will miss his kindly, genial presence.

ENOCH W. EVANS.

NOCH WEBSTER EVANS, who for a score of years ranked as a leading member of the Chicago Bar, was born at Fryeburg, Maine, in 1817, and died in Chicago, September 2, 1879. He was one of eleven children born to

Capt. William and Anna Evans, further notice of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume, in connection with the biography of Dr. Moses Evans.

Enoch W. Evans received his early education

100

JOHN DICKINSON.

. at Fryeburg Academy and Waterville College, in his native State. Later he went to Dartmouth College, where he pursued a classical course, and graduated with the Class of 1838. He then en- gaged in teaching at Hopkinton, New Hamp- shire, and simultaneously began to read law in the office of Judge Chase, a noted jurist of that State.

In 1840 Mr. Evans came to Chicago, where he was admitted to the Bar during the same year, soon after removing to Dixon's Ferry, Illinois, remaining at that place two or three years. Thence he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he practiced his profession until 1858. At that date he again located in Chicago, and was en- gaged in general practice in this city up to the time of his death. During this time he tried many important cases, which he managed with marked ability, gaining a numerous and profit- able clientage.

On the 16th of September, 1846, Mr. Evans was married, Miss Caroline "Hyde, of Darien, New York, becoming his wife. Mrs. Evans, who is a daughter of James Hyde, still survives, at the venerable age of seventy-four years, making her home in Chicago. She is the mother of four living children: William W., a prosperous at- torney at Chicago; Lewis H., a civil engineer, at present connected with the track elevation of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway in Chicago; Carrie, Mrs. William L. Adams, and Mary W., the two latter also residents of Chicago.

Mr. Evans was a gentleman of quiet, un- ostentatious habits, and gave but little heed to public affairs. He confined his labors and at- tention almost exclusively to professional sub- jects, and achieved an enviable standing among his contemporaries, which justly entitles this brief record of his life to a place among the annals of his adopted home.

JOHN DICKINSON.

OHN DICKINSON, a highly successful operator upon the Chicago Board of Trade, residing at Evanston, was born in the his- toric old town of Deerfield, Massachusetts, No- vember 21, 1855, and is a son of Philander P. and Mary A. (Feeney) Dickinson.

The Dickinsons were among the earliest Colonial families of Massachusetts. Philander R. Dickinson, the grandfather of the subject of this notice, was a wholesale and retail shoe dealer in New York City for many years. He attained the great age of ninety-eight years, dy- ing at Springfield. Massachusetts.

Philander P. Dickinson became an extensive manufacturer of brooms at Springfield, and had at one time the largest factory in that State. This establishment was destroyed by fire, inflicting upon Mr. Dickinson a financial loss which lie was never able wholly to retrieve. In1 1860 he removed to Iowa, locating first at Claremont,

and settling later at McGregor. At the latter point he again engaged in the manufacture of brooms, and built up a fair business On account of failing health, lie retired from active business about 1865, and returned to the East. The last ten years of his life were passed at Norwalk, Florida, where he died in 1884, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and a steadfast Republican.

Mrs. Mary A. Dickinson died at Evanston in 1878, aged forty-nine years. She was born in New York City, her parents being of Irish de- scent. Her father was a wholesale shoe mer- chant in that city. She was a member of the Baptist Church. Her children are named and reside as follows: Millie D., Mrs. Julius Ball, Montague, Massachusetts; Mary J., and Delia, wife of F. H. Bennett, Chicago; John, Evanston; Hattie M., Denver, Colorado.

John Dickinson was a small boy when the fam-

BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF.

ily came West, and he received his education at the Evanston High School. He began his busi- 11ess career in a furniture store, and established himself in business as a shoe dealer at Evanston, with success. In 1879 he sold out and joined the Chicago Board of Trade, with which he has ever since been identified. He was among the younger members of that body, but soon demonstrated his capability and soundness, and has won the confidence and esteem of the entire membership. He handles all kinds of grain and provisions, as well as stocks and bonds and other paper securi- ties, on his own account, and has met with al- most uniform success. His profits have been largely invested in real estate at Hammond, Indiana, and in Florida timber lands and orange groves.

Mr. Dickinson was married, November 25, 1875, to Miss Mary Alice Johnson, daughter of Anthony Johnson and Catherine (Ganer) John-

son. Mrs. Dickinson was born at Port Jervis, New York, where her father was connected with important railroad interests for some years. Mr. Dickinson is identified with the First Methodist Church of Evanston. He is a man of domestic tastes, and devotes little time to social recreations. He supports the Republican party, whose policy he believes to be in the interest of good govern- ment and the commercial prosperity of the country.

In 1889 he built an elegant residence at the northwest corner of Asbury Avenue and Church Street, Evanston, which is surrounded by one of the handsomest and best-kept lawns in Cook County. In short, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson, throughout its exterior and interior appointments, bespeaks the refined tastes and cultivated instincts by means of which, only, such an establishment can be designed and main- tained.

BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF.

ENJAMIN SHURTLEFF, one of the found- ers of Lake View, whose identity is rapidly becoming lost in the vast city of Chicago, is still a resident of that former suburb, and affords an excellent type of the pioneers of the metrop- olis of the West. He was born in Ernesttown, Lennox County, Ontario, July 19, 1812. His ancestors were English, and were very loyal subjects of the British crown. The first one in the American colonies settled in Massachusetts, whence Lemuel Shurtleff, grandfather of the subject of this notice, removed to Canada at the beginning of the American Revolution. He settled in Ernesttown, Lennox County, Ontario, where he engaged in farming, reared a large family, and reached a good old age. He had three sons, Seldon, Jacob and Gideon.

The last-named passed his life in Canada, exceeding the age of eighty years, and was a farmer. He was a quiet, faithful Christian,

devoted to the Methodist Church, and the welfare of his fellow-men was dear to his heart. His wife, Mary Ward, probably of Irish descent, was a tender and true wife and mother, and, like himself, a faithful member of the Methodist Church. She died at the age of sixty-two years. Of their twelve children, eleven grew to maturity, and three of the sons became residents of the United States. Their names were Samuel, Jacob, Gid- eon, Lemuel, Benjamin, Miles, John, Polly, Amy, Lydia and Amanda. Lemuel was an able me- chanic, and built some of the large iron mills at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at which place he died. Miles was admitted to the Bar in New York, and became interested in the manufacture of iron at Rochester, New York, for many years.

Benjamin Shurtleff passed the first eighteen years of his life on the home farm, receiving such intellectual training as was afforded by the dis- trict schools and good home surroundings. At

IO2

BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF.

the age of eighteen years he began learning the joiner's trade, of which he became master. In 1837 he joined his brother in Pittsburglı, Penn- sylvania, and was associated with him in erecting large manufacturing plants there. Among these may be mentioned the immense iron mills of Spang, Chalfant & Company at Atna, and the rolling mills of Louis Dalzell & Company at Sharpsburgh, another suburb of Pittsburgh. Among his fellow-workmen was Mr. C. K. Gar- rison, since one of the most successful business men and capitalists of that city, who was regarded by Mr. Shurtleff as one of the brightest business men he ever met. Twelve years of industrious application there gave Mr. Shurtleff a small cap- ital, which he resolved to invest in a newer place, and he set out for Chicago.

Arriving here in 1851, he immediately made investments in real property, which his foresight told him was sure to appreciate greatly in value. He secured twenty acres in Lake View Town- ship, beside three twenty-acre tracts in section 33, town 39 north, range 14, most of which has been subdivided and sold off. Shurtleff's Addi- tion was one of the most valuable and well-known subdivisions on the old maps, and he now has valuable property on the South Side of the city. His present possessions include about ten acres of the most valuable land in the city, including many improved lots in the vicinity of his home, on Oakdale Avenue. In 1870 he built six sub- stantial houses on the corner of Fremont and Oak- dale Avenues, which were beyond the ravages of the great fire of the next year and became immediately profitable.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 14

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book and Engraving Co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 930