Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899, Part 13

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 910

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899 > Part 13

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Closely wedded to his profession, Mr. Prosser generally refused the responsibilities of official positions, but made an exception to this rule after the Great Fire, when he acted as superintendent of the distribution of food to the destitute in Districts Four and Five. These duties he filled in an energetic and impartial manner, which accorded well with the other actions of his well- spent life. In his politics he voted with the Republican party.

Oscar E. Poole, who married Mr. Prosser's only daughter, was born January 18, 1857, in Will

J. W. LARIMORE.

County, Illinois, and is a son of Ezra and Eliza Treat Poole, pioneers in Will County, where they settled in 1850. He received his principal educa- tion in Joliet, where his guardian lived. His father died when he was but one and a-half years old, and his mother died when he was ten years old. His boyhood was spent in Joliet. At the age of eighteen years he became a clerk in his uncle's store, and three years later became a partner. At the age of twenty-two he entered the employ of the State, in the capacity of storekeeper

at the State Penitentiary, remaining a number of years in that position. From there he went to Chicago, where he first started a milk business and then became a traveling salesman for Kinney & Company, and, later, their manager. He finally bought out the business, and it is now conducted under the name of Poole & Company. Mr. Poole was married, February 27, 1885, to Miss Mary Augusta Prosser, who is the mother of four children now living: Edward Prosser, Helen Irene, Lucy Eliza and Malcolm Alan Poole.

PROF. JAMES W. LARIMORE.

AMES WILSON LARIMORE, who died suddenly of heart failure at his home in Chi- cago, May 30, 1894, was for many years prominent in the literary, social and religious work of the city. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio, May 6, 1834, and was a son of Joseph and Mary Jane (Wilson) Larimore, both also natives of that place. The earliest progenitors of the family known were French Huguenots, who fled from their native land after the cruel revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., locating in Scotland. There the name was difficult of pronunciation on the Scotch tongue, and from "Laird o' the Moor," the name gradually came to its present form.

The first settlement of the family in Amer- ica was made in Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, where David Larimore, grandfather of the subject of this sketchi, was born March 31, 1782. For many generations the Larimores had been distinguished for literary tastes and attain- ments, and David Larimore was 110 exception to the rule. He was a man of affairs, and conserved

the family estates, which were considerable. He died at Norristown, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1857, having almost completed his seventy-fifth year.

James Wilson, father of Mrs. Mary J. Lari- more, came of a Scotch-Irish family, which has borne a prominent part in the literary and social life of the United States, furnishing many not- able statesmen, attorneys and generals to the Nation. This family is also a strong factor in the literary life of America, and Professor Lari- more inherited talents from both lines of ances- tors.

The youth of the latter was spent at Niles, Michigan, whither his parents removed when he was two years old. He early manifested a fond- ness for books, and most of his life up to the age of twenty-six years was spent in school. He was sent, in 1852, to Olivet Institute, in Eaton County, Michigan. Having an uncle in the faculty of the Hampton and Sidney College in southern Virginia, he was induced to go there. He remained some time, but the climate did not

J. W. LARIMORE.

agree with him. Consequently, he decided to finish his education at the North. He took a course at the University of New York City, which graduated him in the Class of 1860. He had a thorough theological education, having spent a year at Union Theological Seminary, later taking a full course at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, preparatory to entering the Presbyterian ministry. He preached most of the time, supplying different churches during the latter part of his theological studies, his first regular "call" being to one of the largest and most important churches at that time in Albany, New York, the Third Dutch Reformed. He had, however, a decided preference for life in the grow- ing West, and became pastor of the First Presbyte- rian Church of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Under his able ministry, this soon became the largest so- ciety of that denomination west of the Mississippi River. In 1863 he accepted the Chaplaincy of the Ninth Iowa Cavalry, at the earnest solicita- tion of his particular friend, Adjutant-General Baker, of Iowa, and at once went into the field with the regiment, spending most of the time in the Department of Little Rock, Arkansas, being Post Chaplain at De Valls Bluff. Just before the death of President Lincoln, in 1865, he was by him brevetted Major, and also assigned to the position of Hospital Chaplain in the regular United States army. He resigned his position at De Valls Bluff, as he had been ordered to re- port for duty at Webster Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in April, 1865. Owing to the uncer- tainty of the mails, he did not receive his papers until several days after the President's assassina- tion.

At the close of the war Professor Larimore came to Chicago, and in the fall of 1865 was installed as pastor of the Seventh (now West- minister ) Presbyterian Church of this city, which position he filled for something over two years. In the mean time he did much literary work, and for a period gave his exclusive attention to this congenial labor. He developed a great aptitude for journalism, and was offered the position of city editor of the Chicago Evening Journal in the spring of 1871, and accepted. He discharged the

duties of this responsible charge with marked ability and success for three years.

On the fatal ninth of October, 1871, when the Journal office was a ruin through the historic "great fire," Mr. Larimore gave a characteristic exhibition of energy and perseverance. With the aid of the editor-in-chief, Hon. Andrew Shu- man, an edition of the Journal was produced on a hand press, which they secured in a job-of- fice on the West Side; and with the flames threatening to consume the building over their heads, the paper was issued at the usual hour of publication-being the only representative of the Chicago daily press put forth on that day.

The numerous writings and publications of Professor Larimore had attracted the notice of the University of Chicago, and in March, 1874, he was elected to the professorship of physics in that institution. In consequence of this, he re- signed his connection with the Journal May 2 of that year. He did not, however, enter upon the duties assigned him at the university, but later on accepted a similar position at the Cook County Normal School at Englewood. In Sep- tember, 1878, he was elected teacher of physics and chemistry at the North Division High School of Chicago. He entered at once upon his duties, and continued to fill the chair for eleven consecutive years, with great credit to himself and the school, making many devoted friends among his pupils.

Before coming West Professor Larimore was married, at Hudson, New York, to Miss Katie Hoysradt, a beautiful and talented young lady, who died in Chicago in 1865. Her remains, with those of their two little boys, rest in the cemetery at Niles, Michigan.

In 1867 he was again married, by Reverend Doctors Humphrey and Harsha, to Miss Hattie Stevens, of Chicago, the soprano singer of his church choir. She was born in Strykersville, Wyoming County, New York, being the young- est of the three daughters of the late Ira Stevens of that town. In the year 1854, while she was a small child, the family went to St. Charles, Kane County, Illinois. Her father, a talented singer, died very suddenly of cholera the day following

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON.

their arrival, which was during the great epidemic of that year. Her mother, Percy Talmage Hotchkiss, a refined Christian lady, was born near New Haven, Connecticut. She died in April, 1888, leaving her six children, and many friends, to mourn her loss.

Mrs. Larimore received her education in the high school at St. Charles, finishing it in Chi- cago, where the greater part of her life has been spent. Possessing marked musical talent, she devoted most of her time to its development, which brought her some distinction. At one time, while a young lady, she was urgently solicited to enter upon an operatic career. She was turned from that course by conscientious scruples. Aside from her musical talent, she is a lady of much culture and pleasing personality, and was ever a true helpmeet and companion to her talented husband in all his labors. Three bright children were given to Mr. and Mrs. Lari- more, all of whom are now deceased. Hattie Gertrude, the eldest, passed away at the age of two years. Paul, a promising lad, reached the

age of ten years, and was the subject of a most touching and beautiful obituary from the pen of Dr. Nixon, of the Inter Ocean. Blanche died in infancy. The remains of the husband and father and their three children lie buried at Rose Hill.

During his ministry in Chicago, Professor Larimore preached many quite noted sermons, one of the most marked being what was called by the daily papers his "Crosby Opera House ser- mon." He also preached the sermon at the in- stallation of the late Professor David Swing, who was loved by so large a number of the leading citizens of Chicago. At the time of his death these two ministers were the only surviving mem- bers of the original Presbytery of the city. Pro- fessor Larimore was ever active in good works, always having the welfare of his kind at heart, but "God's finger touched him and he slept." The following lines express but feebly the high opinion in which he was held by his friends:

"To know him was to love him, None named him but to praise."

CAPT. CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON.

C APT. CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, one of the old landmarks of Chicago, who arrived in this city as long ago as 1838, was a native of the little kingdom of Denmark, and was born near Copenhagen, October 3, 1819, his parents being natives of the same locality. His father was killed by an accident before Christopher was a year old, and the latter was bound out to a farmer on the island of Als. Imbued with the strong love of the sea which has filled so many of his country- men and made them famous as sailors the world over, at the early age of fourteen years he shipped at Sonderburg, Denmark, on board an ocean

vessel, and within the next two or three years had sailed around the globe. In the winter of 1837 he found himself in the city of New Orleans, and, having long desired to verify the statements he had heard of the advantages America offered to industrious, enterprising youth of all nations, he left his ship, and started for the heart of the country. After reaching St. Louis, lie went to Peoria, in this State, whence, by means of a hired team, he reaclied this city.

Mr. Johnson's employment after reaching what was then the inuddy little village at the mouth of the Chicago River was as a member of a survey-

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON.

ing party; but he served thus only a short time, and soon after sought the more familiar and con- genial life of a sailor on the Great Lakes. On one occasion, while on a trip on one of the Lower Lakes, on a vessel called the "Maria Hilliard," he was shipwrecked and met with other mishaps. But on the whole fortune favored him; and after a few years' service as a common sailor, he was able to buy a small schooner, the "Helena," and took charge of her as captain. In 1849, while coming with a cargo of bricks from Little Fort, near Kenosha, the "Helena" was sunk near the Rush Street Bridge. On her voyage to Chicago, she had sprung a leak, but by the efforts of the captain and crew, she had been kept afloat until the city was reached. After raising his vessel, Captain Johnson sailed her for some time longer, but in 1853 concluded to give up sailing for good. His life on the lakes had given him a pretty fair insight into the lumber business, and in this he embarked, remaining thus engaged until the Great Fire, when, in common with innumerable others, he lost almost his entire savings. Fort- unately, however, he did not lose his residence, which was then on the West Side. He was the owner of a farm at Lemont, and he moved his family there for a time. His handsome new farmhouse was destroyed by fire two years later, and he built another.

almost impassable in the early days on account of its level. At one time he intended to buy the land on which the Briggs House now stands, but after considerable deliberation concluded the site was too muddy, a succession of mud holes having to be crossed to reach it.

Captain Johnson's widow, who yet survives, was previous to her marriage Miss Emily Ray- mond, a daughter of John and Louise Raymond. She is a native of Copenhagen, and was born September 1, 1833. At the age of ten years she came to America with her father, who was a ship- carpenter. He followed the lakes until his death, which resulted from an accident he met with while in the pursuit of his calling, being caught and crushed between two ships. His death occurred some months later, at the age of forty-five years, August 11, 1853. Mrs. Johnson's marriage occurred in Du Page County, this State, near Naperville, December 9, 1849, and resulted in the birth of thirteen children, of whom the fol- lowing are living: Maria Louise, Mrs. A. Nelson, of Chicago; Lena Amelia, Mrs. John S. Lee, of Lemont; Evelyn, Mrs. D. T. Elston, of Chicago; Henry W., living in Socorro, New Mexico; Benja- min Franklin, of Pomeroy, Washington; Charles Christopher and George W. Johnson, of this city.

In politics Captain Johnson was an ardent sup- porter of the Republican party, and his party's, candidates were never defeated by his failure to do his duty at the polls. During the early years of the Civil War he served as Collector of the North Town, but a naturally retiring and modest

Captain Johnson had married in 1849, and for the next twelve years he reared his children on the farm. He retained the real estate he had owned in Chicago previous to the fire, and had added to it, and at the end of the twelve years he · disposition kept him from ever being conspic- removed his wife and family to the city, finding uous in politics. In religious faith he accorded with the Lutheran Church. The respect in which he was held was shown at the time of his death, which occurred September 28, 1895, within a week of his seventy-sixth birthday anniversary. He had been an enthusiastic member of Cleveland Lodge of the Chicago Freemasons, in which he was initiated June 11, passed July 7, and raised October 13, 1859, and his fellow Masons attended his funeral in a body. His early life had been full of incident and adventure, but his later years found him quietly fulfilling the duties of a self- respecting, honorable life. here greater scope for himself and promise of future occupation for his sons. His property interests increased to such an extent that his time was fully taken up in managing his private affairs, and he never entered any other business. During all his life in Chicago he lived on the North Side, where he was universally known and popular with all. He built his first home on the corner of Ohio and Market Streets, a spot which he then considered the most prepossessing in the city. His objection to the South Side was due to its mud, that portion of the city being

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLING. ;

Haris, Stewart

H. L. STEWART.

HART L. STEWART.

G EN. HART LE LAC STEWART, who was very prominent in the development of Mich- igan and Illinois, a participator in the Black Hawk War, and a leading citizen of Chicago for a generation, came of the sturdy stock which paved the way for and was active in the civilization of many of the eastern States of this country. He was born in Bridgewater, Oneida County, New York, August 29, .1803, and died in Chicago May 23, 1882.

The name indicates the Scotch origin of his ancestry, but the date of their transplanting to America is not known. From the recollections of General Stewart, published by him at the re- quest of his family, it is learned that his grand- parents, Samuel Stewart and Patience Hunger- ford, lived in Tolland County, Connecticut. The latter was, undoubtedly, of English lineage. She died many years before her husband, who passed away in 1816, at the age of eighty-two years. They had nine children, and the second, William, was the father of the subject of this biography.

William Stewart was born in 1772, in Con- necticut, and was an early settler in the Territory of Michigan. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and also served in the militia regiment, com- manded by his son, which went from Michigan to aid in suppressing the Indians under Black Hawk in 1832. He was married at Mansfield, Windham County, Connecticut, in 1795, to Miss Validia Turner, eighth of the ten children of Timothy and Rachel (Carpenter) Turner, of Mansfield. Timothy Turner was born August 18, 1757, in Willington, Connecticut, which was also the native place of his wife. The latter died in Mansfield Center, Windham County, Con-

necticut, June 22, 1799. They were married August 20, 1776. Timothy Turner was a soldier of the Revolution, serving in the "Lexington Alarm Party" from Mansfield, Connecticut. He was the son of Stephen, third and youngest son of Isaac Turner, born in Bedford, Massachusetts, whose father came from England. Rachel Car- penter's parents were James and Irene (Ladd) Carpenter. The former was a son of Ebenezer Carpenter and Eunice Thompson. Ebenezer, born in Coventry, Connecticut, as was his son, was the son of Benjamin Carpenter and Hannah, daughter of Jedediah Strong. Benjamin was the tentlı child of William Carpenter and Priscilla Bonette. The former was one of the four chil- dren of William Carpenter, who came from South- ampton, England, in the ship "Bevis" in 1638, and settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. (See biography of Benjamin Carpenter in this volume. )

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, lie 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 inen.

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. In 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.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899, Part 13

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co. Number of Pages: 910

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 910