USA > Illinois > Biographical and memorial edition of the Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 33
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On December 30, 1872, Mr. Allen was married to Miss Emma M. Windiate, daughter of Wil- liam and Almira (Mead) Windiate, of Calhoun County, Mich., and to this union one son was born: Harry W., who is now secretary and treasurer of the firm of J. W. Allen & Company. He married Winnifred Niswanger and they have one son : Frank W.
In politics Mr. Allen is a Republican, loyally supporting the men and measures of that party. He belongs to the Chicago Association of Com- merce and the Illinois Manufacturers' Associa- tion, holds membership also in the National Master Bakers' Association. He is a valued representative of the Masonic fraternity, and also holds a life membership in the Art Insti- tute of Chicago. Motoring and fishing afford him pleasure and recreation. His record is an illustration of the fact that opportunity is open to all. With a nature that could not be content with mediocrity, his laudable ambition has prompted him to put forth untiring and prac- tical effort until he has long since left the ranks of the ordinary many and taken his place among the successful few.
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BENJAMIN HENRY BREAKSTONE.
Distinguished alike as physician, surgeon and scientist, Dr. Benjamin Henry Breakstone occupies a pre-eminent place among the pro- fessional men of Chicago, where for more than a decade he has devoted his high attainments to accomplishing what has brought him wide reputation. universal recognition and honors of an enviable nature. Dr. Breakstone's pro- fessional achievements are based upon an in- timate knowledge of the intricate subjects of human anatomy and scientific . therapeutics. Like many other capable, successful and prom- inent men, he did not start out in life with the ambition to encompass something phenomenal, but, at the outset of his career, he placed a just valuation upon honor, integrity and determina- tion, and with those qualities as capital has won for himself a notable place in the Illinois field of medicine and surgery.
Dr. Breakstone has passed the greater part of his life-in the United States, although his birth occurred many thousands of miles away, taking place in Suwolk, Poland, Russia, March 27, 1877. Ile is a son of Judah Reuben and Esther (Semiatisky) Breakstone, who immi- grated to America when Benjamin Henry was a child, and settled in New York City, and in that metropolis, in Grammar School No. 2. the youth obtained his first English educational training. In 1859 his parents removed to Seran- ton, Pa., and he completed his literary course in the high school of that city, where he gradu- ated in 1893. In early boyhood he had deter- mined to make the practice of medicine his life work, and eagerly embraced the opportunity which qualified him for professional service. Matriculating in Rush Medical College. Chicago, in 1895, he attended four whole years and was graduated from this institution with the degree of M. D. in 1899, and at the same time he took a course at Illinois College of Psychology and Suggestive Therapeutics, where he was gradu- ated in August, 1897. In April, 1898, he passed the required examination before the Illinois State Board of Health, and in 1902 was granted the degree of Bachelor of Science by Carnegie Institution. He put his surgical knowledge to a practical test by active experience in the Cook County Hospital, from 1897 until 1899, and was assistant in the gynecological clinic of the Cen- tral Free Dispensary of Chicago at the same time. In 1599 he became assistant attending neurologist in the Central Free Dispensary, a
position which he held for one year, after which he was surgeon for a like period and house physician during 1901-2. In 1899-1900 Doctor Breakstone was adjunct professor of chemistry in Jeuner Medical College. He became physician to (and honorary member of) the Friends of the Poor, in 1898, and has so since served ; has been physician to the Mutual Friends, Second Ill. Vol. Inf., since 1995; was attending surgeon, 1899-1901, and surgeon-in-chief since 1001 for the Red Shield Sanitarium; surgeon-in-chief of the department of skin, venereal and genito- urinary diseases at Maimonides Polyclinic and Hospital; adjunct professor of diseases of women at the Illinois Medical College in 1000-2; attending dermatologist aud genito-urinary sur- geon of the Illinois Medical College Dispensary, 1899-1901; attending gynecologist, in 1904, and since 1001 associate attending surgeon at the United Hebrew Charities Dispensary ; professor of genito-urinary surgery and venereal diseases at Jenner Medical College, since 1903; attend- ing surgeon at Olivet Mission Dispensary, since 1903, and surgeon to the Cook County Hospital. 1901. Doctor Breakstone was head of the de- partment of genito-urinary diseases from 1908 to 1910, and since then professor of clinical surgery in Bennett Medical College, which is the medical department of the Loyola Univer- sity. He is also consulting surgeon to the Mary Thompson Hospital for Women and Children, attending surgeon to the Jefferson Park Hos- pital, and attending surgeon to the Rhodes Ave- nue Hospital. He is widely known because of his contributions to medical literature and as the author of "Ambulatory Radical Painless Surgery," a work that has attracted attention extensively and has received the indorsement of the eminent members of the profession throughout the country. Doctor Breakstone was the organizer of the Maimonides Hospital, and it was solely through his untiring efforts that it was opened to the public, June 24, 1913, and since that time he has served as chief-of-staff. Few physicians of the city have done equal work in hospital practice and his broad experi- ence and comprehensive study have enabled him to speak with authority upon many subjects of great interest to the profession. Doctor Break- stone belongs to various medical societies and keeps thoroughly informed concerning all that modern research, experiment and investigation are bringing to light, bearing upon the practice
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of medicine and surgery. A well-trained and discerning mind enables him to readily grasp the vital and salient points presented, not only in medical literature, but in the discussion of the broad questions which involve the welfare and progress of the individual and the country at large.
Doctor Breakstone is a member of the Chicago Medical Association ; has been vice-president of the West Chicago Medical Society since 1902; he is now counselor to the Chicago Medical So- ciety and chairman of the Abuse of Medical Charities committee, on which subject he has written a number of articles appearing in vari- ous medical journals; was formerly president and treasurer of the West Side Physicians Club; is a member of the Chicago Academy of Surgery and the Illinois Surgical Society ; and is an hon- orary alumnus of the Illinois Medical College. He is also a member of the Uniform Rank of the Knights of Pythias; the Independent West- ern Star order, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Other organizations in which he has membership include the Eldorado Associa- tion of Commerce, the Self Educational, the Press and Lawndale clubs, and the Art Institute. At one time he was a member of the board of directors of the Chicago Hebrew Institute, and
is now a member of the board of directors of the Federated Charities.
In April, 1905, Doctor Breakstone was married to Miss Rose Friedman, and to this union there have been born four children: Benzion, Judah Reuben, Blanche Dorothy and Irving, the last three of whom are living.
Doctor Breakstone is an independent voter. Wisely and conscientiously using the talents with which nature has endowed him, and im- proving every opportunity, he has come to stand with the eminent physicians and surgeons of Chicago. As indicated, he is well known in the social circles of the city, takes a most active and helpful part in benevolent and charitable enter- prises, and is ever ready to extend a helping hand to all worthy movements, and also is never too busy to be courteous and cordial, thus win- ning the esteem of those of all creeds and po- litical proclivities. Mrs. Breakstone is also prominent in Chicago social circles. She is a lady of grace, education and refinement, being unusually talented, an excellent vocalist, a skilled pianist and a gifted artist. Her influ- ence is felt both in social and benevolent work, and her friends are as numerous as her acquaint- ances.
WILLIAM RIDDELL.
The really useful men of a community are those on whom their fellow citizens can rely in affairs of public importance; men who have won this confidence by the wisdom of their own investments and by the honorable lives they have led in every field of effort, and as neigh- bors and friends. Such a man in overy par- ticular was the late William Riddell of Spar- land, Marshall County, Il., who was the most prominent representative of the financial inter- ests of his city. He was born on the Wellgreen farm near Glasford, Scotland. November 21, 1844, and lived there until 1\66, when he came to the United States, locating on a farm in Marshall County, Ill. There he worked by the month, but later developed into an extensive shipper of stock. For thirty-eight years he was engaged in the grain trade, which came from his stock connections, and in May, 1903, he he- came president of the Sparland Bank, a private institution backed by his personal resources, he being one of the heaviest stockholders of it. Mr. Riddell was also a stockholder in the First National Bank of Lacon, Ill., and the State
Trust and Savings Bank of Peoria, INl. In ad- dition he was the owner of a section of excellent land near Sparland, III., and about 4,000 acres in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Canada. For years his wise counsel was valued at its true worth and his advice was sought by those having in view the establishing of new business ventures in Marshall County. In all of his operations, he was a man of unswerving integrity, keen intelligence, undying energy, posi- tive character, and he took a liberal view of life.
In 1881 Mr. Riddell married Miss Mary C. Smith of Marshall County and they became the parents of three children, namely : Margaret S., William S., and Robert J., the two latter of whom are living. Margaret S. was born Novem- ber 18, 15 3. She was graduated from the Sparland High school in June. 1001, and left for Monmouth College the same year. Here she remained for two years, spending the fol- lowing two years at Knox College of Galesburg, Ill. In the summer of 1905 she went with her parents and younger brother to Scotland, and
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there she died, after a month's illness, of typhoid fever, in the city of Strathaven, September 16, 1905. She is buried in the Stratbaven Ceme- tery. William S., after leaving the Sparland High school, took a business course at Peoria, Ill., and then entered the First National Bank of Lacon as bookkeeper, thus continuing for two and one-half years, when he embarked in a livery business at the same place and he is still conducting it and looking after the estate left by his father. He married Elizabeth Wes- cott of Lacon, Ill., a daughter of Circuit Clerk William L. Wescott and wife, and they have one daughter, Mary Virginia. Robert J. entered Monmouth College in September, 1911, from the Sparland High school and he is now a member of the Junior class. Mr. Riddell was a stalwart Republican but could never be induced to accept office, as he did not seek publicity of any kind. The United Presbyterian church held his mem- bership and profited by his generosity. His death occurred October 28, 1912, and he was mourned by a wide concourse of friends who realized that in his demise Marshall County lost one of its best known and most representative men.
Mrs. Riddell was born in Marshall County, Ill., a daughter of William and Ottilia (Fos-
bender) Smith, the former born in Scotland, May 4, 1$23, died at Sparland, Ill., February 8, 1907, at the age of eighty-three years. He was one of the pioneers of Marshall County, coming here when seventeen years old, and took a prominent part in the development of his lo- cality, being the first town clerk of La Prairie and one of the founders in 1853 of the old Presbyterian church. His widow survives him, making her home at Sparland, being now seven- ty-eight years old. She is a member of the United Presbyterian church.
William Riddell's work is done, his life course is run, and his record is closed. There are few men of Marshall County, however, who led more blameless lives or during the same number of years accomplished more. Not only did he place the institutions with which he was connected upon a firin, sound, financial foundation, but he elevated the tone of his neighborhood and advanced the cause of religion. In his home he was a tender and loving husband and father and among his associates, a friend who did not allow reverses to affect his attachments. The loss of such a man to the community is great and in this case is recognized as a calamity and one from which the people of Sparland have not yet recovered.
WILLIAM GRACE.
Among the labors to which men devote their activities there are none which have a more important bearing upon the growth and devel- opment of any community than those which have to do with building and architecture and their allied interests. The vocations which fashion and erect the homes of citizens and the buildings in which large enterprises are housed are among the oldest known to civiliza- tion, and in their ranks have been found men who have risen to high places in the world. The community which may boast of able and energetic workers in these fields seldom wants for enterprise and civic zeal. They create a need for their services, and while advancing their own interests they promote the commu- nity's growth. Without such men, a city may not hope to prosper, for, lacking their initia- tive, skill and resource other enterprises are affected and fall into the rut of mediocrity which eventuates in failure.
Among the leading representatives in building and architectural work in the great and con- stantly-growing city of Chicago, William Grace
holds a deservedly high place, for he has been connected with this line of endeavor both in the city and surrounding country for more than four decades. Mr. Grace was born in Hull, England. September 11, 1847, the eldest son of William Evans and Mary ( Bodell) Grace. His educational advantages were gained in the pub- lie schools, and he early decided that greater advantages were to be found in the United States, so that, in 1872, he emigrated to this country amd located in Chicago. In the Ili- nois metropolis, he began to engage in con- tracting and building, and through his own un- aided efforts and pluck worked his way up the ladder of success, round by round, growing with the city of his adoption and sharing in its marvelous prosperity. On coming to Chicago, in 1872, Mr. Grace took charge of the construc- tion work for Charles Cook and others until the fall of 1874, when he engaged as a builder on his own account, and has since continued in this field of activity. He later organized the William Grace Company, builders and con- tractors, which was incorporated and of which
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he is president. Mr. Grace has not ouly built up one of the most prominent and active con- cerns doing business along these lines in Chi- eago, but also extends his operations to many parts of the United States and Canada. Among the more prominent structures erected in Chi- cago and elsewhere may be mentioned the Coli- seum, Stock Yards Pavilion, La Salle Street Station, new Cook County Court House, Hib- bard-Spencer-Bartlett & Company's building, and many of the buildings of the University of Chicago; the Grand Central Station, at New York City, rebuilt in 1897-8, the First National Bank building, Hagerman building, Antlers Hotel and other buildings at Colorado Springs, the Post Office and Customs House at Newberne, North Carolina, the Union Depot, at Omaha, Nebraska, the Rock Island Station and office building at Topeka, Kansas, the Agricultural College building at Saint Ann's, Province of Quebec, Canada, the Union Bank and office building at Montreal, Canada, the Bank of British North America and numerous other buildings at Winnipeg, Canada.
Mr. Grace's life has been one of continuous activity in which has been accorded due recog- nition of labor. Few have shown greater execu- tive ability and few have been more active in business circles. He has always been deeply in- terested in Chicago's welfare and at all times his sympathy and support have been with the measures that in any way benefit the western metropolis. For forty-two years he has been identified with the building and architectural interests of Chicago, and during this entire period has maintained a high standard of busi- ness ethics. No citizen has been more active in the promotion of progress and advancement,
and none enjoys a higher standing, both in busi- ness and social circles.
Mr. Grace was married at Manchester, Eng- land, August 20, 1868, to Miss Mary Booth, of Middleton, a woman of culture and refinement and of many admirable traits of character, and to this union there were born four children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are: John W., a civil engineer, a graduate of the Polytechnique of Troy, N. Y., and Har- vey E., treasurer of his father's business. They are classed with the men of action in this city. Though quiet and unostentatious in man- ner, Mr. Grace has many warm friends, and those who know him recognize in him a man of earnest purpose and progressive principles.
Mr. Grace is a Mason of high standing, be- ing a member of Landmark Lodge, Fairview Chapter, Englewood Commandery and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a valued member of the Union League, Chicago Athletic and Builders clubs, and though prom- inent in the social life of Chicago, does not forget those whose careers have been less for- tunate than his own, his charities extending to many worthy individuals and institutions.
It has been Mr. Grace's fortune to achieve many accomplishments and to realize many of his high ideals. In so doing, be has traveled the difficult road that leads to self-made man- hood, and in his career has experienced the vicissitudes that attend the labors of the man of action. Through all his struggles he has steadfastly maintained his unflinching integ- rity, and his reward is found in the fact that he may look back over his life, content with the knowledge of worthy effort and well-won battles.
FRANK O. LOWDEN.
Col. Frank O. Lowden, whose place of resi- dence is Sinnissippi Farm in Nashua Town- ship, three miles southeast of Oregon, is Repre- sentative in Congress from this, the Thirteenth Illinois District. Congressman Lowden was born at Sunrise, Minn., January 26, 1861, whither his father Lorenzo O. Lowden, moved in 183. from Pennsylvania. His father was of Scotch-Irish and English stock, while his mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Eliza- beth Breg, was of French and Dutch descent. After 18GS, the family home was Hardin County, Iowa, where on the farm young Lowden grew
to manhood. He attended the rural schools during winter months and at fifteen was him- self a teacher. Teaching alternated with farm- ing, but a determination to enter college was continuous, and after five years the entrance examinations to lowa University at Iowa City were taken and passed, during which time a partial course had been pursued for a time at the Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa. At the beginning of the junior year the young student's funds needing replenishing, he became principal of the school at Hubbard, Iowa, and while teaching and earning, kept up with his
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class, which he re-entered at the opening of the senior year, and was graduated valedic- torian.
During the following year, he was engaged in teaching Latin and mathematics in the Bur- lington High school, meantime studying law on his own account. He then, in the year 1886, went to Chicago, entered the law office of Dex- ter, Herrick & Allen as stenographer, and at the same time took advance standing in the Union College of Law. Keeping up both lines of work. he was graduated in 1887, again as Valedictorian, and received two first prizes, one for his oration and one for scholarship. Jis continued interest as an alumnus of Union College of Law, now Northwestern Law School, has resulted in the new assembly room being named "Lowilen Hall." After his graduation, Mr. Lowden began the practice of the law in Chicago, took part in politics and was connected with various civic reform associations. During the Spanish-American war Mr. Lowden was elected lieutenant-colonel of the First Regi- ment of Illinois Infantry.
In 1899 Colonel Lowden purchased a beautiful old homestead and farm of 600 acres on Rock River near Oregon, Ill. He has replaced the original house with a commodions cement and thabered plaster dwelling, increased the wood- land bordered lawn to a hundred acres, or more, planted to shrubbery and laid out in macadam driveways, and extended the farm acreage until now there is a country estate of about five thousand acres, which is used as a combined residence and farm.
In 1004, Colonel Lowden was a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. He announced his candidacy at Oregon at a pub- lie meeting of citizens of Ogle County, presided over by the Hon. Robert R. Hitt, then congress- man from the Thirteenth District, made a canvass of the state, and in the celebrated dead- lock convention, which convened at Springfield May 12th, and, after a recess of ten days, be- , ginning May 20th, adjourned June 3rd, received 63116 votes, the highest number to go to him, on the seventy-third ballot, the number neces- sary to a choice (752), being obtained by no one until the seventy-ninth ballot.
Becoming a candidate for Congress in the Thirteenth District, upon the resignation of Robert R. Hitt in the spring of 1906, Colonel
Lowden received the Republican nomination at the primaries held throughout the district, and was elected for the unexpired term of the Fifty- ninth and the full term of the Sixtieth Congress, entering upon his duties in Washington on De- cember 3, 1906. Speaker Cannon appointed him a member of the committee on Foreign Affairs, of which his predecessor had been the chairman for many years; and also made him a member of the committee on Militia.
In 1904 he was chosen National Republican Committeeman for Illinois, and was re-chosen in 1908. He opened the campaign of the latter year in this state with a speech at Murphys- boro, and spoke repeatedly in different parts of Illinois for the election of Secretary Taft and the re-election of Governor Deneen. In the Thirteenth Congressional District, where he was again the Republican nominee for Congress, he made one or more speeches in each of the six counties of the district, closing by addressing the citizens of Oregon and vicinity on the even- ing of the day before election at a meeting held in the court house, where, besides Republicans, adherents of other political parties were also present, the occasion being made a reception to Colonel Lowden personally, as well as a political meeting.
Colonel Lowden was married in 1896 to Miss Florence Pullman, of Chicago, daughter of the late George M. Pullman, president of the Pull- man Car Company, and founder of the town of Pullman, IN. Miss Pullman received her edu- cation at Miss Anne Brown's School, New York. After her graduation, she traveled abroad with her sister, under the chaperonage of Mrs. John A. Logan. Colonel and Mrs. Lowden have four children : Pullman, Florence, Harriet Elizabeth and Frances Orren. Mrs. Lowden takes an intelligent interest in politics and public affairs, and often accompanies Colonel Lowden when making political tours and addresses in the district and in the state. She possesses the admirable, old-time quality of looking, with thoughtful kindness and care, after the welfare of those about them. She also is in sympathy with the broad plans for the agricultural devel- opment of Sinnissippi Farm, and both she and the children, as well as Colonel Lowden, are very fond of the beautiful outdoor life and sur- roundings of their Rock River home.
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FRANCIS ASBURY HAYDEN.
The late Francis Asbury Hayden was a man of marked liberality and public spirit. His principles were those of the sturdiest kind of honesty, although he was not one to obtrude his moral standards upon others. Interested and an active participant in the mercantile life of various places, he successfully guided the affairs of large concerns, his complete and rapid comprehension of business propositions as they were presented to him seemed to be in- tuitive, and he also possessed a shrewd under- standing of men and their probable motives. His word had a value above parchment or legal formalities, and he was deservedly ranked among the open-hearted, generous and charita .. ble men of his day. Mr. Hayden was born at Rome, Oneida County, N. Y., July 28, 1835, and there grew up useful and happy, receiving a grammar and high school education.
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