USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Biographical history of the American Irish in Chicago > Part 13
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In 1890 Mr. Joseph Duffy separated from his brother and since that time has carried on the business alone. He is now engaged on a very large contract, the building of the North West line tun-
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nel, which will be used to bring water from the lake to supply the west division of the city. The price to be paid is $400,000, and the tunnel is to be three and one-half miles long and eight feet in diameter. Mr. Duffy has gained a reputation for quick work, and in six months he completed one mile-far more rapid work than has ever hitherto been done.
Mr. Duffy married Julia Carroll on January 15th, 1896.
He is a splendid example of the young American Irish who have done so much towards building up Chicago and the West. Fearless, vigorous and of integrity which is beyond question, his honorable methods have succeeded in building up for him, while yet in his early prime, a very large business, as well as a reputa- tion as a business man second to none in this great city.
JOHN JAMES HENNESSY.
The career of the subject of this sketch illustrates clearly the possibilities that are open in this country to the earnest and the persevering who possess the courage of their convictions, the firm determination to be the architects of their own fortunes, and who absolutely refuse to acknowledge defeat. The success he has achieved has in no way damaged his popularity, every one who knows him is his friend, and nothing is spoken of him but un- grudging praise of the efforts he has made and the result he has achieved. Ever genial and open-hearted, the popular police magis- trate of the Town of Lake may claim a popularity second to none in the district in which he lives.
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John J. Hennessy was born in 1855 at Buffalo, N. Y., where his father, James, who was a native of Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland, being born there about 1826, settled after arriving in this country. This was in 1847, and after living for ten years in Buffalo, the latter moved to Cleveland in 1857 and died there in November, 1864. He had married, in 1854, Margaret Gorey, born in 1828, also a native of Ireland, her birthplace being the parish of Thomastown, County Kilkenny. She died March 30th, 1893, at the home of her son in Chicago. They were the parents of six children, and of them the subject of this sketch was the eldest and the only son. Of the others three survive, and these are married and prosperous.
Fatherless at the age of nine, the grim master, necessity, per- mitted him but scant schooling. He secured employment at the spring making trade and later obtained a situation in a rolling mill. The hardships attendant upon this labor induced an attack of rheumatism, which incapacitated him for upwards of a year. On recovering he removed to Chicago, at that time the Mecca of so many of the bright and enterprising young men of the East. He quickly secured a place as fireman on one of the river tug boats, which, however, he was forced to resign, owing to his old enemy rheumatism. His interest in religious matters had in the mean- time secured him the acquaintance and friendship of the Rev. Fath- er Dorney, through whose influence he obtained temporary employ- ment as janitor of the parochial school. A year later he went to work for Mr. M. W. Ryan, who was then county clerk, and subse- quently he superintended the taking of the school census in the Town of Lake. July 1st, 1884, he was appointed to a position as clerk in the office of Coroner Boydon, and in January following he was made deputy collector for the Town of Lake under Chris Veh- meyer. In the spring he was tendered the chief clerkship in the office of Assessor Bartlett, but declined in order to accept a position
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as confidential clerk to Thomas Byrne, now of the well known firm of Gahan & Byrne. November 7th, 1885, he was appointed by S. Corning Judd, then postmaster of Chicago, to the responsible posi- tion of Superintendent in charge of the Stock Yards postoffice, which position he filled with complete satisfaction to the depart- ment, until he resigned, April 30th, 1889. In every office he had held general satisfaction had been given and greater public favor obtained; the Town of Lake testified its further appreciation by electing him Justice of the Peace, in April, 1889. He assumed the onerous duties of that position in May of that year, and has since retained it. On the annexation of the Town of Lake to Chicago, the position became an appointive one, and in 1891 Mr. Hennessy was one of five justices appointed for that district by Governor Fifer. His term expired in 1895, and failing to get the recommendation of the judges by a single vote, Governor Altgeld refused to appoint a successor, and he therefore holds over. April 1st, 1891, he was appointed Police Magistrate by Mayor Cregier, and has succeeded himself in this office from term to term under appointment by May- ors Washburne, Harrison, Hopkins and Swift. His sound and prac- tical administration of justice and preference of equity to mere legal technicalities having become recognized, there is now no more popular justice in Chicago. Mr. Hennessy's duties are not comprised in the necessities of court attention, but other business in connection with his offices keeps his time very fully occupied.
Judge Hennessy was married in Cleveland, Ohio, June 9th, 1886, to Teresa F., daughter of Patrick Burke, long of that city. Their home is now brightened with two sons, James J., born November 8th, 1891, and William B., born August 7th, 1896.
In his political views, Judge Hennessy is and has always been a Democrat, and in the affairs and general advancement of his party has a prominent and active part.
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John J. Hennessy is a member of Princeton Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and Council No. 1020, Royal Arcanum, of which he is a Past Regent. He is also in the Independent Order of Foresters and holds the position of Past Chief Ranger of Court Union No. 41.
THOMAS KELLY.
Thomas Kelly, one of Chicago's most esteemed citizens, who in 1896 was honored by election to the responsible position of presi- dent of the Drainage Board, is a native of Providence, Rhode Island, where he was born January 3d, 1843. His father, John Kelly, was from County Kilkenny, Ireland, as was also his mother, Margaret Kelly. John Kelly came to this country in 1832, first settling at Providence, R. I., where he obtained a situation as a printer with the old house of Sprague & Co. In Providence he remained until 1845, when he came out with his family to Wisconsin, settling on a farm there.
The education received by the subject of this sketch was not of an extensive character, and consisted merely of an attendance for three winters and two summers in the common schools of Wis- consin. He was then taken from school to fill the place on the farm of his eldest brother, who had married. In 1861, when about eigh- . teen years of age, however, he decided to come to Chicago, and found his first business experience in working for packing houses, among whom may be mentioned Dixon & Hosmer, afterwards driv- ing team for a short time for Brad. Pease, and then going on a farm at Blue Island. After eighteen months on the latter, he was for a
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short time engaged by the Michigan Central Stock Yard Company, and at the end of that engagement helped to build the Pan-Handle track from Chicago to Crown Point, Ind., serving in various capaci- ties. Later the young man accepted a position in a grocery store, in which he remained from 1866 to 1876, when he was appointed Superintendent of the Brighton Cotton Mills, and in that capacity served until 1879, when he started in the contracting business and followed the same till 1889.
Mr. Kelly had in 1882 been elected on the Board of Trustees of the Town of Cicero, and in September, 1889, he was elected to the City Council, and re-elected in 1890. In November, 1892, he was elected a member of the Drainage Board, was re-elected for five years November, 1895, and on December 8th, 1896, he was elected president of the Board.
Mr. Kelly is president of the Brighton Club, a local organization, near his home. In his religious views he is a Roman Catholic, and in political views a Democrat, and has served on a number of com- mittees and other work in connection with his party, to the cause of which he has been a most liberal contributor.
Mr. Kelly was married on November 14th, 1864, to Ann McCa- hill, of County Cavan, Ireland, and they have two children, Rose and Maggie, the former of whom is married. The same residence on Western Avenue has been occupied by him for twenty-seven years.
Now in the prime of life, Mr. Kelly is hale and hearty, and shows but little sign of his early struggles and hard work. Distinctively is he a self-made man; his schooling was but slight, yet he has man- aged to acquire knowledge for himself and has risen step by step, gaining not only a comfortable competence for himself and family, but also the respect and appreciation of his fellow citizens, until he has been elected to fill one of the most responsible offices in his adopted city.
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MILES KEHOE.
Among the men who, as public servants, have made enviable records for their faithful, earnest and successful efforts in securing beneficial and wise legislation, none is better or more favorably known than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. An earnest worker for the advancement of his party's interests, he yet has never allowed his partisanship to interfere with his efforts in the advancement of what he considered best for the interests of his constituents as a whole. And in every walk of life, whether public or private, the same high principles have been found to gov- ern his actions.
Miles Kehoe was born August 15th, 1848, in County Carlow, Ireland; son of Arthur and Winnifred (Byrne) Kehoe, who came to this country in 1848, locating in Chicago the following year. Ar- thur Kehoe was engaged for many years, to about the time of his death in 1877, in the teaming business. Mrs. Arthur Kehoe died in 1891. Of their five children, two survive, our subject and a sister. Mr. Kehoe obtained his education at the Foster School, of which George W. Spofford was principal. After graduating, in 1865, he secured employment in a brick yard and later engaged in the team- ing business with his father. His affability of manner and strong personality made for him many friends and resulted in his elec- tion to the State Senate from the Third Illinois District, comprising all that portion of the city south of Twelfth and east of Clark Streets, in 1873, he being the youngest member ever elected up to that time. His services in this capacity were so eminently satisfac- tory that on his renomination at the end of his first term, he was honored with an almost unanimous vote from the district, which
Mits Kehow
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he continued to serve until 1880. During this time he was for four years chairman of Committee on Municipalities, and secured for Chicago much of its important legislation. Among the laws he was instrumental in passing were the abolition of the old method of town elections; the building and loan association law; the back tax law, which relieved the city from scrip and effectually pre- vented the tax fighting ever since; the fire and police pension act; as well as others which have accrued materially to the benefit of the city. He has a lively and sincere interest in all that pertains to the welfare of the laboring element, and introduced the first bill looking to the abolition of convict labor in the Illinois House of Representatives, thus instigating an agitation which has resulted in the passing of many laws regulating this matter in the interest of free labor.
In 1878 he was nominated as Representative in the National Congress of the Second Illinois District, his successful opponent being Col. George R. Davis. For a period of six years, from 1880, Mr. Kehoe held the position of law clerk in the offices of Judges Gary, Hawes, and Sidney Smith, successively, and this association eminently qualified him for the position of Justice of the Peace and Police Magistrate, to which he was appointed by the recom- mendation of the Cook County judges in 1895. In the interim he had pursued a course of law studies and was admitted to practice before the State Supreme Court in November, 1892.
His interest in political matters has always been of the liveliest character, and he was a delegate-at-large to the Republican Na- tional Convention in 1892, where, in accordance with the instruc- tions of the State Convention, he voted for the renomination of President Harrison, in the face of urgent appeals that he should disregard these instructions.
As a representative of the Irish element it may be said that no more active and earnest worker for Ireland's cause exists in Chi-
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cago. He was a delegate to the convention of Irish Nationalists held in Chicago during the summer of 1895 and is always at the front in matters pertaining to the good of the "Green Isle" whence he had his origin.
For many years he has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and is also a member of the National Union, hav- ing been honored by the latter Order as president of its National Assembly of 1895.
Mr. Kehoe was united in marriage in 1875 to Miss Kate Murphy, of Chicago, who died in 1889. Their son, Arthur T. Kehoe, was born April 14th, 1878, and is a graduate of the high and manual train- ing schools of Chicago. He is now a student at the Kent College of Law.
The work done by Mr. Kehoe in the past is more than sufficient guarantee of his future performance, and it is beyond doubt that those he has served recognize in him a man worthy of the fullest honor. His integrity has never been questioned.
THOMAS HENRY KELLEY.
The name heading this sketch has in the past seven years been associated with very many of the largest and most important real estate transactions in Chicago. That its subject has attained un- usual prominence and demonstrated marked ability in this direc- tion is seemingly a refutation of the old adage that "the shoemaker should stick to his last," for his inclinations as a boy led him to a widely different channel of usefulness, and his career as a "railroad
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Shop H. Keeway
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man," covering a period of twenty-two years, was no less success- ful than has been his management of his present business. His at- tention is devoted exclusively to transactions in real estate of large magnitude, and his great capability and thorough knowledge of values, coupled with many years of business association with cap- italists and men of affairs, render him a valued medium for the suc- cessful carrying through of real estate deals. That he is much sought after in this line of business is attested by the fact that trans- actions covering many millions of dollars have been negotiated by him, and he has constantly in hand one or more involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, notwithstanding the great present depres- sion in real estate values.
Thomas H. Kelley was born at Hales Corners, Milwaukee Coun- ty, Wisconsin, on August 15th, 1847. He is of good Irish descent, his great-grandfather, John Kelley, a large linen manufacturer, known all over the north of Ireland as Johnny Kelley of the Green Bushes, was a native of County Tyrone. He came to America in 1830 and located in New York City, where he carried on his former business. Moving with his whole family to Wisconsin about 1840, they formed quite a colony of relations, and were the first settlers at Hales Corners. The latter is now a suburb of the City of Mil- waukee, and is about ten miles from the heart of the city. John Kelley died about 1845 when he was upwards of seventy-five years of age. His eldest son, Peter, who was grandfather of Thomas H. Kelley, was born in 1800 and came to America with his parents. Ilis wife was Miss Bradley, also a native of County Tyrone. He was a prosperous farmer, and died in 1881. The eldest son, Michael Kelley, father of the subject of this sketch, was also born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and was one of the emigrating family. So soon as he attained his majority he took up the profession of a school teacher, but afterwards became a farmer. In June, 1846, he mar- ried Miss Ellen Goodwin, of County Tyrone, who died in 1854.
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Michael Kelley died April 30th, 1894, aged sixty-six years. There were two children, Thomas H., of whom we are writing, and a brother, John B. Kelley, who was for many years a superintendent with the International Great Northern, and afterwards with the Texas Pacific Railroad, and is now dead.
Thomas H. Kelley received his first education up to the age of seven from his mother, who taught in the log school house of the Town of Lindon, Cascade, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. He then attended grammar and high school at Fond du Lac, Wis., gradu- ating from the high school there in 1862. He afterwards took a further course of studies at an academy and college at Girard, Erie County, Penn., finishing in 1863.
Ilis first employment after leaving school was as a newsboy on the Illinois Central Railroad. His earlier instincts had turned on railroading, his great ambition being to control an engine, and at the first opportunity he secured a position as a fireman on the Chi- cago & Northwestern Railroad. After serving in this capacity two years and a half, he was promoted to be engineer. This occupation he followed for seven years on various roads, among them the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern; the Chicago & Northwestern; the Philadelphia & Erie; and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. In 1877 he gave up engineering and became a passenger conductor, in which capacity he served six years, resigning to take the position of train master, continuing therein for two years. He afterwards held the place of superintendent on various roads, and finally, hav- ing in his long and extensive railroading experience witnessed the possibilities of the great West in the way of real estate transac- tions, he resigned this position in 1885 and embarked in the real estate business in Kansas City.
During the famous boom which shortly followed in that city, he was able to clear a quarter of a million of dollars, and in 1889 decided to go to Chicago, a city which had always held first place in
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his regard. Having opened up offices, he has since conducted his real estate business with unvarying success. Through his hands ยท have passed some of the largest deals in the real estate history of the city. Among others recently handled may be enumerated the Plaza Hotel, for $750,000; 418-20 Dearborn Street, $140,000; Thomas Building, corner Ellis Avenue and Midway Plaisance, $160,000; The Campost, Varsity and Renfost apartment buildings, at $125,000, $100,000, and $300,000, respectively; the Wayside Inn, at Fifty- sixth and Jefferson Streets, $75,000; the Commercial Hotel, corner Dearborn and Lake Streets, $350,000; the Ogden, corner Leavitt and Ogden Avenue, $50,000; and the Nelson (Kansas City) office build- ing, $500,000. In vacant properties he has also carried through some large deals, including 700 lots, Irving Park and Milwaukee Avenue, for $400,000; 200 lots at Fifty-fifth Street, $100,000; and 600 lots at Montrose Boulevard and Milwaukee Avenue, $300,000; as well as acre properties in Chicago, Cicero, North Shore and northwest portions of the city to amounts from $50,000 to $900,000. The fact that he is able to refer to such deals and that all connected therewith are willing to testify to their entire satisfaction, as that Chicago bankers and other men of high financial standing have no word too high for Mr. Kelley and his methods of business, have placed his services in very general demand. Of large trades he has made a specialty, and on his books are always to be found estates in other cities to exchange for Chicago properties and clear and free property for large equities in this city. From the time he first lived in Chicago, on the corner of Wabash Avenue and Ran- dolph Street, he has seen Chicago grow from a population of 150,000 to its present proportions, and he is consequently thoroughly posted on real estate values.
Mr. Kelley is vice-president of the Wiseman's Automatic Safety Railroad Switch Company, of which he is one of the original incor- porators and a large stockholder.
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In politics he is from conviction a Republican, and upholds the claims of his party with all his strength, although he has never possessed any desire to become an active politician.
He was married May 25th, 1876, to Miss Addie C. Jones, of Albia, Iowa, daughter of Dr. John Washington Jones, of Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio. They have two children, Leo T. and Charlotte M. Kelley; both were born at Kansas City, Mo., the first . on March 13th, 1886, and the second October 27th, 1887. Mrs. Kel- ley is, like her husband, a member of the Catholic Church, and while living in Kansas, associated with Mrs. Dr. Bickford, she was the means of building a church and parsonage for the priest at Flor- ence, Kansas, which will long remain a memorial to their religious fervor and Catholic faith and liberality. In this connection, how- ever, it should be said that both Mr. and Mrs. Kelley are students and investigators. They are liberal of their means in supporting all good works, and their liberality extends to their religion as well. They concede to each man his right to seek the highest and best in this life and the next in his own way. They have charity and love for all men, and follow the teaching of Professor Huxley in the precept that "one should rejoice in the good man, forgive the bad man, and pity and help all men to the best of one's ability."
He is a man of striking personality, commanding at a glance the respect and attention of all with whom he comes in contact. Ifis manner and bearing are those of the brainy, successful busi- ness man, and he thus possesses peculiar advantages for his chosen profession. His friends are as numerous as his acquaintances, and with health and life spared to him, his career in the real estate his- tory of Chicago is destined to be a brilliant one.
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JOHN CHARLES HENDRICKS.
John Charles Hendricks, lawyer, was born in Freeport, Ill., Jan- uary 10th, 1850. His father, Thomas Hendricks, was a native of County Wexford, Ireland, and by trade a contractor and mason. Coming to the United States in 1833, he settled at Freeport, Ill., and died in 1884. He was a strong Irish Nationalist. He had married Margaret Quigley, a native of Athlone, County Roscommon, Ire- land, where her father was in his day a noted hotel keeper. She is still living, at the age of eighty.
Thomas Hendricks moved with his family to Joliet, Ill., in 1854, and there the subject of this sketch received his early educa- tion in the public schools. Financial reasons, however, compelled him to leave school at the age of fifteen, and at once he set to work to learn the printing trade in the office of the "Republican," where he remained until 1876. In the latter year he left Joliet and moved to Chicago, where he obtained a position on the old Chicago Times, to set type at nights, and at the same time, during the days, began the study of law in the office of Levi Sprague. In 1879 he was granted a license by the Supreme Court and began the practice of law.
Mr. Hendricks is a member of the Independent Order of Forest- ers, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Knights of Maccabees, in which Order he has filled all the chairs and on several occasions represented his lodges at the Grand Lodge. He also be- longs to a number of Irish societies, and strongly sympathizing with his kinsmen across the sea has done all that was in his power for their relief.
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In his religious views he is a Roman Catholic and belongs to the congregation of St. Matthew's Church, while in politics he is a Democrat. In political affairs he has always taken the liveliest interest. As a delegate, he has attended a number of conventions, and upon every occasion spoken, also, considerably during the po- litical campaigns.
Mr. Hendricks was married June 18th, 1870, to Rose Kane, of Joliet, who died August 19th, 1895, leaving a son, John C., Jr., who is a graduate of Kent College of Law and now a partner with his father. The firm of Hendricks & Son has been a very successful one, and is doing a large general practice as well as representing a number of large corporations.
THOMAS L. HARTIGAN.
Than the subject of this sketch, who is one of Chicago's most rising young attorneys, there are few men in this city better known or more highly considered. His experience has been wide and varied, and he possesses a rare faculty in the ability to make friends and, what is even still rarer, a strange facility in retaining.
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