USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Biographical history of the American Irish in Chicago > Part 24
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Mr. Garrity was married June 21st, 1864, to Miss Nellie A. Mc- Nellis, a daughter of John McNellis of Morris, Illinois, at that time, and for years after, the largest grain dealer and shipper on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, if not in the state. They have had a family of thirteen children, of whom ten are living, and of these the youngest son, who was named after the present reigning Pope -- Leo the Thirteenth-together with a brother, Lawrence McNellis, is attending the University of Notre Dame; three daughters, An- gela, Aurelia and Maude, are at St. Mary's, the last named being a post graduate; and Grace, Blanche and Mary, all of whom were educated at St. Mary's, are at home, Mary being married. Of the other sons, the eldest, Joseph H., is a doctor, practicing in this city; and Frank is married and is treasurer of the National Cereal Com- pany at St. Louis. Mr. Garrity, who is very well preserved and certainly does not so appear, is now twice a grandfather. In re-
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ligion he is a Roman Catholic, and as he takes some pride in stating, is not only so in name, but also in fact.
In his political views he is a Democrat, but votes entirely inde- pendently, and never has had any ambition or desire for political office.
Mr. Garrity has not, to any great extent, associated with clubs or societies, for, as he says, his home at 409 Dearborn Avenue is his club, and in his family circle and the entertainment of his many warm friends he finds his chief delight and happiness.
In a great many respects Mr. Garrity has shown himself a man of very exceptional abilities, and even this necessarily brief sketch is sufficient to show that nothing has daunted or discouraged him, that difficulties seem only to have strengthened him both in pur- pose and action, and that he has striven on until he has at last ob- tained the summit of his ambition, in being surrounded by a dutiful and happy family and with ample means to make them comfortable. Hale in health, active in habits and peculiarly happy in his disposi- tion, it is difficult for those who do not know him and his career to imagine the vicissitudes and many set backs that he has in the past contended with.
THOMAS MULVIHILL.
Thomas Mulvihill was born in the County of Longford, Ireland, at a town called Lanesborough, June 4th, 1847. He is of good fam- ily, for his ancestors have all been noted men of their time and have helped to make their country's history. The subject of this sketch is well worthy of such descent and when still very young had already taken a strong part. His great-grandfather, a lieu-
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tenant in the Longford Militia, is well remembered in Ireland as having gone over to the so-called rebels in the troubles of 1798 and met his death at the battle of Ballinmuck. His son was a very prominent contractor and builder, the owner of extensive stone quarries at Lanesborough, and doing a great deal of building in the City of Dublin. His son Mathew, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a leading business man of his section of the coun- try. He married Helen Faucett, a native of Ennischroun, County Sligo, a noted Irish watering place. She was a Protestant and an heiress and the match was a runaway one. One of her cousins was adjutant of the Sligo Militia, while another was a noted doctor of Ballina Tyrawley. She never left Ireland, dying there in 1852, and her husband followed her in 1864.
Thomas Mulvihill for a short period attended the public schools of his native town, but being extremely ambitious, even at the early age of thirteen, concluded to go out into the world and carve out his destiny. He began to learn the trade of a stone cutter, at which business he worked until he was sixteen years of age, when he de- termined to visit the New World. He landed at New York in 1862 and secured employment at his trade in Brooklyn, where he worked until 1866, then returning to Ireland to take his part with the Feni- ans in the uprising of that year. He had been very active with that organization since his youth and previous to leaving Ireland had suffered arrest and had only been released when he had served three months and nine days. At the contemplated taking of Chester Castle in 1867, he left Bradford, Yorkshire, with a number of oth- ers to take part in said raid on Chester Castle, their purpose being to seize 100,000 stand of arms and one million rounds of ammuni- tion stored at Chester Castle. The plan was to overpower the guards at the Castle, seize the railroad train at Chester, load there- on the arms and ammunition, go to Holyhead where two thousand men were in readiness to take the arms, and at once take posses-
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sion of the government steamers, sail to Ireland, where the revolt would be started. Mr. Mulvihill had charge of the party whose duty it was to cut the telegraph lines between Chester and Holy- head, thus severing communication between the two places. The plans were well laid and would undoubtedly have prospered but for the informer, Coryden, who gave notice to the government of the conspirators' plans. Consequently when they arrived at Ches- ter they found the place so well guarded and prepared that they had to abandon the enterprise. Mr. Mulvihill, with about sixty others, determined to get to Dublin and join O'Connor in the Kerry Mountains. When they arrived at Dublin all were arrested, but as nothing was found on any of them that could be used as evi- dence they were released after being held for forty-eight hours.
Mr. Mulvihill returned to the United States in 1867 and at once came to Chicago, arriving in this city September 5th, 1867. He re- sumed his trade until November of the same year, when he went to Lincoln, Neb., to work on the State House, then being erected there. A year later he found employment on the State University and Agricultural College and then decided to start in business for himself by taking a contract to do the cut stone work on the State Lunatic Asylum.
In 1870 he determined to open up a stone yard. Later he organ- ized the Fire Department for the City of Lincoln, being appointed First Assistant Chief, and when he left the city in 1872 to return to Chicago, a silver trumpet, belt and hat were presented to him by the Mayor and City Council of that town to show their apprecia- tion of his work. They also presented him with a set of resolu- tions thanking him for his efficiency while in office.
Upon Mr. Mulvihill's arrival in Chicago, he at once set to work at his old trade, obtaining employment on the Chicago postoffice from the time it was commenced until it was finished, and for two years was also Recording Secretary of the Stone Cutters' Union.
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About this time, work being very scarce, he secured an appoint- ment on the South Park Police and retained the same for three years, resigning to take a clerkship in the office of M. W. Ryan, County Clerk, where he remained for four years. Then, with Capt. Dan Gleason, he bid on and was awarded a contract on the Lake View sewerage system, but on account of financial reasons, he was compelled to assign his share to his partner and retire. Mr. Mul- vihill was then appointed General Street Inspector for Hyde Park (this was before the annexation), and after that event he kept the position under the administration of Mayor Cregier, and later was superintendent for Dolese & Shepard, the street contractors, for two years. On the election of the late Carter Harrison as Mayor, in 1893, he was reappointed Street Inspector for Hyde Park, and the position was retained under Mayor Hopkins. When the latter retired, Mr. Mulvihill was appointed Deputy Sheriff and Court Bail- iff, which position he continues to hold.
In 1867 he was married to Kate Brennan, of Tipperary, Ireland, who came to this country to join him. They have had nine chil- dren, but of these only three are living.
Mr. Mulvihill assisted in organizing and was First Sergeant of the Clan-Na-Gael Guards, when many of the most prominent Irish- men in the city were serving as privates. He belongs to the Cath- olic Order of Foresters, of which he was Chief Ranger for five years and is now Deputy High Chief Ranger for several courts in the southern part of the city and Past Chief Ranger. In his political views Mr. Mulvihill is a Democrat, and in his religion is a Roman Catholic and a member of St. Thomas' Church, in which choir he sang for many years.
As true to the country of his adoption as to the land of his fore- fathers, Thomas Mulvihill after an eventful career is enjoying the calm life of free America, happy in the devoted esteem of a host of true-hearted friends.
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THOMAS S. HOGAN.
Thomas S. Hogan is a native of Chicago, and may well be proud of the fact, as he certainly possesses in a very marked degree that persistent energy which animates the metropolis of the West.
It is not too much to say that of many lawyers practicing at the Chicago bar, not one is more generally known or better liked than Thomas S. Hogan. Nor is the popularity he enjoys of the super- ficial or ephemeral order. It is the result of more than ten years' social and professional establishment in Chicago. During this time he has made hosts of friends in the community generally, and something more rare, with men in active practice, also among his brethren of the law. This latter distinction, the respect and liking of those of his own avocation, is something of which any profes- sional man may well be proud, and in the case of Mr. Hogan it has contributed in a considerable degree to creating the enviable position he has achieved at the Chicago bar. If there be in fact anything like the influence, claimed within the theory of hereditary mental tendencies, its logical result would have led Mr. Hogan to select the law as his life profession. His success in this direction conclusively proves that in him personal characteristics, tempera- ment, mental qualities and literary training combined to make the study and practice of law a congenial pursuit. A lawyer, Thomas S. Hogan is the son of a distinguished member of the profession, and thus comes quite naturally by his preference and capacity for a forensic career. His father is M. W. Hogan, a well-known lawyer, who was admitted to practice in Illinois as long ago as 1855, and who is an old and highly respected resident of Chicago. This Mr. M. W. Hogan served as State's Attorney for St. Louis, Missouri,
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for twelve years, receiving the signal and unusual honor of an elec- tion to that responsible office for three consecutive terms, a fact which in itself sufficiently attests to his high professional standing and personal popularity.
The early literary and legal education of Mr. Hogan may be said to have been acquired wholly in St. Louis. It commenced with the training at the Christian Brothers' Academy, continued throughout the full curriculum of study at St. Louis University, terminating with graduation at the St. Louis Law School. The academic and collegiate course of the subject of this sketch com- pleted, the study of law was taken up in his father's office. His legal studies were pursued in the office of ex-Governor Thomas C. Rey- nolds of Missouri, and in that of the Hon. Irwin Z. Smith, re- nowned as one of the ablest lawyers in the West. Undoubtedly the knowledge and experience acquired in such associa- tions and surroundings, and the familiarity with procedure and practice in important cases which he was thus enabled to gain, was of inestimable advantage to the young lawyer, and Mr. Hogan soon took such rank at the bar and in the active practice of his pro- fession as is rarely the good fortune of its junior members. The opportunities and associations of this period of his life likewise did much to develop and mould a well grounded literary taste, which subsequently resulted in the collection of one of the finest, because one of the most carefully and best assorted, private libraries in the West. Pleasant and profitable as were his St. Louis days, Chicago ยท practice was the wider and fuller arena destined for the full frui- tion of Mr. Hogan's professional effort. In 1886 he removed to this city, and a co-partnership was formed with another well known lawyer, the Hon. Theodore G. Case, under the firm name and style of Case & Hogan.
The practice of this firm within the last ten years has grown to be something exceptionally large, and it is known in the legal pro-
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fession generally as one of the busiest in Chicago. Its members have been identified with the conduct and trial, in both state and federal courts, of some of the most notable cases in the country, and thus have not only won recognition as able lawyers in Illinois, but also a national reputation.
The personality of Mr. Hogan is striking and of a character to attract and fix the attention, more especially this being the case in a court room, for when engaged in the trial of a case he is invari- ably a conspicuous figure. In height and general physique he is above the average, his sturdy shoulders support a massive head with classic, mobile features, and he is fortunate in the possession of an unusually clear and resonant voice. The excellence of his public reading was recognized early in his career by his election as reading clerk to the Thirty-third General Assembly of Missouri, in fact, that position was specially created for him, and at the expira- tion of his term of office he received from the legislature a unani- mous vote of thanks for the efficiency of his services. It is, how- ever, in the hotly contested trial of a cause that Mr. Hogan is seen at his best, for here his marked oratorical ability gives him a decided advantage over many of his colleagues at the bar. Forcible and impressive as a speaker, he carries from first to last the unbroken attention of his jury. Nor is it only at the bar that this power and facility for public speaking has stood Mr. Hogan in good stead, for in addition, he is one of the most apt and best known impromptu after-dinner speakers in Chicago.
As might be expected in a man of this description, our subject . is a favorite socially, and is an active member of the best clubs and organizations. In the amenities of social entertainment he finds opportunity for the exercise of a fund of good fellowship, enriched, as it is, by interesting personal reminiscences of incident and travel, for Mr. Hogan has traveled extensively, both in America and Europe. He is a member of the Chicago Athletic Association,
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the Columbus Club, an honorary member of influential clubs in the East, and a prominent and active member of Chicago Lodge Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks. A reference to his personal character would be incomplete without a suggestion of that uni- form spirit of kindliness and prompt, practical generosity, which characterizes him in his relations with the fraternal societies, and, indeed, in whatsoever direction its modest and unassuming exercise can be of use to others. Mr. Hogan is unmarried and resides with members of his family in this city.
JOSEPH ANDREW MCCORMICK.
Fire Brigade Captain Joseph Andrew McCormick was born in Chicago, at Cass and Chicago Avenue, on March 19th, 1865. He is the son of John McCormick, who came to Chicago from Ireland in 1846, was an old-time volunteer fireman of the city and died in 1885. He had married Sarah Toner, whose father was one of the original members of the Order of Hibernians.
The subject of this sketch attended the Chicago public schools until he was sixteen years of age, when he began to learn the paint- er's trade, at which he worked until 1885, when he became a mem- ber of the Chicago Fire Department.
His first assignment was to Chemical Engine No. 2, and from there he was transferred to No. 1, No. 32, and No. 4. He became Lieutenant, December 31st, 1889, and was sent to Engine No. 22, at Webster Avenue and Larrabee Street, where he remained a year and a half and was then sent to No. 27. He was promoted,
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April 15th, 1893, to be Captain of Engine No. 9, at Cottage Grove Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street, but after a short stay of four months he was transferred to No. 33, and there remained three years, when he was changed to No. 44, at 77 Illinois Street, where he still remains.
He was married to Barbara Wiendbiel, of Chicago, October 4th, 1886, and they have had five children, of whom three are living.
Captain McCormick bears the reputation of a most efficient offi- cer, and has several times been mentioned in general orders for bravery, and also on one occasion for stopping, at the risk of his life, a runaway horse. Strictly observant of every duty, he has gained the respect and esteem of the whole department and also of a wide circle of friends.
DR. GEORGE WILLIAM MAHONEY.
The achievement of such a position as Dr. Mahoney has attained in the medical circles of this city while still so young in years is typical of American grit and the true Western spirit of enter- prise. His remarkable capabilities in the two special departments of medical science he has taken up have already attracted to him a wide and influential clientele, which, as day after day passes by, is increasing in size.
Dr. Mahoney was born at Lawton, Michigan. His father, Michael, was a native of Ireland and was born in County Clare, 1836. With his parents he came to America in 1853, locating in Kala- mazoo, Michigan. In 1857 he married Honoria Marie Davis, daugh- ter of William Davis of Limerick, Ireland. Miss Davis was born
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in 1839; she was given superior educational advantages in school, at home and under private instruction, and later in life took special pride and exerted every beneficial influence in the early training of her children; a happy home was broken by her death in 1878 at Decatur, Michigan, where Michael Mahoney still resides. They had seven children, but only three are living, the eldest of whom is the subject of this sketch. Of the two other brothers, Henry resides at Decatur, Michigan, while Richard is connected with one of the newspapers at Kalamazoo.
George W. Mahoney was educated in the public schools, and the study of medicine having always been to him an absorbing one, in 1885 he entered the medical department of the University of Michigan. After a two years' course, he entered the Bellevue Col- lege Medical Hospital, New York, graduating there the following year, 1888.
While in New York he devoted considerable time to the study of the eye and ear under Professor Noyes, and always afterwards in general private practice that branch had for him a fascination. He began his medical practice at Decatur, where he remained five years. In 1893 he removed to Chicago and became a specialist for the eye and ear, to which since he has given his exclusive attention.
Dr. Mahoney became a member of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society in 1894 and holds the position of instructor of Ophthalmol- ogy at the Chicago Polyclinic and lectures on the refraction of the eye. He has also given much time to muscular defects of the eye and is a recognized authority on that work. His offices are located in the Venetian Building, where from eleven o'clock until three o'clock, daily, the demands upon his time by a large clientage make him one of the busy men of his profession.
Dr. Mahoney has been a member of the Michigan State Medical Society since 1889 and of the American Medical Association since 1893. He holds the position of Surgeon, with rank of Captain, in
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the Seventh Regiment, Illinois National Guards, under Colonel Marcus Kavanagh, Jr. He is a member of the Columbus Club of Chicago.
The Doctor is contemplating a trip abroad in the interest of his studies and will visit the leading hospitals of London, Dublin, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, etc. He is a member of the Catholic Church, residing in the Cathedral Parish.
Dr. Mahoney is still a young man with many years before him- let us hope with years of profit to himself as well as years in which to be of service to his fellow-men. No higher incentive to duty can any man have than that he is living a useful life, and that Dr. Mahoney beyond all question has. Possessed of good sound judg- ment, energetic and pushing, his success has been almost a fore- gone conclusion. Affable and courteous in manner, a deep student, conscientious and straightforward in his methods, his growing popularity is easily accounted for. He is in the prime and vigor of a healthy and intellectual manhood and with his natural ability, has acquired knowledge and valuable experience, he can and will yet make the world better in that he has lived.
JAMES DENNIS MORRISON.
James D. Morrison, president of Cook County Civil Service Com- mission, and widely known in connection with numerous associa- tions and as an active Republican and successful business man, was born in this city, April 7th, 1861. His father, John Cornelius Mor- rison, is a native of Buffalo, New York, where he was born in 1841,
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but came to Chicago in 1856 and since that time has been a resi- dent, occupying himself chiefly in the stewardship of hotels. In 1860 he married Katharine Ryan, who, when quite a child, had come to Chicago from Ireland.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools and graduated from the high schools of Chicago, commencing when about sixteen years of age his business career. His first start was in the fruit business on South Water Street with the firm of John W. Manning. Here he remained ten years, and since that time has practically been in business for himself. The first partnership formed was that of Raggio & Morrison, the present firm of Boland & Morrison succeeding on February 1st, of this year (1897). The firm has been successful from its initiation and has an extensive and growing business. As before intimated, Mr. Morrison has found time, apart from his active business interests, to occupy him- self largely in public affairs and in matters appertaining to the best interests of the community in which he lives. Not only does he hold the important position of president of Cook County Civil Service Commission, but he has also been active as a Republican in the counsels and work of his party, and is a member of the Co- lumbus, the Marquette, and the Americus Clubs, of the Royal League, the Royal Arcanum, the National Union, the Catholic Benevolent Legion, the Knights of Columbus, and also of the Order of Columbian Knights.
Mr. Morrison has been an extensive traveler through the United States, there being few points of interest he has not visited, from Maine to California. In regard to foreign trips, he has preferred, as he expresses it, to make himself thoroughly conversant with the beauties and wonders of his native land before sparing the time for visiting others.
Mr. Morrison married, February 2d, 1881, Miss Christina Grant, of Chicago, and they have five children.
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Outside of his business and public life, Mr. Morrison gives what time he can to athletic sports, of which he has at all times been extremely fond. Physically he is a man of good constitution and fine presence, of genial and social disposition, yet at the same time of forcible and energetic character. He looks the successful man that he is, and, it need hardly be said, possesses numerous warm and devoted friends.
DANIEL CORKERY.
Daniel Corkery, late president and founder of the Chicago & Indiana Coal Co., was born in Chicago, February 26th, 1853, and died, to the universal regret of an immense number of friends, when comparatively a young man, June 25th, 1894. His parents were both born at historic Blarney Castle, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1849, settling in Chicago.
Daniel was educated at St. John's school and in the public schools of this city, which he left when fourteen years of age, and went to work carrying water and generally helping his father, who was the owner of several teams. When about nineteen, he determined to do some work on his own account, and, having bought a coal wagon, made his first venture in the coal business. At about the age of twenty-six, he went into partnership with D. McGarry, an association which continued for two years, after which Mr. Corkery started by himself at Twenty-sixth Street and Stewart Avenue. In 1892, he built the present handsome office building-Twenty-seventh Street and Canal. From the start he was successful, and at the time of his death, was the owner of and
Daniel Working
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had the entire superintendence of one of the largest businesses in his line in the city. Four coal mines in Indiana, two in Brazil and two at Mecca were his individual property. At his death he left an estate valued at several hundred thousand dollars.
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