USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Biographical history of the American Irish in Chicago > Part 3
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His career has been a remarkable one, and in this State abso- lutely without parallel. He was but twenty-one years of age when he was first elected a member of the State Legislature, and three years later was given appointment as a Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court of Cook County. The Hon. Hempstead Washburne, then Mayor of Chicago, appointed him to the Board of Education.
Mr. Mahoney's gifts are of a very varied character. He is a born speaker, easy in his manner, forcible in his arguments, but never in any way offensive in his method. His voice is musical, his words always well chosen.
A Democrat at all times, and ever active for his party, defend- ing its principles fearlessly and earnestly, he is never without tol- erance for the views and opinions of others.
When in the Legislature, to which, in this State, he was the youngest man ever elected, he acquitted himself in a manner to entirely satisfy his constituents. A resident of the west side of this city, its interests have always obtained his first attention, but whenever the good of the citizens, or the city of Chicago were concerned, he has never been found wanting. He was the author of the bill authorizing the West town of Chicago to make a million dollar issue of bonds, the money to be expended on park and
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street improvements preparatory to the World's Columbian Ex- position. In the passing of the Convict Labor Bill to prevent the competition of prison with outside labor, he also took a very fore- most part, as also in that very popular bill which gives in the poor man's court trial by jury, if demanded. He has also been intimately connected with other well known bills, among which may be mentioned the Eight Hour Law; the repeal of the Ed- wards Compulsory School Law; and the Truck Store Bill for the miners.
Such a record while still so young a man, is one of which any lawyer might well be proud. Among his professional brethren his success has aroused no jealousy, for what he has achieved has been the result of hard work and continual and unwearying appli- cation, thorough conscientiousness and unquestionable integrity.
Before Senator Joseph P. Mahoney looms a future so full of the brightest prospects, that it would be impossible for any one to prophesy how high a position he may hereafter attain.
JOSEPH DOWNEY.
There is no man in Chicago better deserving of credit for what he has achieved in this world than Mr. Joseph Downey. By sheer pluck and perseverance, united with integrity and a determination to succeed, he has been enabled to accomplish at a comparatively early age what it takes most men a life-time to attain. In his own profession, that of a contractor and builder, he has few equals and none superior.
Joseph Downey was born in Parsons Town, Kings County, Ire-
Josgh Downey
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land, April 23rd, 1849, and is the son of Michael and Elizabeth (McGuire) Downey. His father and grandfather were both noted builders in their day, having together planned and built many of the leading structures in that part of the country, one of which was the Ross Castle, also the building and foundations of the Ross Telescope, the largest of its kind in the world up to a few years ago. Mr. Downey's father dying when he was five years of age, his mother at once came to America, bringing with her her family; she first settled at Cincinnati, but soon afterward moved to this city.
Joseph's education was obtained in the public schools of this city, and at an early age he learned the mason trade in all its branches, which gave him a practical knowledge of building, there- by fitting him for what he now is, one of the most successful build- ers in this country. .
Mr. Downey laid the foundation and superintended the first permanent structure after the great fire in this city, namely, the building on Madison Street, fifty feet west of Fifth Avenue, which stands there to-day.
In 1874, Mr. James McGraw, an old builder of this city, took him into partnership, and the wisdom of his employer was soon justified by the keen perception, untiring energy, and good busi- ness qualities evinced by him.
December 7th, 1871, Mr. Downey married Miss Clara McGraw, who died in May, 1883.
In 1883, Mr. Downey severed his connections with Mr. McGraw, having bought out the interests of the firm, and since that time up to two years ago, has done the largest business of any contrac- tor in this part of the country, his last year's business amounting to over $2,700,000.
Mr. Downey has built some of the largest and most costly structures in the west, among which are the magnificent Depot for
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the Illinois Central R. R. Co., and the Dearborn Station, also the Indianapolis Union Depot; he was also a partner and the active man in bringing to a successful issue one of the largest engineer- ing difficulties in this city, the Van Buren Street Tunnel, a feat of which any man may well be proud.
Mr. Downey is a remarkable example of the self made man, for starting in life absolutely dependent on his own resources he has been able to accumulate enough of this world's goods to enjoy in his after years all that a busy and prosperous life well justifies.
He was married, May 11th, 1885, to Miss Lena Klein, of Chi- cago. Mr. Downey is somewhat of a club man, being an active member of the Union League, Illinois, Menoken, and Lincoln Clubs, and is President of the Building Trades Club, an organization com- posed of the large and responsible builders. In addition to his pri- vate business, he was called upon by Mayor George B. Swift, in May, 1885, to take a cabinet position, that of Commissioner of Buildings, which office he resigned in July, 1896, to become Com- missioner of Public Works. The department has never been more worthily filled, for he is no mere machine politician, but essentially a man of business, and so soon as he knows any work is necessary, he insists that it shall be done at once. "The public works depart- ment," he said, in an interview shortly after his appointment, "is a huge contracting department for the benefit of the public. I am placed here between the taxpayer and the contractor to see that each is rightfully treated, and I intend that they shall be. The clerks and inspectors of the department are here for the same pur- pose. If they do not do their business that way, they will be dis- charged." He has also been honored with the Chairmanship of the Commission appointed by Mayor Swift to solve the problem of securing a pure water supply for Chicago, the solution of which will probably entail an expense of $2,500,000.00.
A man of fine appearance, entirely whole souled, he is like most
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men who have been the architects of their own fortune, easily ap- proached, in him there is no egotism, he treats alike the rich and poor, courtesy and kind treatment are assured, but there is never any lacking of either dignity or firmness. His half century of life is as yet uncompleted, he has been able to build up a large fortune, by methods against which no slur of dishonesty or sharp practice has ever been cast. But far beyond his reputation as a millionaire, stands the universal trust, respect and honor, which are accorded him by every man with whom he has ever been brought into asso- ciation, business or personal.
JOHN FRANCIS CLARE.
The subject of the present sketch, another member of the legal profession, was born in Chicago, September 19th, 1865, and is a son of James Clare, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, and an old settler of the City of Chicago.
John F. Clare attended the public and high schools of Chicago, and, after mastering all his preparatory studies, was sent to Ford- ham, N. Y., where he entered St. John College. Finishing his course in that famous institution, he returned home and began the study of law, and graduated from the Union College of Law in the class of 1891.
His ability as an attorney was soon recognized, and during John P. Hopkins' administration as Mayor of Chicago, Mr. Clare was tendered a portfolio, being appointed to the important office of First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the City of Chicago,
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a position he filled with credit to himself and to the entire satis- faction of the city government.
After his retirement from public office he resumed the practice of law, with offices in the Unity Building, and now enjoys a large and lucrative practice.
October 9th, 1895, Mr. Clare was united in marriage to Miss Nellie G., daughter of James and Kate Stenson, and to them one child has been born.
He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and affiliates with the Democratic party.
A man of pleasing personality, he is sound in his judgment and always true to his convictions, and with recognized ability in his profession enjoys the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends.
JAMES HARTNETT.
The father of the subject of this sketch, Daniel Hartnett, born in Queenstown, Ireland, on March 12th, 1822, was of Irish and French extraction. He was schooled at Queenstown until he was seventeen years of age, when (his parents having previously lost their lands through land troubles and their fortune being much depleted) he went to England, and after a brief time there, to France, through which country he traveled some two years. Early in 1841 he sailed for Quebec, Canada, where upon his arrival he pursued specially for some years a course in higher mathematics, history and literature. Leaving Quebec, he went to New York, where he remained some five years, then he came to Chicago,
James Hartnett
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„ where he became a citizen of the United States, which country was to be henceforth his home. On January 6th, 1857, at Elgin, Ill., he was married to Catharine Donahoe, an American by birth but of Irish extraction. Born in Boston on the 15th day of August, 1833, she was the daughter of William Donahoe and Margaret (Clinnin) Donahoe, and received her education chiefly in the pub- lie schools of Illinois. Daniel Hartnett and his wife were both young and both strong and active mentally and physically; they therefore entered upon their married life with full hope and con- fidence as to the future. Locating in Mississippi, he did survey- ing and contract work with good success and financial gain, which, however, he was destined not to collect in large part, because of the Civil War. Leaving the sunny south early in the spring of 1860, Mr. and Mrs. Hartnett journeyed to Galena, Ill., where they took up their home and where, on the 23d day of January, 1862, - was born to them a child, their son James Hartnett. From the time of his arrival in Galena to the 20th day of August, 1862, Dan- iel Hartnett was a successful farmer. In the summer of 1862, having been watching with considerable anxiety the condition of his country, he said one day to his wife that the country needed his services, and shortly afterwards, that he was reluctant to leave his family, but that, if the country should be divided and liberty lost, he would be ashamed to look his son, when he grew up, in the face and say that he had not courage to help maintain for him a country and liberty. His decision was reached on the 20th day of August, 1862, when he enrolled as volunteer to serve three years or during the war. He served in the 90th Illinois Vol- unteers, and with them fought at Coldwater, Miss .; Vicksburg; Jackson, Miss .; Colliersville, Tenn .; Missionary Ridge; Siege of Knoxville; Resaca, Ga .; Dallas, Ga .; Kennesaw Mount; Atlan- ta, July 19th, 22nd, 28th, August 3d and 17th; Jonesboro, Ga .; Lovejoy Station; Rome, Ga .; Gadsden, Ala .; Jennison's Bridge,
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Ogeeche River; Fort McAllister; Savannah; Charleston, S. C .; Columbia; Bentonville, N. C. On the 6th day of June, 1865, he was honorably discharged from the service of the United States by reason of the termination of the war, and immediately went to his family in Galena. Seated near the open door, in his own home for the first time since August, 1862, he was again with his family. James, then little more than three years of age, for a moment bashfully clung to his mother, and then running to his father and looking up into his face innocently asked: "Are you my papa?" And the father answered with the smile of one who had helped to maintain for his boy a country and liberty. Before the war he had never had the services of a physician, but after the war his shattered constitution caused him anxiety. And up to the time of his death, January 31st, 1874, he spent much of his time educating his son, and with great eagerness anticipated the time when James should be able to care for himself and to protect his mother.
James Hartnett inherited a constitution which well titted him as a boy to prosecute vigorously out door sports, and a confidence which sustained him easily on land and upon the water. He re- ceived his primary and high school education in the public schools and pursued the scientific course at Normal. At the age of nine- teen years he was regularly licensed to teach public school and entered that field of work at Moline, Ill. Beginning on primary work, he had the golden opportunity to study mind, and there, while engaged in the business of training others, received a thor- ough and practical training in psychology. As an educator, he proved peculiarly successful. He believed that there was a nat- ural evolution of the mind and a natural tendency to activity equal to the totality of energy possessed. For him the great prob- lem was not how to cause the children entrusted to his care to work harder, but to ascertain the true relation and definition of the
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matter he should present before them, and how to know each pupil thoroughly that he might best ascertain when the child grasped the new thought and when he failed. The greater work he recognized was in being able to facilitate the natural evolu- tion of the mind, and acting upon these principles he was suc- cessful. The energy of the child was properly expended. Nat- ural evolution was facilitated and education was marked.
Something of originality in his manner of presenting his work facilitated. Surrounded, though he was, with expensive reading charts, yet he had them carefully stored and proceeded upon the more logical method of starting the child to read through the script medium. With a piece of crayon and slate, four feet by five feet, he could present a few words in a great multiplicity of positions. The child looked first to find the words, the groups, and then to gather thoughts. The child read, and in a few weeks it was able to take up the printed book. This was a practical dem- onstration that much of the energy theretofore expended by the child in learning to read was wasted. Again he demonstrated that by keeping well in mind the principles taught and their natural evolution, much time could be saved. That the boy in the primary school could master arithmetic and enjoy systematic work with plants and animals.
Continuing his work in the interest of the public schools of our State, he received much encouragement from pupils entrusted to his care and from the teachers associated with him, and more and more liberally did the boards of education supply the schools. In September, 1889, he took charge of the public schools of Henry, Ill. There he had an enthusiastic staff of teachers who spent _ many hours with him evenings that the utility and value of the schools might be enhanced. Progress and improvement began at the bottom, and there was an upward movement all along the line. Before the close of the year the board of education tendered
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him the position for another year with an increase of salary. In response to Mr. Hartnett's letter of acceptance, Duncan Camp- bell, Esq., clerk of the Board of Education, wrote:
Rooms of Board of Education. May 14th, 1890.
Prof. James Hartnett,
Superintendent of Schools:
Dear Sir :- Your communication expressive of high and most pleasing sentiments, by which you communicated to the Board of Education your acceptance of the position of superintendent with added duties of principal is received and placed on file.
With the full impress of their educational importance, the offer made by the Board and its acceptance by you add new luster to the triumphs already won by a faithful and able discharge of duties on your part in advancing the best interests of our schools.
Your expressed desire to show your appreciation of the action of the Board in relation to yourself, by thus continuing to discharge your duties, presents a grandeur of practical thought indicative of success, justifying mutual anticipation of a result exceedingly desirable. Yours truly,
Duncan Campbell, Clerk.
In the fall of 1890, acting upon the principle that the State can well afford to educate her children, some collegiate work was added to the high school course, and the graduating class remained another year to do the work. The Board of Education, realizing the enormous amount of work placed upon Mr. Hartnett and the gain that would accrue to the school, decided to secure him another assistant. Mr. Hartnett's sister, Anna M. Hartnett, was induced to accept the position and immediately took charge of the high school as principal. This proved not only to be of great advantage to the school but of effect in the life of James Hartnett. He had more time nights for reading, and adding to his stock of law books,
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up to that time consisting only of a copy of Blackstone's Commen- taries and Bouvier's law dictionary, he devoted himself to the reading of law.
The schools progressed and at the commencement exercises in the summer of '90 originality again added to success. A large blackboard was brought upon the rostrum and rapid calculations and mathematical and philosophical demonstrations by the class proved to be an appreciated innovation.
Vacation was spent in the law office of the Honorable Fred S. Potter. September, 1890, came and educational duties again claimed Mr. Hartnett's services. He labored vigorously in school by day and read law nights. The liberality of the board of edu- cation in carrying out his plans was rewarded with good success. The tone and progress of the schools continued good and in the summer of 1891 the graduating class entertained a large and intel- ligent audience till midnight on the 10th day of June, and with those exercises Mr. Hartnett closed ten years of successful school work. He had spent his days and nights endeavoring to promote the cause of education, and had well utilized the opportunities which here and elsewhere had been favorable to gaining a knowl- edge of human nature. During his vacations time had been found to commingle with men in many States, most of whom were strangers to him, and in this way his judgment of men was neces- sarily quickened and incidentally he gained a fund of practical knowledge.
He spent the summer of 1891 in the law office of Mr. Potter. In September of that year, his mother and her family became per- manent residents of Chicago. James acted upon the theory that the best place to study practice was in the Federal and State Courts, and that the place of much litigation was the place to prac- tice law. He was familiar with life in St. Louis, Omaha, New York, and other cities, but chose to establish himself in Chicago, believ-
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ing that there the highest opportunities were open. Before the Supreme Court on the 14th day of June, 1892, he was licensed to practice, and at once entered upon a general practice of law. In October, 1893, James Hartnett became associated with the Hon- orable Daniel Donahoe and Judge R. M. Wing in the trial of the case of The People v. Daniel Coughlin, and worked with them day and night in the defense until the finding by the jury of the verdict of not guilty, on the 9th day of March, 1894.
Soon afterward he formed a partnership with Mr. Donahoe and has since continued to be a member of the law firm of Donahoe & Hartnett.
Mr. Hartnett's facility and power as a trial lawyer does credit to his persistent and systematic efforts, and a few instances will serve to illustrate his strong qualifications. Before Judge Sears, in March, 1895, the genuineness of three bills was in question. The prosecution brought in a paying teller from a bank who testi- fied that each bill was a genuine twenty dollar bill. Mr. Hartnett commenced his cross-examination of the witness in an easy, unas- suming manner and the witness was led to say: That he did not know the exact difference between a greenback and a treasury. note; that he did not know of any difference; that he did not know the particulars of silver or gold certificates nor of national bank notes; that he did not know many of the tests used by ex- perts. Then, by sheer force of logic, the witness was compelled to testify that a counterfeit of high character as to skill of work- manship and intended to counterfeit bills like those in question, would be very similar to them; that the markings, engravings and seals would be very similar, and that if made by an artist -- a _ high class man in that line it would be extremely difficult to detect the counterfeit from the genuine. That in some cases it would be necessary to examine carefully with a microscope to detect the difference. That this was true of each of the bills in
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question, and that he had examined them but a quarter or half minute and without the aid of a microscope. That the most expert, though careful, are apt to take high class counterfeit bills as genuine. That the witness in his position at the bank had received counterfeit bills, which he did not detect till afterward. That the witness had been called to testify that the bills were genuine.
Again, in the Caruther's case, tried before Judge Gibbons in January, 1896, expert book-keepers for a large corporation testi- fied that large sums of money had not been paid in to the corpora- tion. Mr. Hartnett demonstrated on cross-examination that they could not tell whether it had. Twice the witnesses were sent to study their books and a second and third time it was demonstrated that they could not tell.
In the O'Brien case, tried in the Criminal Court in December, 1895, an expert testified relative to some valuable art goods that had come through the World's Fair. Here, by subtle cross-ex- amination he convinced the court and jury that the witness knew but little of art goods and that his testimony was not to be relied upon.
A trial lawyer's work taxes the strongest powers and the great- est endurance to the utmost. The trial lawyer must wrestle with men every inch his equal. He must make clear the most abstruse and complex matters. Mr. Hartnett's ability in this direction has been severely tested. In the case of the people v. Sampson et al., tried in the Criminal Court before the Honorable William G. Ewing-one of the most important cases that ever came before court or jury -- a case that so excited the activity of a political club as to bring it into national prominence in the general movement for a higher municipal life and greater sacredness of the ballot- Mr. Hartnett, at the close of the argument for the prosecution, arose and addressed a most intelligent jury. Thus far the jury had listened five weeks to the trial. Yet the liberty of nine defend- ants was involved, as was also the sacredness of law and govern-
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ment. They would listen to the lawyer for the defendants, they needed his assistance in considering the diverse testimony of some thirty witnesses and a great complication of circumstantial evi- dence. Hour by hour passed, as for two whole days he calmly and coolly analyzed the evidence against his clients and held to the view of the jury the great gaps in, and uncertainties of the evi- dence for the prosecution; as synthetically from the evidence for the defendants and even from much of that of the prosecution he built for the defendants an impregnable bulwark. With the strong power of a trained psychologist, he impressed upon the jury the great principles of the law of liberty and that the men on trial should be acquitted. As one of two lawyers, he was fighting a great battle against fearful odds and for the liberty of nine of his . fellow men. The entire machinery of a great state was placed in the hands of a public prosecutor and private counsel, and the great engines were working against his clients. It was a powerful . and exhaustive effort, enabling the jury to say that they had re- ceived help where they needed it and that the defendants were not guilty.
As a trial lawyer, Mr. Hartnett has been pre-eminently suc- cessful. As a lawyer standing before the court, he is strong, cour- teous and conscientious.
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