USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Biographical history of the American Irish in Chicago > Part 37
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Patrick Quaid Madigan received his education at the School of the Christian Brothers, at his native place, and after receiving what
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was then considered a good education, concluded to seek his fortune in the New World. He landed in New York April 2d, 1881, but remained only a few months in that city, as he was satisfied the West offered greater opportunities, and therefore started for Chi- cago.
He was fortunate in finding a position with P. F. Ryan, with whom he remained ten years as salesman and dress goods buyer. In 1890, his frugal habits had enabled him to accumulate some little money, as well as a fair credit with the merchants of the city, and he therefore determined to go into business for himself. He started on Ogden Avenue. From the very beginning his business was a success. Its rapid increase compelled Mr. Madigan to take a part- ner, which he did in the person of his brother, Thomas, who had . gained considerable experience with the wholesale dry goods house of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., during the preceding eight years.
He was married on the 17th of October, 1892, to Therese Purcell of Chicago, and they have one child, a daughter.
Mr. Madigan belongs to the Royal League, and the Catholic Benevolent Legion; in the latter society he holds the position of orator. In his religious views he is a Roman Catholic, and a regular attendant of St. Charles' Church, while in politics he is a Democrat.
WILLIAM LAW, JR.
One of the most distinguished members of the Chicago bar is. William Law, Jr., who was born January 31st, 1841, at Nauvoo, Ilancock County, Illinois. His father was Dr. William Law, a na- tive of County Tyrone, Ireland, his ancestors having moved there
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from Scotland during the religious persecutions of 1600. Having decided to leave the old country, he landed in Toronto, moving later-about 1840-to Illinois, where he attained great success as a surgeon and physician, and enjoyed a large and remunerative practice extending all over the section in which he resided. He' continued in the practice of his profession until his death in 1893, at the ripe age of eighty-three. He had married Jane Silverthorne, a lady of Scotch origin, who was born in Nova Scotia and who died in 1883.
The subject of this sketch received his early education at the Plattsville, Wis., Academy, was then sent to a private school at Freeport, Ills., and was finished by a private tutor at home. In 1859, having decided on embracing the legal profession, he com- menced the study of law in the office of Heybee & Law, at Shulls- burg, Wis., the junior member of the firm being an elder brother -- Thomas J. Law, who is still practicing law in that town and is at the same time publisher of a newspaper there. He later continued his studies in the office of Mr. Oscar Tayler at Freeport, Ill., and then, in 1861, moved to Chicago and entered the office of the late James H. Knowlton, at one time the head of the Wisconsin bar, where his course of study was completed. He was admitted to the bar in 1862, and immediately began to practice law with offices in the old Lar- mon Block, corner Washington and Clark Streets, and which is now known as the Reaper Block. But two years of practice in Chicago .
led him to conclude that the growing West presented a better field for an ambitious young lawyer than any large city could, and he consequently moved to Boise City, Idaho, in 1864.
While there, he was engaged in most of the important litigation which occurred, and was for some time Clerk of the United States Court, and for a while Acting United States District Attorney. Several other sections of the West having been visited, he decided
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Chicago was now the place for him to definitely locate, and he re- turned to this city in 1866.
The career of William Law at the Chicago bar has since been marked with distinguished success. His practice has been general and has extended to all of the courts, and while not confined to any one branch of the law until the last few years, when he took charge of the legal department of the North Western Life Assurance Com- pany, still his experience in corporation law has brought him into prominent connection with some of the most important cases of cor- poration litigation in the history of the city.
At the present time his work is mainly devoted to the legal affairs of the Insurance Company he represents, and also as Con- sulting Counsel for several large corporations, as he has obtained the reputation of one of the leading authorities on corporation and insurance law in Chicago. For seven years past he has been a director and legal advisor of the North Western Assurance Com- pany, and his professional estimation was fully demonstrated by his appointment as County Attorney for Cook County, an office he filled in every way to the satisfaction of the community.
In politics he has always been a staunch member of the Demo- cratic party, and until the present time has by voice and pen done whatever was in his power for the cause, but now believes that the duty of every loyal citizen is to do all possible towards defeating , the free-silver movement.
Mr. Law is a member of several fraternal and social organiza- tions, having been created a Mason in 1867 and reached the thirty- second degree of that order. He is a member of Montjoie Com- mandery Knights Templars, a life member of the Oriental Con- sistory, a member of the Mystic Shrine and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Chicago Athletic Club and in social circles generally is in great demand and much esteemed.
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He is an able, well read attorney, an eloquent advocate, and a re- liable counselor. In his professional advice he is honorable and honest, consulting in every way possible the interests of his clients, and is noted for the care and attention he devotes to every detail of whatever business may be entrusted to him.
JOHN MCCARTHY.
The following sketch will be found specially interesting, not only as showing the great and important work accomplished by a man not yet forty years of age, but also as a brief record of im- portant reforms obtained in municipal affairs and of extensive pub- lic works completed.
John McCarthy was born March 20th, 1857, at Fort Wayne, Indiana. His father, Patrick McCarthy, was a native of Ireland, and born there April 16th, 1816. He arrived in this country in 1847, settled at Fort Wayne, Ind., then only a small settlement, and there gained considerable reputation as a mechanical engineer. His wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was born in County Cork, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1852, being married the following year at Mansfield, Ohio. Both are still living.
John McCarthy was educated at St. Joseph's Academy, Fort Wayne, and on leaving in June, 1875, he became principal of school at Huntington, Ind., with four teachers and the charge of nearly three hundred scholars. Here he remained for two years, then accepted in June, 1877, a position as chief clerk to the Superin-
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tendent of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis R. R., in which he stayed until 1880, when he became book-keeper in the wholesale department of John Shillito & Co., Cincinnati. With this firm he remained until 1883, when he engaged as chief clerk and supply agent of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis R. R. Co., a position he filled for eight years, and then entering into business for himself, engaged in mining and railroad operations in New Mexico, but mak- ing his headquarters in Chicago. Since his coming to Chicago in 1883, being an ardent Democrat, he was actively engaged in politics, . never, however, seeking office for himself, but always working in the interest of his friends. He was President of the Hyde Park Democratic organization from 1883 to 1889, being also its repre- sentative in Central Committees for two terms, and was very prom- inently associated in the movement which resulted in the annexa- tion of Hyde Park to Chicago.
Previous to the election of Carter Harrison in 1893, Mr. Mc- Carthy was probably his most active lieutenant, being the only member of the Democratic Committee who espoused his cause months before his nomination. After the election, Mr. Harrison appointed Mr. McCarthy Superintendent of Streets. Early in his administration he discovered that the street contractors had not been conforming for years to the contracts and specifications, but had been using from twenty per cent to thirty per cent less material than the specifications called for, as also that the labor was not being performed in a workmanlike manner. After a consultation with the Mayor, he decided to investigate the work performed dur- ing the last two years, with the result that shortness in material was discovered to the amount of $300,000, against which reserves of about the same amount were retained by the city. Many of the contractors agreed to leave the matter to arbitration, and with the result that Mr. McCarthy's claims and the position he had taken up were fully maintained, and the immediate result followed that all
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street construction at once rose to a higher plane. For the first time in municipal government in this or any other country, the underground corporations-those who were given franchises to tear up the streets for the purpose of laying gas pipes, electric, tele- graph, and telephone wires, and conduits of all kinds, and for such purpose had torn up portions of streets, afterwards leaving them for many years in bad condition-were compelled to repair the same and entirely at their own expense. Maps and charts showing the responsibility of each in the various streets were obtained from the representatives of all the companies, who at any time had torn up the streets, and these had a meeting with the Mayor and Mr. McCarthy for the purpose of coming to some agreement which would result in replacing the pavements. It was then decided that the repairs should be made pro rata by each of the companies con- cerned, and civil engineers were selected under the direction of Mr. McCarthy, and resulted in all the down-town thoroughfares being practically put in good condition without the slightest expense to the city. During 1893 the sum of ninety thousand dollars was ex- pended, and in 1894 one hundred and ten thousand, leaving to suc- ceeding administrations the balance, which was estimated to the amount of four hundred thousand dollars. Believing that previous administrations were partly guilty in allowing such a state of things to exist, it was considered but just that the companies should have a reasonable time to repair the damages of fifteen previous years. The successful adjustment of this new departure was noticed and approved by the municipal authorities in this and other countries, resulting in similar methods being adopted in many of the leading cities.
Mr. MeCarthy continued in his position as Superintendent during the regime of Mayors Swift and Hopkins, until in November, 1894, he was promoted to be Commissioner of Public Works, the position in city government next in responsibility and power to that of 33
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.
Mayor. During his brief occupancy of the office, which lasted for the remainder of the term of Mayor Hopkins, he inaugurated nu- merous reforms, more especially in the special assessment bureau. Other notable works under his administration were the completion of the four-mile crib, which cost $409,000, and the Sixty-eighth Street tunnel and temporary crib, which cost $377,385. There must also be included the Van Buren Bascule bridge, the only one of its kind in the world, and upon which $167,900 was spent; the completion of Wentworth Avenue sewer, and in 1893, the building of 142 miles of streets, and 121 miles in 1894.
Mr. McCarthy is a member of the Columbus and the Iroquois Clubs, as well as of a number of other organizations. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and a cultivated and well educated man of strong literary tastes, although he has been too busy in public affairs and duties to indulge much in any outside tastes and recrea- tions. That his past work was well appreciated by his fellow citi- zens is unquestionable, as is also the fact that from the promise of his past may be creditably anticipated a brilliant and successful · future career.
JUDGE SAMUEL P. MCCONNELL.
Samuel P. McConnell was born July 5th, 1849, on a farm near Springfield, Illinois. His grandfather, James McConnell, was a native of Bellelessen, parish of Ballenhaten, County Down, Ireland, and came to America in the beginning of the present century, lo- cating in Connecticut. Here he established a manufactory. for making gun powder, supplying the patriots of the War of 1812. The latter at an end, he sold out his business and moved to Madison
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County, New York, where he engaged in farming. In 1830 he re- moved to Illinois, where he purchased a farm three miles south of Springfield, and was a pioneer in the cultivation of the prairies of this State and a demonstrator of the unexcelled richness of the upland prairies of Illinois. He was also one of the first to bring sheep into the State. A man of great prominence in his day, he was a very close and intimate friend of President Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, more particularly the latter, who never came to Springfield without visiting him. James McConnell died in 1866, leaving for that time a very large fortune. Another McConnell- James-a direct ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was in con- mand of the rebelling Irish at the time of "Bloody Mary," and found his death in a hand-to-hand encounter with Sir William Sidney. Still another was an officer in the rebellion in which Lord Edward Fitzgerald and noble Emmet took part. On the mother's side, also, the subject of this sketch was of well tried stock. His mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Carrington Parsons, was a mem- ber of an old English family who settled in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1680, and her grandfather commanded a battery of artillery in the Revolutionary War.
General John McConnell, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Madison County, New York. When the war broke out, notwithstanding the fact that he had a very large farm in Illinois and also one of the largest stocks of sheep in the West, he still con- sidered it his duty to enter the army. He was given a commission as Captain of the Third Illinois Cavalry, and later was made Colonel of the Fifth Illinois Cavalry. April 9th, 1865, he was appointed Brigadier-General and served until the end of the war, when he re- turned to Illinois and resumed farming.
Samuel P. McConnell attended the public schools of Springfield in his youth, graduating at the high school of that place at the age of seventeen, when he entered Lombard University of Galesburg.
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From the latter he graduated in 1871, receiving the degree of B. A., and at once took up the study of law with the firm of historic repu- tation, Stewart, Edwards & Brown, of Springfield. He was ad- mitted to the bar in December, 1872, and coming to Chicago, opened an office and began to practice. For some time he was a member of the firm of Crawford & McConnell, and later organized the firm of McConnell, Raymond & Rogers. His business pros- pered and he quickly obtained the reputation of a most capable and trustworthy attorney. In 1882 he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, and was on the bench for six years, during which time he tried a number of noted cases, among which possibly the Cronin case was the most world-wide in its reputation. He retired in 1888 and helped to form the present firm of Tenney, McConnell & Cof- feen. A large general practice is done, and many of the biggest Chicago enterprises, corporate and private, are legally represented.
Judge McConnell is a strong Democrat and has taken a very active part in politics since he left the bench, and was one of thé prime movers in the organization of the Iroquois Club. Of the lat- ter he was President in 1895, in which year also he was President of the Illinois State Silver Democratic Convention, and the follow- ing year was delegate at large to the National Convention.
He married, February 16th, 1876, Miss Sarah Rogers, daughter of Judge John G. Rogers, at one time on the Circuit bench of Chi- cago, and a granddaughter of Chief Justice Crenshaw of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. They have had four children, of whom, with one exception, all are living.
Judge McConnell has won equal eminence both as a consulting and as a trial lawyer. A man of charming personality, possessed of absolute fidelity to every interest of his clients, he bears that honorable record which tells of great personal and business worth. Among a host of friends he is held in esteem and affectionate re- gard, and does honor to that large section this book endeavors to chronicle, the American Irish of Chicago.
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JOHN F. NEAGLE.
John F. Neagle, contractor and general builder, is pre-emi- nently a production of Chicago enterprise and western ambition, than whom no one is more worthy of representation in a work illus- trating the lives and deeds of the city's leading American Irishmen. Born in this city November 7th, 1858, his father -- whose biography appears elsewhere in this book -- was Francis C. Neagle, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States about the year 1845. For about ten years he worked at his trade, that of a carpenter, in New York, and then moved to Chicago, and progressing forward slowly but surely, until he became one of the largest builders and con- tractors of the city. He died in 1895, and left a reputation as a man of business habits and honorable life, of which every one con- nected with him has good reason to be proud. He had married Johanna Hallaran, who survives him.
The subject of this sketch attended St. Patrick's Academy until he was fourteen years of age, when, being of an ambitious disposi- tion and feeling himself sufficiently grounded, he determined to go into business. It was his desire to be permitted to join his father in his building operations, but to this the latter objected, but hap- pening at the time to have an unoccupied store on northeast corner Halsted Street and Polk Street, he concluded to start his young son as a grocery merchant. This was in 1872, and, having purchased for him a horse and wagon and $2,500 worth of goods in South Water Street, he gave him unlimited credit.
In no way were the father's expectations in regard to the young merchant disappointed, for the latter at once demonstrated that he had ability far beyond what might be expected from one so young
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in years. The goods were all bought by himself, and as everything was conducted on strictly business principles, good success of course followed, and John F. Neagle retained until 1884. For some time preceding this he had been taking considerable interest in the building operations of his father, and generally assisting him in making out specifications and the figuring on contracts, and in 1884 he became a partner.
Since then the building firm of F. C. Neagle & Son has acquired an enormous business, which, like this great city itself, is rapidly increasing. For the execution of important contracts, its facilities are unrivaled, for as to the cost of material and the requirements of labor, the firm is so thoroughly posted that it is but seldom underbid, being in a position to prepare its estimates without the usual heavy item of contingencies, which with others less favor- ably situated so frequently swell the cost of estimates.
This firm, which was established by F. C. Neagle in 1856, be- came F. C. Neagle & Son in 1884, and was incorporated into the F. C. Neagle & Son Company in 1895, has erected some of the larg- est and finest buildings in the country, among which might be mentioned the Insane Asylum at Woodstock, MeHenry County, Ills .; Strauss Bros. Bank Building, Ligonier, Ind .; the Fortune Bros., Cooke's and Brewer & Hoffman's breweries; Donahue & Hen- neberry Building; the Congregational Church, Clinton and Judd streets, and a number of other churches, warehouses, halls, hotels, factories, office buildings, stores, flats, residences and apartment houses. Among its later achievements may be mentioned the large apartment house for Russell Tyson at 203 and 205 Goethe Street, at a cost of $75,000, and also the electric power house at Garfield Park for $100,000.
The standing of Mr. Neagle among his associates may be gath- ered from the fact that he has been secretary of the Carpenters' & Builders' Association during the past six years, and that in that
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time he has been on a number of occasions chosen as the arbitrator between various contractors and the labor organizations.
Mr. John F. Neagle is a member of the old West Side Social Club, the oldest in the city, dating as far back as 1866. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States, and is a man of broad information and very liberal ideas.
A man of fine appearance, courteous manner and generous in his disposition, he has succeeded in winning for himself a high place in the community, and possesses a wide circle of friends, who respect and esteem him for his personal as well as for his high business qualifications.
BERNARD DOLAN.
Though comparatively a late comer into the legal world of Chi- 'cago life, the subject of the present sketch, who possesses the highest qualifications for his profession in a quick grasp of salient points, an impressive manner, and strong influence over a jury, as well as considerable oratorical gifts, has already achieved promi- nence and popularity.
Bernard Dolan was born August 18th, 1858, in Iowa, his parents, both of whom were natives of the West of Ireland, having come to this country in 1850 and settled in Scott County. His education was received in the public schools of the State, and later he studied law in Lincoln, Neb., with L. C. Burr, and in 1883 was ad- mitted to the bar.
For five years he remained in the United States Attorney's office in Lincoln, then removing to Omaha, and practicing on his own account for four years. November, 1892, he decided to seek
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larger opportunities, and coming to Chicago went into business for himself. His success was immediate and considerable, and he has now a large general practice.
Mr. Dolan was married in 1891 at Omaha to Miss Ella Reagan, a young lady who is also of Irish extraction.
Formerly strongly attached to the principles of the Republican party, Mr. Dolan is now in his political views a Bimetallist. He is a Knight of Pythias, and is also a member of the Land League.
CHARLES CHASE MCCLAUGHRY.
Charles Chase McClaughry was born in Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, April 7th, 1863. His descent is from rugged old Scotch-Irish stock, and many of his ancestors have distinguished themselves in the world. Originally from Scotland, the family settled in the early part of last century in Clonbroney Parish, County of Longford, Ireland. One, Andrew by name, moved to America in 1765 and fought in the Revolutionary War, while the father of the subject of this sketch, Major R. W. McClaughry, has made a big reputation as a reformer of criminals. Many responsi- ble positions have been held by him, being at one time Chief of the Chicago police force and now holding the position of Superin- tendent of the Illinois State Reformatory at Pontiac. Major R. W. McClaughry married Elizabeth, a daughter of James G. Madden of Monmouth, Ills., whose father, Ben Warren Madden, was also a Revolutionary soldier. The latter's father, another Ben Warren Madden, was a Scotch-Irishman who had come to America from the north of Ireland and settled in the District of Columbia.
POLICE
nicholas Avut
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Charles C. McClaughry graduated from the classical course of Knox College, Galesburg, Ills., in 1885, and immediately went into the works of the Illinois Steel Co. With this company he remained until 1889, thoroughly mastering the trade of a machinist, and then for a time went into the employ of E. R. Brainard & Co., of Joliet. May, 1890, he was offered the position of Chief Engineer at the Illinois State Prison at Joliet, which he accepted and held until 1892. May of that year the position of Deputy Superintendent of the Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, Work House was tendered him and accepted. This he held until July, 1893, when he re- signed for a similar post at the Chicago House of Correction, Jan- uary, 1894, where he still remains, bearing the reputation of an efficient officer and an honest, fearless gentleman.
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