USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Biographical history of the American Irish in Chicago > Part 39
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Mr. Sexton was married in 1886 to Annie Bartelmann of Chi- cago, and they have a family of five children. In religious mat- ters he is a Roman Catholic and belongs to the congregation of the Cathedral of the Holy Name; while in politics he is a Demo- crat. He is a member of the Columbus Club.
JOHN M. CARROLL.
Very prominently identified with the prosperous dry goods merchants of Northwest Chicago is the man whose name heads this sketch.
John M. Carroll was born in 1845 in County Tipperary, in the village schools of which his primary education was received, and afterwards he was apprenticed to a merchant in the town of Clon- mel to learn the dry goods business.
Ilaving reached his majority, he came to the conclusion that
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the United States offered a better field of opportunities to a man of business abilities and energetic determination to succeed in the world. In 1867 he came to this city and made a start for himself on the North Side. His efforts met with success, and he has been enabled to build up a large and prosperous business.
Mr. Carroll is a Roman Catholic, but possesses no religious bigotry. In his political views he has always affiliated with the Republican party, and in 1891 served for a term as County Com- missioner.
Liberal in his ideas, generous in his disposition, clear-minded and vigorous in his policy, Mr. Carroll is a man whom to know is to respect.
CHARLES FFRENCH.
The Ffrenches of Galway have been for too many centuries iden- tified with the national fortunes of the beautiful green isle, have suffered too greatly, both financially and in the sacrifice of their lives, for any descendant to need introduction in an Irish assembly. The family is noted as one of the fourteen ancient tribes of Galway, a term which, applied in ridicule by the officers of Cromwell because they refused any friendly intercourse, has since been retained as a title of respect and honor. Charles Ffrench, the subject of this sketch, believes himself to be the only representative of the family. who has made America his home, and is well known among the newspaper men of Chicago and the West. Proud of his origin, a short history of the house possesses not merely personal but has considerable general interest.
Charles Ffrench
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The family is a very ancient one, although the title in the peer- age of Ireland, Baron Ffrench, is comparatively of new creation, having been bestowed upon the widow of Sir Charles Ffrench of Castle ffrench, County Galway, in 1798. She was a daughter of Patrick Dillon, great-great-grandson of the first Earl of Roscom- mon, and grandfather of the ninth and tenth Earls, the elder branch of the family failing. The name of her first cousin, Robert, the ninth Earl of Roscommon, and Marshal of the gallant army of France, is one that will long be cherished by the Irish people as among the commanders who, in conjunction with Marshal Count de Thomond, led on the impetuous charge which gave Marshal Saxe the victory on the bloody field of Fontenoy. Through the Dillons, the Ffrenches claim true Milesian descent for seventeen hundred years before the time of Christ, and by intermarriages the Ffrench family has allied itself frequently with the noblest names the his- tory of Ireland holds, among which may be mentioned the Clanri- cardes, family name De Burgh, the Digbeys, the Leinsters (Fitzger- alds, the historical Geraldines), the Lanesboroughs (Butlers), the Blayneys, the Inchiquins (O'Briens), the Egmonts (Percevals), the Westmeaths (Nugents), the Charlemonts (Caulfields), the Hunting- dons (Hastings), the Blake Forsters, the O'Connor Blakes, the Bod- kins, the Brownes, the Comyns, the Cheevers, and the D'Arcys.
The family of Ffrench is of course of Norman origin, and accord- ing to reliable records is descended from Rollo, first Duke of Nor- mandy. On the rolls of Battle Abbey the name appears Sir The- ophilus Ffrench, being one of the knights and warriors who came over to England with William the Conquerer. We read also that Sir Herbert or Humphrey de Freyne, or Ffrench, was among the companions of Strongbow to Ireland in 1169, and was given large possessions in Leinster. Later the family removed to Ballymacuoge in Wexford. According to an early survey of the Knights Fees, the Ffrenches in the times of Henry III owned in addition to Irish
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estates, very extensive properties in Herefordshire, and at that time the name which had been previously variously written De Fraxines, De Frignes, De Le Freigny, De ffreyne, Freny, Ffrynche, assumed its more modern form, Ffrensh or ffrench. Fulco de Freyne was ap- pointed the Seneschal of Kilkenny by the Earl of Gloucester, son- in-law of King Edward, an office which was then considered one of the highest trust and confidence. Two of the family, Sir Fulco and Humphrey, were summonsed as magnates of Ireland to serve the King's wars in Scotland and took part in the Battle of Hallidown. In 1346, Fulke, the son of Sir Fulco, was with King Edward at the siege of Calais, having under his command one banneret, one knight, eighteen armigeri and fourteen nobillars, making in all thirty-four men. In 1355, the same Sir Fulke was security for the Earl of Des- mond, and three of his family received knighthood from Lionel, Duke of Clarence as among the most distinguished soldiers of the Kingdom. From Sir Fulke's son, Robert, are lineally descended the Ffrenches of Connaught and this Robert's grandson, Sir John . Ffrench, was a man of immense wealth and famous for his liberali- ty, contributing largely to the churches of Galway, and among other great works, building the chief portion of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas.
Indeed it is with Galway the Ffrenches are most closely con- nected. Old time reliable records show Walter Ffrench, Portrieve of that town in 1301, 1303, and Provost in 1305. Another Walter was Mayor in 1445, and his grandson was Mayor of Galway in 1595, and an executing party to Perrot's composition for the Connaught estates in 1585. Peter Ffrench was Mayor in 1576, and Robert, his brother, in 1582, followed by his son Edmund, in 1606. During these stormy periods in Ireland's history, several of the Ffrench family showed their devotion to the Catholic faith by sealing it with their lives. The demand was "recant or hang," and a refusal was met with the order to string up, a rope having been passed from one
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side of the narrow streets which are so common in the town of Galway to the other. Of Oliver, Alderman of Galway, the British Museum contains an original letter signed "Oliver oge Ffrench, Maior of Galvay XIX th, January, 1576." It was his grandson, Jasper Ffrench, who built Castle Cloher, afterwards Castle ffrench, in 1635, and which still bears, sculptured in stone in workmanship of the 17th century, the family arms.
The official Cromwellian and Williamite records are full of fam- ily memorials in the way of forfeiting proprietors, and after the Restoration of grants of acts of Settlement and Explanation several of the family being mentioned as receiving grants in Counties Gal- way and Mayo. At the Supreme Council of Kilkenny sat another distinguished member of the family as a Spiritual peer, the cele- brated Nicholas Ffrench, Roman Catholic Bishop'of Ferns.
Of the Commons in the Irish Parliament of King James II was Christopher Ffrench of Galway, who there much distinguished him- self.
King James' Army List contains many of the family. Captain Arthur Ffrench, Mayor of Galway, 1691, speaks in a letter dated July 15th of the battle of Aughrim as "I think the last great blow to King James, his cause." Father Gregory Ffrench, parish priest of Duras, is mentioned in a letter dated 1691 to Baron de Ginckell as having been arrested as a suspect.
Arriving at a more modern age, Charles Ffrench was created a baronet, August 17th, 1779, and died 1784. On February 14th, 1798, his widow, formerly Rose Dillon, was made a peeress of Ireland, the name in the patent of nobility being spelled as some of the family still retain it "ffrench." Their son, Thomas, is mentioned by Wolfe Tone in his Memoirs as that "handsome young Irishman, whom he had the happiness of swearing into the brotherhood." A son of the latter, Charles, who afterwards succeeded to the title, was a great friend of Daniel O'Connell, and took a very active part by word and
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pen in the latter's agitation for Catholic emancipation. Ile was the writer of many able letters which were afterwards published, favor- ing repeal of the union and the subject of the present sketch, Charles Ffrench, has the honor to be his grandson.
Several poor seasons made the payment of rents by the tenants of the estate almost an impossibility, and the Ffrenches, unlike many other of the Irish aristocratic element, possessed too true an affection for their tenants to use harsh measures. Unable to sup- port the Galway properties, they had to be sold in 1851, under the Encumbered Estates Act, and a removal was then made to Dublin. Jasper Joseph Ffrench, the youngest son of the third Baron, Charles Austen, settled in London, and there his only son, Charles Ffrench, was born June 26th, 1861. Education was obtained by the last named in two leading English colleges, following which he was for a time at Oxford University. Such a raising has, so his American friends sometimes express it, given an unpleasant veneer of accent to what ought to be a good Irishman, but it is not any mere method or trick of speech that makes the Irishman.
Brought up with the intention of entering the army, that refuge of so many scions of Irish families, a short military experience with its prevailing habits, ways and customs so impossible to one whose income was limited and culminating in orders for India, sufficed for Charles Ffrench. He resigned his commission, took unto himself a wife and embraced a journalistic career. His efforts were crowned with good success and he made himself favorably known in the London weekly press and the English magazines, making a special- ty of biographical subjects. The great field offered by the United States for limited capital induced him to leave London and seek fortune's favors in the western states. He settled down in Kansas City, taking up some business speculative ventures, which were for a time brilliantly successful, but not recognizing in season the necessity of retreat he was swamped in the bad times of the early
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'90's. The necessities of a family drove him to resume the occupa- tion in which he was already reasonably experienced, and he did some good work on the Kansas City Journal. Advised that Chi- cago offered better opportunities, he moved to this city in 1892 and found a good field for his abilities in the World's Fair. He later es- saved a magazine in this city, an enterprise far from successful, and, after writing considerably for various Chicago dailies, was offered a position on the then about to be started "Chicago Chron- icle." Here he remained for some time, but the heavy night duties injuring his health, he was forced to retire and to engage in more pretentious literary work.
In politics Mr. Ffrench is Republican, but no partisan, for he recognizes and will support the best men available for office, irre- spective of party. He resides at Grossdale, near Chicago; has a fine library and some good paintings, old masters and modern. Early in 1896 he founded a paper, "The Grossdale Vigilant," which has made its power felt in the government of the town and district. Mr. Ffrench was nominated in 1896 Town Collector, and later was given the Non-Partisan nomination from the Township of Proviso for Justice of the Peace.
Mr. Ffrench is a member of the Royal Arcanum and of the An- cient Order of Hibernians. Of social organizations he is a member of the Press Club of Chicago, being at the present time its recording secretary, and also of the Columbia Yacht Club.
He was married in 1885 to Florence Burt, an English lady of brilliant musical powers and considerable literary abilities. She contributes regularly to several Chicago newspapers, and is the Western correspondent and musical critic for the "Musical Cou- rier" of New York, Paris, London and Chicago, the greatest paper of its kind in existence. They have a family of five children, two boys and three girls. The eldest, another Charles, was born in
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1886; Evelyn, Josephine and Jasper Joseph in order, according to ages.
An extensive traveler, Mr. Ffrench knows Great Britain thor- oghly; has journeyed extensively over France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Switzerland, has visited Africa, and is familiar with the western portion of the United States. An omnivorous reader, gifted with a very retentive memory and favored with nu- merous opportunities to meet personally many of the world's great- est minds, his ability to speak intelligently and with a certain authority on a wide range of subjects makes him an interesting companion. With the great Irish leader, Charles Stuart Parnell, he was admitted to an intimacy few can boast of, and only a few days before his death, being in England, spent an hour in his com- pany.
Most thoroughly does he esteem the great country of which he is an adopted son, but his affection is none the less strong for Ire- land, the land of his birth and of his forefathers. To see that coun- try free and happy, under the government of men who command honor and respect and who are strangers to fraud, abuse and chicanery, is the ambition and longing of his life, as it must be of all true hearted and true natured Irishmen, or of that large section which comes under the broad title of American Irish.
Stanley Waterloo.
(Written expressly for this work by that greatest of western writers.)
Frederick A. S. Hayes
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FREDERICK W. C. HAYES.
Frederick W. C. Hayes is an eminent exponent of what can be achieved with Chicago pluck and perseverance. Beginning life as a poor boy, without outside assistance of any description, he has succeeded in pushing his way by his own unaided efforts to the front rank of his chosen profession. Although a comparatively young man, he has gained wide recognition as among the ablest lawyers in the City of Chicago.
Mr. Hayes was born at Johnstown, New York, January 26th, 1859. His father, Richard B. Hayes, who was the second son of Frederick W. Hayes, the proprietor of "Hayes' Royal Irish Linen Thread," of world-wide reputation, came to the United States from Banbridge, County Down, Ireland, in 1856. The mother of the subject of this sketch was formerly Mary E. Nellis, a native of Ephratah, N. Y., and a descendant of the well-known Edwards family of New York State. His ancestors on the mother's side fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. When the subject of this sketch was a boy of ten, he came with his mother to Chicago, and received his education in this city's grammar and high schools. In the fall of 1876, Mr. Hayes entered the old Uni- versity of Chicago, and graduated therefrom with honors in 1880, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Since, he has been re- degreed by the new university, and is a member of the Alumni Association of that institution.
He began his legal studies at the Union College of Law in 1880, and two years later was admitted to the bar. During his col- legiate and legal studies, he was compelled to support himself, and
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while in college did so by teaching night school and delivering newspapers, and while reading law, by working in the Recorder's office, and also as clerk for Justice Charles Arnd. Immediately after admission to the bar, Mr. Hayes started out into active prac- tice, and became a member of the law firm of Young & Hayes, com- posed of Kimball Young and himself. This firm was dissolved in 1884 on account of the illness and retirement of Mr. Young, and Mr. Hayes ran the business alone. On account of ill health he was compelled to spend the greater part of three years, from 1889 to the end of 1891, in New Mexico. Upon his return to Chicago, he became connected with the law department of the city under the Washburne administration, during which period he made an en- viable record for himself and had charge of much important litiga- tion. Chief among the important cases he successfully conducted for the city was the big Wentworth Avenue sewer case, the largest and most important special assessment case ever tried in this country. The total assessment amounted to $816,000, and five different juries passed upon the different phases thereof. In one of these trials, involving over $120,000 of objections, twenty promi- ment lawyers were pitted against Mr. Hayes, and, after a trial of over thirty days, the jury found for the city. This was a great personal triumph for Mr. Hayes, as it was largely through his ef- ficient efforts and skill that the case was won, and at once estab- lished his reputation as a most able trial lawyer. At the present time he is a member of the well-known law firm of Mann, Hayes & Miller, consisting of James R. Mann, George W. Miller and Mr. Hayes. The senior member of the firm is Congressman from the First District of Illinois, and the junior member, Mr. Miller, is a representative to the Illinois Legislature from the Third Sena- torial District. This firm has successfully combined politics and the practice of law, and each member, although all are compara- tively young men, has attained official distinction, and together
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they have built up an extensive practice in corporation and muni- cipal law.
Mr. Hayes is one of the Masters in Chancery of the Superior Court of Cook County, as well as one of the trustees of the law institute, and in the early part of 1897 was selected as attorney for the Sanitary District of Chicago. This is a position of honor, as well as one requiring much legal skill and acumen, and affords most excellent opportunity for the experience and ability evi- denced by Mr. Hayes. -
Politically, Mr. Hayes has at all times been an ardent Repub- lican, and for several years was president of the Thirty-second Ward Republican Club. He was one of the original seven who founded the Marquette Club of Chicago, was the first vice presi- dent of that organization, and still remains a member. In his re- ligious views he is a Protestant, but believes must emphatically that every man should have the right to follow the dictates of his own conscience without let or hindrance, "practice, more than creed," has been made his text in religion.
September 2nd, 1886, Mr. Hayes married Lucy Ella Leach, of Manchester by the Sea, Mass., and two children have been born to them, Frederick L. and Lucy H. Hayes.
Mr. Hayes is a great lover of outdoor sports and exercise, es- pecially horseback riding, in which he is very proficient, and is considered one of the best horsemen in the city. He is a man of genial disposition and courteous manner, of fine presence, being well proportioned and six feet in height. His dark skin and hair show the Celtic blood.
The marked success he has won is a sufficient testimonial not only to the possession of superior natural abilities, but also to the exemplary perseverance and industry which has been shown in every stage of his career. He is a firm believer in the doctrine that work will tell, and the fact that his position is entirely the 35
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result of his own efforts, makes it his chief pride and his proudest title to be known as "a self-made man." Mr. Hayes has won the esteem not only of the members of his profession, but of the gen- eral public, and if the promise of his past be fulfilled, his future career must be one both brilliant and honorable.
AUSTIN OLIVER SEXTON.
Mr. Sexton was born August 15th, 1852; his parents, Stephen and Ann Sexton, both being Irish. His father might well claim the distinction of an old settler, for it was so far back as 1834 that he located in Chicago.
Mr. Sexton's education was received in the schools of this city, and he graduated from the Chicago high school in the class of 1872. He at once began the study of law and was admitted to practice July 4th, 1876. In his chosen profession he has been eminently successful, and has shown himself possessed of the many and diverse gifts which are requisite to the leading lawyer.
In his politics, though strongly Democratic, his general popu- larity among all sections of the community was shown in his elec- tion by the people in a Republican district upon seven different oc- casions. For four consecutive terms, from 1876 to 1883, he repre- sented the Sixth District in the State Legislature, and in the ses- sion of 1883 he was the Democratic nominee for speaker. He was President in Lake View of the Board of Education; was in 1890 elected Alderman of the Twenty-fifth ward, and was re-elected in 1892, being given the position of Chairman of the judiciary com-
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mittee. He was a candidate for Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County on the Democratic ticket November, 1893, and was beaten with his ticket.
He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, be- longing to the Aetna Lodge, 159.
Mr. Sexton was married in 1874 to Mary J. Lyons of Chicago, and they have four children-William H., Laura G., Mary O. and Georgiana.
WILLIS MELVILLE.
In the subject of the present sketch, we have another young member of the legal confraternity, who has evinced such special aptitude for his profession as to have secured already a prominent place.
Willis Melville was born at Madison, Wis., August 1st, 1868. Of his parents, John and Mary Melville, his father was a native of Rochester, N. Y., born there in 1831, while his mother was from beautiful Killarney, Ireland, which she left at the age of twelve to come to the United States. She settled in Milwaukee, and thence to Madison, Wis. John Melville, having completed his education, went to Chippewa Falls, Wis., and engaged in stock farming and lumber business. Later he enlisted in the Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteers, and for four years served under General Grant.
Willis Melville attended the grammar and high schools of Madison and later Lake Forest University, graduating from the latter and being admitted to the bar in 1892. For some time he practiced law with Seymour Stedman, and rapidly making a rep- utation for himself, gathered together a large business. In 1896
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he joined the well-known firm of Melville, Stobbs & Melville, which has the legal representation of a number of towns and villages and has transacted a large high class practice of a general character.
Mr. Melville was married in Waukesha in 1893, to Miss Lillian Smith, a Wisconsin lady of first-class educational advantages, who is, like her husband, a member of the bar, but who up to the pres- ent time has not practiced. Twin daughters were born to them in 1895.
A Republican in his political opinions, Mr. Melville belongs to the Episcopalian Church. He is a Mason and a Knight Templar, as well as a fifteenth degree Odd Fellow, and a member of the Order of Knights of Pythias, and has filled chairs in all his lodges, as well as in the Royal League and the Sons of Veterans. Of the Odd Fellows he has been grand representative since he was twenty-two. He has also had some military training, having served his time in the Second Regiment.
Pleasant and happy in his disposition, and with a manner always bright and courteous, Mr. Melville has succeeded in mak- ing for himself a host of friends, who respect him for his good business abilities and esteem him for his good personal qualifica- tions.
JOHN J. MAHONEY.
John J. Mahoney was born in Chicago, November 5th, 1854. His parents, Patrick and Julia (Conlin) Mahoney, came from Lim- erick, Ireland, to the United States in 1840, settled first at New Haven, Conn., and then, after a short time, moved to Chicago,
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where the father died in 1864 and the mother in the year follow- ing. The subject of this sketch attended St. Patrick's parochial school, where he remained until he was fifteen years old, when he left, and decided to learn the painter's trade, at which, in after years, he became proficient. From his earliest days he was noted for his ability as an organizer of men. For years he was president of the local union, No. 10, of the Painters' Union of Chicago, which, like the majority of all similar societies, became attached to the Knights of Labor when the latter organization was in the meridian of its fame and glory. For several years he was State Master Workman of the Knights of Labor of Illinois; was a member of District No. 24, K. of L., of Chicago; was a representative to the national conventions of that body at Richmond, Minneapolis, at Indianapolis and also at Atlanta. For many years, too, he was a trusted employe of the County Hospital, holding the important position of custodian of that great institution through several ad- ministrations.
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