USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Biographical history of the American Irish in Chicago > Part 6
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Though Mr. Doyle's mind is essentially of a business charac- ter, his disposition leads him to find his chief delight and recrea- tion in his home life, yet still he finds time to be active in member- ship of the Sheridan and Columbus Clubs. He is also a member of
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the Catholic Benevolent Legion, the Police Benevolent Society and the Independent Order of Foresters. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and his political views are, and have always been, those of the Democratic party.
The career thus roughly sketched is sufficient to show the many difficulties conquered, how every chance was utilized to the ut- most, and how a life unassisted by outside advantages was able to raise itself to a position of power and influence, making the name of Austin J. Doyle at once a source of pride and an honor to the city of his birth, as well as to the land of his forefathers.
JAMES C. MCSHANE.
James C. McShane, the subject of this sketch, was born of Irish parents on December 12th, 1862, at Litchfield, Illinois. He was reared at Mattoon, Ill., and received his early education in the public schools of that city. After leaving school he found em- ployment for some time in the office of the master mechanic of the Big Four Railroad, and afterwards learned a trade in the railroad shops, working here for three years, while all his leisure time was devoted to reading law. He continued in this manner until 1885, when he entered the law office of Craig & Craig of Mattoon, where he remained as a law student until 1887, when he was admitted to the bar at Springfield, taking the head place of a large class.
While studying law at Mattoon in 1885, and then but twenty- three years of age, he was elected to the City Council of that city, a position he served with honor and distinction. Immediately upon being admitted to the bar he came to Chicago, where he commenced the practice of his profession, associating himself with
James & M: Shane
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Col. Robert Rae, one of the old and acknowledged leaders of the Chicago bar. A few years later he formed a law partnership with Henry S. Monroe, under the firm name of Monroe & McShane, which partnership continued for several years.
During the last few years he has been practicing law alone, and enjoys a large and lucrative practice. He has always been engaged in the general practice, and has taken a leading part in many important cases in the State and Federal Courts.
Mr. McShane is six feet two inches in height, has a fine presence, is a forcible and eloquent speaker, and is regarded as one of the best trial lawyers in the city of Chicago. He is a leading Dem- ocrat, and has frequently been urged as attorney general and for Congress. In 1893, the year of the World's Fair, he was a candi- ·date for city attorney on the Citizens' ticket, which was made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, and which was headed by Samuel W. Allerton, and opposed the ticket headed by Carter H. Harrison.
Mr. McShane is a member of the Columbus and Sheridan Clubs, and a number of other social and fraternal organizations. Ile has a clean record, and a brilliant and successful career before him.
PHILIP MCGREGOR ROGERS.
Philip McGregor Rogers, whose name is familiar to and his memory held in honorable respect by all old time Chicagoans, was one of this city's pioneer citizens, having settled here in 1828 and built a log house where the establishment of Marshall Field on State Street now stands. His parents, James and Elizabeth
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(Ward) Rogers, were both thrifty Scotch people, the mother being one of the noted McGregors, and they had left their own country and moved to Dublin that their children might receive better school advantages than were possible in the highlands.
Philip McGregor Rogers attended school in Dublin for a short time only, when the whole family moved to America and settled at Redwood, Jefferson County, N. Y. Here the brother of the sub- ject of this sketch, who was a priest and a man of high education, took Philip in hand and acting as his tutor gave him a thorough course. At the age of nineteen he visited New York City and went. through a course of land surveying, later traveling through the State and by working at his profession, earning some money.
· In 1828, when the Erie Canal was in course of construction, his brother, himself, and two companions, formed a partnership and started for the West, stopping for a short time, however, on the way to do some contract work on the canal. Arrived at Chicago, then nothing but a frontier trading post, he and his three com- panions-his brother, after unsuccessfully endeavoring to induce Philip to accompany him, had gone further west-built a log cabin and opened a small store, where they remained during that winter. In the spring an inventory of his personal resources was taken by Mr. Rogers and he discovered himself to be the possessor of a cash balance of but thirty cents. This he decided to invest in a broad- brimmed straw hat, a shovel, and a ditching line, and so economic- ally equipped, secured a job as a ditcher. Having followed this employment for a time, his business instinct informed him that Fort Dearborn was located on the site where a large city was sure to be founded in the near future. On hunting expeditions in the immediate neighborhood, he had taken particular notice of the country north of Fort Dearborn, and his mind was quickly made up to buy land there from the government as soon as he was in a position so to do.
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At that time charcoal was in great demand and commanded a high price. He had seen the article made in New York State and as the land he had so thoroughly canvassed was covered with tim- ber suitable for the purpose, he induced his companion to go in with him, and having built a cabin in the woods they manufactured charcoal. Their venture proved highly remunerative and all the money made was put by Mr. Rogers into land, which he was then able to purchase from the government at a very low price. The land where Niles, Rogers Park, and a portion of what is now Ravenswood, showed such great fertility of soil that after the tim- ber was removed Mr. Rogers at once began to cultivate, and for that reason induced a great many Germans to there locate. Farm- ing was begun on a very extensive scale, having at one time as many as three hundred German laborers working for him under a foreman. Being himself a good German scholar, Mr. Rogers was at once their doctor, lawyer, and judge, and later bought land for them and assisted them in every way possible to bring their families from the old country and settle around Niles, where to- day they and their descendants make a prosperous and happy colony.
The domestic relations of Mr. Rogers were of the happiest character. He married Miss Mary Ward Masterson, a native of County Wexford, Ireland, but who came of a good English family. She owned a considerable tract of land and on which Buena Park and a portion of Ravenswood are now located. Mr. Rogers, in the very prime of his life, died suddenly of congestion of the brain in 1857, and just at a time when his many enterprises were beginning to prove very profitable.
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers had two children-Philip, who graduated from the Northwestern University and was taking a law course when his father died; and a daughter, Catherine, who married Patrick Leonard Touhy-of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in
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this volume. Mrs. Rogers, who was a woman of extremely chari- table views, built in 1876 a Roman Catholic Church-St. Cath- erine's-at Rogers Park, and presented it to the parish. She died in 1890, respected, honored and universally regretted.
Philip McGregor Rogers was a man of undeniable abilities and which he exercised in many directions. His business sagacity, his foresight and understanding of future possibilities were great, and gave him the possession of a large fortune, which was used by him to good and noble purpose. He might have been prominent in any path he desired, but he preferred to found a settlement which should lastingly bear witness to a great representative Irishman.
HON. JOSEPH A. O'DONNELL.
Talented and most capable, strong in his resources and firm in his character, faithful to every detail of whatever work may be undertaken, a faithful and true friend, a patriotic Irishman, and a credit at once to his race and to his country, to his adopted land "and to the profession in which he holds so high a place, Joseph A. ()'Donnell, honest and true representative, needs no introduction to his fellow countrymen in the West.
Joseph A. O'Donnell was born in the town of Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland, December 23rd, 1859, and when seven years of age came with his parents, Patrick and Catherine (Nellis) O'Donnell, to this city, the Mecca for all who are wistful of bettering their con- ditions in life. He belongs to that historic O'Donnell family that was offered a choice between Hell and Connaught.
So soon as the boy was sufficiently old, he was sent by his parents
Juseph A. O'Donnell
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to St. Patrick's Academy in Chicago, from which having gradu- ated, he also for some time attended the public schools. On leav- ing school, Joseph A. O'Donnell, who had evinced a most studious disposition, was obliged to find some employment, his parents need- ing every possible assistance in the support of the family, and was for a short period engaged as an office boy, later, however, becom- ing apprenticed as a mechanical engineer and making such re- markable progress that in a few years, and when only twenty-two, he was given the appointment of foreman. Throughout this time every opportunity was being used to increase his knowledge and more thoroughly master the higher branches of his business, for which purpose he attended a night school after the labors of the day were over, and there studying mechanical drawing, engineering andotherkindred subjects. Afterall his striving, however, to excel, he found the hard nature of his work was breaking up his constitu- tion, and his active and energetic mind, after a careful overlooking of the position, decided the legal profession offered him the better chances, and every energy was at once turned to acquiring the necessary knowledge. While employed at his trade, he had read "Blackstone's Commentaries" on English law and "Kent's Commen- taries" on American law, and also, and this, it must be remem- bered, during the few spare hours morning and evening, had studied Latin. Strong in his resolution, when by his industrious habits and the truest thrift he had succeeded in saving the sum of three hundred dollars, he decided to give all his time and attention to his new studies, and, bidding farewell to the machinist business, he became a law student at the Union Law College of Chicago, graduating therefrom in 1887 with the degree of LL. B., and a senior diploma. He also took a post graduate course, receiving the de- gree of LL. M., was admitted to the bar and received his license to practice.
This initial period in the active life of a young lawyer is often-
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times the occasion of most fateful effects on the whole after career. It is the first case that is always not merely the most difficult to obtain, but also in every way the hardest to handle. Many, want- ing in tenacity of purpose at this time, becoming despondent as to the future, drop out altogether of the profession and forcibly illus- trate the doctrine that it is those best fitted who survive. Mr. O'Donnell's fortune was of a happier description. No sooner was he admitted than he commenced to practice; business came to him, was handled carefully and thoroughly, and with such good success that to-day he has absolutely all the work it would be possible for him to manage. If, too, rumor speak the truth, higher honors are likely to be his in the near future, for it is stated as within the pos- sibilities that a place on the bench of the court where he is now practicing may be tendered to him.
Whether in his political or in his professional career it may be that Mr. O'Donnell has achieved the higher honors, it would be a difficult matter to determine. A Jeffersonian Democrat in his con- victions, for three consecutive terms-those of 1889, 1891 and 1893 -- Mr. O'Donnell has been elected to the General Assembly of Illi- nois from the Ninth District of Cook County, and he was also in at- tendance at the special session called to consider the World's Fair bill, and is, moreover, one of the faithful "101" to whose fidelity and absolute determination the election of Senator Palmer was chiefly due. For a considerable time he has been one of the acknowledged leaders of his party in the house, as was evinced by his place on the steering committee during the last two sessions. The choice at- tests in what high estimation his great abilities and his shrewd, intelligent manner of conducting what may be called the routine business part of legislation are held by his party colleagues, who know they will at all times find in him a sage and conservative ad- viser. His career has been far longer than the ordinary, and dur- ing the time it has been his province to put forward a number of
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important bills, of which, all sent by him to the desk have either been passed or it was intended so to do, and the great Democratic party in the State of Illinois, owes much of its success of later years to the passage of the Australian Ballot Law, which not only was introduced by Mr. O'Donnell, but was by him engineered through the house and finally passed. Of Mr. O'Donnell as a speaker, some few words are necessary. While he at no time soars into high rhetorical efforts, as an orator he possessed few equals in the house. Both forcible, earnest and distinct, his absolute sin- cerity of purpose compels what others may obtain by the richness of their vocabulary or by some wild bursts of fancy.
Mr. O'Donnell was married in 1886 to Rose E., daughter of Thomas Dugan, one of Chicago's oldest citizens, for he had come to this city as far back as 1833.
The subject of this sketch is a firm believer in the good purpose and sound work done by the various fraternal organizations, and in addition to all the distinctly Irish societies, is a member of the Royal League, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Na- tional Union and the Knights of Maccabees. Five years also was spent by him in the Second Regiment State Militia of Illinois, in which he held the position of First Lieutenant.
In 1894 he made a tour through Ireland, England and Scotland, greatly enjoying a visit to the home spots endeared to him by family and historic associations. In his religious views he is a Roman Catholic, faithful to his creed and observant of all its duties. He possesses a fund of interesting information, draining on the rich stores of a mind that has always found its chiefest delight in reading.
Tall of stature and erect in carriage, as the years go by he is inclining to become stout. In his manner courteous, kindly and at all times the most sociable of men, there is yet about him a quiet firmness and determination of character, advising plainly that he
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would prove a dangerous customer if trifled with. The good work done by him in raising himself to an enviable position in the learned profession of the law, as well as to a place in the General Assembly, as a Democratic member of the General Assembly, gives useful lesson of the benefits enjoyed by us all under the free Demo- cratic institutions of the United States. He demonstrates well that to the man of bright and energetic faculties, possibilities quickly become probabilities and probabilities are made certainties, and that the very highest station is open to whosoever is willing to faithfully strive and who possesses full and firm determination to let no difficulties deter, but to fight on and conquer.
JOHN J. PHILBIN, JR.
John J. Philbin, Jr., although still a young man, may be classed among the "Old Citizens" of Chicago, for he has lived here all his life and has witnessed the development of this great city of the West in all the stages of its wonderful career.
Born January 15th, 1862, within a stone's throw of the place where he is now engaged in business, Mr. Philbin has watched the growth of the Garden City with pardonable pride, and in every way in his power has contributed to the furthering of its advance- ment and prosperity. His parents, John and Catharine (O'Dowd) Philbin, came from Ireland fifty-five years ago-his father from County Mayo, and his mother from Ballina-settling first in New York State, where they engaged in farming and thence moving to Chicago five years later. John Philbin, Sr., and Phil Conley were
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the first two Irishmen to settle in Chicago, and now, at the ripe and honored age of seventy-nine, the father of the subject of this sketch is passing the closing years of a long and useful life. In Irish affairs he has always taken a great interest and was one of the organizers of the Father Mathew Temperance Society.
John J. Philbin, Jr., received his education at the Jesuit Broth- ers' School on Morgan Street, and at the Polytechnic Institute, corner Washington and La Salle Streets, from which he gradu- ated. His first work was for the city at the age of seventeen in the capacity of messenger, and through different positions he worked his way until after eight years of service he had become chief clerk in the Street Department, being appointed thereto by Mayor Harrison, and remaining in that capacity through the ad- ministrations of Mayors Harrison, Cregier and Washburne. He re- tired in 1890. After leaving the employ of the city, he went into the general contracting and decorating business, doing much of the fine decorating work that can be admired in the city and county buildings.
Mr. Philbin, Jr., married April 27th, 1892, Miss Alice Mackin, daughter of that well known pioneer and millionaire Irishman, Thomas Mackin. They have two daughters, Alice Mackin Philbin and Mildred. Mr. Mackin died a short time ago, leaving a large estate, and Mr. Philbin manages his wife's share of the property and conducts the Revere House on the north side, which was a portion of the estate. Of this he took charge in 1893, and by care- ful management and attention to the comfort of his guests has gained a reputation for the Revere House as a "home" which must be eminently satisfying.
As a young man he was a musician of note, playing with many of the leading orchestras of the country. He is a prominent mem- ber of the Columbus Club, Cook County Marching Club, and the County Democracy. In politics he has always taken a great inter-
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est and has been one of the leaders of his ward, at one time being candidate for the office of clerk of the Probate Court.
Mr. Philbin is in religion a Roman Catholic, and a valued mem- ber of the parish of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, in the interest of which he is an active and conscientious worker.
Of his ability as a business man, the great success the Revere House has attained while under his management is the best proof. Among Chicago's most progressive citizens he has found a place and indeed well deserves the golden opinions he has gained in all the social and commercial circles of the city.
WILLIAM HENRY ARTHUR.
William Henry Arthur, present assistant corporation counsel, though not yet thirty years of age, has already attained a high standing in the legal fraternity and is especially prominent and a recognized authority in all matters affecting cycling. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, December 27th, 1868, his father, Harry Arthur, being an officer in the British army, who had served in the Crimean war and other important engagements, receiving sev- eral medals for distinguished service. After retiring on his half pay, being quite an expert as a musician, he became a leader of the finest military band in Dublin, and also had a school of instruction for military bands. He died in 1872, when the subject of this sketch was not quite four years old. His widow, a native of Queens County, felt the loss of her husband so acutely that she followed him in the following year (1873).
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The subject of this record was nine years old when he came to Chicago to the care of an aunt who was living in the city. He was educated in the public and high schools of Chicago, and on leaving school became clerk in a fire insurance office, while at the same time attending the department of law in the Lake Forest University. He graduated in May, 1893, as one of the three honor men of his class, and then took a post graduate course under Thomas A. Moran, a tutor of whom he always speaks with affec- tionate esteem and the highest regard. In the same year-1893- he was appointed librarian of the Ashland block law library, where he had good opportunity for study, and also became acquainted with many lawyers, whom, in various ways, he was able to assist. While holding this position, in the fall of 1893 he started a law office for himself, and had his first case before the close of the same year. Appointed attorney for several fire insurance compa- nies, a line of business in which he was well versed, in 1894 he was appointed attorney for the Illinois Division of League of American Wheelmen, and has filled that position ever since. The 1st of October, 1895, he received the appointment of assistant cor- poration counsel and has already handled some quite important cases. In the spring of 1897 Mr. Arthur was very prominently mentioned as a candidate for city attorney. Of his abilities and fitness for the position the press generally spoke very highly, but as is well known, what was termed the machine controlled the convention and Roy O. West was nominated for that position to succeed himself.
Mr. Arthur is vice consul of the Illinois Division of the League of American Wheelmen and is president of the Illinois Cycling Club, which is the largest cycling club in the world, having more than six hundred members and a club house which cost forty thousand dollars. He was lieutenant of the First Division, First Battalion of the Naval Reserve until quite recently, when from
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lack of time to attend rightly he resigned. He is a member of Union Park Lodge No. 610, A. F. & A. M .; of Washington Chapter No. 43, R. A. M .; and of Fort Dearborn Council No. 278, Royal Arcanum. He is also a member of Central Council No. 1, North American Union, an association originated by well known Irish- men; and of Chicago Council of the Home Circle. Mr. Arthur has always been a Republican in politics and is a member of the Lincoln Club. As to his religious views, he was brought up a Protestant Episcopalian. He was married in October, 1890, to Miss Sophie Boller of Chicago.
This brief sketch is sufficient to show that Mr. Arthur has gained quite an enviable record in his profession, phenomenally so for one so young, while at the same time he has achieved con- siderable renown in cycling and athletics. In the latter, especially in running, his time of 4:36 for a mile made in 1889 was the best Western record for that year, and he holds some sixty to seventy medals for various contests. His fondness in that direction, how- ever, has never been permitted to interfere with his reading or his studies, and the midnight oil is often burned in the fine library of his residence.
MICHAEL J. KEANE.
In the list of Chicago's most honored citizens, among those whose efforts unaided by fortune or the influence of friends have procured universal respect and a comfortable income, the name of Mr. Keane stands high.
He was born in Ireland, Kilkee, County Clare, September 29,
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1849, and as an infant of three weeks, left the old country. Ile is the son of a patriotic sire; his father, Simon Keane, was forced to leave Ireland without an hour's delay after the famous uprising of '48. He arrived in Chicago, 1855, and began dealing in grain on the Board of Trade. Successful in his business, he retired from active work in 1871, dying in 1882, at the age of sixty. Mary Keane, his wife, lives, and is now over seventy. The son immedi- ately assumed full charge of his mother and the family, and still continues to support.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools and completed his studies at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Chicago. Believing that a business career offered higher advantages than a professional one, he took up the trade of a ma- chinist, subsequently changing to the furniture trade. His appli- cation to the business he had chosen, and the reputation he has obtained, needs no higher testimonial than the fact that in twenty- two years the only change he has made is from the Chicago Carpet Company to the Tobey Furniture Company.
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