USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Chicago and Cook County official Republican directory and sketch book, 1900 > Part 9
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GEORGE W. DIXON.
The distinguished Lawyer and successful Business Man.
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GEORGE W. DIXON.
THE EMINENT YOUNG LAWYER, AND SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS MAN, WHO COMMANDS THE HIGHEST RESPECT OF THE LEGAL AND COMMERCIAL FRATERNITIES OF CHICAGO.
Mr. George W. Dixon is one of the most widely known and highly respected members of the legal profession in Chicago, and in commercial circles ranks very high as a successful business man.
Mr. Dixon was born in Chicago, his parents being Arthur and (Ann Carson) Dixon. He acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Chicago, where he won the medal prize for scholarship.
He was graduated from the West Division High School with the class of 1885, having completed the course in three years. He then entered the Northwestern University of Evanston, where he was graduated a "Bachelor of Arts" in 1889. He was chosen one of the orators at the commencement exercises, and won much praise for the able manner in which he handled his subject, "Social problems of a great city." He completed the law course in the same institution in the class of 1892, and was elected president of the class which he represented before the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois.
After graduating Mr. Dixon was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity.
Besides devoting some time to the practice of law, Mr. Dixon is Secretary and Treasurer of the Arthur Dixon Transfer Com- pany, which is the largest firm of its kind in the United States. The immense detail of this tremendous concern would in itself necessitate the entire time of more than the ordinary intelligent man, yet Mr. Dixon seems to handle it with apparent ease, aside from his law business.
The thorough early business training which he received from
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his father in connection with this enormous transfer company, has aided young Mr. Dixon, the subject of this sketch, very largely to become the competent and successful business man which he is today.
In the commercial world of this great city, he ranks very high as a thorough business man ..
Mr. Dixon is a prominent member of the Hamilton and Union League Clubs, Chicago Athletic Association, and the Chicago Tennis Club.
He is a 32nd degree Mason, and member of the Apollo Com- mandery Knight Templars. He is a trustee of the Trinity Methodist Church.
While Mr. Dixon is a member of several social and political clubs, yet the one which he refers to with most pride is the "Hamilton Club". He has been connected with that organiza- tion from its infancy, and has creditably and successfully filled the offices of secretary, director and chairman of the political action committee, at various times. He has been largely instru- mental in placing the club in the pre-eminent position it now occupies.
Mr. Dixon was Chairman of the political action committee during the memorable campaign of 1898, when the Republi- can party won such a splendid victory in Cook County, and it was while acting in that capacity that he rendered his most valuable services to the club, and the Republican party in general. During that campaign the Hamilton Club done very effective work for the Republican party of Cook County.
He was urged to become a candidate for president of the Hamilton Club at its last election of officers which was held in May. He declined to allow his name to be mentioned up to a few days before election, and when the result was announced he was the first man to move to make the election of his opponent unanimous, which was done. The honorable clean cut campaign which was conducted by Mr. Dixon, has won for him many warm friends in the "Hamilton Club."
Mr. Dixon was chosen secretary of the Peace Jubilee banquet, held at the Auditorium in October, 1898. This was the great- est banquet ever held in Chicago.
For Mr. George W. Dixon, the subject of this sketch, we predict a deservedly bright future.
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HON. BERNARD A. ECKHART.
Former President of the Great American Waterway known as the Sanitary District of Chicago.
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HON. BERNARD A. ECKHART.
SANITARY TRUSTEE WHO COMMANDS THE HIGHEST RESPECT AND MOST IMPLICIT CONFIDENCE OF THE PUBLIC.
Hon. Bernard A. Eckhart is a man whom, as a private citi- zen, a business man and public official, Chicago may well be proud. The career of Mr. Eckhart from early boyhood up to the present day is full of valuable lessons to the young men of America. He is an honest, energetic exponent of civic patriot- ism, always keeping pace with the progress of his home city and ever ready to promote its welfare. He is alert as a public offi- cial in protecting the interests of the tax payers. As president of the Drainage Board he made a record that won the unqualified approval of every honest man in Cook County. To Mr. Eck- hart's splendid business tact, unimpeachable honesty and economy, is largely due the successful achievement of that great American water way known as the Drainage Canal.
Mr. Eckhart was born in Alsace, France, and was brought to America by his parents when but an infant. They settled on a farm in Vernon County, Wisconsin, and it was here that Mr. Bernard A. Eckhart, the subject of this sketch, spent his youthful happy days, and it was here, while still in his youth, that the bright intellectual brain of this splendid statesman and successful business man developed.
He was educated at a leading educational institution in Mil- waukee, from whence he graduated with high honors. His busi- ness career began in 1886, when he started out to fight the battles of life, the first positon which he obtained being that of a bookkeeper. Subsequently he entered into partnership with the famous flour milling man, Mr. James Swan, and from that time on their enterprise flourished, which soon became and is to-day the largest flour milling concern in this city, the firm name which is widely known as Eckhart & Swan.
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Mr. Eckhart has always been a Republican in politics and has taken an active interest in public affairs. He made the subject of waterways a special study and was appointed a delegate to the Waterways Convention which was held in St. Paul in 1884. In 1886 he was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket and served in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth general assemblies. He was a member of the senate commission to investigate the subject of pure water and perfect drainage for Chicago, and in this connection rendered very valuable services to the entire population of this city, and it was largely through his untiring efforts that the bill creating the drainage canal system was first passed in the state legislature. Mr. Eckhart during his term in the state senate was the author of several important bills which through his efforts became a law, among which was the bill for refunding the West Park bonds, the bill for suppression of "bucket shops," the state supervision of building and loan associations and the bill requiring street railway companies to secure consent of property owners before using streets. It can readily be seen that Mr. Bernard A. Eckhart served not alone the people of Chicago faithfully but the entire state, while a member of that high legislative body known as the Illinois State Senate.
Mr. Eckhart was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Sanitary District of Chicago in 1891, and the high esteem in which he is held by the citizens of Chicago can be best demon- strated from the fact that he ran 10,000 votes ahead of his ticket. He was afterwards elected president of that body and his record while acting in that capacity won for himself and the Republican party which nominated and elected him, high honor, which served as a source of gratification to his many friends and admirers.
During the memorable mayoral campaign of 1899, Mr. Eck- hart was chosen as campaign manager for the Hon. Z. R. Carter, who was the Republican nominee for mayor, and in this capacity as in all others he displayed great ability and tact, which was recognized by all whom he came in contact with, as well as the press of Chicago, and no doubt exists but his efforts in this direc- tion would have proven victorious under ordinary circumstances.
Mr. Eckhart was one of the organizers of the First Regiment, I. N. G., and for several years he held a commission in that
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command. For three years he was a director of the Board of Trade and has been a director of the Globe National Bank since its organization.
Mr. Eckhart is the class of man that never seeks office, but the office has often sought him; his name has frequently been mentioned for mayor of Chicago, and several other high offices within the gift of the people of this state, and from present indications it is not at all unlikely that he will be called upon to become the standard bearer of the Republican party in the near future for a much more exalted position than that of Drainage Trustee, which he holds to-day.
Mr. Eckhart is a member of the Union League, Illinois and Menoken Clubs and is a vestryman and treasurer of St. Paul's Reformed Episcopal Church. His past, private and political life is one to be proud of and before him stands a very bright and promising future.
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THE LATE LAMENTED HOPE REED CODY. Who was Chairman of Election Commissioners, and Ex-President of the Hamilton Club.
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THE LATE LAMENTED HOPE REED CODY.
CHAIRMAN OF THE ELECTION COMMISSIONERS AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE HAMILTON CLUB.
IN LIFE HE WAS LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM, AND IN DEATH HIS MEMORY IS FRESH AND FADELESS.
The late lamented Hope Reed Cody, who was called to an untimely grave while budding out of the prime of young man- hood, though dead and returned to mother clay, which is the doom of all men, his memory lives as fresh and green in the hearts of all who knew him as the flowers that were strewn on his grave.
To the many who had the pleasure of his intimate acquaint- ance in life it seemed almost cruel to see one of the most remark- ably brilliant young men in Chicago placed beneath the clay at the age of twenty-nine. If the life history of this brilliant young lawyer and famous orator was written it would prove a grand example or lesson for the young men of America to study. He was a noble soul, full of kindness, unassuming, gentle and mod- est, but thoroughly patriotic. Yet as brilliant a genius of his years as ever lived in our midst. The death of Mr. Hope Reed Cody took from Chicago one of her brightest and most promis- ing young men, and from his bereaved and grief stricken family a priceless jewel, a kind husband and father, a loving and devoted son, and a noble and affectionate brother.
The news of his death was indeed hard to bear by his affec- tionate wife and child, as well as his aged parents, his four sis- ters and two brothers, all of whom reside in this city.
Hope Reed Cody was born at Naperville, Illinois, April 14th, 1870, the youngest son of Hiram H. and P. E. (Sedgwick) Cody. His father was one of the pioneers of Du Page County, and served that county as its County Clerk, County Judge, and after- wards was for many years Circuit Judge of the Twelfth Judicial
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District, which comprises the counties adjacent and contiguous to Cook County. Judge Cody was also a member of the Illinois Constitutional Convention in 1870.
Hope Reed Cody obtained his early education as a student at the Northwestern College, at Naperville, from which institution he graduated in 1888, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Science. He was the youngest student who, up to that time, had ever graduated from that college and was president of his class. For a brief period after his graduation he worked as a reporter upon the staff of the Chicago Times, resigning that position to enter the Union College of Law (the Law Department of North- western University), graduating from the law college in 1890, but was, on account of his youth, compelled to wait until April, 1891, before he could obtain his license from the Supreme Court to practice law. In 1891 he became an active member of the well-known law firm of Hiram H. Cody & Sons, composed of former Judge Hiram H. Cody, Arthur B. Cody and Hope Reed Cody. The extensive business of the well-known law firm is conducted under the management of Arthur B. Cody, who is a distinguished and very able lawyer.
Although coming from Democratic stock, upon reaching years of discretion Mr. Cody became a pronounced Republican, and took an active part in the Republican politics of Cook County. In March, 1898, he was elected president of the Ham- ilton Club, the leading Republican club of the West, and under his administration the club not only tripled its membership but paid off a debt of more than $7,000, in addition to contributing liberally from its treasury towards the Republican campaigns of the fall of 1898 and the spring of 1899. His record in this organization constituted a signal triumph and evidenced the power of intellect and heart which would have made possible a brilliant career in the higher places of political preferment.
In December, 1898, Mr. Cody was appointed by Judge Orrin N. Carter a member of the Board of Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago and Town of Cicero, and was immediately elected chairman of that board, which position he occupied until his death, November 7th, 1899.
Mr. Cody was a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias, National Union, Royal Arcanum, the Royal League and the Phi Delta Phi Fraternity. In 1897 he was electedl regent of
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the Garden City Council, No. 202, Royal Arcanum, being the largest Council west of New York, numbering over thirteen hundred members, and in the history of that Council covering a period of seventeen years he was the only regent who was ever honored by re-election. He was also prominent in club and social life, being a member of the Union League Club, Chicago Athletic Association, the Hamilton, Marquette and Law Clubs.
In religion Mr. Cody was a Congregationalist and a member of Plymouth Church. In 1893 he was married to Miss Alta Vir- ginia Houston, of Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the leaders in the select musical circles of that city. At the time of their marriage Mrs. Cody was the contralto soloist at the Union Park Congrega- tional Church of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Cody had one child, Arthur Houston Cody, now nearly five years of age.
Mr. Cody's death occurred at the Chicago Hospital, near his residence, 340 Oakwood Boulevard, on the 7th of November, 1899, after an operation for appendicitis, following an illness of about two weeks. Funeral services were held at Plymouth Church, Chicago, November 9th, at which addresses were made by Rev. F. W. Gunsaulus, D. D., Judge Orrin N. Carter and Hon. James R. Mann. No young man ever passed away in Chi- cago to receive such marked respect for his memory as was shown at these services. Mr. Cody was interred at Naperville, Illinois.
Mr. Cody's death was a great shock and surprise to the pub- lic. Extended newspaper notices, both biographical and editor- ial, were given him. A memorial meeting was held by the Hamilton Club, at which numerous addresses by its prominent members attested the unusual affection they had for him and the wonderful hold he had upon the minds and hearts of the members.
Resolutions were adopted by various societies to which he belonged, and the general expression of sorrow showed how wide was his acquaintance with the public and what heartfelt grief was felt at his death. Few men at the age of twenty-nine have reached the prominent place in public life attained by Mr. Cody.
The politicians will miss him because of his fair and impar- tial rulings ; the Hamilton Club will for years mourn his loss, as he was the leading light of that grand organization, while his friends and numerous acquaintances will ever remember him as the grandest and noblest soul that has departed from their midst.
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E. M. CRAIG.
Who made the Cook County Republican Marching Club famous as its President.
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HON. EDWARD MARSHALL CRAIG.
PRESIDENT OF THE FAMOUS COOK COUNTY REPUBLICAN MARCHING CLUB.
To Mr. Edward Marshall Craig belongs more credit for the building up of that grand and far famed organization known as the Cook County Republican Marching Club than to any other member of that body.
Mr. Craig has been very prominently identified with the club during its six years of existence. He was the first financial sec- retary elected by the club, which position he held for three years. He has served as president of the club since July, 1897, and under his management the club succeeded in paying off a debt of $1,600 inside of six months, and assumed the position of sound prosperous financial basis in which it has remained ever since.
Mr. E. M. Craig was born in Philadelphia, Pa., February 1, 1860. His parents, who were born in the north of Ireland, were both of Scottish descent, and came to America in 1842. His father, Benjamin Craig, was greatly attached to the old volun- teer fire department of Philadelphia, of which he was a member. He was also prominent in Republican politics, and conducted a very extensive dyeing establishment in that city.
The mother of Mr. E. M. Craig, the subject of this sketch, died when he was only five years of age, and his father passed away when E. M. was only sixteen, leaving a heavily encum- bered estate to his seven children, five boys and two girls.
At the early age of fourteen Mr. Craig was compelled to leave the public school which he was attending and commence the battles of life, the first position which he obtained being in the law office of John Sparhawk, the then prominent attorney of Philadelphia, where he remained for three years. After this young Craig drifted into various positions, chiefly on account of the fact that they brought him a larger salary, having worked in a wheel and spoke factory, woolen mills, stone yards, flour and feed stores, and at the livery business. At the age of nineteen
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Mr. E. M. Craig commenced to learn the steam fitting business, and worked at that trade in his native city up to 1890. He served as president of the Steam Fitters' Union in Philadelphia for the term of one year.
Mr. Craig continued in the employ of Jos. P. Woods & Co., from whom he learned his trade, and had charge of the work in some of the largest buildings in Philadelphia and the surrounding cities for the said firm up to the time he left that city.
Mr. E. M. Craig received his first political lesson in Phila- delphia, where he stumped the city for that noted statesman, James G. Blaine, in 1884. He was at that time a member of the ward committee. He organized what was known as the West End Republican Club of the Eighteenth Ward, which was three hundred strong in 1886, and was president of the same until he left that city.
In 1888 Mr. Craig was elected member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature from the Sixteenth district of Philadelphia. The district which he represented comprised the great shipbuilding interests of that city, and was known as the great factory district of Kensington, which was commonly called "Fish Town " on account of the large number of fishermen that resided in the district.
While in the Legislature Mr. Craig watched very closely after the immense interests of his district, and succeeded in defeating several obnoxious fishing bills which came before that body. He was at all times the avowed friend of union labor, and his vote was always cast in that direction while in the Penn- sylvania State Legislature.
Mr. Craig came to Chicago, March 14, 1890, to fill the posi- tion as western agent for Pierce, Butler & Pierce Manufacturing Company, of Syracuse, New York, manufacturers of steam and hot water material. Mr. Craig was in charge of the western office in Chicago for this firm up to 1893, at which time they consolidated with others and formed what is known as the Ameri- can Boiler Company, which was then the largest concern of its kind in the United States. Mr. Craig managed and had charge of the Cook County department of this immense firm up to April, 1897, when he resigned to engage in the heating contract- ing business for himself, confining his operations to fine residence and apartment buildings.
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In July, 1898, Mr. Craig was elected secretary and general manager of the Master Steam Fitters' Association of Chicago, and was again re-elected without opposition in July, 1899. He is also secretary of the Western League of Master Steam Fitters, composed of all legitimate steam fitters west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Mr. Craig has been frequently called upon to act as arbitrator between union men and contractors. He is considered an expert in this line throughout the West. He is a member of the Mad- den Conference Committee which recently met to adjust the labor troubles, and in this connection labored day and night with the Building Trades Council, representing the Building Contractors' Council, and had much to do with framing the final report of the committee, which, if adopted, will settle the long existing strife between employers and employes in the building line in Chicago for good. This is of great importance to Chicago, as it would mean a great increase in the building line in this city during the present year.
Mr. E. M. Craig took an active part in Republican politics soon after his arrival in this city. He resided in the Twelfth Ward for two years, and moved to the Tenth in 1892, where he has been a member of the campaign committee of the ward and captain of his precinct for a number of years. He is a consistent, hard worker in the interest of his party candidates at all times, devoting much of his time and money to further the interests of the candidates in his ward and district. His name has been fre- quently mentioned for the office of Alderman, State Senator and even Representative, though he has never sought nor held any political office, elective or otherwise, during his residence in this city.
Mr. Craig attended the first meeting called for the purpose of organizing the Cook County Republican Marching Club, which was held at the Grand Pacific Hotel, and attended the sub- sequent meeting at the Great Northern, January 19, 1894, when the club was organized. At this meeting he was elected finan- cial secretary, to which position he was re-elected three consecu- tive terms. The office was at the time made a salaried one, but Mr. Craig declined to accept any compensation for his services.
In July, 1897, Mr. Craig was unanimously elected president of the famous Marching Club, and it is needless to say that ever
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since it has flourished both in membership and from a financial standpoint. He has been re-elected by acclamation as president at the annual election every year since. It is needless to go further into the details of the club, as a brief history of that famous organization can be found elsewhere in this book. Mr. Craig has done much for the club, of which he is exceedingly proud, which can be seen from the fact that he never missed a meeting or drill since the club was organized.
Mr. E. M. Craig was married to Miss Tillie M. Stengel at Philadelphia, December 9, 1878. They have two children, Wil- liam H. and B. Clarence, aged 17 and 15 respectively. Mr. Craig is a member of the Masonic Order and Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the following eastern orders : Knights of the Golden Eagle, Knights of the Mystic Chain, and Knights of Friendship. Mr. Craig is very domestic in his tastes, of temperate habits, much devoted to his family, and next comes the Cook County Republican Marching Club.
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HON. FRANK T. FOWLER.
THE ABLE ALDERMAN WHO HAS MADE BOTH BUSINESS AND POLITIC~ A SUCCESS.
The same measure of success is not given to every man in this world, and it is few who do not allow the fickle goddess of fortune to elude their grasp. The subject of our sketch stands out in bold relief as an example of what tenacity of purpose, hustle and honesty can accomplish. Frank T. Fowler has by his own unaided efforts reached a position in private, social and political circles that is the envy of all good men who appreciate worth of character.
He was born in Beverly, Ohio, thirty-two years ago, and in early life gave promise of the brilliant future that lay before him. At the age of twelve, when most boys are playing marbles, Frank Fowler was hustling to support his widowed mother and young brother. It was in his boyhood days that he learned the value of hard work, and that keeping everlastingly at it would in time bring its own reward.
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At the age of twenty he came to Chicago with $4.50 of the coin of the realm in his pocket, but what he lacked in cash was more than balanced by the energy and self-confidence he possessed to make his own way in the world. In 1891 he became inter- ested in a small way in the manufacture of bicycles, but his first step of much importance was when the Hill Cycle Manufacturing Company was organized to build the Fowler. His first effort in bicycle construction was so appreciated by the public that the growth of the business was phenomenal.
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