USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume II > Part 36
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As the landscape plan and the beauty of the buildings were the chief charm of Chicago's World's Fair, it is admissible to begin this sketch of Mr. Daniel Hudson Burnham with the statement that he was chief architect and director of works for the Columbian Exposition during 1890-93, at which time he achieved a reputation in his profes- sion which he has retained and increased during the subsequent years. This success and his eminent ability as an architect and planner of landscapes brought him an additional honor in being appointed chair- man of the national commission for beautifying Washington. He and his associates have drawn plans and in part carried them out, by which the national capital is being made the most attractive city in the country. Mr. Burnham was chosen to a similar position on a commission for beautifying the city of Cleveland, and he is also author of numerous plans for beautifying Chicago, including those for the park and boulevard system, the extensive lake front improve- ments, which involves the building of a narrow park strip on the mainland, and a broad one out in Lake Michigan, leaving an open lagoon between the two to be diversified with islands and the shores to be planted with trees, shrubs and flowers, affording a needed touch of color. This strip of parkway will be connected with the park system
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and boulevards so that the city will be completely girdled by parks and artistic roadways.
Among well known and typical buildings in Chicago's business district, not to mention those in other cities, Mr. Burnham was archi- tect of the Rookery, the Woman's Temple, the Masonic Temple, Illinois Trust Bank, First National Bank, Commercial National Bank, Railway Exchange, and Field Museum. He has followed his profes- sion in Chicago since 1872, and was formerly head of the firm of Burnham & Root, and now of D. H. Burnham & Company.
Mr. Burnham was born in Henderson, New York, September 4, 1846, a son of Edwin and Elizabeth (Weeks) Burnham. His an- cestry is purely English, and he is the eighth generation of American residence. He has lived in Chicago since he was eight years old, and was educated in the public schools, including the high school, after which he spent three years with private tutors in Massachusetts. From Harvard and Yale universities he received the degree of A. M .; D. S. in Architecture from Northwestern University, and LL. D. from the University of Illinois. He was president of the Western Association of Architects, and of the American Institute of Architecture. He has membership with numerous clubs and socie- ties, some in foreign lands, including the Century and Lawyers clubs, New York; Chicago University, Union League, Literary, Country, Glen View clubs, in Chicago. He is a director in the Bankers' National Bank, and the Standard Office Company. His office is in the Railway Exchange, and his home in Evanston. He married, Jan- uary 20, 1876, Margaret Sebring Sherman. Their children are: Ethel, John, Hubert, Margaret and Daniel.
John Meiggs Ewen, president of the John M. Ewen Company, among the leading engineers and builders of the country, is a native of Newtown, New York, born on the 3rd of Septem-
JOHN M. EWEN. ber, 1859. His parents were Warren and Sarah (Faulkner) Ewen, and were of stanch Scotch an- cestry. Although his father had no technical education in schools, he became an engineer in the United States navy, and his mechanical genius and common sense were so superb that he was for many years chief engineer of construction for the railroads in Chili and Peru. Among his accomplishments was the famous railroad in the clouds at Oroya, and he also executed many difficult harbor works
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on the Pacific coast of the countries named. Young Ewen spent his - boyhood days in South America with his father, and thus early im- bibed what the profession term the "engineering atmosphere." At the age of twelve, however, he returned to the United States to com- plete his education, being first sent to the Russell Military Academy at New Haven, Connecticut, and then to Stevens Institute of Tech- nology, at Hoboken, New Jersey, where he studied engineering, class of ISSO. He afterward pursued his studies abroad, attending for a time the famous Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris.
His first employment was in the position of engineer in charge of the construction work for the J. B. & J. M. Cornell Iron Works, of New York, in which capacity he had charge of the construction of the Second Avenue Elevated Railroad in New York, from Forty- second street to Chatham square, and was particularly interested in the work of designing the connections from Chatham square to the postoffice, which involved the crossing of the Third avenue line and making the switching connections at the station. He also laid out the Twenty-third street double curve of this road. Both these undertakings were then comparatively novel in elevated road con- struction. While with the Cornell firm he also designed the Barge office and superintended its construction at the Battery, New York, as well as the mansard roof of the State, War and Navy Depart- ment building, Washington, and the Harrisburg (Pa. ) postoffice.
Mr. Ewen's introduction to Chicago, in his professional capacity, was as chief engineer for W. L. B. Jenny, the father of the steel sky-scraper, and one of the most original of American architects. Next he became engineer and general manager for Burnham & Root, then leading the younger class of architects, and also pioneers in the designing and construction of steel structures. In 1889 he resigned that position to associate himself with George A. Fuller in the or- ganization of the Fuller Company, of which he was vice president and general manager for many years. While he was with this con- cern Mr. Ewen gave particular attention to the work of devising new forms of steel construction, as well as new methods and proc- esses, and among his innovations are the cantilever foundation, used for the first time in the Rand-McNally building. and the uniform steel column, first placed in the Marquette building, but he did not patent either of these devices. Under his active management and
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under the stimulus of his personality as consulting engineer the business of George A. Fuller Construction Company grew to im- mense proportions. Mr. Ewen remained with the Fuller Company until 1903, when he became vice president and western representa- tive of the Thompson-Starrett Company, one of the largest builders in America. He retained his connection with that company until 1906, when he organized the John M. Ewen Company, engineers and builders, with himself as president.
During his career of twenty-seven years as a construction en- gineer, Mr. Ewen has figured in the erection of some of the largest office buildings in the country, many of them in Chicago, and as head of the company which bears his name his eminence is constantly increasing. The representative buildings in this city upon which he has been engaged as contracting engineer, consulting engineer or builder include the following: Atwood building, Ashland block, Association building, Chicago Opera House block ; the County, Cax- ton, Columbus Memorial and Champlain buildings; Continental Na- tional Bank, Carson, Pirie, Scott, and Chicago Athletic Association buildings; First Infantry (Illinois National Guard) Armory; the Fair, Great Northern, Home Insurance, Herald, Heyworth, Lee's, Monadnock, Mentor and Marquette buildings, Marshall Field Annex, Northern Trust Company, New York Life Insurance Company, New Illinois Athletic Club and Old Colony buildings, Orchestra building and hall, Pontiac building, Presbyterian Hospital, Rothschild department store, Rookery, Rand-McNally, Reliance and Rothschild warehouse buildings, Steinway Hall, Sears, Roebuck's new west side plant, Stewart, Tacoma, and Tribune buildings, The Temple and the Trude, Venetian and Western Bank Note buildings. At the World's Fair he had charge of the construction of the New York State and French and British Government buildings, and was also identified in his professional capacity with the private residences of Victor F. Lawson, George A. Fuller, R. W. Patterson, James Ellsworth and Henry Dibblee. Among the out-of-town buildings of note placed to Mr. Ewen's credit are the following: Chronicle and Mills buildings, San Francisco; Garrick Theater, St. Louis; Midland Hotel, Walnut Street Arcade, and the American Bank, Board of Trade and Scarritt buildings, Kansas City; Society for Savings and Rockefeller build- ings, Cleveland; Equitable building, Atlanta; Morgan building, Buf-
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falo: Fidelity Bank and Pacific Bank buildings, Tacoma; Union Bank building, Winnipeg, and Royal Alexandria Theater, Toronto. Alto- gether he has supervised the erection of $100,000,000 worth of buildings.
Mr. Ewen has been variously honored by appointment to public positions of an expert and advisory nature. He served on the com- mittee of experts named by the county commissioners to select plans for the new Cook county court house, and served as Consulting En- gineer during the erection of that buikling, and is at present Con- sulting Engineer for the new City Hall. He was chairman of the commission of engineers appointed by Mayor Dunne to investigate and report upon the construction of the Illinois Telephone Com- pany's subway in Chicago. He was one of the organizers and an active member of the Iroquois Fire Commission, which revised the ordinances and regulations for the building and operating of Chicago theaters. He is now public appraiser of Chicago, charged with the duty of passing upon damage suits for injury to property. He is also consulting engineer for Cook county to supervise the erection of the new Infirmary buildings, and has been appointed the Engineer for disposing of the stone still lying along the banks of the Drainage Canal. One of the latest public honors which has come to him was as a delegate upon behalf of the city of Chicago to the Gulf-to-Lakes Deep Waterway Convention held in Memphis in 1907, and later chairman of the Chicago Harbor Commission appointed by the mayor to make a comprehensive study of, and report on, the question of whether some portion of Chicago's lake front should be reserved and utilized for harbor purposes. Aside from being the originator of the cantilever foundations for buildings and a unique method of constructing sub-basements under buildings, Mr. Ewen is the inventor of the so-called Luxfer prisms, which are so constructed as to reflect light into buildings naturally cut off from it. Structures along the lines of the elevated roads were especially benefited by this invention. Mr. Ewen is 'a forcible and interesting writer and lecturer on professional topics. Typical specimens of his work in this field are his paper on "Foundations," read before the Western Society of Engineers in 1905, and the article on "High Steel Build- ings," published in the American Architect, November 7, 1907.
Mr. Ewen is identified with the American Society of Civil En-
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gineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Western Society of Engineers, Chicago Architectural Club and Builders' and En- gineers clubs of Chicago. Aside from these professional organiza- tions he enjoys membership in the following: Chicago Association of Commerce, Geographical Society of Chicago, Loyal Legion, Art Institute, and the Union League, University, Chicago Athletic, Press, Hamilton, City, Palette and Chisel, and Mid-Day clubs, and South Shore Country, Exmoor Country and Onwentsia clubs.
On March 29, 1888, Mr. Ewen married Miss Grace Patterson, of Chicago, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Robert W. Patterson, and the two children born to them have been John Meiggs, Jr., and Mar- jorie Patterson Ewen. He resides at No. 59 Bellevue place. Mr. Ewen is a member of the Presbyterian church, and has long been identified with the work of the Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago, having for five years served as Chairman of its Central Department. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Passavant Hospital, and president of the board of trustees of the new Tribune Hospital.
Edward Beach Ellicott, a prominent electrician and especially well known by Chicagoans for his fine work in connection with the devel-
EDWARD B. opment of the city's street lighting plant, is a na-
ELLICOTT. tive of Lockport, New York, born on the 28th of March, 1866. His parents are George M. and Ma- ria (Sears) Ellicott, and he numbers among his ancestors some emi- nent professional men, his great-grandfather, Andrew Ellicott, being the first surveyor general of the United States, and instructor in mathematics at West Point.
Mr. Ellicott obtained his early education in the public schools of Batavia, New York, and, although he has received no technical train- ing in electricity, except through self-instruction, has been practically identified with it since he was nineteen years of age. Since 1885 he - has been continuously progressing in his chosen field, liis first position of real responsibility being as electrician for the Salina (Kan.) Gas and Electric Company. Later he served as superintendent for the Concordia (Kan.) Electric Light Company, and was afterward con- nected as an expert and superintendent in the construction depart- ment of the Western Electric Company, of Chicago.
In 1897 Mr. Ellicott was appointed by Mayor Harrison superin-
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tendent of the city telegraph, and when the department of electricity was organized, became city electrician, serving in this capacity until 1905, when he was appointed electrical engineer in charge of the water power development for the drainage board. As city electrician Mr. Ellicott made his greatest record in his able development of the municipal street lighting plant, which, under his administration, more than quadrupled.
Mr. Ellicott has had a leading connection with various AAmerican expositions. When the great Ferris wheel was erected at the World's Columbian Exposition he furnished the only feasible plan for its practical lighting. In November, 1903, Mr. Ellicott was appointed chief mechanical and electrical engineer of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, the city of Chicago having given him leave of absence from Chicago. In that position he designed and superin- tended the entire electrical and mechanical work of the exposition.
At the present time Mr. Ellicott is engaged in an active and ex- tensive business as a general electrician. He is a leading member of the Western Society of Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, National Association of Stationary Engineers. In poli- tics he is a Democrat ; is a K. T. Mason, and a member of the Union League, Exmoor and Athletic clubs.
Mr. Ellicott's wife, to whom he was married April 26, 1898, was formerly Miss Minerva Ellsworth, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and two sons. Chester C. and Ernest E., were born to their union. The family residence is at No. 1206 Winthrop avenue.
Ralph Modjeski, son of Gustav and Helena Modjeski, is one of the most famous bridge engineers in the United States, his mother
RALPH being the tragedienne of world-wide fame. Like
MODJESKI. his wonderful mother, he is a native of Poland, born January 27, 1861, the family name, which was Modrzejewski, being changed to its present form for purposes of American naturalization. It is quite remarkable that mother and son should have become eminent in such diverse professions.
Mr. Modjeski received his professional education in Paris, at the Ecole des Ponts et Chausees, where he spent four years of hard study, graduating in 1885 with the degree of C. E. and at the head of his class. He first came to the United States with his mother when fifteen years of age, but after the completion of his studies in
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Paris returned to Poland to marry his countrywoman, Felicie Benda. He was soon busy at his specialty and commenced to acquire a repu- tation as assistant engineer of the Union Pacific bridge over the Mis- souri, at Omaha. He was thus employed in 1885-87, and later was stationed as shop inspector at Athens, Pennsylvania, in the examina- tion of the superstructures for various bridges, being in the employ of the firm of Morison & Corthell. Until August, 1888, he was chief draughtsman in the New York office of the same firm, and later with Mr. Morison at Chicago until November, 1890, when he was as- sistant engineer and chief inspector of the bridges at Memphis, Ten- nessee, and Winona, Minnesota. Since 1892 he has been consulting civil engineer, with headquarters in Chicago. He had designed and built the new government bridge at Rock Island, Illinois; the super- structure of the Bismarck (N. D.) bridge, and structures for vari- ous railroads, such as the Northern Pacific, Monon, Illinois Trac- tion system, and the C. & M. E. At present he is engaged in the construction of two large bridges at Portland, Oregon, a bridge over the Mississippi river at St. Louis, besides various other smaller struc- tures. Mr. Modjeski has been consulting engineer for the city of Chicago and for the Chicago Sanitary District in the building of bascule bridges, and was employed by the United States government to design and construct the large fireproof warehouse in the Rock Island arsenal.
Mr. Modjeski has been prominent in the associations of his fel- low engineers, having served as president of the Western Society of Engineers in 1903-04, and being, at one time, president of the Chicago Engineers' Club, which he assisted in organizing. He is also a member of the American Society of Engineers, Assn. Amicale des Ingenieurs Civils des Ponts et Chausees de France, and the Amer- ican Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association; also of the Art Institute of Chicago and of the Union League, Quad- rangle, Homewood Country and South Shore Country clubs and Au- tomobile Club, of Chicago, and the Arlington Club, of Portland, Ore- gon. Although professionally one of the busiest of men, he is essen- tially domestic in his tastes, and is the father of two sons and a daugh- ter-Felix, Charles and Marylka.
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Arthur F. MacArthur, vice president and general manager of the MacArthur Brothers Company, among the most extensive railroad
ARTHUR F. and general contractors in the west, is a native of
the Empire state, born in Oramel, on the 24th of MACARTHUR. October, 1860. He is a son of Archibald and Ke- turah (Pratt) MacArthur, and was brought by his parents to Chi- cago when he was fourteen years of age. His grandfather, John R. MacArthur, established the business in the east in 1826, upon the death of whom the business was carried on by his sons, William, Archibald and James MacArthur, Mr. Archibald MacArthur, the father of Arthur MacArthur, being the active head and president of the company until his death on June ist, 1907. The headquarters of the firm were removed to Chicago in 1873. The business com-
prises the construction of thousands of miles of railroads and much important government work. Of late years the management of the great concern, whose contracts now amount to some $14,000,000 annually, has been in the able hands of Arthur F. MacArthur.
Mr. MacArthur enjoyed a liberal education before entering the business field. His collegiate preparation was prosecuted at the Chi- cago Academy in 1874-78, and in 1882 he was graduated from Har- vard University with the degree of A. B. He at once returned to this city and for two years was connected with the lumbering busi- ness of his uncle and father, known as the W. and A. MacArthur Company, Limited, of Cheboygan, Michigan, the headquarters of the concern. In 1884 he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, as manager of the northwestern office of MacArthur Brothers, many of their exten- sive contracts, especially in the railroad line, being pushed from that point. Returning to Chicago in 1890, Mr. MacArthur had the en- tire charge of the vast work of preparing the World's Fair grounds for building sites, having become a partner of the firm of MacArthur Brothers in 1887.
On June 24, 1889, Mr. MacArthur married Miss Mary S. Bar- num, daughter of David Barnum, of New York City. He is a resi- dent of Chicago, but divides his time between Chicago and New York, at which latter place the firm has conducted an extensive cast- ern business for years. Mr. MacArthur is a Republican and belongs to the Union League, University and Harvard clubs, all of Chicago.
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John Henry Spengler, a railroad and hydraulic engineer of sub- stantial reputation, has successfully practiced his profession in Chi-
JOHN H. cago for nearly twenty years. He is a native of SPENGLER. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, born on the 23rd of Jan- uary, 1866, son of Joel and Helena (Leh) Speng- ler. Mr. Spengler comes of good German ancestors, and received his preparatory education in the public and parochial schools of the Keystone state, finally entering Lehigh University for his profession- al course, graduating therefrom in 1886 with the degree of C. E.
Immediately after leaving college Mr. Spengler obtained a posi- tion with the Lehigh Valley Railroad as assistant engineer, holding it from July, 1886, to March, 1887, when he removed to Chicago and entered the service of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company in the same capacity, continuing thus until December of the following year. At that time (December, 1888) he became iden- tified with the Artesian Water Company, of Memphis, Tennessee, and resided in that city until May, 1890, employed in the furtherance of its engineering development. He then returned to Chicago, but after serving as assistant engineer of the Sanitary District for a year, was called to his former duties in connection with the Memphis com- pany. Mr. Spengler remained in the southern city, thus engaged, from May, 1891, until August, 1892, when he was again appointed to his old position with the Sanitary District of Chicago, discharging its duties so creditably for three years that in August, 1895, he was promoted to be assistant city engineer of the city of Chicago. The fact alone that he has retained the position since the year named is a strong endorsement of his high professional standing. He is a leading member of the Western Society of Engineers and of the Theta Delta Chi and Tau Beta Pi fraternities.
On January 26, 1895, Mr. Spengler married Miss Rose Cunning- ham, and their two children are John Henry, Jr., and Helen Marie Spengler. The family residence is at No. 6346 Woodlawn avenue.
Peter Junkersfeld, head of the engineering department of the Commonwealth Edison Company, has risen to this position of great
PETER responsibility within the fourteen years which meas- JUNKERSFELD. ure his connection with that corporation. Not yet thirty-nine years of age, his duties have included the designing and development of the second largest electric distri-
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bution system in the world, which supplies electricity for lighting, power, tunnels, and surface and elevated railways. He also designed and developed the electrical features of the largest exclusively steam turbine electric power generating station in the world. The physical properties of the allied Chicago Edison and Commonwealth Electric companies already include some thirty-five fireproof buildings in dif- ferent parts of the city, practically all of which have been erected or remodeled under Mr. Junkersfeld's direction. It would be fatal to the local progress of such a great concern as the Edison Company to honor him with such responsibilities were he not eminently qualified to assume them by education, training and natural endowments and only a cursory view of his life record shows such to be the fact.
Mr. Junkersfeld is a native of Colfax township, Champaign coun- ty, Illinois, born October 17, 1869. Peter J. and Josephine (Schmitz) Junkersfeld, his parents, were born and spent their childhood in Ger- many, near the city of Cologne. After laying a substantial ground- work for advanced courses in the district school of his native locality. he mastered higher studies in the city high school, at Champaign, Illinois, and subsequently obtained a business training in a college located there. A course at the Northern Indiana Normal School, Valparaiso, was followed by entrance to the University of Illinois, where he completed a thorough four-years' course in electrical engi- neering, graduating in June, 1895, with the degree of B. S. It will be seen that Mr. Junkersfeld's education was remarkably complete. embracing a literary, business and technical training, and was partic- ularly well adapted to fit him for the superintendence of large enter- prises which required practical and professional abilities and the sus- tained and confident bearing which comes with broad education and continuous contact with cultured people.
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