USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
merely Hours Prosenteaumy
106I
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
In 1858, when twenty years of age, Mr. Rosenbaum associated himself with the brother mentioned and established a general store at Cedar Falls, Iowa, but after four years of business life the events of the Civil war so stirred his military ardor that he enlisted (July, 1862) in Company B, Thirty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry and served in the fighting ranks until hostilities on the battlefield com- pletely ceased. In 1865 he returned from the front and, with his brother, Morris, began to handle live stock and grain at Waverly, Iowa. their chief market being Chicago. Two years later they en- tered into partnership in the banking business. Joseph being cashier of the Bremer County Bank, and Morris held the same position in the Bank of Nashua, Iowa, both of which institutions they had founded. In 1874 they sold their Iowa interests in both of the bank- ing concerns, and coming to Chicago established the live stock com- mission firm of Rosenbaum & Co., now the corporation of Rosen- baum & Co. Joseph Rosenbaum also founded the firm of Rosenbaum Brothers, grain commission merchants. He is also president of the Live Stock Investment Company and of the J. Rosenbaum Grain Company.
Mr. Rosenbaum has long been an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and his strong influence for the good of the fraternity, as well as his stanch personal character, met with signal recognition when he was elected to his present position as department commander of Illinois. In 1873 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Frank, and the children born to them have been Mannie, Edwin Stanton, Blanche and Walter. The family resides in hand- some apartments at the Auditorium Annex. Mr. Rosenbaum is a stanch member of the Sinai Congregation, is identified with the Standard Club and is a Royal Arch Mason.
For the past fifty years Charles Enoch Morrill has been identi- fied with the manufacture of varnishes and paints, and is now presi-
dent of the firm of Valentine & Co., one of the
CHARLES E. MORRILL. largest concerns of the kind in the world, having of- fices in New York, Chicago, Boston, Paris, London
and Amsterdam. Mr. Morrill is a son of Amos and Sarah E. (Nich- ols) Morrill, and was born on a farm in East Kingston, New Hamp- shire, on the IIth of January, 1832. After being educated as far as possible in the public schools of his neighborhood, at the age of Vol. III-10.
1062
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
sixteen he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed for about five years. In 1850 he improved his prospects by taking a clerkship in a country store of his native town. Later he bought the business, but in 1858 joined the Boston varnish house of Stimson, Valentine & Co., which subsequently became Valentine & Co., and which changed their location to New York City.
Mr. Morrill held the position of shipping clerk of this firm from 1858 to 1862, when he was made traveling salesman and continued to push the business of the house with energy and judgment for a period of ten years. In 1879 he became manager of the Chicago branch, and in 1882 organized the Lawson Varnish Company, of which he was made president. He maintained his connection with Valentine & Co., however, and in 1899. when the two companies consolidated, he became vice president of the new corporation, and in 1900 was advanced to the presidency. The stores and factories of the concern are located in New York and Chicago, and the manage- ment of the business is among the most progressive of any in the country.
In 1857 Mr. Morrill wedded Miss Adeline Susan Carter, and the children born to them have been as follows: Allan A., Mrs. Susie A. Cole and Mrs. Annie S. Hays. The family residence is at No. 275 Fifty-third street, but much of the summer season is passed in Mr. Morrill's country home in East Kingston, New Hampshire. He is a member of the National Association of Manufacturers and the Union League Club.
Allan Augustus Morrill, for many years prominently identified with the house of Valentine & Co., manufacturers of varnish, is a
ALLAN A. native of East Kingston, New Hampshire, born MORRILL. May 3. 1859, son of Charles Enoch and Ade- line Susan (Carter) Morrill. He obtained his education in Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and after leaving school in 1879 became identified with the New York varnish house of Valentine & Co., with which his father had been connected as traveling salesman for fifteen years. In 1879 the elder Morrill became manager of the Chicago branch of the house, and the son became an invaluable assistant both in its management and development, in the founding of the Lawson Varnish Company, and in the conduct of the consolidated concern known as Valentine &
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTORL NOX AND TILDER YOUNLATIC Z
1
1063
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
Co. The consolidation was effected in 1899, and since 1900 Allan A. Morrill has been a director and assistant treasurer. The business with which he is thus so prominently identified is one of the most extensive of the kind in the world. Its factories for the manufac- ture of varnishes and colors are in Chicago and New York, where there are also large sales rooms, and the branches of the concern are in Boston, Paris and Amsterdam.
In March, 1883, Mr. Morrill was united in marriage to Miss Cora Susan Dodge, and they have one son, Allan Donald. In politics, Mr. Morrill is a Democrat, and is a member of the Chicago Athletic Association, South Shore Country and Chicago Automobile clubs.
John Brackett Lord, president and general manager of the Ayer & Lord Tie Company, is a native of the Old Bay state, born at New- ton, Upper Falls, on the 5th of June, 1848. He is a son of Brackett and Clarissa Williams ( Winslow )
JOHN B. LORD.
Lord, and received his education in the public schools of his native place and at the Wesleyan Academy of Wilbra- ham, Massachusetts. At the age of nineteen he entered his father's grain and flour house, where he remained until 1872, going thien to Kansas, Illinois, where the elder Lord placed him in charge of his large grain warehouse.
In 1875, three years after thus locating in Illinois, Mr. Lord en- tered the general grain business, his operations for some eight years covering the central part of the state. In 1882 he became associated with C. W. Powell in the business of supplying lumber to railroads, the headquarters of the firm being Paris, Illinois, for two years, and Chicago from 1884 to 1893. The firm was then dissolved, and Mr. Lord associated himself with Edward E. Ayer (whose sketch appears in this work) under the name of Ayer & Lord Tie Company. Their business, which is now the largest of its kind in the world, embraces dealings in oak ties, which are supplied to railroads, bridge builders and construction companies, and the chemical treatment of pine, red oak and soft woods generally, by which they are rendered virtually as durable as the harder varieties. Large plants for the latter purpose are located at Carbondale, Illinois, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Gre- nada, Minnesota, and their combined capacity is equal to six million ties annually. Besides being at the head of the great business and industries operated by the Ayer & Lord Tie Company, Mr. Lord is
1064
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
also a director of the Harris Trust and Savings Bank, of which he was one of the organizers.
In 1874 Mr. Lord was wedded to Miss Annie E. Steele, daugh- ter of Dr. James M. Steele, of Grand View. Edgar county, Illinois, and the children born to them have been as follows: Clara S., Mary T., Margaret and Russell. The family residence is at No. 4857 Greenwood avenue. In politics Mr. Lord is a Republican, and is identified with the following leading clubs: Chicago, Kenwood, Homewood Country, South Shore Country and Automobile Club of America.
Edward Everett Ayer, vice president of the Ayer & Lord Tie Company, is one of the oldest and most prominent suppliers of lum-
EDWARD E. ber to railroads in the country. A Wisconsin man,
AYER. he was born at Kenosha on the 16th of November, 1841, and is the son of Elbridge Gerry and Mary (Titcomb) Ayer. His father was one of the pioneers and leading men of that city, and his sister, Mary Ayer, was the first child born there. Elbridge G. Ayer lived in Kenosha until 1846, when he moved with his family to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and in 1856 to Har- vard. McHenry county, Illinois.
Edward E. Ayer obtained his education partly in Wisconsin and partly in Illinois, and in 1860, when nineteen years of age, migrated to the western plains, reaching California in the following year. There he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining the First Cali- fornia Cavalry and afterward becoming attached to Company I, First New Mexico Infantry, as its second lieutenant. In the capacity named he served for two years and ten months in California, Ari- zona and New Mexico: resigned in 1864, returned to his home in Harvard, and in the following year commenced business as a railroad contractor.
Mr. Ayer continued a very successful business in the line named from 1865 to 1881, when he built a sawmill at Flagstaff, Arizona, primarily for the purpose of supplying the Atlantic & Pacific and the Mexican Central railroads with ties, timber and lumber. In the vi- cinity of his mill was fully 400,000,000 feet of accessible white pine timber. In 1882 he incorporated the Ayer Lumber Company, with a capital stock of $250,000, and its business extended, with the build- ing of railroads, over Lower California and Mexico and other sec-
.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOP, INOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATICOS R L
Albert Dickinson
1065
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
tions of the southwest. In a few years the business was aggregating $1,000,000 annually, and an immense yard was established in Chi- cago for the storage of ties, telegraph poles and railroad material in general. Mr. Ayer has continued to be active in this line, and has also extensive lumber interests in both the south and southwest. His association with John B. Lord in the Ayer & Lord Tie Company dates from 1893. The supply of the concern is confined to railroad ties and lumber, and in these specialties they are the leaders in the United States. Besides being vice president of this company, Mr. Ayer was for some time president and director of the Texas Tie and Lumber Preserving Company and the Tonty Lumber Company.
On September 7, 1865, Mr. Ayer married Miss Emma Augusta Burbank, and their daughter is now Mrs. Elizabeth Burbank Jolin- so11. His city residence is at No. I Banks street and he has a beauti- ful summer home at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, known as The Oaks. In club circles he is identified with the Chicago, Caxton, Commercial, Saddle and Cycle and South Shore Country clubs. It is said that Mr. Ayer has probably the finest private library in the United States on Americana and the North American Indian. He is a life member of the American Historical Association; a director of the Newberry Library, Art Institute, Chicago Historical Society and the Field Co- lumbian Museum, and served as president of the last named from 1893 to 1898.
Albert Dickinson, president of the Albert Dickinson Company, which conducts one of the largest seed houses in the world, is a
ALBERT native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he DICKINSON. was born October 28, 1841. He is the eldest son of Albert F. and Ann Eliza ( Anthony) Dickinson, both of whom were also natives of western Massachusetts. In 1855, when he was fourteen years of age, the boy came to Chicago with his parents, his father having established a grain and produce business in the city during the previous year.
Albert Dickinson finished his education in Chicago, being a mem- ber of the pioneer graduating class (1859) of the first Chicago high school. He then entered his father's business, continuing thus until the outbreak of the Civil war. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany. B of the Chicago Light Artillery, known as Taylor's Battery, and later as Company B. First Regiment, Illinois Light Artillery,
1066
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
and remained in active service with this command for three years and three months. He participated in the first fight at Fredericks- town, Missouri, and was in the historic battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh. siege of Corinth, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post and Vicksburg. Thence his battery was dispatched to Memphis, with Sherman's grand army, and then moved on to Chattanooga, and took part in the battle of Missionary Ridge and the relief of General Burnside at Knoxville. During the following spring he served in the Atlanta campaign, receiving his honorable discharge in July, 1864.
After his return from the army Mr. Dickinson located at Durant, Iowa, where for a year he engaged in buying grain, but his father's failing health recalled him to Chicago, after which he actively par- ticipated in the conduct of the business. The Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed all, besides entailing debts of several thousand dollars, part of the latter occasioned by a mortgage which was incurred to pay for the new warehouse, and the insurance carried on the property was a total loss. For about a year and a half after the fire Albert Dickinson and his brother, Nathan, worked together to rebuild the shattered business, and, following its removal to Kinzie street, their sister, Melissa, and brother, Charles, the latter fifteen years of age, joined in the enterprise, both to develop the house and to pay its debts, as well as the liabilities of their father, formerly incurred ; and to this hard undertaking their united efforts and abilities brought signal success.
The original house of the firm was established on Kinzie street, between Dearborn avenue and State street, and there it remained until the fire of 1871. For about a year and a half afterward it was on North Jefferson street near Kinzie, and later at No. 136 Kinzie (near La Salle). With the expansion of the business and the neces- sity of obtaining more room, a removal was effected to No 117 Kinzie street, and shortly afterward it occupied No. 119 of the same thoroughfare, and a few years later No. 113 Kinzie, as well as Nos. 104-IIO Michigan street. The Empire warehouse on Market street (the river), between Quincy street and Jackson boulevard, was also added to their storage facilities, and still later, with the continuous increase of business, another on the railroad track, at Sixteenth and Clark streets, when the Kinzie, Michigan and Market street ware- houses were given up. For many years they had been using the
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY -
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R I
1908.
1067
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
property of the Chicago Dock Company for storage purposes, and in 1889 obtained control of the company mentioned, and in 1900 they removed to their present location. The local plants of the company now occupy 690 feet on Taylor street, 400 feet on the river and 266 feet front on Clark street (the Clark and Sixteenth street ware- houses ), comprising the most modern office facilities, storage and wharfage accommodations, and up-to-date mechanisms for the handling of goods. Not only has the business so expanded as to necessitate this great increase in the accommodations of the local plants, but branches have been established at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Lansing, Michigan.
Until about 1874 a general commission business was conducted, but after this year the transactions were on a cash basis, exclusively as dealers, and the dealings were chiefly in seeds. Previous to 1888, for sixteen years, the business had been in the name of Albert Dick- inson, with no salaries or division of profits, but at this time a stock company of $200,000 was formed, with Albert Dickinson as presi- dent, Charles Dickinson as vice president, and Nathan Dickinson as treasurer. The first named retains the presidency of the Chicago company, as well as of several other corporations in which he is a large stockholder, being also a director in the Chicago Dock Com- pany. Outside of all business organizations he is a member of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, in whose welfare he has long been deeply interested. He also belongs to the Illinois, Chicago Athletic, Union League and South Shore Country clubs; is identified with the George H. Thomas Post No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic and in politics is a stanch Republican in national affairs.
Charles Dickinson, vice president of the Albert Dickinson Com- pany, is a native of Chicago, born May 28, 1858, and is the youngest
CHARLES son of Albert F. and Ann Eliza (Anthony) Dick-
DICKINSON. inson. He was educated in the public and high schools of the city, and as a boy worked for Charles Gossage & Co., dry goods merchants. His father was one of the pio- neer members of the Board of Trade, and established the house as a general commission concern in 1855. Charles was the youngest son, and did not become identified with the business until 1872, and at that time associated himself with his two brothers, Albert and
1068
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
Nathan, who were about to rebuild the establishment upon the ruins caused by the great fire of the preceding year.
In 1872 the nature of the business was changed from that of a general commission house to the exclusive handling of seeds. It was incorporated in 1888 as the Albert Dickinson Company, and since that year Charles Dickinson has been its vice president. His ability, accompanied by hard work, have given him high standing, and made him especially valuable as a general representative of the house. In its interests he has made long journeys abroad. His first trip was taken in 1880, when he spent several months in Europe, his travels, three years later, extending into Africa. In 1894-5 he spent ten months in Russia, Germany, France, Denmark, Turkey and other countries of continental Europe. About twelve months in 1900-I were also spent in Europe on business connected with the firm, of which five months were passed in Russia with his family. While these travels have been mostly of a business nature, he has not failed to visit points of classic and historic interest, so that he has both broadened his own character and accomplished a fine work in extend- ing the business and reputation of the house.
Mr. Dickinson has been identified, in a leading way, with the Chicago Dock Company for many years, having been a director since 1889, and vice president since 1895. He was a Chicago pioneer in the use of phonographs and automobiles, and has been interested in their manufacture. At the present time Mr. Dickinson is vice president of the Twin City Trading Company, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and of the American Warehouse and Trading Company, of New Jersey. His membership in commercial bodies embraces the Chicago Board of Trade, New York Produce Exchange, Minneapolis Chamber of Com- merce, Duluth Board of Trade and St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, while his identification with social and political organizations is with the following: Union League, Illinois, Germania, Chicago Athletic, Chicago Automobile, Menoken and South Shore Country clubs, of Chicago, and the Lotus, New York and New York Athletic clubs, of New York City. Since the organization of the Iroquois Memorial Emergency Hospital he has been a trustee and vice president.
On September 29, 1897, Mr. Dickinson married Mrs. Marie I. Boyd, whose children by a former husband were William T., Mar- garet F., Henry J., Louise M. and Gordon W. Boyd. The family
1069
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
residence is at No. 603 Dearborn avenue. In his religious faith, Mr. Dickinson is a member of the Central Meeting of the Society of Friends.
Nathan Dickinson, treasurer of the Albert Dickinson Company since its incorporation in 1888, is a native of Curtisville, Massachu-
NATHAN setts, born February 6, 1848, and is the second son
DICKINSON. of Albert F. and Ann Eliza ( Anthony ) Dickinson.
He came to Chicago with his parents in 1855, and in 1865, after graduating from the old Dearborn School, began busi- ness in his father's commission house, which had been established when the family came to the city.
Mr. Dickinson has therefore been connected with the business conducted by Albert F. Dickinson (the father), and under the names of Albert Dickinson (the eldest son) and the Albert Dickinson Com- pany. for a period of more than forty-two years; and it is needless to say that he has been continuously at the foundation of its remark- able development from a general commission house to one of the largest seed establishments in the world. He is also a director of the Chicago Dock Company.
In July, 1889, Mr. Dickinson married Miss Louise H. Boyd, and their children are Ruth B. and Albert B. Dickinson. The family reside at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Henry Axtell Rumsey, treasurer of the grain commission firm of Rumsey & Co., whose business was founded by the elder Rumsey
HENRY A.
more than forty years ago, is a son of Israel Par-
RUMSEY. sons and Mary (Axtell) Rumsey, and was born in Chicago on the 15th of December, 1871. He received his early education in the public schools of this city, and in 1887, when the family removed to Lake Forest, Illinois, became a student at the university academy. In 1890 he was graduated from the Lake Forest Academy, after which he entered the university itself, finishing there his sophomore year. Mr. Rumsey then entered Wil- liams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, and at the creditable completion of his course there in 1894 obtained his degree of A. B. During this period he became a member of Chi Psi fraternity.
After leaving college Mr. Rumsey entered the employ of the Holt Lumber Company, of Oconto, Wisconsin. In 1898 he located in this city as manager of the Chicago sales department, and subsequently
1070
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
assisted in the organization of the American Lumber Company. Of the latter he was elected treasurer and held that office until 1901, when he became identified with the Wabash Screen Door Company as secretary. This position he resigned in 1903, in order to join his father in the firm of Rumsey & Co., of which, at its incorporation, December 13, 1904, he was chosen treasurer. He also holds the same office in the Prairie State Grain and Elevator Company, grain ship- pers, with an elevator at Kankakee, Illinois. The latter company was incorporated January 27, 1905. It may be added that he is treasurer of the Illinois Granaries Company, incorporated September 28, 1906, and operating elevators throughout Illinois.
On June 12, 1906. Mr. Rumsey married Miss Marion E. Doud. daughter of the late Levi B. Doud, one of the oldest and best known live stock merchants in Chicago. The family residence is in Lake Forest, Illinois. Mr. Rumsey has taken deep and prominent interest in the improvement and public affairs of his residence city, having served one term as alderman and been otherwise honored. His religious affiliations are with the Lake Forest Presbyterian church, and he is prominent in its work, as well as in general charitable move- ments. For the past few years he has been especially interested in the Children's Home and Aid Society, of which he is a director. His politics are Republican, and he enjoys membership in the Union League, University and Lake Forest Winter clubs.
Joseph Russell Jones, the subject of this sketch,* was born at Con- neaut. Ashtabula county, Ohio, on February 17, 1823. His father, Joel Jones, was born at Hebron, Connecticut, May
J. RUSSELL JONES. 14. 1792, and after marrying Maria Dart, the daughter of Joseph Dart, of Middle Haddam, Con- necticut, removed with his young family to Conneaut, Ohio, in 1819. Joel Jones, the father, was the sixth son of Captain Samuel Jones, of Hebron, who served with credit as a commissioned officer during the French and Indian War. That the latter was a man of considera- tion is shown by the fact that he held two commissions under King George the Second. One of these, now in possession of his descend- ant. is dated March 27, 1758. In early manhood, Samuel Jones es- tablished himself at Hebron, where he married Lydia Tarbox, by
* By James llarrison Wilson, LL. D., late Major General, U. S. V.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASIOI, LENDE AND TILDEN FOUNDATION
IO7I
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
whom he had six sons and four daughters. Nine of these children grew up and became useful citizens. Samuel, the eldest son, was a lawyer, and practiced his profession for many years at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was a person of eminent learning and cultivation, and in 1842 published a treatise on the "Right of Suffrage," which was probably the first work of this kind from the pen of an American writer.
From another son, Joel Jones, the first president of Girard Col- lege, Samuel Jones, a doctor of medicine, and Matthew Hale Jones, all of Philadelphia, were descended. A kinsman of theirs, Anson Jones, the descendant of a third son, was the second president of the Republic of Texas.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.