USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 25
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On the Ist of May, 1865, young Henneberry, who was then in his eighteenth year, began his life work as an employe in a bindery. It was but natural that he should have selected some field of the publishing business, as from his earliest days he had been brought into contact with it. Several of his brothers were engaged in news- paper work, one of them having been for twenty-five years financial editor of the Chicago Times, when conducted by the late Wilbur F. Storey. Having mastered the business as an employe, on the 16th of October, 1871, one week after the great fire, he formed a partner- ship with Michael A. Donohue, his senior by several years, and the firm of Donohue & Henneberry was established. The house became one of the most prosperous and substantial in the west, and also proved to be one of the oldest, for the firm endured for thirty years,
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or until 1901. In the year named the connection was dissolved, and Mr. Henneberry erected the large plant on Wabash avenue, which in facilities for printing and binding is not excelled in the west. It was at this time, also, that he organized the Henneberry Company, of which he is still president. The establishment and development of the plant, within whose walls are illustrated all the most advanced processes of bookmaking, are chiefly due to Mr. Henneberry's un- usual powers of organization, sound judgment and strong will, and the unshaken loyalty displayed from the first by all his associates. Within eight months from the time he assumed the management of the new plant Mr. Henneberry had its departments so systematized that although their development has been continuous and rapid since, the great establishment has been running night and day since it was opened to the public. In its printing, electrotyping, press-room and binding departments everything is of the latest, and in every feature of the work speed and finish are jointly kept in mind. A specialty is made of edition work for publishers, in all syles of binding, and they also are engaged in manufacturing some of the largest catalogues issued in this country. There is still another branch, which partakes more of the character of the old style binding. Most of this is done by hand, and is the process by which single volumes of a miscel- laneous character are bound to suit the taste of the individual. In this, as in all other features of the modern printing and binding establishment, the Henneberry plant has every facility to meet every demand.
On the 12th of May. 1874, Mr. Henneberry was married to Miss Hannah C. Neill. of Chicago, where the ceremony occurred. They are the parents of five children. Two of them died in infancy, the survivors being as follows: Marguerite C., educated at Brooks Academy ; George Francis, who graduated from Harvard University, class of "02, as an S. B., and who is now vice president and treasurer of the Henneberry Company ; and William P. Henneberry, Jr., a grad- uate from the University of Chicago, class of '08, as a Ph. B., who is also associated as secretary of the company. Mr. Henneberry's resi- dence is at 2618 Michigan avenue. Although a leader in business and otherwise essentially domestic in his tastes, he has also a broad and varied social connection, being a life member of the Chicago Athletic Association and the Chicago Press Club, and a member of
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the Chicago Golf Club. In politics he always acts independently, not confining himself to the support of the candidates of any one party.
The late William Henry Bush, for more than half a century a prominent business man and philanthropic citizen of Chicago, was of WILLIAM H. BUSH. the highest character from whatever point of view his personality was considered. His business and industrious ventures were conducted energetically, intelligently and successfully, but based upon a superior standard of practical conduct. He was a man of strict moral traits, and more, was of a generous, charitable and broadly helpful nature. During the later years of his life Mr. Bush had formed a well-defined purpose of bringing into the prosaic channels of trade some of the elevating and reviving charms of artistic surroundings. Although he passed away March 19, 1901, before he could fairly realize this latter ambi- tion, the plans for it were already well under way, and his thought and purpose were finally built into what is now known as the Bush Temple of Music, corner of North Clark street and Chicago avenue.
The elder Bush came to Chicago from Baltimore, in 1857, and gradually built up a very extensive lumber business; in fact, at the time of the great fire of 1871 it was one of the most extensive in the city. The day after the historic conflagration his sole worldly pos- sessions consisted of two charred schooners laden with lumber that had been towed from the river to the outer harbor. But he had some- thing more substantial than a great stock of lumber-a character which the people of Chicago had admiringly watched in its develop- ment for twenty years. After the shock of his personal calamity, his first thought was for the Grace Methodist church, in which he had been a deacon since his residence in Chicago, and he generously con- tributed from his meager stock in the rebuilding of the edifice, which was completed within a week after its destruction.
When Mr. Bush had first located in Chicago he established one of the first commission houses on South Water street, which he con- tinued for about twenty years. In 1875 he erected a large two- story building on the corner of North Clark street and Chicago ave- nute with the idea of founding an establishment similar to the old Lex- ington market in Baltimore. But, even thus early, customers were more in favor of the delivery system than of the old-fashioned style of marketing, and as it was evident that the venture would not prove
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successful. Mr. Bush remodeled his building into stores. He retained his commission business and also continued his packing establishment for seven years, the latter having a capacity of about seven hundred hogs per day and being located on the site of the present Bush Tem- ple. He then devoted two years to real estate, and in 1886 formed a partnership with John Gerts and his son, William L. Bush, in the manufacture of pianos. The latter were the practical members of the firm, and the elder Bush gave the enterprise the benefit of his ripe judgment and originality. During his lifetime the enterprise flour- ished remarkably under the firm names of W. H. Bush & Co. and Bush & Gerts Piano Company. The latter was incorporated in 1891, with a capital of $400,000, and is continued with energy and ability by the son, William L. Bush.
For more than forty years the late William H. Bush was active in the work of the Methodist church in Chicago, both in its purely re- ligious and charitable manifestations. One of the enterprises which he took particular delight in fostering was the Methodist Old People's Home in Edgewater. His first donation of $35,000 made the build- ing of Bush Hall possible, and from this has grown an institution which accommodates two hundred and fifty of the aged dependent. The home was dedicated three weeks after Mr. Bush's death. The Methodist Orphanage and the Colored Methodist Mission were oth- er institutions which were indebted to his generosity. The deceased was ever a strong advocate of temperance in all its forms, and a re- former of the most practical type. As early as 1886 he was a can- didate for mayor on the Prohibition ticket, and among other be- quests left a generous sum for the support of the Frances Willard Temperance Home. For years Mr. Bush was also an active member of the Society for the Suppression of Vice and of the Civic Federa- tion, and was never so absorbed in business but that he could devote a liberal portion of his time to outside movements of a moral and elevating nature.
In 1847 William H. Bush was united in marriage with Miss Mary Jane Brunt, of Baltimore, daughter of Ralph Brunt, a well-known citizen of that place. Mrs. Bush died September 22, 1905, and of the eight children which she bore the deceased only two are now alive-William L., already mentioned as the head of the Bush &
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Gerts Piano Company, and Benjamin F. Bush, retired from business and quite well known as a leader in Christian Science.
William Lincoln Bush, president of the Bush & Gerts Piano Com- pany, whose magnificent salesrooms are at the Bush Temple of Music,
northwest corner of North Clark street and Chi-
WILLIAM L. cago avenue, is a native of Chicago, born March 3,
BUSH. 1861: He is a son of William H. and Mary J. (Brunt) Bush, and after receiving his education in the public schools of this city went to Massachusetts, where he commenced his business · career in 1877. His first employment was at Cambridgeport, in con- nection with George Woods & Co., manufacturers of pianos, his ex- perience with them covering work in the factory and upon the road as a traveling salesman. In the latter capacity he also represented the W. W. Kimball Piano Company in 1879-81. In 1885, after hav- ing engaged four years in the commission business, he associated him- self with his father and John Gerts-the latter also a practical piano man-in the firm of W. H. Bush & Co., of which he was the man- ager. The business was incorporated in 1889 as the Bush & Gerts Piano Company, with a capital stock of $400,000, which has since been increased to $1,000,000. Of this business William L. Bush be- came secretary, and, upon the death of his father in 1901, was elected president. The house has established branches in Boston, Massachu- setts, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee ; has agen- cies in all the large cities and towns of the United States, and disposes of an annual output of about six thousand pianos. The instruments are not only popular, but are highly esteemed by experts, being used by several hundred educational institutions, including the New Eng- land Conservatory of Boston, Massachusetts, Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa, and Hamilton College, Lexington, Kentucky.
Mr. Bush is treasurer and founder of the Bush Temple Conserva- tory of Music and Dramatic Art, of Chicago; president of the Bush & Gerts Piano Company, of Texas, and Bush Temple of Music, Dal- las. Texas. One of the plans which he has conceived for the exten- sion of the business is the erection of so-called Bush Temples for the housing of the Bush & Gerts Piano Company in various large cities and towns of the United States, as well as the creation of cen- ters of musical education known as Bush Temple Conservatories.
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Mr. Bush is also a director of the North Side Savings Bank of Chi- cago.
On February 26. 1887, Mr. Bush was united in marriage with Miss Pearl E. Barrow, and they reside at the Plaza Hotel. Mr. Bush is a Mason. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Marquette (president in 1901-03). Germania, Chicago Yacht and Mendelssohn and Hamilton clubs.
In 1874 Florus D. Meacham and Frank S. Wright entered into a partnership as agents and dealers in hydraulic cements under the THE MEACHAM firm name of Meacham & Wright, and in January.
& WRIGHT CO. 1903. their business, which had been developed to
very large proportions, was incorporated as the Meacham & Wright Company. The house is now one of the leaders in the trade in the United States. It is the sole distributing agent for the Utica cement companies, of LaSalle county, Illinois. The firm is also one of the largest dealers in imported and domestic cements of the Portland variety in the central and western states. and for years has furnished the material for the construction of most of the via- ducts for the railroads emanating from Chicago. Of late years. also. many of the large railroad bridges of the country have been con- structed of cement, which is further being introduced very extensive- ly into domestic architecture, and in every innovation in this direc- tion the Meacham & Wright Company has been prominent and reaped large benefits, both in the way of reputation and material in- crease of business.
Florus D. Meacham, president of the firm of Meacham & Wright. dealers in Utica and Portland cement, is a veteran of the Civil war.
FLORUS D. and has lived in Chicago since his early youth. His
MEACHAM. record, both in war and business, has been uniform-
ly honorable and substantial. and, within the past nine years, as a member and president of the board of review. he has made a reputation for efficiency and good judgment which has placed him high in the good graces of the tax-paying public.
F. D. Meacham is a native of Whitehall. Washington county. New York, where he was born April 26, 1843. being a son of Florus D. and Lucinda (Church) Meacham. In 1857 he came with his par- ents to Chicago, in whose public schools he finished his education, and for some time prior to the outbreak of the Civil war was em-
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ployed in the offices of the Illinois Central Railroad. Had he fol- lowed his own inclinations he would have enlisted at once, but in deference to the wishes of his parents he remained at home until the organization of the Chicago Mercantile Battery in 1862. With this command he went to the front, following its fortunes through the Mississippi River campaign, siege of Vicksburg, Red River campaign and the land investment of Mobile. He served his full term of three years, and was honorably mustered out at the close of the war, having been promoted from the ranks to an officer's commission.
At the close of his military service Mr. Meacham returned to Chicago and engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1874, when he formed a partnership with Frank S. Wright, a prosperous commis- sion merchant who had also had several years' experience in the ce- ment business. Later the firm of Meacham & Wright was incor porated, and the dealings of the house in Utica and Portland cement are now as extensive as any in the country.
Politically, Mr. Meacham is a Republican, and in 1898 the county convention of his party nominated him as a member of the board of review, to which office he was chosen at the November election of that year. This office is well understood to be of the utmost import- ance to the taxpayer, as the board is the final arbiter in all matters pertaining to both real and personal taxation, and Mr. Meacham's election was a just recognition of his executive ability, his business judgment and his perfect reliability as a man. The honor thus ac- corded him has been emphasized by repeated election since, and by the fact that he served as president of the board in 1902.
Mr. Meacham is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Loyal Legion and the Illinois Vicksburg Military Park Commis- sion and is also identified with the Illinois, Lincoln, Union League. Hamilton and Marquette clubs. In view of the above, it is evident that he stands high socially, as a business man and as an eminently useful public functionary.
Frank Solomon Wright, vice president of the firm of Meacham & Wright, leading dealers in Utica and Portland cement, is a native
FRANK S. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was born July WRIGHT. 27, 1846. His parents were Peter B. and Elizabeth
(Ledden) Wright, and in 1856 removed with their family to Sheboygan, also in the Badger state. Frank S. had com- Vol. III-17.
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menced his education in the Cream City public schools and contin- ued liis education at Sheboygan, but at the age of fifteen abandoned his studies in search of work. Like many other ambitious youths he instinctively gravitated to Chicago, and here first found employment with the commission house of Shackford & How, afterward con- ducted by George H. How alone. He remained identified with the business of this house until the spring of 1867, when (still under age) he associated himself with A. C. Scoville, under the style of Scoville & Wright, and engaged in the commission business at No. 44 West Lake street. The house was on a firm and prosperous basis at the time of Mr. Wright's withdrawal, January 1, 1869. He then entered the employ of Haskin, Martin & Wheeler, wholesale dealers in salt and cement, with whom he remained for five years acquiring a thor- ough familiarity with the business in all its departments. In 1874 he became associated with Florus D. Meacham in the formation of the present firm, and their joint labors and abilities have developed one of the largest houses for the sale of cement in the country.
Mr. Wright is stanchly and energetically Republican. He is a member of the Illinois and the New Illinois Athletic clubs, and as a leading dealer in the coming constructive material, is identified with the Builders' Club. During its early years he was very active in the founding of the Royal League, has taken a deep and continuous in- terest in the order, and was a member of its supreme council.
On January 4, 1866, Mr. Wright married Miss Mercy A. Mc- Clevey, daughter of Col. Smith McClevey, of Chicago, and their · family consists of four daughters and one son. Their home is at No. 5II Jackson boulevard.
Abraham Gutman, president of the Gutman Store and Office Fix- ture Company, is a native of Olnhausen, Wuertemberg, Germany,
ABRAHAM
where he was born in the year 1873. He emigrated
to the United States in 1890, and after remaining
GUTMAN. six months in New York located in Chicago. His first work in this city was in the butcher shop of Max Marx, Burling and Center streets, with whom he remained for about a year. For the succeeding year and a half he was employed in the same line of business by Charles Werner, at No. 117 LaSalle avenue. He then became identified with the fixture business, first in connection with the firm of Jergensen & Olson, on California avenue, and from 1894
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to 1900 lie was in the employ of Julius Bender at 230-38 West Madi- son street.
In 1900 Mr. Gutman established a business for himself at No. 157 Chicago avenue, remaining there until 1904, when he removed his business (incorporated as the Gutman Store and Office Fixture Company ) to its present location, No. 389 Wabash avenue. His store is one of the largest devoted to these specialties in the country, being seven stories in height, 25 by 175 feet deep, and is filled with general store and office fixtures of all descriptions. The sales average from $150,000 to $175,000 annually.
In 1900, Mr. Gutman was united in marriage with Miss Clara Eisendrath, and they have become the parents of one child, Julian. The family residence is at No. 4434 Vincennes avenue.
John Anderson is publisher of Skandinaven, the leading Norwegian newspaper of the United States, and president of one of the largest job printing, binding and book publishing plants in
JOHN ANDERSON. Chicago. He is a Norwegian, born in Voss, during 1836, and brought by his parents to Chicago when he was eight years of age. He was able to obtain but one year's edu- cation in a public school, and at the age of twelve the virtual support of his mother and baby sister was thrown upon his young shoulders. To sturdily sustain his character as the head of the family he sold apples, worked in a butcher shop, carried newspapers and resorted to a dozen "side issues" not mentioned. Finally he learned typesetting, became a printer on the Chicago Tribune, and the problem of sub- sistence, at least, was definitely solved. From this time on, the problem was one of advancement.
In 1866 Mr. Anderson founded the Skandinaven, the Norwegian newspaper of which he is still the publisher and proprietor, but before it had been firmly planted in the journalistic field the great fire swept away his entire plant. Like other undaunted Chicagoans he borrowed money and re-established his enterprise on a broader basis than before, looking forward with confidence to the greater and more substantial Chicago. Founded originally as a semi-weekly, daily issues have since been added, so that now in circulation, typographic appearance and influence the Skandinaven is acknowledged to lead the Norwegian journals of the United States. Mr. Anderson's printing plant, bindery and publishing house are located in a large and convenient building at
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No. 185 Peoria street, north side, and outside of his newspaper busi- ness his transactions place him among the extensive job offices and publishing establishments of the west. The completion of a third of a century by the Skandinaven was celebrated May 2, 1899, by a ban- quet in Chicago, at which were present representative Norwegians throughout the United States, the character of the participants and the manner in which the occasion was observed well illustrate Mr. Anderson's broad influence and popularity. In 1859 Mr. Anderson was first married to Miss Maria C. Frank, at Racine, Wisconsin, and at her death, in 1874, she had become the mother of one child, Frank Seward. The second marriage, in Chicago, to Miss Julia Sampson, in 1875, resulted in the birth of three children, as follows : Maria, now Mrs. Arthur Eilert; O. Louis M. and John A.
George H. Benedict is one of the most widely known photo-engrav- ers and electrotypers in the country. He is a native of Warsaw, Wyom-
GEORGE H. ing county, New York, born on the 12th of August.
BENEDICT. 1857, being a son of Edward R. and Levira Bene-
dict. When he was seven years of age his parents brought him to Chicago, and in various institutions he received a public-school and a commercial education. His first mechanical experi- ence was as a printer, and he was afterward an apprentice in the map department of Rand & McNally.
This was the commencement of Mr. Benedict's career as an engraver, and it seemed to be his forte from the first. Not long after commencing work for Rand & McNally he secured the position of fore- man with George F. Cram, the well-known publisher of atlases, and while in his employ commenced to study photo-engraving with J. A. Drummond. An independent venture of short duration was followed by a connection with Blomgren Brothers & Co., as manager of their wax engraving department, and still later he became manager of the advertising department of A. G. Spalding & Brother. He again established a general engraving and electrotyping business under the style of George H. Benedict & Co., and in 1903 this firm was consoli- dated with the Globe Engraving and Electrotyping Company, of which he is treasurer.
For years Mr. Benedict has been an acknowledged leader in his special lines; and his leadership has taken the form both of complete mastery of existing methods and of original improvements. His
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measuring scale is now in general use among photo-engravers and electrotypers of the country, while "Benedict's Tables of Wages" has not only facilitated the preparation of the pay-rolls of his associate workmen, but has been introduced to other crafts and lines of indus- tries. For nine years Mr. Benedict was president of the Electro- typers' Association of Chicago, and for two years was the head of the National Association of Electrotypers and Photo-Engravers. Despite his constant industry and the discharge of heavy responsibilities for many years, he has always been an enthusiastic athlete, and in the eighties was considered a national authority on general athletic and gymnastic sports. One of his books on such subjects published by A. G. Spalding & Brother had a wide circulation.
On March 24, 1880, Mr. Benedict married Miss Caroline L. Randolph, and they reside at 875 Warren avenue. Mr. Benedict is a member of the Chicago Athletic Association, and in Masonry is a Knight Templar and a Shriner.
Livingston Wells Fargo, vice president and general manager of the American Express Company, with headquarters in Chicago, is of the family whose name is so instinctively associated
LIVINGSTON
W. FARGO. with the express business of the United States, espe- cially of the west. He is a native of Detroit, son of Charles and Mary J. (Bradford) Fargo. The family had its home- stead in Onondaga county, New York, for several generations, the brothers, William G., James C. and Charles, being pioneers in the transportation business of the west and middle west.
The family name sprung from the Italian tongue and was originally Ferigo. The American progenitors, of which Mr. Fargo is a direct descendant, made their home in Connecticut, where his great-grandfa- ther lived and where his grandfather, William C. Fargo, was born. When the latter reached manhood he became a corporal in the Amer- ican army which fought the war of 1812, and was stationed at Macki- naw, Michigan. On his return he located in Onondaga county. New York, and married Miss Tacey Strong. In their home. at Water- vale, that county, was born their son Charles, on the 15th of April, 1831. He was the father of the present general manager of the Amer- ican Express Company.
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