USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 27
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11. PUBLIC LA MARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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broader business basis, the name was changed to the Chicago Title and Trust Company.
In August, 1901, the Security Title and Trust Company (the suc- cessor of the Haddock, Vallette and Rickcords Company, whose rec- ords were complete after the fire) was consolidated with the Chicago Title and Trust Company (covering virtually the same ground) and in September a merger was effected with the Title Guarantee and Trust Company (which possessed the only complete set of ante-fire records). This triple consolidation was the origin of the present Chicago Title and Trust Company, which now owns the only com- plete records by which real estate titles may be traced from the gov- ernment of the United States. The officers of the Chicago Title and Trust Company are as follows: Harrison B. Riley, president ; Abra- ham R. Marriott, vice president; William C. Niblack, vice president and trust officer ; John A. Richardson, secretary ; William R. Folsom, treasurer.
Harrison B. Riley was born July 1, 1862, at Ovitt, New York. His parents were John Manning Riley and Anna Tripp Riley. He
HARRISON B. moved to Chicago with his parents in 1867, and
- was educated in the common schools of Chicago,
RILEY.
St. Paul, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Normal School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin; graduated in the law department of Lake Forest University in the class of 1891; entered the employment of Handy & Co., abstract makers. April, 1882; elected vice president of the Title Guarantee and Trust Company in January, 1901, secretary of the Chicago Title and Trust Company in September, 1901, and president of the Chicago Title and Trust Company in May, 1907.
He was married in 1889 to Alice C. Donaldson, and has two chil- dren ; the family resides at Evanston, Illinois. He is a member of the Evanston, Evanston Golf, Glen View Golf, Mid-Day and the Union League clubs.
Abraham Robert Marriott, vice president of the Chicago Title and Trust Company, was born on a farm in DuPage county, Illinois, on
ABRAHAM R. the 26th of May, 1860, son of William and Kittie
(Gresham) Marriott. In his early boyhood his par-
MARRIOTT. ents removed to Wheaton, Illinois, where he had the advantage of education in well conducted public schools, and after- ward pursued a course in law at the Chicago College of Law.
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In 1875 Mr. Marriott commenced his career in the abstract busi- ness by securing a clerkship in the office of Haddock. Coxe & Co., having remained identified with that firm and its successors, Had- dock, Vallette and Rickcords, Security Title and Trust Company and the Chicago Title and Trust Company. In 1891 Mr. Marriott was elected superintendent of the Haddock, Vallette and Rickcords Com- pany, and in 1895 vice president of the Security Title and Trust Com- pany. to which name the Haddock. Vallette and Rickcords Company had been changed. He continued to hold this office until August, 1901, when the Security Title and Trust Company was consolidated with the Chicago Title and Trust company, and Mr. Marriott was elected to the same office with the latter. One of the most important contracts which he has carried through of late years was the re-writ- ing of the county abstract books and records, which was awarded to him on the Ist of September, 1904.
On the 19th of October, 1882. Mr. Marriott wedded Miss Minnie C. Cooper, and the following four children have been born to them : Ida Elizabeth, Arthur Cooper. Robert William and Thomas Benton: In politics, Mr. Marriott is a Republican; is an associate member of the Chicago Real Estate Board. and belongs to the Hamilton Club of Chicago, and the Oaks Club of Austin. He is also a Mason of high degree, being a member of Siloam Commandery. K. T., and Medinah Temple.
The Real Estate Title and Trust Company is a corporation organ- ized by Jerome J. Danforth, for the purpose of issuing abstracts of title and guarantee policies to real estate, and con-
REAL ESTATE fines itself exclusively to this line of business. It
TITLE AND TRUST COMPANY. has. however, in connection with its business main- tained an escrow department for the purpose of af- fording to its customers an opportunity of closing their real estate transactions in its office.
The company has been in business for something over three years. Its offices are in the Merchants' building at the northwest corner of Washington and LaSalle streets, where it occupies the two banking floors of that building.
The company has 200 stockholders among the real estate inen and lawyers of Chicago, and its officers are as follows: Jerome J. Dan- forth, president; Moses E. Greenebaum, vice president: Edward E.
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Shaw, second vice president ; George R. Jenkins, secretary and treas- urer; Arvene S. Hyde, assistant secretary, and F. T. E. Kallum, as- sistant treasurer.
Its board of directors consists of the following : Moses E. Greene- baum, Jesse A. Baldwin, William E. Hatterman, Arthur W. Draper, B. C. Miller, John R. Thompson, John Pecha. L. C. Tryon, F. H. Brunell, R. J. Schlesinger, Thomas J. Holmes, James F. Stepina, George R. Jenkins and Jerome J. Danforth.
The plant of the company includes complete tax and special assess- ment records, judgment dockets, and indices and records of all the courts ( federal, state and county), indices of the Illinois corporations and indices and records of the daily conveyances recorded in the re- corder's office of Cook county.
It has deposited securities with the state auditor of Illinois, which are an indemnity fund to protect its customers against any loss suf- fered by reason of defects in titles which it guarantees, which fund, under law, must be kept intact, even though the corporation should go out of business.
This company and the Chicago Title and Trust Company are the only two corporations in Cook county which are engaged in making and certifying titles to real estate.
Jerome Joseph Danforth, president of the Real Estate Title and Trust Company, is one of the oldest and best known abstract experts and promoters in the city. He is a native of Bos-
JEROME J.
DANFORTH. ton, Massachusetts, born on the Ist of November, 1849, son of Martin G. and Louisa M. (Roberts) Danforth. He obtained his preparatory education in the public schools of his native city. and after a long experience in business, as a clerk of the court and in the field of his present prominence, he pursued a course in the Chicago Law School, from which he graduated in 1896. Both his education and his experience are therefore remarkably broad and well adapted to the attainment and maintenance of leadership in the abstract business.
In March, 1866, Mr. Danforth removed from Boston to Chicago, and first secured employment with S. C. Griggs & Co., the booksellers, with whom he remained until 1868. In the year named he was ap- pointed deputy clerk of the Superior Court of Cook county, continu-
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ing in that position for some five years. He afterward became con- nected with the recorder's office, and in the latter capacity became interested in abstract matters.
In 1884 Mr. Danforth promoted the organization of the Cook County Abstract Company, of which he became president, and under his direction was compiled a complete set of tract indices covering the period after the fire of 1871. In 1891 it was succeeded by the Chicago Title and Trust Company, the scope of the business was en- larged, the capital increased, and the present building at No. 100 Washington street was erected. In February, 1904, he organized the Abstract Construction Company, of which he remained president until May, 1905. At that time he founded the Real Estate Title and Trust Company, which under his presidency is increasing in reputa- tion and substantial business. He is also president of the Kane County Abstract Company, which was organized under that name in August, 1906, although the business had been established in 1901. .
On January 6, 1881, Mr. Danforth was united in marriage with Miss Frances W. Mckinney, and four children have been born to them. the two living of whom are Winifred L. and Alice L. The family residence is in Hinsdale, Illinois, as it has been for many years.
The late Lyman Baird, at the time of his death, February 22, 1908. was the oldest real estate dealer of continuous business in the city of Chicago, having then passed the golden anniversary
LYMAN
of his entrance into the golden field. He was not
BAIRD. only prominent in his chosen business, but ever looked abroad from it with a wide range of vision, not only assisting in the upbuilding of Chicago on the ruins of 1871, but participating with earnestness and strong influence in the movements which worked for culture, charity and religion. One who clings to music with the passionate love shown by Mr. Baird throughout his life must be of an artistic and ideal nature, as he truly was; and when to these traits are joined those which make a citizen signally useful and successful, in the practical movements which uplift society and advance it on the road to material prosperity as well, then the community is richly en- dowed with a rounded and strong character. All who knew Lyman Baird freely accorded to him these varied virtues. The love and ad-
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miration which went out to him had also a special reason for exist- ence ; he never wavered in his faith in Chicago, and the typical citizen has ever a fond admiration for such a man. Although his coming to the city was during one of the great panic years which first agi- tated and then depressed the west, Mr. Baird refused to think of transferring his fealty to any other city, with the final success of real- izing material prosperity and the establishment of a deeply honored name.
Lyman Baird was a New Hampshire man, born at Munsonville, Cheshire county, on the 20th of December, 1829. His early education was limited to the public schools, but, although the later events of his life prevented him from pursuing the higher branches, through private study, thorough reading and self-discipline he attained a broad culture. From his boyhood he showed a decided talent for music. He was a proficient organist, as well as a good violinist, and intended to choose music as his profession. But when he was sixteen years of age he was cast upon his own resources and had other members of the family depending upon him, being therefore forced to relinquish his musical studies and assume those labors from which he might realize immediate support. While the conduct of business thus became the main purpose of his life, music remained to the last his recreation and his solace. The organ was his favorite instrument, although on occasions he used his violin, and through them both he always added to the impressiveness and elevating influences of any religious organi- zation with which he might be connected. Thus his love for music became a power both for personal culture and in the broad field of religion.
One of the first employments of Mr. Baird's youth was in con- nection with the office of Wyllys Warner, treasurer of Yale Univer- sity, whose daughter he afterward married. In 1857, the year before that event, he became a resident of Chicago, removing hither from New Haven, Connecticut. In January, 1858, he commenced the real estate business in association of Lucius D. Olmstead, and at the lat- ter's death in 1862 the firm was changed to Baird and Bradley. The firm continued intact until 1893, although Mr. Baird's son, Wyllys W., and Geo. L. Warner, had become junior partners in 1883. In 1893 W. W. Baird and Mr. Warner formed an association under the
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firm name of Baird and Warner, of which the elder Baird remained the consulting partner until his death.
. Lyman Baird has long held an honorable position on the Chicago Real Estate Board, having been a charter member and its second presi- dent (in 1884). In early manhood he first voted the Whig ticket, but after the founding of the Republican party in 1856 he was identified with that organization.
On the 8th of November, 1858, Mr. Baird was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth M. Warner, the ceremony occurring at the home of the bride's parents in New Haven, Connecticut. The children born of their union were as follows : Wyllys Warner (whose sketch appears elsewhere ), Lucius Olmstead, Maximilian and Mrs. Elizabeth (Baird) Rogers. For years Mr. Baird had been a member of the Union League of Chicago, and in his religious faith has been a life-long Congregationalist. For years prior to his death he served as treasurer of the New England Congregational church, on the north side, and was also for a time its Sunday School superintendent and volunteer organist. The honored widow of the deceased survives him.
Wyllys Warner Baird, member of the real estate firm of Baird and Warner, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, being a son of Lyman and Elizabeth M. (Warner) Baird. His
W. W. BAIRD. father was one of the oldest real estate men in Chi- cago, both in years and length of service.
W. W. Baird was educated in the University school of Chicago, and in 1878 entered the employ of Baird and Bradley, of which his father was a senior member, and later became a partner in the firm. In 1893 he associated himself with George L. Warner, who for ten years had been connected with Baird and Bradley, and the firm of Baird and Warner thus came into existence, the business having since been conducted under that style.
Especially of late years Mr. Baird has enjoyed a prominent con- nection with the Chicago Real Estate Board, of which he was presi- dent in 1903. In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Union League and City clubs. In 1883 Mr. Baird was married in Chicago to Miss Olivia Green, daughter of Oliver B. Green, and the children of the union are Warner Green and Katharine Louisa Baird. The family home is at No. 1915 Wellington avenue.
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Few residents of Chicago, young or old, need an introduction to Fernando Jones, the most picturesque character yet remaining to
FERNANDO serve as a connecting link between the pioneer his- JONES. tory of the city and its modern life. Now in his eighty-eighth year, he is the oldest citizen, of con- tinuous residence, in Chicago. He conversed with the Pottawatomies in their own tongue just prior to their departure from their hunting grounds around Chicago. He was a warm personal friend of Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln and other historic personages of the city and the west. At a later period he became interested in the real estate and land titles of Chicago, and was one of the pioneers in the abstract business who saved the generations of the future from im- measurable confusion and loss, and founded a system whose prac- tical merits have carried it into the large communities of the world. He has been a strong citizen of broad usefulness in both civic and charitable affairs, and is at the present time universally honored and beloved.
Fernando Jones was born at Forestville, Chautauqua county, New York, on the 26th of May, 1820, being the second child and eldest son of William and Anna (Gregory) Jones. The father, who died at Chicago, in 1854, was for twenty years one of the most influential and stirring figures in the pioneer growth of the city. A native of Massachusetts, born in 1789, he abandoned his intention of learning the trade of a millwright and at the age of nineteen he went to Han- over, Chautauqua county, and there for five years engaged in farm- ing, participated in the local government and married Anna Gregory. In 1824 he opened a grocery in Buffalo, was inducted into municipal politics and office holding and was finally appointed to the govern- ment office of collector of the port, being also deputy superintendent at the commencement of the construction of the harbor. While en- gaged upon the latter work the geographical location of Chicago (at the foot of Lake Michigan and directly in the course of the great routes of overland travel toward the west) was forcibly presented to his attention in a map of the Great Lakes which passed through his hands. Convinced, as he said at the time, that the town was destined to be a great city, in the summer of 1831 he journeyed hither --- by steamboat to Detroit; thence, by stage and wagon, to Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo, and thence, by skiff and horseback, to his
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destination, where he arrived on the Ist of August. Although he passed the following winter in Elkhart, Indiana, in February, 1832, he purchased two lots on South Water and Lake streets, between Clark and Dearborn. They were 80 by 150 feet each, and $200 was the price paid for both. Mr. Jones returned to Buffalo after the purchase of this real estate, and remained in that city until the spring of 1834, when he returned to Chicago, built a store, commenced a hardware business and continued to invest his money in real estate. William Jones was the first who came to Chicago for the primary pur- pose of investing his money in real estate, and eventually his faith in the city's progressive future was fully substantiated. Although he lost heavily in the panic of 1836, he soon regained his former status, and as the city increased in size, and its property advanced in value, so did his wealth accumulate. In partnership with Byram King and under the firm name of Jones, King & Company, he con- tinued for many years in the hardware business on South Water street, one of his most profitable early ventures in this line being the purchase of a vessel load of stoves, which he sold to western emi- grants. Besides being known for years as one of the shrewdest in- vestors in real estate of the city, his name was permanently stamped upon the city map as the founder of the William Jones Addition, which embraces the present home of his son, Fernando. William Jones also served for several years as one of the first justices of the peace of Chicago; served a term as a member of the first board of school inspectors, established in 1840; represented the old Third ward in the City Council, and was president of the board of education in 1840-3, 1845-8 and 1851-2. He was prominent in the activities of the volunteer fire department, and might have been mayor of the city had he been willing to suppress his staunch utterances in favor of temperance. In politics, he was a Democrat. Aside from his broad reputation as a business man and financier, the elder Jones will be most honored for his splendid services in behalf of the public and higher education of Chicago. Not only did he accomplish valuable work on the board of education and originate the Book Fund for children of poor parents, but was one of the founders of the old Chicago University. He subscribed $40,000 toward its establishment, and, in recognition of his generosity and practical assistance in many other ways, the board of trustees named the south wing of the
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university building, Jones Hall. A public school also bears his name, the Jones School on Harrison street, the most noted school building in the city. Until his death he was a member of the university board of trustees, and for many years served as the president of its executive committee. Mr. Jones was one of the founders of the Chicago Orphan Asylum, and for a number of years was president of its board of trustees. In fact, there are few men of early Chicago who donated a larger share of their time or means to the higher things of the public life than William Jones. His death occurred January 18, 1868, his wife having passed away February 15, 1854.
Of this worthy parentage, Fernando Jones was born at Forest- ville, Chautauqua county, New York, on the 26th of May, 1820, being the second child and eldest son of the family. When he was a child of four years the family removed to Buffalo, where he received his early education, among his preceptors being Millard Fillmore, afterward president of the United States. While living there he also attended Fredonia Academy, one of his fellow students being Reuben E. Fenton, who was afterward governor of New York. In 1835 the family removed to Chicago, then a struggling frontier village, the father having (as stated) opened a hardware store during the pre- vious year. Fernando, then a hustling youth of fifteen years, was his right-hand assistant. As the town was then an important trading post, the boy mingled freely with the Indians and found it to his advantage to learn their language. This accomplishment enabled him to gather in many an extra dollar an an interpreter, and finally earned him a clerkship with the United States disbursing officer. At the age of sixteen he also held clerkships in the United States Land Office and in the office of the Illinois and Michigan canal trustees. The youth returned to Canandaigua, New York, to complete his education, and in 1837 became a student in the academy there, meet- ing at this period of his life Stephen A. Douglas, who was then a student of law. On his return to Chicago, in 1839, he joined his father in the real estate business, his specialty being the examination of titles and the furnishing of abstracts. Soon afterward his health commenced to fail, and as there was consumption in the family, it was thought best for him to seek a change of climate. He therefore went to Jackson, Michigan, where for two years he was engaged in editorial work for various publications which were printed by Wilbur
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F. Storey, afterward the famous editor of the Chicago Times, who remained a life-long friend of Mr. Jones. After leaving Jackson he returned to Chicago, but remained but a short time, going then to Rock Island, Illinois, and again entering the real estate business. While thus engaged he formed the acquaintance of John D. Brown and persuaded that gentleman to come to Chicago and engage in the preparation of a set of abstract books. In 1853 they left Rock Island and in the following year fairly entered the great work of completing a set of books, founded on the system of tract indexes, which had originated in 1847 with Edward A. Rucker. Within a brief time Mr. Brown withdrew from the business, Robert A. Smith joined Mr. Jones in the enterprise, and in 1862 Alfred H. Sellers, a relative of Mr. Brown, became interested in the business. In 1864 Mr. Sellers was admitted into full partnership, and the firm of Jones & Sellers endured until the great fire of 1871, when their set of records was one of the three plants relied upon by experts to maintain the titles to real estate in the great city of Chicago. Thus was Mr. Jones one of the originators of the real estate abstract system which has been generally adopted throughout the United States, and whose practical working merits have introduced it into many of the foreign coun- tries. The business of Jones & Sellers was absorbed after the fire by various parties and finally became a portion of the consolidated plant of the Chicago Title & Trust Company, and Mr. Jones has been re- tired from active business for some years, although in his advisory capacity he is often called upon as one of the highest experts on real estate titles and values in the city.
Mr. Jones served as alderman of the Third ward (which his father also represented) in 1859-60; was supervisor of the South Town during the Civil war and was one of the founders of Camp Douglas, which was within his civil jurisdiction as a city father, and also served as trustee of the Chicago Orphan Asylum, State Asylum for the Insane (Jacksonville) and of the old Chicago University, established on the site of Camp Douglas. He was also instrumental in the location and erection of the Douglas monument, having there- fore done his full share in perpetuating the name of his schoolboy friend, the great Illinois statesman and Little Giant. He has long been prominent in connection with the work of the Chicago Historical Society and the Chicago Pioneer Society, being now president of the
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latter organization. He is also a member of the Calumet and Press clubs. In his religious faith, he is an earnest Methodist, and is a generous supporter of the cause.
On July 7, 1853, Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Miss Jane Grahame, of Henry county, Illinois, who died in 1906. Their only daughter, Genevieve, married the late George R. Grant, the lawyer, and is now herself deceased. Their son, Grahame, is a grad- late of the Chicago Law School, and a practitioner at the Chicago bar. A granddaughter, Leslie, is the wife of R. T. W. Scott, of Ottawa, Canada, where he filled an important government position. He afterwards was appointed to an important position in India and removed to that distant locality with his wife. Both Mr. Jones and his late wife enjoyed many years of foreign travel, and his handsome residence at No. 1834 Prairie avenue is filled with rare and instruc- tive collections of art and curios.
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