USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 37
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PUBLIC LISMANY
ACTOR, LE JX NO TILGEN MONDAT ONS
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Charles T. Chandler, a Chicago insurance agent and since 1905 a member of the firm of Waller, Chandler and Grey, which he organ-
CHARLES T. ized, was born in Galena, Illinois, from which place
> he moved to Chicago with his parents at an early CHANDLER. age in his life. He is a son of Charles T. and Mary Ann (Eeles) Chandler, both natives of England. His father, who was a well known merchant, came to Chicago in 1867, and. besides engaging in various independent ventures, was for a number of years connected with the credit department of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. He died in this city on the 23rd of January, 1907. The mother still resides at River Forest, Illinois.
In 1877 Mr. Chandler began his career in the insurance business as an office boy, remaining for several years in the Chicago office of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company. Subsequently he became connected with the Phenix Company of Brooklyn and was one year with the general agency of the Niagara Insurance. In 1884 he removed to Minneapolis, where he was employed as assistant in the board of underwriters. The year following he was appointed in- spector by the Chicago Fire Underwriters' Association, and later to the position of superintendent of the Cook County Compact. In 1889 he became Cook county special agent for the National Fire In- surance Company of Hartford: He resigned this position to engage in business for himself, organizing the firm of Carlisle, Chandler & Co .. and on the retirement of Mr. Carlisle in 1902 continued under the firm name of Chandler and Wurtele until the present firm was or- ganized. His present offices are at No. 159 LaSalle street.
Mr. Chandler's marriage occurred at Mineral Point. Wisconsin, in the year 1893, and his family consists of three children : Lucy In- gals, Edith Eleanor and Horatio Henry Chandler. Mr. Chandler is connected with the Illinois Club.
The late Adolph Loeb, fire underwriter, head of the firm of Adolph Loeb and Sons, a high-minded citizen, a cultured gentleman
ADOLPH and a good man, was of German birth, having been
LOEB. born in Bingen, March 9, 1839. the son of Ludwig and Helen ( Brandeis) Loeb. His death occurred at his home in Chicago October 8, 1906. His noble friend and pastor. with whom he had been closely associated for years in works of re- ligion, reform and charity-Dr. Emil G. Hirsch-spoke over his bier
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some of the tenderest and most eloquent words ever dedicated to a kindred soul. "In Bingen," said the good Doctor, "when he took on human shape, uncertainty hovered over his crade. Here in Chicago, when a few hours ago he breathed his last, shone forth the certainty and the glory that the life he had lived was true and noble, and that his heart had throbbed to 10 impulse, his soul had tasted 110 joy other than that of truthfulness and of duty, largely construed, loyally exe- cuted."
Mr. Loeb emigrated to the United States when but fifteen years of age, first obtaining employment as a bookkeeper, and continuing thus until 1869, when he opened a fire insurance agency at Memphis, Tennessee. Four years later he removed to Chicago, and established the agency of which he remained the head up to the time of his death. His business career in Chicago was commenced in association with M. S. Judah, his line being that of general life insurance, acting also as agent for the Manhattan Life Insurance Company. Shortly after- ward he became western general agent for the Mississippi Valley Fire Insurance Company of Memphis, and upon the death of Mr. Judah relinquished the life insurance portion of the business and devoted his energies to fire insurance alone. In 1893 he was appointed man- ager of the United States branch of the North German Fire Insurance Company of Hamburg, and the Transatlantic Fire Insurance Com- pany, of the same city. Subsequently were added agencies for the German Fire Insurance Company of Freeport, Illinois; the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company of Manchester; the Atlanta- Birmingham Fire Insurance Company of Atlanta, and the Anchor Fire Insurance Company of Cincinnati-the two last named being general agencies. He was also president of the North German Fire Insurance Company of New York. The firm of A. Loeb and Son was formed in 1887 by the admission to a partnership in the business of Leo A. Loeb.
"In his business relations," says Dr. Hirsch, "he was the very soul of honor. His counting room was as much a temple for him as was this house to which Sunday after Sunday he came to be with us when we were making the effort to find more of truth or to discover new aspects of truth already in our possession. Therefore, small the won- der that from small beginnings he rose to be one of the representa- tive men in the special field of business pursuit which was his."
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In 1864 Mr. Loeb married Miss Lucille Hart, of Cincinnati, and his elegant home on Grand boulevard was for years the center of high activities founded upon morality and the spirit of charity. Mr. Loeb was president of the Jewish Agricultural Aid Society, a trustee of the Cleveland Orphan Asylum, president of the Chicago Sinai Congre- gation and head of the District Grand Lodge, Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, as well as trustee of the United Hebrew Charities of Chicago and president of the Russian Immigration Society of Chi- cago. Wherever the requisite was a warm heart combined with a clear head Adolph Loeb was in demand. This phase of his rounded character is described also by Dr. Hirsch : "His humanitarianism was not like Mahomet's coffin, suspendid in mid-air; it was the fruit grown from a rich tree, a strong tree; the root of that tree was em- bedded in the enriching soil of his positive Jewish convictions. Lib- eral and loyal; 'Treu und frei,' one may say, quoting the title of a book written by a great Jewish philosopher, were the stars by which he piloted his religious craft."
It is not difficult to glean from the many beautiful and apt testi- monials which the Doctor offered as a tribute to the high character of his departed friend and fellow worker, and they can be presented merely as illustrative-in no wise complete: "He was one of those rare men to whom life spelled duty, and. through duty, beauty. He was one of those rare characters whose presence diffused the perfume of holiness, whose influence was silent but persistent, and always making for nobilities, for sanctities and for the uplifting of others to the heights which he had scaled, on which he had made his home. His hand was clean ; his heart was pure ; his lips were free from words that defiled ; he treasured no thought but what was woven of goodness. He despised what was despicable ; but he honored those whose lives were true. He never changed his word, though its fulfilment might bring to him trouble and lay on him great sacrifice. He never put his money out at usury ; he never attempted to bribe others to do what he himself would have spurned to do. To know him was a privilege ; to be allowed to become intimate with him resulted in inspiration. A dreamer to a certain extent, and yet a man of action. His dreams pointed the way which his stronger will and sustained purpose made him tread unhesitatingly to the goal."
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Leo A. Loeb, fire insurance underwriter, and, since the death of his father in 1906, senior member of the firm of A. Loeb and son, was
LEO A. born in Memphis, Tennessee, on the 20th of June,
LOEB. 1867. His parents, Adolph and Lucille (Hart)
Loeb. gave him a good education in the grammar and high schools of Chicago, whither the family removed when he was a boy of six years. From the first his tendencies were toward business, and in 1887, then twenty years of age, he entered the agency founded by his father in 1873. Ever since that year, or for a period of twenty years, he has been a partner in the business and has been an important factor in developing it to its present proportions.
Mr. Loeb was vice-president of the North German Fire and is vice-president of the Cosmopolitan Fire Insurance Company of New York, which company he organized, and assistant manager for the United States of the Transatlantic Fire Insurance Company. In the field of charities he is active as a director of the United Hebrew Charities. Chicago, vice-president of the Home for Jewish Friend- less, and a member of the executive committee of the National Hos- pital for Consumptives at Denver, Colorado, and president of the Jewish Home Finding Society of Chicago.
On January 19, 1893. Mr. Loeb married Miss Minnie Elson, of Chicago, and resides at No. 5000 Grand boulevard. His social mem- bership is with the Standard, Illinois Athletic and Hamilton clubs, the latter one of the most influential Republican organizations of recent formation in the city.
For many years one of the leading figures in the western insur- ance field, Theodore W. Letton has acquired especial prominence in connection with the development of the business of
THEODORE W.
LETTON. foreign companies, being at the present time general manager for the United States for the Prussian National Insurance Company of Stettin, Germany. He was born near Davenport. Iowa, on the 23rd of July, 1840. The family re- moved to Quincy, Illinois, at an early period in his life, and in a private school of that city the boy obtained the bulk of his education.
When less than twenty years of age Mr. Letton was elected captain of a military organization known as the Quincy Cadets. In the early part of the Civil war he volunteered for service and was
1 PUBLIC LISMARY
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appointed first lieutenant of Company C, Fiftieth Illinois Infantry. For a time he served on the staff of General Prentiss, afterward join- ing his regiment and participating in the engagements at Forts Henry and Donelson and Shiloh. After the last named battle he became ad- jutant, serving thus until after the fall of Corinth. He was then detailed as acting assistant adjutant general of the third brigade, second division, sixteenth army corps, and later held a like position on the staff of General William Vandever in which latter capacity he served until the time of service expired.
Following the war, Mr. Letton went to Kansas City, Missouri, and in 1871 entered the insurance business as a local agent. Later, he became western manager of the Fire Insurance Association of England, and was afterward appointed United States manager of the same company, being stationed in New York City. In 1889 he was appointed western manager of the Union Insurance Company, with headquarters at Chicago, and in 1891, upon the establishment of the United States branch of the Prussian National Insurance Company of Stettin, Germany, became its manager.
In February, 1863, Mr. Letton was married to Miss Mary C. Field, of Quincy, Illinois. They have three children: Lucy L., now Mrs. John F. Rice, of South Orange, New Jersey ; Anna L., wife of Arthur C. Dow, of Lake Forest, Illinois, and Harold W. Letton, of Chicago. Mr. Letton is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, Chicago, and belongs to the following fraternities and clubs : Loyal Legion, Society of the Army of the Tennessee ; George H. Thomas Post No. 5. Grand Army of the Republic ; the Masonic order, and the Union League and Kenwood clubs. He resides at No. 4846 Kim- bark avenue.
Harold Willis Letton, assistant manager for the United States of the Prussian National Insurance Company of Stettin, Germany,
HAROLD W. is also a thorough lawyer. He was born in Kansas
City, Missouri, on the 13th of January, 1875, being
LETTON. a son of Theodore W. Letton, an old and promi- nent insurance man in the western field. He received a thorough preliminary education in various private schools in Chicago, and then went east to enter Phillips- Andover Academy. at Andover, Massa- chusetts, from which he graduated in 1894. He then entered Yale
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University, graduating in 1897 with degree of Ph. B. Later he entered the Harvard Law School, and, finishing his course in 1900, was honored with LL. B., being admitted to the bar in the same year.
Upon his admission to the Illinois bar in 1900, Mr. Letton con- ducted a general practice for three years. In 1903 he was appointed to his present position with the Prussian National Insurance Com- pany, his legal training making him an especially valuable factor in the business. Mr. Letton is a member of the Union League, Hamil- ton, Exmoor Golf, Calumet and University clubs, and New York Yale Club.
Richard Alexander Napier, fire insurance underwriter and head of the widely known agency of R. A. Napier & Company, is a native
RICHARD A. of Canada, born in Montreal, November 27, 1865,
NAPIER. and a son of Richard H. and Maria J. ( Cockburn ) Napier. Following his graduation from the Boys' High School at Montreal, he obtained employment with the Adams Tobacco Company of that city, with whom he remained from 1881 to 1885. In September of the latter year he removed to Chicago, in 1886 entering the Chicago agency of the Dwelling House Insurance Company of Boston. There he remained until 1893, being for a number of years chief clerk of the office, in November of that year resigning and entering into partnership with Hugo Dalmar, under the firm name of Napier and Dalmar, which in 1900 became R. A. Napier & Company. Mr. Napier's associate in the business is George R. Bowman and the agency represents the Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool, Monongahela Insurance Company of Pennsylvania and the German Fire Insurance Company of Indiana. The business offices are at No. 159 LaSalle street, and Mr. Napier's residence is at Blue Island, Illinois.
Mr. Napier was married, June 9, 1897, to Miss Sadie M. Day, of Blue Island, Illinois, and their children are Richard F. and Miriam D. Napier. He is an associate member of the Chicago Real Estate Board, and is also identified with the following clubs: Hamilton, Chicago Ifly Casting and Chicago Gun clubs, and the Illinois State Rifle and the New Illinois Athletic associations. In politics, he is a Republican : in his fraternal relations is a Knight of Pythias.
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Edgar H. Carmack, life insurance underwriter and general agent of the State Mutual Insurance Company of Worcester, Massachu-
EDGAR H. setts, has been in active continuous service in that
CARMACK. field for more than thirty-eight years, and is the oldest life insurance agent, in point of continuous service, in the city of Chicago. Mr. Carmack was born in Mononga- hela, Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 10th of July, 1852, and is a son of Josiah W. and Margaret Carmack. Receiving his early education in the public schools of Pittsburg, he became a student in the Western University of Pennsylvania and graduated in the regular four years' course of that institution.
On March 10, 1870, Mr. Carmack located in Chicago, and com- menced his business life as a bookkeeper in a life insurance agency of that city. So rapidly did he master the details of the business that in 1873 he was elected secretary of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Chicago, and in 1876 became western manager of the Continental Life Insurance Company of Hartford. In 1888 he be- canie associated with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, and the year 1896 marks the commencement of his identifi- cation with the State Mutual Life Insurance Company of Worcester, of which he has been the general agent since June 1, 1898. He is also president of the Abstract Vault Company, and a director of the Congress Hotel Company, which operates Congress Hotel and Annex, as well as the Auditorium Hotel, which is among the most valuable property of the kind in the world.
On June 29, 1887, Mr. Carmack was united in marriage with Miss Clara Vrooman, a Chicago lady, and his residence is at the Virgina Hotel. He is identified with the Chicago Athletic, New Illinois Athletic, Germania Maennerchor, Exmoor, South Shore Country and Evanston Golf clubs, is a life member of the Chicago Press Club, and is in every way a man of active temperament and influential character.
John William Gunnison Cofran, general agent for the western department of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, was born at
JOHN W. G. Goshen, New Hampshire, June 13, 1855. He was
reared on a farm and received his education in the
COFRAN. home district school and at Kimball's Union Acad- emy, located at Meriden, New Hampshire.
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When less than twenty years of age the youth removed to San Francisco, and entered the employ of the Commercial Insurance Company of California. Five years later, having shown peculiar aptitude for the work, he was appointed a special agent for the states of Oregon. Washington and Idaho, being stationed at Portland, Oregon. His work was so successful that in 1881 the Hartford Com- pany offered him a special agency in the same territory. After five years spent in this capacity Mr. Cofran removed to San Francisco to assume the position of general agent for the Pacific department of the company. In 1895 he was transferred to Chicago as assistant general manager of its western department, and on June 1, 1896, after the death of Mr. Heywood, his superior, he was advanced to the position of general agent, in which connection he has since served.
Mr. Cofran holds membership in the Pacific Union, Olympic and Merchants' clubs of San Francisco, and also in the Chamber of Com- merce and Mrechants' Exchange of that city. In Chicago and vicin- ity. he is identified with the Union League and the Mid-Day, Glen View Golf and Commercial clubs, and the Association of Commerce.
Richard M. Bissell, vice-president of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, at Hartford, Connecticut, former manager of the Chicago office, was born in the western metropolis on the Sth of June, 1862. He is a man of liberal educa-
RICHARD M. BISSELL. tion, being a graduate of Yale (class of 1883), but soon after leaving college entered the insurance business, in which field he has rapidly advanced. He was elected vice-president of the Hartford Company in January, 1903, and has since been connected with the home office. While a resident of Chicago, Mr. Bissell was a popular member of various clubs, being identified with the Union League and the University, Literary, Commercial and Merchants' clubs, serving at one time as president of the last named organization.
A. G. Dugan, general agent of the Hartford Fire Insurance Com- pany, is a native of Kentucky, born in Louisville, March 14, 1861. He is a son of James W. and Mary J. (Gray) Du- A. G. DUGAN. gan. Mr. Dugan received a public school education in Louisville, and also attended the Forrest Academy at Anchorage, Kentucky.
His interest in the insurance business began in the office of the
flugan.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
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Queen Insurance Company, at Louisville, in which office he remained for four years. Following this he became adjuster and special agent. in Kentucky and Tennessee, for the Springfield Insurance Company. and subsequent thereto a general agent for that company, with head- quarters in San Francisco, California. In this capacity he remained until 1894. at which time he returned to Louisville, as special agent and adjuster for the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. In 1903 he was appointed general agent at Chicago, and became a member of the insurance firm of Cofran and Dugan.
While residing in Louisville, he was married, in AApril. 1899, to Mary Helen Gates. They are the parents of four children: Forrest. Alphonso G., Jr .; Hugh, and Joseph. Mr. Dugan is a Republican in politics, and resides at Hinsdale, Illinois. He is a member of the Union League, Midlothian and Hinsdale Golf clubs.
The business of fire insurance is calling into the field some of the broadest and keenest talents of the country, and success comes to no
man who is not a tireless, methodical and diplomatic
CHARLES E. Dox. worker. Long training must go with natural apti- tude, and vice versa. These necessary qualifications are possessed by Charles Edward Dox, present western manager for the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company of Liverpool, England, and the Orient Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, Con- necticut.
Mr. Dox is a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, born December II, 1861, son of William A. and Ophelia A. (Smith) Dox. He received his education in the grammar and high schools of that city, and in 188I made his entry into the fire insurance field. He steadily advanced through various positions and in September, 1900, he became a resi- dent of Chicago and a leading figure in the western field through his appointment to his present position.
In November, 1891, Mr. Dox married Miss Mary E. Bell. of At- lanta, Georgia, and by this union there is one child. Dorothy. In his political views, Mr. Dox is independent. He is a member of the Southern Society of New York, and the Union League, South Shore Country, Glen View, Chicago Athletic and Mid-Day clubs of Chi- cago. His residence is the Hotel Virginia.
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Charles Howe Eldredge, Chicago resident manager for the United States Casualty Company of New York, is a son of Charles A. and
CHARLES H.
Maria A. (Upham) Eldredge, and was born in Fond
ELDREDGE. du Lac, Wisconsin, on the 13th of June, 1861. He received his education in the public schools and the Episcopal parish school, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, from which last named institution he was graduated in the class of 1884.
Soon after leaving college Mr. Eldredge came to Chicago and obtained employment as a bookkeeper in the office of the Chicago Board of Trade firm of Bacon & Co .. grain commission merchants, and was later appointed grain inspector. From 1886 to 1888 he was connected with the firm of Hamill, Congdon & Co., also engaged in the commission business. Two years later he became identified with insurance as general agent for the United States Mutual Accident Association at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which position he filled until 1895, when he removed to New York as special traveling agent for the United States Casualty Company. In 1896 he was appointed to his present responsible office.
On April 30, 1887, Mr. Eldredge was married to Miss Kate Withington, of Chicago. In politics, he is a Democrat, and in his religious faith, an Episcopalian. He resides at No. 5003 Madison avenue, and is a member of the New Illinois Athletic Club.
Benjamin Hixon Conkling, senior member of the insurance firm of Conkling. Price and Webb, which conducts a local business and is
BENJAMIN H. also the general agency for the London Guarantee and Accident Company for Illinois, Indiana and
CONKLING.
Missouri, is a New Yorker, born January 1, 1855. He is the son of Hixon and Angeline (Walsh) Conkling, and re- ceived his education in the public schools of his native city.
Mr. Conkling came to Chicago in 1884, and two years afterward formed a business association with George F. Kimball, one of the leading dealers of glass in the country, which continued for nearly four years, or until January 1, 1890. At that time he joined James WV. Nye. representing the American Casualty Company, and remained with him until November, 1893. On December Ist following he as- sumed his present agency with the London Guarantee and Accident
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Company, and also associated himself with Fred A. Price and George D. Webb to form the still existing firm of Conkling, Price and Webb.
On January 26, 1886, Mr. Conkling was united in marriage with Miss L. J. Murphey, their union occurring at Louisville, Kentucky. While a resident of the Empire state he was much interested in mili- tary matters, being identified with the New York state militia for about seven years. Since coming to Illinois his interests outside his regular field of insurance, especially in social matters, have been con- fined to rather extensive club membership, his record in this particular embracing the Kenwood, Chicago Athletic, South Shore Country and Chicago Yacht clubs. In politics, he is a Republican ; but politics as a business, or a matter of concern to him, has never entered into his calculations.
This company was incorporated under the laws of the state of Illinois September 8, 1899, and qualified to begin business' May 5.
FEDERAL LIFE 1900. It has a paid-up capital stock of $150,000.
INSURANCE The company has been very successful and during
COMPANY. its first seven years has grown to be larger than many of its larger competitors were when from fif- teen to forty years old. Isaac Miller Hamilton, who was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, was elected president upon the organization of the company and has remained as such ever since. His experience as a successful banker and able lawyer coupled with his wide and favorable acquaintance especially fitted him for building up and de- veloping a large and stable company. C. A. Atkinson is vice president and general counsel; R. M. Wilbur is secretary, W. E. Brimstin as- sistant secretary, and John L. Hamilton treasurer.
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