USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 5
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The sixth Joseph Warner, father of Ezra J., was born in Sudbury, Vermont. on the 4th of December, 1803, receiving his education in the common schools and academy of that place and following his father in the mercantile career, but far exceeding him in ambition and enterprise. He removed to Middlebury, that state, was long cashier of the bank there afterward established, possessed much busi- ness ability, was genial and popular and took an active and practical interest in matters of education and other public moment. He served as a member of the state senate, and was one of the electors who placed Lincoln in the presidential chair in 1861. At the time of his death, which occurred on the last day of the year 1865, he had been for a long period a trustee of Middlebury College and a trustee of the Congregational church of Middlebury.
Joseph Warner was married in 1833 to Miss Jane Meech, daughter of Ezra and Mary (McNeil) Meech, both representatives of pioneer families of the state. Three children were born to this union-James M., a gallant officer in the Civil war, from Vermont, who reached the grade of brigadier-general, and died in 1897; Mary and Ezra Joseph.
Ezra J. Warner is a native of Middlebury, where his father and brother were such prominent figures. He prepared for college at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire, graduating therefrom in 1857. He completed the full course at Middlebury College in 1861, but before the end of the year obtained his first taste of the west by going to Wisconsin and entering a lawyer's office as student. As the profession did not appeal to him, however, he promptly abandoned it, never to resume his legal studies. Decid-
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ing that by inheritance and inclination he was adapted to a com- mercial life, he came to Chicago, and his experience here year by year confirmed him in his final choice of a career.
In the summer of 1862 Mr. Warner joined Albert A. Sprague, who had just established a modest wholesale grocery trade. In a short time O. S. A. Sprague became associated with them, and the business has since been conducted under the name of Sprague, Warner & Co. In 1897 it was incorporated under that style, and Mr. Warner has continued since as vice president of the company, its remarkable progress through the years and its present standing as one of the leading establishments of the kind in the world being largely due to his keen business sense, broad judgment and com-
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TIIE WARNER SCIENCE HALL.
mercial instinct. Among the other large business interests with which Mr. Warner has become identified may be mentioned the western branch of the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Com- pany, of whose board of directors he has been chairman since 1889. He is a governing member of the Chicago Art Institute, and for twelve years was a trustee of Lake Forest University. In 1901 he completed Warner Science Hall, of Middlebury College, as a memorial to his father, the building being a credit to its donor and a worthy tribute to one who was a warm friend of that institution for so many years. It is also but an added evidence of Mr. Warner's generous encouragement, by the expenditure of his time, strength and substance, of educational and other elevating institutions.
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In November. 1861, Mr. Warner was married to Miss Jane Remsen. of Middlebury, Vermont, a daughter of William H. and Sarah Remsen, of that place, and natives of Long Island. Five children have been born of their union: Frank, now a resident of Pasadena. California : Maude, wife of Alexander McCormick, of Chicago: Ezra, Jr., secretary of Sprague, Warner & Co .: Ethel and Harold Remsen. During the summer months the elegant family home is at Lake Forest. Illinois, the winter residence being at Pasa- dena, California. Mr. Warner is a member of the club composed of many of the cultured resorters of that beautiful city, and, in Chicago, is identified with the well known Onwentsia and Chicago Clubs. He is also active in the work of the Presbyterian church of Lake Forest, in whose public affairs he has long taken an intimate and useful part.
William Melancthon Hoyt, one of the leading wholesale grocers of this country, and whose faith in Chicago has never weakened,
IV. M. has been a stalwart resident of the city fifty-five HOYT. years, and one of the prime reasons why he is still a stanch Chicagoan is that he was one of those heroic business men who lost all but their pluck and faith in the historic fire of 1871. Any man who was made of the metal to pass through that ordeal of destruction, cheerful in the present and con- fident of the future, could not be shaken by any subsequent danger to public or private fortune. The outward manifestation of Mr. Hoyt's faith is the continued and large investments which he has made not only in the enterprising extension of his great business but in Chicago real estate, especially in the downtown district.
W. M. Hoyt was born in New Haven, Addison county, Vermont. on the 26th of July. 1837. being a son of Carlos M. and Lydia Ann ( Buttolph ) Hoyt. He is of the tenth generation of the American branch of the family, and a direct descendant of John Hoyt, who was one of the original settlers of Salisbury, Connecticut. Seth Hoyt. his grandfather, was a soldier of the Revolution, a justice of the peace in New Haven. Vermont, and one of the censors whose duty it was to pass upon the legislative acts and laws of the common- wealth.
The early life of W. M. Hoyt was spent upon the home farm and in obtaining an education in the public schools and the Ten
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Broeck Academy at Panton, Vermont. In 1855, at the age of eighteen, he located in Chicago, securing employment in a grocery store conducted by a Mr. Bevans. Eighteen months in this work was followed by a course of study in Bell's Commercial College, from which he graduated. After a service of another year on a salary. in the employ of a fruit dealer, he started business for himself with a capital of $89, occupying a room for which the rental was $1. 100 per annum. This was the real beginning of his notable business career. Opening as a small dealer in fruits, he later developed into a wholesale grocer, whose trade reaches all parts of the northwest and many sections of the United States.
In 1865 Mr. Hoyt bought the business of James A. Whitaker, at No. 101 South Water street. The great fire of 1871 not only swept away his store at the foot of Wabash avenue, but two stores which he then owned on Dearborn avenue. It was early in the fore- noon of October 9th (the day after the fire) when he appeared to sign the lease with Mr. Welsh for the store at No. 63 South Canal street, whereupon the landlord remarked as he looked out of the window and saw the fire raging across the river, "Would it not be well to withhold our signatures until we know that this property may not be destroyed?" To which Mr. Hoyt replied: "No harm in executing the lease now, as in case the store goes the lease will go with it." It was signed, and after a few days he was offered a bonus for it, which was necessarily declined.
"On the evening of the same day," says a published account of his participation in these troublous times, "Mr. Hoyt took a train for New York, where he met his creditors, who were in great doubt as to what would be the outcome of their Chicago business. After a short conference, in which Mr. Hoyt stated that he could not say how he stood, as payment of insurance was in doubt and his books not balanced, but one thing was certain-he had a store rented and wanted stock with which to start. The creditors were unanimous in the opinion that it would be best to furnish the new supply and await further developments. The result was that remittances came in so freely that the creditors got all their dues promptly and one hundred cents on the dollar. The New York Times in an editorial announced Mr. Hoyt as the first arrival from Chicago since the fire, and men-
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tioned the good results of the conference in which Chicago pluck would be met by New York generosity."
In 1872 Mr. Hoyt purchased the site of old Fort Dearborn at Michigan avenue and River street, opposite Rush street bridge, where he erected his present large salesrooms and warehouse. In addition, the company own the building opposite, on River street, in which are its coffee and spice mills. Because of the historic site of its main building, Mr. Hoyt built into one of its walls fronting the river a memorial tablet on which is engraved a sketch of the forts (built 1803-4 and 1816) which once occupied this ground.
The William M. Hoyt Company was incorporated under the state laws in 1883, with the members of the old firm as stockholders, and its present officers are as follows: William M. Hoyt, president ; R. J. Bennett, vice president ; Phelps B. Hoyt, secretary and treas- urer; Albert C. Buttolph, N. Landon Hoyt, Otto C. Mattern and Frank A. Allinger, directors.
On April 9, 1860, Mr. Hoyt married Miss Emilie J. Landon, daughter of Nelson Landon, of Benton, Lake county, Illinois, and they had four children, as follows: William Landon, who died when five years of age; Emilie Lydia, who died in 1903; Nelson Landon and Phelps Buttolph. The last named graduated from Yale Uni- versity in 1893, was then engaged in the management of his father's real estate and later was identified with the wholesale grocery busi- ness. Nelson Landon Hoyt is also an active manager in the business. Outside of his great house, Mr. Hoyt is best known as the founder, in 1872, of the Grocer's Criterion, which has developed into the lead- ing trade journal of its class in the United States.
The following is so just an estimate of Mr. Hoyt's character that it is here reproduced : "Mr. Hoyt has been helpful to scores of young men who have gone to him for assistance. Many have been aided and encouraged by his counsel ; others, through his interposition, have secured positions of responsibility; and still others have obtained from him the necessary means to embark in business. His present partners were former clerks in his employ and were promoted to their present positions on account of business ability and valuable service. Partners with capital cut no figure with him. Honesty, good morals and good business ability he regards as far more valuable than cash capital. In this connection, Graeme Stewart (now de-
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ceased ) was for many years one of the prominent and active mem- bers of the company. His liberality in matters of charity is directed toward helping others to help themselves, and many deserving chari- ties find in him a liberal contributor. Though not a member of any church, he sympathizes in a practical way with the charitable and Christian work of his wife." He erected the beautiful memorial church in Winnetka in memory of his daughter, Mrs. Fox, and her three children, who perished in the Iroquois fire of December 30, 1903.
In politics Mr. Hoyt was a Republican up to the time of Grover Cleveland's nomination. He then changed his party and helped elect the Democratic candidate. He is now a strong Bryan man and hopes to live to see him elected president. He is a home man, having given up all his memberships in the various city clubs to which he was formerly a member. In this we must except the Skokie Golf Club-the game of golf is very popular with him. He feels that the exercise and outdoor life that he gets at the game is what has given him health as well as much pleasure. Mr. Hoyt's summer residence is in Winnetka, Illinois, and his winter home at Green Cove Spring, Florida.
Phelps Buttolph Hoyt, secretary and treasurer of W. M. Hoyt Company, among the leading wholesale grocers of the country, was
PHELPS B. born in Chicago on the 25th of September, 1872.
He is a son of William Melancthon and Emilie
HOYT. (Landon) Hoyt. Phelps B. Hoyt obtained his pre- liminary education in the University school, Chicago, and after- ward entered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of Ph. B. He en- tered business life immediately after graduating and since then has been engaged in real estate (largely in connection with his father's estate) and the business of the W. M. Hoyt Company. Since July 30, 1903. he has held the office of secretary and treasurer of the lat- ter corporation.
. Mr. Hoyt was married in Chicago January 25, 1895, to Miss Bessie Wade Allen, and they have two children, May Elizabeth and Emilie Lydia Hoyt. The family residence is at 576 East Division street. In politics, Mr. Hoyt has always been independent, and is
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a member of the University, Saddle and Cycle. Chicago, Onwentsia and Glen View clubs.
Nelson Landon Hoyt, director in the W. M. Hoyt Company, and a manager of its sales department, is a native of Chicago, born Sep- tember 25, 1869, and is a son of William M. and Emilie (Landon) Hoyt. He obtained his educa-
N. L. HOYT. tion first at Lake Forest University, and then at Claverack College, Hudson, New York, graduating from the latter in 1888. In the year mentioned he became associated with the W. M. Hoyt Company as bill clerk, advancing successively to the posi- tion of city salesman, correspondent and department manager. In 1899 he was elected a director in the concern and placed in charge of the sales department (including salesmen), besides being assigned to the duty of buying staple goods of the house.
On June 4. 1893. Mr. Hoyt married Miss Blanche Tompkins, of Morrisville, New York, and to their union have been born the fol- lowing children: William M. Hoyt, II., Sarah Elizabeth, Nelson Landon and Blanche Josephine. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt are active in the work of the First Congregational church of Winnetka, Illi- nois, that beautiful suburb having been for several years the place of their residence. Mr. Hoyt is also widely identified with outdoor sports, holding membership in the Glen View and Skokie Golf clubs and the Sanganois and the English Lake Shooting clubs.
Robert John Bennett, vice president of the W. M. Hoyt Company and for a quarter of a century the virtual financial manager of that great house of wholesale grocers, is, after the found-
ROBERT J.
BENNETT. er of the business, the strongest personal force in the development of the establishment. He is a na- tive of the Empire state, born in Pulaski, Oswego county, on the 9th of February, 1839, being the son of Reuben J. and Alta ( Haskins) Bennett. The Bennetts are descended from Irish ancestors who came to the United States during the Colonial period. On the ma- ternal side he is a direct descendant from Miles Standish, his mother having been of the sixth generation from the famous Massachusetts governor.
When Robert J. was five years of age, his parents left their old New York homestead and settled on a tract of government land which the father had purchased near Diamond Lake, Lake county,
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Illinois. The latter continued the cultivation and improvement of the new western farm until his death in 1883, his wife surviving him for ten years. This was the scene of the periods covering the life of Robert J. Bennett until he reached his twenty-fifth year, when, with good health and a thorough education (enforced by several years of teaching) he came to Chicago.
When Mr. Bennett became a resident of Chicago, in March, 1863. he entered the employ of William M. Hoyt as a cashier and general bookkeeper, Mr. Hoyt's business being then in process of develop- ment from that of a dealer in fruits and fancy groceries to that of a wholesale grocer. In 1865 Mr. Bennett joined A. M. Fuller in the purchase of Mr. Hoyt's interest in the store, and Mr. Hoyt him- self embarked in the wholesale grocery trade. The great fire swept away all the earthly possessions of Bennett & Fuller, but although their creditors agreed to accept fifty cents on the dollar they were paid in full. This cost the young merchants a heroic effort. On Au- gust 1, 1874, the firm consolidated their business with that of Wil- liam M. Hoyt, and the greater part of the time since Mr. Bennett has assumed the financial direction of the company's broad trans- actions. In 1882 the firm was incorporated with a capital stock of $500,000, and the following officers: William M. Hoyt, president ; A. M. Fuller, vice president, and R. J. Bennett, secretary and treas- urer. Later Mr. Bennett was elected to the vice presidency.
In 1872 Mr. Hoyt erected the extensive building now occupied by the company as its salesrooms and warehouse, and in 1880, at the sug- gestion of the Chicago Historical Society, a marble tablet was in- serted in one of its walls commemorative of the fact that the struc- ture stands upon the site of Fort Dearborn of 1803-04 and 1812. The inscription was written by Mr. Bennett, and the tablet also planned by him.
Mr. Bennett has had a variety of interests outside of the company to which he has devoted his best strength and abilities. It one time he was a director of the Atlas National Bank, and subsequently vice president of the Western State Bank (which later became the West- ern Trust and Savings Bank), as well as a member of the firm of Glenn R. Powers & Co., general merchants of Belgrade, Montana. He has also been prominent in various lines of religious work, being a stanch Congregationalist. He has been a leader in the support and
Vol. III-4.
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development of the Young Men's Christian Association of Ravens- wood; has for the past nine years been president of the Illinois Chil- dren's Home and Aid Society; is an earnest worker for the City Missionary Society, and is a trustee of Wheaton (Ill.) College. In politics, he has been an unwavering Republican, and while a resident of Lake Forest took an active part in its public affairs, serving both as alderman and acting mayor.
On April 9, 1862, Mr. Bennett was married to Miss Electa M. Hoyt, sister of William M. Hoyt, and to them have been born these three children: Arthur G., for some time secretary and treasurer of the W. M. Hoyt Company; Maude E., wife of Morrison H. Vail. an architect residing at Dixon, Illinois, and William Hoyt Bennett, also identified with the W. M. Hoyt Company for several years.
Although the development of wholesale business has taken place within the last half century, it is rather remarkable to find a man still CALVIN R. CORBIN. in active affairs who has been identified with this branch of business practically since its beginning in Chicago. Calvin Rich Corbin, of the firm of Cor- bin, Sons & Co., well-known grocery and tea importers, helped origi- nate the jobbing business in Chicago, and a history of his experience in the business would be a history of the business itself. When he came west something over fifty years ago, however, it was not with the purpose of engaging in this line of trade, and it was only as he recognized the opportunities of the growing city that the field of his most important efforts has presented itself. A native New England- er, who traces his American ancestry from James Corbin, an Eng- lishi emigrant of 1680 and one of the founders of Woodstock, Con- necticut, Mr. Corbin was born at Dudley, Worcester county, Massa- chusetts, February 12, 1832. After receiving a common school edu- cation in Massachusetts, he came west in 1855, joining an engineer- ing corps in Wisconsin that was engaged in locating a section of the Northwestern Railroad from Fond du Lac to Green Bay. Employed thus for two years, he then came to Chicago in the spring of 1857 and became associated with the J. W. Doane fruit house, which en- tered the tea and coffee trade later. From clerk he rose to be part- ner in this firm, and in 1866 severed his connection to become part- ner in the establishment conducted under the name of Swormsted, Corbin & Co. In 1868 he became a member of the firm of Ingraham,
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Corbin & May, which, in 1883, became Corbin, May & Co. In Janu- ary, 1898, following the death of Horatio N. May in the preceding September, the business was reorganized as Corbin, Sons & Co., and since then Mr. Corbin has been senior partner and directing head. A number of years ago this firm began the importation of tea and coffee, which was almost a new undertaking for the grocery houses of Chicago, and the firm of which Mr. Corbin was a member was among the earliest to enter this field of business. Mr. Corbin's man- agement of the Japan tea trade during the 'zos has become a note- worthy part of the commercial history of Chicago.
Although essentially a man of business and with quiet and de- mestic tastes. Mr. Corbin has always been earnest and persistent in the advancement of all movements designed to reform the municipal service of local politics. For more than thirty years he has been one of the constant workers in such fields as have been so efficiently occu- pied by the Citizens' Association, the Civic Federation and the Mu- nicipal League. He was one of the early members of the Union League Club, but resigned in 1905. He has been connected with the Unity (Unitarian) church since its organization by Rev. Robert Collyer.
Mr. Corbin married, in 1861, Miss Caroline Elizabeth Fairfield. and their children are Franklin N., Calvin Dana, John and Lawrence Paul. John Corbin was for several years the dramatic critic on the New York Sun, and is now a writer of note for the magazines. Franklin N. and Lawrence Paul are associated with their father in business. Mrs. Corbin, who was born in Pomfret, Connecticut. is of old New England stock, tracing her descent from two Mayflower an- cestors and also being a charter member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She has been a voluminous writer upon sub- jects connected with moral and civic reform, and is now president of the Illinois Association Opposed to the Extension of Suffrage to Women.
John C. Shaffer is one of the phalanx of strong men who, within late years, have placed their stamp upon Chicago as a city of remark-
JOHN C. able versatility as well as of substantial accom- SHAFFER. plishments. Such a man and such a city de- cisively prove the fallacy of the old idea that versa- tility is incompatible with real success and advancement. Mr.
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Shaffer, who is a native of Maryland, was born in Baltimore, on the 5th of June, 1853, and is a son of James and Ann (Crout) Shaffer. He is of German ancestry, one of his grandfathers coming to this country prior to the Revolutionary war, in which he served as an ardent patriot. Mr. Shaffer's father was a carpenter and builder, a man of faithful and upright life, and also a native of Maryland. As the financial condition of the family was very humble, the attend- ance of John C. at school terminated with his fifteenth year, although this was by no means the termination of his education; for he pur- sued special courses, systematically read standard literature and was a persistent self-educator throughout his earlier years. In his boy- hood he learned telegraphy, and was in the employ of the Western Union Company for about four years, attaining to the position of manager of the Baltimore office, and, in railroad service, to that of a train dispatcher. Afterward he served as bookkeeper for various houses, including several on the Chicago Board of Trade, and con- tinued in this line of employment until 1880. For seven years after- ward he was the proprietor of a grain commission business, and then branched out into larger undertakings.
Mr. Shaffer inaugurated his street railway career by buying the Richmond (Ind.) system, and in 1888 introducing electricity as the motive power. It was the first electric equipment for such a purpose west of the Alleghenies, and after selling the railway to advantage Mr. Shaffer bought the street railroads of Indianapolis, Indiana, and under his presidency they were brought to a high state of working efficiency. In the meantime lie had purchased and improved the Asbury Park (N. J.) Electric Railway, and, having disposed of his interests in Indianapolis, in 1892, he came to Chicago and built the electric line to Englewood. In 1897 he engaged in the grain and elevator business in Cleveland, Ohio, and in the following year built an electric line in Vicksburg. Mississippi, and for several years operated it as president.
By the purchase of the Chicago Evening Post in April, 1901, Mr. Shaffer entered a new field, to which he has shown his eminent ability. His executive ability, his strong, versatile mind, trained with equal thoroughness to both business and literary accomplishments. make him an ideal newspaper publisher and editor; and he has ably directed both departments of the journal.
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