USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume III > Part 7
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EUGENE J. large industrial interests in Chicago. He is a native
BUFFINGTON. of West Virginia, born at Guyandotte, on the 14th
of March, 1863, son of James H. and Columbia ( Nicholas ) Buffington.
Mr. Buffington obtained his education principally in the public schools of Covington, Kentucky, of which he was a student from 1870 to 1879. Subsequently he pursued higher courses at the Chick- ering Institute, Cincinnati, in 1879-80, and at the Vanderbilt Univer- sity, in 1881-3. Soon after leaving the latter he received the appoint- ment of treasurer of the American Wire and Nail Company at Anderson, Indiana, and the efficient performance of his duties in that position earned him promotion to the office of secretary and treasurer of the American Steel and Wire Company. He continued his contin- uous advancement through various managerial positions until January I, 1899, when he was elected president of the great corporation known as the Illinois Steel Company.
On November 27, 1888, Mr. Buffington was united in marriage with Miss Drucilla Nichols Moore, the ceremony occurring in Cat- lettsburg, Kentucky. The family residence. is at Evanston, Illinois, and Mr. Buffington has membership in the Merchants', Union League and Chicago clubs.
The late Colonel John Mason Loomis was a man of unflinching determination; to many he seemed stern, but whether on the battle
JOHN M. field or in the hard conflicts of business his firmness
LOOMIS. had no touch of cruelty to it; and he never ordered . an advance which he was personally afraid to lead. In actual works of charity the Colonel became a beloved character. He contributed liberally to many of the public institutions of the city. and is especially remembered for his identification for many years with the broadening affairs of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, to which he freely gave both of his time and means and whose useful
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work he virtually managed for more than a decade after the great fire.
Colonel Loomis was born at Windsor, Connecticut, on the 5th of January. 1825, and was descended from an old English family. The founder of the American branch was Joseph Loomis, of Essex county, England, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts. on the 17th of July, 1638. In 1639 Joseph Loomis bought a piece of land in Hartford county, Connecticut, which is still in possession of the family, although no member of the family in all these generations has ever inherited it through the will of a testator. James Loomis, the father of John Mason, was also a native of Windsor, a farmer, a merchant, a miller and for several years colonel of the First Regi- ment of Connecticut State Militia. Being a great admirer of John Mason, a famous soldier of New England, he named his son after his hero, so that the Colonel Loomis of Illinois had a special incentive to earn a name in military annals.
Mr. Loomis received his early education in the common schools and academies of Connecticut, and afterward had some practical business training in his father's store. But his inclination was early manifest, for in his youth he received the appointment of midshipman in the United States navy and at the age of eighteen was captain of a company of local militia. Finally, becoming weary of waiting for a regular assignment in the navy, he shipped in the China tea trade, and for about four years was a sailor of various grades on the high seas.
In 1846 Mr. Loomis became a landsman, venturing at once into what was then the far west. His father had been selected as a dele- gate to the famous River and Harbor Convention, which met in Chi- cago during that year, and thither he was accompanied by the son. Before returning to their Connecticut home they concluded to visit Milwaukee, and believing it a lake port of unusual promise, the son spent the winter there, after which he decided to make the Cream City his home. He first went to work as a clerk in a lumber yard, and in 1848 bought the stock of his employers and began business for him- self. He prospered from the first, and with the exception of his military service in the Civil war was interested in the lumber trade until the day of his death. August 2, 1900. During the last years of
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his life, however, he was gradually shifting the heavier burdens upon younger shoulders.
In 1852 Mr. Loomis transferred his business to Chicago, locating a yard at the corner of Madison and Market streets, and soon after- ward formed a partnership with the late James Ludington, of Mil- waukee, the business, under the firm name of Loomis & Ludington, prospering and growing until the outbreak of the Civil war.
Soon after locating in Chicago Mr. Loomis joined the famous Chicago Light Guard. Of this organization he served as first lieu- tenant, and obtained so high a reputation as a military disciplinarian that Governor Yates, in August, 1861, requested him to take com- mand of a regiment for service in the Civil war, giving him a com- mission as colonel of the Twenty-sixth Volunteer Infantry, a body of carefully selected men which the Governor himself had been most instrumental in raising. And their record was thus commended by Governor Yates, when, after three years of fine service, the regiment returned to Springfield for re-enlistment: "When I selected Colonel Loomis as the commanding officer of the regiment," said the Gov- ernor, "it was not because he had raised it. I selected him because of his ability to command, for his military talent, and for his devotion to his country ; and I was not mistaken in the man. He has proved equal to the emergency. The names of New Madrid, of Island No. 10, of Iuka, Corinth, Farmington, Vicksburg, Jackson, Tunnel Hill and Chattanooga, which are inscribed upon its battle-scarred flags and upon those fields which its valor won, afford ample evidence of the valuable service which was performed there. We have watched you through long and tedious marches, through sufferings and trials. In that memorable battle of Tunnel Hill we saw you march undismayed at the head of the army and receive for your valor the praise of your commanding generals, Grant and Sherman. In the name of the peo- ple and of every loyal heart in the state we welcome you, Colonel Loomis, and your men, today." During the three years of his service Colonel Loomis participated in fifty-seven battles or skirmishes, and campaigned over sixty-nine hundred miles of country. While in the field he was noted as a rigid disciplinarian and a cool, intrepid fighter. His eminent fitness for leadership was quickly discerned by his su- perior officers, for during his service in the field he was most of the time either acting with his regiment as an independent command, or
Vol. III-5.
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was in command of a brigade or division. With the Twenty-sixth Illinois Regiment he exercised an independent command in northern Missouri from the outbreak of the war until February, 1862, and during the balance of that year commanded the First Brigade, Second Division, Army of the Mississippi, and the Second Brigade, Second Division, Army of the Tennessee. In 1863 and 1864 he was the superior officer of both a brigade and a division (First, Sixteenth Army Corps), Army of the Tennessee. At Chattanooga and Mission- ary Ridge, he commanded a division composed of Colonel Burchbeck's Brigade, Eleventh Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, and his own First Brigade, Fourth Division, Army of the Tennessee. He also led the rear guard of the Thirteenth Army Corps, Army of the Ten- nessee, from December. 1862, to January, 1863, in the campaign from Oxford, Mississippi, to LaGrange, Tennessee. He also served as commandant of the post at Oxford, Mississippi. Colonel Loomis was recommended for promotion to brigadier general by General Grant in December, 1862; by General Sherman in December, 1863, and again by General Grant in April, 1864; but for some unexplained reason, and to the deep regret of his many friends and admirers, he never received the promotion to which he was justly entitled. On April 30th, 1864, he resigned from the service, having so greatly overtaxed his powers of endurance that it became imprudent for him to continue longer in the field.
Upon his return to civil life, Colonel Loomis found that the busi- ness outlook was discouraging, and, with the destruction of his old home by fire, his future seemed dark indeed. But he bravely and energetically resumed the lumber business, although he was virtually without capital, and by diligence and good judgment developed his interests into far greater magnitude than they had ever reached before the war. He acquired an interest in extensive pine lands near Man- istee and Ludington, Michigan, which, with the marketing of their products, brought very large returns. To carry on this branch of the business he became one of the organizers of the Pere Marquette Lumber Company, at Ludington, Michigan. On the death of its president, Hon. Delos L. Filer, he assumed the management of its affairs, which he retained until the time of his death. In the mean- time he had received John McLaren into his employ, and in 1870 made him a partner in the firm of John Mason Loomis & Company.
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the "Company" comprising Mr. McLaren alone. For fifteen years they transacted a large business at Chicago in the lumber commission line, and in 1885 Colonel Loomis retired from the partnership.
Colonel Loomis' connection with the Chicago Relief and Aid Society commenced after the Chicago fire in IS71. For a year or more after that sweeping calamity, he devoted his entire time to the receiving and distributing the world's gifts to the needy, and to the providing of temporary quarters for the homeless. His connection with this great charity ended only with his own life. In 1873 he served as its auditor, and was a member of its auditing committee from 1874 to 1881, ever giving freely of his energies, abilities and means in furtherance of the work. Soon after its organization in 1874, he became an active member of the Citizens' Association of Chicago, and served as chairman of its military committee from 1879 to 1883. Colonel Loomis was among the far-seeing pioncers in the organization of the Illinois National Guard. He had long seen the necessity for the creation of a citizen soldiery, properly drilled and equipped, which should serve as a nucleus for home defense in case of war. He was of those wise men who believed that national se- curity was largely dependent on ample military preparation. During the period of his service as chairman of the military committee of the Citizens' Association he enjoyed special facilities for advancing the interests of the Illinois National Guard. More than any other man he placed that organization on a firm financial basis, and- was personally the means of raising twenty thousand dollars for its early support. He was also one of the charter members of the Loyal Legion, and in 1884 succeeded General Sheridan as commander of the Illinois Commandery. He was a member of the George H. Thomas Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the association composed of his surviving comrades of the Twenty-sixth Illinois Regiment, of which he was honorary colonel from the date of its organization until his death. He was also closely identified with the Society of the Army of the Tennessee from its founding until his death, attending most of its reunions and serving several times as vice-president of the organization. In fact, there were few Civil war veterans of the west who enjoyed a wider popularity in patriotic associations than did Colonel Loomis.
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In politics Colonel Loomis always voted for Republicanism. While a lover of his home, he was at the same time broadly social, and was identified with the Chicago, Calumet, Union, Saddle and Cycle, On- wentsia and Tolleston clubs, all of Chicago, also of the Jekyl Island Club, with headquarters on the island so named, off the coast of Georgia. Of the two clubs last noted, the Colonel was a charter member.
In 1878, Colonel Loomis, with his brothers and sister, incor- porated the Loomis Institute at Windsor, Connecticut. This institu- tion is to be a memorial to this branch of the Loomis family, for the Colonel and his associate founders, through the death of all of their children, foresaw that with their death an honored name would become extinct. The Loomis Institute is, in the words of its charter, "for the free education of all persons between the ages of twelve and twenty years who can read and write and who are grounded in the elementaries of arithmetic, grammar and geography. In case a greater number of persons having the requisite qualifications shall apply for admission than the institute can accommodate, then selec- tion from said applicants shall be made, first, from those belonging to the Loomis family by name or consanguinity; next, from those belonging to the town of Windsor; next, from those belonging to the state of Connecticut, and next from those deemed worthy without regard to state or nation, all of which shall be determined by the trustees or their successors, or by committees by them appointed, in conformity to the provisions of the incorporating act." The family homestead bought by Joseph Loomis in 1640 is to be the site of the institute buildings, and the eventual endowment fund will be the estates of Colonel Loomis, his brothers and sister, amounting approx- imately to two million dollars. This memorial will live as an evidence . of the noble traits of this family, which are interwoven with the Loomis history from the time of its planting in American soil.
Colonel Loomis' wife was formerly Miss Mary Hunt, daughter of Hon. Milo Hunt, of Chenango county, New York, to whom he was married in 1849, when starting in the lumber trade as a resident of Milwaukee. To their deep sorrow the children born to them all died in infancy. His honored widow still survives, residing at 55 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, and as a lasting tribute to the Colonel's memory Mrs. Loomis recently erected a beautiful memorial altar of
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marble and mosaic in Grace church, the ancestral house of worship at Windsor, Connecticut. Both husband and wife were members of Grace Episcopal church, Chicago, from its organization.
Robert B. Gregory, elected president of Lyon and HIcaly in 1907. has been identified with the music trade for more than forty years, or
ROBERT B. since the establishment of the great house in whose
GREGORY. development he has been such a faithful and in-
fluential agent. His steady rise from a subordinate clerkship to the head of the widely extended and firmly established business is a just reward of his many years of effort and his strong natural abilities-all steadfastly applied to the honorable advantage of the house.
Mr. Gregory is a native of Jonesville, Michigan, born September 4, 1848, son of Robert and Elizabeth ( Bowman) Gregory. He was educated in the home schools, and at the age of fifteen came to Chicago. his first employment being as an office boy with Root and Cady, pro- prietors of a music store, later becoming a messenger boy with the State Savings Bank. With the establishment of the firm of Lyon and Healy, in 1864, the youth of sixteen entered their employ and com- menced his long and upward career in the commercial field of music. From the position of clerk he was promoted to that of traveling sales- man, and in the latter capacity rendered them fine service for some four years. Afterward ( from 1875 to 1892) as foreign buyer, he oc- cupied a particularly responsible and delicate field. Thus becoming thoroughly familiar with the business of the house within its office and both in its domestic and foreign territory, Mr. Gregory's admission to the firm as a general partner was but a legitimate advancement, and in 1890, when the business was incorporated, he assumed the position of treasurer of the company. He was later elected vice president. and. as stated, was chosen to the head of the business in December. 1907.
Mr. Gregory is a leader in both business and social circles. He was married in Chicago, December 18, 1880, to Miss Addie V. Ilib- bard, and three children have been born to them-Eleanor Hibbard. Grace (deceased) and Ruth. The family has long been prominent in the work of Grace Episcopal church, in which Mr. Gregory is a ves- tryman, and the city home is at No. 1638 Prairie avenue: "Ledge- inere," the beautiful summer home, is in Highland Park. Personally,
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Mr. Gregory is independent in politics, and is identified with the Union League, Chicago Athletic, Exmoor and South Shore Country clubs.
One of the strongest men of Chicago, Arthur Dixon has attained prominence as a business factor and as a sturdy and progressive force ARTHUR DIXON. in the public affairs of the city, county and state. He is of Scotch-Irish descent and his entire career has demonstrated that his blood is of the best strain. He was born March 27, 1837, in county Fermanagh, north of Ire- land, son of Arthur and Jane ( Allen) Dixon. His father was a man of noticeable flexibility and force of character, being at times farmer, teacher and attorney, his grandfather and uncle holding commissions in the British army. It was from this father, for whom Arthur Dixon always had the deepest affection and reverence, that the son with whom this sketch chiefly deals, received his early training and from whom he inherited many of his characteristic traits.
As a boy Mr. Dixon was remarkably alert and vigorous, both mentally and physically, his favorite early studies being mathematics, logic, history and ethics. The discipline of his youthful years was moral. as well as mental, and from early boyhood he was a constant attendant at the Episcopal and Methodist Sunday schools. At the age of eighteen he left home, even then grounded in all manly traits, and from 1855 to 1858 resided in Philadelphia, where he had joined some old-time friends. He then spent three years at Pittsburg, en- gaged in the nursery business.
The coming of Arthur Dixon to Chicago dates from 1861, when he became a clerk in the grocery of G. C. Cook, but soon after as- sumed the role of a proprietor, which he continued for a number of years with fair success. In the meantime he had accidentally en- tered the field of business, in which more than forty-five years of able and stanch labors have brought him a standing second to none in the country. One of his grocery customers ran up so large a bill of credit that cash payment was beyond the limits of possibility, and in payment thereof Mr. Dixon assumed a team of horses and a wagon. To prevent the animals from eating up his final profits he engaged in teaming, this accidental outside venture proving so profitable that in 1862 he abandoned his grocery business and established a general teaming concern at 299 Fifth avenue. This was the origin of the
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CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
enormous business which has been transacted for forty-six years un- der the name of the Arthur Dixon Transfer Company, of which he is still president. In addition to his controlling interest in the com- pany he is a director in the F. Parmelee Company, the Central Trust Company, West Pullman Land Association, Dixon Land Association. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and Grand Trunk Railroad Company.
Mr. Dixon's splendid services for the public and the Republican party commenced during the period of the Civil war, when he was an energetic, rising young business man. His work in enlisting and equipping men for the Union ranks called forth general praise. To- ward the end of the war he became especially prominent in local poli- tics and obtained firm standing with his fellow citizens by his active participation in the establishment of the fire limits. In the spring of 1867 he was elected by the Republicans as alderman from the Second ward, and for twenty-four years served continuously as a member of the city council, holding the record both for faithfulness and length of aldermanic service. Although he was returned to his seat year after year with increased majorities and sometimes without opposi- tion, the contest in the common council over his elevation to the presi- dency of that body was bitter. He was chosen, however, and con- tinued in office from 1874 to 1880, inclusive. At various times he served as chairman of all the important committees and, whether as a working member, a debater or "watchdog of the city treasury," made his mark. Among other important measures he advocated inu1- nicipal ownership of the gas plant, high water pressure, building of sewers by special assessment, creation of a public library, annexation of the suburbs, building of viaducts over railway crossings, the drain- age law and the extension of the fire limits. At Mr. Dixon's resigna- tion in April, 1891, the city council, as a body, expressed its unqualified regret at his action, and placed on record its conviction of "his great public worth, his zeal for honest and economical government, his sin- cere interest in the cause of the tax payers, and his undoubted and unquestioned ability in every position assigned to him." Mr. Dixon was one of the foremost in laying a wise and substantial foundation for the World's Columbian Exposition, and in April. 1892, was elected one of its directors, his services and counsel being invaluable.
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Mr. Dixon represented the first senatorial district of Illinois in the twenty-seventh general assembly, and among the bills introduced and passed by him at that session were those providing for the loca- tion of the Chicago Public Library and the extension of sewerage and water by special tax levy and sundry other bills. For a quarter of a century he has been a member of the city and county Republican central committees, and has served many times as chairman of both of these bodies. In 1872 he was a leading candidate for Congress. failing of the nomination by only a few votes, and in 1880 served as a delegate to the national Republican convention which named James A. Garfield for the presidency. Justly proud of his nationality, Mr. Dixon has also been highly honored by the Irish Republicans of the city and nation. In 1868 he was elected president of the Irish Re- publican Club of Chicago and in the following year to the head of the national organization. In Masonry his standing is long and high. having joined the fraternity in 1865 and being now a life member of the chapter and commandery. a thirty-second degree Mason of the Scottish rite. Mr. Dixon has also served as president of the Irish Literary Society and his mind is of a high order. He has a choice library of religious, scientific, poetical and philosophical works, and is in close and inspiring communion with the intellectual masters and moral prophets of the past and present.
In January, 1862, Mr. Dixon married Miss Annie Carson. of Alle- gheny. and fourteen children have been born to them, of whom six - sons and six daughters are still living. George W. Dixon. the sec- ond son, is secretary and treasurer of the Arthur Dixon Transfer Company. and Thomas J. Dixon, third son. holds the position of gen- eral manager. The domestic relations of Arthur Dixon have always been warm and harmonious in the extreme. and his home at 313I Michigan boulevard represents an ideal American household. He wa! reared in the Episcopal faith. but for many years has been a leader ir the work of the First Methodist church, of which he has been a trus. tee and Sunday-school teacher for forty-five years, and is now presi- dent of the board. His broad identification with organizations of a social and co-operative nature is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Social Union. Art Institute. Historical Society. Chicago Real Estate Board, Bankers' Club. Chicago Board of Trade, Union League and the Hamilton. Calumet and Illinois Athletic clubs.
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A native of Chicago, where he also received his education and from whose life he drew his individual inspiration, George William
Dixon is a typical citizen of the typical western
GEORGE W.
city-now western only in geographical location. DIXON. but metropolitan in spirit and the scope of her ac- tivities. He is a business man of broad education. secretary and treasurer of the Arthur Dixon Transfer Company; has a thorough legal training; has ably served in the upper house of the state legisla- ture, and his influence in Republicanism is further indicated by his pending service as presidential elector from the first Illinois district.
After passing through the grammar course in Chicago and grad- uating from the old West Division high school. Mr. Dixon pursued a classical course in the Northwestern University, from which he gradu- ated in 1889 with the degree of A. B. He then entered the law school of the same institution, from which he graduated in 1892, with the degree of LL. B. After leaving college Mr. Dixon practiced his pro- fession for about five years, his work being largely in the capacity of receiver for large corporations. In 1893 he became identified with the Arthur Dixon Transfer Company, being appointed to his present position in the same year. The business of this great corporation was founded by his father and has been developed through the united efforts of different members of the family. Its modern growth into one of the leading establishments of the kind in the country has come largely through the executive ability and trained legal mind of its secretary and treasurer.
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