History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 161

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time > Part 161

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HENRY R. DE YOUNG, firm of Madderom & De Young, who keep a general paint store and deal in everything pertaining to the business, besides glass, wall paper, window shades, etc. Hle came to Chicago June 23. 1866, when he engaged in painting, and con- tinued the trade there until he came to Roseland. He was born in Netherland, Holland, October 24. 1843. In his native country he was a sailor by occupation. In 1873 he married Miss P. Mad- derom, who was born in Holland September 8, 1852. They have three children-Richard, Nicholas and John. They are members of the Dutch Reformed Church of Roseland.

JOHN R. DICKSON, proprietor livery stables, was born in Chatham County, Ga., January 21, 1842, and was raised near Sa- vannah. During the last two years of the war he was employed in the Quartermaster department. Ile followed farming a number of years, and then came to Chicago in 1880, where he was con- ductor on the street ears until he eime to Roseland, March 5. 1883. Mr. Dickson married. November 16, 1575. Miss Grace G. Elwood, of Florence Township. Will Co., Ill. They have two children, Sarah Ellen and Louis Elizabeth. [le is a member of Wilmington Lodge, No. 30t, I. O. O. F., of Wilmington, Il].

CHARLES D. HEWS, physician and surgeon, came to Chi- cago in 1964 and became a student at the Chicago University. He

was born at La Porte, Ind., April 5, 1846, and was educated at Hillsdale, Mich., and Chicago University. In 1869 he graduated from the medical department of the Michigan University. Pre- vious to that he bad practiced medicine at Marengo, Ill. Aftergrad- uating at Ann Arbor he located at Roseland, Cook County, where he has since practiced bis profession. He is a member of the Masonie Order, and in 1876 was Township Trustee of Ilyde Park. Ile has always been identified in improvements of the township, and helped obtain the first appropriation for street improvements. He was married in 1876, and has one daughter.

ISAAC KOMMERS, blacksmith, came to Chicago in 1865. and has since followed blacksmithing at Roseland. Ile was born in Holland August 11, 1840, and came with his parents to the United States in 1848. The family settled at Franklin, Wis., near Milwaukee. They were poor, and there was very little or no money in the country. Thicir produce could be sold only to the immigrants, and they were obliged to trade and traffic around in various ways to obtain a livelihood, Rabbits, quails, and grouse afforded the only meat food for a number of years. Their nearest flour mill was twenty miles off. The soil was rich and productive. and a few years of toil put those hardy pioneers in better circum- stances. Mr. Kommers was raised a blacksmith. In 1968 he married Miss Cornelia Prince. They had two children, Jozina and Elizabeth. Ilis wife died in 1871, and in 1872 he married Frances Vanderberg, a native of Holland. They had four children- Isaac, Jr., Nellie, Mary and Jane. They are members of the Dutch Reformed Church,

CORNELIUS KUYPER, farmer, P. O. Roseland, came to his place near Roseland in June, 1849, when there was only one family settled there. He began farming and has since followed that occupation. He was the first store-keeper between Bine Island and Chicago, running his store from 1850 to 1854. lle has served as road commissioner five years, school director twenty two years, constable seven years, and also served on the police force. Mr. Kuyper was born in Netherlands, Europe, February 13. 1816. In his native country he was a general laborer. In May. 1840, he was married to Miss Mary Daienberg, a native of the same piace. They had fourteen children, four of whom died with cholera in crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their trip to America. The chil- dren now living are Jacob, Cornelius, Jr., Mary, Nellie. and Annie. They are members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Mrs. Kuyper died April 13. 1865.

JOHN MADDEROM. firm of Madderom & De Young, deal- ers in paints, oils, glass, wail paper, and window shades. They embarked in trade in the spring of 1874. Ifis parents settled in Roscland, then called the Holland settlement, in 1853. Ile was born in Holland, September 2, 1843, coming to the United States in 1853. In 1867 he married Miss Mary C. Vanderburg, a native of Holland. They have five children-Katie, Garret, Nicholas, Minnie, and John. Jr. They are members of the Dutch Re- formed Church of Roseland. In October, 1861, he eulisted in Company F. 58th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and participated in ail the battles of his command, and was mustered out in Novem- ber, 1865. He Is a member of the Roseland Fire Company.

GERRIT OTTO, dealer in furniture and bedding, embarked in trade May I, 1881. Ile came to Chicago in 1856, where he was raised and educated. He was born in Holland October 3. 1843, and came to the United States with his parents in 1856. In 1866 he was married to Miss Gertrude Vermenlen, a native of [lolland. They have five children-Mary W., Nellic S., Hattie, Lizzie, D. R. and Katie. He is a member of Pullman Lodge. No. 763, I. O. O. F. In 1864-65 he taught the Roseland publie school, a term of one year. He was two years a student of Hope College, of Holland, Ottawa Co., Mich.

ELIJAH A. PIERCE, grocer, embarked in business October 22, 1883. He was in the employ of the Pullman Palace Car Com- pany June 29. 1881, one year ; then book-keeper and cashier for W. O. Sutherland & Co. eight months, after which he took charge of their branch store at North Pullman until he began business for himself. He was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, January 21. 1849, and was there raised and educated. He was engaged in the mercantile business in Iroquois County, III., from 1874 to 1880; then in Tuscola, Douglas Co., until coming to Cook County, Mr. Pieree is a member of Pullman Lodge, No. 716. 1. O. O. F .; and Calumet Lodge, No. 215, A. O. U. W. October 26, 1881. he mar- ried Miss Katc Curtis, of Oakland, Coles Co., III. They have one son. Fredrick Sterling. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce are members of the M. E. Church.

PETER PRINCE, firm of Prince & Madder, dealers in floor, grain. hay, coal and feed, began trade in the spring of 1883. He was born in Roseland, Cook County. December 6. 1852. Ilis parents settled at Roseland in 1849. In 1875 he married Miss Delia Martha, a native of llolland. They have five children- Jennie, Benjamin, Jozina, Cornelia Nellie and Martha. They are members of the American (or Dutch) Reformed Church.

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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

JEROME RICHARDSON, proprietor of the Richardson Honse, was born in La Porte, Ind., March 29, 1550, and was raised and educated al Valparaiso (Ind.) Normal School. During his business life he has been engaged in keeping hotel; coming 10 Roseland May 1, 1853, and erecting his hotel. In 1880 he was census enumerator of Ross Town, Lake Co., Ind. October 24. 1880, be married Miss Elma Beemer, of Hobart, Lake Co., Ind. Mr. Richardson is a member of McClelland Lodge, No. 357, A. F. & A. M., of the latter place.

PETER SONNEVELD, manufacturer of cigars and tobacco, employs from four to eight men in the business. He came to Chi- csgo in November, 1881. and has since been engaged in the above business. He was born in Netherland, Holland, September 24. 1861, and came to the United States in 1878, and settled in Paterson, N. J., engaging in the manufacture of cigars until he came to Chicago.

HIRAM VANDERBELT, dealer In general merchandise, flour and feed, began trade May 1, 1864. He came to Chicago in 1847 and worked at urloading lumber from vessels and in lumber yards until the spring of 1848. He then began working as roller boy on the Prairie flerald printing press, the first hand-power press brought to Chicago. Afterward he worked in the Western Chief office, then in the Democrat office until 1859. when he opened a small grocery store ; May 1, 1864, be moved to Roseland and began trade. He was born in Netherlands, Ilolland, October 8, 1831, and came to America in 1847. In 1860 he married Miss Johanna Maria De Ron, of Keokuk, Iowa. They have four chil- dred-johanna, Jane, Cornelius, John and Luke J. (by & former marriage). They are members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Mr. Vanderbelt bas ,ffieiated as Town and Village Tax Collector and Town Trustee. He is now president of the Calumet Bible Society, and deacon of the Cbureh.

PETER VANDERBILT, dealer in hardware, stoves, etc., embarked in the business in April, 1881. He was born in South Holland, Cook Co., Ill., May 20, 1859, and was raised and edu- cated in his native county. In January, 1381, he married Miss Mary Krear, of Chicago.

PHILIP VAN NIEUWELAND, farmer, Section 10, P. O. Roseland, came to Chicago in 1849, and followed blacksmithing six years. In 1855 he emigrated to l'ella, Iowa, and pursued his trade until 1873, when he returned to Cook County and located at Roseland, where had since followed agricultural pursuits, and is now gardening at Fifty-first Street. He was born in Holland June 22, 1821, and was raised a blacksmith. In 1851 he married Miss Aaltje Hoff. born in Holland March 25, 1831. They have ten children-John, now engaged in the Detroit Stove Works. Alida, Annie, Lena, Elizabeth, Jacob, Joseph, Ida, Mary and Sarah. They are members of the Reformed Church of Roseland.

ARTHUR VAN VLISSINGEN, is of the firm of J. 11. Van Vlis- singen & Bro., Chicago, with branch office at Roseland, "They keep a real estate, fire insurance and loan office. Arthur came to Chicago in 1873 and was engaged In an abstract office, until the spring of 1881, when he embarked with his brother in the above business, He was born in Holland December 7, 1855, was raised Ibere and educated as an engineer in the navy department, serving three years. October 2, 1383, he married Miss Sophia E. Levering, a na- live of Louisville, Ky. James H., his brother, came to Chicago in 1872.

DIRK VAN VUMREN, farmer, Section 10, P. O. Roseland, settled at South Holland, Cook County, in 1847, with his parents; his father's name being Roel Van Vumren. The winter of 1947-48 was very severe, and the snow was very deep and crusted so bard that teams could be driven on it. Mr. D. Van Vumren was born in South Holland September 12. 1834, whenee he emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1847. December 3, 1854, he mar- ried Miss Maartje De Young. a native of North Holland, born April 25, 1835. They have eight children-Margaret, Gertie, Rolland, Jr., Katle, Maggie, Gertrude, Anna and Jacob. They are members of the Reformed Church of Roseland, of which he has been deacon eleven years. Mrs. Van Vumren's parents came tc Roseland in 1848.

JOHN VINKE, policeman, was born in Thornton Township, Cook Co., Ill., August 19. 1854. He was raised on a farm and edu- caled In his native county. Ilis father is a farmer. Ile worked in the transfer yards of the M. C. R. R. about five years, at Kensing- ton, and became a member of the police force in 1879. In 1881 he married Mrs. Mary Cole, a native of New York State. They have four children-Gertrude. Mamie, Garrett and Albert.

PULLMAN.

Pullman is a sermon in bricks and mortar on the humane and considerate treatment of employés; a dialectic statue to the efficacy of moral government.

The infinitude of tracery on the cathedral at Cologne is poetically described as " frozen music;" Pullman may be prosaically designated as a corporate, architectural realization of belief in the good dominating human nature. It has been quite fashionable for writers to characterize this city as the creation of a magician, the work of Aladdin, etc .; no genii save foresight, admirable common sense, marvelous executive ability and rare conception of the application of details were summoned to create Pullman ; no Aladdin save George M. Pullman® erected the city, and in the brain of its creator every detail had an existence ere its prototype was reproduced in material form. Herein is the marvel of its construc- tion that one man could create so perfect a city ; so com- plete in every respect, and to characterize it as an Aladdinic city is to belittle it ; as the " Arabian Nights" entertainments say nothing of sewerage facilities, nor of gas and hot and cold water ; all of which are cominon to houses in Pullman. Looking at the city, realizing its perfection of minute arrangement, it is difficult to realize that the same mind planned the water-tower and the gas lamps, the town in its entirety and the manufacture of the bricks whereof it is constructed. And the Pull- man brick are selected by the village of Hyde Park, with which to construct their tunnel under Lake Mich- igan. Of course. other minds have planned buildings, conceived machinery and imagined certain arrange- ments, but every petty detail has been matured by Mr. Pullman, hence the town is essentially congruous and unique. The misanthropic mind only sees in this assemblage of buildings, a desire upon the part of the erector to care for the material wants of the workmen, to so ameliorate their condition that their work will be more cheerfully performed ; and from the restful and hygienic character of their habitations, their physical man will be more fitted to cope with the specific tasks allotted each person. This, necessarily, must be one factor in the considerations taken into account by the builder, as the Pullman Palace Car Company are pro- prietors of the works wherein these laborers work, and Mr. Pullman is a keen man of business. But, in his care of, and consideration for, the needs of the work- men, he not only considers their physical wants but their mental requirements, and labors to make every workman the possessor of the human desideratum mens sana in corpore sano. His town is a demon- stration of a vexed question in ethics ; an example that it is financially profitable for capital to consider the every day wants of labor ; a crucial test, successfully underwent, testifying that, when humanity is possessed of wealth, capital and labor are no longer irrecon- cileable antagonisms, but are allies ; the closer the relations between whom, the more mutually beneficial the result. How carnestly Mr. Pullman worked to foster, or create, higher and nobler thoughts and im- pulses in the inhabitants of Pullman only he, and the Deity he served so well in his humanitarian project, know ; it is certain that had no consideration affected him save the desire to make his workmen more robust and healthy, there would have been no need to endow a library with five thousand volumes, nor to erect and maintain an unremunerative first-class theater ; nor to do everything that a man of far-reaching mind and comprehensive intellect can do to adorn a prosaic work- a-day life of his employés with artistic beauty, literary excellence and bountiful sunlight. Mr. Pullman does not consider his employés as athletes, whom he has to

* George M. Pullman is president of Pullman's Palace Car Company ; W. E. Barrows, late president of the Willimantic Cotton Company, assistant to The president ; A. B. Puliman, second vice-president, and A. Rapp is manager ol the Chicago workf.

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HISTORY OF HYDE PARK.

carefully train for gladiatorial combats with tasks im- posed by him; but as thinking, reasoning, human fel- low-creatures whose mental and bodily comfort and welfare it is his duty, his interest and' his privilege to watch over and enhance. The town of Pullman is a fitting monument of nineteenth century Republican- ism ; community of interest, exemplified in self-govern- ment without boards, conclaves or selectmen ; com- munity of responsibility, manifest in the absence of courts, jails and policemen,* and community of egotis. tic interest-a very strong bond, in fact, and according to the philosophers of the La Rochefoucauld school- demonstrated by the premiuin of Pullman stock, and the eulogies of the workmen upon the advantages of their social and domiciliary status, as compared with workmen elsewhere. The lesson will not be lost upon those who consider only the monetary advantages desirable for any action ; George M. Pullman has con- clusively shown that philanthropy pays, and that a liberal supply of adjuncts to happy, healthy existence are more remunerative than tenement-houses, besides being decidedly more provocative of good citizenship. The man who keeps a tenement house, reeking with pestilence and suggestive of evil in every detestable cranny, is an enemy of good government and a traitor to his kind. Marryat uttered the truism : "A man will never commit a murder in a clean shirt ;" it requires pretty hard, persistent diaholism for a man to conjure up evil deeds, surrounded with cleanly, bright and pure influences, and these every man, woman and child has at Pullman. The Gospel according to St. Oxygen is freely preached at Pullman, and before these doctrines squalor departs, into metaphorical or actual swine, and runs into the sea.

The town is situated upon the west bank of the Calumet Lake, and extends from the lake to Pullman Boulevard, and from One Hundred and Third Street to One Hundred and Fifteenth Street. It is located partly on lands belonging to the Pullman Land Association and to the Palace Car Company. The surface at its lowest point is eight feet above the level of the lake, and augments in height toward the north and west until, at some points, it is twenty-five feet above the lake. The soil is blue-drift clay, about ninety feet thick, beneath which is Niagara limestone. On May 26, 1880, the first laborers commenced work ; and an interesting lot of navigators they were. In excavations for large works, where hundreds of laborers are congregated. there are usually numbers of exceedingly indurated citizens, and the " Hotel De Grab" of Pullman was no exception. This was a roughly constructed frame huild- ing, where the laborers took their meals, and received its elegant cognomen from the system whereby its habitués helped themselves to the uncostly viands provided there. About one hundred and fifty of the workmen slept in old sleeping cars ; and used to put their clothes under their bodies, to try and preclude their theft : but they were stolen. Nobody appeared to be especially minus any articles of apparel, but there was a constant rotation of vestments, indicative of a marvelous unanimity of peculative sentiment. These pioneers were a peculiar class and the men who had suffered penalties of the law the most times for offenses, were the Solons of the mass. But after the excavating and filling was com- pleted they passed away, and the reign of order com- menced.

On January 1, 1881, the first family moved to Pull- man-that of a Mr. Benson, now superintendent of car

. The solitary policeman of Pullman is a species of gratuity from the vil- lage of Hyde Park in return for the taxes paid by Pullman. His presence is about as necessary as if he were a Headle of whom Charles Dickens wrote.

shops at St. Louis-February 28, 1881, there were eight families in Pullman, and June 1 of that year eighty families were resident of the town. At present-Jan- uary, 1884-the population is estimated at eight thou- sand. During 1881, the following materials were used in the construction of the town, and from these figures some idea may be formed of the magnitude of the undertaking, wherein a city was built within ten months from the time the soil was first upturned to lay a foun- dation :* Brick, twenty-five million ; slate roofing. five thousand squares ; gravel roofing, three thousand squares ; rubble, nine thousand five hundred cords lime, thirty-five thousand barrels ; lumber, ten million feet : flooring laid, one million one hundred and twenty- five thousand feet ; cement, twenty-five thousand bags iron, fifteen hundred tons : sand, fifty-five thousand yards ; glass, three hundred and fifty thousand superfi. cial feet.+ Statistics are always nice references, hut what average person realizes the magnitude of the spaces filled by the materials above tabulated ? Sixty- six miles of glass ; three thousand one hundred and fifty-six miles of brick ; laid end to end, sufficient to extend three-fourths of the distance across the United States at its widest part ; eighteen hundred and ninety. four miles of lumber, and so forth. Just so inadequate as these figures are to describe volumes of buildings resulting from their employment, so is phraseology in- sufficient to convey a comprehensible description of Pullman. The station is just 13.96 miles from the Illinois Central depot at Chicago, and is a handsome building designed by S. S. Beman, the architect of Pull- man. There is no need for eulogy either in the case of Mr. Beman, or of the landscape engineer, N. F. Barrett , their works speak most eloquently.

Immediately to the north of the depot is Lake Vista. The heauty of this ornamental water is great, and is the only feature of the town that appears without practical utility in addition to its optical charm. Has it no use ' The great Corliss engine uses a vast amount of steam, and condenses a great deal of water. Where does the exhaust empty? Into Lake Vista ; and this apparently useless, but pretty sheet of water, is fed by the waste condensed water from the Corliss engine. The reflec- tion induced is, that everything serves some good pur- pose in the economy of Pullman, and it does.

Immediately east of the depot is the Hotel Florence, of which hostelry D. G. Wells is the superintendent. Here one hundred guests can be accommodated, and one hundred and twenty-five can comfortably partake of the fare in the dining room. It received its name in honor of Miss Florence, the little daughter of George M. Pullman. The hotel is finished in cherry, is ele- gantly and tastefully constructed and decorated, and its guests include the haut ton of Pullman and Chicago.

Southeast from the hotel is the Pullman church, an elegant edifice of green serpentine stone-obtained in Pennsylvania-and in the construction of which church Mr. Beman introduced a novel arrangement of the par- sonage, whereby it forms an integral part of the build- ing and adds to the general effect. The edifice cost $57,000, and has a frontage of one hundred and sixteen feet by a depth of one hundred feet. Its spire is one hundred and forty-six feet high. The auditorium will accommodate six hundred worshipers, and their vocal- ism will be enhanced by the $3.500 organ, huilt by Steer & Turner at Springfield, Mass. The interior of the

. U'nril January. 1883, 45,000,000 brick and 16,000,000 feet of lumber were used, with other materials.

t The inanimate authorities consulted in the preparation of this article are the Agricultural Keview, January, 1883 ; The Western Manufacturer, Novem- ber. 1881, and the Inter Ocean, New Year number of 1883 ; article by Elwyn A. liarron.

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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

church is finished in oak, highly polished, and the walls are artistically treated in neutral tints until the ceiling is reached, which is painted in representation of the firmament. In the south end of the church is a large rose-window of chromatic glass. The clement of art was largely considered in the erection of Pullman, and in the minor details ere the town became a reality; hence the existence of this church is comprehensible. It has been stated that Mr. Pullman had some idea that the various sects would unite and hold union serv- ices in the church; Pullman is an Arcadia, but nowhere this side of the New Jerusalem will sectional dogma- tisms consent to an appearance of unity. The canine and the feline have lain down together without diminu- tion of the hair or fur of either; but the consorting to- gether of a Trinitarian and a Unitarian of their own volition, will not occur until the reveille of Gabriel shall have divested religionists of their little cloaks of creed, and they stand for judgment in their divine humanity alone. But the church-despite the rental necessary to be exacted on a primal cost of $57,000-will not long be tenantless of devotional inmates; it is merely a ques- tion of the growth of the city and the consequent accre- tion to one of the sects there, whose members are now debating the expediency of renting the building. This chef-d'œuvre of ecclesiastical architecture is by S. S. Beman, as are all the other buildings in Pullman. Fromn church to congregation is but a step; and this is an opportunity to recount the various sects that worship in Pullman.

RELIGIOUS -The first sermon preached in Pullman was on the last Sunday in November, 1881, by Rev. R. W. Bland, a Methodist minister, and his congregation comprised seventy persons. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by him in the ensuing January, with nineteen members. The first Sunday-school or- ganized in Pullman was that of the Methodists, of which William Betzel was the organizer in April, 1881; the school being composed of six scholars at the first meet- ing and twelve at the second. At the time the Church was organized there were about sixty-five in the school. Rev. R. W. Bland continued in charge of the Church until the spring of :383, when he was succeeded by Rev. F. W. Warne, the present pastor. Messrs. Gordon and Charles Starkweather are now class-leaders; the mem- bership of the Church forty-five, the congregation one hundred and fifty, and the Sunday-school attendance one hundred. The first preaching services were held in the cast depot building, then used for school pur- poses, and the first Sunday-school was held in the attic of the main office over the arch; the services at pres- ent are held in Room 60, Arcade Building .*

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 161

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875