USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Political history of Chicago (covering the period from 1837 to 1887) Local politics from the city's birth; Chicago's mayors, aldermen and other officials; county and federal officers; the fire and police departments; the Haymarket horror; miscellaneous > Part 10
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LAWRENCE A. YORE.
This gentleman is the hero of a great triumph in the Eighth ward. He knocked out the Democratic machine in great shape. He defeated John Long, the regular Democratic nominee and can thank William McCarthy the coal man, a great deal for his victory. The friends of James McCann, the printer, and Matt Murphy, the ex- representative were also very active. His career in the Council up to date has been signalized by the introduction of an ordinance refusing employment to men who have not become citizens of the United States of America. He is a forcible speaker and at times quite eloquent. Mr. Yore was born in 1844 at the corner of Lake and Franklin street, Chicago, and belongs to a numerous and respected family.
WILLIAM F. MAHONY.
This gentleman was elected May 13, 1884, at a special election by a preponderating vote to fill the unexpired
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term of Alderman John Foley, of the ninth who died, a victim to consumption. He was nominated by the Demo- crats, and the Republicans nominated nobody against him.
William Francis Mahony was born February 22, on West Jackson street, in Chicago, almost directly opposite to where he lias transacted a flourishing grocery business for the last fifteen years. Mr. Mahony owes his election to the fact that he was born, educated, and grew up in the ward and made friends as he went along in life. He is essentially no politician.
One of the most representative Democrats in this ward is Peter Kearns, street inspector. This gentleman was born in Boorfield, Roscommon county, Ireland, October 23, 1832. He took a prominent part in the Mahony campaign.
J. R. WHEELER.
Elected in the ninth ward under the new election law to succeed John Gaynor, who succeeded his brother Michael, who was killed by James Dacey, Mr. Wheeler was called a deacon by his political opponents during the campaign. The gentleman says he is not a deacon, but allows that he is a passable church member. He was born in 1827 in Chenango County, N. Y., and served as a school commissioner and as a supervisor for two terms. Remov- ing to Chicago, he engaged in real estate and is now iden- tified with railroad interests.
STEPHEN P. REVERE.
The Alderman from the tenth ward, was born July 28, 1856, in San Andreas, Calaveras county, California, and came to Chicago in 1865. He is a carriage-maker by trade, but is engaged at present in the wine and spirits business at 258 West Lake street. He was elected in the spring of 1885, and his majority over James Walsh, who was an Alderman at the time, is estimated at 342. The tenth
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ward is Senator George E. White's old stamping ground, and that this gentleman threw his influence into the fight in favor of Mr. Revere is pretty generally conceded. Revere seems to be popular with the workers in this section of the city, and his friends predict great things for him.
H. M. DEAL.
This gentleman, who succeeded Mr. McNurney in the tenth ward, is a Republican, and engaged extensively in the real-estate business.
SAMUEL SIMONS.
The Alderman from the eleventh ward, is a large manu- facturer of printer's furniture and railroad ticket cases, and has been engaged in the business in Chicago for the lest twenty-five years.
Mr. Simons was born in London, England, in 1837. He came to America in 1853 and located in New York City. In 1855 he came to Chicago, and for five years fol- lowed his trade as a carpenter and joiner. From that he drifted into his present business.
SAMUEL KERR.
Elected under the new election law in the eleventh ward, Mr. Kerr was born in McHenry county, Illinois, went to Portage, Wisconsin, and graduated from Columbia College. He is an attorney .
WALTER S. HULL.
Representing the twelfth ward in the City Council, Alderman Hull is an attorney, commanding an extensive practice. He was born in Industry, Ohio, March 13, 1847, and probably inherited his political instincts from his father, who served his state as a Senator. Alderman Hull graduated from Yale College in 1870, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1874. He ran ahead of his ticket when
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elected from the twelfth. It may be added that Mr. Hull's father was Colonel of the Thirty-seventh Indiana, and died from the effects of a wound received at the battle of Stone River. Alderman Hull is a member of the Com- mittee on Judiciary, Police and Printing.
J. L. CAMPBELL.
Alderman Campbell was born in Livingston county, N. Y., and came to Illinois at the age of nineteen, settling in Elgin. He was educated in Iowa University, in Lafayette, and has practiced law ever since. He transacts an extens- ive real estate business also.
When the question was agitated of organizing Montana Territory, Alderman Campbell first became a public man. He was invited to represent that region in congress, but was intercepted by a horde of Indians while en route to the locality. He was first elected Alderman in 1869. He was. repeatedly elected.
JOHN W. LYKE.
The senior Alderman of the thirteenth ward is a flourishing grain and commission merchant. He was born in Schoharie, New York, in 1836, and after some years spent in Oswego, came to Chicago. He worked for as little as seventy-five cents per day on the "raging canal," and soon rose to the proud position of Captain of a canal boat. The early life of Alderman Cullerton, by the by, was also spent on the canal. During the fire of 1871 Alderman Lyke was in Havana, Ill., but he quickly hur- ried to the relief of the destitute of Chicago, with almost a million bushels of wheat. Many prominent citizens of today remember with great gratitude his magnanimity during those trying days. Alderman Lyke is a member of the Committee on Fire and Water and Streets and Alleys of the West Division and Bridewell.
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JAMES A. LANDON.
Elected under the new election law, in the thirteenth ward, Mr. Landon pursues the even tenor of his way in Room 27, 84 LaSalle street. He is unquestionably no pol- itician, it being only after the most earnest solicitation that he decided to run. He was born in 1841, near Mans- field, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. He was a schoolteacher and farmer; joined the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsyl- vania in 1861, and was Captain of Company B of the One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois. He was wounded at Gettysburg.
FRANK SCHACK.
The junior Alderman of the fourteenth ward, Frank Schack, was born in Launburg, Germany, in 1836, and attended the common school of his native place. When he made Chicago his home at the age of thirty, he had traveled through the principal cities of the Old World and encountered the whims of all nationalities in his occupa- tion as a hotel clerk. In company with Messrs. Eckart & Buehler, he transacted a flourishing wine and liquor trade at 78 La Salle street, but he eventually entered the real estate and insurance business, and in this remunerative occupation he is interested at present. He stands high, especially among the Germans.
D. W. RYAN.
This gentleman as a Republican, succeeds Michael Ryan, a Democrat, and a very strong one in the fourteenth ward. D. W. Ryan is a Union veteran, and is the owner of an extensive coopering establishment.
WILLIAM EISFELDT, JR.
The Alderman from the fifteenth ward was born in the city of Madgeburg, in the Prussian province of Saxonia, February 13, 1852. Arriving here when but a mere infant, 9
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our subject adopted America for his future home, it is true ; but he still preserves in his character a deep respect for all those who hail from his mother country. He has been twice elected to the City Council. He is a liquor dealer.
JOSEPH H. ERNST.
This gentleman succeeds Alderman Young in the fifth- teenth ward, and is a very popular German-American, who by hard work has made a most durable record for himself in Chicago. He is an extensive real-estate dealer.
HENRY SEVERIN.
Alderman Severin, of the sixteenth ward, was born in Morlaw, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Ger- many, February 14, 1847. He has lived in Chicago since 1854. Mr. Severin was a Health Inspector at one time, and is now chief bailiff of the Criminal Court of Cook County. He is a valuable officer.
JOHN H. COLVIN.
John H. Colvin, Alderman of the sixteenth ward, was born October 25, 1848, in Little Falls, Herkimer county, New York, where his father, Hon. Harvey D. Colvin, ex- Mayor of Chicago, and General Agent of the United States Express Company, which he organized in Chicago with a capital of $500,000 in 1854, for seventeen years manufactured boots and shoes. The Alderman, a Demo- crat, was elected by a plurality of 400; Anton Imhof, a Republican ex-Alderman, and Matthias Eisner, a Socialist, running against him. It was a grand battle, Mr. Colvin's most intimate friends having endeavored to dissuade him from appearing in the field.
Young Colvin attended the academy in Little Falls, up to the age of thirteen. In 1853, the family removing to Chicago, he was sent to the Haven school, on Madison near Dearborn, opposite the Tribune office. At the age of
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sixteen he went into the service of his father, in the United States Express office. On June 12, 1862, he entered the army as First Lieutenant of Battery M, First Regiment Illinois Light Artillery, and served up to October 1863 as such, when under an order of the War Department he organized the Colvin Battery, which subsequently was organized as Battery "K" to the First Illinois Light Ar- tillery. On June 12, 1865, he was mustered out, having participated in the battles of Perrysville, Spring Head, Triune, the Siege of Knoxville; taken an active part in the East Tennessee campaign; followed Longstreet into Vir- ginia and pursued Jeff. Davis into South Carolina. Re- suming civil life, Mr. Colvin returned to. the express busi- ness as Assistant Cashier, and served up to November 1881, when he was appointed the Chief Deputy for the Collector of the Town of North Chicago. This he relinquished on the eve of his election as Alderman of the sixteenth ward, in 1882. He was reëlected in 1884 and in 1886.
JOHN A. LINN.
The senior Alderman in the seventeenth ward was born in Calmar, Sweden, June 25, 1848, and came with his parents to America in 1855, and settled in Chicago in 1860. He first went railroading, served as a bridge-tender, was in charge of the crib one year, was a member of the police force from 1873 to 1879, and is today a most successful proprietor of a livery and undertaking business at 308 Di- vision street. Though engaged in a rather gloomy busi- ness, Mr. Linn's disposition is by no means funereal. With first class business instincts is combined an elasticity of spirits which in no small degree explains Mr. Linn's success in life.
THOMAS J. CARNEY.
Elected in the seventeenth ward, the son of ex-Alder- man " honest Tom " Carney, was born in Chicago in 1860.
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He grew up in the north town of Chicago, and knows every nook and corner of it. He served with credit on engine 27, of the fire department and on the police depart- ment. He is a partner in the feed business at 65 N. Mar- ket street, of William Kelley, an old member of engine No. 14, and conducts a sample room on North Market street.
JACOB H. TIEDEMANN.
This gentleman was elected in the eighteenth ward un- der the new election law. He was born in 1848, in New Orleans, and came to Chicago in 1862. He is largely in- terested in real estate, and is a bachelor. He is well known to the fashionable people of north Chicago, and is a cen- tral figure at their interesting entertainments.
WILLIAM R. MANIERRE.
The senior alderman in the eighteenth ward, is the son of the distinguished Judge Manierre, now dead, and was born in Chicago, April 25. 1847. He was first elected in 1882. In his business and social relations his attitude is enviable.
CITY OFFICIALS.
THEODORE T. GURNEY.
The affable City Comptroller of Chicago, was born in Ogdensburgh, New York, September 4, 1820, and was there educated. He commenced the study of law in his father's office, but it was not long before legal quibblings became disinteresting, and commercial pursuits attracted him. Coming to Chicago in 1856 he obtained the posi- tion of book-keeper for Munger & Armour, afterward Munger, Wheeler & Co., grain merchants, and held it up to 1860. In 1862 he was appointed Chief Grain Inspector for the Board of Trade, and thereafter up to 1878 transacted a commission business.
Mr. Gurney was, is, and always will be, a Democrat. As such he led a forlorn hope in the tenth ward, where he was defeated for Alderman. In 1877, however, his business capacity and sterling integrity secured his election as su- pervisor of the West Town of Chicago. He was appointed comptroller in the spring of 1879.
DEWITT C. CREGIER.
De Witt Clinton Cregier has been connected with the public works of Chicago for thirty-three years. For twen- ty-five years he filled the position of chief and designing engineer of the Chicago Works; for three years he was City Engineer, and has just entered upon his fifth year as Commissioner of Public Works.
He was born June 1, 1829, and is the son of John L. and Ann E. (Fort) Cregier, daughter of the well-known
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ship master, so long identified with the merchant marine of New York; cousin of Henry Inman, the portrait painter, and a relative of Daniel D. Tompkins, the Vice President of the United States. An orphan at the age of thirteen, young Cregier commenced to work for a livelihood at the age of sixteen in the engineer's department on the steamer Oregon, running on Long Island Sound. In 1851 he was connected with the engineer corps of the United States mail steamers, plying between New York, Havana and New Orleans. In 1853 he came to Chicago to superintend the first pumping machinery for the water-works. Since that time he designed and superintended the construction and erection of all the machinery now in use at both water works, including the double pumping engine, the largest in the world.
Mr. Cregier stands very high socially. He married Miss Mary S. Foggin, of New York, August 2, 1853, and is the father of six sons and one daughter, all of whom were born in Chicago, and are living.
WILLIAM M. DEVINE.
William M. Devine was born in Ireland in 1844. In 1864 he came to the United States and after recovering from a long illness caused by privations during the voyage from the old country, having been nine weeks at sea on a disabled vessel, he joined the army and went as far south as Cairo. The war luckily ended soon after he enlisted and he, with the other recruits, were ordered to their respect- ive homes. Mr. Devine upon his return from the army, went to work for his brother, who was in the milk business and soon saved enough money to go into business for him- self. This was in 1866, and his business progressed so rapidly under his skillful management that he was soon classed among Chicago's most successful and upright busi- ness men. In 1868 Mr. Devine's success in life permitted
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him to visit his mother country and his old home where his mother resided. During the great fire of 1871 he shared the fate of many other North Siders, and when the poor homeless people sought Lincoln Park as a temporary home, he directed the drivers of his wagons to distribute the milk among the unfortunates. Mr. Devine's financial success is not due chiefly to his milk business. He is a shrewed financier and made several lucky investments in real-estate. In 1879 he again visited Ireland, this time accompanied by his wife. While in his native country he distributed thousands of dollars among the victims of unrelenting landlords, and on his return brought one hun- dred and fifty of the unfortunates to this free country, paying for their transportation out of his own means. He took an active part during the Tilden campaign and since that time he has gradually drifted into politics. In the spring of 1885 he was selected as the Democratic candi- date for City Treasurer.
HEMPSTEAD WASHBURNE.
The City Attorney who is the son of Elihu B. Wash- burne, was born at Galena, Ill., November 11, 1852. He prepared for college at Kent's Hill, Me. In 1871 and 1872 he was a student in the University of Bonn, Germany, and returned to this country in 1873, locating at Madison, Wis. Here he read law in the office of Gregory & Pinney. Graduating in the Wisconsin University he entered the law office of Barber & Lockner and attended the law schools at the same time. In 1876 he established a law office with Henry S. Robbins and in 1883 with ex-Senator Lyman Trumbull. The firm existed until he was elected City Attorney. In 1880 he was appointed Master in Chancery of the Cook County Superior Court. He was elected City Attorney by about 2,000 majority ; the majority the other way at the preceding city election being about 10,000. He is extremely popular.
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FRANCIS A. HOFFMAN.
Francis A. Hoffman, Jr. resigned the presidency of the election commissioners to accept the position of corpora- tion counsel. He is a German Democrat and his position among jurists is a very exalted one.
WILLIAM J. ONAHAN.
This erudite gentleman who fills the very responsible position of City Collector is a native of Leighlin Bridge, Carlow county, Ireland, whence the family removed to Dublin in 1845. In 1851, on St. Patrick's day, they landed in New York City. As an office boy our subject gained a very high regard from his employers, and as an assistant book-keeper he earned and secured the best recom- mendations in New York City. He was employed by a large clothing firm. In 1854 he came to Chicago and at once was identified with Irish and Catholic institutions. He has written voluminously as to both, and connected therewith has today one of the best private libraries in the world. In 1857 he was made Secretary of the Catliolic - Institute, also President of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul. He was one of the organizers of the Twenty-third Illinois Infantry. He was a member of the Board of Edu- cation in 1863 and a Director of the Public Library and was created a Director of that institution in 1873 for eight years. In 1881 he was elected its President. In 1864 he founded St. Patrick's Society ; was its first President and was reelected. He was first made City Collector in 1869. In 1879 he was reappointed by Carter Harrison and unani- mously confirmed by the council.
Mr. Onahan was one of the organizers of the Second Regiment and was President of the Regimental Associa- tion. He was one of the founders of the Charity Organ- zation Society ; was its first Vice-President and is one of the directors of St. Mary's Training School.
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CITY OFFICIALS.
The following gentlemen are attached to the City Col- lector's office :
Special Assessment Clerk -James J. Meathe.
License Clerks -M. B. Wells, Charles F. Wagner.
Delinquent Water Clerk - J. S. Chesbrough.
C. HERMAN PLAUTZ.
The City Clerk was born October 20, 1844, in Klein Sabow, province of Pomerania, Germany, and came to America at the age of eleven. In 1861 he came to Chicago and established himself in the drug business. He built himself up rapidly, and was chiefly instrumental in organizing the Chicago Drug and Chemical Company. He had hardly withdrawn from this institution when he was elected City Clerk. Mr. Plautz is a very quiet gen- tleman, and represents the ultra-modest phase of politics.
CHARLES GASTFIELD.
The Assistant City Clerk was born September 23, 1855, in Chicago. He attended the High School, and after- wards the Dyrenfurth Business College. Having made good records in both institutions, he entered the planing-mill business under his father. Thence he went into the whole- sale department of Field & Leiter, where he was just about thoroughly appreciated when the notion suddenly caught him to enter the real-estate business with Harrison & Weeks. Subsequently he was appointed to a responsi- ble position in the water office, and on the assumption of the City Clerkship by Mr. Neumeister, he was selected his chief clerk.
Mr. Gastfield is industrious, cool-headed, and decidedly courteous.
ALEXANDER KIRKLAND.
The Building Superintendent was born September 24, 1824, in Kilbarchan, near Glasgow, Scotland. He was
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educated in the parochial school of his native village, and graduated from the High School of Glasgow. When seven- teen years of age he began the study of architecture and civil engineering, and pursued it industriously for six years. In mathematics he ranked very high. When twenty-four years of age he went into business himself as an architect, and for fourteen ycars he stood among thie foremost artists of Glasgow. Among other edifices, he built St. Vincent Crescent and Napier Place, costing $2,000,000 ; the Bothwell strcet business block, costing $1,500,000 ; the approaches of the suspension bridge over the Clyde, Anderson & Co's wholesale warehouse, one of the largest in the city of Glasgow, and the public monu- ment to Alexander Theatre Royal. Locating in London, he was a prominent architect there for five years ; and when a national monument was contemplated to the memory of Prince Albert, his design was received with the most flattering compliments of the Queen. In 1866 hc came to New York, where he remained two years, and im- mediately after tlie great fire in 1871 he became a citizen of Chicago. In social circles Mr. Kirkland touches a de- cidedly prominent figure.
WILLIAM EDGAR.
William Edgar, chief clerk and private secretary for Mr. Kirkland, Superintendent of the Building Depart- ment, was born February 25, 1848, in Stranaer, Scotland. He was educated in the Free Church school and Stranaer academy. He came to America in the spring of 1869. When the lamented Daniel O'Hara was clerk of the Re- corder's Court, now the Criminal Court, Mr. Edgar was appointed on his staff. If Stephen A. Douglas was Dan. O'Hara's political Gamaliel, William Edgar worshipped at the same shrine.
In other words, Edgar is a Democrat, dycd in the wool.
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CITY OFFICIALS.
In 1873, when the People's party had succeeded, he was appointed Deputy City Clerk, by Joseph K. C. Forrest, City Clerk. He remained in that position until the elec- tion of Mayor Heath, when he was removed for political purposes. He was appointed Secretary of the Building Department by Superintendent Kirkland, with the consent of Mayor Harrison, in 1878.
Hisideas of architecture were nourished by industrious service under Colonel S. V. Shipman, of Chicago, under whose tutelage he spent three of the best years of his life.
D. O. WILKIE.
Building Inspector Wilkie (brother, by the way, of Franc B. Wilkie, the distinguished journalist and author), was born in West Charlton, Saratoga county, N. Y., Au- gust 2, 1835, and received a common school education. Like the other members of his family, Mr. Wilkie showed his self-reliance by going it alone when of an age when some other boys are dragged along at the end of their mothers' apron strings. He made a carpenter of himself in a brief time at Elgin, Ill., but after a time improved lis circumstances by entering the enginerrs' department of the Illinois Central railroad. In 1868 he came to Chicago and worked at his trade of carpentering. He did the car- penter work on the Times building, after the great fire. He was appointed Building Inspector under Mayor Colvin, and is one of the oldest officers in the service. Mr. Wil- kie is a member of Cleveland Lodge A. F. and A. M., of La Fayette Chapter, and St. Bernard Commandery, K. T. No. 35. He has been a Mason since 1862. He was drafted in the Mound City navy-yard, but was not required to serve.
JOHN AGNEW.
Inspector Agnew was born in Dundee, Scotland, in May, 1832. When twenty years of age he came to Amer-
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ica, and became a mason and brick-layer, and is recognized as one of the best in the western country to day. Almost since his arrival in Chicago, John has been intimately identified with fire matters. At a fire in 1865 he was very seriously injured by a falling wall. He had his arm broken and exhibits scars on his face to day, recalling his narrow escape from death. In 1873 he was appointed Fire Warden, and acted as such up to the organization of the Building Department, when he assumed his present duties.
The following is a list of the attaches of the Building Department: Alexander Kirkland, Commissioner; William Edgar, Secretary; W. J. Cochran and James Duncan, Clerks; John Mowat, Elevator Inspector; John Agnew, Daniel O. Wilkie, James Moran, James Crowe, Patrick Carroll, Joseph E. Skerritt, George Holt, building inspec- tors, and Charles E. Hildreth, Inspector of Fire Escapes.
OSCAR C. DE WOLF.
The Health Commissioner, was born August 8, 1835, in Massachusetts. He graduated at the University of New York, studied medicine in Paris, and served four years in the army as a surgeon. In 1873 he came to Chicago and in 1877 was appointed to his present position by Mayor Heath.
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