USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The New church and Chicago; a history > Part 2
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tory was taken up; money was raised by subscription to purchase a telescope, to which use he made a generous donation.
Then followed the necessity for a building, and tower on which to erect the telescope, and these Mr. Scammon also supplied, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. The revolving dome of this structure was about ninety feet in height.
The name adopted-"Dearborn Observatory"-was in honor of Mrs. Scammon, then deceased .*
The director was Prof. Truman Henry Safford, whose salary was paid by the same liberal benefactor until he was compelled to cease by the ravages of the fire in 1871.
At that time, 1863, he was a director of the Mutual Insurance company, and a worker in aid of the Sanitary commission for the assistance of the medical department of the armies engaged in the civil war.
The following year sees him one of the organizers of the Oakwoods Cemetery company, and president of a new bank, the Mechanics National.
The next, one of the organizers of the Old Ladies' home, of which, in later years, he was president; and the same year president and organizer of the hospital for women and children, Rush and Indiana streets.
He was an officer in the society, Sons of Maine, and one of the organizers of the Illinois Humane society.
The Chicago Inter-Ocean was first an enterprise of Mr. Scammon's, he being its originator; the first number appearing March 25, 1872. It succeeded and immedi-
*NOTE .- The great telescope placed in this observatory was built by Messrs. Alvan Clark & Sons for the University of Mis- sissippi, but on account of the war it was left on their hands. The amount paid for it was eighteen thousand one hundred dol- lars. It is now in the observatory at Lake Geneva, Wis., and has brought to the builders a prize from the French Academy of Sciences, for discoveries in the solar world made through its use.
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ately followed the Chicago Republican, organized in 1865, of which Charles A. Dana was editor in chief.
To name his business enterprises at this time would be impossible; with them all he was for many years, in fact, his whole business life, a great builder of buildings and owner of real estate.
Every subject, institution, and enterprise, of a charit- able and philanthropic nature, in which he became inter- ested, was a recipient of his generosity.
A great lover of young men, his sympathy went out to them, and several were the recipients of his consideration and substantial assistance when starting in life, some of whom are yet living.
The history of Chicago, covering Mr. Scammon's time, contains the names of many who were interested in different subjects and institutions; but of none who was so active as was he in almost every movement for the good of the city, and state, and the people.
And yet, above all else, there was one, ever most prominent in his interest and love-his Church-our Church-the blessed Church of the New Jerusalem; other things, his business, and many affairs, possibly con- sumed more hours than he bestowed on the Church, but none was, as it, always present, never repulsed, and at all times welcome.
Politically, Mr. Scammon was a Whig, becoming a Republican on the organization of that party and remaining until his death a stanch member of it. Though always strongly opposed to slavery, history gives instances which show his power in the community, in preserving order during trouble which, before the war, so frequently arose from the attempt to forcibly return escaped slaves to bondage.
The wife and mother. Mary Ann Haven Dearborn
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Scammon, was born in Hallowell, Me., and married in Bath, Aug., 1837, by Rev. Henry Aiken Worcester. She was a reader of Swedenborg and interested in the writ- ings, being baptized into the New Church with her son at Germantown, Penn., by Rev. Mr. Sedden, of Frankford, that state, in 1841, during temporary residence.
Mrs. Scammon died at Bad Soden, in the dukedom of Nassau, near Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, July 9, 1858, and was buried there.
In an obituary published by the Chicago Press and Tribune there is a very touching description of her last days, and details of the death scene, followed by this par- agraph:
"The early friends of Mrs. Scammon, who were young men when she first came to Chicago, will recollect with pleasure the quiet hospitality of her home; and the early receivers of the doctrines of the New Church in Chi- cago, the many pleasant hours of social meetings passed there, until increased illness forbade the indulgence of that hospitality, which till then had made her home the usual resort on Sunday evenings, and frequently during the evenings of the week."
Four children were born to them; one, a daughter, dying in infancy. The son, Charles Trufant, was born July 7, 1840. Rendering faithful service as an officer through the civil war, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1869, with Mr. Robert T. Lincoln, who had been a law student in the firm of Scammon, McCagg & Fuller, he formed a partnership for the practice of his profession; but dying in 1876, the career of the young firm came to an end.
Two sisters succeeded. Florence A. D. (Mrs. J. S. Reed) was born in Chicago, Nov. 12, 1844, where she now resides, the mother of a matured family, much
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loved and very highly respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Arianna Evans Scammon was born April 12, 1848, and died in Chicago, Sunday, May 22, 1898, a very devoted and useful church woman, very much respected for her rare refinement and culture. She remembered the Church in the disposition of her property with a very substantial bequest, which is represented in the Kenwood parish church, located in that part of Chicago known as Hyde Park, in which for years was the family home.
Mr. Scammon, Dec. 5, 1867, married Mrs. Maria Sheldon Wright, who became a member of The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem in 1869; living in Chicago until Sunday, May 6, 1901, when she passed into the next life, very highly esteemed by a large circle of New Church and other friends.
She provided for the placing of a tablet in the Ken- wood church, in memory of her distinguished husband, a considerable residue of money being left, which was used in paying for memorial windows.
From living at the City hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Scam- mon, in 1838, went into the first home he established. It was located on Clark street opposite the Public square.
According to the directory of 1844 the home was at the northwest corner of Michigan avenue and Randolph street, where it had been one or more years. The house, commodious for that time, was erected by Mr. Scammon. In that house-89 Michigan avenue-the Chicago Society was consecrated, meetings of the Society and executive committee frequently occurred for several years, and many people listened to talks and obtained literature which led them into the Church. The directory of 1850 gives the Scammon residence at the American Temperance hotel, Lake and Wabash; 1853 at the Sher-
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man house; 1854 at the Matteson, which was at Randolph and Dearborn, built by Governor Matteson in 1850; 1856, 16 Congress street, and 1860 in Terrace row, 209 Michigan avenue, where it remained until destroyed in the great fire.
Mr. Scammon stands before those who knew him and know the teaching of the New Church, as a man severely tried-tried in his churchmanship and in the steadfastness of his belief that in the material things of this world there is nothing to rest on or cling to; that the spiritual is the lighter on which man rides into happiness and eternity- severely tried, but not found wanting.
At fifty-nine years, in the enjoyment of health and per- fect mental vigor; with what for the time was great wealth; behind him a life of eminent success; respected ยท for his personal worth of character, and for the good he had done, and was ever doing to a degree rarely experi- enced; by nature and experience an aristocrat; proud as he had a right to be, if any one has such right, the trial came. *
As years passed, while he was in the vortex of material
*NOTE .- An incident shows that while Mr. Scammon was emi- nently successful during the years of his worldly prosperity in having things go as he desired, and while he likely forced results, possibly with some high-handedness, he was yet occasionally compelled to halt and fence. George Smith, a very successful banker, was a business rival. Mr. Scammon and he were not on the most affectionate terms of brotherly intimacy, hence it was not an infrequent occurrence for Mr. Scammon to send to the office of Mr. Smith, a bunch of certificates which that gentleman was required to redeem in gold, and demand payment. The scene shifted, when one day Mr. Smith met Mr. Scammon and asked: "Mr. Scammon, what is the amount of the issue of the Marine bank?" "One hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, sir," answered Mr. Scammon. "Well, in my vault there is one hundred and twenty-five thousand of it, and some day I intend bringing the whole of it to you and demanding the gold." The prospect of that kind of a draft was far from agreeable to Mr. Scammon, consequently it was but a short time until a contract insuring amicability was signed by the two bankers.
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adversity, during which he was battling to save business honor, that honor which the world demands and proud men love; when he saw those things which mortal man loves all passing beyond his reach, his belief in, love for, and life in the New Jerusalem, as far as mortals can live in it, never faltered; it was as in the old years of worldly prosperity, the subject and joy of life, paramount to all else.
The first permanent material adversity came with the fire in 1871, made worse by the financial panic of 1873, and being added to by very severe losses in the fire of 1874; it became uncontrollable under the business stagnation and hard times that followed, consequent upon the readjust- ment of values and shrinkage which must inevitably, and did, follow the civil war.
Nothing possible for him to control could stem the tide of worldly adversity destined for him. Though he fought as the giant that he was could fight, his fortune in prop- erty passed from him, but that in the Church remained.
No person now living is more capable of talking intelligently about Mr. Scammon than his long-time part- ner and associate, Hon. Ezra B. McCagg.
Having written and stated the purpose, and asked for an interview, the writer was honored with an invitation to call within certain hours, at his pleasure.
The call on Mr. McCagg and his talk were most inter- esting. Entering the room where the well-preserved, fine- mannered octogenarian sat, engaged with his morning mail, he pointed to a portrait of Mr. Scammon hanging near, saying, "There is your man;" and here follows what Mr. McCagg said as reviewed and corrected by him- self:
"I came to Chicago in 1847 and went into the office of Mr. Scammon as a clerk. I had inquired for the most
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prominent lawyer in the city and was directed to him; my intention was to become his partner, if possible, which I did in less than two years. We were in partnership until he gave up the practice in 1872, and associates for over forty years.
"There were very many lovable traits in his character, and I think of him and our years of close relationship with very kindly and happy interest."
The writer said, "Mr. McCagg, knowing the love Mr. Scammon had for the doctrine of Swedenborg, and his ever readiness and desire to talk about and expound it, I cannot help thinking that you and he must have had many battles along that line."
"No, that is not so; Mr. Scammon, as you say, was ever ready to talk the doctrine of Swedenborg, because he was even more interested in that than in his profession, but he never seemed to me to be trying to proselyte. He thought and often said, that the Lord leaves every man in a position best fitted for him as regards his religious belief; and as I have just said, while ever interested in Swedenborg, even to such an extent that many times I felt it would be better for our business if he were less so, he was not dogmatical, and never tried to make a convert. He would recommend with great earnestness Sweden- borg's works, but, as I think, only because he found such absolute truth in them.
"Mr. Scammon was frequently blunt in speech, to the extent of thoughtlessly giving pain; I think about the only time we clashed arose from a remark which he made.
"I was his clerk, and had drawn a deed in which I described Michigan City as in the state of Michigan, instead of in Indiana-a mistake easy to make, by one so new to Chicago and the West as I was at that time.
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'A very stupid blunder,' said Mr. Scammon in the presence of some gentlemen interested in the deed. I left his room and began putting my desk in order, and was so engaged when Franklin Scammon came in and asked what I was doing. I told him, and related the occurrence, saying that I intended then and there to relieve myself of a situa- tion under which recurrence would be likely. Mr. Scam- mon apologized and we remained together and friends.
"Growing out of the failure of the Marine bank, Mr. Scammon was sued for seventy-five dollars; he offered to pay sixty-five dollars, which was not accepted. He told me to defend him, against my advice to settle as demanded, and my telling him that he would be beaten. We were beaten. After time for notice of appeal had elapsed, he insisted on the case being reopened and appealed, an operation which would be costly; but he insisted and I carried the case to final defeat in the Supreme court. I went to him with a bill for the amount of judgment, interest, fees, and costs, some hundreds of dollars, for which he immediately handed me a check.
"I said, 'Explain to me, please, why you insisted on this course.' 'Because I was determined not to do wrong as long as I could avoid it; now when there is not any further appeal, I must submit.'
"Mr. Scammon was very generous; gave, gave liberally, not only to his own Church and things in which he was directly interested, but to anything out of which good would come, or intended for general or special good."
As to his churchmanship, Mr. Scammon may be pointed out as an example for laymen, more conspicuous, possibly, than any other person. To prove this we only have to refer to his fifty-five years of extraordinary service to the physical Church in material substance; his life-long
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industrious personal effort, including presiding at ten meetings of Convention, and by his devotion to the sanc- tuary, love of the doctrine, and the ever-present sphere of the Church in which he lived.
His churchmanship was democratic. He believed in, and was as much or more responsible than any other one in establishing firmly, one Convention, to be made up of represented associations, they to be made up of repre- sented societies; also allowing isolated receivers seats and representation. 1994670
He wanted large committees and thorough and gener- al discussion; was years in deciding, if, in fact, he ever did decide, in favor of the rule of having a minister per- manently preside over Convention; advocated voting on the subject each year.
In 1850 he wrote recommending for the General Con- vention a simple constitution and lack of arbitrary rules. Yet in his judgment of the inspiration of the writings there was not any equivocation, and in applying their spiritual intent to church service, the government of the Convention, and to individual life, he was high church.
He was a great advocate of the writings of Sweden- borg-in that sense a great Swedenborgian-and would have defined genuine churchmanship as loving the teach- ing and cultivating its absorption by the inner man, until the spirit so dominated dictated life; the individual cred- iting all to the Lord, by means of the Church. Those so influenced, and so living, he would have pronounced mem- bers of the Church of the New Jerusalem, though they may never have signed any constitution or church articles.
Ministers, in his opinion, were simply men-servants of the Convention, and possibly the Church; the latter depending entirely on their condition for spiritual influx
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and guidance; one serving the physical Church only, the other the physical and spiritual. To decide as to the capability of either he would not have presumed, except as he would have made character his standard for judg- ment, and in this his requirements would have been severe.
Looking back over his life he saw it full of use and effort of the right kind, and looking forward he could see that for which he had been preparing; and leaving family and friends, March 17, 1890, passed from his earthly home, Fernwood Villa, into that of eternal life.
We give one of the several beautiful tributes that are in the address delivered by Rev. Frank Sewell, at the funeral March 20th:
"Of strong convictions, unbaffled courage, and an ever- fresh buoyancy of spirit, he loved to gaze before rather than behind, and in unfaltering trust in God's wise and loving government of the world he planned for large things and set the aims for himself and for his beloved city upon a high level. It is from characters like his that society grows, and the communities get their dis- tinctive traits and their human worth. The inner mental life of a city is a substantial growth, incorporating daily into it the knowledge, the experience, the refinement, the moral and religious convictions of every member of the community, and in the degree of their possession of these qualities. These are the permanent heritage that every strong mind and influential worker leaves to his neigh- borhood. The forces that educate and enlarge and ennoble the mind of the people-these can be contributed to a city only by large minds, and though they may lead to, they do not come by any material enlargement or accumulation of wealth. But when given they remain."
And the following from the memorial address by the
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Rev. Lewis P. Mercer, March 23, 1890, is very applicable here:
"With a personal force and assertion that men often felt coercive, he had a genuine respect for the freedom of others; while courageous and persistent to the end in act- ing upon his convictions, he was inwardly humble, trustful, and submissive. to Divine Providence; while always bold, and often harsh, and sometimes unjust in opposition, he endeavored to maintain respectful recog- nition of all that he esteemed good, and of the sincerity of the motive in those who differed with him. * * *
While he distrusted the priesthood, he deeply honored the ministry of the Word; a giant in his partisanship when aroused, he was humble and lovable as a child in his dis- cipleship before the Lord."
FINALLY:
Uncomplimentary things are said of Mr. Scammon, kept going by a very few whose expressions come from loss of money, and a greater number who, without any real intelligence or reason, glibly talk, more willing to extend the uncomplimentary impression than they are to halt and ask, "How much of this is true?" and to hold up to view the vastly overpowering good that made up his character.
His failure in business caused loss to many whose money he held. Some of them, like many in the world, and unhappily, some in the New Church, make his failure and inability to pay, the unpardonable sin. When that sacred, inviolable thing, money, is in account, teaching of the Church does not always weigh.
With a long life of correct business judgment and prosperity as his experience, doing the same things on which success had been built, why should he know that
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he was to be disciplined and made to kneel before the throne of grace, by the loss of fortune, sacrifice of the interest of those associated with him, and have knowledge that his years of worldly success had come to their end?
With force unequaled he fought and defeated powerful effort to declare him a bankrupt; making a paragraph in the history of litigation which is very extraordinary in its unusualness; answering, that with the control of his property and affairs he would pay all he owed. And so he intended, and so he tried, but destiny ruled otherwise.
The history of the wonderful city, of which he was a most prominent founder and great benefactor, holds noth- ing uncomplimentary against J. Young Scammon. On the contrary, he is honored on its pages in numbers untold, and in subjects without limit. In the New Church, where his greatest work stands forth so con- spicuously prominent, and by New Churchmen, who are taught to judge life and work from their spiritual intent and spiritual worth, how utterly unfair, unkind, uncharitable, and miserably sensual is any derogatory expression of Mr. Scammon.
ERAS OF THE HISTORY.
Study of the history of The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem makes plain that it has passed through eras, in each of which different conditions existed, and as an appreciation of the fact of those eras will enable some to more easily appreciate the conditions through which the Church in Chicago has passed in its course in the assumption of physical form, they are defined as fol- lows:
The Scammon era, commencing with the arrival in Chicago of Mr. Scammon, 1835, and continuing until the consecration of the Society, 1849.
The Hibbard-Scammon era, from the consecration of the Society until the great fire, 1871.
The Fire era, from the fire until the unification of the divided Society in the Van Buren street temple, 1881.
The Mercer era, from 1881 until 1901, and the Present era, commencing 1901, when Rev. Lewis P. Mercer severed his connection with the Church in Chicago.
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THE ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION.
As the title indicates, this history is intended to directly apply to the Church in Chicago; movements in which members of the Church in Chicago have been instrumental will be considered to such extent as their importance seems to require.
The organization of the Illinois Association occurring early, and resulting from the call written and published by Mr. Scammon, the report is given place.
REPORT OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION.
To the Receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New . Jerusalem, in the State of Illinois.
Dear Brethren :- Believing that the time has come for the receivers of the heavenly doctrines in this state to take more decided measures to cooperate with the Divine Providence in disseminating the doctrines of the new dis- pensation, we respectfully invite you to assemble at Can- ton, Fulton county, on Saturday and Sunday, the 6th and 7th days of July next, at ten o'clock, A. M.
The object of the meeting is to bring our scattered energies together, by forming acquaintance with each other, and thereby extending the social sphere of the Church, and to take such steps as may be deemed essen- tial in our isolated condition, to enable us to come more fully into order.
It is earnestly desired that every receiver who can conveniently attend, will not fail to be present, and such as cannot be present will communicate to the meeting by letter on the following subjects:
The residence of the receiver; the number of New Church books in possession; the number of receivers and readers in the vicinity; the names of persons to
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whom communications may be addressed; the disposition to contribute towards obtaining a New Church minister to visit and preach at the various places where there are receivers in this state; and such other information as may be deemed of interest to the Church.
Communications to the meeting should be addressed to Jonas Rawalt, Canton, Fulton county.
[Signed] J. YOUNG SCAMMON, JONAS RAWALT,
JOHN F. RANDOLPH.
June 3, 1839.
Pursuant to the above invitation, a meeting of the receivers of the heavenly doctrines was opened in the col- lege building in Canton, on Saturday, July 6th.
On motion, John F. Randolph was elected president, and J. Young Scammon, secretary, of the meeting.
After the meeting was organized, the service of the Church was read by the president, and the Lord's prayer said.
Communications were received and read from Mr. Charles G. McGray, of St. Louis, Mo .; Mr. Elisha Taber, of Springfield, Sangamon Co .; A. D. Wright, Esq., of Petersburg, Menard Co .; E. N. Powell, Esq., of Peoria, Peoria Co .; Mrs. Nancy Harlan, of Darwin, Clark Co .; F. B. Murdock, Esq., of Alton, Madison Co .; Mrs. Betsy Adams, of Charleston, Peoria Co .; all of them expressing much interest in the objects of the meeting.
On motion, a committee consisting of three was raised, to consider and report upon such matters as they might deem expedient to be acted upon by the meeting.
The president appointed Mr. Scammon, Mr. Rawalt, and Mr. North, this committee.
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