USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of representative men of Chicago, Minnesota cities and the World's Columbian exposition : with illustrations on steel. V. 1 > Part 11
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ry of five dollars per month and his board. He was afterwards employed in a store at Amenia, New York, and, later, secured a position in a gen- eral store, in connection with a pig-iron furnace manufactory, and on several occasions he was sent to New York City to purchase goods for the firm. After this he spent a few months inspect- ing railroad supplies, during the construction of the Harlan railroad from Dover Plains to Amenia, also acting as station agent. In 1852 he got the "gold fever," and made several unsuccessful at- tempts to secure passage to California, via the Isthmus route. On one occasion he stood in line all night before the ticket office in New York City, only to find before reaching the window that all the tickets for passage were sold. In November, of the following year, he again vis- ited New York, and after registering at the old Astor House, made another trial, and finally secured passage to San Francisco, via Cape Horn, on Adam Smith's line of sailing clippers, by pur. chasing a whole state-room, and re-selling parts of · it to four of his friends. The vessel, which was named the Grecian, was fitted up in first-class style for passenger service ; she sailed from New York on February 2, 1852, with five hundred pas- sengers on board. The passage was a stormy one, and the trip was attended with several inter- esting incidents. Stopping in Rio, Brazil, and also in Chili, gave him an opportunity to make a
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tour of observation in and about the surrounding country. He also had the pleasure of meeting, with a small party of his countrymen, Dom Pedro, the then Emperor of Brazil, and also the family of the President of Chili, at Concepcione. There he visited the ruins caused by the great earth- quake many years before, and reached San Fran- cisco, by way of the Sandwich Islands, in August, making the trip in little less than six months. He went direct to the mining district lying north of Sacramento and Marysville, but soon after he returned to Marysville and engaged in the retail grocery and steamboat supply trade ; and afterward was engaged in the wholesale gro- cery trade and in the hotel business. Commenc- ing with a cash capital of only two hundred dol- lars, he soon obtained a good credit in San Fran- cisco, and was doing a thriving business when his store was destroyed by fire, resulting in the loss of nearly all he had gained. However, he at once rebuilt his store and put in a new stock of goods. Mr. John C. Fall, a merchant, at that time doing an extensive business in San Francisco and Marysville, having great confidence in young Wil- liams, gave him a large line of credit at San Francisco, by which he was enabled to continue business. About the same time the Steamboat Combination Company, operating in San Francis- co and Sacramento, was so managed as to divert trade for the upper mining country from the Ma- rysville merchants to those of Sacramento, which caused great excitement and dissatisfaction among Marysville merchants. Calling a meeting, they organized themselves into “ The Enterprise Steam- boat Company," of which Mr. Williams was made the first secretary, and rendered valuable service in procuring subscriptions to the stock. After a few months this company's success was such as to entirely break up the Combination Company's traffic to Marysville, and so affected rates at Sac- ramento that their monopoly was destroyed. Mr. Williams was present when Sacramento was ru- ined by the great flood in 1853, and afterward saw the city destroyed by fire.
In the latter part of the year 1854, he closed out his business preparatory to returning home. He at first secured a passage on the steamer Yankee Blade, but on the day that steamer sailed sold his ticket and procured another entitling him to passage on the steamer Golden Gate.
The exchange proved most fortunate for him, for the Yankee Blade had been at sea but three days when she was driven upon the rocks and nearly all on board were lost. Before sailing, Mr. Williams was promised the position of special ex- press messenger to have in charge the shipment of gold coin from New York to San Francisco, and to begin in the following March. The home- ward trip was made via the Isthmus route and was attended with some unpleasant experiences, the chief of which was an attempt on the part of one William Walker and his army to capture the government of Nicaraugua, by reason of which the trip across the isthmus was somewhat delayed. Notwithstanding the delay, the trip to New York was made in twenty days, being the quickest pas- sage from San Francisco to New York then on record. Mr. Williams' arrival at home was a great surprise to his friends who supposed he was lost, having seen his name among the list of passen- gers who perished in the wreck of the ill-fated steamer Yankee Blade. After recuperating a short time, he abandoned his purpose of returning to California, and, instead, made a trip through Illinois and Iowa, and on May 1, 1855, landed in Chicago, where he has since made his home. He first secured a position as cashier and assistant with Messrs. E. Stevens & Co., at " Old Bull's Head," on West Madison street, in the stock- yards business. This business was afterwards purchased by Messrs. John B. Sherman & Co., with whom Mr. Williams continued for several months. After that he was engaged in the lum- ber, grain and mercantile trade at Decatur and Monequa, Illinois, some three years. Returning to Chicago, he became connected with the Lake Shore Stock Yards, located on Cottage Grove avenue and Twenty-ninth street, and acted as cashier and chief clerk. For a short time he was stock agent for the Chicago & Great Eastern and Baltimore & Ohio (now the Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincinnati & St. Louis) railroads, and also super- intended the construction of the stock yards at Richmond, Indiana. In June, 1867, upon the organization of the Union Stock Yards Company at Chicago, Mr. Williams was made its cashier and assistant secretary, and afterwards was elec- ted its secretary and treasurer, offices which he has filled with marked ability for the past twenty- five years, during which time he has had the en-
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tire management of the company's financial mat- ters. He is also at the present time (1892) presi- dent and treasurer of the Union Rendering Com- pany ; secretary, treasurer and a director of the Chicago & Indiana State Line railway ; vice-presi- dent and a director of the National Live Stock bank, and a director 'in other corporations. In all these offices Mr. Williams has shown unusual financial and executive ability, and won the con- fidence and respect of his associate officers and stockholders.
Mr. Williams is not a politician but has always been interested in political affairs. He cast his first presidential vote for General Winfield Scott, and upon the organization of the Republican party, in 1856, he identified himself with it and has adhered to its principles and teachings ever since. At the opening of the war of the rebellion, while living in Central Illinois, he enlisted a com- pany of eighty-five men for the United States service. This company afterwards formed a part
of John M. Palmer's regiment. Mr. Williams, although elected captain of this company, was prevented from entering by a severe attack of typhoid fever, contracted from exposure while re- cruiting and drilling the company in the night air.
He has never sought political preferment, al- though important offices have been tendered him. He served twelve years on the Republican State Central Committee, being four years member at large for the northern district of Illinois.
Mr. Williams was married in October, 1856, to Miss Maria A. Eggleston, a daughter of Mr. N. S. Eggleston, who was a thrifty farmer at Miller- ton, in Dutchess county, New York.
Mr. Williams' career has been along the line of patient, persistent effort, and it is but due to name him among Chicago's successful men. He has amassed a small fortune which he has secure- ly and profitably invested, and, with his family, enjoys his luxurious home recently built at No. 4724 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago.
ELBERT EUGENE JAYCOX,
CHICAGO, ILL.
C NE of the most important positions in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition is that of traffic manager. The official who wears this title, which carries with it influ- ence, dignity and honor, should be a practical, active railroad man, fully up with the require- ments of the position of general traffic manager of a great railway. He must be familiar with the railroad world and its methods of doing business, how to get passengers and how to handle freight. While the traffic manager of the ordinary Ameri- can road is amply equipped for his position if he understands the transportation situation in his own country, the World's Fair traffic manager must organize a bureau to cover the earth. The transportation committee of the Directory, com- posed of the leading railroad officials of Chicago, were entrusted with the selection of a traffic manager. They were overwhelmed with applica- tions for the position, but after due consideration they selected Elbert E. Jaycox, and, very much to that gentleman's surprise, tendered him the office. He had never solicited the consideration
of the committee, nor did he desire the appoint- ment. His selection was the choice of the com- mittee and the unanimous vote of the Directory. His appointment was the first of the executive staff of the Exposition, and was approved by the Director-General October 12th, 1890.
Elbert Eugene Jaycox was born on October 24th, 1856, in New York City. His parents, Wil- liam B. Jaycox and Louisa M. (Bailey) Jaycox, were both descendants of old New York families. His mother's grandfather was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a mem- ber of the first Congress of the United States. The Bailey family is an old one in this country's history, and one of the members of the family, which now contains many prominent financiers of New York State, has in his possession a deed, executed on parchment, in favor of one of the family, dated in 1580. William B. Jaycox, our subject's father, was a descendant of an old Knickerbocker family, tracing his ancestry to Holland.
When our subject was a lad of nine years, the
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family removed West and located in Evanston, one of Chicago's most charming suburbs. Here he received his education and graduated from the Evanston High School in 1871. His inclinations and desires were strongly in favor of the career of a railroad man, consequently he obtained a posi- tion in the general passenger and ticket office of the Chicago and North-Western Railroad, in a minor capacity-that of "foreign check clerk." For twenty years he remained in the service of this gigantic corporation, and by the faithful and honorable discharge of his duties he rapidly ad- vanced, and when he resigned his position to accept the office he now holds, he was occupying a high position of trust. His record while in the employ of the Chicago and North-Western was clean, and his appointment to the high position on the executive staff of the World's Fair was not only unanimously approved by the officials of the Exposition, but the officials of the different railroad lines centering here deemed the appoint- ment extremely good. He is thoroughly familiar with the vast railroad system centering in Chicago, as well as with their connections stretching over the entire continent. He knows how to create a passenger traffic, and how to draw it here, besides possessing that invaluable accessory of a success- ful railroad official-a wide and popular acquaint- ance among railroad men. His connection with the North-Western Railroad has caused him to visit all sections of our country and Canada, and, it is needless to state, he has formed the acquaint- ance of men of prominence throughout the conti- nent that will be of great advantage to him in the position he now holds.
Mr. Jaycox is one of the few men who have had Masonic interests at heart, and as such he was crowned with the highest honors at an early age. During the last triennial conclave he was on the staff of the Grand Commander of the State of Illinois, and he was the youngest Knight Tem- plar in attendance that had passed through all of the chairs, and it is certainly true that he is the most prominent Mason of his age in the country. His Masonic record is one of which he should feel proud. He was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Evans Lodge, 524, F. and A. M., September 12th, 1882; January 26th, 1883, he was made a Royal Arch Mason in Evanston Chapter, 144; he was created a Knight Templar
in Chicago Commandery, 19, K. T., on September 16th, 1883. Having been a member of that com- mandery for one year, he was elected by unani- mous vote Captain-General, for the purpose of taking the commandery to St. Louis to participate in the triennial conclave. Afterward demitting from the Chicago Commandery, he became a charter member of Evanston Commandery, 58, K. T. An incident that shows far better than words the esteem in which Mr. Jaycox is held by his fellow Knights, is the fact that shortly after the commandery was constituted he was elected its Eminent Commander. He was chosen for the position, not only because he was universally es- teemed by all its members, but also because he was the Sir Knight deemed most eminently fitted to impregnate the proper spirit into the command- ery. At the time of his election as Eminent Commander, the membership of the commandery was the smallest of any in the State, and after his year of service the membership of the command- ery was doubled, and its standing was raised until it was second to none in that commonwealth.
A prominent member of the Evanston Com- mandery, in speaking of the reason why Mr. Jaycox, although comparatively speaking a very young man for the high office, was chosen Emi- nent Commander, expresses himself in the follow- ing terms: "Mr. Jaycox was chosen because of his personal popularity and fitness ; his service lifted the commandery out of the slough of de- spond." At the next annual conclave, he was again chosen for the position he had filled so sat- isfactorily, but he declined to serve.
The following extracts from the Chicago Times explain his Masonic record in brief, the first from the issue of November 2d, 1890, as follows :
" Sir Knight Jaycox is one of the most enthusiastic workers in the commandery, and a leader in all that pertains to the welfare of all the Masonic bodies with which he is identified. He was made a Mason in Evans Lodge only about seven years ago, and within this comparatively short period he has earned and received honors in the craft of which many vet- erans might feel proud. Passing through the veils of Evans- ton Chapter, he entered the ranks of Knighthood in Chicago Commandery, No. 19, where he was soon elevated to the office of Captain-General. He retired from that body to become a charter member and take part in the organization of Evanston Commandery, of which he has always been a most active member and faithful, efficient and successful commander."
The other extract, from the Sunday Times, of
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March 29th, 1891, gives a brief history of his record with Evanston Commandery, No. 58:
" At the annual conclave of that year (1888) Eminent Sir Knight Elbert E. Jaycox was elected Eminent Commander, and by his energy, ability, push and zeal he brought the commandery to the position it now occupies in the Templar world. Under his vigorous management a Masonic hall was erected in Evanston; he planned, fitted and furnished it on a scale of splendor that has been the admiration of all who have seen it. He provided for the commandery the finest costumes and paraphernalia to be found in this country. At the time Eminent Sir Knight Jaycox's work commenced, the commandery had fifty-four members, and during his term of office fifty petitions were received for the Order of Knight- hood, and the membership had increased to one hundred and four, and the treasury contained nearly twelve hundred dollars."
On March 6th, 1877, he was married to Harriet A. Walker, of Galena, Illinois. Mrs. Jaycox is a grand-niece of General Isaac Putnam, of Revolu- tionary fame. Her father was for many years a prominent merchant in Corfu, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Jaycox are blessed with three sons living, Charles Elbert, aged thirteen, Ralph Eugene, aged five, and Clarence Walker, aged one. In 1882, they met with a severe affliction in the loss of their second son, Herbert W., aged two years.
In social circles, Mr. Jaycox is much esteemed ; he was one of the organizers and a director of the Ivanhoe Club, of Evanston, and he has ever taken an active part in all affairs of this organization. He is also a member of many secret societies out-
side of his Masonic connections. He delights in a hunt, and is a member of the Minnesota Rod and Gun Club. Politically, he has ever been affil- iated with the Democratic party, and, although he has never sought an office, he was elected col- lector of South Evanston, in which capacity he served satisfactorily for one year. He is a mem- ber of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
Such is a brief sketch of his life. In it we find much to emulate. He has reached a position of prominence in the community that very few men of his age ever attain. In the transaction of the affairs of the traffic department of the Exposition he merits the hearty approval of all the officials. He is a young man of thirty-five, who undoubtedly has a bright and prosperous future before him, and he is certain to become, ere long, one of the most prominent railway officials of the United States. He has always filled every position of trust allotted to him to the entire satisfaction of all, his twenty years' service in positions of trust with one of our great corporations proving this fact. With the esteem of all with whom he has become associated, together with an honora- able business record for the past twenty years, and with honors and achievements in the Masonic fraternity of the very highest degrees, there is no subject more worthy of a position of prominence in this biographical work than is Elbert Eugene Jaycox.
MARSHALL FIELD,
CHICAGO, ILL.
Tº 'O say of him whose name heads this sketch, that he has, by his own efforts, risen from comparative obscurity to rank among the million- aire merchant princes of the world is but stating a fact that seems trite to those familiar with his history. The volume that might be written con- cerning his remarkable career would prove highly interesting to those curious to know the history of successful men. But Mr. Field, though one of Chicago's most generous public-spirited men and broad-minded philanthropists, is a man of quiet demeanor, modest and reticent, who recoils from any attempt at ostentation or notoriety. Any adequate history of his life would involve the
history of the various business interests with which he has been connected since he began his active career.
He is a native of Massachusetts, and was born in 1835. At the age of twenty-one years, he began his business carcer in Chicago as a clerk in the dry goods house of Cooley, Wadsworth & Co., then located on South Water street, and engaged in both the wholesale and retail trade. This was in 1856. In the following year the house removed to Wabash avenue, the firm name changed to Cooley, Farwell & Co., and the business was con- fined to the wholesale trade. In 1860 Mr. Field became a partner in the business, and four years
yourvery buli Marshall Fuld
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later the firm name was changed to Farwell, Field & Co., Mr. L. Z. Leiter becoming a partner at that time. In 1865 Messrs. Field and Leiter withdrew from the business and associated them- selves with Mr. Potter Palmer, who was then con- ducting on Lake street a prosperous dry goods business which he had established in 1852, the firm name becoming Field, Palmer and Leiter. This firm continued till January, 1867, when Mr. Palmer retired from the business and the firm name changed to Field, Leiter & Co. In the fall of 1868 the business was removed to the north- east corner of State and Washington streets, where it continued to prosper until swept away in the general conflagration of October 8th and 9th, 1871. At the time of this disaster, the business of the firm, amounting to $8,000,000 a year, was carried on in a single building. The value of the firm's property destroyed was estimated to be $3,500,000, on which $2,500,000 of insurance was collected. The firm at once resumed business in the old street railway barn at the southwest cor- ner of State and Eighteenth streets, and without delay replaced the destroyed edifice at the corner of State and Washington streets by an elegantly planned structure, to be thereafter devoted exclu- sively to the retail trade, while a commodious building was erected at the corner of Madison and Market streets for the accommodation of the wholesale department. This department was afterwards, in 1887, removed to its present loca- tion on Adams street, into the massive stone structure covering an entire · block, and built expressly for it, and which is regarded as among the finest models of commercial architecture extant. Upon the completion of the new struc- ture the retail department was removed to the old site, and thenceforward the business has shown a marvelous growth, the sales having in- creased from $8,000,000 a year, before the great fire, to the enormous sum of $35,000,000 in 1891. Since 1881, when Mr. Leiter retired from the bus- iness, it has been conducted under the firm name of Marshall Field & Co.
It certainly is not asserting too much to say of one who can direct and control a business of such magnitude, extending, as it does, from the Alps to the Rocky Mountains-for it involves branch houses in England, France and Germany-that he must possess, aside from mercantile foresight
and sagacity, the happy faculty of reading and judging men, unusual powers of organization, and executive ability of a high order ; in a word, that his must be a master mind. And yet, if one shall seek in Mr. Field's career the rules that have led to his success, they will be found along the lines of well-tried and old-time maxims. Honesty and fair dealing; cash purchases ; short credits; promptness, truthfulness, fidelity-all these are strictly enforced and adhered to. Faithfulness on the part of employes is promoted by the knowledge that good service means advancement as opportunity opens and that neglect of duty will not be tolerated, and is further enhanced by the interest taken by the employer in the personal welfare of the deserving.
While estimates of the size of great fortunes are oftentimes matters of guess work, it is grati- fying to know that his strict adherence to correct business principles has brought to Mr. Field a fortune that is placed by his close friends at about $35,000,000.
A particularly noticeable trait of Mr. Field's character is modesty. He is of a retiring dispo- sition, and shrinks from newspaper notoriety. Anything like ostentation in charity he studiously avoids. Though he contributes freely to worthy objects, he has pronounced views in the matter of giving, and is careful not to add to the indis- criminate benevolence that often does more harm than good. His desire is to avoid any responsi- bility for blunting endeavor or for encouraging idleness. He assists in practically all the com- mendable movements of a public character in his city requiring funds. As instances, he recently gave a plot of ground worth $100,000 for the building of the Baptist University about to be instituted in Chicago with the important aid of Mr. Rockefeller. To the Manual Training School of the same city he gave $20,000. His list of personal beneficiaries is very large, and no one who has any kind of real claim upon him is disregarded. The extent of what he does in this respect the world, doubtless, will never know. It is not his practice to figure conspicuously at the head of subscription papers, or to be personally conspicuous anywhere, but his gifts of all kinds in the course of a year amount to a large aggre- gate. He is a member of most of the principal clubs, but cannot be called a club man. Thought-
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ful and perhaps somewhat reserved in manner, he is kindly, genial, and entirely approachable, and there is nothing about him to indicate that his personality is at all affected by his extraordinary wealth-a wealth albcit coming mainly from systematic, long-continued, legitimate business methods, and not through the exercise of the art of making something out of nothing by the wat- ering of stocks and the juggling with securities.
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