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 13
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In 1845, with three dollars and twenty-five cents in his pocket, he arrived in Chicago, little dreaming of the magnificent future in store for him. He found employment in the city clerk's office at a salary of twelve dollars per month, with the privilege of reporting the proceedings of the Council at the rate of two dollars per report. His accuracy and strict adherence to the truth gave offense to certain members of the Council, and led to his withdrawal. He next entered the dry goods house of Hamilton and White, at a salary of eight dollars per month, and at the expiration of one year passed to the house of Hamlin and Day, at an advanced salary of two hundred and fifty dollars per annum.
Later, he became a book-keeper in the house of Wadsworth and Phelps, at a salary of fifty dollars per month, and in 1851 was associated in the firm, which then conducted a business of $100,000 per annum. Forecasting the future destiny of Chi- cago as the metropolis of the Northwest, he carly advocated the erection of a large building especi- ally adapted for wholesale business, and not with- standing the decided disapproval of the senior members of the firm, his efforts resulted in the erection of a large wholesale house in 1856. Nine years later, he became the head of the firm,
and, by his marked executive and financial ability, contributed no small amount to the success of that business which, nearly a quarter of a century ago, had already reached the enormous amount of $10,000,000 trade per annum. The fire of 1871 kept the firm out of business for about two weeks, after which they occupied a temporary building, and commenced a permanent structure of five stories, ninety by one hundred and ninety feet, on the fifth of December, and occupied it in the following February.
The following extract from the Chicago Tri- bune of October 9th, 1875, four years after the fire, shows not only the financial success of the firm, but its character and the estimation in which it is held by the community :
" An important incident of the carly steps toward recon- struction evinced the confidence reposed in the business judgment of the firm of J. V. Farwell & Co. The advice and counsel of the members of this house were then publicly sought and as publiciy given. While the ruins of Chicago were still smoking, a meeting of merchants was called for mutual counsel. Mr. C. B. Farwell, then member of Con- gress (now senator), was called to the chair, and John V. Farwell, senior member of the firm, was the first gentleman requested to express his views of the situation and prospects. Flis firm had lost very heavily, and his opinions were held to have a most practical weight.
" He responded at once, declaring the situation to be crit - ical, but not hopeless, and expressing it as his fervent opinion that everything depended upon the actions of the assembled representative merchants. Chicago, he tersely said, was a living, business fact. It had faced all varieties of opposition in the past from competitors, and had thrived under the treat- ment. He, for one, did not believe that the city could be materially hindered in its destined greatness by the fire. He considered that all that was wanted was a firm integrity of purpose to meet all obligations as far as their means would possibly permit. These obligations must be met without flinching. They must only ask such time as they needed to gather up the ashes of their business, and must begin anew. not discouraged by what had happened, but more determined than ever to make Chicago the center of the whole Nortli- western trade. They could do so if they would, and could do it soon. These carnest sentiments were met with hearty applause. There was but one dissenter to the honorable, manly views, and he was a liquor dealer, who proceeded to advocate a universal and shameful repudiation, but was promptly hissed out of the meeting."
During the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Farwell was marked for his philanthropy and devotion to the Union cause. He was active in raising the Board of Trade regiment, which was equipped by private contributions at an expense of $40,000. He was a constant friend of soldiers' families, and contributed liberally to the funds of the Sanitary
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and Christian Commissions. His special interest, however, centered in the Christian Commission, of which he was one of the executive committee, and to which he gave his time and money without stint.
The following clippings from papers published during the war exhibit his sentiments and spirit during the great struggle for the integrity of the Union. The first is a copy of a speech made when presenting colors to Capt. Charles W. Bar- ker, of the Chicago Dragoons, in behalf of the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was president :
" Captain Barker : I need not tell you that history informs us that in all ages of the world emblems of nationality have commanded the homage, the purse and heart's blood, if need be, of every true patriot, and in America, sir, every insult to the magna charta of our blood-bought rights brings to its rescue men who will peril their all to defend its honor. In every controversy, individual or national, there is a right and a wrong side, and 'thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just.
"A heathen general once ordered his subordinates to num- ber his army before engaging a very much larger force in battle. The work being done, they reported a force of ten thousand men to go out against a force of forty thousand, and counseled a surrender. The general said they had made an egregious blunder in the numbering of his men. After asserting that they had numbered them correctly, said he, ' How many did you put me down for?' ' Only one, sir.' ""'Bad mistake, gentlemen ; you will let me number them over again. Our cause is just. You may therefore put me down for 20,000 men, and for each one of my soldiers you may count four, making in all sixty thousand against forty thousand of the enemy, every man of whom is not over half a man, when fighting against the right. Now, will you fight them ? '
" 'Aye, sir, and whip them too,' and they were as good as their word.
" On behalf of the Young Men's Christian Association, many of whose members are under your command, I pre- sent you this flag, the emblem of our dearly-bought liberties, expecting that you will trust in God while under its folds, and be counted twenty thousand against its enemies, and every man of your command a host to follow your lead in placing it in the record of national glory, second to none that waves in the free air of heaven.
" Your commander-in-chief, the President of these United States, on taking leave of his home in Springfield to assume the guardianship of our national flag, said : ' I have a greater task before me than that which engaged the soul of a Wash- ington, and without the assistance of a God of Nations, I can- not succeed ; with it I cannot fail.'
'. I believe, sir, that he will not fail, for I believe that the God of Washington is Lincoln's God, not for personal aggran- disement, but for our national weal and the world's redemp- tion from tyranny. And now, sir, while I hand you this stand of colors, permit me to propose this sentiment :
" ' Down with the traitor's serpent flag ! Death to the wretch o'er whom it waves! And let our heaven-born banner float O'er freemen's homes and traitors' graves.'"
Mr. Farwell despised that class who, while liv- ing amongst the Northern people, were in sympa- thy with those who were trying to disintegrate the Union. The second extract which follows was from the editorial of the Chicago Tribune:
DISCOUNTENANCING TREASON.
" The immense wholesale dry goods house of Cooley, Far- well & Co. has kicked the Chicago Times into the street on account of its treason. The following note, addressed to the proprietors of the Times, explains the matter :
' COOLEY, FARWELL & CO .. WHOLESALE DRY GOODS, 42, 44, 46 WABASH AVE., CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY 1, 1863.
' Messrs. Story & Worden:
' GENTLEMEN .-- We wish to begin the new year patriot- ically, and know of no better way than to commence by ex- cluding your paper from our counting-room. Your vile sympathies with treason are too apparent, and now that a public example has been made of the manner in which such papers should be treated among honest men, we wish to be among the endorsers of the movement. You will, therefore, send your bill and keep your paper, and oblige
' Yours respectfully,
'COOLEY, FARWELL & CO.'
" On the receipt of this note, instead of quietly discontinu- ing the paper as directed to do, the Tory organ prints the note and flies into a huge passion, foams at the mouth, and. commands every Democrat to avoid their doors as he would the gates of hell.
" Democratic merchants, we presume, suit themselves, and purchase their goods where they can buy to the best advan- tage. There are few Democratic merchants that endorse the treasonable course of the Times, or sympathize with its pur- pose to produce civil war in Illinois, by arraying the Demo- cratic party in armed hostility to the Federal Government. If there be any such merchants in the West, Cooley, Farwell & Co. can well afford to do without their custom. There are several hundred Republicans-ardent Union men-whom, we are sorry to say, still continue to take the infamous sheet, and contribute their $10 apiece for its support. Many of these per- sons complain of the weight of their taxes, but have nothing to say against paying a poll tax of $10 for the support of Jeff Davis' organ in their midst. If they want to take a Demo- cratic paper, there is the Post, which is bitterly partisan, which is as bitterly partisan as can be desired, but is yet loyal to the Federal flag."
After the close of the war, Mr. Farwell was ap- pointed a member of the Board of Indian Com- missioners by President Grant, and the discharge of his duties in this office was characterized by the same devotion, zeal and benevolence that have marked his entire career.
Mr. Farwell has never taken any active part in politics, except in 1864, when he allowed his name to be used as a presidential elector for Mr. Lincoln.
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At the age of fourteen years, Mr. Farwell united with the M. E. Church, but is now a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church. Since first uniting with the church, he has been proverbial for his liberality, and has since been known, when on a salary, to devote half of his income to chari- table objects. He took a deep interest in the evangelical work of Mr. Dwight L. Moody, and ever assisted him in the worthy cause, both in Chicago and in England.
In the establishment of the Young Men's Christian Association in 1857, Mr. Farwell was a prime mover, and to his constant zeal and carnest effort the prosperity of that institution is largely due. He has been connected with the Association as trustee, vice-president, and president for sev- cral years, participating actively in its labors, and contributing largely for current expenses.
Mr. Farwell's acquaintance and co-operation with Mr. Moody in his work led to a firm friend- ship. When a large hall was erected for the Young Men's Christian Association, it was, upon
its dedication, named " Farwell Hall," at the sug- gestion of Mr. Moody.
Mr. Farwell's career has been remarkable ; he has through his own exertions, business ability and integrity, advanced from the obscurity of poverty to the position of prominence which he now occupies amongst the leading merchants of the world.
The building of the State House at Austin, Texas-for a consideration of 3,000,000 acres of land in the famous Pan Handle of Texas -- two years in advance of contract time may be cited as one of the most remarkable building accomplish- ments of this century, when its size and character are considered, and it shows the spirit of enter- prise which has characterized the Farwells from their earliest connection with the business inter- ests of the West. This building is constructed of granite and iron ; is about 600 feet by 288, cx- treme front ; is in the form of a Greek cross, and has been pronounced by competent judges the finest of its kind on this continent.
HON. GEO. M. BOGUE,
CHICAGO, ILL.
F EW real estate firms of Chicago are better known than that of Bogue and Company, of which the subject of this sketch is the senior partner.
The Bogue family are of Scotch descent, and the first of this family to arrive in America was John Bogue, who came from Glasgow, Scotland, and settled in the neighborhood now known as Hadlyme (better known in the old colonial days as East Haddom), Connecticut, in 1680. Our subject's father was born in Georgia, Vermont, in 1800, and when comparatively young removed from Vermont to St. Lawrence county, New York. Our subject was born at Norfolk, St. Lawrence county, New York, on January 21st, 1842, the son of Warren Steuben and Sally (Un- derwood) Bogue.
In 1856, our subject determined to join his brothers, Hamilton B. and S. Curtiss, who had settled in Chicago several years prior to that time, and putting his purpose into action, he arrived there on August 28th of that year. The
following year he was employed in the freight office of the Merchants' Despatch, and continued there about two years, when, for the purpose of completing his education, he pursued a course of study at Cayuga Lake Academy, at Aurora, New York. In July, 1862, he returned to Chicago and resumed his former occupation, and two years later accepted a position in the land department of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and held it until 1867. Since that time he has devoted his time and attention more particularly to real estate matters, and in 1882 established the firm of Bogue and Hoyt, which was succeeded by Bogue and Co., in February, 1891, Capt. Hoyt having died February 12 of that year.
Mr. Bogue became a resident of Hyde Park in 1858, then one of Chicago's most thriving sub- urbs, and in 1864 was elected its town clerk. He held that position three years, and resigned it in 1867, and two years later was elected town treas- urer, and held that office until 1872. In Novem- ber of that year, Hon. Chas. Hitchcock having
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truly yours.
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resigned his office as a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Cook county, Mr. Bogue was elected to fill the vacancy, and during his term of office (which expired in December, 1874) served as chairman of the finance commit- tee and as a member of the building committee, the importance of which latter office, especially, may be estimated when it is stated that it was during this period that the criminal court and county jail building and county hospital were being erected, and large additions were being made to the insane asylum.
In 1874, he was elected a member of the Gen- eral Assembly of Illinois from the second senato- rial district, and filled the honorable position in a manner creditable alike to himself and his constit- uents. He was one of the Chicago delegates to the Republican National Convention, held at Cincinnati, in June, 1876. In February of the following year, he was appointed by Governor Cullom a member of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission of Illinois, and filled that position until March, 1883, when he resigned, having, in the previous January, been unanimously elected Arbitrator of the Western Railway pools, com- prising the Colorado Traffic Association, the Northwestern Traffic Association, the Central Iowa Traffic Association, and the Southwestern Traffic Association, embracing, in all, some eleven railroads. He held this difficult position four years, displaying in his awards, which frequently involved large sums of money, conspicuous ability and rare judgment. He resigned this office in
1887, his real estate demanding his personal at- tention, and in 1889 was elected president of the Chicago Real Estate Board, and later, was chair- man of the committee on valuations, and is at present chairman of the committee on public service.
Although Mr. Bogue is a busy man, he is public spirited and benevolent, and a practical sympathizer with much of the benevolent and charitable work of Chicago. He has been a member of the board of managers of the Pres- byterian Hospital, of Chicago, since its establish- ment, in 1883, and for four years has been president of that board. The Home for Incura- bles, also, has benefited by his sympathy and counsel; for many years he was a member of its board of managers and served on its execu- tive committee. He is now, 1892, one of the directors of the Lake Forest University, a mem- ber of the executive committee of the Presbyter- ian League, of Chicago, and president of the board of trustees of the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, of which board he has been a member since its organization in 1864.
Mr. Bogue was married, January 26th, 1871, at Hyde Park, to Miss Catharine M. Van Doren, daughter of A. B. Van Doren, Esq. This union has been blessed with six children, of whom Franklin Ackerman, Ruth Van Doren and George Marquis are living. Mr. Bogue is a man of strict- est integrity, energetic and enterprising, and occupies an honorable place among Chicago's leading business men.
HUNTINGTON WOLCOTT JACKSON,
CHICAGO, ILL.
H UNTINGTON WOLCOTT JACKSON was born January 28, 1841, at Newark, New Jersey, and is the son of John P. and Elizabeth (Wolcott) Jackson. His father was a prominent lawyer of New Jersey, and died December 10, 1861. The Jackson family are of Scotch-Irish descent, the first of the family to arrive in America being James Jackson, who settled on the banks of the Hudson; while by marriage the family be- came connected with the Brinckerhoffs, Schuylers and Van Der Lindes. The mother of Mrs. Jack-
son, our subject's mother, was a Huntington, a member of the Connecticut family of that name, distinguished in the Revolution. Her great-grand- father, grand-father and four uncles on the mater- nal side were officers of high rank in the army. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Jackson on the paternal side was the first governor of Connecticut. Her grandfather was Oliver Wolcott, Sr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; her uncle, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., was Secretary of the Treasury under General Washington, and her
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father, Frederick H. Wolcott, occupied judicial positions in Connecticut for many years.
Receiving his early education at Phillip's Academy, Andover, Mass., in 1859 Mr. Jackson entered Princeton College, and at the close of his junior year entered the army and served through various grades. He was appointed aide-de-camp upon the staff of Maj .- Genl. John Newton, com- manding the First Army Corps and other com- mands, and was engaged in the battles of Fred- ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and other engagements of the Army of the Potomac .. He was also with the Army of the Cumberland in Gen. Sherman's campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and, though wounded in the arm at Kenesaw Mountain, was present at the fall of Atlanta. Upon leaving the army, he was, in 1865, brevetted lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meri- torious conduct in the field. In " Foster's New Jersey and the Rebellion," issued in 1868, the author says, page 761 : "In the Chancellorsville campaign he was commended by General Sedg- wick for special gallantry in volunteering to rally an assaulting column at Mary's Heights, Fred- ericksburg (May 3, 1863). The column had broken and the men were falling back, but Lieutenant Jackson, having obtained permission and exposing himself to a fire that killed and wounded one hundred and sixty men out of four hundred in the leading regiment, rallied the column and passed with it into the enemy's works !"
Returning to civil life, he entered the Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., and spent the fol- lowing year at that institution, when he went abroad, remaining a year in Europe. Upon his
return home, he resumed his legal studies in the office of his brother, the late John P. Jackson, Jr., of Newark, N. J. In the fall of 1867, Mr. Jackson came to Chicago and entered the office of Messrs. Waite and Clarke, where he completed his studies, being admitted to the bar in the spring of 1868, and on July Ist of that year formed a partnership with Mr. David B. Lyman, which still continues.
A Republican in politics, he was elected super- visor of South Chicago in 1878, and continued the reforms instituted by his predecessors, Robert T. Lincoln and Edward G. Mason.
Appointed by the Hon. John J. Knox, Comp- troller of the Currency, as receiver and attorney of the Third National Bank of Chicago, his management of the affairs of that institution has received high commendation.
Mr. Jackson has been offered several political positions, but has declined them, preferring to continue in the practice of his profession. He was at one time a director of the Chicago Aid and Relief Society, but was obliged to resign on account of other duties. He has been president of the Chicago Bar Association. The late John Crerar appointed him one of the executors and trustees of his estate, as well as a director of the Free Public Library founded by him. He is a trustec of the Second Presbyterian Church, and is a member of the Chicago, Calumet and Literary Clubs; also of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and of the George H. Thomas Post of the Grand Army.
As an attorney, he is discriminating and earnest, and his professional career has been successful and honorable.
SOLVA BRINTNALL,
CHICAGO, ILL.
TO a student of human nature there is noth- ing more interesting than to examine into the life-history of a self-made man, and analyze those principles that have made him pass many on the highway of life, and reach a position of promi- nence in the community.
Among the prominent citizens of Chicago who owe their eminent position to their own exertions, Solva Brintnall is an example whom the rising
generation would do well to emulate. He was born during the early days of the nineteenth cen- tury (on October 24, 1817), in Schoharie county, New York, where his parents, Solva Brintnall, a soldier in the war of 1812, and Betsy (Stannard) Brintnall, had established their residence.
Our subject can trace his paternal ancestry back to the seventeenth century, when his great-grand- father left England and came to America. His
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grandfather, Isaac Brintnall, was born on August 31, 1752, and died January 27, 1822, in Water- town, New York. His maternal grandfather, Abiah Stannard, was born March 15, 1758, and died in Green county, New York, July 13, 1836. His father was born December 1, 1773, and his mother December 5, 1774. They passed sixty- two years in happy wedlock, and they died within three months of each other, on March 8, 1867, and June 1, 1867. The family on both sides is remarkable for its longevity. Both fami- lies were prominently connected with the Revolu- tionary War.
Solva Brintnall received his education, with the exception of one winter's schooling, in Water- town, New York, from that great and practical tutor, "Experience." He has always been a great observer, and although having received but a meagre amount of education at school, he is to-day a practical and well-educated man. His youth and earlier manhood days, up to his nine- teenth year, were spent in assisting his father on his farm in Lewis county, New York, where the Brintnall family had located when our subject was a lad of five. They were among the pioneers in that section of the then West, and the body of land on which they settled was entirely covered by forest. They cleared the land and in the sec- ond year raised a good crop of wheat. The fam- ily for the first ten or fifteen years of their resi- dence in that locality were deprived of churches and schools.
His first business venture was in 1836, when he began his career as railroad builder on the New York Central Railroad. Two years later found him at the same kind of work on the New York and Erie Railroad. He also assisted in building the great canal system of New York State, and besides doing work on the Black River Canal, as- sisted in improving the Erie Canal, and in 1839 and 1840 accomplished some heavy work on that canal at Jordan, New York. In 1841 he returned to railroad construction, and assisted in the build- ing of a road from Auburn to Canandaigua. His business then called him to the West, and the ex- tension of the Miami Canal, and operations in canal construction from Cincinnati to Ft. Wayne, occupied the time from 1843 to 1846. In the lat- ter year he began his career as a merchant, and entered into the hardware business at Batavia,
New York, afterwards removing to Attica; in 1854 he removed to Suspension Bridge, continu- ing in the same business. His residence in these places covered a period of eighteen years. While a resident of Suspension Bridge, the great bridge from which this city takes its name was being constructed. He was acquainted with Mr. Roeb- ling, who had charge of the work, and he took a deep interest in its completion, which at that time was the greatest feat in bridge building ever at- tempted.
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