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 14
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Perceiving a great future for the City of Chi- cago, and deeming it a place that offered excep- tional opportunities for business, as well as educa- tional advantages, he removed here in 1863, and continued in the general hardware and stove busi- ness. After three years he entered into partner- ship with Messrs. Terry and Belden, and began a wholesale hardware business, under the style of Brintnall, Terry & Belden. In 1876 Mr. Lamb purchased Mr. Terry's interest, and the firm be- came known as Brintnall, Lamb & Co., under which style it continued until 1883, when the en- tire business was disposed of to Messrs. Keith, Benham and Desendorf. For thirty-seven years Mr. Brintnall was connected with the hardware trade, and he always conducted his affairs in a manner to leave an unblemished record as an honorable business man. In 1883 he organized the Drovers' National Bank, located at the Stock Yards, the heart of Chicago's greatest business enterprise. He became president of that institu- tion upon its organization, and he has continued in this responsible position ever since.
In 1846 he was married to Miss Hurd, a daugh- ter of Thomas Hurd, of Alexander, New York. They had a family of three children: W. H. Brintnall, now connected with the financial insti- tution of which his father is president ; Mrs. M. F. Perry, of this city, and George S. Brintnall, of McPherson, Kansas, who died in 1886. Mrs. Brintnall died October, 1875, and in 1878 he mar- ried Leonice, daughter of the late O. F. Wood- ford, who was for many years prominently con- nected with the water-works system of this city.
Mr. Brintnall is a devout Christian, and is an active worker in the cause of religion. He joined the Presbyterian Church in 1852, and is at present an active and honored member of the First Pres- byterian Church of this city. He takes a great
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interest in assisting all religious efforts, and has been for some time a great friend of the Presby- terian Hospital and the Railroad Chapel.
Since the birth of the Republican party, he has been an ardent supporter of its principles. Hc has ever believed that the Republican principles were those that had the best interests of the peo- ple at heart. He is a strong admirer of President Harrison, and a firm believer in those principles of Republicanism that were advocated by Lin- coln, Grant, Garfield, Harrison and Blainc.
Such is the biography of a man whose life has been both active and honorable. He has achieved the high position he now occupies entirely through his own exertions. What he has achieved he owes to his ambitious nature, his high sense of
honor and to his sobriety and industry ; he has never been addicted to the use of liquors or to- bacco.
In personal appearance, he impresses one as be- ing both benignant and kindly. Although having passed more than three score and ten years on this carth, Father Time has dealt lightly with him, and he looks like a hale and hearty gentle- man of less than three score.
In conclusion it may be truly said, that with a character above reproach and an honorable record at the head of a large financial institution, and with an ample fortune, there is no one more worthy of a prominent place among the body of men who appear in this work than is Solva Brint- nall.
THOMAS DENT,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T HOMAS DENT was born in Putnam county, Illinois, November 14, 1831, and is a son of George and Comfort (Ijams) Dent.
His father, a native of Monongalia county, Virginia (now West Virginia), was from an carly age reared on a farm in Ohio.
The parents removed from Muskingum county, Ohio, and settled in Putnam county, Illinois, at an early day. The father was for many years in official position, holding various public offices, such as Clerk of the County Commissioners, Circuit and County Courts, Master in Chan- cery, County Judge, and member of the State Legislature.
Thomas acquired the basis of his education in the common schools near his home, and while living for a time in Ohio. But following the natural disposition of his mind, he has, by virtue of continued and careful reading and study, acquired a degree of literary culture and disci- pline which would only have been more surely the outcome of a liberal education.
From the age of twelve years, he was an occasional assistant in the public offices of the county in which the family resided, and during the following three years was in employments requiring aptitude in penmanship and accounts. He thus early acquired a taste for legal business,
which led to legal study at various leisure inter- vals. At fifteen years of age, he became a regular assistant of his father in the public business of the county, and during the ensuing eight years was much occupied in making up court and other records in Putnam and adjoining counties, and also pursued a course of legal study. On his admission to the bar in 1854, he began the practice of law at Hennepin, Illinois. Under appointment of the County Court, he made up tract and sectional indices for the land records of Putnam county.
In 1856, Mr. Dent removed to Chicago, where his first association in practice was with Mr. M. R. M. Wallace, prominently identified with military service in the late civil war, and also with service in civil affairs, as County Judge of Cook county, and in other stations.
In 1857, Mr. Dent removed his office for a time to Peoria, Illinois, but continuing to have professional engagements in Chicago, he re- sumed his residence there in 1858. In 1860, hc became associated with the late Judge A. W. Arrington. This association continued until the death of the senior partner, December 31, 1867. Soon after this, the firm of Dent and Black was formed, and continued for eighteen years.
The practice of Mr. Dent has been of a general
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Thomas Dent.
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and diversified character, but chiefly in common law and chancery causes, a number of which are to be found in the reports in Illinois and other States, as also in the reports of the Supreme Court of the United States. In various instances he has met in argument lawyers of great emi- nence and distinction in different States of the Union. On different occasions he has represented a number of corporations, among which are included banks, insurance companies, railroad companies and the Chicago Board of Trade; but especially in real estate and commercial causes his services have been given to the general public, in whose interests he has on some notable occasions been selected for the giving of import- ant opinions.
In personal appearance, Mr. Dent is of me- dium height and slender, without robustness of figure. His manner is quiet and gentle, yet, withal, he is firm, with a firmness that comes
from honesty of purpose and depth of con- viction. Possessing these characteristics, with a mind of marked vigor, self-poised in an unusual degree, because highly disciplined, and marked in all his enterprises by unusual steadfastness of purpose and wonderful patience, it is but natural that he should have won for himself a most enviable reputation as a lawyer at once strong, scrupulously honest, and in a high degree suc- cessful. In presenting his cases, whether to jury or court, he works earnestly, bringing to bear all his power and a very extensive legal learning. His memory, naturally tenacious, has, under careful and constant discipline, become indeed " wax to receive and marble to retain."
He has collected valuable libraries for his home and office, and has from early years delivered occasional addresses on political and social sub- jects, and possesses great aptitude for such efforts.
CHARLES HENRY SCHWAB,
CHICAGO, ILL.
W ITH much pleasure we present this bio- graphical sketch of Charles Henry Schwab, who for thirty-five years has been actively identi- fied with the remarkable growth and upbuilding of Chicago. Coming to this city at the age of eigh- teen years, without friends or capital, he is an illustrious prototype of the self-made man, whose indomitable will and industry have rewarded him with an honorable position among the foremost business men of Chicago.
One by one he has forced aside the barriers that obstruct the way to success, until to-day he stands within the charmed circle, rich in honor and wealth, the devoted son of a mighty city.
A native of Mulhouse, France, he was born in 1835, long before Alsace-Lorraine became dis- puted territory. His father, Moise Schwab, a prominent manufacturer of Mulhouse, died in 1850, and Charles, then a lad of fifteen years, closed his school career and obtained a position as book- keeper in a wholesale dry goods house of his na- tive city.
Remaining three years with this firm, and having acquired fluency in the German, French
and English languages, he traveled extensively throughout France for three months, but at- tracted by the wonderful accounts of the New World across the water, he embarked for this country in 1854, landing at New York. He spent a short time there, but, with that sound judgment and apt perception for which he has since become noted, he decided to build the foundation of his business career in the West, where the works of skillful hands and intelligent minds have amazed the world.
Taking the steamboat at New York, he touched at New Orleans, sailed up the rivers to Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio, finally landing in the spring of 1855 at Chicago, then a city of 60,000 inhabi- tants. Discerning that Chicago, at no very dis- tant day, must become a great commercial center, and the natural store-house for the North and West, he began business with J. B. Smith, a cousin, as a wholesale liquor merchant on South Water street.
In 1868, on the retirement of Mr. Smith, the business was continued under the name of Schwab, McQuaid & Co. until 1876, wher Mr.
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Schwab disposed of his entire interests in the busi- ness. In January, 1878, the well-known firm of Selz, Schwab & Co., wholesale boots and shoes, was established, and after thirteen years of unin- terrupted and remarkable success, is deservedly entitled to the honorable position it holds among the leading business institutions of Chicago.
The election of Mr. Schwab as a director of the World's Columbian Exposition is a fitting testi- monial to the enterprise, intelligence and devotion which this gentleman has ever displayed in ad- vancing the material interests and future welfare of Chicago.
In 1863 he rendered valuable assistance in or- ganizing a regiment of Chicago volunteers, of which General Solomon was captain.
As a citizen, Mr. Schwab has always responded generously with financial and personal aid in every enterprise tending to the material welfare of his adopted city, and he may justly feel that he has been no small factor in placing Chicago in her present proud position. As a factor in the finan- cial world, Mr. Schwab is regarded as a sound, able and conservative financier, whose wide expe- rience and large business interests eminently befit him as a director of the Corn Exchange Bank.
In politics, he is a Democrat, but his integrity of principle and genial social qualities have
brought him the respect of all parties. During a portion of the years 1886 and 1887, he discharged with general satisfaction the duties of comptroller of this city, and was nominated on the Demo- cratic ticket for State Elector åt Large, but was denied the pleasure of casting his vote for Mr. Cleveland.
Mr. Schwab is characterized by that same gen- erous liberality in religious opinions that has made him so popular in other walks of life. A prominent member of the Jewish Reformed Church, and president of the Jewish Training School, his benevolence and charity are not con- fined to nationality or sect.
He has always taken a great interest in the public schools of Chicago, and for a number of years past has given three medals to the pupils of the Haven School, two being for scholarship and one for deportment.
In 1862, Mr. Schwab married Rachel, daughter of Isaac Monheimer, a prominent merchant of Cincinnati. This union was sanctified by five children, three sons and two daughters. The elder daughter is the wife of Henry G. Foreman, the well-known banker. Mrs. Schwab is an ac- complished lady of fine mental attainments, and with her husband is held in high esteem by a wide circle of congenial friends.
SIDNEY ALBERT KENT,
CHICAGO, ILL.
S IDNEY ALBERT KENT was born in Suf- field, Connecticut, in 1834. He is the son of Albert and Lucinda Kent, and is of English de- scent on his father's side, his ancestors having come to America during the seventeenth century. His early education was acquired in the Suffield common schools. Coming to Chicago in 1854, he obtained a situation as clerk in a dry goods store, where he remained two years. When twenty-two years of age, he entered the commission business, but in 1859 he established himself in a modest way in the packing business, in which he has continued to the present time.
Mr. Kent has been vice-president and president cf the Corn Exchange Bank. He was also a director of the Board of Trade, but resigned that
position. The Chicago Union League, Calumet and Washington Park Clubs claim him as a member.
Mr. Kent's travels include three trips to Eu- rope, and he has traversed every State and Terri- tory in the Union, including Alaska.
In 1865 he was married to Miss Stella A. Lin- coln, of Newark Valley, New York State. Two daughters have been born to them.
Real estate has been the source of much of Mr. Kent's wealth, and he has large interests in the grain and packing business, in the Corn Exchange Bank, in gas and lumber companies, etc.
The numerous charitable institutions in Chi- cago can testify to his generosity. There are few men in the West who have been more successful
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than Mr. Kent. Beneath his reticent, quiet de- exception to the rule. It would indeed be diffi- meanor lies great persistency and indomitable cult to find a home more delightful than his, which is rendered doubly attractive by the pres- ence of his accomplished daughters. In his home life his love of quiet, retirement and domesticity is fully gratified. energy. Slow to make friends, he has never been heedless of the demands of friendship. The love of home is one of the distinguishing characteris- tics of many eminent men, and Mr. Kent is no
RICHARD STANLEY TUTHILL,
CHICAGO, ILL.
J UDGE RICHARD S. TUTHILL, youngest son of Daniel B. Tuthill, a native of Ben- nington county, Vermont, and Sally (Strong) Tuthill, a native of Vergennes, Vermont, was born at Vergennes, in "Tuthill's Prairie," Jackson county, Illinois, November 10th, 1841. His an- cestors, in both branches of his family, were among the earliest settlers in New England, hav- ing emigrated to the new world with the Puritans prior to the year 1640. Daniel B. Tuthill, his father, a classical scholar of high attainments, entered Middlebury (Vt.) College, but owing to ill health he reluctantly left college before gradu- ating. The Strongs-his mother's family-were from the first, and have ever been, warm friends and supporters of Middlebury College, an uncle of Mrs. Tuthill, Hon. Seth Storrs, having donated its beautiful site and spacious grounds nearly one hundred years ago.
Richard S. began his preparatory collegiate studies at the St. Louis High School ; continued them under a private tutor, and completed them at the Illinois College, at Jacksonville. He en- tered the freshman class of Middlebury College in September, 1859, and graduated with high honors in the class of 1863.
Immediately after graduation he joined the army in the field at Vicksburg, and served for some months in a company of scouts attached to Gen. John A. Logan's command, when he was commissioned a lieutenant in the famous six-gun battery known in the Army of the West as "De Golyer's Black Horse Battery" ( H of the First Michigan Light Artillery ), with which he served, being twice promoted, until the close of the war. He was with Gen. Sherman's army in the march to Meridian, through the entire campaign against Atlanta, and finally, in the campaign under Gen.
George H. Thomas, back into Tennessee in pur- suit of Hood, taking an active part in the closing and decisive battle of Nashville. Army life, even in active service in the field, has many unoccupied hours, and having provided himself with a few books, Lieutenant Tuthill improved his time by reading law, and as soon as it became apparent that the war was over, resigned his commission, May, 1865, and continued his legal studies there- after uninterruptedly in the office of Hon. H. H. Harrison, United States District Attorney, at Nashville, Tennessee, until admitted to the bar at Nashville in the spring of 1866. In 1867 he was elected Attorney-General ( State's Attorney) of the Nashville circuit.
In 1868, at Vergennes, Vt., he married Jennie F. Smith, of that city, who died at Nashville, December 22, 1872, leaving a daughter. Soon after this sad event he returned to his native State in 1873, and established himself at Chicago, where he soon became known as an able lawyer and a forcible and effective speaker.
In 1875 he was elected City Attorney of Chi- cago, and re-elected in 1877. Judge Tuthill has always been an active Republican, and in every campaign since the war has rendered valuable services both as a speaker and in the councils of the party. He was a delegate in the memorable Republican National Convention held at Chicago in 1880, being one of the one hundred and six known as "The Old Guard," who voted continu- ously for the nomination of General Ulysses S. Grant, "of Appomattox." In recognition of his standing and success at the bar. President Ar- thur, early in February, 1884, appointed him United States District Attorney at Chicago, which position he filled with distinction, and resigned after the inauguration of President Cleveland,
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though permitted to remain for nearly a year and a half in office under his administration.
In April, 1887, by the death of Hon. John G. Rogers, an eminent judge for many years of the Circuit Court, a vacancy occurred on the bench of this court. Judge Tuthill was selected, not only by his own party, but by the Democratic party as well, to succeed Judge Rogers, and was elected by nearly fifty thousand majority over his opponent, who was put forward by what was known as the "Socialist element." In June, 1891, he was re-elected for the full term of six years to succeed himself.
Judge Tuthill was married a second time, Jan- uary 2, 1877, to Miss Harriet McKey, daughter of Edward McKey, a leading dry goods merchant of Janesville, Wis. Six children-five girls and a son, Richard S., Jr .- now comprise the family.
Judge Tuthill, although hardly more than in
the prime of life, is one of the most active citi- zens of Chicago in every movement which has for its object the promotion of the general welfare of the city or its citizens. He is actively identi- fied with several charitable organizations, among which are those seeking to assist and promote the moral and mental training of poor and destitute children.
Judge Tuthill is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and of various Masonic bodies, as well as of the Union League, Illinois and other clubs. Amid all these activities Judge Tuthill has never forgotten the habits of the student which he acquired in his early life, and he has done much in public addresses and speeches to delight, enter- tain and instruct many cultivated audiences, which have made demands upon his time and talent.
AZEL F. HATCH,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T HERE are probably comparatively few people in the City of Chicago to-day, who are fully aware of the immense amount of labor performed by Azel F. Hatch, during the early stages of the incorporation of the World's Columbian Exposition, as attorney for the Commissioners.
He was born September 6th, 1848, in Lisle, Du Page county, Illinois, the son of James C. and Charlotte D. (Kidder) Hatch. He received his early education in the public schools of Lisle, and in 1867 entered Oberlin College, Ohio, where he remained for three years. In 1870, he entered the senior class of Yale College, and was grad- uated with the class of 1871. His first position after leaving college was as principal of the High School at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which he occupied for twelve months. He located in Chicago in 1872, and having decided to fit him- self for the legal profession, entered the law office of Messrs. Shorey and Norton as a law student.
Two years later (September, 1874), he passed a highly creditable examination, and was admitted to the bar, and two months later commenced the
active duties of his profession. During the first year of his practice, he was associated with Messrs. Norton and Hulburd, under the firm name of Norton, Hulburd and Hatch. This connection continued until 1880, when he formed a partnership with Mr. O. F. Aldis, under the firm name of Hatch and Aldis, which continued some three years.
In November, 1883, he joined a co-partnership with Thomas B. Bryan, Esq., which continued up to May Ist, 1890, when Mr. Bryan withdrew on account of his duties in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition, and his accept- ance of the office of vice-president of same. In mentioning the subject of the Exposition, it will not be out of place to detail more particularly Mr. Hatch's personal connection with it. Ap- pointed attorney for the Commissioners before its incorporation, he was called upon to decide all legal questions arising in connection there- with. He arranged its statutory declarations, and managed its legal organization, and arranged for and supervised the balloting connected with the selection of directors of a corporation so vast that it has no parallel-a corporation which has
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over twenty-eight thousand shareholders, and necessitated at the ballot the presence of one hundred and twenty-five tellers. But so thor- oughly organized was the work, so well arranged the various duties, and so admirably supervised by Mr. Hatch in person, that the result excited only wonder and admiration. To quote one of the leading city papers : "So expeditiously was work done, that within less than two hours after the commencement of work, tickets had been issued for upwards of three hundred thousand shares." . " Had the force of helpers been in training for twelve months, they could not have better discharged their respective duties." The remembrance of his work in behalf of the Exposition afterwards, at Springfield, his filing of the necessary documents, and his return with the certified copy-the whole matter being com- pleted by him in the course of twelve hours-are facts that will not soon be forgotten.
In political sentiment, Mr. Hatch is a Repub- lican, but takes no active part in political affairs, more than to perform his duties as a citizen ; and, in the use of his ballot, he is not bound by party lines, but considers it both his privilege and duty to vote for men and principles, rather than party.
Mr. Hatch was married February 5th, 1880, to Grace H. Greene, of Lisle, Ill. Mrs. Hatch died in April, 1886.
His public appointments: Mr. Hatch has often been called to positions of trust. In June, 1890, he was appointed one of the directors of the Chicago Public Library. He is also one of the directors of the Jenning's Trust Company, a part owner and director of the Chicago Evening Post and of the Chicago Herald.
Though corporation law is perhaps his spe- cialty, his practice, which is large, is general in its character, and his knowledge of the law is confined to no one branch.
Mr. Hatch is a man of pleasing address and personal qualities of a high order; and by his straight-forward, manly course, his strict ad- herence to the right, and his ability not only as a lawyer, but also as an organizer and manager, he has won the esteem and confidence of the com- munity in which he lives, and attracted to himself many firm friends. Though comparatively a young man, he has attained more than ordinary success, and gives promise of a future that shall confirm his right to a leading place among Chi- cago's most enterprising and successful men.
ANTHONY F. SEEBERGER,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T! HE SEEBERGERS came originally from Wetzlar, Prussia, in which country the subject of this sketch was born, on August 24, 1829. He is the son of John David and Dorothea (Goethe) Seeberger, who immigrated to this country with their two sons in 1837. Remain- ing for a year in New York City, they then removed to Newark, New Jersey, and afterward to a farm near Wooster, Ohio. In that town our subject commenced his active business career in a dry goods house, and gained a prac- tical knowledge of commercial affairs. After clerking some nine years, first with the house of Mr. E. S. Johnson, and later with Messrs. N. and J. B. Power, he, in 1852, became a partner in the business of the last-named firm.
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