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 20
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Franklin W. Zisk
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represent Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Colorado and Wyo- ming. Its board of examiners are appointed by the several State associations, and through its tri- ennial conventions, which elect the directors, the Seminary is kept in vital connection with the churches. At this date, 1892, the permanent productive endowments of the Seminary amount to four hundred and eighty-eight thousand two hundred and twenty-nine dollars. The estimated value of its buildings, grounds, etc., is three hun- dred and eight thousand two hundred and twenty- nine dollars, and its miscellaneous assets thirty- five thousand four hundred and twenty-seven dollars. The officers of the board of directors are William E. Hale, Esq., president ; Messrs. E. W. Blatchford and H. N. Holden, vice-presidents;
Rev. G. S. F. Savage, D.D., secretary, and Mr. H. W. Chester, treasurer. Its faculty comprises Professors Franklin W. Fisk, George N. Board- man, Samuel I. Curtiss, Giles B. Willcox, Hugh M. Scott, George H. Gilbert, J. Edward Hermann, Reinert A. Jernberg, Fridolf Risberg, Caleb F. Gates, Magnus E. Peterson, J. R. J. Anthony, Marcus W. Montgomery, Edward T. Harper, and O. C. Grauer.
In 1854, President Fisk was united in marriage with Mrs. Amelia A. Austin, daughter of the late George Bowen, Esq., of Woodstock, Connecticut. Mrs. Fisk died in May, 1881, and in December, 1885, he married Mrs. S. J. Hitchcock, daughter of Deacon Elijah Gardner, of Lake Geneva, Wis- consin. Three children were born to him by his first marriage-Franklin Proctor, Amelia Maria, and Henry Edward.
HON. FRANK SCALES,
CHICAGO, ILL.
TN the spring of 1715 the treacherous tribe of the Yemasses, made a sudden and unex- pected attack upon the colonists of the Carolinas, resulting in the massacre of over four hundred persons and the burning of hundreds of homes. An organized force was raised by the colonists and led by Colonel Scales against the Indians, who were defeated and chased through the wilder- ness across the Florida border. This is the first record we have of the Scales family in the Caro- linas, whose lineage runs back amongst the oldest of the early settlers. The family was not only prominent in the defense of the colony, but was intimately connected with the progress and devel- opment of that commonwealth. Colonel Samuel H. Scales, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Carolina and inherited valuable plan- tations, which for years he successfully cultivated. In 1826 he removed to La Fayette county, Wis- consin, where he at once identified himself with the farming and mining interests of the district. Here Frank was born, February 19th, 1848, on his father's farm, and remained there until he was seventeen years old.
The opportunities for education forty years ago, on a Wisconsin farm, were few, and the
amount limited, yet it is a remarkable fact that many of the ablest men of this century are those who had these difficulties in early life. Young Scales received his elementary education by pri- vate tuition and at the public school. When old enough he assisted on the farm in summer and went to school in winter. He was physically strong and well developed and had both facility and success in study-often doing as much in the winter half as other boys could complete in the whole year. His ability and aptitude was easily recognized and he was sent to Chicago to study, where he completed his course in 1866. He was then entered at the University of George- town, D. C. Amongst his fellow-students he was very popular by his social habits and cheerful dis- position, his quiet but earnest application to study, and by his fondness for and success in outdoor sports. His professors had a high opinion of him, not only because he was an industrious and docile pupil but because of his cheerful and honorable character. He finished his university course in 1868 with honor, and immediately se- lected the law as a profession. In order to carry out this resolution he entered the law office of Messrs. Knowlton and Jameson, of this city, and
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there studied the principles and practice of law. Gifted with an excellent memory, a clear under- standing and a firm will, he readily mastered the principles of his chosen profession. He was ad- mitted to practice by the late Judge McAllister in 1870. His thorough knowledge of the prin- ciples of common law and his facility in applying them, was easily recognized by the able lawyers with whom he studied, and they readily admitted him to the firm, which from that time became: Knowlton, Jameson & Scales. His untiring in- dustry and natural ability soon gained for him a high position at the Cook County bar, where he has practiced uninterruptedly for twenty-one years.
In 1871 an incident occurred that tested the grit of the young lawyer. In the fire of that year the firm lost its extensive library and valuable papers. To increase the difficulty, Judge Knowl- ton retired from the firm through ill health, and Mr. Jameson was elected City attorney. This crisis only brought out more clearly the strength of character and indomitable energy of Mr. Scales. He continued the work alone, built up a lucrative practice and earned a high reputation. Since that time he has been engaged in some of the most important cases of litigation that have come before the Cook County bench. He was the leading counsel in the litigated case of the estate of Dean Richmond, which involved very large interests, and although opposed by lawyers of the very highest reputation he came out of the contest successful. He was also engaged in the Gage real estate case, where, in conformity with his argu- ment, it was settled that when real estate was sold for taxes it should henceforth be the duty of the county clerk to include all subsequent taxes in the claim. This settled a question of very great im- portance to the owners of real estate; and for his able statement and argument Mr. Scales received great credit. During late years Mr. Scales con- fined himself to office practice. As a lawyer he is ready in his application of the fundamental prin- ciples of law, exhaustive in his examination of a subject, painstaking in weighing and comparing authorities, simple and concise in his arrangement of facts, and clear and logical in his deductions. His statement of a case is natural, forcible and convincing. As an orator he stands high in his profession, but he prefers logic to poetry and is
more willing to quote Blackstone than Shakes- peare.
In politics he is a life-long democrat. While tolerant and liberal with those who differ from him, he is an earnest and able exponent of the principles of his party. He seeks no office out- side his profession. In October, 1890, the Demo- cratic party unanimously selected Mr. Scales as their candidate for the County Court bench of Cook County, and they secured his election the following month by a very large majority. This honor and well-deserved preferment was conferred upon him unsolicited and was accepted as a proof that his practice as a lawyer and his conduct as a democrat was considered honorable and honest. Since his elevation to the bench Judge Scales has won for himself golden opinions. Impartial in the discharge of his duty, and kind in his manner, he receives with ease and dignity the humblest individual that appears in his court. While always affable and courteous, he sets a high standard of professional ethics. His decisions are delivered in the most concise form consistent with an easy and graceful style. Simple, lucid, perspicuous and bearing evidence of care and study. When we consider the various and important duties of the County Court Judge, which in addition to the common law cases which necessarily come before him, and also the duties of the Election Board of which he is ex-officio the presiding officer, he has also the insane and the support cases, the in- solvency, voluntary assignment and imprisonment for debt cases; to which we may add the examina- tion of requisitions, assessments and taxes; we have to admit that the time of the Judge is fully occu- pied and that to accomplish its many duties satis- factorily deserves the greatest credit. Amongst the very able men who have presided in this court no one has received higher encomiums from the press, the people and the profession than its present occupant, and we believe that the desire is to request him to retain the position he so ably fills.
Judge Scales is about forty-three years of age, above the average height, well proportioned, with pleasing and expressive features. He is graceful and dignified in manner and never seems more at ease than when presiding over his court and guid- ing, checking and encouraging the galaxy of talent that practice there. The Judge is well versed in
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general literature and spends much of his leisure in the study of classic authors. He married in 1872 and resides on the West Side with his accom-
plished wife and daughter. An affectionate hus- band and an indulgent father, he delights to sur- round his family with every comfort and luxury.
ABNER SMITH,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T' HE gentleman whose name heads this article is a prominent lawyer at the Chicago bar. He is very adroit in the management of cases, and he has a power and quickness of repartee and an ability to adapt himself to emergencies, that are singularly effective in his clients' interests and de- structive to the plans of opposing counsel. He is an able advocate, ready, fluent and logical. He is thoroughly posted in all of the intricacies of his profession, being familiar with the authorities and can readily support his propositions with decisions directly in point. He is a good judge of human nature, and his cross-examinations show him to be master of the art.
Our subject is a native of Massachusetts, and was born at Orange in that State August 4, 1843, and is the fourth son of Humphrey and Sophronia A. Smith. He was liberally and thor- oughly educated, having graduated with honors from Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1866.
Like many other sons of New England who have risen in the world, he commenced life as a teacher. In that capacity he was in charge of Newton Academy at Shoreham, Vt., until 1867, when he came to Chicago.
He entered the office of J. L. Stark as a student, and assiduously applied himself to the study of the rudiments of his profession, and in 1868 he was admitted to the Illinois bar. He afterwards be- came a partner of Mr. Stark under the firm name of Stark & Smith, and so continued until Mr. Stark's death in 1873. He succeeded to his business, retaining all of the clients who patronized the firm during the lifetime of his former partner. Mr. Smith has steadily pursued the practice of the law, and has been amply repaid for his diligence and close attention to the interests of his clients. He now enjoys an extensive practice in the State and Federal courts and has an excellent clientage.
Mr. Smith is a gentleman of fine address, is a pleasant companion, and knows how to gain the
respect and friendship of all. He has a refined literary taste, is fond of music and the fine arts, and is the owner of an extensive and well-chosen law library, and also of a large collection of books devoted to literature and science, and in fact every- thing to the taste of a highly cultivated gentle- man. Although very liberal in assisting those who come to him in need, he is never ostentatious or fond of parade, but he quietly gives in obedience to his inborn generous impulses and his strict sense of justice.
The following extract from the Undergraduate, a paper published at Middlebury College, shows how Mr. Smith has ever been regarded by those who know him best: "When in college Abner Smith was a candid, earnest, substantial and relia- ble young man and student, and has maintained that character to this day. He evidenced in col- lege the possession of abilities which would enable him to rise to and above the average in whatever profession he might choose to follow, which he has done in the profession of the law. He has never aimed at ephemeral brilliancy or signal momen- tary results, but a thoughtful and careful avoid- ance of fatal mistakes and permanent achieve- ments. He has succeeded in all respects which constitute success of an attorney-at-law ; a result attained by devotion to his profession and close attention to business. This outcome is not the result of chance, but eventuates from his native abilities which he has cultivated and given direc- tion to, and he has made good use of his oppor- tunities. In the walks of life where intelligence, honor and manliness are regarded for what they are worth, he has by the practice of these virtues attained an honorable position at the bar and in the community, and won the respect of all who know him. He is a noteworthy and creditable alumnus of his alma mater."
Mr. Smith is attorney for the National Life Insurance Company of Vermont, and is the attor-
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ney of the Life Indemnity & Investment Company of Iowa, and one of the directors of the last named company, and is also the attorney for the Lake View Telephone Exchange, which covers the north- ern portion of the city of Chicago. He is a stock- holder in the Duluth & Winnipeg Railroad, a road well advanced in construction, enjoying the benefit of a land grant and opening up a good country, shortening the distance between Duluth and Win- nipeg (when finished) 150 miles ; and he is one of
the directors in the North Star Construction Com- pany, which is building the Duluth & Winnipeg Railroad and operating that road.
In political sentiments Mr. Smith is a Repub- lican, but he finds in the midst of the multiplicity of duties in his profession but little time to devote to that subject.
He was married October 5, 1869, to Miss Ada C. Smith, daughter of Sereno Smith, of Shore- ham, Vt.
ISAAC NEWTON DANFORTH, A.M., M.D.,
CHICAGO, ILL.
ISAAC NEWTON DANFORTH was born in Barnard, Vermont, in the year 1835. His grandfather, Dr. Isaac Danforth, was one of the most eminent physicians in Vermont, and was one of the founders of the medical department of Dartmouth College. In the carly history of Massachusetts, one of the doctor's ancestors, Nicolas Danforth, who, in 1634, immigrated from Framhingham, England, was one of the Colonial legislators and one of the twelve organizers and incorporators of Harvard University. Nico- las Danforth had three sons: Thomas, Samuel and Jonathan. Thomas was most eminent. He was treasurer of Harvard for years; treasurer of Suffolk county for many years ; deputy governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony ; one of the first judges of the Colonial courts; first president of the Colony of Maine; and was also leader of the rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros, heading a deputation that sent Sir Edmund into confine- ment until he was recalled by his government. The second son, Samuel Danforth, a dissenting minister, was a colleague of the apostle Elliott, who translated the Bible into the Indian lan- guage, and according to the testimony of Cotton Mather was one of the most eminent and enlight- ened divines of his time. Jonathan Danforth was a surveyor, well known in his time. He laid out and was called the father of the town of Billerica, Massachusetts. He was a prominent citizen of Massachusetts and a captain in the militia taking part in the Indian wars.
In later times, the history of that branch of the family to which our subject belongs has been
closely connected with that of the State of Ver- mont, where his relatives have stood among the first in social, professional and public life, num- bering among them several physicians of local eminence.
Mr. Albert H. Danforth, the father of our sub- ject, and now residing with him, was born in the year 1808, at Barnard, Vermont, whence he re- moved to New Hampshire in the year 1846. Hc was a member of the State legislature and held all the responsible offices in the gift of his adopted town. He is a man of retiring dispo- sition, of unblemished reputation, and now, enjoy- ing the confidence of all who know him, is living a serene old age, ready to go whenever the sum- mons shall come. Dr. Danforth's mother, Elvira (Bosworth) Danforth, was born in Royalton, Ver- mont, and died at an carly date, when but thirty- three years of age. Her ancestry were originally well-to-do English farmers. Dr. Danforth has one brother, Charles B., who is a prosperous mer- chant in Dedham, Massachusetts. His only sis- ter, Elvira, who died in 1884, was the wife of Mr. John L. Skelton, a well-known resident of Chi- cago, and brother of Doctor Danforth's wife.
The early education of our subject was ob- tained in the common schools of Vermont and New Hampshire, and in one or two terms of academic study-although he has since come to regard the educational system of those days as practically worthless. Owing to a disastrous indorsement of a note, by which his father lost all his property, young Danforth was obliged to begin earning his livelihood at the age of thirteen.
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He first entered a retail grocery, then a dry goods house, and lastly tried book-keeping, and in these several vocations succeeded in demonstrating his conspicuous unfitness and his utter dislike for mercantile pursuits. At last, following his early taste for literature and science, at the age of twenty-three he began the study of medicine in the office of his Uncle Samuel P. Danforth, M. D., of Royalton, Vermont. He studied part of the time in the office of Nathaniel Tolles, M. D., of Claremont, New Hampshire, and attended two courses of lectures in the medical depart- ment of Dartmouth College, where, in his second term, he was assistant to Professor Albert Smith in the chair of Materia Medica. He was gradu- ated in 1861, second in his class, and commenced practice in Greenfield, New Hampshire, where he endeared himself to the people in his four years' sojourn among them. He next went to Phila- delphia and spent a winter in study, and in 1866 settled in Chicago, where he has risen to emi- nence both as a practitioner and teacher of med- icine. In 1867 he was given the lectureship on chemistry in Rush Medical College ; in 1869 that of general pathology, which he held ten years, being then made professor of pathology, which position he resigned one year later. In the meantime he was made professor of general pathology in the Woman's Medical College, of Chicago, and held that position until 1886 when he resigned, being then made professor of renal diseases in the same college, which position he still holds (1892). After resignation in Rush Medical College he was elected professor of clinical medicine in the Chicago Medical College, and also for two years held the chair of renal diseases in the didactic course, from which he was compelled to resign because of over-work and press of private business.
Dr. Danforth was formerly attending physician to the Central Free Dispensary, of which he was one of the founders, in company with Professor H. M. Lyman and R. M. Lackey, under the name of The Brainard Free Dispensary. He is con- sulting physician to the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. In 1870 was elected patholo- gist to St. Luke's Hospital, and on the death of Dr. Heydock was elected attending physician, a position which he still holds. Probably in none of his offices does Dr. Danforth take more pride
than as physician and chairman of the medical board of Wesley Hospital. This noble institu- tion is really a child of his own heart, founded through his instrumentality and maintained largely by his liberality of time, money and tal- ent. Dr. Danforth is a member and ex-president of the Chicago Pathological Society ; a member of the Chicago Medical Society; of the Illinois State Medical Society; of the Illinois State Mi- croscopic Society; of the American Medical Association ; and of the Association of American Physicians, of which the membership is limited to one hundred. He is also a member of the La Salle Club.
In 1886 Dr. Danforth received his degree of A. M. from Dartmouth College. He was made a Mason in 1863 at Altamont Lodge, A. F. & A. M., New Hampshire. He has been an extensive traveler in the United States and Europe, visiting England; Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. Always a devoted, loyal member of, and liberal contributor to, the church, he has been a steward or trustee and regular at- tendant of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church for twenty years. Dr. Danforth has always been a staunch Republican, having voted first for General John C. Fremont, and for every Republican candidate for the presidency since, although in local elections he votes for honesty and ability rather than party. He has never as- pired to political preferment, being in a rare degree devoted to professional work. Dr. Dan- forth is a man of much magnetic power, a fluent ยท speaker, having a ready command of language and expressing his ideas with force and clearness. Accomplished and refined in every fibre of his being, his clientage is among the highest circles of the city. No ordinary practitioner, but well known in the profession as having risen to the dignity of independent work and original discov- ery, few men have better succeeded in attaining their ideals or fulfilling their aspirations than Dr. Danforth.
In 1869 Dr. Danforth was married to Miss Elizabeth Skelton, a daughter of Rev. John Skelton, a Methodist preacher, whose wife was a woman of rare literary accomplishments, and from her Mrs. Danforth probably inherits her intellectual qualities. Mrs. Danforth is a woman of broad education and superior accomplishment,
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eminently fitted to make a pleasant home, and to grace her social position. Systematic as she is in every department of life, the doctor accredits a large part of his success to his wife, a fact
which he takes great pleasure in acknowledging. Two children have been born to them, William Clark and Sarah Esther, aged thirteen and eleven years respectively.
HOSMER ALLEN JOHNSON, A.M., M.D., LL.D ..
CHICAGO, ILL.
D R. HOSMER ALLEN JOHNSON, a native of Erie County, N. Y., was born October 6th, 1822, the eldest child of Samuel Johnson and Sallie (Allen) Johnson. His family came originally from England. His grandfather, Samuel Johnson, was a native of Worcester, Mass. His maternal grandfather, Capt. Parmalee Allen, was a cousin of the famous Colonel Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame, and both he and the paternal grandfather served through the seven years of the Revolutionary struggle.
In early life his parents settled in the State of Michigan. He carly evinced a decided fondness for the studies of painting and sculpture, and espe- cially of those scientific and literary pursuits that so characterized his later years. He prepared for college at the village of Romeo, Mich., and in 1849 graduated from the literary department of the University of Michigan with the degree of A. B., and three years later received from his alma mater the degree of M. A. The year fol- lowing his graduation, he removed to Chicago and entered Rush Medical College, graduating in 1852 with the degree of M. D. One year later he became a member of the faculty of that insti- tution and continued in that connection until 1859, when he resigned his chair, and with Dr. N. S. Davis, Dr. Isham and Dr. David Rutter, founded the Chicago Medical College, now the medical department of the Northwestern Univer- sity, which institution in 1883 conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. During the first years of the Chicago Medical College, Dr. Johnson was Professor of Physiology ; later he was Professor of Pathology and Pathological Anatomy, and from 1881 until his demise, was Emeritus Professor of the principles and practice of medicine. Throughout his career Dr. Johnson was especially active in hospitals, and as attending or consulting physician met with great success.
During the War of the Rebellion, Dr. Johnson was president of the Board of Examining Sur- geons, appointed by the Governor to examine and pass upon applicants for admission as army physicians and surgeons, and from 1861 to 1865 visited the seat of war and saw much of army life among the troops on the battle-field and in camp. A man of large heart, his sympathies always went out to the suffering, and this quality, with his good judgment and known executive ability, led to his being called to many positions of responsi- bility and trust.
During the great fire of October 9, 1871, and after that calamity, when one hundred thousand people were rendered destitute, to be cared for and fed, Dr. Johnson was chosen one of the directors of the relief and aid society that ex- pended some five millions of dollars in relieving the needy, this society having the entire responsi- bility respecting the distribution and use of the money. During that time and for a term of six years, he was a member of the Board of Health, and for five years, from 1879 to 1884, was a member of the National Board of Health. He was honored with membership in a large number of leading societies and often called to their presidency or board of trustees. He was a member of the American Medical Association, and of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science from 1853 until his death. For thirty-eight years he was connected with the Chicago Medical Society, and during the same period was a member of the Illinois State Medi- cal Society. He was one of the original mem- bers of the American Public Health Association and president of that organization in 1889. He also helped to organize the Chicago Academy of Sciences and was several times its president and on its board of trustees. Among other noted societies with which he was identified, may be
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