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 35
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Three sisters are referred to in the sketch of Dr. W. H. Byford, Sr., found in another part of this volume.
In the matter of education Dr. Byford has been the recipient of superior advantages. The carly years of his school-life were spent in Chicago, in the public schools and in the private academy of Dr. Quackenboss. When he was eleven years of age he was placed in school in Germany, taking a classical course. At the end of three years he was graduated, receiving the prize for the best compo- sition (German) in the highest class of a high school in Berlin. Returning to this city, he spent one term in the University of Chicago. In the fall of 1868 he began a course of very earnest study at Willaston Seminary, graduating from the scientific department with high honors in 1870. The same year he matriculated at the Chicago Medical Col- lege, and was graduated in 1873. He was elected valedictorian of his class, and in the examinations ranked perfect in all branches except one. Extra- ordinary as was this record, it was rendered even more so by his extreme youth. Dr. Byford, at the time of his graduation, was but nineteen years of age, and accordingly not entitled to the
Hay TOfore AL.
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privileges of the diploma for nearly two years to come.
While yet a student, he had, by competitive examination, secured the position of interne at Mercy Hospital. He was, however, obliged by the illness of his brother to forego the benefits of a full term in this capacity, as well as the pleas- ure of attending the graduating exercises of his class and of delivering his valedictory address. Dr. William H. Byford, Jr., whose later career in Minneapolis was at once so brilliant and so pathetic, was, at this time, suffering from lung trouble, for which he sought relief in southern travel. There had always been a very affectionate relationship between the brothers, and now that a nurse and companion was needed for the elder, it was with unhesitating devotion that the younger relinquished his studies to accompany him. They traveled for some months in the South, spent a year in Denver, and our subject returned to Chicago in 1874.
Seventeen years have passed, and to-day Dr. Byford stands in the front ranks of his profession. Recognized not only as a most skillful practi- tioner, but as a man of advanced, original thought and wide research, the number of his public engagements is limited only by the de- mands of an enormous practice. Dr. Byford was one of the founders of the Chicago Post-Graduate School, in which, from its inception, he has occu- pied the chair of Gynæcology. He is Clinical Professor of Gynæcology in the Woman's Medical College ; Gynæcologist to St. Luke's Hospital and Surgeon to the Woman's Hospital; formerly Curator of the Museum, and Lecturer on diseases of children in the Chicago Medical College, as well as Lecturer on obstetrics in Rush Medical College. He has been obliged to resign both of these trusts owing to the pressure of private work. As a clinical lecturer, Dr. Byford has won well-merited reputation-reports of his lectures being solicited by the leading medical periodicals of the country. His contributions to medical journals are numerous, and are characterized by their original matter and practical interest, some of them having been published in Europe. He was co-editor with his father, the late Dr. William H. Byford, Sr., of the last edition of "Byford's Diseases of Women." He is a charter member and ex-president of the Chicago Gynæcological
Society, active member of the American Gynæ- cological Society, of the Chicago Medical Society, the Chicago Medico-Legal Society, the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Byford has twice visited Europe, first in 1865-68, and again in 1879-80. He has made an exhaustive study of nervous diseases, in connec- tion with gynæcological practice, in the hospi- tals of London, Edinburgh, Heidelberg and Paris.
Not. satisfied with the fulfillment of the many duties which come to him in the regular practice of his profession, Dr. Byford has added to it another and a very valuable and important form of activity, which has gained him imperishable renown-that of invention. He has invented numerous new methods of operation, many of which are associated in medical literature with his name. Thus he was the first to advise and per- form operations for shortening the sacro-uterine ligaments for retroversion of the uterus; inguinal suspension of the bladder for cystocele; vaginal fixation of the stump in abdominal hysterot- omy; bilateral denudations for anterior colpocele and cystocele ; subcutaneous perinæotomy, etc. He has also brought to its present state of perfec- tion the operations called vaginal oophorectomy and vaginal ovariotomy, having reported, in 1890, eighteen operations without a death. We have further evidence of his originality and ingenuity as an inventor in a multitude of instruments de- vised by him, the most important of which are his broad ligament forceps for the removal of the uterus through the vagina, his hysterotomy clamp forceps, trocar for vaginal ovariotomy, probe-pointed fascia scissors, perinæotomy tene- tome, uterine elevator, improved needle forceps, retroversion pessary, uterine hook, uterine cu- rettes, various forms of haemostatic forceps for use in vaginal section, etc., etc. " He possesses " (quoting the words of one eminently qualified to speak with authority on the subject), " a degree of mechanical ability not often found among those who have chosen to follow the practice of medi- cine as a profession. He may justly be proud as the author of a large list of surgical instruments that have not only been an assistance to his fel- low-practitioners, but a great benefit to the public as well." And further : " We feel safe in saying
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that but few men engaged in the practice of any trade or profession, in this or any other age, have obeyed the dictates of conscience or felt the weight of their duties and responsibilities more fully than has Dr. Henry T. Byford."
He is a Republican, though not a politician, subordinating everything to his chosen work. He is a member of the Methodist church, and has, throughout his life, been strongly influenced by the teachings of his mother, a woman of deep religious sensibilities.
Dr. Byford is a man of fine physical propor- tions, a thorough athlete and a great pedestrian. He has explored on foot the Hartz Mountains, the English lake country, Northern Wales, the Black Forest of Germany and the mountains of Switzerland, as well as the mountain regions of his own country.
From early youth Dr. Byford has evinced great artistic ability. He spent some time, during his residence at Paris, in the famous Julien studio, doing good work in drawing and crayon. It is, however, as a water-color artist that he excels.
Blessed in so many ways, it only needs the
addition of a happy home to make his life com- plete, and this is not denied him. Mrs. Byford, whose maiden name was Miss Lucy Larned, is the daughter of Frederick Sylvester Larned, who was Assistant l'aymaster-General of the United States Army during the late civil war. Colonel Larned, who was a graduate of West Point, is an accom- plished linguist, a man of superior education, and has traveled twice around the world. Mrs. Byford is a lady of most admirable and pleasing qualitics. She is domestic in her tastes, a devoted mother, and to her husband a great source of cheer and inspiration in his work. Amiable, talented and exceedingly winning and gracious in her manner, she is very popular in social circles, and is the ruling spirit in the cordial influence that pervades her home. Their four children are: Miss Gene- vieve Larned Byford, a very graceful and attrac- tive girl and a musician of rare gifts ; Mary Lina Byford, aged six years, Heath, a little boy, aged four, who bears a marked resemblance to his distinguished grandfather, the late Dr. William H. Byford, and William Holland Byford, born March 5, 1891, at Chicago.
REV. JEREMIAH PORTER, D. D.
CHICAGO, ILL.
T 'HE distinguished honor of laying the foun- dations, in Chicago, of the great work of the Presbyterian Church, belongs to the subject of this sketch. As a missionary of the American Home Missionary Society (now Congregational), he was sent in 1831 to Fort Brady, at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Thence with the troops under Major John Fowle he reached old Fort Dearborn May 13, 1833. The next Sabbath (19th), he preached in the carpenter's shop at the Fort, from John xv, 8. In the afternoon, at "Father Walker's" log house, west side, near the forks of the river. In the evening (six o'clock), held a prayer meeting in the Fort. Of that day's early morning experience, his journal says: "The first dreadful spectacle that met my eyes on going to church was a group of Indians sitting on the ground before a miser- able French dramhouse playing cards, and as many trifling white men standing around to wit- ness the game."
June 26, 1833, Mr. Porter organized the First Presbyterian Church, with twenty-seven members. Seventeen of them had come with him from his Fort Brady church and nine were citizens of the little village of Chicago. Most remarkable is the fact that all of these charter members were Con- gregationalists, except Philo Carpenter, and sub- sequently he became a leading Congregationalist, whose devotion and beneficence are honored in Carpenter Hall and Chapel of the Congregational Seminary, Union Park. Among the Congrega- tional successors to Dr. Porter in the First Presby- terian pastorate were the sainted Flavel Bascom, D. D., for ten years, and the present gifted pastor, Rev. J. H. Barrows, D. D., whose biography ap- pears in this volume.
Rev. Dr. Porter was born in 1804, in Hadley, Mass. Samuel Porter had settled in Hadley in 1639, and the house he built is still owned by his descendants. Samuel Porter of a subsequent
Dermiche Porter
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generation and grandfather of Jeremiah, married Susanna Edwards, daughter of the eminent theo- logian, President Jonathan Edwards. Jeremiah's father was Dr. William Porter, who served in the army of the United States as surgeon during the war of 1812, and died in Hadley at the age of eighty-four. The mother of Jeremiah was Char- lotte, daughter of the Hon. William Williams, of Hatfield, Mass. Of twelve children, Jeremiah was the youngest of the six who reached their major- ity. His preparatory education was at Hopkins Academy under Rev. Dr. Dan. Huntington, father of Bishop F. D. Huntington (N. Y.), and in the family of Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. D., at Lee, Mass. At seventeen he entered Williams College (Mass.), and graduated at the age of twenty-one. The same year, 1825, he entered the Theological Sem- inary at Andover, Mass. Though undecided as to his future calling, he completed two years of study, then remained with his father until the spring of 1828, when, through the advice of Presi- dent Griffin, of Williams College, he became prin- cipal of the Monitorial High School in Troy, N. Y. After two successful years he accompanied the late Henry A. Boardman, D. D., of Philadelphia, to Princeton Theological Seminary and graduated in 1831. During the previous spring he had been licensed to preach by the Hampshire (Mass.) Con- gregational Association, and was ordained after his graduation by the same body. By direction of Rev. Dr. Absalom Peters, Secretary of the American Home Missionary Society (N.Y.), he left at once for Sault Ste. Marie. By stage to Albany, thence by the new New York & Erie Canal - stop- ping over for the Sabbath with a brother at Au- burn - he reached Buffalo, having 3,000 people. By steamer to Cleveland and. Detroit, he found passage from the latter to Mackinac on the last schooner which made the trip that fall.
At Mackinac he was welcomed to hospitable entertainment in the Christian family of Robert Stuart, of the Astor Fur Co. He preached one evening at Rev. Wm. M. Ferry's church. Novem- ber 24, Thanksgiving Day, a small bark canoe arrived from the Sault with orders "not to return without Mr. Porter." Three French voyagers manned it. With the United States mail, last for the season, a mess basket from his hostess, and a negro bound for Fort Brady, they set out at once. Forty-five miles along the lake shore and forty-five
up St. Mary's river, camping by night on shore, once in snow, were accomplished on the fourth day, breaking the ice to land. Mr. Porter was wel- comed to the beautiful home of Mr. Schoolcraft, the United States Indian Agent. Sunday, De- cember 4, 1831, Mr. Porter preached in the school- room of Rev. Mr. Bingham's Baptist Mission to the Indians. Soon a store was fitted up for serv- ices, and a Presbyterian Church formed with seven members - three men. The two ministers heartily co-operated. A revival followed, and all the officers and their wives, except a lieu- tenant and wife, expressed conversion to Christ before spring, and the membership of the new church was increased to thirty-three. The next year, 1833, these troops were ordered to Fort Dearborn, and Mr. Schoolcraft transferred to Mackinac. Finding his church broken up, the shepherd would not leave his flock; and so May 4, 1833, embarked with Major Fowle and his command. Passing a day at Mackinac, they pro- ceeded along the west shore of Lake Michigan. No sign of human habitation was seen except the Indian trader's, Juneau, with his squaw wife, at Milwaukee River. May II, the schooner an- chored near the mouth of the Chicago River- nearly a mile south of the present channel. Being too rough to land, it was May 13 when the ship's longboat was rowed into and up the river and around to the junction of the North and South branches. At Wattles tavern Mr. Porter met leading men of the 300 people in the village, and was invited by P. F. W. Peck to take quarters in the unfinished loft of his two-story store, south- west corner of La Salle and South Water streets.
His organization of the First Presbyterian Church has been stated. He remained pastor un- til the autumn of 1835, when the membership was 109. The previous spring he was the first dele- gate from the Ottawa Presbytery to the General Assembly. At the close of its sessions, in Pitts- burg, Pa., Mr. Porter went to Rochester, N. Y., and married Miss Eliza Chappel, late from Fort Dearborn. They visited his parents in Massa- chusetts, then went to Chicago, and in Septem- ber removed to the Main-Street Church in Peoria. Two years later, Mr. Porter preached the opening sermon-Anti-Slavery-before the Synod of Illi- nois, at Springfield. Though threatened by a pro-slavery mob, he and others rode horseback to
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Alton and held a convention in support of the famous Lovejoy, for the freedom of the slave and of the press. A few days after they left, Lovejoy was murdered.
From Peoria to Farmington, carly in 1838, thence to Green Bay, Wis., in 1840, he continued in happy and successful pastorates until 1858. That year he attended the General Assembly at Chicago, and accepted the pastorate of the Ed- wards Congregational Church-returning to his own denomination after 27 years of frontier serv- ice with Presbyterian Churches. In 1859 he de- picted the " First twenty-five years of Chicago," in a lecture before the Historical Society.
In March, 1861, Mr. Porter began his most memorable, self-denying, laborious and fruitful army chaplaincy-its hardships and loving labors shared largely by his heroic and efficient wife. He was chaplain of the "First Illinois Light Artillery." in which his son, James W., and a nephew had enlisted. At Cairo, Mrs. Porter joined her husband in administering to the sick and wounded from the battles of Forts Donelson and Henry, Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh. Thence followed to Paducah, Corinth and Mem- phis. A "convalescent camp" at Memphis was fruitful in desired religious interest in winter and spring of 1863. The first school for freedmen was established there by them. Dr. Edmund Andrews, surgeon of the "First Illinois Light Artillery," endorsed the effort. At Vicksburg, Mr. Porter was installed chaplain in the city hos- pital and preached in the Presbyterian Church until the spring of 1864. Thence he followed Gen. Sherman toward Atlanta. Mrs. Porter had preceded him with sanitary stores. From Kene- saw Mountain, both went with the wounded to Marietta, Ga., remaining until after the fall of Atlanta, where his own son, James W., now in Chicago, did valiant service. After returning to Chicago for a respite, Chaplain and Mrs. Porter went to Washington in the winter of 1864-5, and interceded with President Lincoln for the return North of the sick and wounded soldiers in South- ern hospitals. They bore testimonials from " Confederates" of their kindness to the enemy. Sailing from New York, they reached Savannah ten days after its capture by Gen. Sherman. Thence, by water, with their colonel, now Gen. J. D. Webster, to Wilmington, N. C., and joined
Gen. Sherman's army at Goldsborough. At the surrender of Lec they were both attending the sick in a hospital at Newbern. Returning via Norfolk, Alexandria and Washington, they fol- lowed Gen. Logan's corps to Louisville, Ky. Thence the chaplain was honorably mustered out at Springfield, July 31, 1865.
In the autumn they were both sent by the San- itary and Christian Commissions with stores to three regiments on the Rio Grande, watching the French movements under Maximilian. After perils by sca, the ladies being carried ashore on the backs of sailors at Bagdad, Mexico, they finally reached Brownsville, Texas. They went into camp at the "Soldiers' hospital." Besides their sanitary work, Mr. Porter preached, and Mrs. Porter, with Miss Lizzie Garey, of Galesburg, taught the colored soldiers and opened the " Rio Grande Seminary " for boys and girls. The spring of 1866 closed the field work of the Commissions, and so brought Mr. and Mrs. Porter back to Chicago, and a reception was given them at the Sherman Hlousc.
After visits and labors at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, Mr. Porter accepted an invitation to return to Brownsville, Texas, in 1868, to succeed Rev. Hiram Chamberlain, deceased, in 1867, and rebuild the church demolished by a tornado. The new brick church was dedicated in 1869. In 1870 he was appointed Post Chaplain, U. S. A., and assigned to Fort Brown. He also organized a church of colored people and preached to them. Mrs. Porter resumed her teaching until Texas public schools were organized. Chaplain Porter was changed to Fort Sill, I. T., in 1873, and to Fort D. A. Russell, Wy., in 1876. After four years more of active service he was given leave of absence until retired, June 30, 1882. Fourteen months of this time were spent in California to see their son, Rev. Henry D. Porter, M. D., depart as a missionary to China, and in doing good Chris- tian work at Santa Barbara and Sonoma. They were present at the semi-centennial anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church, Chicago, which they both helped to organize in 1833. They have since resided with their children in Detroit and Beloit.
After much suffering, in great patience, Mrs. Porter died in Santa Barbara, January 1, 1888. Dr. Porter still enjoys a good old age at Beloit,
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Wis., with his daughter, Mary H. Porter, who was for eighteen years a missionary in China. Uni- versally esteemed, he is held in high honor for his spotless character, Christian works and faith- ful stewardship. None deserve higher reward. In acknowledgement of his wisdom and worth
he received the degree of D. D. from Williams College, Mass.
Of nine children, four survive-James W., of Chicago ; Edwards W., of Detroit, Mich .; Rev. Henry D., M. D. and D. D., N. China ; and Miss Mary H. Porter, Beloit, Wis.
MARK KIMBALL,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T HERE are perhaps few among those who were at one time prominent and respected citizens of Chicago whose memory is more re- spected, and whose genuine worth more widely recognized, than that of the late Mark Kimball. He was born at Pembroke (now Darien), Genesee county, New York, May 5, 1821, the son of John and Ruth (Buckman) Kimball. Reared on his father's homestead, his early life was occupied by attendance at the district schools and farm work.
When he was thirteen years old, in June, 1834, the family started for the West, overland, with two teams and covered wagons. At Buffalo they placed all on board a boat for Detroit, whence they proceeded again overland, camping at night on the prairie, and soon reached Door Prairie, Indiana, where they remained six weeks. Re- suming their journey, they crossed the deep river to Yankee Settlement and Joliet, and thence to Bristol, on the Fox River. Remaining there a week, they returned to Naperville-then in Cook county-and here Mr. Kimball's father bought the farm where the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad now crosses Du Page River. Here young Kimball attended school and worked on the farm. In 1836 he engaged in the grocery bus- iness with his brother, John J. Kimball, and sub- sequently went into business at Naperville, and made several investments in real estate.
In 1839 he became a clerk at the Illinois Ex- change hotel, Chicago. A year later he entered the employ of Botsford & Beers, hardware mer- chants. In 1847 he established a general store at Naperville, placing his brother John J. in charge of it, but disposed of it two years later. In 1852 he became financially interested in the wholesale hardware business of Mr. Botsford, before referred to, the firm being known as J. K. Botsford & Co.
In 1863 Mr. Kimball was elected one of the directors of the Mutual Security Insurance Com- pany, and afterward became its secretary.
In 1865 he retired from the firm, then known as Botsford, Kimball & Co. In February of that year he became one of the incorporators of the Old Ladies' (now known as the Old People's) Home of Chicago. One of the original members of the Calumet Club, he remained a member up to the time of his death, although not a club man in any sense of the word.
In 1866 he organized and became president of the Citizens' Insurance Company, of Chicago, of which he was manager one year, but finding that it did not pay over ten per cent on the capital in- vested he closed out the company and repaid the stockholders the amount of their stock with a dividend of ten per cent thereon.
In 1867, Mr. Kimball with A. G. Burley and Samuel Brown were appointed trustees of Oriental Lodge No. 33, A. F. & A. M., which office he re- tained until 1872.
After the fire of 1871 he was elected assignee in bankruptcy of the Mutual Security Insurance Company. Subsequently he settled the affairs of a number of mercantile and banking institutions.
In July, 1876, Mr. Kimball was a candidate for the mayoralty of Chicago, but was defeated by a small majority by the Honorable Monroe Heath. His modesty was such that he repeatedly refused to allow himself to become a candidate for any political office, and it was wholly against his wishes that he was nominated for the mayoralty.
About that time he served two terms as col- lector of the town of South Chicago. His bond for the second term was for nearly $14,000,000, and was signed by all the then leading capital- ists and merchants of Chicago. He, with Mr.
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Robert T. Lincoln and others, were the first to insist that the law requiring town collectors to turn the surplus of the two-per-cent commission on collections above $1,500 over to the town board should be enforced.
In 1879, he, with Messrs. Enos Ayres and John G. Shortall were appointed appraisers of school lands. He was a shrewd business man, and his investments, especially those in real estate, were successful. He held on to those which were good and made an early disposal of those which were of questionable soundness. Thus he sustained but few losses and acquired considerable wealth.
On February 20, 1848, he married Miss Eliza- beth Judson, daughter of the Rev. Philo Judson (who performed the marriage ceremony in the Clark Street Methodist Episcopal Church). Mrs. Kimball, his son, Eugene S. Kimball, and his daughter, Mrs. Helen M. Galloway, survive him.
In matters of religion Mr. Kimball held liberal views, and was a regular attendant upon the serv-
ices at the Central Church under the charge of Prof. David Swing.
In politics he was a Democrat, though in no sense a politician.
His death occurred in this city on the 29th day of May, 1891. At the funeral, attended as it was by a large circle of his friends and acquaintances, members of his family-as had always been a family custom-acted as pall-bearers, while Prof. Swing officiated.
His life was an example of the power of patient purpose, resolute working and steadfast integrity. llis success in life was the natural result of his own persevering energy, indomitable courage and genuine worth. In his character he combined qualities of mind and heart that rendered him de- servedly popular, and secured to him the warm friendship of all who enjoyed his acquaintance.
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