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 38
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One could narrate endless incidents in the social and humanitarian life of Dr. Senn that would prove most entertaining, but a biographi- cal record of this nature deals only with cold facts, and forbids the use of a narrator's paint- brush. Courteous and affable, Dr. Senn greets one with a manner that is full of cheerful interest, and before one is able to swallow the diffidence one naturally feels on entering his sanctum, he has one puffing at a good cigar and chatting with all the "esprit de corps" of old classmates. His home life is extremely domestic, and, although of a social disposition, he finds but few moments for the exchange of social amenities. His family consists of his estimable wife and two sons, aged fourteen and twenty-one years respect- ively. The elder boy is a student in the Rush Medical College, and if he but realize the fond hopes of his devoted parents, all these years of accumulated fame, honor and material posses- sions will have been indeed "a labor of love," when the mantle of an illustrious father is rever- ently laid upon the shoulders of a worthy son.
EGBERT W. GILLETT,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T HE successful man is he who chooses his voca- tion with reference to his natural abilities and inclinations, and adheres strictly to the busi- ness of his choice. Among the successful and representative business men of Chicago must be numbered the subject of this sketch, Egbert W. Gillett, born in Dexter, Jefferson county, N. Y.
He is the son of Paul W. and Caroline H. Gillett, both natives of the Empire State. His father died at the age of sixty-three and his mother in her fifty-eighth year, the decease of both occur- ring in this city, where they had removed in 1852 from New York State. Much interested in the cause of temperance, his father often lectured on the subject.
The business in Chicago, of which Mr. Gillett is the owner ( manufacturing and importing of grocers' specialties), was established by his father many years ago.
Arriving in this city with his parents when but three years of age, young Gillett received his
early education in the public schools of Chicago and finished at Wheaton College. Having com- pleted his education, he entered business with his father at 257 South Clark street. They were located at 61 Michigan avenue at the time of the great fire (October 8, 1871), and their entire plant was swept away. On October 9 they resumed business at 5 1 West Lake street, and remained there until the South Side was partially rebuilt, when they re- moved to Nos. 38 to 44 Michigan avenue, remain- ing there eleven years. During that time, in the year 1882, E. W. Gillett became sole proprietor of the business, and in 1887 (requiring more room and enlarged facilities) he erected his present store at Nos. 9, 11, 13 and 15 River street, 67x100 feet, six stories and basement, which he now occupies ; thus making one of the finest wholesale buildings in that vicinity. He employs in this business about two hundred and fifty hands, and his trade ex- tends all over the United States. In 1887 Mr. Gillett established a factory in Toronto, Ont.,
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located at 32 and 34 West Front street, to supply his Canadian trade, where he employs a large number of operatives. He also founded the Champion Chemical Works in 1885, located at 38 and 40 Michigan avenue, Chicago, and is president of the company, which does a large and prosperous chemical business.
He was one of the founders of the Lincoln National Bank and for several years a director. At present a director of the American Exchange National Bank and the Chicago Opera House Company ; a member of the Union League Club,
Illinois Club, Washington Park Club, and other prominent clubs, corporations and associations. He has large real estate interests in Chicago and subdivisions in Ohio to which he gives some at- tention. His handsome large brownstone resi- dence is in the finest part of the city, 3334 Michi- gan avenue. In his stables are complete turnouts.
He is an attendant and trustee of Plymouth Congregational Church. Also a trustee of the Illi- nois College, located at Jacksonville, Ill. He was married July 25, 1868. Their children are Lillian May and Charley W. Gillett.
WILLIAM PARKER KETCHAM,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T HE subject of this sketch was born April 16, 1844, in the City of Brotherly Love. His father, Samuel Ketcham, and his mother, Rose- anne, née Pyott, were both natives of Philadel- phia. The father was a shoe manufacturer in that city.
In 1852 the family removed to Muscatine, Iowa, and there our subject attended the public schools until he was fourteen years old, after which he attended Stone's Academy for about two years.
In 1860 he went to Marengo, Iowa, and en- gaged with his brother, J. P. Ketcham, in the lumber, grain and agricultural-implement busi- ness.
In April, 1861, he returned to Muscatine, and took charge of the furniture establishment of Messrs. Densmore & Chambers, being but seven- teen years old.
At the opening of the war of the Rebellion, filled with patriotism and love for the Union, he at once enlisted in Company A, Seventh Regi- ment, Iowa Volunteers, infantry, and went to the front.
During the year that he was with this regi- ment he participated in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donaldson, Shiloh and Corinth. His regiment was a part of Tuttle's Brigade, Wallace's division, and it was this brigade which held the dangerous position of the Hornet's Nest on that memorable 6th of April, 1862. Mr. Ketcham was in the battle of Holly Springs, when the Confeder-
ate General, Van Dorn, captured that place. Of twenty-five infantrymen who escaped, he was one; all the other Union soldiers, with the ex- ception of the Second Regiment Illinois cavalry, were captured.
He next served as a clerk at Gen. Grant's head- quarters until the commander was placed in charge of the Army of the Potomac, when he was transferred to General Sherman's headquarters at Nashville. There he served the remainder of his term of enlistment and was honorably discharged August 17, 1864. He was noted for devotion to duty wherever duties called him, and earned the respect and love of his superiors by his conduct at headquarters.
Returning to Marengo, Iowa, he formed a co- partnership with his brother in the lumber and grain business. He remained there until 1885, when, leaving the business in charge of a manager, he removed to Chicago, whither his brother had pre- ceded him a number of years, and the present firm of J. P. Ketcham & Brother was formed. They located on the corner of Blue Island and Hoyne avenues, in the lumber district of Chicago. They have extensive yards and works, and do an immense wholesale business, employing over one hundred and twenty-five men. Owing to the death of J. P. Ketcham on February 15, 1892, the business was incorporated May 1, 1892, as the Ketcham Lumber Company-WV. P. Ket- cham, president, and F. D. Ketcham, secretary and treasurer.
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Mr. Ketcham was married at State Line, Illi- nois, on the 25th of December, 1866, to Miss Mary J. Parry, daughter of Mr. William A. Parry, a well-known hotel proprietor and railroad con- tractor.
Mr. Ketcham was president of the Builders and Traders' Exchange, during 1890, and is a mem- ber of George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., and also of Montjoie Commandery of Knights Tem- plar.
He is a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church.
In April, 1891, he was elected a director of the World's Columbian Exposition, and is a member of the Grounds and Building Committee, and also the Committee on Agriculture. He is one of the most influential members of the board, repre- senting especially the building and lumber in- terests.
Mr. Ketcham is of light complexion, medium height, but of a robust stature and commanding presence. He is courteous, genial and self-reliant, and commands the respect of all who are ac- quainted with him.
JULIUS WALES BUTLER,
CHICAGO, IL.L ..
T HERE is, in the laborious and honorable career of the busy business man, fighting the every-day battle of life, but little to attract the idle reader in search of a sensational chapter ; but for the mind fully awake to the importance and real meaning of human existence, there are immortal lessons in the life of the man who, without other means than a clear head and a true heart, begins life with a high purpose, and who, ever adhering to that purpose, conquers adversity and presses on through the ranks of the many, and becomes one of the few: whose toil through the work-a-day years of a long and arduous career unfolds an evening of rest, blessed with a solid and honorable competence and a good name. Such a man is the subject of this bio- graphical sketch.
J. W. Butler was born at Essex, Chittenden county, Vermont, May 7th, 1828. His father was· Zebediah Butler, and his mother was Betty (Morris) Butler, both natives of Vermont. Zebe- diah Butler was one of the leading men of his time at Roxbury, Vermont, being engaged in the milling business and also for a long period post- master of that place. Exemplary parents, rigid in their understanding of the importance of fru- gality and industry, deemed it not only possible, but proper and necessary that a boy should be taught the virtues of labor, and that his "recess" and vacation should be supplemented by work. It was thus that the subject of this sketch divided his school days with a system of the hardest kind
of work, to the end that the carnings therefrom would add that much more to his education. His schooling was limited to from three to four months of each year, at the academy of Hines- burgh, Vermont, and some additional study in the district schools.
Mr. Butler's first employment, and which was during his scholastic years, was in the post-office at Hinesburgh. His next venture was in a sad- dler's shop, but this work did not meet his ideas of a future, and he gave it up, and in the fall of 1848, at the age of twenty, he packed up his port- able property and removed to Chicago. The out- look in the Chicago of that time was not very pleasing to an castern-bred youth, so he moved on to St. Charles, Illinois, and went into the mer- cantile trade at that place, and after eight years residence and business there he removed to Chi- cago, and in 1856 joined his brother, O. M. Butler, who had established, in 1844, a paper warehouse and paper store, the new firm being J. W. Butler & Co., their business being located at 48 State street. Thus came into existence a great house, that has stood up against war and two disastrous fires, and is to-day the leading paper house in the West.
In 1862 the firm of J. W. Butler & Co. con- solidated with the G. H. & L. Laflin paper con- cern, the new firm name being Laflin, Butler & Co., and continued as such until 1868, when J. W. Butler and his brother, O. M., bought out the Laflin interest, when the firm name changed back
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to its original style. In 1867 the firm were at 114 and 116 Wabash avenue-the Drate block-and was burned out there in August of that year with a loss of fifty thousand dollars. This was a hard blow to the brothers, but they were of determined metal, and as soon as the building could be pre- pared for them they reopened their business at 12 and 14 Market street, and later removed into larger and better quarters at 144 and 146 Monroe street, where, in 1871, the great fire found them, and their business was added to the list of "to- tally destroyed." At this time their business amounted to over one million annually, and the loss consequent upon carrying a stock to handle such a trade was very heavy, and almost crushed them ; in fact, the great loss in this fire, supple- mented by the burning of their paper mills at St. Charles, so prostrated Mr. J. W. Butler's brother that he soon after gave up the business. While the walls were still smoking, Mr. J. W. Butler secured and moved into a building on the West side, that had been used for a church and mission school, and here again opened up business for the temporary accommodation of his trade. A new building being built for him, he removed back to the South side, on Monroe street, where, in 1876, the business was incorporated as the J. W. Butler Paper Company, with J. W. Butler as its treasurer. In 1884 Mr. Butler was elected presi- dent of the company, and has filled that office ever since.
The business has seen many struggles in its early days, but it was favored with a man of brains at its head, who knew no such word as fail, and he has worked and lived to see every hope, every ambition realized for the business; and while it has competitors in its line, has none, absolutely none, in its class in the West, and none superior in the United States.
Few wholesale commercial houses anywhere can show a proud list of over six thousand select- ed customers, many of them more than a quarter of a century old, and some approaching nearly the half-century line. Their business covers the entire forty-eight States and a large portion of Mexico. It is indeed a typical American institu- tion, honored and trusted.
In politics, Mr. Butler is a Republican, but has never been in office, nor sought one; he has, how- ever, been requested to permit his name to stand
for this and that office in the city municipal gov- ernment, but has steadfastly refused. He is a director in the Royal Trust Savings Bank, and has been a director in numerous financial institu- tions. He is an officer in the Union Park Con- gregational Church, and is deeply interested in the building up and sustaining of the mission schools.
Mr. Butler was married, May 28th, 1856, to Miss Julia A. Osgood, of Bellows Falls, Vt., to whose gentleness, good judgment and ready sym- pathy Mr. Butler ascribes the courage and inspi- ration of his dark days, and the true and highest enjoyment of his days of sunshine and plenty. Of the four children born unto this good father and mother, two sons, Frank O. and J. Fred., are the survivors, the former being first vice-president and the latter second vice-president of the J. W. Butler Company.
Mr. Butler takes great interest in all efforts tending to bring the trades together, believing that all such efforts result in general good. He was instrumental in organizing, in 1881, the Chi- cago Paper Dealers' and Manufacturers' Associa- tion, and was its first president. Mr. Butler is five feet five inches in height, and weighs one hundred and thirty pounds.
This brief view of his business career and in- terests show. him to be eminently fitted for the pages of a history of men whose lives are pre- sented to the world as examples of high regard and excellence, typical of that intensified en- ergy and honorable characteristic of represen- tative American progress that has made the United States in general, and Chicago in par- ticular, the wonder and admiration of the whole civilized world.
Mr. Butler's personal history exhibits the no- blest attributes of character ; his life has been one continuous scene of activity and almost un- interrupted success. His achievements justify a study of the man, his character, his qualities, his methods of action and acknowledged ability to grapple with the higher forces of life around him, and to govern the agencies of nature and human- ity that are so essential to the attainment of eminence and success.
He is strong in his friendship, never willingly abandoning one in whom he has trusted, always willing to help the worthy, but sometimes turning
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. a deaf ear to an applicant for his bounty who has not learned the pathway to competency by indus- try and economy ; strong in his dislikes of men whom he does not believe in as honest and worthy; strong in his convictions of right and hatred of the tricks of business of which some even boast. His sterling integrity is an unques- tioned fact in his history.
Naturally modest and diffident, he is independ- ent in thought, but does not reach a conclusion without due consideration, and when once a con- clusion is reached, he is firm but not arrogant. He is a proud man, but his pride is a worthy and honest consciousness in, and appreciation of, the
love of his family and friends, and the profound respect of all with whom he has business or social relations.
He stands to day in his mature years the pio- neer of a great industry and trade in the West. For nearly half a hundred years his honored name has been synonymous with that industry, and such has been the consonance of the connec- tion that it will continue for all time in American social records and business heraldry an example for young men to pattern after, as illustrative of the fruits of probity, manliness and of the associ- ation of the higher elements of Christian fellow- ship with business dealing.
HENRY STEVENS TUCKER, M.D.
CHICAGO, ILL.
H J ENRY S. TUCKER inherits from his father the clear brain and practical inge- nuity of the sturdy sons of Vermont, and from his mother the warm heart and gracious manner of the old Virginian. Early in the present century, his father, John R. Tucker, left his native home in Vermont, and after a few years' sojourn in Vir- ginia, settled in Kane county, Illinois, where the subject of this sketch was born on the Ist of May, 1853. Henry was sent to the common schools, passed successfully through the different grades, and was graduated from the high school, and then spent two very profitable years at Wheaton College, Illinois.
He carly developed a fondness for anatomical studies, and became interested in all mechanical contrivances for operating upon the human body, and when the time came to choose a profession, he naturally selected surgery. He pursued a course of study at Bennet Medical College, Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1879. With a choice which has proved a very wise one, he located in Chicago, and the same year was elected demon- strator of anatomy by his alma mater. He re- tained this position until 1883, when he was elect- ed professor of general and descriptive anatomy. In this capacity he served until 1889, when he was elected professor of surgery in Bennet Medical College and attending and consulting physician in the college hospital, at the same time being ex-
amining physician in several mutual benefit asso- ciations.
In 1883 Dr. Tucker was made a Mason at Clin- tonville Lodge, No. 511, A. F. & A. M., from which he has since transferred his membership to Ash- lar Lodge, No. 308, of Chicago. He was exalted to the Royal Arch degree, R. A. M., Lafayette Chapter, in 1889.
Well known in social and literary circles, Dr. Tucker is a member of the Grand Boulevard Club and also of the Evolution Club of this city. He is Republican in political sympathies, though pre- vented by professional duties from taking an ac- tive part in politics. In his religious belief he is a Methodist.
Dr. Tucker is a very successful physician, and it is interesting to note the traits of character which have contributed to his advancement. Calm and cool in demeanor, he impresses one as non-visionary and conservative, while at the same time is felt the underlying strength and positiveness of his character. One of his most admirable qualities is the ability to judge and to speak without exaggeration of the faults and virtues of another.
In 1884 Dr. Tucker married Miss Emma Kro- nenberg, a daughter of Mr. Joseph Kronenberg, an old and prominent hardware merchant of Hamburgh, New York. Mrs. Tucker is a lady of much artistic culture, and delights in beautify-
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ing her comfortable home, whose happiness is heightened by the presence of the little three-
year-old daughter, Inez, a bright, attractive child of unusual intelligence.
HEMPSTEAD WASHBURNE,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T HE true measure of one's success is what one has accomplished, and he best fulfills his mission in life who best uses his abilities and op- portunities. When measured by these standards, Hempstead Washburne, though he has scarce reached the meridian of life, must be classed with those successful men who have made the most and best of themselves. He is a native of Illi- nois, and was born at Galena, on November II, 1852.
His father, the Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, was a man of extraordinary ability, whose name is enrolled with those of Illinois' ablest statesmen and most honored citizens. He was a lineal de- scendant of John Washburne, who was secretary of the Colony of Plymouth. He was for eighteen years a member of Congress from Illinois ; Secre- tary of State during the administration of Presi- dent Grant, and for eight years Minister to France. In this last-named capacity he rendered most praiseworthy services during the Franco-Prussian War of 1871-1872.
The mother of our subject was, before her mar- riage, Miss Adele Gratiot, whose immediate an- cestors were among the early settlers of St. Louis, Missouri. Her father, Col. Henry Gratiot, moved to Galena, Illinois, when it was first opened up as a mining settlement. Her mother-our subject's maternal grandmother-was, before her marriage, a Miss Hempstead, whose father was a revolu- tionary soldier and a companion of Capt. Nathan Hale, on his ill-fated excursion to the British lines, when he (Hale) was captured by the British and hanged as a spy.
Hempstead attended the public schools during his boyhood, and prepared for college at Kent's Hill, Maine, where he was graduated in 1871. In the summer of that year he visited Europe and pursued a two years' course of study in the Uni- versity of Bonn, Germany. Upon his return to this country in 1873, he became a student in the law department of University of Wisconsin at Madi-
son, and was graduated therefrom in one year, after which he pursued a supplementary law course in the Union College of Law at Chicago, and was graduated in 1875. He began the practice of his profession at once, opening an office with Mr. Henry S. Robins, under the firm name of Wash- burne & Robins. This firm afterwards became associated with the Hon. Lyman Trumbull, the firm name changing to Trumbull, Washburne & Robins, and so continued until 1885. During that time Mr. Washburne came to be recognized as a young lawyer of fine abilities, for which, with his manly, personal qualities, he was greatly esteemed. He was appointed a Master in Chan- cery for the Superior Court in 1880, and held that office until he was elected City Attorney in 1885, whereupon he resigned and also withdrew from his law firm. He was re-elected City Attorney in 1887, and at the end of his second term de- clined to stand for a third nomination in order that he might resume his private practice, which he did in connection with Mr. Theodore Bren- tano-now a Judge of the Superior Court-under the firm name of Washburne & Brentano. In 1888 he was candidate for Congressional nomination, but was defeated at the primary election by an almost tie vote, Hon. George E. Adams being his successful competitor. In March, 1891, Mr. Washburne was nominated by acclamation for the office of Mayor of Chicago, and in April following, after a most exciting campaign, was elected. His term of office will expire in the spring of 1893.
As a lawyer Mr. Washburne maintained a high standing among his associates at the bar, and was esteemed by them, not only as an able law- yer, but also as a high-minded gentleman. His success as City Attorney is sufficiently attested by the fact that he voluntarily declined a third nomination for that office. In his present high and responsible office he has shown executive ability beyond the expectation of his warmest
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supporters. He has called about himself, as heads of the various departments of the city gov- ernment, men of well-known high standing, and instituted and put into operation many needed reforms; and under his administration the affairs of the city have been conducted in a business- like manner, that challenges the admiration of all fair-minded men. In all his varied relations, Mr. Washburne has maintained a manly independence. IIe is a man of strong convictions, firm in his de- terminations, and seldom retreats from a position once taken. He thinks for himself and acts in accordance with what he believes to be right and best. Under all circumstances he has the cour- age of his convictions, and is frank and outspoken in his beliefs. He has a vigorous, active mind, and his public utterances are terse, forceful and practical. Ile has much oratorical ability, and in his address at the unveiling of the Grant monu- ment in 1891, surprised even his friends in this
particular. lle is a staunch Republican, and has been ever since he was old enough to vote. In religious matters he is thoroughly independent ; he is a member of no church or religious denomi- nation.
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