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. 2 > Part 27
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Dr. Earle is a Republican, and a member of the Lincoln Club, though not active in politics, being thoroughly devoted to his profession. He is a much esteemed member of the Union Park Con- gregational Church.
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In regard to the personal characteristics of Professor Earle, we cannot do better than quote the words of an eminent brother physician of this city : "Great, honest-hearted, noble man ; his bluff exterior hides one of the tenderest hearts that ever beat. Gentle as a child, perfectly hon- est and disinterested in his practice, he could not be hired to do a dishonorable thing. He is a man of brains and ability, and thinks down deep into his cases. The Doctor is held in the highest regard in the Chicago Post-Graduate School, of which he is to a large extent the organizer, and
in the Woman's Medical College of this city his work is beyond all praise."
In 1871 Dr. Earle was married to Miss Fanny Bundy, a sister of the late Major J. M. Bundy, who was for many years a distinguished member of the metropolitan press. Mrs. Earle is an ac- complished musician, and a woman of strong lit- erary taste. She has always taken a deep interest in everything pertaining to her husband's profes- sional life. Two children have been the result of this union : Miss Carrie, and Master William Byford Earle.
W. FRANKLIN COLEMAN, M.D.
CHICAGO, ILL.
W. FRANKLIN COLEMAN was born in Brockville, Ontario. His paternal great- grandfather was among those who, upon the Declaration of Independence by the revolting colonies in 1776, remained loyal to the British crown and made a home in Upper Canada. From him Coleman's Corners derived its name and noted enterprise as a manufacturing center. He is described as "a man who shared the municipal honors of his day, and left his impress upon the local legislature of his time." The liberal· num- ber of eight sons and four daughters gave evi- dence of the good old way in which he helped to man the ship of state.
His grandson Billa (father of W. Franklin Cole- man), with his father and two brothers, were large manufacturers at Coleman's Corners, which, about 1855, was named Lyn. Billa married Ann Eliza Willson, born in New York State, but of English descent. She was noted as a woman of saintly virtues and of rare beauty. She went to rest, beloved by all who knew her, two weeks after the birth of her first-born child, William Franklin.
During early infancy W. Franklin Coleman was, nolens volens, moved to Coleman's Corners. From the age of six to twelve his governess and various village schoolmasters thrashed out a fair crop of wild oats, and an average one of the three Rs and allied products. The years from twelve to fifteen were given to the Brockville Grammar School, where he and a chum were wont to be on exhibition as " first in mathematics." The follow-
ing three years were spent at the Pottsdam Acad- emy, New York State, then the resort of many Canadians.
The study of medicine was begun at McGill College, Montreal, in 1856, and continued for three winters, while during the corresponding summers he received instruction from the late Dr. Reynolds, of Brockville. Over-zeal in the dissecting room induced an attack of typhoid, which converted the student into such a thing of shreds and patches that for two succeeding years physic was thrown to the dogs. His medical studies were resumed at Queen's College, Kings- ton, Canada, and after two years a diploma with honors was awarded.
The serious business of advising, dosing and dieting humanity was begun in his native village of Lyn, where, for seven years, the young doctor gained wisdom by experience in the varied prac- tice of a country physician. With years, love of study and desire for more thorough knowledge and skill in one special branch of his profession induced Dr. Coleman to turn his attention to the departments of eye and ear. Desirous of greater clinical advantages than this continent then afforded, he went to England, where a year was spent at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Lon- don Hospital, after which the examining board of the Royal College of Surgeons, England, was pleased to enroll him a member of the college.
Returning to Canada, he settled in Toronto, and there formed a partnership with Dr. A. M.
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Rosebrugh, an oculist and aurist of established reputation. He was appointed surgeon to the Toronto Eye and Ear Infirmary, which position he held during his seven years' residence in that city. Although devoting most of his time to his favorite branch of medical science, Dr. Coleman, during these years, also practiced general medi- cine, but finally decided to limit his attention to his work as an oculist and aurist.
With a view to acquiring still further knowl- edge in his specialty, Dr. Coleman again went abroad, and spent a year in the clinics of Vienna and Heidelberg, under the guidance of such men as Jaeger, Schnabel, Politzer, Gruber and O'Becker.
Upon his return to Canada, he selected St. John, New Brunswick, by the seaside, as his field for special practice, and here another seven years' service won him a Rachel and goodly wages. But the oculist's ambition soon outstrip- ped the confines of the quiet Canadian city, with its cramping limitations and its lack of compan- ionship in scientific research, and having, in addi- tion to a large private practice, gained a rich harvest of experience from his position as sole oculist and aurist to the Provincial Hospital, he again turned westward.
With the encouragement of some of the promi- nent physicians in Chicago, to whom Dr. Coleman was known by his articles in medical journals, as well as by introductory letters from professional men in the East, he decided to settle in this lead- ing city of the West. Skill gained from large experience, a mind well trained in scientific research, a steady, persevering attention to details have, in a few years. earned for him the well- deserved reward of a good practice and wide reputation.
Finding here no school for graduates in medi- cine, such as is provided in various cities in the East, Dr. Coleman undertook the task of convinc- ing the profession in Chicago of the need of such an institution, and, after a year of persevering labor, succeeded in organizing the Chicago Poly- clinic. The management of this institution prov- ing unsatisfactory to himself and some of his col- leagues, they decided to establish another school, by the constitution of which the controlling power should rest in the faculty. This latter, known as the Post-Graduate Medical School, of Chicago,
has recently erected, on Plymouth Place, a com- modious building, which is also the home of the Chicago Charity Hospital.
Dr. Coleman is a member of the Chicago Oph- thalmological Society, of the Chicago Medical Society, and of the Illinois State Medical Society. He is oculist and aurist to the St. Elizabeth Hos- pital, president and director of and professor of ophthalmology in the Post-Graduate Medical School; also examiner of pension claims for eye and ear applicants. Dr. Coleman is a member of Grace Episcopal Church.
Intense fondness for scientific study, especially for those branches embraced in the field of medi- cine, makes Dr. Coleman's professional life an enjoyment rather than a burden. Indomitable energy, calm determination, untiring perseverance and absolute truthfulness are strong and lovable traits in the character of this physician. While genial with his patients and his professional breth- ren in general, it is by his personal friends alone that the full charm of his character is appreciated. Naturally undemonstrative and reserved, strangers have small opportunity to conjecture the wealth of humor and entertainment which he offers to those welcomed within the sacred precincts of his home.
Dr. Coleman married in 1882, in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, Mary Winniett Hartt, the namesake of a maternal grandmother, Mary Anne Peters (née Winniett), whose connections by blood or marriage include many names illustrious on both continents. Through her maternal grand- mother, Mrs. Coleman is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Yates (néc Penderell), whose brothers sheltered King Charles II. when fleeing from Cromwell's troopers, after the battle of Worces- ter, for which loyalty an annuity was granted to the family, which is still enjoyed by the heirs. Her grandmother's aunt married Colonel Wolse- ley, an ancestor of Sir Garnet Wolseley. Sir Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars, was her grandmother's second cousin. Sir William Win- niett, captain in the British navy, later governor of the gold coast in Africa, and knighted for treaty service there, was her grandmother's brother. Another brother, Alexander Winniett, was con- nected by marriage with Oliver Wendell Holmes. Her maternal great-grandmother was the daugh- ter of Peter Totten, of New York, whose descen-
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dants, General Totten and George Muerson Tot- ten, were well known in United States history. Her maternal grandfather, Benjamin Lester Peters, was the son of a distinguished loyalist, who settled in New Brunswick in 1784, and whose sons occupied prominent government positions,
such as attorney-general of the province, member of executive and legislative councils, etc. A woman of cultivated tastes and varied talents, possessing dignity, courtesy and ease of manner, Mrs. Coleman is a true helpmeet to her husband in his literary and scientific labors.
CHARLES ELI JUDSON,
CHICAGO, ILL.
C HARLES ELI JUDSON, president and engineer of the Consumers', Hyde Park and Lake Gas companies of Chicago, was born at Prattsburg, New York, December 21, 1843, and is the son of Aaron and Sophronia (Mason) Judson.
He is descended from William Judson, who with his family left Yorkshire, England, in the year 1634, and settled in Stratford, Connecticut, where some of his lineal descendents still reside on the old homestead. William Judson was closely identified with the early history of Har- vard College.
During the past twenty-five decades the Judson family has contributed many sons to the Christian ministry, notably the Rev. Dr. Adoniran Judson, the missionary to Burmah.
Mr. Judson was about five years of age when his father, a Presbyterian clergyman, accepted a call to the Second Presbyterian Church of Oswego, New York. He was strongly anti-slavery and pro-temperance in his views, and identified him- self prominently with the leaders of both causes, lecturing through the country and writing forcible articles for the papers in defense of his convic- tions. He was noted as an eloquent and con- vincing speaker. He died August 21, 1852, be- fore he could witness the abolition of that system of slavery which he had so strongly denounced in the pulpit, on the platform and in the press. He left his widow and two sons in only moderate circumstances. In the following spring young Judson was sent to a boarding school at Sand Lake, New York, and in four years was ready to enter college, but owing to his youth was denied admission until the following year, 1858, when he entered the sophomore class of Union College at Schenectady, New York, and graduated in July, 1861, in his eighteenth year. His favorite studies
in college were engineering and chemistry, and those preferences undoubtedly had much to do with his later business experiences.
Immediately after graduation Mr. Judson re- turned to Oswego, and engaged in the drug busi- ness. Six months' experience of this, however, was enough, and the spring of 1862 found him a member of the firm of Bolles and Judson, located at Albany, New York, engaged in the manufac- ture and wholesale jobbing of paper. They con- ducted this business successfully until the fall of 1865, when the firm sold out and engaged in the drilling of oil wells at Pithole, Pennsylvania. They met with success in this, but dissolved partnership in January, 1866, and Mr. Judson went to Savannah, Georgia, where he organized the Southern Wrecking and Submarine Company, became its vice-president and engineer, and made a contract with the city of Savannah for the re- moval from the Savannah river of the obstruc- tions which had been placed there during the late civil war. This contract was very profitable in its early stages, but owing to a disagreement arising between the United States Treasury De- partment and the municipal authorities of Savan- nah, the company suspended operations and sold out at a great personal loss.
In the fall of 1866 Mr. Judson went to Scran- ton, Pennsylvania, and accepted the position of treasurer and engineer of the Scranton Gas and Water Company, where he remained uninter- ruptedly for seventeen years. In the fall of 1883 he was tendered the position of president and engineer of the Consumers' Gas, Fuel and Light Company of Chicago, just then complet- ing its plant. He accepted the position and moved to Chicago. On the failure of this. cor- poration he was appointed its receiver, and subse-
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quently became the president and engineer of the Consumers' Gas Company, which succeeded to the property of the former corporation. In the spring of 1887 he became president and engineer of the Hyde Park and Lake Gas companies also.
In the fall of 1872 Mr. Judson associated him- self with Thos. J. Fisher, of Laramie, Wyoming, under the firm name of Judson and Fisher, in the cattle and sheep raising business, and has since
that time, under different firm names, continued in the same business. . He is undoubtedly en- titled to recognition as being one of the earliest established ranchmen in that portion of Wyoming.
Mr. Judson was married August 23, 1877, to Miss Mary Spencer Black, only daughter of Robert T. Black, of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
In religious matters Mr. Judson is a Presby- terian, and in politics a Republican. He has never held public office.
RALPH S. AND ROBERT L. GREENLEE,
CHICAGO, ILL.
R ALPH STEBBINS and ROBERT LEM- UEL GREENLEE were born in Sum- merhill township, Crawford county, Pennsylvania. They are of Scotch and English extraction. The Greenlee family were Covenanters, and were driven from Scotland in 1634, on account of their religious belief, and settled in Maryland, whence they emigrated to Crawford county, Pennsylva- nia. Their father, Edmund Greenlee, was born March 31, 1811, and is still living in the old fam- ily homestead near Meadville, Pennsylvania-a strong man physically and mentally. Their mother was Mary (Stebbins) Greenlee, of English descent. Her ancestors immigrated to America in 1633, and settled at Springfield, Massachusetts. Thence they moved to Crawford county, Pennsyl- vania, where she met Edmund Greenlee, to whom she was married in 1833. On April 13, 1838, the twins, Ralph and Robert, were born. From their earliest infancy there was great diffi- culty in distinguishing one from the other, so much were they alike in looks, forms and manner. They were sent to school, and given the best edu- cation afforded in the common and graded schools of the district, until they were nineteen years old, when they began assisting their father, who at that time was conducting an extensive dairy business. He was a man of considerable inventive genius, and he devised and manufac- tured machinery for making all of his own cheese boxes and butter kegs. At the age of twenty- five, in 1863, the sons left the farm and removed to Chicago, to start in business on their own ac- count. Making use of their mechanical skill,
acquired while working with their father, they opened a cooper shop, employing machinery in their work. This aroused the ire and concerted opposition of the western coopers, for they ob- jected to any departure from the methods of their forefathers. The opposition was met boldly and firmly, and finally overcome, and the firm of Greenlee Brothers were duly prosperous.
From this beginning they drifted into the man- ufacture of wood working machinery, making a specialty of the highest grades known, and con- stantly adding new inventions and methods until the Greenlee machines have become famous with manufacturers in wood all over the world. Im- mediately after the great fire of 1871, they re- moved to their present quarters on West Twelfth street, where, in addition to the manufacture of wood-working machinery, they established in 1883 the Northwestern Stove Repair Company, the largest concern of its kind in the world, of which Mr. Robert L. Greenlee is president, and Mr. Ralph S. Greenlee is vice-president and treas- urer. Here also, in 1886, they established two large foundries, under the corporate name of Greenlce Foundry Company, with Mr. Robert L. Greenlee, president, and Ralph S. Greenlee, vice- president and treasurer. Their business of manu- facturing machinery is conducted under the cor- porate name of Greenlee Brothers & Company, with Ralph S. Greenlee, president, and Robert L. Greenlee, vice-president and treasurer. They have recently (1892) purchased the old established stove business of Collins & Burgie, which they re- organized and incorporated, with Ralph S. Green-
Ralph Shreenle
Robot S. Greenler
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lee, president, and Robert L. Greenlee, vice-presi- dent and treasurer, and located at Marengo, Illi- nois, about sixty miles from Chicago. Their main office is in Chicago.
Mr. Ralph S. Greenlee married on Febru- ary 15, 1866, Miss Elizabeth Brooks, resident of Chicago, but a native of Eastern Canada. Her father, Mr. William Brooks, was for many years a resident of Sherbrook, Canada, and one of the leading spirits of the conservative government of the Dominion. They have one child: Miss Ger- trude, an accomplished young lady.
On April 11, 1867, Mr. Robert L. Greenlee married Miss Emily Brooks, a sister of his broth- er's wife. They have three children : William Brooks Greenlee, now (1892) in his junior year at Cornell University ; Miss Grace Greenlee, who was graduated in 1891 from Ogontz, Philadelphia, and Miss Isabel Greenlee, who is now in her sec- ond year at the same school.
Their politics are Republican, and they are staunch believers in the principles of their party. They contribute generously to all worthy chari- ties, and are unusually liberal in their contribu- tions to educational institutions, believing that the education of the people will remove many of their ills. Nor is their view of education limited to the narrow routine of the school or lecture- room. They have been careful students of men and events, and by extensive travels at home and in foreign lands, they have acquired a most valu- able fund of knowledge. Few Americans are
more conversant with the wonders and beauties of the world than they. Their first extensive travels abroad began in 1883, when Mr. Ralph S. Greenlee, with his family, who always accompany him in his travels, made a thorough tour of Old Mexico and Europe, lasting thirteen months, and he has but recently returned, with his wife and daughter, from a tour of the world, lasting eigh- teen months. During this last trip they spent three months in Japan and China, visiting the in- terior of both countries, and went all through India and the Island of Ceylon, Egypt and Tur- key, and made a tour of Palestine. Mr. Robert L. Greenlec and his family have traversed the same countries, except Japan and East India.
In stature they are five feet and ten inches in height, and weigh one hundred and eighty-six pounds each. They have a commanding pres- ence, well-formed heads which set squarly upon their shoulders, and are men who would attract immediate and respectful audience in any assem- bly. Their eyes are dark and kindly, and have that expression which places the stranger imme- diately at ease in their presence. They are cour- teous, but not effusive, showing in this the true Scotch and English conservatism. Their leading characteristics are inbred politeness, kindness and consideration for others, coupled with indomitable will-power, untiring energy, broad liberality and uncompromising honesty. Their fortunes have been fairly gained, and stand proud monuments of their sturdy manhood and genius.
MAJOR GEORGE M. BARBOUR,
CHICAGO, ILL.
T THERE is nothing more interesting to a stu- dent of human nature than to trace the career of a man who, endowed with energy and ambition, enters boldly into the struggle, of life and makes for himself a high place in the busy world. Such a man is the subject of this sketch.
He was born in 1844 in western New York, and comes of a family distinguished in the history of Vermont and Virginia, and is the son of Pomeroy J. and Eunice (Henry) Barbour-the latter being a niece of ex-Governor Leonard, a prominent statesman. He spent his youth in
Batavia, New York, and in Boston, Massachusetts, and was educated at Hobart College, Geneva, New York.
Naturally of a roving disposition, the ships of Boston harbor had great attraction for young Barbour, and at the age of fourteen years he ran away from home, and made a runaway trip to South America and the West Indies, the voyage covering six months. He returned with a more confirmed desire for adventure, but the rough life of a sailor had no further charms for him. This desire, however, was soon to be gratified in the
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stirring events of the War of the Rebellion, and three days after the call of President Lincoln for men in April, 1861, he, with many others, was marching down Broadway, New York city, going to the front in defence of the Union, having en- listed as a private in the Twenty-second Regi- ment New York Volunteers, infantry. He was seventeen years old at that time.
He was present at the armed occupation of Baltimore under General Butler; the capture of Harper's Ferry, and the famous battle of Bull Run.
In this service, his desire for action and a life of adventure had full sway, and when his term of enlistment expired he immediately re-enlisted as second lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment New York Cavalry. He saw a great deal of active service with his company and in the battle of Kelley's Ford, February 17, 1863, his senior lieu- tenant (Domingues) being killed, he commanded his company and was promoted for bravery and meritorious conduct in that decisive engage- ment. After that perilous campaign that cul- minated at Gettysburg, he resigned from the cavalry, in which he had served in fourteen battles and more than one hundred skirmishes, his whole record being one of marked bravery. He became quartermaster of the Third Massachu- setts Artillery, from which he was within a year promoted to duty in the quartermaster general's department in the regular service, and completed a continuous service of nearly seven years, during which time he had earned the respect of his supe- rior officers and the love and admiration of his comrades.
During the winter preceding the close of the war Major Barbour was stationed in Washington, and his duties brought him in daily contact, for about four months, with President Lincoln. The duties related to telegraphic messages in the famous little brick office that then stood between the White House and the War Department, and there was soon established a modest degree of in- timate confidence in him on the part of President Lincoln, which resulted in impressing Major Bar- bour with a deep veneration for the great war president, and he enjoys recalling numerous tid- bits of quaint remarks, characteristic of that great man.
He was present at Ford's Theatre, seated near
the stage, on the night of the assassination of the President, and witnessed the action of Booth and the excited frenzy of the audience, and from there hastened to the residence of Secretary Seward in time to render assistance to him and his two stricken sons, who with the nurse, Robinson, were the four victims of the conspirator Payne. Subsequently he witnessed the execution of Payne, Harold, Alzerodt and Mrs. Surratt.
Major Barbour refers with a just pride to his military record. From his enlistment to his re- signation he never lost a day, was never sick, detailed or absent on furlough, and did not see his home for more than four years. In 1864, he was in the saddle sixty-eight consecutive hours, except a brief interval when he dismounted to transfer his saddle to a fresh horse.
In 1867, following the advice of Horace Greely, he turned his face toward the setting sun, and went to Denver, Colorado, where, without so- licitation he was appointed assistant collector of internal revenue.
He also engaged in architectural work, and was correspondent for several eastern papers. Sub- sequently he engaged in journalism and estab- lished daily papers in Jacksonville, Florida, and Pierre, Dakota, and conducted them with success. As a correspondent of the Chicago Times and Boston Herald, he accompanied the party com- posed of Generals Grant and Sheridan and Col. Grant and their families, on their extended south- ern tour in the winter of 1879-80, writing most in- teresting accounts of the trip, and also for several months acting as secretary for General Grant.
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