The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 3

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770

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OLES, EDWARD, the second Governor of Illinois, was born in Virginia, December 15th, 1786, and was amongst the youngest of ten children. His father was a planter owning many slaves. Dur- ing college life the question of property in man first presented itself to Edward's mind, and he returned home impressed with its moral wrongfulness and 5 RYAN, THOMAS B., Lawyer, was born in Alex- andria, Virginia, on December 22d, 1828. His father was the Hon. Daniel Bryan, for many ycars Postmaster of Alexandria, and for some time representing his district in the State Senatc. His mother was Mary T. Bryan, sister of Gov- ernor James Barbour, of Virginia, formerly United States Senator, Secretary of War, and Minister to England. Thomas Barbour Bryan prepared himself for college in the best schools of Virginia, and entercd Harvard University, in Massachusetts. He maintained a high position as a diligent and successful student all through his collegiate course, and graduated with honors and received his diploma from the Law Department in 1848. During his collegiate course he gave special attention to the German language, and before graduating he wrote a book in that language which had a marked success. Ile is undoubtedly one of the most thor- ough German scholars in the United States, and is, more- over, proficient in the dead languages as well as French and Italian. In 1849 he moved to Newport, Kentucky, oppo- site Cincinnati, and in the next year was married to Jennie B. Page, daughter of Rcv. C. H. Page, chaplain in the United States Army. Thence he went to Cincinnati, and for several years practised his profession there with great success, in partnership with Judge Samuel M. Ilart. In 1853 hc removed to Chicago and entered into the real estate business there, soon establishing a very large and prosperous business, and becoming one of the principal and most reliable of authorities on real estate matters in that city. His business soon amounted to hundreds of thou- sands of dollars annually. He was one of the pioneers of the Young Men's Library Association of Chicago, and has been among the foremost in all public-spirited movements. Twice has he been candidate for Mayor of the city, but has been defeated by small majorities each time. Although a Virginian, he voted for Abraham Lincoln for the Presi- dency, and was a warm, active, and earnest worker in ti.e Union cause all through the war. He was President of the Chicago Soldiers' IIome, was a prominent member of the Union Defence Committee, and was President of the Exec- utive Committee of the last great Sanitary Fair in Chicago. He built and opened to the public years ago an elegant con- political impolicy, and the resolution that when he should become the owner of his portion of his father's slaves he would emancipate them. Apprehending that these senti- ments would meet with no countenance at home, he kept them sacred to himself. Upon the death of his father, in ISOS, he became entitled to twenty-five slaves and one thousand acres of land. His father had taken no share in public life, but his home had been the resort of nearly all the great statesmen of the day. Edward became the Private Secretary of President Madison. In person he was tall and graceful, with face of the Grecian style. To a benevolent disposition he added a wide fund of informa- tion, social tact, and conversational powers. By the judi- cious exercise of these he is said to have brought into new bonds of friendship Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, who had respectively bcen estranged. In 1816 he was sent in the sloop-of-war " Pro- metheus " on a special mission to Russia, as the bcarcr of important despatches to the American ambassadors at St. Petersburg. Before his return he made the tour of Europe. Shortly after his arrival home he determined to go West. The summer of 1818, in Illinois, witnessed the labors of the Convention at Kaskaskia to enact the first Constitution. In the following spring he removed with his slaves to Illinois. On the trip thither-made mostly on flat-boats down the Ohio-the negroes, ignorant of their destination, were, one clear moonlight evening in June, while the boat was calmly floating down the placid stream, called together and by their master addressed in a plain and short speech in which he pronounced them free. Their gratitude was so pro- found that they tendered him one year's service at the new home ; this he refused. IIc gave besides to cach head of a family one hundred and sixty acres of land in Illinois in the neighborhood of Edwardsville, aided them with money, and for many years exercised paternal care over them. In 1822 he was elected Governor of the State. In 1833, at the age of forty-seven, he moved to Philadelphia and was mar- ried to Sallie Logan Roberts, by whom he had one daugh- ter and two sons. IIc died July 7th, 1868, in the eighty- second year of his age. On arriving in Illinois he received the appointment of Register of the Land Office at Edwards- ville. ITis election to the office of Governor was the most important, exciting, and angry one that took place at that cert and lecture hall on Clark street opposite the Court

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House, which, until Crosby's Opera House was built, was | makc smooth the way for others to obtain an education, and the place where all first-class entertainments were held. Afterwards it was devoted to mercantile purposes.

IBBARD, HOMER NASII, Lawyer, and Regis- ter in Bankruptcy, was born in Bethel, Windsor county, Vermont, November 7th, 1824. ITis father's name was Samuel Hibbard, descended from an old Connecticut family, and his mother's, Edith (Nash) Hibbard, who died when he was five years old. On the maternal side he is eighth in line of descent from Thomas Nash or Nashe, who came to America from London, England, with the Rev. John Dav- enport's colony and landed in Boston, July 26th, 1637, and in 1638 settled at Quinnipiac, now New Haven. Ilis mother was a woman of more than ordinary intellect and culture; poetry written by her when a school-girl gives evidence that had her life been devoted to literature, in- stead of the practical affairs of a New England farmer's wife, she would have attained some eminence in that di- rection. Homer attended the public schools of the neighborhood until his fifteenth year, when he entered the Academy at Randolph, Vermont. About this time, his father, who had engaged in the woollen manufacturing business, then to some extent an experiment in this country, met with reverses, so as to render any assistance to his son in obtaining a classical education beyond his means. Homer, now in his eighteenth year, left his home, and en- gaged as a clerk in the law office of J. C. Dexter, of Rut- land, Vermont, and employed his leisure in a desultory course of law studies, having a predilection for that profes- sion. ITis reading very soon showed him the necessity of a more extended cducation to prepare him for a successful professional career. Ilow to obtain a thorough education without means, or even encouragement, was a question that many a less energetic mind would have left unsolved. And it may not be out of place to remark that the young men who forego youthful pleasures and pastimes to obtain an education, and thus fit themselves for a life of usefulness, are the really self made men. Homer began reciting to Rev. William Mitchell, which he continued for eighteen months, then went to Castleton Seminary, where he was fitted for college. In 1846 he entered Vermont Univer- sity, supporting himself and paying tuition fees, as he had done while fitting for college, by teaching during the win- ter seasons. IIe graduated in good standing in the class of 1850, with Hon. Edward C. Palmer, Judge of the Su- preme Court of Minnesota, Z. K. Pangborn, a prominent journalist and politician of Jersey City, New Jersey, Rev. Theodore A. Hopkins, Principal of the Vermont Episcopalian Diocesan Seminary at Burlington, and Rev. William T. Sleeper, of Worcester, Massachusetts. On leaving college, he was appointed Principal of the Burlington High School, and it was a source of much pleasure to him to assist and

the two years he spent here he regards as among the pleas- antest of his life. He was assisted by S. II. Peabody, since Professor of Mathematics and Civil Engineering at Amherst, Massachusetts, and now Professor of the Natural Sciences in the Chicago High School, and Professor Buck- ham, now Principal of the State Normal School at Buffalo, New York. Ile remained here two years, and then en- tered the Dane Law School of Harvard College, where he continued until the spring of 1853, when he returned to Burlington, where for six months he studied in the office of the HIon. Levi Underwood, when he was admitted to the bar. Ilis examiners were Hon. G. F. Edmunds, now United States Senator from Vermont, and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Hon. L. E. Chittenden, First Register of the Treasury under Mr. Lincoln. In the fall of 1853, he removed to Chicago, in company with John A. Jameson, his companion at Dane Law School, with whom he formed a partnership, remaining in Chicago until the spring of 1854, when becoming impatient of the slow advance that young lawyers invariably make in large cities, they removed to Freeport, Illinois. In 1856 Mr. Jameson returned to Chicago and formed a partnership with Paul Cor- nell. Mr. IIibbard remained at Freeport, and formed a partnership with the late IIon. Martin P. Sweet, and soon acquired an extensive practice. While here, he was Presi- cent of the Board of Education and Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court, and also City Attorney. In the latter capacity he drew the city charter and revised and published the ordinances which form the sub-stratum of the existing laws of that city. While residing in Freeport, he was mar- ried, in 1855, to Jane, daughter of William Noble, of Bur- lington, Vermont. In the spring of 1860, he returned to Chicago, and again became associated with his former part- ner, Mr. Jameson, the firm being then Cornell, Jameson and Hibbard, and continued until Mr. Jameson was elected to the bench of the Superior Court in 1865. Mr. IIibbard afterward became the head of the law firm of Hibbard, Rich and Noble, which continued until 1871. In January, IS70, he was appointed by the IIon. Thomas Drummond, then United States District Judge, upon the nomination of Chief Justice Chase, Register in Bankruptcy for Chicago, and has since filled the position with entire satisfaction to the Court, Bar and community. As a lawyer he has been successful. He sincerely hates shams, or any unprofes- sional conduct, and is much respected by the Bar and his fellow-citizens. He is a director of the National Bank of Illinois, Vice-President of the American Insurance Com- pany of Chicago, and President of the Board of Directors of the " Chicago Botanical Gardens," and was formerly connected with the publication of the "American Law Register." He is a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church, and a member of the Board of Education at Hyde Park, his place of residence. He was for several years the Presi- dent of the Alumni Association of his Alma Mater, in

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whose prosperity he still takes a great interest. He is a | five sons and one daughter, of whom thrce sons survive, pronounced Republican, but not a politician, in the com- mon acceptance of the word.

TRAWN, JACOB, Agriculturist and Stock Dealer, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, May 30th, ISoo, descending from English and Welsh ancestry. His paternal ancestor came over in the ship which brought William Penn. His

father, Isaiah Strawn, had four sons and two daughters, and Jacob, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest of the family. These children were early initiated into the mysteries of farming, in which business the Strawn family in its various branches has since become so distin- guished. Jacob Strawn inherited an unusual share of the hardy vigor and energy of his ancestors, and early mani- fested those tastes and facilities for agricultural and business pursuits for which in later life he became quite remarkable. He was born of the soil, and had for it a kind of filial re- gard. He took to farming naturally and from a love of the employment. It was the bent of his mind. But his special inclination was to the handling of cattle. When but ten years of age he had ideas of stock-raising, and began opera- tions in that line, which foreshadowed the talent and suc- cess subsequently evinced in the same. These native ten- dencies were but little stimulated or modified by advantages of education, which at that time and in the rural region where his boyhood was spent were very limited. In the year 1817 the family removed to Licking county, Ohio, where they renewed the business of farming, but on a much larger scale. Two years later, at the age of nineteen, Jacob was married to Matilda Green, daughter of a Baptist minis- ter in the neighborhood. Ile was soon settled on a farm of his own, not far from his father's, and at once began to breed and deal in cattle and horses, and was so successful in this line of business that in a few years he was worth several thousand dollars. Bat desiring to extend his opera- tions beyond what was possible on a comparatively small tract of land in Ohio, he turned his eye towards the rich and cheap prairies of Illinois, and in 1831 settled upon a large farm in Morgan county, four miles southwest from Jacksonville, still the homestead of the family. At that time he was probably worth from six to eight thousand dollars. In the December following his wife died; she had borne him seven children, of whom three sons are living and largely engaged in agricultural pursuits. In July, 1832, he married Phoebe Gates, daughter of Samuel Gates, of Greene county, Illinois. He had no doubt a business-like way of dealing with the subject of matrimony, but the current stories about the "snap " method of getting his wives must be taken at a discount ; however it may with truth be said that in both cases he evinced a wise discern- ment and appreciation. By his second marriage he had

and are owners of large agricultural estates, settled upon them by their father some years previous to his decease. His settlement in Illinois marks an era in Western farm- ing, but especially in stock-raising. Once firmly fixcd on his vast farm, exceeding eight thousand acres of rich and beautiful land, in a few years he had it all under fence and a large portion of it under cultivation. From time to time he added to his estates large tracts of valuable land in other places in furtherance of his vast plan of stock-feeding, and with a view of supplying the great markets of the East, South, and West. His vast herds were often seen passing from one of these farms to another. No one thought of competing with him in this business ; no one could well do so, for if any had the necessary funds, they had not the re- quired genius for enterprises of such a character, they had not the generalship which combines such numerous opera- tions and successfully directs them to a single end. It is related that to defeat a formidable combination to break down his trade in St. Louis he sent out agents upon every road leading to that city with positive instructions to pur- chase every drove on the way thither, and so well was this movement conducted that for a time, ample enough to show his capacity to cope with any such clique, he held a com- plete monopoly of the trade. None of his great success was due to chance, or what is called good fortune; but it was all the legitimate result of wise foresight, prudent man- agement, and a most untiring industry, while not a little was due to a ceaseless activity, both of mind and body, which few men would be capable of, whatever their talent or disposition might be. He had wonderful physical en- durance. IIe did not spend much time in bed, or in the house, but he spent a great deal in the saddle, night and day, when gathering and directing the movements of his vast herds. Ilis business was his pleasure; he got much of his sleep and rest on horseback. Certain maxims, which he published for the benefit of others, were the secret of his own prosperity. Some of them sound like Benjamin Frank- lin's, and are worthy to be placed with them: for instance these : " When you wake up do not roll over but roll out ;" " I am satisfied that getting up early, industry, and regular habits are the best medicines ever prescribed for health ;" " Study your interests closely, and don't spend any time in electing Presidents, Senators, and other small officers, or talk of hard times when spending your time in town whit- tling on store boxes, etc. ; " " Take your time and make your calculations ; don't do things in a hurry, but do them at the right time, and keep your mind as well as your body employcd." It is well known that he made no professiors of piety. Yet he believed religion important and necessary. He had faults peculiar to a person of powerful passions and strange eccentricities, but his life was an example of many worthy qualities and deeds. In uprightness he was severe, in honesty unquestioned. He had a high sense of honor. His word he held sacred. His promptitude in meeting

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BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

promises was proverbial. He came to time in making payments, and required those who owed him to do the same. Yet he was kind as well as just; he was slow to take ad- vantage of any person's necessities or misfortunes. He had no sympathy for the lazy, but he was a friend to the indus- trious poor; he had a warm heart for the laboring classes, and he did not turn coldly away from any well-authenti- cated tale of sorrow. During the late war he was strong in the Union cause, and generous in his expressions of regard for our soldiers in the hospital and the field. At one time he contributed ten thousand dollars to aid the objects of the Christian Commission. Me was also instrumental in send- ing fifty milch cows to Vicksburg for the relicf of the wounded and suffering troops at that place. Ile was a true patriot, and his habits were marked by extreme simplicity, as became the greatest farmer of the republic. IIe madc no show of dress or equipage. He thought more of well- tilled fields and handsome stock than of all personal array- ments. Me hated all show and sham, but admired all substantial worth. He had the strong temptations of opu- lence and passion, but he was remarkably free from the vices which often spring up in the midst of such influences. The young, especially, may profit from his example of in- dustry, frugality, honesty, and strict temperance. In prin- ciple and habit he was a thorough total abstinence man,. never using intoxicating liquor in any shape, and not fur- nishing it for laborers or for guests. IIe could not endure men about him who indulged in strong drink. Tobacco also he discarded as both unnecessary and injurious. He could not bear the presence or enjoy the company of per- sons given to any bad principles, vulgar habits, or low vices. After a life of almost unexampled activity, and of very unusual success in accomplishing the worldly objects at which he aimed, he died suddenly at his home, August 23d, 1865, from a disease to which for many years he had been subject. His funeral was largely attended, and on the 17th of September following, a commemorative dis- course was delivered by Rev. L. M. Glover, D. D., the pastor of the family, in Strawn's Hall, Jacksonville. Mr. Strawn is buried in the beautiful " Diamond Grove Ccme- tery," an expensive and worthy monument marking the spot. The Strawn mansion is occupied by the surviving widow, who is spending the latter portion of a busy life in the method of elegant ease and hospitality.

UBBARD, GURDON SALTONSTAL, Fur Tra- der, Merchant, and Ship Owner, was born, Au- gust 22d, 1802, in Windsor, Vermont, and is a son of Eleazur and Abigail (Sage) Hubbard, formerly of that town. Hc attended school until he was thirteen years old. In 1815, immediately after the Treaty of Peace had been concluded at Ghent, and been ratified by the Governments of the United States and

Great Britain, he removed with his father to Montreal, where he remained three years, and then engaged with the Amer- ican Fur Company, as clerk, at a salary of $120 per an- num. He was the youngest employé of that concern, being only sixteen ycars of age. The party left Montreal, May 13th, 1818, in boats, passing up the Saint Lawrence river to Lake Ontario, and coasting its northern shore to Toronto. Thence crossing their boats by the land intervening between Lakes Ontario and Simcoe, a distance of eighteen miles, coasting the latter body of water to Nottawasaga, descend- ing the river of that name to Lake Manitouline or Georgian Bay, and Lake IIuron, and through that lake to Mackinac, now Mackinaw, where they arrived July 4th. That point was the principal trading-post and general rendezvous of the American Fur Company, and the traders from all di- rections brought in the furs, gathered during the preceding winter, to this place, where they received the necessary sup- plies for their next trading campaign, again returning to their respective posts to engage in another campaign. The rations furnished the men consisted of a pint of hulled corn and an ounce of grease. After he had remained at Mack- inae six weeks, he was detailed with the Illinois Brigade- the different departments or trading divisions of the Amer. ican Fur Company being designated as " Brigades "-An- toinc de Shong having the command. This brigade con- sisted of ten clerks and about one hundred men. With twelve loaded boats they coasted Lake Michigan, and ar- rived at the present site of Chicago, November Ist. From that point they passed their boats through Mud Lake into Des Plains river, being compelled to carry their goods a great portion of the way, and were four weeks in reaching Ottawa, Illinois. They located trading posts about every forty to sixty miles on the Illinois river, commencing at the mouth of Bureau river, above Hennepin. Ile was de- tailed to keep the accounts at that trading-post, and was permitted to accompany Mr. De Shong to St. Louis, where he met his father, who had previously removed to Arkansas. The country, at that period, between Hennepin and St. Louis was entirely without settlement or cultiva- tion. They returned to Hennepin in the fall of 1819, and met for the first time the Indian Chiefs Shaubanee and Waubee. With the son of the latter, he frequently hunted during the following winter, and became quite proficient in the Indian language. During this entire period he was en- gaged in keeping the accounts of the post. He continued in the fur trade for thirteen years, and during this period he frequently urged the substitution of pack horses for boats, wherever this was practicable. In 1826 the trading brigade was placed under his command, when he at once purchased horses, and their advantage soon became appa. rent to all. In 1828 he bought all the interests and fran- chises of the Fur Company, and continued the business on his own account. During the period that he carried it on the Black Ilawk War broke out, and he was engaged with General Atchison in the contest with the savages. The

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

rapid settlement of the country began to have its natural effects on the fur trade, and he then engaged in other business operations. He was a member of the Illinois Legislature in 1832-3, and introduced the first bill authorizing the con- struction of a railroad in the State. It passed the lower House, but was defeated in the Senate by the casting vote of the President of that body. In 1834 he disposed of his business in Danville, and removed to Chicago. When he first reached Chicago, in 1818, the place consisted of a gar- rison fort (Dearborn) and two dwelling-houses, one occu- pied by Jolin Kinsie, father of the late John H. Kinsie, and the other by Antoine IFoulmette. He was the first person to erect a brick house in the then town, which was put up in 1834; he had the bricks manufactured on the ground, and brought the necessary timbers from the Calumet river. This building was at the corner of La Salle and South Water streets, and was used as a forwarding warehouse, the La Salle street front being occupied by a branch of the State Bank of Illinois. During the same year he commeneed the organization of a Navigation Company, and purchased from the United States Government the barque " Detroit," one of the vessels commanded by Perry in the Lake Erie fight, and also the " Queen Charlotte," the British flag-ship, cap- tured by Perry in that memorable contest. He also built the brigs " Indiana " and " Illinois; " and these four ves- sels constituted the first regular line between Chicago and Buffalo. This line was continucd until disposed of in 1844, to Pratt, Taylor & Co., of Buffalo. In 1835 the bill au- thorizing the construction, by the State, of the Illinois and Mississippi Canal, passed the Legislature, and he was the first Commissioner appointed. In the same year he com- meneed pork paeking in Chicago, being the pioneer in that great business ; the article was put up in bulk. At this time also he was the owner of a number of vessels on Lake Michigan, and also of a line of passenger sailing vessels plying between Chicago and St. Joseph, Michigan City, and Milwaukee. In 1844 he added the packing of beef, and continued in this business until 1870. The packing house was destroyed by fire the following year. In connection with A. T. Spencer & Co., he organized the first line of steamers in 1843, between Chicago and Lake Superior, consisting of the steamers " Superior," " Lady Elgin," side- wheel vessels, and the propeller " Oukanaga "; the latter vessel now belongs to Leopold's line. He is now engaged in managing his own real estate, having made large invest- ments in 1834-5. In 1835-6 he acted as an Aide-de-camp to Governor Duncan, being appointed thereto by that cxec- utive officer. Ile was married in 1830 to Ellen, daughter of Judge Berry, of Urbana, Ohio; she died in 1838. After five years of widowerhood he was united to Mary Ann Hubbard, of Whittleboro, Massachusetts. One of the pioneers of the city, a man of conspicuous enterprise, clear judgment, and indomitable perseverance, he enjoys in high degree the respect, confidence and esteem of his fellow- citizens.

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 3

Author: Robson, Charles, ed Publication date: 1875 Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy Number of Pages: 770

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770