USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The great revolution; a history of the rise and progress of the People's Party in the city of Chicago and county of Cook > Part 8
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Claudin left surviving him a widow of the name of Jinkins, and two adopted children. William Henry, the elder of the children, is said to have been a delicate youth, and excessively fond of books; but the supply in general literature was somewhat limited at home, being confined to " HOYLE'S GAMES," and the " Life of James Buchanan." He was accordingly sent at an early age to a Female Seminary,
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EGBERT JAMIESON.
where he graduated with distinguished honors. He was the author of numerous poems and tales ; his chief production being " BETSEY AND I ARE OUT," - a passionate story of Italian incident, which was marked by such grandeur of thought and eloquence of expression, that it attracted for it great attention in " going the rounds of the press." In ath- letic sports he was a great enthusiast, and is said to have had few superiors. But at last, " vaulting ambition o'er- leaped itself," and in a hotly contested game of "freeze out," he took a severe cold, and shortly after expired in great agony.
For the next four hundred years the family history is too barren of incident to write about. It wants variety - it wants activity - it wants interest. If you don't believe it, some one more interested in the matter than I am had better undertake the search.
In conclusion, it is but proper that the reader should be informed that my principal object in thus far divulging the important historical events which are here communicated to my fellow citizens, was to supply in some measure, the immense chasm which the absence of these memoirs may leave in the annals of our country. In so doing, I have to acknowledge my obligations to Captain Hickey, and Detec- tives Ellis and Dixon, for many valuable suggestions, but for reasons which I do not choose here to divulge, I have not availed myself of them, notwithstanding their absence may, to some extent, render the plan of my work incomplete.
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
JOSEPH K. C. FORREST.
The City Clerk, Mr. Forrest, was born in the city of Cork, Ireland, November 26, 1820, and was baptized in St. Ann's Shandon Church -" Bells of Shandon." His father, who resided in the city of Cork and vicinity for fifty years, was for thirty years director of one of the largest mercan- tile firms there - Cummins Brothers & Co. He acquired here a business education, and aside from his occupation in this particular branch of industry, farmed over six hun- dred acres of land, and conducted a large planing mill and tanyard. He was, as well, a freeman and burgess of the city. Mr. Forrest's uncle, Phillip Ryder, was for thirty years Comptroller of Customs for the port of Cork. His first cousin, Mr. P. R. Tivy, is married to a sister of Sir Thomas Lyons, formerly Mayor and Member of Parliament for Cork. His oldest brother, John L. Forrest, married a daughter of James Lane, Esq., formerly Mayor of the city of Cork. The subject of this sketch was a schoolmate of the late John Francis Maguire, Mayor and Member of Par- liament for Cork.
Mr. Forrest came to Chicago July, 1840, and was intro- duced into society by Hon. J. Young Scammon, who con- tinues to be his friend. After a short time, Mr. Forrest became associate editor of the Journal, with Riebel L. Wilson, Esq. He then became editor of the Gem of the Prairie, a weekly paper which was merged into the Tri- bune. In fact, it was at the urgent solicitation of Mr. For-
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JOSEPH K. C. FORREST.
rest, who was one of its founders, that this journal was so christened. The prospectus, however, was written by Mr. Wheeler, under the old heading Mr. Forrest subsequently sold his interest. In 1846-7, he went as associate editor upon Hon. John Wentworth's paper, the old Democrat, accepting the very large salary, at that time, of $1,000. While acting as editor, Mr. Forrest was elected Clerk of the Recorder's Court, vanquishing Hon. Philip A. Hoyne by over nine hundred votes. Hon. Daniel O'Hara, at present City Treasurer, was his successor in the office.
Mr. Forrest has written a great deal on Finance for the Press. He is at present engaged in a philosophical work on " The Nature of Life and Government," in which he com- bats the Darwinian theory, and the competitive theory of enlightened self-interest as set forth by Mill, Lecky, and other modern writers. He contends that the "body of thought " which has governed the civilized world from the time of Bacon to the present, and on which our great legal principles are founded, is in process of consummation; also, that the era, and the reign of force, and the power of great governments to control the social as they have hereto- fore the political state, is gradually asserting itself. In fact, he contends that the age of intellect, the power of man's intellect to control man, as held by Buckle and others, is fast fading away. He assumes that, ere long, the material- istic races of the world, such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Germans especially, will put the Church and the Latin races which are its chief support under the feet of the practical, or the State; that, as it was when Christ came first, the Romans were the masters of the world, so, when He comes the second time, the Germans, who are the mod- ern counterparts of the ancient Romans, will be the rulers of the modern world.
POLICE AND FIRE COMMISSIONERS.
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POLICE AND FIRE COMMISSIONERS.
MARK SHERIDAN.
The Presidency of the Board of Police and Fire Com- missioners has come unto Mr. Sheridan through a combina- tion of circumstances never equaled in political history. During his term he has observed the vanishing coat tails of no less than five presidents : Brown, Talcott, Reno, Mason, and Cleveland. Brown resigned immediately after the great fire; Talcott threw up the sponge in a fit of horrible despe- ration - and he wrote his own death warrant; Reno was removed by the Medill administration, for daring to main- tain the dignity of his position -and The People subse- quently restored him; Mason failed to " make a spoon, but spoiled a horn," to use his own words; and Cleveland was ousted by the great political revolution. Throughout the same period, Mr. Sheridan was fighting Mayor Medill, the Press, the entire Law Department, and Superintendent of Po- lice Washburn ; narrowly escaping, by the way, an untimely end from an inkstand in the hands of the mild and slim Po- lice Superintendent. During this unpleasantness, indeed, it was broadly hinted that the assassination of the Commissioner was meditated by somebody. The idea sprung from the fact that at one of the sessions of the Board of Police the desk of the Secretary, Dr. Ward, was changed so as to completely imprison Mr. Sheridan, in the event of open war. Mr, Sher- idan also saw the removal of Police Superintendents Ken- nedy and Washburn, Deputy Superintendent Sherman, Cap- tains French, Fox and Lull: the resignation and reinstate-
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
ment of Captain Hickey ; and the removal of Fire Marshals Williams, Schank and Walters. What he did not see of the events that foreran and justified the remarkable political revolution, would occupy a very small space indeed in this batch of memoirs.
Police Commissioner Mark Sheridan was born in the city of Waterford, Ireland, in 1826. 9 At the age of fif- teen, his father prosecuting a flourishing brewing traffic, Mark entered the establishment as clerk and disburser. This was his first idea of the business world; and the cir- cumstances under which that idea was acquired were quite arduous, the illness of his father placing the entire manage- ment of his extensive affairs on Mark's shoulders. He was so engaged up to the revolutionary epoch in Irish history, which numbered among its prominent spirits the names of Smith, O'Brien, John Mitchell, and Thomas Francis Mea- gher. At the first breath, Mr. Sheridan threw his whole soul into the movement, and might have easily had a hempen necklace if he did not escape to America under the protec- tion of the flag of Norway. This prominent event in his life occurred in 1848.
In this year he arrived in New York. Thence he pro- ceeded to Philadelphia; thence to Baltimore. In those localities, Mr. Sheridan, after repeated efforts, failed in find- ing reliable employment. He accordingly went to Missouri. Here he built bridges. In Cincinnati he was more fortunate, obtaining a railroad clerkship. In 1856 he came to Chicago, and was identified, up to 1861, with packing interests. This comprises the business record of thé Commissioner.
Mr. Sheridan's political life has been a continuous series of successes, this being his sixth election. He was first elected overseer of highways. Re-elected, he declined the unprofitable (honor. Shortly afterward he was elected to represent the fifth ward in the Common Council. His posi-
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POLICE AND FIRE COMMISSIONERS.
tion was very clearly defined as an alderman, on all subjects. Perhaps his attitude on the matter of assessment is one of his most noteworthy recollections. He held that the assess- ment of those days was decidedly inequitable, and clearly demonstrated it. He was re-elected Alderman for the third time, and had served about eighteen months of his last term, when elected Police Commissioner. On the organization of the new Board, under the new administration, he was elected its President. As President of the Board, Mr. Sheridan commands the strongest confidence of his colleagues, and of the great public.
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
E. F. C. KLOKKE
The history of this gentleman is a part and parcel of the antecedents of that great movement which swept chronic office holders completely out of existence. He was cheated badly out of his honors; only for a short time, however.
Police Commissioner E. F. C. Klokke was born in Hol- land in 1834. Up to the age of sixteen, his time was de- voted to the securing of a mercantile education. In 1850, he came to New York, where he served his time at the hat trade.
In 1857, Mr. Klokke came to Chicago. He found it up- hill work at this time, being the occasion, as old residents will remember, of a financial crisis. From the year of his arrival up to 1861, he filled position of bookkeeper and sales- man alternately.
In this year Mr. Klokke entered the military service. At the first tap of the drum he had his name enrolled in the Ells- worth Zouaves, and when the call for 300,000 troops was made, he was one of the very first to march to the front, to the tune, "We are coming, Father Abraham." At this junc- ture he entered the Twenty-Fourth Illinois, joining the fam- ous organization known as the Hecker Jaegers. He entered the service as a Lieutenant. Thence he was detached to the Signal Corps, and, as signal officer, served under Gen. Thomas, until 1864. His conduct for gallantry while thus engaged caused his promotion to a majorship.
On his return from the field, Mr. Klokke immediately re- sumed business and devoted his entire attention thereto up
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POLICE AND FIRE COMMISSIONERS.
to July, 1871, when, upon the earnest solicitation of Mayor Medill, he accepted the position of Police Commissioner. At the fall election of same year he was elected by a majority of about 15,000.
In January, 1873, the difficulty arising between the Board · of Police and the Superintendent of Police, touching the de- moralizing twelve o'clock order -disapproved by the unan- imous action of the Board-caused the removal of Mr. Klokke, and also Mr. Reno, from office, at the hands of Mayor Medill. Comment on Mr. Medill's action is ren- dered unnecessary by the fact that both of these gentlemen are returned to their old positions by the people.
The prominence of Mr. Klokke in the grand programme which culminated in the overwhelming triumph of the People's movement gained his nomination to the position of Police Commissioner, at the hands of Mayor Colvin.
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
C. A. RENO.
Police Commissioner Reno was elected on the People's ticket to the position he now holds. He has paid but very little attention to politics. In 1859, however, he represented the Sixth Ward in the Common Council. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1818, November 17th. Up to 1845, in company with his father, Mr. Reno prosecuted a flourishing iron trade. Removing to Chicago in this year, he was the first man to devote himself exclusively to the sale of Briar Hill and Erie coal. The sales averaged, in these days, probably one hundred tons per day. As early as 1715, the Renos came over from France, to mine a lead-bank in St. Louis, and secured an extensive land grant. About 4,000 acres are yet left in Randolph County.
Mayor Medill nominated Mr. Reno, and the Council con- firmed him. When the Board of Police, however, thought fit to suspend Mr. Washburn for conduct unbecoming an officer, Mayor Medill removed Mr. Reno in company with Mr. Klokke. What the people thought of it was shown at the election. Both Mr. Reno and Mr. Klokke are still Police Commissioners.
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POLICE AND FIRE COMMISSIONERS.
JAMES AYARS, JR.
Mr. Ayars, having been almost unanimously nominated by the Board of Underwriters, was appointed Fire Commis- sioner by the Council, Nov. 10, 1873. The Commissioner was born in New Jersey in 1836, and at the age of 16 pro- ceeded to New York. Here he was engaged for four years in the wholesale grocery trade. About this time he received an appointment to West Point. He did not accept it, how- ever, but went to Covington, Kentucky, where his parents resided. Here, in 1858, he was admitted to the Bar; by Judge Moore, at present sitting in the Superior Court of Cook county. In 1862, he was elected County Clerk of Ken- ton county, Kentucky, and while serving was elected City Treasurer of Covington, for two terms, by a very large vote. In 1867, he came to Chicago, and entered the grain and in- surance business, representing the "Phoenix " Insurance Company of Hartford, as local agent. On July 1, 1869, he was appointed Special Deputy of Customs. On Dec. 1, 1872, he resigned and returned to his insurance agency. He is not a People's ticket man. In deference to friendship for Mr. Philip Wadsworth, he accepted a position on the Exec- utive Committee of the Citizen's Union ticket.
During the war, the Commissioner was a Captain of a bat- tery attached to the 4Ist Kentucky Volunteers, and witness- ed considerable guerilla warfare.
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
DR. WARD.
The Secretary of the Board of Police and Fire Commis- sioners, Dr. Ward, -this is the name by which he is best known,- was born at Pittsfield, Mass., December 9, 1823, and graduated in medicine at the Berkshire Medical college in 1845. In 1847, he removed to Chicago, and in January, 1855, he permanently settled here. He was a deputy in the office of the Clerk of the County Court of Cook county, for nine years- eight years in charge of the Probate depart- ment ; was principal clerk in the County Treasurer's office for two years, and has been Secretary of the Board for seven years. His usefulness here is a matter well recognized by all with whom he has been brought in contact.
POLICE SUPERINTENDENT AND - CAPTAINS.
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POLICE FORCE.
JACOB REHM.
The Superintendent of the pretty thoroughly reconstruct- ed police force of the city of Chicago is Jacob Rehm; this being the third time he has been called upon to assume so responsible a position.
Mr. Rehm was born near Strasbourg, in the province of Alsace, in 1828, and is of German descent. The place of his birth is a French possession, yet its inhabitants speak the German tongue. In his native place, Mr. Rehm remain- ed at school up to the age of 12. In 1840, the family removed to Chicago. Here the subject of this sketch has lived ever since, excepting a brief stay in Dupage county.
In early life, Mr. Rehm pursued a miscellaneous career ; as in fact did a great many people who entered Chicago at so undeveloped a period. His first experience in police life occurred in 1851. In this year he joined the force as a pa- trolman - in the days of James L. Howe, who was City Marshal. As patrolman, Mr. Rehm served on the force up to 1855, when he accepted a Street Commissionership in the North Division. One year's service - the term for which he was elected - was succeeded by an appointment as Fore- man of Street Improvement under the Superintendent of Public Works. His experience here, with the recollection of his police service, may be said to have thoroughly initiated him into public life, as upon his retirement he was appointed City Marshal, or Chief of Police. Two years after, how- ever, he left the force and entered the service of Lill & Di-
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
versy, brewers. In the spring of 1861, on the organization of the police force after the Metropolitan system, police life assumed a resistless attraction, and Mr. Rehm accepted the Deputy Superintendency under the new law.
Resigning, he once more entered the service of Lill & Di- versy. The old love was strong, nevertheless. Accordingly Mr. Rehm went back to the force again, assuming the posi- tion of Superintendent. While acting as such, in 1863, he was elected County Treasurer. In 1866, he, once more, was appointed Superintendent of Police. The office he filled up to 1869, in which year he resigned, to be succeeded by ex- Superintendent Kennedy. This comprised Superintendent Rehm's police experience up to his present appointment. The experiences of a Chief of Police during his successive terms of office would form volumes of criminal history. The sudden growth of a great city invariably multiplies' the agents of crime, and no city observed a better illustration of the fact.
After the appointment of Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Rehm accept- ed a position in the United States Revenue office in this city. He then entered the malt business on his own account, which has proven very successful. His establishment still stands in the vicinity of Clybourne Avenue Bridge.
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POLICE FORCE.
WILLIAM BUCKLEY.
The Captain of the First District of Police was born in Ballyhone, parish of Afhane, county of Waterford, Ireland, June 9, 1832, and is therefore about 41 years of age. In 1848-at the age of 16-having spent his early life at school, he emigrated and came to New York, where he went to work on the farm of Col. George D. Coles, of Glencoe, Queen's county, at a salary of $ro per month. In 1856, having spent a short time on a farm in Warren county, Ohio, the Captain came to Chicago. He now was placed in charge of the coal business of Col. R. J. Hamilton, and subse- quently engaged in the same business for Law & Strother. A little experience as a car-driver and conductor followed. He then joined the police force in 1865. Promotion rap- idly followed. As Roundsman, Station-Keeper, and Ser- geant, Mr. Buckley's conduct won for him early, on the resignation of Capt. Hickey, the position of Captain, which he obtained July 14, 1873, receiving the unanimous confirm- ation of the Council. Among other experiences, Capt. Buckley narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of the supposed murderers of McKeaver, killed in the race between "Butler " and "Cooley," on the turf; was dragged under a private carriage by a contumacious driver at the time of the Sanitary Fair in Chicago ; and received a severe pum- meling at the hands of roughs while returning from St. John's Church with his wife, March 10, 1871. He tells with gusto a great many experiences with soldiers, returning from the war of the rebellion.
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
M. C. HICKEY.
Capt. Michael C. Hickey, of the Second District, was born near the city of Limerick, Ireland, April 18, 1826. The close proximity of the Captain's birthplace to that city, so deservedly famed for the beauty of her daughters, afforded him excellent opportunities to revel repeatedly in love's young and festive dream. His susceptibilities were not inclined that way, however. The path that lay before him he perceived was one he should construct with his own head and his own hands. At the age of 18 he accordingly bid adieu to the environs of fair Limerick, and crossed the broad ocean to toil.
Arriving in Boston, Massachusetts, the Captain appren- ticed himself to the plumbing and gas-fitting trades. Four years of a stay here satisfied him that he might do better. He therefore, in 1848, came to Chicago. Up to 1853 he directed his energies to meat interests, acquiring all conve- nient acquaintances in the meantime. In this year he was elected Constable of the Fourth Ward; performing, at the same time, police duty. In 1855 he was elected County Constable. Immediately afterward he was elected Justice of the Peace, and acted as such up to 1858. It now came to pass that in an effort to be re-elected, he was defeated. From 1858 up to 1861, he consequently built sewers under the firm name of Farrell & Hickey, and did extraordinarily well for that period.
In 1861 he joined the police force as a patrolman. Two
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POLICE FORCE.
months had hardly elapsed before he was created a Ser- geant. The position in those days was not an enviable one, the incumbent being required to take care of his men during all the hours of the night, and at an era in Chicago's his- tory when crime stalked terrorless in broad daylight. The beat allotted to Capt. Hickey out-deviled any in Chicago, embracing the region of which such filthy purlieus as Gris- wold street formed the unattractive center. In this vicinity in 1862 he was shot by burglars, and it was only after five months of the best surgical treatment that his life was saved. He had just recovered when he narrowly escaped being crushed to death between two cars on State street.
On January 1, 1866, he was appointed Captain. As such it is said he has been instrumental in sending about 500 evil- doers to the Penitentiary - among them the six masked ruffians interested in the Jefferson-Snell robbery; and Cor- bett, Flemming, and Kennedy, the perpetrators of the Cicero murder, to the gallows.
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
FREDERICK GUND.
Capt. Gund was born in Planckstadt, Baden, Germany, December 1, 1823. At the age of 17 he was sent to a mili- tary school at Mannheim, according to the commendable custom in vogue in Germany. After six years, impressed with the attractiveness of a republican form of government, he came to America and engaged in tobacco manufacture. In 1847 he came to Chicago. In 1854 he joined the police force, and was appointed a Lieutenant under Dyer. In 1863 he was appointed Captain of the North Side. In 1865 he was elected a Police Commissioner. At the expiration of his term he was appointed Captain.
The duties devolving upon Capt. Gund lie among the Germans mainly ; and the best endorsement is their entire confidence in the Captain.
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FIRE MARSHALS.
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FIRE MARSHALS.
MATTHIAS BENNER.
The Chief Fire Marshal is Matthias Benner. He was born in Lauffeldt, Germany, and came to America in 1848, settling within nine miles of Port Washington, Wisconsin. In May 5, 1851, he came to Chicago, his family taking up an economical abode on State street, near Harrison. The chief, upon his arrival, entered a cigar shop, and subse- quently engaged in the trunk business, where he remained for nine months. In the meantime, there were very few large fires by night he did not attend, ringing No. 7's bell when anything "showed up." In these . expeditions he served on Hook and Ladder No. I.
He was not a regular member of the fire department until arrived at the age of eighteen. He was duly elected about October 10, 1856. He remained a member up to April 5, 1859. He then joined the Enterprise No. 2. He then went for. six months to St. Louis. In March, 1860, however, throughthe misrepresentation of a poli- tician, it is stated, Mr. Benner was removed from the force. Subsequently, he was invited back by Chief U. P. Harris, but declined. He eventually accepted a posit- ion on Hook and Ladder No. I. In a short time, he was transferred to the foremanship of the Island Queen. which he held up to April 1, 1861. Afterwards, Mr. Benner, at the request of Mr. Harris, took charge of the Long John. But at his own request, he was made a private, to attend a night school. The school shortly failing, he, at the request of the Board of Police, was
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THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
assigned to the charge of Enterprise No. 2. This pos- ition he held until May 4, 1868. He was now appointed by the Commissioners Third Assistant. He filled the position up to March, 1871. Then he was appointed First Assistant, which he filled up to the time he was appointed Chief, vice Williams, removed.
The record of the Chief is truly an eventful one; and it is certain nobody was more surprised than himself when he was appointed Chief Fire Marshal.
Mr. Benner, in November and December, made an ex- tensive inspection tour for the purpose of improving his department. Among other places, he visited Pittsburgh, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn and Boston; also, the Amoskeag Works, and the Seneca Falls establishment. The result of his visits will probably be a great improvement in the Fire Department; satis- factory to himself, and advantageous to the public.
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