USA > Illinois > The makers of Illinois; a memorial history of the state's honored dead > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
38
General Thomas J. Henderson
as a comrade and a friend. In a letter from the division commander to General Henderson, written on the eve of the muster-out of the regiment, the writer said: "There are few regiments in the service which have a more creditable record, or one of which they and their children may be more justly proud than that of the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois. But your regiment gained its laurels not on the battlefield alone. It has won a reputation for order, disci- pline and strict regard for law and the rights of non-combatants which gives it an enviable standing among the volunteer soldiers of the Union.' On several occasions the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois was called upon to perform special service on account of its reputation for order and discipline and the high character of its officers, and men, and the confidence of superior officers in their morals and efficiency. The regiment won the highest regard of citizens and soldiers of other regiments for its good conduct in camp, its orderly appearance on the march, and its steady bearing and courage in action. And we owe the excellent reputation of the regiment, of which we are all justly proud, to the wisdom, patriotism and firmness of Gen- eral Henderson, and to his careful instruction and kindly advice in the early days of our service. General Henderson was not only a brave and faithful soldier, but a statesman as well, and served his country faithfully many years in the halls of congress and in other positions of honor and trust. As a citizen, as a soldier, as a. states- man, as an honorable, upright, noble man, he was respected and loved by all who knew him."
At the close of the war General Henderson resumed his law prac- tice in Toulon, where he remained until March, 1867, when he became a resident of Princeton and entered into partnership with Joseph I. Taylor, which connection was discontinued in 1871 on the appoint- ment of General Henderson by President Grant to the office of United States collector of internal revenue for the fifth Illinois dis- trict, with headquarters at Peoria. During his two years' incum- bency in that position he collected and turned over to the government more than nine million dollars. He remained to the end of his life an active factor in military circles. In 1868 he was one of the presi- dential electors for the state at large and supported General Grant. In 1870 he unsuccessfully sought the nomination for congress, but in 1874 was elected to the forty-fourth congress from the sixth district. During that term he served on the railways, canals and pension com- mittees; in the forty-fifth congress he served on claims; in the forty- sixth, on commerce; in the forty-seventh he was chairman of the com- mittee on military affairs; in the forty-eighth, forty-ninth and fiftieth
39
General Thomas J. Denderson
congresses he served on the committee on rivers and harbors; in the fifty-first he was chairman of the committee on rivers and harbors; and in the fifty-second and fifty-third he served on rivers and har- bors, and also on banking and currency. For eight years he served as a member from the sixth district and for twelve years from the sev- enth. After each term he was renominated by aeclamation. In all General Henderson served the people faithfully and well for twenty years. His greatest service as a member of congress, as he regarded it, was rendered as a member of the committees on commerce and on rivers and harbors, in the improvement of the waterways of the coun- try, and his principal achievement was the securing of the construc- tion of the Hennepin canal, and this is a movement of which he may well be proud. The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, in biographical mention of General Henderson, said: "For twenty years he was one of the most popular of the soldier statesmen in con- gress, and his name stands for honesty, integrity and everything that is good in polities and public life. No man in Bureau county in the past twenty years has stood nearer the hearts of the people. General Henderson was one of the last of the Civil war statesmen who knew and enjoyed the friendship and confidence of Lincoln. In the early days of his long political career he was intimately associated with the future president and while a member of the Illinois legislature, before the breaking out of the war, he was privileged to do many favors for Lineoln, ineluding a loyal support of his candidacy for the United States senate in 1854. In the later years of his life, when the inci- dents of those stirring days preceding and during the Civil war had become invested with the glory which history weaves about the worthy deeds of men, the General entertained a just pride in his association with the men and affairs of the war times, and his most treasured pos- sessions were those which were linked with the hallowed memory of Lincoln and the war. Among these was a series of letters written to him and to his father, William H. Henderson, by Lincoln, referring to Lincoln's candidacy for the senatorship and the faithful allegiance accorded him by the Princeton statesman. Most of the letters are still preserved in the family records of the Henderson family." Gen- eral Henderson was ever a most warm and devoted admirer of Pres- ident Lineoln and at the time of his death was preparing an address to be delivered before the Lincoln Chib of Newark, New Jersey. After his demise the mamiscript of this address was found, and in referring to a speech of Lineoln from which he quoted largely, Gen- eral Henderson said: "I doubt if a more eloquent outburst of pure, exalted patriotism, love of one's own land and country, and devotion
40
General Thomas J. Menderson
to duty and to principle was ever uttered by any other man in all the world's history. And was not this love of country, this devotion to duty and to principle exhibited in all the acts of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States, in his heroic and patriotic efforts to maintain and preserve the government of his country and suppress the rebellion, and that from the very day of his election until his assassination, it seems so to me, he never faltered, he never wavered for one moment in his duty, 'that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.'"
While attending a meeting of the board of ordnance, of which he was a member, in Washington, General Henderson passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Farnsworth, February 5, 1911, and his remains were brought to Princeton for burial. On that occa- sion there were present the few surviving comrades of his old regi- ment; some who had been his devoted followers during his active political career, and some of the few surviving pioneers of Stark, Henry, Putnam and Bureau counties, where he was well known in the days of Illinois' early development. He had always maintained the deepest interest in local progress as well as in national affairs and he always felt the closest affection for his old army comrades. In 1896 he was appointed a member of the board of managers of the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and Sailors, serv- ing successively as secretary, second vice president and first vice president of the board to the time of his demise. On the 18th of January, 1900, he was appointed civil member of the board of ord- nance and fortifications and was also acting in that capacity at the time of his demise. The Loyal Legion, in its memorial, said, after commenting upon his public career: "And so we note fifty-two years -more than half a century-of the life of our companion was spent in the public service. He was intensely patriotic and was ever mind- ful of his patriotic duties in private and public life, and proved his devotion to his country on many a hard-fought field of battle, as well as in the halls of congress. He was learned in his profession, able as an advocate, always affable and courteous and a strict observer of the ethics of his profession. He was an honest, generous, able man, sin- cere in his convictions and strong in his adherence to what he believed. His military record with that of the regiment and brigades he com- manded formed no small part of the history of the great struggle for the preservation of the Union. 'Always hopeful, always prompt, always courteous, a most loyal subordinate and a most able and devoted leader,' was the tribute paid him by Major General J. D. Cox, under whose command he rendered long service. This compli-
41
General Thomas J. Henderson
ment is quite enough to inscribe his name among the noblest and brav- est of the many heroes who rendered gallant serviee in that mighty struggle for union and liberty and humanity. But after all, the crowning glory of General Henderson's life was his high character and great, tender and loving heart. Although as strong as a lion, he was as gentle as a child; although able and learned, he was modest and unassuming. He was kind to all and generous to a fault. His loving heart and genial nature won for him in return the most sincere love and affection of all who knew him. Kind thoughts and kind words were habits of his life-the natural impulses of his heart.
'He never made a brow look dark, Nor caused a tear but when he died.'"
CHAS.A . PALMER,M.D.
-
C. A. Palmer, M. D.
VERY generation produees men who rise to positions E of leadership and who well deserve the honor and esteem of those who know them. They leave their impression upon their day and generation and their names deserve to be imprinted upon the pages of the history of the state for they have themselves been active in framing its history. Such a one was Charles Albert Palmer, physician and surgeon, a man of notable moral courage-courage that enabled him to resolutely face every situation. Princeton
claimed him among her native sons, his birth having oeeurred Septem- ber 8, 1855, of the marriage of George N. and Ellen M. Palmer. In his youthful days he was a pupil of the public schools and afterward continued his education in Princeton high school, which he entered in 1870, completing his course by graduation with the class of 1873. Immediately afterward he entered upon the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. George W. Crossley, and later in the same year matriculated in the Chicago Medieal Sehool, which is the medical department of the Northwestern University. He mastered the three years' course and was graduated with honors in 1876, his high sehol- arship winning him appointment to the position of interne in Mercy Hospital of Chicago, where he supplemented his theoretical training by mueh practical knowledge gained in the aetive and varied work of his profession, eommon in hospital practice. In 1877 lie returned to Prineeton where he opened an office. He was never content with the knowledge that he had already gained and throughout his life remained a elose student of the seienee of medieine. In 1881 and at other times lie pursued post-graduate work in the medieal eollege of Chieago and in the east. He remained an active practitioner in Princeton from 1877 until his death and was one of the most liberally patronized and highly beloved physicians of the eity. He held mem- bership in the Bureau County Medieal Society, the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and was always deeply interested in anything which tended to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we eall life. Not seeking honor but merely endeavoring to do his duty, honors were yet multiplied
45
46
C. A. Palmer, M. D.
unto him and prosperity followed his undertakings. The broader spirit of the new century found expression in his professional prog- ress.
On the 19th of October, 1882, Dr. Palmer was united in marriage to Miss Jane I. Eckels and they became the parents of five children, Margaret, Charles, Alice, Eckels and Jean, all of whom are living with the exception of Eckels. Dr. Palmer was very greatly interested in public life and civic interests and for seven years rendered efficient aid to the public schools as a member of the board of education. He was also for ten years a trustee of the high school of Princeton town- ship, Bureau county, and he was twice chosen chief executive of Princeton, proving a most capable official in the mayor's chair. He was an independent democrat and was for a number of years chair- man of the county organization. To each position, which he filled, he brought his best efforts, combined with a determination to accom- plish what he believed to be for the public good. He held member- ship with the different Masonic bodies, with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and various other organizations. He was not only interested in the secular life of the community but also gave earnest thought to the spiritual needs of man's nature. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church, was actively inter- ested in its work and gave generously to its support. Ill health pre- vented him from accepting the office of ruling elder when elected thereto. One of the local papers said of him at his demise: "His whole life was passed in this city. He moved in and out amongst its people and to its people he gave all that was best of himself. As a physician, as a citizen, as a husband, father or friend he was always ready to perform every obligation laid upon him. He was a man sin- cere, direct and honorable, upright in his dealings, just in his judg- ments, kindly and sympathetic to those in distress and totally unself- ish in his dealings with his fellowmen. As he lived well so he goes from us, honored, respected and loved by his friends, his neighbors and by all who knew him." With wonderful courage he faced death. For two years he recognized and studied his own condition, waging war against the silent enemy, but even when he realized that he was losing ground his unruffled, tranquil mental attitude never changed. On his death bed he was the same calm, cheerful, composed and self- centered man the people had known in his office and on the street, in professional life, in business and social relations or in the many official capacities in which he had served his town and community. It was not only that he possessed the quality of cheerful courage but he also inspired others with something of the same virtue. Such a
47
C. A. Palmer, A. D.
spirit can never be lost to the world and must have stepped into a greater, more beautiful life when the door closed upon him and shut him from mortal vision. It is the uniform opinion in Princeton and wherever he was known, however, that such a friend, so dear, so loyal, so great-hearted can never be replaced to those who were his associates.
TPO Blackstone
Timothy Beach Blackstone
T O BUILD up rather than destroy was the broad policy upon which Timothy Beach Blackstone builded his business career. Hc attacked everything with a con- tageous enthusiasm and at all times his progressive- ness was tempered by a safe conservatism that pre- vented unwarranted risks or failures. He was for thirty-five years the president of the Chicago & Alton Railway Com- pany and previous to that time was connected for a brief period with other railway interests of the middle west. His birth occurred at Branford, Connecticut, March 28, 1829, and he traced his ancestors to William Blackstone, or Blaxton, as the name was sometimes spelled, who, according to authentic local records, was a resident of Boston as early as 1623. He owned and cultivated a small farm lying partly within the boundaries of what is now Boston Common. This William Blackstone was born in England in 1595 and arrived in New England about 1622, settling first in what is now Charlestown, Massachusetts. He had in England sold lands which had been held by at least eleven generations, having been handed down from another William Black- stone, who died in England in 1349. The American bearer of that name was married in Boston in 1659 to Mrs. Sarah Stevenson, widow of John Stevenson, the ceremony being performed by Governor John Endicott of the Massachusetts Bay colony. William Blackstone died in 1675 at Lonsdale, Rhode Island, to which place he removed soon after his marriage, and his grave is marked by an appropriate monu- ment erected by manufacturers, who owned the land in later years. His only son, who was born in 1660, removed from Rhode Island to Connecticut and purchased land at Branford, whereon he died many years later. It was at the ancestral home there that James Blackstone was born and reared. He married Sarah, daughter of Asa Beach, of Branford, and he provided for his family by following the occupa- tion of farming.
Timothy Beach Blackstone, son of James and Sarah Blackstone, devoted his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of an education, but early displayed special aptitude in his studies so that his parents sent him to one of the best known academies in the
51
52
Timothy Beach Blackstone
state. Ill health prevented the completion of his course and in 1848 he sought outdoor employment, becoming an assistant in a corps of engineers then engaged on the survey of the New York & New Haven Railroad. In this connection he displayed notable energy and per- severance and built up his physical manhood through outdoor life and labor. He was employed as rodman for a year and in the interval devoted himself to the study of civil engineering ere he became assist- ant engineer of the Stockbridge & Pittsfield Railway, built in 1849 and now a part of the Housatonic Railroad. He was variously employed in the east, his position being constantly of increasing importance until 1851, when he became chief engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad and came to the west, being placed in charge of that portion of the projected line between Bloomington and Dixon. For a num- ber of years he was a resident of La Salle, Illinois, and when his sur- veys for the road were completed he superintended its construction. In 1856, two years after the Joliet & Chicago Railroad Company had secured a charter, Mr. Blackstone was appointed chief engineer and in this connection personally supervised both the location and building of the entire line, which operated in connection with other local roads of the state, success attending the branch of which Mr. Blackstone had charge although other lines with which it affiliated were not as pros- perous. He superintended the laying out and building of the Joliet & Chicago, which was completed in 1857, and in 1861 he was chosen its president. At length it seemed necessary to reorganize the differ- ent railway lines of the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago and by legislative enactment a commission was created for that purpose, which in due time purchased the bankrupt portions of the line and perfected a new organization under the name of the Chicago & Alton Railway Com- pany. In 1864 this corporation leased the Joliet & Chicago Railroad and Mr. Blackstone was elected to the directorate. Soon after his colleagues, recognizing his efficiency, initiative and unfaltering enter- prise, chose him for the presidency of the company, of which he remained the head from 1864 until 1899. He acted for a quarter of a century as president without salary or reward of any kind, although he was frequently offered a salary by the board of directors. He seemed to grasp every detail of the situation as well as the great busi- ness principles involved, and under his presidency the road kept pace with the progress of the times and rapid growth of the great middle west. In a series of articles entitled "The Railroad Men of America" mention was made of Mr. Blackstone as follows:
"While several of the men now at the head of great railroad sys- tems in the United States have, like Mr. Blackstone, climbed to their
53
Timothy Beach Blackstone
present position from the lowest round of the ladder he has, perhaps, no contemporary who has for so long a time had so much to do with shaping the policies and controlling the destinies of a single eorpora- tion or who has retained so long the implicit confidenee and good will of so large a body of shareholders in any similar enterprise."
Another biographer said, while Mr. Blackstone was still an active factor in the world's work :
"It is not too much to assert, that Mr. Blackstone's business qual- ities would have earned him sueeess in any undertaking and prom- inenee in any community. Like many another who has risen to eminenee, aeeidental eireumstances seem to have guided his early steps. Yet, by adopting the principle of doing with all his might whatever his hand found to do, he progressed steadily upwards; and at length, with a mind trained by study, observation and experienee for greater things, he arrived at a higher goal than even his youthful ambition dreamed of, and one more replete with responsibility than many dis- tinguished politieal positions. A quality possessed by many of the world's most sueeessful men he has had in a marked degree, viz: that of quiekly judging of the merits of his associates and assistants. His subordinates are all carefully selected as being the very best, each in his respective department. Merit is always recognized and in proper time receives its due reward. The most humble employe of the eom- pany does not work half so hard as its honored president, who regards himself as its chief servant as well as its chief executive officer, and labors assiduously and eonseientiously to further its interests and to give a good aeeount of his stewardship."
In 1868 Mr. Blackstone was married to Miss Isabella Farnsworth Norton, a native of Norwich, Conneetieut, and a daughter of Henry B. Norton. In publie affairs Mr. Blackstone was deeply interested although he never sought to figure prominently in political relations. In the early days of his residenee in La Salle, however, he was elected mayor of the town in 1854 and retired from the office as he had entered it, with the confidenee and good-will of all. He always stood for progress and improvement during the period of his residenee in Chi- eago, cooperating in many important municipal projeets. He was a most just and a most unselfish man, and mueh of his time in later years was devoted to aiding others. He built to the memory of his father probably the finest monument in America, expending more than a million dollars on it. This monument is in the shape of a beautiful library and musie hall, in Branford, Conneetieut, which he endowed so that it will be maintained for all time, and yet in this memorial to his father and gift to the town he completely effaced himself, there
54
Timothy Beach Blackstone
being not a mark on the building to indicate that it was erected through the generosity and filial love of T. B. Blackstone. His father's face and form, however, are perpetuated in marble and upon canvas in the building, showing to this and future generations the likeness of the man who was prominent and honored in that town.
The death of T. B. Blackstone occurred on the 26th of May, 1900, and his widow has since erected the beautiful Blackstone Memorial Library building which stands on Forty-ninth street and Lake avenue. It was built in classical style of architecture and is a fitting monument to him who ever maintained a deep interest in the welfare of his fellow citizens. Mrs. Blackstone has since turned this over to the Chicago Public Library, so that it remains a radiating force in the culture and education of the people. Simple and unostentatious in his habits, remarkably genial and cordial in manner and open-hearted toward all benevolent projects, Timothy Beach Blackstone was indeed a useful, high-minded citizen.
-
Michael Culthe
Michael Cudahy
IOGRAPHY finds its justifieation not only in the B fact that it is a memorial to the lives of great and good men but also in the fact that it is an ineentive and an inspiration for the young. The record of no Chieago business man perhaps indieates more clearly what ean be accomplished when energy, determina- tion and ambition lead the way than that of Michael Cudahy. En- tirely unostentatious and free from pretense, he devoted his life to his business, to his home and to his church, pursuing at all times the even tenor of his way. His quietude of deportment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, with a total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, indicated a man ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidenee and courage that come of eon- scious personal ability, right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities. The world knew him as a successful man, yet attainment of wealth was never the ultimate aim and object of his life. He rejoieed in his prosperity because it gave him the opportunity to provide most liberally for his family, and to generously aid his fellowmen. Yet he was not always a wealthy man but started in the business world at a salary of six dol- lars per week. He was born in the historic old town of Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland, Deeember 7, 1841. His mother's people were for some time residents of Dublin but afterward removed to Callan, where they established a pottery for the manufacture of erockery. His grandfather, believing that better opportunities might be se- eured in the new world, brought his family to Ameriea in 1849, and soon afterward became a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the age of fourteen, Michael Cudahy went to work for John Plankington in Mr. Plankington's packing house in Milwaukee. The father died not long afterward, and the support of the family devolved upon the sons. Michael Cudahy always attributed mueh of his success to the influence and encouragement of his mother, a most saintly woman, devoted to her family and counting no personal sacrifice on her part too great if it would promote the welfare of her children. She would often gather them around the table at night and hear their lessons and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.