USA > Illinois > The makers of Illinois; a memorial history of the state's honored dead > Part 9
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At the usual age his son, Horatio O. Stone, Jr., entered the publie sehools and his more advanced training was received in the Lake Forest Academy, in which he pursued his preparatory course ere entering Yale University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1883. His eollege training qualified him for eivil engineering, which he fol- lowed for four years in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado and then returned to Chieago to enter the business field in which his father had beeome prominent. While in the university he had been eon- spicuous in athleties and was eaptain of the baseball team. This and his outdoor experiences as eivil engineer developed a strong and robust manhood, constituting the basis of his activity and sueeess in business. Added thereto was sound judgment and remarkable sa- gaeity eonecrning realty values. In 1888 he entered into partner- ship with T. W. Magill, under the firm name of H. O. Stone & Com- pany, which firm from that date to the present has wielded a wide influenee in real-estate eireles and activities in this eity.
On the 29th of June, 1893, Mr. Stone was united in marriage to Miss Sara Latimer Clarke, of Baltimore county, Maryland. Their beautiful home, supplied with all that wealth eould secure and refincd taste suggest, was a popular resort with their many friends and there Mr. Stone found relaxation from the onerous and important
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business cares of the day. He found rest and pleasure also in hunt- ing and fishing, frequently utilizing periods of vacation in that way. He was also interested in various momentous public questions and was a factor in a number of social organizations. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party and was long an active member of the Union League Club, taking part in the discussion of those vital problems which have ever been themes of interest with the represen- tative men of that organization. He belonged also to the Chicago Automobile and South Shore Country Clubs, to the Yale Club, to the Scroll and Key, and to the Psi Upsilon fraternity. He was ever loyal to the city of his birth and mindful of its interests and while he did not seek to guide its destinies in any public capacity, he stanchly advocated those measures which sought its permanent good and im- provement. He gained friends wherever he went and his record made the name of Horatio O. Stone, Jr., as did that of his father, an hon- ored one throughout the city.
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Judge Dabid Dabis
T IME is the master artist that paints the history of the world and the perspective of the years places each oeeurrenee and each aetor in their relative position. Occupying a eentral place was Judge David Davis, his position being with the foremost jurists and statesmen that Ameriea has produced. The record of few men in publie life has extended over a longer period and none have been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation. Those qualities which men admire and commend were his in superlative degree. Ameriea has produced many lawyers of marked ability and statesmen of wide grasp of affairs but the superiority of Judge Davis' powers and talents placed him beyond the successful and among the eminent. Born on the 9th of March, 1815, in Cecil county, Maryland, he was descended from aneestry represented in that loeality for more than a century. He passed away in Bloomington, June 26, 1886, at the age of seventy-one years and there remain as a monument to his memory the grateful remem- branee and appreciation of his fellow eitizens throughout the entire country who recognized his valuable contribution to the world's work. He attended Kenyon College of Ohio, from which he was graduated at the age of seventeen, and among his associates as pupils in that institution were Edward M. Stanton and others who have won distine- tion in eonnection with our national history. He was not ground down by biting poverty nor enervated by the expectation of wealth. His father at death left to him a fair patrimony but through the teehni- calities of the law and the greed of a guardian this was lost and the future distinguished jurist faeed the necessity of providing for his own support but had as the foundation of his sueeess and advanee- ment an excellent educational training. In the latter part of 1835 when twenty years of age, he came to Illinois, settling at Pekin, but in consequence of illness which he thought was oeeasioned by too close proximity to the river he removed in the spring of 1836 to Bloomington and that eity thus gained one of her most distinguished and honored eitizens. For more than a half eentury he resided there, participating in the carly pioneer development as well as in the later progress and leaving the impress of his individuality, his ability and
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his progressive public spirit upon the history of the state. He is described at the time of his arrival in Bloomington as a "young man, buoyant with hope, restless with energy and inspired with the forth- coming of that destiny which awaited the county and state of his adoption." It was his innate character and ability that won him recognition for he had no acquaintance in Bloomington nor financial resources at the time of his arrival. He had early come to a recog- nition of the eternal truth that industry wins and he had determined to give of his best to the profession which he had chosen as a life work, holding ever to the highest standards. It was a rural community into which he made his entrance-a frontier district in which there was not a single railroad and very few evidences of the planting of the seeds of the civilization known to the older east. He entered actively upon the work of his profession but never in his entire career, even at the outset, did he give undivided attention to his law practice. He felt that there were other duties in life-duties that he owed to his fellow townsmen and duties of citizenship that he owed to the state at large, and even while he was establishing himself as an able lawyer by rea- son of his careful consideration of his cases and his clear and compre- hensive presentation of his cause before the courts he was also pro- moting in every possible way the welfare and progress of his city and state. Appreciative of what he was doing his fellow townsmen made him a member of the constitutional convention of 1848 and sitting as a member of that body he preserved for McLean county the outlines which it now has, making it the largest county in the state and reserv- ing for it thereby a tract of land which is unexcelled in fertility in Illinois and probably in the entire country. Many other phases of his public activity might be cited and as the years went on his increas- ing ability led to his selection for positions of still more far-reaching importance.
It was in the early years of his residence in Bloomington, too, that Judge Davis established a home of his own in his marriage, in 1838, to Miss Sarah W. Walker, a daughter of Judge Walker, of Lenox, Massachusetts, a lady whose beauty of character and ability well qualified her for the high position which she occupied as a life com- panion of one of America's most eminent jurists. Many tales of her goodness, her charity, her sympathy are still told. The poor found in her a friend and the deep sorrow felt at her passing by those whom she had aided was one of the richest tributes that could be paid to the memory of any one. With his newly established home to work for Judge Davis bent his energies to his professional duties and it was soon recognized that he was a strong advocate and a wise counselor.
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Marked analytical power characterized his praetiee of the law and as few men have done he seemed to grasp every point in a ease and give to it its due relative value. While steadily advaneing in his profes- sion he was also coming more and more to the front in the politieal life of the state. That was an era when the sueeessful business or professional man did not hold himself aloof from polities but felt that participation therein was a part of his duty of eitizenship. From the early period of his residence here, therefore, Judge Davis was elosely connected with politieal activity. He first visited Blooming- ton during the memorable campaign of 1836 in which Van Buren was eleeted to the presidency as the suceessor of General Jackson. Judge Davis, however, was a supporter of General Harrison, thus adhering to his whig principles. He earnestly advocated his politieal senti- ments as an adherent of the whig party and worked untiringly in his support of its candidates. It was characteristic of him throughout his entire life that he labored much more earnestly to seeure the elee- tion of his friends than he did to promote his own interests in a poli- tieal way. In fact in early life he seemed to possess no ambition whatever in that direction but talents such as his could not remain hidden and in 1840 the whig party made him its candidate in the Bloomington distriet for state senator. His party, however, was largely in the minority and he was defeated by Governor John Moore, at that time and for many years thereafter one of the most distin- guished eitizens and popular men of the state.
In following his profession he was diligent and his devotion to his elients' interests beeame proverbial. He regarded the pursuits of private life in themselves as abundantly worthy of his best efforts and felt the most unfaltering devotion to his profession, realizing its high mission as the protection of the rights and liberties, the life and property of the individual. He gave proof of his power to rank with the ablest men of the state in the professional field ineluding Lineoln, Douglas, Stephen T. Logan, Baker, Trumbull and others. They felt his power, acknowledged his ability and honored him for what he aecomplished. He declined to fill the office of elerk of the court though it would have given him four times the annual ineome that he was then deriving from his praetiee, and continued an active rep- resentative of his profession. His elientage grew gradually and for twelve years he maintained a high position at the bar to which he had risen through his eapability, professional integrity and the keen dis- eernment that enabled him apply with absolute aeeuraey the principles of law applicable to the points in litigation. He had aided in framing the laws of the state as a member of the legislature following the elee-
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tion of 1844 and the clearness and force of his views enabled him to have a commanding influence in the committee room. That exper- ience further qualified him for the splendid work which he did in the constitutional convention of 1848. In the proceedings of that body he took an important part, especially in the work relative to the judicial department of the state government. Upon the adoption of the new constitution there arose the necessity of reorganizing the judiciary and at the first election that followed he was chosen circuit judge in a district composed of fourteen counties extending from Woodford on the northwest to Edgar on the southeast. In the early years of his practice and during his initial service on the bench he became closely associated with Abraham Lincoln and the kindred natures of these men of master minds drew them together in a strong friendship that existed until the death of the president. One of the strong characteristics of Judge Davis was his unerring judgment concerning men, their dominant qualities and ability. He recognized in Mr. Lincoln intellectual and moral qualities of the highest order and became one of those men active in indorsing his candidacy.
When Judge Davis took his position on the circuit court bench not a survey had been made in preparation for the building of a rail- road, so that he had to ride over the country in visiting the fourteen different counties on his circuit in which he had to hold two sessions of court each year. Again we quote from one of his earlier biogra- phers who said: "The clearness and quickness of his mind, his prepara- tory education at college and in the law and his twelve years of prac- tice had fully capacitated him to discharge with promptness the vari- ous and arduous duties of the profession. In some of the qualities of a jurist he had few if any superiors in the long line of eminent judges who have graced the courts of the state. His administra- tion of the law as circuit judge was most eminently satisfactory to the people of the district and to the members of the bar. But few appeals were taken from his decisions and his dispatch of business partook of the energy and industry which marked his entire career." Judge Davis went upon the bench in 1849 and wore the ermine until February, 1877, when without solicitation on his part he was chosen to represent Illinois in the United States senate. The favorable opinion which his fellow citizens entertained for him at the beginning of his judicial career was strengthened and augmented as the years went by, for he discharged his duties in a way that more than justi- fied the most sanguine expectations of his supporters. In 1862 when a vacancy occurred in the supreme court of the United States in the circuit including Illinois he was the first mentioned as the most suit-
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able candidate for the position. The power of appointment to this office was in the hands of Lincoln who for many years had practiced in the court over which Judge Davis presided and who recognized the strength of his intellect, the trend of his ability and his notable power in the interpretation and application of the law. The supreme court during the time of Judge Davis' services was engaged in settling ques- tions growing out of the war and incident to the reconstruction. His appointment came to him from his old-time friend, President Lin- coln, and as a representative of that high tribunal he made a record which places his name among the foremost of those whom history regards as America's most eminent jurists.
When he had served in the courts for nearly thirty years he was called to aid in framing national legislation in his selection to the United States senate, where his standing as a judge gave him impor- tant prestige. He was placed on the judiciary committee with men of national reputation and renown, serving there as a colleague of Thurman, Edmunds, Conkling, Bayard and Carpenter. The expe- riences which he had in the state courts of Illinois and in the United States supreme court had given him a breadth of learning and expe- rience which enabled him to at once win the regard and confidence of the entire senate, so that when a vacancy occurred in the office of vice president he was selected to preside over the senate which he did for nearly two years. Thus in another field he left the impress of his ability upon the history of the nation. With his retirement from office he returned to his old home in Bloomington to pass there the quiet evening of life, traveling the journey with undiminished honor and respect until its elose. Though his activities had been of the greatest importance to the nation he did not regard it as beneath him to take active and helpful interest in municipal affairs and aided in guiding the destiny of the city which he called his home.
Upon his retirement from the senate Judge Davis was married, in 1883, to Miss Addic Burr, of North Carolina, a lady of many esti- mable qualities. His home life was most attractive in its simplicity and its comfort and in its atmosphere of high intellectual attainment. To those who knew him in his home city Judge Davis was friend and neighbor. While his record graced the annals of the country he held himself as not above those with whom he was associated in the earlier years of his struggle for success and advancement and it is said that no one of his locality and generation performed more acts of indi- vidual kindness. To those who did him a favor or showed him friend- ship it was returned fourfold. It is only a great nature that can turn aside from the momentous things of life to participate with sin-
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cerity in the humbler activities. The man in Judge Davis, with all of his grave interests and responsibilities, was never lost. He was a statesman and jurist of eminent power but he was also a man in those qualities which make for strong friendships and which remember kind- nesses. It might well have been of Judge Davis that the words were penned :
"He leaves a patriot's name to after times,
Linked with a thousand virtues and no crimes."
John A. Logan
L OGAN was a natural soldier," says Senator Cullom in his recent book. "His shoulders were broad, his presence commanding; with his swarthy face and coal-black hair, 'and eye like Mars, to threaten and command,' he was every inch a warrior. There is no question that General Logan was the greatest volunteer officer of the Civil war."
John Alexander Logan was born in Jackson county, Illinois, February 9, 1826, the son of Dr. John Logan, after whom Logan county was named, who was a native of Ireland and an early emi- grant to Illinois. He had no schooling until he was fourteen; he then studied for three years in a collegiate institution. At the breaking out of the Mexican war he enlisted as a private and was afterward promoted to be a lieutenant. He was elected clerk of Jackson county in 1849, but resigned the office to attend a course in the law depart- ment of the Louisville University from which he graduated in 1851. He then formed a law partnership with his uncle, Alexander M. Jen- kins, a former lieutenant-governor of the state. In 1852, Logan was elected to the legislature and again in 1856.
Logan was married to Mary S. Cunningham, a daughter of John M. Cunningham, on November 27, 1855. In 1858 and 1860, he was elected to the National House of Representatives as a Democrat. His sympathies being strongly for the Union cause, he left his seat during the session of 1861, and fought in the ranks at the battle of Bull Run though unattached and unenlisted. He resigned his seat in Congress and returned to Illinois where he organized the Thirty- first Regiment of Volunteers, and was commissioned its Colonel by Governor Yates.
During the four years of the Civil war Logan came to be re- garded as one of the ablest officers who entered the army from civil life. In Grant's campaigns, terminating in the capture of Vicksburg, Logan, who now commanded a division, was the first to enter the city with the troops under him, and was selected by General Grant to be the military governor of Vicksburg. "This was a most exacting and depressing task," writes Mrs. Logan in a recent magazine article, "which brought him in contact with the most horrible side of war-
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the side that made women and children share the dangers and priva- tions of the fighters. He had to police the city, look after sanitation in order to avoid an epidemic, and relieve the hunger and suffering of a population which had been living in caves with starvation fight- ing on the side of the besiegers. His leniency and personal activity in looking after them made him popular with the people."
Logan was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general after the battle of Fort Donelson where he was constantly engaged and ren- dered the most valuable service. In the following year he was offered the nomination of congressman-at-large in Illinois. He declined the offer in a letter of which the following was the closing paragraph: "In conclusion, let me request that your desire to associate my name with the high and honorable position you would confer upon me, be at once dismissed, and some more suitable and worthy person substi- tuted. Meanwhile I shall continue to look with unfeigned pride and admiration on the continuance of the present able conduct of our state affairs, and feel that I am sufficiently honored while acknowl- edged as an humble soldier of our own peerless state."
The rank of major-general of volunteers was conferred upon him, and in November, 1863, he succeeded General Sherman to the com- mand of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and after the death of General McPherson he was in command of the Army of the Tennessee at the battle of Atlanta. He was soon succeeded, however, in command of the Army of the Tennessee by General O. O. Howard, who says in his "Autobiography" that "in one of the battles after the taking of Atlanta, Major-General Logan was spirited and energetic, going at once to the point where he apprehended the slightest danger of the enemy's success. His decision and resolution everywhere ani- mated and encouraged his officers and men." General Logan suf- fered considerably from disappointment at being obliged to yield command of the corps to General O. O. Howard, but with the in- stincts of a true soldier he accepted the situation and resumed his command of the Fifteenth Corps. On the "March to the Sea," Gen- eral Logan rendered most distinguished service.
In his "Autobiography," already referred to, General Howard relates the following interesting episode: "A few days before the Grand Review at Washington General Sherman called me into the office of General Townsend, the adjutant-general of the army. We were there by ourselves. General Sherman then said that he wanted me to surrender the command of the Army of the Tennessee to Logan before the review. This caused me much feeling, and under the pressure of it I replied that I had maneuvered and fought this army
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from Atlanta, all the way through. Sherman replied, 'I know it, but it will be everything to Logan to have this opportunity.' Then, speaking very gently, as Sherman could, to one near him whom he esteemed, he said, 'Howard, you are a Christian, and won't mind such a sacrifice!' I answered, 'Surely, if you put it on that ground, I submit.'"
Accordingly General Logan rode at the head of the Army of the Tennessee at the Grand Review on May 24, 1865. General Howard was favored by General Sherman with a position at his side, the two riding abreast along Pennsylvania avenue on that occasion, and thus, as Howard says, "he sought to allay any irritation I might fccl on account of what had taken place."
When the war closed, Logan once more entered the political arena, and was elected to Congress as a Republican, serving from 1867 to 1871, and as senator from 1871 until 1877, and again from 1879 until his death. General Logan died at Washington, December 26, 1886.
John A. Logan was a strong partisan, and was identified with the radical wing of his party. His brilliant war record and his great per- sonal following, especially among the veterans of the war, contributed to his nomination for Vice President in 1884 on the ticket with James G. Blaibe, but the ticket suffered defcat in the fall elections. He was the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic from 1868 to 1871, and as such he successfully advocated the observance of Memorial Day.
An equestrian statue of General Logan, designed and executed by Augustus St. Gaudens, stands today in Grant Park at Chicago, one of the city's chiefest ornaments. It was unveiled July 22, 1897, which day was declared a holiday by the mayor of Chicago, and the occasion was celebrated by an immense concourse of citizens, and by an imposing parade of troops of the United States army, the Na- tional Guard of Illinois, and by the Grand Army of the Republic.
Daniel Pope Cook
I 'T HAS been written of the subject of this sketch that "Cook was undoubtedly one of the ablest and most remarkable men whose name ever graeed the annals of Illinois." These are the words of Elihu B. Wash- burne, himself a man closely identified with a later stage of the history of the state and nation. Danicl P. Cook was born in Kentucky in 1795, removed to Illinois in 1815 and began the practice of law at Kaskaskia. Early in the next year he beeamc part owner and editor of the Illinois Intelligeneer, and at the same time served as auditor of publie accounts by appointment of Governor Edwards. In 1817 he was sent by President Monroc as bcarer of dispatches to John Quincy Adams, then our minister to England. On his return he was appointed a circuit judge, and on the admission of the state he was elected the first attorney general. In 1819 he resigned this position and was elected to congress serving in the house of representatives for eight years.
Having married a daughter of Governor Ninian Edwards he be- came a resident of Edwardsville. He was a eonspieuous opponent of the proposition to make Illinois a slave state giving Governor Coles efficient aid in the eonduet of the campaign. He also while in eon- gress bore a prominent part in securing donations of lands by the United States government in aid of the construction of the Illinois and Michigan eanal. He was distinguished for his eloquenee, and it was during his first congressional eampaign that stump speaking was in- troduced into the state. When Cook county was ereatcd in 1831 it received its name in honor of Daniel P. Cook, who had then been dead four years but was held in honorable remembranee by his eontem- poraries. Washburne, in a note on Cook printed in the "Edwards Papers," a volume published by the Chieago Historieal Society in 1884, said: "In respect of his high character, his great ability, his honorable name, and of the inestimable service he rendered to our great commonwealth, the County of Cook should creet a monument to his memory."
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